112 thoughts on “CARICOM Statement on Ukraine


  1. Seeking to protect our interests
    Fast-moving moments on the global scene are continuing to cast their shadows on our local economy. We are an independent, sovereign nation, but like even the most sovereign of nations, we live in an interdependent global community.
    Our bread-and-butter interests are not solely within our determination, even though we may promptly discharge our efforts to remove or minimise obstacles to the better promotion of those interests.
    Our tourism industry can be enhanced by our home-grown reduction of crime, only to be strangled by outbreaks of war adversely affecting the economic outlook in the markets from which we draw our tourists.
    We may, therefore, have a legitimate interest in the debate and the outcome of disputes in distant parts of the world. Thus, our voices must be heard in tandem with other voices of like disposition.
    That is consistent with the long declared and early view that we must be friends of all and satellites of none. We must seek to protect our vital interests.
    Right direction
    In this regard, the heavy emphasis in the current Estimates Debate is pointing us in the right direction as far as overall economic and strategic policy is concerned.
    We have long regarded tourism as a vital industry. It still is, and ought still to be so regarded within the corridors of power.
    The economists tell us that no other industry can so quickly rebound – after interruption of one kind or another – as a major front-burner economic engine.
    To use an expression from another area of enterprise, the tourism industry must not be “home alone”. Agriculture or farming, as some other countries call it, has to confirm its rightful place at the policy table as an industry of major economic importance.
    Food security has become what it should always have been.
    It is a major economic issue.
    Our social and political history may have tarnished the image of agriculture, but the economic importance of land, as a source of locally produced food; must not be ignored or underrated.
    Given the impact of the large amounts of scarce foreign exchange we expend on importing food, serious linkages with tourism must now become real.
    Prime economic benefits
    The Ministries of Agriculture and of International Business and the Ministry of Energy and the Environment must now recognise that their interlinkages can deliver prime economic benefits.
    We therefore applaud the common policy of both political parties to promote the development of renewable energy. The wisdom of that approach should now be clear.
    The Ukraine-Russian dispute justifies accelerated policy initiatives in this direction not only to secure continuity of energy supply but also as a foreign exchange saver.
    The bracing of innovation as a component of the Ministry of Business also signals a welcome and nuanced approach to business.
    New ways of creating business and of becoming an entrepreneur in an online world have been recognised.
    Must be exploited
    In the national interest, global markets must be exploited, especially by practitioners of the creative economy. Indeed, some young Barbadians have already started online businesses. This is to be encouraged.
    These ventures need more administrative support from parastatal organisations, as well as from the private sector telecom and banking industries.
    At this critical time, the Estimates are pointing us aright.
    Private initiatives in all their various guises must now step up and exploit those business niches that exist.

    Nation Editorial


  2. War fall-out could be big blow for Barbados
    By Colville Mounsey colvillemounsey@nationnews.com
    The world’s attention is currently firmly affixed to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as global leaders ponder the possible geopolitical and economic fallout.
    Barbados and the CARICOM region are certainly not insulated from these permutations, as economic and business pundits have already begun to highlight the potential tourism fallout should this develop into a protracted war in Europe. Hikes in the cost of living and rising gas prices have also been areas highlighted as a potential major ripple effect.
    Economist Jeremy Stephen cautioned that should the war escalate, it could have serious implications for Barbados’ tourism recovery prospects, energy prices, the cost of living and a shortage of medicines and goods. His views aligned with those of Professor Emeritus at The University of the West Indies, Michael Howard, who said while it was still early days to determine the specific impact on Barbados, there were ensuing negative global realities from which Barbados could not be extricated.
    It is important to note that the conflict could affect goods getting through the Mediterranean shipping lanes, a recipe for a further increase in the cost of goods and a scarcity of certain commodities.
    Russia is one of the biggest energy suppliers in the world and provides around 30 per cent of the European Union’s natural gas, with its supplies playing a vital role in power generation and home heating across central and eastern Europe. Last month, Minister of Energy Kerrie Symmonds said Barbadians should brace for more increases in petroleum products as well as natural gas. He also said Government would need to reassess its ability to continue shielding the public from fuel price hikes.
    The Ukraine is the secondlargest country by area in Europe after Russia, with it borders to the east and northeast. It also shares borders with Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova and has a coastline along the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. The response from Europe has been swift with Germany halting the certification of the 750-mile Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline while the United States outlined sanctions against Russia, including on two financial institutions, Russian sovereign debt, and on Russian elites and their family members.
    The assault, which began on Thursday and has resulted in well over a hundred soldiers and civilians dead and hundreds more wounded, also triggered swift statements from Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley as well as CARICOM.
    Mottley joined world leaders and called on the Russian Federation to cease its hostilities and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. She said: “The Government of Barbados firmly believes that a peaceful, negotiated, diplomatic approach which results in the restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is the only approach consistent with the values of the United Nations and with international law”.
    Thus far, most pundits concur that it is too early to determine how farreaching the potential ripple effect of the conflict would be and that much would depend on how long the conflict will last, as well as just how much skin the Europe, UK and the US are prepared to put into the game.
    However, head of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), Professor Don Marshall contends that it is quite unlikely that the current tranche of sanctions will result in any major fallout for Russia, hence unlikely to be effective in getting the Vladimir Putin’s regime to change course.
    “China is Russia’s biggest trade partner and so long as China maintains its customary relations there is little economic fallout. Russia remains a part of the SWIFT payments system and so it can continue its trade and business relations as well with Germany – its largest client in the supply of oíl and gas. The US-led sanctions will hurt the working majority in Russia following price hikes but not its elites. So long as the USA does not commit to military interventions on behalf of Ukraine in an effort to halt or reverse Russia’s advance, then energy trades on the stock market will be buoyed,” Marshall said.
    Change of posture
    He added: “Paradoxically, a change of posture either by China or USA in the direction of neutering Russia’s attempt to colonise Ukraine will upend world political and economic relations as we have known it over the last 40 years.
    While this conflict has only captured the attention of some Barbadians in recent months, it has in fact been brewing for years.
    Since the ousting of pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, in 2014 after months of protests against his rule, Putin has frequently accused Ukraine of being taken over by extremists. Russia
    seized the southern region of Crimea in an apparent retaliation. Putin is credited with triggering a rebellion in the east, backing separatists who have fought Ukrainian forces in a war that has claimed 14 000 lives.
    Russia has also long resisted Ukraine’s move towards the European Union and the West’s defensive military alliance, NATO. Late in 2021, Russia began deploying big numbers of troops close to Ukraine’s borders and scrapped a 2015 peace deal for the east and recognised areas under rebel control as independent. Putin also revealed that he supported their claims to far more Ukrainian territory. Significant as it is chilling, is the fact that the development marks the first time since World War II that a superpower has invaded a European neighbour.

