Can it possibly be true? The United Democratic Party (UDP) has banned the colour red? And at Christmas? The colour red is THE colour of Christmas. Even Santa is clothed in red. There is a rumour (has to be a joke) that at a UDP sponsored Christmas event for kids Santa arrived wearing only blue and green! On another media website there is a headline stating “PPM colour banned from Christmas lights display”. The story underneath concerns the deputy premier, Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly’s ministry’s display of lights in a remote and sparsely populated area on Cayman Brac. The story goes on to say “conspicuously absent is the colour red – the colour of the PPM [Peoples Progressive Party]. There is a photograph accompanying the aticle and the colours blue and green (the UDP colours) are certainly very prominent.

If the colour red was deliberately omitted then it is silly and simple-minded. If it wasn’t intentional then it is a pity because it was surely going to invite speculation such as the headline appearing and makes the UDP look childish. As a number of the blogs underneath say “who cares!” It doesn’t make me see ‘red’. But, hallo there, red is the colour of Christmas.

We are almost there for a decision on whether to allow an extension to New Year’s Eve liquor licensing hours into Sunday when New Year’s Eve falls on a Saturday as it does this year. I understand the matter is going to be dealt with at the L.A. this week. Maybe they can deal with the same dilemma when New Year’s Eve falls on a Sunday. 2012 is a leap year so the problem won’t arise for a while but it will happen.

Some bars and clubs have been granted extensions to allow drinking alcohol for Friday night through to the early hours of Saturday morning but not for Saturday night through to Sunday. This is not the first time it has been granted but I am surprised it has been allowed at this time with a big police DRIVE to make people aware of the dangers of drunk driving. It will be interesting to see if there will now be an increase in DUI along with brawls in the early hours of Saturday mornings.

Despite assurances from the Attorney General, Samuel Bulgin, regarding the changes to the Penal Code relating to disorderly conduct and civil disturbances/meetings of persons/gang activities will not affect innocent people I am not convinced. Mr. Bulgin is not a policeman and he has not explained what the safe guards are that have now been placed in the new laws to stop this happening. Are there any? He talks of “zero tolerance” and then says, “We have heard these cries before. We heard the cries about … adverse inference and anonymous witnesses … the proof is in the pudding … these had worked very well … the court was another safeguard of civil liberties.”

So the safe guard is the court system but the problem is the amount of time a person can be held in custody before getting to the court and the accused having to prove he is not guilty. Yes. Yes. Yes. We do need stiffer penalties relating to gangs, guns, robberies, etc. but the new laws relating to vagrancy, civil liberties, drunken behaviour, and similar are unnecessary! I fully support leader of the opposition, Hon. Alden McLaughlin when he warned the vagrancy offences could impact mental patients urging Mr. Bulgin to create separate offences as there was such a wide collection of definitions in the new law regarding the criminalisation of anti-social behaviour.

I suspect that country singer Toby Keith’s new smash hit “Red Solo Cup” will not be a hit with the UDP. It is currently the publisher’s favourite song! It has nothing to do with politics either! She even hangs them on her garden trees as decorations – even blue ones!