In January, 2001, I and my wife had the pleasure in visiting the Hamilton area for a week. This was my first visit since my visit with the US Fleet in 1942.

In Grassy Bay we assembled our task force prior to the invasion and landings at Casablanca. Back then, the Island was void of motor vehicles and transportation, excepting military types.

The six days whizzed by and I must comment on the politeness of the people.

The school children greeted the bus drivers and thanked them and said goodbye as they alighted from the bus. The stay was short. I am looking for any one that can help me with a photograph of the USS Ranger CV-4 anchored in Grassy Bay. There were several other carriers from the US prior to embarking on a large surface fleet of ships.

I will assume the cost of such a transaction.

STEPHEN E. KANYUSIK 4067 Brookfield Blvd., Sterling Heights, Michigan, 48310, USA I want a taxi! January 20, 2001 Dear Sir, For the last eighteen months we have been hammered with taxi drivers problems by way of the radio talk shows, television and the newspapers. The main one concerns a new dispatch scheme that will replace the one that is not working in the best interest of the people it is to serve. The customer.

After listening to the talk show on Friday, January 10, the taxi owners and drivers came on saying that this was a good system. All the calls but two agreed with the system. The two who disagreed did not like the system because it was too sophisticated for Bermuda and they did not like the people who were handling and introducing the system to the Government and people of Bermuda.

Well that sure is the Bermudian way to forget the customers' needs and wants.

The last caller on Friday got my attention when he said: "The system is good, as a matter of fact it is great for the customer, but we don't want it.'' Well, that should tell every one who uses the taxi service what they think about us and the Country they are supposed to service.

Taxi driver motto: "Ask not what we can do for our Country as taxi operators, but what can our Country do for us as taxi operators.'' I would like to know who is the taxi man who called the talk show. He needs to share with other taxi operators his views as to what a taxi business is and how they as taxi operators are supposed to service the community through workshop and seminars, because over the radio he demonstrated an understanding and a willingness to address the problems. Also the Government needs to remind taxi operators what their responsibilities are. The time has come to take the reins in hand.

I look forward to the day when I can get a taxi within fifteen minutes. I am not the problem as to why I can't get a cab within a reasonable time, as some drivers have indicated.

FED UP AND HAD ENOUGH Warwick Legislate feral cats February 12, 2001 Dear Sir, I read with interest the letter written by Marianne Herbert (February 1, 2001). I have yet to read of any hard evidence of whether or not the feral cat population is declining in Bermuda. The number of cat feeding stations seems to be proliferating and the number of cats at Dockyard is phenomenal -- there's even a book written about them. Perhaps we'll have the movie next! The fact of the matter is that the programme of trapping, `doing the necessary' and releasing simply isn't working. I understand that if five out of every one hundred cats are not caught and neutered, the cat colony will be maintained.

As to keeping cats indoors -- I have a cat that remains indoors and it leads a contented life. I have followed the advice of the Bermuda Audubon Society and found some excellent advice on how to keep my cat happy. (See www.abcbirds.org. I also have a bluebird box in my garden. I enjoy watching birds. Cats are born hunters and just because birds have wings doesn't mean they can escape by flight. Fledgling birds are weak fliers while others by their very nature are ground dwelling. We do need to control the laws of nature because we introduced the domesticated cat to Bermuda and upset the balance of nature.

I also wish BFAB and the Bermuda Audubon Society good luck in trying to solve the problem. I hope the appropriate Government ministries will also seek advice on the problem of feral animals in particular. I read that our Environment Minister, Mr. Terry Lister has declared 2001 the "Year of Biodiversity Awareness''. Lets hope he seizes the opportunity to introduce appropriate legislation.

J. BARTRAM St. George's Stop giving BFAB cash February 14, 2001 Dear Sir, Like thousands of others in Bermuda, I have just received information from the Bermuda Zoological Society on the launch of the "Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan''. What an exciting project aimed at identifying conservation issues and saving our Island environment. I was very pleased to see that Minister of the Environment Terry Lister has thrown in the Government's support by designating 2001 the "Year of Biodiversity Awareness''. I hope the whole Bermuda community backs this brilliant initiative.

Today I am totally at a loss for words. I hear that the Minister of the Environment has given another grant of $25,000 to the Bermuda Feline Assistance Bureau. What is happening? A programme started ten years ago to eliminate feral cats is not working with the increase in both cat feeding stations and feral cats.

I think BFAB and Mr. Lister owe the public an explanation. How much of the public's money has been granted to BFAB over the last ten years? How can the Environment Minister support Biodiversity if he is supporting a species of feral animal that unquestionably reduces Biodiversity. Surely homeless people come before homeless cats! We need some answers.

JOHN JAMES Paget Locals can cut grass February 14, 2001 Dear Sir, It really is beyond me how someone could make such a ludicrous statement about locals who work in the field of horticulture/landscaping and then have the gall to sign under the nom de plume "Bermudian''. I question their motive and he/she along with like minded people need to be made aware of a few points.

First "Bermudian'' do yourself a favour -- never generalise, there are plenty of competent locals who work in the field of landscaping, just as there are plenty of Portuguese who can't "cut grass properly either''. This is evident when you see them dragging a mower backward or up and down a hill. Mowers are designed to cut grass while being pushed/driven forward.

Most Portuguese firms scalp their lawns (cut too low) which leaves the grass susceptible to chinch bug infestation, evidenced by brown patches of dead grass. They also use machetes to trim/hack hedges -- a practice that is frowned upon in proper landscaping circles.

Landscaping is a technical field there are many types of sprays that require proper mixing and rate controls. Do you know the difference between an evergreen and a deciduous plant? What are the three main elements in most granular fertilisers? Do you know what a rhizome is? What is a node? These are just a few basic landscape terms that "most'' Portuguese don't know.

If the appearance of the Botanical Gardens is failing, you can't just blame locals. AG & Fisheries crews are made up of Portuguese and locals alike and are led by a management team who are responsible for the overall quality of all projects.

In general, most Portuguese firms don't follow proper landscape practices.

Many are at best hackers whose basic MO is mow, trim and go. Sadly enough they are the main reason this field is not offered the respect that it should deserve.

The Specter Hamilton PLP following in UBP's footsteps February 17, 2001 Dear Editor Perhaps, in this empowered technological time, politics as a formal way of getting things done is out moded. Or perhaps it is impossible to organise Bermudians by means of an elected body; Bermudians being too independently minded. What ever the case may be, politics and party governance has been ineffective in Bermuda for many years.

The new Budget sets this out clearly. The last Budget was over-looked by many as the PLP found its feet. This budget was to be a defining document of engagement and I hoped to see the emerging PLP policy structure taking form.

But, as with so many UBP budgets it has no focus and is not a part of any over all leadership agenda. Certainly leadership is not something we ever anticipated from the UBP. Our hopes were fully realised. The bright days of the PLP victory were to be the beginning of the end of all that. Well, well, well. (How, incidently do you support Tourism by raising taxes on taxis, alcohol and fashionable cigars? You don't. You are simply asking one dollar to fight another. You might as well ask taxpayers to sit at home ripping up their money.) We live in a Country that has two resources; sunshine and brains. Nothing else. Education should be the primary and extraordinary concern for Government. Nothing will go right if the kids can't think. Those kids who get told that C is a good grade, are our natural resource.

There will be an economic down turn. Why? Because business runs in cycles.

Over night uneducated people will become poor and angry. Poverty is sad. It is also very expensive to the community. This point was entirely lost on the UBP who cultivated generations of under-educated kids. The UBP spent more every year, on education for the last decade it was it power. It did not however provide leadership. The result is a ruinously expensive Department of Education that does not do its job. Our reading levels are the result.

