#and all for what! what right do you have to feel unjust! bts are grown ass men stop babying them you're making a fool of yourself

[5eokjin]

twt armys shut the fuck up challenge

[bang-fantansies]

Sasaeng BTS Profiles: Yoongi Edition

Warning: Heavy mentions/implications of suicide, mentions/implications of overdosing on medication, insomnia, unhealthy behaviour, obsessive behaviour, poor mental health, self-denefse killing, homelessness, nightmares, mention/implications of side-character being drunk, death, blood, gore, destruction of evidence, crime, profanity.

I did my best to include any triggering topics mentioned in this post, but if you see any more potentially sensitive topics I may have missed, please let me know!

This does not represent Bangtan as people or a business, nor does it represent anyone/anything associated with them. This is purely fictional and was made for entertainment purposes only; not to slander anyone or any company.

Mental Stability: 3/10

2:50 AM.

As was the same battle every night, Yoongi lay in bed, the whole world sleeping apart from him. He couldn’t help it, of course - believe me, he would if he could - and this was what made the thoughts in his head run wild.

Each thought had a voice, all unique to their varying degrees of uselessness, yet the message they chanted was identical.

“Sleep! Sleep!” they cried. They’d grown louder over the years as Yoongi’s insomnia worsened, and in spite of their efforts to help their master, they did the complete opposite.

That dream - red and monstrous - drowned out any measure of volume the voices could hope to muster. 

The sound of a man gargling with his own blood made Yoongi feel as if he was suffocating, and more often than not he’d jolt up in bed, forced to replay the events of his early adult years.

Before finding his current residence, Yoongi had been forced onto the streets by unjust circumstances, leading to a great deal of situations he’d rather keep buried beneath the layers of his memory.

One such situation involved another homeless man - drunk, Yoongi had assumed - competing with Yoongi for a bottle of liquor he had scored.

Yoongi’s only use for such a thing was to sell it off and use the money to find a cheap room and a meal. But his opponent had refused to accept such nonsense.

“Such fine wine shouldn’t go to waste!” Yoongi could still hear him say, voice ringing in his ears.

“And it won’t if you just let me pass, you stupid old prick.”

In short, the drunkard had taken Yoongi’s tone very personally and caused his own demise by making a haphazard attempt on the younger’s life, resulting in having the bottle of wine he oh-so desired slammed into the side of his head, shattering and giving Yoongi a sharp enough tool to puncture his throat with. 

Yoongi fled the scene not long after, keeping the remains of the bottle to hand until he could destroy the evidence later on.

Nowadays, while he was far from sleeping rough, he hardly slept at all for fear of his actions whispering cruel and dark remarks into his ear.

As it would for most, this took its toll on Yoongi’s health; physical, emotional, and mental.

The pressure had proven to be too much for him to handle, and on this night, he had decided he’d had enough.

On his computer desk stood a bottle, a proud shade of orange with its contents revealed in a cluster of black ink, made to resemble actual handwriting, written across a label stuck to its front - the only semblance of privacy Yoongi was allowed. Its white cap was ajar, and though no scent came from within, Yoongi could practically smell the prescription enticing him to a snack.

And under normal circumstances, he would have declined as he had many a time before. 

But these were no longer normal circumstances.

Yoongi rose from beneath the bed sheets, any semblance of humanity he’s once held having burnt out alongside his will to continue.

He knew what it meant to live - to love the act of being human - but he was no longer human. He most similarly resembled a shell; cold, hollow, and filled with the shadows of his own mind.

And so he had made his decision. Despite his lethargy shackling him to the bed, he made a reach for the bottle, popping off the cap and peering inside.

A glass of water sat on his bedside table, bubbles sticking to the water-covered walls as a result of disuse.

Yoongi counted the pills, assuming that the amount he was left with would be enough.

At this point, he figured that if he was to find no rest in life, he would surely find it in whatever lay beyond his broken, mortal body.

In these last moments, Yoongi granted himself his last comfort.

He brought his laptop beside him and searched his favourite artist on YouTube.

He only had a few artists in his arsenal that he could dispense at family dinners or reunions he’d been invited to.

he never was an adept conversationalist: even at friends’ parties where a guest he didn’t know would be obligated to talk to him on account of appeasing the birthday girl or boy.

For a second, Yoongi faltered.

His mind backtracked to the joy he’d felt with his friends, and in turn the joy he had granted them.

Was he really going through with this...?

A stab of doubt was all it would take to make Yoongi withdraw from his initial intentions, and he cut the tie with said doubt immediately, pushing his friends to the back of his mind.

He was exhausted - tired of helping and appealing to others; now it was time to take care of himself.

From the tiny speaker in his laptop came the sound of solace: his favourite track from his idol.

He lay back, pill bottle and water placed on his bedside table as he basked in his last melody.

Through the duration of the song, Yoongi’s unease had worn away - eroded by the tides of his own resolution.

The song eventually clambered to a fading finish. Yoongi knew what came next.

He sat up and tipped the contents of the bottle onto the table, a hill of oddly-coloured tablets forming.

He threw the bottle somewhere behind him, hearing it land in a hidden corner of the room.

Pale hands scooped the pills up like candy, bringing them to Yoongi’s lips.

And like a saving grace emerging through a storm, a miracle unfolded.

A soft sound played beside him; the sound of angel wings and promises of a better future.

Yoongi didn’t so much as falter as he did pause, lending his ear to the tune.

It played notes from an instrument Yoongi didn’t even think existed - a soft twinkling stalked by a voice he had yet to have heard on his musical voyages through Soundcloud and YouTube.

For a second - just a second - the doubt that had made such a ruckus to enter had now slithered through the back door of Yoongi’s mind.

What was this music?

Reluctant, he lowered his hand to his side, though held tightly on to the pills.

Turning the screen to face him, he came face-to-face with someone other than his idol.

Her eyes looked a soft shade of (e/c) in the no-doubt filtered lighting of the video, though the sincerity she held within them was far from fabricated.

The background was crystalline - faux crystal props - oversized and oversaturated. They were littered around the studio in which the woman sang, and beneath a purple hue she sat on a stool, an air of comfort radiating from her.

As to what she was singing, Yoongi had no idea.

He let the music play for a moment, considering his options.

What harm would it do him to listen to something new? It wasn’t as if he’d be able to after he was gone, anyway.

Lying back down, Yoongi stared at the ceiling, the lack of light or patterns making it easier for him to focus solely on the music.

His fatigue embraced him like a long-lost mother, shrouding him in a warmth unmatched by that of any real person.

The singer’s soft humming filled the desolate room. And if Yoongi wasn’t mistaken, he could feel his eyelids growing heavy.

He forced a bitter smile, doubtful that his mind would actually allow him any such solace as sleep.

To humour his weary self one last time, Yoongi shut his eyes, sighing deeply and sinking into the mattress.

*

The next time Yoongi opened his eyes, his room was still dark. And as if it had never left to begin with, his bitter smile returned.

I knew it, he thought. Though the victory of beating his already hell-level expectations filled his overflowing spirit with grief, disguised and diluted by the anger that had slipped into the mix so long ago.

Sitting up, Yoongi lent his ear to the room once more.

He could hear the soft hum of the woman’s song no longer, and it was in this second that he realised he didn’t remember actually hearing the song end.

It was on one minute, and off the next.

Suspicious, Yoongi glanced at his half-lidded laptop, faced with a blackened screen as the device had switched itself off.

With a push of the power button, the power returned, and in a blast of light the screen sprung to life.

Through the tips of his fringe, Yoongi checked the time.

11:15 AM.

He recoiled.

That couldn’t be right - surely.

Logging in, he noted how his battery was running low, despite having been fully charged before he lay down.

The screen gave way to the last application he’s been using, and clear as day the same starry-eyed woman with the voice of velvet was on-screen, though the video she was in had long since ended.

Yoongi checked the time again, pulling his fringe back so as not to trick himself a second time.

11:16 stared back at him, steadfast and unwavering in its absolution.

Yoongi’s eyebrows raised in a sense of alarm.

He rose from the bed, tearing his curtains open.

A cityscape greeted him, and the sun waved from its fixture in the sky. It was daytime.

Yoongi stumbled back, carding a hand through his hair.

