BLP DLP Same Party – NTSH

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The blogmaster checked the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) website and the list of candidates to run in the upcoming general election is not current. The same observation for the DLP with a general election on the horizon only 16 candidates are listed. Needless to say manifestos are also a work in progress with the DLP website offering a ‘Coming Soon’ disclosure. Given the perilous state of the social and economic affairs in the country, should we be satisfied with the lack of urgency shown by the major political parties to ready its ‘political machinery’? Should the electorate be satisfied by the lack of urgency?

One expects after the Michaelmas break political parties AND operatives will ramp up activities. Unfortunately barring a divine intervention the next general election contest will be between the two major political parties pejoratively dubbed the Duopoly. Like many countries across the globe Barbadians have shown little appetite for third parties who for the most part have been unable to attract quality candidates and craft a compelling alternative message.

The next general election will be interesting for many reasons. At the top of list of political pundits is how the DLP will bounce back from the unprecedented 30 to zero drubbing in 2018. On the flip side there is a BLP managing a sick economy made worse by the ongoing panic resulting in a conservative 17% unemployment number. It is a scenario ready made for a political opposition to make good progress. Then again there is the political adage oppositions don’t win elections. Governments lose them. The Mottley government must be aware the pandemic has given rise to an anti-government sentiment with several losing general elections in the last year.

Will the central theme of the next general election be about which political party has the superior inferior leadership? How about the economy stupid. What we know is that tired narratives of old should not apply. We have a more enlightened electorate and active social media. The blogmaster is the eternal optimist. Then again what are the political options that spell a departure from the tired policies of the Duopoly? Credit to the government it has been promoting increase use of technology to improve efficiency to manage our affairs and forging linkages to non traditional markets BUT the same old issues remain. Have a read of post 2018 Auditor General reports, the state of the National Insurance Scheme, public debt accumulation, irrelevant education system to enable Barbados to compete in a global market, over-reliance on tourism, passive private sector; entrepreneurial class, declining social behavioral, increase lawlessness etc etc. Although the government is not solely to blame for everything ailing the country, it sets the tone.

Where do we go from here?

What should citizens demand from political parties given the signs of the times. What role must traditional media play to assist in the the transformation to ensure relevance. Recently the blogmaster viewed asocial media posting of a young female journalist who appeared to be besotted with Prime Minister Mottley because she was handed the opportunity of an interview. How does it contrast with trade unionists of yore who refused on principle to drink and break bread with those on the other side of the table?

A read of the tea leaves indicates NTSH.

104 thoughts on “BLP DLP Same Party – NTSH”


  1. Constitution not patriated

    By Garth Patterson It has always puzzled me why, in patriating the Barbados Constitution, Parliament did not simply revoke the prerepublic Constitution and re-enact it in one comprehensive document.
    Perhaps out of expedience, or to conserve energy and effort, or because of an unwillingness to completely let go of our colonial past, or just through plain laziness –whatever the reason – it chose, instead, to take the shortcut route, opting to further amend the prerepublic Constitution, and then adopt it, warts and all, as the new Constitution and supreme law of Barbados.
    At least, that is what Parliament intended. It is very questionable whether that is what it, in fact, achieved. It is very possible that this ad hoc, piecemeal approach to not-just-any, runof- the-mill, constitutional reform but to the historic and momentous transition from Barbados being a constitutional monarchy to becoming a parliamentary republic, may inadvertently have resulted in the rollback of the many significant constitutional amendments and reforms that were implemented over the past 55 years.
    Parting gift
    Our Constitution was provided to us by Her Majesty the Queen as her final legislative act for Barbados, and as her parting gift of independence. It was enacted by the Queen by an Order in Council made pursuant to Barbados Independence Act, 1966, an Act of the British Parliament. It appears in the schedule to the Barbados Independence Order, 1966. It has, since then, remained our Constitution and has been amended 18 times by our postindependence Parliament.
    The final pre-republic amendments to the Constitution were effected by the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 2021, which came into effect on November 30, 2021. Those substantial amendments were fundamental, as they were instrumental in providing the new constitutional framework for our republic, by, among other things, removing the Queen as our Head of State and replacing her with our own home-grown President. It was also the means by which Parliament sought to patriate the Constitution. Section 4 of that Act states: (1) The Independence Order is revoked; but the revocation of that Order shall not affect the validity of the Constitution set out in the Schedule to that Order.
    (2) The Constitution referred to in subsection (1) shall be altered in accordance with the provisions of section 49 thereof in the manner and to the extent set out in this Act; and on the appointed day the Constitution as so altered shall become the Constitution and supreme law of Barbados.
    Independence Order
    Now, I know that I’m likely to be accused of nit-picking, but it seems to me that the words above are very important to understanding exactly what the Parliament has done. In enacting the constitutional changes necessary for Barbados to become a republic, Parliament purported to revoke the Independence Order but preserved intact the validity of the Queen’s hand-me-down Constitution.
    The Barbados Independence Act
    expressly gave the Barbados Parliament every right and power to amend or revoke the Constitution that is set out in the Schedule, but it conferred no similar power to amend or revoke the Barbados Independence Order itself.
    (Without that express power, the Barbados Parliament could not, lawfully, revoke an Order in Council that was made by the Queen.) It begs the question, why did Parliament choose to preserve the hand-me-down by reenacting the Constitution set out in the Independence Order, instead of revoking it and enacting our own cris’ bran’-new Constitution?
    The 1998 Forde Commission’s reasoning for its recommendations, made 23 years ago, for patriation of the Constitution is unassailable.
    It said: “ . . . the Constitution should be a product of the Barbados Parliament and completely Barbadian. This would rid our Supreme and Basic Law of any trace of the colonial format, remove any possible judicial or theoretical doubt about the power of the British Parliament to legislate further in relation to the Barbados Constitution and clearly signal that we are in all respects “firm craftsmen of our fate”.
    However, in its professed desire to “patriate” the Constitution (as in, make it from ’bout here), as recommended by the Forde Commission, Parliament regrettably declined to “repatriate” it (as in, send it back to where it come from), as recommended
    by the Cox Commission in 1979.
    More importantly, in the attempt to rehabilitate and repurpose the hand-me-down Constitution, Parliament may have inadvertently omitted the numerous amendments that it had previously enacted over the years. Properly construed, the underlined words in section 4 of the 2021 Amendment Act suggest that the thing that Parliament has re-enacted, which has now “become the Constitution and supreme law of Barbados”, is the Constitution that is “set out” in the Schedule to the Independence Order, as amended by the 2021 Amendment Act.
    The problem is that the Constitution that is set out in the Schedule is not the same Constitution that was in existence as our supreme law up to November 29, 2021.
    Amended numerous times
    That 1966 independence version of the hand-me-down Constitution was amended numerous times over the 55 years since our independence, but those amendments have not been expressly saved or re-enacted. The reforms that those post-independence amendments introduced were both far-reaching and substantial. They included the right of persons residing here for ten years or more to be registered as citizens (so much for my citizenship) and the replacement of the Privy Council by the Caribbean Court of Justice as our final appellate court.
    Are those constitutional amendments still in effect?
    This question will likely provide fodder for us lawyers in the coming years. This confusion was entirely avoidable. Even if I am ultimately wrong in my interpretation of the 2021 Act, why this awkward, backwardthinking, approach to such a major, consequential, constitutional change?
    Parliament could have, and should have, revoked that colonial hand-me-down and enacted a new constitution; one that consolidated and preserved all the best features of the hand-medown (fundamental rights and so on), and the myriad amendments previously enacted by it, while establishing the new constitutional regime for our republic. If Parliament had applied a little more creativity and imagination, we would have a new, single, consolidating, constitutional document – one reflecting the will and ingenuity of our own people – instead of the warmedover, patchwork of colonial legislation that now passes as the Constitution of our new republic.
    I fully appreciate that the Government has announced that it intends, eventually, to wheel and come again with a whole new Constitution, with the process of consultation set to begin in January 2022. But, as we all know, lawmaking is a lengthy process. It only took 55 years to make these fundamental changes to become a republic; and 23 years to implement the Forde Commission’s recommendations for Constitutional patriation.
    Who knows, therefore, when the promised whole new Constitution will ultimately be enacted. Probably not in the lifetimes of those of us who were born before independence.
    In the meantime, in becoming a republic, optics and symbolism are just as important as the necessary constitutional alterations.
    It was optically curious that Prince Charles was invited to participate in our official ceremonies to declare and celebrate our emancipation from our British colonisers, whom he represents. It is equally curious that, as the final, official, most fundamental, legislative act in securing that freedom, Parliament chose to retain the colonial remnants of the hand-me-down Constitution, when it could, just as easily, have revoked it and enacted its own. Where is the national pride that inheres in our newfound republican status, when to find the fountain of our Supreme Law, we must still turn to the pages of the old, colonial, supposedly repealed, Independence Order?
    Patchwork instead of patriation. I guess we are not all that emancipated after all.
    Garth Patterson is a Senior Counsel

