est. 2007

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Nation Publishing MUST Do Better

There is the saying often posted in this space that the price of freedom (democracy) is eternal vigilance. A necessary component to safeguarding our freedom (democracy) is a relevant media. An extract from The Role of Media in Democracy: A Strategic Approach authored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) states:- A free, objective,…

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There is the saying often posted in this space that the price of freedom (democracy) is eternal vigilance. A necessary component to safeguarding our freedom (democracy) is a relevant media. An extract from The Role of Media in Democracy: A Strategic Approach authored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) states:-

A free, objective, skilled media is an essential component of any democratic society. On the one hand, it provides the information which the polity require to make responsible, informed decisions. On the other, it performs a “checking function” ensuring that elected officials uphold their oaths of office and campaign promises and that they carry out the wishes of the electorate.

The blogmaster is reminded everyday since March 2007 when Barbados Underground (BU) went live on the WordPress platform the importance of a relevant media. We recall the VOB Sunday Brasstacks show when social commentator and retired hotelier Adrian Loveridge was forced to contribute to the program from a separate studio because it was the condition for the participation of former Minister of Tourism Noel Lynch.

During one of last week’s VOB’s Brasstacks shows the blogmaster was again reminded of the naked manipulation of traditional media by a caller (was it you William?) who questioned the Nation Publishing company’s decision to anoint Khaleel Kothdiwala a columnist to replace Dr. Kristina Hinds. The caller’s simple and well articulated logic was – with the BLP in total control of the Lower House, why select Khaleel who is a BLP card carrying member. It does not mean Khaleel lacks the capacity to share a perspective on a myriad topics, however, making Khaleel a columnist ensured the leading publishing house in the country slammed the door on an opportunity to improve vigilance in our democracy.

This is not a personal attack on Khaleel, he obviously is an intelligent young man who is committed to be a BLP sponsored politician. And it is his right, to align with a political party of his choice. This is an attack on the Nation Publishing for allowing itself to be manipulated directly or indirectly into making Khaleel a columnist. We may speculate this is the Nation Publishing being opportunistic by contracting a young man whose star is rising or that ‘someone’ made a telephone call.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

119 responses to “Nation Publishing MUST Do Better”

  1. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Oh dear! As I said before……

    At least some clear-thinking persons get my point.

  2. Walter Blackman Avatar
    Walter Blackman

    Enuff June 5, 2022 12:20 PM
    “Walter Blackman is also on Brasstacks, a man that according this same BU Blog declared an interest in contesting SME for the DLP in 2018.”

    Enuff,
    I have grown quite accustomed to you unwittingly using the various fallacies that are encountered in argument and debate. Here, you are using the non-sequitur fallacy, but you are not aware of it. Therefore, I forgive you.

    Yes, I used the constitutional privilege accorded to every Barbadian to join a political party of his/her choosing, and to choose to run for public office. I felt that I had the training, specialized knowledge, confidence and ability to effectively represent the people of St. Michael East and to bring progressive change to governance in Barbados. I did not have to seek your permission.

    Yes, I chose to be a moderator on Down to Brass tacks. I felt that I had a wide enough grasp of national issues to engage Barbadians of all walks of life and intellectual ability in meaningful conversation, and to offer solutions to national problems. I did not have to seek your permission.

    Are you arguing that I had no right to make one or both of those decisions?
    Are you arguing that my desire to represent the people of St. Michael East for the DLP has negatively affected my performance as a moderator? If so, you need to bring more facts.

    Let me offer you a word of advice.

    Mark Maloney was contemptuously referred to as “the billionaire boy who will no longer get government contracts if the government is changed” and Chris Sinckler was characterized as an incompetent, bungling ignoramus who had failed the 11-Plus exam, and who had brought disaster to Barbadians and the economy of Barbados.

    Please enlighten BU readers about what has happened to these two “characters” since May 24, 2018.
    That exercise should keep you busy for a while.

  3. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    Have our journalists ever carried out research on the similarities shared between Barbados and an African country often compared to Barbados: South Africa.

    How many Influential Gupta types have we had in Barbados since its independence?

    I would say quite a few. Some of you can continue to revel in nonsense. None of you will be able to camouflage the awful reality that Barbados has been a captured state for many, many decades.

    Keep up the pretence and the petty point scoring in la la land. Hail Mia!

