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Submitted Observing

Things are so out of whack recently that I think we have gone haywire. Let me just toss a few random disjointed thoughts out there to get a real real feel for where we are right now.

  1. Persons on bail for vicious murders…BUT…end up committing others after
  2. Local parties and fetes are restricted…BUT…visitors can plan 2 months ahead of time and party soon with wild abandon
  3. Large outcry over the Trojan Riddim…BUT…and even larger outcry over the outcry over the Trojan Riddim
  4. MAM says take down the Riddim AND apologise…BUT…so far 166 thousand views, 3000 likes and Sunday School still wukking
  5. NUPW elected to represent workers…BUT….NUPW has to call in the police to save itself
  6. Minister boasts that cruise ships coming…BUT…positive cases still showing up on liners abroad
  7. We say the children under severe pressure…BUT…we force the same children to do Common Entrance
  8. Auditor General report speaks of problems…BUT…not a peep or pang from the GoB or BLP about it
  9. Cruise ships mashup Carlisle Bay coral…BUT…Minister says no problem he will plant it back
  10. Road tax removed to supposedly ease consumers….BUT……gas prices (and said tax) increasing every single month
  11. Hotel workers cannot be forced to take the vaccine…BUT…guests can demand that they do
  12. There is no price gouging they say…BUT…ask any supermarket buyer and you’ll hear different
  13. Four Seasons money written off by government…BUT…the main lawyer and main adviser running the same government coffers currently
  14. Verla’s ready to lead the DLP to next year’s election…BUT…she has to beat a certain Guy first.

See what I tell ya. We Gone Haywire.


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759 responses to “GONE HAYWIRE”


  1. NorthernObserverJune 26, 2021 11:59 AM

    “Two and half years later nothing has changed”?
    Then all must be good? For you had few issues prior to this time.
    But you have admitted in one simple line (is that a fact or a truth?) there is no difference between B &D in control of the running of the GoB.
    Something most bloggers appreciate. What one @WS calls the duopoly

    Xxxxxx
    What I have observed and what is truth and factual
    That all the promises made by present govt does not add up to a hill of beans
    Poverty unemployment and super inflation and crime has escalated to unprecedented numbers in two and half years
    There is no mention of govt Having policies which can create growth just going on borrowing Speer


  2. @John2

    This continually pointing at twiddle D or twiddle dum gets us nowhere fast.


  3. That nothing has change us dlp talk Shop

    Man not even the bulding getting Sick anymore. To happy to see d back of all of dem 😆

    Tax Payer money AY work

    Gov us no longer paying the public workers and the private sector to pick up garbage

    Tax payer money AT work


  4. The duopoly talk us just sour grapes

    Will touch on that at a later time

    Ovet and out @ david


  5. “What I have observed and what is truth and factual
    That all the promises made by present govt does not add up to a hill of beans
    Poverty unemployment and super inflation and crime has escalated to unprecedented numbers in two and half years
    There is no mention of govt Having policies which can create growth just going on borrowing Speer”

    You did it again. I can see the poetry. I can tease it out.
    —-x—
    @J2
    All because of you
    —-x—
    What I have observed and what is truth and factual
    Ñot dealing in fantasy, but what is actual
    All the promises made,
    And all the words said
    Do not add up to a hill of beans
    Just a stream of illusion and broken dreams
    Poverty, unemployment, super inflation
    With crime in rapid escalation
    An unprecedented numbers of victims
    Distractions by lyrics and riddims
    In two and half years
    We have reaped only tears
    A lack of coherent policies
    Hinged on nothing more than fallacies
    Not a growing economy

    Just fueled by a borrowing spree

    My two motivators
    You inspire
    J2 challenges

  6. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @ac
    Kindly provide the factual evidence.
    Please
    1. Provide the rates of unemployment for the past 10 yrs. Kindly separate the preCovid from the postCovid, unless you believe Covid is a hoax.
    2. Provide the crime statistics over the past 10 yrs to demonstrate your point.
    3. Provide measurable statistics to show that “poverty” has changed over the past 10 years.
    Inflation has, and will increase. When you import as much as Barbados does, inflation in producing countries gets passed on. And despite it being termed ‘transitory’ by several foreign governments, I suspect it may be more. You cannot pump the amount of free money several did, without inflationary results. At least, since as you stated Barbados pumped very little stimulus, then the Government isn’t to blame? They can place price controls on certain items, which also has consequences.


