The Bahama Journal Editorial
For what it is worth, we suggest that all who would wish to help make the Bahamas a safer and healthier place for its citizens and its residents might begin with taking it as fact revealed that, no matter what this or that politician says to the contrary; there is no easy fix to the crime crisis that has for so long engulfed this island-nation of ours.
Were we to move in this direction, we would find that – as a people united in service and love- could and should work together to do more to help stamp out this scourge.
It is also indubitably the case that our great friend to the north [the United States of America] bears a great degree of responsibility for some of the damage done to small island states such as ours where – despite the expenditure of huge amounts of money – gangsters are able to pollute and pervert many who cross their paths.
While this is self-evident to all right-thinking Bahamians, there are still those Bahamians who relish in concocting placeboes or otherwise, conjuring up easy rationalizations concerning a crime problem that has become endemic.
In addition, and therefore regrettably; the question concerning crime, policing and public safety has become highly politicized; with the prime minister claiming that, he was satisfied that the police are doing a good job, and as such, commended them for their work.
In stark contrast, the Opposition Progressive Liberal Party is convinced that, The Free National Movement (FNM) Government has no clue how to tackle crime and has “miserably failed” Bahamians and visitors alike by not dealing with various crime challenges, according to the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).
In a sense, this complaint is far too easy; ignoring as it does, the fact that, the roots of crime run deep in an island-nation that has been described by some, as a smugglers’ paradise.
In this regard, then, both the leadership of the Progressive Liberal Party and that of the Free National Movement and the hundreds of thousands of decent law-abiding people they represent have all been victimized by criminals in our midst.
This is a fact; and so as today we revert to some of what Mr. Ingraham says in his administration’s defense, we note that, the nation’s chief insists, "I am very pleased with the job they are doing. I suspect that they will have even a greater success in the coming weeks and coming months because I suspect they will be more focused on specific areas and persons who are presumed to be involved in significant activity.
Mr. Ingraham also suggested that, "One of our biggest problems in this country is drugs. Drugs are influencing many of the crimes that are being committed - especially those that are related to murder. Many of them are hit killers, where people are contracted to do so, or where there are turf wars between various persons…”
Tellingly, while Mr. Ingraham also admits that, "Our system, to some extent, is not quite functional…” the fact remains that, the system needs serious overhaul, renovation and re-tooling if a dent is to be made in a congeries of problems that continues to pose a clear and present threat to all decent, law-abiding Bahamians and residents.
Indeed, those who lead and those who would lead should be either up and doing or sending out for help in dealing with this crime scourge.
It stands to reason that if there was a quick fix to this nation and to this region’s struggles with the scourge of crime; that so-called ‘solution’ would have been found.
And so, with this conclusion as our opening gambit; we would venture that, the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham’s hope that, he – for whatever reason – expects that – the police will have "greater" successes in the coming weeks and months in battling crime.
The prime minister claims that, “There will be a greater focus on "specific" perpetrators of violent crime within the country…”
Here we presume that whatever the prime minister is saying comes by way of informed advisement from the nation’s top cop, the Commissioner of Police.
While we understand and appreciate what the prime has said about how the police will now go about their work, we seriously question the thinking behind this notion of this or that person labeled as ‘specific perpetrators of violent crime’.
Here we would have thought that, this would have been the norm for our nation’s police force and its proactive leadership.
The sum of the matter then is that, we are today absolutely convinced that, the time has come for all Bahamians to work together to help in rooting out the canker that crime has become in our beloved Bahamas.
December 2nd, 2010
The Bahama Journal Editorial
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
...steps will be taken to commence a judicial review of the decision of Environment Minister Dr Earl Deveaux in his capacity as minister - to allow for the redevelopment of Bell Island in the manner which has been announced by him, his ministry and the Bahamas National Trust (BNT).
Judicial review to be sought over Bell Island decision
tribune242
A JUDICIAL review will be sought over the decision to allow for the redevelopment of Bell Island, according to a local attorney.
In a press release, attorney Keod Smith stated that steps will be taken to start a judicial review of the decision by Environment Minister Earl Deveaux to grant permission to dredge and excavate more than 12 acres of land and sea at the 349-acre island in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.
Plans to dredge three areas to accommodate vessels up to 150 ft long, excavate a marina and redevelop a barge landing, were submitted by Islands of Discovery Ltd after Prince Karim Aga Khan bought the island last year.
The permits will allow developers to excavate 4.32 acres of upland area for the yacht basin, 2.56 acres of marine area for an outer channel, 4.28 acres of marine area for a barge landing and 1.9 acres of marine area for the outer area of the barge landing within 11 months.
Mr Smith said: "I have been authorised to say that steps will be taken to commence judicial review of the decision of Dr Deveaux in his capacity as minister to allow for the redevelopment of Bell Island in the manner which has been announced by him, his ministry and the BNT."
"The impact upon my clients, who are Bahamian citizens, is that the pristine nature of the park and the marine and land habitat of creatures inclusive of those that are endangered and/or under statutory protection will be put in jeopardy.
"This decision therefore will have a grave economic impact upon my clients and followed a process which we assert is both illegal and procedurally unfair."
Mr Smith did not name his clients, stating only that he was approached by concerned citizens who wanted to explore the legal options available to them.
December 01, 2010
tribune242
tribune242
A JUDICIAL review will be sought over the decision to allow for the redevelopment of Bell Island, according to a local attorney.
In a press release, attorney Keod Smith stated that steps will be taken to start a judicial review of the decision by Environment Minister Earl Deveaux to grant permission to dredge and excavate more than 12 acres of land and sea at the 349-acre island in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.
Plans to dredge three areas to accommodate vessels up to 150 ft long, excavate a marina and redevelop a barge landing, were submitted by Islands of Discovery Ltd after Prince Karim Aga Khan bought the island last year.
The permits will allow developers to excavate 4.32 acres of upland area for the yacht basin, 2.56 acres of marine area for an outer channel, 4.28 acres of marine area for a barge landing and 1.9 acres of marine area for the outer area of the barge landing within 11 months.
Mr Smith said: "I have been authorised to say that steps will be taken to commence judicial review of the decision of Dr Deveaux in his capacity as minister to allow for the redevelopment of Bell Island in the manner which has been announced by him, his ministry and the BNT."