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61713832

  4. Walter Blackman Avatar
    Walter Blackman

    Bush TeaJune 5, 2022 7:29 AM
    “Walter could REALLY stay in Atlanta too, someone obviously had a chat with him about his initial dig into radical vaccine accountability. He has been doing himself NO Favors since then…. it is like he needs the couple dollars”

    Bush Tea,
    Of course you know that my treatment of you would be “radically” (pun intended) different from my treatment of Enuff. It would be naturally softer because of “the Waterford effect.” In this particular case, I recommend that you get up, but do not get on..

    I see Enuff as a blinkered BLP yard fowl. No quarters asked. None given. He now has the right to cuss me as he sees fit, and I hope he does just that to his heart’s content. He should remember though, that a wise man can play the part of a fool, but a fool cannot play the part of a wise man.

    Pachamama has long taught me how to giggle whilst being cussed. Talking about Pachamama, did you see that numbskull using “demure” as a verb in one of his comments, when in actual fact it is an adjective? I have given up on him/her/them when it comes to the proper use of English.. One year at Combermere, with Captain Perkins teaching him/her/it English, would have worked wonders for Pacha. Alas, no remedial action can be taken at this point. Pachamama would not want to admit it, but he/she/it is irretrievably lost when it comes to the use of the English Language. Do you think the use of Russian would serve him/her/it/them better?..

    Now back to you.

    You deserve to be lathered in cuss, but I will show some restraint.

    BU readers and bloggers were led to believe that you had landed a government pick. For years, we heard nothing from you, so we concluded that the few dollars you were getting from Mia were enough .to purchase your silence on one hand, and pay your bills on the next.

    Fair enough.

    Crisis after crisis materialized, but no word from Bush Tea. Then all of a sudden, you reappeared as if nothing had happened. Do you think that BU readers and bloggers are stupid?.

    I am in New York now, and will be headed to Atlanta in a few days. Are you telling me that I should stay in Atlanta? Really? I will stay in Atlanta as long as I wish, and will come to Barbados whenever I wish. I do not have to ask your permission. As the song says, “You better steer yuhself”.

    However, I must express great disappointment and dismay at the level of stupidity you are displaying with respect to the Astrazeneca vaccine procurement scandal. I am a moderator, so I cannot give anyone the impression that the Astrazeneca Vaccine Procurement Scandal .is an item on my personal political agenda. After reading the various articles in the press, I have analyzed the situation and agree that Barbadians only needed 300,000 vaccines at US$3 per dose. That means that Barbadian taxpayers should have been asked to only pay US$900,000 for the Astrazeneca vaccine.

    Instead, we have a situation where the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health & Wellness (the Accounting head of the Ministry) wrote Astrazeneca and told them that she was ordering 1 million doses of the vaccine, and the million doses will be for the exclusive use of Barbadians and will not be resold.

    Meanwhile, the PM of Barbados, from an interview in NY, said that Barbadians will have to pay US$24 per vaccine dose. Although Astrazeneca said that they will only be dealing with governments or COVAX to limit the profitability of the vaccine , the Government of Barbados asked them to deal with Radical Investments Ltd., a foreign company owned by Mark Maloney. So straight away, Barbadian taxpayers were being asked to pay US$24 million for Astrazeneca vaccines that should have only cost US$900,000.. The Minister of Health & Wellness said that he did not know that Radical Investments Ltd. as a company existed, so he would be bringing his political career to a sudden and unexpected end.

    Barbados only needed 300,000 vaccines, so the extra 700,000 vaccines that Barbadian taxpayers would have paid for, based on the order placed by the PS of Health & Wellness, were now to be sold to St. Lucia and the Bahamas at US$27 per dose. The amount of money destined to pass through the hands of Radical Investments Ltd., owned by Mark Maloney, amounted to US$42.9 million. This is the heart of the Astrazeneca vaccine procurement scandal. The plot was hatched in secrecy, and everything would have worked like a dream if Mark Maloney had not been robbed by the “3-card men”, and forced to produce documents in a USA court..

    The Government of Barbados, so far, has been unable to provide a credible defense against the scandalous allegations.

    Now, in order to ventilate and discuss this matter further, I would have needed a caller to call the Brasstacks program and initiate discussion on the matter. That caller could have been you. Unfortunately, instead, you chose to sit on your backside and criticize me. Useless, lazy, dim-witted Bush Tea.

    So far, you have wasted your time, my cursed friend. The opportunity is still there, though. Let us see if you can seize it. Call Brass Tacks and raise the issue. Or is that too much for your lazy backside to handle?

    Feel free to cuss me if you want. I simply do not care.

  5. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    I have analyzed the situation and agree that Barbadians only needed 300,000 vaccines at US$3 per dose. That means that Barbadian taxpayers should have been asked to only pay US$900,000 for the Astrazeneca vaccine.

