Submitted by William Skinner
The current crisis has ruthlessly exposed the body politic and our socio-economic psyche, in a manner most of us would never have imagined.
The devastating truth is that we as citizens, have become victims of the denial syndrome. For nearly two decades, we have witnessed the social and economic decline next door to us but chose to believe that “dah can’t happen hey”.
As negatives within the socio-economic structure manifested themselves , the denial syndrome became the popular escape route: there was no deterioration of our agricultural base, only farmers who did not know what they were doing; no problem in education, only a lethargic teaching profession;
No gangs because nobody was beaten to pulp as “ they do in America”; no drug problem, only a few undesirables from socially depressed areas who “engaged” in trafficking and finally, no crisis in the foreign reserves only prophets of “doom and gloom”.
This denial syndrome is nothing new. During the 60s and early 70s, those who expressed concern about the way in which the society was being developed were branded communists, racists and socially unstable thugs who were influenced by dangerous and foreign ideologies. They were eventually silenced by the Public Order Act while the dominant political managerial class continued its path of denial.
As we grapple with the International Monetary Fund, we seem bent on denying that we must save ourselves. The Fund cannot save us. The first step in overcoming this crisis is to accept that we the citizens must be the true guardians of our fate.
The populace must demand a higher level of accountability from those in authority. Failure to do so will result in a form of dictatorship which will be present but never seen or believed. It is very evident that even as we head down the path ,the denial syndrome has convinced us that the current situation is not as precarious as all present indicators suggest.
Errol Barrow once said that he wanted the Constitution repatriated from Washington. Are we now going to deny that our fate is in the hands of those in Washington, Europe, and Tokyo? And that it appears Caracas will also be appointed a guardian?
Are we prepared to remain victims of the denial syndrome while our society deteriorates beyond recognition?
W Skinner, well SAID, HOWEVER will Bajans listen and react, Wily thinks NOT, hopefully he’ll be proven wrong.
Wily and several other BU Bloggers have commented on this deterioration over the last several years, made SUGGESTIONS which were criticised and ridiculed, however the ostriches still found the beach sand to bury their heads into and ignore the obvious. Now Barbados is facing calamity, FAILED finances, no tourism, COVID 19, low employment, scarce water, limited local food supplies and not to mention Moranic bloated government with pegged finances.
BARBADOS DOES NOT HAVE A HOPE IN HE’LL to avoid total collapse to HATIAN LEVELS with present social and government structure.
FAILED STATE in CHAIOUS.
@Wily
Unfortunately the unprecedented times will force us to react.
Is this shedding of staff by SOL so quick traced to the new ownership? Sir Kyffin has no control.
Source: Nation news
@ David, et al
The above submission ended thus:
This letter /opinion was published in the Week-end Nation Newspaper on Friday October 11, 1991.
This is very important to note because the purpose of submission is to prove that thirty years later, we seem to be back where we were.You will note the letter said ” Are we now going to deny that our fate is in the hands of those in Washington, Europe and “Tokyo” ? And that it appears “carracas will also be appointed guardian.”
If the article was written today it would have said Bejing and there would have been no mention of Caracas. Hope this sets the submission in context. Thanks.
Apology about that William, it is the practice to omit footnotes unless instructed to publish. Will amend.
@ William
There is a discipline in not editing author’s submissions unless it has been cleared with them. It is basic elementary journalism. Don’t assume you know what the author meant.
@ David.
Thanks. Apology accepted.
@ Hal
Understood but in all fairness, I think this is the first time that this has happened to anything I have sent to BU. All of my submissions have been published as I have submitted them. So I certainly am not making a big deal out of this. I only informed David because I know that without making this known others may respond quite differently.
@ William
I saw the Tokyo reference and wondered what it was about. To be fair, as you pointed out, it happened when I did my Notes…but it also happened when I did my column in the Nation, including one case when, I suppose it was their legal adviser, questioned the legality of something I had said. Not only did the FT have about seven fulltime staff lawyers, but I am more than familiar with libel.
Errol Barrow comment from one of his Budget Speeches
Words to the effect that exemplifies the financial and economic pitfalls barbados finds itself
Xxxxx
“I think that we in the West Indies should not be afraid to speak our minds. I think that we in the West Indies should not be looking around for somebody to lead and work out our own political and economic philosophy and I do not think that it pays any West Indian politician to either look too rapidly in the direction of Europe or Asiatic countries for our basic philosophies of life.”
@William @David
“This letter /opinion was published in the Week-end Nation Newspaper on Friday October 11, 1991.” should have been the first line.
If not for your comments above I would not even have noticed it was published back in 1991
“kool-aid” may also play a part.
@ Wily Coyote
Thanks for the compliment. You are more than correct but after at least three years of getting tangled up in the BLPDLP crowd on BU ; I had to make a decision either to continue offering my two cents worth or just ignore the pure nonsense they spill. When the COVID arrived I decided that getting into stupid back and forth with them was time I could spend with my three grandchildren.
Another thing I noticed is that some of them have a very limited , if any real knowledge of anything substantial. And so it is with the rest of the country: pure Bs and Ds.
For example we now have an Attorney General who needs to be sent home if that appointment of another Deputy Commissioner of Police is as Senator Franklyn suggest. The AG is embarrassed because he has been exposed by a citizen who does not have QC behind his name.
Then we have a Minister of Tourism who obviously inherited the best and perhaps only viable Ministry left by the DLP. This guy cannot even sell snow cones but he makes four different pronouncements about the post COVID tourism push and they were all pure nonsense.
On the other side one Verla Depeiza after two years leading a party cannot announce a single candidate . These are the nondescript people that these jokers come on BU defending.
Imagine one of them tried his best to make mock sport of me every time I wrote anything on BU that he felt was interfering with his political master.
The moment , I write that I would be supporting all efforts by the government to combat COVID; he wrote that he had found “ respect “ for William Skinner! That’s how they are politically immature and stupid. The respect comes when you join them, B or D in licking their political masters and mistresses backsides.
@ Hal
I don’t know what the hell is going on at the Nation. All types of primary school grammatical mistakes . Only one real columnist left and that is Albert Branford ,very sad. Long winded repetitive editorials. If not for a sports page it would not be worth ten cents.
Barbados Today is a better offering right now. The last two or three editorials were absolute gems.
Over at Brasstacks (VOB) moderators berating callers ; getting into al types of frivolous back and forth. Callers waiting in excess of an hour to get on; if you ain’t praising the BLP you behind kicked off ; then Peter Wickham saying that the 1937 Riots were nothing more than people “ pushing over “ bread carts. His most recent comment was that the Singing Angel kite with all the bulls is nothing to admire. Imagine saying that about Barbadian craftsmanship. Anybody who grew up in a Village knows that there is nothing more beautiful than a meticulously made Singing Angel but this is the same Wickham who made sport about Agriculture for years until a fortnight ago , when it became clear that with no planes flying we about to starve because no tourist ain’t coming.
But the most absurd thing I read in recent times was right here on BU , when some brilliant person wrote that Barbados tourist industry will bounce back quickly because we have a lot of sunshine and that in the cold months Barbados can be promoted as a place to avoid COVID!! Imagine in the midst of the most destructive virus since the plague, we will be the tourist destination of choice while the entire globe will be practicing social distancing.
Look at the front page of the Nation today. Only private jets flying; the entire world change but everybody “ brekking dey neck to get to GAIA.”
But it doesn’t stop there. Believe it or not, we have people on BU defending and promoting the worst president ever on the planet earth. And then Dr. Lucas had the ability to infer that the murder of a black man by two racist white thugs should some how be juxtaposed with black on black crime and goes on to say he will be crucified for such blatant ignorance on his part. Oh no Doc , where I come from, I was taught to pity such stupidity.
If we are going to save our country and assist our prime minister, we have to clear the land.
@WS,
Not bad at all. that was true then as it is now.
my only complaint is that it is a bit skimpy on details and i would hope that you could develop it more in this the comments section to bring home some present day examples. you dont have go into minute details
@ William
I hesitate to criticise Barbadian journalism, but to be honest to myself, it is dreadful. It does not have to be so. We produce any number of highly intelligent people and all the Trinidadian owners of the Nation have to do is spend some money on training.
But part of the problem is the journalists themselves. Now they have the American embassy sponsoring their awards; they seem to forget that there is nothing called a free lunch, that they are selling their souls to the yanks.
