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EACH ONE MATTERS

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Submitted by Paula Sealy

Are there still only two social workers and one senior psychologist working in the education ministry for all the secondary and primary schools? In 2018 the Prime Minister announced that a special scheme would be implemented which would see the introduction of school safety officers, social workers and guidance counsellors. No wonder the guidance counsellors were under pressure back then (https://barbadostoday.bb/2019/03/26/too-few-school-counsellors/).

An ad for guidance counsellors was placed in the Gazette two years ago (Volume 154, No 69, p 970, Aug 26, 2019).
Since then the Minister of Education said that her ministry had placed ads for school safety officers and guidance counsellors for the start of the school term (Barbados Advocate, Safety officers to be hired, 5 Sep 2019, p3).
Two months later, schoolboy Temario Holder was killed at Frederick Smith Secondary School but that has not been enough to get one safety officer posted in one school in Barbados. We got a non-violence march led by the minister shortly after that and COVID monitors since then.
Last week there was some news on the extra guidance counsellors (https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/08/13/additional-counsellors-in-schools-from-next-term/). 

The ads for social workers were in the Gazette two years ago (Volume 154, No 71, p 1014, Sep 2, 2019).
Students graduate every year from Cave Hill with degrees in Social Work. Many of them find it hard to get jobs where they can use their degrees and training. They are qualified and there is a need for them. Are they capable of working in our schools today? 

The social workers have already spoken (https://www.barbadosadvocate.com/news/put-social-workers-schools). 
Where are the school safety officers and social workers today?

SCHOOL SAFETY IS A JOKE Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary in Lascelles Terrace has been condemned. And the principal from there died last year. Now the management and the staff are scrambling like Winston Hall in the St. Joseph gullies hiding from the police (https://fb.watch/7uXoi2snD3/).

Santia Bradshaw was the MP for the area since 2013 and the Minister of Education since the last elections. BUT president Pedro Shepherd was at Wilkie for more than 30 years now and a union man for a long time. 

If not for bad representation there would be no representation at all with Wilkie Cumberbatch. Teachers are getting a raw deal all around, parents and children are getting a raw deal from the minister. And not only at Wilkie because another school might be condemned by next month. 

Wesley Hall should know. 

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61 responses to “EACH ONE MATTERS”

  1. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    Medical Weed.

    Medical marijuana for depression.

    If you’ve been feeling sadness you can’t shake or lack of interest in activities you once enjoyed, you may be suffering from depression — and you’re not alone. Depression affects some 350 millionTrusted Source people across the globe. This common mood disorder is the leading causeTrusted Source of disability worldwide. Yet many people who have depression do not get the help they need.

    There are many treatments currently available, including oral medications and different therapies. Researchers are beginning to explore medicinal marijuana as an additional treatment. Here’s more about the use of medical marijuana for depression, its benefits, and its possible side effects.

    Background: Marijuana use is clinically problematic in depression, and non-medical and medical use may both contribute to barriers to care in this population. Among outpatients with depression, we examined the differential impact of medical or non-medical marijuana use, relative to no-use, on psychopathology and service use over time.

    Method: Participants were 307 psychiatry outpatients participating in a trial of drug/alcohol use treatment for depression. Measures of past 30-day marijuana use, depression/anxiety symptoms, psychiatry visits, and functional data related to health status were collected at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months. Regressions (baseline and 1 year) and growth models (over time) predicted clinical and psychiatry visit outcomes, from medical or non-medical marijuana use (no-use = reference).

    Results: At baseline, 40.0% of the sample used marijuana and more reported non-medical (71.7%) than medical (28.2%) use. Relative to non-users at baseline, patients using medically had worse mental/physical health functioning (p’s < 0.05), and non-medical use was associated with higher suicidal ideation (B = 1.08, p = .002), worse mental health functioning (B = -3.79, p = .015), and fewer psychiatry visits (B = -0.69, p = .009). Patients using non-medically over time improved less in depression symptoms (B = 1.49, p = .026) and suicidal ideation (B = 1.08, p = .003) than non-users.

    Limitations: Participants were psychiatry outpatients, limiting generalizability.

    What are the benefits of medical marijuana?

    Benefits

    Marijuana can be used as a tool for pain management.
    Medicinal marijuana may relieve symptoms of anxiety.
    It’s also recognized as a potential treatment for nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy.