There was absolutely no way he’d-

...Had he actually managed to get to sleep?

Yoongi checked his phone, watch, and alarm clock; no-one dared deceive him of date nor time.

He was willing (and already considering) to accept the idea that he’d time-traveled; the concept of having a decent night’s sleep was as foreign as a language to him.

Nevertheless, he hadn’t the time to dawdle in such a concept, though he made absolute certain to when he was at work.

*

His colleagues seemed to notice a change in Yoongi’s behaviour.

Though he was often dazed into bouts of silence by his exhaustion, this quietude was new. Different.

A few co-workers commented on how he looked much livelier. And more alive, he felt.

In spite of this, the constant what-ifs of the morning had followed him - clung to him like a cologne.

What if...what if he was actually dead?

He considered this, deciding against his theory.

If he was dead and this was indeed Heaven, he should be receiving a lot more good fortune for all the shit he had to deal with in his life.

No, this was neither Hesven nor Hell. Or Purgatory.

Yoongi also considered that he was in a coma, but that didn’t add up, either.

He tested to see if he was comatose. Nothing.

He was still trapped in his same-old reality. But at least he could think clearly now.

*

By the time he got home, his body yearned for the sweet release of music, and he sought the comfort of his favourite artist - as he usually did on days as long as this.

Shoving his bedroom door open, he grumbled at the brightness the room held for a change.

He’d forgotten to shut his curtains before he left.

In the dwindling light of the afternoon sun, he saw the pills scattered across his duvet, the sole remnants of his almost-actions.

He cringed, forcing them to the back of his mind.

He could acknowledge the gravity of his decision later. Right now, his head was filled with the phantom melodies longing for a vessel.

Yoongi has attained the good sense to charge his laptop, and as he switched it on, he was greeted with the same lady who had pulled him to sleep the night before.

Or, Yoongi supposed, who had just happened to be playing on the night he was finally able to sleep without the nightmare scaring him awake.

Such wonderment remained at the back of his mind as he went about his business.

Through his own music, the whisper of the lady’s tune plagued him. So much so that, after a good three hours of composing, Yoongi found himself eyeing the tab he’d left open from before.

Having returned home from work later, his body was weighted with the day’s contrivances and stresses, as well as its successes and joys.

Emotionally, Yoongi had given all he had to offer, which, if he was to admit it to himself, was far more than he usually did.

He considered that it was more than likely it wasn’t just the song that had sent him to sleep.

On the contrary, he believed that a multitude of factors had to have been at play in such a miracle.

He wished to replicate the conditions of the night before: he kept his room dark and a glass of water on his bedside. He packed his pills away and placed them on his bedside, too, taking care not to lose any in case their service was required again.

He set the woman’s song up, lying in bed and playing it.

The creeping horror of the notion of never obtaining such a quality of sleep again was the only odd variable in this equation, and though it quietly consumed Yoongi’s thoughts, the hum of the song muffled it.

The song was no longer than 4 minutes, though the eternity that stretched between Yoongi and his voyage to the fabled land of dreams made it impossible to tell how long it had been.

He was not yet familiar enough with the song to place a time on the segment he was experiencing.

His concerns faded as he simply let himself be.

If it works, it works, he told himself.

The next thing Yoongi remembered was hearing a bird chirping nearby his window.

He cracked an eye open.

Much like the night before, his room remained in a state of quiet disarray, though only noticeable to the trained eye.

His laptop lay near his side, screen dark and lifeless.

Yoongi checked through a crack in the curtains. And sure as anything, the sun had risen once again.

*

Over the next couple of weeks, Yoongi researched the song, its creator, and whether it was really the secret to staving off his insomnia.

He had discovered that the creator’s name was (Y/N) - a popular artist who had fans far and wide, as well as domestically.

He found more of her particular songs - the ones that she hummed.

He tested both the original and these humming bird songs (as he called them), and to his delight, the humming birds worked.

Yoongi would go to sleep and wake up at reasonable times, rather than the odd dips in and out of consciousness he would try to induce on his own terms.

It was just your music that soothed him so, and from the day he uncovered this, he vowed to be your loyal follower.

Though, with any influential fan can blossom obsession, and as Yoongi became ever more eneamoured with your gossamer vocals, he feared the day that your songs would no longer support his sleep.

Or, God forbid, you stopped singing.

He often fretted over such a premature worry, though he couldn’t deny how it had all but devoured his thoughts.

Months into his expedition into your music, he decided to finally take action to ensure that your voice would never die - never fade with age, accident or abuse.

No, he would preserve it like the fine wine he had failed to so many years ago - to be sipped and savoured for eternities to come.

Sasaeng Masterlist

[alanjguitar]

Best Electric Guitars for the Money in 2020- List, Reviews & Buyer’s Guide

In this review, we’ll explore five instruments that are the best electric guitars in their respective price ranges.

These electrics are all stage-ready and more than enough to get you gigging. This doesn’t mean that if you’re an absolute beginner you should move on though! My high range for an entry-level guitar is also the bottom range for perfomance-grade instruments, so for the most part we’ll be looking at guitars in this sweet spot.

I could write a list like this featuring only multi-thousand dollar guitars, knowing that their quality is practically unbeatable, but I and no one I know has that kind of money to drop on a new instrument. So, I’ve kept our options realistic and within a budget that the average player can afford.

Our Recommendation

It’s never easy choosing the best of the best, and I feel like I’m doing the #2 spot a bit of injustice when I say they’re any lesser than the #1 guitar in this type of review.

But, specs and everything aside, going solely on my own preference, I’m gonna say that the best electric guitar for the money is the Schecter Hellraiser C-1 FR.

It has everything I want in an electric: a Floyd Rose whammy bar, 24 extra jumbo frets, powerful dual humbuckers with a push-pull coil splitting option, and killer looks. I’d say this beast is practical in just about any electric guitar application, and it’s right around the highest amount I’d be willing to pay for a new guitar.

The bottom end of the best goes to the Gretsch G5220 Electromatic Jet BT. It’s a great electric by many standards, but is a little short on features compared to the other guitars we’ll take a look at. For its price, you can’t do much better, but there are enough guitars I consider much cooler to push this model to last place on our list.

The 5 Best Electric Guitars for the Money – Overview

#5 Gretsch G5220 Electromatic Jet BT

3.75/5 Star Rating

Specs

Body – Mahogany with laminated Maple top

Neck – Mahogany

Fingerboard – Black Walnut

Electronics – Dual Black Top BroadTron humbuckers

Pros

Chambered body for added tone depth and resonance

Mahogany + Maple body tonewood combo brings sparkle to the warm voice

BroadTron humbucking pickups have just enough juice to hit the stage with

Cons

Chambered body makes this more a semi-hollow than a solid body guitar

No tremolo bar, limited features

Review

I’ll never be one to badmouth Gretsch guitars. They manufacture some great instruments in a huge range of prices, and even their bottom-line beginner series are better than the average electric.

Whether you’re a fan of Gretsch or not is a matter of taste, and is probably largely based on aesthetics. Their guitars all look kind of old-fashioned, not that there’s anything inherently wrong with that.

With the Gretsch G5220 Electromatic Jet BT, classic looks combine with modern electronics to form an excellent performing guitar for under $500.

It uses their in-house model BroadTron pickups, which are pretty powerful lower cost humbuckers that sound just as good clean as they do distorted. Gretsch has this handy guide to all their pickup designs, so you can see if the BroadTrons are right for you.

These pickups set into the Electromatic’s chambered mahogany body give you a tone that’s heavy in the bass end, with booming lows, a sultry midrange, and highs are never shrill.

Individual volume controls for each pickup and a 3-way selector switch give you a decent amount of control over your sound, so you can dial into the best tone for whatever genre you’re playing.

Some players might feel deceived to find out this is a chambered guitar. What this means is that the mahogany in the body is cut out in some spots, which is hidden by the maple top.

This adds resonance to the tone and reduces the guitars weight, but gives you less articulation and precision of sound than you’ll find in a standard solid body electric.

You’ll have to see if the Electromatic sounds right for your purposes, but I think it works great for most genres. And if you really love the tone of this guitar, you should take a look at some of Gretsch’s higher-end models, like the G5420 that we reviewed here.

