A ban on smoking in public places in The Bahamas would save lives... and help reduce healthcare costs for Bahamians

Ban smoking in public places

thenassauguardian editorial




Smoking kills. The Bahamas needs to ban smoking inside public places to preserve the health of those who do not smoke.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says secondhand smoke exposure causes an estimated 3,400 lung cancer deaths annually among adult non-smokers in the U.S. The CDC also notes that secondhand smoke exposure causes an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths annually among adult non-smokers in the US.

We live in a free society. Adults who choose to smoke, knowing the dangers of the practice, are free to face the consequences of their actions. Banning smoking inside enclosed restaurants, casinos, enclosed nightclubs and other public places will help save the lives of the employees who work there and those who regularly visit.

Many jurisdictions in developed countries have moved to ban smoking inside public places. On Wednesday, the New York City Council went further and voted to ban smoking in 1,700 city parks and along 14 miles of city beaches.

Here in The Bahamas some are afraid of a smoking ban ± especially those in the tourism sector. They argue that such a restriction would make The Bahamas less competitive, as people like to smoke in casinos and in restaurants.

Banning smoking in these places may actually bring in more customers ± such as those who do not want to socialize in smoky places.

But more importantly the ban would save lives. It would especially save the lives of workers. Casino workers and restaurant employees are especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke.

A ban on smoking in public places would also help reduce healthcare costs. Fewer people would need to be treated for the lung maladies that result from breathing in the smoke exhaled by others.

Many of our visitors come from developed countries where indoor smoking bans already exist. The practice of going outside to smoke is becoming more and more the norm. The Bahamas would only be conforming to the emerging international standard.

Hotels could have designated smoking areas near exits for those who want to smoke. Restaurants could expand, if the space exists, to outdoor seating for smokers. The Bahamas is warm throughout the year.

Smokers should have no problem smoking outside.

Several years ago, the Ministry of Health spoke publicly about its consultations with stakeholders regarding an indoor smoking ban. There has been little public discussion of the issue for a while. The government should make the move. Non-smokers should be protected.

Those addicted to smoking should seek medical help. New treatments continue to become available for smokers. Nicotine addiction is one of the hardest addictions to break.

Nov 21, 2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

The state of the scrap metal industry in The Bahamas

SCRAP METAL EXPORTS ARE HALTED AGAIN



By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net



THE SCRAP metal industry has been brought to a standstill once again, it was revealed yesterday, one leading operator telling Tribune Business that the Customs Department had its 'hands tied' because it had not received the new regulations that govern the sector.

Everette Rolle, proprietor of Caribbean Recycling and Trading Solutions, told Tribune Business: "We are somewhat at a standstill again. The extension to the ban expired, but the regulations that govern the new Act are not in place.

"Customs is at a standstill; they cannot process anything for us. They haven't been given the regulations in as much as they are responsible for the administrative side. It's crazy.

"The Government has not come to us and said anything because Customs is in a quandary, and in the absence of any clear-cut procedures they say they are going to wait on the Government. We would load the containers but Customs is not going to process the papers for the export. You can't blame them; they say they want to help us but their hands are tied."

The Cabinet Office issued a statement on November 1, stating that the 90-day temporary ban on the export of scrap metal, which was implemented on 27 July, would be extended by two weeks to November 11.

It was expected that by that time, the Pawnbrokers and Second-hand Dealers Act 2011, which aims to regulate the export of scrap metal, would have taken effect. Under the provisions of the Act, business owners or dealers engaged in the export of scrap metal will have to verify the identity of customers and maintain records of all transactions.

Scrap metal export businesses are also subject to monitoring by a police-designated administrator. The Government placed the temporary ban on the scrap metal trade, while imposing a permanent ban on all copper exports in an effort to curb the theft and destruction of property said to be linked with the industry.

Mr Rolle said: "The Government needs to come clean and continue to accommodate us until the regulations are in place. There's something fishy about the whole thing.

"I made some calls, and they said they were going to do something during the course of this week, but we haven't heard anything. It's just uncertainty right now."

He added: "We, in addition to providing employment, are providing service. The Department of Environmental Health can tell you that. It's too close to Christmas for this to be happening. This is a price sensitive business. You purchase stuff hoping to flip it immediately to capitalise on the price."

