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Pandemic and Prices

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Submitted by Wayne Cadogan

Good Morning David, I know that it has been a  while I haven’t submitted anything, but I thought that I should make a contribution and this short article was not a bad topic to start. If it is possible to be printed in any form to get the message out, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

price gouging

Someone sent me this receipt last night on WhatsApp and I thought that I should share it with the public. This is highway robbery, price gouging, stealing from the poor. This is one of the reasons that Barbados needs to have a strong consumer protection agency to fight for and protect the vulnerable from being taken advantage of by some of these unscrupulous business establishments of the poor who are the ones that usually feel the brunt of such exploitation. Barbadians need to boycott these businesses that infringe on the laws and taking advantage of the less fortunate. What is really amusing is the fact that they say ” Thanks, come again”.

 

Wake up Barbadians.

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205 responses to “Pandemic and Prices”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    @Dee Word

    Yes but importantly the framework and methods implemented to educate a people must be dynamic to be relevant.

  2. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Greene
    @ William

    Here is one for you…..

    How CBC Can be the Cultural Beacon in Barbados: A Work in Progress

    By Hal Austin

    Introduction:
    The Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, the government-controlled public broadcasting body in Barbados, is – or ought to be – the crown jewel in public services in that tiny Caribbean island and the driving force of the national culture.
    However, its long-term future has recently been in doubt. There has been talk of privatisation, either to a local conglomerate or to Trinidadians, and now, under the current David Thompson government, there is now talk of reform.
    But what form will this reform take? Given that there has been no public discussion, no debate about the sort of broadcasting body most Barbadians will prefer, nor indeed of the corporation’s place in the pantheon of national culture.
    This brief essay is an attempt to stimulate such a public discussion. It draws on nearly forty years of journalism, both print and broadcasting, but is not meant to be a blueprint for the future. Rather, it represents just one person’s views and is a work in progress.

    Public Broadcasting:
    Public broadcasting is more than just an excuse to provide state-funded jobs for a small group of chosen people, or even simply taxpayers funding the ruling regime’s propaganda.
    As Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC, said in his 2006 Smith Institute Media Lecture: “For us, public value is the sum of the civic, social and cultural benefits the BBC delivers when it meets its public purposes. An economist might describe it in terms of merit goods and positive externalities. Perhaps a more compelling way to put it is like this: the broadcasting space, the digital media space, is public space – a part of the public realm just as much as our city spaces and town squares.”
    At the heart of public broadcasting is the idea of public values and cultural transmission, two key concepts in modern democracy that are not often mentioned enough in Barbadian public conversations.
    In an ideal world, CBC should be at the heart of what makes us Barbadians, from music to drama to speech radio; its programming and content should be focussed on how to maintain the core values of our society, delivered through the medium of world-class and objective journalism and broadcasting.
    One way of connecting to citizens is to have a viewers’ and listeners’ forum which will meet regularly – for example, monthly – and will express strong views on the quality of service and the nature of programmes.
    Although the forum will not have the power to enforce its views, it will exert a powerful influence on the way CBC is managed.

