Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames   Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.

Volume 1 © BahamasUncensored.Com

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK - It appeared that the entire Cabinet emptied out into the streets to greet their colleague V. Alfred Gray following the declaration by the Election Court that he was indeed the winner of the General Election contest in the MICAL seat.  The Election Court made up of Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall and Justice Jeanne Thompson ruled that 29 people were not entitled to have voted in the election.  They went into the ballot boxes, took the votes out and then started recounting.  The result is that Mr. Gray won by two votes.  And so that is settled.  Mr. Gray went off to his constituency to celebrate.  But the picture on the front page of the Nassau Guardian showed her celebrations began early with virtually half the Cabinet out in the road, smiling from ear to ear.  That is our photo of the week by Donald Knowles of the Nassau Guardian.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

THE TROUBLE WITH HUBERT INGRAHAM
There are now those who seriously are questioning why the Progressive Liberal Party is not taking a harder line against Hubert Ingraham and his tomfoolery in the House of Assembly. (See story below).  He has said it himself but it is clear that he has nothing to do and he is not serious about his interventions in the House of Assembly.  It is simply one disgraceful, playful performance after another that simply erodes any repository of respect that one has for him as a former Prime Minister of the country.  That makes his interventions dangerous and we believe that the PLP ought to take a more aggressive stand against Hubert Ingraham in the House.

There is another duty that the Government has.  That duty is to protect the public treasury from abuse.  Everyone knows that it was Mr. Ingraham who falsely forced the late former Prime Minister Lynden Pindling into retirement on the grounds that he would not get his money for the pension as a former Prime Minister unless he retired.  The PLP held only six seats in the House at the time and they wanted to at least have Sir Lynden serve out his term there to hold on to the seat.  Hubert Ingraham forced Sir Lynden go.  But that is not what the law said.  It turns out that Sir Lynden could have stayed and could still have gotten his pension.  But Hubert Ingraham refused to consider it.  Sir Lynden retired.  Now it turns out that Hubert Ingraham is now receiving a full pension as a former Prime Minister and his salary as a Member of the House of Assembly.  That is $128,000 of taxpayer’s money.  In fact he should have been made to choose between his House seat and the pension.  If you are retired from politics you are retired.

And so what we see now is that he is occupying a seat in the House.  He hardly ever comes to the House and when he does, he simply makes mischief.  He ties up the agenda running from one topic to another that is of little relevance to the debate.  When challenged he says that he is going to speak as long as he wishes on any topic that he wishes.  He then descends into jocularity, trivializing the House's time and making the PLP look as if it is party to that trivialization.

We would like to suggest to the PLP the following measures.  There is a fifteen minute rule for speeches in the House unless you are the mover of a motion.  Since the PLP came to office in 1967, the rule fell into disuse because it was used by the then UBP government to stop PLPs from speaking.  But we believe that there is a special case for invoking the rule against Mr. Ingraham.  This is not because we think that there ought to be a limitation on the time for speaking but we believe that some how it must be brought home to him that he has a larger responsibility to the Bahamian people and the House to be relevant.  He is the only member against whom it should be invoked and it should only be used until he gets the point.  The only other way to deal with the matter is to invoke closure of a debate to prevent him from abusing House time.

Secondly, we think that the Public Treasury should immediately stop paying the $100,000 per year pension of the former Prime Minister.  This should be done by the Attorney General seeking a summons in the Courts and requesting an injunction against the law being carried out until such time as the legality of the payment is established and until such time as its constitutionality is established.  Perhaps this might give Mr. Ingraham pause to reflect on his behaviour here.

The idea here is not to stop Mr. Ingraham from performing any duty he wishes for his people in Abaco.  But the idea is to restore him to seriousness and have him make the kind of contribution to the public debate of which he is capable.  The PLP has that duty to the Bahamian people or we ourselves will go down in the wash as having contributed to the levity of Bahamian national political life.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 1st March 2003 at midnight: 34,486.

Number of hits for the month of February ending 28th February at midnight: 112,974.

Number of hits for the month of March to Saturday 2nd March at midnight: 2,621.

Number of hits for the year 2003 to Saturday 2nd March at midnight: 206,628.

THE WEEK OF THE BLANKENSHIP
    Steve McKinney, the radio talk show host, had a brilliant idea.  He wanted to have a week of discussions about diplomacy and in particular relations between the United States and The Bahamas.  That kicked off the week before when the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell spoke about the relations between The Bahamas and the United States and about other foreign affairs matters.  During last week, the Minister was again on the talk shows talking about Foreign Affairs.  But the man who was especially busy with a full frontal assault on The Bahamas Government and the Bahamian people was the US Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship.
    The week began with the Minister of Transport forcefully denying that she had been unavailable to meet with the US Ambassador as he had charged.  It appears that the US Ambassador was miffed because he was unable to get the Minister on the telephone because of the insistence of her Ministry that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs be contacted first.  The Ambassador in a statement at the Rotary Club later in the week said that he was not going to use the Ministry of Foreign Affairs protocol to access Ministers of the Government.  This kind of statement is perhaps part of the reason that many people who called into Steve McKinney’s radio talk show where the Ambassador appeared told him he was rude and disrespectful to Bahamians.  Mr. Blankenship was unmoved and said that the only person that he had to please was George Bush, the President of the United States.  But surely this is short-sighted.  Mr. Bush will not continue to support him if his style ends up causing more damage to the relationship than it is worth.
    During the talk show and at Rotary on Friday 28th February, the US Ambassador rattled the cages of many Bahamians by saying that the Pre clearance Lounge at the Nassau International Airport was going to be lost if the security at the airport was not improved.  Some argued that the Ambassador himself had compromised the airport's security by highlighting the issues in public as he did, thus making the airport a potential target for those who were looking around for a target.
    At week’s end, the Ambassador’s comments were very much the subject of debate throughout the country.  The feeling is that the Ambassador is intent on wrecking the economy of The Bahamas and on subjecting Bahamians to maximum pressure out of a need and desire to be seen as the man who controls the destiny of The Bahamas.  And so many people have called this week the week of the Blankenship.  It was an unhappy week for Bahamians who are simply non-plussed by the rude behaviour and the lack of public respect for a country that always supports the United States, has done so and will always do so.  But he certainly must know why he is behaving this way. Tribune photo by Omar Barr.
 

BLANKENSHIP ON THE AIR
    The US Ambassador appeared on the radio talk show by Steve McKinney for two hours to face the Bahamian public.  It was a mixed reception.  Some people were obsequious in the extreme; thanking Mr. Blankenship like the slaves of old for a wonderful job he was doing and told him how he spoke the truth.  He in turn railed at anyone who called him a racist, although it was not certain who brought that subject up.  Then there were those who told the Ambassador that he was rude and disrespectful to The Bahamas.  The Ambassador replied essentially that he did not care.  The only person he needed to please he said was George Bush, the President of the United States and as long as that happened, he did not care. Our words not his.  He at times threatened the pre-clearance lounge at the Nassau International Airport.  He said he had security concerns.  He said that if The Bahamas did not sign the article 98 agreements with the United States over the International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction, the US would withdraw military support.  He seemed to think that Bahamian Ministers were at his beck and call and that once he called they had to snap to attention.  Interesting theory.
    The obsequious press of The Bahamas had the man all over its pages all week.  His psyche apparently enjoys this kind of attention.  It is obvious that he likes his picture in the newspaper and he likes the sound of his voice.  And so for many, many months to come we can expect this kind of dominance of the Bahamian media.  Given the reports that the US Government intends to start paying for propaganda in friendly countries it may soon emerge that we have to be careful about the independence of media reports in The Bahamas.  There was even a controversy in the press about his every appearance on the radio.  The Ambassador told The Tribune that his appearance on the Steve McKinney show had been cancelled and suggested that someone was trying to censor his appearance on the radio.  Mr. McKinney addressed the concern on the radio by saying that the fact is Mr. Blankenship appeared on the radio and that no one had suppressed his appearance or his views.
    It appears that there is no opportunity to nit pick and complain that would not lead to an appearance in the newspapers of The Bahamas.  Some are worried that the Ambassador is simply setting up a newspaper file in order to report that The Bahamas Government had been uncooperative with him in his work in The Bahamas.  The fact is that there is no evidence of this but some feel that he has a special hatred for the Progressive Liberal Party that is driving what he is doing.