As to the quality of debate on BU, a friend of mine, a Barbadian, who is not a fan of BU, recently ask me why I continue to try discussing serious issues on the site. I disagree; I think if only we reach a single person it will be worthwhile.
What I can say is that until I started coming on BU regularly after my retirement I would not have believed the level of public education in Barbados. It is embarrassingly astonishing. It is only beaten by the degree of anger, bordering on violence.
On May 25, 2018, I was keen to support the Mottley government; I made the mistake of thinking no government could be worse than the incompetent Stuart administration. Over the last two years I have come to believe better the devil you know.
Mottley is arrogant, contemptuous of ordinary people, believes she is entitled, hates details, not because she is not bright, but because she thinks it is not important and takes up her time, clearly has no regard for rules and regulations, and is clearly using Barbados as a vehicle to catapult her on to a global stage. Oh, and her constant preaching, and gesticulating, like a little Fuhrer.
“Then we have a Minister of Tourism who obviously inherited the best and perhaps only viable Ministry left by the DLP. This guy cannot even sell snow cones but he makes four different pronouncements about the post COVID tourism push and they were all pure nonsense.”
Was listening to the radio and was surprised to hear that tourist arrivals was currently down to 200 per day.
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/05/08/hawaii-news/hawaiis-tourism-recovery-could-take-years-experts-say/
@ Greene
Thanks. The real purpose of the post is to clearly show, that after thirty years , the needle has not made any profoundly different movement. You will note Caracas (Venezuela) was mentioned because at that time, we were heading to Venezuela to shop and we thought that closer ties would have meant better oil prices etc.
@ Hal will confirm that a growing black nationalist movement that stated we needed to ensure that we could feed ourselves; warned of cultural penetration and American imperialism and we were starting to import Japanese cars etc.
However another reason for the article was to send a personal message to certain people on BU that “I was in town too long “ (Chalkdust)
@ Hal
I think we need new voices and creative thinkers. We often talk about a brain drain, which implies that we lose a lot of academic talent to the outside world. Funny thing now, we are leaking in the walls and sooner or later they will collapse. So both the yard pipe and the shower pipe bust!
In terms of Mia she had a great wicket prepared for her by Freundel Stuart. The last administration was easily the worst since and perhaps before independence.
Mia must know that she will win the next election unless something seismic happens.,
I have been reliably informed that she misses combative parliamentary battles i e an opposition. Next elections, the BLP is going to intentionally under perform in at least eight constituencies so that the DLP would be back in parliament.
@ William
She misses an official opposition because it is a gladiatorial sport in parliament and it gives her an opportunity to show off. As president she has a team that do not appear to stand up to her and we suffer as a nation for it. Her 30/0 victory was an example of a flaw in our first past the post electoral system.
We do need young and energetic new voices, but out media is not contributing to this development. You may have noticed I ignored references to Wickham. I think he is over-celebrated.
As to winning the next general election, I think Verla is hopeless. She has not even got the stamina to oppose the government. She should be bringing through some bright young men and women, but it seems she is terrified of her own members.
Solutions is a one-man band and is like listening to a one-note samba; plus, its leader has authoritarian tendencies, a Mia in trousers. I think we have to wait and see what @|Greene brings to the table.
the BLP doesnt have to under-perform deliberately, they have already done so. that is pure BS, mate.
Buyers’ remorse and a bloated cabinet with bare talkers, little doers, and high taxes have already ensured that the BLP has lost at least 5 seats.
the handling of Bim post COVID will determine the final result
MAM does not have big enough balls to cut her cabinet so she wants a few gone (by votes) to relief her of that task.
i dont expect the BLP to lose. if Freundel didnt get defeated whilst going for a second term why should MAM and her bunch of talk ass birds?
what Bim needs to do is tap into the knowledge and experience of returning nationals and or create a space for bajans and their progeny overseas who have something to offer without the usually jealousy and angst from local bajans. in addition tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience that is already on island.
equally those returning from overseas should learn to be a bit more humble, understanding and all inclusive.
@Greene
You are being sucked in by the same argument you bring with talk about losing seats.
During the 60s and early 70s, those who expressed concern about the way in which the society was being developed were branded communists, racists and socially unstable thugs who were influenced by dangerous and foreign ideologies. They were eventually silenced by the Public Order Act while the dominant political managerial class continued its path of denial.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Name some names, give us some examples to illuminate this sweeping generalization.
The populace must demand a higher level of accountability from those in authority. Failure to do so will result in a form of dictatorship which will be present but never seen or believed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Erroll Barrow was a dictator.
Tom Adams was a dictator.
Erskine Sandiford was a dictator.
O$A was a dictator.
Freundel was a dictator .
So what’s new?
@David
SOL was like most Barbados companies is/was heavily socialisticALLY BLOATED. The new Canadian owner, PARKLAND, is obviously suffering from the COVID 19 situation and is taking the opportunity to ratitionize operations both short term and long term. As both the new owner and SOL are in the carbon petroleum business, which at the moment is in FREE FALL, then it can easily be understood that they’d drastically need to downsize immediately for present and future needs. This may in fact be the first steps in SURVIVAL MODE.
I think we have to wait and see what @|Greene brings to the table. {Quote}
????????????????????????????????
After saying we SHOULD NOT VOTE for LAWYERS and after acknowledging that Greene is one, we now have to wait and see what he brings to the table?
Fascinating!!!!!!
@David,
what are you on about? please explain
@Greene
Didn’t you just comment about the BLP losing 5 seats?
The BLP won 30 seats because the people sent a loud message the last DLP was the worst in our history. Weak candidates were swept into office on the wave on that resentment, they will be dropped next time around except for the exception who grabs the opportunity to work.
Losing five seats gives little comfort to some of us yearning for REAL change. The quality of opposition debate must somehow take the people to a relevant level of thinking. This blogmaster has always said that managing a so-called democracy is nice sounding but the challenge is for the opposition to broadcast a message to win the minds of the population and when they get to office do what has to be done with the political capital .
It is idealistic BS to pander to every interest to prop up popularity numbers. To mobilize such an approach a charismatic leader has to emerge from within the ranks of the opposition, is it Verla, Joe Atherley, Grenville Phillips et al? We can talk all we want, have all the strategic plans we want – with no charismatic or articulate person to put a face on it, spinning top in mud.
Sir William
Yuh batting like Sir Garry, in his prime, this day. Every ball is either a six or a glorious four.
Especially like the 7:11 contribution and insightful article of course.
RE Believe it or not, we have people on BU defending and promoting the worst president ever on the planet earth.
WITH ALL DUE RESPECT SIR. HOW IS THIS UNBELIEVABLE? DID NOT FOLK DEFEND AND PROMOTE OTHERS? DO FOLK ON BU HAVE THE RIGHT TO PROMOTE AND DEFEND WHO THEY LIKE WITOUT THIS BEING INCREDULOUS?
CAN YOU PLEASE KINDLY ILLUCIDATE AND ILLUMINATE WITH RESPECT TO THE PARAMETERS AND RUBRICS THAT YOU USED TO COME TO YOUR CONCLUSION?
HOW IS THE MAN A GREATER SINNER, AND LESS FLAWED THAN YOU OR ANYONE ELSE? HE IS CERTAINLY MORE FUN AND MORE SUCCESSFUL..
RE And then Dr. Lucas had the ability to infer that the murder of a black man by two racist white thugs should some how be juxtaposed with black on black crime and goes on to say he will be crucified for such blatant ignorance on his part.
WHEN YOU ARE DOING POST MORTEMS, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BLACK BODY THAT WAS KILLED BY TWO WHITE MEN AND THE BLACK BODY THAT WAS KILLED BY ANOTHER BLACK MAN——-EXCEPT THE NUMBER AND TYPE OF INJURIES. IS THERE?
WHEN YOU ARE IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE, OR THERE OUGHT TO BE NO DIFFERENCE TO THE TREATMENT OFFERED TO THE PERSON WOUNDED BY WHITE MEN THAN THAT OFFERED TO THE PERSON WOUNDED BY A BLACK MEN EXCEPT FOR THE NUMBER AND TYPE OF INJURIES. IS THERE?
A KILLING OF A BLACK MAN IS WRONG! AND SO IS THE KILLING OF A WHITE MAN. BOTH KILLINGS RESULT FROM SINFUL EVIL HEARTS. THE KILLING OF A BLACK MAN BY ANOTHER BLACK MAN IS MORE ODIOUS TO REASONABLY THINKING BLACK PERSONS, INCLUDING EDUCATED BLACK MEN LIKE DR LUCAS.
