LIME Entertainment Is Coming

It is approaching eighteen months since Cable & Wireless Caribbean Ltd rebranded to LIME (Land, Internet, Mobile and Entertainment). The decision sparked a robust discussion in Barbados because the word lime in the West Indian lexicon defines a person operating in leisure rather than productive mode. The acronym LIME from a marketing perspective also misses a key element in the E, Entertainment. Barbadians like others around the Caribbean have been promised the Entertainment product since launch.

According to a BU source the wait for the E in LIME should not be for much longer. When LIME is able to deliver DirecTV and CBC MCTV will get some competition for those who are hooked on this form of entertainment.

BU’s concern about the soon to be launched LIME Entertainment product is how will it impact the quality of the existing broadband service. It is no secret LIME’s broadband network is congested. Most subscribers to the LIME broadband service can determine they are being short changed by running a diagnostic to establish download and upload speeds.

Politics, Politicians And Photographs…an interesting mix

Hartley Henry - DLP Political Strategist

I have always parroted the notion that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. I guess I never had reason to question the adage until last week when two sworn enemies were seen in warm embrace. I consulted a few people to get their take on the imagery, and interestingly each individual dismissed the contrived photo as “foolishness”, “a set up’ or “mere politicking”.

Of course I refer here to the photograph of Opposition Leader Mia Mottley and then estranged BLP Parliamentarian, Owen Arthur hugging each other at a Barbados Labour Party meeting two Sundays ago. This was then followed by their sharing a public political platform one week later.

Of course, the question has been asked in recent times why it is that I have been focusing on the obvious and known feud between these two, rather than promoting the policies of the government. The answer is simple. The Prime Minister of Barbados has developed a relationship with the people of Barbados where he speaks with them directly. He does not need a third person to communicate his thoughts and feelings to the Barbadian public.

Prime Minister Thompson has established a format for quarterly live press conferences and occasional post-Cabinet press briefings. Additionally, he is probably one of the most media-accessible Prime Ministers in the world. Every cub reporter in Barbados has Mr. Thompson’s email address, home number, office number and cell phone number. Also, he is a text-a-holic. So anybody who wants to know anything about what is going on in government or indeed in the country, needs only to text or email the Prime Minister and he deals with them direct.

The CLICO Political Football

The CLICO Saga seems to be regaining some steam. It probably has something to do with those rapidly maturing flexible annuities (time deposits) reported to be about 300 million dollars. The Nation newspaper along with the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) have been accessing all avenues opened to them to sensitize Barbados about the horror which is about to descend on CLICO policy and annuity holders. There is the wider implication for the Barbados financial landscape and economy.

BU have to confess we are amazed at the haste which Opposition Mia Mottley and the BLP were persuaded to bring a no-confidence motion to parliament arising from the unfortunate circumstance of CLICO.  When the no-confidence motion failed the BLP promptly took its position on the road. It is only a naive group of people who would support a no-confidence motion supported by public meetings and expect that it would not defeat the government’s preferred strategy to maintain confidence as the circumstance would allow while it look for buyers for the beleaguered company. The protection of CLICO was and still is important to the national interest, in this regard the government and the opposition should have closed ranks on this matter.

Those companies in the region which have been placed under judicial watch what have they accomplished so far regarding the liquidation of assets to the satisfaction of policyholders?

Recent media reports have confirmed the imminent sale of the general and mortgage divisions of CLICO Barbados. The continued negative publicity which has been fuelled by the BLP has effectively destroyed any possibility of the life division being sold for fair value. The hole which will be created by the commitment to honour the maturing flexible annuities will obviously create pressure for any buyer. Who wants the grief of acquiring a portfolio with a customer base whose priority would be to appease a pent-up anxiety?

Barbadians Warned To Safeguard Barbados Against The Ethnic Invasion

Submitted by JN (as a comment)

Sir Garry Sobers

I don’t normally write on blogs but after reading some of these comments I had to intervene because I feel the same way!!!