    Management Structure:
    To deliver good journalism the management structure must be first rate. What really inhibits CBC from maximising its corporate and individual talent pool is blatant and journalistically illiterate government interference, on the one hand, and individual short-sightedness on the other.
    First, the legislation governing CBC should be updated to give the organisation a five-year rolling contract, during which period there will be no direct ministerial interference in day-to-day management.
    But a reformed CBC must also take a long, hard look at the career development of its employees by bypassing the confrontational unions and going direct to staff with a comprehensive menu of benefits, including competitive salaries, a defined career path, decent contributory pensions, study leave, training, medical and dental programmes, gym membership, and a contributory medical programme.
    But this must be in exchange for a new approach to work; out must go timeservers, timewasters, the lazy, unproductive, incompetent, unambitious.
    The reformed CBC must be a centre of cultural excellence, a hotbed of creativity, of journalistic dynamism, of intellectual curiosity.
    It should, given these developments, be the number one employer of choice for all Caribbean people, an institution that all Barbadians will be proud of, apart from the cultural philistines, the financially greedy and the career-obsessed, because of the way it is managed and the opportunities it provides.
    Under the new reforms, parliament will set the regulatory and legislative framework under the suggested rolling five-year contract. It will also – or preferably a public appointments board – appoint a board of trustees which will be responsible for strategy and the trustees will in turn appoint a management board which will be responsible for implementation of that strategy.
    The chief executive officer will have full responsibility for day-to-day running of the corporation with a tough brief to operate within budgets. He or she will have the right to hire and fire staff, reporting to the management board; the CEO will also have final responsibility for programme making as Editor-in-Chief and will be an ex-officio and non-voting member of the board of trustees.
    These reforms will introduce clarity, remove the temptations of political and trustee interference in the operation of the organisation and give the CEO full authority in the management of the broadcaster and to introduce change.
    The chairman of the board of trustees, after widespread consultation, will establish an effective board, which s/he will lead as a team; s/he will plan and manage the board’s business, establish priorities, develop and maintain a productive relationship with the chief executive; the CEO will also lead communication with the public, senior civil servants and politicians on CBC policy; represent CBC at regional and international conferences and meetings; chairing an annual public meting at which CBC policy will be explained to listeners and viewers; and, submit an annual report on the organisation’s activities and proposals, if any, for change, to parliament, which will eventually be made public.
    The chief executive: will report regularly to the Board with appropriate, timely and quality information with which the Board could discharge its statutory obligations; s/he will inform and consult the chairman on all matters of significance so the chairman and Board; develop and deliver a set of strategic objectives agreed with the Board; recommend to the chairman and Board significant operational changes and major capital expenditures where they are beyond the CEO’s delegated authority; assigning clear and achievable responsibilities to senior management and establishing and overseeing an effective risk-management and control systems; recruiting, developing and retaining talented staff, including senior managers, all of whom will be fully evaluated; representing, with the chairman and Board and senior managers, the organisation to the public; all members of staff, apart from the Board, chairman and his/her staff, will report direct or indirect to the CEO.
    One obvious efficiency gain under such reforms will be maintaining a tight ratio of managers to ordinary salaried staff with appropriate salary differentials.
    We must not allow affordability to differentiate between categories of viewers. A basic operational principle behind CBC must be a free-on-demand service for all broadcasting services offered by the network.
    Which raises the sensitive issue of funding these proposed reforms. A reformed CBC also creates an ideal opportunity for the introduction of a hypothecated form of funding, which will transform fiscal policy in the region.

    Radical Programming:
    It is through radical and innovative programming that CBC could re-connect with ordinary Barbadians and provide a service which is at the heart of the nation’s cultural needs.
    This will cover not only entertainment, but the provision of progressive national, regional and international news and current affairs, education, crafts and history and cultural programming.
    Further, there is no good economic reason why Barbados cannot be fully cabled, in addition to one or two more land-based television and radio stations, thereby giving intense competition to satellite providers.
    A new radicalised programming and additional channels, such as an education channel, would cover such areas as drama, speech, music, light entertainment, life-long education, factual, politics, business, sport, investigative journalism, children’s programmes, community programming, oral history and archiving.
    Emphasis should be put on creative renewal, refocusing the content of programmes to face the challenges of new and more sophisticated audiences, including delivering original Caribbean drama in reasonable lead times.
    To achieve this CBC should be put under the control of a creative leadership briefed to restore confidence to the existing broadcasting and journalistic team while bringing in new and equally dynamic people to refresh the product.

    Other Services:
    Apart from broadcasting, the national broadcaster could be a provider of Internet connectivity, broadband, Internet telephony, digital high definition television and digital music, video and film downloads, podcasting, online education and the pioneering advanced fibre optic-based land-line offerings to cater for international companies keen to do business in Barbados.
    This would put CBC and Barbados at the cutting edge of the new communication systems given that the dividing line between mobile phone (cellphone) offerings and landlines are now becoming clear: mobiles are becoming the method of choice for person-to-person calls while landlines are dominated by the internet, fax machines and other forms of business communication. This can also be a service for small businesses, including archiving.
    The reforms could also include dedicated sports and cultural channels, with programmes ranging from cricket and soccer to ice hockey and mountaineering and everything in between; opera, ballet, drama, poetry, art, contemporary music in every form, sculpture and every other form of cultural expression on the culture channel.
    An Internet browser homepage would also extend the advertising range beyond the narrow geographical restrictions of Barbados to embrace the entire CSME region and the wider Caribbean Diaspora.