    Source: Nation


  3. Invasion could be ‘disastrous’
    By Tony Best

    As Russia’s “invasion” of the Ukraine spreads and rich Western nations led by the United States implement tough economic sanctions to deter Russian aggression in the Baltic, Barbadians and their Caricom neighbours must pray and appeal for an early end to the conflict.
    At the same time, Barbadians should brace themselves for any damaging economic fallout the crisis can unleash on their homeland. That impact can range from rising energy and other commodity prices, jumps in inflation, curbs on international travel, limits on foreign direct investment and a diversion of American and European attention away from the vital resuscitation of Barbados’ and other Caribbean economies which were weakened by the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Clearly, an extended Russian invasion would become economically “disastrous” for Barbados and others in the region.
    That was the combined reaction of some of some of Barbados’ former and current top diplomats, a foreign affairs expert, a leading international trade negotiator and an independent Bajan economist in North America.
    “You are talking about a (potential steep) rise in the cost of living in Barbados if the invasion of the Ukraine is prolonged,” warned Errol Humphrey, once Barbados’ Ambassador to Europe in Brussels.
    “If the conflict is prolonged there will definitely be a disastrous impact on energy prices globally and the possibility of an economic recession in several European states. Those kinds of things can have an impact on the Caribbean, (Barbados) included. We are a very open economy and petroleum and petroleum products account for more than 30 per cent of our imports.
    “Therefore, when prices go up, there is a rise in demand for our foreign exchange; the price of gas at the pumps in Barbados would rise. So would the cost of electricity. That’s because fuel oil is a major part of the price of electricity. Of course, it will have (a negative) impact on the other sectors which depend on electricity in their production processes,” added the retired diplomat. “You are really talking about a rise in the cost of living.”
    The impact would be lessened, added Humphrey, if the conflict was short-lived, ending in a couple of days or weeks. Still, if the conflict ended soon, “there would be a short-term spike in food products and energy-related prices. But if the crisis is prolonged the impact
    would be serious on us. Prices would increase significantly and stay there. Our economy has already been battered by COVID and all of the COVID-related developments will be added to the picture because the supply chain which we have heard so much about will be included. That’s how I see the crisis affecting Barbados.
    “We have already seen small enterprises struggling to survive because they have lost staff and can’t get products,” he added. “That would be worse if the conflict goes into the long-term.” After all, our tourism depends a lot on what happens in those (European) markets, he said.
    Like Humphrey, Winston Cox, a former Central Bank Governor, feels Barbados should hope for a quick end to the crisis.
    “Oil and gas prices have been rising and the invasion of the Ukraine will only make them rise faster. The inflationary impact we are already experiencing will only increase at a faster rate. It is going to affect other commodities whose prices are already rising.
    They may rise a little bit faster as a result of the invasion. It would affect Caribbean (and Bajan) consumers.
    The invasion by Russia will only aggravate an already bad situation.”
    Expressed concern
    Noel Lynch, Barbados’ top diplomat in Washington zeroed in on the energy and gas situation and expressed concerns about the likely outcome should the situation continue.
    “Any escalation in this crisis with Russia will have implications for our oil and gas and our ability to buy oil and gas,” he warned.
    “That is going to be significant for us. It would have been difficult in any era but it will be even more significant now in the post COVID-19 era when we are seeking to restructure our economy. That is going to be serious. But we will wait and see where it goes from here.
    What I am saying is that it will all depend on if this situation grows and grows. I am in a waitand- see mode.”
    Serious implications
    Professor Andy Knight, an international relations professor at the University of Alberta in Canada, vigorously opposed Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine warning it could have serious implications for Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean, especially their ability to kick-start their economies in the wake of the devastation caused by COVID-19.
    He said the European crisis could lead to a diversion of American and European interest away from the rebuilding of Caribbean economies, causing it to shift to the Ukraine and other places in Europe.


