The Day STARCOM Kicked Christians In The Hiney

Vic Fernandes - CEO Starcom

The Christian right (also known as the religious right and the evangelical bloc) is a term used predominantly in the United States of America to describe a spectrum of right-wing Christian political and social movements and organizations characterized by their strong support of conservative…

…Wikipedia

The Christian Right in the United States is known for its strong lobby to support public policies it views as being social conservative. Remember the name Jerry Falwell? There is also a strong Christian lobby in Australia and recognition of a growing Christian Right in Canada. One cannot help to envy the ease which people organize in those countries to promote common interest.

Last week in Barbados a raging debate was stoked by the controversial Anglican Reverend Charles Morris who asserted that no where does the bible address the issue of pre-marital sex. The hailstorm of opinions and analyses but moreso condemnation by Christians which followed his comment signalled to many that Barbados is indeed a Christian society, or regards itself to be. The normally taciturn Right Reverend Bishop John Holder was provoked to deliver a rebuke from the pulpit to Reverend Charles. We should expect that Reverend Charles will remain a priest who is unassigned a Church to pastor for a little while longer.

Barbadians Need To Recognize Non Governmental Organizations

Barbadians will brag to all that we have practiced a democracy in the post-independence period which is the envy of many countries. Regrettably most Barbadians define a democratic system of government as the freedom we have to vote every five years, or on the odd occasion when a by-election is called. A democratic system of government loosely defined is said to be when the government is controlled by the PEOPLE using a free electoral system. The business of managing democratic systems are becoming more and more challenging because of modern complexities?

In order for any democratic system to work well the PEOPLE need to organize within the system to ensure that their interest are kept on the burners. This situation has given birth to Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s). It is clear that at this stage in our development the role of the NGO must assume a greater participation in our democracy. We urge the BU family to give the NGO’s their support. BU commit to work with the NGO’s in Speaking up on the issues.

Mrs. Ram Merchandani Brought To Heel By Public Counsel Barry Carrington And The Consumer Claims Tribunal

Public Counsel Barry Carrington /Nation Newspaper

The Barbados Consumer’s Watch (BCW) organization is reporting in its latest blog that consumers in Barbados may just have something to shout about after all. For years the passive Barbadian consumer who has been taken advantage of by merchants who have appeared to be impervious to a sense of what is fair and just. Finally there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. It appears that a FEW customers have been availing themselves of the services offered by the Office Of Public Counsel, and Public Counsel Barry Carrington has been rising to the challenge.

Here is a snippet extracted from BCW’s blog which caught our interest:

Consumers, you have something to shout about and a man to thank for his tireless work as Public Counsel. Though Barry has moved on up, he has left a legacy of cases before the Consumer Clansumersims Tribunal, over a four year period of championing the cause of Consumers; a well kept public secret.

Imagine that Barry took Mrs. Ram before the Tribunal ten times between 2004 & 2005 and won all. Not only that, after the tenth time, Mrs. Ram like she decide that she ain’t coming back (brought her to her knees) to the Tribunal because there are no entries with any of her companies since then, so she got to be settling everything before it get there. A serious victory for consumers.

Moreover, just prior to his departure, Barry successfully argued a landmark case fitting for a good send off and for a job well done. This is Case No. 87: Kimone Phillips v Courts (Bdos) Ltd. where the facts of purchase or arrangement are not in dispute since Courts agreed to give a refund. The matter in question is, “What is a refund?”

We recommend that the BU family go over and read about a landmark judgement which has been handed down by our Consumer Claims Tribunal on the Barbados Consumers Watch blog.