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[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:10 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnational-review%2F67224-insult-and-outrage.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | Insult and outrage | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Sandals Resorts International commences a job fair today, one week after it made the positions of more than 600 workers redundant as it started what Sandals officials said are critically needed renovations at its Cable Beach property.
While the move might be legal, it is hard for many people watching this situation play out to view this as acceptable behavior by an investor in The Bahamas.
Sandals has said it intends to rehire most of the workers, according to Minister of Labour Shane Gibson.
But it seems unsettling that they will have to reapply for jobs that supposedly became redundant.
On Friday, Gibson said it was “suspicious” that Sandals is advertising a job fair days after sending hundreds of workers home.
From all we have gathered, Sandals has met its legal obligations to the workers by providing them with the severance packages they are owed.
In a purported recording of a meeting Sandals General Manager Gary Williams had with the workers last week Monday, some people could be heard cheering when they were informed that they were being fully paid all that is owed, including their Christmas bonuses.
Officials of the union representing the workers believe that Sandals is seeking to destabilize the union, that it will only rehire certain workers based on union affiliation and activity, or lack thereof.
This perception has certainly been planted in some people’s minds given Sandals’ decision to make positions redundant then swiftly advertise to fill those same jobs.
The whole Sandals affair has raised questions about what investors are allowed to do in The Bahamas, and how far unions should go to get employers to accede to demands.
The government — which has said it was blindsided by Sandals’ decision — has come under fire in the public for failing to act to save the workers’ jobs.
It appears that in this instance, Sandals has shown very little regard for the government of The Bahamas.
Gibson has pointed out that no government can force an employer to keep anyone hired, but he said had Sandals notified the government sooner about its intentions, perhaps the parties could have worked out a situation to avoid the redundancies.
But he does not think Sandals wanted to work anything out.
Indeed, this is a prickly situation. There is often little a government can do when an investor, foreign or Bahamian, decides to close shop, whether permanently or temporarily.
The law provides that employers act a certain way, and Sandals officials insist that they have followed the law.
Sandals’ legal counsel, Lennox Paton, said making the workers redundant was the “only legal option available to the resort”.
Sandals Chairman Gordon “Butch” Stewart said Sandals had no choice but to close the resort until sometime in October as major renovations got underway.
Still, the manner in which Sandals went about the closure has been called into question.
“The closure of the property shows a complete disrespect for the union,” said Obie Ferguson, president of the Trade Union Congress, who is also the lawyer for the Bahamas Hotel Maintenance and Allied Workers Union.
Ferguson has insisted that is not a conflict, although his colleague in the trade union movement, Paul Maynard, head of the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union, said it is always in Ferguson’s financial interest to get matters in court because that is how he makes money.
Ferguson said the union did not know of the redundancies until the morning employees were informed.
Like the union, the government also feels disrespected by Sandals, which has an important presence on the Cable Beach strip and in Exuma where it is the largest employer.
According to Minister Gibson, the government did not know that Sandals was planning to close its doors until The Nassau Guardian forwarded him an August 2 letter advising people who had booked vacations at the property that it would be closed from August 15 to October 13, 2016.
It is an insult to the government and to the Bahamian people that Sandals failed to notify the government before this letter was circulated to clients.
Because this government is already operating on empty on the credibility scale, many people do not believe that the government was in the dark.
And they are convinced that there is something the government could have done to save the jobs.
Gibson advised that government officials met with Sandals officials the day after the letter circulated, in an attempt to determine Sandals’ plans for the property and for the workers employed.
Gibson told Parliament that during the meeting, it was suggested that Sandals lay off the employees, instead of making them redundant.
This would have meant that the workers would have been sent home for several weeks without pay, but still have their jobs after the renovations.
Sandals said it would consider the suggestion, Gibson said, adding that the following day he wrote Sandals requesting details on the closure and its latest position on the status of the workers.
Gibson said Sandals did not respond to the government until Friday, August 12, a whole week later. The redundancies took place on Monday.
The minister expressed outrage over what he viewed as disrespect from Sandals.
In Parliament, he called on the National Tripartite Council to move quickly to update redundancy laws to mandate that employers provide proper notice.
Balance
Meanwhile, Ferguson, the TUC president, said he was filing legal action against Sandals for unfair and wrongful dismissal.
Ferguson said it is illogical for Sandals to make more than 600 positions redundant, then advertise three days later to fill the same positions.
While there is no doubt that the Sandals property is in urgent need of upgrades, many people who have been following years long developments between Sandals and the union view the decision to send the workers home as an act against the union.
Sandals’ officials have not said a lot.
They have been well scripted in the brief statements they have made as they attempt to manage the public relations of this whole affair.
They have stayed clear of addressing any claims being made by the union.
On August 10, the union began a private prosecution against Sandals; its general manager, Gary Williams; and financial controller Ronnie Mirza, over alleged union busting tactics.
The men were charged with failure to enter into negotiations with the union contrary to the Industrial Relations Act, employee intimidation and termination of an employee. They were released on $5,000 bail.
The timing of the redundancies and the prosecution might be merely coincidental, but it has played into claims that Sandals’ officials have reached their limit with the union.
News of the planned prosecution reached The Nassau Guardian on August 2, the same day as the letter that was circulated about the pending closure.
Indeed, the manner in which Sandals has gone about making hundreds of workers redundant has underscored the long-existing sour relations between Sandals and the Bahamas Hotel Maintenance and Allied Workers Union, which was recognized by the minister of labor in 2009 as the official bargaining agent for the workers.
Union officials claim Sandals has refused to negotiate an industrial agreement.
The union has kept the pressure on Sandals.
In July, it staged a protest, using several heavy duty trucks to block portions of West Bay Street, a move that landed several union members before the courts.
We would imagine Sandals officials were in no hurry to communicate to the union on what it had planned.
The whole saga is deeply worrying.
Members of the public see an investor that does not appear to be acting respectfully toward the workers or the government of The Bahamas, even if it is acting legally.
Some see a union that has overplayed its hand, pushing the employer to the edge.
Others see a government that was too impotent to act on behalf of Bahamian workers.
This is a sad event indeed.
We understand Sandals has brought in officials from elsewhere to conduct the interviews at this week’s job fair. A representative for Sandals has told us it will be fair and transparent.
It does seem illogical and insulting for the terminated employees to now be made to reapply for their jobs if they are interested.
No doubt, there will be some weeding out that takes place.
There are hundreds of former Baha Mar employees who are trained. They lost their jobs last year when the property fell into crisis.
While Sandals has committed to a fair process, there is a widespread perception that those who are distanced from the union would be more favorable picks.
Gibson has indicated there really is nothing the government can do about this matter at his point, except monitor developments and see whether Sandals sticks to its commitment to rehire most of its former workers.
If it does not, there is still nothing the government could do. There is no law that mandates an employer to rehire former workers.
The Sandals matter underscores the need for a proper balance to be struck between how investors are allowed to conduct business in The Bahamas, and ensuring that conditions are not so onerous or restrictive that business is discouraged.
There must also be an environment of mutual trust and respect between the union and the employer. Union leaders must recognize that with the national economy still severely challenged, they must not push too far.
And the employer too must have a genuine willingness to work with the government in a respectful manner.
As much of this is subjective, it will not be easy to achieve.
And that remains the ultimate dilemma. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/national-review/67224-insult-and-outrage | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/10648291844a0802043ddf404550be297432e91716b3078f98c8fd6d0998db3d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:29 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67279-4-zika-cases-confirmed-dozens-more-suspected.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67279/ZIKA PRESS CONFERENCE- PERRY GOMEZ0.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Health officials yesterday confirmed four cases of Zika in New Providence.
Of the 83 suspected cases found throughout The Bahamas, officials say eight are pregnant women.
“On the 10 of August, the first case was reported,” said Health Minister Dr. Perry Gomez at a press conference.
“Since that time, we have received notification of three additional cases.
“All cases sought medical attention after having symptoms suggestive of Zika virus infection.
“All patients have been treated for associated symptoms and are doing well.”
Two of the confirmed cases are women and the other two are men.
None of the confirmed cases are pregnant women.
Gomez said based on the histories received from the cases, it has been determined that “there is a mix of travel associated and local transmission”.
He called the issue “an enormous challenge for The Bahamas”.
The minister said because of the new confirmed cases, the entire country is set to be labeled as a Zika hot spot.
This can pose a problem for the tourism industry.
“I was informed this morning that ... a travel advisory would be issued against The Bahamas sometime today if it has not already been done,” Gomez said.
“I thought it was a little unfair to say ‘The Bahamas’, because we’ve only had Zika in New Providence. We are an archipelago of 130 inhabited islands. It’s not scientific to say the entire Bahamas at this moment in time, but there you are, that’s how it is.”
So far, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a level two alert for the country warning pregnant women and women planning to become pregnant about travel to The Bahamas.
Under the CDC's three-tier system, a level one travel warning urges vigilance and health precautions, level two calls for a high degree of caution and strong protective measures and level three advises against travel to or from a specified destination.
Health officials say they are doing all that they can to prevent an outbreak through intense vector control and mosquito management.
Director of Public Health Dr. Pearl McMillan said officials are unable to say exactly where the two people who were infected while traveling had traveled to.
She said officials are still awaiting the results of the suspected cases, most of which were found in the Carmichael and Pinewood areas.
“Based on our case definition with the 83 suspected cases, samples will be taken and sent off to a reference lab and based on review of the history that we would have provided and all of the information we send out with each sample, then the lab may or may not test every case and once they get a confirmed case, of course, they will then send it back to us,” McMillan said.
The wait time for results depends on whether the samples are tested in reference laboratories abroad or locally.
“We have our reference laboratory, but in the private sector they can be sent to other reference laboratories as well,” McMillan said.
“So the turn around has been a week or two weeks. Hence, us not waiting on confirmed cases to do what is required as it relates to the environmental monitoring and treatments.”
McMillan was unable to say how many cases they are waiting the results for.
Officials have stressed the importance of prevention.
Zika virus is primarily transmitted by the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito.
It can also be transmitted through unprotected sex and from mother to baby during pregnancy, or around the birth.
Officials are advising couples to practice safe sex, especially those who are pregnant.
Gomez said,”We wish to remind the general public that Zika virus infection is of major concern due to the confirmed association between infection in pregnancy and birth defects such as microcephaly, an abnormally small head in babies.
“There have also been confirmed cases of Guillain Barre Syndrome, an uncommon illness of the nervous system in which a person’s own immune system damages the nerve cells causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis.” | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67279-4-zika-cases-confirmed-dozens-more-suspected | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/d5cfdc6f1c3ae772644781049fa3dcd7080514b38fcbe9c5dd59fdcc7e268e24.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:37 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67191-seymour-i-did-it-for-my-brother.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67191/Bahamian Pedrya Seymour.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – This season has been a bittersweet one for Bahamian hurdler Pedrya Seymour.
The rapid rising star in Bahamian athletics lost her brother to gun violence in February off the track, and on the track she produced the best times of her life in an event that she wasn’t even running competitive in before this season, but is now her specialty, the women’s 100 meters (m) hurdles.
In an event that saw a 28-year-old world record tumble this year, Seymour is making tremendous strides and establishing a name for herself as someone to reckon with in the not too distant future.
She finished sixth in the Olympic final on Wednesday night, running 12.76 seconds here at the Games of the 31st Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In the semi-finals, the 21-year-old smashed her national record, running 12.64 seconds to qualify for the final with the third fastest time. Seymour produced the top two times of her career in those two runs, and that’s despite clipping the final hurdle in the final.
Seymour’s previous national record was 12.83 seconds, done to finish second at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 Championships to Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. She broke the national record twice in that meet – once in the heats and the other time in the final.
In total, Seymour broke the national record five times this year, settling for the mark of 12.64 in the semis of these Olympics. She has won quite a few medals and set school records as well.
It was an American 1-2-3 sweep in the Olympic final on Wednesday night as former world champion Brianna Rollins won in 12.48 seconds. Nia Ali won the silver medal in 12.59 seconds and Kristi Castlin took the bronze in 12.61 seconds. Cindy Ofili, of Great Britain, was fourth in a season’s best time of 12.63 seconds, and Cindy Roleder, of Germany, finished fifth in 12.74 seconds. Seymour, who dedicated this remarkable season to her fallen brother, settled for sixth.
She said she was happy for American Kristi Castlin who lost her father to gun violence as well.
“Every race after my brother died, I dedicated it to him, and every race I PRed (ran a personal best),” said Seymour. “I was really happy for the Americans especially Kristi because her father died as well, and she wanted to use this platform to talk about gun violence. We had a talk in the warm-up area. I told her that I read her story, that my brother was killed too, and I would be really happy if she wins a medal. She did, so I’m happy for her.”
If there’s one thing Seymour proved at these Olympics, it’s that she could definitely run with the big girls – the best sprint hurdlers in the world. New world record holder Kendra Harrison, of the United States, wasn’t there as a result of not finishing in the top three at the United States’ Olympic Trials, but three of the world’s top five and five of the top 10 according to the International Association of Athletics Federation’s (IAAF) Top Performance List were there, and they all ran in that Olympic final Wednesday night. Another one, Alina Talay, of Belarus, failed to make the final.
Seymour has shown tremendous progression in the event this year.
She just started running the short competitively in April, and in six short races, she broke the Bahamian national record of 13 seconds flat that was shared by Devynne Charlton and Adanaca Brown, and qualify for the Olympics in the process.
Since that time, Seymour has gone under 13 seconds seven times in the event, three of the seven at these Olympics. Additionally, she is the only Bahamian woman to ever run under 13 seconds in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Seymour is world-class. There’s no doubt about that now. If not for clipping the last hurdle in the final on Wednesday night, she could have produced another national record, and might have won the country’s second medal of these Olympic Games. She was right in the mix up until that point.
Be that as it may, she’s just happy to be enjoying her first Olympic experience. Given her rate of progression, she will have many opportunities to come. She went from 13.50 seconds at the beginning of the season to 12.64 seconds here at these Olympics, setting a new national record five times in the process, and breaking school records and winning medals along the way.
At these Olympics alone, Seymour ran 12.85 seconds in the heats, a stunning 12.64 seconds in the semis, and then 12.76 seconds in the final for sixth place.
If she continues this current rate of progression, there is little doubt that she will be standing on the medal podium at global meets in the not too distant future. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67191-seymour-i-did-it-for-my-brother | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/ff271692bee1b31bb38a0a1a7a1866980a08f0b83d00c2ef7156367ee915927f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:07:23 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67280-downgraded.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | True to its word, Moody’s Investors Service yesterday downgraded The Bahamas’ sovereign credit rating following a review initiated in July.
The ratings agency lowered the bond and issuer ratings of the government of The Bahamas one notch, to Baa3 from Baa2, despite the threat that they could have been lowered even more.
Low medium-term growth pointing to “weaker economic strength relative to similarly-rated peers”, and the “persistent increase in the government's debt ratio leaves The Bahamas with less fiscal space relative to rating peers”, said Moody’s in explaining the downgrade.
As it stands, the credit rating remains “investment grade” status, a relief for the government, as it could have been looking at disastrous aftershocks should the rating have fallen below that mark.
Moody’s also announced lowering of the risk ceilings for The Bahamas’ long-term and short-term financial obligations.
Dismal economic growth, ballooning debt in recent years and government’s inability to meet its own projections were among the main concerns that prompted the recent review, according to Moody’s.
And though yesterday’s downgrade echoed those issues, Moody’s did provide a bright spot in returning the country’s economic outlook to stable from the negative watch status it was placed on this summer.
Persistently high unemployment, non-performing loans in the banking system and a decrease in the competitiveness of the tourism sector, were reasons given for the “first driver” that led to the downgrade.
Moody’s said it expects The Bahamas' economic performance over the next five years “will likely remain subdued and constrained by structural rigidities”.
“Moody's forecasts that the Bahamian economy will recover in 2016-20, with real GDP growth expected to average 1.3 percent during this period, the fourth weakest economic performance out of the current 22 Baa-rated sovereigns,” it said.
“While authorities have implemented some measures to address these issues and have put forward a pro-growth reform agenda via the National Development Plan, progress has been slow so far.”
Moody’s also said it is not as optimistic as the government when it comes to getting debt under control.
It pointed out the Christie administration’s “medium-term plan forecasts continued deficit reduction and a balanced budget by 2018/19 on the back of strong revenue growth mainly from VAT (value-added tax) and a reduction of expenditures in real terms after 2016/17”.
“According to the authorities this will lead to a reduction in the government's debt/GDP ratio, closer to 60 percent of GDP,” Moody’s said.
However, Moody’s projections weren’t nearly as bullish as the government’s.
“Moody's baseline, which incorporates a more gradual fiscal consolidation path, forecasts that the debt/GDP ratio would peak in 2016/17 at about 67 percent and then stabilize around 65 percent,” the agency said.
“In addition, the Bahamian government has a moderate interest burden, with an interest-to-revenues ratio of about 13 percent.”
That gives the country “limited fiscal space”, according to Moody’s, “reducing The Bahamas' capacity to respond to economic shocks”.
The agency also didn’t rule out a further downgrade.
It said “downward rating pressure could emerge if the government's commitment to fiscal discipline diminishes”, delaying debt stabilization projections.
“Slower than anticipated economic growth, particularly if it lowered government revenue growth, a key component of the deficit reduction strategy, would also be credit negative,” Moody’s said.
“The rating could also be downgraded if the government's contingent liabilities, in the form of guaranteed debt of state-owned enterprises, were to crystallize on the government's balance sheet.”
However, the government could also see its credit rating rise, according to Moody’s.
“A strengthening of budgetary processes, including expenditure controls and improvements in revenue collections that lead to a rapid deficit reduction would be credit positive,” Moody’s said.
“Upward rating momentum would also emerge if implementation of structural reforms fostered higher potential growth and contributed to a significant improvement in The Bahamas' debt metrics, aligning these with Baa medians.”
The Ministry of Finance yesterday responded to the downgrade by admitting disappointment, but expressing confidence that the downgrade would be temporary, given Moody’s stable outlook of the economy.
“The government’s perspective on the Bahamian economy remains positive and its commitment undeterred in pursuing the necessary policy reform measures and initiatives to secure durable growth, accompanied by broadened employment opportunities and greater fiscal sustainability with debt reduction,” the ministry said.
“To this end, the government is moving swiftly to advance the many real sector initiatives underway that are poised to deliver, over the near-term horizon, further concrete, measurable contributions in these key economic policy areas.” | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67280-downgraded | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/245c9c667d64ab5731cae67257eb243bb5baf417a8886911e175e33093f09409.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:10:11 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports-scope%2F67259-the-bahamas-getting-ready-for-post-chris-brown-400-meters-period.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | ‘The Eternal One’, Chris Brown, might well compel his aging legs to go through one more season of tortuous training to get ready as best as he can, for the 16th International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) World Championships in London, England, next year.
We must start though, thinking seriously of a Bahamian track and field fraternity with Brown no longer in the mix to guide, competitively assist, and pass his experience, passion and determined spirit onto his fellow native quarter-milers.
How will the distinguished Bahamian 400 meters tradition fare without the venerable Brown as the one most counted on to add stability and the competitive edge to our 1600 meters relay teams?
He has been a mainstay in the world 400 meters picture for so long (16 years), that it is difficult to imagine a Bahamian men’s 1600 meters team competing, without the expectation of seeing Brown on one of the legs. The man has been an incredible source of pride and inspiration. His sensational career has overlapped so many other quality quarter-milers.
In 2000 when The Bahamas won the Sydney Olympics 1,600 meters bronze medal, Avard Moncur, Troy McIntosh, Carl Oliver and Tim Munnings were with Brown on the team, starting the success trend in the event for their country.
The next year, at the IAAF World Championships, it was the same group, taking the gold medal.
In 2003 at the IAAF World Championships, Dennis Darling and Nathaniel McKinney came on board, with Brown and Moncur for a bronze medal. In 2005 at the IAAF Worlds, the new kid on the blocks was Andrae Williams, working with Brown, Moncur and McKinney for a silver medal.
The 2007 IAAF Worlds saw Michael Mathieu make his high level international debut on the Bahamian 1,600 meters team. With Williams, and the old reliable ones, Brown and Moncur, The Bahamas won a silver medal.
At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, Andretti Bain and Ramon Miller joined the rank, inclusive of Brown, Moncur, Williams and Mathieu, for a silver medal. Several bad decisions that are better forgotten saw The Bahamas go through a lean period for the subsequent years until the London 2012 Olympics.
Demetrius Pinder joined Brown, Mathieu and Miller to capture the elusive Olympic 1,600 meters relay gold for The Bahamas. This past Saturday, it was Brown again, still the heartbeat of the magnificent Bahamian 1600 meters relay tradition, rising to the occasion. He leaned his veteran body far enough ahead of Kevin Borlee of Belgium to give The Bahamas yet another medal. The final was run with Mathieu and new Olympic arrivals Steven Gardiner and Alonzo Russell. Pinder and Steven Newbold, another newcomer, were also on the relay team list with Brown and the others.
Soon, though, Brown will be a spectator when Bahamian standout quarter-milers go onto the track at major world competitions. Will it be the same without Brown? The future scenario of “no Brown” represents one of the great challenges facing the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA).
This is why a national development program is so essential to the continuance of Bahamian prominence in sports. We should not depend always on athletes themselves mustering the determination and resilience to equal world peers. National federations are obligated to go into the far reaches of a country to search out the raw talent and refine it.
Mathieu looms as the senior man of Bahamian quarter-milers, when Brown finally bids farewell to competition.
We experience glory in what Brown has meant to this country, but some concern as to our 1600 meters relay tradition would be quite understandable, once Brown retires.
• To respond to this column, kindly contact Fred Sturrup at sturrup1504@gmail.com. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports-scope/67259-the-bahamas-getting-ready-for-post-chris-brown-400-meters-period | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/87afa7723274d2306f4e544a9d4cb94c1a162dbdd01eb9717d1687b614188b7e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:35 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67201-sandals-moves-to-hire-staff.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | One week after making more than 600 workers redundant as it closed its doors for extensive renovations, Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort will host a four-day job fair starting Monday — a move Trade Union Congress President Obie Ferguson alleged is clear evidence of an attempt to destabilize the union that represented employees at the Cable Beach property.
According to a publication from Sandals, the first two days of the job fair are reserved exclusively for former Sandals employees.
Next Wednesday and Thursday are open to new applicants.
Positions advertised include front office, guest services, housekeeping, maintenance, food and beverage and water sports.
Sandals said it plans to reopen sometime in October, but there has been concern from the union that they will not be reengaged.
“You can’t tell the public that you have redundancies when in a couple days you are running an ad to fill those positions,” Ferguson said.
“That is not the definition of redundancy within the Employment Act.
“The Employment Act, Section 27, makes specific reference to what is the definition of redundancy.
“The job must cease to exist or alternatively, you must intend for the job to cease to exist.
“Obviously, they can’t make that case because if they are bringing in people to do the same work, the same job, on what basis could they make the Bahamian public believe that it was a case of redundancy?"
According to the act, an employee is deemed to be dismissed because of redundancy if the dismissal is attributed to the fact that the employer has ceased or intends to cease to carry on the business for the purpose of which the employee was employed; the requirements of the business for employees to carry out particular work have ceased or diminished or expect to or an employee is required to carry out work for a fixed term of less than two years in respect of a specific construction project and the term comes to an end.
Ferguson claimed Sandals unfairly dismissed employees, the ground of legal action he intends to take against the resort.
In a statement on Tuesday, Sandals’ legal counsel, Lennox Paton, said making the workers redundant was the “only legal option available to the resort”.
Sandals has insisted it had “no choice” but to close the hotel as renovations got underway.
The government has also condemned the resort over the closure, claiming it was not notified of Sandals’ plans to close until an August 2 letter advising booked clients of the closure was “leaked” to the media.
Minister of Labour Shane Gibson said Sandals did not advise the government about the redundancies until last Friday.
The job fair will be held at Christ The King Anglican Church, Ridgeland Park West, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67201-sandals-moves-to-hire-staff | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/06be9e6ebaa0537cd6e40c6ce3404a000948f9b6b02ba9bcb0eaf5bba384a094.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:32 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67235-the-bahamas-finishes-in-a-three-way-tie-for-51st.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Despite a number of shortcomings and disappointments, Team Bahamas finished this year’s Olympics with one of its best collective performances ever, in terms of medals, at the Olympic level.
There were a number of subpar performances, particularly from the track and field sprinters of Team Bahamas, but the end of the day, no one could complain about a gold and a bronze.
In the medal standings, The Bahamas finished in a three-way tie for 51st overall with its two medals – gold and bronze. The Ivory Coast and the Independent Olympic Athletes also ended these Olympics with two medals – a gold and bronze each.
At the end of the day, The Bahamas prevailed over much larger nations such as Puerto Rico, Mexico, Norway and India, just to name a few.
The United States won the Olympics with 121 total medals – 46 gold, 37 silver and 38 bronze. Great Britain finished second with 67 total medals – 27 gold, 23 silver and 17 bronze; and China rounded out the top three with 70 total medals – 26 gold, 18 silver and 26 bronze.
The order of finish at the Olympics is based on gold medal count.
Jamaica was the top Caribbean country, finishing 16th overall with 11 total medals – six gold, three silver and two bronze.
The Bahamas’ medals by Shaunae Miller and the men’s 4x400 meters (m) relay team were the 13th and 14th for the country at the Olympics, and made these Games of the 31st Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a very successful one for The Bahamas.
It also extended a streak of at least one Olympic medal for the country at seven straight Olympics, starting with Frank Rutherford’s bronze medal winning leap in the men’s triple jump competition at the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain.
When the final numbers are out, these games will probably have The Bahamas ranked as the per capita champion of the Olympics again – a title the country held for three straight Olympics and four out of five from 1992-2008.
This year’s performance also matches the 2004 games in Athens, Greece as the second best showing, medals wise, for The Bahamas in the history of the Olympics. That year, the country got a gold from Tonique Williams-Darling in the women’s 400m and a bronze from Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie in the women’s 200m.
This year, The Bahamas matched that with gold and bronze.
“When you look at the performances of the team as a whole, you would have to say that it was commendable,” said Chef de Mission Roy Colebrook. “Two medals at this level of competition for a small country such as ours is remarkable. There were some ups and downs, but the end of the day, we have two medals. Also, there were athletes making finals, semi-finals, and achieving personal best times, so you really can’t be disappointed about that. We are proud of all 32 athletes who were named to the team this year. They went out there and represented themselves and the country very well. Additionally, there are a number of young athletes on the team who will make future teams and carry on the great tradition of making finals and winning medals for The Bahamas.”
The Bahamas also won two medals at the 2008 games in Beijing, China, but the two medals that year were silver and bronze – silver from the men’s 4x400m relay team of Andretti Bain, Michael Mathieu, Andrae Williams, Chris Brown, Avard Moncur and Ramon Miller, and bronze from “Superman” Leevan Sands in the men’s triple jump.
The only time The Bahamas topped this year’s performance, medal wise, was in 2000 at the Sydney Olympics when the country won two gold medals and one bronze. The two gold medals came courtesy of Pauline Davis-Thompson in the women’s 200m and the Golden Girls of Davis-Thompson, Chandra Sturrup, Savetheda Fynes, Ferguson-McKenzie and Eldece Clarke in the women’s 4x100m. The bronze that year came from the team of Avard Moncur, Chris Brown, Troy McIntosh, Carl Oliver and Timothy Munnings in the men’s 4x400m relay.
The medals for Davis-Thompson and the men’s 4x400m relay team that year weren’t won on the track, but were obtained later as a result of doping cases against American athletes. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67235-the-bahamas-finishes-in-a-three-way-tie-for-51st | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/5ef6d2157ee869b9a415663964b14503d64bdf033067f192d10ae6e0cb3e6f7a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:55 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Flifestyles%2Fpulse%2F67182-latanya-collie-wins-miss-petite-world-2016-crown.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67182/Collie.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | In her second appearance at the Petite World Pageants, Latanya Collie was crowned Miss Petite World 2016.
Collie was crowned in Connecticut at the August 6 event that is billed as a pageant for women of all ages as the only requirement for entry is that contestants are 13 or older.
Petite World Pageants honors the accomplishments of women the world who stand five feet six inches and under while celebrating their beauty, intelligence and community involvement.
The Bahamian queen also won the overall evening gown award and best smile award (non-competition award).
Collie first competed at Petite World Pageant in 2015 and was second runner-up. The Bahamas Petite World pageant, which is under the directorship of Antoine Duncombe is usually slated for June, but was pushed back this year which made it possible for Collie to represented The Bahamas once again in Connecticut on Saturday, August 6.
Bahamas Petite World Pageant operates under the directorship of Antoine Duncombe has been in operation since June 2013 and has crowned seven queens to date.
BPWP will crown a new queen in November and is accepting applications for the upcoming pageant that focuses on elegance, intelligence, charisma and charm. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/lifestyles/pulse/67182-latanya-collie-wins-miss-petite-world-2016-crown | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/6672062fba277f339ab0d68435fe0d188859f533b46fb56d598d56394009d77b.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:39 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67200-tuc-chief-under-fire-from-union-boss.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Bahamas Electrical Workers Union President Paul Maynard suggested yesterday that more than 600 employees at Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort lost their jobs this week because Trade Union Congress (TUC) President Obie Ferguson, the attorney for the Bahamas Hotel Maintenance and Allied Workers Union, failed to do his job.
But Ferguson rejected that statement, suggesting it was baseless.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Maynard said, “I don’t have anything personal against Obie, but a union president’s first objective is to keep his people employed.
“You have to do that. At all costs you have to do that. When you let 600 people go redundant then I have to rest it at the feet of the union president, as simple as that.”
Ferguson said he has no idea what Maynard could be talking about.
“As far as I know, I went as far as the Privy Council to uphold the rights of these workers to join the union of their choice,” he said.
“To be honest, I don’t know what he is talking about. I didn’t know anything about the closure. I did nothing to precipitate that.
“The company said that they are renovating. The company is not making an allegation of me or even the union. The company said ‘we are going to renovate and this is what we are going to do’.
“So I don’t know how I can influence something I had nothing to do with.”
Sandals officials said the Cable Beach property is closing temporarily to carry out a $4 million renovation.
It has committed to employing the same number of people let go, according to Minister of Labour Shane Gibson.
Maynard suggested that Ferguson does not have the best interest of the workers at heart.
“Successive governments have allowed Obie Ferguson to tread the line. He is a union president and a lawyer and he always says that he is a lawyer first,” Maynard said.
“You have got a situation where you have got Obie Ferguson, well, obviously, he is going to court. That’s where his money lies.”
Ferguson said he is disappointed in Maynard’s comments.
“I thought I had a very good working relationship with Mr. Maynard. If there was an issue, I would have thought that he would have at least called me and asked me about it,” Ferguson said.
“But I could not provide him with anything because really and truly, I did not know what I could have done or what the union could have done because the company said to the Bahamian public, which the government accepted, that they were renovating their place.
“So if that’s the reason for the closure, how could that be attributed to me unless they are accusing me or the union of damaging the sewer system? That’s not the company’s position. The company said they are renovating.
“Our position is just that we do not think it’s a justifiable case for redundancy when you are running an ad as I speak to have these 600 jobs replaced.”
Asked to respond directly to Maynard’s suggestion that he (Ferguson) is conflicted as president of the TUC and the lawyer for the Bahamas Maintenance and Allied Workers Union, which represented Sandals workers.
“There is no conflict,” Ferguson said.
“If that’s a conflict, then (the late trade union leader) Sir Randol Fawkes was in conflict. Sir Randol Fawkes was the president of the Bahamas Federation of Labour. He was a lawyer. They had affiliates of the Federation of Labour, which eventually became the TUC.”
Ferguson said he works free for some unions, like the nurses union. He said as it relates to the Bahamas Maintenance and Allied Workers Union, the union itself has not had to pay him as it was awarded costs in relation to the cases he won.
He said what Maynard was suggesting was illogical.
Ferguson has said he intends to file a writ in the Supreme Court because the Sandals workers were unfairly dismissed.
He said the union had no advanced notice of the redundancies.
Sandals intends to hold a job fair next week to hire staff for when the Cable Beach property opens in April. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67200-tuc-chief-under-fire-from-union-boss | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/a1d36c6844208e17ebee6ff09e0cba5f86b495df6e809fa7e3e99ef2d2bd0ea9.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:01:44 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67281-guardian-apologises-to-louis-bacon.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67281/Louis Bacon.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | We wish to apologise to Mr. Louis Bacon for certain statements contained in two (2) adverts published in our newspaper on the 29th January, 2016 and 22nd February, 2016.
The adverts in question were paid for by Nygard International Partnership and contained in “wrap arounds”. Both of the adverts could have been understood as suggesting that Mr. Bacon had spread a false story to Lyford Cay Residents that Mr. Peter Nygard was planning to build a Stem Cell Clinic at Nygard Cay in order to mislead the Court into granting injunctions against Mr. Nygard. The truth is we were not provided with any evidence to substantiate such claims against Mr. Bacon, nor are we aware of any, and it was certainly not our intention to give any such impression.
We therefore apologise to Mr. Bacon and his family for publishing the aforementioned adverts as worded. We shall exercise more care in the future. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67281-guardian-apologises-to-louis-bacon | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/beb7082ca6cc9955d883e89429e2148aaf760ac4af2316612f3ec9e062176708.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:53 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fopinion%2Fop-ed%2F67205-payback-doesnt-pay-back-us-cuba-compensation-claims.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Before 1959, three-fourths of Cuba’s arable land was owned by U.S. corporations and citizens. The two nations were so tightly bound that Cuba’s economic policies were practically guided by U.S. interests alone. However, after dictator Fulgencio Batista was deposed in the 1959 Cuban Revolution, Cuba’s economic relationship with the United States was shattered.
As part of a process of nationalization, the new Cuban government seized land and factories owned by foreign companies and Cubans who fled to the United States and, in retaliation, the United States issued a strict embargo that continues to constrain Cuba’s economic potential today.
Although diplomatic relations have gradually been re-established over the past several years through environmental agreements and the reopening of both embassies, a number of contentious economic grievances remind both countries of their Cold War past.
The first round of talks was held in Havana, Cuba, on December 8, 2015, and, while the initial meeting can be considered a positive diplomatic move, it was less of a negotiation than a preliminary discussion to establish the facts and specific demands. The second round, held on July 28-29 of this year, allowed for more substantive debate. The process of negotiations remains ongoing, and both countries seek to “resolve the claims as quickly as possible,” according to a U.S. State Department Official.
Although concessions are not the most pressing issue on the table, the settlement of claims is necessary before full normalization of relations, due to the Helms-Burton Act. This 1996 law stipulates that “the satisfactory resolution of property claims ... remains an essential condition for the full resumption of economic and diplomatic relations” between Cuba and the United States.
According to a Brookings report on the concessions, Helms-Burton “formally wrote into law the linkage between compensation and normalization of relations”, meaning that the United States sought to create a permanent strong-armed policy toward Cuba and legislatively cement the claims. The law is thus indicative of a larger issue at hand; the United States has consistently undermined its own relationship with Cuba through counter-productive policies, which have had vast and long-lasting consequences.
The historical and political disputes that surround the issue of claims are so numerous that it is unlikely that substantial progress will be achieved anytime soon. Through an exploration of the nature of the demands and their historical roots in anti-communist ideology, it becomes evident that the United States is primarily responsible for the hostility that remains today.
Demands
Over 50 years have passed since the Cuban government under Fidel Castro nationalized all foreign-owned assets; nonetheless, hundreds of U.S. companies and individuals have not forgotten about their appropriated possessions and demand that they be compensated for their losses. These assets include personal bank accounts, oil refineries, cattle ranches, and sugar factories.
In total, the assets being claimed by the United States amount to approximately US$1.9 billion at their original value. With a U.S. government-determined six percent simple interest added onto the concessions, this amount has accrued to over US$8 billion. In addition, outstanding judicial claims against the Cuban government levied by the United States add an additional US$2.2 billion. Cuba’s 2013 GDP was only US$77.15 billion, which means that the country’s payment would amount to over 13 percent of its GDP.
Cuba’s counterclaim toward the United States is much broader and focuses on long-term problems rather than a specific event. The Cuban government is asking for US$121 billion for economic damages, and US$181 billion for human damages. The total amount, over US$300 billion, drastically eclipses the United States’ claims of US$10.2 billion.
Though massive, the claims are a telling reflection of the historical damages caused by devastating U.S. policies. Economically, they address the long-term stagnation, isolation, and developmental damages that the country suffered at the hands of the embargo. Additionally, Cuba seeks to hold the United States accountable for “acts of terrorism” committed in Cuba, including the Bay of Pigs incident and various covert CIA missions that killed thousands of Cuban nationals over the past 50 years.
In essence, Cuba is making a bold statement to the United States through their claim: if you seek to hold us accountable, we will do the same to you.
Negotiations
There are several critical issues impeding progress in U.S.-Cuba negotiations. First, the total claims presented by both sides are too high for a mutual settlement. The relative size of the U.S. demands, at 13 percent of Cuba’s annual GDP, means that Cuba is unlikely to be able to pay the full price.
Similarly, from a pragmatic standpoint, it is hard to imagine that the United States has any incentive to pay Cuba even a single cent of a US$300 billion request. Moreover, if either country refuses to negotiate on its demand, then the other will do the same; and an unsettled dispute will remain for both.
In theory, the purpose of the negotiations is to revise each side’s demands so that both countries reach a settlement. However, one key hindrance is that the judicial branches of the United States and Cuba have declared their own respective decisions to be legally valid. With both countries’ demands legitimized by the domestic legality of their claims, the demands are unlikely to be modified in the immediate future. On both sides, to lessen the amount demanded would mean depriving someone of compensation that they are legally owed.
An additional critical question arises when considering these claims: at what point does the past become the past? Is there a statute of limitations on these events that would render them as part of history, with less specific relevance to the present day? Given the continued level of contention regarding the specific effects of events from 50 years ago, it is likely that the issue of claims will not be forgotten until they are settled.
Even as more and more of the claimants pass away, and the companies who lost property cease to exist, the bargaining chip of expropriated land remains vital for justifying the U.S. treatment of Cuba. Yet, just as actors within the United States are unlikely to forget their claims, the Cuban government will undoubtedly continue to press for justice.
Finally, straightforward negotiations are made improbable by the implications of reparation. If the United States ultimately compensates Cuba for human and economic damages, then it must also answer to legitimate claims from others across the globe that have been harmed at the hand of U.S. policies.
For example, if the United States were to compensate Cuba for human damages, why not also provide reparation toward those who lost their homes during the Iraq War, who have suffered directly from U.S. actions as well? Therefore, the country is extremely unlikely to pay Cuba directly, as to avoid dealing with consequences of other historical wrongs.
Through this notion of accountability, a double standard is exposed – while the United States is eager to continue pressing claims when its citizens are the ones who are damaged, Washington is quick to dismiss or deny reparations for anything it may have done wrong.
A problem entrenched by ideology
While each roadblock in the negotiation is salient on its own, they can all be traced back to a broader source: the historical and ideological conflict which has defined the present relationship between the United States and Cuba.
The overall position of the United States can be largely characterized by ideological stubbornness, and is explained through concurrent historical narratives. During the process of nationalization in Cuba, the United States was not the only country whose citizens and corporations lost property. In fact, Canada, France, Switzerland, and Spain faced similar losses. Yet, these countries established claims agreements with Cuba between 1967 and 1973, and were able to put the issue behind them.
Reconciliation was incentivized by the prospects of increased trade in the future, and through their quick settlements, these governments were able to restore relatively positive diplomatic relations and beneficial trade relationships with Cuba. Cuba’s trade with Spain and France drastically increased throughout the 1960s and 70s, and these countries have continually supported Cuba over the United States in regards to the embargo.
Although the losses in assets for these nations were less sizeable than for the United States, the lesson of these narratives is clear. Cuba was more than willing to negotiate with other countries for lost property, and the final product reflects an overall beneficial outcome for all parties involved. In fact, the government’s intention for land reform was to create a more equitable Cuba and retain international relationships.
In Cuba’s 1959 Agrarian Reform, enacted before the government began nationalizing land, Castro promised that Cuba would compensate the expropriated assets through Cuban bonds, a clear sign that his government sought revolutionary changes but still wished to remain part of the international community.
Though the government’s priorities shifted over the next few years, it remains true that Cuba did in fact make an effort to pay back the United States. However, the Eisenhower administration was too uncomfortable to accept the bonds as a secure method of payment.
On October 19, 1960, as land reform in Cuba quickly proceeded, the United States government imposed the embargo and in essence declared that it would not support the Castro regime in any manner. The United States was so quick to reject Cuba’s proposal and fully embargo the country that it essentially extinguished the chance for an immediate resolution of the claims.
With economic and diplomatic relations pushed aside because of ideological differences, the United States removed any capacity for a timely settlement to occur, even when Cuba would clearly have been a ready partner in negotiation.
Through its embargo, the United States entrenched the claims in a Cold War stalemate, ensuring that if the issue would ever be resolvable, it would be completely intertwined with grievances of Cuban economic and human suffering. If the United States had not placed the embargo and subsequently engaged in numerous retaliatory actions, Cuba would have far less to counterclaim – it is solely U.S. retribution that brought about such difficult negotiations today.
Conclusion
If it was Cuba who took the first step, it was the United States who began sprinting. If it was Cuba who first broke ground, it was the United States who dug the hole too deep to get out. The escalation of the claims conflict by the United States in 1960 has defined the tense relations more than Cuba’s initial land reform ever could have, and thus the various roadblocks obstructing a speedy negotiation can be attributed to past and present U.S. government policy.
However, the current talks nonetheless present an opportunity to redefine this relationship. It is a sign that both sides are finally willing to reflect on their interwoven histories. And at the very least, they’re talking, which is more than can be said for the past 50 years.
• The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and information organization. It has been described on the Senate floor as being “one of the nation's most respected bodies of scholars and policy makers”. For more information, visit www.coha.org or email coha@coha.org. Published with the permission of Caribbean News Now. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/op-ed/67205-payback-doesnt-pay-back-us-cuba-compensation-claims | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/c584a030a03f4f952c92f971d490f945956332c800e2d084adf061ed585dd17a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:03:05 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67247-grant-bows-out.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67247/FNM CONVENTION 2016-NEKO GRANT2C.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Central Grand Bahama MP Neko Grant announced on the weekend that he will not seek re-nomination, and decried the state of the Free National Movement (FNM) under the leadership of Dr. Hubert Minnis.
“Our party is in disarray,” Grant told The Nassau Guardian.
“There’s no question about that. We are challenged in more ways than one. I have been very supportive of the leader since May 2012. I made that very, very, very clear to him.
