Commonwealth silent as Uganda declares war on Gays, death penalty for HIV transmission

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni

We didn’t see much positive or negative come out of the recent Commonwealth 60th Anniversary Summit in Trinidad & Tobago, although we’ll give the organisation the benefit of the doubt for another ten years.

In our opinion, the most noteworthy item at the summit, especially in close proximity with World Aids Day, was the Commonwealth’s failure to deal in a united front with Uganda’s new law that provides the death penalty for certain homosexual sex acts and HIV transmission.

“The law requires a three-year prison sentence for anyone who is aware of evidence of homosexuality and fails to report it to the police within 24 hours.”

Knowing how Uganda has fared in the last oh, say forty-seven years or so since gaining independence from Britain, we have no doubt that the law will be used very effectively against the political (read ‘tribal’) opposition. While Canada, Sweden and a few other countries came out publicly against Uganda’s new law, to our knowledge the rest of the world (including Barbados and Jamaica of course) remained silent. Gordon Brown “raised the matter” with Uganda’s President Museveni, but ever so gently.

And there is a matter of racism in the silence of the Commonwealth as a group. After all, it’s only one of those darky countries in Africa. Hardly worth talking about it when they start hacking away at each other, doan ya know?

Further Reading

Afrik.com Gays to be killed

Daily Monitor Sweden to cut aid to Uganda over Gay law

The Star Commonwealth Shame

Guardian Uganda considers death penalty for gay sex

Globe and Mail Uganda’s anti-gay bill causes Commonwealth uproar

Horse Drawn Trams of Barbados

Thanks to Tramz.com and Allen Morrison for the excellent photos and article Tramways of Bridgetown, Barbados

More Proof: Prime Minister Thompson will never hold Owen Arthur to account

Former PM Owen Arthur now Elder Statesman of CARICOM with Thompson’s blessing

Hey, do you remember all the speeches David Thompson made of corruption in the Owen Arthur BLP government?

Do you remember when Thompson held up the famous “campaign donation” cheque that was made out to Owen Arthur personally and deposited into his personal bank account? Remember Hardwood Holdings? GEMS Hotels? 3S and the highway? VECO and Dodds prison?

Remember?

Well folks, Thompson was correct at the time talking about the corruption of the Owen Arthur government, but once he achieved power any thoughts of accountability and cost-recovery against the wrong-doers of the BLP went into the rubbish bin with Thompson’s promise of Integrity Legislation. Thompson appointed ex-PM Arthur to several important positions and that’s how we knew that the fix was in.

Here’s the latest on Barbados’ elder CARICOM statesman…

St. Kitts Minister Harris Discusses CSME Workings With Owen Arthur

ZIZ News…December 4, 2009 – Dr the Hon Timothy Harris, Minister of Finance, International Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs of St Kitts and Nevis, today held a meeting concerning the full and effective integration and participation of St Kitts and Nevis, and other OECS countries, in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) process.

This meeting was held with Mr. Owen Arthur, former Prime Minister of Barbados, who is functioning as the CARICOM Secretariat’s duly appointed Consultant to conduct a study of the factors and circumstances that currently restrict the full and effective integration and participation of Belize and the OECS countries in the CSME.  Mr Arthur leads a three member delegation to the Federation.

… continue reading this article at ZIZ News

Morality usually follows the law. That’s why Barbados politicians refuse to introduce Integrity Legislation.

The following letter by Adrian Sobers appears in the current issue of The Barbados Advocate. I was struck by its simple truth.

Throughout history good people have worked hard to implement good laws aimed at changing societal and individual behaviours. Yes you CAN legislate morality because most folks will follow the law and the public heart follows the law even if it takes a few generations to take effect.

Anti-slavery legislation was one of the biggest and best examples of the public’s heart following changes in the laws. Yes, there was also a lengthy campaign that was the vanguard of change, but the real change happened when the law was passed.

Here is the letter from The Barbados Advocate. And no, (may God bless him) Dr. Martin Luther King wasn’t always 100% correct about everything.

You probably should head over to The Barbados Advocate to read the letter, but just in case they take it down, here it is…

“Morality cannot be legislated but behaviour can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

I’m continually puzzled by this popular notion that morality cannot be legislated. This is simply not true. In his essay “Legislating Morality”, Michael Bauman writes, “All laws whether prescriptive or descriptive legislate morality. All laws, regardless of their content, arise from a system of values, from a belief that some things are right and others wrong, that some things are good and others bad, that some things are better and worse. In the formulation and enforcement of the law, the question is never whether or not morality will be legislated, but which one. That question is fundamentally important because not all systems of morality are created equal.” Repeating “we cannot legislate morality” does not make it true; irregardless of how often or who repeats it. Perhaps those who take this stance mean to say that all morality should not be legislated. That would make more sense.

Adrian Sobers

BajanReporter.com goes live. Can the author one of Barbados’ most popular blogs find commercial success with a news website?

For the last three years former CBC news anchor Ian Bourne’s blog The Bajan Reporter has been one of Barbados’ most popular internet destinations. Ian’s in-depth coverage of local events the oldstream Bajan media ignores has earned him thousands of regular visitors a day.

Barbados Journalist Ian Bourne

Now Ian is trying to take his work into the mainstream with the launch of an expanded news site and web magazine: BajanReporter.com.

It looks like BajanReporter.com will retain the personal coverage of local events that made Ian’s blog so popular, but will also cover the larger events in Barbados and selected news from around the world from a Bajan perspective.

Will Ian be able to expand his readership and successfully monetize his website with juicy advertising contracts from prime brands? If anyone can do it, he can! (Hey… isn’t that Nike we hear knocking? Maybe they will cut back on Tiger’s endorsements and transfer the advertising revenues to Mr. Bourne!)

Good luck Ian!

Check out BajanReporter.com

Side issue: Ian… whatcha gonna do with your old blog? Should we take down the link to your blog and put up only the website on our sidebar? Let us know old friend.

Tiger Woods couldn’t help himself… and neither can we! :-)

Avinash D. Persaud working on Barbados Four Seasons Financial Rescue?

Potential Investment Management Fraud in Barbados?

The following was received anonymously. Is it an actual Facebook entry or faked? What does it mean?

