The government we deserve…

Many of our politicians have fallen short of their promises, or have done great injury to their stewardship. In some cases, they have shown to be less than scrupulous in their management of our affairs. Yet we reward them with more time for embarrassment. Our only excuse, perhaps, is that within the context of our democracy there must be a Government –– good, bad or indifferent.

But how can we explain retaining any Government that seizes land compulsorily and breaches the law by refusing to pay for it? How can we contemplate returning the same Government to power that squanders more than $300 million on failed projects? How can we give succour to any leader who fails to discipline a parliamentary colleague brought to public shame by the highest court in the land?

How can we forgive any Government that has ravaged our agriculture sector? How can we forgive politicians who facilitate construction contracts without a bidding process? How can we be satisfied with leadership that doesn’t boast of achievements, but wallows in lofty verbosity, smug claims of not reading newspapers and punishing dissenters with laughter?

How can we not ask for accountability in situations where some politicians possess six high-end cars, obtained on Government salaries that are common knowledge in the Official Gazette? How can millions of dollars be spirited away from an insurance company and our Attorney General not demand a criminal investigation by the police? How can a state-appointed insurance supervisory body fail to carry out its mandate to the detriment of thousands of policyholders and no heads roll? How can an Auditor General annually expose instances of fraud and blatant theft and yet no one is held to account?

… read the entire editorial at Barbados Today – Getting the governance we deserve

Harlequin Buccament Bay flood deaths caused by neglect, dereliction of duty?

“Seeing as the government knew about the need to carry out river flood protection, why did they give Harlequin’s Buccament Bay Resort permission to build in a known flood plain on a river that required river bank flood defences installed?

Why did they approve of building private houses in a flood plain, next to a dangerous river requiring bank and river base restructuring and defences?

Why? Why? Can they tell us Why?

Why did they fail to install those defences?”

by Peter Binose

(Photo courtesy of I-Witness News)

Whilst researching the Christmas Buccament floods I discovered that both Ralph Gonsalves and Julian Francis as government ministers were both informed as early as 2001 that Buccament was likely to flood. They were instructed to carry out urgent river defenses but almost every year for about 13 years just got more and more reports on the matter. They had the reports done because the World Bank was paying for the reports, they cost us nothing. But after getting the reports they failed to act – and that failure to act proved to be fatal  for a number of people.

In some of the reports it is even quoted that Buccament is in a flood plain. As such they allowed new building in a flood plain next to a river that was almost certainly going to flood, and it did.

PM Ralph Gonsalves

Remember the videos of Gonsalves walking through Buccament with tears in his eyes? Was that all an act? He must of been terrified that the people would find out that he was pre-warned and failed to act, thus being a direct contributor to the loss of all those poor people.

The piece below is something I have submitted to all the newspapers and online publications. We will have see if the SVG newspapers have the courage to publish what I have written, regardless of the fact that its all verifiable as the truth.

Buccament Bay flood deaths neglect, dereliction of duty or something worse?

On December 24 and 25, 2013, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines was hit by a low-level, high-impact trough system which caused severe infrastructure damage to the country. The trough brought high winds, torrential rains and floods. Local rainfall stations reported between 200mm and 310mm on the windward side of the island and 153.3mm in the leeward side of the island.

As a result of the disaster event, there were 11 confirmed deaths and 3 persons were never found. The final disaster assessment concluded: 77 homes were completely destroyed or severely damaged; approximately another 300 homes were damaged; and 500 people were displaced and housed in temporary shelters.

Since their first year in power there is unequivocal evidence that the Unity Labour Party [ULP] government have been fully aware of the vulnerability to serious flooding at Buccament and in other places. They were aware that Buccament is generally a flood plain area.  Their studies from 2001 to 2014 show just that. They have had thirteen years to put river defenses in at Buccament, but failed to do so. The Christmas 2013 Buccament flood tragedy occurred and lives were lost.

