Bahama Pundit

Electoral Implications of the Budget

by Larry Smith

The opposition PLP thinks bad times have handed them the next election on a platter. Passing the most realistic budget in recent history will do nothing to help the FNM, they say. In fact, they are confident that most Bahamians will blame the government for their economic woes.

The statistics are dismal indeed - a 6 per cent contraction of the economy over the last two years, a 20 per cent fall-off in stopover tourists, a 19 per cent drop in new mortgages, loan arrears of 18 per cent, and a 22 per cent decline in foreign investment - all adding up to well over 14 per cent unemployment.

Perry Christie says the prime minister is "singing a sad story, but without any ideas and without accepting any responsibility for the state we are in. The poor will suffer more with increased taxation and the resultant depressed effect there will be on spending."

Christie says the government's policies are unfairly painful to that legendary "small man" of Bahamian politics. Of course, out of power it's much easier to talk from both sides of your mouth - a skill known as "negative ambiguity". But the PLP's lack of coherence on the budget can be easily demonstrated by looking at recent comments from their top economic advisors.

Ethics and the Numbers Business

by Simon

Those Bahamians, including people of faith, who support the regulation and taxation of the “numbers business” have a compelling case in terms of ethics and economics, practicality and public policy. 

Proponents of ending the prohibition on lotteries may find that they have a largely receptive audience among a majority of Bahamians, including a majority of Christians.

Many, if not most Bahamians, appear to have arrived at a nuanced and reasonable consensus on a variety of issues related to gambling.  By dint of personal experience and collective wisdom, the mass of Bahamians of goodwill and faith are way ahead of their religious leaders in these matters.

It seems that most people support limiting casino gambling to non-residents while allowing Bahamian residents to participate in Bahamian-based lotteries.  Indeed, most Bahamians seem to appreciate the practical, ethical and economic distinctions between these forms of gambling. 

A Tale of Two Restaurants—The Great Bahamian Seafood Festival

by Larry Smith

Fifteen Nassau restaurants are showcasing special dishes and offering fixed price menus this week as part of the Great Bahamian Seafood Festival, which climaxes on Friday and Saturday downtown.

My assignment was to review a couple of them. Options ranged from the casual (Da Fish Fry and Traveller's Rest) to the opulent (Greycliff and the Bahamian Club). I settled on Seafront Sushi and Aqua at the British Colonial Hilton.

For purists, the ultimate seafood experience is Japanese. Sashimi and sushi both require a variety of high grade, very fresh, raw fish - anything from octopus to tuna. And it's damn good for your cholesterol level. Sashimi is thinly sliced raw fish served with garnishes and soy sauce. Sushi pairs the fish with vinegared rice, and other ingredients.

Civic Education in the Bahamas

by Simon

From 1997 to 2000, one of the leading medical research universities in the United States hosted a novel project dedicated to a pair of perennial values critical to the ongoing renewal of our commonweal.

Under the leadership of Professor P. M. Forni, Johns Hopkins University sponsored the Civility Project which was dedicated to civility and good manners.  Why did this elite institution, bustling with discoveries in nanotechnology and genetics, devote resources to such seemingly mundane subjects?

Professor Forni and Johns Hopkins appreciated that cutting-edge advances and ancient values are necessary companions.  This is as true in bioethics, as it is in the basic ethical norms essential for socializing new generations and maintaining a civilized society.

The ability to extend life through scientific and technological advances does not mean that we will lead more moral or even happier lives.  This is why ethical reflection is imperative in these fields.

And, ethics is not simply about the big issues in the life sciences and other areas of ethical concern.  The ethics of care also involves the ordinary and daily interactions of the human community. 

The British Election and Third Parties in the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

In 1962, despite polling more votes overall, the PLP actually lost two seats in the 33-seat House of Assembly, while the UBP won 20 and four independents were elected. This surprising result postponed the advent of majority rule by another five years.

Most of the blame for that debacle fell on the way constituency boundaries had been drawn by the UBP - a process condemned as gerrymandering ever since Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts passed a redistricting law in 1812 that grossly favoured his own party.

But there are those who argue that the traditional Westminster system of 'winner takes all' voting developed in Britain during the 19th century is a direct cause of the kind of representative failure that Bahamians faced in 1962. And those arguments carry more weight today following last week's inconclusive British election.

Simeon Hall and Lyall Bethel on Homosexuality in the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

Pastor Lyall Bethel responded to my recent article that criticised his obsession with an imaginary plot to take over the world that he and others like to refer to as "the gay militant agenda".

