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VOLUME:117 No.231, OCTOBER 28TH, 2020
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UP IN SMOKE? US banking rules may stop move to cannabis industry By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas faces being “cut off from the US” economy and financial system if its banks accept monies generated by a marijuana/hemp industry, top financial executives warned yesterday. Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive, and Kenrick Brathwaite, the Clearing Banks Association’s (CBA) head, said Bahamian institutions were informed last year their correspondent relationships with US banks would be endangered if they took deposits from this sector even if legalised here. This, they said, is because US federal law still treats the cultivation of marijuana
SEE PAGE EIGHT
SCOTIA TURNS ITS BACK ON KEY ISLANDS
and its recreational use as a crime. US-based banks, especially multinationals and those subject to federal oversight, will thus automatically refuse to deal with foreign banks that accept marijuana-related funds for fear they will become tainted and accused of committing a criminal offence. The Bahamian banker duo yesterday voiced surprise this issue had seemingly not figured more prominently in both the National Commission on Marijuana, and the Economic Recovery Committee’s reports and discussions even though Mr Bowe said he had raised the potential obstacles with both the former body and the government.
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
LONG ISLAND’S MP yesterday voiced fears his constituency will become “a banking desert” after Scotiabank unveiled plans to withdraw from four Family Islands with a series of branch closures. Adrian Gibson told Tribune Business the Canadian-owned bank’s decision to close its “semi-operational” Buckley’s site, and end its presence on Long Island, meant the island will no long have a physical branch following Royal Bank of Canada’s pull-out several years ago. “I fear this will have a devastating impact on my people’s access to financial services,” he said. Scotiabank yesterday said it had decided to “consolidate” - meaning close - its operations on Abaco, Andros, Long Island, Paradise Island and Exuma into branches on New Providence. The move, the bank added, will take place over the next four months.
FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
GROCERS IMPLORE PM TO END WEEKEND LOCKDOWN By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net THE Retail Grocers Association has called for the end to the weekend lockdowns along with the 7pm curfew, insisting the measures have left businesses teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Lockdowns have not stopped the spread of COVID-19, the association said in a letter to Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis in his capacity as competent authority. The group also said the curfew does not provide a reasonable
enough time frame to allow businesses to meet the demands of consumers. That letter dated October 26, seen by The Tribune, noted: “Call off the future planned weekend lockdown and extend the curfew to a reasonable time in order to accommodate all business.” It came as the House of Assembly on Monday passed a resolution to extend Emergency Powers Orders until November 30. The Senate passed the State of Emergency extension yesterday. SEE PAGE FOUR
WHY DO WE LET THE CHURCH KEEP PULLING STRINGS?
FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
IT’S A B-RUSHOUT JUNKANOO legend Eddie Dames captured on canvas by Bahamian artist Alton Joseph. The artist champions Bahamian creativity, with work focusing on the nation’s scenery, icons and landmarks as well as exploring Africa in his work. See Friday’s Weekend section for the full story.
MY AMBITION? MINNIS CAN WIN IT By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net FORMER Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said he believes the Free National Movement can win the next general election with Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis at the helm of the organisation, though he cautioned that the party faces challenges. He made the comment during an appearance
FORMER Health Minister Dr Duane Sands. on talk show Beyond the Headlines with Clint Watson last night. Dr Sands was coy about his own intentions, however, when
asked by the show’s host if he had plans to “make a move” to be prime minister for “the next election”. Dr Sands replied: “I would have made it very clear that there are no options off the table, but the one thing I’m going to say is my ma didn’t raise no fool and the last thing I’m going to do is telegraph what my strategy and plan is at this point. Let us see how things play out.” SEE PAGE THREE
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
LOVE BEACH PROJECT IS BACK IN PLAY
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A $100M Love Beach condominium project’s planners yesterday voiced optimism that changes to the original design will “overcome” prior objections from nearby residents. Sean Mathews, of N & M Architects, the Bahamian executive architect for The View at Love Beach Residences development, said the previous boutique hotel and “over-water units” have been omitted from the revised plan that has been scheduled for a public hearing before the Town Planning Committee on November 12. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
PAGE 2, Wednesday, October 28, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
‘Moore’s Island has been forgotten’
SOME of the damage still remaining in Moore’s Island after Hurricane Dorian.
By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net RESIDENTS of Moore’s Island, Abaco, say they want more assistance from the government as there has been little work done to restore the island to normalcy more than a year after Hurricane Dorian hit. “Our docking facilities are in terrible shape. Our roads are in terrible shape. It’s falling apart. It’s a bunch of things that are going on here,” said Bishop Nixon Simms, a long-time resident in the community. “There’s no work being done on the (dock) building for months now. The government dock is in terrible condition. I mean that’s a hazard. We need help, we need attention.” While some progress has been made since Dorian, there are still certain essential services that remain absent in some communities. In Moore’s Island, the situation is no different, where residents say there is a need for major upgrades to basic infrastructure in the community like its clinic, airport and roads. Some of these vexing issues, Bishop Simms
added, are not entirely new just speaking to a lady the problems for the island and other day where we have to its residents, but were exac- just get whatever little we erbated by the deadly storm can get our hands on and last year. start buying materials at a However, he said the time until we have enough cries of the islanders have to do our repairs.” fallen on deaf ears and Mrs Rolle-Davis also there is now a strong sense pointed to problems with of neglect and disappoint- the community’s water ment in the community. supply, which she says has “We had some prob- been inconsistent and poses lems with this stuff before a major inconvenience to Dorian, but it worsened workers there. after that,” he told The “I’m not sure where the Tribune yesproblem lies, terday. “The Our docking but we’ve been government, intermitfacilities are in getting they’re supposed tent service with to do better gov- terrible shape. water. Last night ernance than Our roads was the first time that. They’re we had water are in terrible supposed to straight through have representa- shape. It’s for I think tives that should falling apart. maybe about see what needs two months now to be done and so we have been start working on it, you challenged with water,” Mrs know.” Rolle-Davis said. He added: “With the Meanwhile, Bishop docking facility, you should Simms added: “The water have a standard for the supply is up and down. docking facility. Sandy Sometimes at night, it goes Point has a good docking off and can’t come back on facility there, so let’s set that until morning.” as a standard so when you Central and South Abaco come to these other Family MP James Albury, when Islands, you’ll be able to see contacted by The Tribthat type of standard in the une yesterday, said he was docking facility. aware of all the concerns “Then there should be expressed by residents a good healthcare centre. in Moore’s Island and is There should be a standard actively trying to address for that. The terminal build- and resolve the issues. ings on these small islands, “So many of these issues it should be a standard for are all issues that I’m aware that. Bring your island up of and actively trying to to a certain standard, bring resolve. I would’ve brought your people up.” it to the relevant minister’s The religious leader said attention the issues that that while he is grateful for they’re facing there,” he the food assistance pro- said. vided by the government “As you were aware, in recent weeks, he still Minister (of Works Desbelieves more can be done, mond) Bannister was especially as it relates to the supposed to make a visit restoration efforts. to Abaco, but unfortu“The government did nately he tested positive bring in food every week- (for COVID-19) and he end for the past few months was coming to Abaco and so we are thankful for one of the areas I was that… but since Dorian, hoping we would visit was we haven’t received one in fact Moore’s Island to nail from the govern- deal with the infrastructure ment as far as the repairs. concerns.” “Some homes were totally As it relates to issues destroyed. Some are still with the water supply, Mr living with tarps on their Albury added: “From what roofs,” he said. I understand, new pumps Ruthamae Rolle-Davis, were sent over and that’s another local in the com- something I’m following up munity, also expressed now to see how that process dissatisfaction to this news- is going. paper over the lack of “Several of the other attention given to Moore’s matters, such as the runway Island residents by the lights, I’ve brought it to the government to further minister of aviation’s attenrebuilding efforts there. tion so unfortunately, there She said: “Persons are are a lot of issues there. still waiting to receive The public dock is also in assistance and to be honest some bad need of repairs, with you some people have I would have paid for out just given up on the DRA of my constituency capital (Disaster Reconstruction grant a local contractor who Authority) coming in to would’ve cleaned the debris give any assistance. I was and made some minor repairs, but the project is a little beyond my ability to tackle just out of my capital grant budget. “It’s still in need of repairs, but to put in a nutshell, these are matters that I’m very much aware of. I’m working with the chief councilor (of Moore’s Island) and he’s aware of that and we have an open line of communication,” Mr Albury said.
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THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, October 28, 2020, PAGE 3
My ambition? Minnis can win election from page one “Right now, Duane Sands is an active, loyal member of the Free National Movement and is proud to be so. He is a representative to the people of Elizabeth having gone to the polls three times, having lost twice and finally gaining the confidence of the people of Elizabeth. I don’t intend to lose that.” Dr Sands has emerged as an occasionally strong critic of the Minnis administration since resigning as health minister in May. Asked if his party could win with Dr Minnis as leader, he said: “I believe the FNM can win with Hubert Minnis at the helm. We’ll just have to understand exactly what the challenges are and deal with them. Right now the FNM finds itself discordant from the views and opinions of many Bahamians. I think we’re out of step, we’re out of sync with so many Bahamians. Bahamians are a forgiving people
FORMER Health Minister Dr Duane Sands
until they reach the end of the road. They want to hear you recognise that you hurt me, you recognise you could’ve done something different and you didn’t do it and if you change your ways, man come here, don’t do it again, let me love you up, kiss you up, I’mma give you another chance. I think there is possibly (Bahamians will forgive the FNM). To my colleagues, understand we have to redouble our efforts sincerely.” Asked about the party’s chances if he were to become leader, he said: “That is not on the table. At this point there is one leader at a time and until we go to convention and change that leader, and I’m not aware of any convention that is planned, the FNM is led by Hubert Alexander Minnis.” Dr Sands has previously spoken of his desires to one day lead the FNM.
