Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham’s decision to stop national broadcasts of ZNS 3 televised daily news from Freeport, Grand Bahama, makes absolutely no sense. The reason can’t possibly be the cost factor stated by General Manager Edwin Lightbourn, who claimed in an interview that it costs some seventy-two thousand dollars annually for the televised transmission. When one considers that this figure is less than the annual salary of a minister in Mr. Ingraham’s over-bloated cabinet, then Mr. Lightbourn’s explanation for pulling the plug on the national broadcast of Grand Bahama news is embarrassingly absurd.
Make no mistake about it; this was Mr. Ingraham’s decision. Although Tommy Turnquest is the Minister with responsibility for broadcasting and Michael Moss is chairman of the Broadcasting Corporation, I suspect that neither one of them agreed with the decision, especially Mr. Moss, who has resided in Grand Bahama for many years; however, Mr. Ingraham uses fear like a carpenter uses a hammer to keep his cabinet ministers and those in decision-making positions in the government in check.
What is so mind-boggling, though, is that Mr. Ingraham has chosen to insult Grand Bahamians in this manner at a time when a general election is officially slightly more than two years away; actually, there is speculation that he intends to call an election for later this year. Clearly, being the astute politician that he is, he should have realized that even some staunch Free National Movement (FNM) supporters would be opposed to such a stupid decision, as indeed is the case. What’s more, I believe all of the FNM Grand Bahama members of parliament, except Marco City MP Zhivargo Laing, have not publicly voiced their opposition to this decision because they fear being interred in the political graveyard that Mr. Ingraham has established for those who oppose him.
Laing, of course, believes that he is Mr. Ingraham’s choice to replace him as leader of the FNM and would jump out of an plane travelling at forty thousand feet without a parachute to please him, so it is understandable why he has chosen to betray the people of Marco City by not voicing their opposition to this decision. The other four, on the other hand, have definitely remained silent out of fear.
It is no secret in political circles in Grand Bahama that Mr. Ingraham would like to nominate former Senator Kay Smith, most recently the Bahamas’ counsel general in Atlanta, and Michael Pintard as FNM candidates in the next election. There was speculation that he had planned to dump Eight Mile Rock MP Vernae Grant and run Smith in that seat, but FNM stalwarts in Eight Mile Rock blocked his efforts to do so. Therefore, with Laing being absolutely assured of a nomination, this means that either Ken Russell in High Rock, Neko Grant in Lucaya or Kwasi Thompson in Pineridge may have to bow out in favour of Smith and Pintard. It seems that Neko Grant and Russell most likely are the two Mr. Ingraham has targeted for retirement. Smith, of course, can always run for the West End constituency, but incumbent PLP Obie Wilchcombe is rock-solid there and besides she is reportedly not well liked in that community. But the truth of the matter is that Ingraham simply does not care whether the Bahamian people agree or disagree with the decisions he makes; what he says goes and that’s it. There is a school of thought that Mr. Ingraham was trying to induce Neko Grant and Russell to publicly speak out against the ZNS decision so that he could have a reason to dump them, but neither one apparently took the bait.
Another theory that is being bandied about for this woefully irresponsible decision is that it is the latest salvo in Mr. Ingraham’s ongoing feud with Sir Jack Hayward, one of the principal owners of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, who bitterly opposed his attempts to sell the GBPA to the Chinese. Sir Jack is a member of the British aristocracy and he has strong conservative credentials. He has made it clear that he mistrusts communist China and is suspicious of its motives for investing so heavily in The Bahamas and other areas of the Caribbean. It is worth noting that his point of view is also shared by the United States, although the Americans have been very diplomatic in camouflaging their concerns.
When his plans to encourage Sir Jack to sell the GBPA to the Chinese were derailed, Ingraham responded by arbitrarily refusing to renew the work permit of Hannes Babak, chairman of the GBPA, a decision that many in Grand Bahama now are convinced is one of the main reason Grand Bahama’s economy continues to be so stagnant. Babak had several projects he was working on to encourage investors to come to Grand Bahama, but none of them came to fruition after he was forced to leave the GBPA.
Being the vengeful and vindictive politician that he is, Ingraham has now decided to try and return Grand Bahama to being just another “Out Island” by stopping the national television news from being broadcast from the island. Keep in mind that Freeport is not only the Bahamas’ second major city, but its potential for growth and development at one time had many Bahamians speculating that it would at some point in the future become the most important city in The Bahamas. It is a well laid out city and is recognized as the industrial capital of The Bahamas. With its superb infrastructure, it has the capacity to easily accommodate an estimated one million residents, and in the past when its economy was booming it absorbed the masses of unemployed that came from Nassau and the rest of The Bahamas.