  7. Still doing the white man dance?


  8. NO
    Why go back to ten years
    Present govt was to wipe the slate clean
    Shouting hallelujah A New Beginning
    But in all seriousness how long is govt going to use COVID as a reason for the economy flattering
    Not saying that covid impact was not hurtful to the economy
    But that besides govt has yet to place a foundation for economic stimulation
    Why other countries has revised their old policies and pursue a policy of stimulus pkgs
    Barbados govt has pumped money into businesss and yet to see any meaningful returns


  9. Six to one is murdah… Just cheering on the underdog.

    This blog reminds me of a DT blog that went on days after it has passed it usefulness. AC will not be silenced or converted. Others will not be silenced or converted.

    It is a stalemate.


  10. When the wheels of the economy slows to a grind
    Govt must implement policies that can lift the economy out of its stagnant performance
    Govt handed stimulus pkgs in the millions to the tourism industry on top of all that govt initiate policies by way of advertising costing millions more all done during Covid
    The impact so far has been minimal

  11. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Why go back 10 years?
    Because if you wish to show ‘escalation to unprecedented numbers’ SHOW ME the numbers, don’t DUCK the issue.
    How can any administration of the GoB “wipe the slate clean”? Every new administration inherits that which went before.
    3.How long is the GoB going to use Covid? If history is any guide, the last administration used the Great Recession for 8 years. Since I cannot predict WHEN Covid will be over, let me guess at 8 years. I have suggested there is little difference between B or D.
    4.Again show us the NUMBERS. Even your VdeP understood the take from the maximum $300M LOAN facility for tourism businesses had been sparingly supported. It was loans, not grants. The GoB didn’t ‘hand’ (give) they made available.
    a) Tell us where the $$$ for economic stimulus is coming from b) what is going to be stimulated and how. Don’t tell me ‘the economy’ that is too generic. You didn’t like a loan facility for tourism dependant operations, who employ many, so what industries/people are you going to stimulate?


  12. No
    This article gives answers to what I said is unprecedented crime
    Xxxx

    CRIME STATISTICS SHOULD BE WAKE-UP CALL TO ALL
    Wed, 02/13/2019 – 1:33am
    BY:
    JANELLE HUSBANDS
    WITH over four decades of service to the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) under his belt, retired Deputy Police Commissioner Bertie Hinds says never before has he seen the level of violent criminal activity in Barbados that was recorded in January of this year.

    Hinds, who is the managing director of BAH Consulting, was at the time giving some insight into the crime situation during a lecture held on Monday night, hosted by the Coleridge & Parry Alumni Association as part of its lecture series.

    Speaking on the topic “The Drugs and Violent Crime Dynamic: The Drift Towards the Barbados Experience”, the consultant criminologist says it is his intention to share his knowledge with the public wherever possible and through his upcoming book “Policing a Dynamic Barbados”, which he said will soon be released.

    According to Hinds: “What is happening in the criminal world is that there are a significant number of persons who are trying to redefine the morals and values of our society. And they are making every effort to do that. But we have to resist it.”

    With nine murders and 12 related offences of serious bodily harm recorded, he said these stats should be a wake-up call for Barbadians. “That should tell you that the people who are committing these heinous crimes are savage and in some instances they are determined.

    “What we are seeing here [is] that this outbreak of criminal violence in Barbados is unprecedented in this country. I’ve worked in the Police Force over 40 years and nothing like this has ever happened. So that is the statistic that the entire country has got to be careful of,” he reiterated.

    Hinds brought additional statistical evidence dating back to 1976 to show why these figures are particularly worrying, since according to him the average murders per month for the last 32 years was two. Additionally, he noted that average murders for the last 32 years has been around 14.
    He noted that back in 1986 the country reported ten murders, 1996, there were 15 murders. In 2006 the number jumped to 35 murders and 2016 there were 22 murders. Last year ended with 28. He pointed out that the 2019 is already one- third of the 2018 statistic. “So we have to pull this situation back in Barbados.

    He drew reference to the impact of drugs over the years. Noting that back in 1970 only four persons were prosecuted for possession of drugs and two of the cases were dismissed at the court. “That gives an indication of what society was thinking,” he said adding that the drugs of today were not on the landscape, neither was the legislation. That figure moved up to 278 cases in 1986 and in 2016 that number reached 1 608 cases. He noted that the number of females included in drug use and trafficking also increased around that time and issued a word of caution that the frequency of women being linked to drugs is likely to increase.