THE FOREIGN MINISTER REPLIES
    The calmest man in the eye of any storm this week was Fred Mitchell, the Foreign Minister.  He told the Steve McKinney Show and the Jeffrey Lloyd Talk Show of Love 97 that he had no problem at all with the US Ambassador conducting the foreign affairs of his country in any way that country wanted him to do so.  It was for the Ambassador to judge whether that conduct was appropriate or not.  The Minister said that he conducted the Foreign Policy of The Bahamas the best way that he knew how and would meet the case for The Bahamas as any one challenged it.  He said that Bahamians did not need to be concerned. That they ought to defend their country.  He said that the basic fundamental relationship between The Bahamas and the United States is good and the problems are not such that they change the nature of that fundamental working relationship.  The last sentiments of the Minister were echoed by the US Ambassador himself who called into the show of Steve McKinney on Friday 28th February about five minutes to five.  He said that the relationship between the two countries was good.
    The Foreign Minister has urged all Bahamians to stand up for their country.  He said that The Bahamas conducts its foreign relations through the normal diplomatic channels.  He said that this was our way.  The Ambassador's way was to conduct his in the open.  If he chose to do that, only he could determine whether or not that was being effective.  It seems to us that it is being counter productive because The Bahamas government with limited resources has to spend time dealing with the public clutter from the Ambassador and no time dealing with the substantive issues that need to be corrected.
    What the Bahamian Foreign Minister made clear is that notwithstanding the media’s attempt to portray this matter as a personal one between the Ambassador and himself, there is no personal element in it.  He said that he represented The Bahamas and the US Ambassador represents his country and that was all.

CHARGES OF CENSORSHIP OF BLANKENSHIP
    The US Ambassador charged that there was an attempt to prevent him from appearing on the Steve McKinney Talk Show on Tuesday 25th February.  The appearance took place on Wednesday instead.  The Tribune contacted the Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell who said that he was aware of the issue as raised by the Ambassador through the Ambassador.  He undertook to find out what had happened.  He said the issue was later resolved.  He said apart from that he had nothing to do with the matter.  Steve McKinney himself said that there was no censorship of the Ambassador or attempt to do so.
 

BLANKENSHIP REPLIES TO THE SITE?
    The site editor received an e-mail from an address purporting to be that of US Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship.  The e mail takes issue with a characterization on this site of the countries of Eastern Europe in a story about the US attempts to build up an international coalition around itself to invade Iraq.   Here is what the e mail said in its own words:

Maybe from this you will understand why it is important for the Bahamas to support the US position on Iraq rather than casting its lot with CARICOM.

Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship

"Many of us, I know, are sickened by the repeated denigration of the Eastern European states that have supported the U.S. in this confrontation [with Iraq]," Jay Nordlinger writes in his Impromptus column at National Review Online (www.nationalreview.com).
     "A prominent left-wing journalist, as Mark Steyn pointed out, described the former Iron Curtain countries as nations 'you can buy on e-bay.' And Mark Shields of CNN said, sarcastically, 'Everyone's feeling better. Albania signed on.'
     "This struck a nerve with me, as I was in Albania in September. I had never been to that country before. (Few of us Westerners have.) I met with many intellectuals and journalists. I met men who had been in prison for years, because they had dared to dissent from the brutal totalitarian regime that was ruling them. I was terribly moved by their expressions of support for America — and by their gratitude for the American role in opposing Soviet Communism. One intellectual told me that some other Europeans sneered at Albania as 'the Israel of the Balkans.' I said he ought to consider that an enormous honor.
     "I have an Albanian flag — the double-headed eagle — 'flying' in my office right now. And I am thrilled by the support and the heart of such people, for they know — more than people in Paris — about tyranny, freedom, and appeasement. In a way, I regard the support of Eastern Europeans as more desirable than the support of comfortable Westerners," Mr. Nordlinger said
 

TURKEY TURNS DOWN THE TROOPS
    Turkey was in danger of becoming known as a certain undiplomatic word by accepting US money in exchange for letting the US fight a war on Iraq from Turkey.  On Saturday its Parliament salvaged its world reputation by turning back an attempt by its Government in the face of 90 percent opposition from the people of Turkey to allow US Troops to fight a war from Turkey.  Some people have suggested that this is what The Bahamas should do.  It is said that The Bahamas should develop a shopping list and go to the US ambassador and sell our support in public for the shopping list from the Americans.  Of course there is a word they call people who do that.  Anyway congratulations to Turkey for being a restraining force against war.
 
 

REVIVAL TIME IN NASSAU
    While all the to and fro was going on between the US Ambassador and The Bahamas thousands of people were showing up at the well promoted ‘Revival is Here’ promoted by Bishop Neil Ellis of Mount Tabor and the Full Gospel Fellowship in The Bahamas.  The whole thing began in controversy when Apostle Cedric Moss challenged the established king of the evangelicals on the question of the foreign woman preacher Juanita Bynum and the fees for preaching in The Bahamas (Click here for last week’s story).  Meanwhile Pastor Moss took aim at the Prophetess as she calls herself.  The nub of the problem seems to be the whole concentration of these religious leaders on the collection of money and their ability to use God to get money out of the pockets of their faithful believers.
    The crowds were enormous which is probably a black eye on Pastor Moss.  But the Tribune that has been relentless in its support of Pastor Moss’ criticism was suggesting in its Saturday 1st March edition that there was a gap between revenue and expenditure on the revival of 197,000 dollars.  The Tribune said that this was brought on by the fact that Pastor Moss’ criticism had shamed the preachers into not asking the faithful for money.  Anyway the scene at the Clifford Park in Nassau was of legions of faithful, arm waving, promises of healing going on, people rolling on the ground supposedly filled with the fervour of the holy spirit and on and on.
    Some went so far as to say that during the time of the revival, crime was cut absolutely to zero.  What does that say?  Some say it was the power of God at work.  Others suggest rather cynically that maybe the criminals were kept off the streets by the revival.  And still others say it had nothing to do with it.  The Government simply has the police on full alert, stopping and searching cars and it has put the special patrols back together to keep the bad boys under control.  The picture in the Nassau Guardian showed the legions at the revival.  The faithful were joined one night by the Prime Minister and a number of other Ministers of the Government.

