Dear Editor,
I'm fed up! How many times must my family and household be assaulted before I lose my mind and go rampaging across this country using my own gun? I have lived in what used to be called a relatively safe area (Danottage Estates) and my house has been robbed eight times since I have lived here.
On the very day that the police force announced its many promotions, my mother and sister were held up at gunpoint in the driveway of our home. This, when only two months ago, the front door of my house was kicked in and the entire house ransacked and many items stolen. What next?
Seems to me that home invasions, robberies and now armed robberies are commonplace in our country; seems to me that criminals are not afraid of the law; seems to me that common citizens must now be afraid just to live a decent ordinary life; seems to me that our leaders are exhausted by the situation themselves; seems to me that we have spun out or control.
I hate to admit it, but it appears more and more that refusing the offer made to me to stay in the United States and teach music when I left my schooling years in Princeton, N.J. was a very bad idea indeed. I should have stayed, taken the job, got legal residence and brought my family over. This is not a country where I wish my young nieces and nephews to reside. In fact I have advised them to find a home somewhere else and visit the beach when they feel the need.
I am exhausted and despondent that after working hard all her life as a single parent, my mother can't enjoy retirement in her own home without fear of robbery or death; I feel despondent and depressed because I feel the need to advise my nieces and nephews to live in a country other than the one of their birth; I feel despondent and depressed because I have become a prisoner in my home; I feel despondent and depressed because I have since turned away offers for friends to visit because I don't feel it's a safe place for them to visit. I'm despondent and depressed that after serious financial investments in outdoor lights, alarms systems, powered gates, etc., I still cant seem to protect my family - guess the next move is to get a gun. This is what I have come to, a Christian man willing to kill another.
This week as a I reflect on my friend and former singing chorister Andre Cartwright, who lost his life protecting his family, I am more than aware that my situation today could have been worse than just an armed robbery (can you imagine I am grateful for "just an armed robbery"). I could be in the position of the Cartwright family or the Davis family, who are deeply grieved at the death of a relative. For that I thank God that the lives of my sister and mother were spared.
I'm fed up, despondent and depressed
- Adrian A. W. Archer

The United States Embassy in partnership with the Junior Baseball League of Nassau (JBLN) is currently hosting baseball skills presentation and youth outreach clinics in New Providence. The clinics, which got underway yesterday and will run until Sunday November 2, will feature former Major League Baseball (MLB) players Elias Sosa and Armando Rios, and will focus on baseball fundamentals including hitting, pitching, fielding techniques and game scrimmages.
Sosa was a MLB pitcher for 12 years and has worked as a minor league pitching coach for several teams. He is currently the Latin American Coordinator for MLB International. Sosa also works directly with Latin American baseball federations to coordinate programs and send envoys to work with youth at all levels.
Rios played in the minor leagues from 1994-1998 before moving up to MLB to play for the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago White Sox. He currently serves as a youth baseball league coach, scout, recruiter and hitting instructor for professional baseball players. Rios is also the instructor for MLB's International Envoy Program for Latin America.
The baseball skills presentation and clinics are open to youth throughout New Providence and are offered free of charge to the public.
On Saturday and Sunday, the MLB youth baseball clinics will get underway at 10 a.m. at JBLN's 'Field of Dreams' complex, located directly behind St. Andrew's School. They will run until about 4 p.m. and are open for players between the ages of 9-18. U.S. Embassy's Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Neda Brown will be in attendance.
JBLN coaches, parents and players are encouraged to come out and support the event, and the league thanks the U.S. Embassy and Atlantis Paradise Island for their support.

Cheryl Bazard, chairman of the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC), said yesterday that the CPC was juggling "a number of initiatives" since forming last November, including education and protection initiatives regarding the impact of value-added tax (VAT) on consumers.
Speaking with Guardian Business, Bazard said that while the CPC's VAT initiatives were still in their "infant stages", the commission hoped to produce consumer guidelines ahead of the tax's January 1 implementation.
"There's ongoing activity with the Consumer Protection Commission [with regard] to VAT to see how that will play out with consumer," Bazard said.
"Under the Consumer Protection Act there are a number of qualifications that must be met, even on a receipt from a store," she added, suggesting that the CPC will work to ensure that VAT-inclusive pricing is provided on goods.
Although the government remains firm on VAT-inclusive pricing, many retailers have argued that the cost and time needed to include the tax in sticker prices would be monumental.
"The VAT [program] is in its infant stages," said Bazard, adding that the CPC is working with bodies including the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) and the VAT Education Task Force to craft guidelines for consumers.
The CPC was appointed in November 2013, seven years after the Consumer Protection Act was first passed, with the intent of bringing a higher level of education to consumers.
Since November, Bazard stated that the CPC continued to meet regularly once per month.
"The commission has been very active since November. We're now just waiting to take up permanent premises.
"We have been receiving complaints from within The Bahamas with respect to services and products that have not met the mark, or that consumers feel are not up to the mark.
"As a body, we have written to the persons that have been complained about and we have them under active investigation. We will make our determination, and once we do that, we will then invite the parties into the commission to have a hearing of these matters if we cannot resolve it otherwise."
According to Bazard, the CPC is also working on a website which would allow consumers to submit complaints online.
However, no implementation dates for the CPC's projects have been provided to date.

Ronnie Butler, the iconic musician, singer and recording artist known as the "Godfather of Bahamian music" has been inducted into the Caribbean Hall of Fame.
He was honored for the 50 years he has been entertaining fans by the Caribbean Development for the Arts, Sports and Culture Foundation which honors Caribbean nationals who have excelled at the highest level in their fields and are recognized by the public. The 12th version of the event was held on Saturday, October 25 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.
Butler, who is ill, was not present for the ceremony. He was represented at the event in Jamaica by Bahamian Deandrea Hamilton from Magnetic Media, a firm based in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Hamilton had nominated Butler for the award. Butler was presented with the award yesterday.
"I am honored and humbled to be able to receive such an honor, being inducted into the Caribbean Hall of Fame," said Butler
He is the fourth Bahamian to be inducted into the Hall after Eddie Minnis (performing and recording artists category), the country's first Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling (government officials, deceased) and Sir Sidney Poitier (performing and recording artists category), Butler said he was "keeping good company" and thanked Hamilton for putting his name forward. He added that the honor is for the Bahamian people.
"All-in-all I would like to say to the Bahamian people, this one for you," said Butler, who is wheelchair-bound.
Butler who has recorded 15 albums and whose sound is a mix of humor and storytelling songs, is known for hit classics like "Burma Road", "Bahama Rock", and "Crow Calypso". His newer songs include "Sweet Emily, Look What you Do", "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number" with Count Bernadino, "Bahamian Thing", "Bang Bang Lulu", "Bungy On Fire", "Married Man", "Going Back to the Island" and "Pretty Brown Eyes". His single "Married Man" was featured in Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married Too?" which was shot in The Bahamas.
During his career, when he wasn't recording as a solo artist, Butler was a part of two groups under his name. The first group was Ronnie & The Ramblers with Charlie Dean, Sidney Darling and Carl Rodgers. They became a household name for 17 years. In the 1980s he headlined the group Ronnie Butler & Fire.
"I would like to thank my God for allowing me the time on this earth and I'd like to also thank my mom who when I told her I wanted to be a musician said 'go for it' in so many words. I am so blessed."
Butler was among inductees this year that included Jamaicans Rita Marley, Beres Hammond, Bennie Man, Gem Myers, Etana, Tarrus Riley, Queen Ifrica, Amina Blackwood-Meeks, Paul Campbell, Bill Edwards, Patsy Ricketts, Lennie Little-White, Barbara Blake-Hanna and Kahnai Condison, as well as sports personalities Grace Jackson, Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn and Andrew Price. John Holt, who recently passed, was honored posthumously.
Butler has also been given the Cacique Award, Lifetime Achievement Award and Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE).
He started out playing the maracas at the age of 16. He did not let his job as a construction worker get in the way of him playing music. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. he would work on construction sites, and then play music from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Butler also credits Island FM CEO Charles Carter, who is described as a culturalist, with largely being responsible for the name Ronnie Butler.
"He came to the Rum Keg Room and recorded 'Burma Road' on a two-track recorder, and that song played all day everyday for about six months before I could scrape up the money to go to Florida to record it in a studio properly," he said. That recording was done over 40 years ago.
Carter also described Butler as the voice of the 20th century and the leading voice in the second wave of Bahamian musicians as today marks the 100th anniversary of recordings being made of Bahamians singing the music of The Bahamas -- music that he said is not known to Bahamians and have not been heard by today's generation, because most of it is in the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.
"It's great music," said Carter. "And the best part about that music is it's a straight-line descendant to Bahamians who were here.
"The second wave after Joseph Spence and Blind Blake and George Symonette and that great wonderful crew of people and names that I could call that wouldn't be recognizable today has been led by Ronnie Butler. He is the voice of our 20th century," Carter added. "If you listen to his music you will see how we have evolved -- our manners, our standards, what we have aspired to and where we have come from, and you will also see where we can go. He [Butler] has gone world class. This man is the architect of our art and culture in this country today. He is the leader of the second wave and he has been consistent from 1958 to now."