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  2. Republic shift fuels debate in Canada

    Hepburn posed the intriguing question: “now that Barbados has ditched the monarchy,” what’s stopping Canada from doing the same?

    By Tony Best
    With public opinion polls indicating that most Canadians wish their birthplace to ditch Queen Elizabeth as head of state, Barbados’ emergence as the world’s latest republic has stirred considerable favourable media attention in the geographic and economic colossus next door to the United States.
    In the process, Barbados’ historic constitutional step has fuelled a vigorous debate in major sections of the national press about Canada’s constitutional future, suggesting that if the 55-year-old small Caribbean state can cut ties with the British royal family, the prosperous and sprawling constitutional monarchy that is Canada may be in a position to do the same.
    Interestingly, the nation’s leading dailies, which collectively reach millions of Canadians, have seemingly avoided raising questions about Barbados’ ability to remain a highly stable parliamentary democracy after severing its ties to Buckingham Palace in London.
    Take the case of the National Post, the Canadian equivalent of the Wall Street Journal in the US and the Financial Times of London.
    No, Canada Can’t Give The Queen The Bum’s Rush Like Barbados Just Did, was the way a National Post headline put it a few days ago.
    “If constitutional negotiations ever managed to achieve (Canadian) unanimity on abolishing the monarch, we might not even recognise what was left of the country after all the quid-pro-quoing,” wrote Chris Selley, a leading columnist.
    “The Barbadian Government’s decision a year ago to abandon the monarchy and install a head of state (Dame Sandra Mason) produced a spasm of enthusiasm among Canada’s republicans that their country would follow suit. However, it’s unlikely to ramp back up now that it’s a done deal” in Bridgetown, asserted Selley. “In October, the Barbadian parliament unanimously elected Governor-General Sandra Mason as the country’s first President. And on Tuesday (September 30th) with Rihanna and Prince Charles in attendance and with good wishes sent from the Queen, Barbados officially became a republic. It remains a member of the Commonwealth.
    Time to move forward
    “There has been some good reporting in Canadian media about the unique situation in Barbados, which makes some of the ludicrously facile commentary one encounters here (in Canada) all the more insufferable,” wrote Selley. “Now, that Barbados has ditched the British monarch, what’s stopping Canada from doing the same thing? Bob Hepburn, a writer in the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest circulating newspaper, asked (whether) “it’s time to move forward” – just as Barbados has done.
    The answer came immediately. “It’s a stupid question and a ridiculous statement,” the columnist said. “Not only is it impossible for Canada to proceed in any remotely comparable way to Barbados. No one in Canada should even want to, republicans included.
    “Especially in an enormous and diverse country whose various regions and populations have vastly and often competing interests – i.e. not Barbados – the great advantage of constitutional monarchy is to (mostly) depoliticise matters of
    state.”
    The Ottawa Citizen, the paper that’s considered required reading among parliamentarians in the Canadian House of Commons and Senate and by the members of the diplomatic corps in the capital city, including Gline Clarke, Barbados’ new top diplomat there, stated that Barbados’ move meant that it had “shed the final vestiges of a colonial system” that had existed for centuries.
    And the “elegant celebration” that marked the occasion had occurred at “a time when Barbados is struggling with inflation due to supply chain disruptions driving up prices in a country that must import most goods. Its tourism industry, a crucial part of the economy, is still recovering from earlier coronavirus travel restrictions,” the paper went.
    “Some (Bajan) residents acknowledge they are uncertain what the transition to a republic even means or why it matters . . . . Others would have preferred not to change,” the paper reported.
    The Toronto Star, Canada’s most popular national newspaper which reaches at least a million readers every day, had a different take on the Barbados republican story.
    “In the end, the split was painless,” columnist Bob Hepburn concluded. “Despite excessive hand-wringing and warnings in advance of dire consequences, Barbados cut its 396-year-old ties with the British monarchy.
    “In a ceremony filled with pomp and celebrities, including Barbados superstar Rihanna, the Caribbean island-nation officially became a republic – 55 years to the day it declared independence from Britain” in 1966, observed the Star.
    “Even Queen Elizabeth didn’t object to yet another country – the 17th under her reign – dispensing of her as its head of state,” Hepburn wrote. “In fact, she dispatched her son Charles, the future king of England, to participate in the ceremony.”
    Hepburn posed the intriguing question, “now that Barbados has ditched the monarchy”, what’s stopping Canada from doing the same?
    Another question: “Isn’t it time Canada shed the last vestiges of our colonial past that sees us still beholding to a Queen or King living in England, that bars any Canadian from being our head of state and that demands new citizens to swear an oath to the Queen?
    “For Barbados, often called ‘Little England,’ the switch was ultimately easy,” the columnist insisted.
    Before the formal declaration of republicanism, Reuters in Canada speculated that Barbados’ new status may be a “harbinger of a broader attempt by other former colonies to cut ties to the British monarchy as it braces for the end of Elizabeth’s nearly 70-year reign and the future accession of Charles”, who attended the celebration in Bridgetown.