    Source: Nation


  4. Playing the game
    Vladimir Putin is like the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) of Europe.
    He doesn’t accept that the game has changed. You don’t play as rough as you used to.
    It’s like in basketball where the rules have shifted to create a Wild West shoot-out at the three-point line and a ghost town in the paint. Old school centres might be out of place in modern basketball.
    Except, Putin doesn’t have to accept like the DLP does. He has a huge army, nukes and dominates Russian politics like Hakeem Olajuwon in the paint.
    He is like the Michael Jordan of old school geopolitics and doesn’t need anybody’s assists.
    So, the rest of Europe could cyar dey ram goat. The DLP on the other hand, has to learn the new game.
    The new game is about alliances, soft power, branding and image. The political equivalent of ball handling is media savvy – or manipulation if you are more Machiavellian.
    The new game can seem gentler, because less physical, but don’t be fooled. There is still too much at stake to take the game for granted.
    It is far less bruising than the old game, but the risk of injury may be just as high, or higher.
    The players are more fragile and vulnerable. If, for whatever reason, the game collapses, the fallout will be great. But the new game has been well marketed and the competition decimated.
    Lives at stake
    Ukraine wants to join NATO and play the new game. But Putin dreams of days when Russia was the key player in a Soviet league.
    He wants to protect his home court advantage from NATO encroachment. It feels wrong to frame the situation in Ukraine, or even in Barbados, as a game. After all, lives are at stake.
    What happens in Eastern Europe will have a ripple effect around the globe. I don’t even want to imagine the possibility of another world war.
    The media spectacle of this crisis has many locked on and tuned in. And this is a part of the problem. Politicians play games with the lives of people.
    And people are enthusiastic spectators of a game in which they are the pawns.
    When you have a situation like in Russia, where one player dominates the game and plays by his own rules, you have to hope to God that he doesn’t go stark raving mad, like some are suggesting that Vladimir Putin has. A people should never allow this. Prime Minister Mottley dominates the game in Barbados. But it’s not exactly her fault. She hasn’t violently crushed opposition. She is just better at the game. And her opposition has just not been able to adapt to the changes in the game or even build a cohesive team.
    Scary situation
    She’s even suggested that
    she is not happy with the situation.
    It is a scary situation. One where the people can easily get played. It is hard to stay sharp, honest and play a decent game when you don’t really have anyone to play against.
    Mottley seems to be aiming to play in the big leagues.
    While she may be a major league, international level player, team Barbados is still third division, Third World.
    The geopolitical game does not easily allow for countries to escape their division. Barbados and the region have to play their own game. That will have to be a team effort. As team captain, the Prime Minister’s major task is getting a badly divided team to play as one.
    Russia is fighting hard to escape relegation while maintaining its independence from the game. China has worked hard to play the game by its own rules. In fact, China is trying to start its own league. North America and Western Europe, the dirtiest, winningest players of the old game, dominate the new game as well, with tactics possibly just as dirty, but less obviously so. The game is rigged and stacked against us.
    As we watch how the game develops in Europe, let us remember that whatever happens, the ball is always in our court. The DLP is trying to get back in the game. Newer parties are trying to get into the game. We have to learn the new game while keeping sight of the fact that it is, in the end, not reality as it is, but a game.

    Adrian Green is a communications specialist. Email: Adriangreen14 @gmail.com

    Source: Nation


  5. War and the absence of war
    On February 24, 2022, the people of the world watched footage of the beginning of war between Russia and Ukraine.
    This Russian military aggression constitutes an unacceptable violation of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.
    The history of these countries’ divisions and the roots of this conflict are more complex than media reports and firm pronouncements of world leaders depict – and beyond the scope of this brief column. Whatever the actual causes, the escalation of tensions between Russia and Ukraine is tragic. Ordinary Ukrainians must now figure out how to survive an active war, as if living under the stress of this threat during a global pandemic is not enough.
    We in Barbados and the Caribbean can expect to be affected by this conflict mostly in the way of price increases for oil, gas and other commodities.
    Although we are (hopefully) safe in this Caribbean zone of peace, our safety is not natural, for we exist in the back garden of a great power of significant military might. Our Caribbean cousins in Cuba and Grenada know the precarity of this safety too well.
    As we look on at the Russia-Ukraine situation, it may be timely to reflect on threats to our security and sovereignty.
    For Barbados and our Caribbean family, it is imperative that we avoid military conflict and exist within a world of relative peace. Consequently, our regional and individual efforts to maintain extensive diplomatic ties with the countries of the world and our penchant for active engagement in multilateral organisations such as the United Nations remain critical to our protection. All the same, not even our multilateralism guarantees either our sovereignty or our security.
    Viewed outside of conventional framings that focus on territorial integrity and military aggression, Barbados faces significant security risks. Just a week ago we read reports of the Barbados Police Service seizing assault weapons in this safe country.
    We can detect evidence of organised crime and criminal networks trafficking illicit drugs, weapons and even people through our shores. We see the fallout from these menaces on our streets, in our hospitals, drug treatment facilities and criminal justice systems.
    Additionally, we know too well of the economic instability wrought by our small “islandness” and external exposure to global occurrences in a tourism and export services-driven “destination”. Although heavy debt burdens and exposure to the vagaries of global market forces may not threaten our physical borders in the way of tanks and bombs, they threaten our abilities to survive and should not be disconnected from the desperation and opportunism that entice some to illegal activities that then jeopardise our physical security.
    We live in the absence of war, but many of us exist in neither security
    nor peace.
    In International Relations, alternative conceptions of security that include such non-military concerns have been variously termed human security and citizen security, concentrating on the human experiences of insecurity for which the state must play a key role in mitigating. Returning to the Russia-Ukraine situation, then, this conflict is both a violation of territorial sovereignty and of human security. Within such a reconceptualisation of security, we can fit Barbados’ need to access to energy, food, goods and services that people require to live in dignity, all of which can be affected by a war as far afield as Eastern Europe.
    Climate change and natural disasters, as Prime Minister Mottley has repeatedly emphasised, are critical Caribbean security threats, more likely to inflict human costs and infrastructural damage than the prospect of a war in the Caribbean. Additionally, we cannot omit the COVID-19 pandemic, often even spoken of as if we are at war with the virus and sometimes each other. This pandemic has unmasked many oft- hidden sources of insecurity within our households and communities such as the scourge of domestic/intimate partner violence, sexual assault and child abuse. Here, women and girls tend to constitute most of the survivors and fatalities. It is not without coincidence that in military conflicts, women, girls and children similarly face masked perils.
    So while we cast our eyes to Eastern Europe, hoping and praying for a speedy, sensible resolution to this military clash, we must keep our eyes on our security threats which exist in the absence of war, and that are both of our making and affected by our entanglements with the globe.
    Dr Kristina Hinds is a senior lecturer in political science and head of the Department of Government, Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at UWI Cave Hill. She is also a moderator of VOB’s Down To Brass Tacks.


    Source: Nation


  6. @ Bush Tea,
    I see you are standing in for the great and sadly missed Pachamama.

    Now I know what you mean by the term Brass Bowls. Have you read the column by Tony Best in today’s Nation? Never mind about the hundreds of death and the realisation that the vast majority of sovereign nations are at risk of being invaded. We in Barbados appear only concerned as to the negative impact that this conflict will have on our precious economy and whether or not our region will be forgotten.

