Bahama Pundit

Tweedledum & Tweedledee in The Bahamas

by Larry Smith

“Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary.” - Robert Louis Stevenson

Remember politics? Sure you do.

How can we forget? That ceaseless drip-drip drivel we have to put up with year in and year out.

And now that the political season has begun in earnest, the spigot has opened wide and we won’t be able to shut it off for quite a while.

Funny how Bahamians get so heated about politics when there are so few differences among those vying for our attention.

Politics & Religion in The Bahamas

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

The debate over free will and determinism is as old as the hills and there is no end in sight. Professor Paul Davies of Macquarie University of Sydney, Australia, observes that it is picking up steam and he is worried about it.

Writing in the magazine Foreign Policy, Professor Davies points out that belief in some measure of free will is common to all cultures and a large part of what makes us human.

“It is also,” he says, “fundamental to our ethical and legal systems. Yet today’s scientists and philosophers are busily chipping away at this social pillar – apparently without thinking what might replace it.

“… But even if they are right, and free will really is an illusion, it may still be a fiction worth maintaining.”

To most Christians, God-given free will is an article of faith. It was defined in the fourth century by the great North African doctor of the church St. Augustine of Hippo in his book On Free Choice Of The Will.

The vast majority of Bahamians claim to be Christian, yet there is in our national psyche strong elements of determinism and fatalism.

Will Development Kill The Bahamas?

by Larry Smith

The billions of dollars in development projects slated for the Bahamas could devastate our natural environment if we are not careful, experts say.

Tourism is the world’s biggest industry, and we are just off the coast of a huge, affluent market. Our relative safety, low population density and outstanding physical amenities make the Bahamas a prized destination.

As one Internet message board posting put it, “Winding Bay (on Abaco) is sold out. Emerald Bay (in Exuma) is sold out. Everybody wants to be in the Islands of the Bahamas. All the Sunday travel sections are regaling these developments. The Bahamas is HOT, HOT, HOT.”

Multi-million-dollar projects like these represent our only national development strategy. In fact, the policy of siting “anchor” developments on major islands dates back to the Pindling era, (when the Family Island Master Plan was drafted) and was hotly pursued by the Ingraham administration.

Breaking up the Internet

by Larry Smith

The Internet was under attack last week by hordes of politicos camped in Tunisia for the United Nations-sponsored World Information Summit.

Their attack was launched two years ago, when 175 countries agreed to build “a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented (global) Information Society.”

Their plan called for implementation of e-government, e-business, e-learning and e-health services, among other initiatives, around the world.

You might not know it, but our government published an e-commerce policy five years ago, and by next year we may have real government services online, like business and driver’s licenses. We are ahead of some countries, but way behind many.

While bridging the digital divide sounds wonderful, the real issue at last week’s conference was internet governance. The gloriously democratic World Wide Web is threatened with a takeover by a bunch of politically-directed bureaucrats whose first thought will be censorship.

New Political Leaders in Run-up to Election

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

The captains and the kings (and nowadays the warrior queens) may leave the convention floor but they do not depart. In fact, one of the purposes of a national convention is to help get the captains and the troops all fired up to do battle in the wider political arena. This is particularly important before a general election.

It is not likely that there will be an early general election despite the predictions. Even so, both major political parties will be watching each other closely to see if one will attempt to pull off a special convention to launch its platform and introduce candidates.

The 2007 encounter can go as late as the middle of the year, and the later it goes the more likely the parties will be to stage such events.

Race & Politics in Today's Bahamas

by Andrew Allen

One of the things that last week's convention demonstrated is that the PLP still has some way to go if it is to finally bury the divisive race card that served it well in the 1960's, but has served both it and the Bahamas badly since then.

To many of us, there was something frankly amusing about seeing Kenyatta Gibson, a man in his thirties, attempting to invoke the spirit of the early PLP pioneers by describing the career advancement of Mr. Symonette as a movement "back 300 years" for the country.

The Tribune was quite right to remind readers of a subsequent editorial column that this particular Mr. Gibson, who gives his address as Lyford Cay, would have been in his early infancy when Mr. Symonette's father last held office in this country. His invocation of the horrors of a return to 1705 (!) must then be read in all its stark ludicrousness.

A Retrospective Commentary

by Larry Smith

From 1979 to 1983 I wrote a column for the Tribune in a different era (under the nom-de-plume ‘Monitor”). Those commentaries were focused on ZNS television news coverage, which at the time was strictly controlled by the Progressive Liberal Party government under Lynden Pindling.

But although some two decades have passed since these commentaries were written, the context is discernible, many of the personalities are still around, and the issues continue to resonate. Of course, since private broadcasting opened up the air waves in the early 1990s, younger readers may not appreciate the political censorship that existed when these pieces were written.