    Meanwhile, the PM of Barbados, from an interview in NY, said that Barbadians will have to pay US$24 per vaccine dose. Although Astrazeneca said that they will only be dealing with governments or COVAX to limit the profitability of the vaccine

    The Slave Plantation of Barbados could not access the Product and were forced to go to Black Market Distro to save it’s Beasts of Burden aka African Dunces

    Jacob Miller – 80,000 Careless Ethiopians

    This lyric contains biblical references. [Matthew 20:16]; [Matt. 22:14]
    “So it is. Everyone who is now last will be first, and everyone who is first will be last.”
    “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

    I-dren and sistren, sight up Jah Ras, Jah Rastafari!
    Even the childs on their mothers’ breasts
    Are sightin’ up, are sightin’ up Jah Rastafari

    80,000 careless Ethiopians, shall go down in Babylon
    80,000 careless Ethiopians, shall go down in Babylon
    Many are called but few shall be chosen, to go to Mount Zion
    Many are called but few shall be chosen, to go to Mount Zion

    And it came to pass in the eleventh year
    In the first month of the seventh day
    The words of Jah came to us, saying

    I shall say unto the north: “Give up!”
    And to the south: “Keep not back!”
    Send the chosen sons from afar
    And his daughters from the ends of the earth

    80,000 careless Ethiopians, shall go down in Babylon
    80,000 careless Ethiopians, shall go down in Babylon
    Many are called but few shall be chosen, to go to Mount Zion
    Many are called but few shall be chosen, to go to Mount Zion

    A living God
    25,000 ?? shall gather
    Oh, O the ?? my God
    Jah Almighty living God

    And it came to pass in the eleventh year
    In the first month of the seventh day
    The words of Jah came to us, saying
    I shall say unto the north: “Give up!”
    And to the south: “Keep not back!”
    Send the chosen sons from afar
    And his daughters from the ends of the earth

    80,000 careless Ethiopians, shall go down in Babylon
    80,000 careless Ethiopians, shall go down in Babylon

    Many are called but few shall be chosen, to go to Mount Zion
    Many are called but few shall be chosen, to go to Mount Zion

    Oh, all the licks that I have received
    I feel it all over me
    Even the blind cannot see – it’s feeling the pressure from Babylon
    Oh, I am feeling all the pain from Babylon
    Licks that I have received all over
    Their faces so ugly
    They look just like the devil in the deep blue sea
    O Jah, O Jah, O Jah..

  6. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Better Analysis (than the Blackman)
    2 doses are required
    or 3-4 for elderly and immuno compromised
    300,000 x 2 = 600,000

  7. Questionable Radical AstraZeneca ‘Purchase’ Attempted | Barbados Underground

    […] following was extracted from a comment posted by Walter Blackman to respond to BU commenter Bush Tea on another blog Nation Publishing […]

  8. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    “Have our journalists ever carried out research on the similarities shared between Barbados and an African country often compared to Barbados: South Africa.”

    they started remodeling the island to an apartheid system boer pig system under Barrow which was completed under Adams…all of them TRAITORS and SLAVES to status and shite titles…..for all the good it did them…

    “How many Influential Gupta types have we had in Barbados since its independence?”

    ah bunch of small island minority thieves who have had help from the DNA tainted black traitors for 90 YEARS in corruption and theft of everything from the Afrikan population…now believing they can penetrate Afrika they hate and the Afrikans they hate even more……

    look at the present clowns….no one is impressed by them except fowls, pimps and Slaves…but yet they race across the world stage believing they are conquering intelligent minds with useless titles and nonsense accolades…..that is all they are, shallow and empty…just like their sheeple supporters…

    “I see Enuff as a blinkered BLP yard fowl. No quarters asked. None given. He now has the right to cuss me as he sees fit, and I hope he does just that to his heart’s content. He should remember though, that a wise man can play the part of a fool, but a fool cannot play the part of a wise man.”

    wuhloss…tell the little billionaire errand boy yardfowl/FOOL do…lol

    “Barbados only needed 300,000 vaccines, so the extra 700,000 vaccines that Barbadian taxpayers would have paid for, based on the order placed by the PS of Health & Wellness, were now to be sold to St. Lucia and the Bahamas at US$27 per dose. The amount of money destined to pass through the hands of Radical Investments Ltd., owned by Mark Maloney, amounted to US$42.9 million. ”

    Ah take it that neither Astrazeneca or any other big pharma entity want anything to do with the Barbados government at any level…outside of procuring vaccines through them and not throw thieves…

    then after the SCAM was a success, ya would hear the IGNORANT fowls and fools on here gushing about what an intelligent untouchable businessman Mrs. Maloney corrupt fraud of a husband is…..that is how the minorities have RIPPED OFF THE TREASURY FOR DECADES….and the pension fund, then claim with the help of STUPID traitors, even stupider black people about they are the best business people in world…A GANG OF THIEVES…

  9. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Oh shiiite!