    Hinds attributed the increase in lawlessness to a number of factors including poor parenting, failure to instil good morals and values, peer pressure, and turf wars as some of the reasons behind the violent behaviour. He warned that persons who experiment with deviant behaviour will continue along that path unless they are intercepted.

    “If you test the waters for deviant behaviour and you are not chastised, counselled, not brought back into the fold, you will try it again. That is why we have to start from an early age, one-and-a-half, two, three [years old]… an individual’s disposition is formed between one-and-a-half and three. It is at that stage that you have to try to mould the behaviours of these young people because it starts from there.”

    He also suggested that by “fixing” the RBPF and the prison system, the workload of the courts will contract. “Because the court deals with hearing and determining cases. There are people on remand for eight years because there are too many cases in the system,” he lamented. (JH)


  13. Glad to hear govt giving more detail as to where the recent COVID outbreak occured
    Better to give the public an idea than have public perception and suspicion takes a foothold naming business that are not involved

  14. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    You post a report that is TWO and a HALF years old?????
    What it showed then is crime has been rising. I accept that. What is an unprecedented level? A 3% increase?
    Next…..


  15. You can draw or conclude what ever percentage

    But the statics given from a 2019 article states that the level.of crime has increases at unprecedented levels
    In my humble opinion along with level the brazenness and the way the crime are being committed adds to what can be deemed as unprecedented

    Hinds brought additional statistical evidence dating back to 1976 to show why these figures are particularly worrying, since according to him the average murders per month for the last 32 years was two. Additionally, he noted that average murders for the last 32 years has been around 14.
    He noted that back in 1986 the country reported ten murders, 1996, there were 15 murders. In 2006 the number jumped to 35 murders and 2016 there were 22 murders. Last year ended with 28. He pointed out that the 2019 is already one- third of the 2018 statistic. “So we have to pull this situation back in Barbados

    BTW did not present govt made utterances towards past govt about the high crime level
    I know you might try to tie my observation to a tactical inclusion of percentages but the numbers make a case from growing crime rapidly rising
    2020 was a bloody year with at least 40 murders

  16. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Just to show you the fallacy of statistics, if the average murders/month for the last 32yrs was 2. And there are 12 months in each and every of those 32 years, how can the annual average over the same 32 years be 14??? Rounding?
    I have already accepted crime has increased. And the general pattern has been an increase for several years. And crime includes more than just deaths from unnatural causes.
    Next….


  17. Actually, only murders have increased. Gang men killing each other. Last statistics showed other crime decreased.


  18. No
    Here is another article that might be of interest to u
    Btw keep burying yuh head in the sand

    Barbados at Crossroads with Rising Homicide Rate
    CARIBBEAN
    /
    1 JUN 2021 BY CHRIS DALBY
    EN
    image
    With its homicide rates higher than ever in 2019 and 2020, Barbados is now confronting a difficult situation: Will it be able to bring the violence down or will it catch up with some of its Caribbean neighbors?

    On May 22, police officer Newton Lewis responded to a robbery in progress near his home in Barbados’ northern parish of Saint Peter. He was shot dead on arrival at the scene, and his service weapon was taken, according to Barbados Today.

    Lewis, who had been the driver of Barbados’ police commissioner, was the first police officer to be killed in at least 20 years in the country.

    His death came as the island nation struggles with a rising homicide rate and the increasing presence of illegal guns.

    The numbers can seem paltry when compared to some of its Caribbean neighbors. In 2019, the island saw a record 49 murders, dropping to 42 in 2020. But homicides have still more than doubled since 2012.

    The government has pointed to the influx of illegal guns as helping to facilitate the increase in violence. While it has a much smaller population, the country sees the most gun-related crimes among English-speaking Caribbean nations after Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, according to a report by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force.

    InSight Crime Analysis
    Barbados has so far avoided the major risk factors that have seen homicides soar in other Caribbean nations. But these advantages do come with some important caveats.

    Firstly, it has little presence of international organized crime. Its gangs are highly localized and involved primarily in microtrafficking, as the island is not part of any significant overseas drug trafficking routes, a major cause of violence in Jamaica or the Dominican Republic.

