Just beyond your imagination?

Submitted by Paula Sealy

In his column in the 14 April 2017 edition of the Daily Nation column, Clyde Mascoll begins paragraph 6 as follows: “The tax policy of the Government is a perfect example of arbitrariness.”

The fiscal policy decision to raise VAT from 15% to 17.5% has been maintained despite the BLP 2018 manifesto ‘pledge’ on page to return VAT to 15% within 18 months. The 25% withholding tax on Registered Retirement Saving Plans (RRSP) has been retained and Mascoll has also been retained in a prominent role as an economic advisor in the Mottley administration.

See Related: VAT Online Transactions

Now Barbadians feel the weight of the fuel tax at the pump, the Garbage and Sewage Contribution (GSC) whether or not their homes are connected to the sewage system, the Amazon tax and the online tax on foreign currency transactions. Is there any difference between being assaulted by thugs in red or thugs in blue?

Assault is assault even if you are colour blind.

69 thoughts on “Just beyond your imagination?


  1. The same staid, never-ending, nonsense which passes for political-economy discourse.

    Laced with the real hypocrisy that Clyde Mascoll has or ever had anything of substance to say.

    He has always acted like a man once known called Cox. Can’t remember his first name.

    But he use to walk around with the biggest economics book available with the intention of convincing anybody he met that he is ‘bright’.

    It’s way passed time to dispense with these childish games. For Bajans to stop referencing people like Mascoll with a sense of importance, a benchmark.

    It’s time to go pass the bull shiiite of Mascoll to see what net benefit he’s contributed to national life. Beyond being another Coxal.

    More broadly, nothing here is new, unexpected, unlikely to happen again. That it appears that this dictatorial regime has renigned on a promise or two is not particularly unique.

    Given that this same dictatorship eschewed an entire manifesto previously. Democracy! De-mockery!


  2. Wished these empty vessels would listen to technocrats elsewhere grappling with real issues.

    Not trying to prove to be the dullest 11-plus boy there’s ever been.

    Nor, ad infinitum, expecting something else, long hoped for, but NEVER delivered.

    It’s time to declare this system incapable of anything else. That everybody who inhabits it to be like Mallick – the foolish man who always skinning he teet but can do nothing more.


    • We are an ageing society but love to tax the savings/pensions of the elderly. This is in an environment where there is uncertainty with the NIS and many of the elderly had their nest eggs cut in 2018.


  3. Always are facile excuses to be rendered.

    Was it to be a reality, that Barbados was long becoming an aging society when within the academic literature evidence of such was clear since the 1960s as happening in the leading Western countries long mimicked, before it needing addressing?

    What about the sick excuse that Barbados is only a small open society as the perennial reason to explain every failure of imagination?

    And what is to be said, that in spite of all these past failures, this present government, and the last one too, continue to exhibit the most startling absences of imagination there have been at an historical juncture most momentous in millennia.

    What is it about the Bajan which makes him to complain as child but as society never taking responsibility for past mistakes. Never, with courage, embracing the future with the determination of bending it to his will.

    Maybe you’ve got to have been in knowing of the ancient mystery systems to stop being childish.


    • “What is it about the Bajan which makes him to complain as child but as society never taking responsibility for past mistakes. Never, with courage, embracing the future with the determination of bending it to his will.”
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Ya mean you STILL don’t grasp the concept of ‘Brass Bowl’…???


    • @Bush Tea

      You prefer a Jamaican approach that is more aggressive for example? Is there a story f how our lineage has conditioned or more passive and conflict avoidance approach?


    • @Bush Tea

      When the dust settles the leaders in Barbados come from the people. You may conclude what your commonsense spits out.


    • Boss…
      Why tempteth thou Bushie? 🙂

      What Jamaicans what??!!
      Jamaicans are even worse off than Bajan Brass Bowls

      Bet you did not know that Jamaicans are ACTUALLY the descendants of the HOLY PRIESTHOOD of old…

      What a place!! – EVEN MORE BLESSED than brassbados – and what??!! same brassbowlery….

      To whom much is given….

      …and where did you get this idea that Bushie singles out the politicians, lawyers, ( and other leaders) ONLY for ‘brassbowlery excellence’?

      It is a BAJAN thing boss…. and prior to his ‘adoption’, Bushie was a boss bajan brass bowl too …. and so is FULLY aware of the condition.

      It is just SO AMAZING that, ….DESPITE ongoing FAILURE, down-grades, increasing DEBT, poor services, more taxes, increased arrogance from the jokers at the wheel, and a clearly FADING future…. so many (including your honorable self), can continue on the SAME brass bowl path in ‘hope’….

      Have you ever though of ‘adopting’ a new ethos…?


  4. “Never, with courage, embracing the future with the determination of bending it to his will.”

    They wont know anytjing about that, the ignorant, selfhating bullies are only interested in bending each other into their slavelike, childlike will of dependency, and as supporters/promoters of wholesale corruption….every ill in the society can be blamed on all of them and their dumminess.

    They have devolved into the laughable….just as previously warned..

    This is the area where they can transition to better, and still they cant see it let alone grab it….glad fuh dem…all they are capable of doing is devolving further, like the failures they are and always have been.


  5. Waru

    If we were to ask ANY policymaker or so-called academician in Barbados who are Sergei Glazyev and Alexander Gabuev, not one uh dem would have a clue.

    These two men, and more, are at the center of reconstructing the entire global economic infrastructure and we, as a society, are not part of these discourses.

    Instead, we are prepared to constantly revert to the empty well of ignorance as populated by small men with small minds intent on imposing dated concepts about a dying system on us all.

