UK, December 11, 2008 - IGN caught up with Danny Boyle this week to discuss the brilliant Slumdog Millionaire, and while telling us all about his Indian opus (the full Q&A of which will appear on the site in January), the ridiculously versatile director talked a little bit about what he might be up to next.

Firstly his rumoured desire to carry on the 28 Days Later franchise that Juan Carlos Fresnadillo continued so brilliantly with 28 Weeks Later.

"Well there's an idea" he said, giving little away. "I've got this idea about how to do it. It's quite a weird idea really, but I need a bit of time to get it worked out properly."

We kept pushing Boyle for details, but he insisted on keeping his cards close to his chest, only promising us that it wouldn't be set on the sun.

For the next four days, Needham’s Point will be Barbados’ own version of Fort Knox.

With the president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, and representatives from all 15 CARICOM member states converging on Barbados from today for the second ever Mexico-CARICOM Summit, Hilton Barbados is expected to be the most secure place in Barbados.

This weekend’s event has triggered a massive security undertaking, to be led by the Royal Barbados Police Force.

Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce revealed yesterday that the summit would be catered to by uniformed and plainclothes police, as well as a tactical response team.

http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/security-tight/

POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING the apparent suicide of a 51-year-old United States Embassy security official.

The body of American George Gaines, a Caucasian male, was found at White Sands Beach, Dover, Christ Church, around 8:30 a.m. yesterday with a bullet wound to the head.

The discovery was met by an immediate response from United States government officials, including Chargé d’Affaires for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Christopher Sandrolini, who was among those gathering at the scene.

When a team from the Sunday SUN arrived, Gaines’ body, partially covered with a white sheet and clad in khaki pants, white socks and suede boots, lay a few feet away from the sea, in a bushy area of the beach.

http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/embassy-man-found-dead/

A 41-year-old St Michael man is to appear in the District “A” Magistrates’ Court today on charges of indecently assaulting four boys.

St Elmo Wilbert Lewis of Clevedale Road, Black Rock, is accused of committing the molestation between January and June 1.

The victims are between five to seven years old.

Lewis is also accused of loitering with intent to commit a similar act while at Rockley, Christ Church last week.
Reports indicated that a group of men aggressively subdued him before he was arrested by lawmen.


Nation

5/18/2012

While some changes must be made to the current voluntaristic system, moving towards a total legalistic system is not the way to go for Barbados.

This is the consensus reached by the four panellists at the panel discussion on “Voluntarism or State Regulations: The Way Forward for Barbados”, held recently at the Grand Salle.

One of these panellists Cedric Murrell, CTUSAB President, said that they were able to recognise a “linear equation” and a utopian concept can also be considered. “At the end of the day, all of these systems are managed, controlled and cemented by men and women who are fallen with the grace of God. Essentially speaking, we have to accept that there will be the tensions of people interacting.”

With regards to the mute, he said that we have to examine our societies “very closely” and the evening’s discussion talked about the current industrial relations construct that Barbados has and whether or not it should be changed and they agreed that there should be some change.

He also stated that “we are sweeping some of these things under the carpet and we need to bring them out into the light because if we don’t, one of these days we are going to wake up and find that we don’t have a country”.

Another panellist, Gail Springer, BEC Representative, said that the concept of industrial relations and employment relations is not a clear-cut issue and this is why she doesn’t like strict regulation or legislation because after all is said and done, you still have to go and work with those people.

“At the end of the day, you still have to go back and ... live with those people … so if you have a dispute with the people, you still have to find a way of managing them, you still have to find a way of motivating them to make them productive and to get the outcome at the end of the day that you want from the business.”

She said an employer can have a dispute with his/her employees and run to a lawyer and get a decision either way, but then there are still those who have to come back into the business.

Therefore, she said that whatever system is implemented, it must be one that the business and its productivity as well as the livelihood of the employees, who are still working in the company, are all addressed.

