King James Bible Marks 400th Anniversary

Ancient copies of the Bible were carried during a procession to Westminster Abbey's altar

Today is the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. A special celebratory service was held at Westminster Abbey today. It was the Bible, commissioned by a King, that made the Word of God available to all English-speaking people so that they were no longer reliant on translations by those who could read Latin. It allowed the common man to drink, as it were, straight from the bottle.

Former US Ambassador Andrew Young Delivers Faint Praise To “Best Managed Country”

Submitted by Charles Knighton

Former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young

Reference is made to the Nation’s “People” feature of November 12th, sub-headed “Ex-Ambassador  praises Barbados“, where we are informed the former (not ex) US Ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young, has “endorsed the suggestion that Barbados was perhaps the world’s best managed black country”. I immediately imagined what the repercussions would have been if, while courting my present wife I had “praised” her with “While you certainly can’t compete with White women or with Asian women, for a Black woman you’re the best”.  I am fairly certain I would still be able to feel the much deserved slap to my face which would have followed such a “compliment”.

The feature’s denouement lauds Barbados’ reputation for educating its people, as Barbados “had a tremendous educational resource contributed to by Great Britain.” This seems to imply that left to their own devices the Black population of Barbados could never be capable of emulating the high educational standards of the more developed countries, perhaps relegating Barbados to world’s best educational system —for a Black country.

Faint praise, indeed.

DLP, Let David Thompson Rest In Peace

Submitted by Caswell Franklyn

Credit: Nation Newspaper

Remembrance Day is observed on November 11^th in Commonwealth countries because World War I formally ended at 11 o’clock on the 11^th day of the 11^th month in 1918. The day therefore has special significance as a day of remembrance for members of the armed forces who lost their lives in the line of duty. However in Barbados, and some other countries, Remembrance Sunday is observed, on the closest Sunday to that date, with a military parade, a church service and the laying of wreaths at the Cenotaph. It bears repetition; Remembrance Sunday is set aside for members of the armed forces who fell in the line of duty.

It is therefore quite surprising and totally inappropriate for a Government Minister to lead a band of his constituents, with photographer on tow, to St. John to demean the significance of Remembrance Sunday. The Daily Nation of Monday, November 14, 2011 carried a story, with photograph, about Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy et al laying wreaths on the grave of the late Prime Minister, David Thompson. By now, the members of the Democratic Labour Party should have come to the realization that every occasion, especially days of national and in this case of international significance, is not an opportunity for politicking.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Heaps Scorn On Barbados Judges

The CCJ has struck at the Barbados courts once again. This time, the case is Sea Haven Inc. v Dyrud.

The CCJ noted that:

• The case was commenced on June 06. 2002, but was not heard until February 07, 2007. Almost 5 years. Indeed, it has taken almost 10 years before the case finally completed its appeals.
• The CCJ once again noted the totally unsatisfactory system of Barbados’ conveyancing laws and referred to its own decision in Colby v Felix Enterprises Ltd and Felix Broome Inc. that has already been ventilated and discussed here on BU.
• The court found that the trial judge had ignored an essential point in reaching a decision.
• In Clause [6] of the judgment, the CCJ, while admitting that the time taken by the High Court and the Barbados Court of Appeal were shorter than is the norm, still complained that the time was too long (High Court – from February 14, 2007 to May 21 2008 for written judgment, without which no appeal could be brought. Court of Appeal – October 08, 2008 to May 27, 2010 for the decision on appeal) and reiterated its view that judges should render decisions within 3 months or, in complex cases only, 6 months. Here, we have 15 months from the High Court and 19 months for the Court of Appeal decision. It is suggested that this may well constitute gross misconduct on the parts of the judges concerned (both High Court and Court of Appeal) and the remedies provided in the Constitution to sanction or dismiss them ought to be applied.

BEAT Foundation Submits Proposal To Government To Restore The Empire Theatre

The following was posted to BU blog Paying Lip Service To Culture by Jim McGowan, founder of Beat|Barbados the foundation responsible for submitting one of three proposals to government of Barbados for restoring the Empire Theatre as a place to support the arts. The Facebook Group  EMPIRE STRIKES BACK  led by Mike Hulsmeier is leading a group of artistes and friends on a mission to restore the 100+ Empire theatre.

Please allow me to introduce myself to this forum. My name is Jim McGowan – I am a founder of BEAT|Barbados along with my life partner Tamara Marshall, and I am also a Trustee of BEAT Foundation.
I am writing to advise and to confirm that BEAT foundation have in fact submitted a Proposal to Government for Restoring of the Empire Theatre – it is our understanding that our  proposal is one of three that Government is now reviewing and considering. We have presented our proposal to the Infrastructural Committee, which is comprised of many Cabinet Members and we are now awaiting their decision.