#4 Squier Classic Vibe 70s Jaguar

4/5 Star Rating

Specs

Body – Poplar

Neck – Maple

Fingerboard – Indian Laurel

Electronics – Dual Fender-designed Alnico single coil pickups

Pros

Retro look and sound in an affordable throwback model

Versatile vintage tone and volume controls

Shorter-scale C-shape neck with comfortable 9.5″ radius

Cons

Squier often mocked as a trash brand — NOT TRUE

Funky Jaguar body shape not choice for all players

Review

If you’re a fan of vintage guitars, you’ll love Squier’s Classic Vibe series.

If you don’t already know, Squier is a branch of Fender that produces guitars that are generally much less expensive than their Fender-branded counterparts. They often use comparable materials, and the difference mostly lies in the electronics and hardware.

Unfortunately, Squier has an unjust stigma attached to them, often viewed as a brand for kids, or just as cheap and low quality. The truth is that they have some really decent guitars under their name, and if you know what you want in an electric, you can probably find a Squier model that you’ll love.

The Squier Classic Vibe 70s Jaguar is a modern take on Fender’s 1970s-era Jaguar models. It is kind of an odd-looking guitar, with an unusual body shape and even more unusual tone controls.

In this guitar, you alter the tone through a series of switches and knobs configured in a way that makes it look a bit like an old sci-fi prop — like a guitar they might play in Star Trek or “Invasion of the Pick Snatchers” type deal.

As far as tone and playability goes, this Jaguar model is great for softer rock, clean genres, and anywhere that you want the snap and shine of single-coil pickups.

It’s not a guitar I’d play a colosseum with, but for smaller shows and definitely for honing my skills at home, I think it’s a super fun, happy sounding electric. We featured another model from the Classic Vibe series that you can read about here.

#3 Fender Player Stratocaster

4.75/5 Star Rating

Specs

Body – Alder with Flame Maple top

Neck – Maple

Fingerboard – Maple

Electronics – 3x Player series Alnico V single coil pickups

Pros

Lightweight alder body for all-night playing comfort

Quick playing satin finished maple neck

Classic Stratocaster sound

Cons

Stratocaster sound not for every player or every genre

Review

I started playing guitar with aspirations to be one of the greatest metal guitarists around. Because of this, I was at first pretty anti-Fender. They were softy guitars, more for country and pop than the heavy grindcore I was practicing.

However, the older I’ve grown the mellower I’ve become and the more I’ve come to appreciate this brand of electric. Now, I think it would be great to own a Fender, and I can see myself playing one every day for the rest of my life.

You’re probably already at least somewhat familiar with Stratocasters. They’re almost 60 years old, and are such iconic guitars that it’s hard to imagine you’ve never seen or heard of them before.

The Fender Player Strat is the up-to-date version of the guitar that has been famous in rock’n’roll for over half a century.

It has retained all the features that make Stratocasters so popular; the lightweight body, the bright happy tone, the three single-coil pickups, and the comfortable fingerboard great for both high-speed chops and chilled out chord progressions.

Its modernized features include redesigned Alnico V pickups, the ability to control the middle pickup’s tone, and a streamlined manufacturing process that allows it to be sold at a price that won’t make your hair stand on end.

Stratocasters have their pros and cons like any other model, but are functional in a large variety of genres and playing styles, from classic rock and country, to fingerpicked folk, to blues and jazz and much more.

I wouldn’t throw it in Dropped-C tuning and try to play some palm muted breakdowns, but I know what it’s capable of and will play all my favorite soft rock covers to my heart’s content on this beauty.

#2 Ibanez Iron Label S Series SIX6FDFM

5/5 Star Rating

Specs

Body – Mahogany with Flamed Maple top

Neck – Maple and Bubinga

Fingerboard – Ebony

Electronics – Dual DiMarzio Fusion Edge humbuckers

Pros

Ibanez trademark Nitro Wizard neck for lightning fast playing

Coil tapping feature for single-coil sounds

Ultra-responsive ebony fretboard for powerful chords and precise licks

Cons

None

Review

It was a real close tie for first place between this guitar and the ultimate winner, and truthfully they’re both about equal depending on your needs and desires.

The Ibanez Iron Label from their renowned S series is a guitar specifically made for metal, and is the first guitar on this list really suited for that genre.

First and foremost, like most Ibanez guitars it is designed for super fast speed. If your ambition is to be one of the speediest solo guitarists in the world, this guitar will give you a good boost in that direction.

Wizard necks are the fastest playing in the industry, and the Nitro is the head of the pack in this line. In the Iron Label SIX6FDFM, the neck is topped with a bound ebony fretboard, giving you a responsive playing field that is great for arpeggios, riffs, bends, and tapping style leads. We talked about the JEMJR, another guitar equipped with a wizard neck, in this article.

Its body is primarily mahogany, giving you an overall dark, warm, bass heavy sound, but is capped with flamed maple to bring out the brightness and clarity of each note.

This is all brought to life by super powerful DiMarzio Fusion Edge humbuckers. These double coil pickups are packed with coils and deliver tons of boom in every range. There are no fizzly highs, no weak lows, and the midrange is as pronounced as can be.

If you need to go clean or get a lighter sound, the Iron Label has a coil tapping feature so that you can easily switch to single-coil mode.

As a huge metalhead, this is electric designed for the genre is one of my favorite guitars available today.

#1 Schecter Hellraiser C-1 FR

5/5 Star Rating

Specs

Body – Mahogany with Quilted Maple top

Neck – Mahogany

Fingerboard – Rosewood

Electronics – Neck: EMG 89R  Bridge: EMG 81TW

Pros

Coil tapping mechanism for a huge variety of tones

Floyd Rose tremolo bridge for super high squeals and tremendous dive bombs

Extra deep cutaway for flawless upper fret access

Cons

None

Review

In our #1 spot is the Schecter Hellraiser C-1 FR, another great metal guitar whose coil tapping feature lets you play in pretty much every genre you desire.

Schecter makes some mean looking guitars, and the C-1 FR is among the meanest. It’s a beaut, looks like the kind of electric the devil would give you in exchange for your soul, and plays like one too.

Looking at it, you could guess that this is a great guitar for playing metal, but you might be surprised at its other capabilities. The coil tapping feature, one of my favorite additions on higher end electrics, allows you to switch from double coil humbuckers to single coil configured pickups with the simple push or pull of a volume knob.

Since both pickups can be tapped individually, you have a plethora of configurations you can choose from. This enables you to play full humbucker for the heaviest music in existence, switch to full single for softer styles such as funk and jazz, or to mix it up for strange fusion tones or your own custom sound.

It’s powered by two beastly EMG humbuckers, commonly considered to be some of the best on the market. They’re built for power and crunch, but deliver clean tones with a clear sonic aesthetic that is without rival.

Top all this off with the Floyd Rose tremolo bridge, which you can find out about more here and lets you warp your riffs in unimaginable ways, and you’ve got one of the best value electric guitars money can buy.

Buyer’s Guide

What Makes the Best Electric Guitar?

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different electric guitars available today.

Some are totally substandard and won’t give you even a day’s worth of playing pleasure.

Some are good enough for practice at home, but I wouldn’t play them in front of any size crowd.

Others are show worthy, but have their limits.

I tried to present to you only guitars that I would play in at least an average sized show.

They’re solidly constructed, with no flaws that can’t be overlooked or otherwise remedied, and some are true powerhouses of electric guitar rockability.

To be considered one of the best, a guitar needs to be not only playable, but super fun to play and have features that reduce fatigue and add comfort to every performance.

Their pickups can not be substandard at all. This is the driving force of an electric guitar, and each one on this list has pickups that will do more than the basic job of transmitting your vibrations. They pick up on each frequency and transfer it with trueness to the amplifier, so you don’t have to worry about overwhelming the mix with wacky tones in any range.

Additionally, I think an electric guitar has to look pretty cool. There were some options I could have told you about, but they just look too weird to make the cut.