And this with (I think) a comment from Dennis Jones of Living in Barbados blog…

Leaf Art by Colin Beadon – Anyone Interested?

Dear Barbados Chief Justice Sir David Simmons, this article is for you.

Why is it not appropriate for the Commissioner of Police of Anguilla on his retirement to be appointed Magistrate of Anguilla?

It is unfortunate that I have to ask this question.  The answer should be obvious to all.  The answer is that such an appointment will tend to undermine public confidence in the administration of justice, and to bring the judiciary into contempt.  Just in case there is one single person out there who does not  see the point immediately, let me try my best to explain why this is so.

First of all, every police case brought in the Magistrate’s Court is brought in the name of the Commissioner of Police.  The Magistrate’s Court deals with 95% of the criminal cases brought to court in any country.  The trial of crime in Anguilla is for all practical purposes synonymous with the Magistrate’s Court.  If I get a summons, it will be titled “Commissioner of Police versus Don Mitchell”.  Then, every single investigation of a crime is conducted under the direction of the Commissioner of Police.  He is the head of the police force.

In addition to the obvious conflicts of interest and questions of bias raised, there is the fundamental question of the separation of powers.  At least since the time of the Duc de Montesquieu, the principle of separation of powers has been an intrinsic foundation of the rule of law.  Ask any first year law student.

… article continues at Corruption-free Anguilla

David Simmons got he-self re-virginated to become Chief Justice Barbados

And there you have it, Chief Justice SIR David Simmons,

Ask any first year law student why it was unethical for you as the former Attorney General and Acting Prime Minister of Barbados to accept an appointment as Chief Justice. It was a fundamental question of the separation of powers.

You knew that your appointment to Chief Justice undermined public confidence in the administration of justice, and brought the judiciary into contempt, but you wanted the honour and the job so bad that you took it. And Owen Arthur wanted influence over the courts of Barbados so bad that he appointed an old friend (one of the three mice) as Chief Justice.

Ask any first year law student, SIR.

Further Reading

Let’s Hope Our Next Barbados Chief Justice Isn’t A Political Hack Like SIR David Simmons

AccessOne Barbados – Scotia Bank Barbados article removed upon request

Upon request of AccessOne Barbados, Inc.’s lawyer, Satcha S-C. S. Kissoo, Barbados Free Press removed an article written by Keith J. Walker, Founder/Chairman of AccessOne Barbados, Inc.

Mr. Walker: If you want the article re-published, just say so.

Marcus

Editor, Barbados Free Press

Happy Birthday Barbados

A Happy Birthday Barbados

After some forty three years
Hoorays and celebrative cheers
Alternate Governments with a changing head
Proletariats and aristocrats who were peacefully led
Proudly we can rise before other nations to stand and say
Yes we thrived independently and we are better off today
Bajans rehearse your chorus and strike up your song
In plenty sing, and in time of need when this fair land was young
Rejoice my brothers and sisters it’s a festive day
There’s much delight past and present that in a big way
Has made life in the island a paradise
Days of novel wonders and nights just as nice
An area symbolized by the flag with blue sea, golden sands and blue sky
You can go to interesting attractions that catch the eye
Beautiful people and places, with scrumptious things to eat
An anthem that’s with emphatic pride sung by even the man in the street
Refrains in Calypsos for national concerns and social commentary
Bajans’ greatness reflected in our Pride and Industry
And recently all the world celebrated our son and daughter too
Doing their best in entertaining and on their World Athletics debut
Our Island presents many chances for the success of all of us
So in appreciation I want to extend the wish for A Happy Birthday Barbados !

Khaidjii

Bajan Poetry.com

What’s a lost million to a Barbados government worker?

$901,659.15

What would almost ONE million Dollars be doing in an ESCHEATED ‘checking’ account (# 01283012) under the name of the Ministry of Finance Poverty Alleviation Grant?

See page 46a Sunday Sun 29th November 2009 where the Barbados National Bank Inc, lists a number of unclaimed or dormant accounts.

Would this not have been picked up by the Auditor General and is there no actual use for this poverty alleviation grant?

The DLP’s choice for BLP Leader: Mia Mottley

Party, party, party!

We confess we have been having such a good time this weekend that the promised article on breathalyzers is not complete. Marcus was confined to babysitting while the girls watched Serena whump Wozniacki at Tennis pon de Rock. Robert is helping a friend move and I, Cliverton, have been well, busy.

George is being cranky somewhere, no doubt.

I swear to the Lord I don’t know why my old girlfriends never turned me in for BFP, but they never did.

OK, here is the question we discussed last night at the north tree with the mattress underneath it. (Yes, a tree with a mattress underneath – now we can’t go back but it’s ok we don’t want to anymore. The local girls know where I mean an I’ll post a photo later.)

Anyway, here is the question:

Who does the DLP want to see leading the BLP into the next election?

We took a vote at the party last night and it was unanimous. Not one dissenter.

Who does the DLP want to see leading the BLP into the next election?

Mia Mottley.

Lies of Omission: Barbados Advocate article IDB “$400 Million Boost” doesn’t once mention word “Loan” !!!!

FREE MONEY!!!!

Oh Gawd, this is freaking hilarious!

The #1 government mouthpiece, The Barbados Advocate, does an entire article about the recent Inter-American Development Bank loan of US$200 million to Barbados and doesn’t once mention that it is a loan to be repaid. A loan that plunges the country further in debt.

Listen friends: I’m not debating whether we need it, should have taken it, whether it will be accounted for or properly spent…

I’m talking about the freaking Barbados News Media going through all sorts of linguistic athletics to avoid mentioning that this is debt.

Read the Barbados Advocate article. This is FREE MONEY, maybe grants. That’s the impression.

Freaking liars.

Go to The Barbados Advocate and read it online (link here)

But in case they remove the article like they usually do when they are caught, here it is in full.

Freaking liars!!!!

Wildbirds Conservation or Politics? US$30 million investment at Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary ignored – Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge declared “first” such project in Barbados

“BirdLife International has created Barbados’ first shorebird refuge at an abandoned shooting swamp at Woodbourne, close to the village of Packers. Woodbourne is a four hectare swamp on the flank of the St. Philip Shooting Swamps Important Bird Area (IBA), at which hunting and maintenance ceased in October 2004. Two former hunters were instrumental in securing the lease and financing the initial restoration of Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge. Restoration work started in May and the swamp was ready for the 2009 southbound, autumn migration.”