HOW FAR SHOULD PREACHERS GO?
    The observation is being made that there is still a separation between church and state.  One has to be extremely careful that the one does not blend into the other.  The recent controversy arising out of the ‘Revival is Here’ (see previous story) visits of Prophetess Juanita Bynum is instructive.  Apostle Cedric Moss who started the criticism was after one thing and that seemed to be the over concentration on money and religion, giving people unreasonable expectations.
    The Pastor of Zion Baptist Church Rev. T. G. Morrison has also been a critic of the school of evangelicals who not only preach about money but who often cross the line between their political pulpit neutrality and their role as civic spokesmen.  He was particularly concerned about the declarations made by certain Ministers in favour of political parties.  He thought that was wrong.  Rev. Morrison was last week describing the matter as too many “pulpit stars”, setting up churches in New Providence to make money.  He was speaking at a farewell service for Fr. Dwight Rolle, the Anglican priest who is moving to Abaco.

GRAY IS THE WINNER
    The Election Court made up of Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall and Puisne Judge Jeanne Thompson declared V. Alfred Gray of the Progressive Liberal Party, the true winner of the contest between the FNM and the PLP on 2nd May 2002.  That was the only contested result.  Mr. Gray was the winner by two votes.  For the PLP it was a moment of relief.  For the FNM, it as a moment of disappointment.  A scant two votes separated the two men.  But as they say a miss is as good as a mile.  Mr. Gray immediately went off to his constituency to an Acklins homecoming.  He now goes about the task of bringing help and hope to his constituency.  The winner was declared on Tuesday 25th February.  Outside the court waiting for the result were FNM Leader Senator Tommy Turnquest and Opposition Leader Alvin Smith.  Court costs were awarded to V. Alfred Gray and he estimated his costs to be in the neighbourhood of $680,000. Defeated FNM candidate for MICAL Johnley Ferguson, left; Leader of the Opposition Alvin Smith, centre and FNM Leader Tommy Turnquest, right in this Donald Knowles Guardian photo.
 

INGRAHAM ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
    At question time in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 25th February, the former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham got up on his feet to ask a question of the Attorney General.  On the face of it, was a serious question.  He asked what was the position on capital punishment in The Bahamas.  But Mr. Ingraham did not have a serious intent.  He was intent on mischief.  He went on in a cross the floor dialogue to imply that executions were being held up in the Christie Government by the fact that the Attorney General, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Transport were all opposed to capital punishment.  Mr. Ingraham knows that this is the case.  He knows that the cases are being held up because of a constitutional challenge to the death penalty.  He knows that when the Privy Council ruled that the mandatory death penalty is unconstitutional, it effectively nullified the sentences of 40 persons on death row in The Bahamas.  So no executions are likely to take place so long as the law is at present on the books.  When challenged from his seat by Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell about his own position on capital punishment, Mr. Ingraham said that he was opposed to it and had always been opposed to it but he allowed it to go ahead because he did not think that the laws of the country should be held up because of his personal views.  Of course that only went for some things.
 

SID AND LES - BACK TOGETHER AGAIN
    There is an old expression that Bahamians like to use.  They say that so and so is a “poppy show”.  Not quite sure where that comes from, but the people of The Bahamas can be forgiven for thinking so of the Minister for Trade and Industry Leslie Miller and Sidney Stubbs, the MP for Holy Cross.  For the last half year or so the two have been at public loggerheads with even this column weighing in and asking the Prime Minister to stop the public madness and ask the Chair of Bahamas Agricultural Industrial Corporation (BAIC) to resign so that the PLP could save face on an embarrassing row.  Now after all this time of rowing back and forth, with the Minister insisting that the Chairman had to go; the Chairman threatening to tell all if he were not protected, the two are said have buried the hatchet (presumably not in each other) and all is well.  There was even a picture in the press to prove it.  This is remarkable.  But every one is holding their breaths. They can hardly believe it and many think the PM should really reorganize anyway, since it may be a time bomb still waiting to go off.  Nassau Guardian photo / Donald Knowles
 

THE CARTWRIGHT MURDER TRIAL

    A bald headed Ashley Newbold faced the cameras and the courts this week as jury selection began in his trial for the murder of Joy Cartwright.  This trial is being watched closely by high ranking FNMs who expect political fireworks, following an outburst by Hubert Ingraham, the former PM last year in the House.  The young woman used to be the manager of Club 601.  She was murdered on 26th December 1996.  Which leads to another point.  Here you have a trial for murder taking place six years after the murder.  Incredible. Nassau Guardian photo / Tim Aylen

CHRISTIE WITH CLINTON

    There was an engaging photograph that appeared on the front page of the Bahama Journal with Prime Minister Perry Christie and former US President Bill Clinton.  Mr. Christie and his wife were visiting Atlanta for a lunch called the NBA/Hank Aaron Chasing a Dream Foundation presidential luncheon.  The Journal said that the former President plans to visit The Bahamas in April.
 

FOX HILL BOARD APPOINTMENTS

    We want to congratulate the following members of the Fox Hill Branch of the PLP for their appointments to various Government Boards.  Kendal ‘Funky’ Demeritte for his appointment to the Licensing Authority; Calvin ‘Lady’ Brown, for his appointment to the Road Traffic Authority and Altamese Isaacs to the Advisory Committee on the Archives.  Congratulations again!
 

MINISTER GETS KEY TO MIAMI

    Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell who represented the Government of The Bahamas at the Black History Month Service at St. Agnes Episcopal Church in Miami last Sunday was presented the key to the city of Miami by Commissioner Arthur Teele of the City of Miami Commission.  Donald Knowles took the photo that appeared in the Nassau Guardian on Monday 24th February.  St. Agnes Episcopal Church was started in 1897 by a priest who heard a Bahamian washerwoman at the home of whites in Miami singing the hymn ‘The Church is One Foundation’.  He enquired where she learnt it and she told him that she was a member of St. Agnes Church in Nassau but there was no church for Blacks who were Anglicans in Miami.  The church was funded and the congregation today in Overtown has some 3000 members of Bahamian descent.
 

BAHAMASAIR COCAINE BUST
    The police seized two kilos of cocaine on a Bahamasair jet bound for Miami on Tuesday 24th February.  The drugs had a street value of $40,000.  Three persons have been charged for the offence. Two of the persons are Bahamasair employees.
 

HERE WE GO AGAIN
    In the press this week, there appeared an article which seemed to accuse no less a person than the Minister of Foreign Affairs of writing an article on this website.  The article in question had to do with attacks on The Bahamas from a disenchanted German.  Ho hum, here we go again.  Not only did the Minister categorically disavow writing "any such words" but, people: please read before you leap.  The Minister has nothing to do with www.bahamasuncensored.com.  This site is a successor to the old www.fredmitchelluncensored.com, the archives of which - by the way - are still available at that address.  This is a new website, compiled and edited by Russell Dames, with writer Claire Booth.  We can be contacted by e-mail at placid_point@yahoo.com  This information is always available at the top of each week's page.  Oh, and while we're at it; thanks for reading and please keep reading.
 

B.S. NOTES FROM GENEVA’S IN FREEPORT…
NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA

We Are Believers
This week the talk around town was about Zhivargo Laing who was the Minister of Economic Development in the FNM Government.  We consider Zhivargo our friend and a Christian gentleman, so on that basis, we were surprised to see his stance in his weekly column dealing with the US.  In his article, he implied that as a sovereign country, we should not determine our fate because of who the US is and we should capitulate at every twist and turn.  We say to our friend that our stand is that we believe in Jehovah Jireh, and we should all always believe that God is our provider...

