Category Archives: Morality

LGBTQ Killings – what it portends

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The Blogmaster does NOT support hate speech or hate crime and abhors bigotry and prejudice wherever and whenever it shows. However, there is the obligation by democratic societies to protect the right of citizens to practice freedom of speech. How societies evolve to be inclusive will have to be managed sensibly by today’s leaders. There is no room for the usual rhetoric.

Addressing hate speech does not mean limiting or prohibiting freedom of speech. It means keeping hate speech from escalating into something more dangerous, particularly incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence, which is prohibited under international law.

— United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, May 2019
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9-day Wonder Redefined – A Matter of Governance AND Holding Public Figures Accountable

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It is running more than 14 days since the IDB sponsored Science Test 11 year olds were coerced to complete. If one follows the newsfeeds the noise in the public space although fading continues to demand answers for the disrespect shown to children, parentss and actors in the school system. The kernel of dissatisfaction is the covert manner offensive questions were clandestinely inserted in the MOE/IDB sponsored Science Test.

The blogmaster has made his position known in an earlier blog – checks and balances were compromised at every step of the management process – which includes the Ministry of Education as the government agency responsible under our laws for administering education and the last defence, the management at the schools which without question allowed non school personnel for a period to assume responsibility for young children on different occasions.

See related blogs:

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Lord Mandelson and the Child Sex Traffickers

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Submitted by Peter Mandelson (Survivors and Allies)

You will no doubt have been made aware of the horrifying newspaper reports earlier this year concerning the close friendship and alliance, over decades, between Lord Peter Mandelson,and the sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/17262658/peter-mandelson-jeffrey-epstein-after-paedophile-underage-sex-probe/).

We have attached to this email some additional materials for your information.

Please examine the attachments in conjunction with the information to be found at the following links:

Lord Mandelson – Timeline of  his involvement with the child traffickers

https://forums.richieallen.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=2504

Lord Mandelson –  His alleged involvement in the rape and murder of a youth – as documented by the late Surrey-based psychiatrist Dr. Joan Coleman

Click to access coleman-j.-2010-people-and-places-1-satanist-ritual-abuse-sra-list.pdf

Lord Mandelson – Petition calling for his immediate suspension from the Labour party

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Mandelson

Please help us expose the full extent of the historical activities and alliances of the deeply corrupt (and allegedly criminal) Lord Mandelson: including, in particular, his longtime involvement with the child sex traffickers.

LGBTQ a Persecuted People – Why is Loving Others so Difficult?

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Submitted by Steven Kaszab

More than 600 LGBTQ-identifying people have been killed in acts of violence in the USA and Puerto Rico since October 12th 1998. A  gallop poll estimates that 4.1 percent of 10 million Americans are identified as LGBTQ, while America’s Federal Data Lists  sexual orientation as a factor in only one reported hate crime in 2016.  67 violent deaths of LGBTQ People in the same year happened. 28 of these were victims in the Pulse Nightclub shooting alone. These numbers suggest that the real number of LGBTQ victims remains hidden by our government agencies, hoping to deny that LGBTQ Citizens are victims of hate crimes in America, trying to blame other reasons for the violence.

Transgender and gender non conforming people are in danger Globally.

Joe Rose (Gay Canadian beaten and stabbed to death on a bus in Montreal.

Ukea Davis(18) Transgender shot to death

Stephanie Thomas(19)  Transgender  Shot to death

Felicia Moreno(25) Transgender shot to death

Michael Scott Goucher (21) Gay stabbed 45 times

Rosa Avina(27) Lesbian burnt to death

Muhadh /ishmael (17) Kenyan  Beaten to death 

Frank Yazzie (Gay Navajo) cut in half and stuffed into two bags

Zella Ziona (21) trans woman of color shot to death

Amancay Diana Sacayan  Argentians Trans Woman murdered

Amber Munroe (20) Transgender woman murdered

Shira Banki (16) Israeli stabbed to death

Francela Mendez (29) El Salvadoran murdered by group of men

Cameron Langrell (teenager) took her own life  after being bullied at school

Jennifer Laude (26) Philippine Trans Woman murdered by a man she just met at a disco.

Thembelihie Sokhela (28) Soth African lesbian suffocated to death after being raped.

Paulo Henrique Alves (47) Brazilian Gay man burned alive on side of road.

Pedro Araujo(52) Brazilian man murdered because he was gay.

