Are ?pillagers? preservers?

July 12, 2004

Dear Sir,

Referring to your many articles on the recent July 4 World Marlin Tournament and the recent BDA Big Game tournament I would have thought it appropriate to emphasise that out of all the marlin properly hooked and leader taken to hand, the vast majority of these magnificent fish are released.

Further it is the big game fishing community which does more for the preservation of the bill fish, through such meaningful organisations as The Bill Fish Foundation, than any anyone else. It is a fallacy to suggest or even think we pillage and plunder ... far from it!

In defence of fishing

July 9, 2004

Dear Sir,

Let us take a little time to review some of the possibilities surrounding this great marlin.

I would think that a fish of this size was getting old, so let?s think of its next step on the evolutionary ladder: withering away at the bottom of the ocean, getting older and older, eventually being devoured by its predators and left on the ocean floor, forgotten forever, remembered by no one.

On the other hand this great fish had the honour of being caught, put on display, photographed, and admired in awe by billions of people, as being the largest and heaviest of its species, caught anywhere in the world at the time of this event.

This great marlin also had the honour of aiding in the promotion of Bermuda, its people, and its beautiful natural resources available to anyone who visits. I would imagine that there are anglers around the world, packing there suitcases, to come to Bermuda and try for a ?Big One?. You can rest assured, also, that most big game fish caught will more than likely be tagged and released, which is the custom among big game fisherman.

In my opinion, this great marlin, died an honourable death, and will be remembered by many, for years to come.

Race and Independence

June 21, 2004

Dear Sir,

Mr. Richards? interesting article in the Mid-Ocean News contains a surprising error when he claims that our repeated discussions about Independence ?have set a record in the history of the world because it (Bermuda) is now undertaking a national debate on Independence for the third or fourth (depends on how you count it) time in three decades. I am unaware of any country which has engaged in this debate any more than once.?

In fact Puerto Rico has had two referendums on the topic, including a recent one in which they rejected both statehood and independence in favour of retaining their ?Commonwealth? status ? a lovely word which hides the fact that in many areas they have less voice in home government than we do. No doubt the independence movement there will force another referendum in time, and if we reject independence by referendum the matter will not, I think, be closed for good . . . nor vice versa.

To digress: Puerto Rico was given its independence by Spain, but it was taken away again in the aftermath of the US victory in the Spanish-American War ... possibly some local body was said to have invited the US in. Another possession of the United States ? the state of Hawaii ? has a strong minority independence movement centred around the Royal family who were dispossessed by a rebellion fomented by American subjects of the (then) Queen of Hawaii and backed by sailors from a US warship visiting Honolulu. The Queen abdicated to avoid bloodshed. Curiously, the state flag of Hawaii is the old Royal flag, and has the Union Jack in one corner in honour of British assistance to the first King of Hawaii. It?s hard to see that secession would succeed, but I expect that more will be heard about the movement.

Mr. Richards also says that ?of the majority black colonies in the entire British Empire the Three Bs (Bermuda, Bahamas and Barbados) were the first ones to be granted a form of internal self-government, along with elected parliamentary assemblies, etc., all the while being colonies?. Of course when Bermuda was granted a representative institution in 1620 it was primarily a white colony (we followed another colony, Virginia, by a year, and Rhode Island set up its own Government in 1620). The history of other Caribbean colonies is mixed ? Jamaica, for instance, for years had a legislature which was taken away when the two houses of Parliament could not agree. Jamaica, like other English-speaking parts of the Caribbean, was a conquered territory.

Bermuda was fortunate to retain its parliament at the end of the American Revolutionary War, and later the British must have considered removing our Parliament when we became an important British base.

I wonder if the Irish would agree with another statement by Mr. Richards: ?The ugly truth is that colonialism is an institution that is intrinsically bound up with the enslavement of generations of Africans and subsequent systematic racial exploitation and discrimination of their descendants after the abolition of slavery.?