For thirteen years the government had dragged their feet and carried out numerous studies for Social Assessment Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Projects, at Buccament and elsewhere.

Here are some of the official references to studies regarding the flooding danger from Buccament river. From them it is most obvious that the government were fully aware of the dangers of doing nothing. 

Internet pornography kills love, warps young minds and sustains slavery.

Government Minister Donville Inniss associated website: Pregnant women porn at Orgasm.com …CLICK PHOTO FOR DETAILS AND STORY…

by Grenville Phillips II

Pornography is now easily available to all school children who have access to a tablet or a smart phone.  It is facilitated by persons who allow unrestricted access to the Internet in their homes or at the many Wi-Fi hotspots around Barbados.  So let me share a solution; but first, let me describe the problem.

Pornography has two main damaging effects.  The impact for viewers is that that they can primarily view sexual intercourse as a means to satisfy themselves rather than satisfying their partners.  For male viewers, this can lead to a less satisfying sexual experience for her and a boring routine for him.  He will likely develop an uncaring attitude towards her if she does not express a similar delight in his sexual performance as those whom he watches.  His sexual experience should be all about satisfying her, and her sexual experience should be all about satisfying him.

The most damaging impact is on the victims whom the watchers are viewing.  Many women, especially from Asian and eastern European countries, are forced into the sex slave trade, with harsh consequences if they do not show delight when raped (See ‘Half the Sky’ and other research into sex slavery).  As the watchers view these victims, they are supporting and sustaining this slavery.  If people choose not to pay to view pornography on the Internet, then they still support and sustain the sex slave trade by adding to the web sites’ page views, which increases their potential advertising revenues. 

Bermudian Transport Minister a weak, timid mouse. Surrenders credibility to Bermuda Industrial Union

Island Time Celebration: Bus driver goes sick to work 2nd job. Caught once before but can’t be sacked!

“Hey man. This be island time. Nobody get fired. Nobody is responsible for anything. Why you mek waves an fuss ’bout nothing? So de man de bus driver phone in sick, then he go to second job. Wat wrong with dat?”

Bermudian Transport Minister Terry Lister surrendered all of his and the government’s credibility today when he reinstated a bus driver who had been caught phoning in sick to work a second job.

The union had been holding the entire country hostage in an illegal strike over the firing of a bus driver who was caught out booking sick to work a second job – and this was the driver’s second offense! He was sacked and instead of being ashamed of his behaviour, the Union decided there was no problem here.

Bermuda Industrial Union teaches the government a lesson

Chris Furbert, Bermuda Industrial Union president, just taught the government of Bermuda who’s boss – and it isn’t the elected representatives of the people of Bermuda. Government used to be the largest employer in Bermuda, but now that title resides with Chris Furbert.

This is big, my friends. The repercussions of this will haunt the government of Premier Paula Cox until forever.

… based upon a submission by “Bermuda Jim”

Further Reading

Bermuda Sun: Shop steward explains how deal was struck to end bus strike

The Royal Gazette: Minister defends decision to reinstate sacked bus driver

Turks and Caicos Islanders getting restless as Brits recolonise

Citizens warned against protests

by “Anonymous for obvious reasons”

I read some recent warnings this week by British Foreign Minister Henry Bellingham (photo above) towards the Turks and Caicos citizens. Upon reading his warnings, I knew I had to answer this directly.  We have been waiting in vain for the British to make some gesture to assure us that they are not here to recolonise us or nation build.  We are right to question the British interim government on this and demand answers about our futures.

The British tell us that they took over to help us with government corruption.  I watched and waited for this corruption to be sorted out.  It’s now 2011 and we haven’t seen much of anything in the way of corruption.  What we have seen instead is the prosecution team and the British Foreign Commonwealth Office warning us not to get in their way, keeping us at arm’s length while they “reform” land policies, local leadership, civil service downsizing, elections and especially our constitution. These changes are obviously being made to shift power from the Turks and Caicos to the hands of the British.  We worry and ask questions every day, yet we remain in the dark.  Nobody is watching the British as they raid our cookie jars and now we are warned against questioning matters that have an impact on our lives.