"(Smith) wants to call me 'ayatollah' because I, representing the vast majority of Bahamians, don't want to see our nation turned into Sodom and Gomorrah...One need only watch what is going on in the U.S. and around the world to understand what compliance or refusal to take seriously the homosexual agenda will bring about."

I referred to Bethel's newspaper submissions as "pompous faux scholarship" that present "false, out of date and grossly misrepresented statistics that can be found almost verbatim on a multitude of neo nazi, white supremacist and extreme theo-con websites."

I also noted that the multitude of social ills afflicting our small population should 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 according to Bethel, "truth (including the truth about homosexuality) always marches on, undeterred by those who fight against it. That is my consolation in this debate."

Now another Baptist pastor has weighed in on this subject. Bishop Simeon Hall officiated at a recent funeral for an apparently gay woman."I have suffered some criticism for this funeral," Hall said. "It's time for Christian churches in our Bahamas to broaden their repertoire of concerns.

"Issues about homosexuality and gambling must not be the extent to which the Christian community is heard."

Salt & Light

by Simon

Bahamian religious leaders are often leagues behind our political leaders on the ethical dimensions of a broad range of public policy issues.  Many of the former have buried the inspiration of Genesis, the urgency of the Prophets, and the salt and light of the Sermon on the Mount, under a bushel.

In seeking to discover the plenitude of this great Sermon in today’s Bahamas, it may be best to review a Speech from the Throne or legislation before the houses of Parliament, rather than the sermons of far too many religious leaders.

If the Master came back today to question ministers of the Gospel and ministers of Government, he may find that it is mostly the former who have hidden their talents under mounds of convenience and caution, fear and trembling.

Surprisingly, He will discover that the commands to care for creation and to bind the wounds of the Samaritan are often heeded more passionately by those who collect taxes on Caesar’s behalf, than those who collect tithes on His behalf.

The Two Arthurs & Majority Rule in the Bahamas

By Simon

Eighteen PLPs, a Labour Party member and an independent constituted the parliamentary team who ushered in Majority Rule in 1967.  Eight are still with us: Arthur Hanna, Clifford Darling, Arthur Foulkes, Warren Levarity, Maurice Moore, Loftus Roker, Elwood Donaldson and Edmund Moxey.  Five of these left the PLP. Three remained.

Half or nine of these 18 PLP parliamentarians left the party, including a Dissident Eight.  Eventually, Edmund Moxey also left.  While the PLP remained in power for 25 years, the split among the core political leadership who ushered in Majority Rule came fast and furious.  

And it came faster than that of most majority rule parties in the Commonwealth Caribbean.  Despite an overwhelming parliamentary majority in 1968, the ruptures in that PLP Government came within approximately 24 months.

In 1970, a group of Free PLPs left a party that they concluded was increasingly more preoccupied with power and personalities, and less so with many of the principles and policies which inspired the struggle for Majority Rule.

One of the ironies of modern Bahamian politics is that their departure left an often perceived liberal and progressive PLP, more conservative and reactionary.  It left the party less tolerant of dissent and more prone to crush dissidence in the service of a cult of personality and a sense of an entitlement to rule. 

Chinese Farming Investment on Abaco

by Larry Smith

MARSH HARBOUR, Abaco—After trumpeting Chinese investment in "a very large agricultural project" on Abaco that would be up and running by September, senior government officials are now backing off the subject.

Chinese experts visited Abaco at least twice recently, with a view to developing vegetable, fruit and livestock production on 5,000 acres of prime land. Published reports say the Chinese are also talking about food processing plants and providing millions of dollars in supplies and equipment to local farmers.

But Agriculture Minister Larry Cartwright and Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation chief Edison Key both said a few days ago there is nothing to discuss. Their reticence probably has a lot to do with the undercurrent of opposition to the Chinese initiative among Abaco's farmers and environmentalists.

"You just want to write about that so people can jump down my throat," Key told me when I asked whether it was he or the Chinese who had initiated the talks.

Twisting the Truth—Politics and Weather in the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

The nonsense that has paraded as commentary since the tornado tragedy in Freeport two weeks ago has taken political pantomime to new levels. And this can only make it more difficult to take whatever measures are needed to address any problems that are identified.

Here are the facts as we know them today.

A severe storm front approached Grand Bahama from South Florida in the early morning of March 29. The National Weather Service in Miami issued hail and tornado warnings, and several funnel clouds were spotted in Florida. Although uncommon, meteorologists are aware that tornados occur in the northern Bahamas every few years.

An aviation weather station in Freeport manned by five met officers was operated by the Grand Bahama Airport Company, a division of Hutchison Port Holdings, until the end of last year when it was replaced by an automated weather station augmented by a trained observer.