Notes From a Native Son: For Whom the Bell Tolls, If Not for Thee?

Introduction:

Hal Austin

The natives are getting restless as the dark clouds descend, it is as if there is  an expectation of bad news. While ministers and their advisers, clearly out of their policy-making depths, struggle with a patchwork of policies initiatives, mainly around the exhausted tourism sector, the rest of government and the private sector is in lock down. People are talking as in a Tower of Babel, but the noise is not making any sense, often lacking in coherence and simple logic, while in the meantime nothing is happening. Even so, what passes for policy is usually a further waste of taxpayers’ money: Four Seasons, Almond Village, Sandals, Transport Board, Gems, the chaos at the central bank – we all know the score. Absent from this roll call are any new and persuasive ideas from parliamentarians, technocrats or policy advisers. It is as if there are no answers to the nation’s problems, that the millions we have spend on education since 1966 has all been in vain, that together as a people we cannot put country before party or ego and come up with viable solutions to our problems.

Entrepreneurial State:
Recently I received a review copy of a book, The Entrepreneurial State, by Mariana Mazzucato, professor of economics at the University of Sussex, and it is a wonderful read. If I though it would have been appreciated, I would send a copy to every member of parliament – government and opposition – so that they can get new ideas on the pioneering role of government in economic development. Prof Mazzucato gives a long list of the new technologies and sectors, from the internet to Apple, Google, pharmaceuticals, and numerous others developments that would not have seen the light of day had not for early State support and intervention. It was State funding – government, military, health service, universities – that funded the early stages of most of these developments before they were transferred to the private sector.
It is a development that we have seen with the global banking crisis and the subsequent sovereign debt meltdown: a crisis that started with Bill Clinton’s removal of the Glass/Steagall barrier, which led eventually to banks over-dosing on cheap credit and, inevitably, the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Then the language of big business changed, from calls for minimum government to one of systemically important banks which had to be bailed out by taxpayers, removing huge unprecedented debt from the balance sheets of private banks to that of the State, ordinary taxpayers. Then calls for a solution, led by academics with access to policy-making, with one set calling for austerity, while the others lined up behind the so-called Australian School, calling for lighter government. But, as Prof Mazzucato has shown, there is room for State intervention, provided it is sensible and prudent and the outcomes are measured and productive.

CL Financial Bailout – really learning from the past

It seems Barbadians have forgotten about CLICO and all the promises but what have we learned from the collapse? How have we sought to strengthen institutional capacity as a response? Is the Financial Services Commission (FSC) doing a job? Should Barbadians be privy to the sealed judicial report? What about those who were involved with CLICO Barbados and continue business as usual?

Afra Raymond’s journey in Trinidad covering CL Financial matters should serve to inspire others. This piece is recommended reading.

AfraRaymond.net

I am responding to the points made by Central Bank Governor, Jwala Rambarran, in his 6 November speech to the T&T Coalition of Service Industries.

This speech attempted to both re-affirm the Central Bank’s important role in our economy –

…as the country‟s prime financial regulator, the Central Bank has an almost fifty year record of maintaining the safety and soundness of the financial system…

and to distinguish Rambarran’s tenure as Governor since July 2012 –

…These are just a few of the initiatives the Central Bank has been working on over the last fifteen months to rebuild confidence, strengthen financial stability and to help create our future financial system…

Rambarran’s focus was “…First, “How did it all happen?” and, second…“What is being done to prevent a similar event from happening again?…”

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Did Johnson Kill Kennedy?

Submitted by Pachamama

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) was assassinated in Dallas, USA on November 22nd 1963

“For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” – JFK

Everybody seems to remember a gloomy day on November 22nd 1963 when a volley of bullets rang out in Dallas killing John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK), POTUS, and injuring Texas governor Connolly. Despite 50 years of propaganda by the conspirators to cover up the murder of the most powerful man in the world, the truth has emerged. In the last 50 years 2000 books have been written about these events, dozens of movies, many more documentaries, hundreds of unofficial investigations and several official investigations. Some of these official investigations were indeed conducted or controlled by the very people who were part of the criminal conspiracy, to as they said, ‘rid the world of Communism’.

As part of the basic conspiracy related persons and possible witnesses were killed, including one JFK’s lovers. More importantly, there was a larger conspiracy by government agencies to kill Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), the US Attorney General in 1963 and brother of the slain JFK and the FBI supported program called “Cointelpro’’ to prevent the rise of a Black messianic figure in the USA. Of course, there were other security operations like ‘zipper’ and so on. We will argue that there are many critical links between, among and within the forces that committed the murder of JFK.  It is now clear that a coalition of forces within the FBI, the CIA, Naval Intelligence and the Pentagon not only killed JFK, but more importantly, had the means, opportunity and motives to kill and cover up this assassination. These events have changed the very nature of the US Presidency and government from a democracy to the variant of oligarchy and fascism which we have today.

Government MUST be Transparent About the Waste to Energy Plant

Minister of the Environment, Denis Lowe,

Where is the transparency? Two letters to the Minister of Environment Denis Lowe and a full page in September have not even garnered a response from the government. Is this government serious about open government?