    Source: Nation

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  3. David
    Disagree on a number of small points but not generally.

    One, your analysis about the absence of third parties misunderstands even underestimates the corrosive nature of duopoly political structures.

    Duopolists erect barriers to entry, for example.

    Two, it is a misguidance for education to be designed primarily to try to satisfy the ever changing demands of capital. This mindset will have us always running around in circles to catch our tails.

    Three, seems that you gave the DLP more functional vital systems levels than here perceived. LOL

    Not that they are unlikely to make major reversals in traditional DLP areas. But even in circumstances where the total reversal of the last results is a slight possibility, this writer has not seen any evidence of the signs of life creative of such a revival.

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    • @Pacha

      Point 1, what are revolutions made of? It starts and ends with the will of the masses.

      Point 2, or is about education ensuring we can compete whatever that means.

      Point 3, governments lose elections.


  4. David

    We’re less confident in what you referred to as the will of the masses. Currently unconvinced about popular interventions to alter realities. Publics have ceased to hold their own minds, we fear.

    David, when you start to corporatize education it will become more of a production centre like we have at Cave Hill, producing dysfunctional widgets.

    One school in the US has even corporatized the classroom, the school., for young children. We have to be careful about this. Education should not be the inevitable race to the bottom, as implied.

    Yes, governments lose elections in a real world, yes! But very little about the economy, the pandemic, the state of the DLP, is real.

    Reply ↓

    • @Pacha

      You cannot ignore basic needs of people are food, shelter and clothing therefore there must be an element of aligning national strategic objectives to educational design. It does not remove the right to encourage learning based on interest but we have to plan our survival on the planet. The fittest will survive just as in the wild of the ni,al kingdom.


  5. David

    But we see no determination to get out of the national service station mentality.

    And running around behind ever changing fads or percieved market requirements will not feed anybody. Certainly, not determinative of destiny.

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    • @Pacha

      We are human beings having to rely on man made constructs to survive. It will not be perfect. It will always be a work in progress. We need active engagement from the masses to ensure less complacency and corruption, more creativity and innovation.


  6. The best analogy for DLP is ED impotency and an inability to penetrate due to cock blocking

    Erectile dysfunction (ED) is the inability to get or keep an erection firm enough to have sexual intercourse. It’s sometimes referred to as impotence, …

    As BU is generally BLP this is not an issue and no or little campaigning or new manifestos will be required

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  7. David
    Implicit in your thinking is the presence of the hierchical structures which themselves may be the source of our problems.

    We elect dictators and then beg for tender mercies.

    The man made constructs you cite never seem to be made by us, for us. We never plan to, it seems.

    This is not about seeking perfection. It’s about decades, even centuries, of continuously going down rabbit hole after rabbit hole. Does this treadmill not get staid, even stale?

    Reply ↓

    • @Pacha

      The man made constructs are made by friends and family who sat next to us in school, university, played cricket and football etc. Unless we go back to bartering existing power structures fueled by the workings of the capitalist construct will continue to beguile us. Even in your beloved China the capitalist construct is alive and well.


  8. “The man made constructs you cite never seem to be made by us, for us. We never plan to, it seems.”

    had that same conversation on the continent last night….#laziness, backwardness, stuck in a colonial time warp, corruption, unskilled leadership, so many well OUTLINED reasons why the Black Afrikan diasporan is NOT MOVING FORWARD…and it’s all due to over half century of bad governance…just look at the AVOIDABLE mess they made of the fake republic that has no republic constitution and that says everything and definitely JUSTIFIES the necessity for my book…as i am being told.

    https://african-online-publishing.com/books-2/

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  9. Capitalism = Socialise Losses + Privatise Profits = Zero Sum Game
    The Capitalist Construct FAILED with the Global Financial Crises and Covid Pandemic where Governments bailed out banks and businesses which is informal nationalisation in all but name. At the local level a country of 300,000 is doomed to FAIL in capitalist rat race and socialism is the remedy to fix inequality and poverty and the way to go on a path to build or rebuild a new Republic nation as a long term endevour.