Attempts to reach Earl Deveaux, minister for the environmentm for comment on the matter proved unsuccessful up to press time. Calls placed by Tribune Business to Customs Comptroller Glen Gomez also proved unsuccessful.

November 18, 2011

tribune242

Caribbean Blog International

Bishop Simeon Hall appeals to the homosexual community to seek help so that they can play their God ordained role in our communities already distressed with crime, social distress and disorder

Hall: Homosexuals must not be demonized

By Royston Jones Jr
Guardian Staff Reporter
royston@nasguard.com



Baptist Bishop Simeon Hall said yesterday that homosexuals ought not to be demonized by homophobic clergy, but they, like anyone else, should be invited to the church to, “experience the transforming power of God.”

“Over the last three days, three young men contacted me since I made this statement to all those with a sexual orientation to seek help,” said Hall at a Rotary Club of West Nassau luncheon at Graycliff.

“One of these men came to my office on Tuesday evening, the other on Wednesday and the other has an appointment.

“Their painful and sordid stories were frightening, but my response to them was pastoral.” In a statement on Monday, Hall urged homosexuals to seek help to turn away from their “non-productive and deadly practice”.

Hall said yesterday, “I do not demonize anyone, their sexual preference notwithstanding. “But what I find disturbing is men absent, men unable to take care and provide for their families, men dying and leaving children to fend for themselves and men infecting their partners with HIV/AIDS.

“All this negatively contributes to a society already on the edge of disintegration.” Hall claimed that the sexual practice of men who have sex with men (MSMs) is negatively impacting the growth and development of The Bahamas.

“If this sexual practice [has led] to an increase of 14 percent of our men contracting HIV/AIDS, then it is clear that this practice, which, by the way, can produce nothing, is now...deadly and is a threat to our national infrastructure.”

Hall released his statement on Monday in response to a Nassau Guardian article that revealed that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in The Bahamas among MSMs is near 14 percent, which is nearly double the eight percent documented in 2008 by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

“All over this nation leaders are crying about the absence of men; the church, the schools [and] young women looking for strong male men to marry them,” Hall said yesterday.

“My appeal, therefore, is to the homosexual community to seek help so that they can play their God ordained role in our communities already distressed with crime, social distress and disorder.”

The Government of The Bahamas is co-sponsoring the 2011 Caribbean HIV Conference at Atlantis
Resort. The conference opens today and ends Monday.

Nov 18, 2011

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

The social climate in The Bahamas is one that lends itself to violence... Poverty, frustration due to the lack of opportunity and creative outlets, alcohol and marijuana abuse, verbal and physical abuse as a means of rearing children, noise and dirt, poor educational achievement, weak state regulation of an array of activities, unemployment, poor housing, and widespread corruption create an enabling environment for criminality

Gangster’s Paradise Part 4

By Ian G. Strachan

Thirty-eight years after independence, we are (in the net) not much better off as a people.  Despite all of our blessings, we have squandered many of the gifts and have not achieved our national potential.  We are living in an era, a time; we are experiencing a moment in this civilization’s history when we are obliged to stop, to reflect, to take note and to question all that we have thought to be right and true.  We must look critically and honestly at our current course, define our preferred destination and reset our course. - Senator Dr. Duane Sands, October 26, 2011

 

Senator Dr. Duane Sands’ words strike the right chord but they, in the end, are just words.  We face a situation that is far more troubling than those who want our votes will ever admit to.   When I speak to people who know, people who have seen the underbelly of this country up close, they tell me the system, from top to bottom, is plagued by corrupt players.  Where then is the hope?

Certainly we must root out corruption; certainly we must do our best to police neighborhoods, as well as stop and punish criminals, but we must also understand that our greatest hope is in prevention.   I noted last week that I would focus on seven areas.  First we looked at social justice and inequality, at education and at parenting.  We continue now with four more areas of concern.

Discipline and order

The social climate in The Bahamas is one that lends itself to violence.  Poverty, frustration due to the lack of opportunity and creative outlets, alcohol and marijuana abuse, verbal and physical abuse as a means of rearing children, noise and dirt, poor educational achievement, weak state regulation of an array of activities, unemployment, poor housing, and widespread corruption create an enabling environment for criminality.  Bahamians need discipline.  We are an unruly people, accustomed to ad hoc approaches and shortcuts, bribery and curry favoring.  We want punishment doled out for gross offenses like murder, but by and large we want to be left alone to duck taxes, steal by way of employment, buy stolen goods, hire illegal immigrants, break traffic laws, keep a filthy yard, etc.… How do we “reset our course”?