    A sensible nation like Ukraine would be making adequate preparations and not sitting back on their arses like Bajans.


  7. Meanwhile in Ukraine the African blacks are not allowed to get on the trains to get out from the war while the whites are given free access to leave
    It is always amazing that black folks would look out for white folks interest and not their own
    The Carribbean basin has unlimited resources if when pooled together under a banner of unification would make the region a forced to he reckoned with
    Meanwhile leadership in this region have to.looked across the water with worrisome attitude wishing and hoping for a resolution that would not impact the Carribbean self preservation


  8. Speaking as Brass-Bowl-in Chief, I must note that this invasion is not the only conflict in the world where PEOPLE are dying. It is simply the only conflict that has the potential for spreading to the world. OR, more important to the Eurocentric people of the world – um killin’ mostly people lacking in melanin and may yet escalate and kill people even more lacking in melanin.

    If Putin has lost his marbles, then it makes no sense worrying about that. We’re ALL toast unless some Russian gets the guts to take him out.

    However, if this conflict is contained in Ukraine, we, who can have no influence over the big picture, had best concentrate on what we CAN control, our little rock and mitigating measures to save OUR OWN LIVES. No sense in adding to Ukrainian corpses with our own.

    War casualties do not only show up on the battlefield.

    P.S. Bush Tea and Pachamama’s view points are as different as two view points could possibly be.

    How could one sit in for the other?


    • @Donna

      Perhaps more about the war against a system always viewed as diametrically different to the democracy practiced by the West.


  9. @ angela cox,
    I was not aware of our black folks having difficulties boarding trains in Ukraine. In an earlier comment you stated that Ukraine is a racist nation. You was 100% correct. The same could be applied to all those eastern European nations. They are a nasty people.

    On another note check the link below. Why do black governments continually let down their own people.

    https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/2/25/nigerian-students-stranded-in-ukraine


  10. @ Donna,
    “Speaking as Brass-Bowl-in Chief”. I have not given you this title; however, if you would like to wear it………..


  11. I ain’t got no sensi today
    babylon them take it away

    People should not study Russia because USA UK tell you to, they should study USA UK actions from 2000-3000.

    Their propaganda for last handful of years has been anti-China who are their main targets

    No Fire No M16
    false evidence appearing real fear

    problem-reaction-solution

    Tax Monies and budgets have disproportionately been spent on secret military and technology build up

    Stepwise project plans have been put in place in Global Banking and Spying on Citizens off the backs of dubious wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria,

    Alleged false flags such as 911, Arab Springs, Isis have been used to implement Military Action and mass Droning to protect Israel

    Weapons are continually being developed and they now want to update their spying laws and implement global banking laws

    O The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) neoconservative think tank
    O USA PATRIOT Act “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001”
    O Anti Money Laundering (AML)
    O Proceeds of Crime Act (PoC)
    O Suspicious Activity Reports

    the racist populist movements of trump bannon johnson farage all have links to russia


  12. @ TLSN
    Pacha is irreplaceable.
    Unfortunately, the definition of ‘brass bowl’ seems to be in need of even further refinement as the degree of local and global idiocy continues descend to unimaginable depths. A sensible nation would have begun making adequate preparations back in the days when we had options.
    instead, we wasted money on all kinds os shiite such as CSME, CLICO, and allowing politicians to give millions of OUR MONEY to their bribe masters, while the water, roads, solid and liquid waste systems, etc. got ‘worser and worser’ and our debt got higher and higher.
    The only practical preparation possible now is in undertaking…

    At the global level, the situation is identical. We have a world that is driven by ‘albino-centric’ GREED, and in which the only consideration is material gain. Despite centuries of doing the same shiite, …with ever worser results, global brass bowls persists with the philosophy of greed and spitefulness in search of ‘better’ results…

    It is just a matter of time now….


    • @Bush Tea

      There is the establishment and then there is the anti establishment. Wait for it – this is how the world spins.


  13. No, you have not. I HAVE. Just as I have embraced, The Mad Woman, The CUNT, Damaged Goods Donna and and any other name anyone cares to call me.

    In other words, I find the names funny. They do not really define me to ME! So….water off this duck’s back.

    My response to such has become, “Got any more?”


  14. David,

    The stopped clock is right. I have LEARNT to shed few tears for a people who would shed no tears for me and mine.

    But yes, “democracy”, horribly flawed as it is, suits me better than dictatorship. Therefore, I do cross my fingers for its survival.

    However, I share Putin’s point that ONE global superpower or alliance is also not a secure place to be in. Human beings need others of equal power to keep them in check.

    Seems to me that the Cold War was a better war.

    Maybe we should look back and see what brought the world to this point.


  15. By the way, the Brass-Bowl-in-Chief is in agreement with the Bushman in his assessment of our buy-in to blind greed and tardiness in preparation.

    BUT, I do not agree that the condition is terminal.

    Not yet!


  16. Until carribbean blacks understand the true meaning of self empowerment and self preservation
    They would be used as pawns in the world of international.affairs
    It is dumfounding that the cartibbean basin smaller in size than the European nations have similar resources but can’t or either afraid to build a wall of economic security for and around themselves
    I chuckle daily on the comments and interest.of level even the division that this ongoing war between the white racist countries have been given the outrage of attention on BU
    Meanwhile there homeland suffers because of visionary leadership
    One would think that the same energy of outrage mustered against the war would be of similar intensity on home turf asking for Constitutional rights asking for govt to developed an economic source for the people of these nations to be self empowered
    But No! Leaders tow a line of self destruction for the people and self interest for themselves and the people follow foolish ingredients
    Baaa baa blind sheep


  17. I seem to be at a distance from most, even though we touch on certain points.

    Apart from stating the obvious ‘prices could go up” in a thousand different ways, the blogs above add nothing more to the discussion. At our brilliant best we are found wanting.

    “It is dumfounding that the cartibbean basin smaller in size than the European nations have similar resources but can’t or either afraid to build a wall of economic security for and around themselves”

    Let me be blunt. The paragraph needs fact checking, but if we omit Guyana, I am doubtful if we have similar resources as the EU nations.

