The Human Unemployment Rate in Barbados – The Need to Develop an Entrepreneurial Class
Submitted by Walter Blackman
Walter Blackman – Actuary and Social Commentator
Prodigal Son July 5, 2016 at 10:57 PM
But wait…….is Fumble off his medication?
The man told a bold faced lie on DLPTV tonight ……….the man said in Guyana that unemployment is down to 9% and that jobs are coming back. Fumble, where? In Barbados? You have been travelling overseas too much….you got to be mad. Just last month in the CBB report, the governor said that unemployment was 11% (which is another big lie……..unemployment has to be over 20%), so how could it drop by 2% in 30 days? You ever see lies?
On August 16, 2015, I submitted an article captioned “The Human Unemployment rate in Barbados – A cause for serious concern.”
In that article, I argued that if we paid a little more attention to our labour force participation rate, and less attention to our more contentiously calculated unemployment rate, then we would end up having a far better understanding of the nature of our unemployment problems.
From the outset, let me state that I have witnessed the published unemployment rates being used by some individuals to praise the Owen Arthur administration for its handling of the Barbadian economy over the period 1994 -2007. Likewise, I have seen the similarly calculated published unemployment rates being used by the same individuals to lambaste and berate the Freundel Stuart administration for its perceived mishandling of the economy since 2010.
Now that recently published figures have shown that, at March 31st 2016, the unemployment rate stood at 9.3%, I therefore find it disingenuous on the part of some individuals to dismiss this figure out of hand, and to assert that the true unemployment rate has to be 20% or more. If individuals want to demonstrate consistency in their arguments, they must now offer congratulations to Mr. Chris Sinckler, the Minister of Finance in particular, and to the Freundel Stuart administration in general, for getting the unemployment rate down to this level.
I am acutely aware that fertility rates, unemployment rates, and labour force participation rates are esoteric subjects, so I will quickly present a few numbers to stimulate some thinking about our unemployment problem.
The total labour force represents the amount of working-age Barbadians who were educated and kept alive by some of the taxes which we all paid over the years. They represent a national resource that the country invested in, and is now looking to get a return from. Of course there are some individuals (those imprisoned, those in mental institutions, those deemed medically unfit to work etc.) who must be excluded from the workforce for practical reasons.
In 2013, our labour force was 214, 000. At March 2015, it was 224,000. At March 2016, it was 222,000.
As the Baby Boomers retire, and as the impact of our low fertility rates begin to kick in, our labour force will shrink. Contributions and taxes from our reduced labour force, as Artaxerxes pointed out, will have to support escalating health care costs and increasing NIS payments demanded by a relatively large, retired cohort of Barbadians. Some of these Barbadians will live forty years or more in retirement so we have to start maximizing the use of our labour force NOW.
In 2013: 126,300 persons were employed. Therefore the gross labour force participation rate was 59% for 2013. That is, 126,300/214,000.
At March 2015: 127,900 persons were employed. Therefore the gross labour force participation rate was 57%.
At March 2016: 131,300 persons were employed. Therefore the gross labour force participation rate was 59%.
These gross labour force participation rates are much too low to create or sustain national economic growth!
Prime Minister Freundel Stuart colourfully and simply stated that “the government’s nipples are sore”. By so doing, he informed Barbadians that we can no longer look to the Government of Barbados to provide jobs for our unemployed. In fact, the Government of Barbados was forced to shed some jobs as part of its effort to bring balance and stability back to the economy of Barbados.
Unemployment in Barbados reached an all-time high in the 2nd quarter of 2014 (125,000 persons were employed in 2014). A cursory glance at the number of persons employed in 2015, and 2016 therefore support’s Prime Minister Freundel Stuart ‘s assertion that the lost jobs have returned to the economy. Again, we need to congratulate the government and urge our ministers to keep pressing on.
These small economic gains represent a step in the right direction. The banks are awash with money and are paying savers practically nothing on their deposits. The credit unions are awash with money. Some black and white individuals and businesses are awash with money. Why does it appear that everyone is sitting down and waiting on the government?
Certainly, with a little creativity, ingenuity, and hard work we can take the risk of establishing our own businesses and put our fellow Barbadians to work.
At the individual level, we need to start asking ourselves some searching questions. What skills do I possess? Are they legally marketable? Do I really have to sit down and wait for someone to hire me?
Working in concert with his grandson, our own pieceuhderockyeahright, a prolific commenter on BU, has demonstrated to us how creativity and ingenuity can create opportunities for individuals. I would not like to see him achieve his political goals, but with all my heart, I would love to see the energy and hard work, which he puts into the conceptualization and creation of his posters, blossom and financially flourish.
Who could fault or envy pieceuhderockyeahright for trying “to show de grandson that his talents with the “stoopid cartoons” are of great use and that, if wisely positioned could be a revenue stream?”
This is precisely the type of thinking, at the individual level, which can help the country of Barbados to trudge out of its deep economic morass.
Who knows how far this new venture will go? Who knows how much foreign exchange it will bring to Barbados?
There is a small, but very important, piece of detail which pieceuhderockyeahright mentioned with respect to the development of his product – obtaining a copyright from the department of Corporate Affairs. If we are going to be successful businessmen and women, we need to pay attention to minute details such as this. Any Barbadian who is serious about owning a business should go to “Corporate Affairs” and register A CORPORATION.
When you arrive on the 7th Floor of the Baobab Tower at Warrens, you will spend many, many minutes waiting at the counter unattended whilst the employees pore over big binders and try to do their best as they struggle under the weight of an apparent archaic system. Do not expect to achieve your objective on your first or second visit, unless the stars are perfectly aligned with your birth sign on that day. When you manage to get past the “counter stage”, be prepared to stand in another line to pay your fees and receive your receipt. If it is after 3:30 pm, “crapaud smoke yuh pipe”. You have to come back another day.
In a world of e-commerce and “paperless” offices, the situation at Corporate Affairs leaves a lot to be desired. That office needs to be brought into the 21st century.