    Funding:
    The constant and irritating noise made by the private sector and it flag-waving political supporters about the privatising of CBC is a sideshow which can and should be ignored.
    If they are as keen as they seem to be about establishing a fully commercial broadcasting network then they should be pressing the government for a licence to operate their own stations, not seek to buy at as low a cost as possible one that has been going for over forty years, funded by taxpayers, effectively cannibalising a jewel in the national crown.
    Despite this, funding will remain the Achilles heel of a public service broadcaster and this can be done in three ways: wholly by public funding; by privatisation, or by a hybrid funding system.
    Public funding provides an almost unique opportunity for government to introduce new forms of funding for the nation’s principal organisation, even more so than the National Cultural Foundation.
    One such idea is to introduce a hypothecated tax from which the nation’s cultural providers will be funded. For example, there are about 110000 homes in Barbados. Let us assume that each home has a television; a Bds$120 a year television tax, or about 35cents a day, that will bring in about Bds$13m a year in new revenue tailored for broadcasting and the cultural industries. The hotels will be expected to pay at least Bds$15 per television per customer a month.
    Over five years, or the life of a government, that will be between Bds$68m and Bds$100m of dedicated funds for the industry, over and above what the industry gets now for advertising.
    This will be spent on programming, staff-training, providing peppercorn funding for developing writers and production companies, digital archiving, and, in part, funding other cultural activities under the aegis of the National Cultural Foundation and the over-all improvement of the output of the station.
    Such innovations are not wishful thinking. They are the expected developments of a 40-year-old television service which could be funded by such a hypothecated form of revenue-raising without any public outcry as long as people see the improvements.
    Further, the revenue-generating units of the new service could more than cover the day-to-day running costs of the broadcaster, at a cost far below similar services in any developed country.
    The belief that Barbadians would resist paying for any such service does not stack up. The average Barbadian will jump at the opportunity to live permanently in the US, even though the US is a far more heavily taxed nation than Barbados – with City, state and Federal forms of taxation.
    The above proposed improved programming and diversified services from a reformed CBC will be more economic than a similar service from a US provider. For example Comcast, can cost US$50 a month, or Bds$1200 a year for a basic service compared with Bds$120 a year per household at the present exchange rates under these proposals for an equally first-rate service.
    For digital service, US customers pay up to US$140 a month or Bds$280, the equivalent of Bds$3360 a year.
    And for the phone service along, Comcast customers in 2007 paid US35 a line a month – Bds$70 or Bds$840 a year – with free nationwide calls; added to this commercial mix an opportunity for growth and the under-realised possibilities of the state broadcaster become even more obvious.
    The second form of possible funding is total privatisation, which will be a betrayal of the Barbadian people.
    Any government with the concerns of ordinary people at its heart would ignore the howls of the greedy and money-grabbing who are calling for the privatising of CBC.
    First, it would mean putting the leading media organisation in the island in the hands of an unrepresentative elite who do not have the long-term interest of the nation at heart; it would also introduce an unnecessary element of job insecurity, which would inevitably impact on the quality of the programmes and news reporting. And, in simple terms, would be unfair.
    A far better proposal will be to create a new and alternative broadcasting license for which would-be broadcasters would have to enter an auction. In this way, the government will raise much-needed additional revenue while at the same time introduce an element of competition for CBC. Moreover, that additional money could be added to the hypothecated pot for funding cultural enterprises.
    Third, is a hybrid business model – part public service broadcaster and part commercial station – similar to the present model.