Lord Pacha
Thanks. While you were in Monaco partying with the rich; I was in contact with the ancestors; was instructed to sharpen skills. How was Monaco, my Comrade ?
@ Robert
arent you the guy who tried to berate me for replying to something you wrote when i clearly wasnt even talking to you?
for clarity, if a lawyer means someone who is presently active in the field, i am not a lawyer.
but were i to defend lawyers entering politics, i will posit that it will always happen as they are closely associated. and it isnt that the profession makes bad politicians, it is that bad politicians are lawyers because most politicians are lawyers.
and even if most politicians were engineers or any other profession the outcome would most likely be the same. a politician must have a vision beyond getting personally rich or ensuring that his cabal gets rich. it is the country and the majority of it people that should come first under the circumstances of the times. many dont see it that way or they dont have a vision and or a mode of transport to get there
on another note you will never see Greene the candidate. you may see Greene’s policies and Greene the adviser tho. I am too intolerant of BS to face voters especially voters in Bim.
i am not paying anyone’s bills, buying pampers for children or ensuring anyone get a job. i will point them to where they can get help and i may support a charity and even help out a particular family but i will never do it for a vote. so therefore under our present system i am unelectable and i understand that. i will never compromise on that stance tho
What I can say is that until I started coming on BU regularly after my retirement I would not have believed the level of public education in Barbados. It is embarrassingly astonishing. It is only beaten by the degree of anger, bordering on violence. {Quote}
@ Hal Austin
Wait, you trying to tell me that you assessed the level of public education in Barbados based solely on
a. the seven or eight people that does contribute to BU that don’t agree with you?
b. the 20 or so people that does contribute regularly and that does exhibit the same degree of anger, bordering on violence as you? You always talking bout the Barbados Condition. In Barbados, when people get angry, they does curse people and call them all sorts of names. Calling people beasts, savages, warriors, wild barking dogs is as a result of a degree of anger, bordering on violence too. That is the Barbados Condition.
I want you to tell we how the few contributors to BU could be used as a population mean to assess or determine the level of education in Barbados?
MAN, YOU MORE IGNORANT THAN I THOUGHT, YUH!
But yuh know something, at the end of the day, you ent no different from nobody on BU. The only difference is yuh live in England and got a FAKE ASS ACCENT (because YOU ARE NOT AN ENGLISHMAN).
@Greene
Lawyers are the most useless profession ever and the only profession the world would not miss if it did not exist. All lawyers do is pass laws to ensure sure they get paid well to debate. That perpetual focus on debating has turned the simple job of managing a country into politics.
Any other profession would do a better job at politics than lawyers. Real professions solve real problems and they would bring that skill to politics. What problems do lawyers solve apart from the ones they themselves have created?
“@ GP May 10, 2020 8:48 AM
RE Believe it or not, we have people on BU defending and promoting the worst president ever on the planet earth.
WITH ALL DUE RESPECT SIR. HOW IS THIS UNBELIEVABLE? DID NOT FOLK DEFEND AND PROMOTE OTHERS? DO FOLK ON BU HAVE THE RIGHT TO PROMOTE AND DEFEND WHO THEY LIKE WITOUT THIS BEING INCREDULOUS?
CAN YOU PLEASE KINDLY ILLUCIDATE AND ILLUMINATE WITH RESPECT TO THE PARAMETERS AND RUBRICS THAT YOU USED TO COME TO YOUR CONCLUSION?
HOW IS THE MAN A GREATER SINNER, AND LESS FLAWED THAN YOU OR ANYONE ELSE? HE IS CERTAINLY MORE FUN AND MORE SUCCESSFUL..”
With all due respect Sir, I was not the recipient of free education. My mother worked extremely hard to pay Louis Lynch at the Modern High School , to ensure that I can tell you this and I want you to read this very clearly : I would not insult my mother, Louis Lynch or anybody , who has assisted me in getting a little education to ever pretend that I would waste a second in any genuine response to you are anybody who can write the crap you just wrote.
@ William
Good article and it shows how little has changed regardless of the government in power since 91.
@ Mr William Skinner
An informative article written 29 years ago.
1.I believe that the DUOPOLY can and will be broken by Caswell Franklyn IF HE IS ACCEPTED BY JOSEPH ATHERLEY and Joe admits office and leaves Caswell as leader
2.de ole man will suggest to the PdP again that, for it to win, IT MUST BRING DELIVERABLES!
3.Greene while speaking earlier speaks of part of the Deliverables dat I recommended.
He says and I quote
“…what Bim needs to do is tap into the knowledge and experience of returning nationals and or create a space for bajans and their progeny overseas who have something to offer without the usually jealousy and angst from local bajans.
in addition tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience that is already on island….”
This, while easy to say IS HARD TO DO! if you do not know how to do it Mr. Skinner.
But, once the PdP can do it now, while they are in the so called wilderness THEY WILL WIN 18 TO 12 in the upcoming General Election
What Green has said is what will decide the 2023 General Elections outcome.
I expect the usual theorists will come to your blog and espouse all their sentimental ideas and partisan invectives
I DO NOT EXPECT that anyone will be able to mindmap how such a mechanism would work BECAUSE THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO IT!
So welcome to THE BS PART of the blogging
@ William
My sister would have been at the Modern round about your time.
@Critical Analyser,
i wont go that far- lol.
but i would say some of what they do can be done by simplifying laws. why should you have to engage a lawyer to buy land? simply have a land register where title to land is guaranteed by the state and all encumbrances are registered and persons can negotiate person to person. this is the case in the UK and some caribbean islands but not Bim. it leads to the issues of lawyers stealing clients’ money.
why are laws so confusing and written in a way that is subject to differing interpretations? and if that is the case why are they not explanatory notes attached so that the ordinary person can understand?
those are only some of the issues i have with the profession.
however in the early days of politics where laws were needed to regulate society lawyers were necessary. that may have ensured a symbiotic relationship between law and politics that endure to this day.
and remember no profession will regulated themselves out of existence
re I would not insult my mother, Louis Lynch or anybody , who has assisted me in getting a little education to ever pretend that I would waste a second in any genuine response to you are anybody who can write the crap you just wrote.
lol what crap ? lol
DO FOLK ON BU HAVE THE RIGHT TO PROMOTE AND DEFEND WHO THEY LIKE WITOUT THIS BEING INCREDULOUS?
CAN YOU PLEASE KINDLY ILLUCIDATE AND ILLUMINATE WITH RESPECT TO THE PARAMETERS AND RUBRICS THAT YOU USED TO COME TO YOUR CONCLUSION?
HOW IS THE MAN A GREATER SINNER, AND LESS FLAWED THAN YOU OR ANYONE ELSE? HE IS CERTAINLY MORE FUN AND MORE SUCCESSFUL..”
how is that crap
how is that more crap than what you wrote Sir lol
CAN YOU PLEASE KINDLY ILLUCIDATE AND ILLUMINATE WITH RESPECT TO THE PARAMETERS AND RUBRICS THAT YOU USED TO COME TO YOUR CONCLUSION?
are YOU NOT A SINNER AND FLAWED TOO OR ARE YOU SINLESS PERFECT AND HAVE ACHIEVED PERFECT SANCTIFICATION?
@ Greene
You are right. The legal profession in Barbados protects its business like the Mafia. You only need attorneys to appear before a judge, but a lot of the back office work can be done by paralegals. And for sub-courts, such as employment tribunals, all you need are ‘McKenzie friends’, conveyancers can do the legal work involved in property sales, et c.
It is in the interest of the university to offer a number of para-legal courses such a certificate/diploma in welfare law, medical negligence, financial regulation, pensions law, employment law, media law, criminal justice, etc.
You may be too young to remember, but there was a time when ordinary guys, many of them as sharp as a razor blade, stood around in the old court yard offering advice to litigants and the litigants gave them a tip. That was how they made their living. The son of one of those men became a big noise in the DLP..
Around the world lawyers are active in elective assemblies, it is not a Barbados issue. The question we should be asking is why lawyers present themselves as aspiring politicians above other professions especially ordinary workers. The conversation needs to move beyond the same old bashing of lawyers and to understand why?
@David
post your opinion why that is the case
@Greene
Several good papers have been written on the subject. Read a good one in Harvard Review a couple years ago. The ability of lawyers to speak. The ‘awe’ or deference given to lawyers for obvious reasons, the glamorizing of the profession on TV, books etc. the role lawyers play in the everyday lives of citizens, land deals, family disputes, criminal etc.