    And yet this same AC has deviated from the mass hysteria by pointing out that in their moment of despair, the disease known as racism is flourishing.

    One blogger appears to be aware of the fact that people were dying before the war in Ukraine started. There are numerous wars still ongoing.

    I have sympathy, but will shed no more tears than I have for others.


  18. Someone needs to piss in the coffee pot.

    Read carefully and you will note our region’s impotence and irrelevance. Our leaders letters to Putin may be as important as a child’s letter to Santa Claus.

    It is quite possible that the elephant is unaware of the conversation carried on by the flies perched on its ass.


  19. Steupse…
    I guess I could have shortened my contribution and said ‘steupse’ or ‘gas prices will go up’.


  20. DavidFebruary 27, 2022 5:38 AM

    Playing the game
    Except, Putin doesn’t have to accept like the DLP does. He has a huge army, nukes and dominates Russian politics like Hakeem Olajuwon in the paint.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Putin’s tanks are running out of fuel and bogging down.

    Battle of the Bulge repeated.

    One of the last throws of the dice for Hitler.

    Russia is also resource strapped.

    The Germans got as far as their resources allowed in their attempt to capture Antwerp and divide the British forces and American forces.

    They never captured the allied supply dumps and could not refuel.

    The difference is that once Hitler’s last reserves had been exposed the weather cleared, and the allied fighter bombers rolled in and destroyed the armour of the Germans.

    Patton diverted from his eastward push towards Germany and rolled up the their southern flank and relieved Bastogne.

    Ukraine is not going to be able to do that, Russia has air superiority and their forces are limited.

    It will be a slogging match and the Russians will face guerilla warfare.

    Not going to end nice for anyone..


  21. Afghanistan 3 or 2 if you are counting.

    The difference
    “It is simply the only conflict that has the potential for spreading to the world. OR, more important to the Eurocentric people of the world – um killin’ mostly people lacking in melanin …”


  22. angela coxFebruary 27, 2022 6:44 AM

    Heart breaking video
    Look.how blacks fighting for their survival

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    These idiots don’t realise they are in the middle of a war zone and will get no special privileges.

    Ukrainian men are taking their families to the border and returning to fight.

    The space on the trains is for them, not foreign students, regardless of colour.

    Besides, they are males and the military personnel are going to be under orders not to permit men past the border.

    Tough, but it is just a fact of life.


  23. @ David
    “Social media users accuse media of hypocrisy in its coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine compared with other conflicts.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~
    PLEASE …don’t get Bushie started on the REAL (spiritual) MEANING of this conflict in Europe… you WONT like it…

    Some time ago when the Bushman was cussing Sir Cave Hillary about his obsession with ‘reparations’ and the insulting suggestion that Blacks should accept monetary payment for the genocidal atrocities perpetrated on GENERATIONS of Black peoples for over 400 plus…. Bushie explained then, that REPARATIONS ARE MANDATORY AND INEVITABLE.

    Lady Karma is UNRELENTING and INEVITABLE …even while patient and meticulous.


  24. JohnFebruary 27, 2022 9:08 AM

    angela coxFebruary 27, 2022 6:44 AM

    Heart breaking video
    Look.how blacks fighting for their survival

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    These idiots don’t realise they are in the middle of a war zone and will get no special privileges

    Xxxxxxxx

    U too
    Reason why blacks are treated with such disrespect by any and everybody thinking of blacks as idiots
    A video showing a reality of blacks fighting to get out of the war zone and the response from John is to call them idiots
    He who lives it knows and feel it
    John stay in your comfort zone


  25. DavidFebruary 27, 2022 9:15 AM

    We have surrendered to onslaught of cultural penetration. What we eat, wear, study etc.

    Xxcccc
    We have surrendered because we were given daily doses of political diatribe teaching and telling us that we are worthless without our slave masters
    Within that onslaught mistrust and distrust was filtered into our minds
    Look around even the brightest black minds still follow instead of pursuing a path for their own guidance and direction


  26. JohnFebruary 27, 2022 9:08 AM

    angela coxFebruary 27, 2022 6:44 AM

    Heart breaking video
    Look.how blacks fighting for their survival

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Fighting for survival my great toe.

    Ukraine is huge, the fighting is over 500 miles away from the Polish Border and the tanks are running out of gas.

    Sit down and wait for the women and children to be evacuated.

    … or, get up off your backsides and start walking west to the border.

    The Polish border is not in any imminent threat or NATO would have moved

    Putin is after Zelensky in Kiev which is 300 over miles away from the nearest point on the border.


  27. Well NOW is the time for Mother Africa to step up and begin exporting oil to her children who she sold to the white man


    • Prime Minister announced at the end of the Covid 19 press conference yesterday that she was invited by Ghana to give an address on the anniversary of their independence.


  28. DavidFebruary 27, 2022 10:05 AM

    It is being reported Ukraine has agreed to entering talks with Russia on the Belarus border.
    Xxxx
    War can drain the swamp.and exposed the evil.thst lurks in the minds of many
    No doubt the many videos that are exposing the evil on both sides will.contribute to finding an end solution on this war


  29. DavidFebruary 27, 2022 10:15 AM

    Prime Minister announced at the end of the Covid 19 press conference yesterday that she was invited by Ghana to give an address on the anniversary of their independence

    Xxxx
    Some body tell PM she should take a temperature check of her words before she opens her mouth
    China would be listening closely


  30. Putin is probably telling anybody who will listen that he is prepared to go to war over Ukraine.

    Zelensky needs to abandon any desires of becoming a member of NATO.

    Good point the professor makes.

    The NATO treaty means all NATO countries will come to the assistance of Ukraine against any country that attacks Ukraine.

    Ukraine is not of strategic interest to NATO but it is to Russia.

    Russia will fight but NATO if it really thought about it will not.

    Ukraine should be a buffer between NATO and Russia.

    After WWII, Russia had both the Ukraine and Poland as a buffer but Poland left the fold.