"The impact upon my clients, who are Bahamian citizens, is that the pristine nature of the park and the marine and land habitat of creatures inclusive of those that are endangered and/or under statutory protection will be put in jeopardy.
"This decision therefore will have a grave economic impact upon my clients and followed a process which we assert is both illegal and procedurally unfair."
Mr Smith did not name his clients, stating only that he was approached by concerned citizens who wanted to explore the legal options available to them.
December 01, 2010
tribune242
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
...no matter how the next general election turns out: it’s still Ping who is large and in charge
Rough Cut,
By Felix F. Bethel
“…is still me…”
The Bahama Journal
Pindling told me to tell you that no matter who is nominally in charge of today’s Bahamas; is still me – Ping- who is large and in charge.
Here I tell no lie when I tell you that, Pindling himself gave me this message via dream pumped in from God-Knows- Where.
Indeed, just the other night, I had a long series of talks with Pindling.
Not only were these conversations with the Chief long; but in truth, they were all quite strange in that when I talked to him, I got the impression that while I was seeing and hearing and talking with him as one man could ever talk to another, I was quite convinced that somehow or the other, I had figured out how to cross over, have conversations not only with him but also with some of my friends, like Chris Symonnet, who –some years ago – made that cross-life journey to where God-Knows-Where.
Now since, just this morning, I woke to find myself still clothed in a semblance of my right mind, I must conclude that, I did the crossing over; that I did speak to Pindling and Chris and some other people – some of whom I know are currently half-dead.
Incidentally, that happens- you can be half-dead and of course, your demented parents can beat you half to death in their paranoia induced decision that since you are their child, they could go to heroic lengths to beat the devil out of you.
And so they tried with me.
Just the other night; that is to say just the night after one of my boys came back from a journey to a far country; I dreamed a dream; and in that dream, I found myself in the company of a mighty host of people who –interestingly- must have already been dead and gone a long time ago.
In the dream, I recognized Pindling and strangely, the old man recognized me.
Indeed I had the awesome task of presenting and introducing the beloved Pindling to a number of the people he helped make; and so in the dream I dreamed, I saw men and women in a host of guises and disguises.
These men and women – some of them now dead and gone – were alive enough in the dream I dreamed; and strangely while in the dream, Pindling was real enough to me and alive enough to me; in the dream I dreamed, no one but your beloved professor could hear or see him.
Here I can tell you that in one set of encounters that took place in the dream I had, I remember Pindling’s insight to the effect that while he might be gone in the flesh; what he had left behind on the ground in the Bahamas had now come to full fruition and flourish.
And perhaps thus: the arrival of the Aga Khan; the mercilessness of poverty and the plethora of deaths throughout our country and Kerzner and Baha Mar and the opening to Cuba and the opening to China and the wider Pacific; and the deepening of ties to the Caribbean and to the pomp and pageantry that comes with being King George VI Negroes in a time when such types constitute a fast-vanishing species.
But notwithstanding this fact of life in the real world, there they were in their serried series as I saw them eating, drinking and picking their teeth; and for sure, in the dreamscape, I saw people who are – in the new guise of their polished children – today’s movers and shakers.
While I will not name them here and now, you will recognize them by virtue of the fact that they do move and they do shake.
I suspect that, when I saw Pindling just the other night, he wanted me to deliver a message to as many of his fellow-Bahamians to the effect that they should have as little fear of the present or the immediate future because for better or worse; Is still me, [Pindling] who is large and in charge.
But to make this aspect of the story as short and as painless as possible, take note that Ed Moxey was in the dream; and so was another of my friends, Chris Symonnet; who inquired as to how his family was doing on this side.
From this I surmised that the late Pindling was caught making a surprise visit –via whatever zombie express- to share something with the professor – a something that, he just knew the professor would share with you.
And so it goes again; just the other night, I dreamed a dream and in that dream, I caught up with Pindling.
And as I caught up with a then old Pindling, the talked turned to things both personal and political; and the thing that I remember most vividly – thus this typing in the early morning of the day that came after the night when I dreamed the dream whereof I now pluck some nuggets from what seems the depths of my mind.
And now, my fellow Bahamians, we march forward to the dreamscape itself –as I can even now espy that happy terrain; and as you can imagine, the matter involving Pindling and the man he was and the shadow he left are in and of themselves stories sufficient for any number of life-times as lived by any of mine who come after and who would like to know about the days that followed in this man’s mighty wake.
As I saw in and concluded and as Pindling himself concluded in the dream I had, no matter the fact that he was dead and gone, everything in the place and space where he once ran things, continues to be run as if Pindling had never left; that he – in truth and in metaphysical fact of the matter, could not and did not leave office even though he told the Parliament that he was finished with it.
But for sure, it must have dawned on him that while he might have thought he was finished with the House and the Senate and with the pomp and with the pageantry that would come with being Caesar Pindling.
And so it has been - So said; So done ; that, in all the years between the time Pindling died and the time he came back to see me as I slept and dreamed the dream I dreamed; this country has been run by Pindling himself; but this time around in the form of two of his most loyal men – Hubert Alexander Ingraham and Perry Gladstone Christie.
Hovering somewhere in my waking consciousness is the fact – now metaphysical – that Pindling did in truth and in fact have a political brother in the guise of Cecil Vincent Wallace-Whitfield who – yet again- in the world where I would have liked to live, was the best prime minister this blighted land of mine has never had.
That is what was fated to be when Cecil died at the age of sixty in that dread year that was 1990.
As the archival record and records throughout the land and throughout the world attest and do so solemnly affirm, Pindling – the mortal man- died on August 26th. 2000.
Dust to dust; ashes to ashes.
But evidently, things do not work as neatly and as simply in the world where Caesars are made and fashioned from the materials that come with politics; namely media, money and machinations and what these can and do achieve for the people who own them and to the people whose souls and minds are so routinely bought and sold for a pittance.
And so, while this or that Bahamian might aspire to change; the fact of the matter remains: no matter how the next general elections turn out: is still Ping who is large and in charge.
December 2nd, 2010
The Bahama Journal
By Felix F. Bethel
“…is still me…”
The Bahama Journal
Pindling told me to tell you that no matter who is nominally in charge of today’s Bahamas; is still me – Ping- who is large and in charge.
Here I tell no lie when I tell you that, Pindling himself gave me this message via dream pumped in from God-Knows- Where.