    Guess some “sages” do not know the meaning of the word “MODERATOR”.

    MURDAAAAAAAAH!

    De whacker get whacked!

  10. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    “by TONY BEST OPEN BARBADOS’ DOOR OF opportunity to more members of the Bajan diaspora but be very careful when it comes to overseas voting.”

    no one takes Tony Best seriously…..the diaspora knows all about him..

    “Crisis after crisis materialized, but no word from Bush Tea. Then all of a sudden, you reappeared as if nothing had happened. Do you think that BU readers and bloggers are stupid?.”

    Bushman…word of advice…..things are known about this blog…so do the right thing…

  11. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me

    Jah Guide, Moja Nya

    Little Roy-Peace And Harmony (aka Tribal War), Bullwackie’s All Stars-Tribal Dub

  12. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Jah Son Invasion
    Jah Is My Only Guide

  13. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    But is it not satisfying TO ME…that after all the YEARS AND YEARS of posting what they have really done on the island and the dirty little BU fowls calling us LIARS everyday ….that in this timespan….they themselves are the ones WHO FINALLY EXPOSED THEMSELVES for the WHOLE WORLD TO SEE………MURDAHHH!!!…effectively turning all BU YARDFOWLS INTO DANGEROUS LIARS….

    just because they could not resist the vaccine scam……🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

  14. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Informer Inna Di Area

    Informer, Informout, Sugar Minott

    Informer, Jah Batta, Sugar Minott, Tear Down The Dancehall, Little John

  15. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    International Herb, Sugar Minott, International Dub, Dougie

    Tek A Set, Sugar Minott, No Way, Wackies Rhythm Force

  16. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    Grenada and St Vincent will shun the Americas’ summit..

    Whilst Gaston Browne pleads:

    “The United States should be helping us to put together a ‘post-COVID’ Marshall Plan to salvage our economies.””

    https://www.nationnews.com/2022/06/07/browne-attend-summit-americas/

  17. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    WB
    I din even realise you were on this thread trying hard to be relevant. The fact that you interpreted my comment to mean that you had no right to seek a nomination or be a moderator on Brasstacks is a sign of your lack of comprehension skills. So let me help you. The same rights you have are available to Khaleel Kothdiwala.

  18. David Avatar
    David

    PR Job?

