This is the area that catered mostly to Bahamians and, while some of the stores have relocated to the mall and to Palmdale, others have had to close because of the lack of business. Irony is that one of the largest tourist investors relocated here because of apartheid. And they have been the driving force behind much of the effort to exclude Bahamians from the beaches and from down town and from everywhere except where they live and where they work. That changed the mentality of Bahamians...think about it. Then go and visit city centrals, like West Palm Beach, that have been redesigned to be all-inclusive and record the success of them. Young people and old folk intermingle, rich and poor, persons from all parts of the world.

IF you talk to someone over the age of 50, they would tell you that, for Bahamians, going downtown, Nassau, was an event which you planned for and dressed up for. It was an occasion to walk proudly down Bay Street and 'be proud to be Bahamian.' Whether it was a visit to Kelly's, The Stop 'N Shop, The Nassau Shop, John Bull, the Park Store or to go to BEC to pay your light bill, or just walk through the straw market, or go to the feed store behind it for those who had pigeons or chickens, or even to buy fresh fish or conch. Bahamians easily intermingled with the tourists and during events like Christmas, Easter and Valentines Day, they younger Bahamian visited the numerous jewelry stores, in search for that special something for that special someone. Then as Paradise developed into a tourist mecca, the forces that be felt that the presence of Bahamians, who were not employed and working on their properties, cheapened the tourist product. Most of the Bahamians were black, you see, and many of the visitors were not. In fact they were from places that did not intermingle with 'them'. So a move became afoot to restrict Bahamians on Paradise, and even much of the music and entertainment provided by Bahamians was replaced by foreigners. Then when the two malls were built in the late 1980's, early 1990's many in the tourist trade saw it as an opportunity to reclaim Bay Street and downtown for our visitors (or theirs) pushed Bahamians off Bay Street and back 'over the hill.' There is no longer a need for 'them' to come downtown, they have their own shopping malls, they harass the tourist, they sell drugs, they commit robberies. And so the police got involved, stopping and searching young men who ventured down town, putting some on the jitney and tell them, if you come back down here, I ger lock you up." And many of the storekeepers also bought into the lie, that things would be better if Bahamians 'get run of Bay Street.' Little did they realize that the same Bahamians contributed significantly to their bottom line and to the success of their businesses. When there were no cruise ships in port or when tourism was in an off season, it was the local Bahamian that kept hope alive. AND so Bay Street started to dry up, because Paradise Island was trying to keep all its guests over the bridge and the cruise ships were trying to get all their passengers to stay on board and spend their money on the ship. If you look at the anatomy of Bay Street the Eastern area is the most hardest hit and is where most of the empty buildings are..desserted just about. .

*"The victim, 29, was on bail for a serious offence and was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, according to Assistant Commissioner of Police Stephen Dean."*
Does this mean that this killing was justified?

Scripture records at least nine individuals being raised from the dead. (www.neverthirsty.org/pp/corner/read/r00…) "However, the New Testament reveals that there were others who came back to life in addition to the ***nine individuals*** specifically named in the pages of scripture. For example, Jesus tells John the Baptist's disciples to go to John and report the following,

And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, ***the dead are raised up***, the poor have the gospel preached to them. Luke 7:22 (NAS95S)

This implies that Jesus resurrected many individuals whose names are not recorded in scripture.
Conclusion:Praise God! I am glad I belong to a powerful God like this that cares for me."

Related Links:
***Peace With God***

Maybe this is a route that could start happening in the Bahamas.
.
A Milwaukee state court jury ordered Badger Guns, one of the country’s most prominent firearm retailers, to pay $5.73 million after the suburban West Milwaukee store was found liable for negligence Tuesday in the 2009 shooting of Bryan Norberg and Graham Kunisch, two local law enforcement officers.

The landmark case, which held firearm retailers responsible for disregarding the potential harm of their sales, is only the second of its kind nationwide — and the first to rule against the gun store.

(The other case, concluded early this summer, exonerated an Alaskan gun store of wrongdoing.)

“I didn’t want to send a message around the country,” Dunphy told reporters after the verdict was handed down. “What I wanted to do was represent my two clients, two Milwaukee police officers.”

He added, “If some gun dealers around the country realize that they may have their feet held to the fire because of the penal damage award here, then that’s a bonus.”

It was found that the gun shop did not follow all the legal requirements and was involved in straw sales of guns.

"In the United States, a straw purchaser of a firearm at a federally licensed firearm dealership who lies about the identity of the ultimate possessor of the gun can be charged with making false statements on a federal Firearms Transaction Record."

Maybe it is time for lawyers here or families of murdered victims to start tracing murder weapons back to the original seller of the weapon or even the manufacturer. Once it is determined that the gun was sold illegally then the lawsuit can happen. Even if the government decides to trace weapons back to their source of origin, and find out the guns are being sold or shipped here illegally, it can bring a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the company responsible and virtually shut them down. And if you get other Caribbean countries to join in and bring a class action lawsuit, that can clean up our streets of illegal weapons. You go to jail for selling alcohol or tobacco to a minor, so let them go to jail or pay heavily for selling weapons to criminals.