The Permanent Secretary responsible for the Department of Corporate Affairs needs to find a solution to the problem. It should not be left to the Minister.
Barbados Underground 
In 2013, our labour force was 214, 000. At March 2015, it was 224,000. At March 2016, it was 222,000.
In 2013: 126,300 persons were employed. Therefore the gross labour force participation rate was 59% for 2013. That is, 126,300/214,000.
At March 2015: 127,900 persons were employed. Therefore the gross labour force participation rate was 57%.
At March 2016: 131,300 persons were employed. Therefore the gross labour force participation rate was 59%.
millertheanunnaki July 8, 2016 at 12:08 PM #
“What is the source of those “labour force” figures you have neatly ‘generated’ for the purpose of this very important discussion?”
millertheanunnaki,
For 2016, I used the link provided by Hants to view the article from the Nation dated August 5, 2016. According to the Nation, the data came from the Barbados Statistical Service.
For easy reference, please see:
Hants July 5, 2016 at 11:02 PM #
FOR THE FIRST quarter (January to March) 2016, unemployment stood at 9.3 per cent.
http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/82914/unemployment-93-cent-quarter#sthash.pTGGBKsU.dpuf
To arrive at the total labour force for 2016, I used the data from the Nation’s article. I added the number of persons employed, to the number of persons “unemployed”, and the number of persons deemed to be not looking for work.
131,300 + 13,600 + 76,700 = 221 600 = 222,000 (expressed in 000s)
I used similar articles produced by the Nation in the past, and a similar methodology, to ‘generate’ the labour force numbers for 2013, and 2015.
I cross-checked the “number of persons employed” quoted by me here for 2013, 2014, and 2015, with the numbers provided on https://labour.gov.bb/ (Please see the bottom of the home page: Latest snapshot of Barbados Labour Market).
The numbers I quoted here matched almost perfectly with the numbers produced by the Ministry of Labour on its website.
Hope this helps.
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Walter Blackman July 8, 2016 at 10:16 AM #
“The Freudel Stuart administration has been around for only 6 years.”
pieceuhderockyeahright July 8, 2016 at 11:02 AM #
“…. 8 years and not 6, where you learn to add?”
Walter Blackman July 8, 2016 at 11:19 AM
“Freudel Stuart became Prime Minister of Barbados in 2010. We are in 2016.”
pieceuhderockyeahright July 8, 2016 at 12:35 PM #
“@ Walther
So and there you have it.
From the very mouth of the horse
What you have espoused here is that from 2008 until 2010 Barbados did not have a government and that there was nothing done in these two years while the provisioner of the Fatter Calf was in the Seat of Power”
Pieceuhderockyeahright,
Next!
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Donna
That is a real problem. As things stand and if the BLP were to replace them we will be in a similar position within a few years, after the honeymoon.
We have to find a way out of these cycles.
We would like to see some type of popular government organized alone the lines on which credit unions functions, with real power remaining in the hands of the people, on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour, basis.
A system where politicians live in constant fear of the people, where no political parties exist, where any official including the PM or anybody else could be removed at short or little notice, through referenda. Referenda that any citizen could activate with a given number of signatures.
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@ Walter Blackman July 9, 2016 at 12:50 AM
“To arrive at the total labour force for 2016, I used the data from the Nation’s article. I added the number of persons employed, to the number of persons “unemployed”, and the number of persons deemed to be not looking for work.
131,300 + 13,600 + 76,700 = 221 600 = 222,000 (expressed in 000s)”
Oh what a tangled web we weave when we seek to obfuscate instead of elucidate.
Based on the ‘numbers’ provided and your certification of their statistical authenticity and reliability shouldn’t the ruling administration be showered with much more adulation than you are grudgingly ‘underwriting’?
If only 13,600 of the total labour force were Unemployed as at March 2016 then one can only conclude that just over 6% of the labour force (13,600/ 221,600) was unemployed and that the published higher number of 9.3% is erroneously overstating (in a statistically big margin of error way) the unemployment situation and, pari passu, understating the level of economic performance and recovery.
Even your myopic pet student Chris (whom everybody hates) sitting at the back of your class in 2nd form arithmetic can clearly recognize the difference between a small 6.1% and a whopping 9.3% without having to depend on the never used calculator app in his Smartphone.
For the benefit of the BU ‘incognoscenti’ in such statistical gerrymandering (excluding, of course, that ac subset of intelligence), it would be most helpful if you could shed some more light on the data set underlying that politically determined magic number of 9.3 %, precisely.
For the time being we should leave that 76,700 tonne boulder out of the equation because just like Sisyphus neither you nor Worrell nor Stinkler with smartphone and all would ever be able to get it to the top of Cave Hill.
Walter, you have proven beyond a shadow of doubt that you are more of a politician than an actuary by training: Quod erat demonstrandum.
“Politicians use statistics in the same way that a drunk uses lamp-posts—for support rather than illumination.” ~ Andrew Lang.
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Miller
Lord’s have mercy!
Do you intend to kill this man?
LOL
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millertheanunnaki July 9, 2016 at 5:52 AM #
“For the benefit of the BU ‘incognoscenti’ in such statistical gerrymandering (excluding, of course, that ac subset of intelligence), it would be most helpful if you could shed some more light on the data set underlying that politically determined magic number of 9.3 %, precisely.
Walter, you have proven beyond a shadow of doubt that you are more of a politician than an actuary by training: Quod erat demonstrandum.”
millertheanunnaki,
ACCORDING TO DATA PRODUCED BY THE BARBADOS STATISTICAL SERVICE for March 2016:
Gross Labour Force = 221,600
Number of persons deemed to be not seeking employment = 76,700
Net Labour Force = 221,600 – 76,700 = 144,900
Unemployment rate at March 31, 2016 = Number of persons employed/Net Labour Force
Therefore, Unemployment rate at March 31, 2016 = 13,600/144,900 = 9.39%
Harry Sealy taught you these simple concepts of arithmetic in first form, so I know that you are just being intellectually lazy, dishonest, and wicked.
