September 24, 2004
Here We Go Again!
Just when many of us had taken down our hurricane shutters, after hearing that Jeanne had headed out into the Atlantic, the deadly storm decides that it really IS better in The Bahamas and decides to pay a visit. Super, just super!
Well, we all know it's a woman's right to change her mind. ha-ha
But, I feel bad for our fellow Bahamians in Grand Bahama and Abaco who haven't even finished cleaning up after the last storm. They need another hurricane like you and I need a hole in our head.
So, up with the shutters, again, and batten down the hatches, again, because we don't want to take Jeanne for granted and then suddenly have a freak of nature turn her into a bigger threat than we thought possible.
After all, this particular hurricane has killed more people than Charley, Frances and Ivan put together.
To keep abreast of the storm, and to stay on top of weather conditions for The Bahamas, surf on over to the NEW Bahamas Weather website.
September 23, 2004
Spies Like This Guy
Why, we wonder, does this person spend so much time reading every Blog article and every message on our site? Yet, never contributes in any way.
Maybe because the person was hired by one of the many criminals in the Bahamas Government to spy on our site?
Well, now his email address is bot food. haha
OrgName: Cyveillance
OrgID: CYVEIL
Address: 1555 Wilson Blvd., Ste. 404
City: Arlington
StateProv: VA
PostalCode: 22209-2405
Country: US
NetRange: 63.148.99.224 - 63.148.99.255
CIDR: 63.148.99.224/27
NetName: QWEST-63-148-99-224
NetHandle: NET-63-148-99-224-1
Parent: NET-63-144-0-0-1
NetType: Reassigned
Comment:
RegDate: 2001-02-05
Updated: 2001-02-05
TechHandle: PW362-ARIN
TechName: Witting, Paul
TechPhone: +1-703-312-1202
TechEmail: pwitting@cyveillance.com
OrgTechHandle: PW362-ARIN
OrgTechName: Witting, Paul
OrgTechPhone: +1-703-312-1202
OrgTechEmail: pwitting@cyveillance.com
September 20, 2004
Illiteracy at Education Ministry Trickles Down
Columnist Nicki Kelly has made a startling observation in her September 20 Punch column.
After reviewing a press release sent out by the Ministry of Education she has discovered the "smoking gun" as to why the majority of Bahamian students fail their BGCSE examinations.
The reason?
The Ministry of Education is, itself, staffed with ignorant illiterates who corrupt the educational process.
The five-paragraph press release, presumably emanating from the new Communications Unit at the Ministry, was riddled with no less than 20 errors including poor sentence construction, bad grammar, misused words and non-existent punctuation.
Of course, those are all the same things you'll find in this Weblog, but hey, we do not pretend to be educating the next generation of Bahamians, like the Ministry of Education pretends to be doing.
And while we are on the subject of Education...
What does it say about our nation, and about our highest educational institution, when we have an alleged gangster like Franklyn Wilson as the President of the College of The Bahamas? Not much! The only thing kids learn from "Frank the Snake's" appointment is that crime and corruption do indeed pay off in the Bahamas.
No Wonder Bahamasair Loses Money
The Nassau Guardian has an article on the front page of today's business section titled, "Hurricanes could affect Bahamasair profits".
It is no wonder the national flag carrier loses money, hand over fist, every year. The people who run it haven't a clue about business.
And, apparently, neither do the folks at the Guardian.
The proper headline, for an article that deals with an increase in the projected losses of the airline, should have read, "Hurricanes could affect Bahamasair's LOSSES!
There are no profits! Never have been in the airline's entire history.
If Managing Director, Paul Major, and Minister Bradley Roberts can not tell the difference between profits and losses, perhaps they should not be in charge of such an important area of the government's business.
September 15, 2004
Vote For Tonique
I am encouraging you to go to the IAAF website at http://www.iaaf.org and vote for Tonique Williams-Darling (Bahamian who won the 400m) for female athlete of the year. When you are on the website, just go to the right of your screen under the heading "Polls" and click on the "Vote for Female Athlete of the year" button. It is there that you can select her name and submit your vote. You should also vote for her for "Best Women's Performance 2004".
September 11, 2004
Ivan Hammers Jamaica, Expected To Miss Bahamas
The Bahamas is lucky. It appears to be one of the few island nations in the North Atlantic and Caribbean that will not be hit by hurricane Ivan.
In Jamaica, the deadly hurricane came with powerful winds, torrential rains and huge waves on Saturday, tearing away houses and washing out roads before heading toward the tiny Cayman Islands and Cuba.
