Beware Of Greeks Bearing Gifts

Allen Stanford

Recent reports in the international press that former Chief Financial Officer James Davis has blown the whistle on former boss and Texan billionaire Allen Stanford, may have implication for how Barbados and other small Caribbean islands welcome foreigners in the future with deep pockets. The revelation by Davis that Stanford entered a pack with his inner circle of employees and prominent others to keep regulators at bay maybe the final nail in the coffin which sees the Knight donning prison garb very soon.

Until Allen Stanford’s free fall from the pinnacle of his financial empire based in Antigua, he was the man.  Nothing of any consequence seemed to have occurred in Antigua unless it was branded Stanford. His last business venture the 20/20 tournament was hugely popular and demonstrated that he was ahead of the WIBC in trying to popularize the shorten version of the cricket game. He owned financial entities, real estate and of note many important people in Antigua.

Sanford has not been found guilty yet but there is a lesson to be learned from what has unravelled so far. One man with money carry great influence in our small islands. Often times the lack of financial resources at a national and individual level creates the opportunity for our politicians and government officials to explore shortcuts when dealing with those with deep pockets.

Barbados To Host International Sailing Championship In 2010

There is much doom which hovers over the tourism industry at this time. Despite the challenging circumstances we are happy to read of the success of the Barbados authorities to have attracted the 2010 Fireball Worlds Sailing Championships to our shores.

Congratulations to all the players who were instrumental in securing the agreement, and this is despite any serious investment in our marina plant!

Bajan Blogger Needs Your Help

Fellow Bajan Blogger Amit fom Pull Push has asked for the urgent assistance of the BU family to complete his Master dissertation project. A key component to completing a Masters certification is the qualitative and quantitative work required to prove or disprove a hypothesis.

I would like to ask for your/the BU’s family help. I’m still short of responses for my questionnaire on resident perceptions of tourism impacts in Barbados. I’ve converted the questionnaire into an online format and it is available here at Survey Monkey Website:

As a result of our economic dependence on tourism, the purpose of the survey is to study resident (Barbadian) perceptions of tourism impacts in Barbados. The survey should take between 5 to 10 minutes to complete and will be available for one week from today. It’s anonymous, and there are no right/wrong answers, only perceptions.

To Pole Or Not To Pole

Submitted by GoWeb Blog – Support Bajan Blogs!

I know a lady who is in a tricky situation. She has moved into a small district in a certain parish and is without telephone and electricity because there is no pole on which to run the infrastructure. The problem is that the other residents whom she found already living in the district, refuse to purchase a pole from Light and Power and expect her to do it. She has suggested that they all pool their resources and pay for a pole, but the other residents aren’t interested in such an arrangement. Apparently, if she pays for the pole, she will not own it, and will not be able to decide who can benefit from it. She obviously doesn’t find it fair for the entire district to benefit from her investment.

As I pondered the situation, it led me to question why a customer should have to pay for a pole. Isn’t it Light & Power’s job to ensure their infrastructure is in place? Also, if customers pay for their pole, shouldn’t they be able to profit from their investment too?

Gold, Race And A Question Of Gender: Caster Semenya

Submitted by Yardbroom

Caster Semenya

At the Athletics World Championship in Berlin last week, a shy black 18 year old female athlete from South Africa, won the womens 800m – setting the fastest time in the world this year.  The win was no surprise to those who had followed the early rounds of the 800 metres.  The teenager from a tiny village in Limpopo province has shown her talent but the world’s media, at first surprised at her times, decided to take a closer look and then events became uncomfortable for Caster Semenya.

Only hours before the race, it was announced that the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) had instigated  gender testing for Caster Semenya.  South Africans were appalled, it was insensitive nd humiliating to the young athlete, did they have to go public, the charges and accusations came thick and fast, not only from South Africa.

Was this course of action within the rules of the IAAF ? Yes it was. The IAAF ceased gender screening for all athletes in 1992 but retains the option of assessing the gender of a participant should suspicions arise – Wikipedia. Suspicions had arisen, it was therefore within their remit to order a gender test.

On The Flyovers For The ABC Highway

Submitted by BU’s ABC Source

First let me clarify a simple point.  The structures now being called flyovers are more correctly termed overpass bridges.

The analysis carried out by 3S and presented to Government (both administrations) used the Norman Niles roundabout as the test junction.  The analysis showed that the “flyover” solution would have alleviated the congestion along the highway.  It did however show that even with the “flyovers” gridlock would still exist in the east-west, that is, into Bridgetown.  The analysis had some errors that should be pointed out.  These are (1) the analysis did not take into consideration that the traffic crossing any one roundabout in the north-south direction traversed several roundabouts while almost all the traffic in the east-west direction crossed only one roundabout.  This tended to give a much higher count and therefore weight to the north-south traffic.  (2) the economic analysis that showed the flyover solution to be cost effective assumed a similar economic value to traffic in all directions.  We all know that delays to traffic into Bridgetown on mornings have a significantly greater economic impact than traffic in any other direction.  (3) at the time the analysis was done the stated cost of the flyovers was considerably less than August 2007 when a revised cost was given.  This could have had a considerable impact on the cost-benefit analysis.