Mr. Calvin Smith suggests that the Caribbean countries give us a good lead towards the idea of Independence. I wonder. He talks about their problems, but it remains the case that two of the British dependent territories in the Caribbean ? Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos ? are doing better than their independent neighbours despite a lack of raw materials, while Montserrat has probably had more help from Britain with its volcano crisis than it would have received, say, from Caricom or the UN. Another colony, Anguilla, chose to remain a British colony when its larger neighbours became independent.

Talking of independence movements, Mr. Richards should remember that Nevis has an ongoing concern about being linked to St. Kitts.

I wonder if (ironically) Bermuda?s current lack of interest in Independence is a result of the PLP?s two victories ? I suspect that previously Independence was seen by many of its supporters as a means of overthrowing the UBP government. The overthrow of that Government at the ballot box made it apparent that Independence was not likely to do anyone much good as things stand at present ? you might feel good for a week but then it?s the same old same old. The future, with Britain being drawn closer to Europe, might well be different.

Where?s the hotel?

June 23, 2004

Dear Sir,

It seems our letter of March 22, 2004 may have stuck a nerve as there is some action on the non-existent Palmetto Bay Hotel site down at Flatts. The area reserved for the imaginary hotel has been covered with lovely compost, which we understand is free form Government, presumably in preparation for a nice lawn.

One would have thought the developer would have left the cleared section for the proposed hotel, but then we all know they never had any intentions to build it in the first place. Obviously it warrants submitting proposals including hotels to the Department of Planning in order to secure permission to build, when permission might otherwise be in jeopardy.

At least a few trees on the new lawn will help hide the rest of this eyesore in Flatt?s.

Still waiting for our hotel ...

Practise what you preach

July 5, 2004

Dear Sir,

A letter today talks about the use of marijuana. His/her observations are that young boys are getting together at a ?community club? and smoking marijuana, and something needs to be done about the inappropriate, disrespectful, and illegal behaviour. I couldn?t agree more.

Many community clubs are having a terrible time attracting young people, and here it is this club has them right there, and don?t know what to do with them. I say shame on you.

I?ll bet that these young boys have a completely different set of observations, like maybe the dues-paying members and president, that they are supposedly disrespecting, staggering out of the bar heavily under the influence of their drug, booze. These young boys probably have the same impressions of you as you have of them. If you really want to make a positive difference you might open a dialogue with these young people and find out why it is that they are rejecting your recreational drug in favour of theirs. If you are going to revise the rules of your club to exclude young people (particularly boys), then what good is your club? If you weave these young people into the fabric of your club they could become quite community minded and you would have a wealth of volunteers to keep your pitch in top shape 100 percent of the time which will truly benefit the club and the fans, many of whom use marijuana themselves: they just hide it better.

I hope that the letter writer does not sit in his hiding place and come to the conclusion that this is an attack on him/her. It is not. Much nonsense about marijuana being destructively harmful to society has been brainwashed into a significant number of people, who just spout off with it without giving the subject an objective look or analysis. You are just one of those people. If you did not care, you wouldn?t have taken the time to write your letter. I would urge you to include these young people into your caring.

Tribute to Freddie

June 22, 2004

Dear Sir,

I was a Police Officer in Bermuda for many years, starting in 1967. I met Freddie when he joined the Police Service. I last saw him in January of this year while visiting my father in Bermuda. We were friends for many years, even when he left the Service to pursue other priorities.

Beachy, as he was known, always had a smile and a joke. He could light up a room even on the darkest day. Never did he complain about long hours, and all the stakeouts he did while in Narcotics Dept. When I was in the CID, the boys, as I called them, would come to my house in Paget, and then in St. George?s, and eat all my Red Bean soup that Freddie enjoyed so much.

One day in particular I remember him and Jimmy Williams, Harold Moniz and a slew of officers were at my house eating soup, and Freddie spied my little daughter?s guitar and started to go into his Elvis mode. I never laughed so hard in my life. Always when you needed an uplift, he made it happen.

Lots of people come into your life but very few make a difference. Freddie was one of them. I could go on and on but that would take too long, and I?m sure I would miss something. Your work is done here, now it?s time to put the soup on up there. Teach em well.

Your friend always,