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  10. Equating the DLP with the BLP is nothing but propaganda on behalf of the DLP. Some here obviously want to slander the Barbados Liberal Party (BLP) by equating our Leader´s grand movevement with a crime syndicate.

    The fact is that our beloved government has done incredible things since 2018. It has repaired roads, modernised public buildings, consolidated government finances, successfully battled hurricanes and volcanic ash and Corona, to name but a few deeds. Not to forget the many vaccinations and the natural immunisation of the dumb anti-vaxx masses. The fact that the Anti-Corruption Bill has so far been blocked from becoming law is entirely the fault of the DLP-affiliated senators as well as the enemies of the state in the outdated Senate.

    If the BLP had ruled continuously since 1966, we would be in a much better position today, in civilisational, financial and economic terms. But we are unfortunately a democracy where a certain section of the population is still in the mental state of slavery and therefore votes DLP.

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  11. David

    We have no love for any particular nation state on earth.

    “Our flag is red. Our country is the future”

    What you see as love weeee we see as existential realities your dead Western organizational principles cannot effectively confront.

    So in defeat you are left without a paddle or a poe. But yet you insist that neoliberal capitalism must be made to appear to work.

    Ours are merely to suggest China as an alternative model. Not caring whether capitalist or communist or socialist or cooperative republic.

    We use Russia and Iran and Venezuela as countries outside of the Western orbit forced to find ways to develop.

    We’ve admitted to being unrepentant anarchists but you can call us whatever you like.

    David! What have been the equities in the community of people you present. Aren’t these the same people we went to school with who over three administrations also sat down in parliament and cabinet and oversaw the near bankruptcy of the NIS? Where are the equities in any of this?

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  12. Good article by Garth Patterson. This is the second post which conveys the idea that mistakes were made in amending the constitution to become a Republic.

    Surprise that we cannot get someone with sound knowledge of constitutional matters to refute the claim of GP3.

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  13. Mei-lan 🏝️ Oasis 🐫 Sound Healing Music
    Mei-lan 🏝️ Oasis 🐫 Sound Healing Music
    Mei-lan 🏝️ Oasis 🐫 Sound Healing Music
    Mei-lan 🏝️ Oasis 🐫 Sound Healing Music

    Reply ↓

  15. @ David Bu
    Did you expect a miraculous change because we Bajanised our Head of State ? Many commenters thought there would be a change in how we do business.. But 99.9 % per cent expected no major upheaval and there was none. And we like it so. We are reasonably happy with who we are.
    Similarly, you view politics as a game. Politics is about achieving the objectives of a good and stable society. Academic posturings are for amateur intellectuals. Our people need to work for their daily bread. We have no time for puerile games of political musical chairs.
    When you and Pacha can outline and describe the good society we will discuss it. Continue to have fun. Meanwhile work out the philosophy of the bright ,new chaotic society that you speak so glibly about.

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  17. Infinity ♾
    Barbados politics is not about good or bad as everything is relative
    BLP are infinitely better than DLP (30/0= ∞ ) as things stand but you should bear in mind the system collapse theory

    General systems collapse theory, proposes that societal collapse results from an increase in social complexity beyond a sustainable level, leading people to revert to simpler ways of life.

    Societal collapse (also known as civilisational collapse) is the fall of a complex human society characterised by the loss of cultural identity and of socioeconomic complexity, the downfall of government, and the rise of violence.Possible causes of a societal collapse include natural catastrophe, war, pestilence, famine, population decline, and mass migration. A collapsed society may revert to a more primitive state (Dark Ages), be absorbed into a stronger society, or completely disappear.

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  21. And Where Do We Go From Here

     

    A stronger people we must be,

    Not muscles and stature, rather, more visionary.

    DLP or BLP, Republic or Independence,

     

    We must all be Loyal Sons and Daughters in transcendence. 

    Here in Barbados, with the World looking on,

    Every “t” we should cross, “i” dotted and frivolity gone.

    Remember from whence we came but know to where we must go,

    Even the pessimists perceive a future, albeit bleak, they know;  

     

    Days are ahead of us, tomorrow depends on what we do today, 

    Our great forefathers sowed the seeds for progress not dismay.   

     

    Weakness not strength is apparent when our Nation votes 30 to 0,

    Equally so, appointing a young, live, questionably unqualified National Hero.

     

    Governments with one-sided mandates, that go unchecked, 

    Only leads to anarchy or some devastating effect.

     

    For the people to prosper they must hear both sides debating,

    Reports like Budgetary Proposals must be annually forthcoming.

    Open discussions, even in this Covid pandemic can still be, 

    Media has evolved and now all can be part of meetings remotely.

     

    Have a closer eye where you step, be vigilant with whose hands you shake,

    Examine with greater scrutiny, decisions said to be made for your sake.

    Remember, they can never please all the people, all of the time anywhere,

    Examine if it is some of the people all of the time, And Where Do We Go From Here.

    By Khaidji

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  22. It’s sickening that despite what our ancestors were subjected to we still have to come along and clean up this crap dropped by useless leaders…at least it’s RIGHT IN OUR FACES THAT THEY CAN’T BE TRUSTED…do so at your own risk…

    Pacha…don’t know if they are grandstanding or not but it’s all coming to a head, given what many don’t know, let’s see how it plays out.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/china-threatens-heavy-attack-against-joe-biden-and-the-us-should-they-rescue-taiwan/ar-AARJFcO?ocid=msedgntp

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  23. @David
    Needless to say manifestos are also a work in progress with the DLP website offering a ‘Coming Soon’ disclosure.
    +++++++++
    Manifestos Shamifestos; why are you putting such faith in manifestos? Did the present Gov’t have any mention of the biggest change to Barbados constitutional life since Independence in its most recent manifesto?