‘ENDORSING CIVIL UNIONS IS NOT SEEKING SPECIAL RIGHTS’ By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
A LOCAL LGBTQI group is hoping The Bahamas will follow the lead of Pope Francis in endorsing same sex civil unions. Pope Francis publicly voiced his support for these unions in “Francesco”, a recently released documentary. “What we have to create is a civil union law,” Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic church, said of same-sex couples. “That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that.” Alexus D’Marco,
founder of the Bahamas Organisation of LGBTI Affairs, described the Pope’s comments as “progressive”, adding LGBTI people were not looking for special rights. “I do think it’s very progressive of the Pope to make such a statement,” Ms D’Marco told The Tribune. “In our country and in our climate the issue is the word marriage because it comes from a biblical text. “But the Pope used the phrase ‘civil unions’. Everybody has a right to family. That’s a civil liberty. That’s a civil right. Everybody has a right to marriage. Everybody has a right to protect
their assets. Marriage is a way of protecting one’s assets. “For example, the church can’t give you a divorce, courts have to give you a divorce so that is something that has to go through the courts. I think his endorsement of it is using the correct wording.” She continued: “LGBTI people aren’t looking for any special rights. These rights should already be afforded to them as citizens in their own country. There are no special rights. “What is happening is there is discrimination of their rights. This group of people can do this and this
group of people can’t. So, obviously we see there is definitely an imbalance on the scale as far as who gets to do what in a country.” Ms D’Marco said she is optimistic The Bahamas will move in the right direction. “I am optimistic that we will be moving in the correct direction as it relates to civil unions and rights for LGBTI people in the country. “I think again it takes sensitisation and education. Again, there are no special rights but I do think that there are some civil liberties that have been denied to this group of Bahamians
and, yes, I am looking forward to that progression.” “Francesco” debuted last week at the Rome Film Festival. The film followed the Pope as he visited countries around the world before COVID-19 and discussed the issues close to his heart: climate change, refugees and social inequality. On Monday, Bahamas Faith Ministries (BFM) Senior Pastor Dave Burrows told The Nassau Guardian there is no need for “special rights to be afforded” to same-sex couples. The pastor was quoted as saying: “In a country that is a representative democracy,
I would have to leave it up to those individuals and parties involved to determine what is best for them, as they fall in an entirely different category. “I believe all humans have a right to be loved and treated with respect, but at the same time, I do not think we can equate the two relationships. “To my understanding, existing laws allow for persons to have legal rights and privileges as citizens that are sufficient to peacefully exist regardless of their background, persuasion or orientation and there is no need for new or special rights to be afforded.”
ACTING FINANCIAL SECRETARY JOHNSON: I’M AN ATHEIST By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net ACTING Financial Secretary Marlon Johnson confirmed yesterday that he is an atheist, adding that his religious views should not matter when it comes to his public duties. His comment came after a sermon from Mount Tabor Pastor Bishop Neil Ellis on Sunday which attacked elected officials, including Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, over the continuing COVID-19 restrictions. At one point the bishop said: “Your one-man stand is killing our economy and it sure doesn’t help when the one in the chair does not believe in God.” Many interpreted the remark as a shot at Dr Minnis, but Bishop Ellis reportedly told Eyewitness News that he was referring to a senior civil servant, not the nation’s leader. In a public Facebook post yesterday, Mr Johnson said he is “atheist and a humanist” and has been so his entire adult life.
“While I have always been open about this fact, there are literally thousands of Bahamians who are unbelievers and agnostics,” he said. “Most choose to keep quiet about it even as they work alongside you, or date you, or sit next to you in church. “I am fortunate to have been appointed to senior executive positions in public entities under the Christie administration and the Minnis administration. “I was first hired as a junior civil servant under the Pindling administration. “I was selected and appointed by then-Prime Minister Ingraham to serve as a counsellor in the executive offices of the IDB in Washington, with an exception made because I did not meet the minimum age requirement. “At no time did the Pindling, Ingraham, Christie or Minnis administration ever consider my religious views in their appointments to these various posts. These Prime Ministers and their
MAN SHOT BY POLICE A MAN is in hospital after he was shot on Monday, police said. The incident occurred after 10pm, when a man walking across the street on Winsor Lane from his neighbour’s residence noticed a male had approached him from behind. The man, who has a firearm, discharged it several times in the victim’s direction, injuring him. The victim was transported to hospital via a private vehicle where he is listed in
serious but stable condition. Police are also looking for two suspects who robbed a business on Monday afternoon. Shortly after 3pm, two men, one armed with a handgun, entered a business on Market Street and demanded cash from the female manager. One of the suspects then took an undetermined amount of cash from the register. They both fled the scene in an unknown direction. Investigations into both matters continue.
representatives understood the freedoms and privileges afforded to all Bahamians – the very civil liberties for which our forefathers and foremothers had struggled to attain. “Neither I – nor any public officer that I work alongside – bring our
religious views to the execution of our duties. We understand the need for fidelity to the laws of the land and the policies of the government. “We live in a civil secular democracy. The rights enshrined in our constitution are the foundation of
our wonderful pluralistic society. “We are privileged to live in a country where all opinions can be shared loudly and lustily – and daily on social media. “It would be a shame if ever we sought to disqualify anyone from any public
or private office – or even just castigate them personally – because they openly maintain a creed that does not align with that of our own. “Such a disposition puts us on a road to tyranny. We do not want to travel that road.”
PAGE 4, Wednesday, October 28, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Hotel workers say govt ‘not checking’ for them By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net HOTEL workers are feeling hopeless with mounting bills, little hope and a government, they feel, is “not checking” for them, several of them told The Tribune yesterday. In March, the hotel industry came to a screeching halt with the entrance of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving many industry employees without work and “losing dignity daily” by standing on long lines for food and other forms of assistance. Samantha Murphy, a hotel maid, said while she has mixed emotions on why “God sent the pandemic”, she has found a silver lining. “There is something about this COVID and if we stop and look at it, we will see what it is,” said Ms Murphy. “I think it’s here for a reason. We all had to stop life as we know it and look to God for help.
I think it was designed for us to acknowledge Him. I found my silver lining though. Things were really, really hard for months. The bank repossessed my car. The little I was getting was just not enough. I realised how important my earnings were, especially my tips. “That silver lining I talked about… God gave me a talent. I know how to clean and I think I am the best at it. With confidence, I stepped out and started cleaning people’s houses and that has helped me so far. I had to put pride aside and do it to keep afloat. So far it has helped me a lot and I will continue doing it until we open again; if they take me back. “I think the government has to take the tourism industry seriously and come up with something serious for the hotels to want to open.” Mario Smith, an Atlantis employee, said he is managing, but it is hard. He said he has “dark thoughts” at times, but has to push past
them to survive. “All of this is just sad,” he said. “We demonstrated – they ignored us. We marched to Parliament. They ignored us. We went to the foot of the bridge, they ignored us. Now we are going to ignore them. “This is like a crime to have us out here like this. We are not blaming Atlantis or any other resort, the problem is not them, the problem is the weak plans of the government. “The resorts cannot and will not open up to weak plans that will not bring tourists here. This is business and it is clear that this government does not know how to manage this industry. They have not connected with the major stakeholders, the resorts, to be on one accord. I cannot tell you what darkness has crossed my mind to survive at times. I was down to cleaning cars. Yes, they assigned money for us but think of it, the money is months late, so what are we to survive on?
Please tell me.” Whitney Joseph, a pool attendant, said he was not affected by the industry shutdown as he immediately started pushing his side businesses and is also satisfied with what he gets from the government. “I thank the government for doing what it could to help us hotel workers,” Mr Joseph said. “I used to be in problems all the time before I went to work at the hotel. So when I got the job, to keep me busy, I started doing yards on my days off and that little business started to grow. I also clean cars as well. So when the hotel closed and we had to go home, I just doubled up on my side hustles and I was straight. “I also got the money from the government and plenty of people complain about it being late, but I look at it as my savings. I can get months of assistance at once and put it in the bank for survival. See, you have to use your common sense when
dealing with this thing. No money coming in, so you have to make that money and spend it like you have sense.” As far as Rhea Johnson is concerned, the government “is not checking” hotel workers. She thinks more needs to be done to get the industry up and running. “I (have been a) hospitality worker for over 20 years,” she said. “I feel insulted with what is happening in our industry. I have it hard. You ask me how I am managing? Well that’s all I can tell you. I have it hard. I don’t know what to do right now. NIB is not working for me and now it’s going to be less. It is obvious that this government is not checking for us. They are not paying attention to what is happening to hotel workers. We need help. My bills are out the roof. “They said we are opening in November, so how come no hotel is opening? Where are the people going? I feel frustrated
and I am broke right now, so this is not a good time for me. If I say more, I will really show what’s on my heart and it’s nothing good right now. “ New rules will take effect on November 1, eliminating the need for tourists, citizens and returning residents to quarantine or “vacation in place” for 14 days after arrival in the country. The tourists and returning residents will need a RT-PCR negative test results that are no older than seven days to qualify for the travel visa, a revision of the current fiveday requirement. They will then be tested on arrival in the country as part of new measures meant to kick start the tourism industry. Many major hotels have announced they will not reopen until 2021, however the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island is said to be targeting a phased reopening before the end of 2020 by creating a COVID-19 free “bubble” for guests by way of the “vacation in place” model.