Indeed, just the other night, I had a long series of talks with Pindling.
Not only were these conversations with the Chief long; but in truth, they were all quite strange in that when I talked to him, I got the impression that while I was seeing and hearing and talking with him as one man could ever talk to another, I was quite convinced that somehow or the other, I had figured out how to cross over, have conversations not only with him but also with some of my friends, like Chris Symonnet, who –some years ago – made that cross-life journey to where God-Knows-Where.
Now since, just this morning, I woke to find myself still clothed in a semblance of my right mind, I must conclude that, I did the crossing over; that I did speak to Pindling and Chris and some other people – some of whom I know are currently half-dead.
Incidentally, that happens- you can be half-dead and of course, your demented parents can beat you half to death in their paranoia induced decision that since you are their child, they could go to heroic lengths to beat the devil out of you.
And so they tried with me.
Just the other night; that is to say just the night after one of my boys came back from a journey to a far country; I dreamed a dream; and in that dream, I found myself in the company of a mighty host of people who –interestingly- must have already been dead and gone a long time ago.
In the dream, I recognized Pindling and strangely, the old man recognized me.
Indeed I had the awesome task of presenting and introducing the beloved Pindling to a number of the people he helped make; and so in the dream I dreamed, I saw men and women in a host of guises and disguises.
These men and women – some of them now dead and gone – were alive enough in the dream I dreamed; and strangely while in the dream, Pindling was real enough to me and alive enough to me; in the dream I dreamed, no one but your beloved professor could hear or see him.
Here I can tell you that in one set of encounters that took place in the dream I had, I remember Pindling’s insight to the effect that while he might be gone in the flesh; what he had left behind on the ground in the Bahamas had now come to full fruition and flourish.
And perhaps thus: the arrival of the Aga Khan; the mercilessness of poverty and the plethora of deaths throughout our country and Kerzner and Baha Mar and the opening to Cuba and the opening to China and the wider Pacific; and the deepening of ties to the Caribbean and to the pomp and pageantry that comes with being King George VI Negroes in a time when such types constitute a fast-vanishing species.
But notwithstanding this fact of life in the real world, there they were in their serried series as I saw them eating, drinking and picking their teeth; and for sure, in the dreamscape, I saw people who are – in the new guise of their polished children – today’s movers and shakers.
While I will not name them here and now, you will recognize them by virtue of the fact that they do move and they do shake.
I suspect that, when I saw Pindling just the other night, he wanted me to deliver a message to as many of his fellow-Bahamians to the effect that they should have as little fear of the present or the immediate future because for better or worse; Is still me, [Pindling] who is large and in charge.
But to make this aspect of the story as short and as painless as possible, take note that Ed Moxey was in the dream; and so was another of my friends, Chris Symonnet; who inquired as to how his family was doing on this side.
From this I surmised that the late Pindling was caught making a surprise visit –via whatever zombie express- to share something with the professor – a something that, he just knew the professor would share with you.
And so it goes again; just the other night, I dreamed a dream and in that dream, I caught up with Pindling.
And as I caught up with a then old Pindling, the talked turned to things both personal and political; and the thing that I remember most vividly – thus this typing in the early morning of the day that came after the night when I dreamed the dream whereof I now pluck some nuggets from what seems the depths of my mind.
And now, my fellow Bahamians, we march forward to the dreamscape itself –as I can even now espy that happy terrain; and as you can imagine, the matter involving Pindling and the man he was and the shadow he left are in and of themselves stories sufficient for any number of life-times as lived by any of mine who come after and who would like to know about the days that followed in this man’s mighty wake.
As I saw in and concluded and as Pindling himself concluded in the dream I had, no matter the fact that he was dead and gone, everything in the place and space where he once ran things, continues to be run as if Pindling had never left; that he – in truth and in metaphysical fact of the matter, could not and did not leave office even though he told the Parliament that he was finished with it.
But for sure, it must have dawned on him that while he might have thought he was finished with the House and the Senate and with the pomp and with the pageantry that would come with being Caesar Pindling.
And so it has been - So said; So done ; that, in all the years between the time Pindling died and the time he came back to see me as I slept and dreamed the dream I dreamed; this country has been run by Pindling himself; but this time around in the form of two of his most loyal men – Hubert Alexander Ingraham and Perry Gladstone Christie.
Hovering somewhere in my waking consciousness is the fact – now metaphysical – that Pindling did in truth and in fact have a political brother in the guise of Cecil Vincent Wallace-Whitfield who – yet again- in the world where I would have liked to live, was the best prime minister this blighted land of mine has never had.
That is what was fated to be when Cecil died at the age of sixty in that dread year that was 1990.
As the archival record and records throughout the land and throughout the world attest and do so solemnly affirm, Pindling – the mortal man- died on August 26th. 2000.
Dust to dust; ashes to ashes.
But evidently, things do not work as neatly and as simply in the world where Caesars are made and fashioned from the materials that come with politics; namely media, money and machinations and what these can and do achieve for the people who own them and to the people whose souls and minds are so routinely bought and sold for a pittance.
And so, while this or that Bahamian might aspire to change; the fact of the matter remains: no matter how the next general elections turn out: is still Ping who is large and in charge.
December 2nd, 2010
The Bahama Journal
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Alcoholism and other drugs abuse in The Bahamas
Alcoholism – The Hidden Scourge
The Bahama Journal Editorial
That we live in a place and in a time when drugs and alcohol abuse is rampant is the commonsense of the land.
And for sure, the time has come for those who lead to address this problem; since it is the one problem that relates directly to the problems we now have as regards public safety.
What we know for sure is that if this and other problems are to be resolved, those who have the power to tax and authorize spending, should – if only for ‘conscience-sake’ understand and live up to their social responsibility – that being to help the alcoholic and drugs addict get up from under the rubble.
But as we appreciate so very well, most Bahamians just seem not to get it when they are told that, there is [in truth and in fact] a vitally important connection to be made between public health and public safety.
And so what we have is a situation on the ground where practically everyone we know seems content to obsess themselves with the murder count and nonsensical conversations as to what the police should be doing about the so-called crime problem.
In the interim, some of these people ignore the fact that, there are certain social practices that lead directly to what is perceived as the “crime problem’.