Here are some suggestions.  I’m sure you can think of others.  These will have a cumulative effect on the psyche of Bahamians:

· Legalize and regulate Numbers.   Government should even consider a complete takeover of the industry.  If not, it should heavily tax it and control the number of outlets, hours of operation, and the zones in which they are allowed to operate locations.  Begin seriously educating the public (starting with kids) on the follies of gambling.  Establish services for gambling addicts.

· Bring bars and nightclubs under tighter regulation.   Reduce the number of liquor outlets and control where they can be located.  Strictly enforce the legal drinking age.  Raise the age.  Prohibit the sale of alcohol on Sunday.  Close all bars and clubs at 1 a.m. and heavily police them at closing time.  Include breathalyzer tests in road block inspections.   Increase taxes on alcohol.

· Introduce a unified bus system, including dedicated school buses.  Bring all public buses on strict regulation and management and have them run on a schedule.  Remove loud music from buses.

· Increase the number of public/environmental health inspectors to ensure sanitary conditions of homes and yards with a system of warnings and fines for homeowners and landlords who do not ensure proper sewage disposal or proper garbage containment and collection, and who do not remove derelict vehicles and debris, or who have overgrown yards.

· Crack down on noise makers: whether they are private cars, public buses, corner prayer meetings or bars trying to attract customers.

· Introduce cameras that can catch people driving without seat belts, running lights, riding without helmets or skirting through gas stations to avoid stopping.

Community development

· Follow the recommendation of the 1994 Task Force on Youth Development and establish a network of community centers in every constituency.  Use church spaces or schools after hours.  Provide tutoring, sports leagues for all ages, adult literacy, life-long learning, and Big Brother/Big Sister programs.  Fund these centers through the Ministries of Youth and Education, churches and area businesses.  Take funds for constituencies out of MPs hands and put it in the hands of local boards that can govern and run these community centers.

· Increase funding for all existing outreach and youth organizations, such as Boys Brigade, Scouts, Brownies, Island Stewards, Focus etc.  These groups shouldn’t have to beg for money each year.  Demand data collection and longitudinal studies to track the careers of children in such programs, to ensure that support is justifiable through evidence which proves they prevent delinquency and violent behavior.  (Revisiting the work of Safe Bahamas might be a good start).

· Government should make it a point, through the Ministry of Youth and Culture, or National Security or Social Development, to assist with technical support and funding, in the creation of a Neighborhood Improvement Association in every New Providence neighborhood.  Neighborhood churches can also be enlisted.  These organizations can help police, and help maintain clean neighborhoods and build community cohesion.    They can also lend support to the vulnerable in their midst.  Sadly, most communities will not do this work on their own.  Leadership and support are needed.

Manhood

At some point this country must acknowledge that the problem of violent crime and crime against the person and property is a male problem.  Males are almost always the perpetrators.  To address crime then, address the socialization and education of males; and we must focus intently on identity formation among boys.  Media images and social mores support a version of manhood that is in many ways destructive and anti-social.  This is at the heart of male violence, male academic underachievement, male disengagement from civil society, male absence from the lives of children, male violence toward women and children, and the pressures on males to rob, steal and deal to acquire and maintain female affections.

Criminal justice

Some cry out for hanging.   Hanging does not deter crime.  As Irwin Waller, author of “Less Law, More Order”, notes, “The rates of homicide are unaffected by whether capital punishment is used or not.  For instance, the rate of decline in rates of homicide in the United States has been similar to that in Canada since 1976 when the United States reinstated the use of the death penalty and Canada took it out of its criminal code.”

I understand the call for the death penalty in a society where 95 percent of the murders between 2005 and 2009 went unpunished by the time of Chaswell Hanna’s 2011 study.  People want to see murderers punished, even more than they want future murderers deterred.  The bitter truth is most crimes (of whatever sort) in this country will forever remain unpunished.  I repeat therefore that our greatest hope is prevention.

Nonetheless, I believe that there is value in making an example of those you do capture and convict.  I believe in reform, but I also believe in appropriate punishment and restorative justice.   Victims, in my view, are best served when their victimizers are made to repay and must face those they made suffer.