I  am a young Trini man and I can tell you that you should get rid of those Indo-Guyanese and Indo-Trinis before they try to dominate your country! They work in stages and it must be said they don’t and never will like black people. Bajans you must understand this so don’t be fooled by their smiles and stuff…that’s how it started in TNT all throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s, they smiled and befriended black Trinis because we had control of the economy and government and then after the UNC was given two seats by the NAR (because of ANR Robinson’s hatred for the PNM) they got power and that’s when TNT went into racial tensions…for the first time the rest of the population saw their true colours they would call black people niggers almost constantly, saying is “we time now!” and stuff like that the population was really shocked that they were so racists after all they were so nice and cool before 1995…but after reading books about race relations and politics in TNT I discovered that Indo-Caribbean people hate black people and are very resentful of us because our culture dominates…calypso, steelband, music etc and they always felt slighted they call the “fear of creolization (aka becoming assimilated into black culture) So they smiled and laughed with us until they established themselves.

Then they started the cleansing process, Panday fired Manning’s wife who had a high post job in the government I think…they put themselves in the important areas to gain control of the economy….this is a warning to you Barbados if you see them doing this be very very afraid and get them out!! They fired all the blacks in areas of health, medicine, education, business and law and placed their own kind….and over the years the Indians would employ only Indians and not blacks…I remembered they even took black children off the list for colleges in common entrance and put their own it was horrible! and it was easy for them just look at the surnames if its Indian leave it if not delete…health they made sure the heads were Indians so that the newly graduated blacks would be denied from getting jobs and passing exams to start practicing..same thing occurred in law…and the worse was education UWI became completed Indian dominated and lecturers would boldly discriminate against blacks however thanks to the current PNM tertiary education for all now there are a sizeable amount of blacks and other black students from the Caribbean.

You Make Us Proud To Be Barbadian!

Mae Bishop is 101. According to her birth certificate, she will turn 102 on May 16 - Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times

One of the ceremonial duties of the Governor General of Barbados is to visit all centenarians on  reaching that cherished milestone. While some may take it for granted, the vast majority of Barbadians whether we view the coverage in the press or other media feel a sense of pride that a human being , and a Barbadian to boot would have defeated the many obstacles strewn along the path of life to achieve 100 years old. Recently the family of the oldest living Barbadian James Sisnett was celebrated by his family and friends at the Southwinds Hotel with much pomp and ceremony. Minister Byer-Suckoo was present to announce that a street in Sisnett’s district will be renamed in his honour.

Cheers to you Mr. Sisnett, you make all Barbadians proud!

Today we learn from a write up in the New York Times that yet another Barbadian has hit the coveted anniversary. She is Mae Bishop who lives in New York. Although  her vanity (says her family) does not permit the kind of celebration she deserves the honour of achieving 100 years is hers to brandish for all to aspire. What always appear to be a common thread when we read or observe centenarians is the supporting cast of family and friends. It never ceases to amaze the BU household the pivotal role which family has and must continue to play in sustaining the success of our small but proud Barbadian society.

The Barbadian brand continues to mean something to some of us and we will be damned if we are going to allow comyuhs and greedy ass politicians sink Barbados into a den of iniquity.

Cheers to you Madame Mae Bishop, you too make all Barbadians proud!

Town Hall Meetings To Discuss Green Paper On Immigration

Reproduced from BGIS Website

Government is moving swiftly to ensure that the public is fully apprised of the contents of its Green Paper on Immigration.

Sir Hilary, Are You Listening?

Submitted by Bajan Goddess (as a comment)

I think my principal spends too much time in his office. If he actually sat in a class room or spoke with students he would know that we are dissatisfied with the current system at Cave Hill. I am tired of poor administration – departments that do not liaise with each other and have the students running around like headless chickens trying to find out what the hell is going on but that is an aside.

You have persons leaving Cave Hill who on entering the work place cannot function because they were never taught how to apply practice to all that theory they were taught. You have people leaving Cave Hill with first class honours who are recruited by top companies and then are fired at the end of one yr, why?? The employers say that these people have no analytical skills, cannot think for themselves, do not know how to work with groups and are burnt out because they cannot handle the pace of every day work life. Is it any wonder that companies have told Cave Hill that they no longer want any first class honours students coming out of the institution?