Now the profession is entrenched the buddy system kicks in and the fraternity creates some of the issues we have today, decisions not based on merit etc.
Will try to find the article when time permits.
@ Greene
In the last thirty years the UK has had six prime ministers, only one of whom was a qualified lawyer, that was Tony Blair. And since the war, only Thatcher and Blair had law qualifications. Out of 650 members of parliament, about 400 are qualified lawyers, roughly 62 per cent..
@Wily CoyoteMay 10, 2020 4:47 AM
We should not be too harsh, as Barbados is really not a special case.
ALL developing countries except South Korea and Singapore have not managed to make the leap to a developed country. Most developing countries and their populations are worse off today than when they declared independence in the 1960s and 1970s. Some developing countries are falling back into the status of wild tribal societies. Take a look at the murder statistics comparing Singapore and Jamaica: Before independence almost synchronized. After that event Jamaica fell back into the Middle Ages, the highest murder rate in the world, crime is the number one popular sport there. The disciplined, hardworking Singaporean population is quite different: Singapore is now one of the safest countries in the world.
The reason for this undesirable development is quite simple and independent of ethnicity, skin colour or specific culture: the transformation from wild tribal society to civilisation takes centuries, sometimes millennia. On their way from the Middle Ages to modern times, the Japanese caused a world war in Asia and took a hundred years. The Germans took five hundred years and two world wars. Singapore is an exception, the country was lucky to be ruled by an enlightened dictator.
So we should not expect Barbados to make decisive progress before the middle of the millennium. Until then we will still be ruled by wild blue figures like Barrow or the two former leaders of the DLP Youth, who are hardly able to eat with knife and fork. After all, a suit and tie does not make a civilized person out of a savage. Once wild, always wild. This applies to all peoples, whether white, black, yellow, red or brown.
@David
those are indeed the obvious associations between law, politics and voters.
as lawyers tell it, law is the height of reasoning. that sounds real sophisticated and high brow but in reality that simply means means a lawyer can argue both sides of his/her mouth and convince himself / herself and others that he / she is right and should be believed. t
he truth is the only determinant but then that gets us involved in what is the truth. and we go down the rabbit hole of argumentation and reasoning which adds to the bottom line.
please try to locate those articles. should make for interesting reading.
the other side of the coin is why other profession arent as attracted to politics and whether they would be better?
@Hal yes correct. many people have law degrees but dont practice. and a law degree is not necessary to understand law. Caswell has shown this as well as others i know. i am acquainted with paralegals / legal executives who could construct statement of claims and advise clients better than solicitors. so much so that that is route to become a solicitor.
and lawyers by and large are not v good managers
@ Greene
I noticed you asked for an opinion and got directed to a Harvard publication. A poverty of ideas is our big Faultline. We cannot think for ourselves.
it is funny.
I was on a next blog complaining about links not being provided.
I would prefer to read the original than to have a precis.
🙂 Details may omitted or an incorrect interpretation may be given as that is part of the Bajan Condition.
Spot on????? 🙂
Forgive me…
Sometimes I just lose control (Bajan condition again 🙂 )
@Mr Blogmaster, your article reference is odd to me… Can’t the same (the ability of lawyers to speak. The ‘awe’ or deference given to lawyers for obvious reasons, the glamorizing of the profession on TV, books etc. the role lawyers play in the everyday lives of citizens, land deals, family disputes, criminal etc) sans the criminal representation be said for doctors, scientists, sales professionals or basically ANY ambitious A’ type personality???
This blog touches on Louis Lunch who was certainly an A personality type and as we all know persons like him in that era and even today fill the roles you described .
Apart from the obvious connections between the law and governance noted above the reality is that at the practical working level lawyers can move in and out of political life very seamlessly … In fact the notoriety they get from the political spotlight can enhance their legal practice and earning power.
Although the same can be said for those in other professions as well (a hotelier or doctor will get more guests/patients from all the free publicity of politics) a legal practice is much easier to navigate into and out.
Incidentally there was a doctor (ophmatologist, I believe it was) who continued to practice while an elected politician and his issue was accepting fees which were deemed to be a conflict of interest.. he then worked for free.
I mention that to make the point that he was surretptiously garnering political support by his actions and REALISTICALLY ANY ambitious professional can do the same if they can coordinate their work activities around their political duties … BUT then there may ALWAYS be that conflict issue (depending on local laws).
I suspect that’s another REAL reason why others professionals are not as involved in elective politics… concerns of gaining their income without running afoul of legal rules.
Yes, I know in Bim it’s a free for all but in other places rules actually do matter.
@Dee Word
If you suspect there are other reasons there is nothing preventing you from listing them.
@WS
a great read, esp due to its vintage
@Tron
“Singapore is an exception”, I suspect you should familiarise yourself with that nation’s heritage and birth, esp its wars. The local riots in 37 were not a war.
@ Skinner, this is said with mild jest but serious intent nonetheless…
Re your comment “Are we now going to deny that our fate is in the hands of those in Washington, Europe and “Tokyo” ? And that it appears “carracas will also be appointed guardian.”[…] If the article was written today it would have said Bejing and there would have been no mention of Caracas…”
Why did you take your eyes off China in the early 90s… that senor – for a man of your astuteness as seen on these pages – is rather interesting (remarkable really)!
You were ‘spot on’ with everything else… you were in the right geography of Asia but got blinded by that Japanese dominance of he 70s – 90s.
That’s the jestful part…
The truth is tho that using the Japanese reference had better currency as they were dominant … But in these short 30 years China has effectively ‘taken over’!
That’s the really deeply serious part… It was there and surely you (as others did) saw it but couldn’t wrap our minds around the fact that they would be here so quickly.
Scary amazing!
BTW don’t let’s make the same mistake re Caracas… Ur reference was applicable then for all the same reasons it’s applicable now: they are a troublesome (destabilizing) force in the region… Let’s not do a China – in a vastly different context – on that one.
You are still ‘Spot On’.
@ Hal May 10, 2020 10:52 AM
” And since the war, only Thatcher and Blair had law qualifications. ”
She is the only British PM to be trained in the sciences( he had a first degree in chemistry).
Caribbean governments continue to be showed up as incompetent, that is why people SHOULD NOT trust putting their lives in these fools hands, it looks like they only aspire to get a title and access to the people’s perks, treasury and pension fund, after that they are so inflated and bloated with their own shit, that they cannot function..
https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/05/10/us-faa-downgrade-was-a-very-unfortunate-development-that-could-have-been-avoided/
Much more will be exposed between their corruption and incompetence.
They can never seem to agree on anything, always looking to contradict and oneup each other trying to impress who don’t give a shit about them, this is disgraceful and a shame in the 21st century…the only thing they seem to excel at is getting their own people ROBBED or SUED and somehow they too are the beneficiaries of those thefts…
….the recent Cahill thieves suing the government over the DLP scam comes to mind, every governent in the last 2 decades always make sure when they leave the parliament, there is always a multimillion dollar lawsuit going against the people and island, without fail..
https://www.thenewtodaygrenada.com/local-news/government-tricked-by-cruise-line/?fbclid=IwAR1gzGsMvQGWXQFy9PnWgjtz_sRRt7BjhDfkyMObEOke8ZudpoNSd2fjOac
“Over the years, Prime Minister Mitchell has often fell victim to several so-called foreign investors in connection with millions of dollars on investment projects.
The island lost over US$5 million that was guaranteed by government from a bank in Europe for United States investor E.J Miller who promised to build a luxury hotel in the Mt. Hartman area.
Last year, information emerged that a foreign outfit that was given the go-ahead to build a shrimp farm plant in Victoria, St. Mark ran off with EC$52.2 million that were collected from the sale of Grenadian passport through a programme known as Citizenship by Investment.
@ Robert
Law degrees are not just easy, they are very popular in the UK. I believe the majority, certainly a large number, of people with law degrees do not practice. The study law to extend their knowledge.
My insurance broker has a law degree which he shows off in his office.
They too love their foreign crooks, that is why from Barbados, right across the Caribbean, the people will always be robbed thanks to their stupid, wicked governments..
Hal AustinMay 10, 2020 9:29 AM
@ William
My sister would have been at the Modern round about your time.
How come I would have been there at about the same time and never knew any Skinner nor Austin?
@ NorthernObserver May 10, 2020 12:13 PM
Singapore has retained the death penalty and the punishment of flogging, thus educating people to become better citizens.