    Conclusions: Marijuana use, especially non-medical use, among patients with depression may impede depression symptom improvement while lessening the likelihood of psychiatry visits. Marijuana use and associated barriers to care should receive consideration by depression treatment providers.

  2. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    Something Old Something new?

    Barbados Today
    July 25 at 9:00 PM ·

    Barbados Today News: BBC anchor looks forward to sit-down with PM Mottley
    BBC Anchor Zeinab Badawi is keenly looking forward to sitting down with Prime Minister Mia Mottley on Monday for the BBC’s Global Questions programme.

    It is alleged, bbc Anchor Zeinab Badawi experiencing mental memory lapses after de sit down. She is presently blowing weed rings from de
    window of her plush Dover clinic.

    Do your bloody homework you TWIT. You were carved a brand new ASS.

  3. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/08/21/philanthropist-donates-1m-to-uwi-as-personal-reparation/

  4. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    “A UK philanthropist has bequeathed her properties worth US$500,000 (BDS$1 million) to The University of the West Indies (UWI) – a move which the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles has described as “an honourable demonstration of personal reparation and moral leadership on behalf of her family”.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    BU community philanthropist must make similar, if not matching pledges.

    It’s an honorable thing to do…

  5. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    “Philanthropist donates $1M to UWI as personal reparation “

    £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

    @ WURA-War-on-U

    Wake up.

    What say thee?

    This white woman step to de plate…Who are these beneficiaries..

  6. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    @ WURA-

    I figured it out
    I figured it out from black and white
    Seconds and hours
    Maybe they had to take some time
    I know how it goes
    I know how it goes from wrong and right
    Silence and sound
    Did they ever hold each other tight like us?
    Did they ever fight like us?
    You and I, we don’t wanna be like them
    We can make it ’til the end
    Nothing can come between you and I
    Not even the Gods above
    Can separate the two of us
    No, nothing can come between you and I
    Oh, you and I
    I figured it out
    Saw the mistakes of up and down
    Meet in the middle
    There’s always room for common ground
    I see what it’s like
    I see what it’s like for day and night
    Never together
    ‘Cause they see things in a different light like us
    They never tried like us
    You and I, we don’t wanna be like them
    We can make it ’til the end
    Nothing can come between you and I
    Not even the Gods above
    Can separate the two of us
    (Two of us, two of us, two of us, two of us)
    ‘Cause you and I
    We don’t wanna be like them
    We can make it ’til the end
    Nothing can come between you and I
    Not even the Gods above
    Can separate the two of us
    No, nothing can come between you and I
    You and I
    Oh, you and I
    Oh, you and I
    We could make it if we try, you and I
    Oh, you and I.

    Now, I know you like that..Have some 🍰

  7. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ Dirt Farmer August 21, 2021 2:56 PM
    (Quote):
    “Philanthropist donates $1M to UWI as personal reparation “
    £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
    @ WURA-War-on-U
    Wake up.
    What say thee?
    This white woman step to de plate…Who are these beneficiaries.. (Unquote).
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    So when are you going to make a ‘similar’ call on the local nabobs whose ancestors benefited tremendously from the said slavery business and have passed down that dirty ill-gotten lucre through the generations; many of whom still trying to pass for ‘white’?

    You can expect a similar to desire to cleanse the conscience or undergo a period of atonement by the descendants who benefited materially from black chattel slavery for the sins of their ancestors.

    It’s just the way of Karma or as your Judeo-Christian book of moral instruction would put it:
    ‘The sins of the father should be visited upon the third and fourth generations’.

  8. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    De call.

    There’s at least four places in the Old Testament that talk about the Lord visiting the sins of the Father unto the third and fourth generations. Can you work through figuring out what that’s about?

    Let’s talk about that for a few moments. I think this is a good example of a “Never Read a Bible Verse” kind of application. I actually think this is a little bit of a difficult passage to figure out. Two things to look at. It’s made more difficult because it’s usually quoted in part, and not in whole. It is misquoted, and the details of even what is quoted are not attended to. So entire ministries, whole enterprises, have been built on a big misunderstanding about this passage. Even if someone doesn’t know what a passage means, it may possible to figure out what the passage does not mean.

