Bishop Eddie Long's gay-sex scandal

By Anthony L. Hall


“If these politicians were not lead vocals in a chorus of moral crusaders, I would not give their sexual escapades a moment’s thought. For the unadulterated pleasure of afflicting these hypocrites, however, I don’t even mind being bedfellows with a publicity-seeking hustler like Larry Flynt.” (DC Madam outs Sen. David Vitter as a faithful “John”..., TIJ, July 17, 2007)

This quote explains why I have reveled in commenting on the sex scandals that exposed a number of politicians as self-righteous hypocrites in recent years. But I hope it goes without saying that the logic behind it applies even more to preachers. Remember gay-bashing Pastor Ted Haggard who was outed by his male prostitute? Well, this brings me to mega-church leader Bishop Eddie Long.

Four young boys filed lawsuits recently accusing this 57-year-old preacher, who has hobnobbed over the years with every US president from Carter to Obama, of using his power and influence as head of the Youth Academy they attended to sexually molest them … repeatedly. And, by the way, if four of them had the courage to come forward, chances are very good that there are at least another forty boys who are either too ashamed or too afraid to do so.

The grooming these boys allege is textbook predatory behavior -- complete with Bishop Long enticing them with cash, jewelry, cars, and overnight stays in luxurious hotels (where they reportedly shared the same bed). Not surprisingly, in this age of Twitter and Facebook, there are even incriminating pictures that he sent to these boys, which are of the type that only a young stud would send to a young girl (or boy) he’s trying to seduce.

Meanwhile, anyone who knows anything about the black church, which I grew up in, knows that “Thou shall not be gay” is observed like the eleventh commandment. And no black preacher has hurled more invectives about eternal damnation at homosexuals than Bishop Long. Hell, he even led a notorious march through the streets of Atlanta in 2004 protesting the Sodomization of America.

I have often lamented that it’s not white Republicans as much as black Democrats who have blocked the passage of legislations and referendums granting equal rights to gay people. And, sadly, the historical irony, if not hypocrisy, inherent in their prejudice against our homosexual brothers and sisters seems completely lost on these black (Christian) folks.

More to the point, though, anyone who knows anything about the black church also knows that Bishop Long is hardly the only black preacher who preaches against homosexuality on Sunday morning as a perverse form of absolution for the homosexual “sins” he committed on Saturday night.

Indeed, it would not surprise me at all to learn that such closeted preachers are defiling pulpits in every state in the United States as well as in every country in the Caribbean. But I urge any young boy who is being groomed and molested in this fashion to report that so-called man of God to the police … today!

In any case, Bishop Long must derive some relief from the fact that his alleged assignations with these boys do not constitute crimes. Evidently, the boys were all above the age of consent when the alleged sexual acts were consummated. So at least the bishop does not appear to be a pedophile … as well.

Accordingly, what must matter above all else to him now is retaining the blind faith of the 25,000 members of his New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. No doubt this is why he stood before them on Sunday and casted himself as David fighting against some phantom Goliath -- not for the sake of his wretched soul, but for the sake of his hedonistic life.
Vowing to fight the allegations, he intoned that:

“I’ve been accused, I’m under attack… I am not a perfect man, but this thing I’m gonna fight. I feel like David against Goliath, but I got five rocks, and I haven’t thrown one yet.” (CNN September 26, 2010)

This triggered a rousing ovation from the poor, gullible souls who have poured tens of millions into the coffers from which Bishop Long has funded his lifestyle of the rich and famous. In fact, it has always been a source of profound shame for me that blacks take such incomprehensible pride in the ostentatious ways their pastors flaunt their ill-gotten wealth. Especially since these “tithing” folks themselves are invariably struggling to make ends meet.

Anyway, far too few members of his congregation seemed to wonder why he spoke so defiantly about fighting the allegations, but never denied any of them. Not to mention that one of the deacons of his church should have admonished him by quoting this familiar proverb, which might have made the bishop think twice about casting himself as David:

“He who lives in a glass house should not throw stones.”

Of course, truth be told, the reason he hasn’t thrown any yet is that Bishop Long probably plans to quietly settle all claims and then go on preaching as if they were never filed. And his congregation will be all too willing to oblige….

But what I found particularly galling about the bishop’s statement on Sunday was his non-confession confession in which he said that “I am not a perfect man”. Indeed, when I finally saw the video of him making it, I wanted to shout at him:

“No shit, Sherlock! The problem is not that you’re not perfect; it’s that you’re a friggin’ sexual predator … and a hypocrite to boot! And one more thing, with all of the millions you’ve stolen from those poor suckers giving you a standing ovation, the least you could do is to buy yourself a better-looking toupee.”

And that’s coming from the son of a preacher man….

October 1, 2010

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

Canada's first black G-G turns her focus on Haiti

Keeble McFarlane




MICHAëLLE Jean was only 11 years old when she first set foot in Canada. Her father, Roger, had fled Haiti in 1967 after suffering persecution and torture. He was a teacher and managed to secure a position with a local college in the rough-and-tumble town of Thetford Mines in eastern Quebec. A year later he sent for his wife Luce and daughter.

Unfortunately, the brutality he suffered had taken a serious toll, and according to his daughter, he became increasingly prone to violence. The marriage eventually came apart, and his wife left for Montreal to make a new life.

They lived in a small apartment in the basement of a house while Luce worked first at a clothing factory and then as a night orderly in a psychiatric hospital. It was quite a comedown for the former residents of a middle-class section of Port-au-Prince where Roger was principal and philosophy teacher at an upscale preparatory school.

They kept their daughter away from school and taught her themselves because if she had enrolled in school she would have had to swear allegiance to François (Papa Doc) Duvalier.

Michaëlle attended the University of Montreal, where she earned degrees in Spanish and Italian as well as in literature. She also studied at three universities in Italy and emerged a fluent speaker of five languages -- French, Creole, English, Spanish and Italian — and reads Portuguese.

While still at university Jean worked with women and children who had suffered domestic violence and also worked with organisations which helped new immigrants in the unsettling experience of settling in the new country. She took part in a landmark study — published in 1987 — which examined abusive relationships in which women suffered sexual violence from their spouses.

But it was in television that Jean made her mark. In the late 1980s she joined the French-language service of the CBC, Canada's national broadcaster, and worked as a reporter, presenter and documentary maker. From time to time she acted as host of the nightly national newscast and came to the attention of the English network, where she presented documentaries on its all-news channel.

By this time she had married a French-born documentary maker and had adopted Marie-Éden, an orphaned girl from Jacmel, Jean's mother's hometown in Haiti. She collaborated with her husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, in several documentaries including an award-winning production in which she met an uncle who had fled in exile to France and wrote about his dreams for Haiti.

Since Canada became self-governing in 1867, the sovereign in London was represented by a string of British aristocrats until 1952. Prime Minister Louis St Laurent broke the chain by choosing Vincent Massey, a member of a prominent Ontario family and a distinguished diplomat, to be the first Canadian governor-general.

Since then, many ex-politicians have resided in Rideau Hall, a stately house in immaculately kept grounds close by the Ottawa River in the quite agreeable Canadian capital city. But four ex-journalists, all from the CBC, have also filled the post.

Two of them were former Liberal politicians — the first woman in the job, Jeanne Sauvé, who had a 20-year broadcasting career in Quebec before going into politics in 1972. The other was Roméo Leblanc, who was a foreign correspondent for several years before getting into politics. The other two were Ms Jean and her predecessor, Adrienne Clarkson, who was also precedent-shattering.

Clarkson was born in Hong Kong as Adrienne Poi and went to Canada as a young child with her family who barely escaped the brutal Japanese occupation of the territory during the Second World War. She enjoyed a brilliant career as a current affairs interviewer, presenter and reporter on television before going off to Paris as the cultural and trade representative of the Government of Ontario.