Thus can you post the above article from Dr David Suzuki who the Future Centre Trust is hoping along with Nature Conservancy and Greenpeace to  ask for support? Thanks in advance on behalf of the other Environmental NGO’s

Kammie Holder, Advocacy Director, Future Centre Trust

Many urban areas have built or are considering building waste-incineration facilities to generate energy. At first glance, it seems like a win-win. You get rid of “garbage” and acquire a new energy source with fuel that’s almost free. But it’s a problematic solution, and a complicated issue.

Metro Vancouver has a facility in Burnaby and is planning to build another, and Toronto is also looking at the technology, which has been used elsewhere in the region, with a plant in Brampton and another under construction in Clarington. The practice is especially popular in the European Union, where countries including Sweden and Germany now have to import waste to fuel their generators.

Read full article

DLP: Bajans Not Good Enough – Neither Can They Reach Jamaicans High Standards – Work Permits Therefore Necessary

Henderson Bovell

You can excuse the DLP if it did not care to read the ‘National Strategic Plan 2005-2025. But Goal #6 of that document speaks, in part, to: “Branding Barbados Globally.” When you read it, you begin to understand why the demise of a Barbadian brand like Almond, is a national scandal. I suppose the same can be said about the DLP’ reluctance to spend a puny US$500,000 to save a $80m Rum Industry, which will result in “a-310-year-old-company” leaving Barbadian hands for the first time in its history.

Of all people, the BLP, which is responsible for the “National Strategic Plan Document,” should understand that the issue of “Sandals” – is more than the quantum of concessions or what is contained in some MOU, especially since the same National Strategic Plan sought “to continue consolidating the country’s international image, particularly on account of political stability, educational quality, democratic governance and good leadership.”

I do not know that the present Barbados Cabinet and Government – are showing good leadership on tourism right now” because “Almond” is a Barbadian-home-grown-international-families-brand,” which was on par (in the view of many) with Sandals, which is nothing more than a Jamaican home-grown-international-families-brand. That makes Ralph Taylor, the equivalent of the Jamaican Butch Stewart.

The Integrity Account

AfraRaymond.net

Having completed my four-part series [1, 2 & 3, 4] on what I termed ‘The Integrity Threat‘, I was intrigued by two recent public notices on the meaning of the Appeal Court’s recent activity on these matters.

1. 6 October  – The Integrity Commission issued a Public Notice which was a clear statement by the Commission that State Enterprises were within its lawful remit, according to the Appeal Court ruling on 27 June.  My reading of that ruling was that it effectively narrowed the 9^th part of the Schedule to the Integrity in Public Life Act (IPLA) so that it only applies to Directors of Statutory Bodies performing public functions.  I maintain that view.  Even if one accepts the Commission’s reading of events, as set out in the exchange of emails in the sidebar, this ruling was a seriously retrograde step in the operation of…

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Notes From a Native Son: Unless We Create an Equal Society We Will Have Serious Social Problems

Hal Austin

Introduction:
Lawyers and public commentators in Barbados have now discovered the concept of human rights, but missing from public political and economic discourse is any reference to inequality, the moral foundation of a fair and just society. The nearest we come to any mention of inequality in public space is the flawed reference to so-called free education, which disciples of the late Errol Barrow hold as the mark of his great contribution to post-war Barbados. But, after dominating public discussions since the Black Power era and the student rebellion of the 1960s, both Left and Right have returned to look at the relevance of equality in modern society. Some people have even intimated that in the post-Obama world the battle over equality has been won and we should move on. It is disingenuous. Even someone as radical as Roberto Mangabeira Unger, the Harvard professor and former minister of strategic affairs in Brazil, has called on progressives to abandon equality and replace it with something called deep freedom.

The posing of equality against freedom and human rights is a false dichotomy. What do we mean by freedom? Freedom from what? What do we mean by human rights? The idea of ‘freedom’ is a vacuous philosophical concept that has no grounding in the day-to-day lives of people living in a liberal democracy, despite its imperfections. A minority in control of an oppressive police force or military can understandably talk of freedoms, but that is a misinterpretation of the illegal behaviour of a powerful institution. A good example of this is the stop-and-frisk in New York or its equivalent stop and search in Britain, which has replaced the old Sus law, under the 1824 Vagrancy Act, introduced to control begging by deformed soldiers who had returned from the Napoleanic Warts. But the concept of equality has a firmer philosophical meaning, since it does not mean equality of outcomes, but of opportunities. It is also superior to the concept of human rights since embodied in equality are all the rights under the portmanteau term human rights.

Nuff Respect for the Grammarian

Submitted by islandgal

Standard English is hot!

As we go about our daily tasks criticizing and making lots of noise about this and that, many of us have made typo errors while posting. Typos is one thing but when it comes to grammar how many of us need to go back to school or check our First Aid in English? I am not speaking about writing in dialect called Bajan, I am referring to the standard English we  were taught at school.  The standard English we use officially when speaking, writing a letter manually or electronically.