GROCERS IMPLORE PM TO END WEEKEND LOCKDOWN from page one
Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis will hold a press conference today, where he is expected to reveal what restrictions will take place next month. His address also comes days before the country is set to open the tourism industry. Super Value owner Rupert Roberts, who is also the association’s secretary, confirmed the group petitioned the government, adding that grocers feel the restrictions could be helping the virus to spread. “We’ve been telling them all this time that lockdowns are congesting the stores and in this industry, it’s forcing people together and increasing the spread,” Mr Roberts said yesterday. “When we have control of our employees, we make them follow the rules with masks, the social distancing and we have protective shields between the staff and customers.” He continued: “It’s when they get home the problem comes in. I think most of the cases are coming from social (interactions) and not work related. “So, when we had the seven-day week, when they are off, they do their house work, they do their cooking and they are busy. But lockdowns they do whatever they have to do and then they have time to socialise and that’s where the problem comes in. Anyone
under 40 it’s P-A-R-T-Y. I think that’s where the problem is coming in. “So, this lockdown is just destroying the economy and spreading the virus and so I hope they see that and do something about it.” Mr Roberts revealed yesterday the association had been writing to the relevant authority about the issue for the past two weeks. “Retailers and restaurants cannot meet overhead costs with limited sales from curbside pick up, which is forcing them into bankruptcy. Have you tried on a dress on the sidewalk yet? “How are you going to go to a restaurant and be home by 7 o’clock?” He added: “People want to shop, but to get our staff home for 7 o’clock we have to close at 5.30pm but people coming from work want to stop and shop at that time and that is creating a lot of congestion, a lot of lines in the store, which we try to control, but it’s too difficult. “Another thing is that people don’t get paid until the weekend so they can’t shop until the weekend. The lockdowns are too tight, the curfews are too tight.” Mr Roberts said he’s seen more of his staff contract the virus over the past several weeks. “Yes, of course,” he said when asked about infections at his chain of stores. “The country’s in an explosion. Personally, I believe lockdowns are spreading
TOTAL CASES
the virus.” Earlier this month, Mr Roberts said store executives would not “second guess” the recommendations made by health officials to curb the spread of COVID-19. However, at the time he said his staff would likely “catch hell” due to the influx of shoppers expected from reduced shopping days. Mr Roberts told The Tribune in a previous interview that while it’s frustrating that more restrictions have to be imposed, Bahamians must learn to abide by the rules. “What I see is absolutely disgusting — disregard for the sanitisation, the masks and the social distancing,” he said at the time. “I just don’t understand it and it’s very frustrating. They think they know more about COVID than the Prime Minister, the doctor and anyone and there’s only one way to stop them and that’s brutality. “And I guess the government is now beginning to realise that they have to be brutal about it …I don’t think the lockdown’s good, but medical people do and we’re going to support the medical. “I’m not going to second guess medical. They tell us what to do to keep the country safe and we’ll just obey. We have opinions, but when they make the decisions, we abide by it 100 percent.” Earlier this month Dr
TOTAL DEATHS
6,502 136 TOTAL TESTS
HOSPITALISED
34,504 101
CASES IN ICU
19
RECOVERED
3987
• TUESDAY FIGURES NOT RELEASED AT TIME OF GOING TO PRESS
LONG lines at supermarkets ahead of last weekend’s lockdown. Minnis announced tighter restrictions for Abaco and New Providence to slow
the spread of COVID-19, including a 7pm curfew, lockdowns each weekend,
Photo: Donovan McIntosh curbside business for retailers, except grocery stores, and the closure of gyms.
HOMELESS AND RUNNING OUT OF HOPE By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net AFTER being kicked out of a home she shared with a friend, now homeless 45-year-old Carla Eugene is still left seeking somewhere to live. The Tribune found the mother-of-three waiting outside the Department of Social Services’ Baillou Hill Road office yesterday, one of several hoping for help in a desperate situation. She has been unemployed since the beginning of last year, homeless for roughly three weeks or more and is now seeking government assistance. “I’ve been out here for hours and hours – sit here and I saw the people left,” she told The Tribune. “I sat here until darkness fall and I was still in front of Social Services while everybody left and leave me sitting right here.” According to Ms Eugene,
it was her friend’s family that kicked her out of the home. She understood the family’s reasoning, but said the situation was not handled properly. “The friend got ill. The friend had to get admitted to the hospital and that’s when the family came and tell me I have to leave. “They say I have to go because you know he’s no longer there and they won’t accept me being there. “I was sleeping on the couch in the front room and when the family came they knocked on the door and I went and opened the door and they told me, ‘Come you gotta leave now’.” She added: “I couldn’t even take a bath... they say no because one of the daughters got to secure their father’s possession.” The 45-year-old said her children are staying with relatives. “My children are with my family. Who isn’t abroad is with my family and they
were not able to assist me because they’re not in the position to assist me as yet.” So, she kept coming to the Department of Social Services for help. She was placed into temporary lodgings, but has been told her time there has come to end. “After they put me up for two weeks in a motel, they tell me that’s it, I exhaust my resources with them. They can’t help me no longer and so I was back and forth here.” She said she is living at a motel, but does not have the money to stay there any longer. “I have to pay my $200 at …(the) motel. That’s what someone gave me to reside for a week. “My week was up from Monday, but only through the manager saw me outside sitting down in the dark after eight, nine o’clock in the dark where everybody and I was still outside and the manager insisted that his workers give me a room until today.”
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, October 28, 2020, PAGE 5
FOULKES: HIGHER PRICES A RESULT OF COVID IMPACT ON COSTS By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
AMID complaints over price increases on certain goods in the country, Labour Minister Dion Foulkes said investigations conducted by the Price Control Commission have shown that higher costs are a “direct result” of COVID19 impact’s on food costs worldwide. Speaking virtually at a press conference this week,
Mr Foulkes said since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, inspectors from the Consumer’s Affairs Unit have increased their presence at retail stores to ensure that there is no price gouging happening amid the health crisis. For New Providence, the minister said some 1,196 retail establishments, including food stores and pharmacies, were inspected during the period. On the Family Islands, Mr Foulkes said
1,680 businesses were inspected. “There were minor infractions recorded and, in such cases, merchants were officials warned and ordered to change prices in the presence of officers,” he added. As it relates to Grand Bahama and Bimini, there were 576 inspections completed on those islands, with 31 warnings given. The minister said while officials have received many complaints on
the issue of price gouging, investigations by the PCC found that, in most cases, price increases were directly linked to the negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis on food costs globally. “I wish to say that we have had a lot of complaints. I got a complaint from Grand Bahama from, I think it was Minister of State (For Grand Bahama) Kwasi Thompson who referred the complaint to me from
Grand Bahama about a drastic increase at one of the pharmacies for one of the items,” he said. “We immediately dispatched an inspector to investigate that and this would have been in March, early April and it was true that the price did go up significantly but the owner of the pharmacy was able to show us the invoices where he brought the items in the United States at the increased prices and that was a direct result if
the prices going up in the United States. “So I would like to say to consumers, if you see prices going up, it does not mean that the price control regulations are being breached. The owners and operators of pharmacies and food stores and other establishments for price control items are allowed a certain percentage and they add the cost of those items onto that percentage so if the cost of the item goes up then the price goes up.”
SOME of the oil dumped in Grand Bahama.
Oil dump at beach a ‘tragedy’ By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A LOCAL activist said the illegal oil dumping in the Barbary Beach area is a “tragedy” and has called for a severe penalty for those responsible. Although police investigations are continuing, The Tribune has learned the dumped oil in question is possibly refined oil or Bunker C oil, and not the stored crude oil. This eliminates both Equinor and BORCO as the possible originating source of the oil, the activist said. “It is a tragedy,” said Joseph Darville, chairman of Save the Bays yesterday. “I am sure that the investigative agencies in this country should be able to tell where it came from, and the penalty should be the severest that can be levied upon the individuals and companies responsible for that.” On October 21, a video was posted on social media of the oil that was dumped in the Barbary Beach area. Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest, the MP for East Grand Bahama, condemned the act, and said that police investigations will be conducted to bring those to justice. Mr Darville, along with Rashema Ingraham, executive director of Waterkeepers Bahamas, visited the site after learning of the incident and viewing the video. He reported the oil was three inches thick on the ground and had destroyed many of the palmetto (thatch) palms in the forest area, near the roadside. He also noted that it had already started to seep into the ground, and estimated that it could have been dumped at least two weeks before its discovery at Elton Road. “For that to be done to our environment made me sick when I saw the video,” Mr Darville said. “I could not watch all of it because I could not believe that any sane Bahamian would take such recourse to dump that on our sensitive environment.” He explained that the palmetto palms in the pine forest can survive almost anything – the salt water and even fire, but not oil. “The palmetto palms have died where the oil was dumped. They can endure saltwater, fires – everything, but oil kills them. These palms are exceedingly important for feeding our birds,” Mr
Darville explained. The activist said that oil does not evaporate and will continuously seep into the ground and eventually into the water table. Supt Terecita Pinder said police have collected samples of the oil that will assist them with their investigation and track down those responsible. She said police are still awaiting results on what type of oil it is. While at the site, Mr Darville said that he was informed by two knowledgeable individuals that it was refined oil, and not the stored oil. “The initial assumption was that it came from Equinor, but then, fortunately, some guys who came out there knew something about oil and checked it and smelled it, and said it is refined oil or Bunker C oil. So, it could not have come from Equinor.” Mr Darville noted that Bunker C oil is fuel either used by ships or by big machinery, and big companies. “There are only a limited number of those venues on the island, so it shouldn’t be difficult for them to find out exactly where that stuff came from,” he said. “We had determined based on information we received that it did not come from BORCO or Equinor; it (allegedly) came from companies that have an excess of leftover oil and wanted to get rid of it. And it had been sitting there after being dumped for at least two weeks, according to information we received,” Mr Darville said. The Save the Bays chairman explained that there is a procedure for the disposal of such large quantities of oil. Mr Darville - who had worked eight years at the GB Shipyard – noted that whenever any leftover oil is taken from ships during the cleaning of tanks it had to be documented by security, and the environmental department of the exact amount and whether it was used oil or in tanks. “That had to be documented to the extent that the environment department had to know the route that the truck would take to go to the landfill at Sanitation Services, which is the only place on GB that has a reservoir to receive oil from the different companies; they have a lining on the ground that is impermeable, and they recycle it,” he said. He noted that when the truck carrying the oil arrives at the Sanitation
Services landfill, Sanitation calls and informs the company of its arrival and weighs the truck to ensure the correct amount of oil was delivered. Mr Darville noted that at one time the trucks were followed to the landfill to make certain they arrived with the oil for proper disposal. The company, he said, would have to pay for the
service and would have to receive communication or confirmation from the landfill that the oil had arrived there. “So, (if this is the case with this incident), it means some conniving was going on between whoever was given permission to dump this and the company who provided it for dumping because the company should have known from
the landfill that what they expedited from the company actually arrived at the landfill. “There is no mystery here, and I would say both the originating company and whoever was asked or contracted to dispose of it were both at fault because communication broke down somewhere. “When you are disposing of hazardous material…
there are procedures and they have to follow and document when it is leaving when it arrives, and the quantity, and so forth. “Those bags probably hold 500 gallons of oil and they had to be lifted by a forklift onto whatever truck for transport. There should be no difficulty for the investigative powers to find out exactly the origins of that oil,” said Mr Darville.