She believes that the best solution is to incorporate the current voluntaristic system with other things rather than going to a completely legalistic system because the latter would not work in Barbados given our history.

Vincent Burnett, Chief Labour Officer, said that dialogue is important and while the voluntaristic system has its advantages and disadvantages, a completely legalistic system is not the answer. Rather, we must address those areas that are absent from our current system and put these mechanisms in place.

Lawrence Nurse, UWI Lecturer, said that any changes to the existing system must still take into account “the exercise of voice and agency. It must respect property rights of employers within the right to run an efficient business as well as the human rights of labourers”.

“It should also foster a positive employment relations climate and we can find a correct system by experimenting with different approaches for managing the workplace under changing circumstances and whatever system we choose, it should not be a bureaucratic system, but instead one that is flexible.” (PJT)

If you're not already talking about the Facebook IPO, you soon will be.

The social networking behemoth is set to go public in one of the largest initial public offerings in history on Friday. The event marks the rare intersection of Wall Street financial geeks, Silicon Valley techies, and everyone in between that uses the networking service. Given Facebook's ubiquitous nature, expect everyone and their uncle to have an opinion on it.

Haven't caught up on the latest news and speculation on Facebook? That's what we're here for. The following is a guide walking you through the ins-and-outs of Facebook, allowing you to sound timely and smart when you inevitably post something about the IPO on your timeline.

I've been living under a rock. What's going on with Facebook?
After years spent privately toiling on its social network and growing its user base without any outside interference, Facebook is finally growing up as a company and tapping the larger public market for funds.

The company has set an IPO price of $28 to $35 a share, valuing the company by as much as $96 billion. That would rank it as the largest Internet IPO and one of the largest IPOs in history, according to Renaissance Capital. Still, the price is a tick lower than the initial $100 billion valuation many had expected from Facebook.

Pricing an IPO is always a tricky proposition. The company wants to set its offering price as high as possible, because that generates the most cash for the business itself.

Its bankers, by contrast, don't mind a lower price, since that helps lure in new investors and, in the best case, fuels enough demand to send the share price soaring once the company is public. (IPOs that "pop" this way help drive demand for further offerings -- and the services of the investment bankers who put those deals together.)

When it goes public, Facebook will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol "FB."

Why does Facebook want to go public now?
Actually, Facebook has to go public. The company's reluctance to go public changed a few years ago when it realized it was on pace to exceed 500 shareholders, which would automatically trigger a requirement that it start publicly releasing financial details.

Furthermore, companies tend to go public in order to raise funds from a broader base of investors, money that they can then invest in their business. For longtime shareholders in the company, it's a way to get the best possible value for their respective stakes.


Facebook IPO running ahead of schedule as order-taking nears its end?
Would you pay Facebook to help you promote certain posts?
Facebook amends IPO filing: Mobile a growing problem
Happy b-day, Zuck: What do you give a guy who could buy Europe?
Complete coverage: Facebook's IPO

Facebook is set to raise $13.6 billion from its IPO, which is a healthy war chest for all manner of things -- buying another Instagram, fending off patent litigation, or building timeline 2.0 (and the next 100 versions).

The company took an unusual route to its inevitable public offering. Most technology startups that build up a large audience will either seek a buyer or go public as quickly as possible. Facebook opted to do neither, privately building its user base and business model and eschewing outside takeover offers and calls to go public until it had no other choice.

As a result, Facebook is a business that's far more mature than the typical IPO. That's both good and bad. On the plus side, the company has a better grasp of its business and boasts impressive user metrics. On the other side, it arguably has much less growth potential than past high-flying tech IPOs.

What's with all the hype?
Facebook's IPO has long been one of the hot stories in both the technology and business worlds. The company follows a long string of recent tech IPOs, including Groupon, LinkedIn, and Zynga, which have seen mixed results. Facebook's IPO will be the granddaddy of all those.

The numbers are staggering. The company boasts 526 million users who check into Facebook daily (and 901 million who log on once a month), 3.2 billion "likes" and comments a day, 300 million photos uploaded per day, and 125 billion "friend"ships.