Unity
What no politician has been able to achieve has certainly been achieved this week after the US ambassador was the guest on Steve McKinney's live ZNS talk show.  For the first time in a long time, the boys at Kristy's were of one accord.  Among the quotes heard: "He full of sh..!"... "He could keep his bullets and his uniforms"... "The runway at Great Inagua will get lights when the Government of The Bahamas is able to pay for them."... "We've had enough of his lowness and threats."  One poor soul then suggested to the mixed group of politicos "Why we can't just do what they want us to do and then all might be well?"  To put in mildly in Bahamian terms, he was severely rebuked by all and left shortly after.  One patron told him "The problem is when individuals behave that way and you give in to their demands, you find that a week later, they'll be right back with even more outrageous demands, so at some point you have to take a stand."  To that we say, amen.

Will He Survive?
A war has broken out in the Grand Bahama Taxi-Cab Union.  It started early in the week with embattled president James Kemp taking to the press with the suggestion that the Minister of Transport should take some taxi franchises in Grand Bahama from those members that have more than one franchise.  An incredible statement for a president of a taxi-cab union.  By Thursday night, a meeting was called by the taxi-cab union to elect four members to serve on the board of directors of a joint venture company between the union and the tour operating company with the exclusive to collect passengers from the Grand Bahama airport and harbour.  The meeting erupted quickly into chaos when members tried to bring a motion of no confidence in the president.  Some were suggesting that they had been sold out and that Mr. Kemp should no longer have the privilege of serving as president.  The chaos was such that the meeting had to be suspended leaving the question, will Mr. Kemp be able to survive?  From this site, we said long ago that we knew problems were coming.

Immigration Raids
This week, officers of the Immigration Department conducted raids searching for illegal residents.  The Department has been criticized severely in Grand Bahama for enforcing the immigration laws only on people of African descent, mainly Haitians and Jamaicans.  So this week, Immigration officers picked up one Canadian and one Turk and charged both of them with working without a valid work permit.  In one instance - the Canadian - the person pleaded guilty and was deported.  The other person pleaded not guilty and was granted bail.  A footnote to this story is that this site received numerous calls advising that Immigration needs to pay a visit to the Grand Bahama Container Port, but we would be very surprised if that company would bring in people as tourists and then put them to work.

Hugh Campbell Basketball
Six high school basketball teams from Grand Bahama are still alive in the Hugh Campbell basketball tournament going on in Nassau with only three Nassau teams remaining.  We say to our Grand Bahama teams that hard work is always rewarded and we wish you well.

Terminations At Royal Oasis Casino
Late word is that six people have been let go from the Royal Oasis Casino.  The inside story that is being put about is that it might be a union-busting tactic, but we are following several leads and hope to give a full report on the matter next week.

Footnote to US Ambassador
During the US Ambassador's appearances on the Steve McKinney radio show last week, Mr. Blankenship issued categoric denials in response to a caller's question over whether the US military conducted missile firings from its AUTEC base at Andros.  Still, in the news this week in Grand Bahama something looking very much like a spent missile shell turned up on the beach in front of the Viva Club Fortuna hotel.  The object was imprinted with an 800 number (imagine that?), which was called and lo and behold, the US Coast Guard showed up to take possession.  Perhaps it was a stray from that island off Puerto Rico.  Things that make you go, hmmmm!
BS

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK - The Tribune’s photographer Omar Barr took this engaging photograph of the dancers of the Cat Island Mites at the opening of the Heritage Festival at Arawak Cay.  The Festival is an annual event is hosted by the Ministry of Tourism to promote the national patrimony and culture of The Bahamas.  That culture is a mix of African and European traditions.  The Cat Island mites are the dancers that have preserved the quadrille tradition of dancing.  The quadrille is a rather elaborate set of steps that require couples to dance in carefully set out patterns, with male and female parts.  It is thought to be a European tradition but in The Bahamas it is spiced up by the sounds of the saw and the drum and the accordion or piano – the music we call rake and scrape.  The Heritage Festival opened on Tuesday 4th March and ended Saturday 9th March.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

I SAY IT’S SO…SO IT’S SO
If you didn’t know any better you might have been convinced by George Bush, the US president on Thursday 6th March that there was actually an attack that was going to happen on the US mainland within days. This was the upshot of his prime time news conference on US television where he tried to convince the US public and a skeptical world that he did indeed have a just cause to go into Iraq and kill innocent people in order to displace their President who most people admit is a terrible man.

The problem all along about the American “evidence” on this issue is that it relies simply on their say so.  The “evidence” that was given to the UN weapons inspectors does not convince anyone because the inspectors find that they cannot verify what US intelligence has said.   Even Colin Powell, the most credible Bush cabinet member, now risks losing his credibility because he has now jumped on board a flawed strategy and he too is simply stating that because the US says so, it must be so.

Then there is the question of how they are going about trying to convince the world that they are correct.  Their own public is split down the middle, and but for a handful of countries that seem to want something from the US, they are unable to convince the world about their cause.  Sure the Iraqi ruler is a bad guy but so are at least a dozen other world rulers, including some of their friends.  The Russians, Chinese and French are resolutely against what the US is doing and so is the Pope. The Pope’s envoy told President Bush that there is no moral justification for a war.

Because they can’t get their way with the world and their population, the US Administration is trying intimidation.   They have called the French the worst names in the books, called that old civilization that helped them win their freedom, part of the “axis of weasel”.  They have tried scare tactics at home with elevated threat levels and increased harassment at their airports.  In the Caribbean they have sent their Ambassadors out to threaten all kinds of retaliation if the Caribbean does not comply with the message.

The Bahamas is perhaps the example of the crudest approach, with the US Ambassador here clearly stepping over the line.  His comment was that The Bahamas should simply support the US on Iraq because the Bush administration remembers its friends.  This means that some punishment is to be loosed on The Bahamas because it simply stood with the world community including the United States in support of the UN charter as it applies to the Iraqi government.

But all the threats, the intimidation, the hectoring have not worked.  They have convinced no one of the dire consequences that they predict about Iraq.  And this week a letter circulated on his resignation by a former a State Department employee who worked at their embassy in Israel shows that there are deep doubts within the US about the policy of frittering away world support on the policy of invading Iraq.  The hectoring, hysteria and intimidation give rise to greater disbelief on the part of the world, and makes it looks as if the Bush administration is desperate and will do anything including perhaps arranging an incident in order to precipitate a war.  This is a very dangerous time.

But it is clear that something is up with the Bush administration.  It appears that they are intent on war.  The President’s press conference seemed to be setting the stage for a declaration of a right to invade Iraq within the UN charter relying on the right of self-defence.  In other words, the US is under direct attack from Iraq and has a right to defend itself.  The very notion is ludicrous except to those who have whipped themselves up into hysteria on this notion and forgive the cynicism but see only Iraq's valuable oil fields.

This column humbly asks the United States to cease and desist and to remember the strong democratic principles and human rights ideals on which the country is founded.  The policy in the Middle East is flawed and threatens to plunge the world into a morass that knows no early end.  The policy is shortsighted and is selfish.  Our British friends with a longer experience on all this should know better as well.

