Bahama Pundit

The Man Who Never Was—An Assessment

by Larry Smith

The Man Who Never Was, published in 1953 by former spy Ewen Montagu, told the story of a successful 1943 British plot to deceive the Germans about the Allied invasion of Sicily.

The war story itself is of no relevance to this column, but in my view the book's title is the perfect epitaph for Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield, the Bahamian politician who never achieved his burning ambition to be prime minister.

The Free National Movement - the party that Whitfield founded in 1971 - recently held a series of events on Grand Bahama to commemorate his birthday. So this is as good a time as any to look at the life and legacy of the man whose greatest achievement was to ensure the survival of our multi-party democracy.

An Enduring Revolution – Part 1

by Simon

Asked his assessment of the 1789 French Revolution, a mid-20th century Chinese leader cautioned, perhaps apocryphally, "It is too soon to tell!"  Just 34 years after his death, China is significantly different from the isolated and economically anaemic state Zhou Enlai governed as premier from 1949 to 1976.  He appreciated that history is best measured in centuries rather than in decades.  

There is a narrative in some post-independent former British colonies in the Caribbean that majority rule has failed or is failing.  This line of reason ploughed its way into last Wednesday’s Nassau Guardian editorial: “A failing revolution”.  The editorial was based on obviously false premises and historical revisionism.

It was also typical of that genre of editorializing which believes that the problems in one’s own country are worse than those of much of the rest of the world.  Such narrow viewpoints are best expanded by a broader perspective of the contemporary struggles of other countries. 

Bahamian Ayatollahs on Homosexual Warpath Again

by Larry Smith

One is hard-pressed to discern what drives people like Lyall Bethel of the Coalition of Evangelical Pastors to become so obsessed with an imaginary plot to take over the world that he and others like to refer to as "the gay militant agenda".

This conspiracy theory is just as incredible as those variants of the 911 Truth movement which seek to lay the blame for the terror attacks in New York on Jews, who all stayed home from their jobs in the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001 to watch the destruction on TV.

One would expect that the multitude of social ills afflicting our small population would be enough to occupy any self-respecting religious leader from now until the second coming, without having to resort to punitive campaigns over non-issues like sex and gambling. But Bethel believes the so-called gay agenda is such a grave threat that he periodically submits pompous faux scholarship to the newspapers to "prove" his point.

"We will fight vigorously to defend this country from further infiltration," he wrote in a letter to the Tribune last week. Bethel is convinced we are at war, and the enemy are those vile homosexuals in our midst. He cites "studies" which claim that gays threaten public health, social order and the safety of our children - conclusions that are generally at odds with legitimate published research, not to mention everyday experience.

Suicide, Mercy and Redemption

by Simon

Whatever the circumstances of our birth, there are no “bastards” in the Kingdom of God.  This is a human conceit.  It is a form of false pride and moral apartheid to separate God’s children into legitimate and illegitimate. 

Yet, years ago, in a church on a southern Family Island, the pastor converted his community of faith into a jury to expel a vile sinner from the Body of Christ.  In this incarnation, the woman at the well was single, young -- and pregnant.  In expelling her, they were also punishing her unborn child.  

In their self-righteousness, these disciples of Christ judged that her iniquity stained their community like communion wine seeping from a broken chalice might bleed through an altar cloth.  Purging the defiler was necessary for their salvation and purification.  There was no room in the inn for this unmarried mother-to-be.

That Family Island church did not use stones to assault this teenager or her unborn child.  Instead, they stoned her with a torrent of loathing intended to break her spirit and sever her umbilical cord from the worshipping community in which she had been nourished since infancy.

Can Natural Gas Solve the Bahamas' Power Problem?

by Larry Smith

Energy security is not just a concern for America, which now gets 70 per cent of its oil from unstable or even hostile countries. It's also something we Bahamians must deal with.

Currently, we import all of the fossil fuel (heavy fuel oil, diesel, aviation gas and gasoline) we use to generate electricity and power our cars, boats and planes. This makes us highly vulnerable to supply shortages and price shocks - things we have no control over.

Electricity demand in the Bahamas is growing by some 5 per cent a year, BEC says. And that figure is based on the assumption that projected energy conservation measures such as lighting and appliance efficiency improvements, along with a major expansion of solar water heating, are put in place to curb demand.