Imagine our worry that we have been calling for elections since 2009 but the British hold us off with “we’ll see” and several broken promises that elections are around the corner.  We will be waiting and seeing for decades at this rate because the British keep putting endless conditions and milestones on us to keep us from our right to democracy.

Continue reading this story at The tcipost: UK OT Minsiter warns Turks and Caicos Islanders to shut up or else…

Rawdon Adams on CLICO mess: “Voters told to shut-up, lie back, close their eyes and think of Barbados”

How much did CLICO donate to the DLP and/or the BLP campaign?

When Mr. Rawdon Adams delivered the 5th Annual Tom Adams Memorial Lecture in March 2010, he spoke a bit on the state of CLICO and the devastating effects on policy holders and Barbados.

Mr. Adams’ 5 minute talk on CLICO is worth listening to a couple of times – especially if you believe as we do that no one will ever be held accountable for any wrongdoing.

Typical toilet, Barbados Queen Elizabeth Hospital

 

Guest toilet, QEH Accident & Emergency Department. Yes, that’s long term gummed urine/feces splashing, then drying, then the next layer from the next A&E “guest”.

UPDATED: July 7, 2013

With all the recent troubles at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital we thought that we could best comment on the situation by re-visiting an article we published three years ago.

After four years of DLP government, are things at the QEH any better? The Nation News says the situation is worse:

“The cash-strapped Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) continues to have to deal with faulty machinery, which is affecting its ability to provide proper health care to Barbadians…”

… from the Nation article July 6, 2013 QEH Breakdowns

Enjoy! (Just don’t sit down. Squat like everybody does.)

Also read BFP’s May 2012 article: Heart attack in Barbados – tourist slams Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Original article published June 11, 2010…

Dear Health Minister Donville Inniss…

Donville Inniss: needs to learn about leadership and clean hospital toilets.

Please head over to Ian Bourne’s Bajan Reporter website and read his new story St Michael West Central Constituency Report {Pt 2} – Donville Inniss: What QEH is he talking about?

There, Minister Inniss, you will find several current photos of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital including the above one. You will also find that Mr. Bourne has posted videos of your speech at the St Michael West Central Constituency Report and that he contrasts what you say with the reality of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Barbados PM admits citizenship applications “not dealt with for over 12 years”

Prime Minister David Thompson admitted yesterday what anyone who has applied for Barbados citizenship in the past decade already knows: there really aren’t any clear rules and the system is a mess.

What Thompson didn’t say is how some people just sail right through the system and others never make it.

Money can grease the wheels sometimes, but other times it doesn’t seem to matter. Many folks – some rich and some ordinary – arrive in Barbados thinking that a decade of hard work and commitment, or marriage, will gain them citizenship as the law apparently says. I say “apparently” because, as the PM points out, there is a large element of “whimsical Ministerial or other discretionary and flimsy entitlements” that are in play.

So a word to foreign spouses, investors and retirees… whatever nice stories you’ve been told about obtaining Bajan citizenship aren’t worth the paper they’re not printed on.

Buy your house, promote the country, be a good sport and make a positive contribution to Barbados. Enjoy your 10 year vacation – because without citizenship your stay could end any time a government official gets “whimsical”. And that is the truth right from the Prime Minister’s mouth.

Good luck to the DLP government as they try to restructure a government service that is infested with the friends, relatives and supporters of the last BLP administration.

Read the Prime Minister’s press release: Barbados: Green paper on Immigration laid in house

House Built Under The Owen Arthur Regime Is Perfect Illustration Of Barbados Government

Your BLP Government At Work!

Nice little house, don’t you think?

Built in 2007 under the Owen Arthur government, it looks a little unfinished – or perhaps we should say it looks like everything else the government has anything to do with.