… from the Birdlife International press release ‘No-shooting’ shorebird refuge established in Barbados

Funding from the US Fish and Wildlife Service established Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge in Barbados

To be fair…

To be fair, Birdlife International does a stellar job internationally and in Barbados – and its own publication on Barbados’ important bird areas gives proper coverage to the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary (Birdlife International publication available in PDF download here).

BUT… to classify their Woodbourne project as the first such effort does a great disservice to the hundreds of Bajans who created the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary and the tens of thousands who came out to support the sanctuary prior to its closing by owner Peter Allard over the failure of the Barbados Government to adhere to our own laws and protect the natural environment at Graeme Hall. It seems that money and development win every time over the rights of Bajans to enjoy what is left our country.

Ian Bourne has the rest of the story at The Bajan Reporter…

“A complaint filed by the Canadian owner of Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary, an eco-tourist facility in Barbados, alleges that the Government of Barbados has violated its international obligations by refusing to enforce its environmental laws, thereby allowing increased pollution and land development to damage the Sanctuary.”

… from the Bajan Report story Canadian Alleges Treaty Violations by Barbados

Barbados Jazz Festival: We’ll take tickets for Smokey Robinson, Robin Thicke, Arturo Tappin, Marisa Lindsay

January 11th – 17th, 2010

Smokey Robinson. There is a name to take you waaaaay back before most of us at BFP uttered our first squeaks.

Motown. The Temptations. Black music going mainstream and then taking over the airways everywhere for a few years. A reverse British-Invasion in the UK. Riots in Detroit and Watts by people who had been held down too long as the handmaids for those who had and kept the money. You could put in ten years on the assembly line at General Electric in New Jersey, but if you wanted to do $500 on the never-never towards a new Chevrolet in 1963 you had better have been white.

Aretha Franklin. Pretty. Beautiful voice. Powerful. Sexy in a wholesome sort of way like Tracy Chapman is now. Not adhering to that international model look that all the big female singers have now. Aretha made it on message, energy and singing talent. No nipple rings or barbed wire necessary.

I’m almost frightened to look up Smokey Robinson’s age on Wikipedia so I won’t. I don’t care if they have to wheel him out on stage with an IV drip and an oxygen tank at his side, I’m going. (Hey… just kidding about that. The online reviews of his concerts are 100% positive and the guy is still dancing around stage in full leather tight pants surrounded by sweet young things. Whatever he’s eating, I’ll have some!)

Smokey Robinson was VP and #2 at Motown when the music was part of the big social changes and instrumental in the growth black consciousness. I don’t know what to expect of his current performance, but I’m going and nothing can stop me.

Barbados Jazz Festival website

Happy Friday: Dubai State Corporation defaults on interest payments, Barbados borrows another couple of hundred million US$

Fire Sale on Dubai Condos!

Real estate developments are collapsing and the markets are shivering as Dubai World announced yesterday that it is unable to meet interest payments. British Banks immediately lost almost 14 billion pounds in value on fears they are exposed by their Dubai investments. (Times Online article Dubai in deep water)

“No worries, quite manageable” said the unnamed Brit government officials.

Sure. No problem at all.

That’s why all that construction equipment is sitting silent on Dubai’s famous palm-shaped artificial islands.

Meanwhile in Barbados it’s considered good news when the International Development Bank decides to let us go into even more debt – which may not be such a bad thing because it means that the big boys still believe we’re good for it. Somehow I don’t think that Dubai will receive the instant loan approvals like they used to. (Nation News: Barbados gets US$200 million IDB loan)

This will pass folks. All we have to do is work hard, be frugal and help friends and family when necessary.

But ya know? I’m trying to remember all the fun and benefits we had when we blew hundreds of millions on Mia and Arthur’s Cricket World Cup.

I can’t remember much about Cricket World Cup now, but I’m sure it was worth every penny.

Wasn’t it?

Gordon Brown’s Tourism Tax creating havoc

‘Airlines have cancelled more routes out of London than any other city in Europe as a direct result of the British government’s Air Passenger Duty (APD) tax, according to figures released by insurers.’

‘Industry insiders are worried it could add to the 76 routes already cancelled since March last year.’

According to Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, ‘Gordon Brown’s tourism tax will see Britain lose over 10 million passengers, 10,000 airport jobs and more than UK Pounds 2.5 billion in tourism spend in the UK this year alone’.

He further pointed out that Belgium, Holland, Greece and Spain had already scrapped the tax.

Barbados and the Caribbean will suffer perhaps more than any other
destination and region due to the clearly unfair zoning bands which levies a higher tax on London/Barbados flights than London/San Francisco or other cities on the US pacific coast.

It is difficult to fathom why a clearly unpopular Government on the eve of a General Election would want to alienate tens of thousands of voters that will lose their jobs directly and possible hundreds of thousands indirectly.

Initially presented as an environment tax, it quite obviously is a stealth tax with blatantly discriminating distance bands and the fact that the tax will not payable by often older, less fuel efficient freight aircraft and private jets that could largely afford the extra cost.

Adrian Loveridge
26th November 2009

Further Reading…

Britain ‘s Air Passenger Duty tax: A disaster for the Caribbean

Britannia may no longer rule the waves but its imposition of the November 1 Air Passenger Duty (APD) tax has sent shock waves across the Atlantic that will wash up on Caribbean shores with a devastating effect on the Caribbean tourism industry.

In spite of massive lobbying from home and abroad and objections from airlines, tour operators and tourism organizations including the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the British government went ahead with its plan to impose the allegedly “green” and controversial Airport Passenger Duty (APD) aimed at taxing aviation’s “carbon emissions.”

CTO secretary general Hugh Riley called the air passenger tax ” illogical and one that will damage tourism to the Caribbean.”

Meanwhile, British Airways, which is greatly increasing service to the region this winter, has denounced what it calls “these huge tax hikes,” warning “it was bad news for holiday makers and completely unjustified.”