But it has gotten to the point with this administration in the US that their friends are unable to speak frankly to them without being called names, insulted and threatened.  What is one to do?

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 8th March 2003 at midnight: 28,298.

Number of hits for the month of March up to Saturday 8th March at midnight: 34,078.

Number of hits for the year up to Saturday 8th March at midnight: 238,085.

PINDLING ALLEGATIONS DENIED
    Obie Pindling, the oldest son of the late founding Prime Minister of The Bahamas Lynden Pindling took the stand in the murder trial of Ashley Newbold on Friday 7th March.  Mr. Newbold is on trial for the 1996 murder of Joy Cartwright with whom Mr. Pindling acknowledged he had a relationship.  Mr. Pindling's name had been all over the daily press during the week as a supposed confession by the murder accused read out in court contained accusations about Mr. Pindling’s involvement in the murder of Ms. Cartwright.  The police read the statement.  (See story below)  Mr. Newbold himself took the stand and said that the statement was not his and that he was forced to sign it.  Here is what Obie Pindling said: “Those allegations are the most outrageous lies.  I am not involved in the murder of Joy Cartwright.”  Mr. Pindling said that he had been threatened with blackmail by Mr. Newbold.  He said that he reported the matter to the police.  He said that he had been arrested for three hours and questioned extensively by the police about the murder.  The Tribune also carried a story about an allegation by Mr. Newbold that he (Mr. Pindling) had met with drug dealer Samuel ‘Ninety’ Knowles now awaiting extradition.  Mr. Pindling said that he did not know Mr. Knowles.  Bahama Journal photo by Otis Forbes.
 

MPS SPEAK ON US AMBASSADOR
    Malcolm Adderley, the MP for Elizabeth (PLP) rarely speaks in the House but when he does, he makes lots of sense.  This time in addition to making sense, he was incensed.  His full ire was directed at the Free National Movement and the US Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship.  Mr. Adderley thought that Mr. Blankenship in his public remarks over the last week had crossed the line.  He said:
    “Sometimes I wonder whether war hasn’t been declared on the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.  It frightens me when we are told ‘you must do this or else my Christmas list won’t have you on it’.  My God, look who it's coming from.  This person represents the most powerful nation in the world.  We can’t laugh at these things.  We can’t take these things or granted.  You can't drink and have cocktails and pretend to be friendly, then hold a stick over my head.”
    As for the Free National Movement which issued a statement earlier in the week saying that they support the US in a war on Iraq, Mr. Adderley said: “What the FNM said seems to be a contradiction between what the United Nations - of which we are a member - seems to be saying.  It gives me, as a Bahamian, great reservations because if the Opposition is saying it supports the United States, it’s a question of sovereignty.  What sort of signals are we sending out to people in the world?  And what bothers me and I would ask the Leader of the Opposition now to please clarify the position as to whether that position is the position of the party, because people are really talking about it.”

WHAT KEOD SMITH MP SAID ON US ENVOY
    Joining Malcolm Adderley MP for Elizabeth in his condemnation of the US Ambassador was the Ambassador for the Environment and MP for Mount Moriah Keod Smith.  Mr. Smith in posing several questions to the Minister of Foreign Affairs said: “Is it not that the US Ambassador would be [like] any other Ambassador out of order based on what is considered to be diplomatic protocol in his behavior in and around The Bahama Islands and if it is that he is in fact out of order what exactly is it that is to be done… to be sure that we don’t have the kind of public play out of diplomacy that we see engaging a representative of another state in the kinds of things which happen on the ground in this country.
    The Minister replied: “I understand the concern and anxiety of some Members of the House and citizens of The Bahamas about many of the public comments that have been made by Ambassador Blankenship over the past few weeks.  I just want to, however, be very careful.  We must exercise caution when addressing diplomatic relations in Parliament.  The relationship between the United States and The Bahamas is a secure one, is a safe one.  Relations are good.  I would simply say that we both agree and characterize the relations as such.”

SCORN ON ZHIVARGO LAING
    In previous incarnations of this column, we have tried to be kind of Zhivargo Laing.  He is the son of one of the soldiers of the revolution and so should be given respect just for the work of his mother at helping to make our country free.  What is a great pity is that he has become slavish and intellectually dishonest. He must have been tainted in the Government of Hubert Ingraham.  During his time as Minister he became known as a virtual nuisance in the House, always interrupting and interfering in the business of big people.  He obviously did not take care of his constituency because even though the Prime Minister Ingraham went to the maximum extent to ensure that Mr. Laing won on gerrymandered boundaries, he still lost.  And now that we see his public commentary this week on US Bahamas relations and his attack on Prime Minster Perry Christie for his engagement with the religious community, we see why he deserved to lose.
    Mr. Laing doubts in his column that US/Bahamas relations are good.  In that he is following the line of his leader Senator Tommy Turnquest who in taking direction from some source has decided that there is political fodder in trying to make it appear that there is a problem between the US and The Bahamas.  All these gentlemen have to do is examine the record.
    The daily march of US/Bahamian relations appears to continue without incident.  The only issue seems to be the fact that the present US Ambassador does not understand that you need to keep quiet in another man’s country, and speak through diplomatic channels.  The FNM is giving the impression by the words of Laing and Turnquest that they are marching to that drum or taking instructions from an Ambassador who does not understand his role.
    And so now there is a problem in US/Bahamian relations, and that problem is not the two countries themselves or their representatives (Despite our difference with the US Ambassador’s style, he is entitled to represent his country as he sees fit and as his country requires him to do—Ed.) but it is now the FNM and its spokesmen like Mr. Laing.  It does not appear that these two gentlemen (Turnquest and Laing) understand what the role of the Opposition is in this matter.  Mr. Laing and Senator Turnquest have now broken with the Government and are hoping that they can use this to help them win.  The fact is they are totally discredited.  They are discredited because, people perceived them as weak and unable to support themselves without the help of Mr. Ingraham.  Nothing that has occurred since the election has changed any minds.
    As for the attack on Mr. Christie for his participation with the religious people, Mr. Laing should be the last one to speak, since he seemed during the campaign to have lost his religion, although not his bible quoting tendency.
 

THE TRUCE AT BAIC HOLDS
    This is a case of no news being good news. This week there is nothing to report about the Bahamas Agricultural Industrial Corporation (BAIC).  The Corporation and its Chair and Minister have been in the news consistently since last year.  Last week, the two men, Minister and Chair announced a truce and pledged to work together.  The PLP breathed a sigh of relief and so did this column.  Let us hope that the truce continues to hold.
 

MOTHER PRATT TAKES THE OFFENSIVE

    The Deputy Prime Minister was furious.  She rose to answer a question in the House of Assembly from one of the backbenchers Sidney Stubbs MP on Wednesday 5th March.  She said that the headlines in The Tribune about the annual drug report of the US State Department said simply that The Bahamas was a drug transshipment country.  It did not show that the US report also said that there was no evidence of Bahamian senior officials being involved in corruption.  It also said that The Bahamas government was fully cooperating with the United States in the war on drugs.  Mother Pratt said all of those points and more in the House, but there is something that all Governments in this region must address.  It is quite strange for the United States every year to involve each of the countries of the world in this examination process that looms much larger in our own countries than in their own.  It is time now in fact for the Caribbean to do its own annual report on the state of cooperation between the United States and ourselves and CARICOM generally.  This should be annually publicized in our own countries. Nassau Guardian photo of Deputy Prime Minister Pratt by Donald Knowles.
 