    The way this is usually cited—it comes up first in Exodus 20, which is the Ten Commandments—is that people say we know that “the sins of the fathers are visited on the children to the third and fourth generation.” What this is commonly said to mean is that you may have ancestral curses because of the activities of your fathers, your ancestors. Generally, these activities have to do with extreme sin or occult involvement, but it may also be having an abortion. This then results in something bad happening to an individual because of this other person’s sinful activity.

    The application of this is that someone is going through something really hard and has a besetting sin or problem that they can’t get rid of, and it is suggested to them that there is a spiritual dynamic that is tied to the teaching of this verse. There is a generational sin and curse that then must be broken through some spiritual discipline of some sort. Some have gone to great extent, written whole books, on how to unwind this spiritual oppression coming from past generations. They step you through all these little exercises. Does this sound familiar?

  9. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    surrogate!!!

    foreseen.

    Now, let’s go back to the verse, Exodus 20:5–6: “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (NASB).

    That’s the whole quote. That’s a lot more than most people who know about this verse have ever heard. Let me ask you a question. This visiting of the sins of the father on the children, whatever that means, whatever that “visiting” is, who is the active agent? God is doing the visiting. So, if you have a technique to undo this activity, who are you fighting? God. What could be more obvious?

    I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, but God is doing it. And if you try to undo it, you are fighting God. There is no technique, there is no prayer, there is no spiritual enterprise that you’re going to be able to invoke against this because anyone who is doing so will be fighting God.

    Now keep in mind, I am saying that whatever is going on here is God’s doing. There may be legitimate spiritual problems people are having that people should be praying about, but whatever spiritual problems they’re having may not at all be related to this. And, if they are, and what they’re experiencing is an example of the outworking of this declaration by God, then they are fighting God by trying to undo it.

    So then what is going on? Well, we know that God is a jealous God. They are not to worship idols. He says then He will do something and this is very odd. He will visit the “iniquities of the father on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.”

    We have a father. We have a child, first generation. We have a grandson, second generation. We have a great-grandson, third generation. So God is only visiting the iniquity on the son, the great-grandson, and the great-great grandson. Doesn’t it seem odd that he says third and fourth, and not second? Now maybe he means to the third and fourth so that it’s just for four generations before this peters out. Maybe. Verse 6 says, “but showing lovingkindness to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments.”

    Caller: But that’s a big part of my question. That thousands doesn’t seem to be thousands generations, that the third and fourth are. I wasn’t sure that the thousands meant thousands of generations or if it just meant thousands.

    This is where it’s helpful to go back to some of the other four places where this same concept is quoted here.

    Caller: It’s always the same word there. The word thousand doesn’t look like it has the “generation” in there.

    It could mean thousands of generations. That could be a vagueness. But what is clear is there is a contrast between third and fourth generations, and thousands. Now what do you think God intends to be the greater number, those in the third and fourth generations or those in thousands?

    Caller: The point is that His lovingkindness is so much greater.

    Oh, God bless you! “…On the children, and on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me.” Notice the qualifier. “…And showing lovingkindness to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments.”

  10. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ Dirt Farmer August 21, 2021 5:09 PM
    “They step you through all these little exercises. Does this sound familiar?”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    No but Dharma and Karma do sound familiar!

    Just wait [for your descendants] to see what will befall the descendants of the European peoples for what was done to the indigenous peoples of the Americas and Australasia.

  11. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Doesn’t seem fair to me! What manner of a god is this, then?0

  12. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    In Part:

    “So when are you going to make a ‘similar’ call on the local nabobs.”
    £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
    I’ll follow your exceptional generosity as a BU veteran
    (verbatim).

  13. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    “Doesn’t it seem odd that he says third and fourth, and not second?”

    This has been studied in great detail and the agreed upon opinion.. he was bad at mathematics and did not know second follows first.

  14. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    Miller, give WURA- a tap. I need to hear from him. Guess he left the room. he’s probably throwing down a pint 🍺 at de moment.

  15. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    I hope our GG goes on a radical diet before she takes her presidency. In her present condition, she looks like a market woman in her colorful costumes. She should urgently seek advice from our Supreme Leader on grace and dress.

    Really a pity that we will not become a presidential republic!

    One question remains: What will happen to the many noble titles of our natives? After all, they have been really keen on pinning medieval English noble titles and medals to each other’s nipples since 1966. As I understand it, all titles of nobility are now dropped without replacement. Or do we want to go the way of Idi Amin, “King of Scotland and more”? LOL.

