Rory,

Whoa nelly....you are joking right.....

No way is healthcare free here in Canada or anywhere. You make $40,000.00 a year, you pay $13,500 or 33% in taxes....not to mention 15% on every single purchase...that's how the Canadian, British, Australian and every other government who has universal healthcare pays for it.

Also, you pay no less than $500 a month for daycare, which is mandatory for working parents.
The prices are high because we produce nothing...we import everythinjg. Ya'll need to get your heads out of the sand and smell the real world....Of course you are going to pay $8.00 for orange juice...when was the last time you seen an orange tree in The Bahamas?

As far as road repairs go...if you can name 'nuff bad raods in Nassau, I can name twice as many good ones in Nassau, Freeport, Abaco and throughout The Bahamas that have either been recently built or recently upgraded.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs (MOCA)is responsible for regulating prices for food and the quality of goods sold in The Bahamas. Yes , the old stuff is usually sold on sale as is done everywhere else in the free world. Guess what? You do not have to buy it! But seriously though, shoud you contact MOCA, you would learn that they are consistantly bringing shop keepers up on charges for price gouging and selling expired products....check it out you'de be surprised.

Forgive me for comparing our Bahamas to places that we emulate so well. OK, let's compare apples to apples....in Barbados gas costs $7.30 per gallon. Now that's in Bajan dollars, but guess what - a dollar is a dollar in any country.

man you sound like a left over from the old plp regime , good riddence.
nothing you said about nassau is true nor makes one single bit of sense, ever heard of it? its called common sense. Stay over there in canuck land, we dont need people coming over here that think living in the stone age is fine!

And for the regime's little puppet's know how,
i lived in the UK and it IS free.

For those that dont know it, dont live here, or are too Imcompetent to realise it, we have no active Health Dept.

City Market is on a wide base trip with old or stale food, their generators dont work half the time and their food is left to go bad for hours, just to be turned around and resold at a cheaper SALE price. Case and point would be the numerous Frozen Microwave meals I purchase from their various stores, as well as milk and other goods that go bad from lack of refridgeration. 90% of food I buy there is bad, I have to throw it out, regardless of whether it is on sale, or not, there is noone to check it. I have got food poisening too many times than I can count, but to say anything about it here would be like i was a traitor!!

We have no officials checking out for our health here, so we need to do our own. I have posted before on restaurants and stores here that sell stale or old food, and eventually I will post THEM ALL for all to see on a special web site.

I dont care what party you are for, or who is in government, if the morons dont do their job, they need to be fired. After all it is WE that are paying them. Some idiot posted in a previous post that every country sells old food at sales prices, didnt take time to find out that this OLD food here in the Bahamas is ACTUALLY old stale left to drain into bacteria food, which can poison a person, and has done many times, including myself.

I wont mention the Bug Spray that is sprayed every evening all over the "fresh" fruit and veggies, the room that is used to deposit the drained blood from left over meat, and ofcourse the cockroaches and rats that roam ... I HAVE been there, seen it, done it, for many years, I know what is in the back of City Market and Super Value, and its nothing healthy. From that and the food poisening from other local restaurants that are left to stay open, the only conclusion is that we have absolutely NO ACTIVE health dept in the Bahamas. and Ill mention i found a piece of cotton metal from a metal pot scrubbing sponge in food I purchased from a restautant here.

And the food stores are not alone, this applies to Gas Stations and other food servers in Nassau, i wont name names here, but it will be public soon. There is non existant or no training at all, and no check ups. There is NOTHING happening.

God forbid we actaully have a government agency that cares about its people....

PLP: 800 homes for low income families in 3.5 years
FNM: 54 homes for low income families in 9.5 years
PLP: Indexing of old age pensions to inflation plus bonus for pensioners at Christmas
FNM: No improvement in pension benefits for entire term
FNM: Cowering to international bullies and allowing Bahamas to be blacklisted with no resolution
PLP: Cleared blacklisting issue within 24 months of entering office.
Listen, I really do not have to justify my positions to you, especially if you are predisposed to selective reasoning....the facts speak for themselves.
Facts? :uh:

Wow, you listen carefully to what they say during convention don't ya? But as with everything, take matters into context. When you are aware of the entire picture, instead of the snapshot that they present to you in one convention, you can see the truth.

