They also manage their risk.

The fact is that the government must keep its tax in proportion to the money supply in the economy. If the economy is in recession and/or contracting, government should expect reduced revenues and adjust its spending accordingly. If it is in a position it should also be able to provide stimulus by allowing tax breaks and/or other incentives to invest. But the problem in this country is that too many tax dollars goes unaccounted for, misused or spent in a way that government does not receive value for money. The scandals and misappropriations over the four years alone amount to $1 Billion dollars. Wrap your mind around that. At least 1/4 billion of the national budget goes missing or is misappropriated every year, at least under this government. If government can cut wastage and stealing, they can eliminate VAT and property taxes. Then there is this overblown idea that foreign investors coming to this country must be showered with gifts: Tax breaks, prime real estate and other concessions. And what happens? More often than not the foreign investment fails. In fact some never gets off the ground. But the foreign investor wants to hold on to their gifts. In fact many leave the country owing the government millions i9n taxes, electricity bills, national insurance you name it. And more millions to other creditors. And whenever this happens guess what happens to the local Bahamian? His tax burden increases. The government may not always come and say ;" we need to increase takes this year, but schools will not get built, roads will not get repaired, hospitals will be without medicine and so on. When these heads of agreements are signed there should be some type of performance bond so government is not always left with an empty basket and the foreign investor skips town with the Bahamian people's money.

Many shareholders will finally be able to sell their shares in January, February march next year. BoB will rebound but the question is,will the rebound be sustainable. All of the other local banks, CB, Fidelity are having record performances because their lending criteria is not as rigid as the other banks and their terms are easier.

The hypocrisy of this saga, then, is Andre Rollins left another party where he had issues with leadership and party policy, to join the FNM then under the leadership of Hubert Minnis. So can one conclude that he never intended to rule under Minnis but came 'in from the cold' with the intentions of being a radical, if not disruptive?

Christie is in the media expressing concern about the Anti-Chinese sentiment in reference to Bah Mar. But Bahamians, unemployed skilled construction workers especially, should be in front of "The Pointe" project protesting daily to get some of the construction pie at this project. This is too much Chinese favoritism at the expense of Bahamians. This is the third or fourth project where the labor is almost exclusively Chinese!. Bah Mar money did not flow and trickle down in the Bahamas like it should have because Bah Mar was built with Chinese financing, Chinese materials and Chinese Labur. The only thing was the $1billion the project got in tax breaks and land from the Bahamian people and when Izmirilian tried to protect his interest through the courts (from The Chinese) Christie and his gang went in and helped the Chinese take possession of Bah Mar. Yet Bah Mar remains unfinished and unopened. The Chinese got labor for their workers, sold their construction materials and did their financing. Are they paying other expenses, like electricity for the property? They are in possession of the Bahamian peoples' land Come election time do not let them forget that.

The Bahamas is suffering from Toxic TAX Shock Syndrome, where the government has shoved so many taxes at the Bahamian people, all in one short period, that some persons have had to revise their plans to invest and others had to cut back on investments to pay taxes> So there is no real growth in the Bahamian economy. In fact, there may have been some contractions. If one was to do a trail of the taxes collected by government they will discover double and triple routes of taxation. For example one pays customs duties on goods brought into the country for resale. Then that person also pays VAT on those goods. Then they pay business license bases on how much goods they sell. And if they own the property their business is located on they pay vat and customs duties on all inputs (labour included) on all the inputs for the construction of the building, then they still pay annual property taxes, so in essence more than 50% of a person's income reverts back to the government is some form of tax or another. More taxation may yield the government more revenue in the short term but eventually it stagnates businesses or it draws so much money out the economy, businesses are forces to down size or shut down.

Minnis is caught between a rock and a hard place. If he cannot discipline and control these members in opposition, how could he ever control them if they were to win the government? Does Loretta Butler-Turner and Andre Rollins offer that much better alternative leadership, pregnant with ideas, to move the country forward or they just a duo of overambitious politicians greedy to get their hands on the reins of leadership and power?

Strangely there was a documentary on sharks last night. Not only are hammerhead sharks now starting to pry shallow waters but also the lemon shark and the tiger shark. In fact there is a small cay off West End, Grand Bahama where there are so many tiger sharks the Cay is nicknamed "Tiger Beach." Sharks that normally live in waters over 1,000 feet deep have migrated to places like "Tiger Beach" and Montague, where the water is under 17 feet. Stingrays are known to frequent Montague but researchers believe sharks are being attracted to shallow waters because of free feeding by diving tours, among other things like warmer ocean currents. The second part of this series is suppose to air tonight on discovery channel.
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> Shallow Water Invasion
Using a self-propelled shark cage called “The Explorer”, marine biologists Mauricio Hoyos and Grant Johnson will investigate a recent discovery at Guadalupe Island – great whites moving into shallow waters at night. This movement shows that sharks entering shallow water are normal behavior – which would account for some of the shark encounters happening with greater frequency in the shallows along coastlines.
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"Hammerhead sharks are known to eat a large range of prey including fish, squid, octopus, crustaceans, and other sharks. Stingrays are a particular favorite. ***These sharks are often found swimming along the bottom of the ocean, stalking their prey***. Their unique head is used as a weapon when hunting down prey. The hammerhead shark uses its head to pin down stingrays and eats the ray when the ray is weak and in shock.[11] "

The problem with sharks is they have no natural predator. When the government banned the killing of sharks some 7 years ago, their numbers increased. If you go fishing these days sharks will come around the boat and take whatever fish you catch because fish is scarce in many areas of the Bahamas due to over fishing and because much of the coral reefs are dying due to pollution and illegal bleaching. Many ships spill oil and fuel in the oceans and others empty their sewerage tanks rather then having to pay to dump it on land. Like humans, sharks look for an easy way to get food, so some will even follow fishing boats and let the fishermen catch their food for them. Since the killing of sharks is illegal, the boats can only keep moving until the lose the sharks or let them take the fish until they feed and swim away. It is unusual for a shark that size to swim into shallow waters, especially a hammerhead. Usually when that happens the shark is either sick or disorientated or suffering from old age. In most cases it will eventually die.