Delon Melville (26) Guyanese Man murdered  because he showed “effeminate behavior”.

Kenya 2013 @ 103 men, women and trans people were murdered in mass killings  by enemies who felt their behavior was disrespectful to their families.

To get to 445 murders the stats excluded killers that killed romantic partners or former romantic partners. Hate crimes are on the rise. Victimhood for LGBTQ Community Members too. Law Enforcement Professionals are out of their league, unable or unwilling to understand, protect and be a part of the greater LGBTQ Community.  While Law enforcement should be dedicated to protecting our most vulnerable communities, and the LGBTQ Community is one of these, the Justice Department does not take hate crimes seriously enough. Law Enforcement Officers and Officials do not empathize with, understand nor sympathize with this community. The huge and uncertain death toll is in part due to a violent backlash against social progressions like same sex marriages and expanded acceptance of the LGBTQ Communities influence and success.

Anti-discrimination laws born from civil rights movement have shined the light of justice upon ugly racial  discrimination. Such laws need to do the same thing for the LGBTQ and other Communities.

Nations in the Caribbean, Africa and elsewhere need to repeal any bans on gay sex, like Trinidad and Tobago did in 2018. There are nations that still have laws where sex between two consenting adults of the same sex can be punishable by 25 years in prison, black balling a person because of his sexuality, and while many of these laws are not enforced they still have a chilling oppressive effect upon our neighbors within the LGBTQ Community.  Sodomy Laws Discrimination still holds many to account because of the influence and fear amplified by HIV/AIDS and prejudice. In Antigua “buggery” is still punishable by 15 years in prison. or up to 5 years if committed by a minor. Barbados has laws that punish same sex relationships with ten years to life, one of the harshest in the Caribbean. These laws are still on the books. In Dominica anal sex is punishable by 10 years in prison. “Gross indecency’ is what it is called.

In Japan many transgender people prefer to be labeled with a disorder like “gender identity disorder” a person who would like to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex. “Simply if a boy wants to wear a skirt, let him wear a shirt”. Japanese Culture is often viewed as more accepting of gender explorations and expression. However a strong “deprogramming movement exists with Japanese and Asian society, very similar to what The LGBTQ Community experiences in the west.

Being a member of The LGBTQ Community is something to be proud of, and cannot be hidden in the closet as it once was not so long ago. Societies moral judgmental laws are changing as our society evolves, and what was once oppressive, prejudicial and hateful is hopefully becoming a thing of the past. Members of the LGBTQ Community tell each other they are loved, even though there still is a stigma attached to this love. 

Only honesty, a love for personal freedom and global empathy can change our ways, diminishing the power that hate, fear and ignorance have upon us all.

The Ageing and Elder Abuse…relationship between social security – Pensions

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We continue our focus on elder abuse in Barbados – Blogmaster
Submitted by Cheurfleur

Pensions are paid to old people from the NIS Fund which is financed by contributions from the employed. That group of able persons ages 18 to 60, originally, i.e 42 years by 52 weeks plus  plus 7 years by 52 weeks, i.e 67 years now.  

With a population of 1000 able bodied persons paying $100 for 42 years or 49, using annuities calculation the pot makes X to support Y in 1900s but Z currently.

I shall leave the actual calculations to Mr Annuity.  I am only concerned with elder abuse.

https://www.ssa.gov/history/pre1935.html

At its inception there weren’t that many people living far beyond 60 years of age. What we had was more contributors and less gobblers.  By the turn of the 19th century with better health services, vaccinations and greater production and higher income people began living longer.  No problem.

Then came the 20th century with women’s lib and all the other ‘liberations’ and fewer children were born ) per woman/family) thus fewer worker/contributors 20 years later vis  a vis elders migrating out of the system plus more more men on the ‘block’. (It’s worse in Japan).

There is a dilemma now.  How to balance this imbalance?  Have governments done anything constructive to balance it? 

They have raised contributions and extended the age of retirement by 7 years.  

But contributors are actually living until retirement (originally 60s) and surviving way beyond 80s (not the prayer request) at time of conceptualizing the ‘scheme’.  With the ‘rich man diseases’ prevalent, the plight of the fund managers is grave and great.  This was not how it was supposed to be.  You aren’t supposed to be there to get back 40 years of contributions.  Never mind the presumption of interest gained from your investments.  Ask Rockefeller or Rothschild.