  16. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    Thousands?

    But that’s a big part of my question. That thousands doesn’t seem to be thousands generations, that the third and fourth are. I wasn’t sure that the thousands meant thousands of generations or if it just meant thousands.

    This is where it’s helpful to go back to some of the other four places where this same concept is quoted here.

    It’s always the same word there. The word thousand doesn’t look like it has the “generation” in there.

    It could mean thousands of generations. That could be a vagueness. But what is clear is there is a contrast between third and fourth generations, and thousands. Now what do you think God intends to be the greater number, those in the third and fourth generations or those in thousands?

    The point is that His lovingkindness is so much greater.

    Oh, God bless you! “…On the children, and on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me.” Notice the qualifier. “…And showing lovingkindness to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments.”

    Now what does the history of Israel demonstrate? It demonstrates that when God deals with Israel, He deals with them as a nation. When the fathers, the ones in control, the adults are bad, everybody gets the punishment. It’s not because the children are singled out to be punished for the sins of the father. In fact, there’s an entire chapter, Ezekiel 18, one whole chapter that is meant to repudiate that concept.

  17. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    In Part:

    “One question remains: What will happen to the many noble titles of our natives? “

    £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

    @ Presidential Executive Power

    Membership in the nobility has historically been granted by a monarch or government. Nonetheless, acquisition of sufficient power, wealth, military prowess, or royal favour has occasionally enabled commoners to ascend into the nobility.[1]

    There are often a variety of ranks within the noble class. Legal recognition of nobility has been more common in monarchies, but nobility also existed in such regimes as the Dutch Republic (1581–1795), the Republic of Genoa (1005–1815), the Republic of Venice (697–1797), and the Old Swiss Confederacy (1300–1798), and remains part of the legal social structure of some non-hereditary regimes, e.g., San Marino, and the Vatican City in Europe. In Classical Antiquity, the nobiles (nobles) of the Roman Republic were families descended from persons who had achieved the consulship. Those who belonged to the hereditary patrician families were nobles, but plebeians whose ancestors were consuls were also considered nobiles. In the Roman Empire, the nobility were descendants of this Republican aristocracy. While ancestry of contemporary noble families from ancient Roman nobility might technically be possible, no well-researched, historically-documented generation-by-generation genealogical descents from ancient Roman times are known to exist in Europe.

    Hereditary titles and styles added to names (such as “Prince”, “Lord”, or “Lady”), as well as honorifics, often distinguish nobles from non-nobles in conversation and written speech. In many nations, most of the nobility have been untitled, and some hereditary titles do not indicate nobility (e.g., vidame). Some countries have had non-hereditary nobility, such as the Empire of Brazil.

  18. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    The way the chapter starts is,

    “You have a saying, ‘The fathers eat the sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge.’” Do you see the play on words here? The fathers do it, but the children get the result. God says to quit saying that thing because I’m not going to punish the kids for what the parents do wrong.

    That’s different, I think, from dealing with the nation as a whole. When the nation as a whole is rebellious and idolatrous, which is what the Exodus passage is about, God punishes the nation.

    Even though Elijah found out there were still 5,000 people who had not bent their knee to Baal, still the nation was a nation of Baal-worshipers so they were punished by God as a nation. The kids got it just like the parents. As long as the group as a whole continued in that, God would punish them. And He did until you got a king and a people that reformed the nation. Then God blesses them. There were reformers like Hezekiah and Manasseh, later in his life. There were these times when this happened. Then God’s lovingkindness was abundant.

    In Exodus, God is talking about how He’s going to deal with the nation. After all, this is the Mosaic Covenant with the nation of Israel, so He’s setting up the blessings and curses for the nation as a whole based on how they keep up their end of the covenant. They should not be idolatrous because He’s a jealous God, and if they’re idolatrous they’re going to be punished. And this is the way He characterizes the consequences, “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” If you keep hating me, I’ll keep punishing you for it.

    However, He will show lovingkindness to thousands to those who love Him and keep His commandments. He’s emphasizing His long suffering and His mercy over and against His justice and wrath.

