Ummm, the US invaded Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) before the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. There was also this guy called Napoleon who invaded Russia before Hitler as well. I would say that the Russian desire to buffer their border is well founded.
NATO made a massive mistake in not courting the Russians during the 90s. Had the cards been dealt differently, they could have been a useful partner in containing Chinese expansionism in the 21st century. The Chinese have territorial ambitions of their own on Russian lands that could have been exploited had NATO not pushed Russia away by bringing in so many former Soviet republics. It was a lost opportunity that the West is coming to regret these days.
Lol. The US invested billions into post-war Western Europe purely to thwart the spread of communism through the lands destroyed in the closing stages of the Second World War. There was an actual incentive to invest that kind of money, plus nations like West Germany and France had enough industrial experience and infrastructure to put the money to good use and bring a return. Why would the US, in the midst of their own economic issues with inflation, piss away money on some Caribbean backwater countries? To keep China out, maybe, but they could always Grenada a country that got too friendly with them if it came to that. It is not like they would ever get a return on their investment either, it would go straight into the pockets of corrupt politicians and we would continue to hear about "reparations" for another 100 years. See Haiti for an example of how pouring money into a problem doesn't always make it go away.
Do these talking heads mean pre-Dorian "pre-COVID" or post-Dorian "pre-COVID"? Having your #2 & #3 revenue producers wiped out is a factor that needs to be mentioned when giving these kinds of assessments.
The FNM is in a worse position than the PLP was in the aftermath of their 2017 spanking. The PLP had a chance to shed the unpopularity of the 2012-17 Christie administration because Perry got sent home by his constituents, he had no platform to continue to drag the party down with rash statements. The FNM made a big mistake in not forcing Minnis to resign his Killarney seat in the aftermath of the September spanking. They would have lost it in the by-election, but it is not like one seat was going to make a difference in a 32-7 House of Assembly. It would have went red again at the next election purely due to demographics, and it would spared the party of having to deal with Minnis continually hogging up the public spotlight with these kinds of statements. Minnis is just as unpopular as Christie was in 2017, except that he is not giving anyone a chance to forget about him.
I think that digitizing the real property tax process is a very good idea, as well as examining whether valuations are up to par with current market value (even if I disagree with the valuations themselves). That being said, a software development firm is not qualified to perform appraisals. Whoever made that decision needs to be fired. Did a US based software development firm have access to Bahamas MLS data to find comps that can be used to accurately ascertain the worth of a property? The short answer is that they didn't, which begs the question of how they calculated these valuations in the first place. The only explanation is voodoo magic was used to come to these numbers.
None of this even mentions that I find it ridiculous that a US based company was contracted in the first place. There are Bahamian developers that could have handled the software aspect, and frankly, it is insulting that a government would contract foreign appraisers with no knowledge of the Bahamian real estate market instead of turning to one of the experienced in-country appraisers first. There is no shortage of BREA licensed appraisers here.
Just more proof that COVID is nothing more than a giant grift. Where is "the science" that supports arbitrarily changing quarantine length? Can you still become symptomatic up to 14 days out?
That is just the way that inflation works. No way you can just print off a ton of money and not expect this to happen, on top of the supply chain issues.
Brave needs to stop talking garbage and go break down the COVID "hospitalizations" by being hospitalized for/with all the way back to the start of 2020. Funny how all of a sudden there has been a massive shift in policy the minute the sales pitch for these shots goes sour.
LastManStanding says...
> 21st Century’s first war in 2008
Ummm, the US invaded Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) before the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. There was also this guy called Napoleon who invaded Russia before Hitler as well. I would say that the Russian desire to buffer their border is well founded.
NATO made a massive mistake in not courting the Russians during the 90s. Had the cards been dealt differently, they could have been a useful partner in containing Chinese expansionism in the 21st century. The Chinese have territorial ambitions of their own on Russian lands that could have been exploited had NATO not pushed Russia away by bringing in so many former Soviet republics. It was a lost opportunity that the West is coming to regret these days.
On STATESIDE: Are we really staring into the abyss again?
Posted 27 January 2022, 9:14 p.m. Suggest removal
LastManStanding says...
