His Excellency Sir Arthur Foulkes, Governor General has suggested that the renewed impetus for Bahamas-Finland relations include research and development of forest conservation. Finland boasts of the best comprehensive school system in the world and 100 percent literacy, but is also plagued with similar issues to that of The Bahamas.

"We have noted that Finland shares at least one of the social challenges besetting The Bahamas, namely that of immigration and how to balance its positive and negative aspects," Sir Arthur said.

Seventy-four new marines were added to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) at the May 2 Passing out Ceremony at the Coral Harbour Base. National Security Minister the Hon. Dr. Bernard Nottage was in attendance and recognised the 49 males and 25 females as the largest entry in the history of the Defence Force to have successfully completed New Entry Training.

Dr. Nottage reminded the new marines that the RBDF currently patrols 100,000 square miles of sea and over 2,000 islands, rocks, and cays to ensure the safety and security of The Bahamas against transnational criminals and their illicit activities.

Representing the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay during a lively interview on Darrold Miller Live this week, Coalition directors Fred Smith, QC and Joe Darville called attention to the government's responsibility to implement regulations, maintain transparency and safeguard the nation's crown land. Both men urged passage of a Freedom of Information Act and an Environmental Protection Act.

"Without the Freedom of Information Act, governments have had a free hand at giving away or selling at a very low price land that belongs to us," said Darville. "It is reprehensible, wrong and it's a theft of our property for it to be given away without our approval."

Lupus fighters and their biggest supporters gathered at St. Matthew's Anglican Church this past Sunday to worship and to kick off Lupus Awareness Month in May. Fr. Crosley Walkine (center), rector of St. Matthew's, welcomed the group and urged them to continue their fight to raise awareness in the Bahamas.

Lupus 242 is a non-profit group started in 2012 to provide support to persons living with the chronic, autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation, fatigue and pain.

Lyford Cay International School (LCIS) has been dedicated to providing transformative experiences to all students. During the past month students in grades 5 -9 have been involved in many transformative field trip experiences.

Grade 6 students, their teacher and 11 brave dads ventured off to Andros for a weekend of exploring the wetlands. The students explored different types of wetlands including an estuary, a creek, blue holes, a coral reef and a coastal wetland. They became real scientists as they dissected calcified algae to discover many small species in and among the branches. Even the dads got involved in the fun science quizzes and dissections.

During the month of April 2,000 students and Sandals Resorts guests throughout the Caribbean were exposed to some of the region's unique aquatic ecosystems, and taught the importance of the preservation of marine life. In keeping with its mandate to protect and preserve the environment, the Sandals Foundation observed the entire month of April as Marine Awareness Month, which encompassed Sandals Resorts Reunion Week activities and the globally-recognised Earth Day.

In New Providence, students from St. Cecilia's Primary School and Kingsway Academy, and about 28 Sandals Royal Bahamian guests and staff were taken on a tour of the Bonefish Pond wetlands where they were introduced to the area's plant and animal species.

Daisy's Sweet Shop (DSS) is where you want to go, for more reasons than just the sweet confections that are found there. It's a candy store with a difference and that difference is the love that is expressed by the owner, Daisy Walker Hanson.

Daisy's interest in selling the sugary morsels is not simply to make money, but it is also a means of reaching out to people with love. "I want to be different," she beams.

Nearly 150 public and private school students in Nassau were given an opportunity to experience the major speed increases that Cable Bahamas introduced to over 45,000 REVON Internet subscribers on April 22.

The company created an exhibition called "The Connected Home" that was presented at centre court at The Mall at Marathon in New Providence between April 20-26.

Royal Fidelity Merchant Bank and Trust, the national leader in investment banking, is proud to announce their sponsorship of the Rotary Club of South East Nassau's 2013 Health Walk and Fitness Challenge on May 11th.

Now in its third year, the money raised from the event will be used to fuel community service efforts slated for the remainder of the calendar year. Over 200 people are expected to attend this year's fitness challenge.