  31. Sensible thing to do is talk.

    Putin has made his point, Zelensky has made his.

    https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-and-russia-set-to-hold-negotiations-at-belarusian-ukrainian-border-says-office-of-president-zelenskyy-12553294

    Russia has been invaded many times from the West in its history and wants a buffer between it and the west.

    So just as Ukraine has been hard done by history, so too does Russia have a history.

    Even the Swedes invaded Russia!!

    Long ago.


  32. “Unfortunately, the definition of ‘brass bowl’ seems to be in need of even further refinement as the degree of local and global idiocy continues descend to unimaginable depths. A sensible nation would have begun making adequate preparations back in the days when we had options.
    instead, we wasted ……..”

    AND then….

    the brass got the perfect opportunity to reconnect to that which is THEIR LIFELINE….and what did they do….they thumbed their noses at it because they much prefer WHAT THEY ARE MANUFACTURED AS…..dependent on criminals…..parading all around with imaginary power…lol

    “The only practical preparation possible now is in undertaking…’

    that is exactly what they have led up to and i won’t put myself out there for NOT ONE OF THEM……did it already and saw exactly what they are made of….they don’t want to accept being Afrikan..they can’t carry me down to the depths of perdition with them…that’s for sure…those who listened know what is going on, and how to avoid it, these are TRAPPED….self-entrapment.

    “Look around even the brightest black minds still follow instead of pursuing a path for their own guidance and direction.”

    nailed it again, don’t you see me having to fight and tell off the BU idiots almost daily….wannbe intellectual dicktators….so imagine those schooled and DEGREED into self-destruction..

    “REPARATIONS ARE MANDATORY AND INEVITABLE.

    Lady Karma is UNRELENTING and INEVITABLE …even while patient and meticulous.”

    they don’t want to RECONNECT to ancestral spirituality…they will DIE with their FAKE LEADERS..

    “It is quite possible that the elephant is unaware of the conversation carried on by the flies perched on its ass.”

    they and their little follower/supporters still believe they are thisimportant in the grand scheme of things….laughable..

    wait until they hear the REAL STORY coming at them…won’t hear it from me though..would have to read it in one of my books, which i know they won’t…lol


  33. Bushman….they are lucky am saying anything at all, they are still managing to get a kinda sorta warning…not in its fullness….they burnt that bridge long time ago…, but if they would use the few braincells gifted to them, they might still stand a chance……or not…

    they can’t even totally blame their no good misleaders because they not only enabled them in what they have done and are still doing……… but they too have just one more chance to do right by the Afrikan descended before more avenues are closed off completely, then all bets are off….


  34. Any black person shedding tears over the Ukrainians and shouting in moral outrage needs to read that Al Jazeera post.

    Save your tears for you and yours!

    By now, the wool should have been removed from your eyes!

    Western eyes suffer from caucasoideitus! They cannot distinguish the HUMAN from the SUBHUMAN unless it is white!

    Gorblummah!

    As Trevor Noah says, “If you didn’t know, NOW you know!”

    I love it!


  35. Zelensky is the man who went from being a comedian to being a president in 2014/5.

    Zelensky replaced Yanukovych after fresh elections were held after a popular uprising against Yanukovych.

    Zelensky was pro EU while Yanukovych was pro Russian.

    Zelensky is now batting against a former KGB operative, Putin, who has been around the block several times.

    Zelensky is the man Joe Biden told to fire his prosecutor or no aid money from the US.

    Zelensky is also the man with whom Trump had a “perfect” telephone call the transcript of which was released.

    He is not doing too badly for a “comedian”.


  36. Woman, with all the respect I can muster, “Can you give it a rest??????” All the people here claiming membership to THE EXCLUSIVE SUPERIOR CLUB actually differ on key points.

    You cannot ALL be right!

    Hence, THE EXCLUSIVE SUPERIOR CLUB is a myth!


  37. “Western eyes suffer from caucasoideitus! They cannot distinguish the HUMAN from the SUBHUMAN unless it is white!”

    people are struggling with events in context or perspective

    Jimi Hendrix talkin’ Wind Cries Mary

    blacks were discriminated against from slavery days
    other non-whites were treated same from colonial times
    then whites changed to agendas against muslims
    which are religions of primarily blacks and browns

    so why do black and brown people suddenly think whites stopped discriminating against blacks and non-whites because they hated muslims chinese and now russians more


  38. @David, re social media users upset about media coverage: brother it’s amusing and too distressing to see some folks who either JUST ‘woke up’ (and see history through their lens) or are just typing simply because they have the medium to so do!

    It’s amusing for example to see the argument of the inherent racism in Eastern Europe … absolutely hilarious actually. Good heavens … ethnic cleansing (RACISM) was perpetuated there for about 100 years plus … specifically in the 90’s the war in the former Yugoslavia devolved into ethnic cleansing war crimes convictions …. Some of us, it seems, paid no attention then and now can expound so brightly on these amazing revelation that racism exists therein. Steeupse!

    And on the matter of Afro-folks being excluded from trains …. I absolutely agree with @John Fellow in his rebuttal of that. Furthermore, I would ask: What the rass were they waiting around for??? Soldiers were on the border for WEEKS … warnings of an imminent invasion were loudly proclaimed – even our resident pundit @Sarge had so clearly warned! So WHY had they NOT left previously. This is real WAR …NOT some facetime, twitter, tik-toting foolish game!

    Thus as the Bushman said so eloquently: “A sensible nation would have begun making adequate preparations back in the days when we had options.” … So too sensible students!

    But we are paying close attention again to all this eastern European warfare because like in 2014 with Crimea we are again at the point where as the blogger @Pacha wrote: “… the Western game of chicken aimed at forcing the Russians to back down and subjugating their interests, international prestige and territorial integrity to Western demands, is getting more and more dangerous […and may lead to a] war which could mean the end of all wars, and all of us too.”

    So yes Mr Blogmaster we are back on our hamster wheel of “how the world spins. […] There is the establishment and then there is the anti establishment.”

    Indeed, our wait may be over … unless Vlad Putin can be talked down from his megalomaniacal flights of ego-soaring!


