So what about the casinos on cruise ships? Shouldn’t they be required to license and be tax if they operate in the Bahamas? Otherwise remain close until they leave Bahamian waters? Share the tax burden and stop choking the local tax goose.

So there were 1,131 classified murders since 2009, and this decrease in murders in 2018, from 122 in 2017 to 91 last year, represents the second largest drop in a decade. The largest drop happened between 2015 and 2016 when murders dropped by 35 from a record high of 146 to 111. The greatest increase happened between 2010 and 2011 when murders increased by 33, from 94 to 127. And, unfortunately the greatest number of police involved killings in at least eight years happened in 2017 and 2018. And even with a murder total of 91, the country was experiencing a murder every four days last year. But that is compared to a highest number in 2015, when a murder was being recorded every 2.5 days. Hopefully the police can stay on the beat and ensure that the murder count continues to decline and falls below 50 this year (2019). And if not at least a second year in a row when the murder count remains below 100.

Congratulations to the Valley Boys! And whilst many have pulled out the long daggers for Junkanoo, it is the greatest testament of the incredible creativity, productivity and dedication of thousands of Bahamians, men and women, in this country. Consider the thousands of man hours and million of dollars that go into these parades each year, including the design and creation of costumes. The purchase of materials, the practice sessions, the securing of the pieces from the elements and other forces, and working covertly to keep each group’s theme and designs a secret. Then taking Bay Street by storm and putting on one of the world’s most unique, colorful and musically (andfan driven) parades on the planet. And in a matter of hours millions of dollars in creativity and man hours become a dump pile to be seen no more. And the question is asked over and again, ‘what more can be done to preserve these Junkanoo creations if only for a little while longer?’ Some suggest putting winning pieces in airports or in the welcome center at Prince George Dock. Another idea is to get major hotels, like Atlantis and Bah Mar to display pieces in their lobbies, casinos and other public spaces, but even then there will be hundreds of costumes still going to the dump. So how about creating s Junkanoo Festival at the National Stadium each year after Junkanoo? The best costumes can be lined off for public viewing and each group can be given a booth where they can sell snacks and souvenirs. There can be an entrance fee and it can run for say the month of January. Consider this: there are thousands of Bahamians who participate in Junkanoo and so they never get a chance to see the costumes of other groups or even some of their own.

Donald Trump plans to ban all ZTE and Hauwai equipment from the USA. It has been discovered that many of these devices, including cell phones, flat screen TVs and commercial equipment have ‘backward sims’ that allow the equipment to spy on the user and send information back to China. While Trump does not plan to stop individuals from using their cell phones or TVs, the equipment that is used in government applications will be ripped out and replaced.

Oil prices have fallen 60 percent below the price for January 2018. In fact oil prices are at their lowest levels in ten years. And these drops in oil prices started in October 2018. So fuel surcharges should be coming down by now and should be cut in half by March. But, as usual, the BPL consumer. Will get stuck with high surcharges and soon as oil prices start to go back up so will the surcharges. Simply means if oil prices hit $100 again, many will not be able to afford BPL and their power will be disconnected.

> “We have work to do on our side, as
> well as ensuring that information that
> Nassau is safe, and crime is
> decreasing, is passed on to persons
> who put together these warnings in
> their countries.”

They retracted the warning because they knew it was a **bold faced lie**. Hopefully the day will come soon when cruise ships will have to be wait-listed to come to The Bahamas or sail through Bahamian waters. And they (cruise lines) will give this country its due share of the cruise industry pie, our well deserved millions annually, rather than blacklisting local businesses and Bahamian people. Just like they did the night clubs, and the Bay street merchants, and the jet ski operators, and the hair braiders, and the straw market, and even taxi drivers just to get their own tour operators.

Well, at least she got Junkanoo featured in the US news (OAN) where they reported her as "the congresswoman who is highly critical of Donald Trump. The report said that she was visiting the Bahamas and enjoying a street festival 'with the locals.' As for her desire to see a woman prime minister, that should be secondary to seeing a 'good' prime minister. It has been demonstrated and proven that there are no glass ceilings for women in politics in this country, as many women have served in high posts and with distinction. And it may have been because of the desire to get Hillary Clinton elected as the first woman president of the United States, that Donald Trump became president, And it may be Hillary that unseats him and becomes the first US woman president eventually, should she run again. And it can also be that Donald trump gets a second term, because of Clinton. There has been so much shortening of the gap between the genders, it is almost a non-issue now. It was because of her own undoing that Loretta Butler-Turner is not serving as deputy prime minister now.

Say it ain’t so! Do these warnings have anything to do with the current bidding going on to manage and control the cruise port in Nassau and also the adjoining downtown area? Say it ain’t so.

Bahamian merchants were crying that this is the worst December they experienced in decades, but The Tribune published a joyful story saying that local merchants sales matched last years. And even those that may have seen a spurt in the two days just before Christmas it was not enough to erase the 20 - 30 % declines then have been experiencing since July. Hopefully the booming tourist winter season will help to erase more of the losses of second half, 2019.

A murder count of under 50 is not impossible by next year, God’s willing. As the murder count and crime in general, decreases, the more resources and manpower are freed up to investigate and solve the crimes and murders that do occur and bring the offenders to swift justice. The police must also target specific types of murders that are happening,like gang authorized hits and the retaliation that comes with them as well as drug turfs wars. Put more effort into identifying gang bangers and getting them off the streets along with gum smugglers and sale of illegal weapons. On the prevention side, more resources to educate young men about gang activity and the usual outcome of joining gangs. More resources to provide wholesome activities for young people including church oriented and civic activities. And job training and job creation. Opportunities for young people, men especially, to be gainfully employed and not turn to crime as a source of income. And yes more training, education and policing of the police. Young people must be allowed to move freely from place to place, especially to and from work. Without being harassed, beaten or even falsely arrested by the police. The habit of beating suspects into submission or confessions or even a coma is old, antiquated barbaric and counterproductive. If police must injure verbally or physically, four or five innocent individuals together a crime solved then the police is doing more damage than good. Hurt people tend to hurt other people. And the commissioner must not be shy or reluctant to weed out shy or trigger happy officers from the force. No need to reduce the number of murders if the police is going to make up with their own involved shootings. And so every police involved shooting should be properly and actively investigated. And also be aware that murder is down in other countries like Jamaica a( 25%) and the US. More persons are dying from opioid overdose in the US than from murder. So much so that Donald Trump has called for the death penalty for persons trafficking or dirtributing them illegally. Fentanyl is the major culprit which is drug that comes from China. It is added to heroine to make it up to 50 times more potent and is also now being added to cocaine. Over 70,000 people died from drug overdose in the US last year.