Hanged by the Neck

Dr. Umar Ifatunde

If I put groceries that I just purchased in the back seat of my car, and then mistakenly drove away with the car’s back door open, I would appreciate it if someone tried to warn me.

I would not care if the person was: Christian, Muslim or Rastafari; male or female; heterosexual or homosexual; employed, unemployed, or unemployable; or well-groomed or unkempt. I would just appreciate that a fellow human being cared enough to warn me.

After the warning, I should investigate whether what they were warning me about was true and act accordingly. But it would be irresponsibly risky for me to simply ignore the warning.

IGNORING WARNINGS

For over 20 years, I have repeatedly published explicit warnings, the foreseen consequences, and practical solutions about: the unsustainable national debt, sub-standard construction practises, mismanagement of public services, corrupting no-bid contracts, the ineffective secondary school teaching methods that only benefit a few, and many other things.

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A human being is either male or female

Coitus is sex between a man and a woman, with penetration of the erect penis into the vagina. The repetitive movements of the penis and of the vagina generally end in an orgasm and the expulsion of the sperm (ejaculation) into the vagina. Coitus may also lead to the fertilization of an ovum by a sperm cell and the conception of a child – Source: Scienephotolibrary

The blogmaster is prepared to be dismissed as simplistic but he has been accused of worse through the years. There is man and there is woman. Not too long ago it was not difficult to make the distinction. Today a biological misfire is accepted as normal. A lifestyle undergirded by an abnormality is accepted as normal. The Blogmaster’s perspective is not meant to be homophobic, only a sincere perspective based on commonsense.

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Final Letter

Submitted by Grenville Phillips II

In my opinion, we should give attention to what people, who have reached the end of their lives, explain what they think that life was all about. One such person is Simon Peter, and the following is a paraphrase of his final letter written shortly before he was executed.

My dear fellow trainees:

Our Employer has graciously given us everything that we need to complete our training, and He has promised us that all the training exercises are achievable once we start with the right attitude.

If you are committed to becoming productive employees, then please read the employee manual so that you may understand the Employer’s standards of work and behaviour. With this knowledge you may begin practising the exercises.

HELP OTHERS.

You may find them challenging at first, but please do not become discouraged. They will eventually become easier if you persist with them. Once you have become proficient in the exercises, then please encourage your work colleagues and teach them everything that you have learnt. Your own training will be complete when you have unselfishly helped to train enough of your colleagues.

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LGBTQ Killings – what it portends

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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”.

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

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’

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

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

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?

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

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

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?

Back of the Envelope Musings about Matters of State

Some smart person is reported to have said never let a crisis go to waste. There can be no disagreement the raging COVID 19 pandemic has created a crisis of gargantuan proportion for countries everywhere. Small island states like Barbados will struggle to sustain a standard of living it has become accustomed. The 64k question facing the tiny island- what are we as a people doing to make good on the advice to not allow a good crisis go to waste?

A pillar issue of Barbados Underground from inception of the blog has been to focus on the importance of a governance system that is fit for purpose. In the opinion of this blogmaster when the former prime minister Fruendel Stuart against all advice allowed parliament to dissolve on its own- there was nothing the citizens could do about it. We were helpless has the economy suffered in a lame duck period. The May 24, 2018 election confirmed Stuart’s decision was contrary to the will of the people. He was punished for his error in judgment which some say has set the country AND Democratic Labour Party (DLP) back a millennium.

Stuart’s obstinacy gave insight to how easy it is for an errant leader to expose fault lines in a democracy. The ‘impotence’ of the people to effect change except on Election Day every five years is scary. We pay lip service to the fact Barbados is a democracy, however, the more discerning among us know there a political and professional class who do the bidding of an economic elite who occupy the space at the pointed end of society’s pyramid. It has not gone unnoticed the leader of the free world – the position of president of the USA is promoted as such – by his maverick behaviour continues to add more stress to a Covid 19 infested world.

… The pandemic has laid bare and intensified these issues, increasing the risk that the region will suffer another lost decade in economic terms and a major setback in social conditions. The crisis sounds an alert that requires that measures be adopted aimed at overcoming the present-day levels of inequality, poverty, and informality, which constitute not only the main obstacle to development but also the seedbed of populist and/or authoritarian “solutions.” They also constitute the seedbed of organized criminal violence, a real and growing threat that should be fought with the legal instruments of democratic government under the rule of law.

One common denominator in the face of the crisis brought about by the coronavirus pandemic is that the Executive branch has greater responsibility but also enhanced powers. In numerous countries of the region the exercise of these powers has led to the issuance of emergency laws to fight the pandemic. The executive branches should make responsible use of these exceptional measures to make sure they do not lead to human rights violations and arbitrary restrictions on liberty. The same applies to the exceptional use of the armed forces during this period; those forces should make their contribution with professionalism and without getting involved in any tasks entailed in maintaining public order…

IDEA

The average Barbadian may not be aware the Constitution of Barbados gives the Prime Minister of Barbados enormous powers (primus inter pares). During the Covid 19 pandemic we have witnessed imposition of the Emergency Powers Act which adds to the authority of the prime minister to act without consulting parliament. The blogmaster does not suggest for one minute there is evidence of wanton abuse of power by Prime Minister Mottley. The suggestion is that the citizenry of Barbados needs to become more aware by shedding the disinterest it has shown up to now in matters of governance BEFORE we have to react to an unforeseen event.

The recent by-election in St. George North has given rise to a few stark realities. We have a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) led by a politically astute leader who will continue to outmaneuver her opponents until she is bored with it. While this makes for good theatre it should provoke citizens to be concerned about the robustness of our governance system. As we continue to manage our affairs in a Covid 19 period agitation for change to ensure a relevant governance system will be required.

Caribbean Against Apartheid in Palestine…

Submitted by CARIBBEAN AGAINST APARTHEID IN PALESTINE [CAAP]

Media Release

This month Israel’s Government plans to formally steal large swathes of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, culminating decades of gradual de facto annexation through the appropriation of land, forcible displacement of the Palestinian population, and the transfer of an Israeli settler population into the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Israel is only able to maintain its regime of occupation, colonisation, and apartheid, over the Palestinian people, because of the United States of America’s complicity in the process by both its diplomatic as well as military support.

On Saturday the 4th of July 2020 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m “Caribbean Against Apartheid in Palestine” in conjunction with the “Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration”, is planning on having a joint picket outside of the American Embassy, calling for the end to the oppression of Black and Palestinian Peoples by the United States of America.

Screenshot 2020-07-02 at 08.17.25

For over seventy years Palestinians have been daily murdered by the forces of Zionism while courageously standing up for their rights to be free from racism, colonialism, occupation, and oppression. All people committed to human rights need to stand with them. We must show solidarity with them, just as we did against apartheid in South Africa.

Lalu Hanuman, Attorney-at-law and Secretary of Caribbean Against Apartheid in Palestine, said “It is apt that there is this joint action on BLM and Palestine, as Zionism, like the Ku Klux Klan, has a supremacist racist ideology”.

Further information from Tel: (246)-420-2022.

This Island State

Submitted by Mama Leah
“look at the King, look at the King, the King, the King, the King is without his clothes.”
Barbados has no legislation to specifically address and protect abuse of the Elderly.
You would think that a country that boasts so many centenarians would have had the presence of mind to prepare and provide for this group of its citizens.  That after all these years and with a Governor-General who visits each one and herself an Attorney by profession and the Prime Minister too, they would want that these people enjoy a comfortable twilight.  Or that since June 24, 2016, and Alicia Archer’s article in the Barbados Today – On Truly fixing elderly abuse – four frigging years, this mess-up, slip-up, frigg-up would have been addressed post haste.
Alas, not.
So time and time again more and more our senior citizens are subjected to merciless abuse of person, property, integrity and no one seems able to stem this onslaught.
For the most part, the less achieved and accomplished are deposited at the Geriatric Hospital with less than a backward glance.  Others become literal prisoners in their own homes with little access to outside assistance or rescue or resolve ONLY BECAUSE THE POWERS THAT BE HAVE FAILED TO CONSIDER THEM AND MAKE ADEQUATE AND SENSIBLE LEGISLATION(s) TO PROTECT THEM.
Mind you, Barbados is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.  Conventions are ‘hard laws’..ie when a UN Member State ratifies (signs) a treaty, the treaty becomes legally binding on that member state.
Notwithstanding all of this, there are legislations under which older persons can be protected, such as the Domestic Violence Law, Human Rights Law, and Criminal Law for theft or fraud.  So why is it so difficult to get action for these ‘vulnerable’ people?  I’ll tell you.  They just don’t frigging well care.  Its merely academic
This is a crying shame. NO.  It’s flipping unacceptable.

Parental Alienation Barbados is Unchecked Emotional Abuse

 

Kammie-Holder

Submitted by Kammie Holder, Fathers & Parents for Justice

Great communicators all know, when, how and where to speak. Not all pronouncements need a response for to respond is to give credence. However, there comes a time when you see the weak crying out and you are compelled to act as an emotionally strong individual, to do what comes natural. But don’t blame me, blame residents of Clinketts Garden, Church Village and Cliff Tenantry for my socialization stance against wickedness, deceit and injustice.

Therefore, after taking a step back in raising concerns about the emotional abuse and emasculation of good non threatening fathers within our system I am moved by many recent complaints. Let me in all fairness say men have been reporting a considerable change in attitudes from the courts. No longer am I getting complaints of, I don’t want to hear from you, let me hear the woman from men appearing in courts. The government did spend money on emotional intelligence and sensitivity training to ensure the public does not loose confidence in the court system. You would have thought the attorneys who depend on a living doing these highly emotional and contentious maintenance and access matters would have gotten the memo titled ” In the best interest of the child.”

Unfortunately, some attorneys who work in the family courts have not gotten this memo, and  are behaving like self serving financial mercenaries, ignoring the option of mediation while manipulating these issues, for another pay day at the expense of children.

  • Who really cares about non threatening supportive fathers names deliberately omitted from school registration form? Not the Ministry Of Education.
  • Who cares about how soft courts are on women who breach orders? Not the courts.
  • Who cares about the malicious protection orders taken out yearly? Not the police.
  • Who cares about the emotional abuse of children alienated from their fathers. Not the mothers or schools.
  • Who cares about the father who cannot attend form level meetings? Not the form teachers.
  • Who cares women testimony in these matters is always seen as gospel and men are suspect? Not the courts.
  • Who cares about the agreed amendment to the Maintenance Act of Support In Kind becoming law? Not the AG or members of parliament.
No one cares until dysfunctional behaviours sets in and we react by sending these kids to Edna Nichols or Dodds.

If the government really wants to save money it needs to look at the removing of Maintenance and Access issues from Legal Aid to dissuade mercenary attorneys from abusing system.

Much confusion is created when these matters go straight to the precincts of the adversarial courts where they become a blood sport for lawyers seeking to score points and drawn out pay days.  This government also needs to do right thing by the children and accept the recommended amendment to the Maintenance Act of Support In Kind, automatically the resistance by some selfish  parents to co-parent and allow access to other parent becomes a non issue.

Why do we allow the antagonist feminist who seeks to create the same inequality and gender bias they complain about to persist on a road of mischief? If our children are our future, courts, social workers and Child Care Board must not only utter, in the child’s best interest as a mantra, but must also act in the child’s best interest and not in the interests of weeping mothers. Parental Alienation in Barbados is real and it destroys children emotionally and leads to societal dysfunction for generations to come. The erasing of another parent from the life of a child is not only criminal is now cited by some countries as a criminal act.