In her five years as Canada's vice-regal figurehead, Michaëlle Jean has drawn considerable kudos for her performance. She made trips all over the country and her most rapt admirers were the children with whom she loves to interact. She showed the flag in Africa, Europe and the Americas. In South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki praised her appointment as an example to European countries of how African immigrants should be treated.

Canadian soldiers have been fighting alongside other NATO contingents in Afghanistan since that war began, and despite warnings about the dangers, Jean travelled to Kabul to mark International Women's Day in 2007. On arrival she declared, "The women of Afghanistan may face the most unbearable conditions, but they never stop fighting for survival. Of course, we, the rest of the women around the world, took too long to hear the cries of our Afghan sisters, but I am here to tell them that they are no longer alone."

But Jean also engendered controversy, notably for her decision to go along with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's request to prorogue Parliament in December 2008, just two months after a national election. Two opposition parties had agreed to form a coalition to defeat Harper's Conservatives and the third said it would support them.

Her granting of Harper's request wasn't pro forma, and just this week she explained to a news agency that she wasn't aiming to keep the nation in suspense when she left Harper waiting for two hours. She simply wanted to take the necessary time before arriving at such an important decision and at the same time hoped to engage the country in the process.

Early last year, on a visit to the northern territory of Nunavut, Jean attended a traditional Inuit community festival in which she partook in the gutting of a freshly caught seal and in accordance with aboriginal tradition, ate a piece of its raw heart. This act drew particular attention because it coincided with a recent ban by the European Parliament on the importation of Canadian seal products in protest against the killing of seals.

Now, the lady who left Haiti as a child but has maintained a strong connection to her homeland will, for the next while, be the UN's special envoy for Haiti. Her task is to help fight poverty and illiteracy and raise money from international sources to rebuild the earthquake-shattered country.

Her term ended on Thursday and it seems Ottawa is back to the old ways. Canada's new vice-regal representative is a 69-year-old white lawyer and academic whose most recent post was president of the University of Waterloo in Ontario. David Johnston, with degrees from Harvard, Cambridge and Queen's in Kingston, Ontario, has worked in several universities, written a shelf-ful of books and his big passion is hockey. It looks as if things will be a bit quieter around Rideau Hall for the next five years or so.

October 02, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Blog International

Venezuela: “Only Ecuadorans Can Neutralise Coup Attempt”

By Tamara Pearson - Venezuelanalysis.com:


Mérida, September 30th 2010 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – As a coup attempt takes place in Ecuador, Venezuela and regional organisations of Latin America have come out in solidarity with Ecuador, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called on the people and military of Ecuador to defend President Rafael Correa and their country’s democracy.

Ecuador is a close ally of Venezuela, and a fellow member of the progressive Bolivarian Alliance of the People of Our America (ALBA).

Early this afternoon the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry released an official statement condemning the coup attempt and expressing its solidarity with President Rafael Correa and the Ecuadoran people.

The statement said, “A few minutes ago President Hugo Chavez Frias talked with President Rafael Correa, who is being held in the National Police hospital in Quito. President Correa confirmed that what is taking place is a coup attempt, given the insubordination by a section of the National Police towards the authorities and the law”.

“Commander Hugo Chavez expressed his support for the constitutional president of our sister, the Republic of Ecuador, and condemned, in the name of the Venezuelan people and the Bolivarian Alliance of the People of Our America (ALBA), this attack against the constitution and the people of Ecuador,” continued the statement.

“The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela expresses its confidence that President Rafael Correa and the Ecuadoran people will overturn this coup attempt and, together with the people of Latin America and the Caribbean, we will be alert and accompanying them with solidarity in this historic moment,” the statement concluded.