    He does that many times in the Old Testament text. He is abundant in lovingkindness; He is slow to anger. And I think that’s what is really going on in this passage. He’s laying out the consequences for worshiping false idols, and He’s contrasting His great lovingkindness with his wrath. That’s my take on it.

    So you think the point the contrast that His lovingkindness is much greater than his anger?

    I think the reason He says third and fourth generations versus thousands is to show that one is greater than the other. He’s speaking in general terms here, not specific numbers.

    One father does it; one kid gets it. That’s excluded by the Ezekiel passage that teaches against the idea that a child is punished for his parents’ sin. God is talking about the nation of Israel in Exodus, the group as a whole, as He’s making a covenant with them that has obligations on each side. He is expressing His judgement on them for their idolatry, which shows they hate Him, and He will continue to do that generation to generation to generation as long as they hate Him.

    This verse is a linguistic device, a poetic devise if you will, “visit the iniquity of the father on the children, and on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.” But for those who don’t hate Him but do love Him and do keep His commandments, He’s going to pour out His grace and lovingkindness to the nation.

    I think there’s a kind of literary device that’s going on in the verse. It is not about individual people who receive generational sins or curses; it’s a covenant for how God will deal with the Nation depending on whether they hate or love Him.

  19. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Dirt Farmer August 21, 2021 5:09 PM “Generally, these activities have to do with extreme sin or occult involvement, but it may also be having an abortion.”

    What is extreme sin?

    What is occult?

    Why is having an abortion a sin?

    Is failing to use a condom also a sin?

    Is failing to get a vasectomy also a sin?

    And if so is are these sins also punishable unto the 3rd and 4th generation?

    Enquiring minds want to know.

  20. David Avatar
    David

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CS2MnhTlzQ-/

  21. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    But back to Paula Sealy’s very sensible questions.

    Why do policies and positive actions involving our children take so long?

  22. David Avatar
    David

    @Simple Simon

    You often hear Barbados suffer from being unable to efficiently execute, implementation deficit. This is a structural issue, there should be no surprise it effects management in the educational system.

  23. David Avatar
    David

    @Paula Sealy

    What the blogmaster has observed is that the schools where guidance counselors are assigned find themselves given a timetable to teach a subject and as a result are unable to allocate adequate time to coach/mentor problem children. Further, under the last government was a special needs school closed? What does it say?

  24. David Avatar
    David

    “ Santia Bradshaw was the MP for the area since 2013 and the Minister of Education since the last elections. BUT president Pedro Shepherd was at Wilkie for more than 30 years now and a union man for a long time.”

    This extract from the above says a lot. For sure we have key players who cannot claim ignorance.

  25. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    Extreme sin:

    The unpardonable sin is the extreme sin Jesus warns against in Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-29, and Luke 12:10. Christians hold at least four different views on what the unpardonable sin is.

    SUMMARY

    This essay will survey four views on the unpardonable sin: (1) Commit a really bad sin such as adultery, murder, or denying Christ under pressure. (2) Assert what is false about the Spirit. (3) Attribute Spirit-empowered miracles to Satan. (4) Decisively reject clear truth the Spirit revealed about Jesus by attributing his mighty works to Satan. This article argues for the fourth view.

    As per Roman Catholic theology:

    Having a vasectomy is not a sin. The Roman Catholic view is that is wrong to interfere with the possible conception of a child. From their point of view it is interfering with God’s plans.

    “Contraception is wrong because it’s a deliberate violation of the design God built into the human race, often referred to as “natural law.” The natural law purpose of sex is procreation”

    The argument fails because it implies that men are not allowed to go against nature, yet we build and maintain houses. Houses aren’t “natural.” Nature causes houses to fall apart. See Contraceptives for a detailed answer, but it should be noted that those holding this position are not consistent. They will allow for some form of controlling when children are born, typically by controlling when sex takes place.

    Occult:

    The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing such phenomena involving otherworldly agency as mysticism, spirituality, and magic. It can also refer to supernatural ideas like extra-sensory perception and parapsychology.

    The term occult sciences was used in the 16th century to refer to astrology, alchemy, and natural magic, which today are considered pseudosciences. The term occultism emerged in 19th-century France, where it came to be associated with various French esoteric groups connected to Éliphas Lévi and Papus, and in 1875 was introduced into the English language by the esotericist Helena Blavatsky.