There is lack of expression. Students would love to tell admin what they really feel but there is no forum given and if you try to take it, you have your petition ripped from notice boards or as of Monday, peeled from the door of the library. They tell you Speak Your Mind which comes in a form of a fixed questionnaire. now tell me how do you speak your mind just by ticking yes or no? Half of those questions were not even relevant. We students want more choice in programmes. You have over 250 students for e.g. graduating with a basic management degree, now tell me, what separates you from your fellow graduand? Nothing that I can see. School re-opens the last week of January and you have exams in April. Don’t forget they took away our semester break. You have no time to process the material. All you can do is regurgitate it for an exam just so you can get an A. Ask me a few months later what I did, I cant tell you but I know I got an A.

Dear President Obama

Hartley Henry - DLP Political Strategist

Congratulations on the passage of the Health Reform Bill. I am impressed and truly inspired by your vision, conviction and determination!

Many political observers in Barbados have come to compare and twin the politics of Washington to that of Barbados. They liken the Democrats in Washington to the governing Democratic Labour Party and the Republicans on Capitol Hill to the current leadership of the Barbados Labour Party.

Sir, in relation to your recent experience with the health care issue, we have an almost identical scenario existing here in Barbados, where absolutely nothing the government does is supported by the opposition.

I can well understand your frustration at having to fight so hard to effect positive and meaningful change. But that, I suppose, is the nature of politics in 2010. The Health Reform Bill, as I understand it, would bring both immediate as well as long term benefits to millions of Americans.

Straight off the bat, health insurers would be required to let young people stay on their parents’ policy up to their 27^th birthday. Also, insurers would be barred from denying coverage to kids with pre-existing health conditions, and tax credits, to the tune of 35 percent of premiums, would start to flow to businesses with fewer than 50 employees to enable them to take out and maintain policies.

Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation Continues To Shutout The Opposition Party

Under successive government the issue of how the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has been manipulated has always been an issue. The Bajan public has had to tolerate the constant prattle by both parties concerning whether one was being fair to the other as far as airtime goes. Of all the state enterprises the CBC is thought by BU to be one where cronyism, yardfowlism and unprofessionalism is efficiently practised. This is not to say we don’t have some dedicated employees at the CBC.

It is generally known that under the last administration and especially under the watchful eye of a particular minister, a number of individuals were given refuge at the CBC. Under the current government the Chairman is known to be the Godfather of the Prime Minister’s children and the Deputy General Manager a former Waterford schoolmate. There is also the recent appointment of DLP card carrying member Reudon Eversley as Head of News which eventually led to the resignation of long standing CBC employee Dean St. Hill.

A Clash Of Currencies

In his first public lecture from the other side former Prime Minister Owen Arthur poked a little fun at his profession by suggesting that if the best economists were brought together they would struggle to reach consensus on anything. The current financial crisis continues to tax the ability of governments around the world. The complexity of the problem suggests there is no silver bullet to be found. Evidence of the hard truth can be witnessed in Barbados by listening to the Avi Persauds, Don Marshalls, Owen Arthurs et al. Sometimes we need to be reminded that economics is not an exact science and all of our solutions may not necessarily be found inside the bowels of that profession.

In the USA and beyond there is an interesting debate which has engulfed the news space. In an earlier blog BU referred to the fact that the US government will announced on the 15 April 2010 its position on whether it views China as a ‘currency manipulator’.  By law, US [SIC] Treasury must issue a report identifying nations that “manipulate the rate of exchange between their currency and the United States dollar for purposes of preventing effective balance of payments adjustments or gaining unfair competitive advantage in international trade. As that date approaches several perspectives on the issue have started to emerge from leading economists in the USA. Leading the debate is Paul Krugman who to put it bluntly has issued a call for the US government to get more aggressive with China.

At the root of the China US problem has been the perennial belief by the US authorities that China has been manipulating its currency by selling the renminbi (Chinese Currency) and buying foreign currencies to keep the renminbi  weak. Why would China want to encourage such a position? China with the help of the USA has become a major exporter, the Made in China stamp has become a global brand. The position of strength which China has found itself in recent years has assured that it has been able to accumulate a huge trade surplus with the rest of the world. Over the years it has invested over a third of its foreign reserves in mainly US government securities. The global crisis which had its genesis on Wall Street has seen the destruction of 40% of wealth in the USA. Of concern to the Chinese is the threat to the US dollar which if allowed to fall will have  a negative impact on the trillions of dollars invested by the Chinese in the US markets. The US government’s willingness to print money on demand to keep its economy afloat adds to the crisis of confidence in the US dollar.