    Conclusion:
    The strategic mission for the government, the creative industry and ordinary people in Barbados should be to make CBC a cultural catalyst, a national broadcasting institution which may be financially poorer but cultural and technologically the equal of any similar public broadcasting body in the world.
    This can be achieved by removing the stultifying and narrow party politics, and, working hand in glove with the National Cultural Foundation and the Community College, to create new drama, journalism, music, dance, sport, televisual and speech vehicles through which to reflect the nation’s cultural offerings and the creative talents of people in the island and region. Call it the Rihanna dividend.
    We must not allow the destructive development model of most emerging countries to cloud our democracy. To preserve the integrity of our public conversation we must separate the funding, governance and editorial choices within our public broadcasting bodies from our political masters.
    A nation in which the principal media organisation is subject to manipulation by the ruling government, either directly or by placed men, has lost all claims to being democratic.
    A modern democracy is driven by citizens who make informed choices; if that citizenry is denied the right to objective, impartial information it is, ipso facto, denied the lifeblood of the democratic process. It follows, therefore, that the enemies of a free press, those who put party before freedom, are the enemies of democracy.
    We need new approaches to measuring performance in public bodies: on service delivery, building consensus, quality of service, contribution to cultural development, the public sector’s role in national education, management efficiencies and value based on international comparisons.
    Service delivery can be measured through user feedback; building consensus can be measured by audience penetration and identification; quality of service can be measured by use of state-of-the-art equipment and skills of staff; contribution to development can be measured through the relevance of programming to the nation’s perception of itself; and its role in national education again can be measured in terms of its factual programming.
    In terms of management efficiencies, there is no rule which says that the public sector cannot be managed with the same cost/benefit efficiencies as any private sector organisation.
    It means having an organisational culture which emphasises productivity, good timekeeping, discipline, transparent career structures, strict line management procedures and the other expectations of a well-run organisation.
    A reformed CBC must be driven by a fierce spirit of journalistic independence, a well-trained and adventurous independent management; strong institutional values; powerful public consensus and public trust; and transparent and effective administrative efficiency.
    That is not too much to offer the people of Barbados.

    Hal Austin, London
    (Copyright, 2008)

  3. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    Granted @David, but I’ll add to the Bushman’s point back in 2010 when he mused on what had changed here so drastically to shift from a single community college 6th form model to a 6th form at every secondary school…

    As a layman that strategic change smacked of the personal bragging rights of ‘X school won a scholarship’ rather than looking practically at the best fit for our educational development.

    In our small nation why have more 6th form schools if not simply to boost some perceived self worth…. the original concept of developing the CC and growing the skills set and offerings made sense when it was conceived and even more sense now when resources and the push for a better tech smart student is considered.

    So that senor was a ring, a ring of roses…around the bush! Anyhow… its done so we have moved on to other wasteful acts!

  4. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @DPD,

    he also wrote BUSINESS IN BIM- A BUSINESS HISTORY OF BARBADOS 1900-2000. v good book.

    And Hen went school at St George Primary lol

  5. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @Hal,

    thanks Hal

  6. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @Hal April 25, 2020 10:53 AM

    There is a press conference being held at present. There has been three additional cases found. It seems that I have been correct in my assessment of things. I turned off the radio after Bradshaw succinctly outlined the situation and handed over to Cynthia Forde to elaborate on the topic(since it would appear that the out break occurred at the National Assistance Board). Forde runs off her mouth talking about the wonderful leadership of Bradshaw instead of getting to the point. I tuned out. It appears that asymptomatic carriers were not subjected to a mandatory quarantine and were allowed to mingle freely with the population at large. There has been graphs( some very pretty looking) and a lot of conjecture about a flattening of infection rates on this Blog. One thing all over looked: the lack of mandatory screening and enforcement of a quarantine between 15-22 March 2020.I have alluded to the fact that problems would be caused by this lack of action. Of course there were those on this Blog who tried to denigrate me(persons who have no knowledge of the biological sciences and who are idiots because they did not like my terse approach). Apparently the so-called Czar is also at the conference.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    @Dr. Lucas

    You have done a disservice by not gleaning the facts of the NAB incident.

  8. David Avatar
    David

    In addition the blogger @Lyall is simply plotting covid 19 cases and this blogmaster thanks him for tracking.