But this particular house has one very special feature that is quite noteworthy and was undoubtedly approved by someone – given that it exists. I mean, somebody built it!

What is sooooooo special about this home?

Ian Bourne has the full photo at The Bajan Reporter blog.

ONE WORD OF CAUTION…

Do NOT go to Ian’s blog with a mouthful of beer or coke, because it will come up through your nose.  🙂

The Bajan Reporter: Bungalow House Build In Barbados Back In 2007 Under The Owen Arthur Regime

Would Barbados Newspapers Have Enough Courage To Print This Advert?

Chicago Furniture Store Advertisement

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Mocked By Newspaper Advertisement

No matter what you think about the United States in other areas, you have to love the good old US of A when it comes to Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich got nailed for trying to sell President Barack Obama’s vacated senate seat – which is a big no-no. The trial has yet to be held (probably years away), but that doesn’t stop the people or their news media from talking about the story and even mocking Blagojevich.

Contrast that with the lack of detailed news reporting about the so-called “investigation” into Hardwood Holdings by the cowardly eunuchs of the Thompson government. Will the news media criticise Thompson or Mascoll over their agreement to let sleeping dogs sleep now that the election is over?

Not a bloody chance.

Can you imagine a Barbados building supply company running an advert about “hardwood” that mocked any of the corrupt company principals or the corrupt politicians at the center of that scandal?

Not a bloody chance.

Thanks to FailBlog for the photo and story.

Further Reading:

Nation News Printed Controversial Hardwood Advert Because Of Barbados Blogs

Thompson’s Problem About Hardwood Housing

Company Owned By Barbados Civil Servants… Government Record Disappears From Internet

“ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS”
- George Orwell, Animal Farm, Ch. 10

Special Treatment For Corporate Records – For A Company Owned By Senior Civil Servants!

A week ago we told you about Harrison Resort (Barbados) Limited, a company owned by Senior Barbados Government Officials that is or was developing a 200 million dollar hotel project at Harrison Point. In our article Thanks To Prime Minister David Thompson, Barbados Government Officials Can Still Use Their Office For Personal Profit, we pointed out that by virtue of their insider knowledge, connections and their ability to directly and indirectly influence lawmakers, civil servants are well-positioned to profit from their office and government employment.

It looks like that insider knowledge is also able to make certain records disappear from public examination!

If you do an online search the CAIPO – Barbados Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office website for “Harrison” you get a list of 11 or so corporations like this…

Then, if you click on one of the corporate records, say for the “Old Harrisonian Society”, a window opens up and you get more information, including the name, company number, date registered or incorporated and the category of the company. As you can see, for the “Old Harrisonian Society”, the company number is “39” and it was registered “1983-09-08” as a “Charity”…

That result is repeatable for any corporation in the database….

Harrison Point Resort Limited has a registration number of 28491 and was incorporated “2007-03-28”. Harrison’s Development Corporation has a registration number of 22190 and was incorporated “2003–03-13”.

Try it yourself for any company in the database and you’ll get the information.

EXCEPT FOR THE COMPANY OWNED BY SENIOR BARBADOS CIVIL SERVANTS…

When you click on the records for Harrison’s Resort (Barbados) Limited – the company owned by Barbados senior civil servants… you get nada. Nothing. No information.

That makes it difficult if not impossible to perform a search to see who the directors of this company are and when exactly it was incorporated.

Oh well – just one more day under a corrupt Barbados DLP Government that is unwilling to hold any government official accountable for anything. After all, if Prime Minister Thompson starts really doing something about corruption, he and his fellow DLP members won’t be able to engage in corrupt activities themselves!

Further Reading

Barbados Free Press: Thanks To Prime Minister David Thompson, Barbados Government Officials Can Still Use Their Office For Personal Profit

CAIPO – Barbados Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office Website Here

(Go to the CAIPO website and perform a search under the name “Harrison” – then click on the various companies and see what happens!)

