The lottery and the church
thenassauguardian editorial
It seems that at least once a year the issue concerning a lottery in The Bahamas raises its head. Each time the subject comes up, it raises arguments among members of the public and puts up the dividing wall between the church and government. Yet, each year the subject comes up, the same arguments prevail and the same results are experienced.
Nothing happens and the subject dies down.
Of course the Christian Council continues to stand against the formation of a lottery, claiming that it would further sink this country into a mire of immorality.
With a high crime rate, an increase in sexually transmitted diseases, a high rate of high school drop outs, an ever increasing turn by many to alternative lifestyles and the constant Bahamian past time of “sweet hearting” one can only wonder if the country has not reached the bottom of the barrel of immorality.
In decades past, the church’s view was highly respected, which explains why every time the subject of a lottery came up and the church protested, it was pushed aside, without another thought.
Now, with some consideration being given to the idea, it proves that the respect which the church in The Bahamas once held is waning. With so much of its own dirty laundry being placed into the public light, the church no doubt has issues of its own.
But have we reached that point in our nation’s history where the voice of reason, justice and fair play is no longer being adhered to? If that is the case, then God help us.
Some claim that the reason many pastors are against the formation of a lottery is because they fear losing tithes and offerings to a gambling practice. But pastors, in taking their stand against the lottery, say they fear that it would destroy households, as husbands would then use their money to play the lottery in hopes of winning.
If the ratio of men to homes in this country is correct, then no doubt this argument is moot. To think that single mothers would take hard earned money to play the lottery instead of feeding and clothing their families goes beyond reason.
But it can certainly happen.
However, the truth is, those parents who are responsible without a lottery would continue to be responsible with a lottery.
After all, games of chance can be bought on just about every corner in the country.
Yet, only those who are willing to take that risk with those games of chance continue to do so.
Those who are not interested are not moved.
12/3/2010
thenassauguardian 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.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
When Social Institutions Fail
The Bahama Journal Editorial
For want of a more comprehensive understanding of what national development should be about; the Bahamian people and their leaders now wallow in a mire of despond.
And as they wallow, we have a situation on the ground where the hard men and women with guns in hand and murder in their hearts, are doing their thing.
And in a sense – as if they were so very many lambs on the way to slaughter, tens of thousands of this nation’s youth routinely trudge to schools where they are patted down, searched and treated as if they were thugs in the making.
And then, there are all those other persons – with most of them being mature women – who spend the bulk of their time in the precincts of this or that Church-house in search of salvation.
As the killing continues; and as the stealing and marauding runs amok; there are those Bahamians who might be tempted to think that these phenomena are – for whatever reason- grounded in an economy that is struggling to get up from under the ravages of a truly Great Recession.
This is not the case.
Indeed, any examination of the record would show that, Bahamians have been killing each other in the best of times and in the worst of times; and so have they been known to steal from and otherwise rip each other off – this they have also done in good and in so-called bad times.
The explanation is far simpler: Bahamians have consistently failed themselves by clinging to the belief that it is money that matters most of all – thus their collective failure to cultivate things of the spirit; and thus the incipient failure of some of this society’s most basic institutions.
Here we would suggest that, the question is: when social institutions fail; then, so what?
Here the answer is simple enough: when institutions fail, people are left to fend for themselves; and as they fend for themselves, life –invariably- becomes harsher and harsher.
And as life becomes harsher and harsher, respect for the human person and for life itself is left in the balances. Thereafter anarchy and brutishness are seeded and in short order, they spawn a canker of distress.
In time, the law of the jungle takes root.
One of the more interesting aspects of this matter as it relates to breakdown and decay; the collapse of law, order and even the simplest of inter-personal decencies happens to be the fact that, as institutions crumble; those of the counterfeit ilk sometimes sprout.
Indeed, we see this phenomenon of the fake running rampant in a number of crucially important areas of our shared social life: we see it in our churches; our homes; in our schools; on our streets; at the work-place; and in our neighborhoods.
As regards the home and the degradation of a vitally important social institution; the evidence is clear that very many of this nation’s so-called homes are little more than domestic battle-fields where men and women routinely abuse each other; often to the despair and distress of their children.
Homes are failing men, women and children.
Sadly, this failure migrates from home to school; where –as the evidence reveals- very many students arrive armed to the teeth; with some of them as drunk as hell; and with the vast majority left to bide their time.
And so, school as an institution is failing the Bahamian people.
And whether this or that preacher-man, self-styled apostle or other religious believes it or not; very many of our nation’s churches have come to be seen as being simply irrelevant.