  9. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Robert

    I saw the briefing. What worries me is the R rate. We had one person in the NAB and five others were infects. A rate of 1:5 means that for that five we have 5:25.
    This is very serious and we had three politicians talking to the nation.. Where were the experts? Do we have local experts? Bostic said they had spoken to Canadian doctors and it was really useful. In other words, the Canadians were running a seminar which they found useful.

  10. David Avatar
    David

    If you want to add value to the blog why not try to be accurate. Bostoc said they have been following developments coming out of WHO and PAHAO to help to guid local policy/protocols and from others where valuable info can be gleaned. He used a recent video conference he participated with Canada as another example.

    #Lordhelpus

  11. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ David April 25, 2020 11:51 AM

    What disservice? I said I tuned out From the program . All I did was to repeat what I have been saying about the non-mandatory quarantine of persons who came into contact with either asymptomatic carriers or actual carriers. I alluded to the 15-22 March slot.

  12. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Robert

    I| am very suspicious at the way some predators come out defending the BLP government. Are they in the pay of the Barbados security services?

  13. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ Hal April 25, 2020 12:02 PM

    As I said I turned the radio off. There was on the call-in program of Thursday,23 April 2020, a caller who is known as the Stats man. He was gloating about the high rates of infection in the other countries and basically carrying on about how great the local effort was. A caller wanted know if the Stats man was silly, since he was not living in the countries alluded to. I cite that as an example of the reaction of some Barbadians.
    The country now really has a problem.

  14. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ Greene,

    Thanks for the info at April 25, 2020 11:37 AM . lol

  15. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Robert

    It appears as if the president is coming off her sick bed to address the nation this evening. Why, is not quite clear. If the acting prime minister made a dignified presentation this morning, why does she think it necessary to do so hours later?
    Will we get the names of the other members of the CoVid economic committee?

  16. lawson Avatar
    lawson

    things must really be bad on the island if people are stealing kale

  17. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ Hal April 25, 2020 1:16 PM

    You have a point. If she feels that by addressing the nations things will go away, she is in for a big disappointment .I will not be listening as usual. What is needed is for the front-line workers not to get down-hearted and keep a positive outlook. I have noticed that before every set back there is the passage of some kind of law followed a day or two later by the bad news. The point I was making about the graphs and conjecture is quite simple: there were insufficient data available to come to any realistic opinion about a flattening of the curve. The number of persons infected or exposed who were asymptomatic carriers were not known as well as the number of persons who came into contact with them. Therefore any meaningful prediction would have of necessity to be invalid. One can only get any idea by increasing the level of testing and such an event is now about to occur.

  18. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ Lawson April 25, 2020 1:28 PM

    kale and other members of the cruciferous vegetables family all have great carcinogenic properties. Maybe the person is suffering from some form of cancer.

  19. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Robert

    There is a principle in maritime law that the captain is the last to leave a sinking ship. It took a medical/health crisis to reveal the president is naked. She has ran out of ideas. The Ancients had a view of non-verbal communications, as we call it these days, but of gesticulating and hand-waving and saying nothing. In our rum shop we called it nonsense, or waffle or …..
    We need sound political leadership. God bless the people of Barbados.

  20. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @Hants

    i actually meant Henderson Carter went to St George Sec

  21. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ Greene,

    I google and found the book and the name of the author on Amazon. lol

  22. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Robert

    The president will not be speaking this evening.

  23. Baje Avatar
    Baje

    @ Robert

    I| am very suspicious at the way some predators come out defending the BLP government. Are they in the pay of the Barbados security services?

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    @ Hal

    CHICKENS HAVE COME HOME TO ROOST.

    THEY ARE TOO STUPID TO THINK THAT EVERYONE IS IN THE SAME BOAT AS THEM

  24. David Avatar
    David

    @Dr. Lucas

    You have assumed the infected person can be traced to the March 15-22 slot?

  25. David Avatar
    David

    You stand 3000 rh miles away and continue to spout your usual nonsense. Prime Minister Mia Mottley will address the nation because she is able to command the attention of Barbadians at a time people are looking for reassurance. Unfortunately your favourite Santia does not possess the ‘presence’ to do the job at this time. When she does not speak you ask where she is, when she speaks it provokes an ignorant comment. Rugby not showing on the TV?