Men are hurting and are feeling ignored and let down by a gynocentric society. How much longer will the Attorney General ignore the need for Support In Kind? Someday, we will be mature enough as a democracy to stop make gynocentric public pronouncements that the family court will make it better for women!

Monday Sermon – Encourage Others To Growth

grenville-phillips

Grenville Phillips II, Leader of Solutions Barbados

Last week, we learnt that Jesus instructed those who wanted to follow Him, that they should obey His commandments.  These commandments or instructions train the follower for future responsibilities.  As we train, we grow.

Those who choose not to pursue this training will not lose their salvation.  However, they do themselves a grave disservice.  If they happen to be influential, then they can cause others to remain spiritually infantile.

If people remain spiritually infantile, then they will likely never learn to overcome temptations.  There are consequences for irresponsibly influencing others to remain vulnerable to temptations.  Hear Jesus.


“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”  (Matthew 18:6)

We must be very careful not to dissuade others from growing.  As we train, we will inevitably stumble.  However, through practice, we get progressively better.

Phartford Files: Hard Truths – Part 2

Submitted by Ironside

In part 1 of this submission, I tried to make the case that the problems of Barbados are not primarily economic [or even social for that matter] but are anchored in our spiritual relationship [or lack of one] with the Sovereign Lord. Despite the filibusters and tantrums that were thrown, it seems that there is some level of agreement with this.

In this instalment I will detail some of the specifics of at least one of the things of which we need to repent. However, before I proceed I wish to make my stance on religion clear. So here is what I said to one commenter in Part 1:
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P.S. I hate religion! I mean it. Perhaps Karl Marx was right, “Religion is the opium of the people”. Repentance is NOT about religion but about a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with the King of Kings AS DEFINED BY HIM, not us e.g. the NEW AGERS! That’s the part we can’t swallow! We can like it or lump it but God IS SOVEREIGN !!
N.B. There was no religion in the Garden of Eden until Lucifer came along!
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I also want to make it clear that I am not really dealing with individual sins and therefore, individual repentance per se. However, if your conscience get pricked in the process, so be it. Do something about it.

On the contrary, I am dealing with national repentance. Check the scriptures and note, that almost without exception, calls for repentance were made to whole nations! To Israel! To Nineveh (the city called Mosul in modern day Iraq). To Egypt!

Of course, there are cases where individuals are singled out, for example, an individually delivered call for David to repent after his malfeasance with Bathsheba. But by and large, it was national repentance.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver… Jeremiah 4:1NLT

That is why the LORD says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Joel 2:12 NLT

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

So what are these “national sins” from which we need to repent? Glad you asked!

IDOLATRY: HERO WORSHIP OR PERSONALITY CULT

In Barbados idolatry finds expression in the growing personality cult and hero worship which we practice AT A NATIONAL LEVEL. Back in 2010 the Nationnews had this to say about the personality cult re. the DEMS.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It’s time for Barbadians to open their eyes and see past the propaganda and the “personality cult” that abounds and select a Government based on its competence level. But then again, we must be a simple-minded people since we keep repeating the same mistakes. Nationnews 20 December 2010
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According to my spiritual analysis, that is why Barbados has been handed Mystery Babylon. Every Bajan who was awake then (or now) knows the BLP was swept into power on the skirts of Mystery Babylon. Women clamoured for her as the Saviour of Barbados. They identified with her as a woman! So much so that even though she said she would go to the IMF, they still voted her in. And the first casualties of the IMF were the [female] secretaries in government! What a betrayal! No surprise here; this is just the Mystery Babylon persona in action.

Moreover, within months Mystery Babylon was projecting itself as the new Caribbean leader as well as emasculating the male ministers right before our very eyes. What arrogance and hyperbolic conceit! Shame on you BLP men!

A female friend of mine said to me just hours ago before I started writing this: “We taking this female thing too far!” She was speaking about another female appointment to a position I will not identify. I reminded her of my favourite saying, “Too far east is west!”

Some of us are so far away from the Sovereign One that we do not understand his ways; especially His “tough love” modus de operandi. Look, if you crave something bad enough he will give it to you to knock yourself out.

Lucifer wanted a kingdom so he got a kingdom of darkness!

Here is Israel asking for a king:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.” 6 But when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” their demand was displeasing in the sight of Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.
1 Samuel 8: 5 – 7 BSB
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Israel again:
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim, and on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt, they came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai. There in the desert they all complained to Moses and Aaron and said to them, “We wish that the LORD had killed us in Egypt. There we could at least sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death.”

The LORD said to Moses, “Now I am going to cause food to rain down from the sky for all of you. The people must go out every day and gather enough for that day. In this way I can test them to find out if they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to bring in twice as much as usual and prepare it.” Exodus 16: 1- 5
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So let’s get to the point:

Hero Worship is Sin!
The Sovereign One says we need to stop the hero worship and personality cult, so I am passing on the message. This is not North Korea.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. Exodus 20:2- 3 Berean Study Bible

You must worship no other gods, for the LORD, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you. Exodus 34:14 NLT
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

WHEN MOSES DIED, JEHOVAH BURIED HIM HIMSELF; WHERE THE PEOPLE COULDN’T FIND HIM. HE WAS NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED!

I like Luther Vandross’ music but he is dead. I do not worship him! Folks, Errol Barrow did a lot of good but he is dead! Stop worshipping him. Clennell Wickham is dead. Stop adoring him. It makes me puke. It is enough to make God angry! Stop putting all that historical crap on TV about these people. Let the historians find some other avenue for their skills. I suggest they write about the “history of the lawyertocracy in Barbados!” That should occupy them or a while.

Most young people in this country neither “know”, nor care a cat’s whisker about Errol Barrow or Clennell Wickham. They are living now! Not one of them [dead heroes or heroines] is going to save our butts when the next hurricane comes along or get us out of this economic disaster we are in.

Neither will Mystery Babylon!

Worshipping Mystery Babylon is a sin. Hero worship is a sin! A national sin! Period! We need to repent of it, now! So CBC, get it together! Reporters and editors, help get out of this descending orbit! Churches! put this on warp drive!

The constitutional crisis we have is a blessing in disguise. It is our cue to repent. Then we would have started the process of freeing ourselves from Mystery Babylon!

Sex in Schools

grenville-phillips

Submitted by Grenville Phillips II, Leader of Solutions Barbados

Solutions Barbados is disappointed with the Ministry of Education’s weak response, to the warnings from Charlie Spice of the Adult Industry Association.

Mr Spice noted that over the past three years, there have been countless child pornography videos of Barbadian school children circulating via smart phones.  He noted that child prostitution was growing exponentially across Barbados, and that Barbados was on course to become the country with the highest rate of under-age sex in schools.

Solutions Barbados predicted a similar trend over two years ago, when the former Minister of Education allowed our students to have smart phones in schools, without the critical pornography filters.  We have repeatedly warned of the obvious harmful consequences, since it was foreseen that children will try to mimic what they repeatedly watch.  Solutions Barbados urges the BLP administration to consider the following solutions.

First, install pornography filters on all wireless routers at schools, resource centres, and anywhere where free WiFi is offered by Government.  Second, install a password-protected pornography filter on every student’s cell phone when they enter the school.  Third, start charging adults who have sex with our children.  The cost to Government to implement each of these initiatives is $0.00.

Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer and President of Solutions Barbados.  He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com

The Rhetoric of Austerity

Screenshot 2019-04-13 at 06.46.58.png

Economic Advisor to DLP Government

ECONOMIST SIR FRANK ALLEYNE says one of the reasons why Barbados was in the current economic mess was the country’s failure to pay workers based on productivity. Sir Frank, one of the Freundel Stuart administration’s trusted advisers, said yesterday that had the various governments followed through on the productivity focus after the 1991 economic crisis, many of the problems the country faced might have been alleviated. […] Sir Frank said the centrepiece of the structural adjustment programme was productivity enhancement.

Prior to May 24, 2018 the constant national refrain was that the economic and social state of the country had deteriorated to an unacceptable level. This position was punished by the electorate in unprecedented manner with the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) being inflicted with a 30-0 defeat. The simple tranlation of the result, the people are not happy.

It should be of concern to sensible Barbadians everywhere the vitriolic and uninformed political debate which has emerged in recent years. It is a predictable debate and often sees a predictable response by incumbent governments. The politically aware have stated the primary job of a political party is to find a way to stoke popularity.

In a well meaning democracy the needs of the people should be the prime objective. There are listed as being able to promote unity and tranquillity in the domestic space,  ensure justice for all, defense and safeguard the welfare and liberty of all the people – What is the purpose of government?. The opposite view is that no government is perfect in the vision or execution. How we govern is a man made construct and susceptible to the fallibility of man.

A couple weeks ago the blogmaster was motivated to write about the predictability to what has translated to a worrying crime situation. The same can be transposed to how we have and continue to govern ourselves. This blogmaster has been at the dashboard from 2007 and have been positioned to view the workings of political operatives having reason to interact with prime ministers, senators, ministers in government, surrogates, political talking heads et al. They operate with the same intent. They are driven by greed and an a destructive value system.

Barbados is a tiny island and if well managed with realistic objectives should satisfy the purpose of government. Instead we have allowed behaviours to be greatly influenced by popular culture. This has created the recurring dysfunction of government we have become mired. This week we learned about the many many PSV permits the outgoing government issued before demitting office -on the most profitable routes. A portfolio led by Michael Lashley.  Prior, this blogmaster is aware of  many PSV permits issued by Gline Clarke. We are aware there was financial benefit accrued to decision makers. This is one example of how greed and corruption as eventually led to an insolvent Transport Board taxpayers are left holdoing the bag.

Look in the mirror people!

Sensible Barbadians should have the capacity to view how systems of government are in decline across the globe. If we fail to show the courage to disrupt the current trajectory there is a predictable inevitability to how it will end for us.

In an situation where austerity measures have to be taken, one expects constituents being impacted to voice concern. One also expects the government charged with managaing the process to admoister it as humanely as practicable. As important is for civil society to be resonsible in voicing feedback.

It seems to this blogmaster we are in danger of being subsumed by a destructive rhetoric motivated by egocentric thinking.

Beware the rhetoric of austerity.

 

 

 

 

 

Lawyer-politicians Take Us for FOOLS

Submitted by Cheryl Newton

Lawyer-politicians make me sick to the stomach and are full of shit.  Perhaps they behave with much contempt as if of the opinion we all went to school in August. When in government they seem to sit on their brains and when in opposition behave as the smartest persons in the world.

A 300 page report was completed by former Magistrate Faith Marshall Harris – UN Children Advocate – which was not tabled in parliament by the last administration to amend the Minors Act and the Maintenance Act. The BLP is also ignoring that report.

The system is just as clogged as the sewer at the Supreme Court because of the many frivolous emotional access and maintenance cases that are made contentious by lawyers seeking to suck on the sore financial nipples of legal aid which is in a pre-cancerous state and under the surgical knife of BERT.

The recommendations in the UN Children’s Advocate whitepaper are so comprehensive that it takes into consideration support in kind. It also deals with the eagerness of mostly women to use an already clogged court system to deal with the emotionally stressful issues of access and maintenance. No longer is cash the only means of support as in kind by respondent and their extended family is now included. Mediation for all access/ maintenance issues rather than the rush to court will be mandatory with only extremely difficult cases going before a magistrate or judge. Even the loss of productivity by turning up for court at 9am only for your case to be heard by an overworked and under paid judicial officer is also dealt with in the proposed amendments.