    And those who should know better, but don’t, keep feeding us nonsense.


    • I am somewhat surprised you would put “Sergei Glazyev and Alexander Gabuev” in the same league?


  6. @Pachmama is spot-on…”EMPTY VESSELS”!!!!! Little imagination … when they need money???? Simple solution…TAX, TAX, TAX!

    Both Parties are the same …… pay themselves & cronies big salaries, elected or not.

    Doubt they ever think of reducing their ‘perks’ as a partial solution! As we Pensioners age, they squeeze us more…. the sponge will soon be dry!

    Little incentives for the youth , just talk, talk, talk, no action.

    We are slowly imploding and our “leaders’ continue to live well while our cost-of-living keep increasing…… depressing society!

    Problems in every pillar of society …. Judicary, Education, Policing, Commerce, Roads, Inter-island travel, etc.

    We are in one helluva mess!!!


    • The issue of our inability in the region to chart a different path is complicated and anchored to a heavy cultural penetration that has become mainstream thinking. An example,the minds of our children are polluted by the empty messages from TV with a Black billionaire leading the charge to name one, the owner of BET. We can try but there is an inevitability to where we will land.


  7. Ten-point Template/Flowchart of a Politician in Barbados:
    1. Make Promises
    2. Get Elected
    3. Celebrate
    4. Reward stooges
    5. Raise personal Salaries & Perks
    6. Buy new Suits & a Mercedes or BMW
    7. Stall on elected Promises
    8. Increase Taxes
    9. Talk, talk, talk but No action
    10. Relax & Travel


  8. “If we were to ask ANY policymaker or so-called academician in Barbados who are Sergei Glazyev and Alexander Gabuev, not one uh dem would have a clue.”

    Of course they wont, these clowns still parrot and belch out Greek MYTHology….what would any of them know about shapers of a new economic system or what that portends…if ya really want some laughs ask them to design one…while they still cant draft a republic constitution……..

    “Instead, we are prepared to constantly revert to the empty well of ignorance as populated by small men with small minds intent on imposing dated concepts about a dying system on us all.”

    Trying to tief a slave system so they can mimic many more of Massa’s actions, adding vile twists of their own from their rancid, uninformed treacherous minds, while still begging, borrowing and dependant..

    BET was sold to Jewish interests sometime in the late 90s to early 00s…it stopped being Black billionare owned nearly 2 decades now..


  9. Here it is…sold in the 00s

    “Since BET sold to Viacom in 2000, the number of Black-owned media companies has fallen sharply, said Jeffrey Blevins, a professor at the University of Cincinnati who has researched the subject.”

    Pacha…there is no recovery for these, they have to leave…the vast majority want them gone, they have nothing useful, progressive or anything in the way of Black development and generational wealth creating to offer, they are therefore NOT NEEDED…

    ..who the hell wants to continue voting in beggars, borrowers and dependants permanently, who dont have an iota of intelligence to do otherwise….only the Slaves would be that DIM.


    • So Google now who is trying to buy BET from Paramount Global (the newer name of CBSViacom)


  10. This is pretty recent Northern, just this month… It never should have left Black hands…but ya cant tell owners what to do…let’s see how this sale goes, the bidding should interesting, 2 powerhouses…can’t believe it’s nearly quarter century since that sale…I see it’s trading on Nasdaq..didnt know about the name change, standard though.

    “Media moguls Tyler Perry and Byron Allen are vying to purchase a majority stake of BET Media Group amid reports that owner Paramount Global is exploring a sale of the asset.

    Variety has confirmed that Perry is in talks to acquire the network, while a spokesperson for Allen stated that the Allen Media Group founder is also “interested in buying BET, and he will be pursuing the acquisition of the network.”


    • You missed P.Diddy, who has past relations with Paramount companies.


  11. Something very strange is happening, saw some footage from 2 months ago with lakes and rivers suddenly appearing in the Saudi dessert……and let’s not start on the terrible weather patterns taking out houses and whole towns in the west and just about most everywhere else…..sign of the times.


  12. “You missed P.Diddy, who has past relations with Paramount companies.”

    Didn’t notice, but he is an old established billionare so am sure he and others will join the lineup for the bid..


  13. Just saw a public notice where all the telephone libes to police stations are down….out of service.


  14. It cant be beyond one’s imagination that there is a cancer at the very centre of the Collective West.

    That Donald Trump is now an indicted felon, like a cancer, it has already metastasized from the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal. The whole culture.

    Indeed, and given the centrifugal forces imposed, we would expect a political theatre for a trial with Trump as the star boy. Maybe his opus magnum.

    Maybe he’ll be joined in the dock by Joe Biden and his son Hunter. For if one thought Trump was a criminal, like he undoubtedly is, and worse. The Biden crime family represents the real McCoy. They should give us a double-header

    These are the ultimate representatives of Western democracy. The people in whose hands the fortunes of the world’s citizens have long been located.

    If this particular case of Trump, the indicted criminal, does not hasten the cause for a panicked retreat from any and all relations with these criminals all, nothing ever will.

    Thousands of years from now when our skeletons are being unearthed the anthropologists will have much to do in reconstructing the mentalities of the current humanoids.


  15. Pacha…this is truly frightening….and did not happen overnight.

    “Child Crime in Germany Spikes on an ‘Appalling Scale’

    The number of suspects under 14 leapt to over 93,000 in 2022, a 35.5% increase on the previous year, official statistics revealed, with theft, assault, property damage and drug-related crimes being the most frequently committed.”


