Bermuda Government Puts Pressure On Royal Gazette Newspaper – Advertising Revenues As A Weapon To Control The Press

Bermuda Government Kills Advertising Contract With A Newspaper That Won’t Keep Quiet

The Bermuda Government has axed subscriptions and advertising contracts with The Royal Gazette – a newspaper that describes itself in this way…

“The Royal Gazette aims to cover the whole community fairly and accurately ands to act as an independent voice. It is not affiliated with any political party.”

Apparently Premier Ewart Brown and his crones consider The Royal Gazette to have been acting a little too independently and they are now seeking through financial extortion of the island’s only daily newspaper - to control the news that citizens read.

We on Barbados can sympathize with the Bermudians as our news media was under the same extortion for years of BLP government. Whether things will change significantly with the new David Thompson DLP government remains to be seen.

Further Reading at The Royal Gazette

March 26, 2008 – Government Axes Its Royal Gazette Deals

March 27, 2008 – Government will use electronic media after axing Royal Gazette deals

March 28, 2008 – Premier: “Learn To Live With That”

March 29, 2008 – Free Media Is Important

Further Reading At BFP

Barbados Government Mouthpiece Newspaper “Nation News” – Refuses To Publish Column By Adrian Loveridge

Attention Barbados Offshore Investors and Transparency International – Corruption Stories Being Hidden By Barbados Media & Government

Barbados To Allow Convicted Gun-Toting Rapist Foreigner To Work On Island

Barbados Says “No Problem” With The Double Standard

There is a double standard that exists with artistes and celebrities. We allow them to break all kinds of rules because… well, they are special. Hollywood is most famous for this, excusing and even continuing to fete celebrities who take sexual advantage of children. (Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Michael Jackson)

We’re no different on this island – and maybe even more willing to tolerate the excesses of the rich and famous because they bring big dollars and prestige to Barbados.

Under ordinary circumstances, Bajans would be horrified that their government issued a work permit to a foreigner man who was convicted of rape, robbery and gun possession and has recently been granted parole after 8 years in prison. Citizens would be calling for answers as to why the government would let such a man on our island when he is not a citizen.

Don’t Worry Folks… He’s A Musician On Parole

When I get to the heart of the story and say that I’m talking about Jah Cure in Barbados to perform at the upcoming Reggae On The Hill at Farley Hill, the same folks who were upset about our headline will now wonder what the fuss is all about.

Just remember friends, we don’t want convicted gun-toting rapist-robbers on our island home. Unless, of course, we can make some money by letting them visit.

Just some thoughts on a Sunday afternoon.

The rape victim, Suzanne Ferguson, who waived her anonymity to speak out after she heard Cure was due for release, told the Jamaican press last year: ‘Every time there is a lot of publicity about Jah Cure, I have even more flashbacks.

‘Sometimes I am so afraid to leave my house. It seems to me that entertainers are more valued than everybody else in Jamaica and, as a woman, I feel seriously undervalued.’ She has claimed she was offered money by Cure’s supporters to retract her claims.

… from The Guardian Rape row as ‘new Marley’ comes to UK

Why Should Anyone Trust Ricardo Marshall Of The Solid Waste Project Unit?

Ricardo Marshall, project manager in the Solid Waste Project Unit, is one of the idiots most responsible for the disaster that is the Greenland Dump. As described by Professor Hans G. Machel…

Ricardo Marshall, as I have pointed out before, is ignorant and incompetent in the position he presently holds. He has proven this numerous times, both in the printed media and in his appearances at my public presentation and on Brass Tacks in February 2006. As an example, I refer to my lengthy article “Nothing good about Greenland”, which appeared in the Sunday Sun on February 27 2005. In this article I show, point by point, that Marshall does not understand the issue(s) at hand. Marshall needs to be replaced.

… from BFP’s Greenland Fiasco Dooms Barbados – Professor Hans Machel Names The Liars, Thieves & Incompetents

In the latest piece of deception about the Greenland Dump as published in the Nation News, Ricardo Marshall claims that the only waste going into the site in the future would be “residue” after all organic materials, plastics, chemical and construction waste was removed from the garbage.

Uh-huh. Sure.

Why should anyone trust Ricardo Marshall at this stage of the Greenland Project?

He has forged ahead in the face of a wall of technical advice against the site. The site has had to be rebuilt twice due to the instability of the ground and they still can’t get an engineer to certify it and structures yet to be built – like the leachate treatment station.

Ricardo Marshall and his co-conspirators have bet everything on making Greenland Dump operational – even without leachate treatment. They have totally ignored modern incineration/vaporization technologies because they have had tunnel vision for the last 15+ years.

Marshall can’t even tell us how much has been spent for this useless and dangerous project.

But the one thing he knows is that his career and personal credibility are tied to the Greenland Dump becoming operational… so he presses ahead despite all technical evidence against the location.

Further Reading

Nation News: Trash Talk: Waste of Money