No Threat To Press Freedom It’s All About ‘The Connection’

Hartley Henry - DLP Political Strategist

Barbadians are truly ‘something else’. The hundreds of calls, texts and mails I have received over the past four days suggest that I need not say very much in response to certain allegations, because people already know about ‘the connection’.

I thought I had stumbled upon a dark, grey secret with respect to why a certain person enjoys seemingly unfettered access to a particular publication, week in and week out. But every mode and means of communication has been used in recent days to convey to me graphic details of ‘the connection’. What I thought was a piece of ‘hot, juicy news’ turned out to be ‘a particle of rich history’; for Sam Cuch, the Duppy and their in-laws know all about ‘the connection’.

‘The connection’ apparently did not start yesterday, last month or even last year. ‘The connection’ has been ongoing for years now and apparently has been a rocky road for one, characterized, as has now become the norm with cohorts of the aggressor, by an enormous amount of abuse. I am hearing now of blows to the face, blows to the head, blows about the body and even attempts at slitting the wrist. I am also told of the entry of a company head honcho into the “ling”, and the moving out and moving in with the said heavy roller. This heavy roller must be packing a mean punch, kick and especially lick to have two bosses in so pitiful a state, lying prostrate at every beck and call.

Oh No Sonny!

Shridath Surendranath "Sonny" Ramphal

The comment by Shridath ‘Sonny’ Ramphal a couple months ago when he used the term ‘intimations of ethnic cleansing’ in a speech referring to Barbados’ new immigration policy has not rested well with Barbadians, perhaps to many surprisingly so. Barbadians from all strata of society continue to show amazement that a man of his background would have used such inflammatory language in the prevailing climate. The fact he based his comment on a Nation newspaper editorial makes it all the more mind-boggling.

The Nation newspaper carried a report today citing Ramphal as rejecting the interpretation being applied to his now infamous reference to ethnic cleansing. Interesting to note Ramphal in the report refused to deliver an unqualified apology to Barbadians. Ramphal’s response to the strident criticism after he made the injudicious remark would have come two months later. The delay is most regrettable and only served to further inflame the sensitivity of Bajans. Of interest also is the fact he has come public a couple weeks after Rickey intimated in his weekly column that Ramphal would ignore public calls to address the matter.

Prime Minister David Thompson at party conference on the weekend,for the first time addressed the Ramphal statement. Here is a snippet from his address:

Should Barbadians Worry More About H1N1 aka Swine Flu?

The local health authorities released the news last week Barbados has confirmed 60 plus cases of people treated for the H1N1virus. Of concern was the 5 year old reported among the group. As a small island dependant on tourism should Barbados become more aggressive in its Swine Flu education campaign?  As we understand it the fact the virus can mutate to a more dangerous  form represents a serious threat. Thanks the two family members for their submissions.

If you are interested in reading why you should NOT take the H1N1 vaccine,  and how the pandemic maybe an orchestration fby our trusted agencies eel free to read the 6000 word dissertation below!

Boycott The Nation Newspaper!

Some Barbadians can remember when the Nation newspaper was born and its focus was on people and the community. It was a newspaper which many Barbadians eagerly lined-up to purchase to savour the richness of the content. The focus then of the Nation was on finding the story. Fulfilling the advertising pages was almost an afterthought. Then it was gone, sold to One Caribbean Media. A few people needed to secure a golden parachute and since then a key stakeholder of our Fourth Estate has been in a comatose state.

The current brouhaha caused by an alleged threatening telephone call  by government advisor Hartley Henry to Sunday Sun Editor Carol Martindale is another case of a weak media exposed. The unprofessional haste with which the Nation newspaper ran to press with what any first year law student would dismiss as a flimsy case should make Barbadians sit up and ask why. Instead there is the predictable response along party lines.

What is this story which according to reports occurred Saturday afternoon and merited Frontpage news on Sunday? A telephone call between Henry and Martindale where he allegedly threatened the Sun Editor if she did not give prominence to the CADRES poll in the Sunday Sun next day. In her defense a Nation staffer Maria Bradshaw heard part of the conversation between Martindale and Henry. We should note Henry is known to Martindale for many years. Another important point is the fact Henry is an advisor to the government; he is not an elected member of parliament or member of the Cabinet of Barbados. The final point to note is to recognize the practice of government officials over the years calling friends and others in the media to ensure news favourable to them is published; sometimes using the most muscular of language, it is done by private sector companies as well.