Here is NEWS that was mailed to my readers on August 2, 1998:-

August 2, 1998

Bajan News
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Gang Way !
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In scenes, reminiscent of a "wild west" movie, motorcyclists with
gun-toting pillion riders, drove through parts of Silver Hill and
Sargeant's Village firing at each other on Tuesday, miraculously, no one was
injured.

On Wednesday night about 10:00 p.m., Rodney Worrell was
gunned down by two men less than 150 yards from his home in Bridge Gap,
Black Rock, St. Michael. He was reportedly shot four times, and died
instantly.

Inspector Oral Reid of the Police Public Relations Department, tells us
that these crimes were linked to the drug trade and he goes on to say:

"this is an indication of the positive impact of the force's efforts
to control importation of drugs. As a consequence, what we are now
having are drug dealers fighting over a scarce commodity"

He also said that all these crimes have been recorded in areas where there
had been a history of public resentment of the police.

Drugs are voluntarily consumed... GUNS kill
INNOCENT by-standers... who just HAPPEN to be in the wrong place
at the wrong time. EVERYONE in the population is at risk from guns.

They should put all their efforts into shutting down the illegal gun trade
and collecting up those firearms that are already in circulation... it is
not an easy task but it is a much more important one.

Safe herbs beat impotence
-------------------------

A long article extolling the virtues of Yohimbe, which is extracted from the
bark of an African tree.

Apparently well researched, reports taken from the Journal of Urology and
Science Digest Time as well as The Physician's Desk Reference.

The product is ... Premier One's newly formulated Raw Energy Yohimbe, which
also contains Royal Jelly, Korean Ginseng, Damiana, Saw Palmetto,
Sarsaparilla, Oyster Powder and Deer Antler !!!

It claims to be the most potent sexual product on the market today that can
be enjoyed by young and old alike and sells for Bds$45.89 for 60 capsules

Obviously the sales people want to cash in on the present SEX CRAZE sweeping
the country .... no matter what your age or how long you can "stand up"...
it could be improved... and like the, now famous, ENERGIZER BUNNY... the
urge is to keep going and going .... and GOING......

WOMEN's SEX lives in for boost
------------------------------

In another part of the SAME newspaper (Friday Nation, July 31)....

An Australian surgeon is hoping to do for women what VIAGRA does for men,
Helen O'Connell, a urology surgeon at Australia's Royal Melbourne Hospital
has completed her study of the CLITORIS...

She says, in the New Scientist magazine that it is TWICE AS LARGE as shown
in medical textbooks and extends deep into the body.

She and John Hutson, an Australian expert in paediatric genital
reconstruction have, after dissecting the bodies of 10 women.. discovered
that much of the female sexual anatomy found in textbooks is WRONG !!!

She says that GRAY'S ANATOMY.. for a long time regarded as the
"surgeon's bible" does not do justice to the clitoris... she is 
aghast at how little was known about the clitoris and female sexual
anatomy.... her only conclusion, "Victorian prudishness about examining
female sex organs may have been partly responsible for the lack of knowledge
about the female anatomy"

Blessings NOT changing indecency
--------------------------------

Yet another article, in Letters to the editor (Nation)... the writer is
asking, WHY are the "blessings" and prayers for the Crop Over Festival... on
the part of the Roman Catholic church not causing an improvement in better
(more decent) behaviour at the festival ??????

Trust me, it is not a mystery.... neither the Vicar General or the writer...
need waste any time over this.... when "de waistline start to move" an "we go
bumper to bumper"... have you any idea how many people come out looking for
a SEX partner at these events ? some expect to have sex before they go home.
they admit it... I can only speculate about the rest... but surely the
atmosphere is conducive and peoples inhibitions are lowered... maybe you do
not realize this but many single (and even some married) males walk around
in a constant state of readiness... ready to have a good piece of sex at
the first available opportunity.... Crop Over provides quite a bit of
opportunity.

Get real, it is either Church or Crop Over.... better read your Bible..
if you serious about serving God.

I am saying that the majority of people have no intention of serving God or
obeying His laws.... maybe not even the "Vicar General".

Water Desalination Plant
------------------------

The plan to build a desalination plant in Barbados is causing a stir,
apparently the plant will cost Bds$30,000,000 to set up... and
Denis Yearwood of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) said the cost of water
would increase from 0.90/cubic metre to 2.00/cubic metre

Several writers have shown that this figure could not possibly be correct,
some say it could be as high as 9.36/cubic metre.

Another bone of contention is the rate at which old pipes are being replaced
one writer has shown that replacement is not even fast enough to keep up with
deterioration.. so leaking mains will waste more of the precious water in
years to come.