  16. Told them off too, while he was at it…lol

    “Trump Responds to Indictment Announcement: ‘Blatant Election Interference’

    “This is political persecution and election interference,” the former President told ABC. “They are trying to impact an election.”

    A statement by a Trump spokesperson claimed that Trump “will be re-elected in the greatest landslide in American history, and together we will all make America Great Again.”

    Meanwhile, Political Director of ABC News stated that the indictment will not “disqualify Donald Trump from running for office.”


  17. Waru
    There we go!

    Trump is best performed as comedy.

    The best political comedy imaginable.

    That a larger and larger number of the population takes him seriously will result in no better outcomes than last time this clown show came to town..

    What makes things worst is that the population acts as extras in theatre. They too are clowns!

    Giving us the prospect of a convicted criminal being elected from prison.

    Such productions with this level of comedic value can’t be made up!

    Or another Alheizmers criminal, Biden, pissing and shitting himself all the time, even in the company ot the Pope, as the option.

    In public Biden has no sense of awareness. He’s looking to walk off stages and fall many feet. Has to be directed as if an imbecile. And on and on.

    But the neoconservatives appear so desperate, like in Ukraine, they are prepared to sacrifice all to achieve their sinister goals, both at home and abroad.

    Trump’s up next!

    Of course, they are even looking to jettison the Affirmative Action hire, Kamilla Harris, a proven fool who has failed at every assignment given.

    What a cast of characters!

    Remind us! Is this what world Ieadership has come to?

    Empire’s theatre being a pappyshow!


    • What a cast of characters!
      Remind us! Is this what world Ieadership has come to?
      Empire’s theatre being a pappyshow!
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      “Quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat”


    • @Bush Tea

      Life is a struggle, as it always has been through the ages. While you wait for doomsday whenever it comes others are dancing in the streets.


    • Doomsday comes mainly because idiots spend their time ‘dancing in the streets’ instead of making sound arrangements for a safe and secure tomorrow…
      Others who should be guiding those idiots are more focused on their bribes and short-term perks, than on looking down the road at the consequences,
      Yet others, who should be sounding the alarm, are busy making excuses why we should accept the status quo – warped and failed as it is…

      The original David K understood this failure, and created BU….

      Bushie is here to point out that WHEN NOTHING MAKES SENSE, and WHEN we keep doing the SAME shiite that we KNOW has ALWAYS failed in the past – EXPECTING THAT SOMEHOW THIS TIME WILL BE BETTER….
      ..this is the clearest sign of the madness that precedes self-induced destruction.

      “Quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat” is therefore a self-evident maxim.

      BTW
      Bushie is NOT awaiting ‘doomsday’..
      …but the DAY OF SALVATION from brassbowlery.


  18. Pacha…whole world is a stage, with nothing but actors, a circus…as we heard all along…

    We can only watch the show as comic relief…and protect ourselves in the process. Whoever wants to join the act, is free to partake…

    These days am putting great distance between myself and the whole thing, as everything takes a turn for the worse..we see, we know.

    There has not been a better time to throw up barriers and boundaries, draw some lines in the sand, that must not be crossed without consequences…the hardest thing is to know.


  19. Pacha…get all your writing devices ready, this is one for the ages, must be passed on, and properly recorded.

    These opportunities dont come around for scribes but every millennia..


  20. @ David

    St. Vincent Times – March 30, 2023

    Antigua seeks to pay EC $10-M in severance to former LIAT employees

    The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has reportedly proposed giving a 32% severance payment to former LIAT employees.

    In a note from yesterday’s cabinet meeting, it was stated: “The Government of Antigua and Barbuda owned a 32% stake in LIAT (1974 Ltd) and could not reasonably be expected to shoulder a larger portion of the burden than it may be legally obligated to contribute, had the airline owned sufficient assets to meet its debt obligations.”

    The government estimates that the severance payout will cost $10 million EC.

    Antigua and Barbuda first provided workers with a severance package consisting of land, bonds, and the chance to attend the University of the West Indies, Five Islands campus to acquire new skills.

    The latest offer follows the decision by the Barbadian government to compensate 89 nationals who were employed by the defunct LIAT (1974) Ltd.

    In January, the government of Saint Lucia also compensated former LIAT employees with bond certificates.


    • @Artax

      Btw NIS in record LIAT shareholder governments have a moral duty to pay severance? The question will be who has the legal responsibility. Especially in a situation where most governments in the region are Steu to cover off budget deficits.


  21. Bushman…you are on the right side of history…always were…despite them attacking and tormenting you too…

    When ya see people’s memories can easily be jogged to a recen most evil, dangerous lie, and i quote:

    “If the vaccine kill you we can help you, but if Covid kills you, we can’t.”

    All caught on video..and spread across continents…

    I take it that was in anticipation of over 50% dying from vaccine intake…but the curtain WILL BE brought down on local orchestrators….tick tock..


  22. Bushie
    Why settle for the low hanging fruit.

    We would have thought that such a personage as you, would have has a much higher purpose. Just keeping noise is not enough. Any brassbowl could no that, does that.

    It therefore appears to this writer that your stated mission is based on the idiocy of others and therefore is in and of itself reinforcement of the foolishness it purports to abhor.

    So is this wasteful talk about some salvation. What is that? When has it happened previously? Is that mere bible talk?

    So is the eurocentric fiction about a Doomsday. There are no sets of forces, known or unknown, which could or have not already tested Pachamama. And She has proven Her infinite abilities to reconstitute Herself five times before.

