MG

substack.com/@drgoddard/n...

open.substack.com/pub/drgoddar...

Healthy capitalism is incompatible with the institutionalised financial apartheid of Barbados

In just one year, Barbados had managed to fall even further down the Global Innovation Index, despite heavy investment. Will try to post more about this over on Substack/FB, but here’s the link in the meantime:

www.wipo.int/gii-ranking/...

substack.com/@drgoddard/n...

substack.com/@drgoddard/n...

We need to talk about Charles Duncan O’Neal The answers to our current political conundrum may lie in our political past

The answers Barbados’ current Electorate is searching for may be hidden in the political histories of our past.

This is the passage I think of every time a yardfowl clucks “do you really want to see the DLP back in power?”

It’s the summoning of a defeated spectral Boogeyman to justify very real and very current inequities and harms.

#AnimalFarm #Orwell #Squealer #AndTheSpectralDLPBoogeyman

Silence after fire at Barbados’ Historical Archive There’s been a fair amount of press about Barbados’ purchase of the Banyan Archive. (Although these reports are absent details, eg how much was paid.)

There’s been a fair amount of press about Barbados’ purchase of the Banyan Archive. But than a year since the fire at our own Historical Archives, not a single follow up has been made.

#WhatHasBecomeOfTheArchives #SymbolismOverSubstance #Simulacra #HistoricalDisconnection

Testing out a mental pivot from “loss of faith in science” to “loss of faith in systems.”

Because I stink at short format content and nuff of wunna fyah bun Meta, I’m going to be using Substack as a mirror for my longer (and ruder) FB posts. First one up, and there’s another one I’m probably going to copy over later:
open.substack.com/pub/drgoddar...

To give a thing its proper name is to give yourself a certain level of power over it.

#Nomenklatura #TheOnePartyState

Barbados has always had cronyism. But some might see the strategic positioning of certain unqualified loyalists as the rise of a proper Nomenklatura (albeit one without a literal list).

#Nomenklatura #TheOnePartyState

Nomenklatura was coined to describe a class of trusted elites selected for high-level posts based on their loyalty and patronage...They enjoyed privilege by virtue of their appointments, understanding that their main function was to solidify the power of the Party.

#Nomenklatura #TheOnePartyState

Really though Seal? 😂😂

An article describing the life science ecosystem, using the socio-ecological model

The Life Science Ecosystem. What it looks like. How it works. Why it’s important. And why things like missing pieces or slashed indirect costs can undermine STEM and healthcare development.

#LifeScience #LifeScienceEcosystem #BajanLifeScience #MoreThanSpace #IndirectCosts #SocioecologicalModel

Sen. Ted Cruz's list of 'woke' science includes self-driving cars and solar eclipses Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says the National Science Foundation has given money to thousands of "woke DEI" studies. Researchers say that's misrepresenting science and disparaging important research.

If you’ve seen the list of flagged words, and written or read any grant from the last decade, none of this would be surprising.

And again, these cuts have nothing to do with the quality of the science or the potential benefit of the proposals. It’s all about politicised language.

Been thinking a lot about “Personality” vs “Policy” when it comes to Barbados and politics (and Bajan politicians). Will see if my brain will let me wrangle it into a more cohesive thought.

What US science is experiencing is a modern-day equivalent of the destruction of the Mayan codices

Medical journal editors must resist CDC order and anti-gender ideology The news that on 31 January 2025 the Trump administration instructed scientists employed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to withdraw or retract articles from medical and sci...

The BMJ will not be complying with retraction requests based on the US EO. From the article:

“…if somebody who merits inclusion in the authorship group of an article requests to be removed, even with the approval of the co-authors, this is a breach of publication ethics.”

And now we see the importance of the preserving and sharing science, and keeping it widely and freely available.

Certain conversations about internet archivists, the use of journal pirate services, the pre-print movement and more have suddenly become a lot less abstract
#FreeSTEM

Between Gleichschaltung and the Cultural Revolution, I do not have enough world history education to process current events

Barbados reports that public health spending stands at $5 million, and is spinning that as too much money.

Except functioning public health needs at least 5% of GDP.

Vastly underspending costs you far more, since people get sicker for longer and need more treatment. Plus the loss in workforce.

Bajan leadership: “Send us your ideas! Give us your suggestions!”

Bajan experts: *Give suggestions*

Them: “Not like that!” *Blocks experts*

#TheRealityOfLifeInBarbados #SophistryWithoutSubstance

Kansas Hit By Large Tuberculosis Outbreak: Here’s What We Know The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has said the risk to the general public in surrounding counties remains “very low.”

The US is having an historic TB outbreak…right at a time when a lot of US health departments are barred from communicating 😬

It’s been more than a decade and people still vex bout Apple putting that U2 album on their iTunes accounts 😂

Interestingly enough Ciocca et al mention political instability, cronyism and regime change as major barriers to STEM-based development in Latin America back in 2017, a situation that has similarly hampered Caribbean STEM progress.

STEM really should be shielded from political interference.

‘Never seen anything like this’: Trump’s team halts NIH meetings and travel In an unprecedented move, research-grant reviews have been suspended indefinitely at the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research.

At a conservative estimate, this pause will impact—and cost—thousands of lives.

a man in a suit and tie is looking down . ALT: a man in a suit and tie is looking down .

Trying to figure out how to share graphics on here #OldAndConfused

I guess I’m sort of over here now too? Will try to figure out how to cram wordy STEM explanations, anti-neocolonial ranting and sneaky Highlander quotes into a 300 character limit