Mr Annuity can tell you that there isn’t enough money to do business for these long-life, now  ‘good-for-nothing’, ‘resource sucking’ retirees.  Albeit some have worked and put aside extras in private pensions and endowments to make a better nest but they still have to give back what they took earlier.  Mathematicians nor Actuaries can fix this.

Every man for himself and God for us all.  Stay clear of hospitals

Forget your children and relatives who will prey pon yuh fuh yuh li’le pension and other valuables.  The real abusers are the vultures who first took the contributions and are taking again.  Notice how many of the aged population died during 2019 to 2020 and are still the most vulnerable.

What goes?

I have to ask questions from here on.

  • What profit it is to anyone faced with this quandary to put policies in place to protect you – old work horses?
  • Why fight to save a life that is costing you on the down side when there is no income from the up side to make it feasible?
  • Why expend resources on a population that is not giving any returns (at point) when the resource can be invested on a population to bring up resources?

If it would save some lives, won’t someone just propose that those who can fend for themselves, economically, do so and relieve the burden so that no one would want to move them out of the way, earlier?

It is not only family and the nearby public that are abusing the elderly.  

SCOTUS Exposed: Roe vs Wade

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SCOTUS has the votes to overturn Roe vs Wade. Former President Donald Trump appointed 3 conservative justices to the Supreme Court of the United States which has given the SCOTUS a conservative leaning for the many years to come. Another example how political maneuverings affect the delivery of justice by the highest court in the USA (not uncommon to the USA). A leak of a draft opinion suggests SCOTUS will reverse Roe vs Wade, one of the biggest wedge issues ‘bubbling’ in the US public space; the right of a woman to have an abortion which the Roe vs Wade decision has protected for 50 years after SCOTUS issued a 7 to 2 decision in favour of Norma McCorvey 1973.

Length of video: 3 minutes 4 seconds

BUSHIE’s Bajan Bible Version

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Submitted by Bush Tea

Back in the olden days, this fella called Isaiah was shown a vision of how things would be far into the future. As a result, he issued warnings high and low directly from God who showed him the vision…. Isaiah said, inter alia, Wunna better RH listen and listen good… cause the LORD has spoken as follows: “Imagine I get these children, raised them up through thick and thin, and the brass bowls now completely turn against me? WTH!!

A cow knows who its owner is. A jackass know who feeds it But you could believe that my own BB people do NOT know where they belong? The people behaving like a bunch of idiots. No wonder their ass is grass. They have become a bunch of dishonest, mendicant, greedy, uncaring BBs – overwhelmed with crime and with wicked, unruly, corrupt children. Talking shii… about how they ‘have abandoned the LORD’ – the creator of all that exists, and how they are ‘separating God from the matters of State’ and are being more ‘inclusive’…. Dem serious?!!

How wunna people could be so damn foolish…? Wunna just enjoy suffering and pain and poverty? And yuh mean wunna going on and on and on with the jobby? DESPITE all the suffering and failures?!! Steupsss

Almost all o’ wunna sick with all kinda NCDs, heart problems, headaches, overweight, …and there are no solutions in sight…. The country is up shit street. Foreigners own every shiite – right in front of wunna faces and raping the place day in and day out. Every day wunna in deeper and deeper DEBT… Wuh – wunna worse than people who lost a war and were taken over by the enemy.

Fortunately, God has had mercy, and adopted a few BBs who stand out like beacons in the darkness. Outliers in a country of morons, cause otherwise the damn place would be like Sodom and Gomorrah. This is a WARNING. Hear the LORD’s word, wunna leaders and politicians. Listen to our God’s teaching, wunna people of ‘Gomorrah’! …and don’t come with any lotta shiite talk and mamby pamby… No Easter services, Lent sacrifices and Christmas Mass…. All those shows are just a lotta shiite… Don’t waste time with no lotta praying either – no matter how long or how pretty it sounds. ‘Cause wunna TOO wicked!!!

Clean up wunna act. Stop the lotta shiite – the bribery, the greed, the mendicancy, the spitefulness.

Stop with the albino-centric priorities.

Learn to do THE RIGHT THINGS.

Establish JUSTICE for everyone – big and small.

Look out for the weak – rather than pander to the rich and greedy for bribes.

Although wunna may be fully brass, wunna can become polished like gold…. Conform to the rules set by the God who created everything – and wunna can enjoy the fruits of the land. But the Lord has vowed that if wunna keep up the lotta shiite …., wunna asses for the grass.