As for Pachamamum, poor fella, it is painfully obvious that he doesn’t have a clue!
Per David, you may have the last word.
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Unemployment rate at March 31, 2016 = Number of persons unemployed/Net Labour Force
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@Walter, given the accepted economic theory and more importantly your years of experience in this field what @Miller’s queries really strike at (from my perspective) is a clarity on that “Number of persons deemed to be not seeking employment = 76,700”.
That is over 50% of the net and certainly deserves come examination and clarification.
Can you offer some real words of a practitioner!
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Pacha…there may not be any honeymoon period for a new government, the current gaggle of knuckle draggers who are the house niggas of parliament, will more than likely leave the treasury empty…there is another Clare Cowan now in the mix, with no money, big investment ideas, no investors, it’s still a promise, but wants government to put “skin in the game” read taxpayer’s money….so who sent and called this white dude to rob taxpayers…he has no money but wants to decide how taxpayer’s money should be invested.
http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2016/07/09/potential-investor-wants-incentives/
Who contacted this guy and introduced him to Barbados, the information they get is that the house niggas in parliament are dumb, the black majority population is docile, so it’s easy to rob them and on top of all that, they, the “investors and tourists get to practice racism on the island….a fourfer.
No one intelligent enough to stop them.
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de pedantic Dribbler July 9, 2016 at 8:32 AM #
“@Walter, given the accepted economic theory and more importantly your years of experience in this field what @Miller’s queries really strike at (from my perspective) is a clarity on that “Number of persons deemed to be not seeking employment = 76,700”.
That is over 50% of the net and certainly deserves come examination and clarification.
Can you offer some real words of a practitioner!”
de pedantic Dribbler,
I am extremely sorry to disappoint you, but I have no practical experience in determining national unemployment rates. I have not researched the sample size, assumed distribution (along with its mean and variance) and margin of error used by the Barbados Statistical Service to come up with the number of persons deemed to be not seeking employment at any point in time.
No one is accusing the Barbados Statistical Service of using inconsistent methodologies to come up with the numbers, but the unemployment rates being produced are raising some eyebrows and concerns from the general populace. Maybe someone from the department can address this.
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@ Walter Blackman July 9, 2016 at 8:04 AM
“Gross Labour Force = 221,600
Number of persons deemed to be not seeking employment = 76,700
Net Labour Force = 221,600 – 76,700 = 144,900
Unemployment rate at March 31, 2016 = Number of persons employed/Net Labour Force
Therefore, Unemployment rate at March 31, 2016 = 13,600/144,900 = 9.39%”
If Stinkliar were as fortunate as you (unlike the miller) to have benefited from the trusted tutelage of H S, the real Principal at the ‘Cawmere’ of your vintage, he would be a tool (not a fool) sharpened enough not only to cut the Gordian knot of knowing the simple difference between 0.03 and 0.3 (or even 0.7 and 0.007) but also how to use the same tool to cut of his Pinocchio nose to spoil his lying bold face.
The point remains, Dear Walter, is that to exclude the 76,700 or any part thereof is an exercise in statistical gerrymandering or manipulation designed to suit the narrow propagandistic requirements of a beleaguered administration (whichever party is so saddled).
How can a ‘serious’ management of country with a population of less than 300,000 and a fast aging baby-boomer generation ignore or dismiss such a large percentage of its young labour force?
So your fawning volte-face adulation of some imaginary success in statistical prostitution betrays your previous concern about the long-term viability of the NIS and a previous conviction professional integrity in the economic management of the land of your birth and early “free” education.
Hence my reference to you being more a creature of the political class than a true devotee to the ‘science’ of numbers.
I am willing to bet 76,700 to your 13,600 that you are still in possession of that antidote to liars in the numbers game. How to Lie with Statistics” by Darrell Huff which has been your constant but ‘unloved and ignored’ companion (like a deck of cards) from your days on the Hill.
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@Walter
Didn’t the Governor of the Central Bank commission an ‘independent’ study of the unemployment number a couple years ago when he number went against government expectation? It seems that there is an opportunity to do the same now. Perhaps more so.
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@ Miller the Anunnaki
You certainly have the PPK on the run.
Why even de ole man who cant add two and two together was able to discern this
Look at this excerpt.
De Word says “……Number of persons deemed to be not seeking employment = 76,700”.
That is over 50% of the net and certainly deserves come examination and clarification.
Can you offer some real words of a practitioner!”
And PPK sidesteps rather responds to DPD thusly
“…I am extremely sorry to disappoint you, but I have no practical experience in determining national unemployment rates…”
PPK then goes on to state AFTER RELYING SO HEAVILY ON THE INFORMATION AND GIVING PREAISE AND ADULATION TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR THE STATISTICS!!
“…I have not researched the sample size, assumed distribution (along with its mean and variance) and margin of error used by the Barbados Statistical Service to come up with the number of persons deemed to be not seeking employment at any point in time.
One would be inclined t think that if one is going to repeat a statement with such authority here on the platform that has been supplied for “THE PPK THAT HATH RETURNED” that the first thing that that PPK would do would be to ensure that whatever pronouncement that the PPK maketh IS BASED ON SOME SORT OF FACT!!
Now Anunnaki, let me put this to you another way.
I claim that MY GOD EXISTS RIGHT?
AND I AFFIRM TO YOU THAT MY GOD EXISTS!!
NOW IF I WISH THAT YOU FOLLOW MY GOD I SHOULD HAVE THE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE THAT WILL CONVINCE YOU, BEFORE I COME A-PROSELYTING? else that makes me nothing but a a a a lied politician!!
But Anunnaki, I have used the political disclaimer “I have not researched the sample size…blah, blah, blah….
NEXT (lololol)
Steupseeeee
Looka I going and mek a NEX poster bout dat statement “I HAVE NOT YET RESEARCHED THE SAMPLE SIZE”
I was dis promise this man dat i ent going use he face pun me grandson posters but he veering real close to getting he mug shots taken and uploaded yuh
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We must surmise that over the last few weeks the BU family has been able to deconstruct this Walter Blackman character, aka PPK.