So the guitars on the list have the following features:

Their playability is not only functional, but of top-notch quality

Their tone is more than standard; it is outstanding

They’re made to last, so you can rock as hard as you want

They’re versatile, and can perform in a range of genres. No one trick ponies

They not only sound and play good; they look good and will make you look good playing them

You’re getting your money’s worth, and not spending more than you need to sound great

As you can see, there are no Gibsons on this list. Gibsons are great guitars, no doubt, but I think they’re usually overpriced and you will mostly be paying for the name and for the prestige that comes with owning this brand. For the money, there are many options that are much more worth it.

Who Should Buy One of These Guitars?

I strive to be inclusive in my recommendations and avoid reviewing guitars that are totally out of the league for most players.

In the bottom end of this list, numbers 4 and 5, you’ve got guitars that are great for beginners, but can also please a pro.

If you buy one of those guitars as your first instrument, you won’t need to buy another one for years. They’re versatile performers that you can master the craft on, and will take you from learning the basics at home to playing your first shows.

Higher up on the list, we start to get into guitars that I wouldn’t necessarily recommend for first-timers. If you’re just starting out, keep your costs low so if you decide that playing guitar isn’t for you, you haven’t sunk a fortune into equipment you’re not going to use. We’ve reviewed lots of less expensive guitars here.

Starting with the Fender, the guitars become professional grade. They’re capable of playing public, from dive bar open mics to relatively large official venues.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4-7mCCycvw

It’s not until we get to the last two that I would really consider them good enough to play for huge crowds, but this is a matter of opinion. But, if you’re a touring musician who plays for large crowds, you can be sure that #2 and #1 are top-quality axes that are ready to melt your fans’ faces.

Can These Guitars Be Upgraded?

I’m of the belief that most electric guitars can be upgraded, at least to a point.

For the first two guitars in this list, they could definitely benefit from a pickup upgrade. This small change can bring you so much tone you’d be surprised.

This can be done either by a guitar tech or by you if you’re feeling handy and adventurous. The Gretsch and the Squier are both great project guitars if you’re looking to learn the craft of wiring or other basic guitar tech skills.

For the higher end guitars, that not much that you need to change, but there’s always something you can change. I’ve had multiple friends remove their Floyd Rose bridges in exchange for Ibanez locking systems, and you might not be a fan of either DiMarzio or EMG pickups and may want to switch out for your preferred electronic system.

The basic fact is: yes, these guitars can be upgraded depending on how much extra time, money, and effort you’re willing and able to spend.

What Are These Electric Guitars Good For?

A quick rundown of what these guitars are best for:

Gretsch G5220 Electromatic Jet BT – blues, jazz, country, soft rock, classic rock, funk, rockabilly

Squier Classic Vibe 70s Mustang – blues, jazz, country, soft rock, punk, funk, classic rock, alt rock, rockabilly, pop, soul

Fender Players Stratocaster – blues, jazz, country, all rock genres, punk, funk, rockabilly, pop, soul

Ibanez Iron Label SIX6FDFM – all rock genres, all metal genres, punk, funk, jazz, fusion

Schecter Hellraiser C-1 FR – all rock genres, all metal genres, punk, funk, jazz, fusion

The Final Word

You’ll see that in this review, the lowest priced guitars are just under $500 and the price range extends to right under $1000.

I think this is the perfect price range for finding the best guitars for the money, and if you spend any less or any more, you’re not going to do any better.

This is the sweet spot for electric guitars. They run from beginner level to professional quality, but are all playable outside of your bedroom.

You and you alone know what makes a guitar best for you, so do your research, meditate on your options, and go where the music leads you.

More electric guitar recomendations by Alan:

Under $500

For people with tiny hands (like me)

How to learn electric guitar for beginners

The post Best Electric Guitars for the Money in 2020- List, Reviews & Buyer’s Guide appeared first on Beginnerguitar.

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[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 5/18/2019

Good MORNING  #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Saturday 18th May 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Saturday Sun Nation Newspaper (SS).

BARBADOS PASSES FIRST IMF REVIEW – Barbados has successfully passed the first stage of its International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. IMF Deputy Mission Chief, Caribbean II Division, Bert Van Selm, made the announcement in a media briefing this afternoon at Government Headquarters, Bay Street, St Michael. Van Selm said the staff level agreement for the Extended Fund Facility arrangement was subject to review by the executive board in June. On completion of that review, the island would receive a further US$49 million, bringing the total money borrowed under the programme to US$98 million. “Barbados continues to make strong progess in implementing its ambitious and comprehensive economic reform programme,” Van Selm said. He pointed to the more than doubling of the international reserves from US$220 million and a mere five week of cover at the end of May last year. The completion of the domestic debt restructuring exercise “has been very helpful in reducing economic uncertainty,” he added. Van Selm said the reform of state-owned enterprises through increased reporting and “shedding” of excess staff all contributed to this. Meanwhile the IMF continues to monitor the progress of negotiations with external creditors. He said Government’s plans for a budget targeting a primary surplus of 6 per cent of GDP provided “a solid basis for targeted fiscal consolidation”. Some of the recently passed legislation and a broadening of the tax base would support revenue. Mottley thanked Barbadians and the Social Partnership for all that has been achieved to date.  (SS)

BERT’s ‘OK’ – Barbados has received a passing grade from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on its first quarter review of the targets set by the home-grown Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme. But Prime Minister Mia Mottley has declared that she won’t be celebrating just yet given there is still some distance to go to bring about sustainable economic growth and prosperity. Delivering his verdict at an exit press conference at Government headquarters on Friday morning, the IMF’s head of mission to Barbados, Bert Van Selm, said the Government continued to make strong progress in implementing its “ambitious and comprehensive” economic reform programme. He said following “productive” discussions, the IMF team and Barbados had reached staff level agreement on the completion of the first review under the IMF-funded programme. That agreement is subject to approval by the IMF executive Board when it is reviewed in June. Once approved, Barbados is to get $98 million (US$49 million) from the near $600 million (US$290 million) Extended Fund Facility. Pointing to the more than doubling of foreign exchange reserves, the quick restructuring of the domestic debt, the start to the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and changes to the Central Bank’s net domestic assets, Van Selm said “all programme targets for end of March under the EFF have been met”. Van Selm said: “The targets for the primary surplus, central government grants to SOEs, central government domestic arrears, and social spending were also met. “In March, Parliament adopted a budget financial year 2019/20 targeting a primary surplus of six per cent of Gross Domestic Product.” Giving the stamp of approval for the 2019/2020 budget measures, Van Selm said broadening the tax base of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and land tax would help support Government revenue. “The budget approved for the financial year 2019/20 provides a solid basis for the targeted fiscal consolidation [and] the authorities stand ready to take additional measures if necessary to reach the targeted six percent primary surplus,” he said. The IMF official also pointed out that full year effects of the reforms set in motion during the last financial year, including the introduction of several new taxes, should help achieve the surplus target. “The Barbadian authorities continue to make good progress in implementing structural benchmarks under the EFF,” he said, while singling out the regulatory sandbox and upgraded Planning and Development Act, the Public Financial Management Actand the implementation of a system for monitoring SOE arrears on an ongoing basis. But with Government still locked in negotiations with external creditors, Van Selm said “progress being made by the authorities in furthering good-faith discussions with external creditors is welcome”. He also urged authorities to continue having open dialogue and the sharing of information, saying this will remain important in concluding “an orderly debt restructuring process”. Mottley said while she was grateful for the good news, she was not about to engage in jubilation just yet since Barbados “has a few more road signs to pass”. Thanking civil servants, union and private sector officials who have been instrumental in the recovery and transformation efforts so far, Mottley added that “as long as the people of Barbados stay the course, I assure you that we shall be successful in being able to overcome what really was a turbulent and difficult legacy after a lost decade”. “I will be jubilant when I see Barbados having to import labour. I will be jubilant when I see all forms of international business and all forms of buildings having been completed – the transformation of Carlisle Bay, Speightstown and Oistins,” Mottley added. The Prime Minister revealed there would be some new measures, including a “new deal for public servants in housing in this country”. She added: “I will be jubilant when we restructure the unjust Common Entrance [Exam]; I will be jubilant when we finish restructuring the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the Geriatric Hospital and all of those other things,” Mottley said. “In other words, I will be jubilant when Barbados has truly reached the first signs of transformation.” Adding that measures announced in the budget needed “time to come out”, the Prime Minister also pointed out that there was still “some cleaning up” to be done in some state-owned entities, but promised this time it would be nothing close to the over 1,000 workers sent home last year. Mottley said: “I think Transport Board is still in engagement with the unions on cleaning up how it is going about and there are a few others that will come about… as a result of changing how we do things through getting rid of things and systems that are redundant,” said Mottley. Still on the cards, too, was a new Central Bank Act, a new Customs Act and a Data Privacy Act, she said. Stating that she did not expect perfection, Mottley acknowledged that there would be some mistakes along the way. But she said “we can be great” because of a determination to pursue excellence. The Prime Minister expressed regret at being unable to have more people to do the task ahead, but said one danger the country faced was people becoming complacent. (BT)