Imagine that God’s own people have become no better than prostitutes – offering themselves for sale to foreigners by living off ‘tourism’ and ‘foreign direct investments’…

Imagine that justice is DEAD among God’s people?. Imagine that wunna leaders are just bribe-takers for the highest bidders.

But hear this. The Lord will exact a serious house-cleaning. There will be no mercy for the merciless. God’s peoples WILL be restored to righteousness after the BB ‘chaff’ is removed and burnt. From the remnants will arise a GREAT country, comprised of those who change their lives by righteousness. The lotta BBs will be disposed of …with no one able to extinguish the fire. A 2022 Bajan translation of Isaiah Chapter 1

Fr. Harcourt Blackett Ignores Cry from Man Alleging ABUSE by Fellow Catholic Priest

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Decisions we make are influenced by a moral compass. The degree a society is able to align to the collective beliefs and perspectives of citizens is a work-in-progress exercise. No absolutes, many shades of grey. Enlightened citizens understand we must unapologetically participate in our system of governance to ensure civil society actors are sufficiently aligned to collective values. The challenge oftentimes is that issues of morality are not black and white. 

For many Barbadians- dare we say the majority- the Christian Church represents the last bastion of what defines old fashion traditional values. It is place many believers seek refuge. It is a place a believer should not expect to be abused physically or emotionally. Physical and emotional abuse should be viewed through a black or white lens.

The blogmaster received several communications from a man residing in Europe who alleged he was abused by a catholic priest now deceased by the name of Aidan Dean, a Canadian who presided in Barbados during the 70s. The victim in his search to find emotional closure tried to initiate an investigation in 2017 to discover if other young men had been similarly abused in Barbados. Fr. Andy of St. Dominic’s referred him to Fr. Harcourt Blackett. The victim spoke to Fr. Harcourt on the phone, however, he reported Fr. Harcourt’ s attitude was :- “ yes some people still alive who will remember him [Aidan Dean] but don’t spoil the memories and image that these people may hold about this person. Brush, dirt, carpet”.

  • An invitation where he signed with his legal name. Aidan was a name selected at ordination into the priesthood
  • The late Fr. Aidan Dean

Emails sent to Fr. Harcourt and Charles Dominique were subsequently forwarded in 2018 to bishopaccountability.org because Fr. Harcourt ignored the cry for assistance from the victim. bishopaccountability.org is a website dedicated to victims and families of victims of abuse by the catholic church. The blogmaster can only speculate why the matter was not pursued by that entity.

A snippet of a letter received by the victim from an aging Dominican in London. It explains why Fr Aidan was relieved of his post in Barbados and sent back to England.

I am a 61 years old man living in Northern Ireland. As a boy I spent a period of my life living near to the Dominican priory … England. At that time a friendship was formed with Fr Aidan Dean.  I was lonely and vulnerable.  Fr Aidan was a close family member who ate at our table at home and was held in great esteem by my parents.

Fr. Aidan gifted to me money, a Toshiba radio cassette player and other things and sexually abused me – I am still haunted by his nudity, physical encounters. his breath his lips etc. He is dead no. What happened shaped my life – kept contact with me through university and performed my marriage ceremony.

Extract from an email sent by the victim to Fr. Harcourt Blackett, Charles Dominic and bishopaccountability.org.

As a result of the abuse the victim underwent a psychiatric evaluation and ongoing therapy is recommended. The client reported extensive and repeated sexual abuse by Father Aidan Dean between the ages of seventeen and nineteen. The client reported that the abuse took place in the priest’s bedroom in ‘Hawksyard Priory,’ off …. The client recalls being touched, fondled, and kissed and regularly experiencing penetrative sexual abuse by Father Aidan Dean. The client recalls the priest telling him he loved him, giving him gifts, and treating him in a way that made him feel special.

Extract from the Psychiatric Evaluation Report to determine the therapeutic needs of the victim.

The blogmaster’s hope is that those with answers meet with the victim to facilitate closure to the matter. Newly installed Bishop Neil Scantlebury should move with haste to attend to the disturbing accusation. One does not expect a priest of the calibre of Monsignor Vincent Harcourt Blackett to show the level of insensitivity described by the victim. The blogmaster notes Fr. Blackett recently accepted an engagement in St. Vincent. The blogmaster also notes a communication sent by the victim to Barbados Today on Monday, 5 December 2016, 21:22 was ignored.