Perhaps we should reintroduce these punishments in the Caribbean in order to substantially reduce the crime rate.
@ Tron at 4:01 PM
You have surfaced at the right time. What a relief from the depression of Lock Downs. Carry on smartly. Wow !!
@ John A
@ Piece
Thanks for the compliment. The truth is that I am now wary of discourse especially by people who can only see their parties points of view. The only intellectually honest position to take is that these two parties have down equally well and equally badly.
I think that the COVID has dramatically changed the path. I think that the fact that there is a Duopoly has been well established. We must now swiftly move to a new way of thinking .
@ Piece, there is hope for any third party but that party must first seek to enlighten the populace.
I think that Senator Franklyn is the most incisive and impressive parliamentarian at this time. Like you said sometime ago, Atherley should consider making Senator Franklyn the leader because the Senator will attract others more quickly than Atherley.
@ John A, keep up the good work.
@ Dame Bajans
I certainly did not know the modern had any students , teachers or general workers there with the surname : Bajans.
I really can’t remember any “Bajans “. We had some Smalls Brathwaites Hunts Austins etc . I never met anybody name Dame Bajans .
Did you go to school at the Modern or the Coca Cola factory?
Another brilliant piece of reporting by BT
“Members of the Suppressing Criminal Activity Threatened Society (SCATS) confiscated thousands of marijuana plants in St George on Friday.
Shortly before 5 pm, SCATS members, who were acting on information received, went to a bushy area along 2nd Avenue, Greens, where a number of marijuana fields were discovered ranging from seedlings to 18ft in height.
The police removed 3,257 plants but, due to failing light, the eradication process was stopped.
Officers returned to the area today and successfully removed 8,026 plants.
The drugs, weighing 920 pounds with an estimated street value $1,832,340, is currently in the possession of the police.”[quote]
so the total plant haul was 3257 + 8026, or was it 8026? In either case, WHY bother removing the valuable sections to get 920 pounds? (we know 8000 plants weight more than 8000lbs) Would you not have a big fire and burn the whole lot. Makes one wonder where the 920lbs will end up? Also makes one wonder why anybody would ever import it, when so much is available here.
@ DPD
Thanks even in jest you are seriously right. I remember when the first Japanese Toyota cars came to Bim. They almost caught rust sitting in a vacant lot on Collymore. A member of my family bought one and showed off the features…… since then Toyota never looked back in Bim.
When Kyfin Simpson brought in the first Suzuki we called them “motorcycles with tops.” The rest is history.
In these little stories are serious lessons. We spend so much time trying to prove we are “ educated “ that we don’t pay attention to what’s happening.
Twenty years ago nobody knew of Mark Maloney but now he owns the country.
So you are spot on as well. We need to pay attention and try to have a real dramatic change re: post COVID. If not twenty years from, Barbados underground might not be a blog but a country.
@ Northern Observer
Thanks for the compliment. The struggle continues. Stay safe.
A body rots and decomposes, not in a single day, but over time. So too, does the body politic.
Kudos to Skinner! As the late, great Curtis Mayfield would have put it … unfinished business … “Keep on Pushing” (a great inspirational hymn to the civil rights movement.
William Skinner
re your post at 7:11 am on May 10th in which you said.
But the most absurd thing I read in recent times was right here on BU , when some brilliant person wrote that Barbados tourist industry will bounce back quickly because we have a lot of sunshine and that in the cold months Barbados can be promoted as a place to avoid COVID!! Imagine in the midst of the most destructive virus since the plague, we will be the tourist destination of choice while the entire globe will be practicing social distancing.
I think you were referring to my post of April 21st which contains some elements which you garbled and in which I said;
“So what is next? I think that it is quite likely that the Tourism industry will be badly damaged but will not die. There is too much invested in it by both the Government and the private sector to allow it to fail totally. There will have to be a lot of strategic planning over the next few months to keep it on life support and allow it to blossom into a different entity in the next few years. Our Caribbean Islands still have a resource that is most valuable. If all goes right we can claim that we have withstood C-19 better than our big neighbours to the North and South. Indeed, our size will make it possible for us to make the next and following outbreaks of Covid-19, easy to control. The Caribbean Islands will be able to exploit what I think will be a fact, that we will be intrinsically capable of controlling any new outbreaks with little loss of life and deleterious effects on health. That will allow us to get the rich people to come back to our tourist plants much sooner than most people think possible. I think that when Covid-19 comes around again we will have ways to control it that are only now only glimmering, they may include; use of high quality masks by the whole population; minimal use of Ventilators; Use of Ozone therapies; Using new hi-tech methods for surveillance; perhaps the abandonment of vaccines and use of better new drugs in collaboration with the Animal Scientists.”
What are the facts so far? In the almost 3 weeks that have elapsed since I wrote my piece and you responded, all the Caribbean Islands have done very much better in terms of incidence of the disease, in every metric, than the bigger countries that surround us. Can’t you see that this is a fact that could be exploited to strategically plan ahead. We are better placed to bounce back in significantly less time than our large neighbours.
What do you propose should be done with the significant tourist plants we possess in the Caribbean? leave them to die? Note i was making a case for the Caribbean, not Barbados alone, to start thinking strategically about what could be done with those plants while the Tourist industry is reeling from Covid’s blows.
Another BU talk-a-thon. I keep asking what have ye experts conceptualise, implement, evaluste and monitor? Too many fantasy.
@ lysllsmall
I respectfully suggest that your plan will not be feasible. I assure you that the entire Caribbean tourist industry will not be returning any time soon. If you think that only the Caribbean has summer like weather, that is how we all like to think. You seem to think that slapping on a mask and ventilators are all. Believe people don’t mind doing that now but every market we now reap benefits from has its own tourist industry. With high prices and lingering psychological fears , it’s going to take a lot more than that.
As for the hotel plants, many of them throughout the region will remain white elephants. Perhaps the owners could convert them into high priced condos for well off citizens and bring some much needed competition into regional real estate markets.
I read in today’s Nation a very interesting article by @ PLT.
I have as already outlined in BU about two or three weeks ago how we can stimulate our economy. About three years ago , I had also submitted my way forward at that time.
Furthermore over the years I have submitted my ideas on two occasions, to national bodies
1.1987: Solutions For Unemployment
The Education Component
Presented to the Task Force on Unemployment;
2. 1992: Suggestions Re: Assisting Development Of our Youth
Presented to The National Commission On Youth.
So, many of my ideas are known.
We can’t always agree .
William Skinner
Thanks for your prompt response to my post.
We will have to agree to disagree. But you are the expert in this area so you are probably right.
I however don’t think that any of us have an absolutely clear fool proof crystal ball as to what will happen in Tourism in Barbados or in the caribbean subregion over the next few years. So a declaration of its total death seems to me to be somewhat foolhardy. Look at the worldometer charts and the Financial Times charts and you will see that in the Caribbean the incidence of covid-19 has plateaued in most states except Jamaica and is generally trending down in all the others at very low levels as contrasted with those of our neighbours which are also plateauing but at very high levels. There are reasons for this. That must mean something. In addition, a huge amount of wide ranging research is going on on Covid-19 and there are several lines which appear to point to cultural as well as control by drugs in the next 2 years.
I will continue following the charts and seeing what they suggest as to the severity of this epidemic. I think the eventual story might well tend towards my take than yours. But who knows? You might be right in your analysis.
@Lyall
Agree with your caution about the unknown. With the world upsized at the moment there is a lot of fog about what should be the clear next steps. If there is a treatment/vaccine found in the next 12-24 months it means leisure/business travel will resume in some form, therefore a market will exist. What others are also saying is that post covid planning is a must as it was a must pre covid as it pertains to the planning of our economic sectors. The global economy has been affected by the pandemic, some more than most, what we want is for our planners to strengthen the economic sectors to reduce our dependence on tourism. note the word reduce.
Hyatt
https://www.nationnews.com/IMG/227/92227/may-10-2020-front-page.jpg
@hants
we were recently discussing this, when you tagged me as a rich, capitalist. $20K is cheap.
https://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/245460/price-reach-us-treatment
yes David, reduce not eliminate.
@ David
On a pleasant side bar. I notice that BU is becoming a kind of incubator, we have produced Senator Franklyn , Judge Cumberbatch and now @ PLT, seems to be getting some relatively huge prominence in the Nation.
You must be congratulated for giving us all the opportunity to have this voice. Like all families , we do have differences. The struggle continues.