I support life sentences for murder (30 years minimum).  Give the murderer no choice but to live with the consequences of his actions; the death penalty in my view is an easy out.  While in prison, make the lifer work for the state and for the victims.  Give him every opportunity to contribute to the society he attempted to destroy.

I also believe we need a national conversation about sentencing.  It should not be left solely to political parties and their MPs to decide.  A recent sentence handed down on a notorious trafficker left me stunned.  The Americans must think we are ridiculous.

We must decriminalize drug use (marijuana and cocaine), and approach these phenomenon as public health issues.  However, since the U.S. may never end the prohibition on these substances, we must get serious about sentencing traffickers.  The danger of course is that cracking down on traffickers doesn’t do away with the traffic; it in fact promotes more violent crime as new players and rivalries over turf emerge.  Which brings us right back to education, social justice, parenting, the economy, etc.

As we crack down on drug traffickers we must ask ourselves this: if possession of a firearm is four years (the public thinks this is too mild by the way), how much do you give the gun trafficker?

If we want to be tougher on crime, we must also be tougher on those who are supposed to uphold the law but instead pervert it.  All judges and magistrates should be appointed through public hearings and their finances should be scrutinized annually.  The same for high ranking policemen and defense force officers; customs, immigration and prison officials; and those who work for the AG’s Office.  They should also all be subject to random drug tests.

In the end, so many of these suggestions come down to one thing: money, money, money, and that is in seriously short supply in this country.  But more than money, it speaks to will, courage, and character.  Are we prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure that in 10 to15 years we have a more peaceful, more orderly country than we do today?  If so, we must all make sacrifices, and we must all share the burden.  Otherwise, we’ll continue on our current “course” – anything buckup go.

Nov 14, 2011

Gangster’s Paradise Part 3

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Bishop Simeon Hall appeals to to homosexuals in The Bahamas to "seek help" and turn away from "deadly, abnormal sexual practices"

Bishop urges gay men to 'seek help'


By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net


BISHOP Simeon Hall, senior pastor at New Covenant Baptist Church, is appealing to homosexuals to "seek help" and turn away from "deadly, abnormal sexual practices".

Quoting statistics from a local newspaper, Bishop Hall said that in the Bahamas the number of men contracting AIDS because of homosexual practices has doubled in the past few years.

"According to Dr. Perry Gomez, director of the National HIV/AIDS programme, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the Bahamas with men is near 14 per cent, nearly double the 8 per cent documented in 2008 in the Joint United National programme on HIV/AIDS," he said.

"Homosexuality, like lesbianism, is anti-family and it goes against what God has ordained. This sexual practice cannot produce anything and now we are seeing that, according to statistics, it is deadly."

Bishop Hall said he is not trying to demonise homosexuals, but rather help them to seek help.
"I wish to affirm that homosexuals and lesbians are human beings just like everyone else. I do not demonise them, but I hurriedly urge them to seek help and turn away from this non-productive deadly practice."

Erin Green, spokesperson for the Gay Lesbian Bi-sexual and Transgender community (GBLT) said it is ignorant to think that homosexuality is the cause of the HIV/AIDS increase in the Bahamas.

"I invite Bishop Hall to attend the Caribbean HIV conference this weekend, where he, along with other Bahamians, can engage in activities and expel these myths that are so prevalent in Bahamian society," she said.

"It is dangerous to believe homosexuality equals AIDS. As a country we need to educate ourselves, not only AIDS/HIV, but also homosexuality."

According to the latest statistics, adult HIV prevalence in The Bahamas is among the highest in the Caribbean at 3.3 per cent. AIDS is also still a leading cause of death among Bahamian men and women, aged 15-44.

The disease occurs primarily among heterosexuals - approximately 87 per cent - although under-reporting by men who have sex with men remains a challenge.

The 2011 Caribbean HIV Conference will be held at the Atlantis resort, November 18 to 21, under the theme "Strengthening Evidence To Achieve Sustainable Action."

The conference is expected to attract 2,000-2,500 participants and will highlight scientific research findings, implementation lessons learned, skills-building tools, and networking opportunities.