 

PINDLING’S NAME IN THE HEADLINES AGAIN
    This week has been a sad one for the Pindling family. (Click here for latest story above) Their oldest son’s name is the headlines, mixed up in a lurid murder that on the face of it appears to implicate him as a conspirator in that murder.  The evidence of the crown against Ashley Newbold, the defendant in the murder of former Club 601 manager Joy Cartwright in 1996 is that Mr. Newbold claimed that he was paid by Obie Pindling to assist in the killing of Ms. Cartwright and that Mr. Pindling pulled the trigger.
    The Tribune made sure that the Pindling name was there almost every day.  Both morning newspapers carried the portion from the confession statement of Mr. Newbold that the mother and father of Mr. Pindling warned him about seeing Ms. Cartwright.  There is no doubt why The Tribune is acting the way it is.  It is on its unrelenting campaign to sink the PLP and hoping that this direction will cause some damage.  The fact is that it won’t.  The Bahamian people are not stupid.  And no one believes for one moment that Obie Pindling killed anybody or paid to kill anyone.
    The Crown Prosecutor Bernard Turner warned the jury at the start of the case that this case was not about a famous name that was going to be called, it was a question of who killed Joy Cartwright and the crown is convinced that they have their man.  All the rest is simply commentary.  In the meantime, it is left only for us to express our sincere concern for the Pindling family who having given so much to this country just can’t seem to get a break.  We sympathize especially at the sadness of a mother’s pain and wish Lady Pindling well.

THE OPPOSITION’S POSITION ON WAR
    The Leader of the FNM Senator Tommy Turnquest issued a statement in which the party said that it was firmly behind the disarmament of Iraq by force.  It said, “We in the FNM are gravely observing that the PLP Government is embarked on a very dangerous game and course which could seriously harm The Bahamas.”  The party said that in taking the stand the Government was not speaking “for the more than 50,000 Bahamians who voted for the FNM, and the thousands of other Bahamians who today see the Government's actions and attitude as reckless and ill-advised.”  The FNM also found it “reckless and ill-advised for the PLP Government to be playing around with the US request” to exempt US military personnel from the provisions of “the International Court of Justice” [they mean the International Criminal Court].
    The statement of the FNM was attacked by Malcolm Adderley MP for Elizabeth in the House (see story above).  But we add our two cents.  Clearly the FNM does not understand what is going on.  The United States itself is using the UN to prosecute its aims on Iraq.  The FNM statement is therefore foolish and done out of ignorance.  Secondly Bahamians are entitled to ask whether or not the FNM realizes that they are no longer the Government of The Bahamas and so they do not speak for The Bahamas.  Thirdly one must question their good sense in breaking with the Government on a policy that is so obviously innocuous in the face of the world.  It sends the wrong signal.  The FNM criticizes the position on the ICC when they were the ones who signed the document on behalf of The Bahamas when they were the Government.  The instrument establishing the Court does not permit the derogation from the treaty as the US would wish and so the request is a non-starter.
    They also had the criticism that the PLP were hiding behind CARICOM in foreign policy.  Successive governments including their own have conducted their foreign policy in concert with the CARICOM countries so there is nothing new here.  What you have is political party that is like a set of carpetbaggers.  They rush into town and take advantage of the latest wind blowing and then out of town again when they have exhausted all they can get.  PLP Chairman Raynard Rigby issued a statement on behalf of the PLP in which he condemned the FNM for their statement.

REVIEWING THE LENDING CAP
    Central Bank Governor Julian Francis has been the butt of criticism in the financial sector because of the cap that was instituted by the Central Bank on lending since September 2001.   It has virtually shut down commerce in the banking sector with very few loans being granted.  The interesting thing though is recent statistics from one of the major housing companies in the country that even when the mortgage lending programmes were promoted by the banks, the response from new home buyers was not overwhelming.  This indicates a soft economy.
    Many believe that one of the ways to stimulate the economy is to get some additional lending going.  Under the present rules, the Central Bank is not allowing it.  The idea is to save valuable foreign exchange for the hard times that are coming with war on the horizon.  But many argue that the Central Bank is too restrictive and the clearing house banks have been seeking to have it removed.  Paul McWeeney of the Bank of The Bahamas said that the restrictions on credit may have the effect of increasing the cost of money to consumers.  We support some less restrictive lending cap.
 

THE POLICY OF THE TRIBUNE
    You can forgive an error of facts.  That can happen to anyone. You can forgive the odd spelling mistake.  It happens all the time.  You can forgive the editorial opinion.  That is the business of the newspaper to state what they believe.  What is a disgrace, however and cannot be forgiven is the fact that a daily newspaper that is supposed to provide the news becomes a propaganda rag for the official Opposition.  And even the editorials, while their business, have become so intellectually dishonest as to be useless.  It is the same old tired complaint one supposes but it needs to be said anyway.  The policy of The Tribune is to discredit the PLP at any cost and at all times.  It is that inveterate hatred of self that is inbred in Eileen Carron, its publisher, so that she cannot help herself.  What a pity?
 

BRADLEY ROBERTS ATTACKS THE TRIBUNE

    Bradley Roberts came off the plane from Trinidad and Tobago’s carnival hopping mad on Wednesday 5th March.  The Tribune had run a series of stories in which it said that he as Minister for Bahamasair forced one of the two jet planes off the line with the passengers bound for Miami so that the Minister could get to the Trinidad carnival.  Mr. Roberts accused The Tribune of being irresponsible.  They simply didn’t check to find out the facts.  The whole idea is again to paint the PLP with the brush of improper use of power.  The facts turned out to be something completely different.  It’s Eileen Carron again and her propaganda but she has failed again.  Please click here for what the Minister had to say in his statement to Parliament.
 

WHAT THE CHAPLAIN HAD TO SAY
    You may remember that after the adjournment by Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell on 6th December 2002 of the joint anti-drug task force talks between the US and The Bahamas, there were some Opposition commentators like Eileen Carron of The Tribune who tried to make a mountain out of the word  ‘satrap’.  The Minister said that the US Ambassador was behaving like a satrap.  A satrap is a provincial governor in the Old Persian Empire and has come in modern times to be a symbol of a colonial like exercise of power.   And so there was a bit of bemusement this week in the House as the passage was read from Daniel Chapter 6 by House Chaplain Antonio Beckford.  The word satrap in its proper meaning was used throughout the text.  We thought you might find it interesting:
Daniel in the Lion’s Den
Chapter 6
It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, (2) with the administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel.  The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. (3) Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. (4) At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so.  They could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. (5) Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.
    Perhaps Eileen Carron at The Tribune will now read, learn and inwardly digest instead of spewing nonsensical propaganda and lies.

DROWNING CHILDREN
    The Director of Education Iris Pinder has indicated that the Government will now review the rules as they relate to field trips for students at Government schools.  This follows the drowning in waters off east Grand Bahama of two school children from the Martin Town Primary School on Monday 2nd March.  The tragedy occurred when 40 students supervised by five adults discovered that three of the children were missing.  A search ensued and two bodies were discovered.  It is assumed that they got washed away in a strong current.
    The Tribune reported that most independent schools have a ratio of one adult to 3 to 5 students, especially around water. We hope that the Ministry will hurriedly put in place the new rules.  One family has indicated that it will take legal action against the Ministry for negligence. According to The Tribune of Wednesday 4th March, Betty Ewing, mother of 11 year old Indira Ewing who died is planning to sue.  No word from the parent of the other child Giovannie Ferguson.
 