    We trust that this temporary humanoid trespass has not succeeded in confusing you about what is Infinite and what is purely ephemeral. Like braasbowl often are😇😇😇😇😇😇😇


  23. Pacha
    As bright as you clearly are, the mysteries of the Creator continues to elude you. …as clearly explained (to those with eyes to see) by the original Boss Bushman, when he was moved to exclaim…

    “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children and stinking bushmen”.
    Who knows..? Perhaps this is perhaps why it is IMPORTANT to ’suffer the little children and stinking bushmen… FOR OF SUCH (to whom wisdom is revealed) is the kingdom of heaven’

    As to Bushie’s ongoing ‘shiite talk’ and your assumed ‘higher purpose’, …those with ears to hear would know that the “Father, Lord in heaven” referred to above, has a LONG HISTORY of warning Brass Bowls in advance of their self destruction, so that they have NO EXCUSE of ignorance…

    That has ALWAYS been the ROLE of the ‘prophets’….
    Have you ACTUALLY listened to the message that have been spread across the length and breadth of the Globe …by a large number of reggae artists…?

    Think on these things…..


  24. @David, your blog is now a few days old but knowing how ‘astute’ you are I will give you props for that apropos headline as the indictment of #45 is absolutely “Beyond [Y] our Imagination” … or if one may americanize that Bajan tagline as ‘Beyond Their Exceptionalism’!😒😎

    Not to take away from the Bajan focus on economic affairs etc but this is sorta big news simply because a former US President has been indicted … but as in everything we manage in world politics this is really about noisy LOCAL political BS than it is about any US exceptionalism.

    There was a well presented NY Times article – which reminded all who needed to be – that well apart from places like Nicaragua or Brazil or Peru where political leaders were indicted and some convicted there have been so called first-world countries like Israel, Italy and France that ALSO had their former leaders convicted.

    The point is simple: whether a tagline about ‘Beyond Imagination’ or one that seeks to impress US ‘exceptionalism’ life must adjust to reality.

    This man has always behaved exceptionally badly and he brought that same tawdry arrogance to his political life … he is now being held accountable for breaking laws for which his co-conspirator has already been convicted … and the vaunted US constitution quite precisely notes that any former president can be held liable for crimes just like any other US citizen!

    So no wonder, for example, that Mr. Netanyahu is trying to aggressively change legislation to ensure he is not legally affected by pending investigations … and no wonder why he so aggressively returned to lead his party … if Americans allow this man to do the same and return to power then we can FINALLY condemn them as exceptionally corrupt hypocrites!


  25. Pacha…on the Kingsland thread…ya will see that the corrupt judiciary is allegedly brazenly allowing people to be threatened….seems like an escalation…they finally reached the point of no return, never heard of that in any court where a real judge is in control.

    It’s certainly comes as no surprise, but expected…and reinforces the point that wannabes should NEVER be anywhere the seats of any kind of power, not even to oversee wild animals…


  26. Pacha..post got removed, but others are sharing everywhere else.


  27. @ David

    Taxing pensions is not only the reason why many of the older Bajans are suffering, kindly do not forget the debt restructuring sir. Many old people believed Bajan paper was bulletproof and as a result many have seen their return on retirement investment basically dry up. The pensioner that had $100,000 in state paper earning $7000 a year in interest, is now receiving only $1000 annually roughly. Millions have been removed from the economy yearly with that restructuring.

    Secondly as for VAT here is another reality no one speaks about. I will keep my example simple here. When an item sold for say $10 prevat the vat on that sale due the state was $1.75. With inflation that item say has now moved to $14 prevat, meaning the state on the said coffee now collects $2.45, an increase of 40 percent! You see no one wants to discuss any of this as its “uncomfortable.” The truth is VAT feeds off of inflation, thereby weakening the liquidity of the consumer. Our whole tax system is flawed and full of leakage, hence we increase the burden on those who can least afford it.


    • @John A

      There is an argument that because bond holders number less than 2500 there is no significant impact to assess by the policy makers.


  28. For many, of course, it will be very exciting to see Trump winning votes again, albeit from the majority of a Manhattan grand jury. According to reports, his surrender to the authorities is expected on Tuesday. Once in custody, Trump will get the chance to pucker his anus-like mouth for the cameras taking his mugshot, then to offer his tiny fingers for prints. This process will be followed by a court appearance for his arraignment.


  29. Well…they always want to be seen and heard, they got nuff nuff things headed their way to be seen and heard about….there was never a better time…


  30. Pacha….the warnings are coming in and very clear.

    “Artificial Intelligence Researcher Issues Stark Warning For Humanity

    A leading researcher has argued that AI is progressing too quickly and could have dire consequences for the human race. Writing in an op-ed for Time magazine, Eliezer Yudkowsky was clear about our prospects should artificial intelligence pass a certain threshold.

    “If somebody builds a too-powerful AI, under present conditions, I expect that every single member of the human species and all biological life on Earth dies shortly thereafter,” wrote Yudkowsky. He also said that the open letter published this week by Elon Musk and others, calling for a temporary halt to AI research, “is understating the seriousness of the situation and asking for too little to solve it.”

    “We are not ready,” he concludes. “We are not on track to be significantly readier in the foreseeable future. If we go ahead on this, everyone will die, including children who did not choose this and did not do anything wrong.”