  26. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ David April 25, 2020 3:11 PM

    I have made that assumption based on the fact that it was admitted by the authorities that mandatory quarantine was not required before and also on the fact that there were a limited number of test kits available at the time. Added to the above mentioned facts, there seemed to be highly creditable reports of persons who were subjected to voluntary isolation flouting the the terms of their isolation and mingling in supermarkets. The latter occurred around the same time-frame.

  27. David Avatar
    David

    @Dr. Lucas

    Thanks for the clarification. Want to be sure it is an assumption on your part. We have people who scour BU and post to FB. In as much as it is possible this blogmasdter – at this time of pandemic – wants to ensure we are being responsible with our comments.

  28. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    For those who say I attack the chairman. Here is a typical example of the village fool throwing the first stone. When I reply @Lorenzo and others come out defending him.
    The guy is brain dead, it is not his fault. He needs attention. His appalling ignorance is embarrassing. I said Santia’s presentational style is far better, carries more authority and dignity, than the shouting, hand-waving, repetitious, egotistical waffle from the president, most of which is devoid of any sound analysis.
    This objective observation becomes, in the mind of a demented fool, that Santia is my ‘favourite’. Favourite for what? The president is our political leader and has been absent for weeks. To ask when she is going to return to duty becomes a negative in the myopic eyes of the dumb one.

    You stand 3000 rh miles away and continue to spout your usual nonsense. Prime Minister Mia Mottley will address the nation because she is able to command the attention of Barbadians at a time people are looking for reassurance. Unfortunately your favourite Santia does not possess the ‘presence’ to do the job at this time. When she does not speak you ask where she is, when she speaks it provokes an ignorant comment. Rugby not showing on the TV?(Quote)

  29. lawson Avatar
    lawson

    Robert maybe myopic thinking it was something edible.

  30. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Some people were beginning to relax after 6 days without anyone testing positive and then this.

    ” The NAB has 225 staff and they will be quarantined in local hotels at Government’s expense, the Minister said. Another 107 will be tested today.”

    https://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/245197/200-nab-staff-quarantine-test-positive-coronavirus

  31. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Hal
    Excellent ideas on CBC. I have told you on many occasions that we are not a failed state. Barbados cannot be blamed. We have embraced mediocrity. Progressive and independent thinkers have been systematically banished or have given into the status quo, in order to survive.
    Venceremos

  32. Baje Avatar
    Baje

    For those who say I attack the chairman. Here is a typical example of the village fool throwing the first stone. When I reply @Lorenzo and others come out defending him.
    The guy is brain dead, it is not his fault. He needs attention. His appalling ignorance is embarrassing.

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    @ Hal

    THE BLIND WILL ALWAYS LEAD THE BLIND.

    THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY CAN’T FACE REALITY.

    THEY WANT TO COMPARE THE LITTLE ISLAND WITH US, UK AND CANADA.

    SEEMS LIKE HAVE TOO MUCH LEISURE AND TIME ON THEIR HANDS IN BIM TO WAKE UP TO REALITY.

    I HAVE TOLD YOU A LONG TIME THAT HE IS A HYPOCRITE AND IS A BENEFACTOR.

    THEY BELIEVE THAT THEY CAN SHOUT DOWN AND MALIGN ANYONE WHO DOES NOT SING IN THEIR CHOIR?

    WHAT YOU ARE OBSERVING IS THE REAL BAJAN CONDITION.

    THE WORD OBJECTIVITY IS NOT PART OF THEIR VOCABULARY HOWEVER BEING INSULAR IS.

  33. kflinter Avatar
    kflinter

    Hants you are a smart person, and you and I know this 6 days of nothing was strange,my little city is getting 30 odds a day and we are nowhere near as social as bajans nice to see they are helping out hotels but which ones.

  34. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ William

    As you say, we have made mediocrity our diet. Do Barbadian viewers and readers look at CBC and the Nation, then compare them with CNN, the BBC and other cable and satellite television, and international newspapers?
    There was time when I would have re-organised the news room for them for nothing. I would not do it now for all the tea in China.

