It Is ‘Question Time’ For Prime Minister Stuart

Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart

Barbados models its system of government on the Westminster system, in reality what we have is a watered down version. Take for example the practice of members of the UK parliament getting the opportunity each Wednesday to question ministers, including the Prime Minister, on matters related to the portfolios they have been assigned responsibility referred to as  Question Time.

When the Late Prime Minister David Thompson assumed office he promised Barbadians he would hold frequent post-Cabinet press briefings and he honoured his promise for a couple sessions. To be fair, he compensated somewhat by holding regular quarterly press conferences, in our opinion he became the most accessible Prime Minister to media of all our Prime Ministers. Regrettably he has passed to the great beyond and life moseys on.

We are two years plus from a constitutionally due general election and the Late Prime Minister David Thompson’s successor is an unknown quantity. The prevailing economic challenges will not permit the usual honeymoon period. He has to hit the ground running because Barbadians, we think, are beginning to awake to the realization that the economy is in deep do do. It cannot* be business as usual.

A few questions Mr Prime Minister which are of concern:

Looking At Independence Without The Spectacles Of False Nationalism… breaking free of the mis-education that represses the Genie(us)

Submitted by Ras Jahaziel

Click image to learn more

In Barbados, children of The Disinherited celebrating “Independence” day. In the USA, children of The Disinherited and the mis-educated celebrating Thanks-giving day.

What a happy people we are, PATRIOTIC TO THE LAND LORD, CELEBRATING OUR OWN ENSLAVEMENT, AND TRYING TO PROVE TO THE WORLD THAT THE NEGRO HAS THE MIND OF A CHILD.

The greatest success of The Colonizing Enterprise has been its ability to infuse amongst its subjects, by means of education, a false sense of nationalism, so that each slave would narrow his vision of nationhood to the confines of the plantation.

Such educated ignorance has kept the islands of the Caribbean clinging to midget-budget-oriented politics in the pursuit of sustaining the unsustainable, while nurturing the youth with self-delusionary myths that were bound to produce psychic alienation from any thought of calling to purpose and calling to destiny.

Failure to tell the children the truth is thus the main reason why so many of them have filled their spiritual vacuums with the wines of materialism, anarchy, and self-destruction.

So through all the clouds of celebratory euphoria what is this puzzling phenomenon that we are seeing today? Here on one side we see Slaves thanking the same White God that blessed slavery. And over yonder what else are we seeing? A creature of Colonialism called “a proud Bajan” singing anthems that mock his intelligence and seek to make of him a fool; and he stands at attention loudly proclaiming “these fields and  hills  are now our very  own” and never questioning WHERE ARE OUR FIELDS AND WHERE ARE OUR HILLS?

WikiLeaks Has Shown How Freedom Of Speech Can Be Manipulated By Trusted Sources

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

The WikiLeaks saga has given rise to some interesting analysis. Is Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, justified in leaking what has been classified as sensitive communication between the US State Department and its embassies and consulates around the world? Assange’s position is ‘the disclosures are purely an exercise in democracy, which is partly understood to include embarrassing government officials and exposing what is seen as hypocrisy in national and international politics.” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has rebutted by stating “the publication of classified diplomatic cables constitutes an “attack on the international community. It is an attack on…the alliances and partnerships, the conversations and negotiations that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity.”

Modernghanna.com used an interesting analogy to describe how a diminutive Australian by the name of Julian Assange has used the Internet to expose the demagogy of the world’s most powerful countries.

“An old African story teaches that the size of the elephant is no guarantee that it is safe from the machinations of small and lesser known animals in the forest. So the tiny ant could find its way into the elephant’s nose, and the elephant would spend days begging the little ant to stop biting.”

The St John Bye-election: The Issues Involved, Ramifications For The Party Leaders, And Pointers To The Next General Election

Submitted by Yardbroom

Mara Thompson

Irrespective of political allegiance, it cannot  reasonably be denied, that there is a large body of support in Barbados, especially in St John, for our late Prime Minister David Thompson.  I am not suggesting this support is total, as that is most unlikely, or it is deserved or not.  Neither am I insinuating he is being deified or should be.  My stated position is based on a reality that exist, which should be obvious, regardless of party association.  If that support is deserved can be debated, but the purpose of this submission is to look forward to the St John bye-election, rather than look back in the past.

It is not an unreasonable question to ask, why mention David Thompson?  Mara Thompson the proposed DLP candidate, is the widow of David Thompson and at times they canvassed the constituency of St John together, and it was not unknown for her to make personal appearances on his behalf, when he was canvassing in other constituencies.  The background and circumstances of their political linkage, apart from a marriage bond, suggest togetherness.  It is not unreasonable therefore – in context – for him to be mentioned.

Mara Thompson has support in the Parish, evidenced by the vocal public demonstrations for her, however to singularly enter the political ring, could present problems.  These I will address, but I am sure that those responsible for strategy in the DLP would have – or should have – brought those risks to her attention.

Jamaican Research Prostate Cancer Breakthrough Reinforces The Importance Of A National Culture Of Entrepreneurship

Jamaican Ball Moss

In September this year Bajan blogger Green Antilles reported that Jamaican scientist Professor Henry Lowe was invited to make a special presentation at the Eighth Annual Congress of International Drug Discovery Science and Technology (IDDST) in Beijing, China.  Professor Lowe’s presentation was based on “research work on Jamaican medicinal plants, particularly his recent work with Tillandsia recurvata, otherwise called ball moss, which has demonstrated potent anti-cancer activities during testing.” This week, just three months later, Professor Lowe announced to the world that “he had developed a formula that can reduce and eliminate prostate cancer, the number one cause of cancer deaths among males” and that  “he has forged a partnership with the largest nutraceutical company in China, which will distribute the formula in that Asian country.”