Difficult Conversations – Ding-Dong

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There are several phases of marriage for men. The first is the wonderful honeymoon phase. A happy time. Then follows the woeful transition into ding-dong territory, where friction and tension become common-place as two people try to become one.

I am currently in the ding-dong avoidance phase. That is where men do everything reasonably possible to avoid ding-dong. Men should try to get out of ding-dong as soon as possible in their marriages. Once out, they should plan never to return.

PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN.

All men must put their ‘foot down’ during their marriages. It is an important part of being a responsible man. During such times, a man must ensure that his foot is firmly placed on stable ground – and then keep moving because his wife has already given her orders. That is the way of ding-dong avoidance.

Men in ding-dong will plant their feet and escalate an argument. Like all men who have travelled that way before, they too will learn that they cannot argue their way out of ding-dong. Instead, they must learn how to negotiate more effectively.

LIFE COACH.

One of a wife’s primary responsibilities is to be a life coach – to help men be better. In sports, a coach pushes athletes to their limits – that is the normal way of improvement. We do not like to be pushed to our limits, and initially, we may: resist, make excuses, procrastinate, and postpone our training. But the sooner we accept that the training is critical to improving our competitiveness, and decide to submit to the training, the sooner we may improve.

Once we accept the training, we do not accuse the coach of nagging us. We do not get angry, short-tempered, or argue with the coach. We certainly do not curse or strike the coach. We simply say, ‘yes coach’, and do as instructed. After months of intense training, results are normally noticeable.

FRUSTRATING TRAINING.

When performing their important coaching responsibilities, our wives are supposed to push us to our limits – so that we may improve. Initially, we tend to resist that training. That transition period is natural and challenging – and it is supposed to be temporary. The duration of that temporary period is normally up to the man.

Coaching tends to be frustrated for three common reasons. (i) Men do not know that they are being trained, and spend their marriages in ding-dong. (ii) Men do not know that they are being trained, and abuse their wives into submission – so they stop coaching. (iii) Unfaithfulness – coaching another man, or being coached by another woman.

THE NEXT PHASE.

As men submit to their training, they may notice that they are becoming more: patient, kind, tolerant, competent, hopeful, forgiving, confident, temperate, and responsible. What is the purpose of it all? It is not entirely clear now, but after this life, there is an eternity where all this training will make perfect sense.

The scriptures explain that after our training, there will be no more pain or sorrow. Those who do not want such an afterlife may reserve for themselves an eternity of ding-dong, characterised by weeping and gnashing of teeth. With our free-will, we choose our final destination. But it is advisable to go through ding-dong once, and having done so, never return to it in this life – or the next.

Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com

Forgive Politicians, ‘They Know Not What They Do’

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The blogmaster replied to retired trade unionist Facebook post titled Barbados Exports to Caricom and the World:

Robert Morris you have highlighted maintenance issues we must confront, however, you did not address the inadequate capacity as a country to earn in order to satisfy conspicuous consumption behaviour and generate employment opportunities.

Robert Morris replied:

David King, Sorry to repeat. You point out ‘conspicuous consumption behaviour’, as a major problem. Should we try to earn to satisfy that or to curb that? Give examples and strategies to curb.

The blogmaster replied:

Robert Morris we cannot continue to rely on the existing economic drivers of fickle tourism and international business. We definitely have to curb our taste for foreign, weaning Barbadians from champagne taste will require a re-education of our but it must be done. Improve mass transit (expand TAP), stop importation of all new vehicles effective midnight. Significantly subsidize inputs to producers of food and others generating forex. Aggressive adoption of alternative energy systems and energy efficient vehicles (waive duties). Scholarships to Barbadians in areas of learning that mesh with national strategic objectives. Agree to a period of five years to suspend the Constitution and install a government of consensus. Create an audit of skills in the diaspora and encourage them to participate in a think tank, reward them with 30 year bonds conditional on goals achieved. Etc

Robert Morris replied:

David King Barrow: champagne taste and mauby pockets? You did put your suggestions, my readers are free to comment.

The blogmaster did not expect comments from Robert Morris’ Facebook ‘friends’. As our good friend who Pacha introduced to the blog Krishnamurti opines- the politicians wont listen, the poor man wont listen, the deeply dogmatic persons wont listen. We are all conditioned to fiercely defend what we know, what we have been conditioned to internalize as our reality. The result is an activity humans have become synonymous, divisive behaviour.