It is really disgusting how we have silently and complicity allowed the legal industry to have turned our country upside down while the whole country remains silent. We need not wonder why the Bajan slaves were the least paid, most productive and hardly ever revolted against wrong. It’s in our DNA.

Do see the Barbados article below:

MPs Murdered in Jamaica, what if….?

The blogmaster has been following recent events in Jamaica with interest. Two members of parliament were murdered. There is a feeling that it is happening over there and it will never happen in Barbados. The escalating crime situation in Barbados and the change in a Bajan way of life which use to separate us from the rest is no more.

We should not speculate why the MPs were murdered, however, there is good reason for the citizenry to be concerned when public officials are targeted by the criminal element.  For many years the blogmaster and members of the BU family have expressed concern about how Barbados society has changed for the worse. Do we dare speculate that in the near future local news will channel what is currently happening in Jamaica and elsewhere? Already there is a numbness that has set-end regarding gun crime, routine breaking of traffic laws, MPs flouting campaign financing regulations and on it goes.

The blogmaster does not need to be prolix to register his greatest fear. All the signs are present to suggest what is unfolding in Jamaica will happen in Barbados IF….

What is the call the action?

Let us joins hands and show we love Barbados, let us join hands and show we really care…

Politicians and Citizens Falling Short

At the root of  the state of things in Barbados is the high level of voter apathy commingling with a heavy dose of ignorance about the individual role John citizen must play to ensure an effective democratic system. One does not have to read, All the Kings Men or be acquainted with the insights of Niccolò Machiavelli in his well read Prince. The weight which comes from sitting behind the BU dashboard makes the task of enlightening our audience the more urgent.

In April 2013 Barbados Underground (BU) posted a blog George Payne v Edmund Hinkson: Storm Clouds Hovering Over MAM. The blogmaster wondered at the time why politicians who aspire to lead a nation demonstrate an embarrassing inability to resolve personal conflict.

In October 2015 BU posted a blog Remembering What Politicians Do. When the Eager 11 uprising threatened to derail the Stuart led DLP government- Stuart successful quelled the uprising David Estwick and a few colleagues threatened to sue the Nation newspaper for defamation. Here is a quote from the blog:

…this is innuendo and is defamatory in law. Pleased be advised that I have given my lawyers the instruction to see that my integrity in public and private advocation remains untarnished and unsullied…

There was the incident where David Estwick brandished a gun in the presence of Dale Marshall in parliament of all places. In March of 2019 BU posted the blog Two Members Of Parliament David Estwick And Dale Marshall Go At It!.  There is no doubt in the mind of the blogmaster the matter was allowed to fade by the political class with the prorogue of parliament. Why did the Committee of Privileges not honestly rule on the matter in the two years that followed?

There are other examples found in BU Archives that paint a picture of how members of the political class conspired to undermine the democracy they pledged to uphold. It must be stated that the challenge facing Barbadians is no different to citizens elsewhere. In developed countries the smell of decaying societies may stink less or more based on perspective. It is one of the greatest challenges human beings will face as life continues.

#atrophy?

How can Barbados be the proverbial diamond in the rough?

 

Minister Abrahams Evidence Please about the Swamp!

The Editor

Barbados Underground

Barbados,W.I

Dear Sir/Madam,

According to an article in Barbados Today of 2nd.February 2019, Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abrahams had the following to say: “We have come in eight months….. Graeme Hall swamp which was receiving raw sewage for over three years is on the rebound, fish have come back, the water quality is great, smells have gone down, the mosquitoes have been controlled.” He added “that the water in the swamp has remained at acceptable levels since the outfall was commissioned and the Environmental Protection Department has reported that the water quality samples have “comfortably passed” international standards for health and safety. However, oceanographic studies of the beach will be continued to make sure that the 12-inch outfall does not impact the water quality of nearshore or offshore reefs.”

I have some comments to make on the above statements. It is noticeable that no testing seems to have been done on the following: sediments at the bottom of the swamp; the presence of protozoans and lastly the presence of bacteriophages.The protozoan parasites Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp.,are pathogens that are resistant to a number of environmental factors and pose significant risks to public health worldwide. “Their environmental transmission is closely governed by the physio-chemical properties of their cysts (Giardia) and oocysts (Cryptosporidium)allowing their transport, retention, and survival for months in water,soil,vegetables (Dumetre and others (2012).“Interaction Forces Drive the Environmental Transmission of Pathogenic Protozoa.’ Applied and Environmental Microbiology.p905-912. Note ,cysts and oocysts are survival bodies that are extremely resistant to different methods of destruction. It really does not make sense to say because the water is less cloudy that microbial conditions have improved significantly. Since sedimentation occurs over time, there is obviously going to be a gradation from the surface to the bottom of the swamp in the concentration of effluents. At each sub-stratum level, there will be different numbers of viable micro-organisms. The numbers being dependent on the ability of the sunlight to penetrate the water. Obviously,if there is significant amount of sewerage entering the swamp and little exiting into the sea (as seems to be the case locally), penetration of sunlight is going to be restricted due to the high levels of effluent present. The most important factor for the removal of viral and bacterial pathogens is sunlight exposure, although other factors such as temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH are also important. Sedimentation is the most important factor for the removal of protozoan pathogens. Therefore, sampling of the of the different strata and sediment have to be done to reflect the true microbial condition of the swamp’s ecosystem. It is interesting to note that the water quality samples have “comfortably passed” international standards for health. I do not know what this is supposed to mean. For example “Guidelines for the microbiological quality of treated wastewater used in agriculture: recommendations for revising WHO guidelines (Blumenthal and others.2000.Bull.WHO 78:9:1104-1116) reported that The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the US Agency for International Development(USIAD) have recommended strict guidelines for wastewater use as being zero fecal coliform bacteria/100 ml for water used to irrigate crops that are eaten raw(compared with the1989 WHO guidelines of < 1000 fecal coliform bacteria/100 ml), and for irrigation of commercially processed and fodder crops. It would be useful if the results of local sampling were made available to the public.

Sediments may provide a stable index of the general quality of the overlying water, particularly where there is great variability in its bacteriological quality. It should be noted also, however, that if the sediments at the bottom of the swamp are disturbed due to excess surface run-off which causes turbulence at the interface of water and sediment,there is an up-welling of sediment which can cause co-mingle,thereby re-contaminating the water.

Viruses which infect bacteria, are known as bacteriophages or simply as phages. Normally,phages infect a specific strain of bacteria. Enteric micro-organisms associated with fecal contamination are E.coli, klebsiella spp.,Shigella etc. There is a direct relationship between the number of phages and the intensity of fecal contamination. It should be noted here that the bacteriophage hijacks the bacterium DNA to make copies of itself,resulting in the death of the host(bacterium). Therefore, the failure to detect pathogenic bacteria does not mean that the water quality is adequate

The outfall which is being used to pump partially treated effluent into the sea,is going to cause an algae bloom,resulting in eutrophication (depletion of dissolved oxygen).As a result,there is going to be what can be termed a desert being formed in the affected area of the sea in which there is an absence of biotic life.

Sincerely

Robert D. Lucas, PH.D and CFS

 

Once There is Hope There is a Future

There is the perspective about what are the defining characteristics of a human being compared to the other (non human). Some will retreat to the world of the esoteric, others draw from life experience laced with a commonsense perspective.

For over a decade the blogmaster supported by members of his household have been motivated by the importance of keeping HOPE alive in our personal life. It is a simple yet powerful philosophy to abide by  – without kindling that flame of hope there is no basis upon which we can hope to innovate and adapt to sustain an acceptable way of life, to realize our dreams.

The imperfection of man given the fallibility strand which helps to define us makes us vulnerable to being overwhelmed with the vicissitudes of life. This will give rise to hopelessness, frustration and a myriad of other susceptibilities. During moments when hope dims some members of the human species are able to fuel recovery from an indomitable spirit that resides in some of us. A flickering flame that always guards the darkness that surrounds us.

Some are critical of Winston Churchill for how he operated in a bygone era with good reason. However for some of us that rely on the power of oral and written communication to awaken the understanding in the audience it serves- his first speech as Prime Minister to the House of Commons on May 13, 1940 supports a valid point.

This extract from Churchill’s speech resonated and served to sway public support for a war that had taken its toll on Britain from the marauding Germans during the second world war:

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,
we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,
we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

Barbados is facing one of its most challenging periods. It is an easy task to surrender to the emotions that control hopelessness and despair within us. The capacity to break free from self talk and old behaviours that have served us well up to now require a differential human capacity. The human experience supports a view that a minority element in the population is always charged with finding a way to keep hope alive in the wider group.

There is also the suggestion a human being must be made to believe in something to give purpose to his existence. Some in the BU family will make the predictable interpretation. For some life’s journey is fuelled by transactional thoughts, for others there is the overarching importance of injecting the philosophical to how we guide our lifes.

This is a figurative call to Arms to Barbadians everywhere.

 

The Jeff Cumberbatch Column – Criminalizing Attire and the Rule of Law [II]

Every person in Guyana is entitled to the basic right to a happy, creative and productive life, free from hunger, ignorance and want. That right includes the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual.” – Article 40(1) of the Constitution of Guyana

The first part of this extended essay last week treated the arrests, convictions and subsequent unsuccessful constitutional challenges both at first instance and in the Court of Appeal of the four accused in that each one, being a man, had appeared in female attire in a public place for an improper purpose contrary to section 153 (1) (xlvii) of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act of Guyana. They then appealed to the Caribbean Court of Justice [CCJ]. This week, we seek to analyze part of the leading judgment of Saunders PCCJ respect with which the other members of the panel unanimously agreed. The decision is of clear precedential importance to Barbados, among other jurisdictions.

In his view, there were four issues that arose for determination by the Court. These were, namely, whether the section violated the appellants’ rights to equality and non-discrimination guaranteed to them by the Guyana Constitution; whether it violated their identically guaranteed right to freedom of expression; whether it offended the principles of the rule of law in light of the vagueness of the provision, especially with regard to the terms “improper purpose”, “male attire” and “female attire”; and whether the reproving remarks of the Magistrate were appropriate and, if not, their consequence.

First, he sought to place the section in its historical context, and found that it was part of a suite of nineteenth century laws enacted against vagrancy and designed originally to “regulate and exercise control of both the ex-slave population and, in places like Guyana, the newly imported indentured labourers” in order to curtail mobility, to keep close to the plantations those whose labour was essential for continued exploitation.

Second, as a preliminary point, he examined the question of whether the section might be considered an existing law and thus be deemed immune from inquiry as to its conformity with the fundamental rights provisions in the Guyanese Constitution. It is submitted that special attention ought to be paid locally to the observations of the CCJ on this point, since it has been sometimes urged as likely to defeat any challenges to laws that conceivably infringe the fundamental rights of individuals, and was in fact used to validate the 1991 eight per cent salary cut imposed on public officers in spite of forceful informed argument to the contrary. Our provision, section 26, reads as follows-

Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any written law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of any provision of sections 12 to 23 to the extent that the law in question–

(a) is a law (in this section referred to as “an existing law”) that was enacted or made before 30th November 1966 and has continued to be part of the law of Barbados at all times since that day;

(b)repeals and re-enacts an existing law without alteration; or

(c) alters an existing law and does not thereby render that law inconsistent with any provision of sections 12 to 23 in a manner in which, or to an extent to which, it was not previously so inconsistent

(2) In subsection (1)(c), the reference to altering an existing law includes references to repealing it and re-enacting it with modifications or making different provisions in lieu thereof, and to modifying it, and in subsection (1) “written law” includes any instrument having the force of law; and in this subsection and subsection (1) references to the repeal and re-enactment of an existing law shall be construed accordingly.