November 15, 2011

tribune242

Caribbean Blog International

Perry Christie, the political hypocrite calls for an independent Boundaries Commission almost 10 (ten) years after the PLP - under his leadership - encouraged voters to vote against a referendum called by the Ingraham administration on 27 February, 2002... One of the questions had to do with whether an independent Boundaries Commission ought to be established in The Bahamas

Bethel dismisses Christie’s call for independent Boundaries Commission

By Candia Dames
Guardian News Editor
candia@nasguard.com

Free National Movement Chairman Carl Bethel has dismissed as idle talk former Prime Minister Perry Christie’s statement that the time has come for an independent Boundaries Commission.

Christie spoke of the need for an independent commission in an interview with The Nassau Guardian last week.

“I had the opportunity to put one in and didn’t, but there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that our democracy has matured to the point where it is a major contradiction to have someone sit down in a room by themselves and draw a plan that impacts the future of a country, and not have that done in a transparent way,” said Christie, leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).

“...There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that we have passed the time when it ought to have happened.

“Because of gamesmanship, [political leaders are] able to take advantage of what is really a glaring failure on the part of our democracy where [they] in a very candid way take advantage of this opportunity and this discretion to draft a map that they could just cherry pick and change things around.”

But Bethel said he doubts Christie was very serious about that suggestion.

“Opposition parties, sometimes it seems, say things that they never had any intention when they had the power and authority of doing, and make all sorts of promises,” he said.

“I think, Mr. Christie, if he was serious about what he now says, when he had his Constitutional Commission, would have at least looked at that question which he now raises.

“I do not believe that it is a serious suggestion on his part.  Obviously, it is not a matter that has been canvassed by him or his colleagues for very long.  I think it’s relating really to the moment.  It’s a comment made in the moment and not so much a considered, well thought out, much debated position.

“The Constitutional Commission under the former PLP government didn’t touch it, and it’s one thing to talk to hear yourself talk; it’s another thing to come with a well considered proposal.”

In 2002, Christie and the PLP encouraged voters to vote against a referendum called by the Ingraham administration.

One of the questions had to do with whether an independent Boundaries Commission ought to be established.

Fifty-seven thousand, two hundred and ninety-one people voted ‘no’ and 30,903 people voted ‘yes’.

“I’m not sure that we can accord too much credibility to what Mr. Christie may genuinely feel to be his position at this present time,” Bethel told The Nassau Guardian.

In the interview last week, Christie also accused the current administration of gerrymandering.

But Bethel also dismissed this charge.

“Oppositions always say that,” he said.  “That’s a stock phrase used by oppositions.

“When the PLP created the St. Anne’s Constituency during the last boundary revisions under Mr. Christie’s superintendence, the then opposition (FNM) felt that this was a classic case of gerrymandering because what was apparent to us is virtually as many FNM polling divisions in as many different constituencies had been pushed into this new entity called St. Anne’s, and that the consequence of doing that was to strengthen the Progressive Liberal Party’s hold on at least three constituencies: Yamacraw, Elizabeth and Fox Hill.

“And so in a sense it was a classic case, in our view, of getting three for the price of one, which by any calculation would amount to an exercise in gerrymandering.”

Bethel said there are principles that guide the Boundaries Commission, which is also known as the Constituencies Commission.

“Those principles are usually discussed among the members and agreed in general long before they actually sit down to address the specific questions of the boundaries,” Bethel said.

“One of those principles would be, for example, that the commission would be seeking to attain as near as possible equality in the number of registered voters in every constituency (depending on the island).”

The FNM chairman added, “What is clear and there is nothing that the opposition has been able to say to date — and they had to a lot to say about these boundary cuts —but there is nothing that they have been able to say to date that is able to cast any doubt upon the integrity of the adherence of the Boundaries Commission to the principle that all members, including opposition members, would have agreed at the beginning of the whole process.”

In three of the last four general elections, the party in power that cut the boundaries lost (1992, 2002 and 2007).

Nov 14, 2011

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

...the repeal of sodomy laws within the Commonwealth: ...British Prime Minister David Cameron has taken the decision to withhold British aid from non-compliant nations

Jamaica Must Not Surrender Sovereignty

By Shirley Richards, Guest Columnist

jamaica-gleaner

Not being satisfied with the failure of the Commonwealth heads of government to arrive at a consensus on the matter of the repeal of sodomy laws within the Commonwealth, British Prime Minister David Cameron has taken the decision to withhold British aid from non-compliant nations.