The exchange reminded the blogmaster about the predicament the ongoing pandemic has forced on us. It is approaching two years since the novel coronavirus was reported. There was a rush to supermarkets in order to stockpile food and other essential AND non essential items, governments ordered lockdowns…etc. To stay afloat businesses created opportunities to do business by implementing ‘makeshift’ online ordering systems, curbside pickup or delivery.

There is the saying one should never let a good crisis go to waste. As soon as there was a decline in coronavirus infections many local businesses reverted to the traditional face to face model of doing business. Several years ago the government encouraged senior citizens to receive pension by direct debit, there was the usual push back to change. How many of them had to suffer because of Covid 19 induced delays when cheques could not be delivered and financial institutions closed or experienced long wait times attending customers? The point: government and private sector two years later should have implemented state of the art electronic ‘store fronts’ to facilitate purchase of goods and services,

The environment continues to demand we change behaviour; how we do business. Why are our leaders in civil society stoking discord to satisfy selfish interest? It is a zero sum game after all, you win the country loses. Then again, why are we surprised, the politicians convince themselves and the people that they have the answers but history shows they know not.

GONE HAYWIRE

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Submitted Observing

Things are so out of whack recently that I think we have gone haywire. Let me just toss a few random disjointed thoughts out there to get a real real feel for where we are right now.

  1. Persons on bail for vicious murders…BUT…end up committing others after
  2. Local parties and fetes are restricted…BUT…visitors can plan 2 months ahead of time and party soon with wild abandon
  3. Large outcry over the Trojan Riddim…BUT…and even larger outcry over the outcry over the Trojan Riddim
  4. MAM says take down the Riddim AND apologise…BUT…so far 166 thousand views, 3000 likes and Sunday School still wukking
  5. NUPW elected to represent workers…BUT….NUPW has to call in the police to save itself
  6. Minister boasts that cruise ships coming…BUT…positive cases still showing up on liners abroad
  7. We say the children under severe pressure…BUT…we force the same children to do Common Entrance
  8. Auditor General report speaks of problems…BUT…not a peep or pang from the GoB or BLP about it
  9. Cruise ships mashup Carlisle Bay coral…BUT…Minister says no problem he will plant it back
  10. Road tax removed to supposedly ease consumers….BUT……gas prices (and said tax) increasing every single month
  11. Hotel workers cannot be forced to take the vaccine…BUT…guests can demand that they do
  12. There is no price gouging they say…BUT…ask any supermarket buyer and you’ll hear different
  13. Four Seasons money written off by government…BUT…the main lawyer and main adviser running the same government coffers currently
  14. Verla’s ready to lead the DLP to next year’s election…BUT…she has to beat a certain Guy first.

See what I tell ya. We Gone Haywire.

DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS- SHUT UP AND LIVE

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A group of artists recorded a compilation of songs.  Their compilation was uploaded on YouTube (outside of Barbados), where it had to compete with over 800 million other videos.  After one week, it joined hundreds of millions of other videos in the YouTube graveyard.

Three weeks later, Barbadian: politicians, news media, clergy, and business leaders started to vigorously promote the video.  Their actions brought a dead video to life, and then moved it into the mainstream of Barbadian society.  The obvious question is, why.

WHY WATCH IT.

Most Barbadians would not normally watch such a fringe video.  But we were compelled to watch it, because we were expected to join those in condemning the artists, and it is wicked to condemn someone without evidence.

The video’s main message is completely opposite to that of the Police’s.  The Police rely on people who see something, to say something.  The video’s message is that saying something is an automatic death sentence.

INDOCTRINATION.

The video explained that there is no safe place where informants can hide.  There will be no reprieve, hesitation, negotiation, or mercy.  Informants should expect to be executed swiftly.

Saying something is a mark of a responsible citizen.  However, 16 minutes of indoctrination, suggested that saying something was wrong, while murdering informants was honourable.

TRICKED.

Why did Barbadian politicians, news media, clergy, and business leaders undermine the Police’s public message, by promoting the gangs’ threats?  I spoke with some of the clergy to find the answer.

It appears that they were tricked by the media, to promote the video through their condemnation of it.  Our clergy do not normally use the public relations expertise available to our news media, businesses, and established political parties.  They were unaware that there is no such thing as negative publicity.  So, it is easy to see how they could be so deceived.

NO EXCUSE.