One traditional defence for the existence of this clause is that it was enacted to secure a smooth transition of the law from earlier times to independent status, but the President gave this argument short shrift-

After more than 50 years of independence it is quite a stretch to say that Guyana (or indeed any other independent Commonwealth Caribbean state) is still in that transition phase.

And he noted its corrosive effect on the guaranteed freedoms and the supervisory power of the Courts –

The broad effect of the savings clause, read literally by many, is that these human rights, so carefully laid out in the Constitution, must give way to the dictates of a pre-Independence law until and unless the legislature amends the pre-independence law…The hallowed concept of constitutional supremacy is severely undermined by the notion that a court should be precluded from finding a pre-independence law, indeed any law, to be inconsistent with a fundamental human right. Simply put, the savings clause is at odds with the court’s constitutionally given power of judicial review.

He referred too to an earlier decision of the Court in a recent appeal from Barbados, where the Court had noted that-

With these general savings clauses, colonial laws … are caught in a time warp continuing to exist in their primeval form, immune to the evolving understandings and effects of applicable fundamental rights. This cannot be the meaning to be ascribed to that provision as it would forever frustrate the basic underlying principles that the Constitution is the supreme law and that the judiciary is independent.”

The sustained hostility demonstrated by the CCJ to the savings law clause should give some encouragement to those local individuals and entities who now consider themselves hamstrung in challenging legislation on the basis of its perceived fundamental rights infringement, simply because such legislation existed prior to 1966.

Indeed, the court itemized no fewer than four principles on the basis of which the clause itself may be impugned. According to the judgment-

Firstly, even if one were to apply the clause fully and literally, because of its potentially devastating consequences for the enjoyment of human rights, the savings clause must be construed narrowly, that is to say, restrictively.

Secondly, assuming again a full and literal application of the clause, the clause only saves laws that infringe the individual human rights stipulated in the clause itself. It does not preclude the court from holding a pre-independence law to be invalid if in fact the law runs counter to some constitutional provision that falls outside the specified individual human rights,

Thirdly, application of the clause may result in placing the State on a collision course with its treaty responsibilities and it is a well-known principle that courts should, as far as possible, avoid an interpretation of domestic law that places a State in breach of its international obligations.

The fourth approach is the most contentious. But it has support from very distinguished jurists. It is that courts should first apply the modification clause to the relevant pre- Independence law before attempting to apply the savings law clause. We consider each of these approaches in turn.

Legal scholarship has also been generally antithetical to the savings law clause. In an article published in the University of Miami Inter-America law review in 2004, Professor Margaret Burnham of the Northeastern University School of Law, pulled no punches in her withering assessment-

The clause eliminates the plasticity, organicity, and elasticity that fundamental rights adjudication requires to respond effectively, as it must, both to evolving universal standards” and to culturally specific normative shifts.” In sum, it violates the time- hono[u]red rule, cogently expressed by Alexander Hamilton, that constitutional framers must “look forward to remote futurity.”

One other justification for the savings law clause that I am aware of but that was not treated by President Saunders or the Court is that the guaranteed fundamental rights are not entirely new, but have existed, at least in embryonic form, since earliest times, so that the clause does not detract from the essential nature of the existing right. Given the history of the region, this view is at least of dubious cogency.

Next week -The s.153 offence and the fundamental rights

Need to Respond to Rising Crime and Violence

When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.
Nelson Mandela

There has been a spike in criminal activity over the last two weeks a few we must label brazen.

The Attorney General and Commissioner of Police will point to the ‘stats’ to support the perennial concern of Barbadians that criminal activity remains at a low level comparatively so. The blogmaster reminds the goodly gentlemen that the ‘stats’ being quoted are criminal acts reported by the public.

The observation is that when the ugly head of crime raises its head higher than normal there always a hue and cry from the public calling for the police force to be more efficient. For the Courts to efficiently execute. There is a heavy focus on ENFORCEMENT.

Barbados is fortunate – using the word loosely – to be able to study the criminal landscape of our regional neighbours where the crime ‘stats’ are higher than Barbados. A conclusion is that it will not matter if there is an increase in the boots on the ground, whether we co-opt the army to support the police or even arm the police with more firepower. Other considerations have to be factored in the solution to be able to wrestle the vexing matter of increasing crime.

What are the underlying factors driving the dysfunctional behaviour affecting segments in the society threatening to destabilize our society? Bear in mind one of the redeeming and differentiating qualities of Barbados post independence has been the perception and reputation of being an orderly society with citizens showing respect for law and order. To state the obvious the blogmaster’s concern about escalating crime includes blue and white collar crime.

We have had discussions on BU’s pages about the rising crime in Barbados. The focus has been on what is visible, the acts. If we start from a basic position that a society is the “the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community”- the sustainable solution to tackling rising crime must be about influencing behaviours. We have to improve enforcement, however, a more proactive approach to dealing with parental delinquency, maintaining standards in the school system and fostering a culture in our communities where we are our borther’s keeper. Overarching what is required is for our leaders in the political and social sphere to execute on relevant plans that are relevant.

This weekend the blogmaster had reason to be in a rough neighbourhood and was intrigued to listen to a blockman sharing his view about the gun violence and brazen robberies being committed in Barbados of late. He was emphatic that it will get worse. Perpetrating violence by a young lawless group according to him is regarded as a ‘badge of honour’ and often a rite of passage in the communities they exist.  The culture espoused in ghetto music out of Jamaica feeds a mentality that middle class Barbadians removed from village and hood life cannot begin to fathom.

Do we know what we need to do to haul this lawless segment from the morass they now find themselves?

Do we appreciate time has run out on ignoring the situation?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Jeff Cumberbatch Column – Criminalizing attire and the rule of law [I]

The…appellants here, by choosing to dress in clothing and accessories traditionally associated with women, are in effect expressing their identification with the female gender. And the expression of a person’s gender identity forms a fundamental part of their right to dignity. Recognition of this gender identity must be given constitutional protection.per Saunders P. in McEwan, Clarke and ors. v. AG of Guyana

If you wear that, town block…per Glenfield Eastmond (The Devil) in “We goin’ do dixie.”

Transgender dressing, or cross-dressing as it is more popularly referred to, especially by males, is not unknown to most Barbadians of my generation. Time was, in the 1970s and 1980s, when there seemed to be a nightly fashion parade of cross dressers in Baxter’s Road and its environs. In that era too, there was, on more occasions than one, a production called “Queen of the B’s” in which males made appearances, as in any traditional beauty show, in the makeup, formal wear and swimsuits ordinarily worn by females in such contests.

Then, this transgender culture was generally regarded more as a source of fascination and amusement than anything else. However, it appears to have fallen into desuetude (some would uncharitably say “died out”) and the newly popular local attitude to gender transformation may have been witnessed in the apparently favourable reaction to a composition in the last Pic’ o’ de Crop calypso competition entitled Sex Change in which the artiste, Billboard, asserted “there is no such thing as being transgender as you cannot change your sex”.

As a Barbados Advocate editorial pointed out – Permanently fixed at birth?, this assertion, while it may be supported in current local law, fails to take account of the modern reality as manifested in legislation such as the Gender Recognition Act 2004 of the UK, a statute that enables transsexuals to apply for a certificate showing that the person has satisfied the criteria for legal recognition in the acquired gender.

This issue of transgender dressing, that appears to be prevalent in most regional jurisdictions, recently engaged the attention of the Caribbean Court of Justice in arguably unusual circumstances. What was once regarded with curious amusement in Barbados, and I assume in the other jurisdictions, has been criminalized in Guyana by virtue of section 153 (1) (xlvii) of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act of that jurisdiction. This provides-

Every person who does any of the following acts shall, in each case, be liable to a fine of not less than seven thousand nor (sic) more than…dollars—

(xlvii) being a man, in any public way or public place, for any improper purpose, appears in female attire; or being a woman, in any public way or public place, for any improper purpose, appears in male attire…

In the instant case, the appellants had been arrested and charged with this offence. They pleaded guilty before the Magistrate and were fined accordingly. However, in a manner that is not unknown locally, the Magistrate thought it appropriate to deliver an admonition after conviction. According to the judgment-

The Magistrate told the…appellants that they must go to church and give their lives to Jesus Christ. The Magistrate advised them that they were confused about their sexuality; that they were men, not women.”

They next launched an action in the High Court against the state for a violation of their constitutional rights, most relevant here claiming that the law was bad because it was vague, uncertain, irrational and discriminatory. The vagueness and uncertainty, they said, related to the words “improper purpose”, “female attire” and “male attire” and that it infringed their rights to equality under the law and not to be discriminated against and their right to freedom of expression. They also argued that the remarks of the magistrate reinforced the statal discrimination. This action was unsuccessful, as was the appeal to the Guyana Court of Appeal.

So far as section 153 was concerned, the judge at first instance was of the view that it was immunized from constitutional challenge on the basis of human rights, since it was saved by the savings law clause in the Guyana Constitution. The judge also decided that it was the improper purpose that was the true basis of the criminalization of cross-dressing in public and not the dress itself. Accordingly, “it is not criminally offensive for a person to wear the attire of the opposite sex as a matter of preference or to give expression or to reflect his or her sexual orientation”.

The court held also that the section was not discriminatory because the section is “directed against the conduct of both male and female persons”. Moreover, in an unusually restricted meaning of the word, it was decided that the section addresses “attire” only. In the judge’s interpretation of the law, it was not an offence for a male person to wear a female head wig or earrings or female shoes in a public place, even for an improper purpose. And as for the admonitory remarks by the magistrate, the judge was of the view that while these amounted to “proselytising”, they did not constitute a hindrance to freedom of thought and of religion.

As already noted, the appellants did not fare any better in the Court of Appeal. In this regard, paragraphs 24 and 25 of the judgment of President Saunders are instructive.

The Court of Appeal expressed its “complete agreement” with the trial judge’s view that section 153 carried no taint of gender discrimination. On the vagueness point, while acknowledging that the expression “improper purpose” is broad in meaning, the court pointed out that the use of broad terms in statutory provisions is pervasive. In this case, according to the Court of Appeal, the meaning of “improper purpose”, as used in section 153, is “to be gleaned from the context or more directly, the factual circumstance, including the place and time at which the ‘improper purpose’ as used in section 153 is alleged.” In support of this conclusion, the court referred to statements in R v Crown Court at Wood Green ex parte DPP. It was stated there that the legal meaning of statutes, which are vaguely drawn, is to be determined by courts on a case-by-case basis. The court noted that given the changing times, it is impossible for the draftsman to have captured the degree of certainty which a criminalizing enactment ought to bear. The use of the phrase “improper purpose” was intended to capture a range of different situations.