You both seem to miss the point. If something is not done immedialely to stem the rate of murder in this country the system will not be able to mete out justice in a timely fashion or at all. This will lead to even more serious crime problems and (God forbid) an eventual collapse of the justice system. Over 500 persons have been killed in the last four years. Based on the current pace of murder trials, it would take over 20 years to bring all these persons to trial, provided they are caught. Based on the current detection rate there are over 200 persons on the streets who have committed at least one murder but have not been caught. Ok maybe a few less considering the police claim that some of these killers have, themselves, been victims of murder.

crime approaching a point of no return? All things remaining the same the country is about to set another murder record in a few weeks. And with two full months left in the year the mirder count can surpass 150. Not only is the rate increasing, but it is increasing at an increasing pace and the rate of detection, charging and conviction does not seem to be keeping pace with crime. Trinidad tried to get murder cases before the courts in a timeframe of three months to a year. But even with increases in the number of courts and sitting judges that country is finding it impossible to meet that time frame. And, like the Bahamas, their murder rate is increasing. So while there is the problem of murders not being solved, there is also the problem of many cases not being brought to trial within even five to ten years. Many will view this as no justice being served for friends or loved ones who are murdered. Then the crime element may also view committing murder as a crime that is rarely punished. Strong and swift and immediate intervention is needed

One must also ask the question if there are so many illegal weapons on the streets, then why are so few persons being arrested and charged and sent to prison for possession of illegal weapons? and if the police of the police is on drug possession (marijuana is still illegal in the Bahamas) it should be done under the following back drop:
(1) Twenty three states in the US have legalized marijuana for medical use. Meaning you can go to a doctor and complain about a headache, blurred vision, other pain or depression among other things, and get a med card that allows you to purchase marijuana from a store or vending machine and possess it legally.
(2) At least five states in the US have legalized marijuana for recreational use, meaning residents in those states can cultivate, process, possess, sell and consume marijuana in limited amounts, and sales are tax free in the last state to legalize it for the next three months.
(3) Forty Three states in the US have decriminalized marijuana, meaning if one is caught with it in small quantities, they are given a ticket and required to pay a fine of $50.00 and up to $500.00 depending on the amount and the number of previous citations. There is no criminal record.
This is not to condone the use of marijuana, but the US has come to realize that the war on drugs has become to expensive to maintain and rather than have billions of US dollars go to Jamaica and Mexico and South America for drugs, they will allow it to be grown locally and manage it like they manage tobacco and alcohol. A major concern for the Bahamas will be that as the US and Canada grows more and more marijuana, the countries like Jamaica and Mexico will try find new markets for their product. They may flood countries, like the Bahamas with weed and it will become dirt cheap. Persons will either consume more which will lead to more social problems, or become stall of it and consume less. This can lead to more drug wars. The Chinese are jumping on the band wagon by producing artificial marijuana made from chemicals. This is already causing problems in the US, especially in Florida. One of the products called "flakka'' causes persons to really freak out. Some say cars are chasing them, other strip naked and run through busy streets, while other steal cars or try to break into locked buildings. Some have memory loss. Many suffer complete kidney failure after smoking this stuff just a few times.

Notice how Yahoo has left off the third part of the triangle. The guns are manufactured and sold illegally in he US and then shipped to Haiti and Jamaica and the Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean. This is a highly placed and well protected (society) organization. The problem of illegal guns in the US is becoming an increasing problem and every time President Obama speaks out against it and the need for more gun control, he gets flak and attacked by the National Rifle Association. Most of the mass killings in the US in recent times were carried out by persons with a history of mental problems. Yet they had large collections of weapons, including high powered assault rifles in their homes. A gun manufacturer, who was also a police reserve in the US, was recently charged with manslaughter, when it is alleged that he mistakenly shot and killed a man, when he intended to taser him. He was given permission to visit the Bahamas by the US judge after being charged with this crime. He admitted that he supplied high powered weapons to the police department in exchange for favors, like being allowed to stay on as a reserve officer, after passing the age of retirement. The police here must know who the local smugglers of weapons are in the Bahamas. Yet they spent countless man hours, publicly strip-searching individuals..for what? If their focus focus is on violent crime, illegal weapons and murder (as it should be now) why do police have to be digging in a man's pockets, in his shoes and in his wallet? Invest in hand held metal detectors, use them to frisk a suspect and let the innocent be on their way. It is sickening to see police holding motorist up for over an hour to write one ticket. It not only infuriates the person being searched, but the public forms a opinion of the police when they see them being overly aggressive and even nasty.

It is amazing to see the exceptionally great relief effort of Bahamians and friends of the Bahamas especially Florida, Jamaica and even Haiti to help out the residents of the Southern Bahamas, who were virtually wiped out by hurricane Joaquin. Of course many intend to rebuild and much of the infrastructure will have to be modified or relocated to withstand storms in the future. No lives were lost and everything that was can be replaced. Send your donations today!