But Hubert Ingraham, for some insane reason, has decided to halt the national broadcast of news from the country’s second major city. In a nutshell, this is one of the worst decisions Mr. Ingraham has made as Prime Minister of this country. He is all powerful, however, and in the next election the voters in this country must show him and the group of “yes, yes” men who make up his government that the progress made in Grand Bahama over the years should not be stifled because of his attempts to replace some of his representatives or his feud with Sir Jack. In a nutshell, stopping the national broadcast of news from Grand Bahama is a stupid, stupid decision.
I am sending this to all segments of the media, including the two major dailies; however, I do not expect The Guardian to publish it, given the fact that it is totally controlled by strong supporters of Mr. Ingraham. The Tribune, on the other hand, has demonstrated that its editorial policies are not dictated by Mr. Ingraham, although its editorials, which are the opinions of the person or persons who writes them, often strongly support Mr. Ingraham.
Yours sincerely,
Oswald T. Brown
Freeport, Grand Bahama
January 4, 2011
The Port must yield to the will of the Bahamian people through its government. I find the remarks attributed the The Englishman, distasteful and disrespectful.
How is it that the fortunes of the Port rely on Mr. Babak? The tremendous changes that occurred such as the Container Port, The Ship Repair Facility, and Our Lucaya, occurred despite Mr. Babak not being involved. What did he accomplish while he sat in the chair?
It sounds to me that the writer may be a bigot, as well as a foreign agent, to bring nationality into the advancement of Freeport. What do those things have to do with business, businessmen, or the strategic interests of The Bahamas?
I noticed too, that since the turn by the writer away from the FNM, that the writer is no longer being cited, by this site, and others, as being allegedly involved in Capital offences.
I think one should not be labeled a Bigot or even worse a Foreign agent especially in this case. One being a Bahamian should be entitled to his free expression especially when he is an informed indiviual as I beleive Mr. Brown is. However, Mr. Finley may also have some valid points to his rebuttle I don’t think this affords him the same undermining titles as he has alluded.
Mr. Brown, is calling a spade a spade…his eloquent on time analysis of the ZNS debacle, the shakedown of the 2 shaky FNM seats in Grand Bahama and Chinese takeover of the Bahamas is on target. One would hope that the people of the Bahamas will come to their senses and realize we have been hoodwinked, bamboozled and lied to for a few shillings.
Mr.OB you surely struck a home run and here are the other points of interest. Identify The Criminal Minds – Masters of Deception: how friendly predators hunt and trap while wearing masks of civility to hide criminal minds.Criminal Minds choose the plan, the time, the place, and the prey. Yet, all their lures and traps depend upon the naïveté of their prey.The psychological profile of a predator may be anything from a slow-witted, pathetic loser to a quick-witted, charming, handsome politician. Always assume he’s very willing to deceive and mislead you – no matter what he promises. the American Psychiatric Association has spent years exploring what evil is, why some people do evil things, and how to prevent evil. They’ve identified factors that military despots use to push ordinary, “good” people to do bad things: obedience to authority, anonymity, diffusion of responsibility, indoctrination, and dehumanization of the enemy whoever they are even unions. The APA has a “Depravity Scale” to assess a criminals’ intent, actions and attitudes – and the degree of evil involved. Some examples:Intentionally traumatizing the victim through humiliation, terror, or creating a haunting memory (such as making a child witness torture, firing employees for walking off their jobs), justifying , Prolonging and intensifying a victim’s suffering, Targeting a helpless victim.Experts on criminal minds say that psychopaths, while having an extreme mental disorder, are legally sane – they know right from wrong but commit a crime anyway just for the fun of it. By trying to hide their crime, they prove they knew it was wrong – thus they are sane per the McNaughton rule.Psychopathic symptoms include a core, aggressive narcissism and being psychically isolated from other people. They believe they’re entitled to do whatever they want (in a cool, calm narcissistic rage). They lack a conscience, thus never feel guilt or loyalty. Without compassion for others – the essence of humanity – they easily deceive and harm those within the larger population of trusting folk.However, most