And a sustained investigation is yet awaiting a formal announcement.
Blackman has been weighed in the balance and found wanting.
At this stage, we highly doubt that a majority of regulars are in the position to commend him as a fit and proper person, to the people of Barbados.
They wisely see misguided efforts, by PPK, to legitimate activities anathema to popular interests.
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@Pieces, you said it well. I was particularly confounded by Walter’s response. Surely as a practitioner in a career of employment/labour/populations et al he would have particularly solid views on how such a large percentile of the net labour force is described as “deemed to be not seeking employment”.
His ‘learned’ response was perfect political gobbly-gock non-speak, with a lovely spattering of nice sounding words of stats analysis like “…sample size, assumed distribution (along with its mean and variance) and margin of error”.
@Walter, LOLL. these fellows Pieces and Pacha and others seemed to have pegged perfectly your metamorphosis from ‘agent provocateur’ (?) to ‘pimpled face politician’ over these blogs in recent weeks.
If you continue in this vein you really can’t get bent outta shape if @Pieces places your visage in his pantheon of ‘political stoopid posters’!
Your burden is of course to convince that you are in fact a provocateur and not just one of the same old, same old. You need to redouble those efforts.
Politics is as usual just too lovely to miss.
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….I argued that if we paid a little more attention to our labour force participation rate, and LESS ATTENTION TO OUR MORE CONTENTIOUSLY CALCULATED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, then we would end up having a far better understanding of the nature of our unemployment problems.
…. As the Baby Boomers retire, and as the impact of our low fertility rates begin to kick in, our labour force will shrink.
……These gross labour force participation rates are much too low to create or sustain national economic growth!
millertheanunnaki July 9, 2016 at 9:27 AM #
“@ Walter Blackman July 9, 2016 at 8:04 AM
The point remains, Dear Walter, is that to exclude the 76,700 or any part thereof is an exercise in statistical gerrymandering or manipulation designed to suit the narrow propagandistic requirements of a beleaguered administration (whichever party is so saddled).
How can a ‘serious’ management of country with a population of less than 300,000 and a fast aging baby-boomer generation ignore or dismiss such a large percentage of its young labour force?”
Millertheanunnaki,
Stripped of its glitz, your comment above simply tells me that, after a little difficulty, you have reached the point where you can start asking the questions which my article was designed to evoke from you.
Now that you have grasped the essence of my intent, let us go back to a suggestion you made earlier – that we use NIS contributors to determine the number of persons employed.
Such a measure would end up understating the number of persons unemployed in Barbados because there are thousands of self-employed persons in Barbados who do not contribute to the NIS. These self-employed persons should and must be included in the number of persons employed.
Your mind is on the right track. Stay focused.
Oh, before I go, stay away from that felon Pachamamum. Doesn’t he conjure up images of Rasputin?
Up and on.
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I have been folowing the discussion about the missing 77, 000 with a great del of interest. This is a case where both sides have merit to their argument, but I believe that in the US and elsewhere, the unemployment rate is counted without including those who are not seeking employment; by excluding ‘the voluntary idle’.
In the US, number of Americans not in the labor force is about 94M, Indeed, it is always amusing to hear those who are opposed to Obama wanting to use a different metric than what was done in previous admisistrations to calculate the employment rate. Other even want to include the quality of new jobs as a part of the equation.
PPK’s methods are the accepted methodology. But like the others, I find the missing 77, 000 to be ‘painful’,
http://www.econport.org/content/handbook/Unemployment/Define.html
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(In English)
I have been folowing the discussion about the missing 77, 000 with a great deal of interest. This is a case where both sides have merit to their argument, but I believe that in the US and elsewhere, the unemployment rate is counted without including those who are not seeking employment; that is, it is calculated by excluding ‘the voluntary idle’.
In the US, the number of Americans not in the labor force is about 94M. Indeed, it is always amusing to hear those who are opposed to Obama wanting to use a different metric (from what was used in previous administrations) to calculate the employment rate. Others even want to include the quality of new jobs as a part of the equation.
PPK’s methods are the accepted methodology. But like the others, I find the missing 77, 000 to be ‘painful’,
http://www.econport.org/content/handbook/Unemployment/Define.html
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Wasn’t the phrase “voluntary idle” a topic for discussion over 30 years ago???
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@Walter, I went school long – I presume- but obviously not regular enough…because I interpret your 12:31 post to suggest that you are setting up the ring and we are the ones to get in there and do the punching with the opponent called Govt stats. REALLY.
Don’t play games.
Set up the ring. And YOU get in there and throw the punches. If you want to be a champion that’s the best way to go.
You gotta figure out how you going to fight them and join them too. That’s a problem you created so you can fix that.
But ease off the games.
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de pedantic Dribbler July 9, 2016 at 12:28 PM #
@Pieces, you said it well. I was particularly confounded by Walter’s response. Surely as a practitioner in a career of employment/labour/populations et al he would have particularly solid views on how such a large percentile of the net labour force is described as “deemed to be not seeking employment”.
His ‘learned’ response was perfect political gobbly-gock non-speak, with a lovely spattering of nice sounding words of stats analysis like “…sample size, assumed distribution (along with its mean and variance) and margin of error”.
de pedantic Dribbler,
Let me put this bluntly for you because sometimes you pretend to be daft.
Like you, I had the opportunity to read in the Nation newspaper that at March 31, 2016, 76,700 persons were not actively looking for work in Barbados. The figure was published, by a public newspaper, for public consumption.
Like you, I have no idea of how that number was arrived at. Like you, I have no special expertise, experience, or knowledge that can enable me to enlighten anyone about how such a number was arrived at, and I have no intention of holding out myself as having such.
I have “screamed” that the data have been attributed to the Barbados Statistical Service by the Nation.
