Bahamas Blog

A high level official from the United States government has said, off the record, that the PLP is little more than a criminal organization.

A high-ranking official from a law enforcement agency in the United States government has branded the Progressive Liberal Party in The Bahamas as a criminal organization.

"When the treasurer of your organization is laundering money, it is hard to suggest that the organization itself did not condone such activity," the official said.

A former PLP Senator is currently on trial for attempting to extort John Travolta, and the treasurer of the party is under indictment in the United States for money laundering.

"Both of these people were active members, in good standing and high-ranking positions in the PLP when they committed the alleged crimes. Even a Bahamian lawyer with a D- grade point average can conclude that the group itself is rotten to the core," the US official said over drinks at a local restaurant.

He said that one has to be concerned with fund raising activities of political parties in The Bahamas, where laws are lax and there is no absolutely no transparency or accountability in political fund raising.

When you factor in the questionable behaviour of characters such as Lynden Pindling, Shane Gibson, Gary Christie, Sydney Stubbs, George Smith, George Wilson, Phillip 'Brave' Davis, Franklyn Wilson and others, it is difficult to view the PLP as a legitimate organisation.

The monkeys of the Bahamas mafia are still trying to cause trouble for the nation's largest website, BahamasB2B.com.

They have registered a domain name to spoof the name of the popular Bahamas Calendar on BahamasB2B.com.

Except they made one mistake. lol

Bahamas mafia

Bahamas Local

Frank the Snake

Bahamian monkeys

Islandgyal

Jason

The proposed marital rape law has garnered a lot of public debate. So much, in fact, that one visitor to a local message board quipped, "If we need this much discussion on rape of any kind, what does that say."

Answer: Nothing good.

Here we are, hosting the biggest beauty pageant in the world while we have members of the Bahamian public arguing over whether women even deserve basic human rights. Hope that doesn't make it into the Miss Universe pageant televised finals.

It would be even more embarrassing than having to admit you were a Bahamian back in 2000, right after the D- crowd beat down Hubert Ingraham for trying to change our flawed constitution to give women the same rights as men.

One of the most foolish comments I have heard thus far came from a self-proclaimed "Christian pastor", who obviously knows little about Christianity.

The fellow told a local Rotary Club that, if we passed this amendment, we would be creating a "society of rapists."

Hmmm. With some of the highest rape and incest rates in the word, some might say we are already a society of rapists. This proposed amendment is part of the solution to that problem.

And what exactly did the "pastor" mean by that statement? Did he mean that there are so many Bahamian men who force themselves upon their wives that this law would create a problem in our society?

If that is true, then it is all the more reason why this amendment must be passed.

"Each day you will be a potential rapist in your own home if you initiate sex with your wife without her consent," he told the Rotary Club of West Nassau earlier this month.

Uh, well, that's right! Anytime, anyone has sex with anyone else, against their will, then it is rape. Period!

I wonder how the pastor's wife feels about all this, when he isn't forcing her to submit to his demands.

Violence against women continues to be a VERY serious, widespread problem in The Bahamas. This amendment sets our sick society on the right course. Passing this law is not an option, it is a necessary part of rectifying the wrongs that are destroying our society.

Rape is rape, regardless of the relationship between the rapist and the victim. It can be a total stranger; someone you recognise by sight, but have never really communicated with; someone you know superficially, a neighbour or a colleague; a friend, a boy-friend or a former boyfriend; a live-in partner, or a former partner; someone you are married to or have been married to in the past.

Marital rape is almost always part of an abusive relationship. And spousal abuse is a huge problem in The Bahamas. We have prominent lawyers and MPs beating their wives. How many times is it because the wife said "No" to their advances, I wonder?

Another self-styled "Christian" pastor, voicing his objections to the proposed law, was quoted in the press as saying, "The man is the head of the home as Christ is the head of the church."

In response, the editor of the Tribune got it right, big time, when she wrote:

"What the Bible said was that a man - not an animal - was the head of the home. This amendment would strengthen the foundation of marriage because it would remove an animal from the bedchamber and keep him out until he discovered his Christian manhood."

I ask the people who are opposed to this amendment to read this article, then tell me how they can object to the proposed change in the law.

Some of the best arguments for the passing of this amendment come from two men I have a lot of respect for; writer & attorney, Anthony L Hall and Bahamian Minister and marriage counselor, Barrington Brennen.

Anthony Hall, writing for Caribbean Net News, had this to say:

"This proposed legislation has incited such widespread moral condemnation that one might think Bahamians were living in a Taliban paradise. Indeed, this condemnation exposes the fact that Christian fundamentalists, in many respects, are every bit as fanatical as Islamic fundamentalists.

"Accordingly, I implore political leaders to ignore the blandishments of religious leaders who not only condone but actually champion marital rape — based on their reading of the Bible and their chauvinistic concept of traditional family values. I rather suspect, though, that self-preservation would preclude these religious leaders from supporting legislation calling for all adulterers to be put to death – as the Bible commands.

"To be fair, however, I should note that there are progressive religious leaders in The Bahamas. And I duly entreat them to lend their voices to this debate by preaching the gospel, especially to women, that sexual abuse in marriage is as much of an abomination against God as physical abuse."

You can read Mr Hall's complete article here.

Minister Brennan, way back in 2004, wrote a paper on marital rape.

"Rape is not about sex. It’s about power and control. Generally, men who rape are married or have multiple sexual partners. Men who rape their partners are not being overpowered by testosterone, but by their insatiable and evil need to control and be in charge.