PRIME MINISTER: DOGGED BY DISHONESTY – Prime Minister Mia Mottley has disclosed that efforts to correct some of the island’s financial challenges were being hampered by an uncertain future due to contingent liability. Hinting that this was as a result of dishonesty in recent years, Mottley insisted that there was an economic cost to corruption. She was addressing a joint media conference with International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials at Government Headquarters on Friday, following the review of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme. “We feel that sometimes we have to let people know we are not going to tolerate corruption in any form or any guise. And why, because there is an opportunity and economic cost to corruption,” said Mottley. “If all of the hundreds of millions of dollars that were diverted in other activities were now immediately available to this government, we would have so many other things that we could do,” she said. Mottley added: “If I was not facing contingent liability legally for Cahill and other things, who have threatened all to sue us, we could do so many other things. So we have to continue to wrap up that ” The controversial $700 million Cahill plasma gasification project, which was reportedly scrapped by the then Freundel Stuart administration back in 2016, came back to haunt the new government this year. In January Mottley had revealed that Government received correspondence from a successor entity, seeking to claim “legal rights” against the Government of Barbados. Addressing Friday’s press conference, Mottley also suggested that Government was unable to do a lot more because it was being burdened with having to meet a number of financial obligations. “We will continue to make the payments to the people that we owe over the course of the last decade whether it is where supply credit was built up or whether it is CLICO,” she said. “We have to continue to manage a number of these structural things, both fiscally, both in terms of new policies and institutions, and then of course, in terms of legislation . . . So when you [hear] me say there is a lot more to do, there is,” said Mottley. (BT)

YOUNG DEM UNIMPRESSED BY IMF REPORT CARD – On the same day that a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave Barbados high marks for checking the boxes of its economic reform programme, one of the younger members of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) is warning that  Government could once again find itself scrambling to stave off devaluation in another two years. According to Banking and Finance major, Kemar Stuart, the decision to suspend international debt payment was misguided and will result in significant harm to the Barbados economy in the not-too-distant future. “Along with the missed payments which still need to be serviced, the Government will need to repay US$350 million of maturing debt in 2021 and 2022, which will further impair Barbados ‘sovereign credit rating, bring the reserve tranche below the 12-week benchmark and increase the likelihood of devaluation,” said Stuart, who delivered the Astor B Watts lunchtime lecture this afternoon. Today, the IMF team in its glowing report on the country’s economic progress under the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, stated that “Barbados continues to make strong progress in implementing its ambitious and comprehensive economic reform programme. International reserves, which reached a low of US$220 million (5–6 weeks of import coverage) at end-May 2018, have more than doubled since then. The rapid completion of the domestic part of a debt restructuring has been very helpful in reducing economic uncertainty, and the new terms agreed with creditors have put debt on a clear downward trajectory.” Today neither the IMF team nor Prime Minister Mottley mentioned the worrying debt to international creditors. However, the budding politician, who ran against Mottley on a Solutions Barbados ticket in the last election, slammed the Government for what he deems as a failure to adequately update the country on the progress of negotiations with foreign creditors. He argued that the longer the Government takes to brief the country on where things are, the more it will give rise to nervous speculation. “It is reported that the external credit committee has submitted a proposal to the Prime Minister and her advisors however no significant or official statements have been issued in regard to the progress of securing a deal. Such incognito actions allow for speculation as to the harmful effects the initial default caused. The prolonged delay is only making it worse,” he said. He questioned if Government could generate foreign exchange fast enough given the fact, they had publicly stated that they will not be borrowing for the next four years. It appears that Stuart and well-known economist Jeremy Stephen share very similar perspectives. Last month Stephen argued that Government’s failure thus far to fix its foreign debt problems and fully implement its strategy for sustained fiscal breathing room could spell trouble for the country. And the clock is ticking to a deadline to find the money to pay huge debt bills in two years. He told Barbados TODAY at the time that with almost a year having elapsed since Barbados defaulted on its foreign debt and a settlement yet to be announced, Government was essentially on borrowed time. He contended that anything less than a quick amicable debt restructuring could prove problematic for the country’s ability to borrow and for investor confidence. “If the global private sector sees that while we have good tax rates, but Government is taking a bit longer to properly restructure the debt of foreign investors, then they are not going to want to invest in the Government debt. This will also impact on those who want to invest in private interests in Barbados because they look at things like sovereign risk. “If they [Government] don’t get that done and settle with these foreign investors in the near term then that has far-reaching consequences. You need to remember what happened to Argentina in the early 2000s, where those investors took that country to court and to this day Argentina has trouble borrowing,” Stephen had said. (BT)

BARBADOS REMOVES VISA RESTRICTIONS FOR SOME COUNTRIES – Barbados has removed visa requirements for several countries as government seeks to increase the number of tourist arrivals, and make it easier for investors to do business with this island. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Dr Jerome Walcott, made this disclosure during a post Cabinet press conference on Thursday at Government Headquarters on Bay Street. No longer will visas be required for nationals of the following African countries to enter Barbados: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Morocco, Senegal, Rwanda and Burkina Faso. Visa waivers have also been granted to the Gulf States of Bahrain, Jordan, Oman and Qatar as well as the Asian countries of Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and India. In addition, Barbados has an honorary consul present in Monaco and visa requirements have also been lifted for that nation. The Foreign Affairs Minister explained that it was important for Barbados to strengthen relations with countries within the global sphere, make new friends and attract more opportunities. “We depend on tourism, investment and opportunities for business. We recognise in terms of travel that the stipulations for visas are sometimes a deterrent for tourists and those seeking to establish business with the country, they find it fairly complicated. In this regard, the Cabinet of Barbados agreed to remove the visa requirements for several countries in different parts of the world. “We recognise that Africa, a continent of 54 countries, many of them showing growth rates of five, six, and seven per cent, in terms of Rwanda, it is time for us to look more closely at that continent. We have made a pledge, and we are moving towards establishing a mission in Accra, Ghana before the end of this year,” he said. Walcott said that Government was also hoping to attract more tourists and investors from the Gulf States and Asian nations. “We are recognising and certainly hoping that the removal of these visa requirements would encourage a number of persons from these countries, not only in terms of tourism, but for investment and business,” he said. (BGIS)

VAUXHALL TECH HUB PROJECT STILL ON – Building works on a technology and security business hub came close to a halt nine months after it began but will continue thanks to a fresh cash injection, PromoTech Inc. CEO Kailash Pardasani has said. The company received the first tranche of needed financing on Thursday that will allow the project to continue, he said. It was at the beginning of August last year that he broke ground for the $25 million facility in Vauxhall, next to the Sheraton Mall in Christ Church. The four-storey building, his biggest project to date is to host the company’s headquarters and half will be leased to other tech firms. Addressing the firm’s 20th anniversary ceremony at the Blue Pineapple Restaurant and Lounge to announce an expansion of its services with a number of partners, Pardasani recalled: “We all know what happened in 2018. The country was at junk status and it was a very difficult thing to do, and it is personally and professionally my largest real estate project to date.” He said progress was not easy, adding that he has seen some “darkness”. “Last year we started this project for our head office without any formal financing in place. The Government changed and the country was in junk status. “But I wanted to do it, I believed in it and I just continued to fight and fight hard. Now I called my attorney and bank manager up to 12:36 p.m. today and we still did not have the green light,” Pardasani said. “So dealing with that has been a rollercoaster, there are tough times so everyone wants all their check boxes done. So I am happy to say that I got a call from my bank account manager that our first major draw down was approved at 2:45 pm today.” As the audience applauded the announcement, Pardasani thanked his bankers for “believing” in him, declairing: “if that didn’t happen the project could have come to a complete halt next week, something that started a year ago and had two years of planning. “I know it is a bold move but we would have had it any other way. We work hard and play hard and believe in what we do.” During the function, Pardasani announced the expansion of services with about a dozen new partners. The company now has over 30 partners, whose solutions PromoTech offer to the local and regional market, inclduing security products and solutions for homes, “right up to skyscrapers” , he said. As he outlined the. products, which range from CCTV, access control, alarm systems and fire detection, Pardasani said the demand for security systems and services continued to be strong.  He said the expansion within his company meant “world renowned technology” was being brought to the fingertips of residents and businesses. He added: “Unfortunately, there is a big demand because of the incidents that are happening but we have smart and intelligent security…. We just want people to feel comfortable in their businesses and their homes, not only in Barbados but regionally. So we fly the Caribbean and bring our expertise and partnerships to the consumer.” He said the success of the company was due to its partners, 100 employees and loyal customers. He said his company, like others, had been negatively affected by the ongoing economic crisis but praised the determination of staff to keep it going. “Every day it is a struggle. It is a fight, but we come together, and we do it bold and we believe in ourselves and we know we will succeed, and that is how we grow every day up to today for these 20 years,” he said. (BT)