For starters, I would advise you to contact the Barbados Statistical Service and let them know that you have some questions about their data. If the department gives you any insights, you can come back and share them with us on BU.
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Such a measure would end up understating the number of persons “unemployed”. I meant “employed”
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Fair enough Walter, that number needs some analysis. I thought your background in stats and labour data gave you the upper hand to delve and dissect.
Of course there are some accepted economic norms on how that stat is populated so I was looking to you for Bajan specifics. OK, you don’t have them. NP.
Oh, I don’t pretend. Daft is as daft does.
@Gazer, I don’t believe there is a problem per se with the ‘voluntary idle’ figure and as Walter noted within that broad number there are likely self-employed as well.
As you suggest labor stats become a political football and folks cherry pick details to suit their party’s hold on power. From the first Lipsey econ class I did I understood that a country’s full employment was somewhere in the 4 – 5 percentile and sometimes could be as high as 6%…because of various factors including that ‘voluntary idle’ component.
It was therefore quite surprising (or rather annoying) to see that current US labor numbers – according to their Labor Dept – which got perilously close to the accepted full employment percentages were yet considered a sign of poor economy and an incompetent President Obama.
That said there are other key factors (cost of living, inflation, types of actual jobs, to name three) which also determine a country’s true economic health.
But in politics we massage data to suit or needs. ALWAYS.
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Some of you are really being harsh on Walter. His only misstep was to retreat to political speak by giving credit to the DLP government IF we use the same yardstick used for years. Then again Walter is a politician of late😀
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@ De Word
You gots to know Walter cause I know you and PPK jes do de unspeakable
Imagine he say
“de pedantic Dribbler,
Let me put this bluntly for you because sometimes you pretend to be daft.
Whuloss “pretend to be daft?? Whuloss he know who he talking to?
But leh we lef dat out cause PPK says and i quote his quotation of your quotation ….
“Like you, I had the opportunity to read ….blah blah balh
Like you, I have no idea of how that number was arrived at …blah blah blah.
Like you, I have no special expertise, experience, or knowledge that … (no whuloss he din jes say dat? no special expertise? or knowledge? whuloss
But de one ting dat he din say dribbler tuh whichin I surprised that you din lick he up fuh dis was
“Unlike you, Dribbler, I Walther PPK was heah saying dat de Prime Minister was to be congratulated, and dat Chris Stinkliar was to be knighted for des statistics of 6.3% or is dat 9.3% of some sorta low percent Unemploymnet statistics dat he now waffling and speed wobbling and now to be my personal favourite next to “fecundity” that is, “His ‘learned’ response was perfect political gobbly-gock non-speak, with a lovely spattering of nice sounding words of…”
“Perfect Political Gobbly-Gock non-speak”
Oh lawsie,
“Perfect Political Gobbly-Gock non-speak” whuloss…!
Wunna gine kill he?
One man in de ring and 9 menses in de nex corner…Bushie, Watchman, Pachamama, Enuff, TheGazer? Are We There Yet, Artaxerxes, Caswell and you Dribbler.
Wunna gine kill he?
Whu he does doan even get to half way in the ring before wunna does tag team he donkey back into the corner and this is not the american tag team pup did is de british gore with that piece uh metal tie to a sting
Whuloss….
But PPK like he powful foolish or punch stupid or daft cause he does jes like coming back fuh mo and mo licks
Leh me see P.P.K – Perfect Political Ki**ass and the missing letters ent ck heheheheheheh.
Walther I bet you ent notice, given the blood from all the wounds in you head, dat AC AND Alvin Cummins abandon you scvunt to the licks like peas dat you getting heah.
Doan worry do PPK, I got your back hahahahahahaha whulosss
I heah peeing myself
You know how long i been wring this heah entry?
Oh Lawsie….
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Me and de Honourable Bloggmaster.
He just throw some water in the ring , straight out of the kettle….
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Whatever happen, please do not dead from these blows in the next few days cause dem going arrest 10 men as “accessories tuh de murder of one PPK”
De ten uh DEM (note how quickly I disassociate myself) gine get charges which will read
“that you ten varmints did viciously, and with afore thought, beat the PPK mercilessly around the head and body, and did not ease up, indeed this is indeed more than plain destruction of a Bajan but, given the wounds AND the testimony of Verla Depeiza, we believe this to be sedition, yea even treason.
For in “departing the deceased, (legal google gook for killing your donkey with blows) they, the Heartless Ten, not to be confused with the Eager 11, assaulted the person of the candidate in waiting. for the St. Michael East seat.”
PPK, i think that a gun carriage with no less that 13,636 and no more that 76,733 gun shots in your honour will be fired off.
One Sargeant and Colonel Buggy will order the military side of things and we will ask the Owner of the Remingtons to loan us the 30.07’s for the gun salute.
Dale Smiley Teets Marshall and David Pitbull will lead off the gun salute with them firearms cause you dun know that each uh dem still got a bullet fuh de next fellah. We may have to get to more holes did for de two uh dem too
Doan worry we ent going carry you to st john cause de way you dismiss David Thompson 2 years it is obvious dat you ent got too much respect fuh he and we dont want no Chase Vault occurrences up in Barrow Land
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I tried to put together the table below from the numbers given in the discussion and from the Ministry of Labour’s employment data. Any mistakes are my own.
Check the numbers shown in red in the spreadsheet. They need a lot of explanation from a numbers expert, especially one whose livelihood depends on numbers, not from mere BU posters like myself. Glad to see that MillertheAnnunaki has got through to him.
The discussion is an important one, if it concentrates on the line that Walter has suggested. Hopefully, he will have recognized that the ploy of congratulating the incumbent ne’er do wells for continuing and perhaps adding to the flaws in an evidently flawed system is very transparent.
The data shows an inconsistency that is not good for a national system. The reported IMF strictures on the CB’s attempt to put their own statistical data out there might have been a resultant of recognition of the general quality of our statistical data.
