Bahama Pundit

Columbus, The Bahamas and the Flat World of the 21st Century

by Larry Smith

It's strange when you think about it, but the fact is that globalisation began right here in the Bahamas - when Christopher Columbus landed on San Salvador 500 years ago.

That event shrank the world and opened trade between the continents. So it's all the more odd that we are now being told the world is not round but flat - in the sense that technology has placed us on the brink of an entirely new era in human history.

This flat earth metaphor is used to good effect by a New York Times columnist named Thomas Friedman, who - in less than 16 months - has published two hardcover editions of his best-selling 575-page book, The World is Flat: a Brief History of the 21st Century.

Friedman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of several books on globalisation and his columns reach millions of people. He is best known as a populariser who can lucidly explain complex economic ideas and processes to the rest of us.

The flat world he talks about was created in less than two decades by several developments - beginning with the end of communism in 1989, the coming to life of the world wide web in 1995, the standardisation of workflow software, and the global spread of the Internet made possible by dot.com era over-investment in fibre-optics.

On Inertia

by Nicolette Bethel

I’m in my third year of employment as a civil servant. I started out in this profession, twenty-odd years ago. I worked as a civil servant for three years, and left to enter the teaching profession. Some people thought I was crazy; I was taking a pay cut, I was moving to apparently sub-standard working conditions (no air conditioning in the classroom, no secretaries to do work for me, no downtime — I was working in a small church school, where free periods were few and far between), I was leaving a job with Connections to go to one with None.

I was as happy as a clam.

Saving Land and Jobs for Future Bahamians

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

It is all about balance, and the PLP Government seems incapable of getting it right. In the last election PLP campaigners and their allies relied heavily on the accusation that the FNM was selling the country to foreigners.

They were particularly strident in their criticism of the FNM for the concessions given to Kerzner International to get the multi-billion dollar Atlantis development on Paradise Island started so as to rescue the very sick economy the PLP had left behind. Some of them went so far as to use the South Africa race card against the Kerzners.

These days, PLP politicians positively gush when they mention Kerzner and Atlantis because they now realize what trouble this country would have been in without this world class development.

On Emancipation

by Nicolette Bethel

In 1833, the British Parliament passed an Act to abolish slavery in the British Empire. As of August 1, 1834, all slaves throughout the empire were to become free to some degree — if they were under the age of six, they would become free immediately, but if they were over six, they were to be apprenticed to their former masters. Apprenticeship was finally abolished on August 1, 1838.

It is partly for this reason that Emancipation Day is a holiday in The Bahamas. It is a holiday throughout the former British slave colonies of the Caribbean as well — and the reason that Jamaica, for example, chose it as its Independence Day. We don’t celebrate our holiday on August 1, although we remember the date; rather, we have chosen to make the nearest Monday the holiday.

Here, then, together with hot weather, rain, and hurricanes, the summer months bring the twin holidays that commemorate our freedom. As a nation, we have the opportunity of remembering how far we have come, of honouring our ancestors who — slave and master alike — were dehumanized by the institution of slavery and indentureship.

A D+ NATION? CHANGING THE SCHOOLS WILL CHANGE THE GRADE

The past few years have seen a rising chorus of concern over our failing educational system. Both private and public sector leaders say we are facing a national "crisis" with the potential to destroy our prosperity and our childrens' future. Several articles on this site have outlined the scope of the problem and discussed some of the solutions. Here we present the views of Neil Sealey, a Bahamian who has spent 25 years in higher education, serving as a professional examiner for GCE O and A levels, as well as the BGCSE exams, and instructing trainee teachers at the College of the Bahamas and in-service through field courses and workshops. He received an MA in Geography from the University of Oxford and was awarded a fellowship at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has written several text books that are currently used in Bahamian schools, and continues to be active in research and writing.

The problem
Following reports and debates on the state of education earlier this year we now have the annual results from the high schools on our students’ achievements – another D+. While every country tends to bemoan its educational system, and many will say standards are falling universally. There is no reason to feel that improvements are out of our reach. In fact many countries do better than us and it is quite possible to quickly and effectively overhaul and improve our educational system.

Although a number of social factors are contributing to the present situation, such as the increase in single-parent families, the impact of drugs and gangs, and lack of parental guidance, this should not disguise the fact that the educational system itself is inadequate, or that the government cannot do anything without everyone else doing something as well. This would be burying our heads in the sand. This is not a problem that is going to go away, and it is not going to solve itself. It is a problem with a solution that needs action now. As has been said elsewhere ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’.

Managing Bahamian Relations with the US

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

Last week John Rood published a brief overview of his first two years as United States Ambassador to The Bahamas, and the reaction was almost immediate.

One view is that in the first place Ambassador Rood should not speak directly to the Bahamian people about the particulars of relations between the two countries, at least not controversial aspects of those relations.