Barbados Government Minister Patrick Todd – Outright Lie And No Reporter Had The Courage To Call Him On It

Patrick Todd - Dishonest Barbados Government Minister

“We’ve declared assets.”

…Patrick Todd, Minister of State in Education and Human Resources Development lies to Barbados and the world.

Barbados News Media Repeats Sickening Lie From a DLP Government Minister With Not Even A Blink

No, Mr. Todd, DLP Members of Parliament and Ministers in the David Thompson Barbados Government have NOT “declared assets” – as you well know.

You are a damned liar.

As is your Prime Minister and the rest of your DLP crew who promised over a year ago to “declare assets” as a matter of transparency and accountability. And not only did you lie to us about that – it is still legal for government officials like yourself to award juicy government contracts to companies owned or controlled by you or your family members.

Prime Minister Thompson could have changed that with a simple policy order but he has not done so. The reason Thompson won’t change the policy is that the DLP piggies are rolling in the trough and Thompson isn’t going to do anything to make the feast an illegal act.

Well Mr Todd, the Nation News may have a policy of assisting the government to deceive citizens about the total lack of any Integrity, Transparency or Accountability Legislation or policies adopted by the Thompson government, but we at Barbados Free Press assure you that we cannot be bought off by government advertising revenues.

You and your do-nothing “can’t even pass one piece of legislation in a year” government sicken us with your damned lies.

So we’re calling you on this one.

Liar.

Witness Intimidation In Barbados: Was Mercedes Van At Home By Accident – Or For A Sinister Reason?

Similar Van Was At Witness Home (photo from Wikipedia - not the actual van)

For Barbados and for our children, this threatening of court witnesses must stop. This firing of court witnesses must stop. This harassment of court witnesses must stop.

If the police will not stop it, then we must turn to the court of world opinion. Barbados Free Press will do everything it can to ensure that each of our three million visitors a year learn how Bajan citizens and court witnesses are threatened, harassed and fired from their jobs by the powerful cartel that runs this island.

This must and will stop.

UPDATED: Grape Hall, Barbados – December 11, 2008 10:27pm

Thousands Of News Outlets Worldwide Mention Barbados Free Press, Credit Our Tiny Snake Story – Associated Press, CNN, Newsweek, NBC News, New York Times…

Welcome To The Thousands and Thousands Of New Visitors To Barbados Free Press

At the time I am writing this, the Associated Press story Barbadians slam discovery, naming of tiny snake is less than five hours old, yet an online search shows that thousands of news outlets worldwide have published the story. The online issues of the New York Times, Newsweek, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC and many other major news outlets around the world are featuring the story on their front pages – and all of them quote from Barbados Free Press and Margaret Knight and give the BFP blog credit for contributing to the story.

The story originated with Associated Press writer Danica Coto in Puerto Rico and is now making its way around the world with the new day – first in North America and then in Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. News outlets in Asia are starting to pick up the story now and we presume as the day breaks in Europe and the UK that outlets there will join in.

Of course, the Olympics and the Russian invasion of Georgia are the big stories of the day – but thousands of news outlets are already following this new development in the Barbados small snake story. If the visitor numbers we are seeing continue, Barbados Free Press will receive tens of thousands of additional first-time visitors to our blog in the next week as a direct result of the AP story. There will also be a long-lasting legacy of residual visitors who will come to BFP as a result of online searches.

To Our New Visitors – Barbados Needs International Pressure To Fight Corruption In Our Government, Justice System and Police!

You arrived at Barbados Free Press as a result of your curiosity about the world’s smallest snake, but please take the time to at least read this, and maybe look around for a bit – because Barbados citizens need you to know about our battle to reclaim democracy and to eliminate endemic corruption in our government, justice system and law enforcement.