“That’s a fact and I have documented evidence to show that I just didn’t say I was supporting him. It was demonstrated.
“But earlier this year when a newcomer, an appointee, that had no party history publicly lambasted sitting, elected members of Parliament without being reprimanded publicly by the leader, [that] was totally unacceptable.”
Grant was referring to Lanisha Rolle, who resigned from the Senate in May after a series of controversies that many in the FNM said embarrassed the party tremendously.
In January, she sparked a political firestorm in the FNM when she declared The Bahamas would not support Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner for prime minister and accused the former deputy and other sitting FNM MPs of being “jealous” of Minnis.
She also said some FNM MPs were misusing their positions of power for self-serving interest and not for the interest of the country.
Grant said he was deeply offended by that and other matters.
“I was steamrolled in 1974 for being an FNM. In 1992, I was living the very good life when I put my life, my family’s future and everything else on the line for this party,” he said.
“Where was the leader at the time? I have no idea where he was. I wouldn’t even speak about Ms. Rolle who did what she did.
“... For her to have said that I was envious and jealous of the leader was nonsense and he supported it instead of reprimanding her. He knew it wasn’t true.
“And then we had recently, I was personally attacked by a senior member of this party, who has in fact destroyed his legacy for him to have said that anybody who opposed the leader was bodering on treason because the leader was elected in convention made no sense when we look at his history.”
Moore was among the group of PLP MPs known as the dissident eight who challenged the leadership then Prime Minister Lynden Pindling and broke away, eventually forming the Free National Movement in 1971.
“Sir Lynden was not only elected in Parliament, he was elected by virtue of having controlled the majority of members Parliament before they voted against him, and after, elected by the people,” Grant said.
“So what nonsense could he (Moore) say about being treacherous because you oppose the leader and he was elected at convention?”
Grant added, “When I look back at my evidence that’s readily available, I trust that I will not have to produce it to confirm that I was supportive of the leader and he did nothing to stop this man from talking nonsense, especially as it relates to me. It was offensive.”
Grant said that when Minnis assumed the leadership of the FNM in 2012, he informed Minnis of his intention to retire after this term.
But he admitted that change is constant, a suggestion that he would have been prepared to run again under different circumstances.
‘Tremendous sacrifice’
Grant has been a member of Parliament for 24 years, the longest serving FNM MP.
“The country was in crisis [in 1992] and in need of deliverance,” he said yesterday.
“I entered frontline politics not to enrich myself, nor for other selfish endeavours. I entered because I felt that I could make a difference.”
Grant has served as minister of tourism and aviation, and minister of public works and transport.
Grant told The Nassau Guardian, “I could have stepped out of Parliament after we lost in May 2012, collect my pension and go about my merry way ... but it was never about finances for me. When I went into politics in 1992, I was earning a very good salary, working on a job that I was extremely comfortable in.”
The leadership of the FNM has attempted to portray a united party since a very rocky convention in July that was forced by six FNM MPs, who had expressed a loss of confidence in Minnis.
Minnis emerged from the convention still holding onto the leadership post, but there have continued to be whispers about divisions within the FNM.
Asked whether he thinks the FNM will win the next general election, Grant said, “That is not for me to decide.
“The good people of The Bahamas will decide who they want to govern this country, but I will not stand in the way, since there are those who are in senior positions who believe that I do.
“As a matter of fact, a senior member went so far as to say that the six dissidents, as we are referred to, are sitting in FNM seats. Well, if I step out of the way, all they need do is put another FNM in place and the seat is theirs.”
Grant added, “I am privileged to have survived two political tsunamis. I thought the notion or nonsense about safe seats went out of the window, first of all in 1992 ... and then you can go to 2002, you can look at the FNMs who would have lost their seats in 2002 in supposedly safe seats. That is nonsense.”
Grant noted that when called by the media on numerous occasions over the last four years, for the sake of party unity, he refused to comment.
“I have made my decision and I’m very comfortable with it,” he said.
“I am at peace with myself. My conscience is clear and my heart is pure.”
He thanked his former employers Sir Garet ‘Tiger’ Finlayson (a major supporter of the PLP) and his son Mark Finlayson for not getting in this politically.
“While we wore different political labels they were conscientious and appreciative of what I brought to the table for their business,” he said.
“Never one day was I interfered with in my political life, and that is commendable, and I salute them both.” | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67247-grant-bows-out | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/cd276cdf3da2504eb50e5b5d450874e6a85afd26f2696a371c517c76d9941342.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:14 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67196-police-staff-assoc-urges-resolution-for-officers-who-worked-overtime.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Police Staff Association (PSA) Executive Chairman Inspector Dwight Smith has urged Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade to meet with the association to discuss how best to compensate officers in accordance with a recent Supreme Court ruling that officers are entitled to overtime pay or days off as compensation for work in excess of 40 hours per week.
In an August 11 letter to Wayne Munroe, who represents the PSA, the Office of the Attorney General said the ruling will be complied with and officers will be given time back in lieu of excess hours worked.
“The commissioner has instructed our office that his team is in the process of working through the duty sheets submitted by various officers in charge, and as soon as they are completed, the officers will be notified accordingly,” the letter said.
“Further, provisions will be made for officers who are entitled, who have either resigned or their contract of employment has ended or have died during the relative period for monetary payment to be made to them or their estate.”
But Smith said yesterday that the association has not been advised how management intends to handle giving officers time back, noting that officers who worked the 12-hour shifts are owed more than 60 days each.
He said the association wrote to the commissioner in late July requesting a meeting to discuss the matter, but there has been no response to date.
Smith said the association understands the financial climate and wants to ensure a fair arrangement comes about without placing a strain on the police force.
He said even if the officers were partially compensated for overtime worked it would be difficult to give more than 3,000 officers so many days off, not including their vacation time, in the next year in compliance with the court ruling.
“That’s three months and two days and that’s for one officer,” Smith said.
“If you just do it on a one-day calculation for the 12-hour [shifts], when you total that up in terms of paying an officer that value, those three months and two days, is valued at $7,938 per officer as a constable. That’s the lowest.
“If you just did it on the four hours overtime you would just pay out $4,095 [per officer] on the same scale.
“And the other scale we gave them was the public service scale in special events where it would have been half of that.
“We are giving them the various options and we have put those in as recommendations, saying this is how you can deal with it.
“But if you are talking about time back in lieu [of time] off, you are paying out more money.”
In July 2015, Supreme Court Justice Milton Evans ruled that the government either pay outstanding overtime to officers who worked 12-hour shifts or give them equivalent in days off.
The PSA took legal action after repeated attempts to have scores of officers compensated for spending weeks working 12-hour shifts between September 6, 2013 and December, 2013 and for several weeks in February 2014.
The government argued that the Employment Act and the need to pay overtime do not apply to police officers, but the court said this did not matter as overtime compensation was set out in a force order by former Police Commissioner Paul Farquharson in 2003.
The government appealed the decision, but the ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Munroe previously said officers are owed $16 million. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67196-police-staff-assoc-urges-resolution-for-officers-who-worked-overtime | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/222fd0659db6833b9f8d0c10660e5ce03f7c04db621e3021ca988a015ec4e4f3.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:07:05 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports-scope%2F67234-brown-ends-final-olympics-in-relay-bronze-medal-style.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Chris Brown is popularly known as “The Fireman” but in essence, he has been “The Eternal One” of world track and field. For a long time, it has seemed as if there was no end to his elite performances in the 400 meters (m).
It was 19 years ago (1997) when he captured the bronze double in the 400 meters and 800 meters at the CARIFTA Games in Bridgetown, Barbados. On Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at this year’s version of the Olympic Games, he exemplified his passion and huge heart to out-lean a surging Kevin Borlee of Belgium at the end of the 1,600 meters relay to give The Bahamas the bronze medal, behind the United States and Jamaica.
It was the second medal for The Bahamas in Rio (following upon the sensational 400 meters gold by Shaunae Miller last Monday). For Brown, it was his fourth Olympic relay medal (2000 bronze, 2008 silver, 2012 gold previously). The medal was another feather in his cap but the way he won was quite compelling.
It seemed for The Bahamas on Saturday, just one person was capable of delivering the final pressure-ridden leg. Brown would not be denied. He intensely kept pace with the lead runners and amazingly had enough in his 37-year-old legs to pass Gaone Maotoanong of Botswana and hold off the fast-coming Borlee.
Steven Gardiner ran the fastest split for The Bahamas. His third leg was done in 43.79 and was quite significant. Would the 20-year-old have been able to be as proficient on the anchor leg with so much depending upon him? We will never know that answer.
What was comfortable for the country though, was to have Brown (44.20 split) with his experience running the leg for a team that just did not have the collective speed of past teams. In fact, it has been a subpar year for Bahamian male quarter-milers. Gardiner had by far the best performances this season and Alonzo Russell who opened in 45.30, did not particularly blaze along through the season. Michael Mathieu (45.10) who ran second leg in the final, was questionable, and Brown was definitely not his usual self.
To have managed a bronze medal despite the circumstances, spoke volumes for Brown and his relay associates. With this latest accomplishment, Brown defined greatness.
He has had a truly distinguished career and will be respected forever because of his eminence as he, with distinction, demonstrated year after year how to be a quality ambassador for his country. He has not spoken about a retirement time line. It is possible that he will stay around for the 16th International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships next year in London, England, but no doubt he is winding up an exceptional run as one of the best in his individual discipline and one of the superb all-time relay performers.
Ultra determination registered in his persona when he took the baton from Gardiner and furiously pushed for 300 meters. It was that pace he took out, that ultimately enabled him to be in position to lean just ahead of Borlee, in 2:58.49. Belgium finished in 2:58.52.
There was irony too. Brown, who had been nudged back into fourth place several times during his fabulous career in individual races, finally turned the tables.
It was a deserving Olympic finale for the man from Eleuthera.
• To respond to this column, kindly contact Fred Sturrup at sturrup1504@gmail.com. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports-scope/67234-brown-ends-final-olympics-in-relay-bronze-medal-style | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/25a0185ba0f9997bab87ec7ede5c587821260608830b24cdcdb1b1a1dc81834a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:08:57 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fcomponent%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F70-green-files%2F67250-ease-of-business-is-good-for-the-environment.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | If you go to the World Bank Group website, you can see the ratings for countries as it relates to whether or not the regulatory environment is conducive to opening and operating a business. The Bahamas ranks 106 overall in the world and has shown progress in trading across borders and paying taxes, but unfortunately ratings for starting a business, getting electricity, credit or construction permits have all fallen.
This would be no surprise to anyone living in The Bahamas, as much time is still spent driving from place to place copying legal documents, resulting in loss of productivity and unnecessary fuel cost, at the expense of a few trees, I might add.
Let’s take the driver’s license for example. We can now come in every three years to renew, but all that is done is a reprint of the same license with a new date and collection of $15 for each year. No one checks if I can still drive so why bother? The objective is clearly to collect $15, but at the expense of printing new cards and hiring staff for a really unnecessary exercise.
My suggestion would be to add a driver’s tax to the road tax for renewing car registration. Each car can be assigned an average of two drivers, so just collect the additional $30 here, remove the expiry date from licenses and contact me when I am 70 to see if I am still alive and check if I should be trusted to drive.
Speaking of road worthiness, we can look at moving toward the MOT system that the UK has, where neighborhood garages become authorized to inspect vehicles on behalf of the government. Once the vehicle has passed the necessary test, this information is instantly passed to the government and persons can go online or to local post offices to pay this tax.
A few months ago I tried opening a new company account at the bank I having been banking with for the past 12 years. They gave me a list of know your customer documents to bring in which would have involved driving around and much photocopying. Can the fact that businesses now have TINs (tax identification numbers) simplify this process? Can banks and other agencies use the TIN as evidence of who you are and tax compliance? There has got to be a better way.
My favorite example comes from none other than BPL. On Saturday, I observed persons paying off their bills at the BPL cashier as their service had been disconnected. They then had to take about 10 steps to stand on another line to inform BPL that they had paid their bill and were requesting reconnection.
Is anyone else confused by this? Surely there is a way for an automatic notification to go the reconnection department to alert them that the customer has settled her account and should be reconnected. This way customers could settle bills at numerous locations and be assured that, within 24 hours, say, they would be reconnected without having to make another call, stand in another line or drive back to BPL.
These are just a few examples of inefficiencies and inconveniences that could be easily simplified to reduce wastage of time, fuel and paper.
Perhaps the reason we are not moving toward energy efficiency is we don’t yet have a culture of efficiency. So maybe this mindset needs to change before we can make progress towards a country that is more energy efficient.
We would like to hear how this article has helped you. Send questions or comments to sbrown@graphitebahamas.com.
• Sonia Brown is the principal of Graphite Engineering Ltd. and is a registered professional engineer. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/component/content/article/70-green-files/67250-ease-of-business-is-good-for-the-environment | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/3b765305e829e329b31f20f19228d7517770adb2c27c68acf78fb3dfbc2d5ee8.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:10:30 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67262-seymour-set-to-return-to-illinois.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67262/SEYMOUR.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Now that the Games of the 31st Olympiad are over, it’s back to the various homes and training bases for the 29-member Bahamian team.
One such athlete, Pedrya Seymour, is preparing to enter her junior year at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. The 21-year-old rising star goes into the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletics season as one of the top-ranked female hurdlers. Given her stumble at last year’s NCAAs, there’s no doubt that she will be trying to make amends this year.
Seymour was sixth in the Olympic final of the women’s 100 meters (m) hurdles last Wednesday, running the second-fastest time of her career – 12.76 seconds. She ran her fastest time ever in the semis, 12.64 seconds for a new Bahamian senior national record. In that final, Seymour was just 15 one hundredths of a second away from a medal, and about three tenths of a second short of the gold. Sadly, a stumble over the last hurdle might have prevented a top three spot and another national record for Seymour.
Going into the Olympics, Seymour’s national record stood at 12.83 seconds, done to win the silver medal at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 Championships behind Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.
She is the fastest rising star in athletics in The Bahamas right now.
Seymour appears to get better and better with each race, and after improving by nearly a full second in five short months, she still expects to go faster. The redshirt junior is looking to make even more progression this collegiate season.
“Well, I feel like I haven’t put the perfect race together as yet. There are still some things I feel I could do better,” she said. “I’m just going to go back and continue working hard. I’m sure once I keep the hard work and training the results will come.”
Seymour was one of the bright spots for Team Bahamas at the Games of the 31st Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In fact, she was one of only four Bahamian athletes to make an individual final, and probably the most shocking of the quartet to do so.
Seymour is looking forward to a breakout collegiate season for the Illinois Fighting Illini this year, indoors and outdoors. Last season alone, she reached the pinnacle of both aspects of the sport, competing at the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) World Indoor Championships, and last week at the Olympics. It was her first time competing at both global meets.
With her sixth place finish in the Olympic final, Seymour turned in the highest Olympic finish by a Fighting Illini athlete in 20 years. She is coached by Ron Garner and Randy Gillon at Illinois. She is second on Illinois’ all-time list in the event behind Canadian two-time Olympian Perdita Felicien who holds the school record of 12.53 seconds.
Seymour has broken the Bahamian national five times this year, won medals at both the Big Ten indoor and outdoor championships, and has achieved indoor and outdoor All-American statuses.
Last season, she stumbled over the first hurdle during the final of the event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
She goes into this season with one of the fastest times, and will be one of the favorites for the NCAA title next June.
The 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships is set for June 7-10 at Hayward Field in Eugene. Performing well at the NCAAs this season is one of the goals of Seymour. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67262-seymour-set-to-return-to-illinois | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/ffffaa32e6a8c893988f5db13e0274c464f94bd7e6b356bb738eed6fcbe957b6.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:36 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnational-review%2F67223-global-deception.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | I put up a post on Facebook recently stating, that I honestly believe that one of the greatest problems facing the world right now at the beginning of the 21st century is ‘Deception’.
Yes indeed, this ‘Global Deception’ is a major problem facing every facet of our lives and it is causing people to fail miserably in so many cases, and is ultimately destroying individuals, families, communities, countries, and indeed the entire world.
Let’s take the proliferation of drugs worldwide which daily destroys millions of lives whilst also contributing to a very high level of crime throughout world society.
People are initially deceived into thinking that the drug offered to them is harmless, in fact it will make them feel good …..Real Good.
Alas far too many fall for this lie, are deceived and thus end up addicted with their life either in ruins or in far too many cases, terminated.
Whilst I do not believe in the Death Penalty as I know that no one, particularly The State has the right to take another’s life; believe me, I would give the highest form of punishment available to the evil drug pushers of the world, who get young people to take drugs, thus committing these young people to a terrible life, and so often death.
Yes indeed, we all need to, without getting paranoid, be constantly on our guard, so to speak, so that we do not succumb to deception of any kind, which would in fact lead us to a life of failure and heartache.
Of course, many get deceived in so many other ways too, by others, the Politicians, Ministers of Religion, Teachers, Union Leaders, etc.
So in conclusion, you need to always be on your guard as you simply use your God-given intelligence to think things through for yourself, whilst communicating daily with your ‘Source’ The God WITHIN, and then proceeding with caution to finally reach the proverbial Success City.
THINK ABOUT IT! Visit my Website at: www.dpaulreilly.com
LISTEN TO ‘TIME TO THINK’ THE RADIO PROGRAM ON STAR 106.5 FM AT 8:55 AM & 6:20PM | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/national-review/67223-global-deception | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/99b5ab6d3b157cc2e6efa6b215320166c642cdcff3596c88d4f9417b69572a36.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:03 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67229-miller-goes-to-facebook-to-thank-her-many-fans.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – In a piece entitled ‘Living the Dream’, Bahamian Olympic Champion Shaunae Miller took to Facebook to thank her God, The Bahamas, her parents, her management team, coaches, and of course her many fans worldwide, for all playing a part in her gold medal winning run last Monday.
She is endeared among Bahamians and has entered all-time Olympic lore as the queen of the 400 meters (m) of the 31st Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Miller will always be remembered for that plunge across the finish line last Monday to snatch gold from one America’s most legendary athletes, Allyson Felix. The race itself is one of the more memorable ones of the Olympics this year.
Miller won in a personal best and world leading time of 49.44 seconds, and Felix, the most decorated American female track and field athlete at the Olympics, settled for the silver in 49.51. Jamaican Shericka Jackson won the bronze medal in 49.85 seconds.
Miller’s post on Facebook states as follows: “God has just been so amazing to me in my track career thus far. This entire season has been a big blessing to me – from getting three personal records in the 100, 200, and 400, to getting a national record, to becoming an Olympic champion. God is so amazing.
“He has tested my faith for years and not once did I ever question him or give up hope in him. God's timing is always the best timing. You just have to trust and believe his plan. (I send) a special shout out to my parents for all the love and support they’ve give me throughout the years, my spiritual mother for all the prayers and prophecies that came to past, my coaches Gary Evans and Lance Brauman for all the hard work and preparation they put in for me to achieve this, The Bahamas for all the support – I love you guys so much, and last but not least, to all my fans who have supported me throughout the years.
“You guys are the reason I enjoy what I do. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Finally, everyone is talking about the fall, lol. I’ve gotten so many good laughs from the memes I’ve been seeing, but truly and honestly, it wasn’t intentional. I ran my heart out from the very beginning to the very end playing the game of catch me if you can. It sacrificed dipping below 49 seconds but it got me the gold and the pain was worth the price.
“In it all I was victorious and I give God all the thanks and praise for it. I always tell myself, ‘if God doesn’t have something for you, you’re not getting it, but when God has something for you, no man can take it away’. Thank you for all the support! What an amazing Olympic experience this has been for me. I’m an Olympic Champion!”
Miller’s gold is the sixth gold medal for The Bahamas in the history of the Olympics, and the country’s 13th Olympic medal in total. It’s also the third individual gold medal at the Olympics, and the second Olympic gold medal in the women’s 400m behind national record holder Tonique Williams’ run at the 2004 games in Athens, Greece.
Miller’s gold medal is also the second straight for The Bahamas at the Olympics, following the success of the Golden Knights in London, England in 2012.
She is the third fastest Bahamian in the women’s 400m of all-time behind Williams and former national record holder Pauline Davis-Thompson.
An appreciative Miller said that she can’t wait to come home to celebrate with the Bahamian people. Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr, Daniel Johnson said here in Rio de Janeiro that a major celebration is being planned, not only for Miller, but for the entire Bahamian team.
The Bahamas’ 29-member team will head back to their various homes and training bases starting today. Celebrations are planned for a later date when all, or most of the team members will be home. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67229-miller-goes-to-facebook-to-thank-her-many-fans | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/acd6a06d3ab4501858f5341cb8a6aa3e48278bd1ec642fc7f564b624a091b1c7.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:59 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fbahamas-business%2F40-bahamas-business%2F67221-sandals-job-losses-leave-questions-turnquest-says.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Shadow Minister of State for Finance Peter Turnquest said the multiplier effect of each lost job on the business environment, and as a result on government revenue production, is a significant mid- to long-term effect. Given that effect, in the wake of 600 people losing their jobs at Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort, Turnquest said the picture for short-term economic recovery is not pretty.
In addition to the Sandals matter, Turnquest was speaking to an economic impact report published recently which revealed that over 9,000 jobs were lost over the 18-month period following the closure of the stalled Baha Mar project.
The report asserted that almost $2 billion was not realized in value added to the gross domestic product (GDP) over the 18-month period.
“The reality is over the past 18 months, and even before that, we understood that Baha Mar had the potential to be a significant contributor to the GDP. It is why both governments have facilitated the development of the project to the extent of extending themselves to grant concessions that they would not ordinarily provide,” said Turnquest.
The shadow minister told Guardian Business it is unfortunate that the government did not carry though to the end to ensure that the Baha Mar development was facilitated and was wrapped up in a timely fashion.
He noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has indicated that The Bahamas needs greater than five percent GDP growth to sustain its current level of employment, and seven percent to absorb those entering the labor force.
“Additionally, we are under review and waiting with bated breath for the findings of the ratings agencies, which have indicated Baha Mar forms a large part of their considerations,“ he said.
Turnquest explained the effects of unemployment as a result of Sandals and Baha Mar on the country’s economic growth.
“Adding Sandals now to that mix, we have real concerns about not GDP growth but actual contraction of growth as we have seen over the last two years in real terms.
“Not only is this very real potential significant for us to consider today, but what it means to the multiple persons affected by the lost job opportunities and the actual losses in jobs and revenue earnings real and potential. Don't forget businesses have lost real dollars in this debacle and employees, real jobs,” said Turnquest.
He added: “I think there are a lot of questions to be asked to understand what has happened, to what extent incentives given were abused, to what extent government actions contributed to the situation and how the development model is relevant to today, if at all, or whether we should be shifting focus from an incentives-based foreign direct investment (FDI) model to one based upon sound business practices leveraging our natural resources, talents, sustainable marketing practices and empowerment of our people up and down stream from such projects.” | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/67221-sandals-job-losses-leave-questions-turnquest-says | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/290114fdb82cc7e4d6ed87bf1693fee931e1e286bf991918715b04b8e6b0d95d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:09:20 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67245-sands-resignation-a-non-issue.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Free National Movement (FNM) Senator Dr. Duane Sands said yesterday “it is not an issue within the FNM” whether he will offer his resignation from the Senate.
Prior to the recent FNM convention, Sands said he would offer his resignation from the Senate if Dr. Hubert Minnis emerged still the leader of the party.
Sands was asked whether he intends to offer his resignation from the Senate.
He originally declined to comment, but when pressed on the matter indicated that he remains a senator and the matter is a non-issue.
Minnis was re-elected, unopposed, after Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner pulled out of the leadership race on July 29 alleging that the process had been corrupted.
Sands, Butler-Turner’s running mate, pulled out of the deputy leadership race.
As a result, East Grand Bahama MP Peter Turnquest was also re-elected unopposed.
Weeks before the convention, Sands indicated that he would offer his resignation if Minnis won the leadership race.
He said the decision was solely “out of respect [for] the leader of the FNM”.
“Having decided in convention to oppose the leadership team, if I lose and they win, the honorable thing to do would be to offer my resignation,” Sands said in June.
“Should the leader decide to accept it, so be it; if he doesn’t, that is his decision.
“My decision is not saying ‘sour grapes, suck my teeth, I am going to quit’, but it is based on wishing to do what is the honorable thing to do as a politician.
“As most people would imagine, it is an unusual circumstance.”
At a press conference following Butler-Turner’s and Sands’ pull out, Sands was asked about his resignation from the Senate.
He said, “I believe in process.
“I believe that what is good for the people of The Bahamas ought to drive what it is that we do while respecting the organization, the institution.
“So, I think at this point we have a peculiar and unusual circumstance.
“I will have to think about it. I will reflect on it, I will pray on it.
“I will discuss it and my goal is to do what is right, what is honorable and what would bring good, not only for the people of The Bahamas, but for this great organization, the Free National Movement.”
Turnquest has expressed support for Sands to remain in the Senate, saying he has a lot to contribute.
“We are certainly hopeful that he will continue to remain in the Senate,” Turnquest said.
On the final night of convention, Minnis pledged to redouble his efforts to earn the trust, respect and confidence of those who do not support him and extended an olive branch to Butler-Turner and Sands.
Minnis and his advisors offered Butler-Turner a re-nomination, the post of leader of opposition business in the House of Assembly, a prominent role in the FNM’s general election campaign and a senior position in a Minnis Cabinet should the FNM win the election.
She declined that offer, but has since said she is prepared to accept the nomination for Long Island.
Sands was assured he would remain the candidate for Elizabeth.
He was also offered a prominent role in the national campaign, the post of leader of opposition business in the Senate and a senior position in a Minnis Cabinet.
Sands was ratified to run on the FNM’s ticket in Elizabeth in February, months ahead of his announcement that he and Butler-Turner would challenge the top two posts.
Sources within the party have said Minnis is not interested in Sands’ resignation as he has been engaged in efforts to unite the party. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67245-sands-resignation-a-non-issue | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/0fa4ba968fe02037dfce91c0dc998a5556b83c511687bc5ea8da8f139afa1ee4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:07 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F67265-what-about-govts-foreign-workers.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Dear Editor,
The Department of Statistics recently released work permit details for the private sector. A total of 9,208 permits were granted for 2015. All this confirms there is no need for our xenophobia. For the economy to grow, the country needs even more foreign expertise.
Of course this concept will never be uttered by the Immigration Department. In fact at the close of an otherwise factual press release, the usual worn script is offered up. You know how it goes. Something like “the Department of Immigration’s job is to ‘Bahamianize’ the work force”.
It would be nice, since he brought up Bahamianizing, if William Pratt, director of immigration, would fill the country in on the work permit statistics for the government, as those workers are not provided work permits in the traditional sense. They do not have to go through the same scrutiny as private employers, such as posting job openings in the newspaper. If they need an employee or expertise, they bring them in without delay. After all, only the private sector needs to be hampered.
For just once will the government hold itself to the same standards it expects of those that generate the tax dollars. You know, the dastardly private sector that these days collects those tax dollars too.
– Rick Lowe | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/letters/67265-what-about-govts-foreign-workers | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/d7613fd1f908332fb8cc23e6000373f01abdca50a3a2a59a4f8078f4e920d93e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:00 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67232-miller-thomas-set-to-continue-their-seasons.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – While a number of Bahamian athletes will return to their various homes and training bases this week, some ending their athletic seasons, the beat goes on for a couple of them on the European circuit.
Donald Thomas is set to take part in a loaded men’s high jump competition at the Athletissima Diamond League Meet in Lausanne, Switzerland this Thursday, and newly crowned Olympic Champion Shaunae Miller is very much in the hunt for the coveted Diamond Trophy in the women’s 400 meters (m). In fact, Miller, with three wins under belt, leads the standings with 30 points.
Miller has won all three of her Diamond League races in the women’s 400m this season. Stephenie Ann McPherson, of Jamaica, who is second in the Diamond League standings with 25 points, won one, and her fellow Jamaican Novlene Williams-Mills won the other. There are only two remaining – Paris, France on Saturday; and the Diamond League season finale on September 9, in Brussels, Belgium.
Miller will compete in that Diamond League finale in Brussels.
In the standings, she is followed by McPherson and American Natasha Hastings. Hastings is third with 18 points.
On Monday, Miller raced to the Olympic title in the women’s 400m at these Games of the 31st Olympiad here in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, plunging across the finish line in 49.44 seconds. American Allyson Felix was second in 49.51 seconds, and Jamaican Shericka Jackson finished third in 49.85 seconds.
In the men’s high jump, Thomas is set to join some of the big names in the event in Lausanne. The silver and bronze medalists from these Olympics are confirmed – Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, and Bohdan Bondarenko of the Ukraine. They took the silver and bronze here in Rio respectively, behind gold medalist Derek Drouin, of Canada.
Thomas is currently in a four-way tie for 11th in the Diamond League standings with two points. Bondarenko leads with 26 points, American Erik Kynard is second with 22 points, and Robbie Grabarz, of Great Britain, is third with 17 points.
The International Association of Athletics Federation’s (IAAF) Diamond League encompasses 32 individual event disciplines, with a points scoring ‘Diamond Race’ which runs throughout the 14-meet series. Winners of each ‘Diamond Race’ will get a Diamond Trophy, $USD 40,000 cash prize, and a wildcard entry into the ensuing IAAF World Championships.
Each of the disciplines is staged seven times with the top six athletes being awarded the same amount of points at each meet with the exception of the final where the points are doubled.
In addition, at each of the 14 meets and for each of the 16 Diamond Race disciplines per meet, the same amount of prize money is awarded to the competing athletes totaling $USD 480,000 per meet.
Both Miller and Thomas turned in strong performances at these Olympics. Women’s 200m controversy aside, Miller galloped to victory in her signature event in a new world leading and personal best time.
There were some questions regarding her not running in the heats of the women’s 4x400m relay for The Bahamas, but it understood that she was still ailing from the bruises she suffered during her fall at the end of the open women’s 400.
Also, it was noted by coaches here in Rio that she had three grueling rounds of the women’s 400 meters, that her management team might have factored in the decision for her not to run, and then there was the possibility of disenfranchisement of an athlete who would helped the team to justifiably qualify.
As for Thomas, he had to settle for a three-way tie for seventh in the men’s high jump competition here in Rio. Thomas had a best clearance of 2.29m (7’ 6”). Bahamian Trevor Barry also took part in that final, and had a best leap of 2.25m (7’ 4-1/2”) to finish 11th.
An Olympic medal is just about the only medal at a major senior international meet to elude Thomas. He has won at almost every major senior competition except for the Olympics. Thomas was clean up until 2.33m (7’ 7-3/4”) in the men’s high jump final here in Rio, and then knocked down the bar all three times at that height.
Drouin won the gold medal, clearing a season’s best of 2.38m (7’ 9-3/4”). Barshim was second with a clearance of 2.36m (7’ 8-3/4”), and Bondarenko won the bronze medal, clearing 2.33m. Three other jumpers cleared 2.33m, but Bondarenko finished third based on number of knockdowns.
As for Thomas, he has a season’s and personal best leap of 2.37m (7’ 9-1/4”), that was done in July in Hungary.
He wasn’t able to duplicate that performance at these Olympics, but is looking forward to getting a big jump this Thursday in Lausanne. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67232-miller-thomas-set-to-continue-their-seasons | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/0a489d802d780782e59fcfb97075995de30edf72b8b0526166038bf653b0737a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:22 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67186-mckinney-satisfied-with-teams-performance.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – There’s just one weekend remaining in the Games of the 31st Olympiad and two more opportunities for The Bahamas to add to its medal count.
The country has one gold medal courtesy of Shaunae Miller’s victory over American Allyson Felix and the rest of the field in the women’s 400 meters (m), but a country of about 350,000 people is not supposed to be winning medals at the Olympics on a regular basis, and The Bahamas has done it for seven straight Olympiads.
In addition to Miller winning gold, Pedrya Seymour was special on Wednesday, advancing to the final of the women’s 100m hurdles and finishing sixth; Donald Thomas and Trevor Barry both advanced to the final of the men’s high jump – Thomas finishing in a three-way tie for seventh and Barry 11th; and Tynia Gaither and Steven Gardiner both made semi-finals.
In swimming, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace just missed out on the women’s 50m free final for a second straight Olympics, finishing ninth overall, and Joanna Evans was 13th overall in the 400m free. She swam two national records in the three swims here in Rio de Janeiro.
“This is the level of competition you have to bring your best. This is the Olympics,” said Team Manager Ralph McKinney.
“If you come here and you don’t produce season’s best times, personal best times or world leads, you will likely not win medals. That’s just the reality of it. Qualifying for the Olympics is one thing, but moving through the rounds and winning medals is something else. You have to be at your best on this level.”
All of the individual events are done for The Bahamas, but the country still has two sets of relays coming up. The Bahamas will compete in the heats of the men and women’s 4x400m relays on Friday night. The finals are set for Saturday, closing out the Games of the 31st Olympiad.
The closing ceremony of the games will be held on Sunday evening.
“We had a couple season best times, we had a national record, and a few more in swimming, so we have to be pleased with that,” said McKinney. “As with any major event, some people will bring their best and others will not bring their best. You have to be able to take the sweet with the sour. That’s just the way it is, but collectively, we are satisfied. We got a gold medal out of the games and any time a small country like ours, win even one medal, you have to be satisfied with that.”
Bahamians are still celebrating Miller’s gold medal win here in Rio. In fact, Seymour said that it inspired her to go out there and run not one, but two lifetime best times, on Wednesday night.
Her times in the semis and final of the women’s 100m hurdles were the top two times of her career.
She was extra special in the semis, lowering her national record to 12.64 seconds. In the final, she finished sixth overall in 12.76 seconds.
Team officials believe that both the men and women’s 4x400m relay teams stand a good chance of advancing through the rounds and making their respective finals.
This is the first time that The Bahamas is fielding a women’s 4x400m relay team at the Olympics, and the men are the defending champions.
Another medal or two would certainly put The Bahamas in the running for the per capita champion of the Olympics honor. It would also seal one of the better collective performances for Team Bahamas at the Olympics despite all of the shortcomings and disappointments earlier in the games. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67186-mckinney-satisfied-with-teams-performance | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/e880cbaa57982c11d4a82081894c165ceaa6e7b0d7a323cc3778962206dab8ec.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:17 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67242-zika-fears-among-pregnant-women-others.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | The recent announcement by health officials that the first case of the Zika virus has been confirmed in The Bahamas has some Bahamian women and their husbands and partners nervous as the virus is linked to birth defects.
Alayna Dorsett, 27, is five months into her first pregnancy.
Dorsett and her husband have spent the last three months making all of the necessary preparations to welcome their baby.
But no matter how cautious she is, Dorsett fears Zika.
The abnormalities seen in the ultrasounds of pregnant women with Zika include microcephaly, hardened calcium deposits in the brain, a breakdown in brain tissue, brain swelling, and the poor growth of fetuses.
This is Dorsett’s biggest fear.
“It is so scary,” she said.
“You know, I heard of it before, but I never really looked into it until recently.
“It is scary to see how those babies look and to know what they endure with all of those issues with their brain.
“I worry every day for my child. I pray every single day.
“I cannot imagine having to deal with my child having any of those birth defects mentally or financially.
“That is something we don’t think we can handle and that we are praying against.
“I’m doing all I can to stay clear from mosquitos, but God knows, we do not need that kind of stress.”
Waydell Carey, 22, just got married in February.
She and her husband hope to have children in the near future.
Though she knows how severe the effects of the virus can be, she chooses to remain optimistic that any pregnancy she has will be successful despite fears of the virus.
“We plan to have kids in the near future,” Carey said.
“The fact that it can cause birth defects is a red flag to me.
“We have a hot climate and we are prone to having a lot of mosquitos and we have people that travel to the states very often and it’s very easy for it to be transmitted to people who aren’t even aware of it.
“It does raise a concern because the birth defects that it has are detrimental, but I feel like it’s something the government can deal with.
“I don’t think I should have to put my life on pause for it, but I do think that certain precautions should be taken to prevent it.”
Others have decided to wait to get pregnant, like 30-year-old Sasha Longley.
“We’re waiting,” she said.
“We wanted to have a baby around this time of year so that it would be born around our anniversary but we’ve decided to wait.
“We don’t think it is worth the risk.
“We’ve seen what happens. We don’t want that for our child.”
All of the women said they hope the government does what is needed to prevent an outbreak.
The Zika virus is transmitted primarily by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Other modes of transmission have been identified including passing the Zika infection from mother to baby and sexual transmission.
As there is no specific treatment or vaccine available for Zika virus infection, Minister of Health Dr. Perry Gomez said recently the best form of protection is prevention.
Preventative measures include avoiding mosquito bites, eliminating mosquito breeding sites and to prevent sexual transmission, the correct use of condoms.
Health officials said the first case of Zika in The Bahamas was confirmed in a Pinewood man who had recently traveled to Jamaica. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67242-zika-fears-among-pregnant-women-others | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/0e444eff796f1f81be153697948b69834906a202e78d42f06e2e9a3854866a71.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:11:26 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnational-review%2F67226-pm-asks-gomez-to-step-aside.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Prime Minister Perry Christie has asked Damian Gomez to step aside as the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) does not intend to renominate him for South and Central Eleuthera, National Review has confirmed.
Gomez has communicated in his branch’s WhatsApp group that he will not run at the request of the leadership.
When contacted by National Review, Gomez confirmed the contents of the message and indicated he will not challenge the will of the leadership of the party.
He said Christie gave him no reason for asking him to sit this lap out.
Gomez has been an outspoken member of Christie’s government: Late last year, he criticized the government over its handling of National Health Insurance.
He also admitted to National Review last November that back in 2012, he was sent out of town to a conference that had ended when he arrived.
During that time, Jerome Fitzgerald, while acting as attorney general, entered a nolle in the case of George and Janice Hayes, former clients of Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson. They were charged with possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition.
A nolle prosequi brings a matter to an end. The government came under fire in Parliament over the controversial move.
Gomez’s colleagues were no doubt displeased by his revelation that he was sent away while that happened.
Late last year, Gomez resigned from the Christie Cabinet. He said his resignation was triggered by a dispute that erupted between Bank of The Bahamas (BOB) and a company that he is a 50 percent owner in.
As BOB is largely government owned, Gomez recognized that he would have been in a conflict of interest situation had he stayed in Cabinet.
When Fitzgerald suggested a few weeks back that he had resigned from the Cabinet — like Elizabeth MP Ryan Pinder — for financial reasons, Gomez fired back, setting Fitzgerald straight.
Gomez had long considered resigning from the Cabinet.
In 2014, he wrote Christie a letter expressing worry that the government had not given his constituency the kind of attention he and his constituents had expected.
At the time, we opined that Gomez might not be comfortable continuing to sit around the Cabinet table, being a member of a government that was failing to deliver for his constituents.
In early 2015, Gomez told us that he had considered resigning because Christie had questioned his integrity in suggesting that he had leaked that letter to National Review.
But it might be Gomez’s perceived support of Philip Brave Davis, the current deputy prime minister, that has made Gomez a not so endearing person for Christie, who thrives on adulation in his insatiable lust for power.
When he spoke to National Review on Friday, Gomez again expressed disappointment that the Christie administration has not largely delivered what it promised for South and Central Eleuthera.
“If you take the letter that was published and compare the road map that was set out in the letter do you see any ticks next to anything?” he asked.
We asked Gomez if he was disappointed that Christie has told him he won’t be getting a nomination.
“I’m not going to stand in the way of the government; if they have another term [I hope] the matters are addressed,” he said, referring to still outstanding issues in his constituency.
“We need a hospital. The private sector projects need to be brought on stream and monitored so that we are able to realize our economic potential, create jobs and a sustainable environment in which people can raise families with the comfort that the government is actually looking out for them.”
Asked whether he thinks his outspokenness has led to his exit from the political scene, Gomez said, “I’m still young. I still have life in my body, so I don’t see that as an impediment to my political existence.
“As long as I have a view, I have reasons to express that view, whether it offends or titillates is neither here nor there.”
Luck of the Irish
When asked if he thinks Christie should stay on, Gomez told us, “I’m being retired at 54.”
Christie turned 73 yesterday.
He has said he intends to lead the PLP into the next general election.
While Gomez joked about being retired at 54 — a clear suggestion that he thinks Christie should have prepared to move off the scene — he said it is too late in the term for the PLP to look at changing its leader.
Alfred Sears, the PLP’s candidate for Fort Charlotte, intends to challenge Christie for the leadership of the PLP at the party’s convention in November.
Gomez told us, “I think that going into election it is probably best that he (Christie) stays on, but we have to have a leadership convention immediately following the general election.
“If we go into a general election with a new leader in place, he (the new leader) has got six months maximum to recalibrate the party in a way that he may want to have it recalibrated.
“He is essentially hamstrung with whoever Mr. Christie’s people are and Mr. Christie’s administration. From a practical point of view, there are things that have to be done that would not be done and the public would be the worse for it.
“At least if you go into the election; if we win we know that we’ve got five years and within that five-year period the party is able to recalibrate under a new direction. The guy may call an election to get a new mandate; that would be entirely up to him or her.
“That to me makes sense. If we lose we have to have a convention anyway to decide who the new leader is going to be.”
Given the weakened state of the Free National Movement (FNM), Gomez remarked, “We have the luck of the Irish”.
He said, “I actually think we are in a much better position than we would have been two months ago.
“The FNM has put us back in the game in a real way and they have not used the five-year period to recalibrate and to do the things you would expect a new leader to be given the opportunity to do. There’s not a single policy platform that has been developed for distribution.”
Gomez said the FNM failed to deliver any real policy positions on crime. He noted that the murder count has been relatively low in recent weeks, so the FNM might not be effective in attacking the current administration on crime.
Continuing to speak of the FNM, Gomez said, “They have absolutely nothing to say. It’s an amazing situation to be in. They have not discussed economic policy. It has been a disaster.
“Quite apart from the gaffe that [Montagu MP Richard] Lightbourn made, then following the convention, Duane Sands still sits in the Senate, even though he promised he would resign.”
Gomez was referencing Lightbourn’s policy suggestion made at the FNM’s recent convention that the state should tie the tubes of unwed mothers with more than two children to lessen the burden on the state.
Lightbourn has since apologized.
Gomez also spoke of the decision by Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner to withdraw from the FNM leadership race at the last minute on July 29, saying she has had to eat humble pie.
Referring to the six dissident FNM MPs who forced an early convention, he added, “You publish a letter you intended to write to the governor general saying the leader (Dr. Hubert Minnis) is clueless then you stay; something is wrong with that.
“I think they’ve made the chances of the PLP a lot stronger than they would have been had they actually done what oppositions have been required to do.