WASTED’ ENERGY POTENTIAL –With eleven years left in Government’s self-imposed deadline for Barbados to rely totally on renewable energy, mostly through solar power, an expert has suggested the country is failing to tap into the vast potential of bioenergy. According to Mark Hill of the non-profit organisation, Design Council SIDS, Barbados is essentially dumping enough organic waste each year, which if converted to energy, would supply more than twice the amount of energy consumed annually. Hill one of three speakers at a seminar hosted by the Central Bank at the Courtney Blackman Grand Salle, which explored the benefits of bio-digestion, said Barbados produces between 237,000 and 1.5 million tons of biomass waste which could generate 2,250 gigawatt-hours of power per year – more than double the current electricity consumption of less than 1000 gigawatt-hours annually. “Bioenergy can significantly contribute to Barbados’ sustainable development, build a more resilient and clean society by producing electricity, heat, cooling and transport from all sources of biomass,” Hill said. He argued that bioenergy has historically been a cornerstone of Barbados’ energy mix with the introduction of sugarcane, noting that the waste product of the canes helped to power sugar factories. He contended that even though Barbados is currently producing significantly less sugar than in years gone by, the potential energy yield was still significant. He said: “In 1967 the island was producing 1.8 million tons of sugar cane biomass and now today one factory stands, that being Portvale, who today are currently processing on average 100,000 tons of sugar cane biomass. “Portvale’s current energy output stands at 11.76 GWh of electricity year during crop season and overall energy output of around 30 GWh of electricity, steam and waste heat. “Yet none of this current contribution to the Barbados energy profile is being captured in the national data on renewable energy.” In a bid to spur interest in this form of renewable energy, Hill said Design Council SIDS is in the process of commissioning a 250-Killowatt chicken manure-based, biogas plant in St. Lucy. Plans are also in the pipeline for a blue economy ocean plastic-to-energy plant, as well as facilities that will produce one megawatt of biogas and 1.5 MW of syngas. Also known as synthesis gas, syngas is a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Hill declared: “Barbados can and will lead in Bioenergy, in particular, the production of biomethane/renewable natural gas, the production of wood pellets, Syngas, and we will fully explore the economic potential in these resources in order to meet the goal of 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030.” As the seminar opened, Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes described Government’s undertaking to transition to 100 per cent green energy in 11 years as “ambitious”. At present, only an estimated four per cent to  six per cent of the country’s energy needs was being met by renewables, he said. “It is ambitious because the transition requires significant investments. But ambitious it needs to be so that we can promote greater energy security, enhance our long-term competitiveness and address the negative spillovers that accompany the use of fossil fuels,” Hill said. (BT)

FIRE STATION NO. 6 – Government is to build its sixth fire station across the street from three schools on Pine Plantation Road, Minister of Home Affairs Edmund Hinkson has announced. He made the disclosure following a tour of the Arch Hall, St. John and Worthing Fire Stations earlier this week. He said: “Cabinet recently agreed that a new fire station should be built in the Pine area, where the Ministry of Transport and Works have their property opposite the Ann Hill School,” Hinkson said. Apart from the school for children with learning disabilities, the campuses across from the MTW depot also house the Irving Wilson School for the deaf and blind and Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary School. Hinkson stated that his ministry was presently working to get a team of professionals together to manage the project, and would soon invite expressions of interest for architects, quantity surveyors and contractors. He said visits were also conducted at the airport and Bridgetown stations three months ago, with remedial work being carried out on the Probyn Street headquarters, which was built in 1950. “The main station that had infrastructural issues was Probyn Street. We went there in February this year and we asked the Project Office in the ministry to do some repair and remedial work, which is now almost completed,” he said, adding that the fire officers appeared to be pleased with the improvements. He also disclosed that the ministry was seeking to have the issue of appointments within the fire service addressed. Hinkson said: “My understanding is that out of the 187 fire officers in Barbados, only three are appointed.  That is the chief, the deputy and a divisional officer and that is unacceptable.  It has an effect, even if in a minor way, on the morale of the officers.” But during an interview with the Barbados Government Information Service, he suggested the appointment gap was part of a wider problem throughout the civil service. “There are too many people in acting appointments, and the situation has been compounded by the Qualification Order, which came into effect about three to four years ago,” he said. Hinkson said the Ministry of Home Affairs was in the process of finalising a brief for the Ministry of the Public Service to inform their discussions, as it relates to its departments, especially the Barbados Fire Service, the Barbados Prison Service and the Immigration Department. “The conditions under which fire officers work has to be, and is at the core of the issues and the concerns of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the wider Government,” he said. “We are addressing them and have agreed that we will all work together in the interest of the Fire Service which is a significant department in Government.” (BT)

COUNT US IN – Some ‘black market’ drug dealers in Barbados have expressed an interest in getting involved in the medicinal cannabis industry. And according to Sarah Seale, the president and managing partner of Canadian company Cannabis Management Resources Inc, that interest should be seen in a positive light. In an interview with Barbados TODAY at the Courtyard by Marriott, Seale, who is here on the island to conduct a free two-day medical cannabis conference next month, said some dealers had even reached out to her via social media. “One thing that I have found very encouraging here in terms of the black market growers, I’ve been in contact with quite a few of them, just through the network and through putting on this conference, there’s a lot of interest and they’re very, very interested in legalisation and moving on over into the legal market and that’s extremely progressive,” said Seale, a Barbadian working in the cannabis industry in Canada. “In Canada we had the black market and they still are to some degree fighting legalisation. They didn’t want it, they wanted accessibility and they didn’t want the big companies and the corporations to come in and basically to take over the industry. “The gentleman that I’ve been speaking to here and others reached out to me through Facebook and Instagram. They’re very excited for it and they want a part in the legal framework,” she added. Seale said while one of the dealers admitted to growing the illegal drug for the past ten years, he said he felt he would be better positioned to support himself and his family through the legal channels. She however, maintained that Barbados was in a prime position to take full advantage of the lucrative market. The high level executive revealed that once she realised Barbados was exploring the option of medical cannabis, she immediately reached out to Prime Minister Mia Mottley. “I think it can absolutely be a lucrative market for Barbados. They’re more economic opportunities through medical research and medical products than there is just through the general cultivation and growing,” Seale said. “It’s not just an agricultural product that is just being grown in the fields. It has opened up the doors to basically every single industry…whether it’s bankers, lawyers or real estate; it is opening up doors for medical research. “The idea of the value that could bring to the Barbados market, to the Caribbean market, the potential is huge,” she insisted. Seale said she would love to see Barbados become the medical research hub for the Caribbean. But while Seale fully supported the idea of Barbados embracing medical cannabis, she said the small island developing state should not consider legalising recreational marijuana just yet. She revealed that Canada had spent eight years establishing the necessary framework. “I know it’s a big subject here but personally I don’t think that’s a conversation that should be had in Barbados yet. “In Canada we legalised on the medicinal side and it took eight years before we had the conversation about recreational legalisation,” Seale said. “But I think it’s too soon to be having that conversation because it’s very hard to destigmatise. There’s a lot of destigmatisation that has to happen around this particular product…” (BT)