One study released last week noted that it was Facebook, and not Google or Apple, that was killing the messaging business for the traditional wireless carriers, as users increasingly rely on Facebook for their communications needs.

I use Facebook every day. Is this an IPO I want to get in on?
I wouldn't recommend trying to get in early. IPOs are the textbook definition of an exclusive Wall Street club. Generally, the only investors who really make any money on IPOs are the current shareholders and investors with enough clout or connections to get in before the company actually goes public. These are typically large institutional investors or wealthy individuals who can "flip" the shares once they go public, getting out with a quick profit.

Average folks like us are shut out until after Facebook becomes public, after which it is almost always too late to get in on the stock at a reasonable price.

So while founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg could actually build a Scrooge McDuck-like money bin for his IPO billions, you may end up stuck with stock that's considered overvalued.

What's less clear are the long-term prospects of the stock, which could still surge like earlier tech companies -- including Google. Still, some believe shares at the set price range may already be too high.

How is it already overpriced? It's not even on the market yet.
The criticism that Facebook is overvalued isn't particularly new, but Barron's just weighed in with some new data (subscription only).

At $35 a share, Facebook would be valued at 70 times its projected 2012 earnings of 50 cents a share, and 18 times its estimated revenue of $5 billion. By comparison, Google trades at $610 a share, but trades at less than 15 times its 2012 profit estimate and six times its revenue.

Such "multiples" are one of the core ways investors gauge a company's value, since stock prices fluctuate depending on the number of shares outstanding. Even if Facebook's $35 stock price looks like a bargain next to to Google's $610 price, it could still be overvalued relative to its financial potential.

Of course, a pricey stock isn't going to scare away devotees like former Apple founder Steve Wozniak, who has already vowed to buy shares.

There are conflicting reports about demand. How can Facebook's IPO be oversubscribed and still suffer from weaker demand?
Further fueling the hype has been a wave of breathless reporting on the status of the IPO. Bloomberg last week reported that the IPO was generating lower-than-expected demand from shareholders. An hour later, Reuters released a story that said that the stock was oversubscribed -- meaning that demand for the stock outpaced the number of shares available.

What gives? Both reports could actually be true. Institutional investors could be ho-hum about the company even as they scoop up the stock. Rather than hold on to it, they could dump the stock once it goes public.

Or, it could be competing investment bankers spreading rumors to manipulate the price of the IPO. But Wall Street wouldn't do that, right?

Bloomberg today said it could stop taking orders for its IPO as early as tomorrow, wrapping up ahead of schedule.

How will Facebook change as a public company?
You can expect Facebook to focus more on making money than ever before. Public companies have to answer to shareholders, who demand steady, growing profits. So despite the company's warning that it will focus on the consumer experience first, profit will certainly be a high priority.

You're already starting to see some of the changes. Facebook confirmed to CNET last week that it was testing paid posts, or charging users to guarantee that a post gets seen by all of its followers (currently, users see only a fraction of posts on their news feed).

The company currently makes money by charging for advertising that ends up on your pages, as well as taking a cut of the revenue generated by games and other apps on its social network. Zynga, for instance, is responsible for a surprisingly large chunk of its revenue.

The company plans to launch its own app store to compete with the likes of Apple's own App Store or Google Play.

Given that the tech world is gravitating towards mobile, expect Facebook to work on ways to make more money off of its already significant (although non-revenue-generating) mobile presence. The company revealed in its IPO filing that making money off of mobile was still a question mark.

Is that where the Instagram acquisition comes in? How does that affect the IPO?
Instagram is one of Facebook's attempts to secure its position in the mobile world. It's still unclear how Facebook plans to make money off of the deal; Instagram itself didn't really generate revenue. But by forking over $1 billion for the startup, Facebook is showing it's not messing around when it comes to mobile.