Later this afternoon, Chavez talked on the telephone with Telesur, commenting on the coup attempt as he prepared to travel to Argentina to meet with other presidents of UNASUR and discuss the situation in Ecuador.

“According to what our ambassador [in Ecuador] has reported, the airports have been taken. It’s an operation that has been prepared. They are the forces of... the extreme right,” he said.

“The president [of Ecuador] is alone [in the hospital] with just an assistant and a few security members. Our ambassador Navas Tortolero tried to enter the hospital but they impeded him. There is a lot of police violence and its clear they received instructions from above.”

Correa “told me, ‘I’m ready to die, I’m not going to give up’,” Chavez said.

Chavez argued that a peaceful march needs to support the president, and the military needs to guarantee the peace. “Only Ecuadorians can neutralise the coup attempt... and can save democracy in Venezuela,” he said.

“Correa is a man of great dignity, we’ve seen him confront this situation despite his physical condition, his knee [which was operated on recently]... I have faith in President Correa, who has already suffered attacks from outside Ecuador in the sad case of Colombia’s incursion... he knows how to respond and how to plant peace in Ecuador,” Chavez said.

Chavez also commented that it was “strange that the military hasn’t appeared... their president is kidnapped... they aren’t letting him out, hopefully there’ll be a reaction... I’ve talked with Venezuelan military in Ecuador who tell me that the military there are in their barracks but they aren’t active... the situation is very very bad.”

Chavez called on the Ecuadoran military to “not allow them to massacre the Ecuadorian people” and to “rescue President Correa.”

“It’s a coup attempt against ALBA... the countries who have raised the banner of democracy... the [coup] masters... we know where they are, they are in Washington,” he concluded.

Already, Venezuelans are mobilising outside the Ecuadorian embassy in Caracas.

Regional Response

The Organisation of American States (OAS) is holding an emergency meeting and ALBA and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) are making arrangements to hold emergency meetings.

However, Chavez commented on Telesur that the OAS is “impotent” in the face of such situations. “Beyond chest beating”, nothing will come out of it, he argued, sighting the case of Honduras.

To date in the OAS meeting, all government representatives who have spoken, including those from the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay, have said they reject the coup attempt.

Cuba, the European Union, the general secretary of the United Nations, Mexico, France, and Bolivia also declared their support for the democratically-elected Ecuadoran government.

The US ambassador to the OAS, Carmen Lomellin, stated, “We condemn any attempt to violate or alter the constitutional process and constitutional order in Ecuador”.

ALBA has also released a formal statement, manifesting “solidarity with the legitimate government of President Rafael Correa and with the sovereign people of Ecuador”.

Nestor Kirchner, general secretary of UNASUR, expressed his total support for and “absolute solidarity” with the Ecuadorian government.

Events in Ecuador

This morning police forces in Quito, Ecuador, took over strategic sites, including an airbase, airports and parliament. President Correa immediately went to the military base to work out a solution. Police claimed they were protesting a law passed on Wednesday that allegedly would reduce their work benefits.

Correa argued that his government had doubled police wages and that rather the law just restructured the benefits.

He also denounced that ex-President Lucio Gutierrez, who, following large protests, was removed from office by a vote of the Ecuadorian congress in 2005, was behind the protest and using it to justify a coup.

Police forces attacked Correa with tear gas and the president was hospitalised shortly after in a military hospital, which coup forces subsequently surrounded. Since then he has not been able to leave.

Supporters have gathered around the presidential palace, and the Ecuadoran government has declared a state of emergency.

In a nationally televised press conference, Ecuador’s top military officials declared their support for the constitutional order of Ecuador. The top commander, General Ernesto González, demanded the police cease their subversive activities. However, the military has yet to intervene to end the police’s occupations, and only Ecuadoran civilians have taken to the streets to confront the police.