“Look at the PAC (Public Accounts Committee). It’s just a farce. I would have thought for instance that with the winding up proceedings of Baha Mar, they would have had a meeting to investigate and inquire into the failure of that corporate entity despite public funding through tax incentives. It never happened.
“So I really don’t know where their head’s at. It isn’t in the right place.”
But Gomez noted all of the troubles in the FNM do not guarantee a victory for the PLP.
“I think it is what it is, and we are now faced with a situation where if Mr. Sears is successful, the country is plunged into a general election going into Christmas,” he said.
“I don’t think that, that is desirable.” | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/national-review/67226-pm-asks-gomez-to-step-aside | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/bc8a5192d646470a243bcb01407d319233e3b8cfa2314ca4443192c5a0326894.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:35 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67233-rio-closes-out-olympics-in-style.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – With “Superman” Leevan Sands carrying the flag last night, The Bahamas ended its time here at the Games of the 31st Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the city of beaches sent the world home with energy and enthusiasm.
South America’s first Olympics was grand, filled with camaraderie, great competition, and lasting memories. Friendships were built and rivalries established. None of the pre-games threats came to fruition, despite the efforts of a limited few to spoil the splendor and success of the games with false reports and isolated incidents of criminal activity.
The presence of Zika won’t be known for another few weeks, the athletes and media villages were primarily safe, the venues were well-equipped, and chemicals in the water and acts of violence and terrorism never materialized.
Rio put on a show, and although excited and thrilled to stage South America’s first Olympics, it was almost as if a sigh of relief was released last night.
Thousands packed the 78,000-seat Maracanã Stadium for the closing ceremony last night. The games featured about 10,000 athletes from over 200 countries, and although quite a few left after their events would have been completed, it was evident that many stayed for the closing party last night.
It was the kind of party that only Rio could stage, featuring a Brazilian cultural exhibition complete with Samba dancers and a carnival explosion.
The Games of the 31st Olympiad will be remembered for many things, mostly fierce competition and exceptional results.
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt and America’s Michael Phelps cemented their legendary status, each taking part in his last Olympics. Zac Efron kissed Simone Biles. American Helen Maroulis won America’s first Olympic gold medal in female wrestling, taking down a Japanese legend in the process. A Refugee Olympic team took part. A 24-year-old South African took down one of the more famous world records in athletics, and the host nation won seven gold medals, including one in men’s soccer, at the same time exacting revenge for a world cup defeat, sending the nation into an uproar.
Even a young Bahamian lady, in a spectacular dive at the tape, snatched gold from an American legend in one of the more memorable races of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Yes, there were many thrills and even some spills of the Games of the 31st Olympiad. At the end of the day, it fulfilled its mantra.
The games brought the world together in a sense of unity and oneness through sport.
Closing remarks were brought by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, and the leader of the games organizing committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman.
Norwegian tropical music producer Kygo entertained the crowd during a segment of the ceremony aimed at promoting the new Olympic Channel, a service which launches this week.
The Olympic flame was extinguished, and it’s now on to Tokyo 2020 as the official handover of the Olympic flag was made last night.
The 2020 Summer Olympics is set for July 24 to August 9, in Tokyo, Japan. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67233-rio-closes-out-olympics-in-style | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/4221f2cd09842f72a88831a2e27043d1cbd21eec4b2ec7a62197632dbe817987.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:18 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67211-haitians-hold-36-of-work-permits.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Haitians accounted for 36 percent of the work permit holders in The Bahamas in 2015, according to data released by the Department of Statistics yesterday, which provides a breakdown of foreign labor for that period.
A total of 9,208 work permits were issued in 2015 — 6,215 to foreign men and 2,993 to foreign women, according to the data.
Of this figure, 3,360 work permits were issued to Haitians, 1,075 (11 percent) to Jamaicans and 1,033 (11 percent) to Filipinos.
Another 652 work permits were issued to Chinese nationals, 629 to Americans, 286 to Canadians, 248 to British nationals, 167 to Peruvians, 131 to Mexicans, 119 to Indians, 95 to Dominicans, 88 to Colombians and 566 other nationalities.
In absence of comparative data for 2014 the statistics are difficult to analyze.
However, Director of Immigration William Pratt, whose department partnered with the Department of Statistics to produce the data, said work permit numbers have been similar over the years.
A breakdown of the data by occupation shows that 3,870 work permits (42 percent) were granted to workers in “elementary jobs” last year.
Elementary jobs are held by unskilled workers such as gardeners, caretakers, yardmen, housekeepers, au pairs, caregivers, handymen, helpers, dishwashers, kitchen helpers, sanitation workers and companions, according to statisticians.
Haitians accounted for 65 percent (2,499 work permits) of this occupational group while Jamaicans accounted for 18 percent (704 work permits); Philippine nationals, 10 percent (394 work permits) and other nationalities, 0.2 percent (104 work permits).
Of the 857 work permits issued for managers, chief executives and senior officials, 311 were Americans, 99 were British and 97 were other nationalities.
Of the 927 work permits issued for workers in the science and engineering fields, 144 were Americans, 142 were Jamaicans, 96 were British, 93 were Filipinos and 119 were other nationalities.
Among technicians and associate professionals, Canadians received the most work permits with 130.
Chinese made up the majority of work permit holders among the service and sales jobs.
Chinese accounted for 363 work permits in service and sales, while 210 were Philippine nationals and 116 were Jamaicans.
Among agriculture, forestry and fishery workers, 754 work permits were issued to Haitians, 154 to Chinese and 27 to other nationalities.
Of the 720 work permits granted among craft and related workers, 268 were Filipinos, 44 were Peruvians, 38 Colombians and 38 Jamaicans.
The least amount of work permits issued per occupation was among plant, machine operators and assemblers.
In this group, 22 (0.2 percent) work permits were issued.
A look at work permits issued by industrial categories shows over 51 percent or 4,712 work permits were issued to “activities of households as employers” — people employed by private households.
The second largest industry requiring work permits was the accommodation and food service industry, namely hotels, where 1,144 work permits (12 percent) were issued.
Around 80 percent of foreign labor in the hotel industry were men, according to the data.
The next largest industry where work permits were issued was construction.
In 2015, 689 work permits (seven percent) were issued for construction jobs.
Around 90 percent of construction work permits were issued to men.
A total of 539 work permits (five percent) were issued for foreign labor in manufacturing jobs.
Of this group, 97 percent were men.
Department of Statistics Acting Director Leona Wilson said her team hopes to produce this report quartely moving forward. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67211-haitians-hold-36-of-work-permits | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/57ac65e22cb4730a8cf93c3aae65230371bc89a37d1ef609910fa66e297821d6.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:16:04 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fopinion%2Feditorial%2F67213-exercise-your-democratic-power.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Interesting debates always emerge when the question is posed as to whether or not citizens living in democracies should feel obligated to vote.
Most democracies were fought for. People who campaigned for freedom, self-governance and civil rights were jailed, some were murdered, some were beaten and many others were victimized. Some of these fights were actual wars.
In this context, we all should take the vote seriously. It is not a right, but a gift fought for by those who came before us.
As we all sit and evaluate the political parties and independent candidates who will offer for public office in the run-up to the next general election, we should make every effort to determine if there is someone on the ballot good enough to vote for.
Those who do not think there is anyone good enough to vote for should consider entering the race or the political process.
But if the ballot is filled with poor candidates, what should a voter do? Should voters feel compelled to vote?
No, they should not. Voting is an important part of the democratic process. However, voting should not be confused with democracy. Democracy is about self-governance. As citizens, we have a responsibility to do this every day – not just every five years.
By working at a charity, providing assistance to the homeless, democracy is at work; by volunteering as a mentor at a school, democracy is at work; by raising an educated, hardworking law-abiding citizen, democracy is at work.
So for those who think there is no reasonable offering to vote for at the next general election, you should rest assured that there are many other ways to participate in the advancement and governance of The Bahamas.
A group of residents in a community can easily come together, approach their public school, and start an afterschool literacy program for the children falling behind, for example.
Simple initiatives such as these, if done by many individuals or by many groups, can do much to change the lives of the disadvantaged and the soon-to-be lost.
Elections are important; voting is important. But if you think the mainstream political parties are pathetic and the independents are incompetent, do not distress.
You can exercise your democratic power every day by doing something to help build the community. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/editorial/67213-exercise-your-democratic-power | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/d14da66d5f81f00769765d999bf6e80247c8ec761afea78fbf0188996b52f3ab.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:09:30 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnational-review%2F67225-plp-mockery.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67225/CHRISTIE gets gold.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Sports Minister Dr. Daniel Johnson has admitted that although he presented Prime Minister Perry Christie with a replica gold medal which he said was from Bahamian Olympian Shaunae Miller, Miller never actually asked him to give Christie any medal.
Incredibly, Johnson made the medal presentation at PLP headquarters on Thursday night as the party ratified two more candidates for the next general election.
Johnson told National Review Shaunae asked him to convey to the prime minister that her achievement in winning the women’s 400 meter race in Rio de Janeiro last Monday night was an achievement for the nation.
Johnson said he already had a replica gold medal and so he decided a good way to convey Miller’s sentiments to the prime minister would be to present Christie with that replica medal.
In one bizarre move, even before the Bahamian people could truly celebrate this wonderful achievement with Shaunae, Johnson and Christie unashamedly politicized a national achievement and what should only be a national celebration.
They demonstrated remarkably poor judgment, and displayed an administration that has clearly lost touch with reality.
Johnson made a mockery of Shaunae’s achievement, stroking Christie’s ego and intensifying the already widespread disgust so many Bahamians have toward the current prime minister and his administration.
The PLP medal presentation left many Bahamians holding their heads in disbelief, as the photograph was carried by The Nassau Guardian on the front page on Friday.
The presentation was also carried on the evening news and widely shared on Facebook, where one person commented: “Reminds me of Trump wanting a Purple Heart but without the sacrifice. This way is so much easier.”
Our beloved Rhodes Scholar Christian Campbell described it as the “theater of the absurd, Caribbean-style”.
“They are shamelessly using Shaunae Miller's hard-earned win to pat themselves on the back and attempt to regain some kind of political favor with the populace. It's a mess,” he posted.
It is easy to see why so many Bahamians were outraged and deeply offended, or just confused, by the PLP medal presentation.
When Shaunae crossed the finish line in dramatic fashion last week, she united a nation, bitterly divided by political tensions and depressed by dampened economic prospects and a tone deaf government intent on arrogantly ignoring the demands of Bahamians for more accountable and effective governance.
Shaunae was wearing her Team Bahamas uniform, the colors of the flag. In case any PLP was confused, the gold in her uniform was not PLP gold.
The Bahamas truly needed the moment that Shaunae gave us.
Her gold medal performance transcended the bounds of sports and politics. It was significant in ways that are truly hard to describe.
In that moment, and the moments that followed, we finally had something as a nation to feel good about, to feel proud about; we finally had something to celebrate.
We went to sleep last Monday night, many of us late into the night, with our hearts warmed and a kind of giddy excitement we have not collectively experienced in a very, very long time.
On Tuesday night, we watched with a deep sense of pride as our national anthem played at the Olympic stadium. It was glorious to hear. It brought such satisfaction for so many Bahamians. For some, there were tears.
Shaunae’s achievement was immeasurable in its impact.
She broke through a dark cloud that has long hung over our country.
Many of us felt that with that one gold medal win we truly had dominated the entire Olympic Games. Shaunae proved once again that the little Bahamas with all its problems and challenges could once again be the best in the world, that there is something in our spirit that is enduring.
Even the online political chat groups became forums for expressions of Bahamian pride and togetherness in the aftermath of her race.
And that felt really good.
It is why so many Bahamians reacted with disgust and outrage when Johnson made a disgusting mockery of Shaunae’s achievement during a political event.
Not long after landing back in The Bahamas on Thursday night, the minister headed to PLP headquarters carrying the Bahamian flag he said was draped over our newest beloved golden girl after she crossed the finish line.
As PLPs cheered on, he spoke about Shaunae delivering a “gold rush” — a reference to PLP victory — and he presented a beaming Christie with the flag and also the replica gold medal he claimed was from Shaunae to the PM.
“I flew back nine and a half hours tonight to bring y’all back one color, one movement, one medal,” said Johnson, holding up the replica gold medal as the cheers grew more thunderous.
Pointing to the people in the room, Johnson declared, “That’s what gold rush is about. It’s not about one person. It’s about Team Bahamas. It’s about making every person in this country feel like they could achieve this gold. That’s what this is about. Not one person. She ran for y’all, and for you, and for you. That’s what she ran for and we still running for ya’ll.”
Johnson made the statements while at the same time endorsing Keith Bell to run on the PLP’s ticket in Carmichael.
Johnson is the current MP for Carmichael. He said he is not seeking the nomination for personal reasons, but later said he might seek a nomination elsewhere. He claimed he will ensure Bell wins the Carmichael seat.
As he presented Christie the medal, Johnson said, “PM, I brought this for you, because this is really from her, because she said if she can’t make it here tonight, she’ll be here next week Friday, 4 p.m. PM, this [is] for you from Shaunae Miller.”
As he rambled on about Christie being the bridge to the future and the bridge being “complete”, Johnson then presented Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis with what he said was his most “coveted” shirt, a Team Bahamas T-shirt.
Davis, who had held up the flag presented to the PM and who himself seemed impressed by the replica gold medal, also appeared enthused to receive the shirt.
As Christie stood smiling with his replica gold medal around his neck, Johnson told PLPs, “Nobody can beat us”, to which they cheered again.
Johnson should truly be ashamed. And so should Christie.
In a week that saw the prime minister remaining silent as Sandals fired more than 600 workers then advertised a job fair for today, many people were already feeling that the government failed to act to protect Bahamians.
Making a mockery of Shaunae’s Olympic victory is the latest blunder of an administration that has long fallen out of grace, with a wide segment of the population yearning for the back of Christie.
A moment that united a nation was cheapened by political theatrics.
Johnson ought to have known better. Christie ought to have known better.
But Johnson was too busy heaping praise and flattery on the PLP emperor. Seemingly oblivious to the optics playing out, Christie glowed in the moment.
They truly do exist in a bubble.
Perhaps they saw it as a good opportunity to match the medal presentation to then Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham in 2010.
After receiving her second gold medal in a ceremony at Government House, Pauline Davis-Thompson went to the House of Assembly and put the medal around Ingraham’s neck.
She said he had been single-handedly responsible for her success. Davis-Thompson told a very personal story about Ingraham saving her athletic career. Ingraham did not keep the medal.
If Shaunae truly feels the need to let the PM feel what it’s like to wear a real gold medal, then it is her right to do so. We would hope that is not done at a political venue.
Christie should have recognized that Johnson’s medal presentation was a bad idea. But he was too busy basking in the adulation, too wrapped up in his cocoon of ego to recognize this as an act of sheer folly.
On every level, it was tremendously insulting to Shaunae, and to the Bahamian people. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/national-review/67225-plp-mockery | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/348e270ac701d479fb70845fe3242517a973a2bc827103d987ee1a973a1b3b0f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:43 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67199-plp-ratifies-strachan-bell.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67199/BELL.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) last night ratified Minister of Financial Services and Local Government Hope Strachan to run again in Sea Breeze and Minister of State for National Security Keith Bell to run in Carmichael.
Current Carmichael MP Dr. Daniel Johnson recently announced that he was not seeking the nomination for the area for personal reasons, but said he might run for the PLP in another constituency.
Last night, PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts highlighted what he called ongoing divisions in the Free National Movement when he addressed stalwart councillors of the PLP.
Roberts noted that in a recent press statement in which Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner urged her supporters to support Dr. Hubert Minnis, the FNM leader, she herself did not pledge her loyalty to him.
On July 29, Butler-Turner withdrew from the FNM leadership race in dramatic fashion. She claimed the process had been corrupted.
Minnis later offered her the position of leader of opposition business but she turned it down.
Minnis ended up appointing Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells to the position. Wells is a former PLP who had been repeatedly criticized by Minnis after he (while parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Works) signed a controversial letter of intent in 2014 with Stellar Waste to Energy for a waste to energy plant.
Stellar recently filed a lawsuit against the government and Wells in relation to the matter, which Wells has said led to his eventually exit from the PLP.
Last night, Roberts claimed that at least two FNM MPs will shortly announce their decision not to run on the FNM’s ticket.
He also took a swipe at Dr. Duane Sands, who had said he would offer his resignation from the Senate if Minnis emerged from the party’s July convention as leader.
Sands remains in the Senate.
He had planned to run as deputy leader on Butler-Turner’s ticket, but also pulled out of the race.
Roberts said, “It begs the question if a man’s word is his bond?”
The PLP chairman continued: “One wonders about Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn who with his eyes wide open in prime time on TV and radio advocated systematically wiping out the poor through involuntary sterilization; if he would do the honorable thing and move into the sunset.”
At the FNM’s convention, Lightbourn suggested that the state should tie the tubes of unwed mothers with more than two children. He suggested that this policy should relate to those who cannot afford to care for their children.
Lightbourn has since apologized for his remarks.
Roberts noted that South and Central Abaco MP Edison Key recently opined that the FNM is too divided to mount a formidable challenge to the PLP.
The PLP chairman questioned whether the FNM can unite. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67199-plp-ratifies-strachan-bell | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/d3f7f954f140ccc82d7d96a22bef90169838452fc1228b74f011a599f82d0ca3.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:09:09 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnational-review%2F67227-something-stinks.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67227/LOI draft.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Something stinks, and it is not just the New Providence Landfill that has been at the center of plans by Stellar Waste To Energy (Bahamas) for a $600 million waste-to-energy plant.
The letter of intent (LOI) for Stellar that was reportedly the one referenced by Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis when he wrote the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on May 26, 2014 about the planned project, contains a line for the signature of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works Philip Brave Davis.
But six weeks later, Renward Wells, then parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Works, signed another similarly drafted LOI, which had a space for his signature, not Davis’ signature.
This discovery made by National Review in its ongoing investigation into this years-long controversy raises the most critical question yet in this debacle: Why was a new LOI made up and why did it suddenly provide for Wells’ signature and not the deputy prime minister’s?
Amid intense public pressure, Prime Minister Perry Christie fired Wells in October, more than three months after Wells signed the LOI, dated July 4, 2014.
Christie had asked for Wells to resign. Wells had refused. Christie faced public embarrassment as he dragged his feet, failing for a long time to act.
That there were actually two LOIs points most strongly to the need for Wells and for the government to once and for all explain to the Bahamian people what led to him signing this new LOI.
The first LOI, the unsigned one with Davis’ name on it, was attached to Halkitis’ letter to the IDB in May 2014.
Halkitis wrote to Astrid Winters, country representative for the IDB, advising that, “The Bahamian government is considering the inclusion of waste to energy as a supplementary platform in the overall reform of the energy sector of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
“Waste to energy has been recognized by the Bahamas government as a fundamental part to achieve the overall goal of the energy reform. To this effect, the Bahamas government has issued to [Stellar Energy] group an initial LOI.”
After a Tribune article on Friday suggested that government ministers knew about the LOI weeks before Wells signed it, and questioned whether he had been a “fall guy”, Halkitis released a statement saying there was nothing untoward on his part in pointing to the existence of an “initial” LOI when he wrote Winters on May 26, 2014.
But the revelation that the Wells LOI was not the same LOI referenced by Halkitis in that letter, may put to rest any suggestion that government ministers knew about the specific LOI signed by Wells.
We contacted Halkitis on Saturday to discuss the matter further with him.
Halkitis told National Review, “The extent of my involvement in the process was writing a letter of introduction for Stellar Energy to meet with the IDB to seek funding for their proposal.
“I recall what they needed is funding to do further testing. Their process involved burning waste at a temperature to produce electricity and they had conducted some initial tests and they needed funding to conduct some additional tests to test the viability of their project.
“So what I did is I wrote this letter to the representative of the IDB to facilitate this meeting so they can have their discussion. My understanding is the meetings did occur and the conclusion was that the IDB did not feel that the project was at a stage where they could offer financing.”
We also asked Halkitis whether he knew if the LOI signed by Wells six weeks later was essentially the same LOI that he (Halkitis) had referenced in his letter to the IDB.
“I don’t know because to this day I have not seen the full LOI that was signed by Wells,” Halkitis said.
“All I have seen is the signature page that had his signature and the signature from the executive from Stellar.
“The one I referred to in the letter was not executed. It was an initial document for discussion.”
The initial LOI is a bit longer than the one that was eventually signed by Wells. Again, they are largely similar in details, outlining the plans Stellar had for the project.
Both documents note that Stellar had submitted acceptable proof of funding in the initial amount of $40 million, by way of loan offer, which satisfied the government that it was in the position to begin necessary studies.
Again, the Wells LOI came six weeks after the initial one that had a line for the DPM’s signature.
According to the document, the first LOI was to be executed June 30, 2014.
The Wells LOI also came seven months after Algernon Allen, an attorney who is also co-chair of the government’s Urban Renewal Programme, wrote to Wells advising that his client, Stellar Energy, wished to progress with its proposal within the ambit of the Bahamas government’s comprehensive energy policy initiative.
Allen, of Allen, Allen & Co., wrote in that December 6, 2013 letter to Wells, “Kindly write to Stellar Energy. Ltd., (copy me as the attorney) acknowledging the Bahamas government energy policy initiative and the potential participation of my client in the generation of energy and matters related thereto.
“This is to establish the government’s commitment to comprehensive energy reform, and to assist Stellar Energy and its proposal.”
Earlier this month, Stellar filed legal action against Wells, the government, Allen, Allen & Co., and Frank Forbes of Sigma Holdings Limited.
Stellar’s claim is “for loss and damages suffered” in connection with its proposal.
Poor judgment
The thing about this whole LOI affair is that the Bahamian people have been taken for fools by their government.
After repeatedly promising an explanation, Christie failed to explain exactly why he fired Renward Wells.
After Wells was fired, Davis said Wells should provide an explanation on the matter.
Davis said at the time it’s up to Wells to reveal why he signed the document.
Wells never provided a clear explanation.
The government never revealed there was another LOI awaiting the DPM’s signature.
On January 15, 2015, three months after he was fired, Wells said in the House of Assembly he signed the LOI with Stellar Waste To Energy for a $600 million-plus waste to energy plant so the company could carry out environmental studies that would later be made available to the government free of charge.
What we still do not know is who drafted that LOI and how it is Wells came to sign it if there was already a draft LOI awaiting the DPM’s signature.
On July 27, 2014, as he demanded that the prime minister take action against Wells, Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis suggested something untoward happened in relation to the whole matter.
“There must be a full and frank disclosure of all the circumstances and facts which led to this apparent and embarrassing conflict between two ministries of the same government, between a parliamentary secretary and two ministers of the same government and between two foreign investors doing business with the same government,” he said.
Minnis argued that the rules of governance were violated by Wells’ signing of the LOI.
He said, “In the event that the government, as it has done all too often in the past, thinks that they can use their parliamentary majority to crush and to stifle debate and full disclosure on this embarrassing instance of lack of transparency, government interference, and conflicts of interest, then they are sorely mistaken.”
On September 3, 2014, weeks before Wells was fired, Minnis called for a parliamentary select committee to look into the LOI matter.
Just over a year later as FNM MPs plotted to write to the governor general and have him removed as leader of the Official Opposition, Minnis brought Wells into the FNM, even though Minnis still had (and still has) questions about the LOI affair on the House agenda. Those questions were tabled on July 16, 2014.
Those questions remain unanswered.
This is why Minnis’ recent decision to appoint Wells as leader of opposition business is so laughable.
If Minnis truly believed all he said in 2014 about this LOI affair then his decision to appoint Wells to that post raises critical questions about Minnis’ judgment.
As he talked about the LOI affair back in 2014, as he demanded that questions be answered, Minnis spoke of the need for the government to be seen to be acting in a manner that is not corrupt.
Minnis has pledged that his administration would operate above board, that there would be no hiding critical matters in the public interest. That pledge from Minnis is also laughable given the fact that Minnis continues to ignore the fact that the government never answered his LOI questions.
Wells is now a key figure in the Official Opposition. If Minnis wants to be taken seriously in his pledge to ensure clean and transparent governance then he should demand that Wells provide a full public explanation.
To be clear, we have no evidence that Wells acted in a corrupt manner. We are not saying that.
What we are saying is that he and the government both owe the Bahamian people a full explanation.
Minnis should once again push for the parliamentary select committee he was so enthused about advocating for when Wells was playing in the PLP’s court.
By taking Wells on, by appointing him leader of opposition business, Minnis has attached himself and the Free National Movement to the still lingering LOI controversy involving his new blue eyed boy. The opposition leader has an obligation, as does the government, to bring conclusion to this matter.
The public needs answers.
No amount of ignoring those demands will make them go away. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/national-review/67227-something-stinks | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/09ed606d4aceb2ffa6d451e6aba3ec9ef7448a77f88846aa7af440df494a3c4c.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:10:59 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fbahamas-business%2F40-bahamas-business%2F67249-economist-calls-for-costbenefit-analyses-on-fdi-concessions.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Economist Rupert Pinder said proper cost–benefit analyses should be performed on the amount of concessions given to foreign investors in the tourism sector, while asserting the importance of accommodating more tourism projects in the Family Islands. He noted that the country’s heavy reliance on foreign direct investment (FDI) might not support the best interests of Bahamians.
“The approach that we have taken over the years, I think, has been a very lazy approach as it relates to tourism development in my view.
“That is where you invite a large investor and you give him concessions and in some cases I wonder of there is really a proper cost/benefit analysis relative to the amount of concessions you give... in terms of our dependence on FDI, there is a need to ensure it is properly managed,” he said yesterday while speaking as a guest on the Guardian Radio show “Let’s Talk Live”.
“At the end of the day, from a public policy standpoint, there is need to ensure there are a significant amount of benefits accrued to Bahamians,” he stressed, adding that the future growth of the country lies in the development of the Family Islands and the facilitation of more boutique hotels.
“The boutique-type hotels for one encourage more local ownership, which means that there is more foreign exchange that stays within your country, and there are greater linkages with those small resorts and the rest of the economy.”
He continued, “We are not investing in the infrastructure in some of these Family Islands that would facilitate this sort of development.
“There has to be a plan and there has to be a starting point. I feel like the Family Islands have tremendous opportunity.” | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/67249-economist-calls-for-costbenefit-analyses-on-fdi-concessions | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/9bec584c3894edaaad9217c89024c1f4d26ce38913cb03c1cbdc8c7910f6c92f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:05 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67338-guardian-apologises-to-louis-bacon.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67338/Louis Bacon.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | We wish to apologise to Mr. Louis Bacon for certain statements contained in two (2) adverts published in our newspaper on the 29th January, 2016 and 22nd February, 2016.
The adverts in question were paid for by Nygard International Partnership and contained in “wrap arounds”. Both of the adverts could have been understood as suggesting that Mr. Bacon had spread a false story to Lyford Cay Residents that Mr. Peter Nygard was planning to build a Stem Cell Clinic at Nygard Cay in order to mislead the Court into granting injunctions against Mr. Nygard. The truth is we were not provided with any evidence to substantiate such claims against Mr. Bacon, nor are we aware of any, and it was certainly not our intention to give any such impression.
We therefore apologise to Mr. Bacon and his family for publishing the aforementioned adverts as worded. We shall exercise more care in the future. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67338-guardian-apologises-to-louis-bacon | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/fba28b1687f4b7efa6af0d31aa9b1bf4c803c0ad3f242843da9b8d3bc891b0d4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:39 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fbahamas-business%2F40-bahamas-business%2F67217-used-car-sales-plummeting-for-some.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | General Manager of Bahamas Bus and Truck Company Ltd. Ben Albury said the company’s used car sales are down by more than 600 units in the past four to six years. Albury estimated that the ratio of used car sales is now 75 percent versus 25 percent in new car sales.
“I was selling in the past four to six years, 800 to 1,000 vehicles.”
In contrast, Albury said he expects to sell 120 to 150 used cars by the end of this year.
He explained that even if he sold 1,000 cars, his profit margin would be very slim.
Albury told Guardian Business that promises were made in the past by the government to help regulate the used car sale industry, but he “tries not to get too excited.”
He also expressed his concerns over the fate of his company.
“If the government is at some point able to step in and regulate this industry in the best interest of consumers, legitimate business owners, and of course the country from a revenue perspective, then I think I can stay in business indefinitely which I would wish to do. If not, we will play it day by day.”
Albury said that if certain things do not improve on an overall basis for the new and used vehicle markets, “something we may have to realistically look at is closing down”.
“I think the government can do things like trying to reduce the duties on new vehicles and increase the duties on used vehicles. In that way if they have a good reduction or a good point of duty for new vehicles, you encourage people to buy new vehicles.”
This would ensure that there are newer and safer vehicles on the road with lower emissions, lower insurance costs, the banks are lending the money at lower interest rates because they are new, and they are giving longer terms to pay for them, Albury explained. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/67217-used-car-sales-plummeting-for-some | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/2b11207f4dfdb8770c3cd47a792f34dfeeca5eb7d381972493b852ea28ce2329.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:28 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fbahamas-business%2F40-bahamas-business%2F67252-bia-wants-kpmg-costing-report-on-nhi-released.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | The Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA) is requesting the immediate release of KPMG’s costing report on the primary healthcare phase of NHI.
BIA asserted that the report is “extremely important to ensure full disclosure on the assumptions supporting their conclusions on the cost including but not limited to fees to be paid to healthcare providers, administration costs and utilization rates into their costing model.”
The BIA sent a press statement yesterday in response to Global Chairman of healthcare for KPMG Dr. Mark Britnell, who said the firm has tested and validated cost estimates that the first phase of the NHI scheme will cost $100 million.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Delon Brennen initially floated that figure and Britnell said the number had been tested and is “good to go”.
However, the BIA argued that they were advised that negotiations on capitation and administration fees are at preliminary stages and in some cases have not yet commenced.
Therefore, the BIA questioned the $100 million figure that was validated by KPMG, the Christie adminstration’s consultant on National Health Insurance.
“Hence, it is unclear how the overall cost was verified or validated unless the government plans to present its terms to stakeholders on a “take it or leave it” basis, leaving no room for negotiations,” said BIA.
Although the BIA mentioned its respect for Dr. Britnell’s work in the field of universal healthcare (UHC), the organization noted it is “acutely” aware that KPMG is a well-paid consultant of the government with the task of launching NHI into a reality.
As a result, the BIA said, “This constraint is to take some of their comments with a pinch of salt when compared with the observation of their predecessors and other experts in the field.”
The Christie administration’s first consultants, Sanigest International, designed the NHI scheme and estimated that it would cost between $362 million on the low end and $633 million on the high end.
That estimate was immediately challenged, and the BIA asserted that the Sanigest NHI model constituted a “hostile takeover” of the private health insurance sector and the “nationalization of private assets”.
One of the things that Britnell revealed was the government’s plans to go out to global tender to find the best private sector partners to run the public insurer.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the BIA Emmanuel Komolafe said a “privately managed” public insurer as proposed by the government is likely a “meaningless distinction”.
The BIA, in the press statement, said that the establishment of a public insurer is political in nature and has no economic justification.
The BIA pointed out that Britnell said he had met with “senior leaders in the insurance profession”.
The BIA said neither KPMG nor Britnell met with the association.
“We wish to state for the record that there was no meeting between the BIA and KPMG, Dr. Britnell in particular, last week as suggested.
“The BIA is the umbrella body for the private insurance sector in The Bahamas.
“Inquiries made to the main private health insurers by the BIA leave us in the dark as to with whom that meeting took place,” said the BIA.
Other related reports
The BIA is also requesting the release of all reports on NHI, the public healthcare system and the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA).
Despite numerous requests, the BIA said the Beck Group Report has not been released to date.
The Beck Group has served as the lead designer on the Princess Margaret Hospital’s (PMH) Critical Care Block project, is in an advanced stage of planning for the redevelopment of PMH and is expected to start the development of a master plan for a new Freeport Community Clinic.
The BIA said that none of the consultant reports relating to NHI - paid by taxpayers - have been voluntarily released to date. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/67252-bia-wants-kpmg-costing-report-on-nhi-released | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/6191b2ab8a7417635e50b3901f79e30be610620ef87faacdf458cc967e3357ce.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:56 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fbahamas-business%2F40-bahamas-business%2F67218-atrpaying-to-lease-bahamasair-dash-8.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | While Bahamasair is awaiting delivery of the final plane from French manufacturer ATR, Guardian Business has learned that the carrier is leasing a Dash 8 it previously owned. ATR is paying for the lease.
Bahamasair sold its Dash 8s in anticipation of delivery of the French planes.
According to Managing Director of Bahamasair Henry Woods, the airline is expected to receive its fifth and final ATR 42-600 by the end of this month.
Woods explained that the lease would not be an expense to Bahamasair because ATR was at fault for the delay.
He said that ATR had paid $210,000 per month for June, July, and August in full.
The national flag carrier placed an order for two ATR 72-600s and three ATR 42-600s.
In March, the airline received both of the ATR 72-600s.
The remaining three planes – the ATR 42 600s – were expected to be delivered in time for the summer peak season.
Woods told Guardian Business that the manufacturer has a backlog.
“The production has increased in the last 12 months from 11 aircraft to 14 a month. They have very reasonably agreed to lease the Dash 8 for the two month delay,” he said.
“I just got an email from the manufacturer, and we should be collecting the fifth ATR next week at which time the last Dash 8 would be leaving. Four of the Dash 8s had been delivered to the buyer and the fifth will be delivered next week when the last ATR arrives.”
Woods asserted that the delay was not a cost or liability to Bahamasair.
“The manufacturer is paying for that lease. We are not paying for that. They are covering their costs.
“That’s what we do here at Bahamasair. We don’t waste the tax payers’ money,” he said. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/67218-atrpaying-to-lease-bahamasair-dash-8 | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/543a5a4e162a5a89381150d083863d25ae6b235b16c30a1854f7ff9ed2afb144.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:06 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fopinion%2Feditorial%2F67240-myths-of-immigration.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | The Department of Statistics and Department of Immigration released an instructive report on Friday. They detailed the issuance of work permits to foreigners in 2015.
A total of 9,208 work permits were issued last year – 6,215 to foreign men and 2,993 to foreign women. Of this figure, 3,360 work permits were issued to Haitians (36 percent).
We are a xenophobic people and too many of us believe the myth that hordes of foreigners are in The Bahamas taking jobs from Bahamians. We especially have issues with Haitians residing and working here.
The report, however, indicates that there is nothing to fear.
The number of Haitians on work permits as a percentage of our overall workforce is 1.6 percent. That’s it. The overall number of foreigners on work permits as a percentage of our workforce is 4.3 percent.
Of course, as exists in every country, there are foreign people in The Bahamas who work illegally and do not hold work permits. They are not included in the data. But even if we triple the number of Haitians on work permits to take into consideration those who may be here working illegally that only takes us up to 4.8 percent of the workforce.
The point we make here is there is no serious problem of Haitians “taking all the Bahamian jobs”. Countries need foreign labor. We need to import skilled labor to help businesses compete and grow; we need a certain number of unskilled people to come here to assume jobs locals will not at the pay rates advanced.
We have had a double-digit unemployment rate since the financial crisis of the fall of 2008. The rate has hovered between 14 percent and 15 percent of late, only being pulled down to the 12 percent range by the temporary employment from Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival. Youth unemployment has consistently been in the 30 percent range outside of carnival time.
Bahamians are frustrated. They can’t find jobs. We are in recession. During times like these it’s easy to blame “the other”, to blame the foreigner. The work permit numbers show that there is no foreign boogeyman to blame, however.
The Bahamas needs a competent pro-growth government that advances policies that help drive investment and job creation. We do not have that now. The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) administration has closed the deficit through the introduction of value-added tax and other tax and fee hikes, but it has not been able to lead the growth agenda that is so needed.
The Department of Statistics is an important agency of state. Its reports arm us with data and facts through which our society can be understood. These facts help disprove many silly myths too many of us hold sacred. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/editorial/67240-myths-of-immigration | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/abf2fd253e3368979157a9a8d3d5ff7f2fd9e3219827a3d5eeb01b855684ed63.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:11:18 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67238-2200-illegal-migrants-picked-up-in-first-six-months-of-year.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | More than 2,200 illegal migrants were arrested between January 1 and June 31, 2016, according to data obtained by The Nassau Guardian.
According to the data, 1,685 or 76 percent of those migrants were Haitian – 1,123 men, 384 women and 140 children.
Of the Haitian migrants, 760 were interdicted on vessels attempting to illegally land in The Bahamas.
A total of 209 Cuban migrants were arrested during the period, while 230 accounted for other nationalities, which were not stated.
Director of Immigration William Pratt said there has been an uptick in illegal immigration this year compared to previous years.
But it is unclear if this is because immigration officials have caught more migrants or whether there have been more attempts to illegally enter The Bahamas.
“We have had boat arrivals for Cubans and Haitians constantly,” said Pratt during a press conference at the Department of Statistics on Friday.
“We had two Haitian vessels landing in Cat Island last week.
“We had one in Exuma. We understand one or two landed here in New Providence undetected. It keeps escalating.”
Of the 2,227 migrants arrested in the first six months of the year, 1,583 were men, 478 were women and 162 were children.
A closer look at the data shows that in January 552 migrants were arrested, 285 in February, 305 in March, 300 in April, 303 in May and 482 in June.
As it relates to Cuban migrants, Pratt said, “This is unprecedented. The Cubans are constantly, constantly coming, coming and coming.
“We believe the reason for this upswing in Cuban migration is due to the United States’ dry [foot], wet foot policy.
“Presently, under that legislation (Cuban Adjustment Act) once a Cuban’s foot reaches on dry land and the other may be in the water, [he or she] cannot be deported from the U.S.
“And I guess most of the Cubans believe the improved relationship between the U.S. and Cuba may cause this policy to be abandoned.”
Pratt said he met with U.S. Embassy officials last week and expressed the need to end the policy, which he said would be a great help to The Bahamas in limiting illegal entries.
“[It was indicated] by email to me that it is a legislative policy, which means it would have to go through Congress and the Senate in order to be changed,” he said.
“So, definitely he said it would not happen until maybe after the general election in November.”
Pratt said more than 40 Cubans were deported last week.
Another 142 Haitians will be deported to Port-au-Prince next week, according to the director. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67238-2200-illegal-migrants-picked-up-in-first-six-months-of-year | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/32b35efc789b45f19665fc64b5662b452e7832bf11a5c74f95e9a744dedeb304.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:19 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fbahamas-business%2F40-bahamas-business%2F67222-kpmg-signs-off-on-100m-cost-for-nhi.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Dr. Mark Britnell, global chairman of healthcare for KPMG, said the firm has tested and validated cost estimates that say the first phase of the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme will cost $100 million. That figure was initially floated by Deputy Chief Medical Officer Delon Brennen, and Britnell said the number had been tested and is “good to go”.
The administration’s first consultants, Sanigest Internacional, designed the scheme and estimated that it would cost between $362 million on the low end and $633 million on the high end. That estimate was immediately challenged, and the Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA) asserted that the Sanigest NHI model constituted a “hostile takeover” of the private health insurance sector and the “nationalization of private assets”.
PricewaterhouseCoopers said at the time the implementation of the Sanigest model had the potential to “seriously destabilize” both “nationalization of private assets”.
PricewaterhouseCoopers said at the time the implementation of the Sanigest model had the potential to “seriously destabilize” both the public and private sectors of the health care system, risking the successes of NHI.
Britnell told The Nassau Guardian the Christie Administration had asked KPMG to bring “the best of its global talent” to The Bahamas to work with Bahamians to verify and validate the costings of $100 million.
“And we have validated those numbers. I understand people’s concerns when they think about extra taxation or copayments, but the first phase of universal healthcare is provided for. It’s been tested and costed and we are good to go,” he said.
Brennen had said the first year of primary care services under NHI would cost around $100 million. The figure includes the cost associated with registration that started in January 2016.
Public insurer
Britnell also revealed that within the next week or so, the government will go out to global tender to find the best private sector partners to run the public insurer.
“It could be a local insurer, it could be a global insurer, but it will be the best insurer,” he said.
He called the policy document “one of the finest” he had seen around the world.
“The phasing and the timing and the financing of universal healthcare, I think, is prudent and progressive. Of course, we can always communicate better. We’ve tried very hard to engage stakeholders, and I do believe - and I hope as well - that stakeholders now recognize that we are being much more transparent, the government is being more responsive and we’re getting better results as a consequence of the engagement that we’ve launched,” he said.
Progressive
Britnell revealed that he had met with the insurers and insurance regulators.
“They want to ensure that the new public insurer is free from government interference, and of course when we choose the new public insurer from the private sector globally, we will make sure - through its independent board - that it is independent and that it speaks without fear or favor.
“So I think the government is being very professional about this,” he said, adding that he was aware that the people of The Bahamas sometimes have “a low trust of their government.”
“My experience, having worked in 63 countries, is that the government has been open and willing to change its view, and also been flexible. Now of course, at the end of the day, the government’s job is to govern and therefore they have to take positions, but I found them very open and quite progressive as well,” he said.
Encouraged
Britnell said he’d worked in 63 countries, and had been in The Bahamas for the last week.
“I’m very encouraged. I’ve seen great progress so far. I’ve been here for the last week, and I’ve met senior leaders of the medical profession, senior leaders in the insurance profession, senior leaders from the business community, and I’ve noticed a sea-change in attitude.
“Previously, people had wondered whether it will happen. Now, we’re talking about when it will happen,” he said.
In fact, Britnell asserted that the Christie Administration has been “incredibly progressive” about universal healthcare. He pointed to World Health Organization findings that UHC systems must start slow and “build strongly.”
“I think the policy document that’s been produced, the quality of the debate in Parliament and indeed in the Senate as well, I think it’s been of a good quality, of a high quality, and I think the policy is strong. It’s strong because firstly, you build universal healthcare - free healthcare - by having strong family and primary care services, and that’s what this government intends to do,” he said.
Gift
Britnell, whose book - In Search of the Perfect Health System - examines the journey towards universal healthcare in the countries in which he has worked, framed that journey as “a marathon, not a sprint.”
“The quickest time it’s ever happened was in South Korea, and that took 12 years. Most countries, it takes two decades. So the fact that you’re now implementing the first phase within a matter of months - early in the new year - I think that’s quick. It’s prudently quick, it’s progressively quick, it’s quick with purpose as well, and we will build, and when the country can afford it, when the economy is strong enough, we can move to the next phase,” he said.