PAGE 6, Wednesday, October 28, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
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Were US rules on marijuana money not considered? WE sometimes wonder what exactly was considered in the long process undertaken by the National Commission on Marijuana. For a long time, very little seemed to be moving at all in the committee’s considerations – and now that things seem to be nudging towards creating a new industry out of marijuana, one very large wrinkle has appeared. The problem is simple – our neighbour, the United States. Federal law there still treats growing marijuana and its recreational use as a crime. What’s the difficulty? Well, it’s the banks. They are subject to federal oversight and they don’t want to deal with foreign banks that might be handling money that has come from marijuana, no matter how legal that industry might be in the other country. Simply put, banks don’t want to be in the position of handling money that may have come from the proceeds of a crime, or what is seen to be a crime in the US. How did this wrinkle not come to be noticed by the committee? Well, they were flat out told about it. Bahamian institutions were told that relationships with US banks would be endangered if they took deposits from the marijuana sector, and Gowon Bowe, of Fidelity Bank, says he told the committee and the government himself. Already, Canadian banks dealing with that country’s marijuana and hemp industry are experiencing problems with cross-border transactions – so we would expect to have difficulty ourselves. Indeed, it’s a repeat of the difficulties experienced by the web shop gaming industry – so we’ve been here before. If marijuana goes through a similar pattern, we could see a separate financial system outside the formal banking system, as banks choose to keep their commercial relationships rather than risk handling money from marijuana. Of course, there will be voices that say we should do what we choose to do as a matter of sovereignty. It’s not a question of that – we can absolutely proceed with our choices, but choices have consequences, and we would risk our banking sector for the sake of a new industry. Now in all the discussion about marijuana, this has not been pushed to the
forefront by the committee, nor raised as an objection by the government in response to the recommendations of the Economic Recovery Committee. Why not? If this, as Mr Bowe says and we have no reason to doubt him, was raised with them as a concern, why hasn’t that been part of the discussion over whether it would stop us from proceeding or whether it was being raised with the US government in order to find out a solution? Or was all of this a waste of time, spinning the wheels with no real goal of getting anything done? We would urge the government and the marijuana committee to come forward with details of what has been done in order to try to clear this hurdle – if anything. And if nothing has been done to push against such a limitation? Well, then we might as well throw the whole project in the bin, because it’s not being taken seriously. Some answers, please.
Family Island customers Speaking of banks, some customers will be feeling not so valued today. Scotiabank is shutting down its operations in Abaco, Andros, Long Island, and Exuma – with customers finding their accounts relocated to branches on New Providence. The world of banking has changed, with a great deal now able to be carried out online, but there remains a regular need for cash – as Abaco in particular knows too well after seeing its power grid destroyed in Hurricane Dorian. Being without cash and without power would mean being left abandoned – and we would not be surprised if customers are feeling abandoned by this move. Instead, Scotiabank touts the prospect of the move opening the way for digital providers to fill the gap. That feels like a consolation prize, to say that other companies might fill in for your absence. We hope the government will step in for discussions with Scotiabank, and consider other methods of supporting those who need it after the departure of those branches. Our Family Island compatriots should not be left behind.
Lockdowns not the answer EDITOR, The Tribune.
I TRAVELLED to the United States in July when the borders first opened, and was in three different cities. I also went again in September this time travelling from different states. Although there is a pandemic, what I realised was that persons were working as normal, but the set ups were different. In fact, clothing stores, malls, food stores, restaurants and bars, etc. were all opened and not just to curbside services, but also indoor services too. Life has become different in the way we all manoeuvre but for America and other countries like China, Taiwan, and Vietnam daily life has somewhat returned to normal. We must ask the questions; what are these countries doing, how are they keeping the virus under control, how is their economy still flowing? We are eight months into this pandemic and we are completely stuck on a cycle of continuous lockdowns with no definitive plan for job and economical reform, healthcare and education. In my opinion, we acted too late which placed us on being reactive instead of being proactive! When this virus touched
our country and the cases grew, the first step was a lockdown and I was very much in agreement to help stop the spread but there was a lockdown after a lockdown and to date, still a lockdown. This administration says it works on statistics, but what they really did during the lockdowns was waiting and squandering to see what would happen instead of being proactive. We have seen the case numbers gone up and also down. At one point earlier on, it was as if we were on the right track by stopping the spread and curving the number of cases. But as we see, we didn’t. This administration has proven that their only hope is a lockdown as if it was a bad dream and that it would go overnight. The Competent Authority by now should realise that lockdowns do not change the situation of the virus, it buys us time and quite frankly, time is running out! We don’t need another national address. We need an address with a plan. We need an address that focuses on strategies to deal with this virus. And the answer is not lockdowns; it can’t just be that. What we need right now
is a better system, a working system that helps with tracing and testing, a system that allows free testing; drive-up testings where individuals are able to get their results back in 24 hours. This would help curve the numbers big time. Not only that but with the information of each patient, contact tracing would be more effective. We need stronger guidance on measures as it relates to COVID. Making people further aware about staying away from crowded places and badly ventilated spaces, using masks and carrying sanitisers. Each member of parliament should have already donated masks and hand sanitisers to their constituents by now. This virus is still in a study stage. This pandemic is here for awhile, and while we wished it went away; while we hope that it just disappears, is not reality. But locking us down is continuously hurting the economy. We must take advantage and learn what these other countries are doing. Look to bringing in consultants to help us. Because we need help! This course we are on, I am afraid for our future. DR MATHEO SMITH Nassau, October 25, 2020.
Beware the paid vote EDITOR, The Tribune. IN OUR system of government, multiple functions and powers of the different branches are often vested in a single individual. Most notably, individuals functioning in legislative capacities as Members of Parliament (MPs) or Senators, are also delegated with executive powers and will usually hold positions such as Cabinet Ministers (and Parliamentary Secretaries). As one can imagine, the scenario in which a person, elected by members of his constituency, and as a result, serves as an MP, while also appointed as a Cabinet Minister by the GovernorGeneral on advice received by the Prime Minister, is often plagued with conflicts of interest. On one hand, the MP owes a duty to represent the interests of his constituents in the creation of laws, while on the other hand, due to conventions of “collective responsibility”, he is also expected to support legislation that is proposed by Cabinet – often times spearheaded by the Prime Minister. One recent example of this conflict manifested in 2018, when Travis Robinson who serves as MP for Bain and Grants Town, and who also, at that time, served as Parliamentary Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Tourism, was relieved of his post as PS after having voted against a bill which proposed an increase in value added tax from 7.5 percent to 12 percent.
