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Crime. Statesmanship and bi-Partisanship the key?

Crime and the fear of crime is once again palpable and almost everyone you meet talks about it.

The central question is what can be done?

Do we arm ourselves like militia?

Do we lock ourselves in after daylight?

We live like prisoners while the "bad guys" enjoy our streets.

What's wrong with this picture?

Mr. Francisco Flores, former president of El Salvador provided some ideas back in June 2006 when he was the keynote speaker at an event for The Nassau Institute and the Atlas Network.

Here's an excerpt from his presentation "El Salvador - Responsibility, Vision, a new Political Ethic & Patriotism":

The first step is simple. We stopped blaming others...

This serious and in depth work is the antithesis of populism. The restructuring that underdeveloped nations need, are never pleasing or popular. They demand courage and a willingness to accept political costs.

In 2001 we were faced with an astonishing rise in crime. As all of you know there are a thousand ways to justify this: from the violence inherited by a 13 year war to the gangs organized in Los Angeles. But all of you leaders that have had this experience know that in all probability an unexplained rise in crime are the result of growing corruption within the police force.

The solution is a tough one. Admit it publicly, pursue the policemen involved, and create an effective system to inspect their behaviour.

In our case we fired one fifth of the police force. Did we create a crisis? You bet. But a few months later crime was at an all time low and we survived the political storm.

Governing is not an applause contest. It has ethical imperatives that demand honesty when facing problems..

Read his entire speech here...

Realising there must be lots of bad blood between the governing PLP and now opposition FNM as a result of the cheap shots about crime by the PLP during the last general election cycle, it's time to lay down the swords and come together on the issue of crime alone.

Our country is more important than political points on this. With some statesmanship and bi-partisanship from all, or most, elected Members of Parliament and the appointed Senators, and the will to conquer this scourge that besets us, we just might be able to be proud of our nation once again.

My fingers are crossed.

Crime problem in Bahamas is America's fault?

Before the last general election there was hardly a day that went by that Mr. Keith Bell, the spokesman on crime for the PLP when in Opposition, was not blaming the FNM government of the day for our crime problems.

Now that his party is the Government and he is the Junior Minister with responsibility National Security, crime is  now the fault of the US because "We don't manufacture guns in this country" and the US is deporting hardened criminals back here.

Bear in mind, according to Mr. Bell, these people are "Bahamians, stateless or The Bahamas was their last port of entry before entering the U.S."

Presumably The Bahamas has a treaty with the United States that allows them to send these folks back here? And if not, how is it possible if they have no connection here?

So what's Mr. Bell's solution? A National ID card.

So let me see if I can understand all this.

1. Bahamians would not commit crime if the US didn't make guns.
2. The US is not entitled to send Bahamians that commit crime in the US back home.
3. Stateless people (read people with Haitian heritage born in The Bahamas) that might have been in The Bahamas all of their life until they got to the US, can't be sent back here. And
4. A National ID card will fix it all.

My position on a National ID card remains the same as enunciated here… but where on earth do these ideas come from?

It seems that Mr. Bell is confronted with the same situation the FNM had. Mind you the solutions were easily resolved when he was in Opposition. Now that he sits in the chair, it's America's fault. Go figure!

I wish him luck with helping resolve the crime problem, but blaming our closest ally, the US, surely can't be the best thing to do?

Quo Vadis Bahamas?

A symbolic moment of silence for our little country.

Maybe we need a local Guardian Angels Chapter?

One Little Country facing Many Giant ‘Evils’: IMMORALITY & HYPOCRISY

Our Unending Battle with Immorality

By S3S

 “It is evident that both law and morality serve to channel our behavior. Law accomplishes this primarily through the threat of sanctions if we disobey legal rules. Morality too involves incentives: bad acts may result in guilt and disapprobation, and good acts may result in virtuous feelings and praise.” (Shavell, 2002:1)[1]

The Law versus the Moral

The Bahamas faces an unending battle with immorality and hypocrisy, two labels that shoud make any country uncomfortable.  Small in size and stature, we face ‘giant’ challenges of which steady degradation of our morals, in all its varied forms, is but another.  In my view, the challenge is rooted in an over-appreciation for one of the sets of standards that govern society (the law), offset by a severe under appreciation for the other more important set of standards that overrides all others in society (the moral) – at its most basic, meaning what is right – at its more advanced, the “rules of conduct that are associated with certain distinctive psychological and social attributes” (Shavell, 2002:4).  We possess much love and admiration for the ‘law’; we esteem lawyers, celebrate the profession and if offered the chance, opt to join the profession ourselves, rather than enriching society by becoming learned in other areas.  Unfortunately, this level of admiration and respect does not extend to ‘the moral’ and arguably, the overarching and therefore, superior tender to the law!  Of course, what is legal is not necessarily moral, though the latter has the much higher authority and a much wider remit. 

Not only do we not possess a penchant for ‘the moral’, we flaunt our lack of respect for what is right.  There is nothing more morally perverse than a society saying it believes in something that is right but then behaves contrarily or to put it another way, refuses to practise what it preaches.  Common examples of deviant moral behaviour occur at the national (government), societal and most disturbingly, at the level of the family, the core ‘moral’ unit of society. 