Britnell called universal free healthcare “the greatest gift a country could give its citizens.” | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/67222-kpmg-signs-off-on-100m-cost-for-nhi | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/9a93a7cbec5dc637cfa47ae3e6bf4953f63942630b3f5568369a34b610a1ca94.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:06:50 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fopinion%2Fop-ed%2F67239-too-much-to-lose-pt-1.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | “The only thing that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”
– Edmund Burke
Last week we published an article entitled The Philosopher King. In that article, we observed that “in our modern Bahamas, our smartest and best-educated individuals… have chosen to avoid political office, in many cases leaving the governance of our society to those who generally do not satisfy the qualifications of the philosopher king”.
We received many encouraging comments about that article, all of which are greatly appreciated. Several prominent citizens agree that young Bahamians are opting out of active participation in public life.
Therefore, this week we would like to Consider this… in the modern Bahamas, why have so many of our best and brightest avoided becoming actively involved in public life?
This week we will address the early years of our national development and the young progressive activists who left an indelible mark on the Bahamian political landscape then, although no one has yet come forward to take their place and be as effective a change agent in the life of our country today.
The early years of national development
One prominent individual to whom we earlier referred explained that another successful Bahamian, now deceased, once advised him that when the latter returned to The Bahamas from college he saw public service essentially as a national obligation, so he became deeply involved with the campaign of the party he supported, at that time the United Bahamian Party.
That was also the experience of many of our national founding fathers. Upon their return from law school in England in the 1950s, Lynden Pindling, Arthur Hanna, Cecil Wallace-Whitfield, Paul Adderley and Orville Turnquest, among others, saw it as their solemn duty to radically transform the established political, social and economic order, fully cognizant of the enormous hurdles that had to be overcome in order to do so.
This perspective was equally shared by other young men and women who did not study abroad – persons like Henry Taylor, Milo Butler, Clifford Darling, Arthur Foulkes, the suffragettes, who laboriously toiled for the right of women to vote, and many others who pursued a passionate commitment to reform the existential political, social and economic injustices of the day.
Young progressive activists
Many of the individuals who sought to bring about this positive and radical transformation in The Bahamas were a part of two immensely important forces: UNICOLL and UNICOMM. In the absence of historically documented data about the formation, composition and operation of UNICOLL and UNICOMM, we heavily relied on discussions and written commentary regarding these organizations from Sir Franklyn Wilson and Sean McWeeney, QC and recognize their generous contributions to this article.
In 1966, several Bahamians who were studying abroad organized like-minded students into a group that adopted the name UNICOLL, which stood for University College. UNICOLL was the brainchild of Perry Christie and Bernard Nottage, both of whom were studying in the United Kingdom. They, along with others, were motivated by the idea that Bahamians who were receiving a college education owed it to the Bahamian society and to themselves to engage in productive meetings and dialogue about improving the society to which they ultimately planned to return. UNICOLL meetings were held in the auditorium of the original Government High School and Bernard Nottage was its first president.
It is noteworthy that this year marks the 50th anniversary of UNICOLL’S formation. In 1966, it quickly became clear that the name UNICOLL was not sufficiently inclusive and, in 1968, UNICOLL changed its name to UNICOMM, and although it was the same organization, the name change was more inclusive with the reference to “community” being reflected in the abbreviated name.
As McWeeney, UNICOMM’s president from 1969 to 1972, noted: “UNICOMM was the first pressure group to consistently and unambiguously promote the idea of national independence for The Bahamas. The group was very nationalistic and decidedly anti-colonialist, so its pro-independence advocacy was a natural outgrowth of this ideological orientation. UNICOMM’s famous Union Jack flag-burning event on Clifford Park in 1970 was emblematic of the kind of aggressive advocacy in which we were engaged long before it became politically fashionable in the PLP to beat the independence drum. In this sense, we were ahead of our times.
“Advocacy for Bahamianization was another major area of our public outreach back then. We saw Arthur Hanna, Carl Francis and Loftus Roker as our kindred spirits in this regard, much less so Pindling who was a little too pragmatic, pro-Western establishment for our tastes back then!
“I should add that we were especially close to Arthur Foulkes (who by that time, although still in the PLP, had become estranged from Pindling). Foulkes was perhaps the leading intellectual in the PLP, well read in the revolutionary literature of Nkrumah, Franz Fanon, etc. and we had regular social contact with him to discuss these ideological things and, of course, local politics as well. We were great admirers of his.
“UNICOMM espoused a political philosophy that we tactfully termed ‘egalitarianism’ which was actually a euphemism for socialism (a largely unspeakable word in The Bahamas back then when Castro was in full flower and the Americans were deep in the Cold War with the USSR).
“The egalitarian philosophy was based in large part on African socialism as developed and articulated by Nkrumah and, more so, Julius Nyerere. It also incorporated elements of British post-war socialism with traces of classical Marxist-Leninist ideology as well. Definitely not mainstream political thought for The Bahamas!
“UNICOMM had a 10-point plan calling for, amongst other things, a system of socialized medicine, a more equitable distribution of land, empowerment of the masses through educational and economic uplift; Bahamianization, more equitable taxation, etc.
“We had great consciousness of the international movement for change. We closely followed leftist struggles around the world, especially in South Africa and what was then Rhodesia and, closer to home, the leftist movements in Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana (and Cuba, of course) and in the United States. We also had a branch of UNICOMM at UWI in Jamaica (Valentine Grimes was the chairman, followed by Dion Hanna). We even had connections with the Black Panthers in the United States. In fact, I represented UNICOMM at the Black Panthers Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1971. What a crazy time that was!”
UNICOMM ultimately disbanded as the 1972 general election approached, with McWeeney, Frankie and Stanley Wilson, Maddie McDonald, Alfred Stewart and a majority of other members supporting the PLP. Dr. John McCartney headed the other camp whose supporters included Lionel Carey, Arthur Hamilton, Charles Fawkes and Frank Davis. This latter group had previously agitated internally for UNICOMM to morph into a full-fledged political party of its own, with a view to challenging both the PLP and the new opposition FNM. Ultimately, the latter group formed the now defunct Vanguard Nationalist and Socialist Party, which contested several general elections. Several others joined the newly formed Free National Movement.
The imperative to serve
In the last half of the 20th century there was a genuine desire and an obligatory imperative for young persons to answer the call to public service.
This radically changed in the 1990s, which begs the question: What has changed? We will address the answers to that question next week.
Conclusion
Today’s political landscape is dramatically different from that which existed 50 and 60 years ago. In the 1950s and 1960s there was a deeper, inherent commitment to nation building, a greater imperative to righting the social, economic and political depravities that existed at that time.
In brief, back then Bahamians had not achieved many of the basic human rights that we enjoy today, rights that are often taken for granted. In those days, we did not enjoy universal suffrage, property ownership, and majority rule and there was a considerably smaller middle class. Because the average Bahamian was not as empowered then as he is today, there was much more to gain by activism and advocacy for a cause than there was to lose.
Today, however, we are not as driven by parallel causes as were our forebears. That is precisely why we must be ever mindful that the hard-fought gains that have been achieved as a nation can quickly disappear if they are not preciously protected and sacredly safeguarded.
If we fail to enlist our best and brightest in public life, and if we are unable to inspire young Bahamians to progressively espouse present-day Bahamian challenges as was done by the members of UNICOMM, we run the risk of reversing the advances that were achieved by those paragon precursors of progress who selflessly sacrificed to secure successes.
And that will certainly be too much to lose.
• Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis and Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/op-ed/67239-too-much-to-lose-pt-1 | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/5d6c0c37295915e80a003f6fc379c695b386b8442ee120921e61c29cabeee9cd.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:45 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67208-court-to-rule-in-inagua-brawl-case.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | A marine accused of causing harm to three Inagua residents during a bar room brawl on the island will learn whether he is required to present a defense to the charges on September 8.
Able Seaman Olishavon Armbrister, 30, of Seagull Gardens, is accused of causing harm to Romeo Durham, Geoffrey Knowles and Robert Hanchel in 2015.
He has denied the charges at his trial before Magistrate Samuel McKinney.
Durham, the prosecution’s final witness, testified yesterday and identified Armbrister as the person who hit him with a beer bottle during the melee.
According to earlier testimony, residents turned on Armbrister and two other marines after they allegedly assaulted a man after making advances towards his girlfriend.
The situation became so tense that the marines had to be evacuated to New Providence, the investigating officer Assistant Superintendent of Police Michael Barrett testified earlier this week.
Delano Gibson, the club owner, testified this week that he was outside his business when he heard more noise than is customary coming from inside.
Gibson said, “I ran inside and it was like a war zone; everybody fighting, throwing bottles.”
According to Gibson, the situation was so “out of hand” that he exited through a back door and called the police and defense force base for back up.
Help arrived about 20 minutes later, Gibson said, and the officers had to be taken out of the building through the back.
Lennox Coleby appears for Armbrister. Sergeant 1406 Philip Davis is the prosecutor. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67208-court-to-rule-in-inagua-brawl-case | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/c2c5577304236999812fa5814bbc15bc89601b1eb92849ec3938e36ecd1516a2.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:10:41 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67261-shaunae-miller-is-youngest-ever-bahamian-olympic-champion.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Not only did Shaunae Miller gallop to gold in the women’s 400 meters (m) at the Games of the 31st Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but she did so as the youngest Bahamian ever.
At just 22-years-old, Miller is the youngest Bahamian Olympic Champion, the youngest Bahamian individual Olympic medalist, and the second youngest Bahamian Olympic medalist ever, behind Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie.
She crossed the finish line in a personal best and world leading time of 49.44 seconds last week Monday to snatch the Olympic title away American Allyson Felix. Felix was second in a season’s best time of 49.51 seconds, and Jamaican Shericka Jackson finished third in 49.85 seconds.
After losing to Felix at last year’s Beijing World Championships, Miller said she came into this season with a focus of going after the Olympic title. She got faster, and instead of relying on her top end speed and long strides, Miller worked on her explosion out of the blocks and maintaining a torrid pace through the first 300 meters of the race, thereby turning the tables on the fast starting Felix. It worked as she was able to hold on for the god medal.
It’s remarkable how good she’s been at such a young age. Miller won the world junior title as a 15-year-old. She came back the following year and claimed the world youth title. If she goes on to win the senior world title and complete the trifecta, she will join Jamaican legendary sprinter Usain Bolt as the only athletes to ever do that.
She’s the youngest Bahamian world finalist ever, the youngest Bahamian world medalist ever, and now the youngest Bahamian Olympic Champion ever.
Miller said she’s just thankful to God, her parents, coaches, management team and of course her many fans for helping her on this journey.
“I couldn’t have done it without the help of so many people,” she said. “I’m grateful. Thank-you Bahamas. I love you guys so much. I really wanted to come out here and win this gold medal for the Bahamian people. They have been so supportive of me, and I’m happy that I was able to get it done.”
Miler’s time at these Olympics wasn’t completely a bed of roses. She wanted to run the women’s 200m and declared her availability to do so.
However, with five Bahamian ladies having qualified for the event, and three already slated to run it in Rio, the coaches of Team Bahamas decided against letting Miller run. Instead, Tynia Gaither, Anthonique Strachan and Sheniqua Ferguson were left to carry the banner for The Bahamas in the women’s 200m at these Olympics.
Just Gaither made it out of the opening round, and finished 24th overall after running a dismal 23.45 seconds in the semi-finals. Miller is number three in the world in the event, according to the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) Top Performance List.
Then came the situation with the women’s 4x400m. According to reports, Miller wasn’t 100 percent after that fall at the end of the women’s 400m when she surged past Felix for the gold medal. According to reports, she wasn’t well enough to run that particular night but declared her availability for the final should The Bahamas advance. The country did not.
Also, it was noted by coaches of Team Bahamas that she had three grueling rounds of the women’s 400m, and that her management team might have factored in the decision for her not to run the heats of the women’s 4x400m relay. Be that as it may, the team of Lanece Clarke, Strachan, Carmiesha Cox and Christine Amertil went out there and ran a new national record of 3:26.36. They were fifth in their heat and finished 11th overall, just missing the final by three spots and about half of a second.
Who knows what would have happened if blessed with the legs of the youngest Bahamian Olympic Champion ever?
At just 22, Miller has almost her entire career in front of her. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67261-shaunae-miller-is-youngest-ever-bahamian-olympic-champion | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/30ee2ed2104b24f94791d7ed2218fdaa0e348bcd1e8845c5fc59229ff96200da.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:46 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67230-amertil-happy-to-pass-the-baton.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Christine Amertil has had an athletics career that has spanned about 20 years, and she said that she is happy to pass the baton to the next group of ladies coming up.
Amertil anchored The Bahamas women’s 4x400 meters (m) relay team to a new national record on Friday night, helping them to an 11th place finish overall at these Games of the 31st Olympiad here in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The team of Lanece Clarke, Anthonique Strachan, Carmiesha Cox and Amertil, in that order, finished sixth in their heat and 11th overall, in a national record time of 3:26.36. That stunning time was more than two seconds faster than the previous national record of 3:28.46 that was ran by the team of Clarke, Amertil, Katrina Seymour and Shaunae Miller, at the Beijing World Championships last year. That’s remarkable considering that they were able to do it without the world leader and Olympic Champion.
Amertil said that it was fitting way for her to end her Olympic experience. She has represented The Bahamas on four Olympic teams, and said that this one is definitely her last.
“I feel that The Bahamas has arrived in this event,” said Amertil. “This is probable one of the last opportunities that I will get to run for The Bahamas, and to do it with these girls and set a new national record is a wonderful feeling. I’m ready to come off the scene.
“These ladies have proven to me that I don’t need to be here to guide them. They have done a fantastic job and they will be just fine going forward. It feels good passing the baton to the next set of girls coming up. There will be many more coming behind them so it’s just up to them now to jeep this thing going.”
Amertil, who celebrated her 37th birthday last Thursday, said that she is not definitively ending her career just yet, but added that this is definitely her last Olympic Games. She’s unsure whether or not she will give it a run at next year’s International Association of Athletic Federations’ (IAAF) World Outdoor Championships, set for August 4-13, in London, England. Regardless, she’s sure that The Bahamas could field a women’s 4x400m relay team for those global championships.
“The talent is there. We’ll definitely be a force to reckon with in the future,” she said. “As for me, I’ll take it one day at a time – not making any decisions just yet. There is a little more work to be done, but we’ll see what happens when the time comes.”
Amertil will retire as the fourth fastest Bahamian female quarter-miler of all-time, unless something drastic happens in the later stages of her career. She has a personal best time of 50.09 seconds, done 11 years ago in Yokohama, Japan. She is a former Olympic finalist in the women’s 400m, a world indoor silver and bronze medalist, a Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games gold medalist, a Pan Am Games silver medalist, a Commonwealth Games bronze medalist, and has won a number of relay medals including a silver in the women’s 4x100m relay for The Bahamas at the 2009 Berlin World Championships.
One thing she didn’t do, up until this past weekend, was run on a women’s 4x400m relay team at the Olympics. Up until 2013 in Moscow, Russia, she hadn’t done it at the world championships level.
“It feels good to finally run this event at the Olympics. It was the last thing that I hadn’t done in my career so is feels very good in that regard,” she said, “I feel like I have accomplished just about everything that I set out to do. Running here with these girls and setting a new national record is a great belated birthday gift to myself. I’m satisfied. Also, I must send kudos to my teammates for going out there, running hard, and getting the job done. The future is in great hands in this event.”
Most Bahamian track and field enthusiasts feel that The Bahamas women’s 4x400m relay team is on the doorstep of a major breakthrough. Strachan, Cox and Clarke could provide the building block for that team, and then of course there is the Olympic Champion in the open event, Shaunae Miller. On top of that, there is a number of young talent coming up such as Shaquania Dorsett, Brittni Fountain, D’Nia Freeman and Doneisha Anderson just to name a few.
The future does indeed to appear to be in good hands in the women’s 4x400m relay. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67230-amertil-happy-to-pass-the-baton | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/894f9e88c25d399790179198e54be9b15334db658e3d9ae080ba10ceb84c2c7a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:27 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67207-woman-jailed-for-biting-police-officer.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | A woman who bit a police officer on the leg during an arrest was yesterday sentenced to four months in prison.
Magistrate Samuel McKinney convicted Denise Sands-Cash, 48, of Cambridge Lane, of assaulting a police officer.
Officers from the Fire Services Branch of the Royal Bahamas Police Force responded to a house fire on Augusta Street around 8 p.m. on August 6.
After suppressing the fire, officers attempted to arrest Sands-Cash on suspicion that she had started the fire.
Sands-Cash resisted arrest and bit Corporal 2777 Davis on the leg.
Davis told the court that she was still taking medication for the bite.
According to the officer, the medicine makes her feel queasy.
Sergeant 1406 Philip Davis (no relation to the complainant) prosecuted. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67207-woman-jailed-for-biting-police-officer | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/b26c2e2842f4eb200e79a4dca5ce34c43c849936387ddf3b6d956417af447b53.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:11 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67184-fox-remains-sidelined-no-compensation-for-tampa-bay.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Lucius Fox remains sidelined with a bone bruise in his foot following his trade from the San Francisco Giants to the Tampa Bay Rays and it appears that the Rays won’t receive any additional compensation for the trade.
There were talks circulating since last week that the Rays were seeking additional compensation for the trade because they were unaware about the injury to the shortstop prior to the trade.
According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times who first broke the story, the Rays claim Fox came to the club with an undisclosed injury and, despite playing every day for the Augusta GreenJackets of the South Atlantic Class A League, through the setback.
“Fox had a bruised left foot as the result of fouling a ball off it a week or so before the trade was announced Monday, and had been playing through it, which the Rays were not made aware of,” Topkin said.
“The injury, which sounds like a bone bruise, is not overly serious, though it is expected to keep Fox sidelined 4-6 weeks and thus from playing again before the minor league season ends. That would mean he would not make his Rays debut until the fall instructional league, missing development time.”
With Fox having to be sidelined with injuries so soon, it means that all three players the Rays received from the Giants are injured, however, the Rays already knew that both Matt Duffy and pitcher Michael Santos were on the disabled list.
Prior to the injury, the switch-hitter had been hitting .207/. 305/. 277 in Single-A competition.
As it stands now, Fox is listed as the No.7 overall prospect for the Rays, according to MLB.com’s 2016 Prospect Watch. He is ranked second among shortstops after only Willy Adames.
Fox signed with the Giants last year after moving back to The Bahamas in order to avoid the 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft and qualify for the international market. He earned a $6,000,000 bonus, much more than he would have received in the draft. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67184-fox-remains-sidelined-no-compensation-for-tampa-bay | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/962f307bec321de8cc7127b6c0435412833a55301a4994700444e2557cde2df9.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:24 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F67241-happy-birthday-to-the-prime-minister.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Dear Editor,
Prime minister, God graced you with another birthday. You are in the hallowed realm of being a septuagenarian political leader. Of course, some express that you should carry your “old you know what”. But Bernie Sanders just gave us a stellar example of the Ronnie Butler popular song “Age Ain’t Nuttin’ But A Number”.
Sanders, at 74 years, was the most energetic and exciting candidate in the recent U.S. presidential primary campaign and commanded the youth vote. Now don’t let that get you forward thinking with grand plans, as I have assured “your Bernie” that she will not be sitting in a rocking chair waiting for you to come home from parliamentary meetings.
Bahamian politics has evolved into a nasty and vicious game since your entry in 1977. I hope it’s not a reflection of who we are now as a people. The offensive lyrics against you and your family by a sick mind was indeed a low level in Bahamian public discourse. Listening to some of the apologists of pure filth reminded me of the words of the Bahama Journal columnist Rough Cut, who said: “Freedom of speech is one hell of a thing. It surely is as any fool with time on his hands and spit in his mouth can spew anything, any damned view he wishes.”
Mommy, your greatest defender, would have an answer for them in Psalm 35, “Plead my cause O Lord with them that strive with me: Fight against them that fight against me. Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: Let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.”
As your 40-plus years in public life winds down, you can be proud of the commitment you have made to the PLP and the development of The Bahamas. Equally as important is that you operated at senior levels of power for so long a period without bringing any shame or scandal to your family, your party and your country. Your children and their children will always be able to walk confidently in our Bahamas with their heads held high knowing that their daddy in public life acted with integrity, respect and honor. That’s the only legacy that should concern you. The political stuff created by you and those before you will be dissected and debated for generations.
As this election season quickly approaches you know the things you have to fix. Pushing NHI through forcefully is a positive development. Many political leaders had to maneuver through landmines placed by powerful lobby groups against expanded health coverage. President Barack Obama had a tough time forging a consensus with the U.S. insurance industry on his health plans, accusing it of smoke and mirror studies to support its positions.
Obama claimed that “they submit these phony studies as a prescription and say take one of these and call us in a decade. Well not this time”. President Lyndon B. Johnson, who won Medicare over fierce opposition in 1965, was a tough foul-mouthed Texan. His position was, “Don’t ever argue with me about health. I’ll go a hundred million or a billion on health or education. I don’t argue about that any more than I argue about Lady Bird (wife) buying flour. You got to have flour and coffee in your house. Education and health. I’ll spend the goddamn money. I may cut back some tanks. But not on health.” PM, you are in good company.
The two major election issues are jobs and crime. Baha Mar and Sandals were temporary interruptions in job growth that will both be fixed. Excuse the ignorance expressed in the community on your government’s posture toward the Baha Mar developer’s strategy to save his investment. The negotiation of project heads of agreement with the Bahamas government is already a tedious, frustrating and expensive process. It would be a nightmare for government analysts, policymakers, bankers and investors to have to review the implications of Chapter 11 scenarios on Bahamas domiciled investments. To allow any developer of substantial Bahamian property a right to invoke Chapter 11 provisions the minute they run into problems would be a fundamental flaw in Bahamas government public policy.
Notwithstanding the recent employment shocks in the hotel sector, historical analysis shows that there is no Bahamian government stronger on job creation than PLP governments that you have lead. If the Bahamas Chamber Of Commerce, in biblical expression, removed the “beam from thine own eye and you will see clearly”, it would embrace your government for both its jobs and crime initiatives.
The FNM government presided over a strong economy during its tenure in office, 1997-2002. It created 18,055 jobs. Your PLP administration took control of the ship of state in 2002 and by 2007 had created 18,530 jobs. In this seesaw power struggle, the FNM again seized the keys to economic direction in 2007-2012, presiding over a severe contraction in job creation as the economy lost 10,840 jobs.
The people of The Bahamas elevated you to power again in May 2012 and even in these tough times the employed labor force grew from 160,650 to 188,360 persons by May 2016. Clearly, this represents 27,710 jobs created in the economy, irrespective of the Baha Mar debacle. Creating jobs is a function of creativity, salesmanship and market confidence.
For fair-minded Bahamians who determine judgment on objective data, the country’s crime statistics are encouraging. I heard BJ (Nottage) sing on the national news forecast. The last time BJ sang was days long ago when he mesmerized young women with his James Brown rendition of “Please, Please, Please”.
Today, he is visibly a happier man. Overall crime has decreased by 29 percent since you assumed office in May 2012. There is abatement in the vexing issue of daily murders. There are 25 less this year than same period in 2015.
July 2015 was bloody, recording 14 murders. July 2016 there were none. In August 2015 there were 11 murders. So far there are two in this current month. In business, if such reductions in costs were being recorded profitability would be improved and stock prices would increase. BJ’s stock, along with his police force team, should go up. Progress in curbing crime is being achieved.
PM, you have been around long enough to know that there are many who could care less about positive statistical data you spout. Their agenda is simply to take you and your government out. But there are others who are truly concerned about the direction of their country and give credence to positive achievements of your government. Nassau Guardian satirist Sideburns very effectively captured this revealing view in his August 15 rendering. He portrayed a cartoon character reading Nassau Guardian headlines of murder filled months and the same character acknowledging the no murder month of July, “not a peep, no praise, yinna wrong for dat”. The rancid odor of that Englishman’s contrived views relative to you and your party still lingers, prime minister. Almost weekly, there is a partisan ad nauseam regurgitation of skewed opinion pieces that sound so much like him.
Leadership in tough times can be lonely. People who praised you yesterday will burn you at the stake today. Sometimes you are not sure in which direction to tread with all of the competing voices in your head. Mahatma Gandhi said “whenever you are in doubt and troubled on what to do, apply the following test: Recall the face of the poorest and weakest man you may have seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Do that and your heart will always be at peace”.
Take Gandhi’s advice and let the historians debate your legacy. Enjoy your birthday. Now let’s go win an election.
– Gary Christie | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/letters/67241-happy-birthday-to-the-prime-minister | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/7083c711ed5519c9a8cab580e8ed74594193c1d1bff28956db52857c96be94e9.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:16:08 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Flifestyles%2Fpulse%2F67183-the-evolution-of-wendi.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67183/Wendi.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Forget what you thought you knew about Wendi because she will prove you wrong. And it’s no more evident than on her latest three-song EP (extended play) “Risky Business” with songs that speak to her having an edgier and riskier side, and to a woman who is comfortable in who she is.
On the “Risky Business” EP you get that Wendi is a pissed-off chick that is comfortable with herself and her sexuality and that she’s taking risks. It’s completely different from the poppy, soca sounds her fans have come to expect and love from the musical dynamo.
On “Risky Business” Wendi is a lot edgier with electric guitars, lots of drum fills, and lots of wailing soaring to the forefront. She delivers in a grittier tonality than people have known her to have.
And fans will get to hear this “new” Wendi and the sound she brings to her new EP which was released earlier this year during her “The Business Tour” artist showcase on Thursday, August 25 at Pirate Republic Brewing Company on Woodes Rogers Walk.
“It’s really just another way for me to show the Bahamian public that I’m more than just the Bahamian soca artist. And ‘Risky Business’ is totally different from what people have come to expect from me. It’s more edgy. I’m using a much more grittier voice and the song writing is a lot more edgy.”
Reinventing herself at this stage in her career and with this project she says speaks to the beauty of being an artist.
“People know me as being really poppy and fluffy, but on ‘Risky Business’ I’m actually drawing a parallel or metaphor to being in a relationship — like a Bonnie and Clyde situation.”
Case in point — one of the songs on the Risky Business EP is titled “Rip it Off.”
Her approximately hour-long set will also feature all of her Bahamian, soca and pop original songs that many have come to love in the intimate venue which by no stretch of the imagination means that the event could even be considered unplugged. The performance she says will be a music industry standard artist showcase, and that every instrumentalist on stage will present their skills and talents.
“The band has rearranged the music so it’s not going to be your basic play the music outright. It’s going to be all these exciting arrangements and transitions. The music alone is going to be transcendent, exciting and fresh,” said Wendi.
You may have thought of Wendi as poppy and fluffy, but she says to expect the fire during this second showcase, complete with choreographed dance steps.
Her first showcase “Lunar: Eclipse of the Heart” which was an EP she recorded when she was in a sad and confused place, spoke to her coming out of a relationship she had been in for 10 years and showcased songs that were all sad was well received. She expects to surpass that at the upcoming showcase at which the music will be all original material and different from her first showcase, because she’s now comfortable with herself, and her sexuality and is willing to take the risks.
With Zamar as a sponsor, Wendi said the sound and lighting would be amazing.
“People don’t realize how important sound is. I can write the best songs, and sing my heart out, but if you can’t hear it the way it’s supposed to be heard, it’s really not good. Zamar coming on board is a blessing.”
Wendi hopes people come out to experience the new her.
Tickets for “The Business Tour are $10. Doors open at 8 p.m., the show kicks off at 9 p.m.
THE BUSINESS TOUR
Who: Wendi
When: Thursday, August 25
Where: Pirate Republic Brewing Company, Woodes Rodgers Walk
Time: Doors open 8 p.m., show starts 9 p.m.
Tickets: $10 | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/lifestyles/pulse/67183-the-evolution-of-wendi | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/0b4f1ce923d89eb54a1b043546839793855f7e79b2b89ef42bdc9124ce006e9f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:08:16 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fbahamas-business%2F40-bahamas-business%2F67251-kemp-investors-welcome-but-protect-interests-of-bahamians.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Financial Spokesman for the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Youri Kemp said foreign direct investment (FDI), like the $3.5 billion Baha Mar megaresort, must be negotiated in public, and laws should be enacted to prohibit the negotiation or sale of public land in private.
“We also must enact by law, in the strictest way possible, the prohibition of the private and non-consultative engagement of Bahamian wealth, land, taxpayers’ dollars and financing,” he added.
Kemp said that, without a doubt, the opening of Baha Mar would have significantly helped the economy, referring to an economic impact report that surfaced recently.
Over the next 19 years, Baha Mar’s economic impact could have led to an increase of more than $5 billion in government tax revenue; nearly $33 billion in the gross domestic product (GDP); more than $12 billion in wages and salaries; and an addition of 11,921 jobs, according to the report.
The report further revealed that, had Baha Mar been open, by September 2016 the government would have gained an estimated $315 million in tax revenues, $2 billion in GDP and nearly $500 million in salaries and wages.
“Without question, if the figures presented are fair and accurate, it represents a chilling side of this entire Baha Mar affair and one that we cannot simply run away from because we cannot handle the truth in fine detail.” Kemp pointed out.
“Now we understand that clearly not only does the opening of Baha Mar mean quite a significant deal to our survival in dollars and cents, but add to that what international ratings agencies and by extension our international creditors see as our performance; we clearly have a large hole to dig ourselves out of.”
The DNA wants the report tabled in Parliament and fully acknowledged by officials within the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance.
The Garden Hills candidate suggested that Baha Mar’s largest creditor, the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM), should find an amicable arbitration break from the old covenants and set up new ones with a new direction.
“If Baha Mar executives on behalf of the original owners need certain compensatory measures put in place to ensure that losses are recovered as a result of this new regime, we need to be as accommodating as possible and give assurances to deliver what we promise,” Kemp added. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/67251-kemp-investors-welcome-but-protect-interests-of-bahamians | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/70df064d1c17879e4a7ec87a94ec2a19cedc616c20f487120c5cc3a308c83758.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:02:41 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67271-minnis-wants-sandals-workers-rehired.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis is calling on Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort to rehire all of the workers it made redundant last week when it reopens in October and “immediately re-engage with the Bahamas Hotel Maintenance and Allied Workers Union”.
Sandals laid off 600 employees last week, claiming it had no choice but to close for renovations for 10 weeks.
Sandals said it plans to reopen sometime in October, but there has been concern from the union that its members will not be re-engaged. Trade Union Congress President Obie Ferguson alleged this is clear evidence of an attempt to destabilize the union that represented employees at the Cable Beach property.
“The embattled Prime Minister [Perry] Christie and his PLP government’s handling of Sandals Resort’s closure is an absolute debacle,” Minnis said in a statement Sunday night.
“Under the prime minister’s watch over 2,600 Bahamians have lost their jobs at Baha Mar and Sandals within the last year.
“The complete lack of competence by the prime minister and his ministers in the handling of our precious tourism industry has caused our economy over 6,000 Bahamian jobs.
“Had they done their jobs properly both Baha Mar and Sandals would be open today.
“It is unbelievable that the owners of Sandals Resort would not speak with the prime minister and his PLP government before closing their resort for major renovations.
“To proceed with millions of dollars in major renovations as Sandals Resort claims they must have talked with the prime minister and his government.
“There are far too many questions the Bahamian people deserve answers to from the embattled prime minister.
“The Bahamian people deserve better than a prime minister that will just sit idly as a resort in The Bahamas engages in union bashing causing the loss of at least 600 Bahamian jobs.
“The PLP is not the party for the Bahamian workers.
“An FNM government will stand for all Bahamian workers and will not allow the type of union busting we are witnessing at Sandals Resort.” | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67271-minnis-wants-sandals-workers-rehired | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/d8d08ff27897c80067d12b4741f66db1ef8d33ea5d4161453eee9d1dd21a6547.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:07:50 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67275-global-tender-for-nhi-but-details-still-sketchy.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67275/NHI-DELON BRENNEN5.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | As the government issued a global tender yesterday for a company to run its public insurer for National Health Insurance (NHI), there remained uncertainty surrounding the timeline for NHI and whether the government will be able to constitute a public insurer and get stakeholders onboard within the next four months before its proposed January roll-out of primary care services under the universal healthcare plan.
Asked whether primary care services under NHI will be rolled out in January 2017 as set out by the government, Damara Dillett, the legal consultant to the NHI Secretariat, said, “At this particular juncture we are waiting for the NHI Bill to officially become [the] NHI Act so we can meet with our policymakers and make those critical decisions, and advise the public right away.
“Before now we had absolutely no authority. NHI did not exist on the books.
“Now that we have that legislative power we are able to make the critical decisions that are necessary.”
The NHI Bill was passed in Parliament last Monday.
Pressed for an updated timeline on the next phase of NHI, Dillett said, “It gives us the opportunity to strategize as it relates to the timeline, having regard to the first step, which is the passing of the NHI legislation.”
Primary care services under NHI were set to begin in April.
Days before the roll-out, Minister of Health Dr. Perry Gomez said it will be delayed by six months.
Primary care, a subset of the vital benefits package, is a basic level of healthcare that includes programs directed at the promotion of health, early diagnosis and prevention of diseases.
It also covers laboratory work; diagnostic services such as X-rays, mammograms and prostate exams; and the medications required from primary care.
According to the government, primary care services under NHI will initially be administered without cost.
In its latest policy paper, NHI Bahamas said as coverage and benefits expand under NHI, funding will be supplemented by other sources, including “a reallocation of the national health budget, new or supplemental broad-based taxation measures, dedicated funding streams and/or contributions”.
Medical services providers have yet to sign onto the scheme.
Regulations also have yet to be completed to flesh out the details of NHI.
The NHI Secretariat was unable to provide a timeline for the completion of the regulations.
“We are working very hard towards completing the regulations,” Dillett said.
“We have internal deadlines. We are trying to ensure that the framework is put together in such a way that we can now go out and engage with the stakeholder industry to get their input on the regulations.”
Gomez said last week that NHI does not mean beneficiaries will have to give up their private insurance benefits, but it will allow them to renegotiate their private plan to only pay for services outside of those covered under NHI.
Schedule and cost
Dillett said the public insurer will only administer NHI benefits, while services outside the scope of NHI, referred to as “supplemental benefits”, will be exclusively available via private insurers.
According to the target schedule outlined in the request for proposals (RFP) document, the government will select a preferred bidder to manage its public insurer by October 28, 2016, execute a service agreement by the end of November and launch the public insurer by the end of this year.
As a part of the management services agreement, the company is expected to present a three-year business plan.
It will be responsible for claims and case management, handling and processing requests for payments, health risk management, wellness management services, beneficiary and provider relations, communications with and education of beneficiaries and providers, and the management of NHI funds and other services as detailed in the services agreement.
The government has budgeted $100 million for the first year of primary care services under NHI.
But the full cost of NHI remains unclear.
Government consultants, Sanigest Internacional designed the NHI scheme and estimated it would cost between $362 million on the low end and $633 million on the high end.
But the Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA) priced NHI at more than $1 billion.
The association asserted that the Sanigest NHI model represents a “hostile takeover” of the private health insurance sector and the “nationalization of private assets”.
The government engaged KPMG earlier this year to advise on NHI.
When asked if Sanigest’s plan had been scrapped in favor of KPMG’s advice, Permanent Secretary for the NHI Secretariat Peter Deveaux-Isaacs said, “Sanigest did a lot of credible work for the NHI plan, so some of the work has been incorporated, much of the work has been incorporated into what KPMG is doing.”
But he could not confirm how much Sanigest was paid, noting that the Ministry of Health contracted the Costa Rican-based company.
Asked for KPMG’s consultancy cost for NHI, Deveaux-Isaacs said, “We’ll let you know that in due course.” | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67275-global-tender-for-nhi-but-details-still-sketchy | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/97fc4908e1e13561ece519355cea594827d50d327305effc797879026e83c545.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:05:09 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Flifestyles%2Fhealth-and-wellness%2F67268-seven-ways-to-manage-your-weight.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67268/Exercise.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | You’ve heard that managing your weight is all about the lifestyle, and not the quick fix, so today I’d like to give you seven habits that fit people have, which can be applied to your own life.
• Approach each day with perspective
Fail to meet your fitness goals today? Move on. Tomorrow is another day to make smarter decisions. When you wake up, rededicate yourself to your fitness goals without beating yourself up about whatever mistakes you made in the past. After all, you can’t change what you did yesterday. All you can control is right now. So get to it.
• Know your body
When you finish a workout, you should feel good. If you don’t, then something needs to change. Either your diet or routine is throwing you off. Fit people know how everything they do affects their body, and they take steps to avoid those things that make them not feel and perform their best. Learn how your body responds and care for it accordingly.
• Find ways around excuses
If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t quite get fit, it may be your proclivity for caving to pressure. And that pressure may be self-induced. Fit people do not give into excuses for why they shouldn’t exercise. Quite the contrary — they are continually finding reasons why they should hit the gym and find pockets of time to do it — even if the trip to the gym is shorter than usual.
• Eat and sleep well
Study after study has shown the benefit of eating whole, unprocessed foods. It provides energy and strength, helps you feel full throughout the day, and makes your time in the gym as fruitful as possible. Getting good sleep is equally as important, as it keeps all your bodily systems in rhythm. Put these two fit activities together and you’re well on your way to optimal fitness.
• Track your progress
For some, keeping tabs on health progress is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Once you get into the routine, however, you will become a believer in the power of tracking your progress. Tracking serves to both reward and motivate you, as you see that the countless hours in the gym and smart food choices lead to a healthier weight and greater strength — A.K.A. better overall fitness and health.
• Think while you exercise
It can be easy to mindlessly run on a treadmill at the gym if you’re not careful. Just remember that fit people don’t do such a thing. They’re very intentional about everything they do at the gym. This means if you want to be fit, you should put some brainpower into what you include in your workout and how you perform each repetition. This allows you to get maximum benefit from your gym time and reduces the risk of injury.
• Lean on your trainer
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• Jimmy Mackey, founder of Macfit360, is a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) certified master trainer, fitness nutrition specialist, certified weight loss specialist and corrective exercise specialist. He also has TRX STC/GSTC and Training For Warriors levels one and two certifications. He can be contacted at info@macfit360.com or telephone 698-2119. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/lifestyles/health-and-wellness/67268-seven-ways-to-manage-your-weight | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/e7aff6ada443ca59785c0dcaff3112b8d598187ea9a0681d6252cd201d1bf230.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:27 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F67195-destruction-of-the-black-youth.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Dear Editor,
It has been estimated that there is a 30 percent unemployment level amongst our male population between 18 to 35 years of age here in our wonderful nation. Coupled with this there are more than 1,500 youthful Bahamian males incarcerated within our penal system.
Thousands more have current and pending criminal cases before our courts, often times wearing an ankle bracelet.
The bulk of our younger people are from what we commonly refer to as single-parent homes where there is no identifiable father figure.
We see the abject spectacle of such a parent, often a female, rearing a disjointed family on her own. She in all likelihood, if employed, holds down a minimum wage type job, paying exorbitant rent for a hovel somewhere in the traditional inner-city areas of New Providence and the larger islands, including Grand Bahama.
In more cases than not, the children in such situations drop out of secondary school either to enter an already challenged labor market or end up in the Bahamas Department of Corrections and the revolving door connected thereto. Once an individual would have “earned” a police record, he or she is consigned to a perpetual life of crime, squalor and a repetition of the single parent’s life.
Our collective society is then tasked with their rehabilitation, incarceration or, at the extreme, a state-sanctioned execution.
We are witnessing the literal destruction of the black male, especially the younger ones, in our nation. If you were to take a careful look and survey you will find that 65 percent or more of our males, across all age brackets, are semi-illiterate and unable to hold a sensible thought for any sustainable period of time. Loose and lurid talk dominates most conversations.
Many decades ago the late great and deeply lamented Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling proposed a national youth service. His detractors laughed him to scorn and accused him, bogusly, of seeking to create a private army of loyalists. Nothing was done and the fabled chickens have come home to roost with a vengeance.
In the unlikely event that a younger Bahamian male were to secure gainful employment it would probably be in the domestic, hospitality or construction industries.
While all work is important and carries dignity, one must concede that such jobs are dead end and do not generate the sort of income to lift one out of the poverty index. It would be impossible for such people to move into the so-called middle class. Home ownership is but an elusive dream.
The political elite, within all parties and strata of society are not checking for the black Bahamian youth, never mind the occasional rhetoric and postulations. What is being proposed to be done to arrest the rapidly rising level of unemployment amongst this segment of society? There has been some loose talk of an apprenticeship program and another labeled “the 52 weeks” program, but I fear that they are both election ploys and props.
What this administration should be concentrating on is youth entrepreneurship and expanded vocational facilities here in New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma (all major population centers).
Economic empowerment is crucial in light of the recent downsizing at Sandals. I do not like how the temporary closure was done. It would appear that the ball was dropped by the administration and the Ministry of Labour.
They both must have been in intense discussions with the ownership and management at Sandals before the closure? Where is hard-mouthed Obie Ferguson in all of this? He and his so-called umbrella union agitated at Sandals, justifiably or not, for many years and obtained a positive judgment from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
It is a remarkable coincidence that just as these misguided so-called trade unions sought to enforce that judgment and lodged criminal charges against managers at that property, that more than 600 Bahamians have been summarily “laid” off. Common sense is not common but anyone should be able to see “the play” herein. Sandals is, as is its corporate right, playing hardball with the Christie administration, pure and simple, with less than a year before the general election.
The majority of those laid off are young black males who would have been employed in housekeeping, as beach and pool attendants, waiters, chefs and in the maintenance department.
Today, they along with the other 2,500 Baha Mar “nationals” are walking the pavement.
In a few short weeks schools are about to be reopened. All of this stress will push many of us over the cliff.
Imagine a single-parent home where the males are under 25. No job, mommy is working three days per week and daddy has been long gone.
All of this makes for a potent and very deadly societal threat to our very well-being and survival as a nation and a people.
The destruction of our young black male population and the trivialization of the older ones do not bode well for out future.
Now urgent and far-reaching national policy in this regard must be looked into.
The PM, God bless his soul, often speaks about his quest for a legacy. Well, if he were to pull off an embryonic national youth service by the end of this year and successfully roll out NHI by January 2017 the PLP would waltz back into power next year. His long sought but so elusive legacy would be secured and cemented at the stroke of the proverbial pen.
The destruction of our black Bahamian youth (I am certain that there are also conchy joe ones also) must cease and cease now. I thank God for the fact that homicides appear to be trending down.
It is most unfortunate, however, that some 3,000-odd Bahamians, in less than a year, find themselves on the outside looking in.
To God then, in all things, even this, be the glory.
