Obie is an idiot...the 'week' they refer to is just like any other week, and yes, the spirit of the law as it was initially written was people are typically 9-5 Monday - Friday, so your 40 hour work week. 5 days of work 2 days of rest. So when they refer to the number of 'weeks' vacation you are entitled, it goes under the same merit, you get your 5 days off and the 2 days of rest under your typical job...it doesn't say you get 7 WORK days, the same week you put in, is the same week you get back. Now...I have never messed with shift work type structures...hypothetically speaking, what if you had someone who worked 5 hours a day 7 days a week, not quite 40 hours, so 5 and a bit hours 7 days a week, that is their work week...but guess what, they still only get that same one week, and they still only get the 40 hours of pay...but that is the week they put in and the week they get back out. That is the spirit of the law...quit trying to twist things around and cause everyone stress and grief and put money in your own pocket kicking off these stupid legal battles.

Gestapo tactics...it's the only thing the police down here know. I am sure that approached properly, Good evening Mr. Cash...please see the search warrant, here is a copy for your records, we need to take your laptops and cell phones. Approached properly, they most likely would have been handed over and presented properly...just bust through someones door and start snatching stuff, madness...where were you going, into some gang leaders drug haven where such tactics may be necessary to protect yourself from getting shot? No...simply gestapo strong arm tactics most likely encouraged due to political affiliations. Just a hunch.

Got to make it to where things don't just 'go away' or get 'lost' or 'overlooked'. Everyone knows everyone and can usually find some sympathetic person from the lowly clerk, to the head of whatever department to whatever politician wants to 'scratch your back', to make all this small stuff vaporize. It needs to stop, we need to speed up the legal system as well so that people get into court in a timely fashion. Did you know that if you are not served a summons for a traffic violation in 6 months, the ticket is dead, they can't prosecute you. They may try, but if you were told at a traffic stop to expect a summons and 6 months rolls by and no one knocks on your door...that's it...it's done. These inefficiencies are the very loopholes that are exploited...hey...I know so and so...I'll delay that long enough, don't worry about. Heck...they can't even get you a simple police report for an accident. They say to check back in 2 weeks, and 2 months later the report is still not ready.

And THIS is why these guys get paid the big bucks..."introducing Value Added Tax to the Bahamas would go “even smoother” if the opposition stands with the government instead of against it, New Zealand VAT expert Dr Don Brash said."...pure genius...why didn't we think of that..IDIOT. So basically everyone who has their doubts about VAT should just shut up and join the line of kissing the behinds of the people trying to ram VAT down our throats. Oh wait...the PLP MP's have been saying that all along, to stop objecting to it. We wouldn't HAVE to object to it if you went about it properly, cleaned up all the dirty laundry before hand and moved forward with a clean slate. Clean up the existing outstanding amounts due in the other revenue streams, present a clear and defined budget reduction plan, roll out the Freedom of Information Act, and stop just giving out multimillion dollar contracts to failed contractors. Then and only then, embark on a massive campaign on education about VAT. Have everything you need ready to go so you can answer some very pointed and loaded questions from the concerned public. As a major business owner, I still don't know squat about exactly how it is meant to play out, no one has bothered to come to our business and review what systems we have in place, and make suggestions on the best way to link into this new VAT realm in the electronic age. Oh wait, let me guess...it's all going to be handled by paper pushers...oh wait!! i get it now...that's the 10,000 jobs!! Everyone will need to file unknown and undisclosed paperwork (still haven't seen the first concept of any forms out of them), they need an army of 10,000 staff to go through the various filings, and make sure some get filed appropriately, and make sure that other 'special ones' get filed into a back office somewhere and conveniently 'lost'. You HAVE to lay the groundwork FIRST, get everything done...FIRST...before we take the plunge into VAT.

"Political Expedience'...that's the best they could come up with? Someone who was doing what is apparently the norm with most government contracts in bloating the contract after the fact to get as much money out of the treasury as possible. So when they get called on it and fired, they blame it on politics. Pretty pathetic.

So someone who may or may not have run ins with the law...AND he is Haitian...well, maybe Bahamian, but we don't accept that, he's Haitian...yeah, his days are numbered, the police gonna ride him until he turns up dead somewhere somehow. The corruption and the prejudices in the police force are just staggering. I feel sorry for this family, I hope they get some justice.

So the original project was started under the PLP with the contract being awarded to HIB...FNM come in and have to shut them down after faulty workmanship and delays and other tomfoolery almost triple the building cost. PLP back in power again, and on the sly, with the public only finding out after the fact, HIB is awarded another contract...ummm...yeah...HIB is a PLP favourite...must be some well greased palms there...sad thing is, we are going to end up with another crap building that going to cost us a fortune in repairs over it's lifetime. Man I love this govt!!

Cha-CHING!!! Even the 'experts' are refuting the bullcrap our government has been spewing to the naive masses. NICE. Open your eyes people, demand the government put forth a formal plan for budget cuts, put forth the essential Freedom of Information Act before vat , collect the revenues they are currently NOT collecting!! It's just easier for them to blindside the 'dumb' masses with a new tax, tell them what they want to hear.."yeah man, it's not going to impact food prices'...and just carry on with business as usual of spend spend spend, you scratch my back I scratch yours.

Come on man...those limes are critical to our culture...no limes, what gonna happen down the fish fry and conch stand...priorities man!! *sigh*

While I am still against VAT, until proven otherwise of it's merits...at least these guys have some sense in timelines. Sadly, we will come up on April 2015 and people will still be in the dark about how VAT fully operates, simply because our government...and the FNM were no better, are deplorable with educating the public about these issues. To date there has been NO input from the VAT team to the businesses that will be impacted on samples of forms, samples of reporting that will be needed, information about how the data will be shared, as it is meant to be electronic...all this stuff takes time from the systems side in the businesses to get set up with the software vendors...and if the original timeline were to hold true, we are 2 months out. I can't design, implement and test a system in house here, and make it 100% stable in tying into the government run system in 2 months, you are out of your head. Government needs to be going around to each and every business that will be impacted by this, and evaluate what their systems are capable of and offer up the details and information necessary to make sure the two can connect electronically properly. So far nothing. Each business is different, I run different systems and software than the guy across the street, how I handle the connects is not just some generic 'this is how it is going to work' mindset. Will be a custom set up in each and every store. They fail to realize this.