Were it otherwise, we would surely have less of the hate; less of the spite and less of the anger and rage that currently pervades the minds of so very many seemingly Godless people in a consumer-driven small island developing state such as ours just happens to be in this space and in this time.
And so, in a substantial kind of way, very many of our churches have already failed.
Evidently, therefore, this neatly explains how it now arises that our streets are spaces where one Bahamian or the other runs the risk of dying on the spot were he to somehow or the other offend another road-user.
And as we have noted on numerous occasions; failure is sometimes rooted in neighborhoods where this or that neighbor just so happens to [be] the thief who rips of all and sundry; this as he plays an infernal game of catch-me-if-you- can.
In addition, if reference is made to the work place; what we have – as opposed to teams pulling together – happens to be this or that clique working to undermine another.
Taken together, these failures illuminate what happens when the blind lead the blind; and so it remains, for the want of vision our people perish.
December 3rd, 2010
The Bahama Journal Editorial
For want of a more comprehensive understanding of what national development should be about; the Bahamian people and their leaders now wallow in a mire of despond.
And as they wallow, we have a situation on the ground where the hard men and women with guns in hand and murder in their hearts, are doing their thing.
And in a sense – as if they were so very many lambs on the way to slaughter, tens of thousands of this nation’s youth routinely trudge to schools where they are patted down, searched and treated as if they were thugs in the making.
And then, there are all those other persons – with most of them being mature women – who spend the bulk of their time in the precincts of this or that Church-house in search of salvation.
As the killing continues; and as the stealing and marauding runs amok; there are those Bahamians who might be tempted to think that these phenomena are – for whatever reason- grounded in an economy that is struggling to get up from under the ravages of a truly Great Recession.
This is not the case.
Indeed, any examination of the record would show that, Bahamians have been killing each other in the best of times and in the worst of times; and so have they been known to steal from and otherwise rip each other off – this they have also done in good and in so-called bad times.
The explanation is far simpler: Bahamians have consistently failed themselves by clinging to the belief that it is money that matters most of all – thus their collective failure to cultivate things of the spirit; and thus the incipient failure of some of this society’s most basic institutions.
Here we would suggest that, the question is: when social institutions fail; then, so what?
Here the answer is simple enough: when institutions fail, people are left to fend for themselves; and as they fend for themselves, life –invariably- becomes harsher and harsher.
And as life becomes harsher and harsher, respect for the human person and for life itself is left in the balances. Thereafter anarchy and brutishness are seeded and in short order, they spawn a canker of distress.
In time, the law of the jungle takes root.
One of the more interesting aspects of this matter as it relates to breakdown and decay; the collapse of law, order and even the simplest of inter-personal decencies happens to be the fact that, as institutions crumble; those of the counterfeit ilk sometimes sprout.
Indeed, we see this phenomenon of the fake running rampant in a number of crucially important areas of our shared social life: we see it in our churches; our homes; in our schools; on our streets; at the work-place; and in our neighborhoods.
As regards the home and the degradation of a vitally important social institution; the evidence is clear that very many of this nation’s so-called homes are little more than domestic battle-fields where men and women routinely abuse each other; often to the despair and distress of their children.
Homes are failing men, women and children.
Sadly, this failure migrates from home to school; where –as the evidence reveals- very many students arrive armed to the teeth; with some of them as drunk as hell; and with the vast majority left to bide their time.
And so, school as an institution is failing the Bahamian people.
And whether this or that preacher-man, self-styled apostle or other religious believes it or not; very many of our nation’s churches have come to be seen as being simply irrelevant.
Were it otherwise, we would surely have less of the hate; less of the spite and less of the anger and rage that currently pervades the minds of so very many seemingly Godless people in a consumer-driven small island developing state such as ours just happens to be in this space and in this time.
And so, in a substantial kind of way, very many of our churches have already failed.
Evidently, therefore, this neatly explains how it now arises that our streets are spaces where one Bahamian or the other runs the risk of dying on the spot were he to somehow or the other offend another road-user.
And as we have noted on numerous occasions; failure is sometimes rooted in neighborhoods where this or that neighbor just so happens to [be] the thief who rips of all and sundry; this as he plays an infernal game of catch-me-if-you- can.
In addition, if reference is made to the work place; what we have – as opposed to teams pulling together – happens to be this or that clique working to undermine another.
Taken together, these failures illuminate what happens when the blind lead the blind; and so it remains, for the want of vision our people perish.
December 3rd, 2010
The Bahama Journal Editorial
HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention
Education and prevention
thenassauguardian editorial
It was interesting to hear an official from the Bahamas AIDS Foundation during a talk radio show say that AIDS has been downgraded to a communicable disease from a killer disease.