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net While many viewed this as vindictive on behalf of the Prime Minister, the truth is that he was relieved of this post in accordance with the convention of collective responsibility set down in the Manual of Cabinet and Ministry Procedure which states: “A Parliamentary Secretary is a member of the Government. At parliamentary meetings or committee meetings he may play a full part by means of suggestion and criticism in the formulation of policy. “Once the Government has established its course of action, it is the duty of the Parliamentary Secretary to give that course his full support in public.” By way of our system of governance, he was expected to support the bill in the House of Assembly as an MP, even though his constituents may not have.” Another conflict that arises pertains to the individual’s personal financial interests. According to the Parliamentarians (Salaries and Allowances) Act, Chapter 10, Cabinet Ministers are paid an annual salary of $66,000; Parliamentary Secretaries, $45,000; Members of Parliament, $28,000; and Senators, $12,500. When called to vote on a Bill in Parliament, persons serving both as Senators and Cabinet Ministers (or Parliamentary Secretaries),
or Members of Parliament and Cabinet Ministers (or Parliamentary Secretaries), may find themselves in a dilemma in which they must decide whether to vote in favour of the bill and continue to receive the higher salary, or to vote in favour of the constituents’ interest at the sacrifice of losing their positions as Cabinet Ministers and the higher salary. In conclusion, while many persons advocate for constitutional reform in the form of removing the Queen as Head of State (which would also be a step in the right direction), this will, in my opinion have little impact in the fight for protecting the interests of the Bahamian people, as the role of the monarchy is now, to a large extent, ceremonial and symbolic in nature. A more effective way of instituting constitutional reform, may be for Parliament to enact legislation that creates more defined lines between the three branches of State by precluding Cabinet Ministers from sitting in the legislative branch of Parliament (which includes the House of Assembly and the Senate) and by requiring that all Senators be elected by the Bahamian people, as opposed to being appointed (by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister). MICHAEL TOOTE Jr., CPA, LLB Nassau, October 27, 2020
What about rehabilitation? EDITOR, The Tribune. I’VE NOT met anyone who opposes the government’s decision to expunge the criminal record of persons convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana. Why? It is the right thing to do. However, the Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana’s proposal that possession of small amounts of marijuana be
decriminalised misses the main issue, in my view. The main issue is that we need to find ways to help people, especially our young people, to stop using marijuana, rather than facilitate them in doing so. Virtually all of us have seen the destruction that marijuana use has brought to the lives of so many in our country over decades. Why would any government even contemplate making it
easier for people to destroy their lives? Rather than talk about grand plans for decriminalisation, we should be talking about sensible plans for rehabilitation. My sincere prayer is that we will, and that the government will lead the way. PASTOR CEDRIC MOSS Nassau, October 27, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, October 28, 2020, PAGE 7
13 months in jail for firearm guilt By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 23-YEAR-OLD man was sentenced to 13 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to an illegal firearm and ammunition possession in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Rasheen Burns appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes, after police found a .40mm pistol and six live rounds of .40mm ammunition in his car on October 26. The prosecution said around 8.45am on the day in question, officers on duty stopped Burns while he was driving his Honda on Bernard Road. After they beckoned for him to stop,
officers told him they suspected he was in possession of dangerous drugs and firearms and informed him that he would be searched. While searching the accused’s vehicle, officers discovered the gun and ammunition in the car’s centre console. Burns was subsequently arrested and taken to the Central Detective Unit, where he admitted being the owner of the contraband. During the hearing, Burns was represented by attorney Ian Cargill. He told the magistrate his client cooperated with police and admitted to the offence from the start. He also said Burns only had the weapon because someone had tried to steal his car earlier this
year and he “stupidly” got an unlicensed firearm for “protection”. After listening to Mr Cargill’s plea in mitigation, Magistrate Forbes accepted Burns’ guilty plea. He also told the accused he found it “deeply troubling and heartbreaking” that so many young men believed they could settle “perceived issues” through violence. He stated that a gun was an offensive weapon and if a person were to use one, they would have used it with the intention of killing someone, since bullets don’t discriminate. He sentenced Burns to 13 months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.
$250 FINE FOR MARIJUANA By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 31-YEAR-OLD man who was found last week with over an ounce of marijuana was fined $250 yesterday. Police arrested Valentino Farquharson after they found 1.5 ounces of Indian hemp in his home on October 20. He pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous drug possession during a hearing before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes yesterday. The court heard officers went to Farquharson’s home armed with a search warrant around 1.25pm on the day in question. Upon their arrival, they identified themselves as officers and informed the accused that his home would be searched in connection with dangerous drugs and firearms. During their investigation,
officers discovered a quantity of suspected marijuana in his kitchen. Farquharson was subsequently arrested and taken to the Drug Enforcement Unit. In an interview with officers there, he admitted to the offence. During the hearing, Farquharson was represented by attorney Dion Bethel. He told the magistrate his client cooperated from the onset of the investigation by aiding the police when they searched his home that day. He also insisted Farquharson did not waste the court’s time and noted that he was extremely remorseful for his actions. In response, Magistrate Forbes reminded the accused that the maximum penalty for dangerous drug possession was five years in prison or a $150,000 fine. He told Farquharson the fact that that was the risk associated with the offence proved the
consequences outweighed any possible benefits. Still, Magistrate Forbes said he would not impose a custodial sentence in the first instance and fined the accused $250 or one month in prison. Yesterday, another man appeared before Magistrate Forbes for a drug related offence. Kyle Tinker, 38, was accused of being in possession of a quantity of Indian hemp on October 25. He was also accused of assaulting a man with a pistol and threatening to kill him five days earlier on October 25. During his arraignment, Tinker denied all the allegations and the case was adjourned to February 25 for trial. Due to the nature of the charges, the accused was denied bail and remanded into custody. He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.
$75 FINE FOR RESISTING ARREST By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A 45-YEAR-OLD man was fined $75 for resisting arrest when an officer responded to a domestic complaint. The prosecution said that on October 26 police were called to a residence where it was reported that Vaughn Armbrister was behaving in a disorderly manner. When they arrived, they saw Armbrister arguing with his girlfriend. The prosecution said officers told Armbrister to stop cursing and carrying on, but he did not cooperate.
The court was also told that when Police Constable 4029 McDonald attempted to detain the accused, he pulled away. Armbrister was eventually arrested and taken to a nearby police station where he was charged with the offence. During the hearing before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes yesterday, Armbrister pleaded guilty to disorderly behaviour and resisting arrest. He was represented by attorney Ian Cargill who told the magistrate the incident had occurred after Armbrister overheard his girlfriend talking to another
man on the phone. He claimed that the accused only acted in the heat of the moment, because he was jealous. As a result, Magistrate Forbes accepted the accused’s guilty pleas and told him he ought to have better judgment to avoid engaging in behaviour that could possibly land him in jail. He subsequently fined Armbrister $25 for acting in a disorderly manner and another $50 for resisting lawful arrest. Magistrate Forbes warned the accused that if he failed to pay the fines, he could risk spending a week behind bars.
WOMAN ACCUSED OF STEALING FOOD By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 37-YEAR-OLD woman was remanded to prison charged with stealing an assortment of food items from a local restaurant on Paradise Island last week. Celeste Hepburn was accused of unlawfully entering Viola’s Bar and Grill on
October 24. The prosecution argued that the accused stole and dishonestly received one container of sour cream, an Aunt Jemima pancake mix, a pack of fried chicken wings, tacos, plantains and bread, along with a bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup when she visited the establishment that day. Yesterday, Hepburn
denied the charges in a hearing before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes and the case was adjourned to January 21 for trial. In the meantime, she was denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. The accused has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.
CLIFTON McDonald outside court yesterday.
Photo: Vandyke Hepburn
MAN FACES COURT ACCUSED OF HARBOURING FUGITIVE BY DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A 42-YEAR-OLD man was charged with harbouring a fugitive wanted in connection with the John
Bull robbery in Grand Bahama several years ago. Clifton McDonald, of No 38 Westeria Road, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Debbye Ferguson in Court One. The accused was
represented by Paco Deal. He pleaded not guilty to the charge of harbouring a fugitive and was granted $4,000 cash bail. The matter was referred to the Supreme Court and was adjourned for trial January 21, 2021.