BEAT foundation is a new charitable organization founded in Barbados that was established to be a catalyst in helping to develop the Creative Arts Industry. The founding Trustees are myself, John MacKenzie, Andrew Pilgrim and Guy Beauvais. As individuals and now as Trustees of this Charity we have each committed and have dedicated ourselves to seeing the Empire be fully restored to it’s former glory.

Barbados – A New Governance Model

The following was circulated to the Barbados Media by Peter Boos, Chairman of Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation

On the afternoon of Friday 18 November the Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation is hosting its first Innovation Think Tank at the conclusion of the National Entrepreneurship Summit. A paper will be presented by Dr.Ronnie Yearwood entitled “Barbados-A New Governance Model” before a select group of about 60 people chosen from across all sectors of Barbados. The discussion will be moderated by Dr.Jeannine Comma and and we will have a panel of distinguished Barbadians. After the debate we plan to publish a summary.

In the lead up to this discussion Dr.Yearwood has written the attached very compelling and passionate article which I believe you will find very powerful. Although about 3,000 words, Dr.Yearwood is inviting you to publish it in its entirety.

Barbados badly needs this type of debate at this time and I hope you will see it fit for publication, coming as it does from a new generation of Barbadians at a time of national uncertainty.

We are also writing to other print and electronic media to ask them to do the same.

Link to Doctor Ronnie Yearwood’s – An Open Letter to Barbados on Forty Five Years of Independence: We Are the Change

Small Open Economies Sailing On The Global Seas

…When America broke the dollar’s peg with gold in 1971, it ushered in a decline that continued until Paul Volcker re-established confidence in the currency in the early 1980s. As Joseph Schumpeter, the great Austrian economist, once wrote: “The monetary system of a people reflects everything that the nation wants, does, suffers, is.”…’

The Economist

There was a time when the world would not be as concerned about the gyrations taking place in many many of Europe’s once thriving economies. The interconnectivity of the world’s financial markets – driven by globalization -  has created a world economy. What happens in any of the economies of G7 or G20 for that matter has global implications. The saying, the more things change the more they remain the same holds. In the global economy a few continue to control the resources at the expense of the majority.

The EU is the common market which the Caribbean has held up as the model for integration. Isn’t it noteworthy that despite an EU parliament and a mature governance infrastructure EU governments are divided about how to manage the problems? Reminiscent of the actions of Jamaica and Trinidad which led to the disintegration of the West Indian Federation, France and Germany described as the two leading economies in Europe are expected to to accept a larger role in any bailout of the PIGS. True to man’s design to protect self first there has been push back from Merkel and Sarkozy to the idea of a wholesale bailout plan..

Under Siege: The Church of England or Modern Day Pharisees? The Ongoing Battle to Appease the Moneychangers at the Expense of the Anticapitalist NeoProtestant Movement

Submitted by Terence Blackett

“If you want to make someone angry tell him a lie; if you want to make him furious, tell him the truth.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

In recent weeks, the standoff between antiglobalization, anticapitalist, neoprotestant protesters on the precincts of St. Paul’s Cathedral (Church of England’s proverbial Sistine Chapel) has thrown this [478] year old institution into a quagmire – a battleground of medieval contestation between the forces of unethical modern capitalism and the flagship battalion of revolutionary antiestablishment provocateurs whose sole intent is to deflocculate the incendiary forces of rampant greed and excess allowed to parasitically leech off the masses of the poor, the working classes and the diminishing middle-classes.

The Church of England as an antiquated institution is now under siege by counter-cyclical forces spurred on by the march of postmodern progress that has brought the “DEBATE” about the Anglican religion from the pews to the pavement; from padded seats to the streets and from the pontifical to the masses of the poor and dispossessed.

The Gospel of Matthew 21:12-13 says that “Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, ‘It is written’, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”

Strong words which still echo down through to our time – yet go unheeded by the blind Pharisees who run these decadent religious institutions.

Barbados Featured On NBC Today – Where In The World Is Matt Lauer?

The Barbados-China Connection: “A Word Of Caution”

Submitted by Austin

There is a lot of activity recently between Barbados and China being reported as a positive national development.  However the Bajan politicians brokering our relationship with China need to be “cautious” and look beyond the “clear” benefit of opening new markets to Bajan businesses to things “not so clear”.

There is a Barbados National Security component to the relationship being established China which needs to be carefully evaluated by folks that understand “China”.  China in recent years has focused diplomatic efforts on many African nations (having embassies in almost all) and now is focused on the Caribbean.

We need to ensure that at the “end of the day” whatever China is getting out of the Barbados-China relationship does not “adversely impact” the average bajan man or woman, noting China ability to product low cost goods which would drive cost down and make it hard for bajan small businesses, at a time we trying to promote small business development.  There is a real risk of killing key components of the Barbados small business community if this relationship is not carefully analysis from both near term and long range perspectives, the phase “ good from FAR but FAR from good” comes to mind”.