> Caribbean Marshall Plan
Lol. The US invested billions into post-war Western Europe purely to thwart the spread of communism through the lands destroyed in the closing stages of the Second World War. There was an actual incentive to invest that kind of money, plus nations like West Germany and France had enough industrial experience and infrastructure to put the money to good use and bring a return. Why would the US, in the midst of their own economic issues with inflation, piss away money on some Caribbean backwater countries? To keep China out, maybe, but they could always Grenada a country that got too friendly with them if it came to that. It is not like they would ever get a return on their investment either, it would go straight into the pockets of corrupt politicians and we would continue to hear about "reparations" for another 100 years. See Haiti for an example of how pouring money into a problem doesn't always make it go away.
On FRONT PORCH: When will we ask ourselves the question Barbados answered and shake off our shackles?
Posted 27 January 2022, 9:06 p.m. Suggest removal
LastManStanding says...
Do these talking heads mean pre-Dorian "pre-COVID" or post-Dorian "pre-COVID"? Having your #2 & #3 revenue producers wiped out is a factor that needs to be mentioned when giving these kinds of assessments.
On Economy 2% smaller than pre-COVID at 2023’s end
Posted 27 January 2022, 8:58 p.m. Suggest removal
LastManStanding says...
The FNM is in a worse position than the PLP was in the aftermath of their 2017 spanking. The PLP had a chance to shed the unpopularity of the 2012-17 Christie administration because Perry got sent home by his constituents, he had no platform to continue to drag the party down with rash statements. The FNM made a big mistake in not forcing Minnis to resign his Killarney seat in the aftermath of the September spanking. They would have lost it in the by-election, but it is not like one seat was going to make a difference in a 32-7 House of Assembly. It would have went red again at the next election purely due to demographics, and it would spared the party of having to deal with Minnis continually hogging up the public spotlight with these kinds of statements. Minnis is just as unpopular as Christie was in 2017, except that he is not giving anyone a chance to forget about him.
On ‘SAY SORRY AND PAY YOUR FINE’: Minnis says PM at fault over isolation breach - but no need to quit
Posted 27 January 2022, 8:54 p.m. Suggest removal
LastManStanding says...
I think that digitizing the real property tax process is a very good idea, as well as examining whether valuations are up to par with current market value (even if I disagree with the valuations themselves). That being said, a software development firm is not qualified to perform appraisals. Whoever made that decision needs to be fired. Did a US based software development firm have access to Bahamas MLS data to find comps that can be used to accurately ascertain the worth of a property? The short answer is that they didn't, which begs the question of how they calculated these valuations in the first place. The only explanation is voodoo magic was used to come to these numbers.
None of this even mentions that I find it ridiculous that a US based company was contracted in the first place. There are Bahamian developers that could have handled the software aspect, and frankly, it is insulting that a government would contract foreign appraisers with no knowledge of the Bahamian real estate market instead of turning to one of the experienced in-country appraisers first. There is no shortage of BREA licensed appraisers here.
On Minister ‘shocked’ by realtors’ challenge to real property tax
Posted 27 January 2022, 8:46 p.m. Suggest removal
LastManStanding says...
How about government figure out how to keep power and water on first?
On Bahamas sees $715m gain if ‘infrastructure gap’ closed
Posted 11 January 2022, 3:05 p.m. Suggest removal
LastManStanding says...
Just more proof that COVID is nothing more than a giant grift. Where is "the science" that supports arbitrarily changing quarantine length? Can you still become symptomatic up to 14 days out?
On COVID quarantine change: ‘Right direction on all fronts’
Posted 11 January 2022, 3:02 p.m. Suggest removal
LastManStanding says...
That is just the way that inflation works. No way you can just print off a ton of money and not expect this to happen, on top of the supply chain issues.
On Food prices: ‘What goes up may not come down’
Posted 11 January 2022, 2:58 p.m. Suggest removal
LastManStanding says...
Brave needs to stop talking garbage and go break down the COVID "hospitalizations" by being hospitalized for/with all the way back to the start of 2020. Funny how all of a sudden there has been a massive shift in policy the minute the sales pitch for these shots goes sour.
On Brave - don’t take risks, get the jab
Posted 11 January 2022, 2:56 p.m. Suggest removal
LastManStanding says...
https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/sta…
On Brave - don’t take risks, get the jab
Posted 11 January 2022, 2:53 p.m. Suggest removal