The last several weeks have seen a number of startling and sometimes distressing stories that seem to have left a definite pall over the community.

The latest and the most upsetting in many respects has been the senseless slaughter of the endangered blue iguanas. This act of wanton destruction is so alien to all that Caymanians hold dear that it is hard to overstate the sense of outrage in the community that this has produced.

We would be the first to acknowledge through personal experience that Caymanians have a limited regard for physical history, as evidenced especially by the senseless, spiteful destruction of Fort George downtown and, but for the efforts of the publisher of this newspaper, not even the little that is preserved would have remained.

However, the recent killing of the six blue iguanas goes beyond the tearing down of historical buildings into an area of complete moral outrage.

We hope that the perpetrator(s) will soon be identified and brought before the court and that, when they are, the law permits more than just a nominal fine or an equivalent slap on the wrist.

Of course, the story has received widespread coverage in the world media, including by the BBC and being featured as National Geographic’s “Photo in the News.” It must surely go without saying that overseas readers must be wondering what sort of place this is, where senseless, wanton violence towards one of the world’s most endangered species can take place. Indeed, the local community must be wondering the same thing.

Another story that has generated even more international interest is the now infamous gay kiss, which has also left the local community riven by controversy and not a little distressed over the incident itself and its ongoing implications.

It beggars belief that such an occurrence could lead to calls for independence but that is, nevertheless, exactly what seems to have happened. According to one of our readers, the prospect of independence suddenly becomes more attractive because this would apparently allow us to criminalise a public display of affection between two homosexuals, with Britain no longer having the power to prevent such legislation.

No doubt the two American visitors who now find themselves at the centre of the controversy are themselves not a little surprised at the moral turmoil they seem to have created.

The situation has not been helped by the mixed messages being sent by the government, no doubt in an attempt to please everyone.

On the one hand, the Director of Tourism issues an apology and, on the other hand, the Minister for Tourism calls the behaviour in question “offensive.” If the minister believes the conduct was offensive, why was it necessary to apologise for the predictable consequences of such behaviour?

If it were necessary to apologise, why then eviscerate the sincerity of such apology immediately thereafter in a local political forum rather than an international public relations initiative outlining the society’s traditions?

No wonder the community at large is conflicted by these mixed messages, but perhaps something useful will eventually come out of the affair if minds are now more focused on the relevant constitutional issues, not the least of which is the matter of arbitrary arrest and detention, no matter what one thinks of the behaviour that led to it.

In case the situation has not yet sunk into the minds of people in the Cayman Islands, we have no enforceable rights in that respect. That is the whole point of having a bill of rights in the first place – to give us such rights that we can enforce through the local courts.

Furthermore, all of this comes on the heels of the still ongoing enquiry into conduct that led to the suspension in all but name of the three senior officers in the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.

The fact that something sufficiently serious was going on to warrant such a drastic step by the Governor must also be weighing heavily on the minds of many, and not just those that might be nervous about an expanded enquiry into other areas of public interest.

All of these issues are strictly domestic concerns, of our own making in one way or another. What of the external dynamics – surging oil and food prices, for example – over which we have no control or responsibility?

These factors can only add to the distress many in the community are feeling at events and circumstances that it seems we can do little about.