November 8, 2006

Dear Sir,

I am so disgusted with the picture on front of the Bermuda Sun, Wednesday, November 8, 2006.

The UBP are always quick to say we need to get past the race factor. How could we, when we as Bermudians witness this type of behaviour by the press time and time again?

Would you like for us to show you the next generation of the UBP? Maybe the Bermuda Sun can have their reporters do this, as this is the level of journalism that we now have in Bermuda.

The Royal Gazette and The Bermuda Sun appear to be very biased. With this type of journalism what is the Bermuda Sun trying to accomplish? We have to read between the lines, but its not rocket science when we see different types of press and journalism for different races of people. We had a UBP Government for 40 years. They had never ever depicted the UBP in such a negative and degrading manner. Now we have a PLP Government for ALL of Bermuda and all the newspapers do is print negative press.

When will the newspapers start to be positive about our Government and Leaders. By virtue of their reporting, we the people of Bermuda know The Royal Gazette and Bermuda Sun can?t stand the PLP Government, but they would need to get used to it. Because if they continue to behave in this manner, Bermuda will have the PLP Government for the next 40 years. They really don?t realise what they are doing, they are pushing those indecisive Bermudians towards the PLP Government because of the ridiculous reporting that is constantly being put to the public.

They think its OK for the press to behave like that, but when the public behaves like that the press and the UBP want to bring in the race factor when the race factor is blatant in most of their reporting. The press want to act like race has no bearing, when we the public know that?s not true.

In what country can you do this type of journalism and walk around and not look over your shoulder. You would need to ask some of your guest reporters if they would feel safe in their homeland if they did this type of reporting and people knew who they were. It?s time to raise the vibration of your reporting for a better Bermuda for all.

FLEXIBLE BUT BALANCED

Sandys

November 11, 2006

Dear Sir,

Is this a joke? Did the Throne Speech actually say: ?The Government will shift the focus where the new hospital will be and work with the medical community to establish the priorities for healthcare in Bermuda. Only after it is determined what services the hospital should deliver can costs, location or other decisions be made.?

Wasn?t Doctor Brown in the Cabinet when they were mulling over the master estate plan for months? Wasn?t Doctor Brown there when the decision was made to build the new hospital in the Botanical Gardens? Didn?t the Premier as the then-Deputy Premier and as a doctor speak up when the decision to build a new hospital in the Botanical Gardens? Didn?t the Bermuda Hospitals Board request the consultants consult the doctors? What did these consultants start with in their deliberation? In their book report, didn?t they start with, What are Bermuda needs in health care? Who is in charge of this farce?

With all this gibberish now going on didn?t the Master Estate plan say that the hospital in its present state has only six years of life expectancy as a proper functioning hospital. Didn?t the chairman of the Bermuda Charitable Hospital Trust, our Premier?s brother, write in a Letter to the Editor and say in his opinion it had ?five years?. Wasn?t that the reason a hospital had to be built right away? Let?s not have another CedarBridge mould debacle. This question has to be answered, does the hospital have six, five or four and a half years of life left or are there preventive measures that can be taken?

I believe the speech must have been written far too quickly and thus resulting in a few topics to being inadvertently jumbled up.Therefore resulting in a few errors. When I read the Throne Speech and it said, ?The Government will assess the entire criminal justice system from infrastructure to incarceration.? Shouldn?t the speech have made more about the entire education system rather than our criminal justice system?

Didn?t this also get mixed up with the hospital plan part of the speech? Didn?t the writer of the speech really mean to say, ? Only after the Education system in Bermuda has been totally reviewed can we then review the entire criminal and justice system, as education is a priority.? Didn?t that sentence get mixed up somehow?Surely and clearly our public education system is the priority.

Let?s have the vision for the education system clearly stated. This should be on the Government websites and in the schools. Let?s have the goals clearly set out. Let?s have the plan and how it will be implemented. Let?s have the measurements of how the students are doing compared to the stated goal. Lets have the accountability. Let?s go!

WANNABE SPEECH WRITER

November 7, 2006

Dear Sir,

I would like to voice support for a permanent tribute/memorial to the Russian submarine crew of K219 and in particular the courageous Captain Britanov , the young man that died shutting down the nuclear reactor, Sergei Preminin , the three other crewman that died from the accident and any others that have since died as a result of their exposure to the deadly radiation during those fateful days just several hundred miles north of Bermuda in October 1986.

Experts have said that Bermuda and its population (us who are still alive and you who have since been born) would probably have not survived the explosion. That the radioactive fallout would have killed whoever survived the firestorms and massive tidal waves. One thing is certain: Bermuda would not have been habitable today. The blast and radioactive fallout would have also affected much of the East coast of North America and probably a good portion of the globe, if young Sergei Preminin had failed to shut down the damaged nuclear reactor.

On board K219 there were two nuclear reactors and 32 megatons of destructive capability sitting on top of 16 missiles. It is anticipated that a meltdown would have caused an explosion 2 million times more powerful than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in Japan during World War II. Such an explosion would have changed the world forever!

This was the second time that Bermuda dodged a nuclear bullet! The first time was during the Cuban missile crisis. The potential warring factions of the USSR and the USA played chicken just off Bermuda and fortunately the Russians backed off from pushing the buttons.

About five or so years ago Tim Hodgson wrote a compelling article in the Mid Ocean News about the K219 incident and the idea then was floated about a memorial. As the Mid Ocean article quickly left readers minds for more mundane things I wrote to the Bermuda Maritime Museum to see if they would be interested in having such a memorial there at no cost to the museum.

As a maritime museum it was obviously thought to be the perfect place as it could have become an added attraction, a symbol of goodwill and be noted in our history that Bermuda had officially taken a public stand in the condemnation of nuclear arms proliferation. It was hoped that they would find an adequate spot for a small memorial and to set aside a room to tell the story of K219 and other stories of nuclear maritime disasters, particularly those in our Atlantic area. Unfortunately the offer was declined and after writing other major venues for such a memorial without any response we put the project aside as the time was not obviously right. It was not politically correct to honour Russians!

Timing is everything. Today, the Cold War that lasted some fifty years, is but a memory and the political changes in Russia since the Berlin Wall came down have also slowly changed people?s perspectives. A website to get a reaction to the K219 incident, currently established locally, indicates that over 600 local residents have taken time to read the stories and have come to really appreciate the true heroism of the Captain and crew and in particular the young man, Sergei Preminin , who sacrificed his life for his captain and his crew members.

Today there are people now interested in a memorial to celebrate the 20th anniversary of what could have been a maritime Chernobyl. In fact, we are not too sure that such a situation is not going on under the sea at this moment despite the eminent positive thoughts of scientist at BBSR and our former UBP government leaders of the day that the sinking would not be a problem!

Experts, on the other hand, indicate that salt water penetration through the steel of the missile warheads and reactors will eventually take place releasing deadly radioactivity into the deep waters of the Atlantic for thousands of years. With two reactors and 32 warheads one wonders just how safe Bermuda really is. Has the Chernobyl effect begun already? Probably!

Nuclear scientists indicate that such nuclear waste should be salvaged and properly buried in concrete tombs deep below ground. At the depth that the wreckage is lying salvage would be almost impossible, extremely hazardous and extremely expensive. At the very least the wreckage area should be monitored on a regular basis to determine what the true radioactive situation is. It is a politically irresponsible act to simply ignore the facts and the potential dangers such radioactivity could have to Bermuda and the coastline populations surrounding the Atlantic over the long term.

As a people that could have been annihilated n an instant, just 20 years ago, we have a lot to be thankful for. Just look around at our beautiful island home. Gaze at the dazzling crystal clear water and breathtaking sunsets. Watch your children and grand children play. Don?t we all owe our last 20 years to a young Russian man who gave his life for his friends and by extension, to Bermuda and probably, mankind?

The very least we can do, Bermuda, is to acknowledge the sacrifice and the courage of the K219 Captain and crew that saved our lives in some permanent form. The sinking is as much a part of our history as that of the Sea Venture striking our reef bringing life to this island. Sir George?s heart is said to be buried near his memorial in St. George. As the closest land to where young Sergei Preminin ?s heart lies we should also honour him for saving our lives with his memorial.

As an act of Goodwill the remaining members of the Russian crew should be flown to Bermuda to be on hand for its unveiling. It?s time to say ?thank you?, Bermuda... we are 20 years late!

GEOFF PARKER SR

Warwick West

November 7, 2006

Dear Sir,

I was relieved when I reached the end of the article on ?The Villas at Ariel Sands? that appeared in today?s to find that it was only an advertisement and not the opinion of The Royal Gazette.

Living, as I do, on the South Shore Road, not far from Ariel Sands, I am more appalled each time that I drive by (particularly if I am coming down Brighton Hill) that such a monstrosity was allowed to be built in Bermuda. I can only presume that the Planning Department was hoodwinked by the drawing prepared by the architects (who should be ashamed of themselves) that appears at the entrance to Ariel Sands, which shows a not totally unattractive building nestled amongst a mass of verdant Bermuda foliage, nowhere near what the reality has turned out to be. There is no way that those buildings will ever ?nestle? anywhere.

When Ariel Sands recently announced that it was to tear down the buildings on the Ariel Sands property, I had hoped that taste had at last prevailed and that those awful blots on the South Shore would be torn down as well. It seem no such luck.

For anyone to pay $3,500,000 for a piece of one of those is truly mind-boggling.

IN DESPAIR

Devonshire

November 11, 2006

Dear Sir,

I am writing to express my disgust over the current situation on cable channel 53.

Since the start of the English Premier League season (EPL) in August Bermuda CableVision has been blocking all of the big EPL games. Whenever a big EPL game is scheduled for example the game this weekend between Arsenal and Liverpool, all the Chelsea and all of the Manchester United games Cablevision lets the Fox broadcast start only to abruptly switch the channel to ?FUEL TV? just before the game starts.

This happens despite the fact that these games are scheduled in the TV Guide and on the CableVision Guide which customers access on there digital cable boxes. If you are going to block these games out why schedule them?

Let the public know that you are not the service to turn to and that perhaps they should go to WOW. But why would CableVision do such a thing in the first place? I did call CableVision to ask customer service this question and the answer I got was: ?Yes we have had problems with the Fox Soccer Channel but it has nothing to do with us.?

I find this hard to believe because the problem isn?t Fox not showing the games its CableVision switching off Fox and switching on FUEL TV just before the game starts. This is another example of bad service in Bermuda. I sincerely hope this letter will make the well-read Letters to the Editor section of the daily. If not maybe the broadcast journalists can look into it.

November 6, 2006

Dear Sir,

Some Americans came here and beat the tar out of another visitor. They?ve been convicted of the crime and sentenced. The criminals and their families don?t like the outcome. Big surprise.

I think we?ve all read enough letters to the editor, from Bermudians and non-Bermudians alike, to demonstrate that the rest of the world thinks the case was handled correctly by our courts. Can the paper move on to something else for a change?

November 10, 2006

Dear Sir,

Now more then ever the public must demand a written Code of Conduct for Cabinet Ministers, the Civil Servants must demand a written Code of Conduct for Cabinet Ministers. Ed Ball must demand a Code of conduct for Cabinet Ministers. Years of request on this matter and no action!

November 1, 2006

Dear Sir,

My heart goes out to the lady who is having difficulty accessing an entrance to her driveway due to a neighbour.

The word neighbour conjures up - someone who looks out for, someone who is kind and helpful in times of trouble.

I was amused at our Chief Justice who simply advised talking.

Now wouldn?t that be nice? If only everyone had that Christian Ethic!

October 30, 2006

Dear Sir,

Yesterday we were on Queen Street. I unfortunately tumbled on the extremely uneven pavement. Suddenly there appeared angels who expressed their concern for my welfare. I was too dazed to take their names. So this is a heartfelt thank you to a lovely group of dear angels.