Tribune is it ‘madam’ or ‘madame?’
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Yes, firstly why do government keep including NIB benefit money as I funds it spent on assistance? It is the people’s money that they contributed and hence made them entitled for assistance during the pandemic. It should be separate and apart from what the government paid out to persons who did not qualify or did not contribute to NIB. And yes, there are some workers who still haven’t been paid unemployment assistance and NIB claims it is because their current or most recent employer did not make contributions. So these workers, some who are still not working, are more at a greater disadvantage than persons who never contributed to NIB but have collected three or four checks.
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So this is a crucial time for businesses and individuals as the economy struggles to reopen. Some businesses, though operating, are not seeing the volume of sales needed to turn a profit or to even break even. And either they must do like government and get additional credit or the owners must inject more capital into the business. Many have not been able to benefit from any of the government assistance programs and some who have benefited have already exhausted those funds. So now store are becoming empty and ‘for rent’ signs and going up.
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And the same for individuals and families.Funds are gone, credit is maxed out and it is starting to take a psychological toll. But, fortunately there is a healthy stream of tourist visiting the country and they are injecting new capital into the economy. And fortunately some of this money is getting into the hands of persons who desperately need it, like hotel workers, taxi and tour drivers and it is also impacting the economy as these persons can not shop and pay bills.
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And government’s decision to reduce curfew by an hour also have a positive impact as restaurants can stay open for an additional hour. Government must now continue to monitor and enforce the safety protocols to avoid another shutdown due to the corona pandemic. Trying to separate and divide the population based on who is vaccinated and who is not is very irresponsible. Persons who are not vaccinated are more at risk from persons who are vaccinated and the narrative should be to encourage these people to follow the safety protocols until they decide to get the vaccination rather than to ridicule and scorn them.

Most of this $350 million will be by way of equipment that will be purchased elsewhere , then brought int to Freeport. BUT Grand BAHAMA needs every $1 of investment it can get. And the shipyard will employ Bahamians. And it will not poison and kill out Grand Bahamians like the chemical (pharmaceutical) of the 1989’s and2990’s did

One of the greatest fears as the country gradually reopens is the fear of crime. Violent crime especially. And apparently it is not exclusive to The Bahamas. The killings of young men appears to be a greater threat to this country than the corona pandemic.

The young people and the tourists are happy. Did the PM scrap his Vaccine Day idea after getting certain advice? It was a bad idea that will cause more division in the country.

CHINA closed its shipping ports just after several cases of Covid-19 emerged. The ‘deeded ‘Delta’ variant was suspected to be among the new cases. This has pushed the already backed up and off schedule shipping from China even further behind. So expect not only shortages of essential items coming from China but sharp price increases as both the cost of goods and the costs of shipping has increased exponentially. No relief expected before December.

expect things to get worse before they get better: "An outbreak of Covid-19 in southern China has combined with the rapid reopening of the world economy and a shortage of shipping containers to cause a surge in transport costs that could fuel inflation and cause shortages of goods across the globe.

China reported 21 new coronavirus cases in the mainland on Wednesday with 15 of them in the vital industrial province of Guangdong where restrictions have been in place for several weeks to contain an outbreak linked to the Delta variant first detected in India.

There are now 150 cases of the variant, mostly in Guangzhou city, and the lockdown has caused the city’s massive port to be severely disrupted. A separate outbreak in neighbouring Shenzhen – not believed to be the Delta variant – has also added to the problem. The ports are the third and fifth largest in the world and shipping costs have spiked as a result.

Transporting a 12.2-metre (40ft) steel container by sea from Shanghai to Rotterdam now costs a record $10,522, which is nearly 300% higher than it was last year, according to Drewry Shipping.

Factory costs in China, the workshop of the world, had already risen 9% in May – the most for more than a decade – because of a rapid increase in demand as the global economy reopens and as glitches in supply chains continue to be ironed out."

The fairytales continue. The US is saying they are detecting the Delta variant in waste water. But they are also saying it is attacking mostly people who are not vaccinated. So are they saying they can test waste water (sewerage) and determine if the virus came from persons who were not vaccinated? Give God a break!

Every Bahamian has at least one episode in their life time when they "snap.' They just get outside their character and behave erratically or what is unbecoming of them. Sometimes this can last for hours days or weeks. Anytime beyond that the person is considered to be mentally ill and will need mental care. Years ago there were many characters on the streets of Nassau who were considered to be crazy. They would disappear from time to time when their condition became unmanageable and they were considered a threat either to themselves or to others. They were sent to Sandilands for rehabilitation. Usually these episodes were brought on by alcohol, or stress. Stress from work or a relationship or just from ordinary day to day living. Today a lot of metal disorders are caused by drug abuse or a combination of drugs and alcohol. And as doctors will tell you, some persons cannot tolerate the least amount of drugs or alcohol in their system. It will set them crazy. And there is a personality change after this first 'tripout" and the person will never be the same again. Some people change their dialect or slang and sometimes they change all their friends and social habits. Many chose to be alone and find interacting with other people 'annoying. Persons who live with family members with these conditions learn to cope with them and leave them alone. And when an episode or mental attack comes about, they must be assured that they can call on the proper resources and professional help will be available to them, The last thig they need or expect is the person in need of help is shot dead.. Four rounds to the chest. Was this excessive force/lack of training maybe. So now the family, who called for assistance and the police who responded must drown in guilt. At least for a while. The steps should be simple. Get professional help as quickly as possible. Get the patient calmed and restrained or restrained and calmed. Get them to the hospital Nothing else can be done until blood tests are made to determine what is in the patient's system. Then the doctor may chose to sedate them or further evaluate them in their conscious state. If the erratic or abnormal behavior continues, the doctor may commit them to Sandilands for their own safety and further treatment. Sometimes if the psychosis is drug induced, it may be days before the patient 'catches himself' and comes to his senses. And if it is drugs (or alcohol) and he chooses to try it again after he is released from Sandilands, the process starts allover again. So they may be required to attend out-patient clinic for follow -up treatment and counselling sessions.

In Phoenix, Arizona, temperatures were hitting up to 117F degrees. The area was already suffering from severe drought and persons were warned about touching metal objects that were exposed to the sun's heat and they could suffer burns, even from walking without the proper footwear. And guess what? The power started going off. The grid could not handle the power demand to additional use of air conditioners. And so the power company ask persons with generators to use them to help manage the load and keep the power on. New providence needs BPL to not be just a power generating and distribution company, but a power management company. Every home and business buildings can be outfitted with solar panels and a metering system that will allow the owners to get power credits when they generate more generate than they use. This can be done at a cost of 1/3 of what it costs BPL to do. BPL then 'sells' and distributes this power on its grid and only produces the excess that is required on the grid. The average price of a kilowatt of electricity can drop by50% and there will be less outages due to generation and distribution failures, Then the model can be incorporated and fine tuned for each family island. And there ar some areas and islands where wind generation can become a great factor. Even water flowing under potters cay can generate a significant amount of electricity.

despite this, he was violently murdered by agents of the government. Sometimes abiding by the law after others have trespassed against you makes you a coward and can further your status as a victim (and loser).