psychopaths (a.k.a. malignant narcissists) don’t have violent criminal minds, such as social or workplace bullies, swindlers, tyrannical bosses, promiscuously unfaithful lovers, and (knowingly) disease-infected sex partners – and often succeed in the military, business (used-car salespeople, lawyers, corporate CEO’s), or politics – or anywhere cunning, ruthless ambition thrives. To a lesser degree, everyone is necessarily self-centered but the psychopath’s criminal mind is the ultimate selfish brat.If you work in an office, watch out for corporate psychopaths – your boss or the person sitting next to you, the New Scientist magazine warns. They may not be violent but their psychopathic character traits are helping them rise in corporate ranks. Professor Robert Hare, of the University of British Columbia, says that corporate psychopaths are ruthless, manipulative, and superficially charming – the very traits that help them climb the corporate ladder but can also harm those companies. They also make coworkers miserable with their fits of rage, blaming others for their mistakes, and taking credit for other people’s work.”There are some who are psychopathic, sadistic, and sane – for whom evil acts are no big deal. Psychopaths are master deceivers, carefully creating and then preserving their masks. The positive first impressions they make are long-lasting because we trust our initial judgments of people. We also want to give people the benefit of the doubt. We accept whatever supports our first impression, and reject whatever doesn’t. If we doubt anything, the psychopath has a smooth explanation to cover it.Psychopaths cannot feel compassion or guilt. They’ll kill a human as easily as a fly. They can charm when needed, and they can ruin people’s lives on a whim. Their main trait is being phenomenally selfish. They have a tough ego that’s extremely resistant to change. In fact, they’re masters at controlling therapists trying to assess and “change” them. Sociopaths (often confused with psychopaths) have a criminal attitude, behavior, and moral code shared by their social group – usually a street gang, political party, ethnic faction, religious sect, cult, or element – that rejects the laws and morals of the larger society in which they reside. (The confusion stems from the fact that some sociopaths also happen to be psychopaths.) Here’s the bottom line to all this psychobabble: The old but accurate diagnosis of “moral insanity” for violent criminal minds has given way to the modern but slippery terms of psychopaths, sociopaths, and APD’s. Yet to their victims, these monsters are monsters and evil is evil – the end result is the same no matter the name. Their depravity leaves you with the same Victim’s Options. A predator commits appalling crimes, but always chooses easy targets and uses sly lures to his traps, then launches sneaky attacks. His criminal mind ensures his total domination by leaving little, if anything, to chance. SO THERE WE HAVE IT.MANIPULATING FOR SHEER PLEASURE OF OTHERs SUFFERING. WHERE IS THE BALANCE IN THE SCALE OF JUSTICE OF INTEGRITY USING TRANSPARENCY WITH ACCOUNTABILITY. THEIR INSENSITIVITIES TOWARD OTHERS, UNLEASH HAVOC ON SOCIETIES WITH NO ONE KNOWING HOW, WHEN OR WHY.
HEBREWS 4 V 12 – For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the [g]breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. All things work together for the good of those who love The Lord and are called according to His Purposes. ZNS between Abaco and Grand Bahama is clearly one thing, AN INDEPENDENT TRANSIT OF ILLEGAL DRUGS, ILLEGAL ALIENS AND POPULATING BOTH ISLANDS WITH THOSE WHO MAKE IT FROM NASSAU AND THE SOUTHERN BAHAMAS. There is much land on both islands and with Bahamians being second citizens with no work and such mental stress of seeing others given opportunities which have been stripped from them, it is the best revenge of Hubert for them buying the sunshine government beguiling the nation and world story of there being unsavoury practice and corruption being stopped by those in authority in the Bahamas along with the drug trade coming to an end with evidences which support the opposite as being truth. Occultic practices do cause those who dabble in dark arts to choose things which make one wonder how stupid they can be and yet in the past no one objected to it. NOW IS THE TIME TO SAY THE STUPID ACTIONS AND WORDS OF THOSE WHO HOLD OFFICES ARE SIMPLY WAYS OF TELLING THEM, THEY WOULD PAY NOW FOR THEIR MISTAKES AND INTENTS OF DOING HURT TO OTHERS. THIS GENOCIDE LIKE THE IVORY COAST IS RIGHT IN OUR FACES, WAKE UP BAHAMAS AND STOP IT BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.
Grouper Mouth Wisdom I have a great idea, we rent parachute here over PI I would be happy to give you one so you just get on it and we let you go away forever.