Declined Morals in the Public Sector

In the public sphere, monies are misappropriated from public corporations and in response, governments initiate ‘toothless’ investigations with apathy, which normally translates into nobody being identified, much less punished, for the wrongdoing.  Public officials accept bribes as if a normal part of operations and public servants are in service of the public to see what they can get from it.  Corruption in public office erodes trust in our elected officials and frustrates our development ambitions because we become distracted with the acts of impropriety.  Take the recent announcement of the depleted Confiscated Assets Fund (CAF), which reportedly held more than $20m in 2008, but now holds less than $185,000 (The Nassau Guardian Online[1]); or the previous report of missing millions from the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation; what happened to these funds and why is there no public accounting or indeed, accountability?

The Evolution of Government

Can't remember where I saw this, but it's oh so true!

Use laws or remove them & the code of silence

Mr. John Issa wrote in his column, View From Afar, in The Tribune yesterday that if laws are ignored and not enforced we should apply "the old rule of "USE IT OR LOSE IT" to all our legislation", and while people might not comply because the law itself is seen as being unjust and not simply because people are selfish, his recommendation deserves serious attention.

We might also consider the process followed when legislation is being passed by the House of Assembly. I refer to it as the Bahamian code of silence.

"Successive governments have shown an unwillingness to widely circulate legislation it intends to implement. Laws are rushed through Parliament without proper discussion, sometimes making it to the third reading before the private sector has an opportunity to review the proposed bill."

"Government policies must be able to withstand the scrutiny of public debate long before they are presented to parliament or cabinet."

"Discussion papers and policy proposals should be available for review by all citizens, unless overriding issues of national security are involved."

"The agendas of parliament and the cabinet should be disseminated to the press and other interested parties at least two weeks in advance to allow citizens to research information or provide input to their elected representatives."

But for some reason Parliament seems to think that they do not have to hold themselves to the same level of accountability they attempt to hold the private sector and taxpayers to.

See for yourself how many laws are on the books and how few are actually enforced at this link…

As far back as 1999 The Nassau Institute suggested that while "our Parliamentarians appear to be doing their "job" when they are passing laws…their time (would) be better spent reviewing the laws that exist to determine what laws should be removed from the books? The reality is that with every law passed, we lose a little more freedom. Seldom is a law changed or removed from the books... they are usually expanded when governments find out their intentions were not fulfilled with the first attempt." Read more…

So yes, if the laws are not enforced they should be removed from the books and the Parliamentary code of silence needs to be broken.

Silence = Death to women in some cultures

"The savage gang-rape attack on a 23-year-old Indian medical student has made women across the world speak up. Monsoon Bissell writes in The Hindu about her own ordeal" at The Daily Beast. Read the entire essay entitlted, To the Woman Warrior I Didn't Know, that was sent to me by a friend, here…

I'm sure you will agree it's powerful stuff and deserves the widest possible circulation.

It was through the courage of Ayaan Hirsi Ali that I first understood this issue back in 2007. Read her remarkable story here (pdf)…

Visit her web site, the AHA Foundation "to help protect and defend the rights of women in the West from oppression justified by religion and culture" here…

It discourages me how we as humans continue to do these horrible acts to one another.

Like the placard of the brave students in the photo says, "Don't Tell UR Daughter Not To Go Out. Tell Your Son To Behave Properly."

A Referendum on Women's Rights is more important than a badly worded opinion poll on gambling

by Ian Mabon

In the midst of all the hysteria surrounding the soon to be held opinion poll for the legalization of the illegal numbers racket, cloaked in the disguise of a referendum, the populace and the clergy in particular have seemingly lost sight of the issue most deserving of and what would constitute a genuine and legal referendum, the upgrading of women’s rights in the Bahamas to the same status of those enjoyed by our men.

When this issue was last put to the vote under the FNM government it was so politicized that it was doomed to failure from the outset, although I still find it mindboggling that Bahamian women could have done themselves such a disservice.

Now instead of dirty politics it is the lure of dirty money which has once again derailed this vitally needed change to our Constitution, one that would put an end to the blatant discrimination currently practised and put our women on par with those in the rest of the civilized world.

But then such is the cultural uniqueness of our people, and as an old friend of mine is wont to say “They won’t let you down Mabes, they won’t disappoint you.”

CATO Institute: Living with Guns: A Liberal’s Case for the Second Amendment

Few organisations present arguments better than the CATO Institute and this timely presentation featuring Craig Whitney, Alan Gura, Alan Morrison & Ilya Shapiro about individual gun ownership on January 9, 2013 is a case in point.

"In the end, Whitney proposes a new way forward through our gun rights stalemate, showing how we can live with guns––and why, with so many of them around, we have no other choice."

See the original video of the presentation here…

Free The Slaves

"...slavery should be unthinkable in this day and age."

Throughout history it seems every race and creed has been enslaved to some other nation or group and that vile institution was to have ended in 1833 in the UK and her colonies of the day and 1863 in the US, but it still exists today.

Free The Slaves (FTS), estimates there "are some 27 million people in slavery today", all while slavery is supposed to be illegal everywhere. The numbers and situations are astounding.

Sure, in some instances people might take a job in a so called sweat shop because the opportunity is better there than they can get eleswhere in their country, but out right slavery should be unthinkable in this day and age.

While I have not investigated Free The Slaves, they are a four star charity according to Charity Navigator that suggests FTS is worthy of trust. So if you have a few extra dollars why not consider supporting them to help rid the world of the curse of slavery?