eyewideopen - yes, that is true. When you are found guilty of, say, robbing a gas station - the Judge sentences you to (for example) 3 years in prison. This means that you are separated from most of society, unable to earn an income, any loans you have grow with interest, you are unable to travel or do any of the things that most of us take for granted. That is the punishment. Do the time, do the crime. You are right. However, ...

The Judge does NOT say that while you are in prison, you must drink rusty water, be served rice with saltpeter in it, served chicken from persons wearing gloves with specks of feces on them, urinate and defecate in buckets, sleep on a cold cement floor without blankets, wait many days or weeks for even the most simple medical attention, be given no toothpaste or soap, bathe in cold water in winter, be sexually molested and raped, be brutally assaulted and incur broken teeth and bones, be kept awake at night by other prisoners continuously screaming at the top of their lungs for no reason, along with a bunch of other things that happen to you there that are kept very secret.

Also you earn no money if you are not "lucky" to get on a work program, and then be set free after your term is complete with nothing to start a new life with except a bad police record which ensures nobody will hire you.

If YOU and others believe that THIS is a deserved and acceptable punishment for robbing a gas station (or other crimes) then LET'S put it in the LAW, change the Constitution or do whatever is necessary to make it written and accepted. Why don't we admit in writing what our true beliefs are? Why do we instead pretend to be Christians and claim that all men (and women) are children of God? Let's choose which type of people we are and then BE that kind of people instead of being two-faced.

If you are a barbarian, don't be ashamed. Stand up and proclaim loudly for all to hear "I am a barbarian !!!!"

TalRussell, the CC is also aware of the atrocities at the prison. They have said nothing. They have done nothing. No protest marches, no talking about it when they get their air time on TV every week.

BUT let a gay cruise ship set course for Nassau Harbour, and the Christian Soldiers rally the troops real quick.

I'm not voicing an opinion for or against gay cruise ships. My point is that they can rally troops when they WANT to - and obviously to help their brothers suffering in prison they simply do not want to.

The Christian Council will never agree to allow police officers to look the other way on petty marijuana possession - but only for number houses. This is because of which one they can get money from.

The CC is a much bigger threat to our freedom and our hope to one day be a modern society than any 100 prisoners combined.

However, the CC can only exist from donations by individuals every Sunday in the plate. If people would stop doing that, they would have a much better, cleaner, modern, and sensible society to live in. Maybe that will happen a hundred years from now.

The flaw in his logic is that Mr. Demeritte believes that these "consulting fees" are actually consulting fees.

They are simply petty cash funds to prop up those who are assisting in implementing IMF and World Bank initiatives.

His efforts will bear some fruit, however, and a few nickels will be scattered his way to keep him and his cohorts quiet and out of the way while the train continues down the track. They will be tasked to produce some idiotic "report" that has no practical value whatsoever and get paid handsomely for it. That should keep them happy while their country sinks into the ocean.

If he becomes too greedy, then the consulting fees will simply go away entirely for everyone and the elites will find another way to grease the wheels of the ones who are getting them now. The new method will last as long as the current method has lasted until another Mr. Demeritte comes along - and then they will change methods again.

You cannot fight the IMF and the "world trade" elites.

As long as people keep producing D-Average children for them to turn into slaves, there is no prayer for any of us. There is not even a prayer for any of the elites, in fact, because all that their methods are doing is making them Overlords and Supreme Masters of an entire world that sucks. Who wants to be the "best" and "in charge" of a world that sucks? I guess they do.

You are correct. Part of the problem is that there really is no political party. The local party members do not get to put forward candidates for election - they only get to say "yes, sir" to the central committee.

The other part of the problem is that people vote for them as long as they get their rally food and drink every five years.

During the last election 92% of voters voted either PLP or FNM. To me, that means that 92% of the public is generally happy with the way things have been running the last 30 years (during which both parties have had turns in office). By keeping at D average in the schools, the party elites ensure that the next generation of voters are stupid enough to vote for them as well.

I would say that if they are able to garner 92% of the vote - God bless them!! The people are getting what they WANT. That is democracy. If people want to eat pig feet instead of filet mignon - the parties will give it to them happily and keep the filet mignon for themselves and their families who live well and attend foreign universities and whose kids have the good sense not to return here to work.

The ignorant remain here and wait for the next five years when they can have a great time at another RALLY.

Would somebody PLEASE hurry up and release these men into freedom !!!!!!!

We need to make more room in the prisons for petty marijuana smokers. Just ask the churches - they agree smoking is very naughty and must be punished.

Ask the church. They do it all the time, by "squeezing" people into having more and more kids that they can't afford, simply to fill the pews and fill the plate as it passes around.

Absolutely correct. However, the "poorly educated" part is the part that makes your comment ineffective - because nobody is able to read it and understand it. A shame really that in 10 or 15 years time, our dollar will be like that of Jamaica - no longer on par with the U.S. All of our wealth having been squandered paying interest and subsidizing Pampers.

Just remember that to say "Our Blue Hills desalination facility..." is not correct. THAT thing is owned for a foreign corporation.

Remember that when you celebrate Independence Day - that you cannot take a shower without the help of a foreigner.

A very interesting article, followed by a well thought-out comment. However, the problems in the Bahamas are neither as complex or as numerous as described. The error being made is like calling all the symptoms a cancer patient might have - separate problems - when the patient really only has ONE problem : cancer.

Similarly the Bahamas only has one problem from which all others stem: belly-swell-itis.