Let’s all parachute away from both the PLP and FNM. Maybe the PM has but written off Freeport for the upcoming general elections. Seems as if the PM also favors the illegal Haitians over Bahamians. Most Bahamians showed lots of compassion when we helped out Haiti after the devastating earthquake, but not within our territory for illegals. Being those in power seem to be more interested in helping illegal Haitians, than those hundreds of Bahamians in the news recently who built homes on land that they paid for and thought they owned it lock stock and barrel. Here’s an idea? Since more and more Bahamians on a daily basis are becoming fed up with both the governing FNM and opposition PLP, what say you if we the people agree to a Benevolent dictatorship for say a three year period to clean up the mess created by both the FNM and PLP?
The Port must yield to the will of the Bahamian people through its government. I find the remarks attributed the The Englishman, distasteful and disrespectful.
How is it that the fortunes of the Port rely on Mr. Babak? The tremendous changes that occurred such as the Container Port, The Ship Repair Facility, and Our Lucaya, occurred despite Mr. Babak not being involved. What did he accomplish while he sat in the chair?
It sounds to me that the writer may be a bigot, as well as a foreign agent, to bring nationality into the advancement of Freeport. What do those things have to do with business, businessmen, or the strategic interests of The Bahamas?
I noticed too, that since the turn by the writer away from the FNM, that the writer is no longer being cited, by this site, and others, as being allegedly involved in Capital offences.
I think one should not be labeled a Bigot or even worse a Foreign agent especially in this case. One being a Bahamian should be entitled to his free expression especially when he is an informed indiviual as I beleive Mr. Brown is. However, Mr. Finley may also have some valid points to his rebuttle I don’t think this affords him the same undermining titles as he has alluded.
Mr. Brown, is calling a spade a spade…his eloquent on time analysis of the ZNS debacle, the shakedown of the 2 shaky FNM seats in Grand Bahama and Chinese takeover of the Bahamas is on target. One would hope that the people of the Bahamas will come to their senses and realize we have been hoodwinked, bamboozled and lied to for a few shillings.
Mr.OB you surely struck a home run and here are the other points of interest. Identify The Criminal Minds – Masters of Deception: how friendly predators hunt and trap while wearing masks of civility to hide criminal minds.Criminal Minds choose the plan, the time, the place, and the prey. Yet, all their lures and traps depend upon the naïveté of their prey.The psychological profile of a predator may be anything from a slow-witted, pathetic loser to a quick-witted, charming, handsome politician. Always assume he’s very willing to deceive and mislead you – no matter what he promises. the American Psychiatric Association has spent years exploring what evil is, why some people do evil things, and how to prevent evil. They’ve identified factors that military despots use to push ordinary, “good” people to do bad things: obedience to authority, anonymity, diffusion of responsibility, indoctrination, and dehumanization of the enemy whoever they are even unions. The APA has a “Depravity Scale” to assess a criminals’ intent, actions and attitudes – and the degree of evil involved. Some examples:Intentionally traumatizing the victim through humiliation, terror, or creating a haunting memory (such as making a child witness torture, firing employees for walking off their jobs), justifying , Prolonging and intensifying a victim’s suffering, Targeting a helpless victim.Experts on criminal minds say that psychopaths, while having an extreme mental disorder, are legally sane – they know right from wrong but commit a crime anyway just for the fun of it. By trying to hide their crime, they prove they knew it was wrong – thus they are sane per the McNaughton rule.Psychopathic symptoms include a core, aggressive narcissism and being psychically isolated from other people. They believe they’re entitled to do whatever they want (in a cool, calm narcissistic rage). They lack a conscience, thus never feel guilt or loyalty. Without compassion for others – the essence of humanity – they easily deceive and harm those within the larger population of trusting folk.However, most psychopaths (a.k.a. malignant narcissists) don’t have violent criminal minds, such as social or workplace bullies, swindlers, tyrannical bosses, promiscuously unfaithful lovers, and (knowingly) disease-infected sex partners – and often succeed in the military, business (used-car salespeople, lawyers, corporate CEO’s), or politics – or anywhere cunning, ruthless ambition thrives. To a lesser degree, everyone is necessarily self-centered but the psychopath’s criminal mind is the ultimate selfish brat.If you work in an office, watch out for corporate psychopaths – your boss or the person sitting next to you, the New