Medical research has long indicated that there is a higher incidence of contracting prostate cancer among men of African descent. A prominent Barbadian urologist has been quoted as saying, “In this part of the world (Caribbean), not only is prostate cancer the number one solid organ cancer in men, but it is the number one cancer killer in men”. Data collection on the penetration of the disease in Barbados appears to be sketchy but there is enough to suggest it is high in Barbados.

Related Blogs

• PURIFYING PROTEINS

• Diseases Of The Prostate Gland: Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy Or Hyperplasia

Late David Thompson’s “Crime And Violence” Campaign Prophetic?

Submitted by GoWeb Caribbean

 

At the time the Late David Thompson, then Leader of Opposition, had embarked on his unforgettable “Crime and Violence” election campaign, he was he subject of much ridicule, particularly from the ranks of the then ruling Barbados Labour Party.

Today, in 2010, as we look at the collection of recently perpetrated crimes in this society, one cannot help but ask the question, “Was Thompson’s campaign a prophetic one?”

We have had the murder of a Canadian tourist, a story reaching international attention, and a potential blow to Barbados’ tourism drive. Add to that the fire bombing of “Chicken Galore” in Bank Hall. Robberies are no strange occurrence in the Barbadian landscape, but the perpetrators usually vacate the scene without altercation upon securing their loots. It therefore gripped the entire country to hear that these robbers proceeded to fire bomb the still occupied establishment subsequent to the completion of the robbery.

The Untapped Potential Of Boys On The Block In Barbados

Submitted by Yardbroom

Minister of Education, Ronald Jones

The aspiration to achieve a good secondary education and a possible University degree; has brought hope, to many young people in Barbados.  Over many years, Governments of both parties – BLP and DLP – have made a significant investment in education, and the benefits of that investment, have contributed to Barbados’ success.  Those who have benefited most, are children of the professional classes, businessmen, middle management, teachers and government officials; but it cannot be denied, others from lower income categories – even some who are very poor – have also benefited.

The transition phase from a good standard of education, to  relatively secure, well paid employment for young people, is an area that continues to cause difficulties in Barbados, irrespective of which party – DLP or BLP – is in Government.

Connections to people who know people, can have a significant effect on young people’s employment prospects.  Unfortunately, too large a percentage of talented youths, find it difficult to obtain employment, as they do not have well placed connections.  This is not a problem – as I have alluded to before – which is political party specific, as its “core” is embedded in Bajan culture. . . it is not what you know, but who you know.

How can we start to disentangle this log jam, as the continuous rolling of logs, with no discernible forward movement -is no longer an option.

WikiLeaks Crossed The Line

AP - Founder and editor of the WikiLeaks website, Julian Assange,

Bloomberg BusinessWeek refers to WikiLeaks.org as a non profit group that releases information governments and businesses want to keep confidential. A cross reference with Wikipedia states that it “is an international non-profit media organization that publishes submissions of otherwise unavailable documents from anonymous sources and leaks…Within a year of its launch, the site claimed a database that had grown to more than 1.2 million documents.”

Here is how WikiLeaks describes itself on its website:

WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organization dedicated to bringing important news and information to the public. We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for independent sources around the world to leak information to our journalists. We publish material of ethical, political and historical significance while keeping the identity of our sources anonymous, thus providing a universal way for the revealing of suppressed and censored injustices.

WikiLeaks’ recent leak of 251,287 US Embassy cables appears to be the proverbial straw to break the camel’s back. Amazon.com apparently bowing to US political pressure has severed Wikileaks from its servers.  Yesterday we read about an international warrant issued by Interpol for Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange. To the horror of Bank of America executives they learned WikiLeaks has them on the radar next!

World powers seem ready after much embarrassment to cut off Assange and WikiLeaks at the knees.

People’s Democratic Congress Calls For Massive Reduction In Size Of Government

Submitted by People’s Democratic Congress

 

Many Barbadians have been for a long time asking us – the PDC – questions about what would replace TAXATION, once the PDC takes over the reins of  government in this country, and proceeds in a gradual way to abolish TAXATION – this most evil dehumanistic irrational  unproductive scourge.

And time and time again we have responded to those questions by saying what are the social political financial revenue-generating corporate strategies and policies  that we will initiate to not only replace TAXATION, but also to undergird/facilitate the successful liberation emancipation of the Barbadian people from TAXATION.

Therefore, we have been long providing the necessary answers to those and many other persons who have been asking us such questions concerning the astronomical social political financial benefits to be derived for Barbados from the ABOLITION OF TAXATION, and have been providing answers concerning the  key support strategies for a Barbadian  people’s way of life that, in the future, will be  made substantially free from, and  insusceptible to, the worst diabolical effects of a  TAXATION SYSTEM that shall no longer be in this country.

Needless to say included among these strategies/policies would have been the strategy  that there must be a massive reduction in the size of the state government of this country; and another strategy would have been that the state/the government must look seriously at all areas within its provinces whereby it will be successfully able to earn revenues from the selling of many types of goods and services to the public of Barbados.

However, it is the former strategy – one of securing a massive but careful reduction in the size and political scope and responsibilities of the state government – that has been deeper delved into by hundreds of persons – including David on BU – more than in most of the other areas of this NO-TAXATION philosophy.