The Court of Appeal answered the appellants’ concern that the vagueness of cross- dressing in public for an “improper purpose” makes it impossible for a citizen to know how to regulate his/her conduct. The court’s view was that it requires “a measure of internal rationalization so that the citizen is able to determine for himself the consequences which a given action may entail”. The Court of Appeal proceeded to suggest examples of conduct that would fail to meet a “proper purpose” standard. One such example given was where a man puts on a dress, a wig and high-heeled shoes, pretending to be a woman in distress, and then enters a taxi in order to rob the driver.

The Court also unanimously dismissed the complaint against the magistrate on the ground that she had made her comments after imposing sentence and therefore what was said could not have influenced the proceedings. [Original emphasis]

Next week –The decision of the CCJ

Court System Not Protecting Men – UN Convention On Rights Of Child White Paper

There is a concern by advocates of the rights of men that our legislators are not doing enough. The  130 page White Paper on the Child Protection and the Maintenance Act is an opportunity to defend the rights of men as it relates to Parental Alienation Syndrome. It is accepted that decisions handed down by Barbados Courts are are in the majority pro-woman. The ignorance and insensitivity of judicial officers presiding over family matters in the local court system has reached

To quote a male advocate,

…the white paper is revolutionary in its 130 page recommendations for it speaks to a minimum of 50% shared parenting for every parent once child in not in any danger. No longer will claimants go straight to court-  mediation and counselling will be required in all maintenance as well as access issues for the court is unnecessary clogged with these emotional issues…the Amendments in the white paper now speak to in kind maintenance as the extended family can help…Courts in Barbados perpetuate the notion that men are just a source of finance…

Read full text: UN Convention On Rights Of Child Whitepaper Barbados

Senator Lisa Cummins Comments on Rejection of the Amendment to Offences against the Person Amendment Bill 2018

The following was posted to Senator Lisa Cummins Facebook wall. Our legal luminary Dean Jeff Cumberbatch opined as follows when asked if he agreed with the Senator:

@David, There is not much to disagree with there, but I am of the view that the failure was owed to crass politicking.See be;ow-

Notably, the Constitution also now provides for the convicted person himself to make a submission to the Privy Council – see section 78 (5).

It would thus have been in the nation’s best interest for the Senate to accede to the Boyce amendment that, in our view, does not fundamentally alter the intendment of the legislation under debate.

Unfortunately, thereafter, according to one report, the matter appears to have descended into partisan politics, with the Leader of Government Business objecting to the amendment proposed by Senator Boyce on the ground that the impugned provision in the Bill had also been proposed by the previous DLP administration.
The Constitution remains unchanged

There has been a lot of understandable debate about the death penalty bill that was before our Parliament and I want to take a moment to explain what the bill is and is not.

The bill is NOT a move to remove the sentence of death from the books of Barbados. The sentence of death as a penalty REMAINS on our books.

It is a move to comply with the rulings of the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights and the CCJ that in cases of murder, the fact that the law ONLY allows for a sentence of death is unconstitutional.

What does it do?

If you are involved in ANY kind of incident resulting in death, the law as it stands does not allow for our TV cases we all love to watch to be applied. So there is no 1st, 2nd degree or manslaughter provision by which different sentences can be applied. The death penalty is the only sentence. Think about that for a moment… Its not right and the courts have said so.

The role of Parliament is to serve as the legislature so it makes and changes laws in the interest of our nation. This bill moved to change the law to fix the problems I identified in oversimplified manner and the rulings of the appellate courts that we must comply with.

Imagine that just a few months ago during our election many were up in arms that the Electoral commission and the then govt REFUSED to comply with four court rulings instructing them that the law allowed for commonwealth voters to be registered in Barbados. We could not imagine how the Govt refused to uphold the ruling of the court.

So here we are, in effect, refusing to uphold the ruling of two courts which have said we need to make this change.

The effect?
The assizes have opened and no murder cases can be called. They cannot be called because there can be no sentencing. Not as long as the death penalty remains mandatory. The key here is the word mandatory. Mandatory simply means there is no alternative to the sentence of death. Whatever the circumstances.

So there is nothing to celebrate here. The accused killers of the breadman this week if caught will sit in prison and lime away their days in perpetuity if they fail to make bail and chill at the tax payers expense. Their cases cannot be called. There is no sentence available to them. Not even the death penalty that people may want simply, because it is still mandatory and as long as that is the case, Barbados is not in compliance with the rulings made by the higher courts.

Think about the families, including maybe yours, who will have persons accused of a crime resulting in death of their loved ones who cannot find closure because this Bill did not allow us to change the laws and give judges the option of other sentences after trial.

Think about the possibility that with the length of time the system will take to deal with this issue will result in many people leaving prison having already served their time while on remand – because they’ve been chilling in prison so long before their case was called – that they could get a sentence equal to time served. Where is the justice in that?

I understand that many people simply hear the words ‘Death penalty’ and think that the govt is removing it from our books and growing soft on criminal behaviour. That is not what this is about. In simple terms the death penalty remains on our books BUT judges now would have the discretion to sentence to death for the most egregious offences and hand down a lesser sentence for offences with mitigating factors. That is not just the right thing to do, it is what the IACHR and CCJ have ruled that we have to do.

Even before these rulings the privy Council weighed in and ruled that the length of time a person sentenced to death is on death row matters. It constitutes, according to the Privy Council, ‘cruel and inhumane punishment’ to have persons sitting on death row for eons. So time spent in prison matters after sentencing. If we are not careful we will also find ourselves being challenged about the length of time being spent in prison before sentencing and without even a trial. also think about that angle.

I’ve also seen some comments on absent Senators. Barbados lives in the world. Our professionals travel on business all the time. Three of us have been traveling and still are. That’s the reality of doing business – we have to engage in the conduct of international relations and the national business at home and abroad must continue. So that point is moot.

What took place last Wednesday in the Senate, in all its parts, was unfortunate. It was unfortunate for our justice system and for families with both lost loved ones and those with persons accused of crimes. It was unfortunate period.

But what it shows is that there is a great deal of public education required about the workings of the government and its respective arms. Many people simply just don’t understand and in the vacuum the discussion is vocal but limited. It’s the same as the unfortunate case of two nations voting this week in small numbers against accepting the CCJ. What people dont understand they fear and social media often fills the gap with distorted information by persons who also dont know but at least have a platform to share misguided views.

Public civic education needs to be an urgent priority so that we leverage an engaged population into an engaged knowledgeable population. In this death penalty discussion there is too much hype and it needs to be dialed back and replaced with a solid, simple conversation.

Let’s see where we go from here in the peoples interest…

End Quote

Related links:

 

No Haircut for Old People Says PM Mottley

Extracted from Facebook page SURVIVING OUR HARSH ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

The news that the government has taken the decision to rollback on a decision to implement a debt restructure program intended to be broad brush is good news. To have inflected the level of emotional stress on senior citizens whose focus should be enjoying the fruits of their labour in the golden years can only be described as unconscionable.

There is also a conversation in the country that is getting louder about the possibility of citizens bringing a legal motion against government on the basis breach of contract. Such an action is unlikely given the passive deposition of the Bajan and the unwillingness of lawyers in Barbados to take on government with high profile action.

The blogmaster can paint other scenarios where Barbadians were duped to invest in government paper for love of country. There is a large cadre of middleclass that invested in government paper because the law forces the retiree (beneficiary of severance) to favourably consider this option to avoid a cash penalty.

How do citizens whose lives have been significantly altered reconcile the feeling of hopelessness with the fact the country is broke?

 

 

 

 

President of MESA Attacks Minister Charles Griffith’s for ‘Sperm Donors’ Comment

The Chairman of the Mens’s Educational Support Association (MESA) responds to Minister Charles Griffith reference to men as ‘sperm donors’. The blogmaster understands the Nation Newspaper so fat has refused to print the submission.

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Evil Triumphing Because Good Men do Nothing

Olu Black &amp; White

Olutoye Walrond

Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice… that has made it possible for evil to triumph” – Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie

Evil is triumphing in our land today and the voices of those who know better are silent. The first picture reproduced in this post was not taken on a remote corner of the globe yet to be introduced to civilised standards of public behaviour. They were taken on an island with a long history of civilisation and a high level of literacy.

How did we get here? How did we get to the point where on a public stage young, scantily-clad girls are bending down on all fours like four-legged animals while young males gyrate behind them? How did we get to the place where it is OK for young males on a public stage to engage in X-rated dance movement?
How did we reach the point where we have to vet national Crop Over events on television for our young children if we want to save them from the corruption that has befallen our artistic culture?

Shouldn’t national artistic events be of such a standard and character that the entire family can enjoy them? How did we get there? We got here with the complicity of those responsible for promoting and overseeing national cultural events, and by the silence of those we expect to be the guardians of public decency and morality.

For these are times when anything goes in the name of culture, and when we’re all afraid to be labelled prudes and Victorians if we speak out against the disgusting behaviour of some of our artistes on the stage. Normally we would look to the Church as the watchdog against moral decadence, but even this institution now seems to have been cowered into silence, except when it comes to issues of sexual morality.

But as the bashment bandwagon rolls along, bells and whistles blaring, more sober minds cannot help but ponder on what will be its final destination. Will it, like the Gadarene swine rushing head-long into the sea, end up in perdition, or will decency, traditional values and sobriety withstand their most gruelling test to date? The signals do not offer me much cause for hope. The shrine of Bacchus in Barbados is well served by worshippers.
But as bacchanalia take over the national landscape, evidence is emerging that our advancement in social and economic terms could be in jeopardy.

The future of any society rest in the hands of its young people, especially so in an aging society like ours, for the human resource is an indispensable factor in economic and social advancement, all the more so in these difficult times. It’s a fact that was recognised by the (now deceased) visionary leader of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew many years ago. The economic power-house that is Singapore today is predicated not only on foreign direct investment, but on a highly trained workforce of young people.

Lee could not do that if he had a population of young people living from wuk up to wuk up, afflicted with the mental state of bunnies in perpetual heat. Today his country is one of the wealthiest in the world. In two years’ time they are expected to have 188 000 millionaires, in a population of 5.6 million.

So what can we report in Barbados – that our young people are equipped and ready to take on the world? Well, if we are to go by the findings of a government survey on the fitness of high school graduates for the work environment, the answer sadly is “no”. Conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Partnership, the survey found that secondary school students show poor decision-making skills, poor innovative and creative skills and very poor conflict resolution skills.

Chief Research and Planning Officer in the Ministry of Labour Ricardo Norville said the findings meant that a significant number of secondary school students were not graduating with the generic skills needed to function in the workplace. We may add to that the report of a Senior Education Specialist with the Inter-American Development Bank, Dr Mariana Alfonso, on the Barbados education system, based on studies done between 1999 and 2012.

According to Dr. Alfonso, the research shows that many school leavers cannot even meet the basic requirement of four Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) passes for entry into the public service. In fact, she said only 6.1 per cent of the students in Barbados get the four passes in the first sitting of the exam. These unflattering facts fall on top of the shockingly low level of certification among secondary school leavers. The percentage leaving school without certification in a single subject stands at a staggering 80%.

We’re cultivating a culture among our young people that is indifferent to intellectual pursuit. The study of music, fine art, drama and other disciplines that stimulate and develop the intellect is fast becoming old fashioned, as the new rough, crude and vulgar bashment culture establishes its roots.

With the full blessing of officialdom and the slavish promotion of the electronic media, this base musical culture, with its degrading treatment of the female body and its mindless – often vulgar – lyrical content, is now in complete ascendancy. The purveyors may earn tens of thousands of dollars in prize money from various competitions; and their lewd offerings are regular fare on television.