– Ortland H. Bodie Jr. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/letters/67195-destruction-of-the-black-youth | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/fe5a0952ec3931fb009caff8d81c509840557c0e8748b9187b2325c352372718.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:05:30 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67244-human-rights-group-claims-marathon-residents-may-still-be-at-risk.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | The Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) claimed yesterday that dozens of people who live near the Rubis gas station on Robinson Road and Old Trail Road have yet to be switched from well water to city water despite ground contamination concerns over a controversial gas spill in late 2012.
The association called on the government to take the health and safety of Marathon residents seriously, insisting that every household near the Rubis gas station should be connected to public water supply, and those wells must be tested for contaminants.
“Though the government has repeatedly insisted that residents of the area are now all safe, it has come to light that many were never switched to the public water supply as promised with some claiming the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) demanded that they pay for their own conversion,” GBHRA said in a statement.
“This is totally unacceptable.
“After keeping the public in the dark... about the spill and the associated health risks the government has a duty to ensure that all Marathon residents are out of harm’s way.
“This includes providing them with a safe and reliable water supply free of charge.”
The spill occurred in late 2012/early 2013, according to consultants Black & Veatch.
In April 2013, WSC Senior Manager of Commercial Operations Bradley Darville said Rubis was absorbing the cost for a group of Robinson Road and Old Trail Road residents to be connected to WSC’s network.
New connections range from $557.50 to $625 per home.
At the time, Darville said four homes using water wells in the area and another dozen homes with existing WSC connections, but were using water wells intermittently, were fully connected to public water supply.
The government received a report into the spill in February 2014, but sat on it for more than a year.
The Black and Veatch report concluded that residents who live near the gas station and people who work in adjacent buildings were exposed to chemicals that could create health risks.
It was released to the public in April 2015, a day after outraged residents expressed their disapproval at a town meeting.
In May 2015, Rubis officials said based on testing households earlier that year the affected area was “small, has been contained and has not expanded” since June 2013.
Late last year, the government announced that residents of Marathon had a “clean bill of health” based on remediation efforts, screening, samples taken in 2014 and 2015, and the assessments of international bodies.
But GBHRA said some ground wells in the area remain untested and it appears the government’s “much-publicized favorable findings were based on a conveniently limited area of investigation that totally ignored the homes of many residents”.
“While this may be politically expedient for the government it could spell disaster for the people of Marathon,” the association said.
“Families still forced to use ground water may be at risk of exposure to extremely harmful toxins, including Benzene, a well established cause of aggressive cancer in humans.
“The substance can lead to a host of other serious illnesses as well, including anemia and mutations in newborns.
“And while initial health screenings were conducted, the necessary and promised follow-ups never took place and many residents say they are still awaiting the results from the preliminary round of tests.”
The GBHRA added that the government must ensure periodic health screening for residents who reside in the impacted zone.
In a document titled “Report To The Nation: The Oil Spill in Marathon”, the ministries of health and the environment said based on the health screening there was “no significant adverse effects on the persons tested”. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67244-human-rights-group-claims-marathon-residents-may-still-be-at-risk | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/237fa0e2df5298fddd9b3d367bbba80ff0b80d35f4d9a7fa6046f0ca40bd3ddc.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:09 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F67264-freedom-of-speech-isnt-freedom-to-abuse-.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Dear Editor,
I have never been more un-proud of who we are becoming. When I see the blunt disrespect for the prime minister, his family and the office he holds, just the level of disrespect is disheartening. Such disrespect may have far longer lasting repercussions if we continue to embrace this kind of behavior disguised as free speech.
Decent people can disagree over policy, but far too many Bahamians express their critiques in an ugly way. This trending pattern of disrespect that we display to each other as citizens sharing our freedoms as one country, let alone the highest office in our nation, truly undermines the principles and values of everything The Bahamas stands for.
We have revealed a very vulgar side of The Bahamas, a side that we cannot be satisfied with. At some point the treatment of our leaders went from offensive to ugly, and then to downright unacceptable. Welcome to the new rude Bahamas, where I hope we can restore some sense of civility. The man and his family are being challenged unfairly, characterized with vulgarity and treated with the kind of profound disrespect to which no previous prime minister was subjected.
The prime minister has a beautiful family, and their composure through these kinds of disrespect and attacks is inspirational. However, at the end of the day we are all human and there’s only so much we are expected to take until these things begin to tear and hurt the core of who we are and how we feel. The disrespect for individuals and the Office of the Prime Minister itself has reached such a low point. Even the prime minister’s children have been targets of such despicable disrespect. However, in The Bahamas, we never see the big deal until we are the ones enduring the levels of incivility. Moreover, if you have missed the point then there is a chance that you are part of the problem.
We all have a responsibility to use our freedom of speech in a responsible manner. However, if this is the kind of democracy we want to embrace and to be proud of where we the people use our freedoms to slander the character of others, this will be an indictment on the kind of people we all choose to become. We do not respect anything or anyone in this country. What is more disturbing than the songs are those out there who uplift this sort of behavior and call it acceptable. Go beyond the song. We have to admit this is a growing culture in our country where we use any instrument or platform to attack the characters of those we disagree with.
If you do not agree with what a leader of your country is doing, disagree with the policies and initiative and his style of governance. That’s the responsible thing to do. However, it is nothing short of cowardly to hide behind the curtains of democracy to assassinate the characters of others. Listen to our radio shows to hear the noise our freedom is filled with – the derogation, smears, false reports, insults, slander and backbiting. If this is our new way of life, if this is the culture we want to accept, this will be the culture that our society dies by. If we do not respect the law, if we do not we comply with the church, if we do not respect our neighbors, and if we do not respect the highest office in our country, surely, my fellow brethren, we will reap what we sow. Too many Bahamians interpret freedom of speech as freedom to abuse people.
Freedom of speech should not be hate speech. At some point we all have to pause and take a deep look at ourselves and come to the realization that we cannot have a conversation about the challenges of our country without insulting each other and tearing each other apart. What do we expect to achieve by insulting each other and talking over each other instead of addressing the issues? I know we are better than this. We can disagree despite our politics, despite our personal feelings and express them with some degree of respect for each other. Name-calling and insulting each other doesn’t fix problems. Only a national dialogue with some respectful disagreement and compromise can. If the freedom to speak is intended to demoralize and or discount the credibility of another without due process of law it is no longer freedom of speech, but rather abuse against the rights of others.
– Latrae Rahming | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/letters/67264-freedom-of-speech-isnt-freedom-to-abuse- | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/34211a8e1cf8f516ceedfb2c3077f1671b3c69b78b5440ef7952f142f9c272da.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:48 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67216-men-make-final-women-do-not.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67216/Rio Olympics Athletic_NASG-27.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – The Bahamas men’s 4x400 meters (m) relay team will have an opportunity to defend its Olympic title tonight while the women ran a new national record but were left out of the final.
The men’s team of Alonzo Russell, Chris “The Fireman” Brown, Steven Gardiner and Stephen Newbold, in that order, ran a season’s best time of 2:59.64 to finish second in their heat and qualify for the final with the sixth fastest time.
Originally, eight teams remarkably ran under three minutes, and The Bahamas was third in its semi-final heat, but two of the event favorites were disqualified – Great Britain for passing the baton outside of the allowable zone, and Trinidad & Tobago for stepping on the line on the curve.
Therefore, Belgium came in first in The Bahamas’ heat in a national record time of 2:59.25, and Team Bahamas was second. Jamaica was the top qualifier for the final in a season’s best time of 2:58.29, the United States was the second fastest qualifier in 2:58.38, and Belgium qualified third.
“I just thank the Lord for allowing us to be healthy and I thank The Bahamas for praying for us,” said veteran quarter-miler Brown, the team leader. “We know that it is going to be a dog fight but we are ready for it. When you are the Olympic champions, everyone is chasing you. I trust my teammates and we got the job done. Everyone did what they were supposed to do and we made it back to the final.”
As mentioned, the Bahamian women’s 4x400m relay team didn’t make the final, but the quartet of Lanece Clarke, Anthonique Strachan, Carmiesha Cox and Christine Amertil, in that order, ran a new national record time of 3:26.36, and they did it without Olympic Champion Shaunae Miller, who according to reports, was nursing an injury from the open 400m. Team Bahamas, without her, was fifth in their heat and finished 11th overall.
“I feel that The Bahamas has arrived in this event. We ran against some
world-leading squads and we held our own,” said veteran Christine Amertil, who just celebrated her 37th birthday yesterday. “We will definitely be a force to reckon with in the future. It feels good to finally run this event at the Olympics. It was the last thing that I hadn’t done in my career so is feels very good in that regard.”
Amertil said that this is definitely her last Olympics, and she’s satisfied going out like this, with a new national record.
The United States was the top qualifier for the final, in a season’s best time of 3:21.24; Jamaica qualified second in a season’s best of 3:22.38, and the Ukraine was the third fastest qualifier in 3:24.54.
“It felt good coming out the blocks for this team. I feel more comfortable coming out of the blocks,” said lead-off leg Clarke. “To hear the crowd shouting ‘Bahamas’, it gave me more momentum coming down the home stretch. We really wanted to make the final, but to come out with a national record is good. It is good enough for me.”
Regarding the Olympic champion not running in the heats with them, Clarke said that she knows she had some bruises from the open women’s 400m, so they just wanted to go out there and get the job done in her absence. She’s satisfied with the run that they had.
“We know that Shaunae had some mishaps. I’m proud of her and her accomplishments. To have her would have been a plus, but I wish her all the best and I’m praying that she recovers,” said Clarke.
They might not be in the final, but it’s still the fastest time ever recorded by a Bahamian women’s 4x400m relay team.
As for the men, they were impressive in running a 2:59 and change. Russell led the team off and handed off to second leg Brown with a lead.
“It feels pretty good,” he said. “I was disappointed after the 400 because I didn’t execute my race plan. I made the adjustment tonight, and it feels good. The goal is to go out there and get the gold medal – I hope that we get it done.”
Brown said he is hopeful that the coaches change it up a bit in the final, so as to get some fresh legs in there which he feels will give them a better chance of successfully defending their Olympic title.
“I pray that they do switch it up because we need fresh legs,” he said. “No one is playing with us and no one is going to give it to us. We are going to have to adjust – decide who is running what leg and who is comfortable on what leg.”
The two members of the team who didn’t run in the heats are Demetrius Pinder and Michael Mathieu, who were both on the gold medal winning squad at the last Olympics four years ago.
On Friday night, it was national record holder Gardiner who ran the third leg for The Bahamas. At 20, he is on his first Olympic team and is looking forward to running in the final tonight after missing out on the final in the open men’s 400m.
“I received the baton in first place tonight, so I just had to bring it home,” he said. “I just thank God.”
Anchor leg Newbold lost the lead for The Bahamas last night but held on to a qualifying position.
“I feel good,” he said. “I would just like to thank the Lord for me being here. Also, I would like to thank my teammates for giving me the baton in a position for me to go out there and bring it home.”
As crazy as it might sound, The Bahamas’ team might have to run a new national record just to get on the medal podium tonight. As mentioned, six of the teams in tonight’s final ran under three minutes, and it would have been all eight had Great Britain and Trinidad & Tobago not been disqualified.
The team’s chances increase with the disqualification of those two squads.
Team Bahamas qualified in the sixth spot. It remains to be seen whether or not they will get the job done. The Bahamas will run out of lane six in the final that is scheduled to get underway at 9:35 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) in The Bahamas tonight. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67216-men-make-final-women-do-not | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/8d9a8ef69c7f90767efaa88b9413831d6d665cf745175a7b9877e9d5aa666f32.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:46 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67190-womens-4x400m-relay-team-has-sights-set-on-the-final.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – For the first time ever at the Olympics, The Bahamas will field a women’s 4x400 meters (m) relay team, and based on what is listed on paper, and the absence of two contenders in Russia and Nigeria, it is anticipated that the country could make it through the rounds.
The heats of the women’s 4x400m relay are set for 7:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) in The Bahamas tomorrow. The final will be held on Saturday night.
A total of five ladies are in the pool for The Bahamas – Shaunae Miller, Anthonique Strachan, Christine Amertil, Lanece Clarke and Carmiesha Cox.
Right now, it is uncertain as to the line-up and order for the heats and the final should the girls advance. Like it is with the men, Bahamian officials are not releasing any information. They have up until an hour before the heats of the event to submit the four names and the order of the relay, and the team is taking full advantage of that.
The Bahamas is hoping to make inroads in the event as the Games of the 31st Olympiad continue here in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and with the open women’s 400m winner on their squad, they stand a good chance of making a significant impact and advancing to the final.
Team Bahamas Head Coach George Cleare said this group of ladies has the ability to shock the world, much like the Golden Knights did at the 2012 games in London, England.
“When you look at the times these young would have ran this season in their individual races and the quality of athletes that we have, and then compare that to what is going on in the world then you would realize that we stand a realistic shot of advancing, and then when you are in the final, anything could happen. We like our chances,” he said.
The last time Miller ran with the 4x400m team they set a national record and finished 10th overall, two spots short of advancing to the world final. They ran a new national record time of 3:28.46 at those 2015 International Association of Athletic Federations’ (IAAF) World Championships in Beijing, China.
Strachan and Clarke have all ran 52-point races this season, and veteran Amertil is a steady performer.
Miller is the world leader and the best female quarter-miler in the world right now. She won the Olympic title on Monday night.
A new national record here in Rio de Janeiro should be good enough to get the team through to the final, particularly with the absence of Russia and Nigeria who are both serving IAAF bans.
At 37, Amertil is the veteran of the team. She is also the female team captain for Team Bahamas. In her prime, she was a consistent 50-point performer. In fact, Amertil is the fourth fastest Bahamian of all-time in the event behind national record holder Tonique Williams, Pauline Davis and Miller. She has a personal best time of 50.09 seconds.
Miller is the queen of the women’s 400m running right now, worldwide.
Strachan has run two 52-point races this season, highlighted by a season’s best of 52.42 seconds. Clarke has a season’s best time of 52.73 seconds, and Cox has run some exceptional splits for her collegiate team, the Purdue University Boilermakers, and for Team Bahamas in the past two years.
Cox is versatile, experiencing success in all three sprints – the 100m, 200 and 400m. In fact, Cox was one of five Bahamians to qualify for these Olympics in the women’s 200m this year.
At the end of the day, with the athletes that Team Bahamas has available, they figure to make some noise in the women’s 4x400m relay. It certainly wouldn’t come as a major surprise pertaining to a possible advance to the final, and break the national record in the process. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67190-womens-4x400m-relay-team-has-sights-set-on-the-final | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/cf0b8a826feabcb124d33f220ced3c62feb8bba957ee062f0c952588c893487a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:52 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67260-athletes-depart-rio-de-janeiro.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Just a handful of Bahamian athletes were still at the Athletes Village on Monday, as thousands departed Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, following a lively and entertaining closing ceremony at the Maracanã Stadium on Sunday night.
The Games of the 31st Olympiad came to an abrupt end after a fortnight of intense competition, friendly rivalry and stunning recording-breaking performances.
The thrill of victory was evident on the faces of athletes such as Polish hammer thrower Anita Wlodarczyk, American swimmer Simone Manuel and The Bahamas’ own Shaunae Miller just to name a few. The sheer joy and excitement of the victors reminded all why four years of training is worth the effort and struggle, and why Olympic success is parallel to none other. It’s the ultimate crowning glory moment for sport.
Other athletes such as Renaud Lavillenie, of France, Japanese wrestler Saori Yoshida and quarter-miler LaShawn Merritt, of the United States, appeared to be in stunned disbelief, but still left as medalists from the greatest sports show on Earth.
The Brazilian men’s volleyball team, the Serbian men’s water polo team and Great Britain’s women’s field hockey team defied odds and rose to stardom. Both American basketball teams dominated as expected, but world number one tennis players Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, and Serena Williams, of The United States, were left wanting.
A person once said, ‘you don’t win silver or bronze, you lose gold’. Just tell that to The Bahamas men’s 4x400 meters (m) relay team. They were counted out and left for dead after a below-average season individually and collectively, but when the lights shone brightest, they rose to the occasion.
Never underestimate the heart of a champion. Team leader Chris “The Fireman” Brown said it best: “This bronze is a victory for us.”
That bronze alone with Miller’s gold in the women’s 400m allowed The Bahamas to match its second best showing ever at the Olympics. The best was the 2000 Sydney games when the country won three total medals – two gold and a bronze.
Team Bahamas Chef de Mission Roy Colebrook said they couldn’t have asked for much more from the 29-member Bahamian team in Rio de Janeiro this year, most of whom are already back with their families, at their respective schools or at their various training grounds. It was a pretty subdued Monday at the village as thousands of athletes had already departed, signifying the end of what is the greatest sports show on Earth.
“I think Team Bahamas would have accomplished its goal of giving good representation and producing results,” said Colebrook. “All we wanted our athletes to do was to go out there and give it their best. Once they would have done that, then we would be satisfied with the results. At the end of the day, you can’t complain once athletes give it their best.”
The Bahamas ended the competition in a three-way tie for 51st in the medal standings with two total medals – one gold and one bronze. The Americans dominated with 121 total medals – 46 gold, 37 silver and 38 bronze – almost 20 gold more than second place finisher Great Britain.
As for Team Bahamas, more than half of the team members were under 25 years of age, and more than half were first-time Olympians.
Colebrook said that bodes well for the future. The young team members from this year, he feels, will make up the bulk of the team four years from now.
The 2020 Olympics is set for July 24 to August 9, in Tokyo, Japan. Colebrook expects The Bahamas to continue to build off its success and keep the tradition alive of making finals and winning medals.
The Bahamas has won at least one Olympic medal in seven straight Olympics, and was declared the per capita champions of the Olympics for three straight Olympiads, and four out of five from 1992 to 2008. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67260-athletes-depart-rio-de-janeiro | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/594bda3cebff47dd1694ce28865efd406bb63e614add2093da77c64ec21a7aa5.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:01 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports-scope%2F67188-pedrya-seymour-sends-strong-message.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Pedrya Seymour has arrived!
She is an authentic elite athlete, one of the world’s best in the 100 meters hurdles, as her sixth place finish Wednesday night in the final of the Rio Olympics indicated.
The 21-year-old University of Illinois star hurdler has been one of the bright spots of the Rio Olympics. She will take home no medal from her first Olympic Games, but she has sent a strong message to the world.
Barring a debilitating injury, once she maintains her conditioning, Seymour figures to rise to prominence in 100 meters hurdles. Indeed, the prediction here is that a continuance of her advancement trend would cement her as one of the premier competitors in her specialty going forward.
Two former track and field icons came to mind as I watched Seymour in her races in Rio.
Firstly, I thought of John Danny Smith the pioneer Bahamian hurdler who was one of the best collegiate performers during his time at Florida State University and a former Pan American Games silver medalist.
The smoothness and ease with which Seymour negotiated the barriers was reminiscent of Smith, who had mastered the art of starting and skimming the hurdles.
Yes, Seymour did have the barrier difficulty at the end there in the final on Wednesday. But, that was simply fatigue. She just did not have enough left to continue the flow over the last hurdle.
We can all think of what could have happened had she gotten good clearance toward the end of the run on Wednesday. She might have broken up the American triple play. Nevertheless, they felt her and will likely see a lot more of her in the future.
Then, I thought also of Shonell Ferguson, more for the similarities of demeanors, in particular, the low-key characteristic.
Seymour outside of the track and field circle, was little known prior to her Olympic participation. The expectations for her were not high at all. I hoped for an advance into the semis and would have considered such an achievement quite commendable for Seymour. She sort of sneaked up on the world by qualifying for the final and being right in the medal mix for most of the race before settling for sixth.
As for Ferguson, for much of her early junior career, she competed in the shadow of her friend and fellow youth star Linda Woodside. Then as a senior, big Bradley Cooper always seemed to grab most of the limelight. But there was Ferguson, rising above expectations to the extent of becoming the Commonwealth champion in 1982, and being the first Bahamian female to crack the 22 feet barrier, eventually registering a 6.91 meters (22-81/4) effort.
Seymour is unassuming, but she is definitely a high quality sports commodity. She is yet another reason why the government should begin focusing more on sports development rather than for the most part, bestowing accolades after the sacrifices have been made.
Along with Shaunae Miller and the other Olympians, hopefully Seymour can bring about a difference in the thinking of our political leaders.
Go Team Bahamas!
• To respond to this column, kindly contact Fred Sturrup at sturrup15604@gmail.com. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports-scope/67188-pedrya-seymour-sends-strong-message | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/096619e416ba414de6206ef03e8f0907efc66744fb559dc2a2fc5aec3506f7e9.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:11:48 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fbahamas-business%2F40-bahamas-business%2F67254-sands-local-contractors-benefiting-from-sandals-closure.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort recently hired several local Bahamian contractors to complete repairs and upgrades which forced the resort’s closure on August 15 and led to over 600 employees being made redundant.
The upgrades are being fast-tracked at an estimated cost of $4 million and are to be completed within 14 weeks.
President of the Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) Leonard Sands, speaking on whether the company’s decision to close the resort is a good judgment call or not, said the resort’s officials made the best choice based on the available options.
“Sometimes you are in such a difficult predicament, you don’t get to make good choices, and you have to make the best of the choices you have.”
Sands said he was made aware of the repairs needed at the resort earlier this year, but he was not informed of when the repairs would start.
“I have been involved in talks about stuff at the property as well, and I engaged in some of the talks about work at Sandals as far back as December last year with my company.
“So, I knew that there were things in the pipeline, but we didn’t know when some of those things were going to break.
“It was all determined when management and senior management made the ultimate decision of when they can actually perform these works.
“We knew that there were projects that were coming online at the Sandals project.”
Contractors began work on the project last week Saturday.
Sands said, “At the end of it all, we are going to end up with some good injection back into the economy from the construction companies, who are local and who are going to pay their staff that are going to spend the money locally.”
The contractors identified include Island Manufacturing Company, Storm Frame Windows, Lifestyle Construction, Rejuste Construction and Maintenance Services and I.J. Electrical. Odley Artis, TOP Builders Ltd. and architect Gerard Higgs are also engaged.
Sands said all but two of those companies are 100 percent Bahamian.
“We are happy every time local contractors are engaged to perform work on any project. The $4 million Sandals project is not incredibly large, but it is sizeable enough to engage several contractors to perform work and they are happy to do so,” he said.
Speaking with Guardian Business yesterday, Sands addressed the closure of the resort and its effect on the 600 redundant employees.
“Given the nature of the work involved, which includes mechanical and electrical systems, and given the timing where we are going into the busy season; this is unfortunately the best time in the slow period to do any work.
“You wouldn’t want to have interruption in your busy season with water, heating or electrical when your hotel is full.”
“Any time is not a great time for redundancies. But, if I had to choose a time to do any work, I would choose a time when my occupancy is very low.”
Sands was asked to comment about Sandal’s timing of the announcement to close the resort temporarily.
“Whether you plan for it or when it happens, it is still going to be a major disruption to staff and guests.
“You can tell them at some point and time we are going to do some repairs on the property, but when would be the best time to not inconvenience staff to do the work?
“I think the work had to be done,” he said. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/67254-sands-local-contractors-benefiting-from-sandals-closure | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/fd724244a17461966bb0c8470ddf5810ec3956dfaa350ffdc71e5cbcc26c2ab7.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:10:21 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67272-teen-accused-of-armed-robbery-granted-bail.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | A 16-year-old boy accused of armed robbery could resume school if his family can meet the requirements of his $10,000 bail.
Acting Supreme Court Justice Joyann Ferguson-Pratt yesterday placed a 10 p.m. curfew on the suspect and ordered him to report to the Quakoo Street Police Station on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays until the matter is resolved.
Prosecutors allege that the suspect robbed his victim of $20 on July 24.
While the prosecutor, Randolph Dames, did not oppose the bail application, he asked that the defendant wear an ankle bracelet until he returns to school.
The teenager will begin the eleventh grade when school opens, according to his lawyer Bernard Ferguson.
In her ruling, Ferguson-Pratt noted the suspect’s “tender age” and clean criminal record.
Although the court did not order a monitoring device, Ferguson-Pratt said she believes that the stringent reporting conditions coupled with the curfew would “reduce the likelihood of reoffending while at large”.
Ferguson-Pratt declined to revisit the bail amount after Ferguson suggested that the defendant’s family did not have the financial wherewithal to stand bail.
Due to the serious nature of the charge, Ferguson-Pratt was not persuaded to reduce the bail amount.
However, she said Ferguson is free to apply for a variation of bail conditions at a later date. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67272-teen-accused-of-armed-robbery-granted-bail | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/1c2fe866f15679b26d774ea365e9e61b6531c8a13fc53bbd3b39e45d57bbeaf0.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:08 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Flifestyles%2Fspice%2F67202-a-new-sensation.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67202/Dasani 1.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | There’s a new player on the water market, and it’s a locally produced carbonated sparkling water that is said to be light, refreshing and good for the body as well.
One week ago Caribbean Bottling Company (CBC) rolled their first cases of Dasani Sparkling Water off the production line. On Monday, August 15 the carbonated water beverage hit the market offering a hydrating solution alternative to hydration for people.
Carbonated water is said to be a great alternative for people who don’t like the taste of still water but want to stay hydrated, as sparkling water can be just as hydrating.
“It’s a great product. It has zero calories. It’s very refreshing, and it’s light,” said Cara Douglas, marketing manager at Coca Cola of their newest product to the market.
Carbonated or sparkling water is made by dissolving carbon dioxide in water creating carbonic acid; The process just adds bubbles but does not add sugar, calories or caffeine. Tonic water, club soda and mineral water are all types of carbonated water, but they can have added sodium, vitamins, or sweeteners, and it is recommended that labels be checked.
Douglas said in looking around the local market they realized there were no local producers of sparkling water and decided to tap into the market as bottled water has a big market share in The Bahamas.
“There are so many different brands, but nobody locally distinguished themselves by doing a sparkling. We carbonate ourselves as the local producers of all Coca Cola sparkling beverages, so we use the technology that we already have — paired it with the technology to make Dasani water, then add carbonation to the Dasani water to make Dasani Sparkling Water.”
Douglas said they hope the sparkling water is successful. The Dasani Sparkling Water launch comes just after CBC debuted the Schweppes Grapefruit soda on February 1 — a product that Douglas said has become extremely popular. She hopes the Dasani Sparkling Water becomes just as popular.
“I’m not certain it can reach the level of success the grapefruit [soda] has gotten to, because it has certainly gotten popular in The Bahamas, however we are hopeful it is on par with our Dasani product,” she said.
Dasani Sparkling Water is added to CBC’s soda portfolio in which alone they have over 40 different flavors and varietals; and in that portfolio they have six different sizes for a plethora of options.
It is recommended Dasani Sparkling Water be served chilled.
Douglas said it could be added anywhere a person would use club soda — including to juices or iced tea. It comes in a bottle as opposed to a can, which means it can be re-closed, allowing for the product to retain carbonation longer. The product is also sold in a 20-ounce size.
“We’re trying to see what people like and what they enjoy and try to offer them something different, something new. Depending on what you like, sparkling may not be what you drink after a run, but definitely it can be paired with a meal at lunch or with dinner, or if you’re just looking for a little refreshment,” said Douglas.
Water is always a smart go-to beverage because it is calorie-free, but sometimes you want some extra fizz and sparkling water is the perfect alternative. When drinking sparkling water, something about the bubbles makes it seem like a treat instead of plain old water. It can be jazzed up with a spritz of flavor from citrus, or mint, and infused with fresh fruits, citrus and even mint to make it feel even fancier.
Lemon Basil Sparkling Water
Yield: Approximately 8
3 lemons
1 bunch basil (save a few sprigs for garnish)
2-25 ounce bottles chilled sparkling water
Rinse the basil, set a few sprigs aside for garnish. Put the rest into a large pitcher or glass container. Take a wooden spoon and crush some of the basil leaves gently against the side of the container with the basil. Pour the sparkling water into the container with the basil and lemon. Juice the remaining lemon and pour into the water. Stir and serve over ice, garnish drinks with a sprig of basil.
Recipe: twinchefs.net
Sparkling Ginger Lemonade Recipe
Yield: 5 servings
2 cups water
1 cup honey
2 tablespoons minced fresh gingerroot
2 cups sparkling water, chilled
1 cup lemon juice
In a small saucepan, bring the water, honey and ginger to a boil. Remove from the heat; cover and steep for 10 minutes. Strain, discarding ginger. Cool. Transfer to a pitcher; stir in soda and lemon juice. Serve immediately over ice.
Recipe: tasteofhome.com
Fresh fruit coolers
Serves: 1
½ cup of ice
¾ cup of sugar-free sparkling water
1/3 cup of melon or berries
Chopped mint leaves or citrus slices (optional)
Place ice, sparkling water, and fruit in a blender. Blend until slushy, pour into a glass and garnish with mint or citrus slices.
Recipe: hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/low-sugar-drink-ideas/#spa-water | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/lifestyles/spice/67202-a-new-sensation | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/45d987f1e0faa82f3d59a232dbad6c30c84a57d669b40a48be47637e4d6841cd.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:08:28 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67237-men-bring-home-bronze-for-the-bahamas-.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67237/Rio Olympics Athletic_bronze.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Alonzo Russell validated his selection to the team, Michael Mathieu gutted out an injury to get the stick around, Steven Gardiner turned in the fastest split, and the eternal one, Chris “The Fireman” Brown ran as smart of an anchor leg as you would ever see in leading The Bahamas to the bronze medal in the men’s 4x400 meters (m), as the curtains descended on the Games of the 31st Olympiad.
On paper, The Bahamas was not as strong as some of the other teams in the running this year. The United States was an overwhelming favorite for the gold medal, and teams such as Trinidad & Tobago, Great Britain, Jamaica, Belgium and even Botswana were considered stronger than The Bahamas.
In the end, the four young men from The Bahamas proved the adage true – never underestimate the heart of a champion.
Considered borderline in terms of winning a medal, Russell, Mathieu, Gardiner and Brown came through for the country, securing a beautiful bronze in the penultimate athletics event in these Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The team finished third in a season’s best time of 2:58.49. The United States won the gold as expected in a season’s best time of 2:57.30, and Jamaica settled for the silver, in a season’s best time for them, 2:58.16. The Bahamas, with a spirited anchor leg from Brown, held off a charging Belgian team for the bronze. The Belgians were fourth in a national record time of 2:58.52.
All of the guys turned in respectable splits, especially national record holder Gardiner with a time of 43.79 seconds.
Russell led off in 45.3, handing the baton to Mathieu in third place.
“I just wanted to go out there and set up the race for my teammates,” he said. “I just want to thank God for allowing us to come through with the bronze medal. It was kind of tough. I’m just happy that we were able to put the best team together and come away with the bronze.”
Mathieu struggled a bit on his leg, but was battling a quad injury, and still handed off in good position. He still managed to turn in a split of 45.1.
“It was kind of hard but I just had to pull through. Thank God for it,” he said. “It was really hard for us all year, and I was surprised that we came out with something to tell you the truth. We just have to thank God. There was a lot of pressure on us but we came out with something, so that was good.”
National record holder Gardiner was exceptional, turning in the fastest split of the team, and bringing the unit from fifth to third. The 20-year-old proved that men’s 400-meter running in the country is in good hands going forward.
“It was my first Olympic experience and I was pretty excited about it. I just wanted to go out there and have a good run,” he said. “It was a rough year for us but we managed to pull it off. Thank God for that. We brought home a medal, so we’re happy about that. There are a lot of young guys coming up, so we feel that we will be able to carry on the legacy in this event.”
Brown steadied himself, not taking it out too fast, and when it came time to make his move, he did. In the process, he managed to hold off a surging Kevin Borlee from Belgium to secure the bronze medal for The Bahamas.
“We just went out there and did the best that we could have done with what we had, considering that a lot of our guys were injured this year,” he said. “A lot of people counted us out but we went out there and got the job done. We will continue to keep the fire blazing.
“The guys came out tonight and they ran well. We did this one for Demetrius. Hats off to him. I know that he wanted to be a part of it, but it will make him hungrier for next year – the world championships. Hopefully he could go there put in the work, and come back twice as strong.”
Demetrius Pinder, who ran the second leg for Team Bahamas at the last Olympics four years ago, was the only member of the relay pool not to run in the heats or final. He was a pivotal part of the golden squad at the London Olympics, and has turned in some of the fastest relay splits in Bahamian history, but according to reports, coaches weren’t sure of his fitness level, and consequently left him out of the line-up. He was also fifth in the men’s 400m at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ (BAAA) Senior National Championships in June.
Gardiner won the national title in 44.46 seconds, Russell was second in a personal best run of 45.25 seconds, Brown was third in 45.59 seconds, Stephen Newbold, who ran the heats of the relay here in Rio, was fourth in 45.80 seconds, and Pinder finished fifth in 46.16 seconds. Mathieu was sixth in 46.29 seconds.
Team leader Brown was one of the vocal ones in getting Pinder inserted into the line-up to no avail.
“I’m sure it was a tough decision, but I really wanted Demetrius in there,” said Brown. “He’s been with us for a while, and has a lot of experience but, like I said, it was a tough decision and it worked out for us. That’s all that matters. I felt that we would have achieved a similar goal with Demetrius, but you have to give it to the young guys. They went out there and ran very well.”
The bronze by the men on Saturday night gave The Bahamas two medals at the Games of the 31st Olympiad this year to finish in a three-way tie for 51st in the medal standings.
Shaunae Miller won gold in the women’s 400m, and the team of Russell, Mathieu, Gardiner and Brown won a beautiful bronze. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67237-men-bring-home-bronze-for-the-bahamas- | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/457a6bec2e718f7ca06185d0e8e82e3480d7cc6ed155051d71ef164baa8f4581.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:16 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fopinion%2Fop-ed%2F67193-shaunaes-exceptionalism.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | It is generally accepted that most human beings live average lives – meaning, when compared to their fellow human beings there is little about their achievements, good or bad, that make them stand out. For instance, of the 60,000 students in the public education system, not less than 48,000 of them have grade point averages greater than a C, and more likely a D. For this reason students with A averages are exceptional – that is, they stand out among their peers.
At any given time there may be hundreds of Bahamian men and women seeking to be parliamentarians, but not greater than one percent of them will possess the combination of skills that lead others to believe in their ability to be prime minister. For this reason, when these persons come along – armed as they are with vision, intelligence, charisma, conviction, diplomacy, articulation and other such skills – they stand out as exceptional among their peers. Others not in possession of this combination struggle to justify their place beyond mediocrity – beyond the average.
There are some eight billion people in our world – eight billion people! If they all stood on each other’s shoulders the human ladder might touch the moon from Earth or at least enter outer space to take a closer view of it.
Not one percent of one percent of these human beings, if challenged to run a short race, can do so in a manner that might lead the others to marvel at their ability because almost all of us are simply average or below average runners. We have been so for as long as we have been recording out history. Yet, there are those rare breeds whose exceptionalism leaves us in amazement when we have a chance to watch them perform. In them we see what is possible beyond the average; what we might have been if so gifted; what our offspring might be if so blessed.
On our planet on this day you can search among the billions of souls who call this planet home and no one among them has been able to run the 400 meter race faster than Shaunae Miller, a young lady from The Bahamas. There is no woman of the four billion-plus on the planet who has taken so few seconds to cover that distance. Shaunae is exceptional. In her chosen sport she sits on top of the world and in that rare space few human beings in history have found dwelling. Pride seems so small a word. Celebration seems too brief a response. Joy feels a bit underwhelming for this achievement, especially given the manner of her bearing. She gave every bit of herself to achieve the end that thousands have sought to achieve. She left everything on the track, holding nothing back. She did it as the late Dr. Myles Munroe said it should be done, “You must empty yourself.”
Exceptionalism requires nothing less than emptying yourself. A natural gifting may put an exceptional human being’s foot in the door but only commitment, dedication, preparation and execution will produce exceptional results. This is what Shaunae has done and now we all join with her in songs of everlasting praise to God her sovereign and in celebration of her victory.
Congratulations Olympian! Congratulations victor! Congratulations national and international high achiever! Congratulations Mademoiselle Exceptional!
• Zhivargo Laing is a Bahamian economic consultant and former Cabinet minister who represented the Marco City constituency in the House of Assembly. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/op-ed/67193-shaunaes-exceptionalism | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/4eafeb7ffad0a3e89824908f51e573ea2c1bf8eefaec26ea260b408e1271204b.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:33 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67212-gibson-job-fair-very-suspicious.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Minister of Labour Shane Gibson said yesterday it is “very suspicious” of Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort to host a job fair beginning on Monday, a week after making more than 600 workers redundant as the hotel closed for renovations.
“Sandals said to the public and to us that it had no choice and said their lawyers advised them the only way to deal with employees was to terminate them, giving the impression that if they did not have to terminate them, they wouldn’t, ” Gibson told The Nassau Guardian.
“Well, if they didn’t have a choice and they terminated them, why would they then turn around to these good employees and say reapply for your job?
“Why not just bring back the employees?
“I was trying to be as open and as objective as I could about this.
“But the more and more you look at this, it does not look right.
“If you said you had good employees and the only reason why you terminated them was because you did not have a choice, why would you make them reapply?
“That just does not add up to me, so it looks very suspicious.
“You have to look at it and wonder if [there] was really some other motive.”
According to a publication from Sandals, the first two days of the job fair are reserved exclusively for former Sandals employees.
Next Wednesday and Thursday are open to new applicants.
Positions advertised include front office, guest services, housekeeping, maintenance, food and beverage and water sports.
Sandals said it plans to reopen sometime in October, but there has been concern from the union that they will not be reengaged.
Trade Union Congress President Obie Ferguson alleged this is clear evidence of an attempt to destabilize the union that represented employees at the Cable Beach property.
Ferguson claimed Sandals unfairly dismissed employees, the ground of legal action he intends to take against the resort.
In a statement on Tuesday, Sandals’ legal counsel, Lennox Paton, said making the workers redundant was the “only legal option available to the resort”.
Sandals has insisted it had “no choice” but to close the hotel as renovations got underway.
But Gibson said the development of the job fair and the fact that Sandals did not properly notify the government of its plans to close “seems like they were not interested in working with us”.
The government said it was not notified of Sandals’ plans to close until an August 2 letter advising booked clients of the closure was “leaked” to the media.
Gibson said Sandals did not advise the government about the redundancies until last Friday.
Yesterday, he revealed that a letter was dropped off after 5 p.m. “and so we met it pushed under our door”.
“Obviously you pushed it under my door after 5 p.m. knowing that I won’t come to work until Monday morning after you would have already started your exercise,” Gibson said.
According to Gibson, Sandals advised the government that the majority of former employees will be reengaged.
When asked whether he is confident that will happen, Gibson said for now he has to believe that. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67212-gibson-job-fair-very-suspicious | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/6455f6f364190f9b9ecbb67b7091e1fc9045e1e56b541ce26dd48dacf960f927.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:40 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67231-the-fireman-ready-to-ride-off-into-the-sunset.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – After another strong relay leg for The Bahamas, this one coming at the Olympic Athletics Stadium on Saturday night, Chris “The Fireman” Brown confirmed that these Games of the 31st Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is it for him at the Olympic level.
Brown has been one of the most durable 400-meter runners in the world over the years, lasting 18 years on the professional circuit.
He brought the country home to a bronze medal in the men’s 4x400 meters (m) relay on Saturday, as the team finished in a season’s best time of 2:58.49. Brown ran a 44.2 split on the anchor leg.
For his Olympic career, Brown has collected four relay medals – a gold, a silver and now two bronze. He said that it was definitely a blessing going out with another medal, particularly since The Bahamas was picked by many to be out of the top three this year.
“My entire career has been blessed,” said Brown . “I trust God and I had faith in him. I just wanted to make sure that The Bahamas was well represented for the duration of my career. We did this for the country. I’m blessed. To end the night, and to end my Olympic career, with a bronze medal is like a victory.
“This is certainly my final Olympic Games. Hopefully, I’ll come back for the world relays next year and maybe the world championships, but it will just be a focus on the 4x4 – to help the guys get through and make sure that we have a good team that can stand firm against the rest of the world. Right now, I’m just going to enjoy this bronze medal and focus on my family.”
Brown is the most decorated Bahamian quarter-miler of all-time. Also, he is the most decorated quarter-miler worldwide at the world indoor championships. He has a gold, two silver and three bronze medals from that global meet. At the world outdoor championships, Brown has a gold, two silver and a bronze.
Brown is also a two-time Pan American Games Champion, a two-time Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Champion and has won medals at the Continental Cup.
He hasn’t picked a date for hanging up the cleats just yet, but the end is near. Brown said that it would be a blessing to run at the International Association of Athletic Federations’ (IAAF) World Relay Championships in The Bahamas next year, and possibly the world outdoor championships in London, England as well.
“Everything comes to an end, and this is a good way for me to bring everything to an end, with a bronze medal,” he said. “I have been blessed for a while. I’ve been healthy for pretty much most of my career, and I’m just thankful. Thank God for the victory. This bronze medal in the relay is a victory for us.”
Brown has brought stability to men’s 4x400m relay running for The Bahamas over the years. He has contributed the most, and will probably go down in history as the country’s best relay runner in that event. He has achieved quite a bit in the open 400m as well. Brown was twice fourth at the Olympics and twice fourth at the world championships. He also has a fourth place finish from the Commonwealth Games, and a fifth place finish from the world championships.
He has been a part of almost every significant men’s 4x400m relay team in Bahamian history. Bahamians know the end is near for Brown, but what a ride it’s been.
From the young man from Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera, who tried to chase down Michael Johnson at the 2000 Olympics, to arguably the best relay runner ever for The Bahamas, the country has certainly gotten its money worth from Chris “The Fireman” Brown. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67231-the-fireman-ready-to-ride-off-into-the-sunset | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/b7f492e4b6bc2d4c0f0e93a59e6066d4010121674ddf4b6e6350cb6d0d2f23b0.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:01 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67228-gardiner-ready-to-lead-next-generation-of-bahamian-quarter-milers.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – The Games of the 31st Olympiad has certainly seen its share of new world and Olympic records, in a number of events across different sporting disciplines.
One such event, the men’s 400 meters (m), has been a signature discipline in The Bahamas for many years. Chris “The Fireman” Brown and Michael Mathieu are getting up there in age though.
One of the young men expected to carry the banner for The Bahamas in that event into the future, national record holder Steven Gardiner, said that he is ready to pick up the mantle when athletes such as Brown and Mathieu come off the scene.
Brown is done, as far as competing at the Olympics is concerned, but should run next year at the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) World Relay Championships in The Bahamas, and possibly the IAAF World Championships in London, England as well. Mathieu might have another Olympics left in him and should be running next year as well. They’ve been two pillars of strength on The Bahamas men’s 4x400m relay team over the past eight years, both picking up three Olympic medals over that span – gold, silver and bronze.