I appreciate you Sir!
@ lyallsmall
I am a sucker for good manners. In response to our little discussion and your impeccable debating manners I am now downgrading my critique of your submission from “ absurd” to: I strongly disagree.
Stay safe.
Thanks William, let us continue to contribute to making Barbados a wholesome place to live and be proud.
#proudtobebajan
We talk a lot about education here, and in Barbados.
Yet when in response to part of a post by one of our esteemed BU elite thus, I got the very strange response.
RE Believe it or not, we have people on BU defending and promoting the worst president ever on the planet earth.
WITH ALL DUE RESPECT SIR. HOW IS THIS UNBELIEVABLE? DID NOT FOLK DEFEND AND PROMOTE OTHERS? DO FOLK ON BU HAVE THE RIGHT TO PROMOTE AND DEFEND WHO THEY LIKE WITOUT THIS BEING INCREDULOUS?
CAN YOU PLEASE KINDLY ILLUCIDATE AND ILLUMINATE WITH RESPECT TO THE PARAMETERS AND RUBRICS THAT YOU USED TO COME TO YOUR CONCLUSION?
HOW IS THE MAN A GREATER SINNER, AND LESS FLAWED THAN YOU OR ANYONE ELSE? HE IS CERTAINLY MORE FUN AND MORE SUCCESSFUL..
”
With all due respect Sir, I was not the recipient of free education. My mother worked extremely hard to pay Louis Lynch at the Modern High School , to ensure that I can tell you this and I want you to read this very clearly : I would not insult my mother, Louis Lynch or anybody , who has assisted me in getting a little education to ever pretend that I would waste a second in any genuine response to you are anybody who can write the crap you just wrote.
How on earth would giving a simple, sincere, answer to a reasonable question insult any one’s mother, or Louis Lynch or anybody? How?
What did the question have to do with being the recipient of free education or not, or the amount of maternal effort expended to pay Louis Lynch at the Modern High School?
Then we wonder why Barbados is dying.
Now I have reached the stage where I do not care too much except about eternal and eschatological matters, and getting a good laugh. But if our esteemed elite give non sequiturs as answers to simple questions how will such folk make Barbados a wholesome place to live and be proud.
How exactly?
Tron do make a very good case about the passage of time and nation building. Generally, it takes hundred of years for a country to develop into a mature and prosperous society. Singaore, Taiwan and South Korea are unique and exceptions.There is no blue print or formula out there that magically transform a nation into developed status. Even the USA ascendency was an exception. In less than a hundred years, the USA was already a major economic and military power on the world stage. That’s impressive.
Compare that with the Latin american countries that have been independent since at least 1830. None have made it to develop status since. Don’t mine Chile and Mexico OECD status. That is pure symbolism and politics.
@Wlliam. You shouldn’t be surprised that Trump has supporters in BIM and on BU. Not having any supporters here would have been more a surprise for me. The human condition is littered with contradiction and self-destructive behavior.This reminds me of the famous tribal king in west africa who protested incessantly to Queen Victoria upon hearing about the abolition of the slave trade.
ANOTHER NON SEQUITUR!
wHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP TO HAVING TRUMP SUPPORTERS IN BIM OR ON BU OR ON MARS HAVE TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT “The human condition is littered with contradiction and self-destructive behavior.”?
MY DEAR PATERNAL GRANNY USE TO OFT REMARK THAT “EVERY PIECE OF CLOTH IN THE STORE HAS ITS OWNER OR POTENTIAL PURCHASER.”
MANY PEOPLE ON BU AND AROUND THE WORLD USED TO SUPPORT THE LAST PRESIDENT JUST BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK, LOOKED GOOD AND SOUNDED GOOD, EVEN THOUGH THE DISCERNING COULD SEE HE WAS A DEVIL, AND AN OBVIOUS ANTICHRIST.
@William Skinner May 10, 2020 8:07 AM “Mia must know that she will win the next election unless something seismic happens.”
But something seismic is happening.
If COVID-19 isn’t seismic, then I don’t know what is.
MANY PEOPLE ON BU AND AROUND THE WORLD USED TO SUPPORT THE LAST PRESIDENT JUST BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK, LOOKED GOOD AND SOUNDED GOOD, EVEN THOUGH THE DISCERNING COULD SEE HE WAS A DEVIL, AND AN OBVIOUS ANTICHRIST. {Quote}
@ GP
You know full well that many people on BU and around the world does support Trump just because he WHITE.
THAT IS A FACT THAT CANNOT BE REFUTED.
Some people would tell you that Trump don’t look good and he don’t sound good either. And the discerning would also say he is the devil and an obvious Antichrist. But you would want we to believe that you right and them wrong.
Man, look, the same way you got you opinions bout Obama and Trump, people got their opinions bout them too.
Just because you does read a few Bible verses, feel you is the authority on the Bible, hate Obama and like Trump, don’t make your opinions right or wrong.
The people that like Obama and hate Trump don’t make them right or wrong either.
AT THE END OF THE DAY IT IS JUST A MATTER OF AN OPINION.
But you got to admit that Trump does tell nuff, nuff lies—— and they are recorded on video for everybody to see.
THAT IS A FACT THAT CANNOT BE REFUTED.
@GP May 11, 2020 7:40 PM “MANY PEOPLE ON BU AND AROUND THE WORLD USED TO SUPPORT THE LAST PRESIDENT JUST BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK, LOOKED GOOD AND SOUNDED GOOD, EVEN THOUGH THE DISCERNING COULD SEE HE WAS A DEVIL, AND AN OBVIOUS ANTICHRIST.”
My response: Can you please kindly illucidate and illuminate with respect to the parameters and rubrics that you used to come to your conclusion? How is the previous President a greater sinner, and less flawed than you or anyone else?
Interesting remark: “MANY PEOPLE ON BU AND AROUND THE WORLD USED TO SUPPORT THE LAST PRESIDENT JUST BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK, LOOKED GOOD AND SOUNDED GOOD, EVEN THOUGH THE DISCERNING COULD SEE HE WAS A DEVIL, AND AN OBVIOUS ANTICHRIST.”
The obvious comparative inference from this is that the author supports the current president because he is ‘WHITE, LOOKS GOOD AND SOUNDS GOOD’ despite the fact that many discerning others see him as a ‘DEVIL AND AN OBVIOUS ANTICHRIST’!
Pres Obama was a number of other things besides those few above as indeed the current guy is too but particularly in his public persona Obama was respectful to others as a mannerly gentleman is expected to be, articulate on matters of state (whether one agreed with his policies or not) and forceful without being boorish and condescending…. NONE of which this guy displays.
However, whereas one blogger calls POTUS “the worst president ever on the planet earth” based clearly on his obtuse behavior which has divided a nation and the world and set us all on edge awaiting some impetuous act that leads us to war or major civil protests that assessment is considered lacking in elucidation and illumination…. whereas MORE DISCERNING folks can define Obama as a “devil and anti-christ” based on …well …his devilishness, I presume!
This is remarkably, reasoned debate! 🙂
re @ GP
You know full well that many people on BU and around the world does support Trump just because he WHITE.
IF THEY DO THEY WOULD BE STUPID
RE Some people would tell you that Trump don’t look good and he don’t sound good either. BUT DOES NOT MEAN THAT HE DID NOT BRING BACK MILLIONS OF MANUFACTURING JOBS
HE WAS EFFECTIVE IN THAT WAY
HE IS SURE LOTS OF FUN LOL
I PARTICULARLY LIKE HOW HE RUNS FOLK RAGGED
RE And the discerning would also say he is the devil and an obvious Antichrist.
WHICH DISCERNING SIR ? YOU MEAN THE STANDARD BIBLE ILLITERATE?
DO YOU KNOW WHAT ANTICHRIST IS ?
RE Just because you does read a few Bible verses, feel you is the authority on the Bible,
NO I HAVE FOUR DEGREES IN THEOLOGY AND KNOW THE BIBLE WELL—VERY WELL
AND THOSE WHO KNOW ME WELL KNOW THAT I AM AN AUTHORITY on the Bible,
RE
AT THE END OF THE DAY IT IS JUST A MATTER OF AN OPINION.
SO THEN YOU ARE PROVING MY POINT THAT SKINNER ERRED IN HIS RANT
RE But you got to admit that Trump does tell nuff, nuff lies—— and they are recorded on video for everybody to see.
