I hope we are thinking about this...

It means that the Bahamian tourism is 'effed'...

Especially since Cuba has oil. But it means the same for the Bahamas as it does for Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad or any other Caribbean country dependent upon tourism.

The Bahamas has an advantage with banking. But is sleeping on that advantage.

It means...a Mob state next door...with an increase of refugees existing due to violence between home based Cubans and American based Cubans who are determined to change the status quo. Will it be an American state or Caribbean independly ran state, moreover who shall leave.

The Bahamas should be safe for a long while with its 25 different inhabited islands. Investors usually do not invest in countries with political tormoil.

Yes they do.

Iraq is a pot of boiling mess. But there are people buying Iraq on the cheap because it is a pot of boiling mess.

Cuba has been messed up for awhile. It can only get better -- now is the perfect time to invest in Cuba. There have been millions of Americans just praying for this day to come.

Oh yeah, and nobody's leaving Cuba. Now the laws will change. There will no longer be something called a "Cuban Refugee". So more people will have to stay there. And Cuba becoming an American state is a stretch. They don't even want Puerto Rico -- you think Americans want *MORE* hispanics??

Yes they do.
Iraq is a pot of boiling mess. But there are people buying Iraq on the cheap because it is a pot of boiling mess.
Cuba has been messed up for awhile. It can only get better -- now is the perfect time to invest in Cuba. There have been millions of Americans just praying for this day to come.
Oh yeah, and nobody's leaving Cuba. Now the laws will change. There will no longer be something called a "Cuban Refugee". So more people will have to stay there. And Cuba becoming an American state is a stretch. They don't even want Puerto Rico -- you think Americans want *MORE* hispanics??


Hopefully, an open Cuba means that Bahamians get scared of their future. If we can't find a way to work together to clean up the country, to stop resenting foreigners and tourists, we're doomed to sit on our pretty little islands all by ourselves...

We tend to think that someone 'owes' us something.

We're owed an 18% gratuity on any plate of food because we carried it to the table, albeit slow and sometimes grouchy.

We're owed Bahamianization because we lack the education to compete on an open market

We're owed a place we can sell imported crap to tourists

We're owed new roads so we can bring in more cars to congest them

We're owed pre-clearance because we're SO close to the USA


The Bahamas is not heaven. The repeat percentage for visitors to Atlantis is les than 20%, and supposedly Atlantis is the best we have to offer. Cruise ship tourists prefer to stay onboard in Nassau than venture into downtown Bay Street. Politically, we're about as stable as two dogs fightin the back yard only to stop fightin when a treat is offered (can you say stadium?).

Foreign investors don't see political violence, but they are keenly aware of political corruption and inaction. Bobby Ginn threatened to walk away from west end, Baker's Bay made similar threats, AES & Tractebel, that dude who wanted to build a hotel underwater in Eleuthera, MoonBahamas, they all saw the real political face of the Bahamas and didn't like what it was.

The thing is almost all Bahamians are loveable (especially me!), good, accomodating and entertaining. Somehow, once we become civil servants or gov't officials, that all melts away. If Cuba opens to US tourists and investors, the novelty of landing in the land of notoriaty will definately effect the local market. What we, as Bahamians, need to do is show that we're still the better choice, but do it without pulling down our pants and offering our boongy to foreigners. Make it fair, make it transparent, make it easy to work in the Bahamas...

my 2 cents only.

Hopefully, an open Cuba means that Bahamians get scared of their future. If we can't find a way to work together to clean up the country, to stop resenting foreigners and tourists, we're doomed to sit on our pretty little islands all by ourselves...
We tend to think that someone 'owes' us something.
We're owed an 18% gratuity on any plate of food because we carried it to the table, albeit slow and sometimes grouchy.
We're owed Bahamianization because we lack the education to compete on an open market
We're owed a place we can sell imported crap to tourists
We're owed new roads so we can bring in more cars to congest them
We're owed pre-clearance because we're SO close to the USA
The Bahamas is not heaven. The repeat percentage for visitors to Atlantis is les than 20%, and supposedly Atlantis is the best we have to offer. Cruise ship tourists prefer to stay onboard in Nassau than venture into downtown Bay Street. Politically, we're about as stable as two dogs fightin the back yard only to stop fightin when a treat is offered (can you say stadium?).
Foreign investors don't see political violence, but they are keenly aware of political corruption and inaction. Bobby Ginn threatened to walk away from west end, Baker's Bay made similar threats, AES & Tractebel, that dude who wanted to build a hotel underwater in Eleuthera, MoonBahamas, they all saw the real political face of the Bahamas and didn't like what it was.
The thing is almost all Bahamians are loveable (especially me!), good, accomodating and entertaining. Somehow, once we become civil servants or gov't officials, that all melts away. If Cuba opens to US tourists and investors, the novelty of landing in the land of notoriaty will definately effect the local market. What we, as Bahamians, need to do is show that we're still the better choice, but do it without pulling down our pants and offering our boongy to foreigners. Make it fair, make it transparent, make it easy to work in the Bahamas...
my 2 cents only.