Highest on that list of practices would be the indiscriminate and often profligate consumption of liquor, other spirits and a nasty mix of other drugs, licit and illicit alike.
In this regard then, we would suggest that, Bahamians of all strata and all other social conditions, routinely use alcohol as part of their family and community rituals; and for sure, even as very many of these people consume alcohol because it tends to lubricate social intercourse; few of them understand that use can and does sometime lead to abuse.
In addition, abuse sometimes slouches into a full-fledged medical crisis – alcoholism.
Here we suspect that, this problem is far more widespread than many people might recognize and that it may very well help explain the horrendous impact, drugs and alcohol have as regards impairing a person’s judgment; and thus and thereafter the carnage on our streets that comes with all those car crashes that maim and kill so very many people.
In addition, there are all those other instances when intoxicated men and women - with inhibitions lowered – routinely resort to this or that besotted display of so-called masculinity; with this or that knucklehead vowing that he can –as the saying goes- hold his liquor.
Here as night follows day, the person in question poisons himself; this is what intoxication is all about!
And so, there you have it, some of the more god-awful actions are thereafter committed by people who are lurking somewhere or the other on the borderline of insanity – as induced by not only alcohol; but this drug in combination with ganja and pharmaceuticals..
In combination, these produce a veritable witches’ brew of concocted nastiness.
It is this nastiness that leaves families in distress; threatens public safety and which – in and of itself – can be associated with the problems now facing those charged with ensuring public safety.
It is always cause for the greatest distress for us as we visit this or that community or settlement throughout our archipelago when we come across men and women whose lives have been left ravaged and ruined by drugs and alcohol abuse.
Indeed, whether reference is made to some of the settlements in Eleuthera, Exuma, Andros, Abaco, Acklins, Crooked Island – or islands and cays further away – the fact remains that there are far too many of our men and women who are being destroyed by alcohol.
But even more tellingly, as alcohol ravages family life; despoils community and otherwise threatens to upend national development; few people seem to know what is to be done about the matter at hand.
As a necessary consequence of this failure, we now have a situation on our hands where –as the price is totted up – the conclusion beckons that, those who can do something about the matter are either blind to it and its implications; or that they could care less.
Here suffice it to say that, we are absolutely convinced that, the government in concert with its social partners and other interested stake-holders can and should wake to the reality that – if left unchecked and therefore unaddressed – the alcoholism scourge will continue to undermine most of their other efforts.
Evidently, there is a role for the government to play in dealing with this twinned crisis – one where there must be a keener understanding that when a person has been felled by alcoholism or by some other drugs abuse; they need help.
That effort should be led by the government; and thereafter supported by all other right-thinking Bahamians and residents.
November 30th, 2010
The Bahama Journal Editorial
The Bahama Journal Editorial
That we live in a place and in a time when drugs and alcohol abuse is rampant is the commonsense of the land.
And for sure, the time has come for those who lead to address this problem; since it is the one problem that relates directly to the problems we now have as regards public safety.
What we know for sure is that if this and other problems are to be resolved, those who have the power to tax and authorize spending, should – if only for ‘conscience-sake’ understand and live up to their social responsibility – that being to help the alcoholic and drugs addict get up from under the rubble.
But as we appreciate so very well, most Bahamians just seem not to get it when they are told that, there is [in truth and in fact] a vitally important connection to be made between public health and public safety.
And so what we have is a situation on the ground where practically everyone we know seems content to obsess themselves with the murder count and nonsensical conversations as to what the police should be doing about the so-called crime problem.
In the interim, some of these people ignore the fact that, there are certain social practices that lead directly to what is perceived as the “crime problem’.
Highest on that list of practices would be the indiscriminate and often profligate consumption of liquor, other spirits and a nasty mix of other drugs, licit and illicit alike.
In this regard then, we would suggest that, Bahamians of all strata and all other social conditions, routinely use alcohol as part of their family and community rituals; and for sure, even as very many of these people consume alcohol because it tends to lubricate social intercourse; few of them understand that use can and does sometime lead to abuse.
In addition, abuse sometimes slouches into a full-fledged medical crisis – alcoholism.
Here we suspect that, this problem is far more widespread than many people might recognize and that it may very well help explain the horrendous impact, drugs and alcohol have as regards impairing a person’s judgment; and thus and thereafter the carnage on our streets that comes with all those car crashes that maim and kill so very many people.
In addition, there are all those other instances when intoxicated men and women - with inhibitions lowered – routinely resort to this or that besotted display of so-called masculinity; with this or that knucklehead vowing that he can –as the saying goes- hold his liquor.
Here as night follows day, the person in question poisons himself; this is what intoxication is all about!
And so, there you have it, some of the more god-awful actions are thereafter committed by people who are lurking somewhere or the other on the borderline of insanity – as induced by not only alcohol; but this drug in combination with ganja and pharmaceuticals..
In combination, these produce a veritable witches’ brew of concocted nastiness.
It is this nastiness that leaves families in distress; threatens public safety and which – in and of itself – can be associated with the problems now facing those charged with ensuring public safety.
It is always cause for the greatest distress for us as we visit this or that community or settlement throughout our archipelago when we come across men and women whose lives have been left ravaged and ruined by drugs and alcohol abuse.
Indeed, whether reference is made to some of the settlements in Eleuthera, Exuma, Andros, Abaco, Acklins, Crooked Island – or islands and cays further away – the fact remains that there are far too many of our men and women who are being destroyed by alcohol.
But even more tellingly, as alcohol ravages family life; despoils community and otherwise threatens to upend national development; few people seem to know what is to be done about the matter at hand.
As a necessary consequence of this failure, we now have a situation on our hands where –as the price is totted up – the conclusion beckons that, those who can do something about the matter are either blind to it and its implications; or that they could care less.
Here suffice it to say that, we are absolutely convinced that, the government in concert with its social partners and other interested stake-holders can and should wake to the reality that – if left unchecked and therefore unaddressed – the alcoholism scourge will continue to undermine most of their other efforts.
Evidently, there is a role for the government to play in dealing with this twinned crisis – one where there must be a keener understanding that when a person has been felled by alcoholism or by some other drugs abuse; they need help.
That effort should be led by the government; and thereafter supported by all other right-thinking Bahamians and residents.
