<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">Modern political methods and the fear of nukes keeps putting it off - but like a boiler drum in a factory unattended that keeps getting hotter and hotter - it will eventually explode.</p></li>
</ul>

<p align="justify">Modern political techniques are amusing, and remind me of the slogan from the ministry of truth in the book 1984; war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.</p>

<p align="justify">The millennials might be in for one hell of a ride, because if the social and political leaders of today keep preaching tolerance and spouting politically correct rhetoric then everything will blow up in their faces, just like a hot boiler drum. It looks like it takes too much smarts to address issues directly and solve problems/compromise.</p>

<p align="justify">Tensions between various groups are at an all time high, and even the genders are quietly at war with one another.</p>

<p align="justify"> @ <a href="http://www.tribune242.com/news/2015/jul…" title="Chucky">Chucky</a></p>

<p align="justify">You’re right, when you really think about it, Baha Mar is just another over glorified private business.</p>

<p align="justify">But you have to wonder <a href="http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/publish…" title="speculation as to who actually owns Baha Mar" target="_blank">who actually owns Baha Mar</a> from a business perspective, especially with the actions of some involved parties and all of the scrambling going on.</p>

<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">Do you think Obama is happy with our love affair with the Chinese and their easy money.
</p></li>
</ul>

<p align="justify">The Americans don’t seem to be too enthused at all. I remember reading some of those <a href="https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09NA…" title="Baha Mar Wikileaks" target="_blank">leaked cables</a> regarding Baha Mar a couple of years ago and raising an eyebrow at some of their comments;</p>

<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">“It is clear that The Bahamas is looking to China to fill the economic void left by the recent decrease in U.S. visitors and investors. However, it is not yet clear what costs, if any, this new relationship will have on The Bahamas.”</p></li>
</ul>

<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">“The Chinese appear committed to establishing a firm financial hold on projects, such as the Baha Mar, that will have a major impact on the Bahamian economy and leave the GCOB indebted to Chinese interests for years to come.”</p></li>
</ul>

<p align="justify">And it looks like China isn’t having a good time right now due to the forceful correction of one their stock markets.</p>

<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">“...the shots are called by the largest admitted creditors...” - <a href="http://www.tribune242.com/news/2015/jul…" title="Reality_Check" >Reality_Check</a>
</p></li>
</ul>

<p align="justify">This This This. In any business venture the party with the most gold makes the rules, and everyone else follows, and this I expect.</p>

<p align="justify">But, what should raise red flags is the nature of this deal at its conception. Not only do the two largest admitted creditors contain the most stake in this project, but they also effectively possess complete control over both the financing and direct construction of Baha Mar. They are both under the Chinese umbrella and that in my opinion is insane.</p>

<p align="justify">I don’t intend to rile up the political nutjobs, but I have to agree with the former Prime Minister on his <a href="http://www.thenassauguardian.com/index.…" title="Old Nassau Guardian News" target="_blank">concern</a> for the number of Chinese workers involved.</p>

<p align="justify">And remember those <a href="https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09NA…" title="Baha Mar Secret Cables" target="_blank">secret cables leaked by wikileaks</a> on the matter where the Americans expressed their concern in conversations with Robert Sands;</p>

<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">“Regardless of whatever number of workers the parties agree upon, the continuous arrival of thousands of low-wage Chinese workers in The Bahamas will likely lead to a significant increase in illegal migration of Chinese from The Bahamas to the United States...”</p></li>
</ul>

Disclaimer: I'm not a Baha Mar apologist, just to get that out of the way...

<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">Somebody is lying.
</p></li>
</ul>

<p align="justify">This much is certain. There’s a lot of lying and misrepresentation of factual events. I wish the media would put more work in, because there are enough statements floating around now to begin putting the essential pieces of this saga together.</p>

<p align="justify">One thing I do know is that the truth doesn’t need force, the only thing that has to be backed up by force is a lie.</p>

<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">"We're moving forward to secure a liquidator," he told the Tribune, "once that's done it's in his interest to strike a deal as soon as possible otherwise creditors will take over and the restructuring will not be to his liking."
</p></li>
</ul>

<p align="justify">This makes me smile, because if you’re securing a liquidator why would you still be talking about the developer striking a deal. </p>

<p align="justify">In fact this isn’t the time for deals because according the <a href="http://www.tribune242.com/news/2015/jul…" title="Prime Minister National Address" target="_blank">Prime Minister</a> the deal fell through;</p>

<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">After working diligently around the clock to arrive at a solution acceptable to all parties, and having made considerable progress, the talks nonetheless ended without agreement whereupon the delegation returned to Nassau this morning and promptly reported to Cabinet along with its legal advisors.
</p></li>
</ul>

<p align="justify">Come on journalists, or do we only have reporters? The more these officials talk, the more they inadvertently reveal. I’m sure there are users on the tribune that have already pointed this out.</p>

<p align="justify">I don’t know how factual Baha Mar's claims are but the current tit for tat, blame game going on clearly demonstrates there’s a lot of nonsense going on behind the scenes.
</p>

The emotional hurt here is high, and regardless of what anyone says the writer is being intellectually honest, and I appreciate that.

