Today is Independence Day in the US, and tomorrow is a holiday.

Have a great day, and be sure to watch one of the spectacular fireworks displays tonight.

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Fox, July 2: Mel Gibson’s Alleged Threat to Ex-Girlfriend Could Be Classified as Terrorism, Expert Says

The custody battle between Mel Gibson and his former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva over their eight-month-old daughter appears to have reached a whole new level of low.

Multiple reports cite audio tapes in which the “Passion of the Christ” star uses a slew of derogatory and racial slurs throughout profanity-laced tirades.

RadarOnline attributes this quote to the star: “You look like a f*king pig in heat and if you get raped by a pack of ni**ers it will be your fault.”

Accarding to RadarOnline, Gibson is also alleged to have made a remark about burning down Oksana’s home. An expert thought this might be terrorism.

It should be noted that these reports are unconfirmed.

A Possible Explanation

Maybe Mel Gibson was writing the plot for a new film and he was asking Oksana to listen to his lines …

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Nation News - Friday, June 18: PHONE BUG?

AN AFFIDAVIT before the Supreme Court, calling for judicial review of an internal disciplinary police matter, has accused Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin of authorising unlawful recordings of telephone conversations (wiretapping).

The allegation was one of several accusations lodged by suspended Inspector of Police Anderson Bowen, and the affidavit names Dottin as first respondent and the Office of the Attorney General as second respondent.

As an Inspector of Police, Anderson Bowen would be an insider familiar with the modus operandi of the Royal Barbados Police Force.

Barbados Downgraded to “Tier 2 Watch List”

Last year, the Trafficking in Persons Report 2009 placed Barbados on the “Tier 2 List“,  i.e. countries who do not fully comply with TVPA [Trafficking Victims Protection Act] standards, but are making a significant effort. ([2009] Sex Slave Trafficking: US Report Criticizes Barbados Govt.)

This year Barbados is on the “Tier 2 Watch List“, which is “Tier 2″ plus three more conditions. Here are quotes from the first two:

1. the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing.
2. there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts …

It seems that the human trafficking situation in Barbados is getting worse, and that the Government of Barbados (GOB) is doing little to remedy the situation.

Abuses Mentioned in Report

Here are some of the things I picked up on:

• Step fathers prostituting young children in their care.
• Women from Dominican Republic, Guyana and Jamaica exploited in forced prostitution after their arrival in Barbados.
• Modern slavery - “Traffickers use methods such as threats of physical harm or deportation, debt bondage, false contracts, psychological abuse, and confinement to force victims to work in construction, the garment industry, agriculture or private households.”

I had heard reports of parents charging for men to sleep with their daughters. I had heard that establishments in the Nelson Street area were taking the passports of their prostitutes so that they could not leave. I never heard about the third item. It seems unbelieveable that in this day and time, people are being Shanghaied and forced to work without being paid!

US Not Happy with Government of Barbados’ Efforts

It appears that the US is pushing for action.

• Barbados did not prosecute any trafficking cases during the year, so it was placed on “Tier 2 Watch List”.
• “Barbados has no specific law prohibiting human trafficking, but slavery and forced labor are constitutionally prohibited.”
• “The [Barbados] government made weak efforts to prevent human trafficking …”

Inaction? Lip service? Reminds me of when I wrote Barbados Drug Crime gets Worse but Drug Charges down by 91% since 2005! about the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report - 2008 (INCSR-2008). Look at the arrest and conviction rates if you want to see what is actually being done. No trafficking cases prosecuted says it all.

Why is the GOB not serious about combatting human trafficking? Those poor girls! A life of sexual degredation and a high risk of contracting HIV and developing AIDS. Can you imagine the horror? 

I am appending the Barbados report below for your convenience.