Read carefully between the lines of what building contracts were given to whom (and why), why those improvements in pensions were held up to this point in time (just in time for Xmas) and why it was necessary for us to "cower" so quickly during the previous administration (to protect our struggling tourism industry at that time).

By the way, the clearing of our blacklisting status cannot be attributed solely to the PLP government. It is a result of the compound effect of the initial "cowering", as you put it. They were in a position to say, "Look we already made all these changes to our financial sector. Do you really expect us to make more?

It pays to look at the entire scope of things, then to place your support behind whatever party you feel comfortable with. Never take ANY politician from ANY party at face value, especially with so much at stake right now. Our citizens need to become more analytical of the promises and statements made by the leaders of this nation. We should expect that they will twist the statistics in their favor. Once they see that we can't be fooled by giving us handouts or telling us distorted facts, they will have to adapt their behaviors accordingly.

As we Bahamians say, "Mouth could say anyt'ing!"

Really now Yorick, what does it matter which time of year the pensions are adjusted and increased benefits are paid. Certainly the pensioners will not be voting this 18 months before the next general elections are called?

Morbid observations of natural selection would suggest that quite a number of them would be at that great Junkanoo parade in the sky by then!

And what does it matter who builds the homes fro low income families...someone' got to do it. I personally know of two men who are actively engage in this initiative. Building contractors both of them, they answered a public tender notice and were awarded contracts based on their bids. Of course, the remuneration is less than what they would have negotiated for commercial contracts (think Arawak Homes/Bramco Homes), but they are able to pay their tradesmen and apprentices on time and are glad for the continuity of the work.

Why is it so hard for us, collectively to believe that most of our elected officials are altruistic? That they are not all in it for the money and notoriety? That they are genuinely concerned for the well-being of the Bahamian people?

Increased funds on pension cheques are figures on paper and cash in the bank....Homes for low income families are concrete on land, walls, windows and doors....these are tangible items...things that were not there or even planned during the FNM's 9.5 year administration.

On the other matter, although two of the leading income earners for our country, financial services and tourism operate exclusive of each other in The Bahamas. In fact, the only movement in tourism arrivals and tourist spending was an upward climb during the whole blacklisting debacle. Tourist arrivals has increased no less than 5.8 per cent each year from 1988 onward. There has never been a decline in arrivals since before that time....NEVER! The people who visit our tranquil shores are not in the least concerned about our financial woes - they want sun, sand, sea and rum!

Perhaps if the previous administration during its 9 years in office, had allowed either of its 5 tourism ministers to get acquainted with how tourism works, they would have noticed this.

[B][COLOR="Purple"]Really now Yorick, what does it matter which time of year the pensions are adjusted and increased benefits are paid. Certainly the pensioners will not be voting this 18 months before the next general elections are called?

It's called "sweetening the pot" and it works almost every time for keeping the diehard supporters in line. I spoke with several older people today and they openly laughed at the increases. One old lady said to me as I was buying the Guardian, "You een see dat they got nuff jokes in the paper today eh? Nuff jokes. Boy dey make me laugh today." She said this in reference to the small increases in pension.

Election in 18 months, you say? Simple logic would derive the following: The Bahamas most likely is going to have an early election. The P.M. is not going to give Hubert Ingraham and Brent Symonette time to set up properly (Which is one reason why Ingraham had to be so quiet about his comeback). Plus when the PLP gets Bernard Nottage on board, the PLP will not want to waste any momentum – the sooner the election, the better. Watch the rapid increase in the amount of voter registration drives over the course of the next few months.


And what does it matter who builds the homes fro low income families...someone' got to do it. I personally know of two men who are actively engage in this initiative. Building contractors both of them, they answered a public tender notice and were awarded contracts based on their bids. Of course, the remuneration is less than what they would have negotiated for commercial contracts (think Arawak Homes/Bramco Homes), but they are able to pay their tradesmen and apprentices on time and are glad for the continuity of the work.

Why is it so hard for us, collectively to believe that most of our elected officials are altruistic? That they are not all in it for the money and notoriety? That they are genuinely concerned for the well-being of the Bahamian people?

OMG, are you that naive? More cronyism been going on than you can shake two stick at. It's difficult to believe "most" of them are altruistic because "we know we people and how dey is carry on" You haven't been home to see certain events occur. All you know about is what they saying during convention and what others may have related to you. There are a few good PLP Ministers though, with hearts of gold and competence in their ministries. They definitely cannot be ignored.