"When their wives say no, they feel that their alleged power position is being threatened. Therefore, to show their authority in the marriage, they demand and force themselves on their wives. Too many bedrooms are darkened, not with romantic candle light, but with the pain of self-gratification, intimidation, and coercion."

Despite what the phony pastors say, forced, violent sex is not a marital right. Marital rape is not motivated by sexual desire, but by violent aggression.

And we have too much of that in this country as it is.

Quoting the Tribune Editor again, "This amendment has to be passed into law - and the sooner the better."

It is irresponsible for Bahamas Minister of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool Wallace to be touting the Perry Tyler movie, being shot in Eleuthera, as the salvation for our sluggish tourism industry.

That line of thought continues to reinforce the concept that it is the global recession that is dragging down Bahamas tourism.

That is not true.

While the global recession has indeed dampened global tourism, the real reason for the decline of tourism in The Bahamas is lousy service, high-prices and a disgusting anti-foreigner attitude.

Tyler Perry's movie will do nothing to change any of that. And no matter how beautiful his filming makes the Bahamas look, it will not bring in many tourists either.

Mr Perry's market is lower-income blacks. Not exactly the market the Bahamas has been trying to attract.

Ask any Jamaican or Caribbean national how blacks are treated in The Bahamas if they are not "Bahamian" black. The answer will not be pleasant.

Pirates of The Caribbean, an international blockbuster starring A-class movie stars was touted by the Ministry of Tourism as something that was going to transform Grand Bahama's economy and turn The Bahamas into the Hollywood of the Caribbean.

I said back then, that the only work a film studio in the Bahamas would ever get was water scenes.

I also said that after spending a few months in the Bahamas, none of the people involved in the shoot would ever want to come back again.

Seems I was right... on both counts.

It is irresponsible and foolish for Mr Vanderpool-Wallace, the Ministry of Tourism and even Stan Burnside (the cartoonist) to be portraying Perry Tyler's movie as the solution to our tourism woes.

It is not.

BIFF, Bam, Boom! Ouch!

That's the sound of the Bahamas "International" Film Festival crashing down to reality.

Three years ago, Leslie Vanderpool was saying her festival would soon rival Cannes.

Some of us knew better. It was never really a film festival. It was created as a tourist attraction and has, since the beginning, given short thrift to the community, and to the film industry.

It was never about the films. It was about the parties. It was about Leslie living the high-life and jockeying herself into the Hollywood scene, where she was unceremoniously rejected while trying to become a star in her younger years.

Basically rejected by the film industry, and incapable of getting first run movies (due to the rampant copyright infringement that our government allows) the Bahamas International Film Festival had to settle for movies that have already premiered for their opening and closing nights. These, of course, are not "premiers" and hence lessen the credibility of the event.

So, they've tried to solve that problem by announcing that this year's Bahamas International Film Festival will, indeed, open with a premier, a film by local Bahamian filmmaker Kareem Mortimer.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't know Kareem Mortimer but I think he is a very talented young fellow and he does have some experience making films. But to open an "International" film festival with the work of a novice Bahamian filmmaker seems to be the equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot.

If the big media and film industry movers and shakers didn't come the last four years, they sure as heck won't be coming this year.

Again, Kareem is a talented young man, but he is not in the same league as the filmmakers whose films are opening other major film festivals.

Kareem's film would have been perfect to open Celi Moss' Bahamas Film Festival, the original Bahamian film festival, which is geared to local filmmakers in hopes of developing the industry.

It seems incestuous, in a typically Bahamian way, to feature a Bahamian filmmaker when you are trying to establish an "International" film festival. Kind of like dissing the other entrants before the festival even gets underway.

Another problem is: because the film industry pans this pretend festival (read: tourist event) there is little chance of a participating filmmaker ever really getting a distribution deal at the Bahamas "International" Film Festival.

Now, the international film industry is aware of this, so I am betting that Leslie is seeing a dwindling number of good films being entered into the competition. And if all the promotion and awards keep going only to Bahamian filmmakers and friends of Leslie - like they have so far - the interest from the international community will continue to wane.

It seems like Leslie has realized that her "international" festival is a bomb and that her only hope of saving what she has is to turn it into a locally supported, rather than tourist supported, event.

Of course that would count Atlantis out as a big sponsor, Locals do them no good and are only more trouble than they're worth.

But if Leslie aimed her festival at the local market, wouldn't that be direct competition to Celi Moss's original Bahamas Film festival? Hardly seems fair for the government to give Leslie more money than Celi. Especially since Celi was the originator of the concept, has done a wonderful job with it, and his festival is actually growing the local film industry.

It does not escape notice that Leslie's festival was given its initial funding when Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace was Director General of Tourism. Are Leslie and Vince related? Now that Vince is Minister of Tourism that whole arrangement should probably be looked at a bit more closely. Especially since we've discovered that the families that control the Ministry of Tourism have been helping themselves to taxpayer dollars for years. I'll bet that fraud and corruption go back to when Vince was Director General.

I am sure Bahamian taxpayers, like myself, who already throw way too much money into poorly managed public corporations wouldn't want to see their hard-earned tax dollars going to support Leslie's lavish Hollywood lifestyle when her festival does nobody any good... except her, and maybe Atlantis.

What do you think?

Oh, I forgot, I am a Bahamian Blog. Most of my D-minus audience can't read or write. No wonder I don't get many comments. Most Bahamians are too busy uploading smiley-face icons on Bahamas Issues. lol Maybe I should communicate with comic book style pictograms next time.