    Reply ↓

    • @Sargeant

      Ho do you propose citizens work to hold governments accountable if what they promise is not worth the cost of the paper it is typed on?


  24. @David 12:16 pm
    You answered your own question!

    There is nothing in our system other than an exercise every five years where we go eenie meenie minie moe!
    Until people speak out where it matters and journalists become investigative journalists then the circus will continue.

    Just observing

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  25. Waru
    We’re closing following events on all fronts. Thee West may soon find itself in a three front war, unavoidably of their own doing. Wars which they cannot win against either one of the three actors in the absence of the other two.

    Let’s hope it’s just brinkmanship to get Iran, Russia and China to give minor concessions but the West are locked in the proverbial Thucydides trap and war or the surrender of global hegemony are the only options then.

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  26. And Where Do We Go From Here.
    SOUNDS LIKE ONE OF THOSE ACROSTICS PRESENTED IN DE SUNDEE SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PROGRAM IN MY YOUTH
    DO THEY STILL HAVE THESE SUNDEE SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS IN BARBADOS STILL

    Reply ↓

    • @Pacha

      What is there to follow closely? Since the Cold War and SALT ALL have been watching closely and to what end? There is no benefit to the actors by threatening détente.


  31. David

    War starts long before bullet fly and end long after. Indeed, the end of a conflict requires a political solution, which is a writer surrender, armistice, etc

    When you see Biden meeting with Putin or Xi. When you examine the readouts issued afterwards. When you mince the words of security officialdom in Washington , Beijing and Tehran. When you see actors holding democracy confabs. When you see actors testing the defenses of potential belligerents. And on and on, these are some of the things to watch.

    When you read Pentagon reports on war game scenarios and see that in every theatre America cannot defeat any of their perceived enemies.

    When you understand that America cannot mess with Iran for such a mistake would lead to oil at 1000 dollars a barrel overnight because Iran will set West Asia on fire. Israel will not survive. And if this happens it’s the end of Western civilization, so called.

    All these and more. We are talking about military science. Sure, some of the potential outcomes have massive implications for Barbados, economy.

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  32. Soooo…if it is known that B = D….who will win, or what their manifesto is, becomes irrelevant…sooooo….what is relevant?

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  34. This is why you do not play games with these beasts, they are very dangerous and deadly, that list of names should have been handed over RIGHT AWAY..

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/haiti-s-moise-was-probing-officials-linked-to-drug-trade-when-he-was-killed-nyt/ar-AARJzMX?ocid=msedgntp

    “Some of those who were captured confessed that retrieving the list with names of suspected drug traffickers was a top priority, the Times reported, citing three senior Haitian officials with knowledge of the investigation.

    “The document was part of a broader series of clashes Mr. Moise had with powerful political and business figures, some suspected of narcotics and arms trafficking,” the Times wrote.”

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  35. Well David

    Think we’re long passed the hope stage.

    This is how the geopolitical, geostrategic, chessboard is currently situated.

    David, you are going to deeply dislike this reading of where we are.

    American cannot defeat anybody in conventional war. Meaning, the use of nuclear weapons becomes attractive. Even the socalled battlefield nukes.

    But America did not go to war with Britain to dislocate it as global empire. In fact, they were allies in the recent century.

    What we are saying is that the political settlement which normally happens at the end of hostilities could happen before, like in the case of America and Great Britain. This is what diplomacy seeks to achieve.

    And an early settlement maybe better for America and its allies, the world. But that settlement of global leadership would see the Russians and the Chinese exacting from America things similar to what they demanded from the British.

    These may include the dismantlement of 1000 military bases globally. The dethronement of the US dollar as primary reserve currency. The payment of massive war reparations. The dismantlement of their nuclear weapons. The removal of Western control of international institutions like the IMF and World Bank, and so.

    The sooner the Americans would accept these or similarly anticipated Russian and Chinese terms the better their negotiating position might be.

    This is where we are at. Like it or not. Just a matter of time before the West is driven to war or waves the surrender flag. And this situation is not just a function of externalities but what is happening within the countries of the West.

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    • @Pacha

      Missing from your opinion is the fact China depends on US and wider G7 market to export product. Also there foreign investment portfolio to consider? It is not just about nukes.


  37. Imagine that…the tag team arguing about which of them is the most corrupt….when we told people that they could not believe it….straight from the mouths of the lowlifes themselves..come 2023 and the same lying promises will be reapplied on the electorate….2 elections cycles later. to make it over half century of these parasites…….same old…

    https://barbadosfreepress.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/two-barbados-political-parties-argue-over-who-is-most-corrupt/

    “But we haven’t forgotten, and we want Bajans to remember, that there’s not a lick ‘o difference between the two large political parties in Barbados. Not a lick ‘o difference in philosophy or practice – only a different bunch of piggies fighting over the public trough.

    As Member of Parliament Dr. Duguid said, there’s no way any Barbados politician will vote for Integrity Legislation.

    So relax, sit back and enjoy the show as the DLP and BLP try to convince Bajans that THIS TIME it’s gonna be different. Honest, Honey, I’ll never hurt you again. Trust me. I promise…”

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  38. David

    You are a scholar and a gentleman.

    Yes, war happens on all fronts. For example propaganda is war waged to alter perceptions, killing the will to fight of one’s opponents.

    When you talk about markets let us consider the case study of Russian gas to Western Europe. Without it Europeans freeze to death. Without it, Russia may send it to their allies in China, willing to buy any amount.

    Of course, this is a two-sided sword. Can be deployed as a sword or shield.

