A true gem

July 28, 2008

Dear Sir,

As a long-time, frequent visitor to your beautiful island I am very saddened to read of the demise of Waterloo House. A true gem is being lost as the City of Hamilton paves itself over in concrete.

The beauty and cultural history of Bermuda is forever being lost to the hands of big business. What a sad time for Bermuda.

MIMI ADKINS

Madison,

Connecticut

We need to go green

July 28, 2008

Dear Sir,

I always look forward to the publication of the year's phone book, if only to see what innovative goodies it has. Especially so this year, when I anticipated the publication of my e-mail address and cell number in addition to my land line number. To my shock and surprise it's missing; and I'm not the only one (or so I've been told, or was that something they thought I wanted to hear). Further enquiries resulted in both responsible parties (as usual) blaming the other with no recourse for myself. There are now literally thousands of phone books out there that, for my money, should be recalled. That obviously is not going to happen, but a more realistic solution would have been to publish a draft version first. Electronically would have been better; even make it interactive where the public could amend and or add entries and save the publishers untold man-hours. Instead they'll produce an addendum sheet that can get discarded as easily as the weekend (news) paper.

With your kind permission Mr. Editor, I'll shift gears and get into something else. The recent 'Going Green' magazine is a brilliant piece of work; kudos's to all involved. I was especially impressed by the article by Mr. Joe Gibbons 'Eating Green'. It is very informative, well presented and wide ranging. It made me think far beyond the apparent and limited points of view held (I'm sure) by most of us. Then I moved on to the 'Be friendly to the friendly skies' article. That too was well presented, but I did view with some suspicion the 'Carbon Offset donation' idea; still nickel and diming us to death I see. How much of those donations will actually be appropriated to the stated projects? Not much I fear!

All in all, though, 'going green' is something we must all participate in. As usual I have my personal slant on things (the way they are) in that regard but I, considering the status quo, correcting the environmental ills of our planet is not going to happen unless there's someone making (more than their share of) money out of it.

C.K. SIMONS

Sandys

In the end, it made sense

July 27, 2008

Dear Sir,

The rider of a motor scooter certainly was in a hurry late Friday afternoon. He passed me just before reaching Foot of the Lane going at least 40 mph. When he turned left into Point Finger Road, after weaving between cars in the two lanes leading to the north roundabout, it all made sense. He wanted to be as close to the hospital as possible when he had the inevitable accident and injuries his dangerous riding would cause to him, and other people regrettably.

JOHN BARNETT

Warwick

Immigration needs charm

July 27, 2008

Dear Sir,

I have a suggestion for all of the Bermudians, presently employed in the Department of Tourism Office in New York. I think it would be wonderful if they could be offered jobs at the Department of Immigration here in Bermuda and perhaps replace the bullies that presently run Immigration. I have met some of the Bermudians who work in the New York Office and they are all charming people and would – at least – give a human face to the Department of Immigration.

People are absolutely terrified nowadays to have to approach the Department of Immigration and it is getting worse – they will destroy this Island in the end. There is one exceptional person at Immigration and that is Mr. Esan Frederick, who is a true gentleman – kind and decent, but the rest of the staff there leave much to be desired and should be given jobs where they do not have to interact with people.

CAMELOT

Smith's

X marks the spot?

July 28, 2008

Dear Sir,

A week before Cup Match and the campers are already 'marking' their campsites. No longer are campers using stakes and string, but now using spray paint! Along Kindley Field Road, someone has actually spray painted the palm trees (complete with smiley faces) to mark their territory. I have also noticed the sidewalks in Hamilton have been spray painted to reserve spots for holiday parades. When will this stop? I hope the authorities issuing permits to these campers also issue the appropriate citations for vandalism as this paint will remain on these palms for years to come. It can't be too difficult to determine who has done the deed!

COCONUTS

Hamilton Parish