Nevertheless, the MoL’s labour statistics database is a beautiful responsive system and I must thank Walter for publishing the URL on BU. It deserves nothing less than upgrading the data collection process, rationalizing the data collected and its purpose, and instituting standards for its collection.
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@ Are We There Yet.
YOu are to be congratulated on 3 things
(a) your humility in having put your “money where your mouth is and to go and “do it” and to resort a an EXCEL spreadsheet and post it as would any real real financial consultant who should be familiar with the tools of the trade.
No aspersion thrown at THe Anunnaki because he put in clear unassailable narrative what you have rendered in tabular form
(b) You are very kind with your comments about the table and how they reflect on the “adulalor” or he who was “so profuse in his adulation of the existing government” one with whom he is seeking an endorsement
(c) finally you have also shed a serious spotlight on the “weakest link”.
No not the PPK, you have already shone a floodlamp on him no, i mean the collection mechanism that feeds the Statistical Department and the Ministry of labour, our absence of pertinent technology that will feed “continuous labour force surveys”.
De ole man hinted at this in an earlier post re Mark Zuckerman and his imminent data mining engine that WILL BE THE CENSUS & LABOUR FORCE survey engine of the 2025 a survey engine which is going to bypass all that stupidness about confidential data and sovereign data.
Let de ole man explain.
Suppose i create a profile with my name Walther PPK, age: xx (de birthdate you used to set up the profile) and profession. I install the facebook app on my phone. The GPS registers how regularly is move each day and where i go so chances are it is either my job or my outside woman AND GOOGLE MAPS should confirm is it is one or the other.
The opportunity is there for ground truthing information which his (or any other external players”) data does not see at this time, e.g. “pimples on someone’s pooch” in other words, at 2016, there are certain holes in our local environment which they don’t have rapid access to
And since Walter earlier today did ask for it, here is the “NEXT” video that he begged for.
I expect that there will soon be a “next” article submitted where he will probably choose a topic like “growing Thyme during the Rainy Months as a way to develop the Entrepreneurial Class”
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David;
Thanks for appending the spreadsheet for me!
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After seeing Walter feeble, trying to lip off “Walter Blackman is Back” this Elementary school 7 standard Watchman on BU, try to point out to Walter some flaws,because I saw how much glass he was made of, and knowing the DLP history from the EWB days, I give him the PPK, after seeing the sharpshooters on BU returning fire, I ask him to stay of BU , read psalm :133 and cool off, not Walter, he openly took a position, on the DLP range and kept busy shooting lip about at things to show ” Walter Blackman is back” the ACs and Alvin join in,but the history of abandonment in the DLP play, so ACs and Alvin gone and leave the PPK to the real big gun, have not seen the PPK, since the spreadsheet got laid out on BU, Piece that last dancing pic got the PPK dizzy?
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David July 9, 2016 at 9:28 AM #
“@Walter
Didn’t the Governor of the Central Bank commission an ‘independent’ study of the unemployment number a couple years ago when the number went against government expectation? It seems that there is an opportunity to do the same now. Perhaps more so”
David,
Yes, I seem to recall that the Central Bank and Barbados Statistical Service produced different unemployment rates “a couple years ago”. I would bet my last dollar that the major area of disagreement in the two calculations was “the number of persons not actively looking for work”. I also seem to recall that the number produced by the Barbados Statistical Service was officially adopted.
So far, the Central Bank has not publicly raised any objection to, or concern over, the 9.3% unemployment rate recently published by the Barbados Statistical Service.
The Minister of Finance would have undoubtedly greeted the 9.3% unemployment rate as good news.
The opposition, represented in this case by Prodigal Son, is angered at such “good” news reaching the public because the very last thing they want to confront in the next general election is a resurgent economy. Therefore, politically, one can easily understand why the opposition is insisting that the true unemployment rate must be 20% or more. I would be surprised if they did an ‘independent’ study.
Although, as expected, a lot of energy and attention have been focused on me, I sense that some progress has been made in getting BU readers to become aware of some of the “imperfections and assumptions” inherent in the calculation of our unemployment rate.
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Watchman July 9, 2016 at 10:44 PM #
“so ACs and Alvin gone and leave the PPK to the real big gun…….”
Watchman,
Before ACs left, they pushed a little note under your door:
“Walter did the right thing stop the blp operatives dead in their tracks and move on. In any case all the swords were broken not even a show of blood on one of them.steupsee”
Enjoy.
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are-we-there-yet July 9, 2016 at 5:08 PM #
“The discussion is an important one, if it concentrates on the line that Walter has suggested…”
are-we-there-yet,
That is a fair comment.
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That was a good one, Piece!
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watchman
Watchman what do you want Walter to say the truth of matter people get tired of playing the BLP Political cat and mouse game of DESPERATION
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Walter, re your 3:56 AM post
Thanks!
I always try my best to be fair. I am not a politician of any stripe.
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I believe it was the late 19th century poet and philosopher Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who once wrote, “The heights that great men reached and kept were not achieved by sudden flight but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upwards through the night.
Sometimes when I read the contributions of some BU members, I often ask myself how many of us are really involved in our communities, and are really trying to make a difference to at least one of our young people. I marvel at those whose childish attempts at the esoteric become nothing more than comedic relief for the doers.
Societies are seldom changed by cowards who cannot even take the basic step of moving beyond the high school debate mentality.
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William Skinner, re. your 8:04 am post;
Some also serve who, by quietly utilizing their special talents and knowledge on BU to add value albiet infinitesibly to the discussion, bring other important perspectives to the debates of our times.
We can’t all be Politicians and Maloney’s and Rihannas, and Garfield Sobers and even William Skinners. ….and you must know that big changes in many societies have often started with small seemingly insignificant events involving even cowards rather than the strategic actions of those who you might deem to be impotent in this regard.
And really, how do you know what the people who now post here have contributed to change in this society or others?
There are many ways to skin a rat.
Stupseeeee!
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Oops! important not impotent. 4th last paragraph above.