IT IS ALSO A FACT THAT CANNOT BE REFUTED.THAT OBAMA UNTRUTHFULLY SAID IF YOU LIKE YOUR DOCTOR YOU CAN KEEP YOUR DR AND IF YOU LIKE YOUR PLAN YOU CAN KEEP YOUR PLAN
IT IS ALSO A FACT THAT CANNOT BE REFUTED.THAT THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT WAS FAR FROM AFFORDABLE
IT IS ALSO A FACT THAT CANNOT BE REFUTED.THAT I CAN SPEAK OF THIS WITH OUT FEAR OF CONTRADICTION. MUST I TELL YOU WHY?
RE “MANY PEOPLE ON BU AND AROUND THE WORLD USED TO SUPPORT THE LAST PRESIDENT JUST BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK, LOOKED GOOD AND SOUNDED GOOD, EVEN THOUGH THE DISCERNING COULD SEE HE WAS A DEVIL, AND AN OBVIOUS ANTICHRIST.”
My response: Can you please kindly illucidate and illuminate with respect to the parameters and rubrics that you used to come to your conclusion?
THATS VERY EASY…….VERY EASY
JUST LOOK UP THE SCRIPTURES ON ANTICHRIST AND THE SPIRIT OF ANTICHRIST
I AM NOT AS BIBLE ILLITERATE.
WHEN I USE BIBLICAL TERMS I KNOW OF WHAT I SPEAK
TRUMP HAS BEEN ABLE TO RALLY THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN THE USA TO DELIVER IN THE CURRENT PANDEMIC
CAN MIA GET OUR PRIVATE SECTOR TO DELIVER IN THE CURRENT PANDEMIC OR EVER ?
INDICATE WHEN EVER AND IN WHAT WAY THE ONLY BLACK PRESIDENT EVER RALLIED THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN THE USA TO DELIVER ABOUT ANYTHING?
IS IT REALLY TRUE THE THINGS THAT ARE BEING REVEALED ABOUT THE EVIL THINGS GONE BY THE SAINTLY OBAMA REGIME ADMINISTRATION TO DESTROY THE INCOMING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION?
IS IT REALLY TRUE?
IS IT REALLY TRUE THAT SAINT OBAMA ENGAGED IN SUCH UNGENTLEMANLY BEHAVIOUR?
So we are going to turn Williams blog into a Trump Obama bashing affair? Is this what supposedly intelligent men will do? Should the blogmaster delete similar comments to follow? You all don’t get rh tired?
will the Antichrist be a homosexual?
we have no further to look than the book of Daniel, chapter 11 to find our answer. It says, “Neither shall he [Antichrist] regard… the desire of women….”
From a lost perspective, the reason sex sells, pornography is profitable, and prostitution is “the world’s oldest profession” is mankind’s desire of women. From Christianity’s position, it is part of the glue for the bond of marriage and the propagation of a godly heritage. But homosexuality does not regard this — in their unbridled lusts they burn for their own gender.
But consider this: The time is ripe for such a leader. Indeed, it should not be surprising that the one who is against everything Biblical and Christian should be a partaker of so great a sin; there is no greater way to reject the Creator than to reject your gender and his design for it. And at what other time have we seen such perversion come out of the closets onto our streets, threatening violence if we do not accept their ways?
Is it any wonder that Revelation 13 says that this same Antichrist will make war with the saints of the tribulation, and overcome them? Are they not now readying themselves to make it illegal to “offend” them in any way, calling it hatred to preach against their sin? Is it because they love us? The time is ripe for such a man.
YOU CAN AND YOU WILL DELETE WHAT YOU WANT TO DELETE FOR THAT IS YOUR WAY WHEN THE TRUTH IS COMING OUT ABOUT THOSE WHO YOU HOLD IN HIGH ESTEEM BUT WILLIAM OPENED THE DOOR FOR US TO ARGUE THIS
YOU DONT DELETE THE NASTY REMARKS ABOUT TRUMP CAUSE YOU ARE A TRUMP HATER
BUT GOD IS ION THE THRONE
AND THE TRUTH WILL COME TO THE FORE OTHER PLACES IF NOT HERE
THE SLOGAN JOIN IN THE DISCUSSION, YOU NEVER KNOW HOW EXPRESSING YOUR VIEW MAY MAKE A DIFFERENCE. MEANS NOTHING
YOU DONT TAKE DOWN THE OBVIOUS RUBBISH ON THE SUNDAY SERMON BLOG
supposedly intelligent men can do MUCH MORE UNDER THE RIGHT CONDITIONS
SIMPLE SIMON WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ANTICHRIST I CITED DANIEL CORRECTLY FOR ONE OF HIS CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS CAUSE I KNOW THE WORD AND CAN THUS DISCERN
The problem with you is that you have no respect for others on the blog, you have no regard for blog etiquette. A man post a blog to highlight an opinion about his homeland – what do some of you do? You are correct, further comments about Trump will be deleted. Problem solved.
A man post a blog to highlight an opinion about his homeland – what do some of you do?
I RESPONDED TO ISSUES HE RAISED
see it here
William Skinner
May 10, 2020 7:11 AM
Last paragraph
“Believe it or not, we have people on BU defending and promoting the worst president ever on the planet earth.”
re The problem with you is that you have no respect for others on the blog, you have no regard for blog etiquette.
ACTUALLY I DONT HAVE ANY PROBLEMS EXCEPT BOREDOM
I TREAT OTHERS JUST AS THEY TREAT ME,
I SPENT MY WHOLE LIFE FITTING INTO SOCIETIES MOULDS AND GETTING KICKED AROUND JUST LIKE HOW YOU DO MY POSTS HERE WHEN YOU CHOSE
I HAVE MADE A STIRLING AND STELLAR CONTRIBUTION TO BU IN MEDICINE SINCE 2008
RE You are correct,
I USUALLY AM
@ David
You and others should note that I dont spend time discussing Trump, Boris Johnson , BREXIT. There is a reason; I come from a very small country , with very limited resources. On occassion I have praised or mainly critisised my prime ministers. However, I am proud to say that when I compare them to other world leaders, I am very proud of what we have produced. They all have tremendous intellect; have a very good grasp of the english language and I have been never embarrased by them..As you know , when one is accustomed to such an abundance of quality leaders and have a lot of pride in his country,he very quickly discerns with waht or whom he wants to engage.
@ fortyacresanda mule
Im not surprised thatTrump has supporters- so did Hitler !
@ Cuhdear Bajan
you are correct. My point was badly made, I really meant something seismic in terms of pure politics. I do agree that the COVID-19 is more than seismic but in my opinion and research done by the Mahogany Coconut Group, the PM, has been very effective in coummunicating and showing leadership at this difficult btime. I think that will redound to her benefit. Furthermore , we tend to give parties at least two terms>.
Mr. William Skinner,
De ole man has a theory and I going share it.
De grandchildren and de children was reading a book by Thomas Wolfe You Can’t Go Home Again.
So you know dat i lef school at 11 so i only get my education from dese informal lessons but i gine copy from e-notes what i partially gathered as they were reading the book
“…An overarching theme in Thomas Wolfe’s posthumously-published 1940 novel is that the fleeting moments of our past are the things we sometimes cling to in our minds as the construct of home. Our obsession with the past as a time and place of security is illusive at best…”
We are agreed to the last of us that the place we knew once this Gem of the Caribbean Sea is, Post Covid, dead and gone forever.
So, we nead a formula to bridge that gap and de ole mad suggests that THIS BRIDGE MUST BE FORMULATED USING THE BEST OF OUR MINDS.
Like Astor Watts of the DLP, the old Guard IS DEAD!! and we need to bury their modies because they stink!!
TO do so de ole man suggests finding those who are NOT caught up in the past those with what I call the DIASPORA DENIZENS!
And Diaspora de ole man does not mean those who physically reside outside of Barbados, but I mean those with a mindset that is befitting of our course at 2020.
And how can we engage with those who are locals or are domiciled externally?
What is the stimulus that, outside of nation-building and national duty, concepts that are sadly in sore deficit, how can we enlist the best of minds?
De ole man suggests that it is $$ some of the Stimulus $$ that Mugabe and her crew are going to Rape the country of before they get the Integrity Legislation Enacted so that they will be able to say dat all 30 of dem was multimillionaires!
But there has to be a fair exchange (something that Mugabe knows noting about so she ent interested in that)
FOR $$ the Diasporean Thinker who is going to bring something to the country HAS TO BE COMPENSATED, and for that COMPENSATION THEY MUST BRING $$ TO THE COUNTRY.