… read the full article at ETN eTurboNews

Happy Thanksgiving to our American Friends

The Culture We Need

Thanksgiving brings families near
Hustling to be together to share
Embraces and meals but mostly
Coming together to express freely
Uttermost thanks to God above
Lots of thanks with lots of love
This example should be copied by other countries
USA set a standard that should get lots of facsimiles
Reproductions of people who every year
Eagerly rush home cause their family will be there
With gifts they will show up, with prayers and wishes
Every pumpkin pudding, baked turkey and the casserole dishes
Nations will be well served to take a bite from this plate
Every country willing to imitate
Emulate the family first attitude and harmonious living
Do this and the whole world can be celebrating this Thanksgiving

Khaidjii

Bajan Poetry.com

Barbados law requires 4 week response for new radio station approval – 74 weeks later, Paradise FM still waits

How to chase away business from Barbados

The Barbados government talks a good line about wanting to assist investors and business people. They talk a good line about the wonders of doing business in paradise.

And then there’s the reality…

Mr Terry Bent – Having finally calmed down from speaking to the Secretary of the Broadcasting Authority yesterday, I can now give you the latest update on our progress, or lack thereof.

Paradise FM Ltd filled in a 9 page form in July 2008. In May 2009 we were finally interviewed for 45 minutes. Now, over 6 months later, they apparently want us to answer further questions, which they decided upon 2 weeks ago , but have not yet sent to us!

I pointed out that the Law states it should take 4 weeks from receipt of application to making a decision (including the interview) and was told they had changed the law. I asked for a copy and was told it had not been approved yet, so I said “So it has not been changed yet” and was told it had in their eyes! I asked what the new timescale was, but they could not answer!!! (Because they have not changed it yet)

…read the full story at The Bajan Reporter Paradise FM has been waiting

Why Aren’t We Surprised?

Hmmmm…. maybe Mr. Bent didn’t hire the right “consultant” before putting in his application. You know how important it is to have the right “consultant” to “advise” on new business ventures in Barbados. “Consultants” make the process go smoother…

Unless the public steps in like with Matthew Kerins and his waterpark adventure. According to Mr. Kerins, he paid some 2 million dollars in “consultant fees” and then Prime Minister Owen Arthur met with Kerins and gave his blessing for the Caribbean Splash water park on the Graeme Hall watershed.

The public had other ideas though and Mr. Kerins lost his “consultant fees”. A word to the wise about “consultant fees” in Barbados!

Barbados Tax Refunds – Where are they?

We don’t have our tax refunds yet. How about you?

Here is a question for our readers: Has anyone received their refund yet, because in three days of asking the question, I haven’t met one person who received their refund.

How about you?

Policing Barbados: Stupid, Short-Sighted Choices Made By Successive DLP/BLP Governments

This excerpt is taken from our December 9, 2006 piece Crimes Against Tourists – Caribbean Governments Can’t Hush Up Victims Any Longer.

Here we are three years later (and after two years of DLP government), and as far as we’re concerned nothing has changed. Our government continues to dangerously underfund the Royal Barbados Police Force and underpay our police personnel. Read the excerpt, and then if you have time read the full article.

Then you’ll see that nothing has changed under the Democratic Labour Party government of David Thompson. Same old, same old ’bout hey.

Think “Tourist Safety – Security” and then compare Jamaica with Barbados. No contest. Barbados is a very safe country. Even our few “bad” areas aren’t really so bad. Jamaica has some of the most beautiful natural sights in the world – in truth, even prettier than Barbados – but many tourists won’t set foot on the island because, as they see it, Jamaica is just not worth the risk…

We in Barbados shouldn’t forget about that when the issue of policing comes up. The Royal Barbados Police Force should be the highest paid, best trained and best equipped policing organization in the Caribbean. The police are the true guardians and promoters of the most important segment of our economy. If the tourists don’t feel safe in Barbados, you can kiss goodbye to about 80% of our gross national revenue…

Stupid, Short-Sighted Choices Made By Owen Arthur’s (& David Thompson’s) Government

IF the Owen Arthur and the other BLP leaders had been intelligent, they would have made policing and crime control a priority for the last 12 years that they formed the Government. Those idiots don’t recognize that public safety and rule of law is the very foundation upon which everything else is built.

That the Barbados Government has not made policing a priority is there for all to see – over 100 officers short, policing services curtailed, “wages” that are an insult, experienced officers leaving for other organizations or getting out of law enforcement altogether and a deteriorating level of confidence in the ability of the police to deal with increasingly violent crimes.

Many of our officers even lack a proper uniform and cannot afford to purchase decent uniform kit even if they wanted to.

The Owen Arthur Government has been more concerned about controlling the perception of crime in Barbados than about controlling crime itself. As a result, our Royal Barbados Police Force is understaffed, under-trained and under-equipped.

Our police force is quickly becoming a third-rate banana republic organization that pays so poorly it is unable to attract anywhere near enough qualified recruits.

All Bajans and especially whoever forms the next government had better start paying attention to how vital policing is to our tourist-based economy… because if we don’t, those chickens are going to come home to roost.

BFP Photo by Shona: Accra Beach

Dominica Freedom Party alleges corruption, cash payments for Government appointments: Asks why Hartley Henry paid $50,000

Judith Pestaina, Dominica Freedom Party, alleges corruption, wants Hartley Henry to account for cash.

Golly folks, did I miss this story in the Barbados news media?

I must have missed it.

I’m sure the Barbados media, especially the Barbados Advocate and the CBC, would have been all over the story that the right hand advisor to the Prime Minister of Barbados is being called out in Dominica to account for a July 9, 2009 payment to him for $50,000.

Nope. Can’t see the story anywhere.

I guess there must be some mistake with the Barbados news media, so let’s help them out…

Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson & top political strategist Henry Hartley

“We in the Dominica Freedom Party know Hartley Henry of Barbados to be an advisor of the Dominica Labour Party and Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt. His responsibilities include identifying and purchasing all political paraphernalia for the Dominica Labour Party election campaign to include the use of the media and IT.

We have been further advised that Hartley Henry has been appointed by the Prime Minister to act for and on behalf of the people of Dominica. We would like the PM to indicate to us in no uncertain terms in what capacity was Hartley Henry made to act for and on behalf of the people of Dominica.

The question must be answered by Prime Minister Skerritt because we know that  a payment of US$50,000.00 was made by this Honorary Consul to Mr. Hartley Henry who is an Advisor to the Dominica Labour Party and its leader, Roosevelt Skerritt. And what was this payment for?