While that might not sound like the “Little Britain” Barbados you heard about, read on and you’ll see proof that the Barbados media is carefully controlled by government, and that opponents of government and the ruling elites are ruthlessly censored and harassed – even to the point of being fired or being threatened with murder, rape and arson by government power-brokers and insiders. The Rule of Law in Barbados is whatever the powerful say it is on a given day. (You don’t have to believe us about anything. Read on and you’ll see proof, photos, transcripts of recordings, court documents enough to make up your own mind.)

Police Arrest Barbados Reporter

Police Corruption, Oppression Of Journalists

The Royal Barbados Police Force arrest and harass journalists – grabbing their cameras and erasing photos, assaulting and dragging them away for covering stories that the police don’t think the public needs to know about. The police have shot innocent unarmed citizens – even in the back of the head – and are never called to account. There are never any public inquests into deaths in police custody. Corrupt police are proven to use pre-signed blank search warrants as they act as debt collectors for powerful government officials like the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Charles Leacock.

Once again, you don’t have to believe us, read the links at the end of this article and you will see photos and proof on various Barbados blogs and media outlets enough to make up your own mind.

Chief Justice David Simmons - Political Hack

Barbados Judicial System A Tool For Corrupt Government Officials

The Chief Justice of our Barbados is “Sir” David Simmons: a career politician and former Attorney General who was appointed by his best friend, then-Prime Minister Owen Arthur, to gain political control of our courts. With the appointment of David Simmons as Chief Justice, the separation of powers between the government, the judiciary and the police effectively disappeared in Barbados.

Major police investigations, government audits, court cases and criminal charges often strangely disappear in Barbados without the news media mentioning a word. Official government documents routinely disappear in Barbados when they are evidence against a member of the ruling elite. Foreign investors or ordinary citizens who foolishly turn to the Barbados courts for justice against an elite never win. Never.

PM Thompson Says His Conflicts Of Interest Are None Of Your Business

Successive Barbados Governments Refuse To Adopt Anti-Corruption Laws, Freedom Of Information

In Barbados we have no laws against government officials receiving “gifts” – even money – from companies that the same officials award government contracts to! Successive governments including the current DLP government of Prime Minister David Thompson have refused to adopt rules that would prevent government officials from using their positions for personal profit.

Corruption in awarding government contracts, kickbacks to officials and overpayments to favoured relatives and friends are endemic. There is no transparency, oversight or accountability of how our government spends monies it borrows or receives from international sources and agencies like the World Bank and the EU Development Fund. There is little doubt that several hundred million dollars have been corruptly siphoned off over the years.

Thank you for visiting Barbados Free Press. We love our country and we want it to be the best it can be – but we must now appeal to the International Community to put pressure on our government and business leaders to stop the wholesale corruption and human rights abuses that threaten the very soul of our nation.

Please read a few of the below links, and remember what you have read the next time that someone talks about Barbados.

Proof Of Endemic Corruption & Human Rights Violations In Barbados

How One Of The Richest Women In Barbados Was Robbed Of Everything By Scheming Lawyers, Politicians and Government Insiders

Muriel Deane Owned 1/7th Of A Billion US Dollars Of Barbados Land – But Died In Poverty

“Asset wise, she was one of the richest women in Barbados. Why was she living in such poverty? At one time she did not even have running water. Many areas of the house were off-limits due to termite damage to the floor and structure.

Who supported Muriel in her last days? The directors of Kingsland ignored her plight, as her house crumbled around her…”

… from the Keltruth Blog story Abandoned In Time Of Need – Quote from Peter Simmons Phone Conversation Outrages Reader

Brother Of The Chief Justice of Barbados Jeered A Blind Old Lady Who Was Robbed Of Her Land

On August 10, 2007, Barbados diplomat Peter Simmons (the brother of Chief Justice SIR David Simmons) spoke with derision about Muriel Deane in a telephone conversation that was secretly tape-recorded by the person he was talking with.

According to documents filed in an international lawsuit, Peter Simmons, his brother Chief Justice SIR David Simmons, lawyer Clyde Turney and a host of other Barbados big-ups are or were involved in a conspiracy to profit from various fraudulent schemes surrounding Kingsland Estates – a company that owns over 1100 acres of prime Barbados lands.