Meanwhile young soloists, Pianists, Organists and Saxophonists who devote years to studying music and who play a far more valuable role in the nourishment of our souls, especially at concerts and ceremonies like funerals and weddings and religious gatherings, are almost completely ignored.

It is my view that Barbados has produced one of the most beautiful soprano voices – I make bold to say – anywhere in the Caribbean. Amanda Fields, a student of Doris Provencal, has thrilled audiences wherever she has sung in Barbados and elsewhere. But where are the competitions, the organized events at which her talent can be exposed and rewarded?
How many Barbadians have seen her on television or heard her angelic voice on radio? Very few.

The British historian, Edward Gibbon, author of the literary work, “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”, identified the root cause for the fall as the loss of “civic virtue and individual morality”. If Gibbon is right, then, as I said in my book, Westminster’s Jewel – The Barbados Story, we have (definitely) crossed the Rubicon and the bottomless pit is now our only destination.

Was Michael Carrington VAT Registered When he Invoiced the BIDC 706 thousand dollars?

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Hal Gollop invoiced the BWA 1.5 million

The startling revelation that Hal Gollop submitted an invoice in 2017 to the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) for 1.5 million dollars continues to raise eyebrows. See BU’s blog post – Hal Gollop’s 1.5 Million Dollar Invoice which went viral. It was also revealed that former Speaker Michael Carrington submitted an invoice to the BIDC for $706, 450 for providing legal services relative to “the $32M sale of a BIDC at Lot A1 Newton Business Park, Christ Church to Gildan Activewear Properties (BVI) Inc. in 2010. This is the same Carrington who had to be ordered by the High Court of Barbados to pay a septuagenarian client his money. See BU’s blog post Tales from the Courts–Justice Jacqueline Cornelius Makes Speaker of the House Michael Carrington PAY XXIV.

In response to a query from the blogmaster whether the incumbent Barbados Labour Party (BLP) government can challenge the invoice, BU family member Artax shared the following:

David BU

I read in today’s Mid-week Nation [15 August 2018] that, while speaking in parliament yesterday, Ronald Toppin queried the fee of $706,450 former Speaker of Parliament Michael Carrington charged BIDC……..

………for providing legal services relative to “the $32M sale of a BIDC at Lot A1 Newton Business Park, Christ Church to Gildan Activewear Properties (BVI) Inc. in 2010.

Toppin said based on his calculation of the scale of fees, the legal fee paid for the BIDC property sale should have been $322,500.

David BU, it becomes more interesting.

According to Toppin, subsequent to the conclusion of the land sale in 2010, Carrington wrote a letter to the BIDC in 2011 in which he indicated that…… at the time the transaction completed…. he was NOT registered for VAT……..

……….and requested the BIDC pay the VAT Division on his behalf……..the VAT of $92,146 his legal fees incurred.

As a QC (and LEC qualified lawyer….. hahahahahaha), Carrington’s earnings would obviously have been above the VAT threshold of $80,000…….hence, in keeping with the VAT laws…..he should be VAT registered.

The dishonest Carrington…. not being VAT registered…… expected the taxpayers to pay on his behalf…….VAT of $92,146 he incurred on his legal fees.

Perhaps the BLP may do something about Gollop’s invoice……..

……… especially if one takes into consideration that one of the services rendered as listed on the said invoice was for preparing a conveyance for the project site to Innotech…….under circumstances where a conveyance was NOT necessary……..

…………because the project site was owned by the NHC…

The reason why Carrington wanted the BIDC to pay the $92,146 on his behalf was because BIDC was obligated to issue him a “goods and services” slip as required by the BRA (Inland Revenue at the time).

And an amount of $709,450 BIDC paid to a service provider, would obviously incurred VAT……and “open a can of worms” for the goodly gentleman.

A check of Carrington’s tax records would have revealed he was not registered and since the fee was above the $80,000 per annum VAT threshold, non payment of the VAT portion would have incurred interest and penalties…….

……..and perhaps an audit of his earnings from 1997 to 2010 to determine if he filed VAT returns and the amount of VAT he did not pay to the VAT Division as required by law.

The George Brathwaite Column – Scaling High Bars

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Small daily improvements over time lead to stunning results.

I begin this article by congratulating the 2018 Barbados scholarship and exhibition winners. The bar was set very high and the tasks before these 55 studious youth were challenging, yet they accomplished through sacrifice and determination. These teenagers clearly demonstrated that discipline is an essential ingredient for clearing the tallest hurdles and ultimately reaping success. Indeed, it was their aplomb, dedication, and the commitment to strive for excellence that they engendered habit-forming traits and created new personal norms for themselves. The sterling achievements of these winners are likely to be influential for the next set of students who will see their success as moments of inspiration.

For the older observers within the Barbadian society, you now have a group of young people that can be emulated. These scholarship and exhibition winners have essentially shared with the public, lessons for being able to face challenges head-on, while reaching standards of excellence and winning! Their full potential and rewards may remain unknown for years to come, but in the interim, they have built reservoirs of self-confidence that will help them wade through other challenges which shall no doubt emerge. Hence, I encourage all Barbadians – young and matured – to draw on the pride and industry that goes into ‘building the best Barbados together’. Particularly, I invite the Government of Barbados to take comfort in the view that the aims of the nation must be set sufficiently high as to bring out the best in our people.

The public is listening and watching. Instructively, it is with both hope and caution that there is a sense that the relatively new Barbados Government, under the leadership of the Honourable Prime Minister Mia Mottley, commits to the task of attaining high standards of governance in every meaningful endeavour. Surely, the Barbados Government has a special role to play in setting and achieving high standards of excellence. This means bringing about positive transformation in the public sector and in the society. It means engaging the society to reach optimal levels of governance, if the Barbados nation is to claim success. As Bonnie Blair a former USA speed skater once said, “winning doesn’t always mean being first. Winning means you’re doing better than you’ve ever done before.” So that with every stroke of a new initiative, with every formula for attaining growth and national development, Barbados must work towards being better than the previous day or period.

Equally crucial, the Government as a guarantor of public values, must endeavour to inspire, encourage, and facilitate the types of feats that transform and empower lives for the better. Much is expected from those with a legitimate mandate to set policy, pursue programmes, and meet performance goals. Government must set the benchmark whereby, the citizens as well as businesses and non-governmental organizations are given ample opportunity to improve. Central to personal and national improvement is increased civic participation combined with active involvement of our youth. From generation to generation, Barbadians must strive to become important public problem-solvers and national winners. The 55 students proved that high bars can create the zest in a nation for success.

Therefore, a crucial point of continuation for the Mottley-led administration now that the vision has been laid out, goals set, and standards elevated, must be the direct shift away from complacency. The governing and the governed must move towards embracing positives and creating the atmosphere in which valued norms, uplifting attitudes, and desirable actions are common rather than one-off experiences. Barbados’ entire governance framework must go beyond mere legislation and begin to formulate and shape agendas for national success. As demonstrated by the scholarship and exhibition winners, acts of behaviour must be tightly entwined to the desired outcomes. This simply means that the society should repeatedly do positive habit-forming things so that they too can carve winning paths regardless of the challenges.

The national consciousness in Barbados must be shepherded to attain and surpass standards of excellence in all our procedures and practices. Also, the mechanisms that are geared for success ought to be conducive for fostering national integrity. In other words, the Barbados Government apparatus must be strong and nurtured by a culture of truth, courage, and ethical behaviour in and outside the parameters of the Government. High standards and national goals are straddled when we ensure that integrity matters in shaping the national character of Barbados. Integrity comes alongside other attributes such as confidence and persistence in nation-building. Certainly, it matters what becomes engrained as a national culture in the pursuit of excellence.

There are also the elements of efficiency, accountability and effectiveness that must be consistently visible in governmental performances and actions. Government must be the example-setter and, the standards that are set for the governed, should be more than political optics. The governance framework must translate the ambitions of a nation wherein everyone can realise his or her responsibility for contributing to national development. The distinguished economist Joseph Stiglitz argues that “government is supposed to act in the interests of citizens.” Leadership in the Barbados Government must be sufficiently determined to work assiduously so that the peoples’ expectations are reasonably met.

The successful scholarship and exhibition winners demonstrated their inclination for multi-tasking while keeping their eyes on the coveted prize of goal-attainment. Despite the standards were high and required effort and commitment, it was by using their diverse methods, compromising with friends, appreciating the support of parents and guardians which sealed their eventual triumph. Surely, the standards of excellence that the Barbados nation wants to achieve must be reachable and not left to dither or become elusive due to indifference and ill-discipline. Decisiveness, timeliness, and technological advance can make positive differences to anticipated outcomes.

Again, the scholarship and exhibition winners have stories to share that can inspire many to reach for personal and national success. On the ball is the Minister of Education, Miss Santia Bradshaw who noted that “the numbers, while they are increasing,” indicate that “the students are working hard. They have something to work towards.” Hence, the power of the Barbados Government and how the Cabinet utilises its distributive and incentive tools should augur well for national development.

In fact, Miss Bradshaw in speaking for her Cabinet colleagues and bearing in mind possible increases associated with scholarship and exhibition winners, advised that they are “prepared to make allowances for the increases because we recognise the importance of education to development of the country.” I would argue that the Mia Mottley-led Cabinet has zeroed in on the importance of investing in the nation’s youth and for allowing opportunity to meet ambition. There is now a purposeful effort to reclaim the lost ground that was ceded in the last decade. The winning students showed that aptitude is key for scaling high bars.

Dr George C. Brathwaite is a political consultant and former lecturer in Political Science. Email: brathwaitegc@gmail.com).

180 Years of Emancipation- Some Perspective

Submitted by Mohammed Degia

On August 1, 1838, enslaved people across the British Caribbean gained their freedom. Contrary to what is often peddled about the singular role of abolitionists in ending transatlantic slavery, there were two main reasons for abolition- economic and rebellions. The British did not in some great moralistic and ethical wave bestow freedom upon the enslaved. The system was altered because slavery had become an economic liability. Furthermore, the planters lived with the constant fear of slaves rebelling and of another Haiti transpiring. In the end, it was better to agree to free the enslaved than to live with this fear or worse to experience a rebellion. I discuss all of this in more detail in a piece I wrote in 2007 which was the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade by Britain.

As we commemorate the emancipation of our Caribbean forefathers, remember that the British in abolishing slavery also provided a large compensation package for the slave owners. The sum of money amounted to £20 million (£15 billion today) or about 40% of the national budget. The formerly enslaved of course received nothing. What is even more perverse is that the loan taken out at that time by the British government to fund the compensation package was not paid off until 2015. Thus, the British taxpayer was until recently, through payments to the holders of the slavery bonds, still contributing to the beneficiaries of slavery. This is the same British government and society that dismisses the descendants of the enslaved condescendingly, lecturing to them that they should move on and stop living in the past. This is the same British government and society that refuses to consider the just demands of Caribbean people for reparations. The same British government that argues absurdly that the slave trade and slavery were not illegal at the time and so they are not obliged to provide compensation for the heinous role they played in one of the worst crimes against humanity. For these people though, it is not a historical matter to be left behind when until February 2015 they were still reaping the benefits of the slavery abolition loan. The height of dishonesty, arrogance and hypocrisy.

