The jury is still out on the origins of HIV/AIDS, in terms of whether it was a naturally occurring virus or created in a laboratory in a sinister attempt at population control for certain races. Either way, the world first became aware of it in 1981 as a “new” sexually transmitted disease for which there […]
Category: Editorial
We owe a debt of gratitude to the founding editor of this digital newspaper for bringing initial public attention to a call we are happy to repeat to the Government of Barbados, now under new management. Roy Morris has noted via social media the positive efforts made by this administration to bring the bureaucracy kicking […]
The World Bank’s poor ratings of doing business here merely confirm a secret that no longer bothers to remain covered: doing business is akin to pulling a tooth – with a rusted wrench. In 2019, trying to complete even the simplest of tasks can hurl one back to the Stone Age, by car. At a […]
Words are powerful. That caution handed down from mothers and grandmothers that if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all, was fair warning to all. These days it’s better to be safe than sorry when tempted to say what you like, when you like, where you like and how you like – […]
About six years ago during proceedings into a civil case brought by more than a dozen police officers with respect to promotions in the Royal Barbados Police Force, Queen’s Counsel Alair Shepherd in a furious outburst related to delays in the case, noted that the stalled process negatively impacted on the ability of the force […]
We feel it important return to the issue of the copycat adoption of Black History Month – an invention to recognize a minority population in another country – in a majority black nation. While we feel that the month of February would be better used to commemorate the people who came in 1627 with a […]
It should not escape notice that Barbadians have lately embraced an American celebration of the contributions of African and African-descended peoples with what is commonly referred to as Black History Month. More cynical African-Americans have often remarked that tolerance by the majority culture of the contributions of black people to the American civilization has been […]
At a time when disturbing headlines involving young people have dominated newspaper and television reports of late, four Reynold Weekes Primary students have warmed the jaded hearts of a nation. Nathan Leon Blackman, his twin sister Natalia Leon Blackman, along with their cousin Jaquon Blackman and Jerome Forde are Barbados’ newest heroes. The quartet reached […]
The English Baptist pastor Frederick Brotherton Meyer who drew thousands to the church in the early 1900s once advised: “The one thing that pierces the heart of God with unutterable grief is not the world’s iniquity, but the church’s indifference.” Decades later, an historian – not a preacher, indeed a self-confessed apostate – Trevor Marshall, […]
“A Daniel come to judgment, yea, a Daniel! — ‘Tis very true. O wise and upright judge!” – Shylock in William Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice”, Act IV, Scene 1. We most heartily welcome the creation of five new criminal courts and a commercial law court for the new law term later this year. Like a Daniel […]
A young dancehall artist named Lil Rick made his debut in 1989 with a song in which he wondered: “Me ain’t know how de youth get so.” In his ground-breaking song, The Youth, he lamented young people falling prey to drug abuse and lawlessness. Thirty years later, our policymakers are still trying to find viable […]
Recent queries on the whereabouts of a growth plan for the Barbados economy have been met with characteristic prime ministerial scorn – how dare we doubt her? Yet, for all the bluster and bombast, this vital question remains to be answered to our certain satisfaction. Her response seemed a replay of a widespread impression, conveyed […]
The recent arrest and subsequent charging of a teenage boy for three murders – one of them being his mother – has sent shockwaves through the country. Eighteen-year-old Romario Antonio Roach of River Bay, St Lucy, has been accused of killing his mother Joann Roach, Dr Sarah Sutrina, a retired senior lecturer at The University […]
Tourism, the main engine of our economy, has been firing on all cylinders for decades, employing tens of thousands, earning millions in foreign exchange, generating huge tax revenues and delivering wide economic and social benefits aplenty. But now this engine is misfiring, and yesterday’s revelations by Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes on tourism delivering fewer […]
To date, Prime Minister Mia Mottley has not yet fully articulated what specific “skills” she meant when she sought to explain the presence of former Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin at a media briefing convened last Friday within the precincts of the nation’s Parliament to discuss the crime situation in Barbados. She did, however, attach […]
Nine murders in 29 days, with four victims, who were allegedly connected to ‘gang wars’ associated with the drug trade dying as a result of gunshot wounds. Our sympathy goes out to the families of these victims, but in all honesty, we have swept the issue of gun violence under the proverbial carpet for way […]
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.” – Henry V, Act IV, Scene iii. At a time when a minuscule minority of young people have been grabbing headlines by killing each other and other citizens, we pause to take stock of the efforts of another bunch of young folks – men in their […]