that's not two cents...that's a blue marlin! amen!

What's Bahamianization??

What's Bahamianization??


Ask Galanis. He seems to know

Ask Galanis. He seems to know

you thin it hurt us more than it helped us...you think it added to us loosing our edge and some of our issues today is what we have today because of it?

you thin it hurt us more than it helped us...you think it added to us loosing our edge and some of our issues today is what we have today because of it?


I think Bahamianization is an honorable philosophy in essence. Bahamians should be trained to advance in whatever field they work. But ANYONE, not just Bahamians, should only promoted based upon effectiveness and caliber of their work. To automatically weaken the management structure of a complicated business because an unratified policy against expats is a foolish way of forcing unqualified executives into power. It ultimately hurts the business which ends up hurting it's other employees and the economy around it.

Training is important, don't ever doubt it. The more people know, the better the employee they are.

The problem is that the positiveness of 'Bahamianization' becomes a weapon or tool against foreigners who may rub the government (or those cozy with the gov't) the wrong way. Galanis is striking out against the GBPA not because he loves Julian Francis, but because he (and his investor) were told that the GBPA didn't want to sell to them. You see how he took the Tribune issue and immediately reflected it back onto a cause dearer to his heart.

I think Bahamianization is an honorable philosophy in essence. Bahamians should be trained to advance in whatever field they work. But ANYONE, not just Bahamians, should only promoted based upon effectiveness and caliber of their work. To automatically weaken the management structure of a complicated business because an unratified policy against expats is a foolish way of forcing unqualified executives into power. It ultimately hurts the business which ends up hurting it's other employees and the economy around it.
Training is important, don't ever doubt it. The more people know, the better the employee they are.
The problem is that the positiveness of 'Bahamianization' becomes a weapon or tool against foreigners who may rub the government (or those cozy with the gov't) the wrong way. Galanis is striking out against the GBPA not because he loves Julian Francis, but because he (and his investor) were told that the GBPA didn't want to sell to them. You see how he took the Tribune issue and immediately reflected it back onto a cause dearer to his heart.

he's such an opportunist...a rogue charlatan guttersnipe snake...and its their perogative if they didnt want to sell to him or not...people like him dont have room to talk...I need to post his US public convicted felon record...where is his family from...that doesnt sound like a Bahamian last name...

like i said, don't believe everything you read ... see this from today's weblogbahamas.com:

Senator Galanis called for an apology
by Rick Lowe

Senator Philip Galanis called this morning (August 2, 2006) to say that I misrepresented his position regarding the Marquis work permit issue in this blog.

Here is what he said via e-mail:

There is absolutely nothing in either release to support any suggestion whatsoever, that I asked for Marquis’ work permit to be revoked. I repeat as I did during our telecon this a.m. when asked by Mr. Mark Humes at the Tribune to comment on Mr. Marquis’ work permit being revoked, I flatly indicated that I did not agree with that. I would appreciate it if you would please correct this as prominently as you “misrepresented’ my position.

I have re-read his releases and would like to thank him for the clarification. And, as discussed with him over the telephone this morning, I did not misrepresent him intentionally and obviously confused his Hannes Babak comments with the Marquis issue.

I apologised to him for this over sight over the phone and do so now publicly.

In our conversation Senator Galanis did not deny his recommendation for revoking the work permit of Hannes Babak, the newly appointed Chairman of the Port Authority in Freeport.

My concern for individual freedom and the rule of law has not changed, and will not, when politicians use their offices to punish individuals they don't like.