  39. that sentiment swings both ways, the Afrikan/Black mind has been so corrupted, they suffer with the same dilemma….can’t see themselves as more intelligent or capable than those they look up to and are FORCED to depend on ……and their useless FAKE LEADERS still PERPETRATE that anti-black crime…

    maybe if some of you would stop trying in a crablike manner to be top dog on an anonymous blog ya can decipher what others are saying without thinking it has anything to do with superiority……maybe, just maybe, some of us have MORE EXPERIENCE than others, because of certain environs traversed, certain minds interacted with etc, a ton of etcs, ask Pacha…..it has everything to do with how your mind is developed with help while sitting in certain circles… or by self….

    nothing beats experience = life’s greatest teacher…


  40. The Wind Cries Mary / Jimi Hendrix
    After all the jacks are in their boxes
    And the clowns have all gone to bed
    You can hear happiness staggering on down the street
    Footprints dressed in red

    And the wind whispers, “Mary”

    A broom is drearily sweeping
    Up the broken pieces of yesterday’s life
    Somewhere, a queen is weeping
    Somewhere, a king has no wife

    And the wind, it cries, “Mary”

    The traffic lights, they turn blue tomorrow
    And shine their emptiness down on my bed
    The tiny island sags downstream
    ‘Cause the life that lived is dead

    And the wind screams, “Mary”

    Will the wind ever remember
    The names it has blown in the past?
    And with this crutch, its old age and its wisdom
    It whispers, “No, this will be the last”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2B2nT6pfSE


  41. i remember the insults Pacha got for that on here too…..but i understand him perfectly, because we were not in the exact same circles…but we ENCOUNTERED the EXACT..SAME MINDS….and were able to develop and grow from those engagements to a point where under/overstanding took precedence….. a treaure trove and wealth of knowledge

    that takes YEARS sometimes even DECADES to develop…..yall don’t even have that time that we managed to use wisely…


  42. Top dog on an anonymous blog? Me? Sounds more like you and a few others. Not me. Many give their opinions here and take a few shots at each other but not this relentless demeaning of others and promotion of self, all day, EVERY DAMN DAY!

    By the way, Pacha insulted me FIRST. Turned on me quite suddenly because I disagreed with him on some issue.

    Who the rasshole is Pacha?

    I don’t respect my mother that much!

    Wunnuh full uh shite!


  43. I must remember that Richard Browne said that there is no such thing as a superiority complex, only an inferiority complex in disguise.

    You have my sympathy.


  44. Beautiful lyrics.

    And the wind screams, “Mary”(quote)
    And the rain will fall again
    And a hungry child cries in pain
    It is not a new story
    Just another empty belly
    So go hang your head in shame

    And here comes another new day
    Met with eyes open wide
    Just a repeat of yesterday
    Yet some will act surprise
    But don’t believe their simple lies
    The wind still calls her Mary

    The wind will whisper Mary
    It will even call your name
    But it’s the same old story
    It is the same old game
    Let the wind whispers sweetly
    Mary, Liz or Lorraine


  45. Telegram is warning people of the misinformation from both sides…..for some it’s their only source of info to find out what;s really happening in both countries…


  46. Some minds are TOO TAINTED to be developed to any potential…


  47. A useless, ineffective, immaterial statement from an irrelevant group of islands on this matter.

    But of course it’s easy for our all talk no walk Caribbean politicians to jump on this bandwagon, because after all no follow up or real work and action is needed. Just drop a political statement and move on. No blood to shed or soldiers to contribute.
    Instead of focusing on the region’s priorities we continue to waffle for the sake of massaging the egos in these little king and queendoms


  48. @ Lawson,

    My friends are too old to cause a problem . Two likkas and they are going to fall down. lol

    Hope you and your group have a great time.


  49. @ David Bu at 7 : 10 AM

    There is a danger of oversimplifying a very complex situation. Who is the Establishment and who is the Anti establishment in your intervention.? Are we using old terms for a new paradigm shift. ?This leads to confusion. But you appear to be in good company. Depending on political posturings the aggressor is diversely identified. I think this is a situation that CARICOM should sit on the sideline.


  50. Hants your never to old..lol
    Do you think we can get zelensky to immigrate to canada and run for prime minister. What a great politician, you wouldnt mind following him into battle rather than trudeau in his tactical offensive against the bouncy castle.


  51. DavidFebruary 27, 2022 2:01 PM

    @Vincent

    The establishment in this case is the pro West narrative.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    You can’t even begin to understand the narratives.

    This hasn’t got much to do with the West any more.

    It’s personal now and blood will shed.

    Ukrainians from all over Europe are going back to fight the Russians.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/more-than-20-000-ukrainian-expats-flood-across-polish-border-to-fight-russia/ar-AAUnvXM?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=W069


    • Why don’t you post your opinion and allow the blogmaster to do same? You always have the only answer to every problem, the great Oracle in our presence.

      Steuspe


  52. Now that “covid-19 restrictions are over’, it appears that you have renewed your quest.

    Two words to the wise… Pepper spray.


  53. All we can hope is that Putin and Zelensky can do a deal.

    They really need the guy who wrote the book on the art of the deal.

    A comedian and a KGB operative, what a thing!!!


  54. If you omit covid-19, American politics, world affairs, history, trump, Quakers, Bajan politics, law and a few other topics, rabbit rates high on the knowledge meter


  55. @🐇/🐰
    Have you done the “You cannot have crop-over without having a crop” routine.

    Passing and laughing.
    Have a great evening all.


  56. The situation for Afrikans is even worse than we thought, in many different ways for many people., turns out many of them are married to Ukranians and they are trying to get away from the situation by crossing into Poland.

    knew it was too big a crowd to just be students only..


  57. No i did not get the information from any sources in that region, it came from the continent..

    “KYIV (Reuters) – The world’s largest cargo plane, the Ukrainian-made Antonov-225 Mriya, was burnt in a Russian attack on Hostomel airport near Kyiv, Ukrainian state arms manufacture Ukroboronprom said on Sunday.

    “The Russian occupiers destroyed the flagship of Ukrainian aviation – the legendary An-225 Mriya. It happened at the Antonov airfield in Hostomel near Kyiv,” Ukroboronprom said on its Facebook page.

    It said that the plane restoration would cost more than $3 billion and take a long time.

    (Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne”

    never seen anything this huge myself, it was a hell of an airship…can’t call that a plane..lol


  58. @David, opinions are many of course but it’s those that trend towards being seriously considered that are worth the effort… the joking jousts are momentary release from the possible ‘Armageddon’!

    For example, one could readily agree to disagreed with the blogger @Pacha’s opinions or political ideology as his views were always solidly formed with deep substance …. the fact that he took such umbrage (as many others here do) when one disagreed with his views was an astounding revelation of the basic nature of mankind…. The same nature that allows Vlad Putin to say that current western sanctions are ‘UNLAWFUL’ although HE just illegally invaded and unilaterally declared war on another sovereign country !

    Alas, Putin has told his nation that any perceived assistance to a foreign state which is clearly understood to be any critical dissent against the invasion or toward the President himself could be considered treason, carrying a penalty of up to 20 years in prison… yet over in the US we have folks hoping to lead that nation openly praising him and harshly criticizing their leader. In Russia they would be in jail, plain and simple … or dead!

    An amazing world in which we live … we brock no dissent and will not be dissed on a blog or on the road and this leader with nuclear weapons is telling us bluntly that he is willing to lay-waste the earth because he has been dissed. Why are we even shocked!


  59. @ African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved,
    One learns something new everyday. Yes that plane was an absolute beast.

    Mia needs to fully explain to her people why Barbados is entering a MOU with the fascist, racist, homophobic and neo Islamist Saudi Arabia government. Over the last eight years the Saudi government has invaded and carried out a bombing campaign in the African country called Yemen against the Houthi government. It has destroyed the country’s infrastructure, and destroyed Yemen’s rich, historical and vernacular architecture. It has also brought widespread famine and suffering to the masses.

    Mia can call out Putin however she refuses to call out King Saudi Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. I am shocked and disappointed with the hypocrisy.


  60. …. correction or new way to enunciate! Take your pick. _ “one could readily agree to disagreed”_ should properly read: “one could readily agree to disagree”.

    Alternatively the original can be considered a shout-out of recognition to one blogger’s daily writing style … a new way of expression!😎👍


  61. @ African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved,

    You question the validity of claims made by the various sources who reported the number of casualties, deaths and downed equipment. The government of Russia has finally admitted that they have had casualties. However they have refused to give numbers.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/27/ukrainian-officials-upload-videos-of-captured-russian-soldiers-on-telegram


  62. “Mia can call out Putin however she refuses to call out King Saudi Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. I am shocked and disappointed with the hypocrisy.’

    don’t be shocked, just hold on to your sanity……Putin might see her as an annoying fly to brush off, an unimportant one…. but that other dude ..he has a track record, these types have interest in or patience especially women women whom they still look down on like something filthy under their shoes/sandals…they are the worse types of chauvinists….even worse than those that can be found in the Americas…..and am sure she knows that and won’t dare open her mouth at them….you will note that certain crimes are acceptable to hypocrites depending on who is committing them..

    “Mia needs to fully explain to her people why Barbados is entering a MOU with the fascist, racist, homophobic and neo Islamist Saudi Arabia government.”

    don’t hold your breath…they would have no problem at all unleashing even worse beasts, anything for what they worship most, check out who has the greenlight to set all of this up……….if their history, thousands of years worth, and inhumane track record, the most cruel and evil to be found anywhere, the west has nothing on them when it comes to outright hatred and brutality,,,, don’t give them pause….you know there is a serious problem…..a lot of people are real concerned…but we shall see…the people were warned…remember how many words they had for us on here….well, the horrors will come after…

    Russia/Ukraine
    both sides i imagined suffered casualties, but may downplay figures depending on how they want the story to unfold…


  63. got distracted,,,

    these types have NO interest i, respect or patience especially for women whom they still look down on like something filthy under their shoes/sandals…


  64. TLSN…i could go on, but let’s see just how far they are willing to go, and how much the people are willing to take….


  65. The Ukrainians went to inordinate lengths to prevent the Sovietization of their country, living underground for 5 months at a time.

    Here’s their story from 1942 to 1954, just after Hitler invaded Russia.


  66. trust them to support any anti-Black/African racist country….ya may soon hear they are willing to go fight and die for them too,instead of staying out of the mess and MIND THEIR BUSINESS, because they don’t even have half a clue about any of this……when these things happen self-hating Black people tend to show exactly who they are…

    https://www.instagram.com/reel/CagBO-ilrEw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link


  67. No one should be THIS desperate for publicity, fame and attention.


  68. Had not for social media those truths would be hidden
    The black race needs to understand the manner and how they are used in political issues
    Meaning that blacks are easy to forgive and forget and media use that as a weakness to mobilize blacks for their purposes and causes


  69. Yeah,…and they would pick up a bunch of innocent young men and women in the Black populations in the Caribbean and send them to fight and die unnecessarily if a world war broke out…anything to get attention on the world stage and make themselves look like idiots…..heard one group, i believe in St. Lucia claim they are ready to assist….assist how…sit your asses down…and mind your business…

    Nice cave rescue…..

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/02/28/update-boy-rescued-from-cave-unharmed/


  70. Yall still want to get involved..go right ahead,,,,AOP will gave ya a glowing obit,

    “Russian financial messaging system will be able to replace SWIFT – financial infrastructure will work smoothly – Russian Central Bank Chair.”


  71. Satellite images show that the yachts of Russian oligarchs are moving towards the Caribbean.

    Our CARICOM members are now called upon to confiscate these yachts upon arrival. In any case, we should expect angry tourists from NATO countries searching the villa neighborhoods and gated communities for oligarchs.

    Our Supreme Leader can prove her loyalty to our tourism markets in North America and Western Europe in this hour.

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