A Billion Dollars Of Land In The Hands Of Old Women Doesn’t Last Long In Barbados

Muriel Deane was left 1/7th of Kingsland Estates, yet by the time a few crooked family members conspired with the corrupt vultures in the Barbados government and legal profession, she lived in poverty and existed only upon the charity of others.

The political, business and legal community elites who operate in this country with such disdain for the rule of law targeted the wealth of Kingland Estates when it passed into the hands of naive, trusting common folk.

To this day, the elites who have been involved in the schemes and frauds characterize the ongoing legal battles surrounding Kingsland Estates as a “family dispute”. They use this term “family dispute” to conceal the fact that there is a BILLION US$ DOLLARS at stake and none of the big-ups who are accused of fraud have any relation at all to any of the Kingsland Estates family.

A Billion Dollars Of Land In The Hands Of Old Women Doesn’t Last Long In Barbados

Keltruth Blog is apparently operated by the family of Marjorie Knox – a sister of Muriel Deane who was called home in 2003. Naturally, the blog has many articles about the whole Kingsland affair. It is has an important message about the corruption of our system, but sometimes it gets into such legal details that we lose interest.

But our interest is re-kindled when some simple truths shine through one of their articles as it has with the current offering.

The truth is this: A couple of old ladies were left with hundreds of millions of dollars of prime Barbados lands – and the vultures and crooks in the corrupt legal, political and business communities of Barbados couldn’t ignore the lure of big money in the hands of the weak and naive.

The list of the people involved reads like a who’s who of Barbados society. What happened and continues to happen with Kingsland Estates is an indictment of a system where the rule of law is whatever the elites say it is at the moment… and where there is no law that prohibits government officials from profiting from their offices.

Muriel Deane died in 2003 – one of the richest women in Barbados, yet not able to find two coins to rub together. That is what happens when corruption infects the government and the justice system. That is what happens when the very courts that are supposed to provide justice are run by a former Attorney General who is a defendant in a case before his own judges!

Chief Justice SIR David Simmons was never a judge before his good friend Prime Minister Owen Arthur appointed him as the top judge on the island.

Can anyone find justice in Barbados when our Chief Justice is a political hack?

Why So Many Black Fatherless Babies? Jesse Jackson: Government Is Responsible – vs – Barack Obama: Fathers Need To Be Responsible

Updated: March 10, 2010

In light of Dan Rather’s recent and unbelievable “watermelon” comments about President Obama, for a few days BFP will repost this July 11, 2008  article about Jessie Jackson’s Obama comments – and the differences between Jackson and Obama on the subject of individual responsibility…

Original article…

Barbados Could Learn A Lesson From The “Cut Off Obama’s Nuts” Fight

A few days ago, Jesse Jackson was caught on an open microphone saying that Presidential Candidate Barack Obama “talked down to black people”. Jackson said “I want to cut his nuts off”. (BFP article here)

Now we know the reason for Jackson’s rage…

It seems that Mr. Obama told a group of his fellow citizens that fathers should be more than one night stands. That men should be more responsible for their own actions and if they did this we wouldn’t have so many unwed black mothers. If black men would be responsible for their children, we wouldn’t have a situation where over 50% of black children grow up without a father.

Mr. Obama also said “Children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools, and 20 times more likely to end up in prison.”

Jackson Explains Himself – Outrageous!

In apologising for his outburst, Jesse Jackson stated how his position on black fatherless families differed from Obama’s…

It is the government’s fault!

Thompson Government Leaks Report Of Corrupt Activities Under Former BLP Government – But Refuses To Adopt Integrity Rules Itself

“MORE THAN $300 000 in contracts were awarded to a senior employee of a certain Government department…” … from Nation News story Money Probe

Gather round friends, and we’ll tell you about some smoke and mirrors taking place right now under chief magician and Barbados Prime Minister, David Thompson.

