I fully agree, Dawes.

What a joke! Mr. Major knows full well that the only way they amass the millions in profit that they do is exactly because people spend the very money he says they should not spend. If gamblers only spent discretionary income and really approached gambling as entertainment, the gambling houses would close, and Mr. Major would need to find another job. But they like it exactly as it is...they don't care about the poor whose economic life blood they suck everyday. And the BGOA teaming up with Sandilands is like the Drug Dealers Association teaming up with the DEU. Quite Sad!

This young lady is stateless. Her mother was born here and was a Haitian until the time of her naturalization as a Bahamian citizen. Although this young lady's mother was a Haitian at the point that the young lady was born in The Bahamas, it was legally impossible for the mother to pass Haitian citizenship on to the young lady because only Haitians born on the soil of Haiti can pass on Haitian citizenship to their offspring, which the mother could not do because she was born in The Bahamas. Then, because the young lady's father, although Bahamian, was not married to her mother, he could not pass Bahamian citizenship to his daughter because our Constitution does not recognize men who father children out of wedlock. Thus, the young lady is stateless because neither of her unmarried parents could pass citizenship to her.

This young lady is not alone; her stateless situation is a common occurrence.

The Bahamas, like all other countries that are part of the United Nations, has an obligation to pass laws to deal with statelessness. We have been derelict in our duty. We can and must do better.

Themessenger, why would I envy an unfaithful man like Bishop Curry? If I were to envy a minister, there are many faithful ministers to choose from, who, from a worldly point of view, are far more successful than Bishop Curry. The Episcopal Church of the USA is losing churches and members by the droves because of its unfaithfulness, and Bishop Curry is presiding over the whole debacle and mired up to his eyeballs in litigation. It is a dying denomination. Google it. I pity Bishop Curry; I don't envy him. And concerning your "homophobic algae" comment, I'm not surprised that you are reviling me for being faithful to what Scripture says about human sexuality. But you are ultimately calling those parts of God's word that condemn homosexual conduct "homophobic algae." So, your fight is with God, not with me. And if you have a hint of who God really is, you would humble yourself, cover your mouth, and repent.

I fully agree: Dr. Sands is missing the point big time!

In the face of our nation's HIV reality, which is driven by both heterosexual and homosexual sexual promiscuity, it's easy to call for every sexually active adult to be tested or for every sexually active Bahamian (which would include minors) to be tested (both statements are attributed to him, so I'm not sure which he is calling for).

But I wonder if Dr. Sands would be willing to admit that carnival, considering the sexual promiscuity that it promotes, should be banned from our streets and public spaces? I also wonder if he would be willing to support raising the age of heterosexual sexual consent from 16 to 18 to match the age of homosexual sexual consent? This would no doubt go a long way in helping to reduce the rate of HIV infections among this age group of minors, many of whom are infected with HIV by older men. I also wonder if he would be willing to support similar laws that were passed in the UK whereby cable television companies can only offer pornography to customers who specifically request it, rather than allowing Cable Bahamas and BTC's FLOW TV to mass peddle their pornographic offerings on the menu of every customer of theirs? I doubt it. And that's because Dr. Sands and those who think like him believe that a lack of condom usage is the reason for HIV infections, thus condom usage is the solution to HIV infections.

In all the reported quotes from Dr. Sands, none of them called for abstinence on the part of single people and the need for fidelity among married people. But that's old fashioned and unprogressive.

But the reality is that with nationwide testing, precious little, if anything, will change. Joeblow is right: "The high HIV rates are symptomatic of more deeply rooted social issues. If we can create a culture of higher standards and moral values all of our social ills would decrease, including HIV."

I fully agree, Andy. We can and must do better for our youth and country. And the truth is that the gamblings houses that sponsor these sports event are more likely doing so as an appeasement and in an attempt try to buy legitimacy in light of the financial rape they are inflicting on the poorest of the poor. Clearly, the gambling bosses don't care about the economic and social havoc they are wreaking on the needy and the greedy who gamble, so do they truly care about sports? Or is it just about trying to buy something that money cannot buy: legitimacy?

I don't see it as imposing our moral values on other people. The issue is how do we live in shared space and what kind of conduct should we as a community allow in shared space (like streets and public parks).

For example, we have laws against engaging in sexual intercourse in public. This means that people are free to engage in whatever kind of sexual relations they wish, so long as it is done in private and with the consent of a person who is 16 (in the case of heterosexual intercourse) or 18 (in the case of homosexual intercourse). To require people not to engage in sexual intercourse in public is not imposing a moral value on them...it is imposing a community standard on everyone.

So, it is appropriate not to allow certain conduct in public that the community believes should not be allowed, and it is not imposing a moral value because those people can resort to private space and engage in the same conduct.

It is my view that an overwhelming majority of Bahamians oppose the carnival conduct that takes place on our streets and in our public spaces. This is one of the reasons I speak out against it.

If you've not attended carnival, take a look at www.thinkbahamas.org to see some of the videos and pictures showing what takes place on our streets and public spaces. I must warn you: The content is very graphic.

And notice the children on the parade in two of the videos. In one of those videos you will see a group of children on the side of the road imitating the vulgar and lewd dancing they were seeing in the parade. In one video (which is from the first carnival held here), you will see an adult woman in a Marshall t-shirt showing a group of little girls how to wine, and you will then see those little girls sexually gyrating on the ground.

I say we can do better as a country.

Being clay does not mean that people will sin in every which way.

I did not swear for anyone. I only stated my very firm conviction that no member of Kingdom Life Church would participate in the scenario you posed.

Your post was not defamatory, but in it you unfairly cast an aspersion of members of Kingdom Life Church.

Where have I judged people attending carnival? Please point me to it in anything I've written.