This payment was made on July 2nd 2009 and transferred to Mr Hartley Henry.

Is it true that such payments are being made in exchange for diplomatic and/or consular appointments? Is it also done for Hartley Henry to raise money for the Dominica Labour Party’s campaign?

Based on the evidence available to the Dominica Freedom Party, it appears that consular appointments are being made by the Labour Party Government in exchange for cash payments to the Labour Party and its surrogates. This cash for appointments questions the integrity of the manner in which consular appointments are made.”

Statement by Judith Pestaina, Dominica Freedom Party (Read the entire statement here)

Barbados Human Rights Policy at the UN: Stay silent as despots violate basic human rights – because they might give us money.

Barbados Supports Child Execution

The headline is for true folks.

Previously we told you about our country’s votes at the UN to preserve the death penalty for children and our refusal to censure Iran for torture, floggings, amputations, discrimination & violence against Iranian women.

Nope, it doesn’t sound pretty – but that’s the simple truth. Check it out at other sources if you don’t believe us.

You see, Barbados doesn’t believe in voting for any human rights resolution that is “country specific”. While North Korea drives bulldozers over people as a method of execution, and while China kidnaps pregnant women off the streets, holds them down and aborts their babies, and while Iran executes 16 year old girls for having sex (the man only got whipped because unlawful sex is always a woman’s fault in Iran)…

… our representative at the United Nations says “No problem here”. It was explained it to the press this way:

“Based on its principles and its consistent position, Barbados would abstain from all country-specific resolutions. But its position should not be misconstrued as inattention to human rights issues. It was gravely concerned by patterns of abuse and urged all States to engage constructively in addressing such issues.”

You can read the entire report yourself and then decide whether or not our country should be empowering despots. While you’re at it, see if you can figure out exactly what “principles” Barbados seems to be upholding.

Reported: Barbados Ambassador Rihanna says “quite normal” in Barbados for women to be naked in front of strange men

CONTROVERSY: Bravo Magazine is sticking to its story that Rihanna’s interview was reported fair and square. As much as we can make out, the editor claims the interview was recorded with her knowledge. Others say that “sources close” to Rihanna state that the interview was not fairly reported.

Nothing official released by Rihanna’s publicists though. That will be the real test unless the recordings show up for all to hear.

The “Russian Roulette” singer admits: “To be honest, I’m even hotter at home, because I’m always naked there. I’m from Barbados, that’s quite normal there. My pool boy saw me naked five times already.”

…Barbados Ambassador for Culture & Youth allegedly explains to the world media how we do things here in Bim

Mr. Prime Minister: If Rihanna did say these things, it’s about time for the annual review of all “ambassador” appointments, don’t you think?

Crime Statistics for Barbados M.I.A. or freely available?

Good day,

I have been a visitor to your island for some time now.  Recently, I have had some friends come to visit me and they are now interested in moving here.  They have asked me to find out about the crime rate and trends on the island to help them decide where they should like to live.

I have searched all over the internet and have even asked a couple of different police officers for crime statistics on the island.

To date, I have been unsuccessful.  After reading your article regarding the Police Commissioners press conference earlier this week, I wondered if perhaps you had access to this information??

Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

Sincerely,

NAME WITHHELD BY BFP EDITOR

Of Aircraft Graveyards, and rotting Bajan plantation homes

Last year I was privileged to see the photography collection of a man who worked for a time at the aircraft disposal facility at Kingman, Arizona. The photos were works of art, but so much more too. On his days off, the photographer took his camera into the cockpits of the doomed airliners and documented every switch, every scratch and what remained after ten thousand flights.

A Douglas DC6 photo showed a flight plan dropped between the seats by one “C. Moss” in 1959 that remained there until the photographer found it thirty years later. The same aircraft had a plexiglas dome installed so the navigator could take star shots in the high arctic where compasses cannot be trusted. As I looked at that photo I thought about the man who could hold a sextant steady enough in turbulence at twenty thousand feet to do any good. I admire that pilot because he was a better navigator than I’ll ever be.

Most of my friends at home don’t understand how a person can get sentimental over a junkyard for airliners that are past their useful life, but my flying friends understand immediately. The airplanes are a connection with the people, now passed on, who made the aluminum, steel and oil come alive.

I feel the presence of those gone before me as I touch a fifty-year old mixture control worn smooth by a thousand hands.

I get the same feeling when I touch the wall of the restored Morgan Lewis windmill, but with more sadness then anything when I touch some of the other crumbling bits of history around the island. When I walk the ground at Newton, I can feel the souls of the thousands who toiled and died there – but so much of what they built was deliberately left to rot.

In our haste to assert ourselves as a people and to break the chains of our colonial slave masters, we somehow decided that the structures of the plantation class were oppressive – so we let them rot.

Deliberately, I believe.

We thought that destroying the structures of the planters would somehow free us, and that is what we did.

Are we better for that?

I say that letting the plantation homes rot didn’t free us from our past. It set us adrift without the tangible bits of history that connect us to where we came from and who we are.

Robert

Special thanks to Keith Clarke of Barbados in Focus for the shot of the old mill base. A hundred years from now Keith’s photographs of contemporary Barbados will be treasured as future generations look at the past to develop a sense of who they are.

Trip Advisor post about Barbados “ZR Hustling Pimps”

Editor’s Note: With 500 employees and some 25 million registered active users, Trip Advisor is probably one of the most influential travel websites in the world. (For some idea of the freeflow of ideas and information that happens there, read the Trip Advisor thread Barbados or Jamaica?)

One traveler recently posted an article about our ZRs, which we lifted and repeat below.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the collective opinion on this island is that it is about time for our government to stop talking and to start acting to rein in these ZR outlaws. The number one threat to our tourism industry is not beach erosion or over building or rudeness towards tourists (although those factors are all important).

The number one threat to our tourism industry is anything that conveys a message that Barbados is an unsafe tourism destination. Anything that even smells like it might make tourists think about their personal safety should be taken care of with all dispatch.

When will our government start putting these outlaws out of business?

Ya can’t hide this stuff anymore folks. It’s called THE INTERNET…

First of all, look at the accident statistics…

“Barbados was ranked in the Top 10 nations with accident victims according to the size of their population, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit, which compiles and publishes data on a range of economic and social issues every year.