According to the Nation News, “sources” have leaked details about an audit surrounding some government projects handled through an unknown Ministry under the past BLP Owen Arthur/Mia Mottley government. It is exactly as we’ve been saying here at BFP for the past two years – Government Officials awarded government contracts to themselves or companies in which they had an interest. Some work was probably done, and for other contracts no trace of any work or results can be found.

Of course the current David Thompson Government members will wag their fingers at the old BLP administration and strut around like a bunch of smirking school children taking pleasure that the teacher caught out someone else and not them

David Thompson & The DLP Lied About Adopting A Ministerial Code

The problem facing the current government and law enforcement as they try to piece together what happened is that there are no rules prohibiting government employees from awarding lucrative contracts to themselves, family members or friends.

During the election, Prime Minister Thompson said that his government would adopt a Ministerial Code immediately upon forming a government – and in fact the DLP’s proposed Ministerial Code would have prohibited such conflicts of interest as government officials awarding contracts to themselves.

Except that David Thompson lied and his government did not adopt the Ministerial Code.

He also promised ITAL – Integrity, Transparency, Accountability Legislation in 100 days.

That was a lie too.

So the members of the current government shouldn’t be so smug about catching a few minor officials engaging in corrupt activities that might not even be prohibited in law.

Voters should be asking themselves why Thompson and his DLP Government don’t want to implement rules that will criminalize and prohibit corrupt behavior.

Same old, same old ’bout these hills…

Here piggy, piggy, piggy! Soooooooeeeeee! Come and get it!

Lee Iacocca Blasts The Lack Of Principled, Effective Political Leadership

“Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, “Stay the course.” Stay the course? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I’ll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!” … Lee Iacocca

Marcus Can’t Put Down Iacocca’s “Where Have All The Leaders Gone?”

Robert came back from his last trip to the USA and tossed a book onto the table – Iacocca’s “Where Have All The Leaders Gone?

He said “Read it, substitute the word ‘Barbados’ for USA and tell me what you think.”

That was two days ago and I’m now at page 111, almost half way through the book. I can’t put it down.

Lee Iacocca is widely known as the creator of the Ford Mustang, and later the mini-van concept when he was running Chrysler. I had pictured him as some sort of right-wing-Republican-til-death – an industrialist who believes himself privileged because he worked hard but lucked out.

I have to admit that I was wrong in my preconceptions.

Seeing as how I haven’t read the entire work, I can’t really give a credible book report, but I’ll leave you with a few quotes…

People, look around. This country has some serious issues. Security. The economy. Global warming. Healthcare. Energy. Iraq. In most of these cases, the so-called leaders charged with confronting these problems are only compounding them with their lack of accountability and often questionable motives. Instead of looking for real solutions, they seem to be looking out for number one.

It’s not just elected leaders like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney either. It’s many of the executives who occupy the top rungs of this country’s corporate ladder. Your Kenneth Lays and Jeffrey Skillings and Dennis Kozlowskis – a few guys who took Michael Douglas’ line in the movie Wall Street a little too seriously. “Greed is good,” he said. These days, it seems more of our leaders believe that than ever before.”

“I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the walthy (thanks, but I don’t need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do.”

“And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions.”

“We voted for them – or at least some of us did. But I’ll tel you what we didn’t do. We didn’t agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn’t agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that’s a dictatorship, not a democracy.

Where are the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and resolute party of Lincoln? What happened to the courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone?”

“A Hell of a Mess

So here’s where we stand. We’re immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We’re running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We’re losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you’ve got to ask: “Where have all the leaders gone?” Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, competence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We’ve spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone’s hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn’t happen again. Now, that’s just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you’re going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when “the Big Three” referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen—and more important, what are we going to do about it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn’t elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don’t you guys show some spine for a change?”

Further Reading

Lee Iacocca – Personal Website

Wikipedia – Lee Iacocca