>#“Do I want to go through the vexation of people calling me names? As our society matures, as we wrestle with the proverbial mud of politics, we are strengthening our democracy, yes, but there comes a time when people must try to understand the economy and the discussion and the conversation should be of how are we going to advance ourselves when you hear the International Monetary Fund speaking about productivity?

#“When unions are faced with challenges, Sandals, it all ties together. We have an obligation as a country to advance the economy of the Bahamas, to be able to justify the existence of institutions like BTVI because young people who are trained must feel and have the hope that they are being trained to go into the workforce and do work. In all things the proof of the pudding is in the eating. So whatever is the element of secrecy and how it intrigues people, it has to come out. And people will determine how could a bankruptcy turn into something positive outcome for the people who are affected.”

Does anyone remember Hurricane Hannah? It blowed and rained and blowed but Traveller's Rest out west was opened. My car was drenched by waves coming over the sea wall. When I got there, the place was packed. Board games on the tables. Some of the shutters were loose in the wind, and banging away. Nobody paid nevermind. I ate my sandwich, made with Purity Bakers White Bread and some gawdawful plastic cheese, chased it with a beer and totally enjoyed it. There was an old pocketbook there -- Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk. I asked the owner to take it with me and my request was granted. I hunkered down and read it.

I was fascinated by the typhoon (a Pacific hurricane) scene when the officers of the ship took over from Captain Queeg because he was an incompetent idiot, who at other times appeared normal. In the trial of the officers who took over the ship to save it, the defense lawyer must show that Queeg is insane. He verbally provokes him by asking sensitive questions, until Queeg starts to ramble incoherently.

Perry Crisco Butt's direct quote reminds of the insane Queeg on the stand. He rambles from topic to topic. He introduces non-sequitors. He doesn't finish thoughts. Crisco Butt goes from people calling him names immediately to strengthen democracy without a segue, and without stopping goes to the economy and throws in the IMF for good measure in the same sentence. The man is insane. There is not one coherent thread in that sentence. His head valves must have been damaged by the stroke, and he is our leader? What a joke. The rest of his statement is just as incoherent. We must be the laughingstock of the world. Read the sentences for yourself. This is embarrassing to all Bahamians.

Sigh, the PLP apologists here have lost all of their respect for the truth, and in that process, have lost all of their human decency. They know that they are lying and distorting, but they can't help it, because of the cognitive dissonance that it would create. They would have to admit that their lives are a lie, as well as their world-view, so the tenaciously cling to the core of their falsehoods. Look at my friend Tal, who can't comment on anything without using the words "Redshirts" and poor birdie belongs in a home for the delusional. Unfortunately it will take generations, if ever to wipe the scourge of the PLP off our country, and to restore common human decency amongst all people.

Two words: Owen Bethel.

Here is the subtext: The remaining Bahamian business for wealth management is no longer as cosmopolitan and international as it once was.

Many wealth management firms have sold their books of business, because the only worthwhile Bahamian clientele are from Latin America where there is still an air of Wild West in the management of wealth in regards to tax authorities. The screws are tighter with FATCA and various oecd/eurozone initiatives in the international milieu and with the Americans/Canadians. So you have more and more firms chasing Latin American money where the well has not run dry yet.

Wealth management paradigms are changing as we speak.

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2016…

Munroe's reputation outside the Bahamas, is one of ... shall we say ... an undesirable character who's ethical compass is non-existent. When Munroe headed the law society, a client of mine told me that he felt like he needed a shower after the slightest bit of contact with Munroe.

This person is a bottom-feeding, scum-sucking lawyer. His statement against Izmirlian is libelous and a tacit admission that the PLP government stole the project from its rightful owner.

As previously iterated, there are no Bahamian patriots in the PLP.

There is nothing to celebrate about our rating. I hauled out my Moodys rating book, and here is a graph of where we sit. We are at Baa3. We are on the cusp of being downgraded again. Moodys has already stated that they do not believe Prime Minister Crisco Butts numbers, and that they were exaggerated by $100 million.

Currently our rating is still in the dumps -- not prime:

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2016…

The Chinese are running short of billions. CCA will have to get another loan from EXIM. Here is an Economist article:

*In the past year alone, China has spent nearly $200 billion to prop up the stockmarket; $65 billion of bank loans have gone bad; financial frauds have cost investors at least $20 billion; and $600 billion of capital has left the country. To help pump up growth, officials have inflated a property bubble. Debt is still expanding twice as fast as the economy.*

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/2…

I do not believe that EXIM has the will to lend another billion to CCA. They have an excellent Moodys rating of Aa3 on their debt, because they are backed by the government, but their outlook is negative: (They downgraded Chinese debt early in the year).
Export-Import Bank of China (The)
Moody's Org ID:600020411 Market Segment:Financial Institutions Industry:non-u.s. bank Domicile:china
long term debt
Rating: Aa3, Not on Watch
Type: Senior Unsecured - Fgn Curr
Outlook: Negative
Date: 02 Mar 2016

This means that although their debt is prime investment grade, their financial performance is on the downslope. They have just announced that they are funding a $7.6 Billion railway in Tanzania. Moodys notes that rising government debt and falling foreign currency reserves contribute to a negative outlok. Those reserves have shrunk by $762 billion (702 billion euros) over the last 18 months.

So all this to say, that I do not believe that EXIM or CCA will sink the necessary billion dollars necessary to finish Baha Mar. They already have all of the geopolitical capital that they need in this small, insignificant country.

You can't pray a lie.

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2016…

The Prime Minister is a liar and doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt. Especially when he will not reveal the details. Unfortunately, naive, dyed-in-the-wool sycophants will sing his hosannas over this -- another lie. Willing to bet money that the project doesn't open for at least two years, if not ever.