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The former head of the United Nations Human Rights Organization Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, a South African citizen, has won the Nobel Peace Prize. We congratulate her and the Nobel Committee for making the choice. This choice is similar to that of the choice of Martin Luther King Jr in 1964 as the prize winner in the face of the angry push back in the United States against him for advocating and fighting for the rights of black people in the United States. It sent a signal to the world that Mr. King was right and the U S authorities were wrong. This year the United States is trying to wreck the International Criminal Court. It is an instrument that is fit for the purpose of bringing rogue regimes and rogue political leaders and public officials to account for crimes against humanity when domestic law does not adequately address the criminal actions of those individuals or states.  The United States announced sanctions against the court in addition to sanctions against the individuals who work for the court. This will make it difficult for the Court to operate because the financial system is so dominated by the United States. It shows why systems must be evolved to avoid the use of the U S system for world commerce. Congratulations again for an outstanding world stateswoman and her work for justice and peace.

Thanks to the President of the United States and an unnecessary and costly war in the Middle East, the price of gas in The Bahamas went up last week to $7.50 per gallon. The FNM stood in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 7 October 2026 to denounce the government because it is not doing anything about high prices in the country. That is a lie. Why don’t they put the blame where it is supposed to be on the man who caused it, the man whose caused it by starting a war that he should not have and by raising tariffs when he should not have? The FNM is always fighting for in the United States instead of for their own country.

Party Chairman Fred Mitchell said that when he was born in 1953 in The Bahamas, the life expectancy at birth of a male child was 50 years of age. Today a male child in The Bahamas can expect at birth to live to be 70 years old.  That is a 20 year increase in life expectancy due largely to great health care and better food and nutrition and health care generally. He was speaking in the House of Assembly on the Bill to provide Protections for Older Persons, defined in the bill as those who are over 65 years of age. The House passed the bill unanimously on Wednesday 7 October 2026. In doing do, Mr. Mitchell paid tribute to the following nonagenarians: Sir Arthur Foulkes who is 98, Sir Orville Turnquest who is 97, Isaac Bain of Fox hill who is 95, Norwood Rahming who is 91, Beverly Wallace Whitfield who is 99.  The fact is that throughout the region the age profile of the population will reflect more and more people of advanced years. Mr. Mitchell has been a lone voice in the wilderness crying out on the implications of this for healthcare, for pensions and for work and recreation. The Parliament has now acted. Congratulations.

The following post appeared on Facebook Fred Mitchell Minute by Minute on Friday 9 October 2026:

So here’s the story like something out of a Dickens novel: I went to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio the fall of 1970. My room mate was Marc Levinson. I have not seen him since I would guess December 1970 or heard of him. Turns out he’s an economist and a successful journalist. Written three books now retired in Washington D C. He and I used to do the newscast on WYSO, the school’s radio station. Fast forward to today when I met Mike Sykes, the new political officer for the US embassy in Nassau. He is a friend of Marc and told Marc that he was moving to work in Nassau. Marc told him he knew a Bahamian Fred Mitchell and he inscribed his latest book The Box and presented it to him as a gift for me which gift was duly delivered at the U S Ambassador’s home today. Footnote: Dave Chapelle, the comedian, is the son of one of the Professors at Antioch whose name was Bill Chapelle. Same sense of humour. Dave has invested heavily in the town of Yellow Springs including a refurbished WYSO that is now part of the National Public Radio network. When I saw the story about WYSO, I wrote the now director to tell him that I planned to visit the Bahamian students at the Central State University just 9 miles away from Antioch. He invited me to stop by when I’m in the area. Maybe Marc might join me. We used to do the newscast on WYSO when we were students. I think that’s a nice story.

Fred Mitchell MP

Fox Hill

8 October 2026

The following statement was issued by the Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party Fred Mitchell on the deteriorating economic opportunities in the Port Lucaya Marketplace in Freeport, Lucaya:

For Immediate Release 

7 October 2026

The Progressive Liberal Party is aware of the recent closure of businesses and the decline of tourist traffic at the Port Lucaya Market Place in Grand Bahama. 

The impacted staff members have been  directed to the Department of Labour, NIB, and all other relevant government agencies to ensure their entitled compensation, benefits, and general support. 

Over the years, the  Government has taken numerous steps to support the vendors in the Market Place; inclusive of relief grants, vouchers, and providing entertainment to a privately-owned facility to enhance traffic.

The present owners of Port Lucaya Market Place committed to a strong and effective marketing and promotional campaign to generate more business for vendors, but that has yet to be realized. 

We urge Carnival and other cruise lines to work in collaboration with Government and other stakeholders to ensure that the Market Place benefits from the tourist traffic.

As the Minister for Grand Bahama, the Honourable Ginger Moxey, and by extensión, the Government of The Bahamas, works relentlessly to boost the Grand Bahama economy, we look forward to the ownership of the Port Lucaya Market Place delivering on their promise to establish an ongoing marketing campaign to draw sustainable traffic and business. 

-END-

Looking at the Opposition benches in the House of Assembly, they looked like a uniform bunch with their lapels all tagged with what seemed like a ribbon for breast cancer month. There the plaudits lapse, because it is clear that each is on a frolic of their own. The Leader is the one we concentrate on because he is the most desperate.  A few weeks ago, we would have sworn that he was finished. Hubert Ingraham, the former Prime Minister, and the FNM’s backroom godfather, launched a back room coup on him, with the forces gathering and telling Mr. Pintard he had to go. It looked for a minute like he was tottering but we now say it looks like he has beat back the forces. We think in part it is really how the system is stacked up against anyone trying to dislodge the leader of a party. The deck is firmly stacked in the Leader’s favour.  In the case of the FNM, the only way he can be removed as Leader of the Opposition is by the MPs going to Government House and saying they want a new leader. But there is not one of them who want to repeat that error made in the time when they removed Dr. Hubert Minnis that way. Dr. Minnis retained firm control of the party and ended up becoming Prime Minister after the 2017 general election. Michael Pintard told the forces against him that he would not oppose them holding a party convention but he would not be looking for any money to mount it. He said that if they could find the money good luck to them but he also wanted them to know that if they mounted a convention, he would be running. Our guess is that was check and effectively checkmate. They do not have one man jack to get up and oppose him in Parliament and the scheme of Hubert Ingraham to get Zhivargo Laing to come as interim leader from the senate is as harebrained as you ever heard. So our bet is Pintard survives. What is interesting is that Brent Dean, the Guardia columnist, who has been largely anti PLP during the campaign, wrote in his column that Brave Davis appears to be a shoo in to try another term in office given what is happening on the FNM side and the run of luck he has had so far in governing. Life is interesting.