EDUCATION OVERHAUL NEEDED – Ahead of high level meetings between Government and education stakeholders in response to the troubling trend of school violence, a senior educator has joined the chorus of voices calling for an overhaul of the current educational system. Second Vice President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU), Leslie Lett has suggested that such an analysis would likely reveal dangerous links between the structure of the education system and the alarming disregard for authority. The senior teacher at the Frederick Smith Secondary School also pointed to recommendations made nearly a decade ago in 2010 by the National Advisory Commission on Education (NACE) which has seemingly been ignored by policymakers. Among them was a call for an end to the social comparison of children and the distinction between bright and ‘duncy’ students. The report also called on the Ministry of Education to stop separating children based on their grades in the Common Entrance Examination. Instead, it proposed alterations to the education system, which would maximize the potential of students with varying abilities, providing all with the opportunity to be successful. The Commission was chaired by Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Dr. Letnie Rock and included respected educators including former Principal of the Alexandra School and Parkinson Memorial Secondary, Jeffrey Broomes, Senior political science lecturer at the UWI Cave Hill, Dr. Pearson Broomes, BSTU President, Mary-Anne Redman and Chief Education Officer, Karen Best. In a recent interview however, Lett suggested that the report had fallen on deaf ears and pleaded with fellow BSTU members and policymakers to revisit the critical recommendations as part of its effort to stem the violence. “I have asked the membership to reflect upon the issue of violence and the extent to which our system of education contributes to that and the extent to which it creates powder kegs which would lend itself to incidents of violence. “It has been identified by many people and it was part of the recommendations of NACE in 2010, where we have to look at how we allocate students to schools. There is nothing wrong with the 11 plus exam per se, but what do we do with that exam? We might have to re-look that exam and what we do with it, because how we allocate students might be contributing to the very problem that we have today,” said Lett. Earlier this week, BSTU President, Mary-Anne Redman urged teachers to take all precautions in the interest of their safety, including independently seeking police assistance if necessary. She also called for stiffer penalties for students who threaten the safety of their teachers. While Lett has not discounted the need for such measures, he believes long-term solutions should also be sought. “I am looking at the structural and systemic causes of violence. I know responses, to be effective have to be short-term, medium-term and long-term, but long-term solutions require a radical examination of the problem,” said Lett. “NACE recommended that students be allocated to schools that are as close to their homes as possible. I think we have to look at how we allocate students to secondary schools, because I think this may be one of the contributing factors.” On Thursday, President of the Barbados Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (BAPPSS), Juanita Wade called for a holistic approach to the scourge of violence, by engaging the home, the church and the community in the discussion. Similarly, the findings of the NACE report argued that the allocation of students to schools closer to their homes would help to build stronger communities, allow students to participate in more extracurricular activities, foster better relationships with teachers and parents and provide a greater opportunity for all schools to have a more evenly distributed socio-economic and academic environment. “NACE recognizes that one of the fundamental reasons for the retention of the BSSEE is based on social class and a desire, almost an innate need, for sections of the society to distance and separate themselves from others through access to certain educational institutions. There could be no other reason for its retention since successive governments have put forward the view that all schools are equally allocated resources and are adequately staffed by trained graduate teachers from the UWI and elsewhere. Within this context, therefore, all schools ought to be equal and the automatic transferal to secondary schools should not be fraught with difficulty if the preceding logic is sound,” the report said. (BT)

‘MENTOR AT-RISK STUDENTS’, COMISSIONG PROPOSES – Social activist David Comissiong has come up with a proposal to the nation’s teachers unions to tackle school violence. Comissiong, the Ambassador to CARICOM, told Barbados TODAY that he first proposed a mentorship programme for at-risk school children to the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) and the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) back in February 2018. Comissiong, who is also an attorney at law, said: “I am wondering whether one of the most effective responses to the issue of alienated, violent anti-social students in our secondary and primary schools might not be a National Mentorship Programme under which responsible and willing adults who possess records of having raised or mentored well adjusted children are assigned as mentors to all of the public primary and secondary schools.” The emergence of this proposal comes amid  the assault yesterday of a female teacher allegedly by her 14-year-old male student over a cellphone battery the teacher is said to have confiscated. This happened after the boy started causing a noise with the phone in class. The student was expected to appear in a magistrates’ court today. President of the BUT Sean Spencer today expressed fresh concerns over the school violence,  lamenting that teachers are increasingly fearful of going to work and cited a number of other similar incidents of student on teacher attacks at schools. While expressing grave concern over this latest event, president of the BSTU, Mary Ann Redman, said she preferred to make a “proper” comment on the incident after first formally reaching out to the Ministry of Education on the matter that involves a BSTU member. Comissiong is suggesting that the mentors should be placed at the disposal of the guidance counselors in the secondary schools and with the principals of the primary schools to be deployed as necessary. “Under such a programme, once the guidance counselor or the principal identifies a student as being troubled and at risk, a mentor could be assigned to work with that student and his or her family, and to periodically report back to the guidance counselor/principal,” he said. The social activist proposed that the programme could be the joint initiative of the BSTU and BUT. He said they could conceptualize the programme; determine the “qualifications” for being a mentor; put out the call for potential mentors to offer themselves and carry out the initial vetting of those who volunteered. Comissiong is suggesting that the two teachers’ unions could also assign successful applicants to particular primary and secondary schools where the school authorities such as the boards of management of secondary and principals of primary would satisfy themselves as to the suitability of the selectees. “I am not suggesting that the unions be responsible for the day to day running of the progrsamme.  The role of the unions would be to propose the programme to the educational authorities and to the agencies that would  recruit and vet the would-be mentors, and channel them to the various schools,” he added. Comissiong said that thereafter, the schools’ authorities would pick up the baton. “They would satisfy themselves as to the suitability of the persons chosen as mentors by the unions; and would organize and monitor their deployment by guidance counselors and or principals,” the attorney suggested. He is of the view that in a small and cohesive country like Barbados, this type of direct intervention with at risk students, could go a long way in solving the problem of violence and other forms of disruption in schools. “It would also help to save many of our youth,” he concluded. (BT)

EXAM ‘LEAKER DISCIPLINED’ – A tutor at the Barbados Community College (BCC) who is alleged to have leaked an exam paper, prompting its abrupt postponement, has been barred from the college’s exam processes, Principal Annette Alleyne revealed today. The tutor, who is said to have leaked both the examination’s questions and responses to the CORE 101 examination for Ethics and Citizenship has been removed from the college’s exams supervision and marking, she disclosed. Alleyne told Barbados TODAY: “We made some interim decisions not to have the person in question invigilate or correct any scripts or have anything to do with the exams and we are in the process of finalising everything. “So, the investigation is not quite finished but once we have made a decision, I would be relaying them to people.” The principal said a full report on the incident is to be made available to the Ministry of Education and the alleged tutor has also been barred from marking exam papers. The disclosure of the disciplinary action comes 48 hours after the exam was halted at the last minute as approximately 600 students were to set to write it on Tuesday. Responding to the developments President of the Student’s Guild at BCC, Kobie Broomes told Barbados TODAY the guild was pleased that the college responded swiftly. Broomes said: “The Students Guild at the Barbados Community College wishes to congratulate and thank the administration for stepping up to do the right thing in this situation to ensure the integrity of the examination was not further compromised. Broomes said while the Guild was initially concerned, he was pleased that BCC had been “very open and transparent about the entire process”. The rescheduled  CORE 101 Ethics and Citizenship examination was eventually taken by slightly fewer students yesterday at the Howell’s Cross Road campus, he said The guild president said: “The examination yesterday came off without a hitch; there were some decreased numbers but we have the assurance from the administration that they would do what is necessary to ensure that all students are accommodated from the initial examination. “We are going to ensure that we keep them to that promise as they continue to ensure that everyone is sorted after that big mishap,” he said. (BT)

