On behalf of the BU household the blogmaster extends sincere congratulations to Dr. Grenville Phillips. In this space we have had our differences of opinion but through it all there is nobody who doubts that you are a well being Barbadian.
I am pleased to announce that I have been awarded a Doctor of Engineering degree from the University of Hertfordshire, after 5 years of doctoral research in structural engineering.
From henceforth, I am still known as Grenville.
Continue reading
The Scout motto is “BE PREPARED”. That means a Scout is to be in a state of readiness in mind and body to do their duty. Simple but so very profound indeed. A fictional character created by Lee Child also has a message of importance that we all need to hear today. That is simply “Hope for the best, but plan for the worst”. Wisdom offered to us by bright minds.
If we apply these two gifts of advice to politics, whether in the past, present or future, and we look at how our elected officials have performed, we can see none of them have been Scouts, Girl Guides or readers of the author Lee Child.
For example, let’s look at how they responded to the pandemic shall we? Warnings of such a pandemic have been historically recorded for many decades. Proof was in the pudding in fact. There was talk of a mass death event caused by influenza like illnesses over a hundred years ago. It is not like these politicians did not have historical examples to base their preparation upon. The Spanish Death killed over a hundred million globally. Historical fact. Influenza itself kills millions across the globe annually. America, Russia, China and other military establishments have been experimenting upon making such illnesses into weapons for decades. What did our elected officials do? Not much.
Continue reading
The Blogmaster does NOT support hate speech or hate crime and abhors bigotry and prejudice wherever and whenever it shows. However, there is the obligation by democratic societies to protect the right of citizens to practice freedom of speech. How societies evolve to be inclusive will have to be managed sensibly by today’s leaders. There is no room for the usual rhetoric.
Continue readingAddressing hate speech does not mean limiting or prohibiting freedom of speech. It means keeping hate speech from escalating into something more dangerous, particularly incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence, which is prohibited under international law.
— United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, May 2019
For some time now I have minded my business but I do not think that what is happening is at all fair to persons deserving of houses. So I have decided to speak out.
There are two houses being built in Savannah Road, Shorey Village, St. Andrew, side by side,
and it is believed that they are being constructed through the Government’s initiative for the
houses destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Elsa. At this point, the houses are near completion.
I am writing because these persons deceived the Government in order to obtain these homes.
Prior to the construction of the two houses, Mr. Thomas alias Catman resided in a wooden house, which was fairly old. However, his lifestyle contributed to the dilapidation of the house as he is a very heavy drinker of alcohol, is old and his surroundings were unkempt. He has a number of adult children who are able bodied and could’ve contributed in the upkeep of the premises. However, they do not live with him. He has one daughter, “Angie”, who visited and took food for him on occasions and tidied up the house. He lived with his girlfriend, Mavis and his son, “Fred”. “Fred” is not all there mentally and would sleep at “Catman” occasionally, if he’s not in The City, Bridgetown.
There was an old unoccupied structure, similar to a shed, which was located to the front of the
house. NO ONE OCCUPIED THIS SHED. “Catman” stored bottles to sell and other old items
inside of it and it was literally nearly falling apart.
The BU Murder Tracker confirms violent; gun crime has become endemic in our tiny society. The 40th murder occurred last Friday and it is possible with about 6 weeks to go in 2022 two more murders to surpass the 2020 number of 41 maybe reached. It is a stretch to suggest Barbados will ‘challenge’ the 48 murders recorded in 2019, the highest recorded in our history.
There is a resignation by the blogmaster that the Barbados leadership at the policy making AND non governmental level lack the nous to successfully implement effective monitoring, enforcement and social approaches to revert to a norm where a murder was big news on the island. One only has to reflect on our helplessness to stop the minibus culture that has taken root since the 80s, our inability to address concerns repeatedly raised by the Auditor General, a contentment to maintain landfills instead of executing an effective waste to management program, growing traffic congestion and lawlessness on the roads, the sloth to wean the country from fossil fuel consumption AND last but not least our burgeoning court system.