    • @Hants
      Bajan Patsy?
      Here’s my suggestion “Sousy” she knows evathing


  31. “It’s certainly comes as no surprise, but expected…and reinforces the point that wannabes should NEVER be anywhere the seats of any kind of power, not even to oversee wild animals…”

    Slaves were treated like animals
    bred like animals
    and like dogs were taught to obey masters
    justification was they were ‘inferior and animal-like’


  32. Hants..ah see they up in Canada BEGGING dasporans to invest in the island…same people they mistreated for OVER half century and acted like their remittances that keeps money circulating on the island means nothing…now dog returns to their vomitus…same people they treated as they though they dont belong even going so far, some lightheaded birdbrains, as to say they should not be able to vote or have any say just because they send remittances.

    one person told them straight up, dont buy any useless RoB/Junk bonds..

    ..ah take it the reparations scam hit a roadblock….3 o’clock.


    • @Artax

      The Liat squabble

      I QUOTE FROM an article that I wrote way back when.
      “In Antigua, early on mornings there are at least eight aircraft ready to face the day.
      ‘Passengers travelling to Guyana via Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago please assemble at gate number . . .’
      ‘Passengers travelling to St Kitts, Nevis, St Maarten, Anguilla please assemble at gate number . . .’ There are continuous boarding announcements from as early as 5 a.m. and the day for LIAT has begun. Not only in Antigua, similar activity is witnessed in Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and perhaps other destinations.
      LIAT’s daily take off numbering well over 70 flights are on their way.
      I do not believe that such activity is rivalled anywhere else in the world.”
      I first travelled on LIAT 69 years ago. Let me say now that were it not for LIAT I would not have been able to carry out my work in all the territories of the Caribbean – from the smallest to the biggest, from the poorest to the richest. Many Barbadians can say the same thing.
      There was a fight for the last back seat from Antigua to Barbados on Friday evenings.
      For a year I made the connection every Friday from Nevis by the skin of my teeth. Having to take so many flights did not leave me broke because the cost was reasonable.
      That was 43 years ago. Why can it not happen now?
      I suspect that the various territories serviced by LIAT saw an opportunity to impose fees for various services where LIAT touched their territory, and the existing structure collapsed. If LIAT is to be restructured then it must return to the old structure.
      LIAT is a peculiar airline. The runs are very short but the mechanics of making these runs are the same as airlines whose runs may be seven hours – landing, idling, berthing, discharging and picking up passengers, idling, taking off, overruns
      and repairs. What we have done is that each territory saw a way to charge for most of these activities and the charge is reflected in the fare.
      This has been done by those territories that supported the structure of LIAT as well as by those that did not support the structure, but enjoyed the benefits. I wonder how the nonsupporters are faring now with the high fares. You must blame your politicians.
      Space
      It seemed that many territories that were serviced by LIAT were prepared to charge for the use of their space but not prepared for the cost of running the airline.
      Their people would benefit from travel and transportation of goods, even from benefits of inter-island travel.
      Of course one of the significant costs of the airline was the cost of the staff. It can be said that LIAT had some of the best pilots in the world. The safety record attests to that record.
      Those pilots could fly among trees without touching the branches; could weave among the goats on the runway without killing them and could take off on a short runway with a rolling start. It is sad to see the squabbling after such dedication, but the recent move of Barbados has given some alleviation to the Barbadian pilots.
      Don’t mention the flight attendants.
      For inter-island connections we now have to pay exorbitant fees and depend on extra-territory airlines for help. Imagine flying to Florida from Barbados in order to get to Jamaica or Antigua.
      Regional leaders get together so often but it would seem they are blind to obvious needs.
      When next there is a séance, lock the doors so no one can leave until there is a decision on how the cost of running the airline would be financed – each territory touched contributing according to the times serviced.
      There must be a way to split the cost of running LIAT including upkeep of planes, upkeep of pilots and upkeep of flight attendants. Maybe each territory will bear responsibility for
      supply and staffing of ground staff. A board of directors should be chosen from each territory ensuring that on a revolving basis each territory serviced gets a chance to be represented. A shareholders’ committee should be set up to manage the day-to-day running of the airline and territories should not be able to issue contracts to competing companies that want to intrude on the territories with cheaper fares initially. That should be a CARICOM sine qua non.
      The transport of people and goods at a reasonable price is so essential that such drastic measures are necessary that a hodgepodge arrangement to allow spurious entities to start up with cheap fares going nowhere makes no sense. Caribbean people are tired of slipshod arrangements.
      What were the arrangements that allowed LIAT to operate as in the first paragraph of this article?
      Harry Russell is a banker. Email quijote70@gmail.com


      Source: Nation


  33. According to Eliezer Yudkowsky…
    “….If we go ahead on this, everyone will die, including children who did not choose this and did not do anything wrong.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    – If it ain’t AI
    – it will be some super virus
    – the shiite covid19 ‘vaccine’ they made BBs take..
    – killer robots,
    – nuclear war
    – economic collapse and famine
    – global warming and climate collapse
    .. just everyday brassbowlery.
    ….or all of the above.

    Which is why it was written…
    “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.


  34. Yep Bushman…ya got quite the terminator-type selection..


  35. But….those who have ZERO morals, ethics or integrity, and their limited intellect hateful followers and supporters, made in their toxic image, are not complaining ….yet….they are obviously in waiting mode, still waiting to see what crumbs they can pick up from the dangerous operations of thieves and liars.

    …..although there is a shift….so weee dont see how dependants, borrowers and begmeisters are going to profit from their evil people targeted crimes, going forward…there is likely to be no crumbs at all for white world dummies….dem gine starve…and certainly wont be able to support the lifestyles of pretense to which they have become overly dependent to push more fraud..

    The 100-year-old criminal enterprise is now floundering, they just dont know it yet….gine down mode…guh down, guh down.

    What a house of cards..now tumbling….what a high level self-exposure of pretenders….the wannabes.