  35. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    On the back page of yesterday’s paper, under an article entitled zero tolerance,:” Minister frowns on shops and minimarts for jacking up prices.”
    Apparently frowning and accepting apologies is all that he seems capable of doing. The usual excuse being offered was that there was a glitch in the system responsible for the error. I haven’t heard what he intends to do for those customers who bought over priced items before the gouging was exposed. The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs also seem to be in the business of forgiving the price gougers. All shops found guilty of price gouging should have been summarily fined and restitution made to those who were robbed. Anything less is the condoning of the pernicious practice.

  36. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    Some readers may find the following of interest:

    Britain’s R0 IS below one: Chief medical officer Chris Whitty reveals UK coronavirus sufferers are on average infecting less than one person in crucial milestone towards lifting lockdown
    Coronavirus sufferers are infecting less than one person with the disease
    Prof Whitty suggested an easing of restrictions could happen relatively soon
    Ministers have come under pressure to publish a road map out of the lockdown
    By JACK ELSOM FOR MAILONLINE

    PUBLISHED: 02:11 BST, 25 April 2020 | UPDATED: 09:25 BST, 25 April 2020
    Professor Chris Whitty has offered a chink of light out of the lockdown after revealing coronavirus infection rates have been wrestled down.

    England’s chief medical officer said the reproduction number – or R0 – has been brought below 1, marking a critical achievement in the UK’s war on Covid-19.

    It means coronavirus sufferers are on average infecting less than one person, meaning the disease will wind up as it can no longer spread.

    What is a reproduction number?
    The reproduction number is simply the number of other people that the average coronavirus patient infects.

    A virus must have a reproduction number – known to scientists as an R0 (R-nought) – of more than one for an outbreak to be able to carry on.

    If it’s prevented from spreading on at least a one-to-one ratio it will quickly run out of new victims and the epidemic will come to an end if the R0 can be kept down.

    A higher number means a faster spreading outbreak, and a number lower than one means the outbreak will run out of steam and be forced to an end.

  37. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    i think the Govt should let the lock down rule stay in place until it ends on May 4 and then look to open the economy with certain businesses allowed to open under certain conditions, namely-

    everyone to wear a mask in public and at work where you are in contact with another person

    social distance to be observed in public and where possible in the workplace

    supermarkets open to all with the above restrictions and the present persons in store limitations

    same for banks and other places

    liquor shops open for purchase but not congregation

    same for food stalls

    and mechanic shops etc

    farmers and their employees with the above restrictions

    this is not an exhaustive list.

    the issue is public transport. i would impose a limitation on the amount of people who can travel in a bus with spacing between passengers and the obvious wearing of masks

    any person experiencing flu or cold symptoms not to go out in public and are to call the COVID Hotline

    schools for 5th and 6th form only at sec school. at primary school those sitting the 11 plus if that is still necessary (good time to experiment with continuous assessment and zoning). other students to study remotely if they can or in v limited classes (sec school only with students and teachers wearing masks)

    and testing and testing and mandatory quarantine

    we must look to get people back to work in a managed way, if not to keep the economy afloat, to cut out the boredom and restlessness

  38. Lest we forget Avatar
    Lest we forget

    Dr,Lucas a question for you on agriculture. The Minister of Agriculture said the Ministry is encouraging farmers to ramp up the production of 4 and 6 week crops like tomatoes. Can you tell me which variety bears in 6 weeks. Is that from a seed or seedling?

  39. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    I haven’t eaten corned beef in months although I must confess that I eat it from time to time.

    I don’t like pasta much, but today had a few ounces of uncooked macaroni left in the fridge from don’t know when. I cooked that and one chicken breast. I coked the chicken with some rosemary. I washed very carefully and chopped 1 small apple, 1 large carrot, and one medium sweet pepper. Once the chicken and macaroni were cool I shredded the chicken, and put the shredded chicken, the chopped vegetables/fruit, and the macaroni in a bowl. Added some mayonnaise a little mustard and a little pepper sauce. Served on a bed of red lettuce, with chopped leaf garlic sprinkled on top. 4 servings. Cheap and sweet. As easy and a cheap to make as 1,2,3.