The coup attempt is not the first against an ALBA country, countries which challenge US domination in Latin America. In June 2009, Honduras, an ALBA member at the time, was subject to a coup d’état that forced its president Manuel Zelaya from power. In 2004, a coup similar to the one in Honduras was carried out in Haiti with US backing. In 2002 Venezuela was also subject to a coup, but a huge mobilisation by Venezuelans combined with military support for Chavez, defeated the coup.

venezuelanalysis

Bahamas Blog International

Bahamas: More than 20,000 young people involved in gangs

'20,000' in street gangs
By NOELLE NICOLLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
nnicolls@tribunemedia.net:

THE gang problem in The Bahamas affects more than 20,000 young people, according to a Bahamian gang expert, and the number is on the rise.

Pastor Carlos Reid is set to release an updated gang list this week, a document produced by the community-based non-profit Youth Against Violence, which he leads. The list details the schools and communities that are "contaminated" with gangs.

Ridgeland Park and the Grove are two communities featured on the list. They are said to have gangs that are involved in "wars" and "cross rivalry", according to St Cecelia Member of Parliament Cynthia "Mother" Pratt, who recently sounded the alarm.

She claims both communities are engaged in an endless spree of retaliations that are affecting the community.

Pastor Reid said the Grove has several gangs on the list, including the Grove Boys. He said the Jungalist gang occupies Ridgeland Park.

The gang listing was first brought out in 1997. It was last updated in 2002, when more than 50 gangs were listed. It has grown since then.

"A lot of the killings we have seen this year are retaliation killings. When someone gets killed, you are not just getting rid of that person, because that person is attached to an immediate family and an extended family, the gang. The mentality is, when you kill one of us, in most cases we have to take one of your own," said Pastor Reid..

"Almost every community has a feud going on with a different community. We have not properly addressed the issue of gangs. We have allowed situations to breed, and a lot of the people in the position to make a difference don't have a clue about what is going on," he said.

Poinciana Drive is still known as "the Gaza Strip", according to Pastor Reid. It is the meeting ground of four different gang territories (Gun Dogs, Pond Boys, Rebellions and Nike Boys), and four different schools (CC Sweeting, HO Nash, TA Thompson and CR Walker).

The Balliou Hill playing fields is known as the "killing fields", according to Pastor Reid, who said, "every day there is a fight going on out there".

"Let us look at Government High School. When you have to walk through Yellow Elder, where the Hornets are, if you are a Rebellion they know and you are getting it," said Pastor Reid.

Once a student lives in a certain area, they are automatically assumed to be in a "particular click". A GHS student said there was a fight in school yesterday because of gangs. The fight was sparked because a student from the Grove "trespassed" in Rebellion territory.

"Take CI Gibson. The Hoyas from Kemp Road believe they own that school, so as far as they are concerned, no one else is supposed to be in that school," said Pastor Fox.

However, students from the Fox Hill Dogs, Nassau Village Rebellions and the Mad Ass from Wulff Road all go to the same school.

"Now think about this. If you know someone wants to chap you up and kill you, do you really think you can focus on your school work. The only thing you are thinking about is how am I going to get out of here after school," he said.

Pastor Reid is certified in gang prevention and intervention skills by the National Gang and Crime Research Centre of the United States of America.

He is also the lead pastor at the Hope Centre Ministries, which runs several youth outreach programmes, including a suspension programme.

The Hope Centre and Youth Against Violence are hosting a Conflict Resolution and Manger Management Seminar this week, where they plan to release the updated gang listing.

Minister Keith Grey, also a certified gang prevention and intervention specialist, is one of the presenters at the seminar. He was one of the founders of the Rebellion Raiders.

Pastor Keith said the Rebellion gang is still the largest gang in the Bahamas. Its members boast of having 14 segments across the island, from Elizabeth Estates to Carmichael, Road.

It was started in the early 1980s "to rebel against the Syndicates, which was one of the earliest gangs formed that had some structure", said Pastor Reid.

"The same things they formed to rebel against, they started doing, so the other gangs started coming up to rebel against the Rebellions," he said.