It reported that Barbadians were getting injured in road accidents at an annual rate of 763 victims for every 100 000 people on the island, putting it in the eighth spot, just ahead of Japan, the United States, Serbia, Slovenia, Austria, Canada and South Korea, among others. Only Qatar, Kuwait, Rwanda, Costa Rica, Panama and Jordan were higher on the list.

No other Caribbean country was listed among the top 50 states when it came to road accident victims.”

Posted on Trip Advisor by “Madwand” of Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA

ZR Hustling Pimps of Barbados

I posted some of this in another message, but wanted to elaborate for the sake of anyone looking to ride on the ZR buses. This was never mentioned in any of the reading I did before I went.

Some of the ZR buses are very dangerous and operating illegally. These will be the ones you will see that will stop for you even though there are already so many people in the vehicle that they are squeezing out the windows. These buses will have a ZR pimp operating the side door and doing the hustling. He will be the one snatching people in and out of the vehicle to make room for more people. These will be the ones that are stuffed over capacity and are not safe to ride on.

The first ZRs I rode in was so bad we got stopped at an intersection by a cop and several people were made to get off and the driver was written a warning. Then he blasted off again doing the same thing, zooming through subdivisions trying to beat traffic. To top it off, when we got to B’town, I was expecting the bus station, not a parking lot full of ZRs, so I didn’t get off, and nobody said anything. and halfway back to Oistens the ZR pimp told me I had to pay again. So I got off and handed him another $1.50 to get off. Then paid another $1.50 to go back to B’town again. At least the second bus wasn’t husting, so it was nice and safe.

If you are waiting for a ZR bus and you see one like this stop and solicit you, do not get on or you will regret it. You will see a dozen of them in a minute’s time, so don’t feel like you have to get on the first one that stops for you, even if the ZR pimp persists on taking you. Keep waiting til one stops for you that is not stuffed full.

Barbados in the year 2050 – The vision of some…

Unless we change the course we’re on, Chinese will build the condos. Bajan maids will clean them. Your sons will wash the yachts.

… and your public beaches and open spaces near the city will be long gone.

My friends: the choices we make now may not impact us personally, but will our children and grandchildren be cursing our names forty years hence?

After 14 or 15 years of the BLP selling off pieces of the island, blowing hundreds of millions of dollars at a time on failed mega-projects like Cricket World Cup and GEMS Hotels – and siphoning off 3% of every tax dollar you ever paid to places like Switzerland and Turks & Caicos – we find our country with less than nothing left in the bank and deteriorated, broken infrastructure systems that are in many cases way beyond repair.

Not to mention that the world’s economy dropped off a cliff just about the time that the then-new Thompson DLP Government was sworn into power.

When the BLP were in power The Nation newspaper was the government rag. Now the Nation goes wanting for government advertising dollars and The Barbados Advocate is the rag of choice for the DLP government.

Have a look at the headlines in the Barbados Advocate. The best news they can announce on most days is that we managed to beg another loan or grant from some UN or Caribbean development fund. Or the Chinese gave us some trinkets. Or we received another ongoing EU sugar payment that we extorted because we are experts at hitting the white-guilt-over-slavery button.

Just telling it like it is. Disagree if you want, it’s a free blog for most words.

Some advice to The Advocate: suck up those government advertising dollars while you can boys and girls, because the steady trade winds of political power that Owen Arthur and Mia Mottley enjoyed for 14 years have given way to a chaotic storm.

Nothing is for sure anymore. Not the tourist dollars, not the cruise ships, not the offshore banking dollars and for certain no matter how things look now the Thompson government’s re-election will be no sure thing next time around.

Especially because the economy isn’t going to get better for a while and the electorate tends to punish sitting governments for the world’s economic performance. It doesn’t have to make sense, but even Hartley Henry will tell you that is for true.

Prime Minister Thompson was in the papers the other day telling us that times are rough and we have to adjust our living standards and expectations and put our spending priorities straight. Pay them water bills! says Thompy.

Ya have to know that ‘tings must be pretty bad for him to say that.

We Must Not Give In

Here is the point of this little rum-fueled rant (Ok… I admit it!  Cliverton)

Anyway, here is the point…

No matter how bad things are now and for the next few years, we must not, we cannot – sell off / close off our beaches and our open spaces for a few dollars – or for any dollars. When we do that we are selling off our future in so many ways: our ability to attract tourists, our children’s quality of life and their future.

What got me thinking about this was an excellent point made by our friends at Mullins Bay Blog. Go over there, read This Is Monaco: Is This What We Want For Barbados? and follow some of the links.

Then ask yourself, it that what you want for your children?

Yet another “audit to nowhere” announced by Barbados Government

August 2008: Michael Lashley announces that government might maybe think about doing something. Maybe. If.

Ho hum. Minister of Housing Michael Lashley has just announced (hold your breath!) yet another audit for wrongdoing by the previous BLP government. Oh wait… this is the same announcement Lashley made in August of 2008!

How many “Special Audit” announcements is that in the last two years? Ten? Twenty?

We’ve lost count.

Here’s what we wrote in 2008 after 9 months of the Thompson DLP government…

Previous Arthur/Mottley BLP Government Shouldn’t Worry: The Fix Is In!

I think I’ve lost track of the number of “Special”, “Forensic” and “Special Forensic” audits talked about by the David Thompson DLP Government. Thompson and his gang are in their ninth month of governing Barbados and one thing is for sure…

The fix is in. There will be lots of shouting and posturing, but no real action will be taken to hold members of the previous administration to account for their corruption. And there will be no real action taken by the Thompson Government to recover any of the millions of our tax dollars that were given away in overpriced sweetheart government contracts by the Arthur/Mottley administration.

… from BFP’s August 2008 article: Barbados Government Announcement Of (Yes, Another) SPECIAL AUDIT for NHC!!! Wow!!! (Yawn…)

Same old, Same old story in the Nation…

CABINET COULD SOON BE having a close look at the controversial sale of state land in Kent, Christ Church, to determine whether laws were broken.
Minister of Housing and Lands Michael Lashley made the disclosure on Friday while delivering the weekly lecture at the Democratic Labour Party’s (DLP) headquarters in Belleville, St Michael.

