Today is the last day to prepare yourself for the most profound and unprecedented event in your lifetime. Why? Because tomorrow, on December 21st 2012, the Old World Age of 5125 years will come to a close. What does this mean?

It is time to choose what to let go of, and what to get more of by cultivating a new way of thinking and living. Preparations to celebrate the Beginning of a New World Age are happening all over the world with tens of million people participating.

We are standing at a cross road of choices that will have consequences for our lives and that of our beautiful earth. The obvious choice is for Peace, Equality, Happiness, Oneness, Cooperation, and Freedom in a sustainable world that honors all of life.

In a rating action today, December 13, 2012, Moody's Investor Service has downgraded the credit rating of the government of the Bahamas from A3 to Baa1.

As explained by Moody's, key considerations of this rating action are:

1. Limited growth prospects following a protracted recession and weak recovery in tourism and construction
2. Significant and rapid deterioration of the government's balance sheet, exacerbated by a low revenue base
3. High and rising levels of debt and a weakening of debt sustainability metrics relative to peers

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Note: See Feedback section below for responses to the Moody's downgrade.

Representatives of The Governments of The Bahamas and the United States of America, met in a Second Round of talks in the delimitation of a Maritime Boundary between the two countries. These discussions which were held at the US Department of State in Washington D.C. on 10 and 11 December 2012, followed on from initial discussions held in Nassau in April of 2012.

The discussions were centred around a preliminary proposal presented by the United States during the First Round of talks, indicating its initial positions on where it considered the line of maritime demarcation should be between the two countries.

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) announced Monday that the initial phase of the mobile network build-out is now substantially complete, bringing The Bahamas on par with other twenty-first century countries enjoying modern mobile technology.

The country-wide roll-out of a brand new 2G and a brand new 4G network follows 18 months of a painstaking programme of upgrades, replacements, modernization and expansion to an existing but restricted system. BTC will now begin next generation Long Term Evolution, or 4G LTE, a lightning speed wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. The initial phase of the LTE build-out is scheduled for next year.

For the past 21 years, led by founding President, Don Aranha, the Antique Auto Club of The Bahamas has been helping several less fortunate children enjoy their Christmas holiday. Each year the club selects about 80 children from two primary schools (40 at each of the schools) and gives them a gift and a bag of groceries for their families.

"It is a very heart-warming experience that probably makes us feel better than the children," says Don Aranha, Founding President and now a Director. "The children often write us thank you letters, sometimes saying the our gift was the only one received for Christmas."

On December 14, the Bahamas National Pride Association awarded four home owners -- Shirley Johnson, Mark Barrett, Sylvia Sands, and Theresa Carroll -- with the 2012 Best Kept Yard Award for their personal expression of how to design spaces within the inner city communities, where they grew up and live.

Ms. Sands is a retiree that lives in Toote Shop Corner, off East Street. She says she is a senior citizen who is not working now and she enjoys keeping her yard clean because it reflect how she feels about herself. She said all her children are home for Christmas except one who lives in the United States. "I always fix my yard because clean your yard is next to godliness. If you clean your yard, you clean yourself," said Ms Sands.

In this time of renewal and giving, Baha Mar launched its 3rd annual Baha Mar Challenge with the Salvation Army. During the Challenge, which runs from December 15 through December 31, 2012, Baha Mar will match donations dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000 to the Salvation Army. The Challenge supports Baha Mar's ongoing initiative to help enhance the quality of life for Bahamians.

"As an active member of the community, we believe that there is an obligation to be a socially responsible corporate citizen", said Robert Sands, Senior Vice President of Administration & External Affairs.

The Humane Society of Grand Bahama wishes everyone a very happy holiday season, and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Many thanks to our many amazing friends, volunteers, rescue partners and supporters. Thanks to all of you 2012 was a much better year for our organisation and our animals than the last few years. With your continued help we hope to make 2013 even better for our animals and our community.

We hope you enjoy this little slideshow which includes photos from this past year of some of our animals, staff, volunteers, directors and friends.

Thanks to the Freeport Jet Wash there will be lots of Christmas cheer in many homes this holiday season. Last week 20 Christmas baskets stuffed with much need essentials like grits, corned beef, macaroni and cheese, flour, sugar, and more were delivered to different non-profit organisations and churches to assist them in helping those less fortunate this year.

"We are very grateful for the business we receive from the community," said General Manager at Freeport Jet Wash, Larry Albury. "This is our way of giving back and helping those who continue to struggle in the current economic climate. We are hopeful that a little help from our Jet Wash family to theirs will make this season more memorable and happy."

The Grand Bahama Salvation Army was very pleased to receive such a large donation, collected by the Grand Bahama Shipyard, from the GB community. The items were collected over several weeks from Butler's, Cost Right, Sawyers, and Solomon's by the GBS Apprentices at the yard.

"It made me feel really great to be helping," said Antonnesia Moxey, 3rd year Apprentice. "I told people I met at the stores that by giving back they were planting a seed and making a difference. It was hard work but I feel very rewarded by knowing that we will help so many families."

The children from the Grand Bahama Children's Home were treated to a very special Christmas party thanks to BTC with the promise for more help in 2013 as a part of BTC's Bahamas nation-wide focus on underprivileged children.

BTC Bahamas hosted the children to an afternoon of fun at Nesbitt's grounds in Freeport where they were treated to a visit and presents from Santa, an electric performance from the Amazing Spiderman, laughter thanks to Miss Daisy, face painting, slides, bouncing castles, singing, dancing, sweet treats and so much more.

For most, the Christmas season is synonymous with presents, parties and loads of holiday fun, however, its by-products are loads of paper, plastic, cans, and bottles, etc. Essentially, what most persons would term "trash". But, if you're a supporter or member of the Keep Grand Bahama Clean Committee (KGBC), you've already thought of dozens of ways to 'reduce, reuse or recycle' this so called trash and make them useful.

With this notion in mind, the KGBC group in partnership with Presto Recycling Company is hoping to brighten the holidays for a number of local charities for a major 'Holiday Recycling Initiative'. As expressed by Mrs. Nakira Wilchcombe, Environmental Manager for The Grand Bahama Port Authority, Limited (GBPA) and KGBC Chairperson, this initiative will mark the soft re-launch of the initial pilot project for recycling aluminum cans.

The Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC) has invested in a comprehensive, twenty-week training program for its plant operators that commenced on November 19, 2012. The courses are being conducted by highly skilled, international trainers and were specifically designed for GBPC to align with plant-specific procedures and processes.

"Our training and technology skills programs are delivering the knowledge and expertise our employees need to succeed in a progressive workplace," said Whitney Heastie, VP of Generation. "We have improved and expanded training practices to ensure that our staff is at world-class standards."

This December turned out to be a good one for three wise shoppers who are the November winners at Freeport Jet Wash, Parts Promotion. Robert Rose, Jeffery Young and D. MacPhee won over $1000 in store credit to spend in any of the four departments at Freeport Jet Wash (FJW): Parts, service, gas or new car sales. Both Rose and MacPhee are long standing taxi drivers who will use their credit on gas and service needs, while Young is looking to spend his winnings at the gas station.

The Freeport Jet Wash promotion will also have winners in December and January, then a Grand Prize flat screen TV will be drawn from all the tickets entered.

To be true to my profession I thought it might be appropriate to include a note on the planning of urban centres in the context of our islands.

Like it or not communities are invariably judged by their downtown areas where businesses congregate and thus is referred to as the central business district (CBD). An important attribute of a successful city centre is that it should be pedestrian-friendly. First let's take the nation's capital, Nassau. The downtown area has some interesting colonial-era architecture and is pedestrian-friendly in the daytime (at least) largely because Bay Street is fed tourists from the nearby cruise ships. There are covered sidewalks and readily accessible shops. It scores well in popularity with visitors. After dark however, it is another matter.

It is a cultural norm that few Bahamians choose to live in apartments and certainly fewer still would ever choose to live downtown. This means there is little activity by residents in the larger city centres especially after dark.

Miss Universe Bahamas Celeste Marshall had a stellar showing during the 2012 Miss Universe preliminary and costume competitions.

The pageant was held last night in Las Vegas. The new Miss Universe 2012 is Olivia Culpo from the USA.

Photo: Celeste performs in the Miss Universe preliminary competition.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology held a ceremony in the Foyer of the Ministry on Friday, Dec 14 to open its National After-School Art & Craft Enrichment Programme Annual exhibition.

Senior Education Officer in the Ministry of Education Rochelle Cox-Hill said "the art work displayed represents what it means to be great at what you do. It is safe to say that the objectives of the programme have been met. We have fostered an appreciation for art and craft as part of the defining characteristics of our culture."

Minister for Grand Bahama, the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville on Monday, December 17 saluted the winners of the Miss Highs Abrave Beauty and Brains Pageant 2012.

Founder of the Pageant Ms Bethsheba Russell said the competition began five years ago and that the contestants represent a broad spectrum of young, intelligent and talented young women. She said the event is a stepping stone for the young women to show off their beauty and talents, enhance their self-esteem and prepare them for their career paths in the future.

Contestants must have a grade point average of 3.0 or better. The competition was in three classes, Little Miss, Medi Miss and Ulti Miss. The students had to display their talents in a number of areas.

Lupus Bahamas 242 has partnered with CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) Limited to produce the Faces of Lupus 2013 calendar. As a part of the local non-profit's goal of raising awareness, the calendar will allow the stories of 12 lupus fighters to be highlighted every month in the upcoming year.

"For 2013, we decided to produce a calendar to put a face to the illness. All of the beautiful ladies showcased in the calendar might not look sick but we all face serious health challenges," explains Shanelle Brennen, Lupus Bahamas 242 President, who has lived with illness for more than 20 years.

The Bahamas Information Services Department (BIS) has produced an online publication of the various events in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage in The Bahamas.

On December 17 the Executive Director of BIS, Edward Ellis, presented Minister of Social Services and Community Development the Hon. Melanie Griffin with a hard copy of the publication.

Pictured from left: Ms. Barbara Burrows, permanent secretary; Minister Griffin; Mr. Ellis; Anthony Capron, deputy director BIS; and Elcott Coleby, deputy director BIS.

(BIS Photo: Letisha Henderson)

Bahamas credit rating downgraded - The leader dances while our economy burns

As I begin let me immediately put the lie to the statement issued by the government and the Progressive Liberal Party about the downgrade of the Bahamas'' sovereign credit rating by Moody's.

The "it's all Ingraham's fault" nonsense is not going to cut it this time. If the handling of the economy between 2007-2012 was so poor, our sovereign credit would have been downgraded at any time during those 5 years - it was not. Now it has been - and here is why:

As was warned when the Bahamas'' economic outlook was downgraded from stable to negative following the passage of the government's 2012/2013 budget which included a half billion dollars in borrowing - the country's credit rating has now been downgraded by Moody's.

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'We did nothing wrong.' Really?

"We did nothing wrong" was the emphatic cry from FNM leader Dr. Hubert Minnis as he defended his government's economic stewardship between 2007 and 2012. He was responding to the latest downgrade of the country's economic outlook from A3 to Baa1 by Moody's.

Dr. Minnis defended what many described as excessive spending by the FNM administration, but Dr. Minnis argued that the spending was necessary to put The Bahamas on course for economic recovery. He then urged the governing PLP to continue the momentum by introducing fiscal austerity measures - the exact opposite of what his government did while in office.

From the intervention of Dr. Minnis and Senator Laing, the FNM's argument concerning our version of the "fiscal cliff" in a nutshell is this ...

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Zhivargo Laing responds to Moody's downgrade

This downgrade by Moody's is no surprise, and given the trajectory we are now on, it may not be the last in the foreseeable future. It is noteworthy that the PLP Chairman issued a press statement on Moody's downgrading of The Bahamas' credit rating before the Government or the Ministry of Finance did so. It is also noteworthy that his release seemed based on Moody's "draft" press statement that typically it first presents to the Ministry of Finance for fact-checking and then releases later in a final form.

Clearly there was more urgency to offer a political response to Moody's action than a national interest one. This would explain why the PLP's pre-emptive statement was, not surprising, all about blaming the former administration for the downgrade.

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Dr. Minnis must be living in a parallel universe

In an interview with NB-12 on the 14th December, Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis maintained that between 2007 and 2012, the governing Free National Movement committed no policy errors, missteps "and did nothing wrong" therefore accepts absolutely no responsibility for the state of the Bahamian economy and its lingering negative effects.

It is clear that Dr. Minnis continues to live in a parallel universe - detached from reality and indifferent to the hardships imposed on thousands of Bahamian families as a result of his government's failed economic policies. Despite huge tax increases imposed on the backs of Bahamians, government revenue under the FNM grew by a paltry 11% in 5 years while the national debt rose to some 53% of GDP.

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