Private Funeral Service For Norma Gordon-Butler, 86 of Hawkins Hill will be held on Thursday, 29th October, 2020, 10:00 a.m. at Ebenezer Cemetery, Shirley Street. Officiating: Rev. Dr. Vaughn L. Cash assisted by Pastor Dave Cash and Pastor Keno Smith. Due to the Government Orders and related restrictions placed on funerals, attendance is limited to (10) family members. The family apologizes for any inconvenienced caused. Everyone in attendance must wear a mask covering the nose and mouth. Six feet physical distancing is required at all time. Norma has left behind to cherish her memories are her Children: Attorney Carlson Shurland of Freeport, Grand Bahama, Alfred Blakney “Buttons” Shurland, Allison Butler and Glen (Toni) Butler of Tennessee; Adopted Children: Zena Bullard of England, Annie Royce of Miami, Florida, Anna Darling, Janet Adderley-Adamson, Margaret Outten and Maria Rolle, Keith (Clara) Bell, Eddie “Fast Eddie” Dames and Keith Robinson of Freeport, Grand Bahama; Siblings: Pastor Marcel (Leila) Lightbourne, Sarah Ferguson, John Gordon and Francita Forbes; Grandchildren: Temano (Vernique) Shurland of Atlanta Georgia, Sean Shurland of Miami Florida, Cruz Shurland and Anwar Shurland of Tennessee, Natalia (Gary) Trent of Minnesota, Talia Butler, Celeste Bullard of Scotland, Glendia Butler of Canada, Katarina (Kathy) Rolle of Canada and Terrance Hall; Adopted grandchildren: Wendell and Raheem Rolle; Great-grandchildren: Jasmine, D’Wayne, Anishka Shurland, Angel and Armani Butler Cameron and Rhys Shurland, Garyson, Grayson and Graydon Trent; Nieces and Nephews: Terry, Hersel and Chandler Turnquest, Cheri Rolle, Terah and Teron Cooper and Kelly and Ricardo Lockhart of Bimini, Nicole and Nathan Lightbourne, Greg and Vernique Gordon; Cousins and their families: Patricia Beneby, Marie, Sharlene and Dr. Suzanne Newbold, Joan Rolle, Nathalie Pelletier, Denise Rolle, Sonia Dames, LM, Colin and Toni Bowe, Janeen McCartney, Herbert and Gabriela Franklyn of New York, Marguerite and David Parrott of Boston Mass., Herbert Styles and Family, Henry, Michael, Valerie and Earvin Lightbourne, Carmen Camarcho of Miami Gardens, Florida, The family of the late Glenda Lightbourne; Other Relatives and Special friends: The Staff of The Eastern Public Library, Susan (Fred) Moss, Melanie Griffin, and family Marva Sawyer and Family, the Forbes, Sawyer, Rolle, Francis families of Hawkins Hill, Donna Rolle and Family, Merle and Jestina, Louis Dames, Brenda Archer and Family, Erma McKenzie, Laurel Herrington, Dr. Wiona & Montgomery Pratt, Peggy & Iona Sweeting, Donna Longley, Nicole Ferguson of Staniel Cay Exuma, Ursula Wells & family, R.H. Culmer and Family, Sanford Culmer and Family, Stuart Culmer and Family, Bernadette (Perry) Christie, Gary (Cleopatra) Christie, Campbell (Sharon) Clare and Family, Howard (Cathy) Benson of California, Jan Estias of Minnesota, Rochelle Callendar of Atlanta, Georgia, Magistrate Charlton Smith of Freeport, Grand Bahama, Kim (Carlton) Stuart, Patricia Bell, Emily Miller of Andros, Rev. Emily Demeritte, Attorney Keith Seymour, Valentine Grimes and Family, Attorney V. Alfrred Gray and Family, Family of the Late Bradley Roberts, Dr. Owen and Brian Bastian, Attorney Barry and Travis Sawyer and Family, Jeffrey Trembly and Family, Allen and Stephanie Blundell of Baltimore, Maryland, Attorney Pleasant Bridgewater, Traceley and Akelo Roberts, Frank and Williemae Allen of Freeport, Grand Bahama, Taria Lundy, Shardae, Sophia and Spencer Munnings of Freeport, Grand Bahama, Avery Sargeant of Canada, Rogann Smith and Family and The Staff of Shurland & Co. We the family humbly apologize to anyone whose name was missed out it was not intentional. Thank you for your understanding. A memorial service for Norma Joan Gordon-Butler will be held at a later date to be announced. Viewing will be held in the “Celestial Suite” at Restview Memorial Mortuary and Crematorium Ltd., Robinson and Solider Roads on Wednesday, 26th October, 2020 (TODAY) from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
PAGE 8, Wednesday, October 28, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Why do we continue to allow the Church to pull the strings on so many aspects of our lives? By Alicia Wallace WE HAVE a serious problem with the relationship between the church (used here as shorthand for a select group of religious leaders speaking on behalf of Christian churches) and the State. Neil Ellis, a known supporter of the Progressive Liberal Party, arrived after a long silence - during which people died and were murdered, suffered through unemployment and could not carry out death rituals as they would have liked - with a vengeance on Sunday to deliver a sermon that seemed to be more of a lambasting or conviction of the Prime Minister than a useful, actionable message for the congregation. Even in referring to the video many of us watched, at least in part, “sermon” is used as a pejorative because it came across as a rant. In the same week, Bahamas Christian Council made a statement on the recommendation to formally develop a marijuana and hemp industry. It gives no evidence that the body has even a rudimentary understanding of hemp, THC or CBD. The statement says: “The church is all too familiar with the devastating effects the sale, distribution and consumption of marijuana has had and continues to have on individuals most especially our young men and women.” It goes on to credit the use of marijuana for the destruction of homes and human lives, anti-social behaviour of students and missed days of school. Has the Bahamas Christian Council ever spoken out about the negative effects of alcohol, violence,
misogyny, racism, or capitalism on families, homes or students? Is it encouraging climate adaptation and mitigation, or appropriate disaster management plans, particularly after Hurricane Dorian results in mass death and destruction? Has it addressed the persisting issue of gender-based violence that has been exacerbated by COVID-19 and the restrictions imposed upon us and evidenced by the story after story including the murder of Alicia Sawyer and her daughter? It is not responding to issues on which we have both reliable data and stories and that are affecting the people of The Bahamas, but instead released a statement making various claims with no substantive information to back any of it. Dave Burrows, of Bahamas Faith Ministries, has taken a similar position on marijuana. Not only is he against the legalisation of marijuana, but agrees with president of the Bahamas Christian Council Delton Fernander that the issue should go to referendum. It is as though they are not paying attention at all. First, we need to stop using the word “referendum” so loosely and make a distinction between exercises that serve as opinion polls and are non-binding and constitutional referenda. We also need to understand our (very recent) history and, in that light, the usefulness of lower-cost data collection options. The gambling opinion poll - mistaken for a binding referendum - was held in part to prove to the church that the Bahamian people wanted the legislative
COMMENTS from Bishop Neil Ellis have caught the headlines recently - but why do we continue to give church leaders such prominence in our political landscape?
change. The government wanted to make the people the scapegoat and try to maintain its relationship with its disciples - religious leaders who would influence congregations and build voting blocks from their pulpits. The government was surprised by the result of that opinion poll and went against it - a waste of $5m and the time and trust of the electorate. When a true referendum came in 2016, many refused to participate because the gambling opinion poll - then called a referendum - did not hold up. Why would an opinion poll on the issue of marijuana be a good use of our resources?
WATCH THE FRAMING The language used by the church is disturbing. It frequently presents itself as a small, weak, oppressed body, all while using its power to dominate. Burrows said, “I don’t think
Graveside Service For Stanley Oliver Smith Missick, 65 Affectionately Called “Stan”
of Miller’s Heights, Nassau, Bahamas. Service Held at St. Bede’s Cemetery, Sutton Street, off Kemp Road, Nassau, Bahamas on Thursday, October 29th, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. Officiating will be Father William Quiamjot, assisted by Deacon Dennis Mackey. Left to cherish his memories is his beautiful wife of (41) Years Mrs. Maxine Missick; Sons: Marvin Nottage, Garvin & Darren Missick; Daughters: Samantha Williamson, Marva Nottage-Missick, Lauralee Missick; Uncles: Eric Curtis, Peter Morris; Aunts: Nettile Curtis, Pasty Morris, Betty, Donna & Sander Curtis, Eldora Curtis; Nieces: Claudette, Miriam, Shavon Cooper, Kim,Tanya, Kimberl, Kim, Reka, Niki, Laura, Tonice, Dele, Sherry, Julene, Necoya, Nathera, Taleyer; Nephews: Wesley, Calvin, Amos, Markus, Dekoya, Victor Jr., Jemery, Albery, Asion, Neco, Alexandra, Tino, Leonardo, & Edward Nottage, Clifford Jr., William Jr., Nathaniel; Daughter-in-law: Judy Nottage; Sister in law: Leena Nottage (Of Miami, Florida), Yvonne Grant, Patty, Latoya Smith; Other Relatives & Friends including: Pearline McKenzie, Jacqulyn & Johnnie Curtis, Barbara & Margarita McKenzie, Donna, Sandra, Erica, Sherry, Sharron Curtis, Dorothy Roberts, Helena Morley, Nathalic, Ann Smith, Alma Green, Gwendolyn and Cynthia Butter, Shelia, Wendy Major, Rita and Rochelle McPhee, Doninique Gladson, Butler Jeffery, Gregory, Tony Williams Curtis, Robert and Fedrick Taylor, Reno, Leon and Godfrey Green, Eddie and Shawn McPhee, Craig, Randow, Lavan Robinson, James, Oliver & Andre, Hutchinson, Yasmin Rolle, Ricardo, Edith Missick, Glen Oliver, Jane Jones, Oliver Missick, Elene Hanchell, James Missick, Josephine Robinson, Judith William, Sandy & Ann Jolly, Van Kingley McKenzie, Van, Jane Jones, Rerotd Missick, Ponky, Myrna & Rosana Aguster, Shavon Sawyer, Adrian McPhee, Justus Mackey, Dr. Deanna Bain-Rolle, Saulene Smith, Ms. Freeder Kopano Hassis-Smith & Family, Stanley Rahming and Family Polhemus Family, Lion Road Family, Taxi Cab Family, Terry, Witney, Tyrone, Smith Family, Dr. Rolle, P.M.H, Afre, Paradise Island Family Turks & Caicos Family & others too numerous to mention. Relatives and Friends can pay their last respects in the “Presidential Suite” at Cornish Memorial Mortuary #41 Tonique Williams-Darling Highway on Wednesday, 28th October, 2020 from 12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
some things should be imposed on The Bahamas that The Bahamas is not in agreement with.” The legalisation of marijuana would not be an imposition on anyone. No one is going to be forced to enter the industry or consume the products. If we really get down to it, the criminalisation of marijuana is an imposition. Marijuana is for some a part of spiritual and religious practices. It has medicinal properties. It can be recreational and it has other uses. It is important to the Rastafarian community which has the right, under the constitution, to practice its religion. Burrows also commented on the rights of LGBTQ+ people to civil unions, a conversation sparked by historic remarks by Pope Francis in a new documentary that premiered at the Rome Film Festival last week. The Pope said: “What we have to create is a civil union law. That way [LGBTQ+ people] are legally covered.” Burrows repsonse: “I, personally, do not endorse or subscribe to such relationships being afforded the same recognition and rights as normal marriage relationships.” He added: “To my understanding, existing laws allow for persons to have legal rights and privileges as citizens that are sufficient to peacefully exist regardless of their background, persuasion or orientation and there is no need for new or special rights to be afforded.” This needs to be addressed more fully than this space will allow this week, but it is important to note key words “personally” and “to my understanding”. It is also important to see what is being prioritised - the comfort and (lack of) understanding of an individual obviously influenced by a religious belief over the experiences and needs of a marginalised group of people who could cause the institution of marriage no harm. We need to remember that while some marriages are religious, marriages are legal. They afford the people in them a set of rights that extend beyond “permission” from certain authorities to live together, but are also economic. The concept of “normal marriage” is an interesting one, especially in a place where marital rape has yet to be criminalised. Protect young people (who can access it anyway) from marijuana, but allow people to rape their spouses? I mention these examples because they are all recent. They occurred within the last week. Each of them demonstrates one of the main limitations of the church in its insertion into social and political issues - it is incapable of seeing beyond its