    They never learned how to just be themselves…a social deficit…always overreaching to be somebody else.


    • $4M WITHDRAWN

      Credit union sues social media commentator over Facebook post
      By Maria Bradshaw
      mariabradshaw@nationnnews.com

      The Barbados Public Workers Credit Union Ltd (BPWCCUL) has admitted in court documents that millions of dollars were withdrawn by members earlier this year following a public rant about the credit union by social commentator, Patrick King.
      In a defamation lawsuit filed against King in February, the BPWCCUL and its subsidiary, Capita Financial Services Inc., claim collectively that monies totalling $4 191 421 representing financial investments were withdrawn by clients.
      The BPWCCUL is the largest credit union in Barbados with a membership of 108 427 and assets of $1.7 billion.
      In the lawsuit, the credit union and Capita charge that King made certain defamatory statements about them on his Facebook page on January 5 and January 10, respectively, as well as a circulated voice note on WhatsApp.
      The credit union charged: “Between the publication of the defamatory words (January 5) and January 13, 2023, 17 members indicated that, as a result of the defamatory words, they wished to either withdraw or reduce their investment in the first claimant (BPWCCUL).
      “When counting only the withdrawals of those members who expressly confirmed that the reason for their withdrawal was to reduce their exposure in light of the defamatory words, as at January 13, 2023, One million, six hundred and thirty thousand, five hundred and twenty four
      dollars and 16 cents ($1 636 524.16) was withdrawn by members of the first claimant as a result of the defamatory words.
      “These withdrawals occurred within the space of seven days,” the claimant stated adding: “It is verily believed that further, substantial withdrawals are likely to continue to occur as a result of the defamatory words.”
      In respect of CAPITA, the lawsuit further noted that between the publication of the defamatory words, (January 13) and January 26, 2023: “Two million, five hundred and fifty four thousand, eight hundred and ninety seven dollars and 54 cents ($2 554 897.64) was withdrawn from members of the second claimant who indicated some level of fear of volatility as the reason for their withdrawal.”
      Group Chief Executive Officer, Glyne Harrison,
      in a sworn affidavit, expressed the belief: “That there have been further withdrawals by members as a result of the defamatory words, although they may not have specified the defamatory words as the reason for their doing so,” adding: “I verily believe that further, substantial withdrawals are likely to continue to occur as a result of the defamatory words.”
      Pointing out that the BPWCCCUL and Capita “are both solvent, financially sound and stable,” the financial institutions charged that the words had done serious harm to their reputation.”
      They are seeking damages including aggravated damages for defamation and/or malicious falsehood; an injunction to restrain
      King from further publishing or causing to be published the same or any similar defamatory matter concerning the claimants and an order compelling him to permanently delete and remove the postings.
      King regularly posts matters of a social nature on his social media pages.
      Earlier this year the BPWCCUL and CAPITA found themselves under public scrutiny when it was reported that Capita was fined $18 500 by the Central Bank for failing to submit its audited financial statements on time.
      The Sunday Sun tried to contact Harrison on this matter but up to press time there was no response.

      Source: Nation


    • Whither the economy, society
      By Anthony Wood

      The debates on the 2023-2024 Estimates and the Budget have given citizens little optimism about the future of the Barbadian economy and society.
      The exercises provided no clear path to growth in the economy and insufficient strategies to deal effectively with problems plaguing the society like high food prices and high cost of living generally, worrying levels of dispossession and poverty, lack of employment opportunities especially for the youth, and dysfunctional families and communities. Also, the constraints to the functioning of the economy were not articulated in the Budget.
      However, one point emerging clearly from the debates is the Government’s intention to continue its policy of excessive borrowing even with the second Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, which has a stabilisation focus. Indeed, the present international economic environment of uncertainty and inflation demands moderation in government spending with the BERT programme.
      The Estimates for 2023-2024 yielded a deficit of $844 million. When combined with the new expenditure commitments from the Budget, negotiated wages settlement for public officers, increase in the value threshold for payment of land tax to $300 000 and unspecified project loans, the borrowing requirement of the Government for the next financial year will easily exceed $1 billion.
      This level of borrowing will exacerbate the current high-debt situation, which, if allowed to continue without a marked improvement in macroeconomic performance, will undoubtedly place constraints on the country’s prospects for social and economic development.
      There needs to be a reset in the management of the social and economic affairs of Barbados. A few key objectives should be pursued. First, the export earning capacity of the country needs to be improved in order to generate higher
      levels of foreign exchange on a sustained basis and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign borrowing. As a small open economy, the country needs to boost its national capacity to import (that is, its ability to import using current export earnings).
      Cause for serious concern
      The value of exports declined from $535 million in 2013 to $502 million in 2022. Conversely, the value of imports increased from $3.5 billion in 2013 to $4.3 billion in 2022. Thus, the trade deficit increased from $2.965 billion in 2013 to $3.798 billion in 2022. This situation should be a cause for serious concern among the policymakers.
      While the second programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) affords certain benefits like access to reasonably priced finance and loans from other multilateral financial institutions, the social cost of the arrangement with the IMF should not be overlooked.
      Inescapable austerity measures in the second BERT programme, including retrenchment of some workers in the state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and reforming the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and public sector pension arrangements, will have undesirable social implications.
      Thus, there must be a deliberate effort to move the economy out of its stabilisation mode and bring closure to the country’s relationship with the IMF after the second BERT programme. We must once again demonstrate our ability to manage our economic affairs without the direct influence of institutions like the IMF.
      Second, in examining the state of society, the fact that Barbados has slipped in the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index and Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index should be concerning to the policymakers and citizens.
      The slippage in the Human Development Index ranking indicates that urgent action is required to
      improve income levels and social conditions of the more vulnerable families in the country. The worsening in the Corruption Perception Index indicates that attention should be paid to strengthen the governance structures at the national level.
      Third, in the pursuit of growth in the financiallyconstrained environment and the imperative to address the impaired social conditions, there should be a deliberate economic enfranchisement policy. This necessity needs to move beyond the realm of rhetoric, and concrete policy action is required to involve more small and medium-sized businesses in meaningful, financially rewarding contracts with the Government.
      Fourth, a re-examination of the role (and worth) of institutions such as trade unions, churches, community groups, non-governmental organisations, and families is required in order to reposition them to make meaningful contributions in the next phase of the country’s development. These institutions were once strong pillars of national development but for varying reasons have lost their influence in the process of nation building. It is vitally important that this trend is reversed, and there is a collective effort to ensure that these institutions become spheres of positive influence once again.
      While we expect the Government to provide effective leadership to drive social and economic progress, the task requires the commitment and participation of the wider Barbadian society. We are reminded that economic development is basically a national enterprise, and it starts in the hearts and souls of those who aspire to greater mastery of their own destiny.
      Anthony Wood is a former minister of agriculture in a previous Barbados Labour Party administration, as well as former chairman of the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation. The above article was submitted as a letter to the Editor.


