Bajan Reporter was not around long enough to have a ten year retrospective, what I can do is look back at what were the main hot buttons for 2008 and 2009 (BR started as a blog 23/12/2006, so there was no year-ender for 2006 or 2007)…

Years in Review here have different connotations than what folk may expect elsewhere, we look at the items which got the most comments and now we can also include Facebook shares or Youtube views…

Two years ago, the main chatting points were Usain Bolt’s 9.69 seconds which made Yam the most sought after Banned Substance; Rihanna and if she was a Mason (Would you believe that still gets a remark every now & then?) or the first pics of her being nude which were Fake; and USA still recovering from the fact they have a Black president – like it or lump it baby! The White House is the WRONG name now, LMAO!! Barack Obama gets Health care for poorer folk, removes discrimination on Gays & Lesbians in the Military and extends Unemployment Benefits to 13 months – what do Tea Party-goers say to them apples despite a bunch of racist GOP fighting every step of the way?

Last year which seems so far off now, was the year of Rihanna – when the Chris Brown fracas evolved, the ugly photo of her confrontation with the hip-hop brute, her genuine nude pics which she has not admitted nor dismissed… Then a surprise topic which got a lot of attention was Damon Corrie’s take on the then Thompson regime towards Guyanese immigrants and the possible ramifications to Bajans travelling abroad – there were many vicious salvoes back and forth over a small yet powerful rant!

There were a lot of Video Uploads this year but the ones which pulled real hits were as follows – UK Actor Will Mellor visiting Dodds penal facility and learning what “boogaloo” means; St Michael North East MP Mia Mottley commenting on Housing Minister Michael Lashley‘s deal with Jada Construction which appears to be connected with the sacking of Marilyn Rice-Bowen as NHC chairperson; ex-PM Owen Arthur speaking at Christ Church South in early September wondering where David Thompson was – with the St Peter MP probably suspecting or was alerted to the former DLP Leader’s pancreatic cancer…

(This was before his coup in October when he wrested the post of Opposition Leader from Mia, Arthur definitely reads this site and I know he rankles at that term of “coup” – but if you GENUINELY did not seek to have the post again… Why did you accept the four also-ran’s whinings? Instead you could have paced your vote to support Mia and let her REMAIN as Opposition leader… But noooOOOooo, you appear to the Press with crocodile-like tears saying she did not make Barbados forget you existed? What crap is that? If she did, then you did no good in Leadership ANYWAY, get real man!)

Another video which had a story behind it was the Wellington Street Vigilante on alleged Paedophile getting beaten up in the City, and the subsequent follow up where we learned he was charged and remanded – this video and the others listed so far are all easily above a thousand hits; some even approaching the 5,000 mark!

When David Thompson was put to rest, his interment was more elaborate than either the late JMGM “Tom” Adams or the Right Excellent Errol W. Barrow‘s could ever hope to be… With a mere 45 seconds of the Gun Carriage toting Mr Thompson’s physical remains along Eagle Hall, this video is approaching 7,000 hits!

Rihanna is said to dominate the Facebook and Twitter scene, we do not doubt it for a millisecond! The time when we ran Kammie Holder’s rant on Rihanna’s seeming inability to attend the late David Thompson’s funeral led to a firestorm of Facebook shares to 164 times the item was spread in Zuckerberg’s empire!

Even her change of heart was given some zesty FB coverage – 69 shares, not as feisty as the original but still a powerful sequel? Another popular Rihanna item was her duet with Eminem which looked at domestic violence, a strong statement of bravery on her part after what she endured…

However, the hot button this year? Obama – A Canadian article we reprinted from Vancouver had a whopping 2,000-plus FB shares and rising, with the last comment as recently as the beginning of December! Almost any BHO item was snapped up by the overseas market even when we tied in a Barbados smoking ban with the USA’s leader who’s a known puffer…

An offhand review on Subway at the Lanterns Mall in Hastings emerged into an ugly food-fight where the last comment made was as recently as the 15th of this month! But the other main commented items for 2010 were in Sports and Crime…

Spreading from Facebook to here and into Barbados Free Press and the Barbados Underground, there was a massively vicious and ugly cavalcade for and against the plight of Barbadian Equestrienne Natya Soodeen – she was suspended by the Barbados Equestrian Association despite appearing to meet each qualifier for her to compete in the CAC games which in itself is a qualifier to get to the Olympics, when Bajan Reporter revealed some of the documentation compiled to earn CAC status, many a Barbadian changed their tune from siding with the BEA to realising that Natya was the one trodden upon!

The hottest topic of the year was debuted by this site and referred to by Starcom even if not listing my name or the website’s which is silly and petty – at first, an effort was made to detract and belittle my revelation which I got the permission of the two writers of the article in question. Even a respected Bajan in the UK sought to dismiss my report until Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris corroborated what Pastor Roger Husbands, PC 720 Allan Goodridge and myself already knew…

Barbados was infiltrated with more than one gang and this is part of the growing criminal activity in the island! Unfortunately, the whole set of Info has just dropped to the wayside like many a 9-Day Wonder in Barbados. But it does not stop the activity, will you go to Boscobel alone?

As 2011 gets ready to assume its rightful place, what are the topics possibly looming ahead? The by-election for St John and its candidacy, will it be a bye or will it be a complete General Election? What about Owen and Mia – will a Peace Accord be brokered? Will there be a new splinter like how the DLP broke from the Bees 55 years ago? Can Obama now he’s generated a successful Comeback, maintain the momentum and look for a 2nd Term? These and more make for the intriguing start of a second decade in the 21st Century!