In fact, news management was so partisan back then, that the following comments may appear one-sided to some. But that is the fault of the politicians alone. These tongue-in-cheek excerpts offer some interesting parallels with current events.

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On the Tragic True Story of Sam Ahab

by Nicolette Bethel

There are times in a writer's life when realism just won't do. That's true even when that writer is an essayist who writes commentaries on what she observes. But the writing of essays isn't the only thing that God intended writers to do; and so I hope you'll forgive me if I take a moment to tell you the tragic true story of Mr. Sam Ahab, a relatively young man who, as a child, wasn't really trained up in the way he should go, and so who as an adult found himself a-wander in a wilderness every bit as hot and hostile as the Arabian Desert was for the old-time Israelites -- and blind as could be to the pillars of cloud and of fire leading the way.

Now Mr. Sam Ahab was a man of many talents. In this he was rather like the servant who had been given talents by the master who was going away on a trip to a far land. But that's as far as it went. In this story, Sam Ahab inherited those talents from his father, Mr. Sam Ahab Senior, who had received the original five and invested them. Unlike his father, though, the wise investor, Sam Ahab Junior was too cautious or too careless to do much investing. Instead, he did what one should never, ever do with talents: he dug a hole in the ground and hid them in it, and went off to enjoy life's other treasures. Many of these, like the talents, he'd inherited from S. Ahab Senior; and off he went like the prodigal son to spend them in search of warmed beds, loot, and feasting.

Protecting our Consitutional Rights

by Larry Smith

Eighteen years ago, a police squad led by Sgt Drexel Cartwright burst into a Freeport home and arrested a public school teacher from California who was visiting her crippled father.

Twenty-nine-year-old Tamara Merson was summarily frog-marched to the police station and held for three days with male prisoners in filthy, unsupervised cells.

According to a judge, “it was 57 hours of the most harrowing and excruciatingly degrading experiences a young lady visiting the Bahamas could possibly encounter.”

“The conditions were horrific,” Tamara told Tough Call recently. “Like the black hole of Calcutta. There were no toilet facilities and I was in a small space with a dozen men. One masturbated in front of me. One defecated on the floor. I was terrified of being gang-raped.

Political Friendships in The Bahamas

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

I received a telephone call the other day which has prompted me to talk about friendship in politics and to do a little reminiscing. I hope readers will not mind since I also intend to make a few points.

The caller had been listening to a radio talk show on which Sir Clement Maynard was a guest and this is what she had to say:

“You heard Clement Maynard? He just said on the radio that you and he are good friends and that he talked to you on the phone no longer than yesterday.”

Apparently she was somewhat surprised that two people who have been on opposite sides of the political divide for 35 years could remain friends. I told her I was not listening to the show but if she had quoted Sir Clement correctly then that would be quite right.

The Bahamas Must Improve its Workforce

by Andrew Allen

As anyone who has ever had broad dealings with both private and public sector employees in The Bahamas well knows, the challenges of producing a better workforce within the modern Bahamian cultural and educational setting defy the kind of talk politicians typically bring to the debate.

In short, we have a country following an economic model that relies almost exclusively upon human resource-based advantages, while in fact the weakness of those human resources is a standing joke even among ourselves.

In this, we offer a stark contrast with places like Singapore, Malaysia and even India, all of which have found niches in sectors that are not traditional in the developing world. They have all, to some extent, sought to leapfrog the industrial stage of development and dive straight into high-tech service industries, largely on the strength of their excellent education systems and high quality workforces.

Bahamian Labour Leaders Out of Control

by Larry Smith

"Everyone has the right to work...(and) the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of (his or her) interests." -- Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“Years ago, ordinary people (supported) Labour to get a better life. Now, they understand that freedom and enterprise under law is better than massive government control over industry and people.” -- former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher

The naked threats from labour leaders in recent weeks are much more than mere bargaining positions in advance of what many believe will be an early election.

They represent a hinge of sorts. We are at a point where hard choices must be made about the future of the country. But unfortunately, the mindset of most Bahamian leaders appears locked in the past. - so much the worse for us.

Violence in Bahamian Society

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

There was a hope that after the experiences of the last century humankind would have been seriously committed to the elimination of violence from its affairs.

After all, it was the bloodiest century in history when well over 100 million people were killed in wars, revolutions and persecutions. Modern technology flashed the news of mayhem around the world almost instantly, and long before the century was over much of it could be seen in living colour.

At the end of World War II, leaders like Winston Churchill and Franklyn Roosevelt set up a world organization to serve humanity in various ways including the settlement of disputes and the avoidance of wars. This no doubt helped to prevent a third world war fought with nuclear weapons.

Another great leader, Mohandas Gandhi, demonstrated that even great revolutions can be achieved through non-violent means. His theory was also successfully put to the test by an American disciple, Martin Luther King.