Presumably, Mr. Rood has said nothing publicly that he has not communicated to the Government of The Bahamas and so there is nothing wrong with that.

The Bahamas Ambassador to the United States also has the right to speak publicly in the US about the relationship, and both of them have the right to speak privately or publicly to individual citizens and groups in the two democratic countries to which they are accredited.

Has the Stage Been Set for Armageddon?

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

When those of the Northern Pole are united,
In the East will be great fear and dread …
One day the two great leaders will be friends;
Their great powers will seem to grow.
The New Land will be at the height of its power:
To the man of blood the number is reported.

Those words from Nostradamus and some words in the Revelation of St. John, together with currents events, have convinced some people that we are on the verge of World War III, the great apocalyptic Battle of Armageddon, the end times.

The two great leaders of the Northern Pole, it is said, are the leaders of Russia and the United States of America. The New Land, the United States, is certainly at the height of its power. As a matter of fact, it is the only superpower in the world.

BTC Holds Bahamas Telecoms to Ransom

by Larry Smith

Last year, BTC introduced a new look as part of a plan to "foster improvement on every level of the communications spectrum."

The new corporate clothing retired BTC's earlier slogan - "Your First Choice" - in favour of a slightly less risible one claiming to be our "Connection to the World". This was a step toward "evolving and re-branding the company," the press releases said.

But evolution at BTC resembles creationism more than science - in other words, this is the way it always has been, and that's the way it will stay. It's been almost a decade since we started talking about BTCs privatisation as a matter of urgency, and ain't nothing happen yet, although State Finance Minister James Smith pops up every now and then with an optimistic update.

How Castro's Exit will Affect Cuba and the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

Flipping through the channels one sleepless night, we happened upon a grainy black and white interview of Fidel Castro by the late Jack Paar, a former host of NBC's Tonight Show.

Turns out that Paar was enthusiastically welcoming a young Fidel in a Havana hotel on the very night that he became the pre-eminent political leader of Cuba in February 1959 - a month or so after the revolutionaries rode into the capital on tanks. It is said to be Castro's only on-camera interview with an American conducted in English.

Smiling, affable and smoking a trademark cigar, Castro told Paar (who was concerned that he might be tired after the revolution) that he could "ask all that you want for the public opinion of the United States."

There was nothing particularly insightful in that brief conversation - it was just a frozen moment in time resonating across half a century, from the point when Castro first arrived on the world scene to the point where he is about to exit stage left.

Rules, Laws & Conventions are Indispensable

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

In a letter published in The Tribune last month, Cynthia Daley took issue with me on a number of things including my objection to the attempt by Prime Minister Perry Christie to have Health Minister Dr. Bernard Nottage address the House of Assembly in session.

I reject Ms. Daley’s criticism on that point because the separation of the two houses of parliament is well-established by law and convention and it would have been wrong, even if the Opposition had given its consent, for a Minister of Government sitting in the Senate to address the elected chamber in session.

If Ms. Daley were a regular reader of this column she would know that I do not hesitate to criticize both political parties on issues which go beyond partisan politics and have to do with the system itself.

The Religious Roots of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

by Larry Smith

"They [the Jews] try to kill the principle of religions with the same mentality that they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Mohammed.”--Syrian President Bashar Assad at 2001 welcoming ceremony for the Pope.

"They [the Arabs] are products of a culture in which to tell a lie creates no dissonance. They don't suffer from the problem of telling lies that exists in Judaeo-Christian culture." --Ehud Barak, former prime minister of Israel in a 2002 newspaper interview.

Although Judaism, Christianity and Islam share the same historical roots and spiritual values, religion is at the heart of the interminable Arab-Israeli conflict. It all boils down to the conviction that my imaginary friend is better than your imaginary friend.

Israel was founded by the leaders of a self-determination movement called Zionism.This ideology has been described as the "politicization of Judaism" and it took many forms, but all favoured the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine - a territory which Muslims from Arabia had occupied since the 7th century.

Bahamas Approval of LNG Projects will be PLP Legacy

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

Last week Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson told The Tribune that a heads of agreement for a proposal to pipe LNG from The Bahamas to Florida was being negotiated and could be approved before the end of the PLP Government’s term of office. Mrs. Gibson sought to justify her government’s position with the assertion that it was continuing the policy of the FNM Government in this matter.

There are two things seriously wrong with this. The first is that it is most unusual for an attorney general to be making announcements about projects being considered or approved by the government. Either the minister responsible for the particular project or the prime minister should be the one to do so. Mrs. Gibson is neither, so why did she do it?

Before she became a cabinet minister her law firm acted for the AES Corporation which is seeking approval of this project. It is not unreasonable to assume that in a matter which can involve billions of dollars, the legal fees would be considerable.

There is nothing wrong with that. But since she became a member of the Cabinet, first as a minister then as attorney general, she should have recused herself from further involvement at any stage of this affair to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest. Prime Minister Perry Christie should have instructed her accordingly.