In addition, as we celebrate August 1, we must be mindful that 180 years after abolition and 56 years after the decolonisation period in the British Caribbean commenced with Jamaica’s independence on August 6, 1962, we have a long way to go in the quest for true freedom. The legacy of colonialism and slavery endures in our tiny island states. Most of us continue to experience significant socio-economic challenges. Race and class considerations remain central factors in how our societies function. For example, in Barbados, the justice system still operates in two forms- one for the rich and white and nowadays Indian and one for blacks particularly those that are not rich. Just under a year ago, I penned a long article about the harsh realities of race in Barbados beyond the symbolism of its Emancipation statue. Last week, two prominent white Barbadian businessmen were charged with drug offences and anyone following the saga would have seen first-hand the playing out of the politics of race and class that I wrote about.

The Caribbean has much work to do. We need to examine in earnest these mental chains that impede us. An honest, brutal conversation about our past, how it looms large over us and how we must proceed is essential. Our intellectual giants started the process. It is necessary for us to build on it and propel it to the next level. It is also imperative that we do this together as a region. We are one people with a shared history of colonialism, slavery and exploitation. People to people relationships that transcend artificial borders have always been a central feature of our Caribbean reality. In addition, in a world of large and medium powers, we have no choice as small islands but to integrate. Our politicians with their egos and selfish interests have frustrated the institutionalisation of our deep ties. We the people must take the lead.

The Jeff Cumberbatch Column – The Human Right to Sexual Preference

One cannot fail to notice the inconsistency of those rejecting human rights their rejection takes place in the public square created by human rights. It is difficult to reject human rights without using them.” –Filip Spagnoli  Making Human Rights Real

Discriminations are never a sign of a civilized society. What makes us civilized is our act of liberated kindness with other people beyond the man-made primitive citadels of gender, race, religion and sexual orientation.” ― Abhijit NaskarEither Civilized or Phobic: A Treatise on Homosexuality

At one level, it is perhaps understandable that the Church (in fact, a random group comprising an apostle, a reverend (sic), two bishops and a sociologist) should be prepared to fight against any attempt to make homosexual preferences a human right in Barbados. I refer to the back page report in Friday’s edition of the Barbados Advocate, headlined Church decries LGBT agenda.

After all, they can cite any number of Biblical injunctions in support of their position against the practice and, if they would be true to their vocation, they must be equally condemnatory.

At another level, however, this reasoning does not by itself lead inexorably to the thesis that homosexuality per se or homosexual acts should attract the awesome power of the state’s legislative and prosecutorial machinery -considerations that are usually premised on more terrestrial and contemporary conditions.

In any case, there is already some degree of disconnect between these two arms of the state machinery with the legislative provision seeking disproportionately to criminalize acts of buggery and gross indecency even in private between consenting adult partners and the prosecutorial arm apparently restricting itself to the strict enforcement of the law in cases only where these acts are non-consensual, involve minors incapable of consent as victims, or occur in public.

Indeed, especially in the instance of gross indecency, the sole offence that might encompass female homosexual conduct, the definition is risibly comprehensive, seemingly being capable of covering any form of sexual interaction whatsoever between any couple anywhere. According to section 12 (3) of Cap.154;

An act of “serious indecency” is an act, whether natural or unnatural by a person involving the use of the genital organs for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire”

In such a legislative context, the “agenda”, if any, of the LGBT community must be to remove any provision that might cause individuals therein to engage in criminal conduct every time he or she chooses to express him or herself sexually. And the unlikelihood of a criminal charge and prosecution by the State scarcely detracts from the discriminatory nature of a law that is not similarly applied to traditional heterosexual conduct. In fact, this official selective enforcement is itself a cogent argument for the repeal and reform of the provisions.

According to the assemblage as reported, this agenda “equates to “a new form of colonialism because it hasn’t emerged from Barbados, “ but is part of “a global agenda to influence different nations.”

In my view, this assertion does not serve to weaken the force of the local argument given the generally accepted universality of human rights. History has shown us that it takes some degree of geopolitical clout to lead the fight to reverse decades of the unfair treatment of others whether in the context of apartheid, woman’s liberation or the mandatory death penalty. International intervention in a local issue, if it does exist, should not always be perceived as a negative.

The antagonist argument goes a bit further though. According to the chief spokesman, “This is a new attempt to colonize us with certain values and certain perspectives, and if we don’t conform, then the argument is that we can suffer economically, and that we can suffer socially because they withdraw support, they withdraw aid…”

I feel certain that some wag will wish to observe that we seem to be doing quite well by ourselves in suffering economically without the withdrawal of aid from these neo-colonists, and it is at least ironic to make the point about tying financial aid to behavioural conditionalities as we prepare to enter shortly into an IMF agreement.

The sociologist was even more persuaded that the agenda was not a local initiative. She holds the view that the local organizations have no say in the matter of the agenda being pushed, citing the assistance they have been receiving from an internationally recognized organization. Nevertheless, she was also convinced of the small local group’s futility in attempting to change God’s word, “but they cannot ever.” This last is patently irrefutable.

But what is this agenda? As perceived by the evangelical group, it includes an attempt to make the personal sexual preference of a very small group a human right in Barbados; to impose the homosexuality (sic) lifestyle as a natural organic sexual behaviour and not a learned behaviour on the majority of Barbados‘ population; to deconstruct marriage and to reconstruct it to legitimize same sex partnerships as opposed to the Adam and Eve marriage union for the entire population. This indeed a weighty charge sheet laid against the movement.

First, as any heterosexual will attest, one’s personal sexual activity is already a fundamental human right, unless a human right must also satisfy the criterion of another’s sanction in order to exist. Second, it is quite unclear how one could “impose” a sexual lifestyle on the majority of an unwilling population; and, third, as the Barbados Advocate editorial for last Sunday observed, in the absence of any public call for the legalization of same sex marriage in Barbados, this notion of deconstructing traditional marriage is tantamount to shouting fire in a crowded theatre when there is none there.

The timing of the intervention here seems clearly designed to detract from participation in the LBGT Pride march planned for Sunday. It (the intervention) may be successful, I do not know. But the legal determination of whether the LBGT movement or the evangelical group is correct on the rather technical point of human rights will ultimately be a matter for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and its interpretation of the relevant Articles of the American Convention on Human Rights that we have agreed to uphold.

The Grenville Phillips Column – Why Morality is Important

Grenville Phillips II, Leader of Solutions Barbados

Barbados is a small independent island, with a vulnerable open economy, in one of the most hazard prone regions on Earth.  We need a benefactor – someone who can support us in challenging times.

We were taught to accept the Queen as our benefactor, but she did not help us when we went through our last financial crisis in 1991.  Our politicians appear to have accepted that China is a better fit.  We are already indebted to China.  Given the reckless way in which our politicians, from both established parties, have borrowed in the past, it is foreseen that our debts to China will soon become unsustainable – we will not be able to afford to repay them.  What then?

Our financial professionals and business persons are recommending that we accept the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as our benefactor.  However, The IMF is an option if Barbados has the misfortune of electing the undisciplined politicians of the BLP or DLP.  They have both brought us to the brink of economic ruin.  However, the IMF will be no benefactor to Barbados.

Guyana’s IMF experience is instructive.  Within one year, of the Guyanese people were surrendered to the IMF by their irresponsible politicians, Guyana had fallen from being one of the richest Caribbean countries to one of the poorest.  Guyana’s politicians oversaw: a 70% devaluation of the dollar, doubling of income tax rates, a lack of supplies and maintenance parts, reduced social services, mass emigration of professionals, and 75% of the population in poverty.

Solutions Barbados has published the only non-austerity plan, that has been verified to reverse all of the previous downgrades and return Barbados to investment grade within one year.  Therefore, we have not yet run out of good options.

If Barbadians have the misfortune of selecting the IMF directed extreme austerity promised by others, then they will find that the IMF is not the benefactor they were convinced that they were, but it will be too late for all of us.  To whom should our politicians then surrender Barbados after they have wasted our resources?  To the Queen, the Chinese, or the IMF?

Perhaps we should remember the words of those who survived with far less resources and more hardship than we ever had.  The wisdom of our fore-parents is recorded in our Constitution.

“Now, therefore, the people of Barbados proclaim that they are a sovereign nation founded upon principles that acknowledge the supremacy of God, the dignity of the human person, their unshakeable faith in fundamental human rights and freedoms, and the position of the family in a society of free men and free institutions;  affirm their belief that men and institutions remain free only when freedom is founded upon respect for moral and spiritual values and the rule of law;”

Perhaps we need to be reminded that our benefactor is God, and He gives wisdom which can be applied to our knowledge in order to provide creative and productive results.  However, God has conditions for His help.

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2)

It is in all of our best interests if those whom we elect to represent all of us cultivate a relationship with God.  Irresponsible living does not facilitate that.  This is why morality is crucial to managing public affairs, especially when a nation has run out of all good options.

Solutions Barbados currently has 25 expert candidates with approximately 20 years of management experience.  They celebrate our human achievements, participate in the growth of our institutions, and acknowledge the supremacy of God alone.

Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer and the founder of Solutions Barbados.  He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com

The Jefferson Cumberbatch Column – Today’s Morality, Yesterday’s Culture

Jeff Cumberbatch – Columnist, Deputy Dean of UWI, Law Faculty, Chairman of the FTC

It is, I suppose, inevitable in a modern developing society that previous conduct, not then expressly treated as illegal or even taboo, would come one day to be judged in the harsh light of an arguably more humane polity, one more officially respectful of the rights of each individual to dignity and autonomy. The examples of this ethical dilemma as to how we should treat past conduct that would not have complied with today’s more rigid moral standards abound. We see it in the modern regional movement for reparations to be made by those nations who profited from the practices of slavery and the slave trade that were officially condoned at the time although arguably contrary to international law. Now, the notions of slavery and a slave trade are patently contrary to international and municipal human rights norms and would not be publicly condoned by any respectable nation.

We see it too, in the relatively recent allegations of past sexual misconduct leveled at prominent figures in cosmopolitan societies, a phenomenon of seemingly global proportions, engendered principally by the #Me Too movement although, remarkably, not yet extant in the region or locally. Such instances of misconduct, apart, of course, from those that constituted an infringement of the criminal law such as rape and indecent assault or were otherwise patently egregious, would back then have been largely condoned as acceptable badinage between the sexes. Nowadays, the suggestion as to where a colleague who complains of cold hands could warm them might lead to the dismissal or the forced resignation of a senior Cabinet minister as recently occurred in Britain.

The recent removal of the name “Milner” from the eponymous students’ hall of residence at the St Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad as reported in yesterday’s issue of the Barbados Advocate would have also engaged this debate. The hall took the name of Lord Alfred Milner in 1927 as a result of his contribution to the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture that was established in Trinidad & Tobago. It appears to have been recently discovered, nearly a century later, however, that Milner was unfit to be celebrated as a regional icon because according to research, he was a self-proclaimed “British race supremacist”, had described Africans as “savages” and was a founder of the inhuman system of apartheid institutionalized in South Africa in 1948. In addition to this he is reputed to have been an architect of Indian indentured servitude in the colony; a proponent of military colonialism in Africa and Asia; and had also functioned as “an aggressive imperialist”, committing crimes against humanity in Africa.

Clearly, by today’s law and moral standards, Lord Milner may justifiably be regarded as an international floutlaw who, rather than having a regional university hall of residence named after him, should be sentenced to death by an international criminal court, if that were possible. Yet, the natural order of things in his day permitted him to carry out these atrocities with impunity. One instinct of the modern defence lawyer would be to argue for holding the existing system culpable rather than the man himself. However, given our powerlessness in the former regard, the easy alternative is to hold the individual solely culpable for his or her own misconduct.