In a matter of days, regional and global executives within the Maritime Services Industry will convene on Grand Bahama Island, for the 12th Annual Caribbean Shipping Executive Conference.

Under the theme "Improving Productivity", conference speakers will address key areas of the Maritime Industry, namely; 'Marine Pilot Services', 'Alternative Energy', 'The Economic Impact on Cruise', 'Automated Terminals' and a number of other topics vital to the Maritime Sector.

While cruising through The Bahamas on their senior class trip, the students of Laurens Central School in Laurens, New York took time to visit the Grand Bahama Children's Home with suitcases full of gifts for the children.

"While planning our senior class trip, our students wanted to include a community project," said School Superintendent Romona Wenck. "I spoke with Karen Seymour at the Ministry of Tourism to get some ideas and she immediately suggested the Grand Bahama Children's Home.

We didn't plan a trip to West End on Monday, but when we got a call that morning about someone killing puppies in a horrific manner, we had to go. We could find no evidence or willing witnesses, but the police have promised to speak strongly to the supposed offender. (The only witnesses were children.) We were determined to get every puppy in that area we could find.

Between Monday and Tuesday's two trips, we ended up with 21 puppies and 4 adults - pretty good for a two door Ford Explorer; currently our only duty-paid vehicle. The puppies are all very young, but not much used to handling. There was a lot of pulling puppies out from under cars, boat trailers and other objects, in addition to some interesting scary dirty forays into very thick bush, with some very vehement objection on the part of some of the pups; but all were captured safely and with only minor injuries to the humans!

A lavish cocktail reception and fundraiser was held April 27th at the Garden of the Groves to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the gardens. Upon entering the site at the Garden cafe guests were awed by a setting of white covered chairs that had been tied with aqua sashes. Tables were set in white linen accented with black and gold trimmings. This theme was to also celebrate our country's 40th birthday highlighting the national colours.

During the evening a special welcome was extended to the Groves family, represented by Mr. Graham Groves and his wife Peggy. Erika Gates and Marilyn Laing presented the couple with a bouquet of flowers.

Pi Upsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. celebrated the 25th anniversary of their signature program Twenty Pearls, "A Salute to Excellence" at the Regency Theatre on Sunday, April 21st.

For the last twenty five (25) years, the ladies of Pi Upsilon Omega Chapter have hosted the Twenty Pearls program, a character developmental program, that involves young ladies in the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades that possess high scholastic and moral standards at six of our local high schools on the island.

Dive operations manager and leading shark feeding diver at the long-established Underwater Explorers Society, better known as UNEXSO, in Port Lucaya, Christina Zenato has received numerous accolades over her 17 years with the company.

Her latest is an article in popular women's magazine Marie Claire, where she is featured among a number of other talented ladies in a piece entitled 'Risky Business - Woman and their Dangerous Jobs'.

Since capturing the attention of the judges as the challenge winner in the first episode of Mission Catwalk season three, Bahamian designer Theodore Elyett has stolen the hearts of Mission Catwalk fans securing the coveted 'fan favourite' title for three consecutive weeks.

Elyett emerged as the winner of the popular Caribbean design competition's first challenge, wowing the judges with his interpretation of a look representing the Caribbean. His winning design was the first of the competition to retail at Lee's 5th Avenue in Jamaica, which carries reproduced looks of each week's winning design.

Internationally renowned Grand Bahamian artist Leo Brown and Bahamas Printing and Publishing Company continued their efforts to give back to the community while promoting authentic Bahamian work with their second donation to The Grand Bahama Children's Home from sales of "A touch of The Bahamas" Bahamian greeting cards.

In 2012, Bahamas Publishing and Printing and Leo Brown collaborated to make available to Bahamians and visitors Bahamian greeting cards - with vivid, litho quality reproductions of four iconic pieces from Leo Brown's collection.

Popular local musician Johnnie Christie has formed a new band and has recently released the CD "Johnnie Christie and Floating Boats." They are currently in rehearsal for their CD release party to be held at Crazy Johnny's, East Bay Street, on Saturday, May 18th.