Folks I am no Grammarian and I will make a mistake or two from time to time. But when Newspapers and periodicals publish news and current events I expect that standard English to be used. This is not the case with the fourth estate in Barbados. Many of the editors and proof readers they employ don’t know the difference  between simple words like their, there and they’re. The difference between hear, here and hair and the list continues. Yes there are times I am stumped grammatically when writing, but I always try to find a simpler way of expressing myself so that I don’t expose too much of my behind.

The Fear of Death or the Joys of Life

Submitted by Charles Knighton

Understanding the joys of life

Mac Fingall’s No Laughing Matter column of November 3, “The fear of dying” essentially posits that trauma is not just the result of major disasters. It does not happen to only some people. Evidently an undercurrent of trauma runs through ordinary life, shot through as it is with the poignancy of impermanence. Instead of post-traumatic stress disorder, we suffer from pre-traumatic stress disorder. Seemingly, there is no way to be alive without being conscious of the potential for disaster. One way or another, death (and its cousins: old age, illness, accidents, separation and loss) hangs over all of us. Nobody is immune. Our world is unstable and unpredictable, and operates, to a great degree and despite incredible scientific advancement, outside our ability to control it.

As with all things, one’s perspective is key, and there is a cure for this disorder. We can live our lives with a fear of dying, or we can develop a philosophy which holds that the purpose of mortality is to teach us, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy ourselves and live. Life’s journey leads us all to the same destination. Whether our sojourn is one of fear or exuberance is all we have the power to control.

Invader’s Bay part 3: MORE Invaders Bay Ingredients

AfraRaymond.net

I closed last week’s article by restating my view that all the ingredients for corruption were present at Invader’s Bay.

What are those ingredients?

Here is my list –

• Extensive public assets coming onto the market, in turbid circumstances. Those assets can include property, concessions, contracts and jobs;
• Questions of access to the gatekeepers – in these scenarios, some people will have unbelievable access to the decision-makers;
• Conflicting and confusing versions of the project or proposal. The confusion is as persistent as it is deliberate, a part of the tangled web.
• Blatant double-standards and lying is the norm in these situations;
• Apart from ceremonial fluff, such as sod-turnings and ribbon-cuttings, there is no intention whatsoever to give any proper public account or statement of intentions. True transparency is evaded like taxes;
• Professional Civil Servants who are unable or unwilling to insist on the maintenance of minimum standards;

Extensive Public…

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Goodness Gracious CBC, Time to Get Doug Some New Suits

Submitted by Napolean Bonaparte

Doug Hoyte, CBC Morning Barbados host

Don’t say it, and we are not being picky, but one cannot help but notice Morning Barbados’ lead anchor Doug Hoyte is in need of a couple of new suits. Good grief man, hasn’t the Board noticed Doug’s futile attempt at hiding the fact that he has out grown his current wardrobe and now has resorted to hiding this embarrassment ?

Viewers cannot help but notice the first button is unduly stressed and barely able to maintain its confines. Doug on the other hand, being a true professional, has resorted  to placing his coffee mug (snugly in front of him) to camouflage the obvious.

We the viewers have begun to wonder why Doug would always be seen hands crisscrossed on his coffee mug positioned strategically, in a rather perplexing position. Much to our dismay, on closer examination, it has become most obvious that the good man, like many Bajans,  has been caught at the counter of overly indulgence once, twice, too often.

Invader’s Bay part 2: All the Ingredients for Bobol…

AfraRaymond.net

Since my previous article on this controversial proposal, we have seen that certain legal advice reportedly considered by the government has been featured in another newspaper.  If that is the advice the State is relying upon in advancing their Invader’s Bay proposals, we are seeing a large-scale act of intentional illegality and a worrying return to the ‘bad-old-days‘.

My main concerns are –

CONSULTATION?

Compare the lack of consultation at Invader’s Bay with what happens elsewhere.  In particular, the large waterfront lands near the city centre of San Fernando at  King’s Wharf, which has been the subject of ongoing public consultations over the years.  The press reports that various design and redevelopment concepts were presented to and discussed with a widely-based audience.

Whatever the criticisms one might make of the King’s Wharf proposals, it is undeniable that views have been sought from the public/stakeholders and various proposals…

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LIAT Update

Click image to sign the PETITION!

The following was circulated to those who signed the petition by James Lynch, PETITION FROM THE TRAVELLING PUBLIC TO THE OWNERS OF THE CARIBBEAN AIRLINE LIAT.

You need to know that LIAT are about to have another huge meltdown. Yes, it’s probably going to happen again, and maybe even worse.

All the ATR Pilots trained at the beginning before the aircraft were delivered are now due for re-currency training, and many of the senior pilots are going on their usual booked holiday in December. That’s the start of it.

So, unless somebody comes up with a small (large?) miracle, LIAT are going to have to park many of their planes and cancel/reschedule/ delay many of their flights.

LIAT management were warned by both the ECCAA (the Civil Aviation Authority) and the LIAT Pilots Association LIALPA that this was going to happen unless they made alternate plans (LIALPA also warned Brunton before the first meltdown), so the many shortages which came to a head in August are going to be dwarfed by what is about to happen again at LIAT approaching and during the Christmas Season.