13 MURDERS
    There are now 13 murders in The Bahamas for the year.  The latest was a 26 year old on Friday 7th March gunned down in Yellow Elder Gardens in New Providence.  This is after a two week lull, increased police patrols and more searches by police of cars on the roads.  Meanwhile a meeting in the constituency of Bradley Roberts MP called for hangings and the lash.  Mr. Roberts said that he did not believe that this was the answer but the public is getting more hysterical as the days go by over this issue which many fear may force the Government to consider truncating civil liberties.
 

OUSTER AT HIGGS AND JOHNSON
    It is reported that an associate who helped significantly with the settling of the famous Oracle case is moving on from the Higgs and Johnson.  Several in the sector expressed surprise after all the work that he had done to settle the matter.  The talk is that he crossed one of the senior partners.
 

THE HUGH CAMPBELL WINNERS

    Charles Robins III (aka 'Softly') of Bimini is the Coach of the Catholic High Crusaders.  They have won the annual Hugh Campbell Basketball Championship, accepted as the premier high school championship in the country.  The final was an all Grand Bahama affair with former winners Tabernacle Falcons trying desperately to make one final shot before the buzzer.  The Catholic High Crusaders won the game 46-45.  This is the Coach’s second title.  The Catholic Crusaders have now won more than any other school.  The Championships seem now more or less to permanently reside in Grand Bahama.  The coach was shown in the winning photo by The Tribune on Monday 3rd March with his team around him and the trophy.  Congratulations!
 

NEW SWIM FEDERATION PRESIDENT

    It had all the hallmarks of a national general election.  And it seemed for many parents of the children who are in the national swim programme; it was do or die.  But the result is that they worked and campaigned and got proxies and argued to a cliff hanging 79-77 defeat of Vincent Wallace Whitfield as the head of the Bahamas Swim Federation.  Mr. Wallace Whitfield had been criticized for his management style.  Algernon Cargill, a marketing executive is the new Chair. Many feel that the sport can now grow with the coming of a new administration.  Congratulations to the new President! Guardian photo of Algernon Cargill.
 

APOSTLE MOSS ON ‘5 DAYS ABLAZE’
    The irrepressible Apostle Cedric Moss, Pastor of Kingdom Life World Outreach Centre in his newspaper column this past week entitled ‘Why They Vex?’ shares “some preliminary thoughts” on the ‘Revival Is Here’ meetings.  See previous stories about Pastor Moss and his to and fro about the revivals.  This week, Pastor Moss wrote to this site:
    “[M]y only desire was frank disclosure to the public regarding the amount the speaker was going to make (on the past 2 occasions I cited it was a pre-arrangement of 50% of all the offerings she raised, approximately $25,000 and $125,000 respectively).  Those were much smaller events.
    In an effort to achieve a ZERO offerings objective I had suggested, our church, Kingdom Life World Outreach Center, offered to give to the budget the same equal amount as the supporting churches (even though we were not in support of the event).
    About the crowds, I knew they would be massive so I was not surprised or disappointed so it was not a black eye to me at all.
    If you have heard/read reports coming out of the “revival”, you would no doubt see that my concerns about financial manipulation and greed were very much founded.  In spite of all the watching eyes on how they would raise money, towards the end, the hired speaker called for $500 and $1,000 offering lines with the promise of blessings.  It stands to reason that anyone who has the power to financially bless others should be able to bless him or her self and not live off seductive, manipulative offerings.  But I guess those who go on the lines with high hopes don’t think that way.
Cedric B. Moss
 

DENNY BELL DIES
    A sad note in the sporting community.  Denny Bell, wife of renowned Freeport coach and Cacique Award winner ‘Bert’ Bell has died.  Mrs. Bell is reported to have succumbed in Nassau on her way to hospital after battling illness for some months.  In addition to her husband Bert, she is survived by a daughter, Trudy and two sons; David and Andrew, both standout athletes of international calibre.  A teacher by profession, Mrs. Bell exhibited the generous nature of her Andros home island and was a well-liked backbone of support around many sporting disciplines including track and field, cycling and swimming.  Our most sincere condolences are with the family.
 

B.S. NOTES FROM GENEVA’S IN FREEPORT…
NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA

Students Drown
The news in Grand Bahama started off with the tragic drowning deaths Monday of two Martin Town Primary School students.  They were among a group of forty students on a field trip to Sweeting's Cay off the eastern end of Grand Bahama.  The two victims were identified as Indira Ewing 11 years old and Geovannie Ferguson aged ten.  A third student Lakerthera Rollins aged ten was given CPR and survived.  The girls were pulled into a strong current, which took them into deeper water towards the mangroves.  According to reports in the Freeport News, the disaster could have been worse if it were not for the aid and assistance of some residents who were bonefishing at the time and quickly went over to get the children out of the current.

Royal Oasis
As we went to press last week, reports came to News From Grand Bahama that the Royal Oasis casino had let go some five employees.  This week the company remained tight-lipped on the whole matter, but further reports are that more persons were let go from the hotel side of the operation and we are informed that management has instructed their employees to report weekly over the next year to receive their severance pay.  We believe that this is a cost cutting measure by a company whose usual method of operation is to buy distressed properties, refurbish them and then resell.  In this instance, it seems that cost overruns have caused serious financial setbacks and the company is now trying to find a way out.  We believe that more layoffs are going to follow as the company fights desperately to remain afloat.

Hotel Union
Word is the Royal Oasis casino employees' dismal letters were on the letterhead of Obie Ferguson and Co.  Obie Ferguson is the president of the Trade Union Congress.  Employees said they saw this as a betrayal.  On the other hand, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union members took a strike vote on Friday and employees of the casino and the hotel have voted overwhelmingly to strike against the Royal Oasis and Casino.  The matter is now under a thirty day cooling off period, but sources tell us "never mind the pronouncements of the union bosses... they know exactly what the score is and half a loaf is better than no loaf at all... all they [the union] are doing in public is posturing."

Tommy T
In May of this year, the Free National Movement is going into convention and we are reliably informed that there is unlikely to be a challenge to the leadership of Senator Tommy Turnquest.  We have also observed that the only real potential challenge to his leadership in the FNM is Brent Symonette, the MP for Montagu and son of former Premier Sir Roland Symonette.  Brent, our sources insist, is not going to make a move at this time because "these are considered to be the 'caretaker' years in FNM politics and the fact that he [Brent] has a seat in Parliament gives him the platform he needs to showcase his political talent for the future."

Why, Tommy, Why?
We now wonder why Tommy has taken the position on things that he had no need to take a chance on... For example, the ZNS issue where he was embarrassingly lectured on the facts by Corporation Chairman Calsey Johnson or his stance on foreign affairs where he exposed his party to charges of disloyalty to the nation.  He needed only to have paid attention to the pronouncements of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham’s statement in Parliament on the matter and to the statements of former ambassadors in the FNM government Sir Arlington Butler, Anthony Rolle and Sir Arthur Foulkes.  Had he listened, Tommy would have learned that politics in matters of foreign affairs always ends at the border and secondly he would have seen in the debate that who is our closest ally had nothing to do with this whole matter, but in fact process was everything.  The question must be asked whether to get at one devil who is Saddam Hussein must we dismantle the United Nations in our zeal to achieve this objective?  When we would have broken the only apparatus for the arbitration of international disputes what will we then use when other disputes arise between large and small states?  Is it worth it all to destroy the mechanism we now have?  Process is everything and under these circumstances, the question of whether or not America is our friend and ally does not arise.