Finally, there is an argument about how much is actually being lost through
leaks, with some claiming that the figure is as high as 60%

The question of what to do with the concentrated brine which is the output
of the plant is another issue, there is grave concern that environmental
damage will be done however it is disposed of.

All writers are unhappy that the public will have to foot the bill for the
higher cost water... which will go the way of all the rest into leaking mains

Until the BWA "gets it's act together" , improves it's efficiency and offers
real solutions to these problems, building a desalination plant is only
putting a plaster over the problem.

Nevertheless, I feel that having a desalination plant would be a good idea,
if the environmental problem can be solved... because with the global weather
conditions changing, rainfall is beyond our control to predict.

Politics of Protocol 3
----------------------

"What is there to complain about ? Things are going well because Government
is keeping wages low and helping to get people to invest in Barbados. You
cannot go wrong with that strategy. What are Barbadians always complaining
about ?" David Farmer, Barbados Advocate, July 22, 1998

Well, according to John Connell, attorney-at-law, if you study Protocol 3
you will realize that it creates an industrial mechanism to limit wages and
salary increases of workers but provides no comparable mechanisms to limit
prices, dividends, tax concessions and other profits on investments. It
purports to subject government policies to the arbitrament of a non-elected
cabal.

Indeed far from submitting to mechanisms to limit profits on their
investments, the private sector which dominates Protocol 3 is presenting
a strong logical case that they too should receive all the concessions
given to offshore companies, since they also create jobs.

With prices rising, a significant sector of our population receive $200
or less per week. The David Farmers of this world must sit down and list
the number of things they would have to do without, if they were forced
to live on $200 per week in today's Barbados.

The new name for this class is the "working poor". Add to these the many
thousands who are still unemployed. Is it right to see special incentives
and concessions which are denied them, being lavished on a select few.

Protocol 3 does more than limit workers' wages while allowing ample
latitude to the private sector to reap the profits on their investments.
It has shifted the centre of gravity of Barbadian politics..

The political upheavals of 1937 ushered in universal adult suffrage.
This placed power in the hands of the people. They elect a Cabinet to
exercise power on their behalf between elections. What Protocol 3 attempts
to do is to divide that power with the non-elected private sector.

And I will add, that Capital, refusing to accept lower returns in today's
far more competitive world, than it did in former years, is trying to
maintain (or increase) profitability at the expense of Labour.

Do not be fooled by Total Quality Management schemes, efficiency studies or
non-essential cost cutting. Stress related job disorders are at an all time
high... because they are now expecting far more "output" with far less
"input"... Labour is squeezed to the last drop.

Reward and incentive schemes, like the proverbial carrot dangled always just
far enough in front of the donkey's nose to keep him moving in high gear...
is stale by the time he eats it... if he ever does.

You can be sure on one thing... that any "give back" to workers, has earned
ten times it weight in gold for Capital... at the workers expense.

The approach is what has changed, no longer the whip and evidence of torture
equipment... Soothing words are said, like "Our employees are our MOST
VALUABLE resource !!"... What better way to exploit, eh ? and far more
successful too... pump 'em up, let 'em go and watch the profits roll in...

Celebrating FREEDOM
-------------------

At dawn this morning, I was among many who gathered at the foot of the
Bussa statue in commemoration of Emancipation Day.

We listened to speeches from our leaders, I shot photos which you will
see in due course, we heard what we had come from (the nigger yard), how far
we had got, how much further we had to go.

This year we had Fidel Castro join in, which I thought was a bit of a joke,
I mean 10 years ago the man would not have been allowed to set foot in
Barbados !

Our forces joined with the Americans in delivering Grenada from the Soviet
Union and the CUBANS...

Reference was made to the troops Fidel sent to Angola, suggesting that he
was doing some benevolent act towards black people, liberating them from
apartheid... you think Fidel really CARES about black people, I don't know,
he says he does, but I am not convinced.

Fidel is a dictator, the Soviet block was interested in WORLD DOMINATION
and balance of power, Angola was just a pawn to be used in the Global chess
game.

Mind you, the man is smart... he has survived numerous assasination attempts
by the CIA... and has continued to shake his fist at the U.S.A., in spite of
the sufferings his people have undergone because of the U.S embargo, a
consistent rebel.. I can certainly admire that in the man.

Well, I agree the embargo should be stopped... Fidel is now a toothless old
tiger... and all the embargo is doing is hurting his people... he no longer
can pose a threat to U.S security in this region... what is more Cuba IS a
part of the Caribbean and does share our common history of exploitation by
colonial and imperial powers.

Surely now the mighty U.S. is omnipotent , they can afford to be gracious..
and extend a hand of forgiveness to the only "third world" leader who was
ever a "thorn in their side".

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