The argument also presents locally in the discourse as to the aptness of the statue of Lord Nelson who, as Milner, also had a rather chequered past, occupying pride of place in our renamed Heroes Square, and the appropriateness of the nomenclature that still adorns many of our streets and institutions. Incidentally, what is the past record of Thomas Harrison, after whom our, in my view, premier boy’s secondary school is named? What if it is subsequently discovered that one of landmark institutions is titled after someone who was once a serial pedophile, a sexual predator or, as is indeed the case, after a eminent perpetrator of the international criminal offence of piracy that, as I recall from my brief and survived exposure to international law, is contrary to the “jus gentium” [law of the people] and thus regarded as inherently criminal?

The resolution appears to lie in the exercise of sovereign power, whether this is determined to be located in the people themselves or in their representatives exclusively. Clearly, the fairest solution to this dilemma in some cases would seem to be through a referendum where a prescribed majority is required for any change. After all, this is consistent with our notions of pure democracy.

There are some circumstances however where our policymakers should be expected to act in a decisive fashion and to determine, as they do with regard to both the level of taxation necessary and the mode of disbursement of the public purse, what should be the current political stance on these matters of nomenclature and its pantheon of statuary. I am mindful that such decisiveness may prove to be electorally detrimental and that a cautious administration may prefer for the matter to be dissipated in sterile recurrent public discourse.

Further, a jurisdiction such as ours that relies almost exclusively on foreign investment attributable mainly to its stability may scarcely consider itself free to tamper with well-established precedent. The question therefore begs asking, how autonomous are we really?

The ‘Immorables’ | Speaker Michael Carrington and President Donald Trump

In the aftermath of the Charlottesville protest in the USA President Donald Trump offered a strange explanation that equated the moral right of a White supremacist group to demonstrate in public to another group exercising a moral right to protest against the hate group.

In recent days there has been elevated chatter in the social and traditional media space concerning another contentious issue tracked to the mouthing of the President of the United States. Those of us eavesdropping on the US Cable newsfeeds continue to be bombarded by sound bites including terms like ‘moral equivalency’, ‘moral agency’, ‘moral authority’ to list three popular ones.

Of interest to BU was the point made by Trump that the White supremacist group was issued a license to demonstrate and therefore had a LEGAL right to demonstrate.

Moral authority is authority premised on principles, or fundamental truths, which are independent of written, or positive, laws. As such, moral authority necessitates the existence of and adherence to truth – Wikipedia

It seems unfathomable a president of the United States in 2017 would be less than equivocal in his condemnation of a White supremacist group even if they had a legal right to protest in Charlottesville last week.

This issue although raging in the US should bring into focus for onlookers the extent  a political leader must combine political, intellectual skills with moral leadership to be effective. There is voluminous writings on the subject. Wonder what former President Obama is thinking when he reflects on throwing Reverend Wright under the bus.

In this intellectually engaging book [The President as Leader], Hargrove argues that successful presidents are those who combine political skills with intellectual and moral leadership. He examines three distinctively different presidencies—Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and Ronald Reagan—in revealing, exceptionally well written profiles. Strongly recommended – Choice

What if the same arguments are used to criticise Trump to explain Prime Minister Freundel Stuart handling of the Michael Carrington matter? Speaker of the House Michael Carrington was forced to respond to a court order to pay monies owed to a 70 year old client. Monies that should have been routinely transferred to his client WITHOUT any need to resort to court litigation. Here is one of many memorable responses at the time uttered by Prime Minister Stuart:

Clients can complain for you about almost anything . . . A client once reported me to the disciplinary committee because he said that whenever he called my office I was in court, and I wondered whether instead of being in court he wanted me to be in a brothel. So you really cannot control what clients can complain about – Barbados Today

From all reports Speaker Michael Carrington complied with the court order and therefore satisfied the legal ask of him. However the BU household has promoted the view that there is a moral component to the transaction that has not been satisfied given the Prime Minister’s unwillingness to sanction Carrington in his role as Speaker of the House of Assembly.

The concern about the escalating gun violence should not be discussed in a vacuum.  A wholesome society must be defined by adherence to relevant laws AND a moral code of behaviour. There can be no dispute that the Speaker of the House violated a basic moral code of behaviour. What message did the Prime Minister send to the country?

The Jeff Cumberbatch Column – Dancing with Danger

Jeff Cumberbatch – Chairman of the FTC and Deputy Dean, Law Faculty, UWI, Cave Hill

Now show meh yuh slackness, show meh yuh
Went and practice,
Lucy is ah Carnivalist, and that is why I
Behave so loose! –
“Lucy” by Destra Garcia (2015)

Two incidents last week, both concerning an activity as mundane as dancing, have provoked the discussion of complex issues of propriety and legality in the public domain. Certainly, these provide a respite from the seemingly interminable diet of partisan political discourse that has been a staple in recent months, although one expects that this latter is likely to grow exponentially as the nation approaches the constitutionally stipulated demise of the current Parliament.

The first incident occurred at a local event, lengthily titled “Water Explosion -Party in the Tropics”, where the ubiquitous smart phone of an amateur journalist captured the image of a youthful lad vigorously engaging in a ribald mimicry of what the Jamaicans call “back shot” with a much larger woman who appeared as enthusiastic a participant in the activity as did the boy, whose actions of whipping the ample bottom of the female with his open hands betrayed an education that was decidedly extra-curricular. Needless to say, as is a given these days, the clip was published on social media and, ineluctably, went viral.

I must confess that my first reaction to the video was one of unbridled mirth. The sheer incongruity of this slight youngster wining on the sizeable buttocks of the adipose woman evoked memories of a cartoon motif I had seen on the T-shirt of a student some years ago. There, a slender man is portrayed stuck between the bottom cheeks of a large female as she inquiringly pleads, “Harold, where are you?” The probability of a real life re-enactment of this scenario seemed eminent from that posting.

However, I also appreciated that the ability to see the humour in any situation such as this is not an instinctual response of most Barbadians. Rather, attempting in righteous indignation to outdo a previous opinion is more in keeping with our nature and, given that it involved a minor, I sensed that my initial reaction would be an outlier from the popular one. The proof was not long in coming. There were some whispers of child abuse and calls for the awesome prosecutorial power of the State to be brought to bear on those “responsible” for the incident in spite of the clear intent of the parties. And the chief executive officer of the National Cultural Foundation, the organization that promotes the annual parade of the bands on Kadooment Day, ironically called for promoters to maintain a level of decency and decorum on stage.

I am mindful that in a jurisdiction where there is the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression, there will be a plurality of views on any given issue, but where a perspective that would create a mock reality of “this-does-not regularly-happen-here” informs these views, then we are being patently hypocritical. That youth did not learn those movements in the classroom nor at Sunday school; but he did not need to. Not when there is a diet of simulated “backshot” on public display on all forms of media in this season.

What more should we demand of an impressionable prepubescent youngster keen to prove himself a man? The fault, as some character once intoned, is not in our stars…

Consent, yes…but to what?

The second incident concerns a story widely reported in the regional press and on other media that popular soca artiste, Ms Destra Garcia, has been ordered by the Supreme Court of Belize to pay a sum of more than $ 16,000 in compensation to a claimant fan who suffered a ruptured bladder owing to her negligent conduct during an on-stage performance in Belize in 2015.

According to the reports, it was during Destra’s performance of her hit song. “Lucy”, the male claimant was invited on stage and instructed by her to lace face upwards on the stage, to close his eyes and to put his hands behind his head. Next, Destra is alleged to have told him, “If you’s a bad boy, I will treat you bad”. Then, turning to the crowd, she sought their approval, “Treat him bad, allyuh?”

Having duly obtained their fiat, she proceeded to suddenly jump in the air and land her body heavily onto his pelvis, thereby causing the injury that necessitated surgery.

The suit was undefended by Ms Garcia, but it nevertheless provides an object lesson in the law of negligence, especially the defences thereto, for interested persons.

One popular reaction on social media was that the claimant had consented to go on stage and thus, in local parlance, “got precisely what he was looking for”. Or, simply put in legal terms, that he was either contributorily negligent to his injury, or that he had voluntarily consented to suffering it.

On the facts, both of these assertions are, it is summited, difficult to maintain. It would be a quite a stretch to suggest that the fan contributed either to the accident itself or to the extent of the harm suffered merely by accepting an invitation to come on stage to participate in a scenario.

Likewise, a defence of voluntary consent to the harm or, as it is more frequently put in Latin –“volenti non fit injuria”– should ordinarily require a finding that the claimant by his conduct impliedly agreed that any harm likely to be suffered by him or her would result in no liability to the defendant and thereby no compensation being awarded to him or her.

Such a holding requires the clearest evidence and is available in circumstances such as those in one reported decision where the claimant and the defendant went on a joint drinking binge, consuming seventeen whiskies each and the claimant thereafter went on a light aircraft trip with the defendant at the helm and suffered injury in the consequent crash.

There are, of course, other cases where the defence may be applicable but, as has been put elsewhere, this case is not that case.

It should be noted that this determination has been made on a construction of the facts that is most favourable to Destra, that she was liable for mere negligence. Indeed, on another view, she might have been also liable for battery, unless she had first obtained the express consent of the claimant to her invasion, by the application of force to his person, of his physical integrity.

Sheer PORNOGRAPHY In SUN On SATURDAY!

Submitted by Keep It Real   (and clean)

Roy Morris - Editor in Chief Nation Newspaper

Roy Morris – Editor in Chief, Nation Newspaper

I am waiting with bated breath to Emoji see a page-one comment from either the Publisher or the Editor in Chief of the Nation newspaper denouncing, in the strongest possible terms, its own journalistic faux-pas     (I am being kind) committed in today’s Sun on Saturday.

None of us, not even the most perverted person, would have expected that that tabloid would have sunk further into the depths of depravity and lewdness, especially after the recent appointment of  “people of impeccable character”.

Perhaps, such erotic journalism  can be easily explained-away since many in society, including some people in our most noble professions, have had to wrestle with their own amoral feelings, as they try to overcome an obsessive propensity for pornography and predatory exploits, while simultaneously fighting the said sexual appetite and their rapaciously  philandering demons.

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Stop the Filth, Protect the Vagina

Daggering Jamaican style

Daggering Jamaican style

There is a very disturbing trend which is gathering momentum in Barbados. If BU were to follow our sense of where it has its origin, all indicators point to Jamaica.

There must be a good reason why the Creator designed a woman’s vagina to be secreted away behind the protective lips of the vulva with additional protection between the legs. It seems the height of ignorance that any ‘woman’ would want to bend over (6:30 or not), to expose her vagina to violent humping – usually administered by a but not always the case.

BU agrees with those who believe that the wholesale adoption by Barbadian youth mostly of this silly and irrelevant sub culture, reflects poorly on our ability to effectively educate our young people. Why would any man want to bang that part of the woman’s ‘sweet spot’? In the name of freedom of expression it seems we are clueless as a society about how to arrest the rising popularity of this base behaviour. BU believes when the Democratic Labour Party government essays that it wants to build a society, curbing the unholy practice of bumping an unprotected vagina MUST be treated as abuse of a high priority. We must protect the ignorant from themselves.

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