The exciting new self-titled CD contains 13 infectious songs of passionate driving music, including the well-known and iconic "Doctor Man" along with the heartfelt "Will You?" What makes this record release different from most others is that the songs were all recorded over 20 years ago when Johnnie was living and touring in New England with his then band "Floating Boats."

Alison Hinds, Barbados' own "Caribbean Queen" will bring a high-energy Birthday Bash Weekend to Grand Lucayan in Freeport May 31-June 1. Hinds' contagious Caribbean beats will be felt throughout the resort during an eventful Caribbean birthday weekend celebration.

Kicking off on May 31, guests and local residents alike are invited to join Grand Lucayan in welcoming Hinds during an intimate meet-and-greet cocktail reception and dinner in its Grand Ballroom at 7 pm. Hinds' concert-series begins at 8pm with a saxophone performance by George Wilkinson, followed by a performance by Hinds featuring the latest hits from her Caribbean Queen album.

Thanks to the popularity of YouTube and social media, Sands Beer is making its video debut all around the world. Featured in an online video 'Knee Deep in The Bahamas' produced by a Caribbean and island lifestyle blogger named Ryan, Sands is the opening image of the three minute video showing off the beauty of The Bahamas.

Ryan visits different Caribbean Islands and takes photographs, videos, and notes on all of the islands while he is travelling. The video that features SANDS was of his stay on the island of Exuma and it's surrounding cays.

The Arts Zone studios will present their second art exhibition on Friday, May 17th from 7:30pm at L'Utopia on East Sunrise Highway in Freeport. The opening night of "A Mosaical Montage - Individuals Coming Together in Creative Unity" will also provide opportunity to unveil the much anticipated Mosaic Floor-scape Community Project.

As with the first exhibition, Blue-Green (under the banner of Art Nucleus), the theme was chosen to showcase diversity of creative interpretations by local artists. The community project underscores the success of the floor-scape coming to fruition with the support, hard work and tenacity of many individuals found in Freeport's backyard.

Scotiabank has joined forces with the Bahamas Football Association as the country plays host to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Qualifier, marking the first time that a World Cup Qualifier will take place in the Caribbean. The Games begin at the Beach Soccer facility on East Bay Street on Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at noon and continue through Sunday, May 12, 2013.

Recognizing the significance of this international sporting event, Scotiabank, Senior Manager of Marketing & PR, Leah R. Davis, presented a sponsorship cheque to the Bahamas Football Association as the country bids to move on to the World Cup in Tahiti in September 2013.

More than 500 pairs of sleepy feet were wide awake to participate in the 12th Annual Atlantic Medical Insurance Funwalk on Saturday, April 27th, 2013 which started at 6:30a.m. at the company's office in the Jasmine Corporate Center.

"This year's support was phenomenal," says Office Manager Lisa Turnquest. "It seems that our funwalk has gotten its "wings" back and the numbers proved it."

Golf legend and course designer Jack Nicklaus returned to the site of the future Jack Nicklaus Signature Design Golf Course at Baha Mar to review the development of the course since his last visit in February 2013.

During the current visit, Nicklaus carefully inspected the 18-hole, par-72 course, providing a strategy for the holes according to his vision of how golfers will play each hole. The Golden Bear's input on the strategy of the course includes features such as bunker placement and green design which incorporate the contours of the local landscape while creating a scenic golf course that is suitable for a broad variety of players.

After 30 years of fishing, legendary Canadian TV sportsman, Bob Izumi, finally made it to Grand Bahama this past week, and he warned us that he will definitely be back!

It all started with tournament angler, Pierre Voisine, a regular in the Canadian fishing circuit and a lover of Grand Bahama. Realizing that the host of the longest running, and one of the most popular fishing shows in Canada, had never been to The Bahamas, he decided to cast the idea in the direction of 'Real Fishing' host Bob Izumi.

365 Days Later

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.

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Facebook and the rights of Bahamians

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.

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