Crime & Tourism in The Bahamas

by Andrew Allen

The Ministry of Tourism and Royal Bahamas Police Force are to be commended for their joint initiative in the policing of tourist areas of New Providence and Paradise Island.

The announcement that a new unit is to be created specifically to deal with crimes against tourists could not come at a more critical time, as the level of crime in general (including in resort areas) seems to be going through one of its customary spikes.

Obviously someone in the ministry has come to realise that we stand to lose whatever advantage is to be derived from the billions invested to date in our tourism plant if we ever get to the point that visitors do not feel safe in The Bahamas.

Saving on Solar

by Larry Smith

The soaring price of fossil fuel is creating new opportunities for alternative energy sources like solar and wind power.

The Economist magazine says global sales of solar panels will reach $11 billion this year, up from $7 billion last year. And wind turbine sales also showed big increases this year.

Although proposals for wind farms and trash incineration plants have languished on official desks for years, the government took a big step this summer by eliminating the 35 per cent Customs duty on solar panels.

Until recently, solar energy systems in the Bahamas made sense mainly for new buildings in isolated islands where power generation is expensive, sporadic or non-existent. For the average homeowner, even an efficient solar water heating system was not usually cost-effective.

But now that the import tax has been removed, installation of these systems makes good economic sense. Solar panels can not only reduce the homeowner's power bills, but also ease the strain on our overloaded electricity grid.

The Origins of Bahamian Aviation

by Larry Smith

It was liquor that brought flying to the Bahamas – just a decade or two after the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903.

Commercial aviation took off after the First World War, when many military aircraft and the men who flew them converted to civilian life. It was a time when liquor was banned in the United States, but smuggling it was big business.

A mechanic from Kentucky named Arthur ‘Pappy’ Chalk is often credited with starting the world’s first airline. In 1917 he ran charters from Miami, and two years later began scheduled flights to Bimini, carrying both rum runners and lawmen. Pappy Chalk retired in 1964 and died 13 years later. But Chalk’s Ocean Airways still operates seaplanes to the Bahamas.

On Tourism

by Nicolette Bethel

I want you to do me a favour. Take a minute and write a short paragraph describing The Bahamas.

Done? Good. Now let me guess: you wrote about the beautiful blue water, the white sandy beaches, the coconut trees, and the warm and friendly people. (Those people who didn't pick any of these things skip two paragraphs and read on.)

Now tell me how many times you went to the beach in the past year, how much of that gorgeous water you swam in, how many coconuts you ate from the shell, and how many people you were warm and friendly to on the way to work this morning.

We are living a myth. It's not our own myth. It is a myth created beyond our realities by people who live in cold cities with industrial economies, who dream of endless sunshine and warm water and sand that's as white as a wedding. Most of us live out of sight of the sea, and have to drive or catch bus to get anywhere near it. Most of us relate more to our fruit trees and our shade trees than we do to the coconut palm — we rest in the shade of silk cottons and ficus, we grumble at the dirt dropped from our beautiful and troublesome poincianas, and we snack on jujus and guineps far more than we feast on fresh coconut these days. Our coconut water is as likely to come from the food store as from the shell; and as for the sun — well, very few of us spend more time out in it than we have to. And as for the friendliness of the people: well. Warm and friendly we may be, but we're also stressed-out and overworked and underpaid and forced to sit in more traffic than is good for any human.

Tourism created the myth. We sell it, but we don't live it. In the words of Marion Bethel: in our air conditioned service, we are blessed waiters of grace divine.

But it doesn't have to be like that.

The Bahamian Blogosphere

by Larry Smith

“A weblog, or blog, is a personal journal on the web. Some blogs are highly influential and have enormous readership while others are primarily intended for a close circle of family and friends.”
-- Technorati.com

Blogging is all the rage these days.

According to Technorati, which tracks these things, there are over 20 million blog sites on the Internet (including this site and several other Bahamian blogs described below).

Some trace their origin to diarists like Samuel Pepys, a 17th century Englishman who wrote a renowned daily record of life during interesting times. In fact, you can find his blog on the Internet today at pepysdiary.com.

Blogging’s biggest impact is that it has lowered the publishing bar: ”It used to take a great deal of time and money to get a message to thousands or even millions of people,” said Rick Hallihan at Blobservations.net, ”Now, anyone can start a blog for free.”

Bahamian & American Freedom Fighters

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

Rosa Parks, the black American woman whose simple act of defiance sparked one of the great movements of the 20th century, died in October in her sleep.

It was in December 1955 that Mrs. Parks, a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white man. She was arrested, convicted and fined. That launched a bus boycott and the civil rights movement which changed the history of the United States.

It inspired and challenged leadership in the black community and that challenge was magnificently met by a young Baptist preacher who went on to lead a great non-violent revolution and to become a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. paid the ultimate price when he was struck down by an assassin’s bullet in April 1968.