Bahamian gangs are not constituted in the same way as American gangs, or Jamaican gangs. Pastor Reid said American gangs are "more organised crime gangs", and Jamaican gangs are "political gangs".

Organised crime gangs are often underground organisations that run the entire community, including housing projects, businesses and politicians.

"It doesn't mean we don't have gangs. We basically have youth gangs. The problem is, America started off just as we did and we don't want to get where America is," said Pastor Reid.

"We are seeing the formation of these groups really to protect themselves. To be honest, in the Bahamas, just being by yourself is a risk.

"Most of the youth gangs they will mess with you just because they see you walking by yourself and you might have something on you that they want: watch, chain, shoes," he said.

September 29, 2010

tribune242

Turks and Caicos Islands: Self revocation

Self revocation
by David Tapfer


The Turks and Caicos Islands is in dismay. The economy is in shambles, debts have mounted and personal and government income is down to zip. Future government income from tourism is dependent on a harsh winter up north and questionable economic conditions in the USA.

Now, a promise made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to hold elections in July 2011 has been set aside, revoked, by none other than the same bureau who made the promise, the FCO. Yes, of course, there is a new government in Britain and a new FCO minister, but it is still self revocation.

Both the new minister and chairman of the TCI All Party Group on their visits have praised the governor and his administration but criticised the Labour government that brought them here and assisted with their decisions.

Well over a year after recommendations came forth from the Inquiry we are stuck in a quagmire of long term debt, which in this slow season grows bigger daily. Inward investment has all but dried up and hope is all but gone.

Independence was the choice of other regional countries but is untenable for this debt-ridden tiny country. We are told we must embrace British pride yet the British have yet to understand the pride of being a West Indian here and elsewhere!

The mother country needed to pay attention to its own Robin Auld, the Inquiry Commissioner, who wrote months back cautioning about the inaction on his recommendations.

Let us face the facts of life. This Interim Government and the FCO have been largely a reactionary group. When they faced hard decisions, they folded. Kate Sullivan's 48 recommendations are largely a cover-up for lack of oversight.

Facing an NHIP 800-page contract signed by a central figure in the Inquiry, the FCO folded and let outsourcing health care for Canadian profit go forward. Is Roger Chessman a better choice to manage health than Dr Ewing?

The $100 million airport expansion might make it easier for the future Governor and the British to travel but the airport tax will be burden to US tourists and Islanders traveling anywhere. It may just cost more than it will make. Will it bring in tourists from the EU countries that are just about bankrupt? Doubtful!

How will we ever pay off the “consolidated” stop gap loan, which rescheduled some of the debts the Misick administration left us with? In two months we have heard about two new emergency "loans". Why not plain grant and aid? More debt to pay interest on debt. Like a household with too many credit cards and no hope of paying them off.

Two TCI professionals Ben Roberts and Alfred Gibbs, both graduates of Howard University living in Washington, who keep tabs on the TCI, have weighed in during phone interviews on PTV8. They find the country not ready for elections but hold the British responsible for this condition.

Will the new British government turn up the heat? They have started off on the wrong foot and I think they already know it!

September 29, 2010

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

What they want is Venezuela’s oil

Reflections of Fidel

(Taken from CubaDebate)

YESTERDAY I said what I would do if I were Venezuelan; I explained that it was the poor who were most affected by natural disasters and I gave the reasons why. Further on, I added: "…where imperialism dominates and the opportunistic oligarchy receives a lucrative slice of national goods and services, the masses have nothing to win or lose and don’t give a jot about the elections" and that, "in the United States, even for a presidential election, no more than 50% of those entitled to vote turn out."

Today I would add that, even when in those same elections the whole of the House of Representatives, part of the Senate and other significant posts are voted on, they do not manage to exceed that figure.

I asked why they employ their vast media resources to try and sink the Revolutionary Bolivarian government in a sea of lies and calumnies. What the yankis want is Venezuela’s oil.