TEEN ON BOND FOR SIX MONTHS – Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant today told an 18-year-old to take responsibility for his actions. Jadarrol Obrian Daniel Toppin, of No. 2 White Hall, St Michael received the reprimand after he lied to the magistrate about how he came in possession of $258 worth of cannabis earlier today. “I was walking . . . and I found it in the bush through a track. I was going to smoke it,” Toppin told Cuffy-Sargeant who made it clear that she did not believe his explanation. Toppin was then given a few minutes to think things over. “I am sorry for telling a lie. I didn’t want it to be so bad on me. I did not want it to be more worse. . . . I had the drugs, I bought the drugs [and] didn’t want it to get bad,” Toppin explained saying: “I am sorry I wasted your time”. He was placed on a bond for six months on the trafficking charge and reprimanded and discharged on the other offences.If he breaches the bond he will have to pay the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court a $750 forthwith fine or spend three weeks in prison. (BT)

FINED FOR DRUGS – A Christ Church man avoided a three-month stint in prison today when a family member stepped in and paid a $750 forthwith fine on his behalf. The sum was imposed by Magistrate Douglas Frederick after Rommel Marlon Gittens, of 2nd Avenue Licorish Village, My Lord’s Hill pleaded guilty to having $90 worth of cannabis in his possession in the wee hours of this morning. He also pleaded guilty to charges of possession with intent to supply and having a trafficable quantity of the illicit substance. Sergeant St Clair Phillips told the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court that lawmen executed a search warrant at Gittens’ residence around 3:10 a.m. today. Two bags were found in the living room containing vegetable matter. Asked to account he told police that the substance was given to him by a friend. “It’s marijuana leaves. When I get in last night . . . the same time the police came to execute their warrant and found the marijuana,” Gittens said. (BT)

AZIZA GETS BACK HER CAR – The 2016 Calypso Monarch has her car back. But Aziza Kebret Tsgaye Clarke will have to put it on a wrecker to move it from Oistins Police Station, Christ Church, to her home in Bonnetts, Brittons Hill, St Michael. Clarke, 23, was back in the Oistins Magistrates’ Court yesterday where she is facing the charge that knowing or believing Hakeem Stuart had committed an offence of murder, she assisted him by transporting him in a car – an act intended to impede Stuart’s apprehension – on March 21. She was also not required to plead to assaultingConstable Patrick Forde in the execution of his duty with intent to prevent lawful apprehension on the same date. Clarke pleaded not guilty to resisting Forde in the execution of his duty; damaging a pair of sunglasses belonging to him; failing to draw her vehicle MC92 to the left and stop at the sound of a siren; driving without insurance, and failing to register the vehicle with the Licensing Authority, all on March 21. Yesterday, Queen’s Counsel Michael Lashley reiterated his submission for the release of the car.  “I believe that given the fact that police already have their photographic evidence and we have disclosurefrom the point of view of video, I believe that in the circumstances, we are asking that the said vehicle should be returned to the accused,” he told the court, as he stressed the return of the vehicle did not offer any prejudice to the prosecution’s case or his. Lashley, however, admitted that Clarke could not “get in the car and drive it out”. “It would have to be properly registered,” he said, adding it would have to be moved by a wrecker. Prosecutor Station Sergeant Randolph Burnett said he had spoken to the investigator, who informed him that “the vehicle can be returned to her”. “It can be collected by the accused,” the prosecutor said. He, however, asked that restrictions be placed on Clarke to prevent her disposing of the vehicle “because of another matter”. Magistrate Elwood Watts ordered that the car be returned to the accused and adjourned the matter until August 13. (SS)

THREE DO DOUBLES IN NETBALL - Three schools were double winners in the second round of the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Netball League’s Under-13 and Under-15 Netball Competition yesterday. Combermere School, The Lodge School and Christ Church Foundation School won their matches in both divisions. Meanwhile, The Lester Vaughan School has withdrawn from the competition. The third round will be played on Tuesday. (SS)

BRAZIL’S FORMIGA TO PLAY IN SEVENTH WORLD CUP – Brazil’s 41-year-old international Formiga will become the first footballer to participate in seven World Cups. The midfielder was named in the squad for the women’s tournament in France. The Paris St Germain star shares the record of six World Cups with Homare Sawa, who led Japan’s women to their World Cup triumph in 2011. If Formiga plays in France, she will also become the oldest to appear in a women’s World Cup. In the men’s tournament, three players have played at five World Cups - Mexico’s Rafael Marquez and Antonio Carbajal and Germany’s Lothar Matthaus. Formiga, whose first World Cup finals appearance came in 1995 as a 17-year-old, will be joined by several other well-known faces in the Brazil squad, including Marta, the six-times World Player of the year. Marta is the top scorer in the history of the women’s World Cup with 15 goals. Copa America champions Brazil have been drawn in Group C along with Jamaica, Italy and Australia with the tournament starting on June 7. Although they have appeared in all seven Women’s World Cup tournaments, the South Americans have yet to lift the trophy, with their best performance coming as runners-up to Germany in China in 2007. They are also heading to France under a cloud, having lost their last nine games, their worst-ever run. Brazil are 10th in the world rankings, their lowest position since the ranking system began.   (BT)

BANGLADESH WIN TRI-NATION SERIES – Duckworth/Lewis had the final say as West Indies lost their latest One-Day International to Bangladesh by five wickets today in Dublin. In the final match of the Tri-Nation series which also featured hosts Ireland, West Indies reached 152 for one in a match reduced to 24 overs. Shai Hope continued his rich vein of form to reach 74 and Sunil Ambris scored 69. They had been flowing freely at 131 without loss after 20.1 overs when the rain came. Half centuries from Soumaya Sarkan (66) and 52 not out from Mosaddek Hussain paved the way for Bangladesh who were without Shakib Al Hasan, and reached the target with seven balls to spare. Raymon Reifer took two wickets for 23 runs and Shannon Gabriel two for 23. Summarised scores: West Indies 152 for 1 in 24 overs (Shai Hope 74, Sunil Ambris 69). Bangladesh 213 for five in 22.5 overs (Soumaya Sarkan 66, Mosaddek Hussain 52 n.o., Mushfiqur Rahim 36, Mahmudullah 19 n.o., Tamim Iqbal 18, Mohammad Mithun 17; Raymon Reifer 2-23, Shannon Gabriel 2- 23). Bangladesh won by five wickets with seven balls to spare under the Duckworth/Lewis Method. (BT)

SEYMOUR NURSE LAID TO REST – Former legendary West Indies batsman Seymour MacDonald Nurse took to the crease at Kensington Oval this morning for one final innings. And it was a farewell fitting for one of the greatest batting icons Barbados has ever produced. Governor General Dame Sandra Mason and Prime Minister Mia Mottley led a gathering filled with dignitaries and past and present Barbados and West Indies players, including Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Charles Griffith, Gordan Greenidge and Desmond Haynes among others. Twin daughters Roseanne and Cherylanne kept vigil at the entrance as those paying their final respects filed past. President of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Conde Riley, Director of Cricket Steven Leslie and other members of the BCA as well as Government ministers and ex-cabinet members were also in attendance at the two-hour long service. Haynes, Riley and president of the Empire Cricket Club Adrian King delivered tributes. As the service came to an end, the casket bearing Nurse’s remains was taken out of the cricket mecca draped in the West Indies Cricket flag to a guard of honour. Nurse, who passed away on May 6, was interred at the Coral Ridge Memorial Gardens where family and friends wept silently.(SS)

GRUMPY CAT DIES AT AGE 7 – Grumpy Cat, an internet celebrity for her permanent frown, died “in the arms of her mommy, Tabatha” this week, leaving behind countless online jokes about how we all feel at our worst moments, her family said on Friday. She was 7. Despite care from top professionals, Grumpy died on Tuesday from complications after a recent urinary tract infection, the family said on Twitter. Grumpy, whose real name is Tardar Sauce, became an Internet sensation after her owner Tabatha Bundesen posted a picture of her scowl six years ago. She went on to appear on magazine covers, television advertisements and even starred in her own movie “Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever.” “Grumpy Cat has helped millions of people smile all around the world - even when times were tough,” the family said. “Her spirit will continue to live on through her fans everywhere.” Tribute memes poured in at hashtag #GrumpyCat. “I’m actually bummed about this,” read one with a picture of Grumpy scowling into the sunset.  (SS)

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