The deal may face delays. An FTC probe of the Instagram acquisition may push back the close of the deal, according to the Financial Times (subscription only). The FT says the investigation could take six to 12 months, much longer than Facebook's goal of closing the purchase by this quarter.

The investigation shouldn't affect the timing of the IPO, but could give some investors pause as they consider the risks of investing in the social network.

What's with the hoodie controversy?
It's a lot of noise that adds to the chatter about the pending IPO. Zuckerberg showed up wearing a hoodie to the company's IPO road show, where executives drum up excitement for the stock with institutional investors.

Some investors called it a mark of immaturity, citing it as a potential risk factor for the company. One analyst said it was disrespectful to the institution of Wall Street. Once public, Zuckerberg will retain control with 57 percent of the voting stock in the company.

But guess what? None of that really matters when it comes to the pricing of the IPO. Does Wall Street even deserve the respect it does get? No one is factoring in the hoodie when buying shares of the company; they're looking at the massive user base and the growth prospects -- metrics that actually count.

As for Zuckerberg, he turns 28 today. How many of you can say you were the model of refinement at that age?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57433719-93/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-facebook-ipo-faq/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=readMore

Rich Americans renouncing U.S. citizenship rose sevenfold since UBS AG (UBSN) whistle-blower Bradley Birkenfeld triggered a crackdown on tax evasion four years ago.

About 1,780 expatriates gave up their nationality at U.S. embassies last year, up from 235 in 2008, according to Andy Sundberg, secretary of Geneva’s Overseas American Academy, citing figures from the government’s Federal Register. The embassy in Bern, the Swiss capital, redeployed staff to clear a backlog as Americans queued to relinquish their passports.

The U.S., the only nation in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that taxes citizens wherever they reside, is searching for tax cheats in offshore centers, including Switzerland, as the government tries to curb the budget deficit. Shunned by Swiss and German banks and facing tougher asset-disclosure rules under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, more of the estimated 6 million Americans living overseas are weighing the cost of holding a U.S. passport.

“It started with the fallout from UBS and non-U.S. banks feeling it’s too risky to deal with Americans abroad,” said Matthew Ledvina, a U.S. tax lawyer at Anaford AG in Zurich. “It will increase because Fatca will require banks to track down people, some of whom will make voluntary disclosures before renouncing their citizenship.”

Renunciations are higher in Switzerland because American expatriates expect extra scrutiny of their affairs after the UBS case and as the U.S. probes 11 other Swiss financial firms for aiding offshore tax evasion, said Martin Naville, head of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce in Zurich.
Absurd Tax Laws

“Most of the real cross-border tax troubles have been around Switzerland,” Naville said. “We’ve got absurd tax laws coming into force because of the activities of certain people who tried to hide money.”

During a 10-minute renunciation ceremony in a booth with bullet-proof glass windows, embassy staff ask exiting Americans whether they are acting voluntarily and understand the implications of giving up their passports. They pay a fee of $450 to renounce and may incur an “exit tax” on unrealized capital gains if their assets exceed $2 million or their average annual U.S. tax bill is more than $151,000 during the past five years.

They receive a certificate within three months, telling them they are no longer American citizens and entitled to the services and protection of the U.S. government.
Taxman Cometh

The U.S. embassy in Bern declined to comment on renunciations. The U.S. State Department doesn’t disclose annual figures, said Elizabeth Finan a spokeswoman for the Washington-based department, adding that “on average” 1,100 people give up their citizenship each year.

While the U.S. taxes citizens regardless of where they reside, overseas income of as much as $95,100 is exempt and credits help compensate for foreign taxes paid. Americans living in Switzerland can’t take advantage of the absence of a capital gains tax in the Alpine country or tax deductions allowed on pension contributions.

“Every dollar you save, you lose to the U.S. tax man,”said tax lawyer Ledvina. “That’s one reason why people give up citizenship.”