      Source: Nation


    • Whither the economy, society
      By Anthony Wood

      The debates on the 2023-2024 Estimates and the Budget have given citizens little optimism about the future of the Barbadian economy and society.
      The exercises provided no clear path to growth in the economy and insufficient strategies to deal effectively with problems plaguing the society like high food prices and high cost of living generally, worrying levels of dispossession and poverty, lack of employment opportunities especially for the youth, and dysfunctional families and communities. Also, the constraints to the functioning of the economy were not articulated in the Budget.
      However, one point emerging clearly from the debates is the Government’s intention to continue its policy of excessive borrowing even with the second Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, which has a stabilisation focus. Indeed, the present international economic environment of uncertainty and inflation demands moderation in government spending with the BERT programme.
      The Estimates for 2023-2024 yielded a deficit of $844 million. When combined with the new expenditure commitments from the Budget, negotiated wages settlement for public officers, increase in the value threshold for payment of land tax to $300 000 and unspecified project loans, the borrowing requirement of the Government for the next financial year will easily exceed $1 billion.
      This level of borrowing will exacerbate the current high-debt situation, which, if allowed to continue without a marked improvement in macroeconomic performance, will undoubtedly place constraints on the country’s prospects for social and economic development.
      There needs to be a reset in the management of the social and economic affairs of Barbados. A few key objectives should be pursued. First, the export earning capacity of the country needs to be improved in order to generate higher
      levels of foreign exchange on a sustained basis and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign borrowing. As a small open economy, the country needs to boost its national capacity to import (that is, its ability to import using current export earnings).
      Cause for serious concern
      The value of exports declined from $535 million in 2013 to $502 million in 2022. Conversely, the value of imports increased from $3.5 billion in 2013 to $4.3 billion in 2022. Thus, the trade deficit increased from $2.965 billion in 2013 to $3.798 billion in 2022. This situation should be a cause for serious concern among the policymakers.
      While the second programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) affords certain benefits like access to reasonably priced finance and loans from other multilateral financial institutions, the social cost of the arrangement with the IMF should not be overlooked.
      Inescapable austerity measures in the second BERT programme, including retrenchment of some workers in the state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and reforming the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and public sector pension arrangements, will have undesirable social implications.
      Thus, there must be a deliberate effort to move the economy out of its stabilisation mode and bring closure to the country’s relationship with the IMF after the second BERT programme. We must once again demonstrate our ability to manage our economic affairs without the direct influence of institutions like the IMF.
      Second, in examining the state of society, the fact that Barbados has slipped in the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index and Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index should be concerning to the policymakers and citizens.
      The slippage in the Human Development Index ranking indicates that urgent action is required to
      improve income levels and social conditions of the more vulnerable families in the country. The worsening in the Corruption Perception Index indicates that attention should be paid to strengthen the governance structures at the national level.
      Third, in the pursuit of growth in the financiallyconstrained environment and the imperative to address the impaired social conditions, there should be a deliberate economic enfranchisement policy. This necessity needs to move beyond the realm of rhetoric, and concrete policy action is required to involve more small and medium-sized businesses in meaningful, financially rewarding contracts with the Government.
      Fourth, a re-examination of the role (and worth) of institutions such as trade unions, churches, community groups, non-governmental organisations, and families is required in order to reposition them to make meaningful contributions in the next phase of the country’s development. These institutions were once strong pillars of national development but for varying reasons have lost their influence in the process of nation building. It is vitally important that this trend is reversed, and there is a collective effort to ensure that these institutions become spheres of positive influence once again.
      While we expect the Government to provide effective leadership to drive social and economic progress, the task requires the commitment and participation of the wider Barbadian society. We are reminded that economic development is basically a national enterprise, and it starts in the hearts and souls of those who aspire to greater mastery of their own destiny.
      Anthony Wood is a former minister of agriculture in a previous Barbados Labour Party administration, as well as former chairman of the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation. The above article was submitted as a letter to the Editor.