    Throughout the 20th century, the term was used idiosyncratically by a range of different authors, but by the 21st century was commonly employed – including by academic scholars of esotericism – to refer to a range of esoteric currents that developed in the mid-19th century and their descendants. Occultism is thus often used to categorise such esoteric traditions as Spiritualism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and New Age.

    Use of the term as a nominalized adjective has developed especially since the late twentieth century. In that same period, occult and culture were combined to form the neologism occulture by Genesis P-Orridge.

    Etymology

  26. Dirt Farmer Avatar
    Dirt Farmer

    Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?

    The subject of blasphemy bears a thorough look at the context in which it was declared by Jesus. First, let’s look at what Jesus said about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
    In Matthew 12, Jesus and His disciples had just entered Jerusalem after an encounter with the Pharisees, who condemned them for plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath. Jesus confronts them, stating (emphasis added), “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

    What Is Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?
    Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is attributing to the devil what has clearly been done by the Spirit.
    The Pharisees were supposed to be masters of Old Testament law, and Jesus called them out regarding their misunderstanding of the Sabbath. The Pharisees (which means, “separate ones”) were strict adherents to the law and had great influence over its role in the lives of the Jewish people at that time.

    After the confrontation in the grain field, Jesus went into the synagogue and was again accosted by the Pharisees, who asked if a man could be healed on the Sabbath. Jesus once more demonstrated His authority and healed a man who had a withered hand. “Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him” (Matthew 12:14, Mark 3:6, Luke 6:11).
    That they wished to destroy Him is evident also in John 10:33, which takes place later in Jesus’ ministry. Jesus tells the Pharisees they do not believe (in Him) because they are not of His sheep. He also tells them “I and My Father are one” (John 10:25-30). The Jews then took up stones to stone Him and when Jesus asked them why, they replied, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God” (John 10:33). In John 11, we read the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Because of that, many of the Jews believed in Him (John 11:45). The Pharisees, however, took exception and sought the counsel of Caiaphas, the high priest that year, who said, “…one man should die for the people…” John 11:53 says, “Then from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.”

    Their hypocrisy is manifested in their reaction to Jesus healing the demon-possessed man as recorded in Matthew 12:22-24. The people were amazed and asked if he could be the “Son of David.”
    The Pharisees, seeking to maintain their status and lord their authority over the people (Matthew 20:25) perpetrated blasphemy of the Holy Spirit when they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons” (Matthew 12:24). Jesus “knew their thoughts” (Matthew 12:25) and challenged them with the truth of their hypocrisy. He said, “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” He goes on to underscore their separateness, yet not as leaders, but as separate from the kingdom of God, “He who is not with Me is against Me…” (Matthew 12:30).

  27. Paula Sealy Avatar
    Paula Sealy

    @David
    I do not know why this post was hijacked. I found myself wading through all sorts of long unrelated comments.

    Back to the point
    One guidance counsellor to 1100 students is not going to work. Timetable or no timetable.

    The sale and use of illegal drugs is occurring in schools. Parents see nothing wrong with illegal drug use from young so it is accepted as normal. That is one of our problems.

    I don’t know how the ministry sees one guidance counsellor getting on top of things like that. And that is one of many things.

    You wouldn’t believe Pedro Shepherd was the PTA president at Wilkie before he was ever BUT president. And all of a sudden the school was condemned.

    Something fishy is going on.

  28. David Avatar
    David

    @Paula Sealy

    All kinds of methods are used to compromise the blog. Unfortunately we have regular commenters who are fall for it every time. You stay focused, the blogmaster will act when necessary.