We have all seen during this election period, a group of ignoble individuals who, in the company of mercenaries from the national written press, radio and television, have even denied the fact that there is press freedom in Venezuela.

The enemy has succeeded with some of its aims: preventing the Bolivarian government from winning the support of two thirds of the Parliament.

Perhaps the empire believes that it obtained a great victory.

I believe exactly the opposite: the results of September 26 represent a victory for the Bolivarian Revolution and its leader Hugo Chávez Frías.

In these parliamentary elections, the participation of the electors rose to the record figure of 66.45%. With its vast resources, the empire could not prevent the PSUV from obtaining 95 of the 165 seats in parliaments, with six results still to come in. The most important thing is the high number of young people, women and other combative and proven activists who have entered this institution.

The Bolivarian Revolution today holds executive power, has a majority in Parliament and a party capable of mobilizing millions of people who will fight for socialism.

In Venezuela, the United States can only rely on fragments of parties, cobbled together through their fear of the Revolution and gross material cravings.

They will not be able to resort to a coup d’état in Venezuela as they did with Allende in Chile and other countries in Our America.

The Armed Forces of that sister nation, educated in the spirit and example of the Liberator and which, in its heart, nurtured the leaders who began the process are the promoters of and part of the Revolution.

Such a group of forces is invincible. I would not be able to see that with such clarity without the experience I have accumulated over half a century.

Fidel Castro Ruz



September 27, 2010

3:24 a.m.

Translated by Granma International

granma.cu

Bahamas Blog International

The more things change in the Turks and Caicos, the more they stay the same

Caribbeannewsnow Opinion-Editorial


The well-known French saying: ‘Plus ça change’, plus c’est la même chose’ -- The more things change, the more they stay the same -- is frequently used, and for good reason. History tends to repeat itself.

The original context of the phrase was a dramatic moment in history – the French Revolution, which was intended to cure many if not all of the social injustices, outrages and problems of the day.

However, after the Revolution, the situation for the common man and woman was essentially the same… ‘plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.’

One might draw some comfort from George Santayana’s oft-misquoted remark, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” in that there might be hope for some at least to remember the past and, who knows, to learn from it.

However, some it seems are incapable of such a feat of memory.

One would have thought that in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) especially there is more than sufficient reason to remember the recent past and learn from it. Indeed, as with the French Revolution, last year’s intervention by Britain in the affairs of the TCI was sought and welcomed by many TCIslanders to counter the social injustices, outrages and problems created by the territory’s elected government, then led by the now disgraced former premier, Michael Misick.

One of the more noteworthy complaints emanating from the TCI at the time was the level of official intimidation and resulting fear in speaking out on the part of residents. In fact, members of Britain’s Foreign Affairs Committee said they were “shocked and appalled” at the situation that then existed in the TCI, equating the level of repression there to that of China.

It is, therefore, quite astonishing that some of the very people that complained bitterly about the situation two or three years ago now seek to perpetuate it themselves… plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

On Friday, Caribbean News Now published an open letter from our regular op-ed columnist Anthony Hall, which took to task in no uncertain terms the current crop of politicians in the TCI.

We were subsequently informed by Mr Hall that, following publication of his letter, he was told by concerned family and friends in the TCI that senior members of the two local political parties – in a rare and possibly unique bipartisan approach – were threatening to "shut him up once and for all."

Of course, Mr Hall’s characteristically pointed response was a dismissive, "Who do they think they are, Michael Misick?"

We find it quite extraordinary that influential people in what should be an inherently prosperous territory that has to all intents and purposes been brought to its knees by similar inappropriate behaviour and attitudes of the previous elected administration could ever fail to learn from the mistakes and missteps of the recent past.

Regrettably, however, this apparent failure to learn merely serves to prove our point: the more things change, the more they stay the same.


Caribbeannewsnow Opinion-Editorial