      Source: Nation


    • The cost of living
      Ironically, one of the calmest statements one can make about the world is that it is always in crisis. There is always some war somewhere; some hurricane, typhoon or earthquake perennially perishing people; or some dastardly deed wryly wrecking havoc upon dreams, land and prosperity.
      To paraphrase Marx’s prose on Europe in application to the world; there is always a spectre haunting the Earth: The spectre of change from which comes growth, decline, safety and harm.
      These are the things we battle every day. They are the things that haunt us in the night; and they are the things that, when thought ‘gone’, greet us in the bright of the future like a thief in the night.
      Hope, however, comes like joy in the morning when minds meet in the eternal battle against the real but unseen forces among us which, with nary a word, seek to decapitate us before we even start. Herein, therefore, we continue our conversation on building our country’s fiscal constitution from strength to greater strength by discussing the spectre in one of its most formidable forms: The cost of living.
      The cost of living is heavily impacted by the course of national development and the resulting qualityof-life which, in real terms, is never aggregate and always singular; being felt at the level of the individual person, business and household. Qualityof- life, in turn, is heavily correlated to long-term policy stability which, in the Barbadian context, has always been good. This stability, ironically, is an issue for us in terms of reducing the cost-of-living in general and reducing its decelerating effect on growth in particular. Unlike most other countries, including highly developed ones, our Government, through successive iterations, has never taken the bait of short-term crises to lower the quality-of-life by devaluing the dollar or raising interest rates.
      These actions, if taken, would near-automatically reduce the cost of living by dampening individual purchasing power. This “dampening” is, of course, a euphemism for making people poorer relative to what they can purchase from the world.
      When the Government says that the Barbadian dollar is “2 to 1”; it is saying to Barbadians that, “Once you can give me 2 Barbadian dollars; I will use my 1 US dollar to buy what you want”. Things, of course, get tricky when Barbadians have “nuff” Barbadian dollars and the Government has too few US dollars. The Government must then find ways to “cover” the shortfall. This shortfall being, in real terms, either the manifestation of a country’s lack of fiscal discipline, its lack of productive capacity or both.
      With global capitalism leaning on the demand side due to the propensity to consume; it becomes quite difficult for governments managing pegged and globally insignificant currencies to satisfy foreign purchases. In short: the pegged currency, while providing stability for development, can hinder countries looking to develop “past” the global middle. The governments of those countries may, therefore, look to relieve foreign reserve pressure by slowing foreign consumption.
      Middle income trap
      This may be through devaluing the dollar officially or devaluing the dollar unofficially through various taxes and “tolls” on outward spending.
      History, however, shows us that slowing economic growth, whether it be by devaluation or some other means, often leads to countries being stuck in the middle income trap.
      Consumption is like water and taxes like rock.
      The former will always find the crack and the latter will always give way. The solution, of course, is very simple: if outflows exceed inflows and reducing outflows only delays meeting the
      hurdle; take on the hurdle without delay by jumping over it to new levels of growth. This, of course, is easier said than done. It will take an “all-of-country” approach and it will also require citizens, businesses and their governments to adjust to a new progressive normal.
      What does this mean in material terms and how do we get there? For citizens, it means consistently working to maximum efficiency. That is how revenue is gained for businesses to grow.
      For small businesses it means ruthlessly pursuing profit by satisfying market needs. That is how new economic growth, in aggregate, is stabilised. For larger businesses and our conglomerates it means marrying the profit motive with corporate social responsibility beyond mere gestures. Your efforts here will secure us a stable environment in which success is safe, celebrated and succoured. For the Government, it means employing the same skill of creating comprehensive social safety-nets in re-engineering our national economic framework away from ‘partial market participation’ towards ‘full market participation’ in order to satisfy our country’s aggregate demand for growth.
      Dr William M. A. Chandler is a published political economist, legal scholar and business consultant.


      Source: Nation


  36. Dont know how the untethered could so effectively reduce themselves to the insignificant and irrelevant despite MANY years of warnings…


  37. Jesus – 3 articles and I could not get past the first paragraph of each.
    My one paragraph summary.
    (Item 1) I thought King was wrong and I still do.
    (Item 2) Will put that one aslde for when I need to sleep. Note to blogmaster — you could make a killing pushing this as an alternative to Ambien.
    (Item 33) A next blogger gave a summary of the last post some time in the past. The summary still holds.

    I give up. I iz and idjut, so of course I may be wrong on all 3 counts.


  38. The technology is very, very good….and 100 times as dangerous…and like everything else where money, wealth, estates and opportunities are found by thieves and liars, subject to misuse, abuse and exploitation..

    “Police believe AI voice cloning used to scam seniors
    4 days agoNewsDuration2:08
    Police in Newfoundland say they believe scammers used voice-cloning technology to trick seniors into believing their actual grandchildren were calling them for help, leaving them swindled out of thousands of dollars.”


  39. “I thought King was wrong and I still do.”

    People dont listen, you warned them not to entice a run on the banks, it will lead to restrictions, just assert your right to withdraw the maximum amount….and dont entertain any questions on why you need it…since they refuse to connect the astronomical RISE in prices with needing MUCH MORE MONEY TO SURVIVE…trying to short change customers….

    But when people got seesawing agendas ….that’s the end result…

    When people were warned 6 years ago to start removing their money…same folks were mute…not a word, now they are palavering all over the place when it’s too turbulent to do so….they missed the opportunity…


  40. In my opinion a distinct possibility, due to exceedingly long periods of lockdowns, disruptions to employment etc…that became too protracted. With legal fights over allowing people to remain employed, firings, resignations, etc…a possible recipe for the below..what were they thinking.

    “According to the analyst, the pandemic-related economic decline aggravated the underlying vulnerabilities in the country’s financial system, leaving many financial institutions in precarious positions.”

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