Continue reading
Yesterday evening the blogmaster was fortunate to tune in to the Voice of Barbados radio station afternoon program hosted by superior radio personality Larry Mayers. He is one of a bare few, Maurice Norville another, who makes a serious attempt to program a message that connects to old Barbados.
Believe it or not his program yesterday featured hills to be found in Barbados with listeners sharing tales about the challenges of driving over Horse Hill in St. Joseph, Baxters Hill in St. Andrew, Bowling Alley Hill which connects St. Joseph to St. John, Sutherland in St. Lucy and a few others back in the day. To anticipate those who will jump in to say Barbados is flat, of course the discussions about hills is in a Barbados context.
Continue reading
Prime Minister Mottley on her return from overseas after taking a few days off as well as attending COP27 in Egypt, Rwanda and South Africa called a press conference on her return to Barbados to brief the nation. There is criticism Mottley’s time could have been better spend on island given the precarious state of the economy and rising crime situation. DLP spokesman Paul Gibson has been scathing in criticism levelled at Mottley, questioning cost of trips overseas and size of delegations.
The blogmaster has cautioned many times in this space that managing the optics in any situation is important, however, Mottley has demonstrated with the appointment of a bloated Cabinet she intends to do it her – she has an aggressive style – even if it is obvious the configuration of the Cabinet is about political considerations and not about many hands making light of the work. Some of us are not fools although we understand the games politicians play at the expense of the masses.
Continue reading
The historic violence Haitians are experiencing today can find its foundation in various groups trying to control essential commodities such as oil, gas, kerosene and diesel. When a national or economic crisis happens, those who control the means of energy and food sources control the population. Haiti has never been able to escape its exhaustion caused by continual natural and climatic disasters over the years. Unable to nationally and economically heal, Haiti had looked to the world for help, realising that assistance from outsiders has a cost. Haiti’s natural resources and production fall into that category.
The population reeled at the assassination of Haiti’s President about one year ago. There is no well-established government to name or rely upon. The Gangs of Haiti are many, allied to certain governmental and political parties, these gangs are fighting over gas stations, production facilities of anything energy focused, all in an effort to gain control and profit from Haiti’s on-going bad luck.
Continue reading
With the ongoing Constitution Review Commission meetings going on why are these two groups not saying anything on behalf of fathers?
I would hate to believe that these groups are intimidated into silence by the very strong vocally active women movement in Barbados.
Again, I posit that men are the greatest traitors to themselves and it seems women are always the ones to save men from their own destruction. Perhaps, just another complex paradox of manhood in Barbados.
See below:
THE BELOW IS MY SUBMISSION TO THE CONSTITUTION REVIEW COMMISSION
1) Support In Kind should be added to the Maintenance Act
Reason: Its Barbaric for an unemployed parent to be stigmatised as criminal due to falling in contempt of a Court Ordered Maintenance Order.
Continue reading
Continue readingThe young and the reckless are having access to guns at an “unprecedented” level, with police admitting they have “not yet touched the surface” on the issue.
Attributed to Assistant Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce
What does Senior Minister William Duguid mean when he declared this week that Barbados “has experienced significant and disconnected suburban growth…combined with the doubling number of cars, has resulted in peak hour gridlock and increasing levels of congestion almost everywhere on the island”. He went on to PROMISE that the government “expect to develop a national transportation mobility plan that will guide future investment. We will propose transportation strategies at the island scale”.
What the hell!
What immediately came to mind after reading was – cart before the horse and the chant Mini Bus Hustle by Winston Farrell.
Continue reading
A close race in the 2022 US midterm elections. The forecast was for a red wave given Biden’s unpopular rating. What does the possible outcome mean for the rest of the world?
Follow @nytimes.com
The former Leader of the Opposition in the Barbados Parliament, Bishop Joseph Atherley, is reported to have questioned why this country continues to function under a state of emergency. In his response, the learned Attorney General, Dale Marshall, attempted to be condescending to the Bishop, rather than give an explanation that could stand up to scrutiny. I would not dignify his response by repeating it here. I would only say that his reasons made no sense as usual.
Continue reading