November 30th, 2010
The Bahama Journal Editorial
Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace... The Free National Movement (FNM) new Man and Standard bearer in the Fort Charlotte constituency
Source: Vanderpool-Wallace a front-runner in Fort Charlotte constituency bid
By KRYSTEL ROLLE
Guardian Staff Reporter
krystel@nasguard.com
Minister of Tourism and Aviation Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace is reportedly considering running in the Fort Charlotte constituency during the next general election.
The constituency is currently held by former Education Minister and Attorney General Alfred Sears. Sears has been the MP for that constituency since 2002.
A Source within the Free National Movement has revealed to The Nassau Guardian that Vanderpool-Wallace is one of the front runners in the race to get the party’s nomination.
“He will most likely be chosen as the candidate for that area,” the party source said.
When asked about the possibility of him running in the Fort Charlotte constituency, without outrightly denying it Vanderpool-Wallace told The Nassau Guardian that he has not “made any official declarations.”
He mentioned, however, that his mother lives in the constituency and he often visits the area.
Vanderpool-Wallace has never ran for a constituency seat. Before moving into front line politics he served as director general in the Ministry of Tourism for 12 years. He has had a long and distinguished career in tourism in both the public and private sector of The Bahamas and in the region.
Vanderpool- Wallace also served as secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). He has also served as chairman of the Management Committee of the Bahamas Tourism Training Center, as a director of both the Central Bank of The Bahamas and the Bank of The Bahamas, and as chairman of the Hotel Corporation of The Bahamas.
Vanderpool-Wallace was appointed to the Senate in 2008. He has served as the tourism minister since then, taking over from Neko Grant (now Minister of Public Works).
Sir Michael Barnett, now chief justice was the last FNM candidate in the Fort Charlotte constituency during the 2007 elections. He lost that bid to Sears.
It is unknown whether Sears will be seeking re-election in the area.
11/29/2010
thenassauguardian
By KRYSTEL ROLLE
Guardian Staff Reporter
krystel@nasguard.com
Minister of Tourism and Aviation Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace is reportedly considering running in the Fort Charlotte constituency during the next general election.
The constituency is currently held by former Education Minister and Attorney General Alfred Sears. Sears has been the MP for that constituency since 2002.
A Source within the Free National Movement has revealed to The Nassau Guardian that Vanderpool-Wallace is one of the front runners in the race to get the party’s nomination.
“He will most likely be chosen as the candidate for that area,” the party source said.
When asked about the possibility of him running in the Fort Charlotte constituency, without outrightly denying it Vanderpool-Wallace told The Nassau Guardian that he has not “made any official declarations.”
He mentioned, however, that his mother lives in the constituency and he often visits the area.
Vanderpool-Wallace has never ran for a constituency seat. Before moving into front line politics he served as director general in the Ministry of Tourism for 12 years. He has had a long and distinguished career in tourism in both the public and private sector of The Bahamas and in the region.
Vanderpool- Wallace also served as secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). He has also served as chairman of the Management Committee of the Bahamas Tourism Training Center, as a director of both the Central Bank of The Bahamas and the Bank of The Bahamas, and as chairman of the Hotel Corporation of The Bahamas.
Vanderpool-Wallace was appointed to the Senate in 2008. He has served as the tourism minister since then, taking over from Neko Grant (now Minister of Public Works).
Sir Michael Barnett, now chief justice was the last FNM candidate in the Fort Charlotte constituency during the 2007 elections. He lost that bid to Sears.
It is unknown whether Sears will be seeking re-election in the area.
11/29/2010
thenassauguardian
Monday, November 29, 2010
Justice Anita Allen is absolutely deserving of her promotion to President of the Court of Appeal
This Time, Every One Got it Right
The Bahama Journal Editorial
Like others who would like to be on the right side of things for as long as this is humanly possible; we say without cant or equivocation that, [and here, however this wonderful thing was done] the fact now remains that, all who had to weigh in on the decision to have Justice Anita Allen elevated to the high post of President of the Court of Appeal, have all gotten this one -- this time around-- quite right.
We too congratulate this fine jurist, who in a life-time of dedicated service has also been wife and mother – and confidante par excellence to some whose path she crossed.
We also thank her husband, the Hon. Algernon S.P.B. Allen for the part that he has clearly played –as husband and as life-long friend to his ‘Nita’.
Yet again, we insist, this good friend of ours is a jolly good fellow; and a nation-builder in his own right; and so today, we wish the Allen and Bethel families as we weigh in with deserved kudos to Senior Justice Allen on her assumption of her new post.
She is absolutely deserving of this promotion.
For her part, Justice Allen indicated that, she was humbled as well as uplifted by the outpouring of congratulations and by the confidence placed in her by the appointment.
And she stated - "I assure the Prime Minister and the people of the Bahamas who seek justice before the Court of Appeal that my colleagues and I will dispense justice in accordance with the highest judicial standards…”
And ever gracious, Justice Allen thanked her predecessor in office by noting that; "I offer my thanks to my predecessor in office, Dame Joan Sawyer who has given long service to the judiciary. I congratulate her for her efforts in cultivating the relationship between the Bahamas and the Privy Council and for enhancing the delivery of justice in the Court of Appeal through computerization and other innovations…"
As the new president also suggested, “Let me state emphatically that the collegiality and necessary interaction between the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal must be restored and nurtured. There must never be an appearance of an adversarial stance between the two courts… they must be complementary to each other while exercising separate jurisdictions."
In addition, she indicated that, "I believe the establishment of a judicial council or judicial studies abroad which has as its function the provision of judicial education is also timely and will improve the quality of justice in our Bahama land.
"We already have a cadre of judges, retired judges, registrars and magistrates who are trained at the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute in Halifax, Canada, and who can assist in the development and implementation of judicial education programmes."
We second this motion; and yet again –as we learn from recent media reports - “New Court of Appeal President Anita Allen called her appointment to the head of the Bahamas' appellate court the "culmination and exclamation point of a lifelong love and passion for the law."
Here we can also note that, “Judge Allen, formerly a senior justice of the Supreme Court, was sworn in [this Friday past] as the new president of the Bahamas Court of Appeal at a brief ceremony at Government House attended by about 300 guests.
