when you don’t know your history, you can be taken for a carnival ride! Or get swing! It use to be common knowledge that the carnival was a major fundraiser for the PLP since Pindling time. People may scuff and scorn at this but it was the PLP’s idea to bring the carnival here as their major fundraiser so why should they not benefit? think back to the 1970’s and early 1980’s there wasn’t sufficient Black (PLP’s) businesses to support a major party. At one point campaigners went from house to house collecting funds for the party. And the major contributors ( probably to both parties) were the numbers boys. And that’s why they couldn’t just get shut down! .
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And then there was the year of two carnivals! Yes two carnivals. It may have been shortly after Hubert Ingraham came to power. And in his usual, nasty political way, he tried to deny the carnival permission to operate. There was public outcry. People said things like ‘If I knew they was going to stop Carnival, I would never vote FNM.’ So Ingraham decided to bring in a Carnival for the FNM and grant the PLP permission to bring theirs..
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Then ther was the time when the Carnival was ‘base out’. Practically everyone they brought in to work were on drugs, mostly cocaine. And they could be seen in the over the hill area searching for drugs during the daytime and after hours.

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Then there were times when the counterfeit bandits hit the carnival and so did armed robbers. And it was one reason the carnival was moved to Fort Charlotte. To help prevent robberies and assaults on the person.

In other news: Do you know that if Hubert Minnis did not make the deadly mistake and call an early misguided election in the peak of the most deadly Covid wave, he would still be Prime Minister and the FNM would still be the government of The Bahamas, with five months left in their term? Even as the economy recovers.
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China is saying the UK is now the hotspot for Covid infections and had imposed travel restrictions.
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Boris Johnson of the UK tells Britons to prepare for a tidal wave of new infections as the Omicron variants loom. He says medical facilities will be overwhelmed and urges residents to get vaccinated and take booster shots.
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The US also urging residents to take vaccines and booster shots, BUT some officials URGE residents to go back to wearing masks, especially indoors in public buildings. Some indoor activities will be halted or restricted as the Delta strain continues to ravage parts of that country.
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South Africa claims that despite the increasing cases of Omicron (doubling every two days). The number of deaths and hospitalizations are steady or decreasing. Mostly due to the symptoms of Omicron being mild like a cold or flu.
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.AS the US tells its residents to mask up, Bay Street and other parts of the country have apparently been mask free zones for visitors to the country.

Minnis may have a good point but is he mixing apples with oranges? Firstly The Bahamas has already gone through its wave of the Delta virus. Was it from July to October. And wasn’t it through the height of this most deadly wave that Minnis decided to call an albeit early election. And wasn’t it due to , during and shortly after these elections that this country experienced its highest numbers of infections, hospitalizations and deaths from Covid? And just not on New Providence and Grand Bahama be even down to the Southern most island of the country. Vaccinated people who were themselves ‘protected’ went to islands where the majority of the population had never been exposed to the virus and so persons became infected. Some got sick and unfortunately some died.
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As for the Omicron strain, Doctors and experts from South Africa still maintain it is nothing to worry about, not beyond the point that any virus that is a national or global threat should be of great concern. But Omicron currently presents itself as a mild cold or flu. And the major symptoms is fatigue or excess tiredness in the patient. There is hardly a need for supplemental oxygen in hospitalized patients and most are treated with steroids and released within two days, compared to patients who remain in hospital an average of eight days when suffering from other strains of Covid. .
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And whilst the Omicron strain is highly contagious and fast moving (infections double every two days ). Deaths from Omicron are rare. In fact deaths decline even after the number of Omnicron increases.
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And the symptoms among the vaccinated, the unvaccinated and those who receive booster shots bare basically the same. And experts remain hopeful that because of its rapid spread and mild symptoms, the Omicron strain will create natural or herd immunity that can bring an end to Covid-19. And Daryl Miller would say, ‘Let us (all) pray.’

> “The Omicron virus doubles every two
> to three days, Delta is still flaring
> up. . .if you watch the movement of
> the wa”ve it’s moving from the north
> (United States) coming down to the
> south, it’s moving slowly towards us,”
> Dr Minnis said.’

Apparently Minnis doesn’t want to lose he seat on Da Kanoo. How much millions did it set sail with from the visa revenue again? How much revenue eventually made it into government’s coffers? Not much reports say. So several millions shared among two or three pardners is still millions each. And of course at least one is not Bahamian.

Must be a huge airport. Only took eight weeks to complete.

Not only was the carnival premature considering that the Covid-19 pandemic still looms, but it would have been an unnecessary drain on the Bahamian economy when recovery is barely underway. If the carnival spent $1/2 million to transport here and set up, how much would it have netted over its 1 to 2 month stay here? And all profits leave the country. Will someone now have to dig deep in their pockets to help cover the ‘not approved’ carnival’s cost? And one must give kudos to health officials who stood their ground and denied tge carnival permission to operate.
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And there is an idiot in every group of politicians, regardless of how small the group is. And the hat fits Alfred Sears perfectly well in this instance. Can you imagine trying to implement toll booths in already congested roads where no one is driving at the speed limit? Not only will this reduce traffic to a slow crawl, especially doing peak season, but imagine the numbers of additional accidents that will be caused. The long exhausting wait for the police to come investigate. With the number of vehicles on the streets of the country and each one being taxed an average of $195 a year to be licensed, that should be sufficient taxes to maintain the roads. And subsequent to that, if there is a need for additional btax revenue from Road Traffic, more than the average Bahamian would rather see a $10 increase to their vehicle license or a $2/3 increase to their drivers licenses rather than bear tge inconvenience if tool booths, which will lead to even more driver frustration and road rage.

So explain this: Some government agencies were using direct deposit to pay people owed by government. The money goes directly on the person’s account. Now they using Omni Pay and these other cash and digital companies. So you must download their app, then go to their location and stand in line to get paid. Then if you want to deposit the funds you must look around carefully to make sure no one is following you, then drive to your bank and toe another line to make the deposit. Takes almost two hours and two gallons of gas to do what could be done with the click of a mouse.

The problem is (at least a part of the problem) is they cannot justify not approving Junkanoo but approving Carnival. Errybody would think Minnis is still the incompetent authority.

As you may know, where there are connected sewers, the sewerage water is tested to determine how widespread the virus is. And, according to one expert, tests in South Africa Indicate that the Omnicron virus is exponentially much, much more than the 43,000 people that tested positive for the virus. Two further observations are that because the virus is spreading so rapidly, it is creating natural (herd) immunity in populations. And even as the numbers of Omnicron increases, the numbers of deaths are decreasing worldwide. And one expert believes that provided nothing drastically changes with the Omnicron over the next few weeks, (which seems highly unlikely) the Covid-19 virus will completely disappear.