    In short, America as a debtor nation to China and Russia its strategic ally are more needed by the West than they depend on the West, anymore. This status quo was not arrived at by accident.

    Reply ↓

    • @Pacha

      Putin is bluffing. The bear is looking for attention to remain relevant on the geopolitical chessboard.


  39. “As Member of Parliament Dr. Duguid said, there’s no way any Barbados politician will vote for Integrity Legislation.”

    yall better start gearing up for the LITANY of LIES marching into 2023…because obviously they hold the same views in 2021 that they held in 2011, still no integrity legislation, just some sealed envelopes which no one knows how many lies about assers they hold…

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  40. David
    That does not make sense. Putin does not play those game. All the military analysts are coming around to this writer’s views.

    Maybe you should ask the Georgian Republic which after threatening Russian national interests, circa 2014, Putin rightly invaded, if Putin or Xi makes that kind of sport. This is NOT the place for children, or so liked minded.

    Ask the Ukrainians, after Putin, returned Crimea to Russia. Ask the Americans whether than is a truism. Don’t you see that both Xi and Putin are making iron clad demands of the Americans. Ask the American after Russia confronted them in Syria in defence of their ally .

    Putin does not play those kinds of stupid games.

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  41. just some sealed envelopes which no one knows how many lies about ASSETS they hold…

    i would imagine that du(no)guid aired his mouth in the days when they were feeling ALL POWERFUL, ARROGANT and UNTOUCHABLE…they could not see the corruption and fraud ever ending, it was a couple years after that they and their minority friends spent REAL MONEY and went after the blogs to shut them down………they are shit outta luck today too….how could you be sucking monthly salaries out of taxpayers whom ya BEGGED FOR VOTES, and for YEARS ON END and DETERMINED not to be held accountable for corruption, fraud, thefts or anything else….

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  42. David
    Have noticed that Boris Johnson is down in the polls and possibly facing a stab in the back. Under growing pressure.

    The factotum, Keir Starmer, of Labour is leading by 9 points in one poll.

    An idiot is leading a jackass. This is what your democracies have come to. Same in Barbados or worse.

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  44. This is what your democracies have come to. Same in Barbados or worse.
    EVERYTHING HAPPENING AS ISTO BE EXPECTED
    SOON THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD WILL ALL BE ASKING FOR ONE SINGLE MAN TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF THE WHOLE WORLD
    AND IT AINT GOING TO BE JOSEPH TO SUPPLY ANY CORN
    IT WILL BE THE ANTICHRIST AND HIS ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT
    SO GET READY FOLK
    THE TOES OF CLAY AND IRON OF DANIEL 2 AND 7 ARE ON THE HORIZON
    AINT DAT SWEET?

    Reply ↓

  45. David
    Now you are massively ill-inform on these critical matters.

    The West has had economic sanctions on The Russian Federation for many years.

    And Russia is now immune to their sanctions as a result of building massive internal production capabilities.

    Russia no longer borrows in international financial markets, has non-Western supply chains.

    Should they be removed from the SWIFT interbank system, Russia has its own international exchange system ready to go. Already a high number of international transactions are happening in the national currencies.

    The only other point of exposure would be Visa and MasterCard. And if the West cut these off the Russian national Mir card is already in use.

    Russia has already surrendered all its foreign holdings in Western banks.

    These are the last arrow’s the West has in its quiver. Should actions would be a self inflicted wound as the Europeans would have no way to pay for oil and gas and therefore will freeze to death.

    Even America now imports their second highest amount of gas from Russia. Given the vitual collapse of the false economy of America to be a significant producer.

    David, we have yuh rassoulll check-mated. Game, set and match. Yuh dead, lay down nuh.LOL

    Reply ↓

    • @Pacha

      US sanctions are labeled ‘light’, this you know. Do not underestimate the effect a NATO collaboration bodes for Russia. Also do not underestimate the impact of being kicked off the SWIFT network.


  46. THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION CODE OF JUDICIAL CONDUCT

    CANON 1

    A Judge Should Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary@

    Barbados crooks lawyers and judges cant even get past these two lines! there are
    7 CANON/s , So how can crooks write laws or even a new Constitution for Barbados?

    This is nothing more than a Ri-Ri Republic a Private Group of RICO
    The Blog Master post as if there are only two parties in Barbados what will you write about after they are both Reduced to jail? Bajan Free Party!

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  47. David
    Don’t be like Columbus! Russia already has extensive trading relationships with other countries which have been extra territorially sanctioned by the USA for up to 40 years. Iran, Syria, North Korea, Belarus, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and many more.

    But you are the one to grossly underestimate the stampede coming soon from the worthless US dollar as more and more countries ditch it.

    Soon it shall be blowing about in the streets with nobody stooping to pick them up.

    Yuh dead David. Lay down neh!

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  49. David
    Have we ever made a forecast, as we deploy scientific methodologies, proven wrong.

    Np need for Crystal balls.

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  51. By the way, NATO is a joke of an alliance. It is nothing without American arms, money. It’s such a standing joke that the French and the Germans are thinking about another European army. NATO could not last for a week against the Russian army. What they are good for is being the mouthpiece of Washington, giving a patina to a false international consensus thinking. Nobody is frightened for America. Nobody is frightened for NATO, a motley bunch of boys scouts.

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  52. “SOON THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD WILL ALL BE ASKING FOR ONE SINGLE MAN TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF THE WHOLE WORLD
    AND IT AINT GOING TO BE JOSEPH TO SUPPLY ANY CORN
    IT WILL BE THE ANTICHRIST AND HIS ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT”

    Next war will be about IT Technology and Biowarfare
    Not one to encourage your hallucinatory Revelations
    but, are you saying BU’s Pachamama is the anti-Christ

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  55. Too much control, very unhealthy. Imagine that in an insular closed society that lives exclusively to perpetrate STIGMAS…

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  56. “From demand to pending ultimatum.
    You have to have an appreciation for diplomacy, and the Russians are task masters at it, to realize how close a pending ultimatum comes to hostilities.”