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@ Walter Blackman July 10, 2016 at 3:31 AM
“Although, as expected, a lot of energy and attention have been focused on me, I sense that some progress has been made in getting BU readers to become aware of some of the “imperfections and assumptions” inherent in the calculation of our unemployment rate.”
But McMilton, you are the one who brought the biased political spin into the topic in the first place.
Why assign ‘feigned’ adulation to political actors that appears contrary to your previous professional position on this most important social and economic phenomenon called unemployment and which once reflected a large measure of ‘independence of thought’ and sound intellectual substance?
The position you took in the form of giving kudos to people whose only interest in this methodology with its myriad “imperfections and assumptions” (warts ad all) is to score cheap political points to support imaginary economic growth while the country’s financial health is at an all time low and the foreign reserves taking a nosedive as will be reflected in the ‘due’ 2nd qtr report if the data have not been sent to the guv’s massage salon for therapy.
Now that you have (by intellectual sleight of hand) moved away from your burgeoning faux pas of kissing the asses of that band of well-established liars let us agree to return to the arduous task of trying to bring a measure of integrity to public administration of the affairs of a long-suffering nation before Barbados does sink to the Third World level of a ‘ripened banana republic.
Here is what you said regarding the alternative method of measuring and reporting the ‘Unemployment’ statistics:
“Now that you have grasped the essence of my intent, let us go back to a suggestion you made earlier – that we use NIS contributors to determine the number of persons employed.
Such a measure would end up understating the number of persons unemployed in Barbados because there are thousands of self-employed persons in Barbados who do not contribute to the NIS. These self-employed persons should and must be included in the number of persons employed.”
The question to you, Walter, is:
How does one measure (count) the self-employed if they are not registered with the NIS?
By means of a national census every 10 years?
Or by means of some continuous household survey based on ‘sampling’ (which Peter Wickham might find unsuitable for his political polling requirements) that begs the question:
“Are you employed or self-employed or voluntarily idle”?
And if you are self-employed, what do you do for a living?
Illegally sell nuts and weed along the streets?
Or do you sell your only skill and asset on Bush Hill and in other ‘underground’ marketplaces to meet the nocturnal needs of those otherwise employed denizens unhappy with their domestic supply of ecstasy?
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AWTY
Why are you being so defenseless in your arrogance with infantile attacks there is truth and merit to what Skinner has said for as many long years that i have walked the hallways of BU i have yet to meet any of those who vigorously state their differences standing or seated in the line up of the gorilla warfare of activity like true dedicated soldiers willing to die fighting on the battle field to make social or economic changes across the length and breadth of barbados
However what if have seen are plenty soldiers having a comfortable seat at a table willing to serve and fight for their own interest Truth be told
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@AWTY,
I was careful to say how many of “us” my friend. This was not an attempt to judge but merely a soft clarion call for us to get involved in our communities. Obviously, my comments would not have applied to those who are already active or have given service. I guess there is no real way to win unless one assumes a position of arrogance and innuendo.
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ac;
There is indeed some truth to what Skinner has said but there is another side that needs to be defended as well.
I am not the one who is being arrogant. I think William Skinner is.
ac; re your point above i have yet to meet any of those who vigorously state their differences standing or seated in the line up of the gorilla warfare of activity like true dedicated soldiers willing to die fighting on the battle field to make social or economic changes across the length and breadth of barbados anyone with half a brain can gauge that YOUR primary interest lies with defending your party to the detriment of almost everything else. So too is my friend the other AC. and there are a few others.
But my question to you as to William Skinner is; How do you know what the anonymous posters have or have’nt done in their lives to improve their society?
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“…… I have walked the hallways of BU I have yet to meet any of those who vigorously state their differences standing or seated in the line up of the gorilla [GUERRILLA] warfare of activity like true dedicated soldiers willing to die fighting on the battle field to make social or economic changes across the length and breadth of Barbados.”
BU is a forum where many contributors, INCLUDING YOU, post their contributions under PSEUDONYMS. In other words, they write under “nom de plume.”
Pray tell me, in a forum where CONTRIBUTORS use FICTITIOUS NAMES to CONCEAL THEIR IDENTITIES, what METHODS have you USED to IDENTIFY “those INDIVIDUALS who vigorously state their differences standing or seated” to DETERMINE they have NOT made any “social or economic changes across the length and breadth of Barbados?”
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@ Walter Blackman
I going to tell you again, my respect for you remain, until you get the nod to run for St.. M. East, I have no respect for Politicians and yardfowls, because they have no integrity, therefore, the yardfowl that you will be force to become, as long as you want to stay in Barbados, is not my style, my comments on BU are mine, I know right from wrong, I am not perfect but have a sense that can assume, for example the Governor of the central Bank came under fire for producing unemployment rates, so why should he do it again, when the powerful DLP can and will place, an operatives a In place like BSS , like they place the Governor in central Bank, you, the want-to-be Prodigal son ( 21 years away) of the DLP operating here on BU, should ponder if the DLP is capable of open arms and compassion, since 2008 all we see are self-righteousness and resentment for the Barbadian people
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millertheanunnaki July 10, 2016 at 8:39 AM #
“@ Walter Blackman
How does one measure (count) the self-employed if they are not registered with the NIS?
By means of a national census every 10 years?
Or by means of some continuous household survey based on ‘sampling’ (which Peter Wickham might find unsuitable for his political polling requirements) that begs the question:
“Are you employed or self-employed or voluntarily idle”?
And if you are self-employed, what do you do for a living?
Illegally sell nuts and weed along the streets?
Or do you sell your only skill and asset on Bush Hill and in other ‘underground’ marketplaces to meet the nocturnal needs of those otherwise employed denizens unhappy with their domestic supply of ecstasy?”
millertheanunnaki,
Reasonable questions.
Employees at the Barbados Statistical Service try to answer questions similar to these for a living on a daily basis (We, the taxpayers, pay them to do it), and might be delighted to answer these questions for you.
You might also be able to find out from the Central Bank what their concerns with the calculation of the unemployment rate were “a couple years ago”, and what alternative mechanism they used or developed to improve the calculation.