August 03, 2006 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
====================
as for galanis being a bahamian family, they have been here for ages ... i went to SAC with philip and claudia, and they're all smart people. they may get mixed up in stuff, like a lot of people, but that doesn't call for questioning their bloodlines. that's just rude. you do realize that we have an entire greek community living here that has been with us for hundreds of years, yes?

like i said, don't believe everything you read ... see this from today's weblogbahamas.com:
Senator Galanis called for an apology
by Rick Lowe
Senator Philip Galanis called this morning (August 2, 2006) to say that I misrepresented his position regarding the Marquis work permit issue in this blog.
Here is what he said via e-mail:
There is absolutely nothing in either release to support any suggestion whatsoever, that I asked for Marquis’ work permit to be revoked. I repeat as I did during our telecon this a.m. when asked by Mr. Mark Humes at the Tribune to comment on Mr. Marquis’ work permit being revoked, I flatly indicated that I did not agree with that. I would appreciate it if you would please correct this as prominently as you “misrepresented’ my position.
I have re-read his releases and would like to thank him for the clarification. And, as discussed with him over the telephone this morning, I did not misrepresent him intentionally and obviously confused his Hannes Babak comments with the Marquis issue.
I apologised to him for this over sight over the phone and do so now publicly.
In our conversation Senator Galanis did not deny his recommendation for revoking the work permit of Hannes Babak, the newly appointed Chairman of the Port Authority in Freeport.
My concern for individual freedom and the rule of law has not changed, and will not, when politicians use their offices to punish individuals they don't like.
August 03, 2006 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
====================
as for galanis being a bahamian family, they have been here for ages ... i went to SAC with philip and claudia, and they're all smart people. they may get mixed up in stuff, like a lot of people, but that doesn't call for questioning their bloodlines. that's just rude. you do realize that we have an entire greek community living here that has been with us for hundreds of years, yes?


I have no doubt of Galanis' Bahamian roots as I'm sure he isn't fool enough to talk smack about foreigners if he was one himself!

For an MP to deliberately attack one non-political individual because he wasn't born in the Bahamas is just as rude as questioning his bloodline. Galanis' call for a 5 year maximum on work permits means that foreign companies working in the Bahamas won't stay or open there. Just think of some of the foreign companies like

Atlantis <-- even though 'Sol' means 'sun', Mr. Kerzner ain't a Bahamian
RBC / ScotiaBank / Barclays/ TD/ etc
Clipper Group <-- 300 ships in the Bahamian register
Dockendale
Westin / Sheraton / Wyndam / Hilton, etc
IBM
Tropical / Seaboard / Crowley, etc
Hutchinson Whampoa
whatever else the Chinese develop here

Doesn't sound too good for the economy or political stability, does it?

like i said, don't believe everything you read ... see this from today's weblogbahamas.com:
Senator Galanis called for an apology
by Rick Lowe
Senator Philip Galanis called this morning (August 2, 2006) to say that I misrepresented his position regarding the Marquis work permit issue in this blog.
Here is what he said via e-mail:
There is absolutely nothing in either release to support any suggestion whatsoever, that I asked for Marquis’ work permit to be revoked. I repeat as I did during our telecon this a.m. when asked by Mr. Mark Humes at the Tribune to comment on Mr. Marquis’ work permit being revoked, I flatly indicated that I did not agree with that. I would appreciate it if you would please correct this as prominently as you “misrepresented’ my position.
I have re-read his releases and would like to thank him for the clarification. And, as discussed with him over the telephone this morning, I did not misrepresent him intentionally and obviously confused his Hannes Babak comments with the Marquis issue.
I apologised to him for this over sight over the phone and do so now publicly.
In our conversation Senator Galanis did not deny his recommendation for revoking the work permit of Hannes Babak, the newly appointed Chairman of the Port Authority in Freeport.
My concern for individual freedom and the rule of law has not changed, and will not, when politicians use their offices to punish individuals they don't like.
August 03, 2006 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
====================
as for galanis being a bahamian family, they have been here for ages ... i went to SAC with philip and claudia, and they're all smart people. they may get mixed up in stuff, like a lot of people, but that doesn't call for questioning their bloodlines. that's just rude. you do realize that we have an entire greek community living here that has been with us for hundreds of years, yes?

I dont care...I simply asked a question...and I mentioned nothing of the marquis connection in my invective thank you much...I was commenting on his GBPA "agenda"...and just because you have book smarts that doesnt mean that you have common sense!

mete out your nastiness to the right one...I have and will hem you up!

What's Bahamianization??

Bahamianization: the removal of Christopher Columbus and Queen Victoria Statues in order to be replaced by black Bahamian heroes...Bahamianization!