    Russia views Poodles UK as the easy target and weakest link

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  57. Pacha….the world is in serious turmoil am seeing some really unbelievable things happening everywhere, we must pay attention. tourists are being told in Los Angeles to stay away they cannot be protected, the whole world just went wild..and the weather is pitching in a display.

    Reply ↓

  58. So is it true that the newly refurbished A& E at QEH has no bathing facilities for patients amd no adequate water supply for basics during a deadly pandemuc and is causing a dangerously developing situation……yall can’t do better than this, must some level of government incompetence and lack of care for those who elected this bunch be exposed every day…..

    Reply ↓

  61. Hi Rabbit,
    Is the article from 1991? Is that the Advocate?

    It appears that we recycle everything.. good/bad ideas, legal/illegal acts. What is funny that what is bad/good for D can become good/bad for B.

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  62. so payment in bonds were illegal and unconstitutional 30 years ago when the current government was in opposition but it’s totally legal now under the same constitution and same government with new faces ……don’t fear, if the electorate is mad enuff to reelect whom they threw out in 2018…they would pull the same illegal acts…..just THROW this one out as well and let them all scramble to survive the UPHEAVAL………

    Reply ↓

  64. I think they passed a law that purports to make it legal. But if it clashes with the Constitution, I believe it would still be illegal.

    Unfortunately, the bonds will probably be paid in full by the time your legal challenge makes its way through the courts.

    I notice that there is an attempt to separate the debts incurred by this administration from the debts incurred by the last administration.

    This is just an election talking point being set up.

    Government is a continuum. The debts of the last administration are the debts of this administration. Those who have beem owed the longest should be paid first.

    There is no before May or September 2018 and after May or September 2018 as far as Government’s debt is concerned.

    All this Government has done is express an intention to pay.

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  65. David
    Forgot to tell you yesterday, but assumed you knew.

    When you support America, NATO, et al over Ukraine you are by implication supporting the fascists controlling Kiev.

    These are the same people, descendants who supported the Third Reich. Who slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Russians, Pols, Slavs, Jews and so on, during WW2.

    Funny how history is. The country without which and by losing 28 million soldiers as opposed to the Americans, giving only 500 thousand lives, to effectively win WW2 is now turned upon by the same evil forces they helped the West defeat, and the West. Russia is right to prevent this hippocracy from happening again, under any guise.

    History is a bitch!

    Reply ↓

    • @Pacha

      Are we hearing you to say you deny the right of sovereigns like Ukraine and others the right to seek NATO alliance?


  66. David
    There is no such right. Certainly not in military terms.

    Was there a right for Cuba circa 1962 to have nuclear weapons pointed at Washington?

    Let both answers be the same. If you still hold any semblance of fairness.

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  68. The Duopoly continues to make the propagandists, apologists and obstructionists, who act on their behalf , look like clowns.
    Each time they try to defend it , there is evidence that it is indefensible
    Latest:
    Henry Forde then leader of the opposition declared paying people in bonds is unconstitutional
    Of course they come here defending Mottley who is now doing the robbery and now they have to deal with what Henry said in 1991
    Pathetic

    Reply ↓

  69. William…when i read that yesterday i was like WHAT….so where was Mia in 1991 when Forde assessed that situation…….it is confirmed there is no republic constitution so it can in no way be used as an excuse……..the colonial framework of the old one is still in place…some would say kinda sorta…….so what has the SLEIGHT OF HAND ACHIEVED…

    my father-in-law used to say….the time ya wasted doing a halfassed job, ya could have used the same time wisely to do it properly..

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  70. “The Duopoly continues to make the propagandists, apologists and obstructionists, who act on their behalf , look like clowns.”

    you do know that if they were not seeing it play in real time in front their delusional eyes they would swear on STACKS OF FAKE BIBLES that it’s not happening, that we are lying, cuss us and then go DIG UP IN THE ARCHIVES…🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.

    the blighted plight of pimps, imps and Slaves.

    Reply ↓

  71. @ WURA
    Mia has successfully convinced people that she only entered parliament since she became PM.
    Maybe she doesn’t have any finger prints. An incredible feat !

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  73. “Maybe she doesn’t have any finger prints. An incredible feat !”

    unless ya burn them off fingerprints don’t hide……AND technology today don’t accept lies without spitting out the truth…

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  75. We have to hope , in the interest of future leaders and citizens, that they are being taught , in the classroom , the difference between criticism and critique. It is obvious that sometimes in our collective haste to disagree with others we inadvertently confuse the two.
    Our wretched leaders have identified this weakness and have exploited it with great alacrity. Nowaday, well thought out critiques are routinely branded as some form of criticism. This is most unfortunate and it usually propels well intentioned citizens to avoid national discourse.
    There are people who have been carefully critiquing the region for years, and from time to time, they offer their views and are accused of being destructive or too critical.
    Yes there is criticism and yes sometimes it is designed to often score cheap partisan points . However, it will be most unfortunate if we confuse it with critique.
    Like I said, I hope our teachers are driving home the difference in the class room because if they are not we will certainly end up in a very dark place.

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  76. David
    The Summit for Democracies another Biden failure.

    As it turns out Biden wasted Mottley’s time as America tried to build a parallel international organization to bypass the UN which it has brutally dominated since the early 1990s.

    This was the major reason for this confab. Of course, there are other legs to the machinations of the evil ones. They are also seeking to ditch international law for what they like to refer to as a rules based order. All of which is making no progress.

    Unable to conduct crusades under legal fictions like the right to protect, R2P, as imagined by war criminal Tony Blair because of consistent vetoes at the UNSC by China. and Russia those whose economies are based on war are in trouble.

    R2P got UN permissions to destroy Libya , Yugoslavia and others under an erected fiction of humanitarian militarism when the lead protagonist had carte blanche to do whatever they will at the UN.

