Seriously??? **Not one single MP banging on the desk thought of this before they voted yes to a flawed bill?**Further until an Independent body conducts a forensic investigation of the police force and Parliament starting from the top, "*anonymity*" will mean absolutely nothing. The young boys the last commissioner tried to get to talk in front of a panel of high ranking officers knew this all too well. Everybody mouth was pin up to preserve their life

"*We, as Bahamians, just have a thing for our southern brothers and sisters.*"

This has become more than a "*thing*", this is a burgeoning national security, existential crisis.

Wow. 30 Chinese. I mentioned to someone that for years I've suspected a certain business of smuggling Chinese citizens. You will see large trailers arriving on premises but the store never has any goods.

Somebody knows and someone has to be accepting payments to look the other way. Nothing else explains this. Possibly the high ranking politician.

"*This situation should not have occurred. **The Ministry of Finance issued a direct directive to the financial officers serving the Ministry of Works. That directive was not carried out**, which resulted in a delayed payment to the individual with whom the government has a lease agreement."*"

**Nobody *believes* this to be true. In one year this mysterious person refusing to carry out a "direct directive" from the financial secretary wasnt moved or fired???**

"*Preparation is not a choice,*"

I wish the speech writer would stop. They're a great speech writer, and are worth double whatever they're being paid, but after five years the words are just empty.

It's very odd that they had this remembrance ceremony a day after the event. It is beyond odd. Meanwhile the families gathered together on the day. Its insulting.

Here is the problem...

During the tourism boom of 2024, Chester Cooper and the Ministry of Tourism claimed that the record number of tourist arrivals were all due to the brilliant strategies they had devised and effort they had put in. Anyone looking on could tell nothing had changed. Further the evidence was clear that the tourism boom had nothing to do with the Bahamas and was a push from a mass of customers who just wanted to go "somewhere". As luck would have it, God had placed us in a really convenient location, centuries ago and had given us beautiful waters. Coincidentally, the boom was happening simultaneously everywhere in the world.

But... let's go with their argument based on that, now that tourism growth is stagnating, is it conversely "*their fault*"?

The story does indicate that while down, the decline in 2025 stopover tourists is moderate. The real concern here is not so much the one year decline, but the downward trend over years. We also need to start highlighting the split between persons who are entering the Bahamas "*in name only*", staying at private cays and ports that have nothing to do with us, by design. After 50 years someone must realize the minimum wage job/concession strategy is faulty.

I found it somewhat amusing as one caller to a talk show pointed out that the opening of celebration key has turned lucaya into even more of a ghost town only for another caller to rebutt that you cant please some people.

**Until we discover an equitable Bahamian based economic driver, the Bahamas will forever be the fight between the overall reality and the people who've managed to hold onto a bowl of mutton soup.**

I just dont get it. Intelligent people who want to convince the entire population that an entire drug smuggling operation could be launched from the Bahamas and not one single person in authority said, "*yall know what going on down there? Go check that out*". Nobody know nuttin. Besides Gormon I guess...

cnn.com today

"*The United States “conducted a lethal strike” against an alleged “drug vessel” in the southern Caribbean, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday*"

"*The move represents a significant escalation by the Trump administration against drug cartels, a number of which the administration has designated as foreign terrorist organizations.*"

Forewarned.

I think birdie missed the fact that there was a very very lengthy investigation into allegations around drug operations in the Bahamas. Many "I dont recalls" were spoken in response to questions on the absolutely inexplicable. As the article stated:

"*one commissioner, Bishop Drexel Gomez, dissenting to say he could not accept that all of the payments* (in Pindlings bank account) *were unrelated to drug trafficking.*"

**A household expenditure that grew at eight times Pindlings salary??** Something Pindling was likewise literally incapable of explaining? The wife living in the house had to ask some questions, **isnt that what we ask today of mothers of young boys who bring home expensive goods with no evidence of working for them?** The "*well he was never convicted*" also reminds me of the statement from Brave Davis on the active US indictment, ~"*notice the indictment says the politician asked for 2million* (to facilitate cocaine transshipment), *it doesnt say he accepted the 2million*".

I'm not certain that Pindling could have ever been convicted in the Bahamas, even today, the drug money tentacles stretched too far throughout the country. Many "good" persons who boast today of their self made success could probably detail money they made from direct involvement in the drug trade, hush money or money paid to hold drugs for the neighbourhood dealer.

You ask yourself, how Nygard could have operated for so long in the Bahamas, with multiple persons reporting rapes to the police, and still be able to stand beside the PM Christie, call Shane Gibson his man of business, show up on video with numerous PLP cabinet ministers standing around as he shot some unknown substance into his vein with a hypodermic needle, exclaiming, ~"*I can feel it working already*" and not a single solidarity police investigation on record??? How could Flowers and Percy and Sebas have operated for decades and all the police ever found was a "*spinning wheel*"?

**There is more than enough evidence that "*enough evidence*" in the Bahamas isnt enough to interrupt a high ranking official's well greased smooth operation**