    However, these gangs are far from harmless. They are behind many of the country’s homicides and members reportedly rent guns to each other for 10,000 Barbadian dollars ($5,000), according to Cheryl Willoughby, director of Barbados’ National Task Force on Crime Prevention.

    Secondly, the country has been a regional leader for having low rates of official corruption, police brutality and criminal impunity, according to a 2020 US State Department report.

    But its response to gang violence has seemed inconsistent, with sweeping pledges for tougher sentencing laws often failing to pass Parliament or containing loopholes.

    In 2017, anti-gang legislation was proposed by the Attorney General’s Office, pledging sentences of 20 years for gang members and 25 years for gang leaders. In 2018, this was dropped by the new government of Prime Minister Mia Mottley. The current administration then began considering its own version of anti-gang laws, which also were never implemented. In late 2020, one of the country’s top prosecutors called for a life sentence for a gang member on trial for murder.

    In July 2020, Barbados did pass the Integrity in Public Life Bill, seeking to enforce similar standards of conduct for public officials and private entrepreneurs. This was motivated by several reports of officials facilitating criminal acts. In 2019, border officials were caught accepting bribes to allow illegal guns into the country, according to the country’s police commissioner.

    However, the bill came in for criticism. One controversial clause stated that no investigations into alleged acts of corruption could take place if an official had left public service for more than two years.

    Thirdly, most murders do not involve firearms. Guns are only used in around 40 percent of murders in Barbados, as opposed to over 70 percent in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, according to a report by the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance.

    But the problem of illegal firearms appears to be on the rise. The country has regularly held amnesty periods where unregistered guns can be surrendered without consequences. But with only a few dozen guns turned in each time, this is not a long-term solution to bring in Barbados’ estimated 7,000 illegal firearms, according to Small Arms Survey.

    CARIBBEAN HOMICIDES SECURITY

  19. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    And FYI, I generally ignore politicians on matters related to crime/murder Until governments ban guns, and they have that power, my interpretation is they don’t care. Whether one political party chooses to blame another, is fodder for the ignorant.
    If Covid has taught a single lesson is when our political leaders wish to ban an activity, and enforce it, they can.


  20. The one thing I would agree with u is the banning of guns
    Needless to say others that do not agree raised the argument of murder committed by other means
    However I submit that guns are the fastest and most effective manner to kill a person


  21. Beginning to remind me of how John would bolt down a different rabbit hole and we would run after him


  22. Theo haven’t u noticed that chasing rabbits has become one of BU pastime favourites
    I like rabbits but chasing them No
    I prefer to chase hares
    The are smarter they believe
    They start out fast and end up slow
    That reminds me that a certain individual who thinks they are smarter than any one else
    The hare and the 🐢 a story that beckons all to be wise

  23. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    If your comment was directed at me, I bolted down 4 holes provided by @ac.
    Poverty
    Crime
    Unemployment
    Stimulus
    Thus far she has chosen to reply to one. Crime.


  24. No what! What you posted was about MURDERS. There was no mention of other crime.


  25. The last report I read in the press just a couple of weeks ago quoted statistics that showed only murders were on the increase.


  26. Donna

    Go back further for the others


  27. Sorry

    My bad @ donna


  28. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bajanreporter.com/2011/01/barbados-police-make-number-of-arrests-in-red-sea-operation-as-two-males-go-missing/amp/

    Members of the SSU, Drug Squad, and the Traffic Branch conducted a joint operation at the Deacons Road community known as the ‘Red Sea’ on Saturday 22nd January 2011 and 5 persons were arrested.

    They are:
    1. Shem Attiba Lewellyn Cummins 19 years of Neptune Road, Deacons Farm, St. Michael;
    2. Katani Jalani Emmanuel Callender, 21 years and
    3. Akeil Hezekiah Callender, 22 years of Sunnyside Court, of Sunnyside Court, Deacons Farm, St. Michael;

    These persons were jointly charged for illegal possession of one .25 handgun and 10 rounds of ammunition – they are set to re-appear in District “A” Magistrate’s Court by 21st February 2011.

    As I said, gang men killing each other. I knew I had heard that name before.


  29. Senior police official says it’s the fear of crime that’s on the rise – by Emmanuel Joseph June 11, 2021
    Despite public fears of a spike in gun violence and resulting deaths, police authorities have announced a 26 per cent drop in overall crime for this year.