  29. David Avatar
    David

    Wilkie PTA considering protest action
    The responsibility of finding alternative accommodations to house more than 500 students of Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary School should not fall to the teachers.
    That is the position of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), which has not ruled out protest action and is willing to mobilise members to signal their dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Education come September 20 if no alternative location is identified.
    President Vernon Forde told the media during a press conference via Zoom yesterday morning that enough was enough.
    “Yes, a protest is being considered. There are persons who have said they have the placards and are ready to go,” he said.
    Forde said they had held meetings with the Minister of Education and sent written correspondence outlining issues, but there had been no response.
    The PTA’s public relations officer Nicole Johnson said: “We don’t know what next to do. We know the plight of the teachers because they were the ones asked to find the locations. We are looking to the ministry to give us a workable solution and that is as much as we can do at this point in time. Our backs are against the wall. We care about the wellbeing of our children.”
    Forde said that if his child was now entering the school for the first time, he would consider a transfer as an option.
    “I think we can say that option ain’t good enough; you have to find the solution. All we are asking is that they accept the responsibility and give us better options,” he pleaded.
    Urgent repairs
    Last Friday, the
    Weekend Nation broke the news that the Lascelles Terrace, Pinelands, St Michael school had been condemned and closed for urgent repairs, with teachers being asked to find alternative locations to conduct classes ahead of the September 20 restart date.
    Repairs to the compound
    were to be conducted during the summer vacation and would have been completed in time for the Michaelmas term. However, that repair work is now set to be done over the next three weeks.
    Last October, students alerted teachers that the concrete ceiling on the top floor of the main building had cracked. The 34 teachers and seven auxiliary staff were forced to adopt a blended approach of online classes and using other sections of the school, as well as using the neighbouring Ann Hill School, the University of the West Indies Open Campus and the Seventh-Day Adventist Church at Meadow Road in The Pine.
    Other issues plaguing the school included the absence of an assembly hall, which left the children exposed to the elements, a small principal’s office, an inadequate staffroom, poor drainage, termite-infested prefab buildings, electrical and plumbing issues resulting in some classrooms not having electricity and the plumber having to be called in weekly.
    Teacher representative Shodia Cobham said the entire situation affected them more than the ministry understood.
    “We feel as if we are not going to recover from this. We feel as if they are going to say this is Term 1, it is going to stretch to Term 3, and then it will turn into years. We don’t want to lose our school,” she said.
    (RA)

    Source: Nation

  30. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    I find the submission is a bit scattered. What exactly is the intended focus? Or, what is the main point?

  31. David Avatar
    David

    Donna the article is very clear, the MOE needs to deliver on promises made and documented. In the case of Wilkie the incumbent minister of education and head of the BUT are intimately involved and the situation should have been handled better.

  32. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    @ Paula
    Even before your comment, it was clear that bloggers were not making contact with your topic. What was a good discussion topic and highlighted some deficiencies in our school system has been derailed.

  33. David Avatar
    David

    It is only derailed if others who can make constructive comment refuse to do so.

  34. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    On another note:

    Today is a good Sunday for Barbados. De Pizza was able to hold on as blue president. Very good. The opportunist and liar Hewitt would have been a much bigger threat to our Supreme Leader.

    I advise De Pizza to field Chris “Decimal” Sinckler and Donville “Convict” Inniss in the next election. That will guarantee defeat.

  35. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    David,

    So… the MOE is slow and the Union is useless.

    What more is there to say.

  36. Paula Sealy Avatar
    Paula Sealy

    Under the last DLP government Ronald Jones pushed and pushed for more sixth forms. He got his wish. A few schools got sixth forms despite already being overcrowded. Cabinet approved those decisions despite the ovrcrowding.

    Now the DLP knows overcrowding is a problem.

    Jones’ ministry docked teachers’ pay for attending two union meetings. Teachers at Alexandra were off the job for over 20 days and nothing was done to their pay.

    What was the real reason for docking the pay?

    Last year Santia said they were replacing 11+. When a reporter asked what it was being replaced with she said she did not know.

    The children wrote the 11+ exam last year. Children wrote the exam last month. Teachers taking Class 4 can’t tell you what exam the children will write next year.

    Nobody can tell me that changing the government will solve the problems in education. But the ministers have to own the blame and stop playing games the children’s education.

    Now if the union was useless school wouldn’t have been closed from March to September last year. Fair is fair.

    Where else would a minister announce that school is closed at minutes to midnight?

    And that was with the president who faced a notion of no-confidence from Dwayne Goddard and Pedro Shepherd..

    Pedro just had to be president to be able to get at Santia. And he will get at her now.

  37. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    I remain baffled. Especially by your last paragraph.

    What exactly is meant by “get at”?

  38. Paula Sealy Avatar
    Paula Sealy

    I explained how the last two administrations failed education with examples. Both parties mismanaged education. They made baffling decisions.

    Being president gives Pedro opportunities to tackle the minister. The president and minister are on a political collison course. St. Michael South East is the prize.

