No guns, no arms, no pipe bombs, no hand grenades, no pressure cooker explosives!

Bearing no arms, no guns, no pipe bombs, no hand grenades, no pressure cooker explosives, a group of our young, intelligent, wise, caring and concerned students of the College of the Bahamas, honorable citizens of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, were unceremoniously, almost forcefully, barred from entering THEIR House of Assembly a few weeks ago. Even though that incident grieved, pained and shocked many of our people, especially the young, I have hesitated this long to comment, hoping to hear some regret expressed in the Honorable House of Assembly, by WHOMEVER, lamenting this dictatorial, despotic action perpetrated by SOMEONE, against young, gentle, wise, conscientious citizens of our so-called “FREE NATION.”

These young students are our future leaders who will one day sit in that same House, and they will lament what had been meted out to them by their elders. Some of those same students would have voted in the last election and enabled some of those same members of Parliament, including the Honorable Speaker, to sit in the House to do the work of the people. The annals of history, therefore, will not look favorably upon such action against non-violent, genuinely concerned, young citizens.

I have contemplated all possibilities and scenarios as to what would have initiated such a dramatic, unwarranted and capricious move against young persons. For over forty years as a teacher, guidance counselor and high school principal, I never once, in spite of having to deal with cantankerous, aggressive and even violent young students, thought about, much armed myself, hid myself, or called for the arm forces to handle any situation. Armed only with unconditional love for them, I had nothing to fear. So now we have to have the armed forces shielding grown men and women from a handful of youthful gentle souls? In the name of the Good Lord, what are we saying to the nation? Fearless Sir Lynden would have walked up to that group, and welcomed them with possible words: “My brothers, my sisters, my sons and daughters, please follow me into the sanctuary of this honorable house and I will hear you pleas.”

Dear Editor,

The most important recollection of mine from the 2012 General Election was the profound feeling of disappointment I had, because I knew that everything we are experiencing today and worse to come, is what we would experience as a result of our decision at the polls.

It is my hope that in the future, Bahamians will stop being lazy in their democracy, get their minds right and vote according to issues, facts and knowledge - not personalities, payments, promises of payments and petty things that have nothing to do with good governance.

Those of you who took a couple of dollars for your vote - where are you today? Are you better off in life? NO, because unless your entire life is only worth a few dollars, a few dollars can't change your world. Those of you who voted personality - are you happy now with the personalities you chose? NO - because running a country is not a personality contest or about giving you everything you personally want. Grow up Bahamas. Governance is about doing what is best for as many as you can, as often as you can. Real leaders lead - not tickle your fancy.

And those of you who spit in the face of a freedom millions around the world would die for and stayed home on Election Day, are you proud of yourselves? Your refusal to vote had an impact on the end results - don't think you are innocent because you decided to take your freedom for granted. What you refuse to use, you lose - always remember that.

Dear Editor:

Facebook is free for all, but it doesn’t mean that we are liberated to slander others with impunity - or to make vile threats against brothers and sisters without consequences.  Facebook was not designed to override the justice system, or to be a place where public trials and inquiries are conducted by citizens - in the name of justice.

I have noticed recently, that some of our Bahamian brothers and sisters are using Facebook to exercise their so called rights, while they infringe on the rights of others.  This cannot be right.  I have witnessed so called trials and inquiries being conducted by compatriots who apparently feel that they are now magistrates and judges in the Bahamian court system.

I have noticed that some of us are now being picked-up, questioned and charged for our Facebook indiscretions.  It appears to be getting worse, rather than better.  We all have been warned by the Commissioner of Police about our irresponsible Facebook maneuvers; some of us believe that the COP’s warning is a joke, so we continue to be out-of-control in the distorted interests of freedom and justice – on Facebook.

Well, like the saying goes: for every action – there is a reaction.  We all have equal rights, and we are all equally free.  The law exists to protect every citizen.  It is a shame therefore, that some of us feel that we have exclusive rights, so we continue to be the self-appointed judge of the land, the violator of personal privacy, or the shameless slanderer on Facebook.

Okay!  Carry on, until the law knocks on your door - to take you to the lawful place, where you must answer accordingly - for your potentially criminal Facebook behavior.