Lashley said in an interview later: “The matter will be discussed internally at the NHC [National Housing Corporation] and then it will be forwarded to Cabinet.”

He said he was “very disturbed” by the development.

Auditor General Leigh Trotman first raised some concerns about the land sales in a scathing Special Audit of the NHC covering the five-year period April 1, 2003, to March 31, 2008.

Leigh said that under the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration, more 
than 80 acres of Government-owned land earmarked by the NHC for housing were eventually sold to private developers, contrary to decisions 
of Parliament.

Minister of Economic Affairs David Estwick, who attended the lecture, said the NHC had acted ultra vires of the mandate given by Parliament.
He told the gathering that Government needed to treat the issue with the gravity it merited.

Government Senator Jepter Ince said: “I want to know, as a citizen of Barbados, what happened to the $16 milion as stated in the Auditor General’s report from the sale of land at Kent that was supposed to go to Country Park Towers.

“All of Country Park Towers never got out the foundation until this present Government came to office. I want a full investigation.”

… Continue reading this article at The Nation: Kent Probe

Tennis pon de Rock – Serena Williams vs Caroline Wozniacki while Marcus changes nappys at home

This is NOT the photo of Serena that Marcus links to in the article.

The girls (meaning Shona and friends) have tickets to see tennis giants Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki square off at Tennis pon de Rock on November 28, 2009. Yours truly has been informed that, night shift or not, I WILL be changing the diapers so the ladies can have a day off. I am not allowed to call Auntie Moses even though she won’t be going to the match.

Funny thing is, I told Shona that I’d love to go with her to the match but she won’t hear of it. Says she needs some time off from me and little ones. I don’t think that’s it though. I can’t figure out the reason she doesn’t want me to go to the match. Could it have been that nude magazine cover that Serena recently did for ESPN? I mean, come on honey, it’s only a sports event. Tennis, doan ya know?

Maybe I’ll figure it out later, but meanwhile it looks like I’m in the doghouse for some reason.

Soon there will be no crime in Barbados – Make that no “reported” crime

Statistics bamboozle Commissioner Dottin… or maybe it’s the other way around

A smiling Commissioner of Police announced that the latest statistics showing a reduction in crime were “very gratifying”. But as unquestioning reporters lapped up Dottin’s every word, a different story was playing itself out just north of Grape Hall where yet another citizen decided that it just wasn’t worth his time to report a theft to the police.

One of our friends got a little lazy last week and left two lightly used truck tires on rims at the side of his home for only a few days instead of taking them to someone who had a use for them. He came home last Wednesday night to find the tires gone and he felt like slapping himself upside the head for his foolishness. You know how it is ’bout hey: you can’t leave so much as a garden hose outside overnight or it will be gone.

Why didn’t my friend report the crime to the police?

“Why bother, nothin happen” was his answer. That reasoning is more prevalent in Barbados than ever as our understrength and underpaid police force struggles with a triple onslaught of inadequate training,  ancient equipment and increased demands for service and professionalism.

My friend’s reason for not reporting the theft is that, more and more, the police simply don’t come when called in Barbados, and when they do “take a report”, that’s usually the end of police action. And that is why my friend is part of Commissioner Dottin’s hyped “2 percent drop in crime”. Victims are giving up on reporting minor crimes to the police because the victims perceive it is not worth their trouble.

So if the Commissioner says that Barbados had almost a 2 percent reduction in REPORTED crimes as fewer and fewer police officers patrol, we have to ask: If we eliminated more police officers and had fewer officers to take reports or patrol, wouldn’t that lead to even greater “reductions” in reported crime?

The Commissioner is playing a dangerous game taking credit for the “reduction” in REPORTED crime. To take credit he has to ignore the demographic trends that are causing a reduction in the number of young males (a segment of the population with the highest crime rates) as well as the number of citizens who have given up on reporting minor crimes to our police.

Barbados is a great place to live and is relatively free of major violent crimes of the types seen in for instance, Trinidad. That is a cultural factor as much as anything – but if the police want to take credit for a 2 percent reduction in crime, they had better be prepared to answer how much of that reduction is as a result of citizens giving up on reporting crime to the police.

Further Reading

Top Cop Reports Dip In Crime

Articles about murdered tourist Terry Schwarzfeld disappearing from Canadian News archives

“Dear Barbados Free Press,

I thought you’d like to know the reason why past news articles about Terry Schwarzfeld are being removed from the web by Canwest. Ask yourself ‘How much was Barbados Tourism spending with Canwest before the incident? How much is Barbados spending on advertising with Canwest now?’ “

… received as an anonymous email from a BFP reader based in Canada.

“I’m trying to find out if a court date has been set for Curtis Foster, the man accused of killing Canadian Terry Schwarzfeld. I have had no luck getting through to Attorney General’s office. Have you heard anything? Any idea if a trial date has been set? Any help would be greatly appreciated.”

… email to BFP from a Canadian reader.

Making Terry Schwarzfeld Disappear

We hadn’t noticed until we received the anonymous email from Canada, but a Google search shows the truth – many of the Canadian news articles about murdered Canadian tourist Terry Schwarzfeld have been removed from the internet by Canadian news media outlets.

Included in the list of “missing” is the March 8, 2009 Ottawa Citizen article by Bruce Ward Bajan Media Ignores Attack On Women. Online site only outlet to speak out for Schwarzfeld.

Hey, like we always knew… “Money talks”

How long before the next ZR tragedy?

There has been yet another tragic accident involving a speeding ZR van. The van smashed into two elderly visitors who were crossing Hastings main road near St. Matthias gap on Friday evening 6th Nov 09 around 3.30 pm.

According to a witness, the van was not in sight as the couple set out to cross the road. The van was going so fast on the bend with a full load that it could not stop in time. The two visitors (in their 70’s) were taken away with broken bones and internal injuries. To reach that age and to have the few remaining years destroyed by an aggressive van driver through no fault of your own is sad to the extreme.

Two days before this I was nearly killed by a blue bus on a section of the road with no sidewalk in the same area. The side of the bus actually touched my arm as I leaned against the wall of a house. The bus was doing at least 70k in a 30 mph zone.

This madness has to stop.