That 5 per cent growth represents some 13 megawatts at a cost of $1.5 million per megawatt installed - about $20 million a year, or $200 million over 10 years. But government ministers have admitted that BEC's financial condition is grave. In fact, when oil prices spiked in 2008, the government was forced to exempt BEC from paying duty on hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel imports to stem losses. And it's a safe bet that rate increases are on the way, whether oil prices rise or not.

Where Is the Love?

by Simon

Under the banner of the Bahamas Coalition of Evangelical Pastors, not quite a religious rainbow of pastors have expressed their deep love for openly gay and lesbian cruises that may call on the Bahamas.

Just to make sure that gay tourists feel their love, the band of religious brothers -- there were no female signatories -- offered this valentine: “Knowing that we risk being misunderstood, we hasten to say that we are in no way hateful of homosexuals/lesbians; to the contrary, we love them.” 

For so much love, the salutation was surprisingly impersonal.  Perhaps instead of “we love them”, surely the fraternity of pastors could have enthused, “We love our gay brothers and sisters.” 

The expression of love came in a statement condemning such cruises as a threat to the “morality and decency” of the Bahamas’ “Judaeo-Christian” heritage.  After such a welcome these cruise passengers will be forgiven if they don’t delight in the barbed-wire embrace of the pastors.

The Road to an Electric Future in the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

Following the unprecedented spike in oil prices in 2008, this column considered the prospects for electric vehicles as a way to cut pollution as well as fuel costs. At the time, availability was limited to high-cost, low-speed mini cars, with mass production of no-compromise, highway-capable vehicles still a few years off.

The Bahamas Motor Dealers Association's upcoming new car show (set for March 26 at the Marathon Mall), plus recent inquiries from interested readers, prompted an update to this story. Interest in electric cars is spurred as much by fear of a pending resurgence in fuel prices as the world economy recovers, as by a desire to see ahead of the industry curve.

So where do things stand today? Well, the short answer is that all of the industry timetables are apparently being met - and we are still on track for broad availability of battery electric vehicles by 2012 from several start-ups as well as many mainstream manufacturers. And analysts estimate that hybrids and all-electric vehicles together will account for some 30 per cent of auto sales in the US and Europe by 2020.

Misinterpreting the Elizabeth Poll

by Simon

•Simon is a young Bahamian with things on his mind who wishes to remain anonymous. His column 'Front Porch' is published every Tuesday in the Nassau Guardian. He can be reached at frontporchguardian@gmail.com.

Much of the analysis of the Elizabeth by-election continues to be plagued by a combustible mix of factual errors, poor analogies, logical missteps and overblown assertions. 

Recently, Philip Galanis detonated a number of these improvised explosive devices in his weekly column in The Nassau Guardian.  In “A Pyrrhic victory”, Mr. Galanis unfortunately indulged in a litany of errors of judgement and logic. 

He suggested that both of the major parties must have felt as if they had experienced a pyrrhic victory in Elizabeth: 

The Impact of Rising Sea Levels on the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

Arguably, our most valuable national asset is the shoreline - the transition zone between land and sea that surrounds our islands. So we should all be acutely aware of what is happening to the coast that could affect our investments and quality of life.

Over the millennia, shorelines have advanced and retreated as sea levels rose or fell over a range of some 500 feet. The difference today is that there are now millions of people living on densely developed shorelines around the world, so even a relatively small change in sea level can have a big impact.

Sea levels have been rising since the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago. Measurements from around the world show a rise of almost 20 centimeters since 1880 - about eight inches - and if this gradual pace continues, we can expect a rise of another foot above current sea level by the end of this century.

That's right in the middle of the range projected by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007. But unfortunately, the rise won't be constant. In fact, scientists say the rate of increase is accelerating as the world gets warmer, and they are not sure how long the ice sheets on land will survive.

Bye-election Winners and Losers

by Simon

•Simon is a young Bahamian with things on his mind who wishes to remain anonymous. His column 'Front Porch' is published every Tuesday in the Nassau Guardian. He can be reached at frontporchguardian@gmail.com.

There should be at least two major winners in the Elizabeth constituency bye-election, namely the victorious candidate as well as our democratic system.  There will be losers, including some of the defeated candidates and a number of endlessly recycled ideas that have grown shop worn.

Despite some challenges, we are good at the business of democracy.  We have assimilated its ideals and practices, among them the rituals of generally free and fair elections. 

Bahamians love politics.  From arguing with co-workers to casting our ballots, we thrive on the drama and pure fun of election time.  Because of our size, we see democracy upfront.  The candidates and their agents come to our homes seeking our support.  We get to praise or cuss them out in person.