As Judge Allen so rightly stated – “There are defining moments in one's life, and certainly, today is one of them for me. It is the culmination and exclamation point of a lifelong love of and passion for the law…"
How very beautiful; and here we repeat for deserved emphasis, ““There are defining moments in one's life, and certainly, today is one of them for me. It is the culmination and exclamation point of a lifelong love of and passion for the law…"
And indeed, there are those defining moments in every life; where some taken do lead to a life of service; grounded in love for a nation and its people.
By the same token, there are times in life when once embarked on the wrong road – the word everywhere blares out the words, No Exit.
Evidently, the moral in the tale – as illuminated in Justice Allen’s poignant words is that, we should all take time to know better than better how the time one has been allotted will be spent.
Therefore, you must be ever so careful once this choice of path ahead confronts and begs for decision.
Anita Allen took a road that has led to the pinnacle of success in her vocation; and so today, we attest and affirm that, we are in fullest agreement with the nation’s Chief when he says that, Justice Anita Allen was "well qualified and suited to be elevated to the Court of Appeal."
Yes and of course, yes – this fine Bahamian is eminently qualified for the post that is now hers.
November 29th, 2010
The Bahama Journal Editorial
The Bahama Journal Editorial
Like others who would like to be on the right side of things for as long as this is humanly possible; we say without cant or equivocation that, [and here, however this wonderful thing was done] the fact now remains that, all who had to weigh in on the decision to have Justice Anita Allen elevated to the high post of President of the Court of Appeal, have all gotten this one -- this time around-- quite right.
We too congratulate this fine jurist, who in a life-time of dedicated service has also been wife and mother – and confidante par excellence to some whose path she crossed.
We also thank her husband, the Hon. Algernon S.P.B. Allen for the part that he has clearly played –as husband and as life-long friend to his ‘Nita’.
Yet again, we insist, this good friend of ours is a jolly good fellow; and a nation-builder in his own right; and so today, we wish the Allen and Bethel families as we weigh in with deserved kudos to Senior Justice Allen on her assumption of her new post.
She is absolutely deserving of this promotion.
For her part, Justice Allen indicated that, she was humbled as well as uplifted by the outpouring of congratulations and by the confidence placed in her by the appointment.
And she stated - "I assure the Prime Minister and the people of the Bahamas who seek justice before the Court of Appeal that my colleagues and I will dispense justice in accordance with the highest judicial standards…”
And ever gracious, Justice Allen thanked her predecessor in office by noting that; "I offer my thanks to my predecessor in office, Dame Joan Sawyer who has given long service to the judiciary. I congratulate her for her efforts in cultivating the relationship between the Bahamas and the Privy Council and for enhancing the delivery of justice in the Court of Appeal through computerization and other innovations…"
As the new president also suggested, “Let me state emphatically that the collegiality and necessary interaction between the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal must be restored and nurtured. There must never be an appearance of an adversarial stance between the two courts… they must be complementary to each other while exercising separate jurisdictions."
In addition, she indicated that, "I believe the establishment of a judicial council or judicial studies abroad which has as its function the provision of judicial education is also timely and will improve the quality of justice in our Bahama land.
"We already have a cadre of judges, retired judges, registrars and magistrates who are trained at the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute in Halifax, Canada, and who can assist in the development and implementation of judicial education programmes."
We second this motion; and yet again –as we learn from recent media reports - “New Court of Appeal President Anita Allen called her appointment to the head of the Bahamas' appellate court the "culmination and exclamation point of a lifelong love and passion for the law."
Here we can also note that, “Judge Allen, formerly a senior justice of the Supreme Court, was sworn in [this Friday past] as the new president of the Bahamas Court of Appeal at a brief ceremony at Government House attended by about 300 guests.
As Judge Allen so rightly stated – “There are defining moments in one's life, and certainly, today is one of them for me. It is the culmination and exclamation point of a lifelong love of and passion for the law…"
How very beautiful; and here we repeat for deserved emphasis, ““There are defining moments in one's life, and certainly, today is one of them for me. It is the culmination and exclamation point of a lifelong love of and passion for the law…"
And indeed, there are those defining moments in every life; where some taken do lead to a life of service; grounded in love for a nation and its people.
By the same token, there are times in life when once embarked on the wrong road – the word everywhere blares out the words, No Exit.
Evidently, the moral in the tale – as illuminated in Justice Allen’s poignant words is that, we should all take time to know better than better how the time one has been allotted will be spent.
Therefore, you must be ever so careful once this choice of path ahead confronts and begs for decision.
Anita Allen took a road that has led to the pinnacle of success in her vocation; and so today, we attest and affirm that, we are in fullest agreement with the nation’s Chief when he says that, Justice Anita Allen was "well qualified and suited to be elevated to the Court of Appeal."
Yes and of course, yes – this fine Bahamian is eminently qualified for the post that is now hers.
November 29th, 2010
The Bahama Journal Editorial
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The history of the Baha Mar project
The history of the 1,000 acre Baha Mar project
BY LARRY SMITH
AFTER years of manoeuvering over the 1,000-acre Baha Mar project on Cable Beach, the Ingraham government (in its own words) has finally made sweet lemonade from the sour fruit left on the table by the Christie administration.
In April 2005 the newly formed Baha Mar Development Company (owned by a Lyford Cay-based property developer named Sarkis Izmirlian) bought three aging hotels on the Cable Beach strip with a $200 million loan from the Bank of Nova Scotia. The venerable Nassau Beach was subsequently closed, while the Crystal Palace and Cable Beach Hotels were renovated and re-branded.
That same year Baha Mar concluded an agreement with the Christie administration for a $1 billion-plus development, including several hotels, a casino, retail village, convention centre, expanded golf course, and beach and pool amenities. Ironically, had the project got underway when it was supposed to, it would have opened in the midst of the Great Recession - with potentially devastating consequences.
Side agreements to the 2005 agreement included deferred taxes that could later be paid in instalments, a $20 million marketing contribution from the Ministry of Tourism, and a commitment to upgrade the airport and other infrastructure.
There was also an agreement to transfer to the developer hundreds of acres of both Crown and government land on Cable Beach worth an estimated $150 million.
However, Baha Mar proved unable to raise $400 million in capital, show evidence of further financing, produce detailed plans, or attract world class partners by the agreement's stated deadline of October 2006.