own interpretation of reli- “a Christian nation”. This gious text and doctrine and phrase has been repeated refusal to recognise the so many times over such rights of citizens, regardless a long period that it is of their religious beliefs. accepted as true. The church concerns itself, It is said that it is in the in these situations, with constitution when, in fact, building, maintaining and Christianity is referenced in wielding power with an the preamble to the Constiimpact that extends far tution, before Chapter One beyond its consenting com- which defines the State and munity of congregants. It the constitution itself. must also be Even there, noted that it ‘Is anybody it does not call congregants The Bahamas allow it to get consulted more a Christian away with this, than the church? nation. It says: failing to chal- Has anybody “the preslenge its ideas ervation of of its own blocked progress their Freedom power or call more than the will be guarit to the prin- church? Is there anteed by a ciples more national comuniversally rec- any body more mitment to ognised and inappropriately Self-discipline, widely applicaLoyintertwined with Industry, ble such as love alty, Unity, the State and and peace. and an abidThe media is its affairs than ing respect also complicit, for Christian often seek- the church?’ values and the ing comments Rule of Law.” from people we can all It also refers to The guess would be on the side Bahamas as “a Free and of oppression and against Democratic Sovereign recognition of the free- Nation founded on Spirdoms we are afforded the itual Values”. constitution. This preamble speaks to It is not unusual for reli- respect for Christian values gious leaders to use their and founding on spiritual pulpits to address politi- values. It does not commit cal issues and influence the country or its people to the behaviour - particu- Christianity, and it cannot. larly the voting behaviour On the contrary, Article - of the membership. It is 22 affirms “freedom of so common and, in many thought and of religion” as cases, expected, that we well as freedom to change are faced with a troubling religion. reality. Politicians are not The Bahamas is not a interested in meeting the Christian nation. It is a needs of individuals, least nation, like many others, of all those of us who are in which many people prosuffering. They prioritise fess Christianity. It does the church, recognising not mean that we are all religious leaders as some to be legally bound to the of the most powerful influ- faith. It should follow that encers in the country with laws and policies are not congregations that are also based on Christianity and constituencies. Together, that religious leaders of the church forms a large the Christian church are constituency and religious not the deciding factor in leaders are able to leverage decision-making processes control of their congrega- that impact us all. They are tions for political power. more concerned with their They have created an own interpretations of relienvironment in which leg- gious text and control of islators approach them with their congregant than they bowed head on bended are with the human rights knees, seeking permission of all people. to do their jobs. The government should Is anybody consulted be concerned about the more than the church? Has human rights of all people. anybody blocked progress The elected and appointed more than the church? Is officials that make up the there any body more inap- decision-makers in the propriately intertwined government, however, are with the State and its more concerned about affairs than the church? A maintaining their posinumber of men are repeat- tions than protecting and edly given too much control expanding the human over the trajectory of the rights of all people. For that country because politicians reason, they subject themare more concerned about selves and, by extension, being re-elected - which the entire country to the seems to require being beliefs and demands of the in the good graces of the church. church - than doing what is This has been happenbest for the country. ing for decades, and to our detriment. Right-thinking activists, memFREEDOM OF RELIGION, Christians, bers of the press, politicians BUT GOVERNED and citizens need to recognise what is happening as BY THE CHRISTIAN anti-democratic, an abuse GOD ANYWAY? of power and deserving of critique and terminable. One of the crutches that This does not have to conthe church uses often is tinue, but it requires us - all the repeated proclama- of us - to do something tion that The Bahamas is about it.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, October 28, 2020, PAGE 9
SELF-DRIVING SHUTTLE DEBUTS IN HIGH-TRAFFIC VIRGINIA SPOT By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press
MERRIFIELD, Va. (AP) — The future of transportation arrived in northern Virginia, looking like a big blue toaster on wheels that seats six and drives itself through the region’s notorious traffic. State and local officials debuted the Relay system Thursday, an all-electric, autonomous vehicle that will provide free shuttle rides back and forth from the Dunn Loring Metrorail stop to the bustling Mosaic District in Fairfax County. The shuttle is “the sort of thing we’d see in a Star Wars or a Blade Runner movie, without the vertical liftoff,” said Mark Webb, chief innovation officer at Dominion Energy, a partner in the project. It is the first publicly funded electric, autonomous shuttle in Virginia, officials said. Similar pilot projects are up and running in different places across the country, but what makes the Relay shuttle somewhat unique is the environment in which it will operate. While some projects are limited to college campuses or operate in dedicated lanes, this shuttle will mix with real traffic in a particularly busy section of Fairfax County. “This is not a one-off, not a demonstration in a parking lot,” said Kathy McGhee, director of transportation research and innovation in the state transportation department. She said the project will provide valuable data on basic functions like the vehicle’s battery life in a real working environment, the cost of the electricity needed to fuel the vehicle, and how the shuttles operate in an environment studded with cars, pedestrians and traffic lights. The shuttle is starting off small: While it seats six, only three will be allowed at any one time because
ABOVE: Deployment Manager Jason Peres, centre, explains how Relay, an electric autonomous vehicle, works to new riders in Fairfax, Va. RIGHT: Karin van der Steen, left, and Melanie Way, both of Falls Church, Va., board the Relay. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) of the coronavirus unless they are all members of the same family. It will run only from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and its speed won’t exceed 10 mph (16 kph), even though it will run on roads with 25 mph (40 kph) limits. The shuttles do indeed drive themselves, but safety operators are on board and can override the shuttle’s autonomous features. Daniel Carney — a safety operator for Transdev, which runs the shuttles — estimated that during testing he had to override the controls about once
for every 2-mile roundtrip loop. The most common issue is the shuttle’s inability to steer itself around obstacles. For example, Carney said that if people do a poor job parallel parking on the side streets on which Relay operates, the shuttle will stop. He then steps in and uses a joystick to navigate around the parked car so it continue on its way.
And the shuttle’s slow speed does produce agitation from motorists stuck behind it, said Carney, who will occasionally deal with glares or worse from fed-up drivers who decide to go around the shuttle. “I just shrug like, ‘I don’t know what you want me to do about it,’” Carney said. “It’s sort of out of my hands.” County leaders said
they’re happy to be at the forefront of an emerging technology, but that the shuttle also fills a real need of “last mile” transportation, connecting a busy Metrorail site with a retail district that is about a mile away, a little farther than most are willing to walk. The project is funded with a $200,000 state grant and a $50,000 match from Fairfax County.
EUROPE TO SEND MODULES AND ASTRONAUTS TO NASA MOON STATION
(AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
BERLIN (AP) — The European Space Agency says it has agreed to provide several modules for NASA’s planned outpost around the moon, in return for a chance to send European astronauts to the lunar orbiter. ESA said Tuesday that its director-general, Jan Woerner, signed a deal with NASA chief Jim Bridenstine to provide “essential elements” for the mini space station, known as Artemis Gateway. ESA said this includes the main habitat for astronauts visiting the lunar outpost, and a module that provides communications and refuelling capability along with
a window for the crew to observe the moon. The agency said it will receive “three flight opportunities for European astronauts to travel to and work on the Gateway” as part of the agreement. NASA aims to use the Gateway as a staging post for missions to the moon and eventually to Mars. ESA previously agreed to build two service modules providing power, propulsion, water and oxygen for NASA’s Orion spaceship taking astronauts to the Gateway. NASA said it plans to sign further agreements with other international partners for the Gateway.
TECHTALK • An eastern Indiana hospital has added three germ-killing robots to its efforts to combat the coronavirus in rooms occupied by COVID-19 patients. Reid Health began using one of the robots during 2017 at the hospital in Richmond, but it recently added three more of the robots, which disinfect surgery and inpatient rooms using pulsed xenon ultraviolet light. Xenex’s Light Strike robots expedite the sterilization process and are used to sterilise every room after a COVID19 patient is released. The coronavirus pandemic spurred the hospital to bolster its robot arsenal, the Palladium-Item reported. Utilising the robots to supplement normal cleaning procedures “adds an extra layer of protection for our patients, visitors and staff,” said Kim Schneider, a registered nurse with Reid infection control. Xenon ultraviolet light disinfects rooms without leaving chemical residue or toxic fumes, and health systems using the technology report significant decreases in infection rates. The light, which is hundreds of times more intense than sunlight, destroys bacteria, viruses, fungi and bacterial spores by fusing their DNA and rendering them unable to reproduce or mutate. “With the COVID-19 pandemic this year highlighting the importance of infection control, we always ensure we have the best tools and technology at our disposal,” said Jennifer Ehlers, vice president and chief quality officer for the health system. • Park officials have said a shuttle programme using automated electric vehicles is expected to launch at Yellowstone National Park next year. Beep Inc. Shuttles is expected to pilot the programme in the Canyon Village area from late May through next August, shuttling visitors in driverless, electric, low-speed vehicles to determined stops near the campground, commercial buildings and lodging areas, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reported. “Yellowstone and the National Park Service are proactively engaging with emerging transportation technologies by looking for ways to test, pilot and learn from these capabilities,” Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said Wednesday. “We will continue exploring possible ways to reduce congestion and to improve visitor experience and access in heavily traveled areas of the park.” The Orlando, Floridabased company billed as the “next generation of passenger mobility” has been awarded federal transportation grants to develop and deploy its technology. Its driverless vehicles currently operate in Florida around the Mayo Clinic campus in Jacksonville and at the 17-square-mile (44-squarekilometre) Lake Nona planned development where the vehicles run four different routes, company officials said. Park officials are also planning to launch a transit feasibility study next summer to weigh the opportunities, risks and costs of local shuttles at Old Faithful and Canyon Village. Results are expected in 2022. Park visitation has increased by about 40% over the past dozen years, stretching its infrastructures capacity, officials said.
PAGE 10, Wednesday, October 28, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
CURTIS “50 Cent” Jackson, left, and Ice Cube.
DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE ON HOW THE BLACK VOTE MAY FALL ON US ELECTION DAY By SAM FULWOOD III Fellow, Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, American University
TO JUDGE by the brief, but furious, flurry of recent news and social media reports about the 2020 presidential campaign, the fate of the election may very well be decided by a previously undetected groundswell of support for President Donald Trump by young black men. In the closing days of the campaign, a pair of hip-hop artists – 50 Cent and Ice Cube – drew widespread political attention by expressing support for Trump or, at least, a willingness to work with him in a second term. Specifically, 50 Cent - born Curtis James Jackson III - endorsed Trump’s reelection in a Twitter
post, saying he feared Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would raise his taxes. “Yeah, I don’t want to be 20cent,” he wrote, noting that higher taxes on the rich “is a very, very, bad idea. I don’t like it”. For his part, Ice Cube - born O’Shea Jackson - didn’t exactly endorse Trump. He acknowledged in interviews that he had talked with Trump campaign officials about their interest in his Contract with Black America. Ice Cube revealed his 13-point contract in July as a response to the public protests following the killing of George Floyd, describing it as “a blueprint to achieve racial economic justice” with proposals addressing financial, police, criminal justice and education reforms. By entertaining a conversation with the
campaign concerning his proposals, Ice Cube provided the opening for an adviser to the President’s re-election campaign to tweet that the rapper was on board with Team Trump, overstating the reality of the situation. As a scholar who studies the intersection of race, public policy, elections, media and popular culture, I know more than enough about this subject to say authoritatively that 50 Cent and Ice Cube represent neither widespread bblack political thought, nor a hidden pocket of pro-Trump activism among black men. Quite the contrary. They are outliers within the larger black voting community - which includes young black men - and they are unlikely to sway a considerable number of black voters away from the Democratic
candidate in the November 3 election. Little Trump support In a study conducted earlier this summer with colleagues at American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies and School of Communications, we found that Trump is exceedingly unpopular among black Americans. For example, among all of the 1,215 black American respondents surveyed during early July in six key swing states (Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida), only 7 percent said they intended to vote for Trump and 66 percent said they planned to vote for Biden. Among just black men, 10 percent said they preferred Trump, a figure that is only slightly higher than the overall support among black Americans, but far smaller than the 60 percent of black men who said they preferred Biden. Almost a third, 29 percent, of the black men said they would vote for someone else or didn’t know whom they would support. Our findings are consistent with historical black voting patterns. Indeed, since the civil rights movement of the late 1960s, Republican presidential
candidates have reaped no more than 13 percent of the African American vote. According to figures collected and analyzed by the Pew Research Center, Trump collected 8 percent of the votes cast by black Americans in 2016, which was slightly better than the 6 percent that went to GOP nominee Mitt Romney in 2012. Of course, black support for Democratic nominee Barack Obama was off the charts. He had a 91-point advantage in 2008 and an 87-point advantage in 2012. More contemporary polling suggests that Trump’s support among black Americans will fall in line with historical precedents. As a recent Gallup report noted, it’s “highly unlikely” that this pattern of voting by black Americans will change during this election: The recent Sept. 13-16 Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found Biden leading Trump among black voters by 90 percent to 5 percent. Gallup’s aggregated data from polls conducted July 30-Aug. 12 and Aug. 31-Sept. 13 show Trump approval – a rough surrogate for likelihood to vote for Trump – at 11 percent among black Americans, with disapproval at 87 percent. And according to a new
Graveside Service For
Retired Nurse Ophelia Theresa Seymour Munnings, BEM, 101 of Brakenbury Drive will be held on Thursday, October 29, 2020, 12:00 noon at Woodlawn Gardens, Soldier Road. Officiating will be Monsignor Alfred Culmer assisted by Rev. Fr. J, Cartwright. Due to Government regulations with respect to COVID-19 attendance at the Graveside Service is restricted to Ten (10) family members. Social Distancing and Face Mask will be Enforced.
Viewing for Retired Nurse Ophelia Theresa Seymour Munnings, will be on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at Butlers’ Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Ernest and York Streets from 12:30p.m. to 3:00p.m.
CBS-BET poll released on October 25, only 8 percent of likely voters who are black say they will vote for Trump. Yet, according to the CBS News report on the poll, “Half of black seniors say they’re supporting Biden mainly because they like him, but that (support) drops to 28 percent among black Biden voters under 30.” Rather than a wholesale swing of voter support to Trump or the GOP following 50 Cent and Ice Cube, our research suggests many younger African Americans - with millenial-aged black men leading the way - are so disillusioned by politics, they may opt out of participating in the election at all. What’s the point? Many black Americans who are first-timers or relatively new to voting told us in focus group settings that they don’t see the point of choosing between the lesser of two evils. Unlike their parents and grandparents who lived through racial segregation, the civil rights movement and a radical, racial transformation of American society, young black people who have come of age in the past 30 years told us in focus groups that they have little to nothing that they can cite as examples of progress that can be attributed directly to politics - or voting. To be sure, much of what they’ve experienced in their lifetimes has been the negative consequences of political stalemate in Washington, persistent economic inequality, widening health disparities afflicting their communities, and crushing student loan debt that makes building wealth with the purchase of a home and establishment of savings almost impossible. And perhaps most deadly and dramatic are the resurgent waves of racism and police violence directed at them and their loved ones. Little wonder, therefore, that some black men - especially those who desperately want to engage in politics to improve conditions for themselves and their communities - might seek alternatives to the status quo of politics. It is into that chasm of despair and disillusionment that the Trump campaign seems to be seeking a foothold by making it appear that young black men are falling in formation with its campaign. Nothing could be further from the truth. Or as the rappers like to say: Don’t believe the hype. • Originally published on theconversation.com
THE TRIBUNE
BIDEN ‘UNITY CAN SAVE COUNTRY’
Wednesday, October 28, 2020, PAGE 11
FIREFIGHTERS BATTLE LATEST WILDFIRES IN CALIFORNIA
WARM SPRINGS, Georgia Associated Press JOE BIDEN traveled to the hot springs town where Franklin Delano Roosevelt coped with polio yesterday to declare the US is not too politically diseased to overcome its health and economic crises, pledging to be the unifying force who can “restore our soul and save this country”. The Democratic presidential nominee offered his closing argument with Election Day just one week away while attempting to go on the political offensive in Georgia, which hasn’t backed a Democrat for the White House since 1992. He promised to be a president for all Americans regardless of party, even as he said that “anger and suspicion is growing and our wounds are getting deeper”. “Has the heart of this nation turned to stone? I don’t think so,” Biden said. “I refuse to believe it.” While Biden worked to expand the electoral map in the South, President Donald Trump focused on the Democrats’ “blue wall” states that he flipped in 2016 — Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — and maintained a far busier travel schedule taking him to much more of the country. At a cold, rain-soaked rally in the Michigan capital of Lansing, Trump said Biden supported the North American Free Trade Agreement and China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, both of which he said hurt the auto industry and other manufacturing in the state. “This election is a matter of economic survival for Michigan,” the president said, arguing that the state’s economy was strong before the coronavirus pandemic hit. “Look what I’ve done.”
FIREFIGHTER Raymond Vasquez battles the Silverado Fire on Monday in Irvine, California. LOS ANGELES Associated Press CREWS tried to beat back two out-of-control wildfires in Southern
California yesterday that have kept tens of thousands of people out of their homes even as another round of dangerous fire weather raises the risk for flames
erupting across the state. Fierce winds that drove twin fires through brushy hills in Orange County a day earlier were expected to pick back up, although
Photo: Jae C Hong/AP not to the earlier extremes. Irvine residents had to evacuate after a fire broke out on Monday, while later and a few miles away, another blaze, the Blue
Ridge Fire, sent people fleeing from the Yorba Linda area. New evacuations were ordered yesterday. More than 70,000 people remained out of their homes.
120 years in jail for guru who branded initials on sex slaves NEW YORK Associated Press
DISGRACED selfimprovement guru Keith Raniere, whose NXIVM followers included millionaires and Hollywood actors, was sentenced to 120 years yesterday for turning some adherents into sex slaves branded with his initials. US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis called Raniere “ruthless and unyielding” in crimes that were “particularly egregious” because he targeted girls and young women. He handed down the unusually high sentence in federal court in Brooklyn
after hearing anguished statements by victims of a sex-trafficking conspiracy that resulted in Raniere’s conviction last year, along with unrepentant remarks from the defendant himself. “I do believe I am innocent of the charges... It is true I am not remorseful of the crimes I do not believe I committed at all,” Raniere said. Prosecutors had sought life in prison while defense lawyers said he should face 15 years behind bars. The sentencing culminated several years of revelations about Raniere’s program, NXIVM, which
charged thousands of dollars for invitation-only self improvement courses at its headquarters near Albany, New York, along with branches in Mexico and Canada. Adherents included millionaires and Hollywood actors willing to endure humiliation and pledge obedience to the defendant as part of his teachings. NXIVM has been the subject of two TV documentary series this year, HBO’s The Vow, and the Starz series Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult. Prosecutors said Raniere, 60, led what amounted to a criminal enterprise,
inducing shame and guilt to influence and control coconspirators who helped recruit and groom sexual partners for Raniere. He was convicted on charges including racketeering, alien smuggling, sex trafficking, extortion and obstruction of justice. They said that among other crimes, Raniere began a sexual relationship in 2005 with a 15-year-old girl and confined another teenager to a room for nearly two years. Raniere had come under attack yesterday from former followers during sentencing in his sex-trafficking case.
India Oxenberg, the daughter of Dynasty actor Catherine Oxenberg, called him an “entitled little princess” and a sexual predator and lamented that she “may have to spend the rest of my life with Keith Raneire’s initials seared into me”. The likelihood of leniency had seemed to dissipate with the recent sentencing of Clare Bronfman, 41, an heir to the Seagram’s liquor fortune, for her role in what has been described by some ex-members as a cult. Bronfman was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison. Prosecutors had only sought five years.