Barbadian politicians, news media, and business leaders do not have the same excuse.  Every day, they decide which messages they will promote, and which messages must die on the vine – by simply ignoring them.  It was easily foreseen, that the only result of their actions, would be to promote the gangs’ message.

Why was it so important, for this message of intimidation to be brought into the Barbadian mainstream at this time?  To answer this, we must remember that we have unsuccessfully tried to solve this puzzle of: gangs, guns, drugs, violence, and corruption in Barbados for decades.  Here are some of the pieces of this puzzle.

THE PUZZLE.

1.  In 2008, Barbados reported to the OAS that we had 150 gangs, with 4,000 members, which is an average of about 26 persons in each gang.  That same year, the Bajan Reporter published a shocking report of how gangs recruited our school children.

2.  In 2017, Small Arms Survey found that 1,675 guns were used by the Barbados military, and 2,000 by the police. The number of unlawfully held guns was estimated at 7,000.

3.  In 2017, the DLP reported that gang leaders were operating without fear of prosecution in Barbados. They noted that kidnappings, executions, drug trafficking, and legitimate businesses were part of their normal activities. They further noted that prominent members of Barbadian society were linked to the importation of illegal guns.

4.  In 2017, with gun violence out of all control, the DLP proposed anti-gang legislation.  Gang members would be liable for 20 years imprisonment, and gang leaders, 25 years.

5.  In 2018, the new BLP administration chose not to pursue anti-gang legislation.  They noted that it would only be used as a last resort.

6.  On 22 October 2019, in the 52nd sitting of the House of Assembly, former BLP politician, Atherley claimed to know that it was true that Parliamentarians facilitated drug lords in Barbadian communities.  He then challenged his fellow Parliamentarians to deny it.  None reportedly did so during the meeting.

In just 16 minutes, ten Barbadian artists solved this puzzle in a way that perfectly explained the evidence.  The final picture is particularly chilling.  Rather than thank them for solving the puzzle, we are directed to condemn them for the crude way in which they did so.  We need to look deeper.

OUTGUNNED AND UNDERMINED.

Our police are significantly outgunned.  Their main weapon against crime has been undermined by the gangs’ most successful public relations initiative ever.  Barbadians who do what is right, because it is right, must now consider violating their conscience and self-preservation.

Again, why did they bring the gangs’ message of intimidation from the fringe, to the mainstream.  Most of us have no dealings with gangs or guns, so why was it necessary for every Barbadian household to be intimidated now?  I have no idea.  But here is a striking coincidence.

THE COINCIDENCE.

On 25 May 2021, the Auditor General published his report.  That report shows that the potential gross corruption between the Government and businesses under the last administration, has not changed under the current.  Notably, most Barbadians either work for Government or businesses.

The media ignored the Auditor General’s report until 31 May 2021.  On that same day, the trinity of our media, politicians and business leaders hurriedly directed us to watch a video.  That video informed us that we only had two choices – keep quiet, or be executed by a hail of gunfire.

Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com

How De Yutes Get So?

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Submitted by Just Observing

26 years ago there was a hue and cry when a then young Minister of Education who managed a group of artists brought school aged students to the Wildey Gymnasium to be “feted” by none other than Mr. Edwin Yearwood, Pic of De Crop winner.

At the time this mass “party” was unheard of but clearly went on to become a staple of B/DLP politics, campaigning and our cultural and sub cultural landscape.

Fast forward 27 years to the present and we have a young Minister of Education who manages a group of artists and uses them for promotional and motivational student videos (covid, back to school, stop the bullying etc.) including the popular Mole, Peter Ram and others.

BUT, here is the rub. The attached video shows the duality of entertainment and the flip side of performance roles.

TROJAN RIDDIM MIX VIDEO



So, one day it’s go to school, learn well, sanitise and don’t trouble nobody. The next day it’s gunshots showering like storm, high grade, kush, 357’s, AR’s and coffins for informers who get shot.

All coming from the same mouths, with the same faces, in the same spaces.

All managed and seemingly endorsed by a young Minister of Education whose business interests apparently diverge from the broader national, social and values based interests when convenient.

Imagine this at a time when violence, guns, shooting and fear of serious crime continue to climb. This is what far too many of our young people glorify, rejoice in and give praise to.

As one of the same said artists said over 30 years ago…..

“Well boh, I find out doh, uh NOW realise how de yutes get so”

BIG MISTAKE, NO CORRECTION

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It is no secret to the BU family and elsewhere the man behind the Barbados Welcome Stamp is Peter Lawrence Thompson. To his credit he thanked the BU family for helping him give birth to the concept.