With winds of 155 mph and a death toll already at 29 -- mostly on the devastated southeastern Caribbean island of Grenada -- Ivan gave Jamaica's 2.7 million people a small, last-minute reprieve when its center took a sudden westward turn.
Knowles-Nestor Win Big!
Bahamian tennis player Mark Knowles and his Canadian partner, Daniel Nestor, have won the US Open Doubles title.
Coming on the heels of the spectacular showing, by Bahamian athletes at the 2004 Olympic game in Athens, Greece, the victory is icing on the cake for Bahamian sports fans.
After letting their first appearance in the US Open finals wither away in 1998, and suffering a defeat in the run-up to the recent Olympics, the pair pulled off their biggest career victory, ever, with an impressive 6-3, 6-3 whitewash of Leander Paes of India and David Rikl of the Czech Republic on Friday in Flushing, New York.
This is the fourth tournament victory of the year for the Bahamian-Canadian duo after winning the Open 13 in Marseille, France in February; the Open Seat Godo 2004 in Barcelona, Spain in April and the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati in August.
"We feel like we are on top of the world," said Knowles.
September 08, 2004
Straw Market Closed
Nassau Straw Market vendors received a further blow to their operations when it was announced, today, that the Market would be closed "indefinitely".
It has been three years, almost to the day, that the Straw Market on Bay Street burned down under curious circumstances. A crazed young man was brought to trial for arson, but the entire situation, especially the way it was handled, begs further investigation.
In a symphony of incompetence, performed by two different political administrations, there have been numerous plans and even more rumours as to what the fate of the vendors would be; when (if) a new market would be constructed, where it would be erected and how it would look.
Meanwhile, the vendors have been trying to sell their goods in a tacky, makeshift tent area, that resembles a US flea market, rather than a "world famous" Bahamian Straw Market.
Now, to add salt to the wound, the Market will be closed because the canvas covering was destroyed by hurricane Frances. It is hard to understand how that happened, seeing as there was more than a week available to remove the canvas prior to the storm's arrival. Which is what the government says they did.
But somehow, and nobody can explain how, the canvas was "damaged extensively". Did that happen during the removal of the canvas? Was it put back on too early? Was it stored in a place that got hit by the hurricane?
A date for re-opening the Straw Market was not immediately given. Some vendors were very upset by this and were voicing their concerns, rather loudly, to both news reporters and the Minister of Trade & Industry, Leslie Miller.
That's when Mr. Miller informed everyone that the canvas covering was, in fact, being repaired by two companies here in Nassau and that the market place would be operational within a "week, week-and-a-half".
Had that information been included in the original announcement it might have saved everybody a lot of stress and tension.
Shower With A Friend
With water reserves in New Providence almost half what they should be, the Water & Sewerage Corporation is carefully rationing water supplies.
Our advice... shower with a friend, plus try to conserve water as much as you can.
Current reserves are at 5.1 million gallons, down from the 9.5 million we would normally have available.
Fidelity Brings Relief To Victims Of Hurricane Frances
No sooner had the Government's Disaster Relief Fund been reinstated than the Fidelity Group of Companies, Nassau, made a $25,000 contribution to get the fund rolling. The fund will provide assistance to victims of hurricane Frances, supplying water, food and emergency supplies. Also, building materials for uninsured homeowners and rental equipment that will be necessary for reconstruction.
September 06, 2004
VOTE! in the Bahamas Web Awards - People's Choice
You may not be one of the official Judges for The Second Annual Bahamas Web Awards, but you can still have a voice in selecting the Best among Bahamian Web sites. Just cast your vote, online, in the People's Choice voting. Vote until September 30, 2004.
VOTE NOW!
Only one vote per category, please!
The People's Choice Awards are separate from the Judges Selections. Instead of the winners being determined by a group of expert judges, based upon technical merits and other criteria, the winners of the People's Choice Awards are selected through an online poll of the general public, without restrictions.
Interested persons can surf to the Bahamas Web Awards site, above, and choose among the 50 entries to select their choice for the best in each of the final categories; Tourism, non-Tourism, and Government/Civic.
The Bahamas Web Awards is a year-round effort measuring the best of Bahamas Web sites, both in design and functionality. The winners of both the Judge's competition and the People's Choice Awards will be announced in December, 2004.
The Bahamas Web Awards is being sponsored by BahamasB2B -The Bahamas Portal, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Cable Bahamas - Coralwave, The Bahamas Hotel Association and Benelda.com - Bahamas Web Design.
The public has an opportunity to vote for the Best among Bahamas Web sites up until September 30, 2004, at: