LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
An elementary case
August 14, 2009
Dear Sir,
It is interesting to see that the Bermuda Police have managed to complete an investigation into the BHS Prom party at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club where it may pertain to underage drinking. They could go any night to several establishments in Hamilton to find this contravention of the licensing laws if they wished to do so, but I think do not.
The problem on the night in question is that the RBYC is a members club and as such all those in attendance that night should have been signed in by a member of the club under the regulations, which would mean that any person involved in any violent activity would be known to that member who signed him in problem solved!
The fact that it involved BHS students is purely a by-product which does not enter the question of where the blame may lie!
INTERESTED PARENT
Devonshire
A worthy example
August 16, 2009
>Dear Sir,
Seeing what's happening in our sister territory, Turks and Caicos Islands, maybe it might be time for an inquiry of our own.
DEMOCRACY
Smith's
With you on gay rights
August 16, 2009
Dear Sir,
I wish to respond to the gentleman from Smith's who specifically addressed his letter to the editor to me implying I had double standards.
First and foremost I am an anti-racism activist, which means I believe in human rights, social and racial justice and the equality of all people. If these are my beliefs, then that also makes me a human rights activist, because as a human rights activist one doesn't get to pick and choose your causes … either you are a human rights activist or you're not.
So where does that place me personally with regard to the rights of gays to protection under the Human Rights Act? It places me squarely by your side.
LYNNE WINFIELD
Sandys
TCD has changed!
August 16, 2009
Dear Sir,
What a great experience I had at TCD last Friday morning. I arrived with no appointment to license a bike and yet I was in and out in less than 20 minutes. Every staff member on both the inspection and administration side were courteous and professional and frankly, it couldn't have been more efficient and easier from my perspective. Great job, Bermuda Emissions and TCD!
D. KENT STEWART
Hamilton Parish
A lack of diplomacy
August 10, 2009
Dear Sir,
I am very disappointed with the recent remarks made by the outgoing US Consul General Gregory Slayton in your newspaper regarding Saltus Grammar School. As an individual with experience with the school, it is an excellent school which has provided countless students with a first-class education and opened the door to a world of opportunities for them. Obviously Saltus is not without faults, but what school is?
I was very surprised that a professional diplomat such as Mr. Slayton would be so undiplomatic as to air his personal grievances against Saltus in such a manner. He would do well to use such experiences as a learning opportunity for his children, rather than publicly casting blame.
A SALTUS SUPPORTER
Pembroke
Bewildered by criticism
August 11, 2009
Dear Sir,
As an American expatriate family with three children attending Saltus Grammar School, we read with bewilderment United States Counsel General Mr. Gregory Slayton's comments ref Saltus in The Royal Gazette of August 10, 2009.
Contrary to Mr. Slayton's comments, at no point during our children's attendance at Saltus have we found any significant issues related to "discipline, fights, and security". If there were (and what school doesn't have the occasional circumstance related to these problems?) they were instigated by outside agitators, and were dealt with in an efficient and professional manner by Saltus administration. Regardless, the adage, "discipline begins at home", comes to mind in relation to Mr. Slayton's comments.
As well, Mr. Slayton states: "They (Saltus) are not retaining the best teachers." Here again we are chagrined that Mr. Slayton chooses to insult the Saltus staff by implying that the teachers who have chosen to stay at the school are below par? In our opinion, nothing could be further from the truth or undeserved.
It is unfortunate that Mr. Slayton has chosen a public forum to air his personal grievances. Perhaps it is best that Mr. Slayton has decided (or maybe we should say that President Obama has decided for him ...) that now is the appropriate time to leave Bermuda and place his children in a far superior American private school of his choice.
We would respectfully suggest that Mr. Slayton consider joining his children in taking a few classes in "diplomacy" at those American schools, assuming he chooses to further pursue his career as a Foreign Service officer. We are certain that the Saltus administration, teaching staff, student body, parents and alumni would agree that Mr. Slayton seems to have overlooked the "diplomatic" aspect of his Bermuda assignment.
KIM M. and BETTY J. KUEBLER
Southampton
Progress is small comfort
August 11, 2009
Dear Sir,
Does Taciturnus (Royal Gazette, August 8) really believe that either Israel, or Jews generally, have forgotten the slaughter of six million Jews in the Second World War?
The problem, Polly, is that many others have behaved as you have, doing everything right, but have still been bypassed, denied, undermined or excluded because of their skin colour by those who have had tight control of the economy. The "progress" that we may have made is of small comfort to them. Surely you know this?
EVA N. HODGSON
Hamilton Parish
Look to the future
August 11, 2009
Dear Sir,
Hillary Clinton made the following comment recently when asked whether the US and the West should apologise to the people of the Congo for colonialism and post-colonial interference.
"I cannot excuse the past and I will not try. We can either think about the past and be imprisoned by it or we can decide we are going to have a better future and work to make it."
We, in Bermuda, have wasted a lot of time on the past and spent very little time or effort on the future.
POLLY
Southampton
Diplomacy not transparent
August 15, 2009
Dear Sir,
It is a fitting tribute to our 400th anniversary that we have restored the dignity, human rights and civil liberties to four Guantanamo Bay detainees. This was an act of goodwill and sound diplomatic statesmanship. Neither the Governor of Bermuda nor the British Foreign Office were a part of this process, but nor was the US Consul General, Mr. Gregory Slayton and his team of diplomatic professionals. Mr. Slayton should have been brought into the loop by the US State Department, under their briefing strategy, or by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, under their consultation strategy. But diplomacy is never a publicly transparent strategy. Just look at the most recent diplomatic strategy in North Korea; former US president Bill Clinton went to North Korea to secure the release of two US journalists and this diplomatic act was not publicly reported until he stepped off a private jet in North Korea. Diplomacy is not a publicly transparent act period.
Did Dr. Brown have the legal right negotiate this international event on behalf of Bermuda? Clearly no, but let me rephrase the question. Why would the US State Department not consult Mr Slayton to confirm whether Dr. Brown had such authority as this is/was very easy to confirm? Because the US did not want confirmation of this fact, and because Britain, and even more specifically, David Miliband (British Foreign Secretary) are no match for both the US State Department and Mrs Clinton. What is David Miliband going to do now? Send the detainees back? David better not irritate Hillary! Here's what David will do; an order in council will be made by the British government to give the detainees legal standing in this country. Yes, full legal rights. And, if the British Labour government is both bold and proactive, they will advise Bermuda that a constitutional amendment is needed that aligns Bermuda with the Convention on Human Rights (as extended to us via Britain), so that Bermuda will have the right to accept refugees, without interference from Britain, no matter how limiting the numbers of refugees, on humanitarian grounds. The precedent has now been set.
With all respect to the Queen, I would rather that we celebrate the restoring of human dignity, civil liberties and human rights to chronicle just how far we have grown as an island nation in the last 400 years than to have our celebration chronologised with pictures of the Queen visiting Bermuda. We owe it to this world to start giving back on humanitarian grounds.
What does this mean for Bermuda? Well, that answer is still opaque, but once Dr. Brown steps into retirement from politics as of October, 2010 (as stated by him in his most recent interview with The Royal Gazette) it would not surprise me if the United States government then restores Dr Brown's full US citizenship that he had to relinquish to become an MP in Bermuda. As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, this was an act of sound diplomatic statesmanship.
VALIRIE MARCIA AKINSTALL
London, UK
Get priorities right
August 11, 2009
Dear Sir,
This is to all the Eva Hodgsons, Laverne Furberts and Rolfe Commissiongs and others who beat the racehorse again and again and continue to talk about the past and the big conversation.
The loss of Kellon Hill and the failure to achieve convictions should be a huge wake up call. This, along with the Middleton case, is another disgrace in the judicial system of Bermuda.
A young man ready to go to college is murdered, allegedly over his chain. Yet all we hear about is the race card. Obviously you have no idea what is going on outside your little world of Bermuda. Race is not the big conversation outside your little minds. Do I need to repeat myself, a young man was murdered and the five charged were let go. What is wrong with all of you? It's clearly time for all of the politicians etc. to fix Bermuda and do it with real platforms, not the Big Conversation.