On the other matter, although two of the leading income earners for our country, financial services and tourism operate exclusive of each other in The Bahamas. In fact, the only movement in tourism arrivals and tourist spending was an upward climb during the whole blacklisting debacle. Tourist arrivals has increased no less than 5.8 per cent each year from 1988 onward. There has never been a decline in arrivals since before that time....NEVER! The people who visit our tranquil shores are not in the least concerned about our financial woes - they want sun, sand, sea and rum!
Perhaps if the previous administration during its 9 years in office, had allowed either of its 5 tourism ministers to get acquainted with how tourism works, they would have noticed this.

There is an inherent danger in being non-cooperative with our neighbors in the immediate north. You said yourself that: the only movement in tourism arrivals and tourist spending was an upward climb during the whole blacklisting debacle. Do you think this would have been the case if we had not reacted so quickly? While it was a knee jerk reaction and we lost lots of financial business, it was the type of business that this country did not need to be associated with. Or perhaps you would have liked The Bahamas to retain its sense of blind morals and been involved in a few more money laundering scandals? Anyone who complains about the loss of income in our financial services sector because of the change in our laws is guilty of wanting this country to retain crooked practices. Those who have nothing to hide should be happy to put their financial assets here.

We were in jeopardy of sanctions being placed against us, which would have affected our tourism dollars. The financial law changes, though cumbersome, had to be done – and fast. The move that was made showed the world that The Bahamas was willing to do things the proper and legal way. And guess what, our financial services sector is STILL thriving because of it. We gained quite a bit of respect because of our quick actions and most of all, we retained our integrity. That's how The Bahamas should always operate, regardless of the party.

Oh man, you are just full of jokes aren't you? And your logic is so twisted. How can you declare that houses are being built to 'sweeten the pot' for diehards?

I am from Grand Bahama and personally know several families who benefited from this initiative. And like most of their fellow Freeporters, they are FNMs, diehard FNMs. Why is it that whenever improvements are announced by any government it is met with such resistance and suspicion.

Tonight transport minister Glenys Hanna-Martin announced upgrades to Nassau and GBI airports and completely new terminal facilities at no less than 5 Out Island airports. Are you prepared to go on record in stating that this is all done to 'win voters?'

Your senior citizen friend is obviously a staunch FNM supporter....for were she PLP her comment would perhaps be along the lines of " Chile you see the gov'ment giving us a raise, eeen much, but tank God anyhow, cause we did need this long time."

Your logic is also twisted with regard to the timing of the next election. You are applying speculation to a process that is so transparent. Prime Minister Christie has over the past 3.5 years shown his propensity for contemplation. Rash decisions is not a hallmark of his administration. I assure you, there will be no general election until the current mandate is fully exhausted.

You Yorick are presumptuous in your assumptions. To state that I 'am not at home to see certain events occur." I am intrinsically connected to The Bahamas by virtue of birth and employment. Employment that brings me to the country no less than once per month. My business is analyzing potential financial investments for The Bahamas - it is my job to be on top of happenings, goings on and every aspect of life in my country -even more-so than a majority of the country's residents who are disconnected and disassociated and are only concerned about the next paycheck or A-sue draw.

You obviously misunderstood my statement when I noted that the only movement of tourism figures was upward movement during the blacklisting. That was to say that tourism arrivals were not affected in the least by the crisis. NO one in the local, North American or international travel industry cared that we were blacklisted.

Do you not find it strange that The Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Aruba and Antigua, all financial centres in their own right (The Caymans of more repute than our Bahamas even) were issued the same warnings of blacklisting and refused to surrender their sovereignty? And they are still bustling centres of commerce. Hubert was scurried the Americans was gonna stop him from going to Miami.

Lady Ping Will Always Support Her Husband Sir Lynden Ping Love You Dearly Sir This Man Was For The Poor Man Every One Was Happy God Bless Your Soul Sleep In Peace! Love You Ping

Hubert Is A Devil *dictator* One Man Iron Ruler Stubborn And Cant Get Along With No One The Man Lies Cant Be Trusted. Greed Is His Mark Of The Beast
PLP PLP THE MAJORITY I M AN AGET FOR THE PLP AND WILL DO ANY THIG TO KEEP THE PM WHERE HE BELONG AS THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE BAHAMAS.