Mathieu and Brown ran the second and anchor legs for The Bahamas respectively in the final of the relay this past Saturday at the Olympic Athletics Stadium. The Bahamas won the bronze medal in the Olympic final in a season’s best time of 2:58.49, the sixth fastest time ever for the nation in that event.
“We have a lot of young guys coming up so I have no doubt that we will be able to carry on the tradition of great running in this event for The Bahamas,” said Gardiner, just 20-years-old. “There’s no pressure on me. I just have to go out there and run and contribute in any way that I can. The young guys coming up, myself included, I feel like we are able to go out there and represent the country well.”
The Games of the 31st Olympiad came to an end on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In the open men’s 400m, Gardiner bowed out in the semi-finals. He was fifth in his semi-final heat and 11th overall in 44.72 seconds. In his opening round heat, he finished second and qualified for the semis tied with the sixth fastest time of 45.24 seconds.
Wayde van Niekerk, of South Africa, won the gold medal in the men’s 400m in a new world and Olympic record of 43.03 seconds. Kirani James, of Grenada, won the silver medal, in a season’s best time of 43.76 seconds, and LaShawn Merritt, of the United States, won bronze in a season’s best time of 43.85 seconds. Machel Cedenio, of Trinidad & Tobago, ran a national record time of 44.01 seconds, but had to settle for fourth.
Gardiner is looking to get up there with those guys. He said that he truly enjoyed his first Olympic experience, and is looking forward to returning to the grand stage. He feels that he is gradually developing, and expects an even better performance at the next Olympics in 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
“Things are coming around,” he said. “By 2020, I should be up there. This was my first Olympics so it was a learning experience for me. Once I continue my training and continue working hard I believe that I will be able to make it back to this level and have an even better showing.”
Gardiner has a season’s best time of 44.46 seconds, done to win the national title at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ (BAAA) Senior National Championships. He ran a national record of 44.27 seconds at last year’s nationals.
In one year, Gardiner went from running 47s to 44s in the men’s 400m. His progression has been remarkable.
He has the two fastest times in Bahamian history in the event – 44.27 and 44.30 seconds, the latter done at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial 2015 to defeat Merritt last year.
Gardiner can run the 200m as well. In fact, he is the junior national holder in that event with a time of 20.66 seconds, and has a personal best run of 20.63 seconds.
As far as the 400 is concerned, Gardiner said that he has aspirations of dipping below 44 seconds in the not too distant future. He is coached by Bahamian George Cleare, the Head Coach of The Bahamas’ 29-member Olympic team this year.
With other young Bahamian quarter-milers out there like Stephen “Dirty” Newbold, Alonzo Russell, Kinard Rolle, Henri Delauze and Kendrick Thompson just to name a few, Gardiner believes that the future of men’s 4x400m running in The Bahamas is secured. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67228-gardiner-ready-to-lead-next-generation-of-bahamian-quarter-milers | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/2bd2a1df1a7e506aad7149240c7ccbf4cd6cd321db3d67b1050631150e9bdaaa.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T14:52:20 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67408-guardian-apologises-to-louis-bacon.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67408/Louis Bacon.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | We wish to apologise to Mr. Louis Bacon for certain statements contained in two (2) adverts published in our newspaper on the 29th January, 2016 and 22nd February, 2016.
The adverts in question were paid for by Nygard International Partnership and contained in “wrap arounds”. Both of the adverts could have been understood as suggesting that Mr. Bacon had spread a false story to Lyford Cay Residents that Mr. Peter Nygard was planning to build a Stem Cell Clinic at Nygard Cay in order to mislead the Court into granting injunctions against Mr. Nygard. The truth is we were not provided with any evidence to substantiate such claims against Mr. Bacon, nor are we aware of any, and it was certainly not our intention to give any such impression.
We therefore apologise to Mr. Bacon and his family for publishing the aforementioned adverts as worded. We shall exercise more care in the future. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67408-guardian-apologises-to-louis-bacon | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/8d84b3fe79b502622b24e74dd0bf638e5f24bf0e2a6aaa25e22ca32ddda5c5ba.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:16:07 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Flifestyles%2Fpulse%2F67181-miss-world-bahamas-receives-her-prizes.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67181/Prizes 1.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Miss World Bahamas Ashley Hamilton has been making her presence felt since being crowned, by lending a hand to several charitable organizations — The Island Game Foundation, the Victor Sassoon Heart Foundation for which she will serve as brand ambassador during her reign, as her charitable endeavors will include a healthy hearts project for which she will raise funds for children in need of heart surgery.
She was presented with her prize package during a reception held by the Miss Bahamas Organization. Hamilton’s prizes include a $30,000 cash prize from The Island Game Foundation; an all-expense paid trip to Miss World; Debonaire Boutique dressing for appearances ($6,500); orthodontic treatment, Bahamas Orthodontic ($5,000); designer jewelry, Chevette Williamson ($5,000); suite of leather goods, Haus of RvR ($4,000), VIP suite two-night stay at Melia Nassau Beach All Inclusive ($3,915); cell phone and year’s supply of minutes, BTC ($2,000); scholarship, Music Model and Talents Showcase 2017 ($1,845); chauffeured limousine service, H&H Limousines ($1,800); manicure/pedicure for a year, Darcel Williams #Pienails242 ($1,800); year’s supply Secure Makeup remover, Carib Med Ltd. ($1,500); designer evening gown, Debonaire Boutique ($1,500); assorted merchandise, Venus.com ($1,500); New Oriental Laundry & Cleaners dry cleaning services for a year ($1,500); VIP bowling party, Mario’s Bowling Palace ($1,500); original design, Theodore Elyett ($1,200); Melia Nassau Beach All-Inclusive weekend say ($1,100); Floridita assorted swimwear ($1,000); Club One Fitness Center one year’s membership ($750); Polished Makeup International tutorial scholarship ($600); Bahari assorted merchandise ($500); Commonwealth Fabrics fabrics and notions ($500); Trip for four Dolphin Encounters, Blue Lagoon Island ($400); Diamond Smiles teeth cleaning, consultation and x-ray check up ($250); a year’s supply of makeup ($250); appearances in ad campaigns for BTC, Haus of RvR and Sands Beer; and a spread in Bahamasair inflight magazine Up and Away Magazine. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/lifestyles/pulse/67181-miss-world-bahamas-receives-her-prizes | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/bf5655ba833d59d8d38af038fa0e031de956fcd4ba3393877229d7df7dff3609.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:07:36 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Flifestyles%2Fhealth-and-wellness%2F67266-as-hire-as-whereas-bs-hire-cs.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | I happened to be watching T.V a little while back when Senator Ted Cruz who was running at the time to hopefully be the Republican candidate for president of the U.S. (United States) commented, that if he won the nomination for the party Carly Fiorina would be his vice presidential nominee. When he made this, as many said somewhat premature announcement, he uttered the phrase that is the title of today’s article which left many people puzzled —“As hire As whereas Bs hire Cs.”
So D. Paul what exactly did Senator Cruz mean by that you may query? Well, he said that it’s a phrase used when dealing with the matter of management, which means in effect the following. Top people hire really good, well-qualified people to assist them as they manage; whereas not so good people hire inferior people with which to surround themselves. Believe me, this is so true, and I have indeed observed it in practice a whole lot over the years as I dealt with businesses large and small around the globe, facilitating seminars for them.
An excellent example of what we’re discussing here today is Richard Branson CEO of the very successful Virgin Group of companies. When Richard Branson started Virgin Atlantic Airways with just one 747-200 series aircraft flying the London to New York route, he actually knew nothing whatsoever about the airline industry. So he surrounded himself with top airline executives — class A people, and today Virgin Atlantic Airways is consistently voted as one of the world’s top airlines.
Yes indeed, as today’s title puts it As hire As whereas Bs hire Cs. But why would anyone not hire the very best people they could, you may query? Well the answer is simple, because they are insecure as a result of low self-esteem and are therefore afraid to have someone who knows more than they do for fear of losing their job. Yes indeed, once again insecurity caused by low self-esteem rears its ugly head.
• Think about it!
Visit my website at: www.dpaulreilly.com.
Listen to “Time to Think” the radio program on STAR 106.5 FM at 8:55 a.m. & 6:20 p.m. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/lifestyles/health-and-wellness/67266-as-hire-as-whereas-bs-hire-cs | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/b55124e872eb9d62a5d1f0eb697be1b01dd9f01032dad59c6ea6bda449b530f7.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T14:49:44 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67360-guardian-apologises-to-louis-bacon.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67360/Louis Bacon.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | We wish to apologise to Mr. Louis Bacon for certain statements contained in two (2) adverts published in our newspaper on the 29th January, 2016 and 22nd February, 2016.
The adverts in question were paid for by Nygard International Partnership and contained in “wrap arounds”. Both of the adverts could have been understood as suggesting that Mr. Bacon had spread a false story to Lyford Cay Residents that Mr. Peter Nygard was planning to build a Stem Cell Clinic at Nygard Cay in order to mislead the Court into granting injunctions against Mr. Nygard. The truth is we were not provided with any evidence to substantiate such claims against Mr. Bacon, nor are we aware of any, and it was certainly not our intention to give any such impression.
We therefore apologise to Mr. Bacon and his family for publishing the aforementioned adverts as worded. We shall exercise more care in the future. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67360-guardian-apologises-to-louis-bacon | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/e4ef3f7fb4b09d88c1f411647bede8fc2be0c8c6bfdaf09a24c4b9345b0d9012.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:19 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67257-wake-forest-hosts-mini-camp-at-sandilands-primary.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Although the main reason the Wake Forest men’s basketball team traveled to New Providence was to compete in the Bahamas Basketball Federation’s (BBF) Summer of Thunder exhibition series, the Demon Deacons still found time to get in some community service before they left the island on Friday morning, hosting a mini-camp and read along session with the kids at Sandilands Primary School.
With the support of Mission Educate Bahamas (MEB) and Wendy’s, the Demon Deacons took about 40 elementary school students through a few skill drills on the court and also through a brief conditioning workout, teaching them the importance of being physically fit. During the read along segment, both players and kids interacted using MEB’s “TuneIn to Read” program.
The camp also featured T-shirt giveaways, autograph signing and lunch for the students. Despite ending their run at Summer of Thunder on Thursday night, the team wanted to interact more with the local community before heading back to North Carolina.
“Since we already completed our scheduled games, we saw this as an opportunity for our guys to see different parts of the island, but most importantly, it was a chance to connect with some kids and put a smile on their face,” said head coach Danny Manning. “We really enjoyed our time here, because it was also a bonding trip for our team as well. So now we hope that the chemistry we built here carries over into the season.”
Sandilands Primary is one of the latest schools to incorporate MEB’s TuneIn program into its curriculum. School Principal Esther Cartwright said the program is one that can truly elevate the literacy levels in younger students. She expressed her appreciation to MEB and Wendy’s for affording the kids the opportunity to meet and greet with the players.
“It was a delight to have Wake Forest University here. This kind of exposure is great for our students,” she said. “We want to thank Wendy’s for the charity and for making this possible. “This is an opportunity that most students would never have if it wasn’t for this program, and I think the impact from the visit will go beyond just our school, but throughout the entire Fox Hill community and The Bahamas at large.”
The TuneIn program is a reading program monitored using computers and headphones. It helps children improve their reading in a very short period of time, as few as one or two grade levels. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67257-wake-forest-hosts-mini-camp-at-sandilands-primary | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/5615d903ea86dfc270346503ad174bd7f064cd4b2120eec33d3c376f3006d7e4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:03:31 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Flifestyles%2Fhealth-and-wellness%2F67269-life-expectancy-increasing-with-better-sickle-cell-treatment.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67269/ACS.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | ust as people are encouraged to know their HIV/AIDS status, Pediatric Hematologist Dr. Corrine Sin Quee Brown encourages people to know their sickle cell status, a screening for which she says only needs to be once, unlike testing for HIV/AIDS.
While life expectancy is increasing with better treatment, Dr. Sin Quee Brown said the precautions have to be taken to ensure that people with sickle cell disease get as good a lifespan as possible.
Sickle cell disease is a hereditary blood disorder affecting the red blood cells. The cells become sickle shaped (hence the name of the disease) making it difficult for them to pass through small blood vessels. When those blood cells get trapped, they can’t carry oxygen to all parts of the body and this is what causes the pain and complications associated with the disease. People with sickle cell can experience anemia, jaundice and gallstones as well as acute pain in the arms, legs, chest and abdomen. Prolonged blockages can also cause damage to most organs including the spleen, kidneys and liver. Sickled cells are destroyed more rapidly than the normal red cells. The lifespan for sickled cells is about 20 days, compared to 120 days for normal cells.
“If you know you have the sickle cell trait, then if your partner has a sickle cell trait too, then you know that there is a risk — and you will know the calculated risk and the percentage of possibility for your child to have sickle cell disease and then you can make whatever wise choices at that point for how you carry on with your families,” said Dr. Sin Quee Brown at the most recent Doctors Hospital Distinguished Lecture Series.
An unpublished 2012 study showed an 8.4 percent prevalence and incidence of the sickle cell trait during a six-month period in The Bahamas with one in 685 new cases at birth.
A study by Dr. Patrick Roberts, who Dr. Sin Quee Brown as the “grandfather” of the promotion of sickle cell disease awareness in the country, completed in 1987 showed that one in 100 Bahamians has the sickle cell trait, and one in 400 has the sickle cell disease. Dr. Roberts, and a group of concerned people formed the Bahamas Sickle Cell Association (BSCA) in 1981 after noticing a high level of babies being born with the disease. The foundation is dedicated to advocating and encouraging continued research for a cure for sickle cell disease while working to enhance the quality of healthcare, life and services for individuals and families affected by the disease.
Statistics, inheritance, signs and symptoms and complications were addressed by Dr. Sin Quee Brown, but she specifically spoke to acute chest syndrome (ACS), which is potentially life-threatening, can lead to respiratory failure and death; it is a leading cause of death among patients with sickle cell disease.
With ACS, a person has lowered oxygen for the body, and the hemoglobin also falls lower than the usual baseline anemia. Repeat occurrences of ACS, the doctor said, can lead to permanent lung damage. Those cases are more common in young children. When adults get ACS repeatedly, she said, it is definitely more severe and oftentimes fatal.
Symptoms, causes and treatment of ACS
“Cough, wheezing, chest pain, fever, shortness of breath — breathing fast, pulling in between the ribs, flaring of nostrils, grunting — are all attempts of the body to try to open the lungs and get as much air and oxygen into the lungs. This is not the time to wait it out. It’s time to take the person in. Great caution and respect is what I have for this. It’s one of the most humbling things in sickle cell disease management. The symptoms might be mild, but the progression can be very rapid and can lead to death. Sometimes you can wait it out and watch it, but often times these patients require hospitalization, and depending on how severe they are, they may need to be admitted into the intensive care unit.”
Causes of ACS include infarction from the sickling process, or embolism from fat and bone marrow, more common in adults; and atelectasis due to shallow breathing, bony pain (chest, back); abdominal pain; and poor respiratory effort.
“Oxygen is a plus [in treatment of ACS]. Fluids to help keep you well hydrated to decrease some of the sickling and the blockages would be helpful. Pain medicines are a must. Antibiotics we give because some cases are associated with infection, but we don’t know which ones those are going to be, so we throw that onboard too because we want to give you everything we can early to try and change the course of the progression.”
The pediatric hematologist said patients oftentimes need a blood transfusion, which can be a simple blood transfusion or they may elect to exchange it by giving the patient blood and taking out blood to lower the amount of sickling and hopefully decrease the progression. The deep breathing incentive spirometer is a machine she said every sickle cell patient should have, and should use.
“When you are sick, you have to know what you have to aim to do, because this machine is probably going to be as important, if not more important than the antibiotics and the pain medicine in making you recover.
Prevention – Hydroxyurea in ACS
Patients who have had three or more episodes of ACS crisis in a year can benefit from going on hydroxyurea, a medication the doctor said is probably one of the greatest contributions made in the treatment of sickle cell disease in the 80s and 90s.
“The addition of hydroxyurea on a daily basis has actually made a big difference in the quality of life for a lot of sickle cell patients. This medication was actually originally a chemotherapy agent that we use for the treatment of cancer, and we found out that there is a benefit in the production of Hemoglobin F that helps to prevent sickling.”
She said using it could help to minimize the amount of serious complications from sickle cell disease that patients have, but the drawback is chemotherapy side effects. That means users have to be monitored, especially for lowered white cell counts; the medication can also affect the liver and kidneys as well.
“We have to monitor you, but the verdict is out that you can have patients on hydroxyurea for many years and if you are some of the ones who have benefited from it to stop they [medical professionals] would say no way.”
Stroke and management
By age 18, overt stroke has occurred in about 11 percent of the children, and could occur in adults as well, according to the doctor. She said once a person has had a stroke, the likelihood of him or her having a stroke within the next three to five years is 60 percent.
The signs of stroke in people with sickle cell are the same as in stroke for any other reason — sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm or leg; sudden confusion; trouble speaking or understanding; trouble walking; dizziness, loss of balance or co-ordination; sudden severe headaches with no known cause.
Patients should have a CT scan of the head performed without contrast, because she said the contrast agent can cause a person to get dehydrated, and if that happens the patient can go into crisis.
“You want them to hydrate you first, hydrate you afterwards to ensure your kidneys are flushing well, so it can get rid of the dye safely. For what we’re looking for in the CT in stroke, we don’t need contrast,” she said.
Dr. Sin Quee Brown said that a MRI would be a little more sensitive, but more expensive.
The doctor said blood transfusions are an important tool in managing sickle cell disease. In exchange transfusion they’re trying to change the amount of sickling and obstruction to prevent advance area of infraction to the brain. While aspirin use in adults is a little controversial, as far as whether or not it is a benefit, she said she sees where more and more people are considering it.
And while adults are urged to try to get to a hospital within four hours of a stroke so that they can be administered a clot buster, in sickle cell the clot buster does not work. The treatment she said is IV fluids, blood transfusions and wait to see the recovery.
Monthly lifelong transfusion therapy also plays a part in management to reduce the risk for another stroke. After about two years of transfusions another problem becomes evident as the amount of iron that is in blood becomes an issue.
“Iron will deposit in organs like the liver, the heart, the brain, so iron is not a good thing and so after about two years of being on a transfusion protocol, you need to do chelation therapy and that comes with its own problems and cost,” said Dr. Sin Quee Brown.
She said bone marrow transplantation and stem cell transplantation are also definitely considerations.
Screening and complications
For parents with the disease wanting to know if their child has the trait as early as possible, a screening test can be done as early as nine to 10 weeks of pregnancy with chorionic villus sampling; or amniocentesis at 16 to 18 weeks. Both of are invasive procedures that may be associated with a small risk for miscarriage, according to the doctor, however parents can know if their child has sickle cell before the child is born.
She said parents can opt to do newborn screening at around the time of birth, which entails a simple heel prick, the baby’s blood is put on a little card and sent off to the lab for a lot of different tests including to detect whether the child has sickle cell disease. But that newborn screening is not routine in The Bahamas. The doctor hopes it will soon become routine. She also hopes that the education about the disease picks up as well.
In sickle cell disease, Dr. Sin Quee Brown said painful crisis is reported in up to 70 percent of patients.
By the time they are adults 70 percent of patients will have gallstones; 40 percent acute chest; 50 percent will suffer blindness and she said this is more commonly seen in patients with SC variety than the SS type of sickle cell, but that it is definitely a problem; 28 percent will suffer aplastic crisis at some point during their lifetime when the bone marrow that produces the red cells shuts down for a while; 10 to 40 percent will suffer priprism, which she said is painful unwanted erection; 10 percent will suffer a stroke, which she said is more commonly seen in children.
She said patients with sickle cell disease can have problems with their joints — the shoulders and hips — can’t walk as well and can’t extend the joints the way they used to. And that 20 percent of adults will suffer leg ulcers and as they progress in life will find that some of the organs like the kidney will be damaged.
“Life expectancy is increasing with better treatment. So where people would say people with sickle cell disease would die early, that is not what we are seeing now, but it’s not quite as normal as the regular population, but we need to take precautions in making sure we get as good a lifespan as possible,” said Dr. Sin Quee Brown. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/lifestyles/health-and-wellness/67269-life-expectancy-increasing-with-better-sickle-cell-treatment | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/782eecb4c52c8768464c51de7a736b69242df321cc9c13c86f0ad089eab63fbd.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:50 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fopinion%2Feditorial%2F67194-a-true-commitment-to-transparency.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | The run-up to every Bahamian election in recent memory has featured a list of the failures and missteps of the incumbent party, painstakingly compiled by their enthusiastic rivals, for the consideration of the voting public.
Over the past few election cycles, sitting governments have attracted criticism, not merely for the scandals that occurred on their watch, but also for their failure to release the full details of these incidents to the public.
“Government in the sunshine” was a key election promise of the first Free National Movement (FNM) administration, which in 1992 ended the 25-year stranglehold on power enjoyed by the increasingly overbearing, cabalistic and extremely secretive Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) administration of the former prime minister, Sir Lynden Pindling.
While Bahamians have widely varying opinions on the extent to which the FNM kept this promise, the fact is, true transparency and accountability is an ideal that has continued to elude us as a nation.
A key reason for this has been that while opposition politicians continue to denounce excessive government secrecy and wax lyrical about what they would do differently if elected, once in office they are reluctant to revisit the scandals of the past and provide clarity to the public.
Under the first Christie administration, in office from 2002 to 2007, the FNM decried everything from a mysterious deal to allow Korean fishing boats in Bahamian waters, to fist fights in the Cabinet room, to claims of election fraud on the eve of the vote which saw the PLP ousted. However, once in power, the second Ingraham administration did not cause there to be sufficient disclosure on these issues.
Fighting to regain office in 2012, the PLP had its own list of issues of complaint to parade before the public. These included claims of favorable tax rates for the relative of a senior FNM official, a highly questionable helicopter ride and a very strange contract signed by the Ministry of Tourism, which led to allegations of conflict of interest.
Yet, four years after once again taking the reigns of power we have heard nothing from the PLP about these matters.
Today the public finds itself saddled with an administration that emerged in scandal. Clearly, promises of future transparency and accountability are not enough to secure governance in the public interest. That is why, going forward, opposition politicians should make a true commitment to transparency.
They should pledge that, if elected, they will not just behave better than their predecessors; they would also use the public records and confidential files at their disposal to hold those predecessors responsible for their actions and lift the veil from the immediate past so the public can have a clear understanding of what had been done in its name.
The threat of future exposure is the only way to make politicians think twice before becoming embroiled in scandal in the first place. It is the only way to create real change and progress in our ossified political system. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/editorial/67194-a-true-commitment-to-transparency | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/021603fd4d9227bdfeb14df6003220e706547ad8307d89b23807d228dad5a0e5.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T14:50:36 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67391-guardian-apologises-to-louis-bacon.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67391/Louis Bacon.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | We wish to apologise to Mr. Louis Bacon for certain statements contained in two (2) adverts published in our newspaper on the 29th January, 2016 and 22nd February, 2016.
The adverts in question were paid for by Nygard International Partnership and contained in “wrap arounds”. Both of the adverts could have been understood as suggesting that Mr. Bacon had spread a false story to Lyford Cay Residents that Mr. Peter Nygard was planning to build a Stem Cell Clinic at Nygard Cay in order to mislead the Court into granting injunctions against Mr. Nygard. The truth is we were not provided with any evidence to substantiate such claims against Mr. Bacon, nor are we aware of any, and it was certainly not our intention to give any such impression.
We therefore apologise to Mr. Bacon and his family for publishing the aforementioned adverts as worded. We shall exercise more care in the future. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67391-guardian-apologises-to-louis-bacon | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/e2f1a180a1063207db5c0915ffafe7b08d89b11b0e21bff5d9cad7ef9412c3b2.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:00:48 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67273-ag-nolles-three-cases.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Three backlogged cases were concluded without a trial yesterday.
Prosecutor Randolph Dames presented Acting Supreme Court Justice Joyann Ferguson-Pratt directives to discontinue the matters against three men who had been committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court.
None of the former defendants or their legal representatives were in court when the matters were brought to an end.
Kennedy Ingraham was accused of assault with intent to rape and forcible detention with intent to rape.
David Williams was accused of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and Romeo Williams was accused of attempted unlawful sexual intercourse.
More matters are expected to be discontinued on Friday.
In other court news, the trial of three boys accused of the murder of a fellow student is expected to resume today.
Justice Bernard Turner excused the 12-member jury last Tuesday after one day of testimony.
The defendants have denied that they fatally stabbed Adonai Wilson on December 9, 2015 during an after-school fight near Blanco Bleach on Prince Charles Drive.
The defendants and the deceased attended Doris Johnson High School.
According to a student, who is related to one of the defendants and the best friend of another, it was the deceased who began the fight. The witness said that she did not see anyone with a knife during that altercation. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67273-ag-nolles-three-cases | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/7e657a7b1180f5c49a67e7edb006e444376079fd963635cfa2eb5e6431887a7c.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:46 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67197-no-new-zika-cases-but-officials-remain-on-alert.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | There have been no new reported cases of Zika since the Ministry of Health advised the public of the country’s first case of the mosquito-borne virus last week, Chief Medical Officer Glen Beneby said yesterday.
Beneby, who was out of the country, told The Nassau Guardian, “We are pleased with the public’s response to what is going on and it is very important for us to continue to work together on this public health initiative as it is an important initiative.”
Last Wednesday, Health Minister Dr. Perry Gomez announced that a Pinewood resident who had recently traveled to Jamaica was diagnosed with the virus and was being treated.
Environment health officials said the necessary fogging would be done to rid the area of any mosquitoes or mosquito breeding sites.
Zika virus is transmitted primarily by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Other modes of transmission have been identified including passing the Zika infection from mother to baby and sexual transmission.
Zika during pregnancy has also been linked to microcephaly in newborns.
As there is no specific treatment or vaccine available for Zika virus infection, the health minister said the best form of protection is prevention.
Preventative measures include avoiding mosquito bites, eliminating mosquito breeding sites and to prevent sexual transmission.
The mosquito-borne virus has been detected in more than 50 countries and has been linked to thousands of cases of severe birth defects in babies.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said earlier this month that the Zika virus could spread into Europe within the next few months. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67197-no-new-zika-cases-but-officials-remain-on-alert | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/45e33053cb1d5b200f68959e2d3aaca4ac3f9806419c1e7b6c48a0d006abb464.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:45 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67258-bahamas-beats-us-in-historic-soccer-win.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67258/Beach soccer 1.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | The Bahamas defeated the United States for the first time in the country’s soccer history.
The Bahamas beach soccer team scored the historic win against the #15 ranked U.S. men’s national team in a nail biting match in Spiez, Switzerland on Saturday.
It was a close match up, but The Bahamas came out on top, defeating the soccer powerhouse by one point with a final score of 5-4.
“This is a great day in Bahamian football history,” said Bahamas Football Association (BFA) General Secretary Fred Lunn.
“This is a victory not only for the team, but more importantly, for the country. We are ecstatic about this win, but we won’t get comfortable. Our focus goes back to preparing for next year’s World Cup where we plan to make the country proud on home sand.”
A Bahamian contingent attended the game and cheered on Team Bahamas, including Bahamas Ambassador to Switzerland Rhoda Jackson.
“Words can’t describe how we’re feeling,” said team captain Gavin Christie. “The U.S. is a strong competitor and we’ve played against them several times but were unsuccessful in defeating them. They were ranked significantly higher than us, so this win shows that Team Bahamas is on the right track.”
Lesley St. Jean was the game’s highest scorer, netting four of the five goals. Ehren Hanna scored the first goal for The Bahamas in period two.
“All of our hard work has finally paid off. We’ve been able to kick it up a few notches and we were finally able to pull off a victory against the U.S.,” Hanna said.
The squad is in Europe for a six-week training camp and a series of tournaments in preparation for the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Sixteen countries will compete in the prestigious 11-day tournament slated for April 27 to May 7 in Nassau.
With its first ever win against the U.S., Team Bahamas is gaining confidence heading into next year’s World Cup.
“It was an outstanding game and a fantastic result for these players. The team has been training twice a day for the last six weeks and competing against various national and club teams every weekend. They’re getting stronger, they’re getting faster, and they’re getting ready to compete on the world stage,” said BFA Beach Soccer Vice President Jason McDowall.
While in Europe, Team Bahamas also secured victories against Estonia and number five-ranked beach soccer powerhouse Tahiti.
The historic win comes as the country celebrates a victory over the U.S. in the women’s 400-meter track event at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Following in the footsteps of gold medalist Shaunae Miller, the Bahamas beach soccer team members dove into the sand in celebration of their win.
Members of the team include Valin Bodie, Lamar Cancino, Gavin Christie, Dwight Darling, Christopher Davis, Torin Ferguson, Dwayne Forbes, Ehren Hanna, Jared Higgs, Nesley Jean, Timothy Munnings, Lesley St. Fleur and Kyle Williams.
The Bahamas beach soccer team returns to Nassau on Wednesday, August 24. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67258-bahamas-beats-us-in-historic-soccer-win | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/882b6f8e4275595e4bbaea48075a8147c1cf61ffcbb7d3a6fa2b3580fc40b577.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:11:55 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67246-bronze-for-the-bahamas.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67246/Bronze for The Bahamas-Rio Olympics Athletic .jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – A bronze medal from the men at the highest level of sports in the world closed out an up and down Olympics for The Bahamas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The men’s 4x400 meters (m) relay has been a pillar of strength for the country over the past 16 years – covering five Olympics. The Bahamas secured its fourth medal in the span, and third straight, with a gutsy run by four men at the Olympic Athletics Stadium on Saturday night.
The quartet of Alonzo Russell, Michael Mathieu, Steven Gardiner and Chris “The Fireman” Brown, in that order, got the job done, running a season’s best time of 2:58.49 for the bronze medal.
After seeing their 60-year reign as champions in the event come to an end at the last Olympics, the Americans are back on top. Anchored by LaShawn Merritt, the United States took the gold in a season’s best time of 2:57.30. Jamaica came from behind to snatch the silver medal away from The Bahamas, finishing in a season’s best time of 2:58.16, and The Bahamas just barely held off a charging Belgian team for the bronze. Belgium was fourth in a national record time of 2:58.52.
With six strong runners in the pool, there was a lot of talk of who would run and who would run what leg, but at the end of the day, you can’t argue success, and a bronze at this level is definitely a successful outing.
“Unity is strength. Once we were unified from day one, we knew that we stood a chance,” said team leader Brown who ran a brilliant anchor leg, turning in a split of 44.2. “People counted us out but we knew that we had four guys who could get the job done. It was tough for us all season. We didn’t get to run together at all this season.
“Also, a lot of guys were banged up and not in the best shape but we came together when it mattered the most and got the job done. The Lord had mercy on us and we’re thankful for it. We wanted the gold, but the bronze for us is like a gold considering what we went through this season.
“We were going up against teams that were way better than us on paper, so to come away with a bronze medal at the Olympics is a victory for us. I’m happy and truly blessed.”
The bronze is Brown’s fourth at the Olympic level – all in the relays. The team won bronze in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, silver in 2008 in Beijing, China, gold four years ago in London, England, and now bronze from these Games of the 31st Olympiad.
It’s also The Bahamas’ 14th Olympic medal in total and second of these games, gold and bronze, allowing The Bahamas to finish in a three-way tie for 51st in the medal standings. Shaunae Miller struck gold in the women’s 400m last Monday.
The men came into these Olympics as the defending champions, but it was no doubt a tumultuous season for a number of guys in the pool, and collectively as a unit. On paper, they weren’t as good as four years ago, and certainly weren’t expected to duplicate that performance from London. In fact, most analysts had them falling out of the top three entirely.
Russell, Mathieu, 20-year-old Gardiner and the veteran of the team, Brown at 37, showed what could be done through team chemistry and unity though, and will return home as Olympic medalists.
It’s actually the sixth fastest time for The Bahamas of all-time in the event behind the national record run of four years ago (2:56.72), the run at the 2005 Helsinki World Championships for the silver medal (2:57.32), the run at the inaugural world relays in The Bahamas for silver (2:57.59), the run at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games for silver (2:58.03), and the run at the 2001 Edmonton World Championships for another silver (2:58.19).
Athletes such as Brown and Mathieu might be gradually coming off the scene, but with young legs like Gardiner, Russell and Stephen Newbold who ran the heats, The Bahamas looks to be in good hands going forward. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67246-bronze-for-the-bahamas | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/47fa86d40b9ec5b2485dcad50476abc96a388b703bc14aa232dcf38983d32ff3.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:11:09 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67243-cocaine-seized-at-lpia.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | A Bahamian man was being questioned yesterday in connection with 51 kilos of cocaine discovered at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), police said.
Authorities found the drugs in two large suitcases on board a chartered aircraft that landed around 8 a.m. Police did not state the value of the drugs. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67243-cocaine-seized-at-lpia | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/09fd5fa5c6654ba63ad553f07876825080b8a0d49610c2c24a19a529172769f4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:13 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fbahamas-business%2F40-bahamas-business%2F67253-vat-removed-on-ancillary-education-fees.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | The Department of Inland Revenue (DIR) has advised that no valued-added tax (VAT) will be applied on ancillary education fees going forward from July 1, 2016 for all private and public preschools, primary schools, high schools and tertiary level institutions in The Bahamas.
Prime Minister Perry Christie proposed the removal of VAT on ancillary fees for education services during the mid-year budget communication.
The proposal was one of 16 tax relief measures to be executed by the government.
The ancillary fees are limited to the supply of vocational training; registration fees; laboratory fees; graduation fees; field trips examination services; school cafeteria services; the supply of graduation certificates; and the use of school facilities, amenities and equipment. The fees are also applied to the sale of books and other reference materials previously considered not an integral part of course instruction.
According to the VAT Act, educational services including tuition-funded courses, schools and programs leading to graduate and undergraduate degrees were already exempt from the tax. However, ancillary education fees were not covered by the exemption.
An ancillary fee is a fee imposed by an institution in addition to regular tuition fees.
For example, The College of The Bahamas (COB) has several fees that are non-degree related and are subject to value-added tax, such as an insurance fee, a library fee, technology/lab fees, a student activity fee and a capital facility development fee.
Guardian Business tried to contact COB to confirm whether all of those fees would no longer be taxed, but was unsuccessful up to press time. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/67253-vat-removed-on-ancillary-education-fees | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/8551c64e29a85bfa37593f2e63b6d966ed7c4a9db758f06feac723bfb4b162e5.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:04:48 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67236-up-and-down-performances-for-team-bahamas-in-rio.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – When one looks at The Bahamas’ performance, across the board, at the Games of the 31st Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a conclusion could derived that the athletes performed as well as they could on the world’s biggest stage for sports, and will return home with some hardware.
Leading the way was Bahamian sprint queen Shaunae Miller. What started as a tumultuous Olympics for Miller, regarding her interest in running the women’s 200 meters (m) and the uproar that followed afterwards, ended in jubilation with her being crowned the new queen in the women’s 400m.
Miller wanted to go after the double, but the coaches and management team of Team Bahamas decided against it, instead going with the trio of Tynia Gaither, Anthonique Strachan and Sheniqua Ferguson in the women’s 200m.
Only Gaither made it out of the first round, and finished 24th overall in the semi-finals. Miller is number four in the world in the event according to the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) Top Performance List. She set the new Bahamian national record of 22.05 seconds this year, but according to reports, her camp waited too late to state an interest in running the event here in Rio, and with team officials not wanting to disenfranchise any athlete that would have justifiably qualified and was here at the games, they decided against letting Miller run.
Then came the issue with Miller not running in the heats of the women’s 4x400m relay. According to reports, she wasn’t well enough to run that particular night but declared her availability for the final should The Bahamas advance. The country did not. According to reports, Miller was still feeling the effects of on bruises after falling to the track at the end for the open women’s 400m.
Also, it was noted by coaches here in Rio that she had three grueling rounds of the women’s 400m, and that her management team might have factored in the decision for her not to run.
Speaking of the women’s 400m, Miller struck gold in a personal best and world leading time of 49.44 seconds.
The only other medal for The Bahamas at these games came courtesy of the men’s 4x400m relay team. The team of Alonzo Russell, Michael Mathieu, Steven Gardiner and Chris Brown, in that order, won bronze in a season’s best time of 2:58.49 – the sixth fastest time ever for The Bahamas in the event.
The women’s team of Lanece Clarke, Anthonique Strachan, Carmiesha Cox and Christine Amertil, in that order, ran a new national record time of 3:26.36 in the heats. They were 11th overall and failed to make the final by less than a second.
What more could be said of 21-year-old Pedrya Seymour. The young lady had the two best runs of her life at these Olympics.
She set a new national record of 12.64 seconds in the semi-finals of the women’s 100 meters (m) hurdles, and then followed that up in the final with 12.76 run for sixth place.
Both Donald Thomas and Trevor Barry advanced to the final of the men’s high jump. Thomas cleared 2.29m (7’ 6”) and finished in a three-way tie for seventh, and Barry was 11th, clearing 2.25m (7’ 4-1/2”).
Steven Gardiner and Tynia Gaither made semi-finals. Gardiner was 11th overall in 44.72 seconds, and Gaither finished 24th overall in 23.45 seconds. She ran 22.90 seconds in the opening round heats, and failed to make the semis in the women’s 100m with an opening time of 11.56 seconds. Strachan ran a season’s best time of 22.96 seconds in the opening round heats in the women’s 200m and just missed qualifying for the semis.
Chris “The Fireman” Brown just missed qualifying for the semi-finals of the men’s 400m. He ran an opening round time of 45.56 seconds and finished tied for 20th overall.
In the men’s 200m, Teray Smith finished in a three-way tie for 52nd overall with a time of 20.66 seconds. Shavez Hart finished tied for 56th with a time of 20.74 seconds. He ran 10.28 seconds in the opening round heats of the men’s 100m, and finished in a three-way tie for 37th.
In the men’s triple jump, “Superman” Leevan Sands finished 18th overall, finishing with a best leap of 16.53m (54’ 2-3/4”), and Latario Collie failed to register a good jump. He scratched on all three of his attempts.
In the women’s long jump, Bianca Stuart was 16th overall, with a best leap of 6.45m (21’ 2”). She missed the final by four spots and eight centimeters.
All of the other performances in athletics by Bahamian athletes were substandard.
In swimming, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace just missed out on the women’s 50m free final for a second straight Olympics, finishing ninth overall in 24.60 seconds. She was 18th overall in the women’s 100m free, in 54.56 seconds.
Joanna Evans had a great Olympics. She was 13th overall in the women’s 400m free in a new national record of 4:07.60. Evans also swam a national record in the women’s 200m free, finishing 37th overall in 2:01.27. She ended her competition by competing in the women’s 800m free, and was the only member of Team Bahamas to compete in three individual events at these Games of the 37th Olympiad.
Dustin Tynes was 44th overall in the men’s 100m breast in 1:03.71.
Emily Morley made history for The Bahamas by becoming the first Bahamian to compete in the sporting discipline of rowing at the Olympics. She finished 30th overall in the women’s single sculls. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67236-up-and-down-performances-for-team-bahamas-in-rio | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/70318518a890b1579101a795e93a30f5acb025e2fe99fc3239fa10253d9f12ba.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:09:43 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fbahamas-business%2F40-bahamas-business%2F67219-sandals-job-losses-leave-questions-turnquest-says.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Shadow Minister of State for Finance Peter Turnquest said the multiplier effect of each lost job on the business environment, and as a result on government revenue production, is a significant mid- to long-term effect. Given that effect, in the wake of 600 people losing their jobs at Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort, Turnquest said the picture for short-term economic recovery is not pretty.
In addition to the Sandals matter, Turnquest was speaking to an economic impact report published recently which revealed that over 9,000 jobs were lost over the 18-month period following the closure of the stalled Baha Mar project.
The report asserted that almost $2 billion was not realized in value added to the gross domestic product (GDP) over the 18-month period.
“The reality is over the past 18 months, and even before that, we understood that Baha Mar had the potential to be a significant contributor to the GDP. It is why both governments have facilitated the development of the project to the extent of extending themselves to grant concessions that they would not ordinarily provide,” said Turnquest.
The shadow minister told Guardian Business it is unfortunate that the government did not carry though to the end to ensure that the Baha Mar development was facilitated and was wrapped up in a timely fashion.
He noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has indicated that The Bahamas needs greater than five percent GDP growth to sustain its current level of employment, and seven percent to absorb those entering the labor force.
“Additionally, we are under review and waiting with bated breath for the findings of the ratings agencies, which have indicated Baha Mar forms a large part of their considerations,“ he said.
Turnquest explained the effects of unemployment as a result of Sandals and Baha Mar on the country’s economic growth.
“Adding Sandals now to that mix, we have real concerns about not GDP growth but actual contraction of growth as we have seen over the last two years in real terms.
“Not only is this very real potential significant for us to consider today, but what it means to the multiple persons affected by the lost job opportunities and the actual losses in jobs and revenue earnings real and potential. Don't forget businesses have lost real dollars in this debacle and employees, real jobs,” said Turnquest.
He added: “I think there are a lot of questions to be asked to understand what has happened, to what extent incentives given were abused, to what extent government actions contributed to the situation and how the development model is relevant to today, if at all, or whether we should be shifting focus from an incentives-based foreign direct investment (FDI) model to one based upon sound business practices leveraging our natural resources, talents, sustainable marketing practices and empowerment of our people up and down stream from such projects.” | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/67219-sandals-job-losses-leave-questions-turnquest-says | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/ee0841c0b49fce817a6add11ea913aed27734616bec9d4a8a73fa058f1fa3f67.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:10:50 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fbahamas-business%2F40-bahamas-business%2F67255-finance-moodys-downgrade-temporary-.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | The government yesterday admitted disappointment in Moody’s Investors Service’s decision to downgrade The Bahamas’ sovereign credit rating, but expressed confidence that “this rating outcome is temporary and an improvement will be secured in the short-term”.
Moody’s yesterday announced that it downgraded the country’s bond and issuer ratings to Baa3 from Baa2, but has changed the economic outlook from negative watch to stable.
The downgrade follows Moody’s announcement at the beginning of July that it intended to review The Bahamas’ credit worthiness over a 60-day period in order to assess the likelihood “that economic growth prospects will improve, debt metrics will stabilize and government policy will effectively address its macroeconomic and fiscal challenges”.
The credit ratings agency warned at the time that the downgrade was likely to be “one notch or more”.
In its report released Monday, Moody’s announced the single-notch downgrade, which leaves the country’s credit risk in the “investment grade” column, along with a lowering of the risk ceilings for The Bahamas’ long-term and short-term financial obligations.