With an election approaching, the Christie government scrambled to revive the project. And by early 2007 it had been reorganised as a joint venture with Harrah's Entertainment. The planned capital spent more than doubled to $2.6 billion (along with more than a quarter billion dollars in government concessions) and promoters were hailing the project as unprecedented in scope and character.
The revised project included a larger casino, double the meeting room space, and 1200 more hotel rooms.
But despite "vigorous negotiations" a deal could not be finalised before May 2007. And when the electoral dust had settled, Perry Christie was replaced as prime minister by Hubert Ingraham, who immediately launched a review of the project.
Although the new government eventually decided it would abide by the 2005 terms, Baha Mar insisted on further negotiations, according to the prime minister. And by February 2008 he unveiled a supplemental Heads of Agreement that trimmed some of the concessions given three years earlier.
"There is high expectation by the Bahamian public about the Baha Mar project," Ingraham acknowledged in March, 2008 during passage of a parliamentary resolution to authorise the transfer of public lands to the developer. "We will do all we can to facilitate it, but I do not want to oversell it."
March 2009 was the new deadline set for the government's conditions to be met so that the deal could be finalised. But long before that could happen, Harrah's got cold feet due to the economic downturn and pulled out of the partnership, putting the whole project in jeopardy. Unable to obtain regular financing in the capital markets, Baha Mar turned to the cash-rich Chinese government to save the development.
Earlier this year, China's Export-Import Bank agreed to arrange $2.5 billion in financing, and Beijing's state-owned construction corporation signed on to build the project, which will feature six hotels and add 3,500 hotel rooms and condos to the country's current inventory of 15,000 - more than half of which in Nassau.
Following the prime minister's recent trip to China to firm up the details of the construction arrangements, the House of Assembly unanimously passed a government-sponsored resolution to approve the project, including the unprecedented issuance of up to 8,150 work permits for non-Bahamian construction workers.
After talks with the Chinese, Ingraham was able to announce that he had doubled the share of business for Bahamian subcontractors, with more than construction 4,000 jobs now on offer, and that some $8 million would be spent on training programmes for Bahamian workers.
"We put down some benchmarks, like the $400 million in Bahamian contracts, and said if they accepted our terms we would approve the project by the end of November," the prime minister told me.
"We always disclose the terms of deals - not like the PLP when they signed the 2005 Baha Mar Heads of Agreement with a confidentiality clause, and contemporaneously issued side letters containing larger exemptions from taxes and committing even more public money in violation of the (phase three) deal they had agreed with Kerzner two years earlier."
In fact, this last point has proven to be the only remaining fly in the Cable Beach lemonade.
The prime minister does not accept that the current Baha Mar deal violates the guarantees to Atlantis developer Sol Kerzner that no subsequent investor would get more favourable terms. Kerzner's complaint focused on the ratio of Bahamian to non-Bahamian construction workers, presumably because Baha Mar will benefit from a cheaper, more skilled, and more productive labour force.
"Among the many requirements that the government imposed (on us) was a strict rule that at least 70 per cent of the total construction labour force would be Bahamian. However, this new (Baha Mar) deal will constitute a complete reversal of (that) standard," Kerzner said angrily.
The prime minister's response is that "the government will review Kerzner's claim and seek to resolve all issues."
The question of whether the Bahamas can accommodate thousands of new hotel rooms opening at the same time is another issue for Atlantis.
"The reason is that the tourism infrastructure needs to catch up to additional demand.
"Airlift is not going to grow and develop in one day just because another 3,000 luxury rooms are opened. And I think that is very critical...and not easily done," Managing Director George Markantonis told The Tribune recently.
The Baha Mar project will get underway before the end of this year, with contracts awarded to Bahamian firms. The China State Construction & Engineering Company should begin work by the spring, and the project could be substantially completed by 2014.
In response to market concerns, Baha Mar has agreed to stagger the opening of the new hotels over a five-month period stretching into 2015, and close the Crystal Palace Hotel during renovations.
According to the Chinese, the project relies on being developed, marketed and operated as a single phase "to induce demand that would not otherwise exist for a series of standalone hotels."
They point out that the Hyatt, Morgan's and Rosewood hotel companies are investing $62 million of their own money into the project, and note that the airport will be redeveloped by the time Baha Mar opens. Expectations are that the tourism market will have rebounded by then.
Another issue that has received somewhat less attention in the media is the provision of water and power for such a massive project being built and brought on stream at one time. As we all know, these commodities are relatively scarce on New Providence these days, and there are fears that our infrastructure will be further strained in the short-term.
In fact, BEC will need to generate an additional 25 megawatts of electricity to accommodate the projected power demand for Baha Mar.
And the developer is supposed to cover the cost of a new BEC substation, as well as build a central sewerage system, and a reverse osmosis plant for potable water.
Although there was understandable shock and dismay when Baha Mar's requirement for such a large foreign labour component first became known, public opinion seems to have quickly moved to accept the inevitable - no doubt fully motivated by the recession.
For example, in June of this year the PLP said it would not involve itself in the decision to allow thousands of Chinese workers into the country and seemed determined to let the government twist in the wind. But only two months later they were singing a different tune, based on the state of the economy.
And from the sense of jubilation conveyed by the government since the Baha Mar deal was approved, it seems that the studied scepticism of the past few years was aimed not only at getting the best deal possible in a difficult environment, but also at drawing the opposition into a full embrace of the project's current framework in order to minimize the obvious political risks.
As one well-connected insider told me: "I'm sure there was some political thinking involved, but for the most part it was to get a doable deal."
What do you think?
Send comments to
larry@tribunemedia.net
Or visit www.bahamapundit.com
November 24, 2010
tribune242
BY LARRY SMITH
AFTER years of manoeuvering over the 1,000-acre Baha Mar project on Cable Beach, the Ingraham government (in its own words) has finally made sweet lemonade from the sour fruit left on the table by the Christie administration.
In April 2005 the newly formed Baha Mar Development Company (owned by a Lyford Cay-based property developer named Sarkis Izmirlian) bought three aging hotels on the Cable Beach strip with a $200 million loan from the Bank of Nova Scotia. The venerable Nassau Beach was subsequently closed, while the Crystal Palace and Cable Beach Hotels were renovated and re-branded.
That same year Baha Mar concluded an agreement with the Christie administration for a $1 billion-plus development, including several hotels, a casino, retail village, convention centre, expanded golf course, and beach and pool amenities. Ironically, had the project got underway when it was supposed to, it would have opened in the midst of the Great Recession - with potentially devastating consequences.