    Luckily for mankind a general absence of interest prevailed to scuttle Biden’s summit as his attempt to use Barbados and the motley gang of dependent countries as useful idiots fell flat on its face.

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  77. St. Philip, Barbados. Attempted Murder. What kind of person would ram a person not once, but TWICE with a vehicle? What kind of person did that?

    MANGLED the elderly woman’s leg. Leg had to be AMPUTATED. All over a land dispute.

    Attempted murder by any other name is still attempted murder! Naked!!

    Subscribe. Like. Comment. Share.

    https://youtu.be/7vILmPcgwoY

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  80. “Catchphrases, buzz-words, platitudes, happy-talk and bad analogies abound. We are told that we need to adopt a “holistic” approach and “build out” a “platform” as a “mechanism” for change. As Gladstone Holder used to say: “These are fine words, but what do they really mean?” What exactly are you planning to do to move object A from position B to position C to achieve objective D? Too often, what is obviously a very complex issue often involving competing legitimacies is reduced to simplicity. This is particularly true of issues relating to race, class and gender where the discourse quickly becomes emotive, where it is hardly ever thought out with a regard to finding a workable solution. Instead, a battle ensues, fought to the death as each side defends its constituency “to the death”.
    Ralph Jemmott, Barbados Today
    Tuesday, December 14th 2021

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  81. William…this is the WRAP…

    the DOWNFALL of those who hate everything Black Afrikan….there can only be a brighter day AHEAD because of it…

    AND…they better be NO PUSH BACK from the slave minded who are too comfortable to understand what’s been happening , still is and now EVOLVING..into a NEW DAWN around them….upside is they HAVE NO POWER ANYWAY….the only danger comes from the holes in their faces…which are about to be SEWED SHUT…

    let’s see if those in the parliament can see what’s unfolding…not that they can stop it either….but let’s see the reaction..

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  82. To a cross section of the population’s credit, they have been actively seeking and getting help on how to WEAN THEMSELVES from the destructive colonial system…no one who is awake wants to pass that crime scene on to the next generation

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  83. Dems now, Dems again

    by PETER WICKHAM

    ONE MATRIMONIAL TRADITION recommends the importance of reflecting the foregoing components that were also manifested in the Democratic Labour Party’s (DLP’s) candidate launch.
    A candid review of this launch speaks volumes about the state of affairs in the DLP and is a public demonstration of the extent to which this party will have to rely on sympathy and the hope that Barbadians will vote to strengthen the Opposition. The preferable alternative of a more “politically attractive” DLP sadly continues to be elusive.
    The timing of the event was odd as Barbadians were preoccupied with the euphoria of our first days as a republic and while the DLP is yet to acknowledge this achievement, matters pertaining to the new republic have denied the DLP our undivided attention.
    The lack of finality regarding the DLP’s team is an old conversation which the party’s leadership has repeatedly argued is not “pressing”. They have been revealing their team in batches, so the rush to present made little sense, especially as the team is still technically incomplete.
    The party list acknowledged four “undeclared candidates” and ignored reference to St Philip West, confirming that the team was incomplete, so they basically reintroduced candidates, dulling the impact of the event.
    General observations aside, the team can be examined within the rubric outlined above, starting with the reference to “something old”. This matter continues to be controversial and therefore the DLP’s decision to return three – and possibly four – of the people from the Freundel Stuart administration demonstrates their conviction that Stuart’s team was not beyond redemption.
    Offer insight
    Naturally, quite a few of us would disagree, and the stage is therefore set for a continuation of the distracting debate regarding the “lost decade”, which the DLP cannot win. The specific “oldsters” are also interesting as they have called back Richard Sealy, who was the presumptive Deputy Prime Minister for several years. Sealy is not known for his high energy levels but might yet offer us an insight into the logic behind some decisions made by the Stuart administration.
    The others are no less interesting, with Denis Lowe, who is best known for his misogynistic and homophobic comments during the campaign, which lowered the bar of political discourse to a point where Madame Yvette would have had challenges.
    It has been rumoured that David Estwick is set to join the team as the “30th Man” and if so, it would mean that the DLP’s 2018 gutter-politics team would be reunited, which would make for an entertaining campaign, and we wait anxiously to see how Verla De Peiza will relate to their messages. The new candidates are for me the most exciting and, in fairness, the DLP does have quite a few new faces. A candidate like Ryan Walters, who is completely new, joins others such as Damien Griffith and Andre Worrell, who are known to the DLP family but did not offer themselves in 2018. Walters stands out among new candidates because he appears to understand the need to introduce himself to the constituency and has been working in that vineyard since June of 2018. Sadly, many of the others are not well known and will face an uphill battle in the short time remaining. It would be presumptuous to say that any candidates have been “borrowed” since that carries the presumption that they will leave the DLP again, which would be unfair to suggest. However, we have an array of politicians who converted from the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), the United Progressive Party and the People’s Party for Democracy and Development.
    Noteworthy among these are Ronnie Yearwood, Paul Gibson, Randall Rouse and Kemar Stuart and not one of them has attempted to explain his philosophical conversion/reconversion to the DLP. Certainly, DLP membership was open to all of them in 2018 when they took up arms against the Dems, and it would be interesting to understand the basis of their current attraction.
    It is easy to identify the “blue” factor since the DLP trades on the blue colour and several of the candidates are identifiable as long-standing Dems, with several being “Barrow’s children”. In this regard, the point needs to be made that this blue team is dominated by men.
    Yes, the DLP is being led by a woman for the first time; however, that party needs to address the perception that it has little interest in women. Certainly, the BLP is miles ahead in this regard; however, the Dems identification of two out of 29 candidates suggests that they are not even making an effort to catch up.

    Peter W. Wickham (peter.w.wickham@gmail.com) is a political consultant and a director of Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES).

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