The agency gave two reasons for the downgrade: Prospects of low medium-term growth pointing to weaker economic strength relative to similarly-rated peers; and the persistent increase in the government's debt ratio leaves The Bahamas with less fiscal space relative to rating peers.
The first driver, Moody’s said, is the expectation that the country’s economic performance “over the next five years will likely remain subdued and constrained by structural rigidities”.
“Moody's forecasts that the Bahamian economy will recover in 2016-20, with real GDP growth expected to average 1.3 percent during this period, the fourth weakest economic performance out of the current 22 Baa-rated sovereigns,” the agency said.
The second driver, Moody’s explained, is all about debt.
The government’s debt-to-GDP ratio was “estimated at 66.1 percent by the end of 2015/16 from 60.2 percent in 2013/14”.
“The government's medium-term plan forecasts continued deficit reduction and a balanced budget by 2018/19 on the back of strong revenue growth mainly from VAT (value-added tax) and a reduction of expenditures in real terms after 2016/17.
“According to the authorities this will lead to a reduction in the government's debt/GDP ratio, closer to 60 percent of GDP.
“Moody's baseline, which incorporates a more gradual fiscal consolidation path, forecasts that the debt/GDP ratio would peak in 2016/17 at about 67 percent and then stabilize around 65 percent.
“In addition, the Bahamian government has a moderate interest burden, with an interest-to-revenues ratio of about 13 percent.
“These fiscal metrics point to somewhat limited fiscal space for the sovereign relative to Baa-rated peers, reducing The Bahamas' capacity to respond to economic shocks.”
Moody's also lowered The Bahamas' “long-term foreign-currency bond ceiling to Baa1 from A2 and long-term foreign currency deposit ceiling to Baa3 from Baa2”.
“The short-term foreign currency bond ceiling was lowered to Prime-2, whereas the short-term foreign currency deposit ceiling remains at Prime-3. The Bahamas' long-term local currency country risk ceilings were lowered to A2 from A1,” Moody’s said.
“The long-term foreign currency bond ceilings for Bahamas - Off Shore Banking Center is Aa3 and long-term the foreign currency deposit ceiling is A2. The short-term foreign currency bond and deposit ceilings are Prime-1.”
With regard to the outlook moving from the negative watch it was placed on in July, the agency said: “The stable outlook on the rating reflects Moody's expectation that sovereign credit metrics will remain in line with a Baa3 rating as fiscal consolidation will continue over the coming years and that government debt metrics will likely stabilize in fiscal 2016/17 as the deficit declines.
“The stable outlook also incorporates the expectation that economic performance will strengthen in 2016-18, returning to levels close to The Bahamas' potential growth of 1 percent to 1.5 percent. Under this baseline, we would see a stabilization of The Bahamas' key economic and fiscal metrics, although these metrics would remain weaker than for most Baa rating peers.”
The Ministry of Finance responded by saying although it is “disappointed in this decision, the country’s credit risk remains investment grade, and the rating agency, by its stable outlook assessment, acknowledges that the economic developments underway stand to enhance the resilience of the Bahamian economy”.
“The government’s perspective on the Bahamian economy remains positive and its commitment undeterred in pursuing the necessary policy reform measures and initiatives to secure durable growth, accompanied by broadened employment opportunities and greater fiscal sustainability with debt reduction,” the ministry said.
“To this end, the government is moving swiftly to advance the many real sector initiatives underway that are poised to deliver, over the near-term horizon, further concrete, measurable contributions in these key economic policy areas.”
The ministry further asserted that the many foreign direct investment projects “underway in the implementation pipeline” point to “strong investor sentiments regarding The Bahamas as an attractive jurisdiction in which to do business”.
“While it is unfortunate that the mega Baha Mar project’s opening has been unduly delayed, the path to its completion is now established, and its opening will secure meaningful employment opportunities, alongside a higher level of capital injection than originally anticipated,” the ministry said.
“Fiscal sustainability and debt reduction remain high on the government’s policy agenda, and are being supported by deliberate measures to modernize and enhance revenue administration and control expenditures.
“For example, compliance measures are being pursued to ensure that yields from current taxes are being maximized, and new initiatives, such as the National Health Insurance, are being introduced at a pace that is affordable for the public finances.
“Importantly, the National Development Plan is set to deal strategically with the elimination of various structural impediments to growth, thereby contributing to the reform of the domestic economy.” | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/67255-finance-moodys-downgrade-temporary- | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/db10976c62c010e8402798496b2a93554d270199732f3414180adca6e68cb4cf.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:20 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67192-jamaican-style-curry-products-recalled.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | GraceKennedy Limited has announced the recall of certain batches of its curry products that were packaged in the United States and distributed within the U.S., Bermuda and The Bahamas.
The recall has been initiated due to the presence of lead in some variants of the curry product which Oriental Packaging Company, Inc. produced for GraceKennedy Foods (USA) and other companies.
The products being recalled include: Grace mild Jamaican style curry powder in glass container (two oz. and six oz.) with best before dates 03/11/19 and 03/28/19; Grace hot Jamaican style curry power in glass container (two oz. and six oz.) with best before dates of 03/11/19, 03/28/19 and 04/11/19 and Grace Caribbean tradition hot curry power in plastic container (four oz.) with best before dates of 12/14/19; 03/11/19, 03/28/19 and 04/11/19.
Lead can accumulate in the body over time, and may cause serious and sometimes permanent adverse health consequences. To date, no illnesses have been reported in connection with
the products being recalled, the company said.
Consumers who may have purchased the Grace Curry products bearing the above best before dates and corresponding batch numbers, should not consume them.
Instead they should return the product to the point of purchase, where the full cost will be refunded.
Ryan Mack, president and CEO of GraceKennedy Foods (USA), said, “GraceKennedy
wishes to assure consumers that their safety is paramount and that providing safe, high quality products to our consumers remains our number one priority.”
He said the recall did not include any other batches of Grace Curry products. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67192-jamaican-style-curry-products-recalled | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/e10be15b40cc391a71080b329b25a0e6a3de85f4b86bfd7773bb271b7b469285.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:42 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Flifestyles%2Farts-and-culture%2F67203-from-craft-to-commerce-in-china.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67203/Pomp and Pagentry.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | In recent years, ceramic art has resurfaced and undoubtedly gained renewed respect internationally within contemporary art. For Bahamian ceramicist Alistair Stevenson, this is an exciting time to be pursuing studies at the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in Jingdezhen, China, a world-famous historical capital city of porcelain.
As Stevenson approaches his fourth year of studies, he reflects on moments and decisions over the years that have shaped his academic and creative journey. He first developed an interest in China in 2009 through a course offered by West Virginia University that included a three-week studio experience in Jingdezhen. In 2012 the support of sponsors like The D’Aguilar Art Foundation, and The Charitable Arts Foundation allowed Stevenson to embark on this trip, which solidified his dream of studying in China.
Stevenson began his programme in 2013 at the Nanjing Normal University, Jiangsu Province, China, with a focus on intensive language studies. He remembers it being a very difficult transition but a period that allowed him to fully embrace the culture. “My secret to learning the language was to forget completely everything I knew and like a child, I learned to embrace the new culture with no preconceptions.”
A year later, Stevenson moved to Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute, where he pursued his Bachelor's Degree in Ceramic Art as the only international student on the programme. Initially, he was anxious with the language barrier of learning in academic Chinese. Although the first few months were tough, he now sees the value it played in nurturing his cultural appreciation and academic maturity. After developing close relationships, becoming proficient in the language and accustomed to Chinese traditions, he now looks forward to developing his professional practice in China and The Bahamas after his studies.
His adaption to Chinese traditions has translated to the creative methodology and concepts driven in his work. Stevenson has geared much focus on ceramic techniques with an intention to create more refined pieces. “I haven’t gotten to where I want to be as yet, but I’ve learned to be more calm and patient in my approach to the work.”
In much of his earlier work, Stevenson had a ‘heavy hand’ producing sculptural pieces that leaned more toward organic imperfection than refinement. Back then he was more concerned with articulating and experimenting with the natural form. In his “Growth Series,” produced in 2013, he used basic shapes and patterns inspired by natural seed-like forms found in trees and corals. Although he sometimes revisits themes of nature and the environment in his work, a distinct shift in style and aesthetics is evident throughout his past two collections.
This year, Stevenson’s ceramics moves toward his interest in translating fine art organic forms to man-made designs in an effort to explore the commercial ceramics market. Produced while living in China the work uses the process of mold making on a production scale a method very new to him. “I love mold making. There is the opinion that every element of the work should be made by the hand of the artist, but there are painters who use projectors and for them, these act as a metaphorical mold for their process.”
His upcoming show “Pomp and Pageantry” opens at Doongalik Studios on Thursday, August 25th at 6:00 p.m. The work examines the burden of beauty perceived and bestowed by modern society and uses ornate sculptural ceramic jewels to translate its concept of flamboyance. “I have created exaggerated jewelry-like pieces that promote this idea through their showy, boisterous porcelain 'beads' of plain white, celadons, and pre-historic pit-fired finishes.”
The show will be on display at Doongalik Studios until Monday, September 19th. There will also be an Artist Talk on Sunday, August 28th, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. discussing the work, Stevenson's collaboration with Creative Nassau and his experiences living and studying in China. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/lifestyles/arts-and-culture/67203-from-craft-to-commerce-in-china | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/d4fb55613116ba2f2ba7587b74af368de6044a34dd18c261f981325ff60344a0.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:41 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67209-halkitis-says-he-did-nothing-untoward-in-loi-matter.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis said yesterday that there was nothing untoward on his part when he wrote the country representative for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) more than two years ago about the waste-to-energy project that was being proposed by Stellar Waste To Energy Bahamas.
Stellar is the company at the heart of a lingering controversy over a letter of intent (LOI) then Parliamentary Secretary Renward Wells signed with the company.
That LOI led to Wells’ firing and his eventual departure from the Progressive Liberal Party.
Stellar recently filed legal action against Wells, the government and others “for loss and damages suffered” in connection with the matter.
Halkitis was responding to an article in The Tribune yesterday titled, “Govt knew of Wells LOI before signing”.
In that article, The Tribune said key members of the Christie Cabinet knew in advance that the government was set to “issue” the controversial LOI that led to his downfall as parliamentary secretary.
The article references a May 26, 2014 letter Halkitis wrote to Astrid Winters, country representative for the IDB.
In the letter, Halkitis said, “Waste to energy has been recognized by the Bahamas government as a fundamental part to achieve the overall goal of the energy reform. To this effect, the Bahamas government has issued to Stellar Energy group an initial LOI.”
It was unclear from the letter whether Halkitis was referencing the same LOI that was not signed by Wells until weeks later on July 4, 2014.
In a statement yesterday, Halkitis said the Tribune used selected portions of correspondence from various sources and addressed to different entities over a wide ranging time period and intermingled them to “create the impression of something untoward on my part”.
He noted that the Ministry of Finance is the ministry responsible for relations with the IDB. The IDB engages in financing to the government and to private sector entities.
Halkitis also pointed out that routinely, the ministry is approached by private sector entities that are seeking funding through the IDB private sector window to facilitate meetings.
“As the Bahamas governor to the IDB, my responsibilities include facilitating meetings of private sector entities seeking to source funding from the IDB,” he said.
“My letter to the representative of the IDB dated May 26, 2014 was simply to request a meeting between Stellar Energy and representatives of the IDB for that purpose. When read in its entirety and in isolation it is evident that this is the case.”
In his letter to Winters, Halkitis said Stellar’s proposal is intended to meet all the requirements of the Bahamas government, including the quickest way to produce additional electricity which is necessary.
Stellar committed to create 2,000 construction jobs by early 2015 and approximately 400 after plant completion in 2017.
But the company never received final government approvals.
Halkitis wrote in that 2014 letter, “The Bahamas government is keenly aware of the positive impact that alternative energy can bring to [the] economy and the environment and welcomes the opportunity to consider proposals that are scientifically proven to be viable in The Bahamas”.
He ended by stating the letter was informational “as to the government’s overall policy on alternative energy”.
The Tribune concluded in its story that the letter and other documents it obtained raise “serious questions” as to who knew what within the Christie administration regarding the LOI’s drafting and signing.
The article said, “Given that a Cabinet level minister was seemingly aware of the LOI, it raises immediate questions as to whether Mr. Wells was hung out to dry and made a scapegoat or fall guy when the controversy broke, and why no one in government came to his defense’.”
Wells has said he signed the LOI without necessary approval.
Not long after he signed the document, Prime Minister Perry Christie asked him to resign. Wells refused to resign.
Christie did not fire him until more than three months later, amid tremendous public pressure over the matter.
While The Nassau Guardian has reported on the LOI which Wells signed on July 4, 2014, it has not seen the LOI referenced in Halkitis’ May 26, 2014 letter. The letter indicated that “an initial LOI” was included as an attachment.
Writ
According to the writ filed recently by the company, Stellar was “promised by representatives of The Bahamas government and private individuals, who claimed to represent The Bahamas government and who have been facilitators in connection with the project, that the memorandum of understanding (MOU), dated June 30, 2014, for execution by the deputy prime minister and minister of works and urban development and associated documentation”, would be issued by the Ministry of Works and Urban Development.
It says Stellar has been waiting for more than 36 months for the MOU and associated documentation to be issued “to enable them to move forward with the project”.
Stellar says it has been deprived of an unsubstantiated sum of money as a result of the matter. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67209-halkitis-says-he-did-nothing-untoward-in-loi-matter | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/da3cb19900d8dbbafa3f8ef0a80a0f10dae70172e6b1826bf4d579a75d37bba2.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:08:04 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fopinion%2Feditorial%2F67263-a-day-of-bad-news-for-the-bahamas.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | It was announced yesterday by the Ministry of Health that there are now four confirmed cases of the Zika virus in New Providence. Of the 83 suspected cases throughout The Bahamas, officials say eight are pregnant women. Zika causes severe brain deformities in newborns if women contract the virus while pregnant.
News that Zika is spreading is troubling on two fronts. It is a serious public health matter. Children born with microcephaly have serious debilities. Zika also has the potential to seriously impact our number one industry, tourism.
Pregnant women and men and women thinking about having babies will be much less likely to come to Zika zones. This comes at a time when our economy has contracted the past two years and our unemployment rate is in the mid-double digits.
Zika is primarily transmitted by the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito. It can also be transmitted through unprotected sex.
Then there was the news from Moody’s.
The ratings agency lowered the bond and issuer ratings of the government of The Bahamas one notch, to Baa3 from Baa2. Low medium-term growth pointing to weaker economic strength relative to The Bahamas’ similarly rated peers and the “persistent increase in the government’s debt ratio leaves The Bahamas with less fiscal space relative to rating peers”, Moody’s said in explaining the downgrade.
The lower a country’s credit rating the more difficult it is for that country to borrow money in the marketplace. It could also mean higher interest rates when loans are extended.
Moody’s expressed concern that the government’s debt-to-GDP ratio has continued to rise to an estimated 66.1 percent by the end of 2015/16 from 60.2 percent in 2013/14. The implementation of value-added tax (VAT) has boosted government revenues, but a high level of expenditure and economic contraction keep the debt-to-GDP ratio higher than is desirable.
The Ministry of Finance responded to the downgrade by admitting disappointment, but expressing confidence that it would be temporary, given Moody’s stable outlook of the economy.
“The government’s perspective on the Bahamian economy remains positive and its commitment undeterred in pursuing the necessary policy reform measures and initiatives to secure durable growth, accompanied by broadened employment opportunities and greater fiscal sustainability with debt reduction,” it said.
The government tried to counter the bad news with an announcement about Baha Mar. Two thousand people lost their jobs at the development a year ago when it went into bankruptcy. Millions of dollars are owed to Bahamian companies.
Prime Minister Perry Christie again proclaimed a deal has been reached to finish and open the resort – we have lost track of how many times he has made this same proclamation. He, however, provided few details on this supposed deal. And, we did not hear from the Chinese – the decision-makers in this matter.
We are not convinced that a deal has been finalized regarding Baha Mar. Christie has almost no credibility with the public on this issue because he has made so many incorrect predictions of progress in the past.
Zika and the downgrade are significant. They impact all Bahamians directly or indirectly. These are tough times for The Bahamas. These are the times when nations need good leadership the most. Sadly, we do not have that. We have Perry Christie. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/editorial/67263-a-day-of-bad-news-for-the-bahamas | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/8bd5050415b1e0cee3e0036c7f381ba1e9b856376044538accac66769374ebae.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:25 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports-scope%2F67214-gold-in-400m-squashes-200m-issue-about-shaunae-miller.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | In the end, it just didn’t matter at all!
Reference is to the sort of mild controversy that surfaced at the end of week one of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Shaunae Miller reportedly wanted to do the 200 meters/400 meters (m) double. For several days, the matter received a lot of attention in Rio and back here in The Bahamas.
There were those on the side of letting her run the 200m despite the fact that Miller did not enter that particular race at the national championships in June. She is without a doubt, the best female 200 meters runner at this time in the country and that fact was the rationale for the supporters of her in being listed for The Bahamas in the half-lapper.
It would have meant dropping Sheniqua Ferguson, who was the third member of The Bahamas’ female 200m group. As it turned out, only Tynia Gaither advanced to the second round of the women’s 200m in Rio. Ferguson and Anthonique Strachan (who still hopes to regain her old form), did not get out of the first round.
Miller would have qualified for the 200m finals. It just so happened that she would have had to run in the 200m rounds on the same day of the now fabled 400m final, in which her dive netted The Bahamas the gold medal.
Her gold medal run erased the controversy. We just don’t care about it anymore.
In my view, had she been placed in the 200 meters, The Bahamas would have had a good chance for another medal, but, then again, she might not have won the 400m gold. As it turned out, the victory came by a very slim margin (49.44 to 49.51 over American Allyson Felix).
It has to be acknowledged, that in the final analysis, the decision by the coaches for Miller not to run in the 200m turned out quite well.
We won the gold and all else matters not at all. For Miller though, the inner battle goes on.
Which should she concentrate on? Should the focus for the 200 be equal to 400 meters?
The view here is that with her early speed and being the fastest woman on the planet over the last 100 meters (even better than Holland’s Dafne Schippers), she is as good a fit for the 200 meters as is the case for the 400 meters.
Of course, with a 400m Olympic gold medal already tucked away, it remains to be seen whether she can accomplish the same in the shorter sprint.
The belief here is that the 200m will always be in her head. It could be that she will end up with a career similar to that of Pauline Davis-Thompson who ran both events in world competitions.
(To respond to this column, kindly contact Fred Sturrup at sturrup1504@gmail.com) | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports-scope/67214-gold-in-400m-squashes-200m-issue-about-shaunae-miller | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/27ba92382bfaba97a4d82184056155ff0ed6d38101f11571816e28616346c2e4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:30 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67215-signature-team-not-a-part-of-olympics.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – For just the second time in the past six Olympics, The Bahamas was not represented in the women’s 4x100 meters (m) relay.
That is an issue that is very dear to Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie’s heart seeing that she was the one who led them to the gold medal at the Sydney Games in 2000, and was also a member of the silver-medal winning team in 1996. In fact, Ferguson-McKenzie has been a key member of The Bahamas’ team for that event in each of the four Olympics they have participated in, in the last 20 years.
She said that something must done to ensure that we as a country are present in that event at major meets consistently because the talent is definitely there. The Games of the 31st Olympiad is into its final day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“At this point in time we have so much talent. They are more talented than I was, so it hurts a lot not to have had the team qualify, when it was so easy to qualify,” said Ferguson-McKenzie. “We always talk about being given the chance to compete in front of our home crowd. We had the world relays here and all we had to do was make the final. I believe that 43.6 would have been good enough to make the final, but we weren’t able to put a team together. That to me was very hurtful at the time because it’s not that we don’t have the individuals.”
What Ferguson-McKenzie is referring to is the 2015 International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) World Relay Championships that were held at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in The Bahamas. A top eight spots in either of the 4x100m or 4x400m relays would have served as automatic qualification for these Olympics.
The Bahamas blew a golden opportunity at those world relays. At least two of the top Bahamian female sprinters in the country chose not to compete, even though they were actually home for the event. A Bahamian team consisting of V’Alonée Robinson, Tayla Carter, Brianne Bethel and Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie ran 44.11 seconds at those world relays, and just missed qualifying for the final by one spot. Had those top sprinters that missed the event taken part, it could be argued that The Bahamas would have qualified for the Olympics in that event quite easily.
Be that as it may, The Bahamas still had opportunities this year and last, to put together teams to qualify for the Olympics at various meets. Opportunities were missed at this year’s Penn Relays, and other qualifiers around the region, because of an inability by the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) to field teams. A last ditch effort at the Blue Marlin Track and Field Classic fell short.
Ferguson-McKenzie, who held off on retirement to help the team out, was obviously disappointed that they were not able to get the job done, but she’s content with the effort she gave and she remains optimistic for the future.
“I really wanted to help Team Bahamas qualify for the Olympic Games in the women’s 4x100m relay – that was my exit strategy,” she said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out as planned, but I have no regrets. I believe that if the girls had a chance to come together a lil earlier, develop some chemistry, we would have been able to qualify. I hope that we are able to learn from our mistakes.
“We are a country of not just individual champs, but a country that is known for relays. As athletes, we focus not just on ourselves, but on the country, for the relays. We have to remind the youngsters that it is very important to have pride for country. I’ve seen the country elated with us winning individual events, but the country was more excited about us wining relays. It’s a culture and you have to be able to continue that culture. It’s always country first.”
Everything was going fine with Ferguson-McKenzie this year in terms of her last ditch effort to help The Bahamas women’s 4x100m relay squad qualify for the Olympics but then disaster struck. She was involved in a car accident in May that halted her training and stopped her progress.
She could walk away from the sport of athletics today, and will go down as one of the most accomplished and decorated Bahamian athletes of all-time. However, she is still leaving that door open. She hasn’t officially retired as yet, stating that if she is running well next year and the opportunity comes to run at the world relays in The Bahamas, she will give it one final ride.
Currently, Ferguson-McKenzie serves as an assistant coach of women’s athletics at the University of Houston, and is one of the assistant coaches of Team Bahamas here at these Olympics in Rio de Janeiro,
“Running at the world relays would be something to see,” she said. “I’m always honored to serve my country and being given that opportunity, I’m elated and excited. Just being able to engage with the young athletes psychologically and letting them know what to expect and how to tackle certain situations, I embrace that. Just being a mentor, socially, dealing with emotions and everything else is like a dream come true for me. I’m very thankful.”
Team Bahamas wraps up competition tonight at the Olympics. The closing ceremony is set for tomorrow night. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67215-signature-team-not-a-part-of-olympics | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/7154f2a674513ce315b7315dfc4dfd3637124046428828a5914e2ed1e8738eb7.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:33 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F67206-animal-bahamian-farm-pt-3-.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Dear Editor,
Thank you editor for allowing me to expound on the correlation between “Animal Farm” and The Bahamas. Each reader must know that these writings are not to vent, not to castigate, nor drench with contumely the politicians, priests, nor the people. Rather, it is an attempt to create an awareness of our political and moral plight, with the hope of inviting serious changes to how we “do politics” in this our beloved country.
It is intriguing to find that some of the attitudes and behavior of Napoleon can be found here, all under the banner, not of dictatorship, but delightfully deceptive democracy. Napoleon used cunning, a.k.a Snowball, to convince the masses that whatever the leader does is right. It is unpatriotic to criticize your leader, to not revere him, especially since the leader “loves them dearly”.
Squealer represents any medium that spews propaganda for government. But the leaders did nothing but enrich themselves of the “fat of the land” while the proletariat animals suffered from heat, exhaustion, meagre means of survival, little or no time for leisure, long hours of work and coerced but fearful devotion to their leader. Executions became the order of the day despite the original inscription that “no animal was to ever kill another animal”.
While literal political executions are not the order of the day here, we all know of the “death sentence” of social, financial and political progress. The animals were ever conscious of their fear to publically voice their dissent for fear of being deemed a traitor.
The original rules were constantly changing ever so gently and deceptively either by subtracting a word or adding additional words, but made to seem as if it was the original constitution. And always the rules were changed to benefit the leaders first and then perhaps some “crumbs may fall from the table” to benefit the masses.
Clover, Muriel and Boxer were hard-working but extremely ignorant. Boxer, the workhorse, was as ignorant and dedicated as he was strong. His devotion, coupled with his “dumbness” blinded him from seeing how he was being used and abused – all under the guise of patriotism to leader and farm. I am reminded as to how imbibed, how miserably intoxicated we become when defending a political party. We become fodder, pawns, in the eyes of officials who amass great wealth, prestige and honor. The politicians are allowed, as Cassius said to Brutus, to stride the narrow world like a colossus while we petty men peep about between their legs hoping to find ourselves some dishonorable grave. Like Boxer we are blindly and ignorantly devoted to our party while insulting and dishonoring our person.
Ralph, in William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”, told Jack that “smoke is more important than the pigs”. The smoke represented rescue from a stranded island, while the pig represented the ingratiating of the belly for the moment. Do we not relish in the political handouts rather than national fallouts?
Ignorant, but trusting of their leaders were the animals. And what did they get in return? Little! Even the death of Boxer, like party stalwarts and old-time faithfuls, was used to benefit and advance the cause of the Napoleonic leaders. When he worked himself to death, the leader, along with Squealer the propaganda machine, used his carcass to embellish their coffers. They feigned interest, celebrated his death, and yet found a way to manipulate the animals into both hard work and devotion to the leader. “Boxer’s last words,” said Squealer, “were Comrade Napoleon is always right and we must work harder.” Do our political leaders really care about the masses with the quality care they deserve? Do they? Really?
The animals, despite their ignorance, knew at least that they worked harder under their own leaders, than they did for Mr. Jones. They knew that none of their comrades ever faced executions as they were now experiencing. They “knew” but they were unsure of which was better, Mr. Jones or Napoleon. Was this the revolution that they expected? Mollie, the mare, did indeed ask the right question: “Will there be sugar after the revolution?” Don’t we all have the same cry? Will life be better under majority rule now that we have used a quiet revolution to transfer from Mr. Jones to animal rule, or should I say majority rule? Have things really gotten better?
Speaking about Mr. Jones and Napoleon, how is it that a country of bright intelligent men and women see 43 years under only three leaders? Is there no shame in our political game?
No animal was ever to walk on two legs. But how interesting that Napoleon, his spawned piglets and the other pigs, paraded around the farm one day decorated and walking on two legs. Yet the piglets paraded proudly and all other animals were ordered to bow in respect and get out of their way. Napoleon’s brood attended, were afforded private schools and were treated with much royal courtesies even though the constitution declared emphatically that “all animals were equal”. But they were gradually learning that some animals are more equal than others.
And what about religion, the church? Very strategically named was the raven, Moses. He represented religion, was allowed privileges and rewards of beer every now and then. George Orwell intended to show how the leaders pawned religion to control and pacify the people. Moses deceived the animals into thinking of a heaven, a sugar candy mountain somewhere. So toil, behave yourselves civilly, make tremendous sacrifices and you will get to sugar candy mountain – when you die. How subtly their pie in the sky, their dreamed utopia was to be experienced not in the here and now, but in the sweet bye and bye.
In conclusion, I encourage my fellow Bahamians once again to read this timeless classic. Old Major dreamt of a revolution – one that would bring freedom, leisure, personal and communal prosperity, individual land ownership, more than enough food to eat, respect for one another, brotherly love, animal dignity not cruelty, no alcohol, no living in houses, no communication with, nor mimicking o,f anything human. But their dreams became evasive, elusive and ephemeral.
In Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in The Sun”, Big Mama told Walter (incidentally acted by our beloved Sir Sidney Poitier) that, “It seems that the Good Lord seen it fit to give the Black man nothing but dreams.” Napoleon made himself a god and the farm of animals (“black men”) because all they had were dreams – dreams, dreams, and more dreams. The leaders (politicians, priests and professional merchants) amassed wealth, power, prestige and privileges unimagined by the animals and disallowed by the preamble of their constitution. Years and years went by. Few remained who barely remembered the dreams of the revolution and many were born, and bought on the farm, who knew nothing of the past revolution.
The final words in Animal Farm are possibly the most poignant, powerful, profound and yet prophetic. Seeing lights on in Mr. Jones’ house (where incidentally no animals were to be in) and hearing the loud noises of partying, the proletariat animals silently crept up to the windows and peeped in. There were their bourgeois leaders partying and reveling with their supposed enemy-man. They looked at their leaders and then back to the humans and back and forth they swung their heads as if at a tennis match. They got an eerie, uneasy, gnawing and gut-wrenching feeling they could not tell the difference between the two. No difference between the UBP and majority rule. No statistical, substantial difference between both political parties – none!
And that, editor and my fellow readers, is the irony of it all. They could not tell the difference between the bourgeois oppressors and the once oppressed proletariat. The Bahamian farm seemed to have gone full circle. The once oppressed has become the oppressor – the only difference being dermatological, surface structure pigmentation. But I suppose we are more comfortable doing it to ourselves than having the “other” (the old order) do it to us. And therein lies the great tragedy. The Psalmist David laments that it was his brother, the one he communes with, the one he fellowships and worships with, it is he who betrays him the most.
“Love my country too much to see the drift it has taken.”
– Dr. “B” | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/letters/67206-animal-bahamian-farm-pt-3- | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/55e742b5336eb37b9fa2faa09bf69001e987e6ebd17c7c602e0f452435f8b18f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:01:17 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67276-baha-mar-agreement-but-pmgives-few-details.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67276/BAHAMAR- SOLD2.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | Prime Minister Perry Christie announced last night that the government and the Export-Import Bank of China have signed an agreement that was approved by the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon that will see the derailed Baha Mar project completed, sold and opened before the “end of the 2016/2017 winter season”.
Christie said under the deal, former employees and unsecured creditors will be paid “a significant part, and possibly all” of the outstanding money owed to them.
However, Christie’s announcement, which he hailed as a “signal achievement for The Bahamas” requiring a “herculean effort”, was void of a named buyer, the cost to complete Baha Mar, what concessions the government had to concede to facilitate the deal, and how many of the former employees will be re-engaged.
At a press conference in the Cabinet Office which was carried live by the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas, Christie said the bank has committed to fund all remaining construction costs to complete the project and under the head of terms signed yesterday, remobilization at Baha Mar “will commence immediately” with China Construction resuming construction next month.
But questions surrounding the cost to complete the project went unanswered.
According to Christie, China Construction will also resolve outstanding claims with its suppliers and subcontractors, an announcement that was applauded by the dozens of local contractors in the room.
He said many of the people and companies previously contracted will be reengaged to complete the project.
Speaking to the concessions to facilitate the deal, Christie said, “As it has been done with all major investments, the government will extend the appropriate concessions to facilitate the construction and promote the successful future operation of the resort.
“The completed project will then be sold to a qualified world-class operator.”
There has been widespread speculation in recent months that the government was planning to give exorbitant concessions, including 500 Bahamian citizenship approvals to Chinese investors in exchange for restarting the stalled mega project, but Christie has dismissed this.
“My fellow Bahamians, there has been much gossip and speculation and downright false allegations made about the whole history and progress of the Baha Mar dispute,” Christie said last night.
“In such a sensitive negotiation, the government thought it wise not to offer a running commentary on the discussions, not to say anything that might put the future of the project in jeopardy.
“It is a shame that others were not so prudent and that so many uninformed views were promoted in the media.”
Christie said the government and local utility companies will receive payment for “some” of their outstanding claims against Baha Mar.
Baha Mar owes the government more than $58 million. It owes local utility companies, including Bahamas Power and Light, approximately $24 million.
“The Baha Mar companies owed money to thousands of Bahamian creditors when they filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy,” Christie said.
“Under their chapter 11 efforts, our people had little prospect of being paid anything.
“Under this agreement, made today, funds will be made available to them to receive a significant part, and possibly all of the value of their claims.”
Baha Mar developer Sarkis Izmirlian filed for chapter 11 protection in Delaware on June 29, 2015.
The government made a counter move in Bahamian courts.
All of the chapter 11 cases have since been dismissed.
Christie said throughout the negotiations, the government has been mindful of the impact the stalled project has had on people.
He said those who held leases with Baha Mar will be allowed to continue on with those contracts.
“I know you will have many questions as to the details of what has been agreed,” Christie said.
“Over the coming days, the government will make publicly available all of the key items of information, so that you can read for yourselves exactly what the facts are.
“There is a raft of paperwork to be completed in order to implement this agreement.
“The difficulties of a project this size have hit our economy hard.
“But we will recover.”
Christie added that over the coming months, economic opportunities will be “felt in more and more homes”.
He said, “The government will redouble its efforts to continue the program of modernization that we began four years ago.
“My entire public and political life has been dedicated to fighting for Bahamians.
“I give God thanks and praise that we have been blessed with this outcome.
“This is a good day for The Bahamas.
“This is a great day for Bahamians.”
The prime minister did not take questions at his press conference last night. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67276-baha-mar-agreement-but-pmgives-few-details | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/2be51102ab993ca380d12487aea7d3eb395de48487a3071ad38fa3641a447170.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:06:32 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fsports%2F67256-bjf-named-official-judo-academy-center-for-caribbean-.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/favicon.ico | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | The Bahamas Judo Federation (BJF) continues to make significant strides toward making the federation one of the most recognizable judo federations in the world. On Wednesday, The Bahamas was officially named as the International Judo Federation’s (IJF) academy center for the entire Caribbean. The Bahamas joins Mexico City and Miami as the only other centers in the Pan American territory.
Immediately after judo was included in the Commonwealth Games’ core sports, The Bahamas was selected to host the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG).
President of the BJF D'Arcy Rahming, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr. Daniel Johnson and Director of Sports Tim Munnings met with President of the IJF Marius Vizer, IJF Development Director Jose Rodriguez and Director of the IJF Academy Envic Galea at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to discuss the sport’s presence at the CYG and the idea of The Bahamas being an official academy.
The IJF’s decision to make The Bahamas an academy was the second bit of good news the BJF received this month. Last week, the federation was awarded 50 training uniforms by the Japanese Judo Federation that will be used by the national team. In July, Bahamas Judo Head Coach D’Arcy Rahming Jr. and top athlete Cynthia Rahming trained at the headquarters of the judo martial art, the Kodokan, in Japan. They presented the directors of the Kodokan with a “History of Bahamas Judo” book that they authored and formed a relationship with them. That experience is what led the Japanese federation to make such a generous decision.
"We are delighted to form such an important relationship as it presents opportunities for many Bahamians to train in Japan." said Rahming. "We intend to have our CARIFTA and Commonwealth Youth Games team experience training in Japan within the coming year."
Also in July, the BJF was able to capture three medals at the U.S. Judo Junior Open. The Bahamian team was made up of martial artists from various clubs in New Providence and Abaco. Asia Bullard, Deleon Sweeting and Rachel Rolle all captured bronze medals in their respective divisions.
Judo is one of six sporting disciplines that will be contested at the Commonwealth Youth Games. The event is set to feature more than 1,000 young athletes ages 14 to 18, representing 71 countries. | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/67256-bjf-named-official-judo-academy-center-for-caribbean- | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/8b8077530cfd5ba4e1eaccddb08c8e829401ab0d53195cd3ae6e369f077cf9e6.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:03 | null | null | The Nassau Guardian - News Website | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenassauguardian.com%2Fnews%2F67210-miller-not-fit-enough-to-run-relay-heats.json | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/attachments/article/67210/Rio Olympics Athletic.jpg | en | null | The Nassau Guardian | null | null | www.thenassauguardian.com | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Shaunae Miller’s surge across the finish line in the women’s 400 meters (m) on Monday night might have won a gold medal for the country, but it also might have taken away another medal. According to reports, Miller wasn’t well enough to run in the heats of the women’s 4x400m last night. She declared her availability for the final, but was still feeling the effects of bruises after falling to the track at the end of the open women’s 4x400m.
Competition at the Games of the 31st Olympiad will end for Team Bahamas tonight here in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
As a result of Miller’s absence, Team Bahamas was forced to go with a line-up of Anthonique Strachan, Lanece Clarke, Christine Amertil and Carmiesha Cox last night.
Chef de Mission Roy Colebrook said they are satisfied with the team’s collective performance regardless.
Miller won gold in the open women’s 400m in a personal best world leading time of 49.44 seconds, Pedrya Seymour ran the two fastest times of her athletics career in the 100m hurdles, settling for a time of 12.76 seconds and sixth place in the final after running a new national record of 12.64 seconds in the heats, and two high jumpers made the final after each faltered in that event at the last Olympics four years ago. Donald Thomas finished in a three-way tie for seventh with a clearance of 2.29m (7’ 6”) and Trevor Barry was 11th, clearing a height of 2.25m (7’ 4-1/2”).
Athletes such as Bianca Stuart, Steven Gardiner and “Superman” Leevan Sands weren’t far from making the finals of their respective events. Tynia Gaither competed in two individual events and made a semi-final in one of them. Shavez Hart also competed in two individual events, despite still feeling the effects of a knee injury earlier this year.
Chris “The Fireman” Brown proved that at age 37, he still has something left in the tank. Still recovering from a sports hernia surgery, Anthonique Strachan showed that she is gradually getting back to form. She ran a season’s best time in the women’s 200m and was just shy of advancing to the semis.
In swimming, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace missed advancing to the final of the women’s 50m free for a second straight Olympics by one spot. She was ninth overall in 24.60 seconds. She competed in two individual events, and Joanna Evans competed in three.
Evans set national records in two of her three swims – 2:01.27 in the women’s 200m free, and 4:07.60 in the women’s 400m free. The time in the 400m free was almost a full five seconds faster than her previous national record time, and gave her a 13th place finish overall.
In rowing, Emily Morley made history as the first Bahamian, male or female, to compete in that sporting discipline at the Olympics. She is looking to build off that breakthrough moment for the country.
“When you would have looked at all of our performances, there is certainly nothing to be ashamed of,” said Colebrook. “As a unit, the team performed exceptionally well. Across the board, we had some good performances. Of course, there would have a few substandard performances, but when you look at what the team did as a unit, you can say that it was respectable, and above average for a country our size. It is just up to us now to finish strong, and we believe that we can.”
The Bahamas will try to add to its medal count in the relays tonight, but one golden run by Miller keeps a very impressive streak alive.
For a country the size of The Bahamas, it is improbable to win any medal at the Olympics, much less on a consistent basis.
However, with Miller’s stunning run in the women’s 400m final at the Olympic Athletics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Monday night, it has now been seven straight Olympics in which The Bahamas has won at least one medal. It is also the second straight Olympics in which The Bahamas has struck gold! | http://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/67210-miller-not-fit-enough-to-run-relay-heats | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.thenassauguardian.com/ed3bfe4a6c1ed3f82c84fa573c75cbe926f5f931c0d95c33d93a68c932d5ccf2.json |
[
"Lisa Provence",
"Samantha",
"C-Ville",
"Lisa",
"Susanna",
"Melissa",
"Alex",
"Jessica"
] | 2016-08-26T12:47:03 | null | 2016-08-24T12:01:50 | Jens Soering’s attorney has filed a petition for absolute pardon with Governor Terry McAuliffe, thrusting the case back into the international spotlight. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.c-ville.com%2Fabsolute-pardon-soering-petitions-another-governor%2F.json | http://www.c-ville.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/SOERING-haysom.jpg | en | null | Jens Soering petitions another governor | null | null | www.c-ville.com | During the 30 years he’s spent in prison, Jens Soering has maintained he had nothing to do with the brutal 1985 murders of Derek and Nancy Haysom, and that he only confessed to protect his girlfriend, Elizabeth Haysom, from the death penalty.
Now Tim Kaine, the governor who agreed to send Soering back to Germany in 2010, a decision overturned by his successor, Bob McDonnell, is running for vice president, and Soering’s attorney has filed a petition for absolute pardon with Governor Terry McAuliffe, thrusting the case back into the international spotlight.
Germany, from its highest levels of government, has long lobbied for Soering’s return, and Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the case with President Barack Obama. German filmmakers have made a documentary, The Promise, on the heinous case in which two UVA Echols scholars were convicted that premiered in Munich in March and will be screened in the U.S. later this year.
Attorney Steve Rosenfield filed the petition August 23 and says he has indisputable scientific evidence that proves Soering, 50, is innocent. He points to a 1985 lab analysis of blood taken from the Haysoms’ Bedford home, which documents five stains of type O human blood—the same as Soering’s, but also the most common blood type.
In 2009, DNA analysis was done on two of those samples—the others were too degraded—and Virginia’s Department of Forensic Science said that Soering was “eliminated as a contributor.”
“That completely undermines the government’s argument it was Soering’s blood,” says Rosenfield.
But that’s not all. Rosenfield has a laundry list of errors made during the investigation and prosecution of Soering, who says he confessed because he thought his father’s mid-level diplomatic status would give him immunity.
An expert on police interrogations and confessions, Dr. Andrew Griffiths spent four months reviewing all statements Soering made to police and prosecutors after he and Haysom were caught in London a year after the murders, and concluded British and American investigators “violated a host of British laws,” says Rosenfield, including holding Soering incommunicado and denying him access to his solicitor.
Soering also failed to accurately describe the crime scene, says Rosenfield. The UVA student claimed he was in the dining room, walked behind Derek Haysom and sliced his throat. “Why didn’t we find blood on the table?” asks Rosenfield. Haysom was found with 38 stab wounds in the living room, which was awash in blood.
Nancy Haysom was wearing her night clothes, and FBI profiler Ed Sluzbach said the killer was someone she was very comfortable with because she was a “proper woman” and wouldn’t have entertained in her pajamas. Soering said she was wearing jeans, says Rosenfield.
Elizabeth Haysom, who is serving 90 years in the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women as an accessory before the fact, claimed she was in Washington, D.C., to establish an alibi while Soering drove to Bedford to kill her parents. Yet a dishrag was found near Nancy Haysom’s body with type B blood, the same type as Elizabeth’s, says Rosenfield.
Elizabeth also alleged she was on a street in Georgetown when Soering drove up in the rental car, covered in blood and wearing only a sheet. Detectives sprayed the car with Luminol, which causes even minute flecks of blood to light up in blue. No stains turned up in the car, according to Rosenfield.
Prosecutors in the 1990 trial also tied Soering to a sock print, the use of which has been discredited by the FBI and American Academy of Forensic Scientists, along with bite marks. In 2009, Innocence Project cofounder Peter Neufeld and UVA law professor/wrongful conviction expert Brandon Garrett wrote an article that asserted sock prints are not accepted as scientific evidence.