She went on to explain that because of the advancement in medicine, it is now possible for people to live with the disease longer and stronger.
While that is good news, it makes one wonder if such information would only add to the nonchalant attitude that many people currently have towards AIDS - especially young people.
The fact that AIDS can be downgraded may cause some to let down their guard about their sexual responsibility. There is the fear that now that new medicines are being made available to not just manage the disease, but allow people to live longer, some may no longer take the risk of contracting the disease as serious as they would have in the past.
But the truth is, even in the face of medical advancement AIDS is still a silent killer in The Bahamas.
Usually, that characteristic was given to hypertension, which has no warning signs, but able to strike at any minute.
Over the past few years, since the initial all out campaigns to try and stop the spread of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) it has gone on to kill millions every year.
Here are some facts – 33.4 million people are living with AIDS worldwide.
Of that number close to 300,000 of those people reside within the Caribbean. Further, since the end of 2008, 12,000 people within the Caribbean have died from AIDS related illnesses.
It was good to see the focus return to the AIDS epidemic during World AIDS Day on December 1, because for the past few years people seemed to have forgotten about the killer disease.
Some how, as the world got crazier and as the world turned its attention to terrorism, it seemed as if the focus on AIDS education had waned. AIDS had become yesterday’s news. But the truth is, AIDS is still out there and it is still affecting millions of people everyday.
The sexual promiscuity among our young people and adults is an indication that the necessary sex education and discussions about AIDS had dwindled greatly. We must return to spreading the word that AIDS is still a killer disease.
Yes, even in the face of the most modern of medicines, we must continue to warn people about the importance of being sexually responsible. Casual sex is no longer a trend that has no consequences.
We have reached a point now where a stigma has been attached to people infected with AIDS. But times have changed.
It is that same stigma which has caused many affected Bahamians not to step forward and seek medical help. They are afraid of the tag that would be attached to them.
However, in our educational revamp of AIDS and HIV, removing such a stigma associated with this disease must also take place.
Unlike other sexually transmitted diseases in the past which may have gone away with time, or treated effectively, AIDS has not gone away. It continues to take lives on a daily basis. We must turn our attention again to education and prevention.
12/2/2010
thenassauguardian editorial
thenassauguardian editorial
It was interesting to hear an official from the Bahamas AIDS Foundation during a talk radio show say that AIDS has been downgraded to a communicable disease from a killer disease.
She went on to explain that because of the advancement in medicine, it is now possible for people to live with the disease longer and stronger.
While that is good news, it makes one wonder if such information would only add to the nonchalant attitude that many people currently have towards AIDS - especially young people.
The fact that AIDS can be downgraded may cause some to let down their guard about their sexual responsibility. There is the fear that now that new medicines are being made available to not just manage the disease, but allow people to live longer, some may no longer take the risk of contracting the disease as serious as they would have in the past.
But the truth is, even in the face of medical advancement AIDS is still a silent killer in The Bahamas.
Usually, that characteristic was given to hypertension, which has no warning signs, but able to strike at any minute.
Over the past few years, since the initial all out campaigns to try and stop the spread of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) it has gone on to kill millions every year.
Here are some facts – 33.4 million people are living with AIDS worldwide.
Of that number close to 300,000 of those people reside within the Caribbean. Further, since the end of 2008, 12,000 people within the Caribbean have died from AIDS related illnesses.
It was good to see the focus return to the AIDS epidemic during World AIDS Day on December 1, because for the past few years people seemed to have forgotten about the killer disease.
Some how, as the world got crazier and as the world turned its attention to terrorism, it seemed as if the focus on AIDS education had waned. AIDS had become yesterday’s news. But the truth is, AIDS is still out there and it is still affecting millions of people everyday.
The sexual promiscuity among our young people and adults is an indication that the necessary sex education and discussions about AIDS had dwindled greatly. We must return to spreading the word that AIDS is still a killer disease.
Yes, even in the face of the most modern of medicines, we must continue to warn people about the importance of being sexually responsible. Casual sex is no longer a trend that has no consequences.
We have reached a point now where a stigma has been attached to people infected with AIDS. But times have changed.
It is that same stigma which has caused many affected Bahamians not to step forward and seek medical help. They are afraid of the tag that would be attached to them.
However, in our educational revamp of AIDS and HIV, removing such a stigma associated with this disease must also take place.
Unlike other sexually transmitted diseases in the past which may have gone away with time, or treated effectively, AIDS has not gone away. It continues to take lives on a daily basis. We must turn our attention again to education and prevention.
12/2/2010
thenassauguardian editorial
Thursday, December 2, 2010
No Quick Fix to Crime Crisis
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
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
...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
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