As an inquisitive Barbadian citizen, deeply interested in the practical roles and functions of some of our public agencies, you deserve a speedy reply.
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@William
You point is taken BUT politics as you now it has evolved in Barbados. In the view of BU it is more about promoting the brand of the party; the colour, over the individual. This is retail politics in Barbados.
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Watchman, Barbados has been turned from “a perfect Garden of Eden” into a cesspool, since 2008.
True or false?
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How do i know.let me submit on a basis of physical identity i do not know. However i would say that giving the high intensity of debate on BU over the years there are many angles from the wording of content or statements ging by individuals which would highlight such observations and give suffivient reasons of conviction to attract or raise a level of awareness as to the individual identity. Yes on some occasions rare and inbetween a politician by name have made presence known . However those of regular engagement have not shown or have given any valid reason to belive there
person /s or indivuduals who have stood physically as vanguard on the socio or economic battlefield making a change.
Subject to correction if wrong but that person or persons would have to make identity known to be validated
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@ David,
I scarcely think that politics is the only way to get involved in our communities. Maybe I am just missing something. Do you care to elaborate? Thanks
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“However I would say that giving the high intensity of debate on BU over the years there are many angles from the wording of content or statements ging (given??) by individuals which would highlight such observations and give sufficient reasons of conviction to attract or raise a level of awareness as to the individual identity.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I’m not as intelligent as any member of the consortium of yard-fowls, but the REASON why someone writes UNDER a nom de plume is to CONCEAL their IDENTITY.
Only an idiot would USE a PSEUDONYM and then CONSTRUCT his/her contribution in a MANNER that would “give sufficient reasons of conviction to attract or raise a level of awareness as to the individual’s identity.”
It reminds me of a secondary school mate who sent a “love post card” to a girl he liked, wrote on the bottom: “From a secret admirer” and signed his name, “Rudolph *******.
Such an undertaking is beyond reason and harrows me with more wonder than fear.
However, perhaps on the other hand, you may have a point. Because, taking your reasoning on this and other matters into consideration, especially judging “from the wording of content or statements (given) by (you) which (has) highlighted such observations and give sufficient reasons of conviction to attract or raise a level of awareness as to your identity,” to wit, ignoramus yard-fowls.
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@William
Of course you are correct that we can serve the public outside of politics. It seems though to make the greatest impact one must be wrapped in the colours.
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lol very funny and since you are observant and very aware kindly give evidence by way of name who the many ac/s are ..although in similar fashion i have stated the obvious with a given reason as to why those regulars who have contributed on BU are empty vessels making loud noises far removed from being contributors to the overall development of Barbados with intents to contribute to self serve and attract others likewise
More often than not there is nothing of content or persuasive action to think otherwise
However my standing order remain as is to You Artax to revealed by way of content for identification purposes who these many ac/s are rather than provide speculative banter
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@ Walter Blackman
Barbadians has allowed a cesspool from George Street to run and instead of interring in grave yard, it seep up in the H of P,
How much money did the Transport Board owes the NIS before 2010 , how much are owed to the BWA workers who are ready to stop work ,how much are owed to UCAL, the UWI, even the poor Black person on sick leave
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“…although in similar fashion i have stated the obvious with a given reason as to why those regulars who have contributed on BU are empty vessels making loud noises far removed from being contributors to the overall development of Barbados with intents to contribute to self serve and attract others likewise. More often than not there is nothing of content or persuasive action to think otherwise.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++
I agree.
Your above comments ACCURATELY DESCRIBES you and your contributions, especially taking into consideration that you are ALSO a “REGULAR.”
If you actually harbour such CONTEMPT for BU and its contributors, WHY DO YOU WASTE TIME MAKING MULTIPLE COMMENTS on EVERY ISSUE posted in this forum for “discussion?”
Essentially, by the contents of your contribution, you have admitted you are an idiot.
However, you should start as an example for us to follow, by INFORMING BU what CONTRIBUTIONS you and your ilk have made “to the overall development of Barbados with intents to contribute to self serve and attract others likewise.”
Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t give a shiite about the number of ACs that comprise the consortium and I care much less about your identities.
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Well there u have it from the horses a.ss having much of nothing to support his accusations against ac.but quite happy to make presence known in his exuberance to attack and villify
Firstly u have been on a mission to expose my identity for several months engaging in desperate analogies or speaking of specfic attire .
So dont get here and pretend as if u do not care because it is obvious that u do going by your recent content and your methods of trying to identify ac/s with your riduculous comments. Your are one bold faced hypocrite truly a natural kin to the blp
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“Well there u have it from the horses ass having much of nothing to support their” criticism of BU.
Interesting you used two paragraphs to respond to one sentence in my contribution. Don’t be bothered if I’m “a bold face hypocrite” or a member of the BLP. You demonstrate your “bold faced hypocrisy” each time you criticize BU and then becomes its MOST FREQUENT CONTRIBUTOR.
Rather, you should have FOCUSED your ATTENTION on the SUBSTANTIVE point in my overall comments.
If you actually HARBOUR such CONTEMPT for BU and its contributors, WHY DO YOU WASTE TIME MAKING MULTIPLE COMMENTS on EVERY ISSUE posted in this forum for “discussion, even those ABOVE your level of intelligence?”
You should start as an example for us to follow, by INFORMING BU what CONTRIBUTIONS you and your ilk have made “to the overall development of Barbados with intents to contribute to self serve and attract others likewise.”
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BU’s biggest critics are logged on to the site more than others and post more comments. As an example AC posted the most comments in 2015. Hypocrites indeed.
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How much like a thousand enough to keep you David busy. Lol
Oh Artax enough contributions to deny Mia and the blp party the coveted prize and barbadians agree
Good enough for me
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An entry for the Prime Minister’s and the Minister of the Environment Innovation Award
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BLP, DLP, BLP, DLP. Everything reduced to partisan politics. Is this all there is to some people’s life? The choice of one failed party over another!!!!
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