Scientist magazine warns. They may not be violent but their psychopathic character traits are helping them rise in corporate ranks. Professor Robert Hare, of the University of British Columbia, says that corporate psychopaths are ruthless, manipulative, and superficially charming – the very traits that help them climb the corporate ladder but can also harm those companies. They also make coworkers miserable with their fits of rage, blaming others for their mistakes, and taking credit for other people’s work.”There are some who are psychopathic, sadistic, and sane – for whom evil acts are no big deal. Psychopaths are master deceivers, carefully creating and then preserving their masks. The positive first impressions they make are long-lasting because we trust our initial judgments of people. We also want to give people the benefit of the doubt. We accept whatever supports our first impression, and reject whatever doesn’t. If we doubt anything, the psychopath has a smooth explanation to cover it.Psychopaths cannot feel compassion or guilt. They’ll kill a human as easily as a fly. They can charm when needed, and they can ruin people’s lives on a whim. Their main trait is being phenomenally selfish. They have a tough ego that’s extremely resistant to change. In fact, they’re masters at controlling therapists trying to assess and “change” them. Sociopaths (often confused with psychopaths) have a criminal attitude, behavior, and moral code shared by their social group – usually a street gang, political party, ethnic faction, religious sect, cult, or element – that rejects the laws and morals of the larger society in which they reside. (The confusion stems from the fact that some sociopaths also happen to be psychopaths.) Here’s the bottom line to all this psychobabble: The old but accurate diagnosis of “moral insanity” for violent criminal minds has given way to the modern but slippery terms of psychopaths, sociopaths, and APD’s. Yet to their victims, these monsters are monsters and evil is evil – the end result is the same no matter the name. Their depravity leaves you with the same Victim’s Options. A predator commits appalling crimes, but always chooses easy targets and uses sly lures to his traps, then launches sneaky attacks. His criminal mind ensures his total domination by leaving little, if anything, to chance. SO THERE WE HAVE IT.MANIPULATING FOR SHEER PLEASURE OF OTHERs SUFFERING. WHERE IS THE BALANCE IN THE SCALE OF JUSTICE OF INTEGRITY USING TRANSPARENCY WITH ACCOUNTABILITY. THEIR INSENSITIVITIES TOWARD OTHERS, UNLEASH HAVOC ON SOCIETIES WITH NO ONE KNOWING HOW, WHEN OR WHY.
HEBREWS 4 V 12 – For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the [g]breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. All things work together for the good of those who love The Lord and are called according to His Purposes. ZNS between Abaco and Grand Bahama is clearly one thing, AN INDEPENDENT TRANSIT OF ILLEGAL DRUGS, ILLEGAL ALIENS AND POPULATING BOTH ISLANDS WITH THOSE WHO MAKE IT FROM NASSAU AND THE SOUTHERN BAHAMAS. There is much land on both islands and with Bahamians being second citizens with no work and such mental stress of seeing others given opportunities which have been stripped from them, it is the best revenge of Hubert for them buying the sunshine government beguiling the nation and world story of there being unsavoury practice and corruption being stopped by those in authority in the Bahamas along with the drug trade coming to an end with evidences which support the opposite as being truth. Occultic practices do cause those who dabble in dark arts to choose things which make one wonder how stupid they can be and yet in the past no one objected to it. NOW IS THE TIME TO SAY THE STUPID ACTIONS AND WORDS OF THOSE WHO HOLD OFFICES ARE SIMPLY WAYS OF TELLING THEM, THEY WOULD PAY NOW FOR THEIR MISTAKES AND INTENTS OF DOING HURT TO OTHERS. THIS GENOCIDE LIKE THE IVORY COAST IS RIGHT IN OUR FACES, WAKE UP BAHAMAS AND STOP IT BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.
Grouper Mouth Wisdom I have a great idea, we rent parachute here over PI I would be happy to give you one so you just get on it and we let you go away forever.
Let’s all parachute away from both the PLP and FNM. Maybe the PM has but written off Freeport for the upcoming general elections. Seems as if the PM also favors the illegal Haitians over Bahamians. Most Bahamians showed lots of compassion when we helped out Haiti after the devastating earthquake, but not within our territory for illegals. Being those in power seem to be more interested in helping illegal Haitians, than those hundreds of Bahamians in the news recently who built homes on land that they paid for and thought they owned it lock stock and barrel. Here’s an idea? Since more and more Bahamians on a daily basis are becoming fed up with both the governing FNM and opposition PLP, what say you if we the people agree to a Benevolent dictatorship for say a three year period to clean up the mess created by both the FNM and PLP?
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