As for the ZR.s the system is wrong. The drivers have to make the daily rent for the vehicle before they can pay themselves. This puts a lot of pressure on the driver to try to get passengers any way they can and drive as fast as possible in the busy periods to make as much money as possible. For a public service vehicle this is a conflict of interest putting everybody’s lives at risk.

In lean times, like now, the pressure is even greater.

I gather that we will have more American visitors this year due to Jet Blue etc. I fear for them as they are not accustomed to left hand driving and small roads with no sidewalks.
What will it take for the authorities to build proper sidewalks, enforce the 30 mph speed limit and change the way the ZR.s operate.?

Yours,
Concerned Hastings Resident

(photo of speeding ZR by Shona)

Fort Hood Muslim Terrorist was a known al Qaeda suspect – Why didn’t the US Army act months ago?

“U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.”

…from ABC News Officials: U.S. Aware of Hasan Efforts to Contact al Qaeda

Why didn’t the US Army or Intelligence Agencies do something about Major Nidal Hasan?

Was it political correctness? Fear of making a decision? Whatever it was, it looks like some person or persons made a decision not to take steps to remove Major Hasan from the US Army even after it was known that he was contacting al Qaeda.

This should be a lesson to government authorities, law enforcement and military leadership everywhere in the West: If there are signs that a Muslim employee has gone fundamentalist, ACT to counter the threat!

Further Reading

Sudden Jihad Syndrome? Muslim terrorist yelled “Allahu Akbar!” during mass murder at Fort Hood.

Chinese-equipped Cuban Secret Police beat Award Winning Global Voices bloggers

“I was arrested along with Orlando L. Pardo and Claudia Cadelo they carried us off sicilian style. Knocks. We were left lying in a corner.”

Cuban blogger Yoaní Sánchez (wikipedia link) in an SMS text message to Spanish blogger Rosa Jiménez Cano, who works at the Spanish news daily El País

Photo: Three Men Who Excuse Murder & Oppression of Cubans

Translation of the account posted by Yoaní on her blog

Near 23rd Street, just at the Avenida de los Presidentes roundabout, we saw a black car, made in China, pull up with three heavily built strangers. ‘Yoani, get in the car,’ one told me while grabbing me forcefully by the wrist. The other two surrounded Claudia Cadelo, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, and a friend who was accompanying us to the march against violence.

The ironies of life, it was an evening filled with punches, shouts and obscenities on what should have passed as a day of peace and harmony. The same ‘aggressors’ called for a patrol car which took my other two companions, Orlando and I were condemned to the car with yellow plates, the terrifying world of lawlessness and the impunity of Armageddon.

I refused to get into the bright Geely-made car and we demanded they show us identification or a warrant to take us. Of course they didn’t show us any papers to prove the legitimacy of our arrest. The curious crowded around and I shouted, ‘Help, these men want to kidnap us,’ but they stopped those who wanted to intervene with a shout that revealed the whole ideological background of the operation, ‘Don’t mess with it, these are counterrevolutionaries.’

In the face of our verbal resistance they made a phone call and said to someone who must have been the boss, ‘What do we do? They don’t want to get in the car.’ I imagine the answer from the other side was unequivocal, because then came a flurry of punches and pushes, they got me with my head down and tried to push me into the car. I held onto the door… blows to my knuckles… I managed to take a paper one of them had in his pocket and put it in my mouth. Another flurry of punches so I would return the document to them…

(snip)

We were left aching, lying in a street in Timba, a woman approached, ‘What has happened?’… ‘A kidnapping,’ I managed to say. We cried in each others arms in the middle of the sidewalk, thinking about Teo, for God’s sake how am I going to explain all these bruises. How am I going to tell him that we live in a country where this can happen, how will I look at him and tell him that his mother, for writing a blog and putting her opinions in kilobytes, has been beaten up on a public street. How to describe the despotic faces of those who forced us into that car, their enjoyment that I could see as they beat us, their lifting my skirt as they dragged me half naked to the car.

Full story at Global Voices – Cuba: Yoani Sanchez & Other Bloggers Seized

Further Reading

Along the Malecon blog: We are all Yoani

GEMS cover-up continues under DLP: Hundreds of millions of Barbados tax dollars vanish with zero public accountability

What are the functions and objectives of an independent Senator?

During the time the late Sir John Stanley Goddard sat in the Senate he repeatedly called for up-to-date financial statements for Hotels and Resorts Limited to be made available.

After all, it’s a majority Government owned company funded by the taxpayer and surely we have a right to know their current fiscal position?

I understand that HRL’s accounts have now been laid in Parliament
for the subsequent years since 2001, yet why has there seemingly been no Senate debate, discussion or public comment?

Losses for the GEMS project have been quoted at anything from $200 to $400 million, and as yet, no analysis has been in what part in the closure of over 30 private sector hotels over the last fifteen years they have played.

Adrian Loveridge

(Editor’s note: The headline “GEMS cover-up continues under DLP…” was created by Barbados Free Press. The body of the article is exactly as received from Mr. Loveridge)

Below article from the November 12, 2007 Nation News…

THE HOYOS FILE – A GEM OF A FINANCIAL REPORT

by Patrick Hoyos

November 12, 2007

WITH A SORT of morbid fascination, I have been revisiting the shipwreck that was Hotels & amp; Resorts Ltd, the above-ground financial counterpart of the Stavronikita at the end of 2001.

Yes, dear readers, I know this is almost December 2007 – so, you may wonder, what is the point? Well, there really isn’t any except that the 2001 accounts were only recently laid in Parliament along with the remainder of the company’s annual reports from 1997 to 2001, so I thought it would be “interesting” to recap the disastrous position GEMS had found itself in by then.

Writing in the notes to the financial statement for 2001, KPMG stated that “the company incurred a loss for the year ended December 31, 2001 of $22 million and had accumulated a deficit of $60 million at the year-end date. Also at that date, current liabilities exceeded current assets by $51 million. This raises substantial doubt that the company will be able to continue as a going concern without the continued financial support of its shareholders.”

$51 million? How did that happen? Current assets – which were made up of cash in hand as well as trade, VAT and other receivables, prepaid expenses and inventory – totalled a paltry $4.1 million, while current liabilities – the company’s bank overdraft, accounts payable and accrued expenses, a sum due to CRL Ltd, interest-bearing loans and interest payable – totalled $55.6 million. Subtract one from the other.