Raynard in GB
PLP Chairman Raynard Rigby was in Grand Bahama on Friday and broke bread with the Kristy’s lunch bunch.  Mr. Rigby was told by one of the members at the table that the CDR would miss him, but in any event, wished him well in his new post as PLP Chairman.  The group all shared a hearty laugh as they assured the rising PLP star that – though he disowned and denied them, they would never do the same to him.  A PLP familiar with the group observed that "Notwithstanding all the jocularity, PLPs everywhere await the day when all ‘CDRs’ stop the foolishness and come on home".
BS

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK - The Tribune showed a picture of Obie Pindling, the son of the founding Prime Minister of The Bahamas the late Sir Lynden O. Pindling, as he arrived at court on Wednesday 12th March on his final day as a witness in the trial of Ashley Newbold, who was later convicted of the murder of Mr. Pindling’s former employee and girlfriend Joy Cartwright. The trial bore some sensational headline after another, and with the police charging Mr. Newbold and a nameless other person for murder, the public was left wondering why the other person was not charged whoever that other person turned out to be.  Mr. Pindling took the stand to defend himself against the allegations that he called “outrageous lies”.  He said there was no truth to the allegations.  There were many who criticized the Judge in the trial for allowing Mr. Newbold’s confession statement which contained what seemed to be hearsay about Mr. Pindling.  Photo by Felipe Major.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

THE COURT OF APPEAL
The Court of Appeal of The Bahamas has had some very bad judges sitting on its benches during the lifetime of many of today’s practitioners.  It has had a few good ones as well.  The situation has gone from bad to worse over the years.  In the past there was at least one public figure who sought to bring some kind of balance to the Judiciary and its unfettered ability to exercise public policy over the lives of Bahamians by making the Judiciary subject to public criticism.  At one time, one of the Judges tried to have him disciplined for that but the effort failed.

Another time a prominent Bahamian advocate asked for the adjournment of a trial that was being conducted in the Court of Appeal to ask to see the judges in camera.  When he went behind closed doors, he is said to have told them that if they ever spoke to him again in the tone of voice that they did and with the disrespect they showed, they would have to deal with him at another level.  He reportedly left no doubt as to what he meant.  The rude behaviour to counsel stopped but that lawyer was never able to win a case again in that forum.

We have seen reports over the past month of a judge in the Court of Appeal who has attacked officers of the Attorney General's office for their conduct of certain trials.  The remarks appeared to be intemperate and some say that when the allegations and when the remarks were actually investigated, they fell short of the mark when it came to the truth.

As a result of the reputation of these kinds of remarks many legal practitioners in The Bahamas are refusing to appear before the Judges of the Court of Appeal particularly if a particular Judge is sitting on the bench.  Some argue that they witnessed the treatment of several non Bahamian lawyers who came in to do special cases, leaders in their fields abroad and the level of disrespect and lack of civil courtesy was appalling.

The problem is that people who are charged with offences need to get Justice.  The system is bad enough when you have a lawyer, but judge when you do not have a lawyer to act for you.  And if the report from the previous paragraph is correct, defendants will be denied justice if their lawyers refuse to appear before the Court for fear that their heads will get taken off for some perceived slight to the bench.

The complaint is not a new complaint about Judges.  The question is how do you deal with it?  Perhaps it is time for the Bahamas Government at the executive and the legislative level to intervene to impose a Judicial code of conduct that could lead to the removal of a Judge who engages in behaviour which is clearly uncivil or tendentious.  Perhaps there needs to be a complaints procedure implemented outside of the one that now obtains in the constitution to sanction judges who do not conform to a published code of conduct.

The most recent complaint on this matter has come from observers of the challenge of two death penalty cases that were remitted by the Privy Council to the Court of Appeal.  The report is that the comments made in the court suggest a hostility to the Privy Council itself that was not seemly.  It is important that this matter be investigated and that some effort be made by the Chairman of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission to bring it to the attention of the court concerned before some public steps are taken that may prove embarrassing to the whole country.

The number of hits for the week ending Saturday 15th March 2003 at midnight: 28,845.

The number of hits for the month of March ending Saturday 15th at Midnight: 62,910.

The number of hits for the year 2003 ending Saturday 15th March at midnight: 266,917.

DUPUCH ATTACKS THE US AMBASSADOR
    It looked to us like Pierre Dupuch, the independent MP for St. Margaret’s had been saving up some harsh words for J. Richard Blankenship, the US Ambassador to The Bahamas.  Mr. Blankenship has touched a raw nerve in Mr. Dupuch who is the brother of the Publisher of The Tribune Eileen Carron.  Whereas Eileen Carron has been slavish in her support of everything that the US Ambassador says or does no matter how ridiculous or insulting to The Bahamas, her brother let loose with an attack that cheered The Bahamas generally.  Mr. Dupuch told the House of Assembly on Wednesday 12th March: “He says he is blunt speaking, well I speak blunt as well.  So blunt meets blunt.”  Here is what Mr. Dupuch had to say in his own words as reported in The Nassau Guardian and the Bahama Journal:
    “The old [Testament] text says Samson killed ten thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.  Many friends, especially recently are lost today with the use of the same weapon.  The American Government has sent some 600,000 or 200,000 fully armed with everything except nuclear to seek Saddam in the Gulf.  They’ve sent Ambassador ‘Flagship’ to The Bahamas armed with a loose jawbone to do the same thing to this Government.  Unfortunately both don’t have the same effect…
    “The Ambassador who obviously does not like the choice of the Bahamian people and wants to undermine them, brings us cases of drug abuse from 1992 when these people weren’t even around, and believes that he convinced the Bahamian people and the world that they’re a bunch of bad people… I am not a PLP, but that is the Government Bahamians democratically chose. They put their X where everybody could see.  Who is he to come here and try to undermine it, by putting fear?  He’s lucky he’s not dealing with me.
    “I must say that he [Blankenship] doesn’t represent the same Americans that I know because the Americans that I know and I have gone to school with, been a guest of, lived on their farms, they are some of the finest people that walk this world, and this man certainly does not represent them.  Sometimes he thinks he is the Ambassador, sometimes you think he is the town clown, other times, he’s doing business as usual.”
 
 

BEATING THE WAR DRUM
    Wouldn’t you like to be in the Azores this weekend as a fly on the wall?  But maybe you wouldn’t need to be a fly on the wall because you could probably stand on the beach and hear the war drum a beatin’.  We are talking about that summit of the willing the US President, the British Prime Minister and the Spanish Prime Minister who are all willing to plunge the world into darkness on the adventures they have planned to launched against Saddam Hussein the President of Iraq.  They have no business planning such misadventures but they are launching it anyway in the face of world opinion and in the face of significant opposition within their own countries.
    The British Prime Minister Tony Blair is almost certainly in big trouble with losing his job if he goes ahead with the war in Iraq without getting a second resolution from the UN.  He is not going to get it and the French have threatened to veto it.  The US thro