The Barbados Welcome Stamp is a work programme which establishes a visa to allow people to work remotely in Barbados for a maximum of 12 months. The visa is available to anyone who meets the visa requirements and whose work is location independent, whether individuals or families – see Barbados Welcome Stamp FAQs.

It is with regret the government implemented Peter’s idea which has been quickly copied by several countries in the region. To date Peter has not received official recognition from the Barbados government. The refusal by government to give Peter his due is immoral and unethical, take your pick. To rub salt in the wound he was not selected to sit on a face saving panel to come up with a new brand slogan after the Little Island, Big Barbados campaign was jettisoned by Prime Minister Mia Mottley. In the same way the prime minister has intervened in this matter and others before it, she needs to remove this stain from whatever legacy she is building for herself and the country. Also political and NGO voices must speak up for what is right.

We will never know if the reason Mottley shelved the campaign is based on political considerations with an eye on a 2023 general election. What the blogmaster knows is Peter Lawrence Thompson should have been asked to sit on the so-called Destination Reboot Panel. The truth is if he was asked it would be an admission of what is blatantly being denied.

1. Sir Hilary Beckles – Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, historian, Chair.

2. Most Honourable Anthony Gabby Carter.

3. Gayle Talma – hotelier.

4. Renee Coppin – hotelier – Infinity on the Beach and Pirates Inn hotels.

5. Mark Kent – hotelier, Butterfly Beach Hotel.

6. Stedson Red Plastic Bag Wiltshire – entertainment industry professional.

7. Rorrey Fenty – entertainment executive.

8. Dillon Atkinson – hotel worker.

9. Krystal Griffin – hotel worker.

10. Abraham Norville – water sports operator.

11. Tyronne Best – Airport Taxi Association.

12. Josea Browne – Book Barbados.com and formerly from Expedia.com.

13. Aisha Comissiong – creative industry professional.

14. Anthony Walrond – former chairman of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF).

15. Dean Straker – entertainment industry professional.

16. Carol Roberts – CEO, NCF.

17. Andrea Franklin – country manager, Harrison’s Cave.

18. Wayne Cummins – World of Water Sports.

Destination Barbados Reboot Panel

Don’t Mess with Our Children

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The Convention on the Rights of the Child (friendly version) states at number 19 heading among other others of equal importance that:

Protection from Violence – Governments must protect children from violence, abuse and being neglected by anyone who looks after them.

UN Convention on the rights of the child

In recent days Barbadians have been expressing outrage in response to the report of a teenager at the Government Industrial School (GIS) recorded naked in solitary confinement. The blogmaster is acutely aware the danger of blogging about matters involving children given the inclination by some in Internet fora to be irresponsible.

Troubling to the blogmaster is the breach of the rights of the teenager occurred while under the care of government. It is not lost on the blogmaster that in other jurisdictions persons charged with the responsibility of managing the GIS would have tendered resignations forthwith.

There is no need for the blogmaster to be prolix sharing thoughts on the heinous act that has occurred at the GIS. It should never have happened. Successive governments by mediocre decision-making are responsible. Adults whether employed at the GIS or parents are responsible. The country is responsible for protecting our children. Faith Marshall-Harris is correct when she reminds us that adults have a moral and LEGAL duty to report incidents of child abuse to the authorities- even if the abuse occurred at a government institution responsible for enforcing the very rights of children.

The blogmaster congratulates children advocates who champion the rights of children every day, every week and all the time. Blogs have been posted over the years (not enough) to expose challenges children face in the country. The number of comments these types of blogs garner is always an indication of the level of public interest in these types of matters. Then there is a predictable reaction when the matter currently provoking rage occurs. We are reactive to the inevitable.

The following related links were posted on Barbados Underground in 2017 to support a similar matter.

We do not place enough importance on little problems until there is a crisis situation.

The blogmaster refuses to consider the problems were not being highlighted to the management of the GIS and at other similar institutions over time.

The blogmaster refuses to consider the problems were not being highlighted to the Board of the GIS and at other similar institutions over time.

The blogmaster refuses to consider that the problems were not being highlighted to the minister responsibly for the GIS and at other similar institutions over time.

The blogmaster refuses to consider that the problems were not being highlighted to the general population by current and former employees of the GIS and other over time.

When we make the logical conclusion what does it translate to?