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The full report can be found on the US Department of State’s website: 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report

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Here is the report on Barbados:

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See page 23 of the report (caution -large file)

 

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Click on the image below to go to the interactive map on their site:

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Related:

• Trivester on 2009 report: Human Trafficking in Barbados   “Slavery has crept upon the shores of Barbados in the form of human trafficking.”
• GVNET: Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery (Barbados)
• Barbados Free Press: What happened with the Caribbean Child Sex Trafficking Ring mentioned online by BANGO Secretary General, Roosevelt O. King?
  “Writing under his own name on Barbados Underground, a local blog where he is a frequent contributor and featured author, Roosevelt O. King described how the young girls are brought from the USA to the Caribbean where they are prostituted to local men. ”
  
• Barbados Free Press: United States Vows to increase prosecution of Human Trafficking in it’s offshore territories

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Barbados Nation News, Jun 16, 2010 - WIBISCO suing Sagicor, NIB

WEST INDIA BISCUIT Company Limited (WIBISCO) has slapped Sagicor Financial Corporation and the National Insurance Board with a civil suit over the sale of Sagicor’s shares to the NIB in a private placement last December.
According to the claim form filed in the Supreme Court last Monday, WIBISCO is seeking, inter alia, a declaration that the issuance of the 11.76 million new shares, issued to NIB “was contrary to and in breach of [Sagicor’s] restated Articles of Incorporation and the rules of the Securities Exchange of Barbados 1987, and is accordingly null and void”.

Private placement - Wikipedia

Private placement (or non-public offering) is a funding round of securities which are sold without an initial public offering, usually to a small number of chosen private investors.^[1]

It appears that this “private placement” was favourable to the buyers. Quote from above Nation News article:

On December 29, 2009, Sagicor closed the deal with the NIB issuing the shares at $3.32 per share, 18 cents below the then trading price of $3.50 per share.

This will be an interesting court case to follow. Why sell something for less than it is worth?  The National Insurance Board is a branch of the Barbados Government. Did the power structure use its influence to get a better price?

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Related:

• Sagicor CEO explains Barbados transaction

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Fox News, June 11, 2010: NAACP Urges Hallmark to Pull ‘Racist’ Card From Shelves

LOS ANGELES — A space-themed, talking Hallmark graduation card is being pulled from store shelves because of the card’s reference to a black hole.

But members of the Los Angeles NAACP say the message sounds like “black whore” in the card’s audio recording. That’s how they hear it, and they say it’s racist, KABC-TV in Los Angeles reported.

“That was very demeaning to African-American women when it made reference to African-American women as whores, and at the end it says ‘watch your back,’” said Leon Jenkins of the Los Angeles NAACP.

Fox has the audio on the above link. Is it humourous or offensive?

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ABC News, June 9, 2010

Former lawyer Scott Rothstein was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison Wednesday for using his Fort Lauderdale law firm to run a $1.2 billion Bernie Madoff-style Ponzi scheme that brought him yachts and sports cars and allowed him to make sizable contributions to Florida politicians.

I would love to know what Bajans think of the penalty. Was it too harsh?

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Mirror.co.uk - Chris Brown forced to scrap UK tour after Home Office bans singer over Rihanna attack

US R&B singer Chris Brown has been forced to scrap his British tour after he was refused a visa for attacking ex girlfriend Rihanna.

The Home Office said Brown was banned because he had been found guilty of a serious criminal offence.

Wife beating is tolerated in many countries, and harshly dealt with in others. While I agree with the visa ban, I am sure that UK is admitting hundreds of wife beaters every day. Was Chris Brown a victim of his own fame or is he really a threat to the British public?

(p.s. Minutes after I published I received a complaint that I did not mention that many husbands were also being beaten, but were ashamed to admit it.)

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I have heard that Barbados Prime Minister is very ill. I have been trying to find out what he is suffering from, but to no avail. Judging from reports, it appears to be something serious.

I wish him a speedy recovery.

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Associated Press, May 28, 2010,  via Yahoo’s omg!

PROVO, Utah - Gary Coleman, the adorable, pint-sized child star of the smash 1970s TV sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes” who spent the rest of his life struggling on Hollywood’s D-list, died Friday after suffering a brain hemorrhage. He was 42.

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