  30. When we drill down and look at the major or serious crime, we recognize that the total shows 199 crimes less than what was in 2020. There were 584 crimes in 2020 and 385 in 2021…and that is like a 34 per cent decline. If we further break down that major crime, we see that last year at this time, we had 17 murders, but this period now we have nine, which is a 47 per cent decline over the last year figures,” Boyce revealed.

    He said there were 80 reported cases of robbery in 2020 compared to 33 so far this year.


  31. John 2,

    Shem Cummins is the man killed last night. Killed by the Red Sea.

    Only gang murders are on the rise.


  32. Donna

    We had two cops


  33. @NO
    Not directed at a single individual.
    Trying to be impersonal in 2021


  34. AG
    PEOPLE wuking hard to mek money and thieves running loose

    https://www.facebook.com/635795895/posts/10157898038880896/?sfnsn=mo


  35. “That reminds me that a certain individual who thinks they are smarter than any one else.”

    Although the chairman of your fan club is absent, it’s good to know you still have him in your thoughts.


  36. John 2,

    Very rare.

    The police said quite recently that it is mostly gang men killing each other. You could search for that article.

    P.S. The reporting on the ex-policeman’s murder has been very low keyed. From the proximity of the surrounding houses, a burglary attempt would have been unlikely. And who tries to rob ex policeman anyway?So…..what was the reason and why so under the radar? Miss Marple’s nose is twitching.


  37. Artax,

    Wuh the tag team tink so too! As I recall, he suppose tuh be some sorta genius!

    🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂😂


  38. 😄
    I believe it is time I get myself some kind of religion. I enjoy waking to a beautiful morning, sunshine streaming through my window and to birds seeing. There must be more to my life than my daily experience.

    Most days when I go outside I see a rabbit or some other fat creature running for cover and I have seen deers in my yard.

    Yes, it is a beautiful day; the kind of day that makes you feel it is a wonderful world. Hoping, that wherever you are, it’s a beautiful day.

    Have a great day Barbados. Let your loved ones know you care.


  39. It is being purported elsewhere on social media the man sitting outside the murdered retired policeman’s home while evidence taking was ongoing is the man arrested shown in the other picture. BU cannot confirm.


  40. But yuh got some here with heads buried so far in the sand that all they can see are gang related murders
    Two men who has serve Barbados when call to duty was required has been slain at the hands of thugs and criminals
    xxccccccccc
    The above video where a young business man states he knows who have stolen his goods
    Serves purpose for the jueniville justice system to get involved in handling this problem in a swift and efficient manner
    The young business man details who the criminal is


  41. @ Donna

    Apparently, ‘Floats’ died from injuries as a result of a dispute with his ‘wife’s’ grandson.

    As I have mentioned before in previous contributions, these gun related crimes were progressively increasing from around 2015 when there were several ‘hits’ on known drug dealers and ‘hit men,’ as well as retaliatory and gang related.

    While for AG Adriel Brathwaite was busy reminding people he had friends who were breaking the law by squatting at Rock Hall, St. Phillip……….. the current AG Dale Marshall seems to have opted for his right to remain silent.


  42. Lest we forget

    In 2017, anti-gang legislation was proposed by the Attorney General’s Office, pledging sentences of 20 years for gang members and 25 years for gang leaders. In 2018, this was dropped by the new government of Prime Minister Mia Mottley. The current administration then began considering its own version of anti-gang laws, which also were never implemented. In late 2020, one of the country’s top prosecutors called for a life sentence for a gang member on trial for murder


  43. Donna

    I agree with you 100% that the wild Wild West is usually gang/ drug related

    Just did want the two cops to be left out
    To two are the most important.

    The gangs killing each other is saving tax payers money from court cases and feeding them for years in the hotel at dodds


  44. Just didn’t. Want


  45. “Lest we forget”……the former administration ‘came to office’ on January 15, 2008…… and the anti-gang legislation was proposed 2017…… NINE (9) YEARS later.

    But, ‘PROPOSED’ is the operative word.

    Was the legislation enacted? If not, why not?

    If it was, who were the gang members and leaders that were sentenced to 20 and 25 years respectively in 2017 to May 23, 2018?

    Why “was it dropped by the new government of Prime Minister Mia Mottley?”


  46. Police doing a good job this year in getting some of the killers and guns off the streets


  47. Yes proposed and left standing on the books
    New govt had to choice to implement

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