Did we hear right, or were we mistaken? Is it true that our former masters are now calling on us to repeal laws that they are not in agreement with, or face the penalty? Is it that somewhere in the 1962 Jamaica (Constitution) Order in Council which facilitated our independence, there remains a hidden, residual power for Britain and its allies to manipulate our legislature as it thinks fit? What did Gandhi, Nkrumah, Manley and others fight for?

The effrontery of David Cameron and his allies is incredulous! (Incidentally, If Eric Williams were around, he surely would have made it clear to members of the Commonwealth that 43 from 54 leaves nought!) Thankfully, however, the very system which the British left us contained within it the right to resistance. That very same philosophy was the driving force of the struggle for the independence of America - government depends on the consent of the governed.

As has been many times said before, the retention of the buggery law provides guidance to us as a country between that which is acceptable and that which is not, in terms of sexual behaviour. It is the legal underpinning of the survival of the tradition of the heterosexual family. It is a guide to parents, children and to our public officials in the matter of sexual affairs. How could the homosexual lifestyle be in the interest of humanity when it leads to nothingness and is fraught with dangers both for the individual and the society?

HIV transmitting out of control

What makes the effrontery worse is that the scientific literature has indicated that in Europe generally "HIV transmission seems to be out of control in the MSM population". If David Cameron was really interested in our welfare, wouldn't he be urging us, with tears in his eyes, not to repeal our laws, as it would appear that by liberalising their laws Britain and its allies have made a grave error?

What is also of grave concern is that in these countries where the laws have been liberalised, there seems to be an emerging tyranny which penalises any expression of dissent of the lifestyle, even where such dissent is expressed privately. Just last month in England, father-of-two, Adrian Smith, 54, was found guilty of misconduct by the Trafford Housing Trust and had his salary slashed by £14,000 after saying on his private Facebook page that same-sex weddings in churches would be "an equality too far".

Neil Addison, an expert in religious discrimination law and a practising barrister in England, commented on this case, saying: "When I was a child, people in England used to say, 'I can say what I like, it's a free country.' That is certainly no longer the case in Britain today."

It's a very similar situation with the abortion issue. On November 15, an employment tribunal in London will begin to hear the case of Margaret Forrester, who was sacked from her job as a mental-health worker because she had shown a pro-life booklet to colleagues that said women suffer from mental-health consequences after abortions.

It is also expected that by December 5, the British Government will lift the ban on same-sex civil-partnership ceremonies in churches. (This was what Adrian Smith was concerned about). Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone is insisting that churches would have the freedom to decide if they want to offer same-sex services. However, the fear is that even if the scheme was initially voluntary, churches that do not agree to offer the services are "likely to be put under huge pressure to change their policy by campaign groups".

Not tolerated

With all due respect to Lord Gifford, QC, the situation seems to be the same in Ireland. At the time sodomy was decriminalised in 1995, it was argued by the homosexual lobby that they simply wanted to be left alone. However, since then, the lobby has grown into 'a rights industry', and now any criticism or even questioning of them and their continuous demands is not tolerated.

On Sunday, October 30, journalist Eamon Delaney, writing in Ireland's leading newspaper, the Irish Independent, referred to the "insatiable demands" of the homosexual advocates "for more and more recognition and identity". Mr Delaney expressed the concern that this will "eventually alienate mainstream opinion." http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/loud-and-proud-gays-want-to-take-over-rest-of-society-2920975.html.

It is just a matter of time before persons who hold contrary views on both the issue of homosexuality and abortion will have to flee Europe and the United States in search of safe haven. (Déjà vu?)

At the same time, however, one wants to make it abundantly clear that use of violence against homosexuals is absolutely wrong and must be denounced. All allegations of violence, including violence against homosexuals, must be thoroughly investigated by our security forces with the aim of bringing perpetrators to justice.

So up, you mighty nation! Have you forgotten who you are? You are Jamaicans, for goodness sake! Within your laws as they currently are is the key for the preservation of the family, the health of nations and the survival of the human race. So do not be ashamed! Do not be intimidated! You are on solid healthy ground!

Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and sprichards@cwjamaica.com.

November 12, 2011

jamaica-gleaner

Caribbean Blog International