Oh man, you are just full of jokes aren't you? And your logic is so twisted. How can you declare that houses are being built to 'sweeten the pot' for diehards?

I am from Grand Bahama and personally know several families who benefited from this initiative. And like most of their fellow Freeporters, they are FNMs, diehard FNMs. Why is it that whenever improvements are announced by any government it is met with such resistance and suspicion.
Tonight transport minister Glenys Hanna-Martin announced upgrades to Nassau and GBI airports and completely new terminal facilities at no less than 5 Out Island airports. Are you prepared to go on record in stating that this is all done to 'win voters?'
Your senior citizen friend is obviously a staunch FNM supporter....for were she PLP her comment would perhaps be along the lines of " Chile you see the gov'ment giving us a raise, eeen much, but tank God anyhow, cause we did need this long time."
Your logic is also twisted with regard to the timing of the next election. You are applying speculation to a process that is so transparent. Prime Minister Christie has over the past 3.5 years shown his propensity for contemplation. Rash decisions is not a hallmark of his administration. I assure you, there will be no general election until the current mandate is fully exhausted.
You Yorick are presumptuous in your assumptions. To state that I 'am not at home to see certain events occur." I am intrinsically connected to The Bahamas by virtue of birth and employment. Employment that brings me to the country no less than once per month. My business is analyzing potential financial investments for The Bahamas - it is my job to be on top of happenings, goings on and every aspect of life in my country -even more-so than a majority of the country's residents who are disconnected and disassociated and are only concerned about the next paycheck or A-sue draw.
You obviously misunderstood my statement when I noted that the only movement of tourism figures was upward movement during the blacklisting. That was to say that tourism arrivals were not affected in the least by the crisis. NO one in the local, North American or international travel industry cared that we were blacklisted.
Do you not find it strange that The Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Aruba and Antigua, all financial centres in their own right (The Caymans of more repute than our Bahamas even) were issued the same warnings of blacklisting and refused to surrender their sovereignty? And they are still bustling centres of commerce. Hubert was scurried the Americans was gonna stop him from going to Miami.


The old lady that I speak of is a diehard PLP by the way. She boycotted the convention this year, cause she "tired of all the promises, but een nothing happenin"

Believe me, most of the questionable financial activity went to those other caribbean islands. It didnt have to do anything with sovereignty and they will feel the effects in good time. Dirty money has its side effects.

You just happen to have a different political outlook than I do, but I can back up everything that I say. And I tell you that if the PM waits to call the election, it will be the worst mistake he can ever make. They had better call the election soon. I'll leave it like that.

Better yet. Just read The Punch.

I AM AN AGET FOR THE PLP AND I PLEDGE TO DO ANYTHING, AND USE ANYTHING AT MY DISPOSAL FOR THE RETURN OF THE PLP THE Rt.Hon.Perry G.Christie

I AM AN AGET FOR THE PLP AND I PLEDGE TO DO ANYTHING, AND USE ANYTHING AT MY DISPOSAL FOR THE RETURN OF THE PLP THE Rt.Hon.Perry G.Christie

Go for it!

Looka Christie dun gat he own Al qaeda division. Dis is a serious ting ya know!

Just read The Punch.



Now I know you 'aint relying on The Punch for your information?

Ivan is my friend, but the man has a big axe to grind an dhe like people business eh?

Now I know you 'aint relying on The Punch for your information?

Nope, the same accurate information will probably end up being in there, that's all. No secrets can be kept in this little town when you have the right political connections :taped2:

Just remember that all of the convention predictions were brought out first in The Punch! Their sources are impeccable.

Lady Ping Will Always Support Her Husband Sir Lynden Ping Love You Dearly Sir This Man Was For The Poor Man Every One Was Happy God Bless Your Soul Sleep In Peace! Love You Ping
Hubert Is A Devil *dictator* One Man Iron Ruler Stubborn And Cant Get Along With No One The Man Lies Cant Be Trusted. Greed Is His Mark Of The Beast
PLP PLP THE MAJORITY I M AN AGET FOR THE PLP AND WILL DO ANY THIG TO KEEP THE PM WHERE HE BELONG AS THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE BAHAMAS.



Oh Lawd, I cyan catch ma bret. What dey den start delivering stove and fridge hey?

I see lady P is there tonight....I had to laff at the fake smile when Bernadette hugged her... and recalled the episode with Judas in the garden...:bahamas: