One of the amazing things about life is that sometimes the truth in front of us goes unrecognized and we end up with unanticipated consequences that should have been anticipated. The Bible says sometimes we deceive ourselves. Let's take for example political corruption - the truth is that there is a long list of politicians and public officials who have succumbed to the temptation to misappropriate funds or use their positions as an advantage to gain favor or benefit. This happens in spite of the fact that so many of their colleagues before have lost their jobs and reputations, and some have even gone to prison for the same acts. It is human nature to want an advantage, or self-advancement, but if we are honest we should also know that there are consequences for our actions that should not come as a surprise.

When I was growing up, I used to hear a phrase from a TV detective series called “Baretta”, that goes, “don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time – don’t do it”. The phrase was catchy and “Baretta” was one of my favorite shows, but it also reveals something many business people, religious leaders, politicians and everyday people on the street often forget. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” By the same token, if you ignore the truth, the consequences do not go away.

I have had occasions to talk to young men in gangs and have given talks in prison here in The Bahamas and other places in the world and what is interesting is I have yet to meet a person who has stated that they desired to be in prison, or in most cases even expected to be there. This is interesting because I shared a statistic with them that many said they did not even think about thoroughly. I asked them how many would take a job with a 99 percent failure rate. Most said they would not take a job with such a high failure rate and then they asked me what job is that. I asked them how many were aware of the successful retired drug dealers association. They asked me if such an organization existed and I told them there is no such organization because virtually every major drug dealer that I knew was either dead, in prison or living a disadvantaged life. I then moved on to another similar question, and asked how many knew of successful gang members. Some were able to recall gang members who became successful but very few were successful because they remained in the gang life.

The discussion then turned to another group that had a very high failure rate, which was the mafia. It is amazing that there are countless mafia movies and TV shows that have made some of these men famous, yet they almost all die or end up in prison. They earn a lot of money and have flashy lifestyles, but it is almost always short-lived. They even have a hard time really enjoying their wealth because they are constantly on the lookout for either associates trying to rob or kill them or the police trying to lock them up.

I wish I could stand in front of every group I mentioned above and tell them simply this: there is truth and there are consequences. If you recognize the truth, you save yourself the unfavorable consequences. It is better to be broke and happy than to be rich and in prison. It is better to live a modest life and save your reputation than to live an extravagant life and be permanently ruined and lose everything. The bible talks about the value of being content. The statement says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” In other words, you gain more by living the truth than by having a temporary period of plenty living a lie. It is time for us all to face the truth – or live with the consequences.

“Mortal Kombat” (US Rated R)

Cast: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Mehcad Brooks, Josh Lawson, Hiroyuki Sanada Genre: Action/Fantasy Where to watch: In Theaters/ HBO Max Dwight’s Rating: Just like the martial arts fighting video game on which it’s based, people are going to find themselves in two corners while watching “Mortal Kombat.” In corner number one: big time fans of the video game franchise, completely mentally-enslaved by the ideas initially presented in the game, and who expect any and every part of any adaptation to strictly adhere to every aspect of the game. In corner number two: people who have no idea what “Mortal Kombat” is all about, or, more realistically, casual fans of the game, who may not even remember the characters’ names and back-stories, and are willing to forgive the movie’s creative team for taking liberties and attempting to tweak the storylines to make a little bit of sense in a limited time, without running on for four hours. If you’re in camp two, you might want to avoid watching this with anyone in camp one. They simply won’t be silent. Not for one minute. And they’ll likely keep saying “this is dumb” or “this isn’t right” or “this isn’t what happened” or “this isn’t the way it goes in the games”. And you should expect that to continue for most of the nearly two hours of the film. Otherwise, if you’re a fan of wild, ridiculous fantasy and outrageous special effects, combined with mixed martial arts (MMA), along with scenes of people ripping out their opponents’ hearts or spines or intestines, “Mortal Kombat” is actually super-violent, non-sensical fun. Just suspend all logic and reasoning!

“Mortal Kombat” (US Rated R)

Cast: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Mehcad Brooks, Josh Lawson, Hiroyuki Sanada

Genre: Action/Fantasy

Where to watch: In Theaters/ HBO Max

Dwight’s Rating:

Just like the martial arts fighting video game on which it’s based, people are going to find themselves in two corners while watching “Mortal Kombat.”

In corner number one: big time fans of the video game franchise, completely mentally-enslaved by the ideas initially presented in the game, and who expect any and every part of any adaptation to strictly adhere to every aspect of the game.

In corner number two: people who have no idea what “Mortal Kombat” is all about, or, more realistically, casual fans of the game, who may not even remember the characters’ names and back-stories, and are willing to forgive the movie’s creative team for taking liberties and attempting to tweak the storylines to make a little bit of sense in a limited time, without running on for four hours.

If you’re in camp two, you might want to avoid watching this with anyone in camp one. They simply won’t be silent. Not for one minute. And they’ll likely keep saying “this is dumb” or “this isn’t right” or “this isn’t what happened” or “this isn’t the way it goes in the games”. And you should expect that to continue for most of the nearly two hours of the film.

Otherwise, if you’re a fan of wild, ridiculous fantasy and outrageous special effects, combined with mixed martial arts (MMA), along with scenes of people ripping out their opponents’ hearts or spines or intestines, “Mortal Kombat” is actually super-violent, non-sensical fun. Just suspend all logic and reasoning!

Dear Editor,

With a few notable exceptions, the oil industry subsidizes failures. In the most corrupt countries, like Nigeria, it has not cured but rather exacerbated corruption and wastage. In backward tribal kingdoms (like Saudi Arabia), it has deepened and hardened a primitive conservatism that stifles dissent and militates against any substantial movement of the population up the human development scale.

Why? Because of a phenomenon known to economists as “moral hazard”. This, basically, is where an ostensible blessing prevents a society from correcting underlying defects by sparing the leaders of that society the direct consequences of those defects.

So, a governor of oil-rich Delta Province in Nigeria can afford to simply dispense contracts and largesse, rather than actually construct refineries or improve infrastructure (keeping the country dependent and poor), while a Saudi prince can give cash grants to his subjects rather than fund structural change to an educational and social environment little changed in the last 500 years.

The so-called “resource curse” is very real and there is nothing supernatural about it.

The exceptions that I speak of (Norway being the best example) are countries with strong civic cultures, advanced civil societies and deeply equitable wealth distribution systems.

Norway was already one of the most equal societies on earth before it discovered oil, which explains why oil wealth has flowed so naturally into enhancing the country’s social capital and with such broad results.

The Bahamas that local oil enthusiasts would like that industry to descend upon is a place where more than 70 percent of revenues are derived from taxes on the poor, while even the wealthiest individuals and corporations pay zero taxes on income.

It is a country where the national airline reacts to falling revenues (because the people are broke and unemployed) by raising airfares on the poorest residents of the outer islands, while lowering them for the few foreigners well-off enough to travel amidst an economic meltdown.

It is a country that consistently ranks in the top ten most expensive countries on earth, yet in that grouping, sits at the very bottom in terms of minimum wages (just over half of the next lowest, Japan) and is the only one that subsidizes a tax-free existence for the rich via taxes levied on the poor.

Anybody who thinks that oil revenues will do anything other than subsidize and cover for these deep structural defects by permitting our political class to avoid addressing them is unacquainted with Bahamian history.

— Andrew Allen

Official Opposition Leader Philip “Brave” Davis yesterday called on the government to implement a reimbursement plan for hotels so they can continue to pay workers amid the COVID-19 crisis. He also urged the government to allow the liquor stores to resume operations and called on the Minnis administration to allow Bahamians who may be stuck overseas to return home. During a virtual press conference, Mr Davis shared a number of recommendations the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) believes would help bring economic relief to citizens during the pandemic.