Gangs now openly shoot in the daytime, drugs get into the country via corrupt politicians, police officers and Immigration officials, crime is at its highest, yet the Great Premier has said nothing and goes on a holiday during the 400-year celebrations. This place is turning into a joke and not just because of the Gitmo escapade.
JACK HANDY
Pembroke
A warm welcome home
August 12, 2009
Dear Sir,
Unlike Traveller (Royal Gazette, August 3), I always look forward to returning to Bermuda. I have never had a bad experience.
From the moment I step off the plane, walking past officers that line the walkway, then the welcome entertainers, Immigration, Customs and last but by no means least the folks on the outside. All smiles and "Welcome Home".
I have always made an honest declaration, even to the boots I wore at one point.
The Immigration and Custom Officers have always been very warm and professional. It is really not fair to paint all of the crew at the L. F. Wade International Airport with the same brush. I have always promoted and will continue to promote Bermuda. Whenever we have guests. I would advise them to declare everything, travel with prescriptions for legal drugs, definitely do not bring any illegal substance into the island and cooperate with the officials at Immigration and Customs.
I have had visitors ask on seeing first hand the way both male and females greet me: "Are you someone special?" My response is always the same: "No I am home. This is a normal Bermudian welcome."
JOSHUA RICHARDSON
Pembroke
Just legalise it
August 17, 2009
Dear Sir,
Today in your paper, Michael Dunkley is quoted as saying that anti-social behaviour on the island is being driven by drugs. This feeds into the misconception that there are drug-crazed loonies out there, hopped up on pills and weed, looking for innocent bystanders to beat for their pocket money. And if we can lock them and some drug dealers up, the problem will be solved. If only it were that easy.
The anti-social and gang behaviour he speaks of is driven by the money that is generated by selling drugs on the black market. There are millions of dollars being spent on this island every year just on cannabis, let alone other recreational drugs. With gang membership increasing, violence escalating, and prisons overflowing, our vindictive and Draconian drug policy has clearly failed.
I have stated this in the past but the long story short is: We need to legalise, control, and tax all recreational drugs coming into the Island in the same way that liquor is controlled. Along with the programme of decriminalisation, we need to provide honest and complete information about these drugs to the community, and introduce harm reduction programmes to those in school and at risk of abuse. Not only is it the sensible thing to do if we wish to advance public safety, it's also sensible from capitalist and libertarian perspectives.
If there is no black market for these illegal drugs, then there is no money to fight over. On top of eliminating gang violence and turf wars, this would also relieve pressure on our judicial and penal systems which spend too much time focusing on misdemeanors like possession of cannabis. In turn, that would mean less young people with a criminal record, something that prohibits travel abroad for education and hinders employment opportunities. The positive effects of a policy for legalised and controlled recreational drugs are numerous and lasting.
Of course there are people that will say, "Instead, if we just stop all drugs from coming into the island, that will stop the fighting over money as well". To those people, I say, wake up. The US has spent 30 years and countless billions in The War On Drugs, to no effect. Why do we think we can do better with our limited resources? Why do we even want to?
Throughout the history of mankind, people have used intoxicants for medicinal, spiritual, and recreational purposes. We would have more luck trying to stop people from singing, from dancing, or from scratching their butts. On top of the primal urge to alter our senses, there is too much money involved to stop everybody from participating in this economy. If one person is locked up, an opportunity will open for somebody else. Some "gang members" in your newspaper articles have even implied that some police and customs officers are taking their cut of this lucrative trade.
In my view, people have the right to do with their bodies as they see fit, and if that includes smoking some dope or popping a pill, so be it. Just so long as they don't harm me or anybody else when they do, what does it matter?
Unfortunately, by trying to control what we do with our bodies, the government has created a bigger problem: The black market for drugs. In turn this has created gangs, violence, and anti-social behaviour. All of which, I hope we can agree, are far more dangerous than a spliff.
Pretty ironic, huh?
BINGO BOB
Pembroke