Americans, who disclose their non-U.S. bank accounts to the IRS, must file the more expansive 8938 form beginning this year that asks for all foreign financial assets, including insurance contracts, loans and shareholdings in non-U.S. companies.
Imperial Overreach

The 2010 Fatca law requires banks to withhold 30 percent from “certain U.S.-connected payments” to some accounts of American clients who don’t disclose enough information to the IRS.

“There is incredible frustration at the audacity and imperial overreach of this law,” said David Kuenzi, a tax adviser at Thun Financial Advisors in Madison, Wisconsin, referring to Fatca.

Failure to file the 8938 form can result in a fine of as much as $50,000. Clients can also be penalized half the amount in an undeclared foreign bank account under the Banks Secrecy Act of 1970.

“It’s a big brother concept,” said Brent Lipschultz, a partner at New York-based accounting firm EisnerAmper.

The implementation of Fatca from next year comes after UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, paid a $780 million penalty in 2009 and handed over data on about 4,700 accounts to settle a tax-evasion dispute with the U.S. Whistle-blower Birkenfeld was sentenced to 40 months in a U.S. prison in 2009 after informing the government and Senate about his American clients at the Geneva branch of Zurich-based UBS.
Voluntary Disclosures

The UBS settlement led to about 33,000 voluntary disclosures to the IRS in the three years through 2011 and the repatriation of billions of dollars to the U.S. Swiss banks saw their offshore North American assets shrink by about 60 percent to 60 billion Swiss francs ($66 billion) in 2010 from three years earlier, according to Boston Consulting Group.

American Citizens Abroad, a Geneva-based organization that campaigns for taxation based on residency, said the government doesn’t always distinguish between U.S.-based tax dodgers with offshore accounts and expatriates that need foreign banking services.

“The perception is that any American living overseas is there for a nefarious reason,” said Marylouise Serrato, executive director of the organization that has members in 90 countries. “There isn’t a deep understanding in the U.S. of why American citizens would move overseas.”
Civil War Hangover

Taxing Americans resident overseas is a “hangover from the Civil War” and the introduction of federal income tax in 1861, according to Jackie Bugnion of American Citizens Abroad. The rules make it harder for Americans to hold foreign bank accounts and gain access to mortgages, she said.

German lenders Deutsche Bank AG and HVB Group terminated the securities accounts of some U.S. citizens following the announcement of stricter reporting requirements. Swiss Raiffeisen Group, Switzerland’s third-biggest banking network, decided at the end of last year to sever ties with U.S.-domiciled clients and refuse new applications from any American, said Philippe Thevoz, a spokesman for the St.Gallen, Switzerland-based firm.

The additional compliance costs for companies to ensure that Americans they hire are filing the correct U.S. tax returns and asset-declaration forms are at least $5,000 per person, said Ledvina. Where individuals are getting their returns prepared, the expense may amount to $1,500 to $2,000, which is pushing expatriates to consider giving up citizenship.

“The compliance costs are high and they’re getting worse,” Ledvina said. “It’s hard to serve two authorities and the problem for Americans abroad is that the IRS doesn’t care.”

The head of the Barbados Workers’ Union, Sir Roy Trotman, is threatening to call out his troops for what he describes as an act of unfair dismissal, by an “Egyptian Jew” of 20 jewellery store employees.

The workers, said Sir Roy, were fired on Monday after they attended a weekend meeting to decide if they should establish a bargaining unit at their workplace.

Sir Roy made his comments in a fiery address to those at the annual May Day rally at Browne’s Beach yesterday afternoon.

Calling the dismissals “reprehensible”, Sir Roy urged all employers, especially Barbadian ones, “to tell these foreign people that this is not Syria, this is not Damascus, this is not Libya”.

http://www.nationnews.com/images/cached/inc/uploads/articles/greensaccident_8-450x350.jpg

A collision between a Transport Board bus and a car at the corner of Drax Hall Hope and Greens, St George, resulted in the car being wrecked and the bus ending up 100 feet in a cane ground yesterday.