So de ole man (while I know the answer to this conundrum) will ask you the writer how can such be accomplished?
I hope I can assist your subject matter in a direction that provides direction for the PdP who is reading this article (and since the BLP only has rocks for their MPs they will not be able to understand what is written here heheheheheheh)
@ Piece
I am far from an authority on the thinking of those in the Diaspora. In my community , they are more concerned with things such as consistent water supply; cost of living and health services. Personally none of these things bother me. However, I am a very recent entry ; only being outside for a mere quarter century and still in constant contact with the Rock. Contrary to what some know it alls on BU think , I do spend quite a lot of time at home. I was actively involved in the last elections in a rural constituency and the candidate broke a number of records. I’m now writing a memoir on that campaign.
I believe, in your case or the PdP case that you have more talent in Caswell, Drakes and Gibson than the thirty who occupy the Upper Chamber.
As you believe , and I agree, Caswell should be appointed leader of the PdP. Recently the Mahogany Coconut Group, reviewed some information that showed many citizens believe Caswell is the only politician , at this time, who is prepared to rock the boat. Atherley tends to labour too much on delivery and his message is lost.
At the end of the day, I extend to you the same suggestions , I extended to Mr. Phillips of the Solutions – get out there in the trenches and build the party from the ground up. Many on BU might not believe but there is some buyers remorse regarding the current administration but the almost duppy-like behaviour of Depeiza and company helps the administration.
The ball is in your court.
Keep up the good work.There is not a single hugely now successful product that was not rejected at first. If you want an example of this look at the history of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Kelloggs and Macdonald. Or as I do check the success of our own Shirley Biscuits.
Much appreciation for your response Mr William Skinner
Without a doubt he is talented AND THEIR PARTY HAS SOME VERY TALENTED PEOPLE
You are extremely right about them getting into the trenches
And I believe that one of the most effective ways to do so is by them identifying a series of initiatives that brings a number of critical, high profile resources to Barbados
Say for example water.
This is a scarce commodity in parts of Barbados
De ole man would suggest that Senator Caswell Franklyn and his team find the best such provisioner and bring it to Barbados AND WIDELY PUBLICIZE IT.
The Barbados Labour Party will deny its entry to the country AND, IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE, the PdP gets “currency”, national notice, that the BLP cannot stymie
The PdP has to look for winners and do that now!
@Skinner, re yours: “Caswell should be appointed leader of the PdP. Recently the Mahogany Coconut Group, reviewed some information that showed many citizens believe Caswell is the only politician , at this time, who is prepared to rock the boat. Atherley tends to labour too much on delivery and his message is lost.”
Sen Franklyn is a very interesting political persona at this moment… he certainly rocks the boat and I suspect those associated with him over the years (since his schoolboy cadet days) might offer that ’tis was always so!…. But my point is that the Senator has REPEATEDLY said that he has no interest in elective politics for himself!
Now, that said, he would not be the first politician to be ‘begged’ to save a nation and who ‘reluctantly’ allows the electorate to set him on high… that sometimes can be a problem… but the Senator’s appears to be a man who is grounded in the rights of every-man and pursues justice on its merits regardless of the popularity of his actions. Thus, he is indeed worthy to be ‘set on high’.
But does he want this late career anguish and the scalding personal attacks that would come with any leadership attempt… He would definitely be a dangerous candidate against BLP and DLP and they would go after him ‘guns’ blazing… we can sit here and write pretty stuff but this blood-sport of politics ain’t easy!
AND BTW we really need to get a handle on crisis management leadership and ALL of us need to recognize that MANY a leader can win a war but CANNOT govern the peace! (this is not about your comment specifically, just using it to intro)
Ms Mottley has done no more during this crisis than you or I would have expected of ANY of those other Bajan leaders you acclaimed (Stuart WAS NOT among them and is NOT here).. as a result I don’t give her any special marks for doing her job EFFECTIVELY… we expect that.
Bush 41 waged an effective war and lost badly in the peacetime (so to speak); the NY Mayor Giuliani parlayed his supposed outstanding crisis management after 9-11 into a lucrative consultancy practice around the globe … are we not more aware that in fact he is no better a manager that his underhand dealings are effective. And of course the example we often go of England during the war and then after re Churchill!
Again, no disrespect to Ms Mottley, but this crisis and her management of it needs to be seen properly in context of life and history… if we want to give her special kudos for this then lets revisit EduTech or her time as AG and the serious problems therein encountered… Balance, Reason and Reality good sir… Balance, Reason and Reality!
@ DpD
Of the things that you mentioned that de ole man will talk about is your wartime peacetime leader conundrum!
Some people can only govern during war and SHOULD NOT BE relied on during peacetime!
And you point of the Mugabe peace time legacy DURING THE 14 YEARS when she had no pressure on her back
http://imgur.com/gallery/hqChq
You have spoken truth as an examination of her performance in peace time was SUPERLATIVELY POOR!
WELL SAID!
Your help Honourable Blogmaster with a
@ de pedantic Dribbler May 12, 2020 9:56 AM
“Ms Mottley has done no more during this crisis than you or I would have expected of ANY of those other Bajan leaders you acclaimed (Stuart WAS NOT among them and is NOT here).. as a result I don’t give her any special marks for doing her job EFFECTIVELY… we expect that.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The GoB has handled this pandemic challenge no better or no worse than the other countries in the CARICOM region.
The only major false step along the way was the disloyal and callous treatment by the government of T&T (with its own national airline) towards its ‘ordinary’ citizens stranded abroad.
Maybe it’s the relatively clean fresh air off the Atlantic Ocean and its Caribbean sea laden with antioxidant.
Maybe it’s the slightly deflected but constant flow of ‘beneficial amounts of UV rays from our Star to trigger the natural production of Vitamin D in the geographical region ‘infected’ by the arrival of the European.
Maybe it’s the relatively good public health infrastructure initiated and left by the former colonial masters on the advice of the Moyne Commission.
One of the problem we have as a society is to constantly looking to the government to solve all our problems. Along with this handicap mentality, we have become entitled and very spoiled. That would have been expected if our progress and development was built on a solid foundation. The more developed a country becomes, the more the expectations and entitlements of its population. But our development and progress is a facade. Built on a weak foundation.
Therefore, we should temper our expectations and be more self-reliant rather than looking to politicians/political system to save us or a crutch for support. For all my years on this planet, I have voted only once.
fortyacresandamule
May 11, 2020 6:37 PM
Compare that with the Latin american countries that have been independent since at least 1830. None have made it to develop status since. Don’t mine Chile and Mexico OECD status. That is pure symbolism and politics.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Could be the Church is different!!
America is a product of the Reformation, …. Reformed Church if you like.
Latin America is not.
@ Khaleel
You are being as disingenuous as you are deceitful
“…The AG’s comments bode well for our democracy reassuring me that the rule of law is still very much alive and that the citizenry are still able to hold their leaders to account.
The people are ultimately the ones in whom power is vested and events such as these serve as timely reminds to governments…”
At one point de ole man was inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt and to say that you are willing to learn BUT YOU ARE EMPLOYING DISHONESTY & DECEIPT HERE
So since you play that you are a man in a boys body I GINE TREAT YOU LIKE THE MAN-CHILD THAT YOU ARE
This is the kind of story that might help, in another year or two, to lead to the resurgence of a hospitality sector.
Insightful article. There are other considerations too, especially referring to the comment above re other Latin American countries not reaching ti to developed status.
Firstly and foremost, the ONE common thread in developmental issues and wealth distribution is corruption. Whether internal or linked with external forces (payment for contracts etc).
Think also, that any country that bucks the international norm (written with mirth) is ostracised politically and economically, thereby preventing normal trade movement and thus, preventing economic independence.
Thirdly, consider that any country that manages to operate independently, despite the above, then is targeted, leaders removed and the economy ravaged. We can think of a couple of those in the recent past.
So, Venezuela for example, while surely corrupt, is also being ravaged by wilful external pressures on its normal operations.
So, let us be real and stop dancing around the fact, the bare shelves are as much a fault of the external pressures and the corrupt government, all because that government does not meet the political ideology of international ‘norms’.
Bear in mind that for forty years before that government, while there were ultra wealthy, there were also people literally living in mud huts on the mountainside, but that government met international consensus.
Cut to the chase, corruption is the first cause of lack of holistic development of a society. But that corruption can be both internal and external.