I agree 100%. I just thought Mr. Collie was on there just so they could say it was an election, not an appointment. Never thought they would be foolish enough to actually elect him.

Mr. Collie is a GOOD man. I have met him and like him personally. I think he is good at what he does, and I am sure he is an asset to the Party and in many other capacities in his day to day life. however, the Party needed someone to be vocal, go up against Roberts, and be tenacious daily in getting the message across.

Obviously the leaders of the party felt they could not control someone as dedicated to the people as Mr. Moncur - and considered how shameful it would be if they had to fire him before convention - and decided not to take a chance.

As a side note, this decision being made for the entire nation by only 116 people - goes to show how undemocratic the party is in the first place. I wonder if I could call Crooked Island and find ONE single FNM person there whose vote was included in this "election"? Rum Cay? South Eleuthera? Harbour Island? Staniel Cay Exuma? Probably no in each case.

Just a few Minnis loyalists huddling together to keep everything on the down-low and protect him.

Well, the vote counts they get in October when PLP calls early election (before FNM convention) will be on the down-low too. Real low.

**TheMadHatter**

Also - I support gay rights 100% - but I also support the new laws that allow businesses to choose not to support them. The lady who had the cake business two years ago in the USA is still having to pay legal fees - she has lost her business and everything. She did not want to make a cake about gay stuff. What's wrong with that? There are lots of cake shops - go somewhere else.

What if I go to a bakery here in Nassau and say I want a cake with a pic of Satan and saying "Satan is Great" or some garbage like that. Should the old Christian lady there be made (forced by Govt) to make that for me? I think not.

Rights work both ways.

Gays are now asking to be MORE than equal.

Yes - they have PLENTY problems - but that is no excuse for us to be stupid too. That would be like me telling my kids to go ahead and smoke pot up behind the school, because everyone else is doing it.

That takes a long time.

There are a lots of things they could do that could take effect as quick as tomorrow.

Look at the size of the church on the south side of carmichael road after you pass shell gas station going west - just before you get to the gladstone road intersection.

That thing is huge.

The money put into that could have expanded the prison - or that building itself could have been a minimum security wing on the prison.

BUT - obviously the "Christians" in that building had other plans.

They are not the only "Christians" to do that. There's lots of HUGE church buildings all over Nassau .... meanwhile ...

many "children of God" sleep on the cement floor, drink rusty water, and eat super salty food for dey pressure.

Is this what makes us a Christian nation?

Some say a nation can be judged by the way it treats the least among them. Well, brother, we are certainly being "judged" now.

**TheMadHatter**

The JOKE of this report is this quote "For more than a decade, the report has maintained criticisms over lengthy trials and pretrial detention, harsh prison conditions, violence against women and children and discrimination based on ethnic descent."

in other words - they have been issuing the same report (basically) for over ten years.

Obviously any Government will simply laugh at that. Basically say/think "There they go makin' noise again. So what? They ain't ga do nuttin."

And that's exactly what "they" do. The international community does nothing against the Bahamas - so why should the Bah Govt do anything to improve these human living conditions?

When Doctors-Without-Borders came to Abaco right after Hurricane Floyd (in 1999) to offer their assistance with the anticipated psychological stress such a natural disaster might have on the children of Abaco - they were turned away at the airport by immigration saying they did not have work permits. Some upright citizens came to the airport to help them enter, but were powerless against immigration authorities.

However, as a result of this - the group did not choose to change their name to "Doctors Without Borders Except the Bahamas." So once again- nothing was done. Most people probably never even heard of this incident.

So, in the end, the USA can issue all the "reports" they want. Talk is just talk. Maybe it helps them sleep better at night, knowing that they wrote a fancy report and published it in a few elite circles. Something to talk about at upscale cocktail parties. However, the prisoners are still sleeping on cement.

**TheMadHatter**

Oh how great it would be if he could get Loretta Butler to join in - for social services and to be DPM. I would hold those two spots open for her, to be decided after the FNM's November convention. Maybe if they continue to spit on her, she might look for greener pastures.

**TheMadHatter**

A good question. I applaud the determination (and unfathomable courage) of persons like Mr. Darville who put their very lives on the line fighting for the rights of their fellow citizens.

Unfortunately, I do not see any help forthcoming from these international groups. The situation at (the formerly named) Her Majesty's Prison has been such as it is and worse off and on for decades - and I have never seen it covered on CNN or on the cover of any international magazine purporting human rights. Our very own churches do nothing to help these people either.

Perhaps there are no children of God housed at that prison? Why were the prisoners there not identified as being the spawn of Satan when they were delivered by the doctor at hospital or mid-wife? Why were they allowed to attend public school? Don't we have a policy in the school system not to allow attendance by children of Satan?

I say that with tongue-in-cheek - in order to demonstrate (try) how STUPID the church view is - to suggest that these people are not children of God. Are they? Are they not? If they are - then why are they being subjected to the treatment they are receiving? Even those that are guilty do not deserve it - let alone those who are simply held in remand. Not to mention that someone can be held in remand for up to 14 years without trial.

So - no - there will be no help coming to assist Mr. Darville in his plight. The Govt has these international organizations held in check - even more so - now to the point where they have just last week elected one of them to the international chairmanship of the IDB.

It's like Freddy Kruger stuck on a continuous repeat play loop.

**TheMadHatter**

The sexually explicit content is of no concern. You talk about young women and others who are victims of sexual crimes - yes, that is a problem - but nowhere near as big a problem and the hundreds of young women who voluntarily sell their wares on the streets in order to make enough money to buy food in order to live and feed the children that the church forces them to have, knowing that they can't afford.

As for Cuba - it is hilarious to hear everyone sounding as if this is news. We have known about Cuba "opening up" since the days of Bill Clinton - the FIRST black American President - opening up the postal mail system to Cuba during his reign, and the suggestive talk back then about Cuba eventually opening up. Nothing has been done to prepare for it all of these years, except of course to close down the best tourism area in Freeport (the International Bazaar), and to close down the best tourism area in Nassau (Crystal Palace and Johnny Canoe's restaurant out front) and replace both of them with nothing. That has been the brilliant tourism boosting plan of both the FNM and PLP.

Every time there is any kind of sexual discourse or activity (publicly) in this country - it raises the ire of the church and commentators like the writer of this article. However, their approach is the same as that of the Government with the destruction or our tourism industry - which is, remove it and replace with with nothing. As long as people are raped, prostituted, and enslaved behind closed doors - that is not a problem for the church. Just think about the activities at the prison. That is one big gay cruise ship right there, but they don't protest on Bay Street about that.

Where is the sexual education element in our school system? Of course that is not allowed.

The church will not allow it.

So you end up with a bunch of uneducated (sexually) people, doing whatever the television-shows tell them to do (and having no knowledge to counter-balance that against), teenage pregnancy, teenage lives being destroyed, infant mortality, infant and child abuse by parents who are so stressed out trying to pay bills and raise 3 to 9 children, and sexual disease.

That is YOUR choice (to the writer of the article). Continue to choose ignorance about sexuality in our school system, and you will continue to reap the same sour crops.

**TheMadHatter**

True