Ambulance personnel responded to the accident treating three passengers from the bus and the two people from the car before transporting them to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The driver of the bus, BM106, was Ethelbert Rollins. (KB)

http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/bus-car-collide/

Mon, May 14, 2012 - 12:00 AM

Dear Christine,

When I was an infant, my parents abused me through the act of male circumcision.

To those women who would say that my complaint is only about a piece of skin, I ask: if I raped you, could you also dismiss it as just a bit of rough sex?

I was eight years old when I discovered that my penis looked this way. My parents had my foreskin hacked off when I was too young to defend myself.

From that time onward, I have been angry with my parents. Over the years, as I learnt about the sadism, painful savagery and brutality of this abusive procedure, that anger turned to cold hatred.

Some parents erroneously think they can inflict such brutality without retribution, but I became very angry because no one considered that I might have hated the sadistic thing they did to me. No one cared that it might ruin my life.

Resulting from all the above, my emotional problems now include the inability to feel love or affection for anyone. I have a general mistrust of people and debasing feelings of shame at the condition of my genitals. Except for a strong lust and desire for only the most attractive women, I have few emotions.

Since I was dependent on my parents while still at school, I had to conceal my anger. As I got older, I continued to conceal my hatred to ensure inheritance of my parents’ wealth. By their sadism they brought what they are now getting – a lack of grandchildren – on themselves.

Realizing that to succeed in life, I must appear normal, I chose certain people and mimicked their behaviour. Eventually, with the help of a few courses in personal development, I developed an appearance of normalcy, which helped in seducing the women I desired.

Today, my confession to the women I seduced is that because of being arbitrarily circumcised, whenever I expose my mutilated penis to you during sex, the anger and hatred I have for my parents expands over a period of months to include you. The result is that my relationships are all doomed to fail within months.

– ANGRY

Dear Angry,

I can honestly say that you need help. Why are you carrying around so much hatred and resentment? Why are you making others pay for what your parents (both your mother and father, I assume) have done?

Do you think you are the only one who has ever been circumcised? I am sure there are other men who have been circumcised for religious or other reasons, and they do not have such hatred and bitterness in their hearts. If they have, they also need help.

It seems to me that you have never loved in your entire life and that too is very sad, but you must first be willing to give someone the chance to love you, after of course, you learn to love yourself.

Unless you bring yourself to forgive your parents from your heart, accept your situation and try to enjoy life you are going to continue to bring doom and destruction on yourself.

I wouldn’t want you to leave this world without experiencing true love from the Giver of Life and those around you, but you first have to make that decision to forgive, accept and move on from there.

Speak to a male counsellor or close friend – if there’s one you can trust – and start living and enjoying the short time you have here on earth.

Right now you need some sunshine in your life and from what you’ve written, there is none. Don’t let this situation ruin you any more.


– CHRISTINE

http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/dear-christine-filled-with-hate-over-circumcision/

Teachers, head in dispute again


Published on: 12/9/2009.


INDUSTRIAL ACTION has once again hit the Alexandra School.

In a release yesterday, the hierarchy of the Barbados Secondary Teachers Union (BSTU) informed parents and guardians of students that its members would be attending all-day meetings at the union headquarters in Belleville, St Michael, today and therefore would not be attending school, so they should “act accordingly”.
The union’s president is Mary Redman.

This latest move stems from a three-year-old dispute with principal Jeff Broomes at the Queen Street, St Peter school.
In November, 2006, about 36 teachers walked off the job after Broomes sent 14 of them letters asking them to verify their attendance at a BSTU workshop at Solidarity House, St Michael, on Teachers’ Professional Day on October 20 that year.

The letter also stated that teachers who did not do so would be marked absent. They subsequently took industrial action on November 10, protesting the letter and Broomes’ behaviour.

Yesterday’s release stated that this most recent action was “a direct result of the refusal of the principal of the school to meet with officials of the Ministry of Education, the management team of the school and the BSTU as part of the understandings reached towards resolution of the initial dispute in November, 2006.”

The teachers went back to work on November 23, 2006, after the matter went to the then acting chief education officer Idamay Denny who met with the protesting teachers and the union.