    US$175m 175m project soon soon off ground

    Pierhead plans well advanced and Hyatt in final stages
    By Gercine Carter
    gercinecarter@nationnews.com
    The first major phase of the plan to redevelop Bridgetown, coming after the Government-organised 2019 Investment Forum which attracted several local and foreign investors, could soon be getting off the ground.
    Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley recently announced that certain projects were about to take off and while some investors who have bought into Government’s vision continue to hold development plans close to their chests, information to the Sunday Sun, however, suggests that at least one project, the Pierhead Redevelopment is well advanced in its planning, while the long-mooted Hyatt hotel is reported to be in “the last stages of all arrangements to start the project.”
    Welcoming investors to the Investment Forum in Barbados three years ago, Prime Minister Mottley said: “We are pleased to extend to you the Barbadian warmth of old friends and to showcase this exciting investment opportunity.” She pointed out that Carlisle Bay, “the crescent bay in front of a historic capital city that is unique in the region and beyond” was “at the centre of our redevelopment project.”
    Close watch
    Writing in the 2020 edition of Terra Caribbean’s annual real estate publication Red Book, real estate agent Betty Cathrow noted: “Investors are watching this area closely and property has been trading quickly. A few select developers are already on board with plans implemented or progressing for significant projects which are expected to provide economic uplift and regenerate the vibrancy of this historic area if implemented appropriately.”
    Cathrow added: “The Pierhead project is also taking shape. Sitting on 1.86 acres of land, it includes the buildings which run along the Careenage, starting at Bridge House and continuing along the wharf to the Screw Dock, leading to the stunning northern end of Carlisle Bay beach. “Current plans for the area include a mix of food and beverage, retail and assorted services on the lower levels of the buildings with office space and apartments on the higher floors. There is also the potential to add a signature hotel in the area as well. The architectural heritage of existing buildings will be reflected at their existing levels with a more modern appeal displayed at the levels above.”
    Detailed information
    Barbados Tourism Investment Incorporated is the agency charged with the responsibility to facilitate both public and private sector-owned investment in the tourism and hospitality sector in Barbados, along with other areas. On its website there is detailed information about the 2019 Investment Forum including the list of sites which offer investment possibilities in terms of development, as well as guidelines for the facilitation process, to enable investors.
    The Forum document states: “The Pierhead Strategic Reinvestment Area celebrates its pivotal and historic setting with iconic hotel towers, mid rise buildings fronting Bay Street, new public spaces and enhanced promenade/beachfront access. This area is planned to host three taller building sites, including a landmark 25-storey tower at the precipice of the Pierhead peninsula. In a mid-rise and taller elements, over 1 000 new hotel units can be accommodated, restaurants and cafés.”
    Former chairman Coca-Cola company, who support Government’s redevelopment and country by taking on revealed that Isdell the Pierhead and was end of the city, “much capital, Dublin.”
    According to a source has been specifically Project, a team is currently project with residential for the site which encompasses the waterfront where the now closed Waterfront the sea on the western The Sunday Sun development is one for what is known as projects are the proposed hotel which, according group of investors from where the recently on the Pierhead) is The Hyatt Ziva Barbados 3.6 acres of beachfront accommodated, along with amenities, cafés.” chairman and chief executive officer of the company, Neville Isdell, is one of the investors Government’s vision for Bridgetown’s and has demonstrated his faith in the on the challenge. Mottley recently Isdell had purchased properties near was eager to develop the southern much like he had done with the Irish source familiar with Isdell’s plans for what specifically identified as the Pierhead Waterfront currently working on creating “a lifestyle residential apartments, shops and restaurants” encompasses the area along the section of where buildings such as that which houses Waterfront Café stands and runs towards western side.
    Sun was informed that the Isdell one of three large projects being planned as the Pierhead Project. The other two proposed Hyatt Ziva Hotel and a second according to reports, is to be built by a family from Trinidad and Tobago, on the site closed Massy Store (formerly Mannings is located.
    Barbados is earmarked for approximately beachfront property close to the northern end of Carlisle Bay, on an extensive site formerly occupied by the Harbour Police Station, the Liquidation Centre and another commercial building, stretching along a section of the popular Browne’s Beach. Those buildings have already been demolished to make way for the Hyatt construction.
    In July 2016, Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that a Hyatt affiliate had entered into a management agreement with the Barbadian company Vision Investments Inc for the construction of a Hyatt Centric on the site in question.
    That plan was later altered when Visions Developments Inc applied for planning permission to construct an all-inclusive Hyatt Ziva instead.
    Estimated at US$175 million
    The new hotel was originally scheduled to be opened in 2022, however, subsequent plans are for the project estimated to cost US$175
    million, to break ground this year. Vision Investments director Mark Maloney told the Sunday Sun they were “in the last stages of all arrangements to commence the building of the project,” which consists of 380 hotel keys, 40 condominiums and over-water suites.
    “We have all of our regulatory approvals and our teams have been working assiduously to have everything completed on this major investment and tourism project, showing our further commitment and confidence in Barbados,” Maloney said.
    It was projected that the first down-town hotel expected to be constructed in Barbados would provide 2 500 direct jobs during construction, while a further 1 500 jobs were expected to be created when it goes into full operation, contributing an estimated US$70 million per annum to Barbados’ gross domestic product (GDP).
    “This city of Bridgetown is special . . . and I hope and pray that the continued work of this Government will not only be looking at the buildings, but will also be looking at the organisation of the traffic flow of this town . . . that it will be abuzz with activity 24/7 . . .”
    Prime Minister Mottley said recently, while delivering an address at the launch of the University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill Bridgetown Campus located in the iconic Mutual Building.
    The recently-opened Golden Square Freedom Park on the corner of Probyn and Fairchild Streets is part of the broader plan to make Bridgetown more inviting, with residential developments, an extended Boardwalk and new Pierhead open spaces proposed as other features for the transformation of the UNESCO World Heritage site.
    While outlining the redevelopment plans for Bridgetown at the Investment Forum, Mottley told investors it was an opportunity for them to participate, “as we transform and modernise Barbados while maintaining those things that make it special.”

  19. Questionable Radical AstraZeneca ‘Purchase’ AttemptedQuestionable Radical AstraZeneca ‘Purchase’ AttemptedBringing News and Opinions to the PeopleBarbados Underground

    […] following was extracted from a comment posted by Walter Blackman to respond to BU commenter Bush Tea on another blog Nation Publishing […]

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