The new PLP Budget falls right in line with the UBP strategy. Appear to be doing something by spending. Make no risky remarks about reform.

The situation of education in Bermuda should be very frightening to politicians. They are apparently sanguine. Education should be a crusade. We should be obsessed with it. Government should inspire a culture in which children and adults are constantly reeducating and reinforming themselves. We can not afford to be other wise. We should be criticised by other countries for being too serious about education. There should be light bulb jokes about it. Poor children who are not getting an education should not be the last priority, they should be the first. A poor child with no education should be a national emergency. We have the money and we are a small community. Those liability students should be getting tutors not vacuous praise. No one can be allowed to fall between the cracks. A radical adjustment of attitude is required. Not more money.

Perhaps the answer is not Government. Perhaps it would be better to abolish the Department of Education and cut taxes respectively. All students would then go to private schools. The poor would receive education vouchers to any school they choose. That would have to be a solemn promise by the Government and the community, to those children.

During the UBP's fitful reign the best schools fled to the private sector.

Perhaps they all should.

JOHN ZUILL Pembroke Define racism for me February 15, 2001 Dear Sir, I have been reading the commentary about race in these Letters To The Editor for years and watching the `Race Show' on TV and have come to a conclusion: We have two problems here and they need to be separated, or at least recognised.

Issue one is the cultural differences between groups of people on the Island.

This is where the Portuguese issue comes in, as well as most of the supposed "racial'' issues between black and white, also, the class issue which is another problem.

Issue two is the racial differences, which, while still a major problem, and please don't think I am trying to diminish it, is secondary to the cultural differences, as this is far more prevalent than actual issues based on race.

(Oh, yeah, if we're all talking about race, why isn't the ever-growing Asian population ever referenced or represented? It is considered politically incorrect for white people to make jokes about black people, and even the reverse is becoming taboo, thank goodness, but it seems no-one, regardless of colour, has a problem calling an Asian man "Bruce Lee'' and making "squint eyes and buck teeth''faces behind his back! Doesn't this seem a little hypocritical?) Half of the "Big Picture'' problem seems to be miscommunication and a lack of definition of words and phrases used to discuss the issues.

I have heard it said that black people cannot be racist, and, when asked for a definition of racist, received this: "Racism is the oppression or suppression of a person or persons based on their race, by a person or persons in power.'' Sounds fine to me, maybe reword it a little, covering more of the issues, defining it a little more, and say: "Racism is when someone in power takes away, or tries to take away power or empowerment, whether real or perceived, from someone else, based on their race.'' Sound all right? Covers the racial jokes, making someone feel bad, not renting an apartment, not letting daughters date boys from other races, comments, slurs, preferential treatment at restaurants, etc. I personally think it covers all the bases.

The problem is, this doesn't allow for the "black people can't be racist'' concept. Hmm. What to do? I'm stuck, personally, so, if anyone out there can come up with a better definition, please, let me know. Until then, I'm going to use the word "racialist'', with the definition above, but changed to "...based on racial issues'', which allows equality! Everyone, regardless of race, can be racialist! STUCK Hamilton Be fair to all schools February 15, 2001 Dear Sir In response to Treviar Lightbourn's letter this morning, he is absolutely right. We have the same exact problem with the Barnes Corner Bus that usually leaves St. George's approximately 7.30 a.m. (depending on who the driver is).

This bus caters to the majority of children that attend the Warwick Academy and Bermuda Institute Schools. For some reason this bus is never available when the Government school is out. My child's half-term holiday consists of two days while the Government schools have off the whole week. Any bus these children have to catch after 7.30 a.m. are always late for school and something definitely needs to be done about this.

Also, I'd like to add that if the mail person can ensure we receive our mail on a daily and timely basis why can't we rely on our Public Transportation to get us to work and school on time. What the PTB Board needs to do is be fair to all schools, not just the Government schools.

A ST. GEORGE'S PARENT St. George's