  40. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    The okras which planted on March 20 are already forming buds. I expect to start harvesting by mid-May.

    Last year an old friend gave me a a handful of small tomatoes. I tossed outside a couple which became overripe. They grew, and have produced 3 crops so far. On Friday I pulled out the most recent vines, and gave the bed a gentle turn over. I expect to see seedlings sprouting soon especially as we have had a little rain every night since Sunday 19. The good thing about these local tomatoes is that the seeds are fertile. They do not produce a lot of fruit so may not be commercially viable, but they are fine for kitchen gardeners. In addition they require very little care.

    The spinach has survived the dry season and is beginning to respond to recent rain.

  41. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    @William Skinner April 25, 2020 7:29 AM “Who will undertake to write Gabby’s bio?”

    https://www.amazon.com/Who-Gabby-Think-Story-Mighty/dp/1514628481/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=who+gabby+think+he+is&qid=1587871138&s=books&sr=1-1

    Who Gabby Think He Is? The Story of the Mighty Gabby / by Barbara Chase, Valerie Clarke, Anthony ‘Mighty Gabby’ Carter
    Paperback: 424 pages
    Publisher: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform; First edition (June 15, 2015)
    Language: English
    ISBN-10: 1514628481
    ISBN-13: 978-1514628485
    Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches

  42. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    2William Skinner April 25, 2020 7:29 AM “…I once told a man Sir Garry should be the Governor General, he replied that” Garry is no lawyer”. That’s our thinking. Sir Garry is the only sportsman who has not been matched or surpassed in his discipline. Go to any continent and mention his name. He is revered. But he isn’t a lawyer- he can’t speak Latin and he apparently he is disqualified from being head of state. That’s how we think. Everyday we will write about dishonest lawyers and then reward the profession with Head of State.”

    But Dame Nita was not a lawyer either. Did not go to Combermere. Had no balls.

  43. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Silly Woman

    I always tell my friends; fishermen put down their pots and they catch fish, they never catch all the fish-there are always exceptions to the rule !

  44. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Silly Woman
    I note and know of the above work. Thanks

  45. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Greene
    The increase in those sixth forms was backward and reactionary. Once more the emphasis was on the three Rs: Reading “riting and “rithmetic. we dont need more sixth forms; we need at least three strtegically place polytechnics and about four or five computer and trade labs; business colleges etc. We have not had a Minister of Education, that remotely approaches competence since Billy Miller. Edutech was one of the most colossal failures since independence. I have sent word to Ms. Bradshaw that if she wants to succeed, she should not even think of consulting with any of the ministers of education, who went before her other than Billy Miller and Erskine Sandiford.The others were useless. I say no more for now.

  46. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @Lest we forget April 25, 2020 8:15 PM

    He is referring to the determinate type(bushy) of tomatoes . The other tomato type is the indeterminate or runner type(grown locally. The former grows to a height of 3-5 feet and bear all of their fruit within 4-6 weeks and then decline. These tomatoes are normally used in the canning of tomatoes. Similar to the drawf pigeon pea which is also determinate. The indeterminate type grow and set fruit over a long period.

  47. David Avatar
    David

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/sol-bill.png

  48. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @ WS,

    Have to disagree with u re Billie Miller. she pushed hard for co education in the older sec schools which is one of the main reasons for the decline.

    it is my considered opinion that co education in primary school and from 6th form (16-17 years) is no problem but in between that age (11-16), especially when kids are going thru puberty, is a huge problem for boys. it has, in my estimation, ruined the older sec and should have been abolished years ago,

  49. lawson Avatar
    lawson

    If you think that’s gouging maybe I should post one of my bills from your bars or restaurants, That is just a little more than we pay in Canada for those products, economies of scale and shipping I guess. If you really want to see gouging check out the price of concrete.

  50. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Greene

    Great stuff. Co-educational is a weapon used to smack boys, particularly in secondary schools. Common sense gave way to gender equality. Get rid of comprehensive schools. Girls do better in all-girls schools; boys do better in all-boys schools. What is the problem?

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