However, the columnist will soon have to realize that dictionaries are mostly useless, and the meaning of a word is dictated by its usage and not its literal meaning. Yes that sounds crazy but it’s true. That’s why platforms like <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/" title="The Urban Dictionary" target="_blank">the urban dictionary</a> exist, and the reason for dictionaries that span over many years such as Oxford.

The current societal definition of xenophobia is dislike, prejudice, or hostility towards foreigners. That’s not its original definition but definitions do change and that's just how the cookie crumbles. Is it a politically correct word? Yes, and you all saw my opinion above.

**Summary:**
*Zak, you’re a xenophobic, racist, bigot and you don’t know what you’re talking about!*
Yes Billy, now wait while I grab my dictionary, and hit you over the head with it...

<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">If you follow Paul Major's economics that a $12 million couple days event contributed $50 million to the GDP. Then Bah Mar's construction investment of $3.2 billion should contribute more than $1.8 trillion (yes trillion) to the GDP. Now can you see how ridiculous these clowns are.</p></li>
</ul>

John, you gave me a good laugh bey, and you’re right it's ridiculous. The monetary aspect of Carnival was a farce from its conception, but screw that. We love to party.

<ul style="list-style-type:square">
<li>There really wasn't any solid and quantifiable way of measuring the GDP impact of carnival from the beginning. They would've saved face by not talking about GDP at all.
</li><br>
<li>Carnival GDP impact was an adventure of mere speculation at best, and daydreaming at its worst.</li><br>
<li>The only thing it looks like they can tell you was that it was over budget, but don’t forget that this is budgeted taxpayers money, your money.
</li><br>
<li>You can’t have GDP impact unless something was produced, and the only thing I saw produced was taxpayers money, unless someone can tell me otherwise.
</li><br>
<li>The media did a good job of asking the minister for revenue numbers but he talked about dollar and cents impact. Just remember folks, GDP is not revenue.
</li>
</ul>

**Summary:** Carnival was conceived with a focus on gross domestic product. The only thing I saw produced was taxpayers money, and as always, Bahamians love to party.

<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">But what I do not understand is why the Bahamas with so small a population has so many persons who will take the life of others.</p></li>
</ul>

You should know the answer to this question yourself, it's a litmus test as to whether or not anyone here lives in a bubble.

<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">This is what you can consider as patriotic.</p></li>
</ul>

No, this is what you can consider as diplomacy. They are forced by the current circumstances to align themselves with the most powerful entity, which happens to be the Chinese.

<p align="justify">Excellent column!</p>

<p align="justify">The columnist is correct on the misuse and inaccuracy of the word ‘xenophobia’. This word and many words of a similar nature are purely academic with the purpose of identifying a phenomenon that does not have a name. In practice, they were never meant to be used at all except within academic literature.</p>

<p align="justify">It just so happens that academic words of this nature are very connotative (strong emotional meaning) and lack denotation (strong literal meaning). People actually do know the definition, but they use the word for its emotional effect, and this subsequently makes it a politically correct word. Politically correct words always sound good and provide excellent connotation - something that politicians like and make use of all the time.</p>

<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li><p style="color:gray" align="justify">Are we not allowed to disagree or disapprove, or have dissenting opinions without someone slapping a retaliatory and inapplicable label on us?</p></li>
</ul>

<p align="justify">This is the purpose of a politically correct word. We heighten our focus on emotion and feelings at the expense of rational thought and personal responsibility. So when someone says something we dislike, we use a PC word to start an emotional war in order to cease all logical reasoning. The true problem or conflict never gets solved but only masked.</p>

<p align="justify">You can discredit someone very easily by calling him/her xenophobic, egoist, or fascist. The polarizing effect causes everyone to run for the hills.
</p>

<p align="justify">That is why some say that political correctness prevents society from solving problems because to even begin reasoning is forbidden.
</p>