Although there have been robust discussions, which led to disagreements in the past that caused emotions to get in the way, and might have caused hard feelings among others, this topic might also be seen as a heads-up.

With commenters expressing their opinions on this subject matter, it might help to clear the air; if there be any tension building up, it would be released; while BU continues to make a welcoming place for all.

When all is said and done, most of us are Bajans or have Bajan connections, and we should all help to make the Bajan experience on the Internet a classy one.

Outed blogger Rosemary Port now plans to sue Google.

Outed blogger Rosemary Port now plans to sue Google.

In has become apparent in recent months diabolical forces are working not in the interest of Barbados Underground. It is happening at a time when we have achieved all time popularity since our launch in April 2007. The BU family in the 2 plus years has been able to foster a feel to the discourse where all who enter the debates must do so NOT as primus inter pares but as equals.

We have not been afraid to confront the controversial issues like race, homosexuality, the mysteries of religion, immorality, corruption, the passive Fourth Estate among many. Part of the reason for the BU feel has been and still is the flow to discussions despite the asynchronous nature of blogging. In a nutshell we have not been afraid to call a spade a spade.

There is a price to be paid for freedom of speech. A normal behaviour to expect from some quarters is that with success inevitably come those who would attack because of envy or the fact some may feel threatened and the like. Commonsense however dictates if we the BU family want to continue what we have been doing hitherto, we have to exercise a greater degree of editorial control on what we allow on BU than heretofore.

In recent days global media has publicized the case of Google being forced to identify an anonymous blogger, for clarity David of BU is the blogger, you are commenters. Eventually, there are bound to be some sort of defamation laws internationally agreed that can offer redress to people who have been defamed on the Internet. Based on murmurings we presume that even now this is a matter being discussed by attorneys-general worldwide and their equivalents.

What the case more than hints at is the days of the cowboy approach to blogging and commenting on blogs are fast coming to an end. It is no secret that with the popularity of BU has come a torrent of comments which have had to be managed. We do our best but given the current realities our best may not be good enough at all times. The BU family we have to say in all honesty is a very intelligent bunch. In light of the challenges ahead BU will have to rely heavily on you to ensure we successfully navigate what may lie ahead. Sometimes it is not what you write but how you write.

Our request to the BU family is to ensure when making comments you be careful to craft your language not to finger any individual as performing a criminal act or suffering from mental deficiency. BU is confident with very small adjustments we can continue to express our views with the same robustness.

We are aware how some BU family members like Chris Halsall feel about the subject of anonymity on the Internet. Some use it to avoid the inconvenience derived from telling home-truths in a small society where victimization still rear its head. Others do it to hurl abuse and other malicious behaviour. In the case of the former we are aware of some of the prominent personalities who read and contribute to BU and remain sensitive to why they would want to do so anonymously.

In the interest of preserving this outlet for Barbadians and friends to keep freedom of expression alive and well, the BU household thought it prudent to clue you the BU family into our confidence as we prepare to flex in order to face whatever lurks ahead.

From: The People’s Democratic Congress ( PDC)

Seeing that throngs of people in Barbados have been so positive about what Mr. Barack Obama and so many others inside and outside of the USA have done to help make him the President of the United States of America – the first black to have done so in the history of politics and government of the USA , would it NOT be more appropriate to put that beautiful little square image that you have of him and his family on the right side of your front page, quite away from under the negative images of the Prospect and Holetown Rape scenes?

Too, although those negative images that you have long had on the right side of the front page do represent serious instances of the wilful desecration of our West Coast by certain local and foreign investors, and do portray instances of which many of us in Barbados must ever be conscious of and of which must always be deserving of our utmost contempt, as much as possible we in PDC would NOT like for that kind of negative cast of those events to hover in our minds when looking at that very wonderfully beautiful image of President-Elect Obama and his family. So, these visual concatenations surely are NOT so tasteful!!

Therefore, yes, to putting that lovely Presidential picture some where else, BU/David!!

PDC

Wha’s de problem?

You are entitled to think we are a rag. It says alot about you that you are logged on to BU 24/7. We are prepared to rock the boat on this one like we did Roy Morris and Dale Miller. If we were to publish all the dirt we have based on our sources you would have to describe us as lower than a rag but it would expose a very dark side of Barbados. It makes us sick to know some of what we know. We should live and let live, right?

To those of you threatening BU because we are rocking the boat a little we are prepared to deal with what comes. We know that when we look behind-us we will see no one, but when the dust is settled our conscience will be clear.

The problem as we see it as that each Barbadian is responsibly for building Barbados but we have become very good at ignoring the ills that are affecting little Barbados.

When will we do something? When it goes past the point of no return? It is fine to cuss politicians and talk about corruption but when we turn the spotlight on others the hypocrites get offended?

So what will we do when somebody dies? Yes we know the answer, say sorry!

do you think that pants are gay??? i know i hate them… long live shorts!!!
also will a labor shortage affect the long term GNP of Barbados or will it totally be fly

also i think that we should polute more inorder to keep down the chupacabre. and trinidad and tobago has nothing on us. viva la margarita

For anybody interested in objectivity and truthfulness, where this subject is concerned although I don’t expect that to be many!

*********************

DeSoldier, this would not have been in any mainstream newspaper. It
happened in the late 80’s or early 90’s. (If you were here, you
could have been training at Borden, Shiloh, Chilliwack, Summerside, or
Petawawa.)

My friend was President of the Barbadian Association of Toronto. He
and the head of the Guyanese and the Trinidadians in that City, made an
appointment with the Toronto Chief of Police, where they made presentations
and explained their concerns. The Chief was sympathetic and realised that
they were maligning all blacks in the City. The word went out to
differentiate/identify.

When the police started saying a Jamaican, or Trinidian or Bajan was
arrested for such and such, the local Jamaican newspaper here (Ottawa), the
Spectrum, was up in arms and wrote an editorial castigating the Toronto
Chief for racism and for singling out Jamaicans. Why? At that time, it
was always a Jamaican. His thrust was country of origin should not be
mentioned. We saw through that, because when a country is mentioned, it is
easy to collect statistics. This is information no respectable Jamaican
wanted the public to know.

**********************

Keep wearing the rose-tinted-glasses Barbadians youre obviously, happier PRETENDING that what I’m saying is untrue!

To Pat……we owe you big time.

*******

He i s trying the same thing here. See his post above. He is bullying BU. He is lucky I did not reproduce some of his nasty posts to a Jamaican called Jameka or his diatribes on Africans. On the Barbados Forum, when he started belittling Bajans and calling them idiots, the administrators told him to take a hike.

He is not sharing any space with filth – Thistle, Pat and Ian – so he better find an uninhabited planet somewhere to live in isolation.

Finally, BU, I simply ask you to ACTUALLY, MAKE A DECISION YOURSELVES, in relation to this matter and not to DODGE THE ISSUE. I’m keen to observe the quality of Barbadian decision-making, good or ill!