And then there’s the mysterious man. About two months after the murders, transmission shop owner Tony Buchanan said he called Bedford investigators because a woman and man brought a car to his shop that had blood on the floorboard and a hunting knife, the type of weapon police believe was used, in between the seats. After Haysom and Soering went on the lam, Buchanan said he recognized her from news photos, but the man with her was not Soering. Police never responded to his information, Rosenfield says.
Rosenfield held a press conference August 24, during which he criticized Republicans and right-wing media who are “uninterested in the facts of the case” and who instead are targeting Hillary Clinton’s running mate Kaine for attempting to repatriate Soering under the terms of an international treaty.
Present at the press conference were Kaine staffers who spent months investigating the case, which McDonnell rejected immediately upon taking office with no investigation, according to Rosenfield.
Not only does Rosenfield want Soering given an absolute pardon, but while the parole board investigates the case, he wants Soering released from the Buckingham Correctional Center on parole “in light of Jens’ innocence.”
Rosenfield represented former Crozet resident Robert Davis, who spent 13 years in prison after making a false confession. McAuliffe granted him a conditional pardon December 21, 2015. | http://www.c-ville.com/absolute-pardon-soering-petitions-another-governor/ | en | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | www.c-ville.com/be27b2d9749fd22646226163e40c188dafa2ed23edd032b930dc5b7aceade8f2.json |
[
"Samantha Baars",
"Lisa",
"Samantha",
"C-Ville",
"Alex",
"Susanna",
"Melissa"
] | 2016-08-30T20:47:00 | null | 2016-08-30T14:50:40 | Martese Johnson's case will likely move forward. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.c-ville.com%2Fmartese-johnsons-case-will-likely-move-forward%2F.json | http://www.c-ville.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/martese-johnson-Bryan-Beaubrun.jpg | en | null | Martese Johnson’s case will likely move forward | null | null | www.c-ville.com | The UVA graduate who was taken to the ground by ABC agents outside of Trinity Irish Pub in March 2015 appeared in a Roanoke federal court August 26 for a motions hearing in which the agents’ attorneys, once again, asked for the case against them to be thrown out.
“Though he has not yet formally ruled on the defendants’ motion to dismiss Martese’s amended complaint, Judge [Glen] Conrad stated that, at the very least, his claim for excessive force would proceed, and that, therefore, discovery may begin,” says Benjamin Chew, a UVA Law alumni and attorney for Martese Johnson.
Johnson, who was 20 years old when he was turned away from the bar
on the Corner, maintains in his amended suit—accepted by Judge Conrad in May—that he was approached by agent Jared Miller, who grabbed his arm from behind before being joined by agents Thomas Custer and John Cielakie, who then “slammed” Johnson “face first” into the brick walkway outside of Trinity.
A video of blood pouring down Johnson’s face went viral.
Though the judge indicated that the case will likely move forward, he said he may later drop agent Cielakie from the suit because he is believed to have little involvement. Cielakie did, however, cuff the college student’s legs after he was already immobilized, according to Johnson’s suit.
Johnson’s case against the ABC is scheduled for a five-day jury trial in Charlottesville next year. | http://www.c-ville.com/martese-johnsons-case-will-likely-move-forward/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.c-ville.com/55de04de3b4856036c89cce37e14f4e3965bb770286868e0cd9717996ca32094.json |
[
"Jedd Ferris",
"C-Ville",
"Tami",
"Raennah",
"Kristofer",
"Erin",
"Alex",
"Elizabeth"
] | 2016-08-26T12:50:38 | null | 2016-08-24T07:00:35 | For the fourth straight year, the Lockn’ Festival will return to the Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.c-ville.com%2Frundown-top-axe-masters-lockn%2F.json | http://www.c-ville.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Neal-Casal-by-Neal-Casal.jpg | en | null | A rundown of the top axe masters at Lockn’ | null | null | www.c-ville.com | For the fourth straight year, the Lockn’ Festival will return to the Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington. Once again, the musical marathon will offer a deep roster of heavyweights in the worlds of jam and roots rock, boasting big sets by Phish, My Morning Jacket, Ween, Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead and Tedeschi Trucks Band, among many others. While watching such sonically adventurous acts, the crowd is bound to witness plenty of guitar acrobatics-—from established veterans to younger upstarts, these are the fleet-fingered players guaranteed to deliver lingering leads and peak solos, creating the transcendent moments that make festivals unforgettable.
The incredibly versatile Trey Anastasio leads Phish through four sets over two nights at Lockn’ this weekend. Photo by Jay Blakesberg
Trey Anastasio
Lockn’ organizers nabbed a big one when they secured jam legend Phish to headline two days of the festival. The group, scheduled to close the main stage on Friday and Sunday with two sets each night, rarely plays multi-band events, but as Lockn’ has become the country’s premier jam summit, it seems appropriate for the quartet to make an appearance.
After more than three decades together, Phish has established a massive fan base that continues to flock to its lengthy live shows. While the group is comprised of four highly skilled players—each integral to the band’s exploratory sound—guitarist Trey Anastasio is clearly the leader. Through 30-plus years on stage, Anastasio has secured his place as the jam scene’s preeminent axe wizard. His nimble fingers guide Phish through an undeniably impressive mix of complex compositions, dance-ready grooves and improvisational journeys. When not navigating one of Phish’s intricate, orchestrated passages in double-digit epics such as “You Enjoy Myself” and “Fluffhead,” Anastasio uses his Languedoc guitar for full-throttle rock assaults and open-ended exploration.
Phish casts a wide net when it comes to genre inclusivity, and the band’s sets are often peppered with interesting covers. It’s not uncommon to hear Anastasio picking a bluegrass solo in an electric version of Bill Monroe’s “Uncle Pen,” ripping blues licks in Son Seals’ “Funky Bitch” or slicing funk chords in Stevie Wonder’s “Boogie On Reggae Woman.”
Anastasio, at 51, clearly is still interested in expanding his range on his instrument. Last summer he was tapped as lead guitarist for Fare Thee Well, the Grateful Dead’s five massive stadium concerts that were billed as the last time the band’s remaining original members would all play together. When asked by Rolling Stone about his intense, six-month preparation for filling the role of the Dead’s iconic frontman, Jerry Garcia, Anastasio said: “The cool thing is it got me back inside the guitar.”
Gary Clark Jr. rips up the blues and sews it back together in kick-ass modern style on Sunday. Photo by Frank Maddocks
Gary Clark Jr.
Gary Clark Jr. grew up loving the blues. As a teenager in Austin, Texas, he started hanging out at the famed Antone’s Nightclub and ended up being mentored by guitar ace Jimmie Vaughan (brother of Stevie Ray). While being educated in the traditional scales of the blues he was also absorbing sounds of the ’90s FM dial, becoming an open-minded fan of everything from grunge to hip-hop. As a result, a variety of musical styles have influenced Clark, as he continues to hone a sound that blends fuzzy, snarling riffs with soulful modern song craft.
Clark’s breakout moment came in 2010 at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival. With the exposure came a heap of opportunities for a young player used to the grind of small clubs. He’s traded licks on stage with Clapton and sat in with the Rolling Stones on multiple occasions, and this past February he honored the late B.B. King at the Grammy Awards with a crisp reading of “The Thrill is Gone” beside Bonnie Raitt and Chris Stapleton.
Clark has released two major-label albums on Warner Brothers, the latest being last fall’s The Story of Sonny Boy Slim. A mix of slick production and raw energy, the record does plenty of genre-hopping, from dance-friendly party funk in “Can’t Sleep” to throwback soul in “Cold Blooded” to shred-heavy rock in “Grinder.” Clark, though, seems to save his real guitar fireworks for the stage. His pulsing, atmospheric mash-up of Jimi Hendrix’s “Third Stone from the Sun” and Albert Collins’ blues tune “If You Love Me Like You Say” is live-show dynamite.
Tedeschi Trucks Band, featuring the most powerful couple in the blues-rock business, takes the stage on Saturday night. Photo by Manuel Nata
Derek Trucks
At age 20, Derek Trucks started a 15-year run handling the slide licks in the now-retired Allman Brothers Band, a role he seemed predestined to fill as a young guitar prodigy who happens to be the nephew of the Allman’s Butch Trucks. During this time, he also fronted his own Derek Trucks Band—a group built around fiercely ambitious explorations into expansive Southern blues, free jazz and rollicking instrumental gospel—and also managed to squeeze in a two-year stint in Eric Clapton’s touring band.
These days he’s focused full-time on the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a 12-piece beast of a soul-rock outfit that Trucks fronts with his wife, blues songstress Susan Tedeschi. The band, playing Lockn’ on Saturday night, hustles between global rock grooves, swampy Southern jams and vintage R&B. The stylistic versatility centers on the interplay between the bandleaders, as Trucks, now 37 and considered a master of his craft, swirls lyrical inventive notes around Tedeschi’s soulful singing.
Neal Casal
Neal Casal will be a busy man at this year’s Lockn’ Festival. Between Friday and Sunday, the guitarist is playing four sets with three different acts. On Sunday his main band, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, has back-to-back slots, the second a special collaboration with Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. During a recent phone interview, Casal broke down the bands that make up his upcoming quadruple duty.
Back in 2010, former Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson decided to start a new band (Chris Robinson Brotherhood) to indulge his interest in psychedelic rock, and he asked Casal to play lead guitar. Casal had spent the previous decade and a half releasing a dozen solo albums as a singer-songwriter and doing a stint in Ryan Adams’ Cardinals, but joining the Brotherhood changed the course of his music career. “This band started another life for me as a musician with a different focus as a guitar player,” Casal says. “It was a real shift that’s taken a lot of work. I’ve expanded in ways that I never would’ve imagined. Chris needed a guitar player to fulfill his vision, and he lovingly pushed me into it.”
Three years ago Casal was tapped to join the super group side project Hard Working Americans featuring Nashville folk singer Todd Snider and Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools. Initially supposed to be a short-lived affair, the band, which also features Panic drummer Duane Trucks, now reconvenes on a semi-regular basis and recently released a second studio album, Rest in Chaos. With a politically charged cosmic country-rock sound that offers tastes of distorted grit and expansive jamming, the band will play Lockn’ on Saturday afternoon.
“I met all of these guys for the first time when I walked into the studio to start making our first record,” Casal explains. “This was supposed to be a one-off project, but we quickly developed a rapport that made us want to do more. We have a lot of respect for each other, and every time we get together we feel like we have more to explore.”
Last summer Casal was asked to compose instrumental set-break music for the Grateful Dead’s Fare Thee Well stadium concerts. He formed Circles Around the Sun for a quick jam session that included his Brotherhood bandmate Adam MacDougall on keyboards and created some captivating impromptu tunes in the spirit of the Dead’s roots-based psychedelia. The results were so well-received that the songs were given a proper release, Circles Around the Sun, and Casal and company will perform the music live for the first time on Friday night at Lockn’.
“We recorded all of this music in two days, and it was entirely improvised,” Casal says. “With little time to think about it, we caught lightning in a bottle.
“When it comes to doing it live, the idea is to approach the show with the same spirit that we brought to the recording—hold your breath and jump. We’ll have little time to prepare, so we’re going to capture the vibe with a lot of adventurism.”
Casal has previously played with Phil Lesh and Friends in different incarnations of his rotating Friends groups. In a special set on Sunday, the entire Brotherhood will act as Lesh’s band and also welcome a sit-in by Gary Clark Jr.
“I’ve learned more from Phil Lesh than almost anyone I’ve ever played with,” Casal says. “He still carries the original spirit of the Grateful Dead—be the best musician you can be, but also be ready to go for it and jump off a cliff. When you play music in that way there can be rough moments, but you always rise to glorious heights.”
Best of the rest
For nearly two decades, Umphrey’s McGee has fostered a sizable fan base under the mainstream radar with a jam-heavy prog-rock sound that’s largely driven by the twin-guitar attack of Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss. The band’s skilled axe duo engages in dynamic interplay, as they move between frenetic shredding and trippy wandering throughout a catalog of songs designed for extended improvisation.
Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo and Carl Broemel both provide the lead guitar muscle in their respective bands, Ween and My Morning Jacket. The former gets the headline slot on Thursday and plays a second set just before Phish on Friday, while the latter headlines Saturday night. Coincidentally, both Melchiondo and Broemel are releasing solo albums this fall.
Tom Hamilton first surfaced in the electronica-rock act Brothers Past, but at Lockn’ he’ll be turning heads in Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (playing late-night sets Thursday and Friday). The side project led by drummer Joe Russo (Furthur, Benevento/Russo Duo) delivers high-energy, wildly improvised takes on Grateful Dead songs, often giving Hamilton the opportunity to go gonzo on Jerry Garcia’s familiar guitar parts.
Two more guitar aces worth watching: Duke Levine and Kevin Barry—both accomplished session players who’ve backed the likes of Mary Chapin Carpenter and Emmylou Harris. At Lockn’ they’ll be playing in Peter Wolf’s band, the Midnight Travelers. On Friday Levine and Barry will flank the 70-year-old Wolf, former lead singer of the J. Geils Band (see interview on page 31), as he works through old hits and material from his soulful new album, A Cure for Loneliness, which came out in April. | http://www.c-ville.com/rundown-top-axe-masters-lockn/ | en | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | www.c-ville.com/4decad3c4c3b350ee403fbd10c35c26f8677708271a2680df42c6003b9438ddf.json |
[
"Nick Rubin",
"Erin",
"Elizabeth",
"C-Ville",
"Tami",
"Raennah",
"Kristofer",
"Alex"
] | 2016-08-31T12:47:20 | null | 2016-08-31T07:00:45 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.c-ville.com%2Falbum-reviews-thee-oh-sees-amazing-cool-ghouls%2F.json | http://www.c-ville.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/tunes-2.jpg | en | null | Album reviews: Thee Oh Sees, The Amazing, Cool Ghouls | null | null | www.c-ville.com | Thee Oh Sees
A Weird Exits (Castle Face)
Led by John Dwyer, garage-psych wrecking crew Thee Oh Sees has churned out 15 albums, the latest being A Weird Exits. It covers familiar territory, though previous forays into jangly, poppy material have been obliterated. For the uninitiated, A Weird Exits is not an easy introduction; song titles like “Gelatinous Cube” and “Unwrap the Fiend, Pt. 2” indicate the prevailing vibe. The frantic grooves are at once minimal and overflowing, with Dwyer chanting and puncturing the fabric with trademark unholy roller yips. Guitars throw down razor riffs and suddenly peel off like cartoon spaceships. Unnerving sonic touches abound.
The last two songs mix things up without mellowing things out. “Crawl Out From the Fall Out” is a slow waltz with low, groggy strings; it sounds like a lurid shanty emitting from a trash barge floating on an alien sea, while “Axis” is a feverish hymn based on the chords of “Bold As Love” by Jimi Hendrix—Dwyer drops an overdriven psychedelic solo that breaks down in spectacular fashion. It’s an apt finish to another uncompromising album by one of rock’s implacable forces.
The Amazing
Ambulance (Partisan)
As guitarist for Sweden’s progressive psychedelic heroes Dungen, Reine Fiske has been party to some of the best music of the last 15 years, laying down precise, fluid solos integral to that band’s Apollonian brand of acid rock. Calling The Amazing his side project is perhaps unfair, and the band is hardly a fly-by-night proposition; this is its fifth album since 2009. Still…
Ambulance continues the temperate psychedelia The Amazing has always cultivated. It’s tempting to link the band’s style to the windswept Swedish landscape; chiming, echoing, intertwining guitars prevail, with synth strings drawing out long notes over moderate tempos. Fiske’s gentle, incantatory vocals seldom rise from the mix—in fact, nothing really demands attention. The Amazing resemble a European version of Kurt Vile, easygoing but not especially engaging, and Fiske’s solos never attain the heights he regularly hits with Dungen. Outliers include “Blair Drager,” which pushes trip-hop drums to the fore, and the pair of burbly, folky, acoustic-driven numbers that end the album (variation that would have been welcome earlier). The Amazing weaves attractive if mostly ornamental tapestries.
Cool Ghouls
Animal Races (Empty Cellar)
The colored pencil drawing on the cover of Animal Races depicts a Western-style main street, except, instead of a street there’s a creek that disappears into distant green hills. A giant naked woman and man stand on either bank, clumsily brandishing tennis rackets, and overhead, a giant hovering eyeball encased in a vibrating orb observes the scene. Remarkably, the tableau is suggestive: San Francisco quartet Cool Ghouls plays twangy psychedelia, keeping it homegrown, loose and unconcerned.
Ghosts of classic Byrds, early Love and the Nuggets compilations are ubiquitous, but this isn’t reverent nostalgia, and Cool Ghouls flip the script enough to sound vital. There’s a hint of the paisley underground on the title track, a Feelies-like urgency to the jangle of “Time Capsule” and interweaving guitar solos à la Television on “Spectator.” The band weeps it up with a yearning pedal steel on “When You Were Gone” and flexes alt-country chops on the catchy, piano-driven sing-along “Days.” Animal Races is a solid album full of terrific moments from a band that just wants to make life a better party. | http://www.c-ville.com/album-reviews-thee-oh-sees-amazing-cool-ghouls/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.c-ville.com/52feecca5df4f9a620c2510e84b31ac07edabc0d39cb4bf119daa4c3795b1547.json |
[
"Samantha Baars",
"Cara",
"Lisa",
"C-Ville",
"Samantha",
"Alex",
"Susanna"
] | 2016-08-31T12:47:14 | null | 2016-08-31T07:00:50 | The city announced a traffic calming project on Locust Avenue last month, but a resident who has tracked the traffic says the project has had no benefit. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.c-ville.com%2Fslow-burn-new-traffic-project-doesnt-calm-concerns%2F.json | http://www.c-ville.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CVW-RR1.jpg | en | null | Slow burn: New traffic project doesn’t calm all concerns | null | null | www.c-ville.com | Last month, the city announced the initiation of a traffic calming project on Locust Avenue, where locals have been concerned about the influx of cars whizzing up and down the street for some time. But a resident who has persistently tracked the traffic himself says the project has had “no apparent benefit.”
After a 12-year-old pedestrian was hit on Locust last October, UVA emeritus professor of computer science Paul Reynolds, who lives on the same street, began filming the cars passing his house and created a software program to monitor their speed. The software is now being used in China.
“Speeding on Locust and, to some extent, irresponsible driving, was really getting out of hand,” says Reynolds, who adds that an older woman was hit just weeks later while walking her dog in a crosswalk. “It was difficult to get across the street.”
The $6,500 traffic calming project, which was implemented in the last 10 days of July, consists of new road markings that more clearly define travel and parking lines on the street, as well as additional space for cyclists in the southbound lane and making crosswalks more visible.
When the project was first implemented, Reynolds says about 40 percent of cars traveling south in the 800 block of Locust were at or under the 25mph speed limit, which was a significant improvement from the 25 percent that were routinely compliant before. But by August 5, he found that southbound speed compliance had reverted to its norm before the traffic calming went into effect, and “northbound compliance is actually a little worse,” he says. And on the weekends, he has tracked more cars going over 35mph than those following the speed limit.
Reynolds has monitored more than 700,000 cars since the beginning of the year, and, on average, found that 7,500 cars travel Locust during daylight hours, which equals about 10 cars per minute. Every 12th car drives at speeds between 35 and 50mph.
But it’s not all bad news. In February, he told City Council that city buses and school buses were passing his house at speeds between 30 and 40mph on average. Four months later, 95 percent of city buses were obeying the speed limit, he says.
As expected, driving too fast isn’t just an issue on Locust. One city resident acknowledges the issues with speeding across town, but says he shouldn’t have to pay to fix it.
“I think it’s absurd that taxpayers have to now pay for street modification to slow traffic when taxes already pay the police department to enforce traffic laws,” Frank Jesionowski wrote in an e-mail to C-VILLE. “People speed because it appears the police don’t care.”
Charlottesville Police spokesperson Steve Upman declined to comment, but provided information that shows patrol officers issued 91 speeding tickets on Locust in 2015, an increase from 25 issued in 2014 and 45 issued the year before. Thirty-four tickets have been issued so far this year.
But Jesionowski is not convinced. “If the town develops a reputation for enforcing the speed limit, people start obeying the law,” he says. | http://www.c-ville.com/slow-burn-new-traffic-project-doesnt-calm-concerns/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.c-ville.com/40ebe243ce9c2010d45f45f6884b9e7549dcbbf8fc0cfee1f05e05e4c742ef9b.json |
[
"Cara Salpini",
"Lisa",
"C-Ville",
"Samantha",
"Susanna"
] | 2016-08-31T12:47:19 | null | 2016-08-31T07:00:34 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.c-ville.com%2Fbronco-mendenhall-plays-rules%2F.json | http://www.c-ville.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/16041-Bronco-011-final.jpg | en | null | Bronco Mendenhall plays by his own rules | null | null | www.c-ville.com | “Bronco’s office is under renovation,” I’m told as I walk into UVA head football coach Bronco Mendenhall’s temporary office in July. “They’re adding bookshelves.”
Mendenhall sits at the end of a long table in a conference room, surrounded by pieces of paper. He looks every bit the part of a head coach in a Virginia shirt, Virginia athletic shorts and a Virginia visor. Mumford & Sons plays softly in the background.
As I approach, he gives me a friendly smile, but his tired expression and sun-beaten face are evidence of how hard he and his team have been working this summer.
What’s not so obvious about Mendenhall, 50, tall and broad-shouldered, is that he approaches the game with a unique coaching philosophy.
Those new bookshelves in his office aren’t for New York Times’ bestselling novels—they’re for his own personal research. Calling himself a “lifelong learner,” Mendenhall turns to books to guide him toward successful practices and methods, rather than relying solely on his own judgment.
Among his favorites are four “foundational books” that he bases his program on: Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin, The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle, Legacy by James Kerr and Wooden on Leadership by John Wooden. And Mendenhall himself is the subject of a book—Running Into the Wind, by Alyson Von Feldt and Paul Gustavson, which discusses the philosophy he developed as head football coach at Brigham Young University for 11 years.
“Everything we do is very well-researched,” Mendenhall says as he discusses the practices he has implemented at UVA since he was hired in December at a salary of $3.25 million for year one, to replace Mike London (London received $2.1 million in his first year), according to Streaking the Lawn. “What we do is often cerebral in nature, but it is always very well thought-out and very well researched. For example, there is nothing that our players are given. They have to earn everything, from their locker, to their V-sabre, to possibly their jersey number.”
While the methodology behind Mendenhall’s “earned, not given” policy was researched, he admits the decision to implement it was an impulse.
“This was all formed when I was standing in front of the team for the very first time,” Mendenhall says, explaining that the team lacked certain “foundational elements” necessary to “build a consistently strong program over time.”
A week before the Cavaliers face-off against the Richmond Spiders September 3, the whole team has earned the right to wear small V-sabres on their workout shirts. A total of 72 players will dress for UVA’s home-opener.
Mendenhall’s emphasis on proven coaching methods has been a staple in his career, evident since he began his tenure at BYU in 2005.
Then-quarterback John Beck, who played at BYU from 2003-2006 and in the NFL from 2007-2012, describes the young coach as “devoted and visionary,” constantly reading and studying.
“When Bronco took over as the head coach there, he was taking over a program that needed to be rebuilt. He was always trying to find the best way, the most efficient way to do things,” Beck says.
The first thing UVA football coach Bronco Mendenhall told his players was to “train, and if they had extra time, train. And in between training, train.” The team had to earn everything this year: from their lockers to the right to wear their V-sabres. Photo by Jackson Smith
During Mendenhall’s tenure, BYU did not have a single losing season. Barring his first season, in which the team ended with a 6-6 record, the Cougars posted 10 straight winning seasons and received 11 bowl invitations.
The ’04 Cougars and UVA’s current team look similar on paper. In ’03 and ’04, the Cougars recorded a 4-8 and a 5-6 season respectively, while UVA’s last two seasons left them 5-7 and 4-8.
In fact, in London’s six years at UVA, the Hoos had only one winning season, which came in 2011, during London’s second year with the Cavaliers. But after four subsequent losing seasons, calls for London’s resignation began to reverberate within the fan base, and they were answered at the end of the 2015 season when UVA lost to in-state rival Virginia Tech for the 12th consecutive year.
NUMBERS GAME Mike London’s last season as head coach at the University of Virginia Overall record: 4-8 Conference record: (ACC): 3-5
Points per game: 25.8 (opponents, 32.2)
Points off turnovers: 61 (opp., 81)
Average yards per rush: 4.1 (opp., 4.5)
Rushing touchdowns: 13 (opp., 15)
Average yards per pass: 6.9 (opp., 8.2)
Passing touchdowns: 21 (opp., 26)
Average yards per game: 383
(opp., 411.5)
(opp., 411.5) Average yards lost to penalties per game: 63.8 (opp., 54.5)
Percent of third down conversions: 43 percent (opp., 37 percent) Bronco Mendenhall’s last season as head coach at Brigham Young University Overall record: 9-4 Points per game: 33.7 (opponents, 22.8)
Points off turnovers: 79 (opp., 83)
Average yards per rush: 4 (opp., 3.7)
Average yards per pass: 7.6 (opp., 6.4)
Average yards per game: 424.8 (opp., 345.7)
Average yards lost to penalties per game: 57.7 (opp., 58.7)
Rushing touchdowns: 28 (opp., 22)
Passing touchdowns: 26 (opp., 12)
Percent of third down conversions: 40 percent (opp., 38 percent) Points per game Mendenhall’s offense last season averaged eight more points per game than London’s did during his last season with the Cavaliers. The Cougars also allowed 10 fewer points per game from their opponents. More points per game plus fewer points scored by opponents equals more “W’s.” Average yards per game Mendenhall’s Cougars averaged almost 42 more yards per game than London’s Cavaliers, and they held their opponents to 66 fewer yards per game than Virginia. More yards per game plus fewer yards for your opponent equals more trips to the red zone.
The ‘X’ factor
A smile flits across Mendenhall’s face when I ask the questions he must have known were coming: Why leave BYU, where he had built such a successful program? Why come to UVA?
A search firm had contacted him last summer to gauge his interest in the head coaching position at UVA should it become open—not an unusual occurrence for a winning coach—but for Mendenhall, it wasn’t about the numbers. It didn’t come down to how successful BYU was or how unsuccessful UVA had been. For him, there had to be the “X” factor.
“There would have to be something more than just the game to get me to a different school and by that I mean a culture or an academic standard,” Mendenhall says. “I love to build and I love to do hard things—and so if there was a place that had an amazing academic environment and an amazing conference, then possibly I would leave.”
Mendenhall’s wife, Holly, who describes the BYU players as “family,” lists his love of a challenge as one of his top reasons for coming to UVA.
“Bronco’s really excited to be here,” she says. “I think he’s having a blast. He loves to fix things…” Holly says that fixer attitude carries over to broken items in their home.
The Mendenhalls aren’t what you’d consider a typical football family. When UVA’s new coach is at home, he generally doesn’t watch football on TV. It’s Holly who flips on the Thursday night game. And of their three sons, only one has pursued football so far, as Mendenhall says he “wants the motivation to be from them, not me.”
Breaker Mendenhall, 14, whose first season of football was last year, also plays baseball and basketball and hopes to pursue horse roping. Cutter, 16, doesn’t play team sports and was recently cast as the lead in his school’s production of Grease, while the youngest brother, Raeder, 13, has taken up tennis after watching the UVA men’s tennis team.
THE STORY BEHIND THOSE NAMES Marc “Bronco” Clay Mendenhall isn’t the only family member with an unusual name. Cutter Bronco Mendenhall “If you ride a cutting horse you’re called a ‘cutter,’ so that is my oldest son’s name. If you go back to cowboy days, a cowboy on a cutting horse would cut through the herd and cut one cow out of the herd. That was usually to buy time for another cowboy to come up to grab the cow to brand it.” Breaker Blue Mendenhall “There’s a famous horse breaker named Breaker Morant, so he’s sort of named after him. Then for his middle name, I love the ocean and I love surfing, so I chose blue.” Raeder Steel Mendenhall “My [late] father-in-law’s name was Rae. We honored his name with ‘Rae’ and then we added the ‘der’ to make it ‘Raeder.’ We chose his middle name as Steel because we liked the idea that it was sort of steadfast and immovable.”
The move to Charlottesville required the family to sell their 12 cows and chickens, pack up their lives and move their five horses and four dogs 2,081 miles from Provo, Utah, and live in a hotel for three months and in an RV on their new property for four months while their home was being built. But Mendenhall says each of their three sons has individually thanked him for moving to Charlottesville and that the family is excited to be a part of the community—“and not just on Saturdays.”
“We are just excited for the Eastern experience, not as much sports-wise as history and culture,” Holly says. “We’re excited to have an adventure out here and soak up and experience all that we can.”
Mendenhall was raised in Alpine, Utah, and grew up on a ranch, breaking horses and working with animals throughout his childhood. Everything from his sons’ names to his lifelong role models is based on his experiences growing up.
“I never aspired to be a coach,” Mendenhall says, explaining he had to change his career plans when he realized he was not good enough for the NFL (he was a two-year starter at safety at Oregon State University). “I went to the two things I loved, and one was breaking horses and the other was football.”
Mendenhall cites his father Paul, whom he worked side by side with at the ranch, as a major influence.
“I never saw or heard him act in a way that was anything but exemplary,” Mendenhall says. “There was always an answer to a question, there was always time for me. Most importantly I could see what a man of substance was through his actions. He, more than anyone, has shaped my life.”
Much in the same way that Paul Mendenhall influenced his son, Bronco Mendenhall has shaped the lives of the student-athletes he has coached.
Beyond X’s and O’s
“When I see Bronco, I see him with a baseball cap, yelling at players to get their mind right,” John Beck says, recalling a key phrase from Mendenhall’s days at BYU. “He would always tell everybody to ‘have your mind right.’”
What Mendenhall meant, according to Beck, was to make sure players were mentally prepared for every practice or football game before stepping on the field. In a team sport like football, “you have to have everybody with their mind right.”
Andrew Rich, a defensive back who played for BYU from 2008-2010, similarly admired Mendenhall’s ability to give players the mental motivation necessary to succeed, even if they “maybe physically didn’t belong in the game.”
“His ability to get the most out of every player is kind of uncanny. He has the ability to draw everything from you if you’re willing to do it,” Rich says.
Although Mendenhall exerts a certain authority over his players, Rich stresses that his approach differed from previous coaches he’d had.
“He’s naturally an introvert so he’s just typically a little more quiet and a little more reserved type of coach,” Rich says. “I’ve had a lot of coaches who are really outspoken and loud and always yelling just to yell, and he’s definitely not that way.
For Rich, who experienced a difficult period at BYU, Mendenhall was more than just a football coach—he was a mentor.
“One day he drove an hour and 15 minutes to my house just to see how I was doing,” Rich says. “And it wasn’t because he was interested in me because I was this great football player because at that time I hadn’t had much success. It wasn’t always about X’s and O’s with him.”
Along with the individual care Mendenhall gave his players, Beck felt that he always knew what the team needed as a whole, evident even from one of his first acts as head coach at BYU.
“There was a moment where he took the entire football team up a canyon and we wrote down all of the frustrating things about why the team hadn’t been winning…and then he took a football helmet with the old logo on it and we chucked the helmet and all the papers into a fire,” Beck says. “And he said, ‘That’s done and we will never ever be that again.’”
A similar philosophy has manifested itself in Charlottesville, where Mendenhall says he’s “anxious” for the team to start over—not just on the field, but with their community of fans as well.
“I think our fans appreciate excellence,” Mendenhall says, referencing the UVA men’s basketball team fans. “Our fans are knowledgeable…and that, to me, is a great place to start from.”
Something else Mendenhall hopes Cavalier football fans will appreciate is a game day that looks a little different than in seasons past. In addition to revamped uniforms, spectators will notice the return of diamond overlays in the end zones and free programs. Missing this year, though, will be the Wahoo Walk, which allowed fans to cheer on the team as it made its way from Engineer’s Way to Scott Stadium two hours before kickoff, and the animated pregame video featuring Cav Man.
No more sitting home in December
Of course, it will take more than just a supportive fan base to jump-start UVA’s football season, and Mendenhall has not shied away from enforcing discipline on his team.
“I love fanatical effort, but first and foremost I love very high standards and very clear expectations,” Mendenhall says. “Rarely do I raise my voice, but what I say—we are gonna do. And we’re gonna do it exactly as I said. There are only two ways to do things in my book: We do it the exact right way or we do it again.”
Although Mendenhall’s policy may seem uncompromising, wide receiver coach Marques Hagans, who has been a part of UVA’s coaching staff since 2011, says the team is more than up to the challenge.
“The players have really bought in to what’s being asked of them and one of Coach’s biggest things is the power of choice. …The guys who are left really want to be here and really want to do everything that’s asked of them,” Hagans says, emphasizing that the players have been responding to challenges as a team and that he has seen an improvement in camaraderie and team chemistry.
Hagans notes especially how hard UVA’s student-athletes have been training leading up to this season, something Mendenhall has stressed since day one. In fact, Mendenhall’s message at his first meeting with the team included little more than “train.”
“I told them to train, and if they weren’t sure what to do, train. And if they had extra time, train. And in between training, train,” Mendenhall says, smiling. “And then I stood at the entrance to the team room and I shook every player’s hand as they left and I just tried to get a feeling for where every player was at.”
Junior Kurt Benkert, a transfer from East Carolina University, will take the field as starting quarterback this season. Photo by Jim Daves/UVA Media Relations
After four consecutive losing seasons, Hagans says both the players and the coaching staff are ready to see this team succeed, saying it’s been “tough” to watch UVA football recently. The team recently picked its starting quarterback—junior Kurt Benkert, a transfer from East Carolina University. Senior Matt Johns, last season’s starting quarterback, remains on the team.
“I want this team, these players, to have success and be able to say that they were a turning point in UVA’s history under Coach Mendenhall,” Hagans says. He adds with a sigh: “You get tired of sitting home in December.”
The big question on many fans’ minds is whether UVA will go to its first bowl game in four years—and, better still, whether the Virginia Cavaliers will record a “W” against Virginia Tech.
Thus far, however, the odds are stacked against Mendenhall’s Cavaliers, with the sports media choosing the team to finish last in the ACC Coastal Division via a poll at the season kickoff conference in July. Mendenhall has just one thing to say in response to the team’s last-place ranking: “They couldn’t have written a better script. In my entire life, I have never been picked to finish last, nor have I ever finished last—and as a head coach I’ve never been part of a losing season and I’ve never not gone to postseason play. They’ve provided a great storyline to start a very intriguing plot.”
BRONCO’S LIST
UVA’s head coach tells us which players we should be watching this season
Quin Blanding. Photo by Jim Daves/UVA Media Relations
Quin Blanding
Junior, free safety
“Quin Blanding is incredibly smart, fast, experienced, tough. Exactly what we want at safety.”
2015 stats
Solo tackles: 68
Total tackles: 115
Tackles for loss: 1 (4 yards)
Interceptions: 1
Forced fumbles: 1
Recovered fumbles: 1
Pass break-ups: 3
Doni Dowling
Junior, wide receiver
“Doni Dowling is a fierce competitor, plays with tons of emotion, and when channeled correctly he can be a huge big-play asset.”
2015 stats
Solo tackles: 3
Micah Kiser
Junior, inside linebacker
“Micah Kiser is absolutely reliable in every way and is the heart of our defense.”
2015 stats
Solo tackles: 64
Total tackles: 117
Tackles for loss: 13 (58 yards)
Sacks: 7.5 (48 yards)
Forced fumbles: 3
Fumbles recovered: 2
Pass break-ups: 2
Jackson Matteo. Photo by Pete Emerson/UVA Media Relations
Jackson Matteo
Senior, center
“Amazing leader and an excellent football player that has been leading from the front in everything we’ve done since the moment I arrived.”
Taquan “Smoke” Mizzell
Senior, running back
Mizzell goes into his senior year as the leading receiver from the 2015 season, tallying 75 receptions and an average of 60 receiving yards per game, despite being a running back. He hasn’t slacked off as a running back, though: He leads the Cavaliers with 163 carries and 723 yards gained. Mizzell can also fill in as a returner, which makes him a player worth watching—he’s a threat in three categories.
“Smoke is a big play threat at any time from multiple positions on the field.”
2015 stats
Rush attempts: 163
Yards gained: 723
Average gain per rush: 4.1
Average rushing yards per game: 55.9
Longest rush: 36
Rushing touchdowns: 4
Receptions: 75
Average yards per reception: 9.6
Average receiving yards per game: 60.1
Receiving touchdowns: 4
Kick returns: 7
Average yards per kick return: 13.7
Total touchdowns: 8
Average total yards per game: 124
Eric Smith
Senior, offensive tackle
“Eric Smith has a tremendous future. He’s a very good football player with great experience, and he’ll play a pivotal role in defending our quarterback.”
2015 stats
Solo tackles: 2
Donte Wilkins
Senior, defensive tackle
“Donte Wilkins is where 3-4 defense starts and that’s at the nose tackle.”
2015 stats
Solo tackles: 6
Total tackles: 11
Tackles for loss: 1.5 (2 yards)
Sacks: 0.5 (1 yard)
Olamide Zaccheaus. Photo by Rich Schmidt/UVA Media Relations
Olamide Zaccheaus
Sophomore, running back
Olamide Zaccheaus is another triple-threat player, making his mark in rushing, receiving and returns for the Cavaliers last season. As a freshman, he recorded 33 carries and 275 yards, as well as posted 21 receptions and an average of 18 receiving yards per game. The returner for the Cavaliers also averages 19.3 yards per kick return and 6.8 yards per punt return. Look for him to step up into a larger role this year on many potential fronts.
“Olamide is a dynamic, versatile player—thrives in space.”
2015 stats | http://www.c-ville.com/bronco-mendenhall-plays-rules/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.c-ville.com/a87a9be39210d5e53bc6d6e7b700b6aa0867b19524290761eb423f07f13510f4.json |
[
"Elizabeth Derby",
"C-Ville",
"Tami",
"Jedd",
"Raennah",
"Kristofer",
"Nick",
"Erin",
"Alex",
"Desire'"
] | 2016-08-26T12:56:08 | null | 2015-12-25T10:00:09 | The Art in Between project’s version of “Guernica” is on exhibit in the art gallery at Charlottesville High School through January. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.c-ville.com%2Fhidden-connections-unique-student-collaboration-reveals-powerful-perspective%2F.json | http://www.c-ville.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/FullSizeRender-24.jpg | en | null | Hidden connections: Unique student collaboration reveals powerful perspective | null | null | www.c-ville.com | A few years ago, Nia Kitchin went to an art exhibit at Charlottesville High School. She couldn’t help but notice the quality of work by a few non-CHS students, artists who were under the tutelage of her soccer coach, Marcelle VanYahres.
“The work that I saw for the first time, I think, was a really large graphite portrait. The technical skill was amazing, but there was so much emotion behind it,” says Kitchin, now a high school senior.
Those young artists are students at Blue Ridge Juvenile Detention Center, a facility that provides a residence and a structured program for juveniles ages 10 through 17. Though Charlottesville City Schools runs the BRJDC educational programs, the students come from across Central Virginia.
According to VanYahres, each student enrolled at BRJDC participates in art class. Unlike academic classes, which may be challenging for various reasons, “creating art is hands-on, sometimes mindless and often therapeutic,” she says. “These children teach me so much more about life than I can ever teach them about art. My classroom works through this give-and-take, and it’s a safe place for students to create art, talk and process.”
After observing the work, Kitchin hatched a plan for a massive joint art project, Art in Between, something that would give more exposure to the kids at BRJDC and give CHS students the chance to learn from them.
“I wanted to combine the CHS students’ work with the Blue Ridge students’ work and represent the community of us, even though we can’t actually be together,” says Kitchin. “I wanted to create this dialogue even though we can’t actually talk.”
She approached VanYahres with her concept to recreate “Guernica,” by Pablo Picasso, using individual pieces of the painting by students from both schools.
“This is an exciting first for us,” says Jennifer Mildonian, art teacher at CHS. “Nia is a dynamic and involved artist. Coming from a family of artists, she knows how important art can be as a connector to the community.”
Kitchin says she chose “Guernica” for its size and components as well as the emotion of the piece. “It’s very, very powerful, and you can see how all the different people and animals are reacting to the bombing [of Picasso’s village]. I wanted to see an interpretation of it, of students reacting to different things.”
When divided into a large grid composed of small squares, Picasso’s famous work became a series of indiscernible grayscale prints. Kitchin copied the lines of each piece onto canvases using graphite, at which point they were split among participating students at both schools.
Participants followed loose rules, namely “use paint” and “stay in the lines,” and were free to add patterns or abstract objects to their art.
Collaborative work isn’t new to the students at the center, who have worked together on murals in its hallways. They also recreated Hokusai’s “The Great Wave,” using a grid system, similar to the “Guernica” concept.
“The students didn’t know what they were going to make as a whole,” VanYahres says. “I only told them they were going to recreate a famous piece of art. I think the students had a great time with this project.”
The experience offers community-building combined with a sense of ownership. “It really makes the students at Blue Ridge feel like a part of something larger,” Mildonian says. “For students to be able to work across schools and interact through a visual medium was exciting.”
Kitchin says the final work as a whole blew her away. “It was so colorful and expressed completely different emotions than the original piece,” she says.
Rather than a single artist’s concentrated response to a singular event, Art in Between showcases the collective intelligence and emotional range of teenagers across all walks of life.
“It’s like we’re in between being children and adults, in between these ‘in’ stages of life,” Kitchin says. “I think it’s the feelings of not being quite free—not quite adults yet. How we feel frustrated sometimes. You know, really reveling in this growing-up period.”
For Kitchin, the project is a continuation of a lifelong interest in art. Since eighth grade, when she attended Reflections Governor’s Art School, she’s created oil paintings and graphite and pencil work. Most recently she knitted “human tubes” that can act like full-sized “emotional cloaks,” she says. “I like thinking about how different humans react to the same things and capturing deep emotion.”
In college, she plans to major in political science and potentially minor in art. “I want to be able to combine those two aspects, the way I feel I’ve sort of done with this mural,” she says.
For Kitchin, and likely her peers, Art in Between carries value because it draws out hidden connections between similar groups.
“We’re all the same age, and we’re all going through the same things, mostly, with different experiences and emotions about it,” Kitchin says. “The value is seeing that represented on a large scale, as a whole. Not as individuals but representing the community. Even if that community can’t be together.” | http://www.c-ville.com/hidden-connections-unique-student-collaboration-reveals-powerful-perspective/ | en | 2015-12-25T00:00:00 | www.c-ville.com/4465be1a7b464d8933ec42fea4600cacf25738b2e601ae03064b1866cc8f24c6.json |
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