  39. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Dirt Farmer August 21, 2021 11:27 PM “This essay will survey four views on the unpardonable sin: (1) Commit a really bad sin such as adultery”

    Exactly what is adultery?

    I’ve lived a long and happy and charmed life, yet I am uncertain whether or not I have committed adultery?

    Is having an outside man or woman adultery? What if you are not married to the inside man or woman? Is it still adultery? If you divorce and remarry is the new marriage an adulterous marriage. Can a marriage ever be adulterous? Even if it is a long and happy second [or third] marriage? If the outside partner is of the same sex is that still adultery? How does God view civil marriages and civil divorces?If the marriage, remarriage or divorce had nothing to do with any religious teaching, is any sexual activity which takes place before, during or after adulterous activity? If the inside party refuses to or is unable to engage in sexual activity would an outside relationship in that context be adulterous? If the inside party gives consent to the spouse to take outside partner(s) is the outside relationship still adulterous? How about in societies when polygamy is practiced are those unions adulterous? How about in historic and Biblical times where polygamy was practiced, were those relationships adulterous?

  40. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    I think that Paula should strive to be a bit more clear. Those of us not in the teaching service and its politics are somewhat or completely baffled. For those of us “outsiders” although citizens and tax payers it is as though you are speaking in parables or to insiders.

    I am interested in finding out exactly what is going to replace the 11+

    I too was caught off-guard by the abrupt closing of schools last year…but considering the Covid circumstances I don’t hold it against the Minister.

  41. Paula Sealy Avatar
    Paula Sealy

    Goodbye all.

  42. David Avatar
    David

    It is puzzling what is so difficult to understand about the submission. What cannot be refuted as the author opines is that both BLP, DLP and unions have allowed petty politics to derail fit for purpose education policies.

  43. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    David,

    Did you read what Cuhdear Bajan said?
    Do you think we are trying to be nasty?

    Paula Sealy,

    Don’t give up if you have something we need to hear and understand! Just try to tighten up your submissions!

  44. David Avatar
    David

    Who said anything about being nasty. The blogmaster is making a simple point, what was posted can be followed by those who are keen on local affairs. Some people come to the forum and share info but do so in a way to protect themselves.

  45. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @David August 23, 2021 3:38 AM “The blogmaster is making a simple point, what was posted can be followed by those who are keen on local affairs. Some people come to the forum and share info but do so in a way to protect themselves.”

    I am keen on local affairs.

    I do not want to know who Paula Sealy is and I don’t wish to know.

    I just want the submission to be clearer for those of us who are not education/union/political party insiders.

    The last time I worked for a Barbados government agency was in March of 1977, so I am not privy to civil service/union/political party internal politics.

    I am not now nor have I ever been a member of a Barbados political party or trade union in Barbados. I vote DLP when I feel like, and I vote BLP when I feel like. I have done so for more than 50 years without committing to any party.

    I am simply a citizen and taxpayer with grandchildren in the educational system, but these grandchildren do not live with me, I am not their principal care giver. I AM keen on local affairs, and would like Paula to present a clearer argument.

    And David “yes” sometimes I have difficulty understanding you too. No disrespect meant.

  46. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Exactly!

  47. David Avatar
    David

    @Simple Simon

    That is fine, sometimes the message is not for you but for a targeted audience who we know understand.

  48. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    @Paula,
    It appears ‘education’ is a topic that you can make a sound contribution on. Donna and cuhdear can be tough at times, but they are honest and not malicious.

    Try to make use of their input so that you can target a broader audience. One thing that I have learnt here is that this is not a ‘yes’ group.

    Don’t just walk away, but if you are going to publish then expect some feedback. Looking forward to your next post.

  49. David Avatar
    David

    Bradshaw: $2.9 million for upgrade at Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary School

    https://www.nationnews.com/2021/08/26/bradshaw-2-9-million-upgrade-wilkie-cumberbatch-primary-school/

  50. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    @ David

    Oliver Cox, the owner and principal of the defunct ‘Metropolitan High School,’ which was closed in 2018 after being in operation for over 60 years, passed away on Wednesday at the QEH, aged 88.

    Was Cox given any official recognition for his outstanding contribution to education?

    Condolences to his wife, children, relatives and friends.

    Is there any historical information available about private schools in Barbados, including biographies of their owners, photographs of the schools and outstanding students?

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

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