Side agreements to the 2005 agreement included deferred taxes that could later be paid in instalments, a $20 million marketing contribution from the Ministry of Tourism, and a commitment to upgrade the airport and other infrastructure.
There was also an agreement to transfer to the developer hundreds of acres of both Crown and government land on Cable Beach worth an estimated $150 million.
However, Baha Mar proved unable to raise $400 million in capital, show evidence of further financing, produce detailed plans, or attract world class partners by the agreement's stated deadline of October 2006.
With an election approaching, the Christie government scrambled to revive the project. And by early 2007 it had been reorganised as a joint venture with Harrah's Entertainment. The planned capital spent more than doubled to $2.6 billion (along with more than a quarter billion dollars in government concessions) and promoters were hailing the project as unprecedented in scope and character.
The revised project included a larger casino, double the meeting room space, and 1200 more hotel rooms.
But despite "vigorous negotiations" a deal could not be finalised before May 2007. And when the electoral dust had settled, Perry Christie was replaced as prime minister by Hubert Ingraham, who immediately launched a review of the project.
Although the new government eventually decided it would abide by the 2005 terms, Baha Mar insisted on further negotiations, according to the prime minister. And by February 2008 he unveiled a supplemental Heads of Agreement that trimmed some of the concessions given three years earlier.
"There is high expectation by the Bahamian public about the Baha Mar project," Ingraham acknowledged in March, 2008 during passage of a parliamentary resolution to authorise the transfer of public lands to the developer. "We will do all we can to facilitate it, but I do not want to oversell it."
March 2009 was the new deadline set for the government's conditions to be met so that the deal could be finalised. But long before that could happen, Harrah's got cold feet due to the economic downturn and pulled out of the partnership, putting the whole project in jeopardy. Unable to obtain regular financing in the capital markets, Baha Mar turned to the cash-rich Chinese government to save the development.
Earlier this year, China's Export-Import Bank agreed to arrange $2.5 billion in financing, and Beijing's state-owned construction corporation signed on to build the project, which will feature six hotels and add 3,500 hotel rooms and condos to the country's current inventory of 15,000 - more than half of which in Nassau.
Following the prime minister's recent trip to China to firm up the details of the construction arrangements, the House of Assembly unanimously passed a government-sponsored resolution to approve the project, including the unprecedented issuance of up to 8,150 work permits for non-Bahamian construction workers.
After talks with the Chinese, Ingraham was able to announce that he had doubled the share of business for Bahamian subcontractors, with more than construction 4,000 jobs now on offer, and that some $8 million would be spent on training programmes for Bahamian workers.
"We put down some benchmarks, like the $400 million in Bahamian contracts, and said if they accepted our terms we would approve the project by the end of November," the prime minister told me.
"We always disclose the terms of deals - not like the PLP when they signed the 2005 Baha Mar Heads of Agreement with a confidentiality clause, and contemporaneously issued side letters containing larger exemptions from taxes and committing even more public money in violation of the (phase three) deal they had agreed with Kerzner two years earlier."
In fact, this last point has proven to be the only remaining fly in the Cable Beach lemonade.
The prime minister does not accept that the current Baha Mar deal violates the guarantees to Atlantis developer Sol Kerzner that no subsequent investor would get more favourable terms. Kerzner's complaint focused on the ratio of Bahamian to non-Bahamian construction workers, presumably because Baha Mar will benefit from a cheaper, more skilled, and more productive labour force.
"Among the many requirements that the government imposed (on us) was a strict rule that at least 70 per cent of the total construction labour force would be Bahamian. However, this new (Baha Mar) deal will constitute a complete reversal of (that) standard," Kerzner said angrily.
The prime minister's response is that "the government will review Kerzner's claim and seek to resolve all issues."
The question of whether the Bahamas can accommodate thousands of new hotel rooms opening at the same time is another issue for Atlantis.
"The reason is that the tourism infrastructure needs to catch up to additional demand.
"Airlift is not going to grow and develop in one day just because another 3,000 luxury rooms are opened. And I think that is very critical...and not easily done," Managing Director George Markantonis told The Tribune recently.
The Baha Mar project will get underway before the end of this year, with contracts awarded to Bahamian firms. The China State Construction & Engineering Company should begin work by the spring, and the project could be substantially completed by 2014.
In response to market concerns, Baha Mar has agreed to stagger the opening of the new hotels over a five-month period stretching into 2015, and close the Crystal Palace Hotel during renovations.
According to the Chinese, the project relies on being developed, marketed and operated as a single phase "to induce demand that would not otherwise exist for a series of standalone hotels."
They point out that the Hyatt, Morgan's and Rosewood hotel companies are investing $62 million of their own money into the project, and note that the airport will be redeveloped by the time Baha Mar opens. Expectations are that the tourism market will have rebounded by then.
Another issue that has received somewhat less attention in the media is the provision of water and power for such a massive project being built and brought on stream at one time. As we all know, these commodities are relatively scarce on New Providence these days, and there are fears that our infrastructure will be further strained in the short-term.
In fact, BEC will need to generate an additional 25 megawatts of electricity to accommodate the projected power demand for Baha Mar.
And the developer is supposed to cover the cost of a new BEC substation, as well as build a central sewerage system, and a reverse osmosis plant for potable water.
Although there was understandable shock and dismay when Baha Mar's requirement for such a large foreign labour component first became known, public opinion seems to have quickly moved to accept the inevitable - no doubt fully motivated by the recession.
For example, in June of this year the PLP said it would not involve itself in the decision to allow thousands of Chinese workers into the country and seemed determined to let the government twist in the wind. But only two months later they were singing a different tune, based on the state of the economy.
And from the sense of jubilation conveyed by the government since the Baha Mar deal was approved, it seems that the studied scepticism of the past few years was aimed not only at getting the best deal possible in a difficult environment, but also at drawing the opposition into a full embrace of the project's current framework in order to minimize the obvious political risks.
As one well-connected insider told me: "I'm sure there was some political thinking involved, but for the most part it was to get a doable deal."
What do you think?
Send comments to
larry@tribunemedia.net
Or visit www.bahamapundit.com
November 24, 2010
tribune242
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)