Fanatical? Where do you get that from? Did I mention FNM or any other party? I happen to have known Lori since we were children, and I've always been a big fan of hers -- and less you forget, her family were PLP back in those days. I vote for who can do the best job -- which means I can actually think for myself. What's your excuse?

C'mon, Mrs. Butler-Turner (and all the other MPs -- FNM and PLP alike who have not filed their disclosures), if you are looking to be a leader, you must lead by example. I'm very disappointed, as I have been a huge supporter of yours for many years.

Why does there seem to be two sets of laws in this country -- one for the politicians and another for the rest of us?

I applaud Mr. Smith for speaking out. At least the dire conditions in this country are being acknowledged while much of the government seems to have turned a blind eye or is totally out of touch with reality. But before we get too excited over Mr. Smith's ephiphany, this is nothing the average Bahamian doesn't already know.

What we do want to know is what is being done to fix this and alleviate the suffering?

In the old days a community would have rallied together to help each other. Where is that same concern for our neighbours today? Where are the churches? Where are the community leaders? Waiting for government to fix things has not proven effective -- at least not in recent times.

I already pay for ABC and ESPN, so why should I pay again to see the World Cup games? And if Cable Bahamas knew about this in advance, and if it truly is out of their hands, then why wasn't there time for people to make other arrangments before they watched the screen go black?

It's bad enough we have to put up with all the Spanish channels, subtitles and crappy commericals, especially with the premium movie channels. At this point, I hardly care if it's illegal or not to have Direct TV -- at least it works! And if offered legally, I'd happily pay for it too. C'mon Cable Bahamas, I'm a shareholder, but I'm also a paying customer who is getting really fed up.

Well, Mrs. Butler-Turner called it, didn't she? And look what came to pass. Speaking of disgraceful, Mr Gray should fix his own face and mouth instead of parroting the party line.

This is more of the PLP and Mr. Christie's foolish pride and hubris that lets the BTC issue continue to make fools of them for the fools that actually believe that they ever owned a stake in BTC in the first place. Were any of us getting dividends for our shares in the company? How exactly did the Bahamian people have any stake? And only those fools believe that Williams is anything but a shadow puppet to appease those who want to see their beloved Perry put a Bahamian back in charge. Who is fool enough to believe this? Does anyone actually believe that Williams will have any say in the day to day business of BTC? He has a desk and a chair. Period.

Absolutely. Enact stricter limits on how much foreign (and I would argue, domestic) boats can take. Much of our sport fishery in the Bahamas is catch and release anyhow -- marlins, sailfish, bonefish anyhow, so how much fish is really necessary for one boat to keep? 20 pounds for "personal use" is more than enough on a daily basis no matter how many people on board.

I fail to see how that will hurt our tourism industry. If anything, we will preserve it so that future generations will be able to continue to fish and enjoy the Bahamas.

The problem arises in enforcement. Laws and catch limits are meaningless unless they can be enforced with appropriate penalties for breaking the law. How will the government deal with this?

As long as we want to keep our preclearance and DEA funding, Fred will only rattle the sabre as long as it takes to make it seem as if he is standing up to the big bad wolf. Then the matter will be forgotten.

On the flip side of the coin, privacy these days is rare, so why does this surprise anyone at all. And to be honest, if listening in to phone calls stops terrorism, illegal drug trafficking, crime, and othe scurges of society, is it really such an awful thing? It's the price we pay for "freedom" these days one might argue. And how many of us have anything important enough to say on the phone that anyone really cares about? Unless you have something to hide, who cares?

When Mr. Mitchell and the rest of Parliament can justify their raises, I think we should give them one. However, I've not seen one iota to justify any raise. Try this line of thinking in the private sector and see how far it gets.

In this failing economy, he wants a new House so he doesn't have to use the bathroom with peasants? Talk about being out of touch. If this miserable government would reduce their out of control spending and add a little common sense, we might just have a Bahamas to save. At the rate they are going, then add VAT, wage increases, non-reduced custom tariffs, and other idiotic taxes and fees, our cost of living expenses have just jumped 35 - 45%. Who can afford this? Oh, and jobs? They will go by the wayside as soon as businesses can no longer afford to keep employees or do business and shut down, leaving lots more unemployment yet to come. Where does the madness end?

And why does Flyaway Fred call everything "foolishness" when he doesn't agree with it? Poor Fred is completely delusional. Time to retire.

It amuses me when people talk about the FNM slave mentality, as that is exactly how I think of the PLP and their blind followers. Let's talk about a slave mentality:

Massa looks after the slaves. They work for massa and don't get ahead, except for the few favoured slaves. Whenever they need anything, the slaves look to massa to feed, clothe, house and look after them.

Now, insert the word "government" in place of massa and read the sentence again. Sound familiar?

Only a fool changes the conversation and goes on the attack -- especially when they can't speak intelligently to the issues. Stick to the issue at hand. Educate yourself on the issues instead of attacking everyone who doesn't agree with your narrowminded views. We may not all agree on the same things, but there is a way of having an intelligent and respectful debate on the matter. Clearly, you are unable to do so. That IS sad.