The union charged that the Ministry of Education informed them in a letter dated December 8, 2009, that Broomes had “reiterated his unwillingness to meet with members of staff if accompanied by the BSTU”.

“The efforts by the BSTU to have several outstanding matters at the school meaningfully addressed have been frustrated by the principal, despite initiatives from the Chief Education Officer requiring his attendance at meetings she organised both with the chairman of the board of management and those members of the union affected by the actions of the principal (most recently on 26th June, 2009).

“The last such effort by the chief education officer was her letter to the principal asking him to meet with her, the management team of the school and the BSTU on November 24, 2009. The principal did not attend. The BSTU is satisfied that Mr Broomes has thus far demonstrated a lack of respect for his staff and ministry officials,” the release said.

The union charged Broomes with denying workers their constitutional right to union representation and, by extension, their right to freedom of association and called his refusal to meet “open contempt for the BSTU”.

Nation

(CNN) - Some people wonder if the black church will punish President Barack Obama for announcing support for same-sex marriage.

Here’s another question:

Why would the black church cite scripture to exclude gays when a similar approach to the Bible was used to enslave their ancestors?

“It’s so unfortunate,” says James Cone, one the nation’s most influential black theologians and author of “The Cross and the Lynching Tree.”

“The literal approach to scripture was used to enslave black people,” he says. “I’ve said many times in black churches that the black church is on the wrong side of history on this. It’s so sad because they were on the right side of history in their own struggle.”

Call it historical irony: Black church leaders arguing against same-sex marriage are making some of the same arguments that supporters of slavery made in the 18th and 19th centuries, some historians say. Both groups adopted a literal reading of the Bible to justify withholding basic rights from a particular group.

Opposition to gay rights is not the standard position of all black churches. Still, while several predominately white mainline denominations have officially accepted gays and lesbians in various forms, the vast majority of black churches still consider homosexuality a sin.

Black church leaders recently helped lead a successful drive to amend North Carolina’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The Rev. Fred Robinson, a black pastor in Charlotte, says most black churchgoers aren’t hypocrites. They take scripture, and sin, seriously.

“Black people are not confused,” Robinson says. “If you look at the scriptures that oppose homosexuality, Old and New Testament, they are clearer cut than the ones people used to justify slavery.”

Yet there are other factors beyond the Bible that shape the black church’s resistance to same-sex marriage.

“It’s more than scripture – it’s history, culture, how we were raised,” says the Rev. Tim McDonald, founder of the African American Ministers Leadership Council.

Some black church leaders are still fighting hard just to persuade straight black couples to marry. Accepting same-sex marriage when so many black households lack a husband and wife makes McDonald uneasy.

“I am not comfortable performing a wedding ceremony of the same sex,” says McDonald, an Obama supporter. “That’s just where I am.”

Some black pastors, however, embrace a literal approach to the Bible not just to exclude gays but to get rid of competition, says Edward Blum, a San Diego State University historian.

Some black pastors cite New Testament passages such as Paul’s demand that women keep silent in churches to argue against black women in the pulpit.

That argument is harder to make when black women’s energy and donations form the backbone of the black church, Blum says, but some still get away with it.

“The biblical literalist reading has kept male leadership in power in a church that is hugely female,” Blum says. “It keeps power in men’s hands.”

The one book that mattered

Black churches also embrace a literal reading of the scripture because of its unique history, says Blum, author of “W.E.B. DuBois, American Prophet.”

During slavery and segregation, many blacks saw the Bible as the one document they could trust. The Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, state and local laws – all found some way to ignore their humanity, Blum says.

The Bible, though, was one book that told them that they weren’t slaves or three-fifths of a person, Blum says.

It said they were children of God.

“Throughout the 18th and 19th century, what document could they trust?” Blum says. “When the Bible says it’s so, it’s something that black people believed they could trust.”

Their enemies, though, used that same veneration of the Bible against them. Slaveholders had a simple but powerful argument when critics challenged them: Trust the Bible.

