Archive for February 19th, 2009
Church with a mission to demonise homosexuals
(The Independent): A notorious Christian fundamentalist church based in America has threatened to hold its first anti-gay rally in Britain to protest against a play about a homosexual student. Followers of the Westboro Baptist Church, a virulently homophobic denomination which pickets the funerals of Aids victims and soldiers in the US with “God Hates Fags” billboards, have vowed to protest on Friday outside a sixth-form college in Basingstoke, which is putting on a performance of The Laramie Project. Go to article
Architect turns to politics
(CNS): As the election field begins to widen, well known local architect and businessman Burns Conolly has thrown his hat in the ring and declared his intention to run as an Independent candidate for the district of George Town in the upcoming general elections in May 2009. Conolly made his announcement to the press on Wednesday morning saying the time was right for a new kind of politics. “I think there comes a time in everyone’s life when they have to make the decision to either continue to ignore the problems, or become a part of the solution,” he said.
“I grew up in a family where service to country was a given. My father put his personal life and ambitions on hold to serve as one of the nation builders of his time.”
Conolly said Cayman needs a new leadership approach with proper planning and vision. “I believe that I can use the gifts I have been given of a solid foundation, a good education with life and business experiences, both on a national and a global level, to benefit us at this critical time in our history.”
Confirming that he had no party affiliations. he said he thought that the 2009 election was going to be about independent candidates, and while he wanted to work with like-minded people, he could not see himself aligning with either party just to have access to a political platform and party funding. Even though this is his first foray into the political arena, he said he was not prepared to horse trade to get a ministry or to get elected.
He went on to say that his decision to run as an Independent is supported by the many people who have approached him looking for a non-partisan voice to represent them. “Many people have been ignored by this government and the failures and divisiveness of the present two-party system. This, coupled with the global financial crisis and the unbridled government spending over the last three and half years, has put the Cayman Islands in a most serious situation,” Conolly added.
He said that not having a party affiliation did not mean that he could not achieve anything in the Legislative Assembly. He said this election was not going to be about parties and any independent candidates that get elected should not sit on the back benches and keep quiet.
“I will work hard to make things happen even if I am the only independent, but I hope people will vote because of the talent, experience and education of the candidates and the issues, not because of party loyalties,” he said, adding that Cayman needed to get away from the tribal politics and vote for people with an education and the right experience.
“We need to get away from the personalities or friendships and vote for persons that have the demonstrated ability to lead and deal with the complex issues that now face the Cayman Islands. I pledge to work with like-minded elected members in the best interest of our islands. We need to ensure that these Islands provide for Caymanians the hope, opportunities and prosperity that they deserve.”
Conolly said the most pressing issue was dealing with the economic problems faced both locally and what he called the "international tsunami" heading our way as a result of the UK, the US, Europe and other Western nations blaming offshore centres for their economic woes.
“This government has handled this issue poorly,” he said, adding that government borrowing was also a major concern as was the fact that government spending remained unaudited because of the failure of the adminstration’s departments to account for their fiscal management.
"We can’t play politics anymore. We have to get it right this time with almost a billion in debt. I hope voters will recognise that we need to change the situation,” he said.