They cited scriptures such as Ephesians 6:5. (“Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling. ...”) And they said Jesus preached against many sins, but never against slavery.

Since the Bible is infallible, and scripture sanctions slavery, it must be part of God’s order, slaveholders concluded.

“Slavery is everywhere in the Bible,” Blum says. “When Americans who were in favor of slavery defended it with the Bible, they had a treasure trove of clear biblical passages that accepted enslavement.”

Blum says abolitionists found it difficult to mount an effective counterargument. They couldn’t just say trust the Bible. They preached another approach to scriptures.

They said you couldn’t enslave people based on the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do to you. (Obama cited the Golden Rule and his Christian faith in supporting same-sex marriage).

“The abolitionist turned to the ethics and spirit of the Bible,” Blum says. “They were theological modernists before modernism.”

And what are black clergy and churchgoers today when they cite the Bible to oppose same-sex marriage?

Robinson, the North Carolina pastor, says they’re not homophobes.

“It says in the Bible that homosexuals will not inherit the Kingdom of God,” he says. “How do you explain that one away? A lot of honest Christians are not trying to hate homosexuals. They’re saying that if I take the Bible seriously, I’m not sure I can say it’s right.”

Robinson says that some opposition to homosexuality is actually based in compassion:

“If I’m concerned about your soul, I have to tell you the truth in love.”

Cone, who teaches at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, says black churchgoers opposed to same-sex marriage are instead mimicking their ancestors’ oppressors.

“I tell some people, ‘These people were against you.’ They would have lynched you. How are you going to now join them and help them lynch somebody else?’”

Dark clouds appear to be looming over Barbados’ tourism next year, with predictions of more hotel closures, a drastic reduction in the number of cruise ship calls and significant fall-off in the number of visitors from the island’s major source markets.

And the hotel sector is calling for speedy Government action to avert the doom.

In a gloomy picture painted yesterday by the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA) at its fourth quarterly meeting at Hilton Barbados, BHTA president Colin Jordan warned of a “crisis” in the cruise industry and said he was “amazed with the sloth that seems to characterize the approach of policymakers to the situation”, while prominent hotelier Gordon Seale warned of “substantial problems that must be dealt with right away”.

Seale pointed to the plight of some South Coast hotels and a few others on the West Coast, which he said faced certain closure next year unless Government intervened and gave some assistance.

Executive vice-president of the BHTA, Sue Springer, presented data indicating possible negative prospects for Barbados’ tourism from the major traditional source markets of Britain and the United States, owing to the impact of the global economic crisis on both countries, as well as the effect of the Air Passenger Duty and the 2012 Olympics on tourism from Britain.

http://www.nationnews.com/index.php/articles/view/dark-days/

Some said they didn’t get enough for their money, but what little they saw at the Kensington Oval was awesome.

Last Sunday night’s show Zero Gravity promised daring stunts 50 feet high, and the patrons screamed at what they were offered, but many left hungry for more action.

After a near two-hour late start, Zero Gravity got under way with four bikemen – two from Texas, one from Missouri and the other from Atlanta – showcasing mind-boggling skills as they soared through the air.

Both children and adults cheered loudly from the packed stands for both the local and international daredevils.

While the international stuntsmen did back flips, free hands and 360-degree spins in mid-air, the Bajan contingent were “jonesin”, doing free-hand wheelies and a few donuts.

But less than an hour after the show officially started, the rain brought it to an early end.

Those seeking more entertainment headed over to the Party Stand where they were thrilled by Crimeson and his crew during the after party.

Promoter Nigel Scotland said he would definitely be looking to host the event again.

Scotland apologized for the late start, and admitted he had a few challenges, but said he wanted to “ensure safety first”.

“We are learning from our mistakes, but we had to make sure it was a safe and controlled environment before we started, but I’m hoping to do it again and make it bigger and better!” Scotland told the DAILY NATION. (CT)

http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/what-gravity/