Like Jesus, I'm prepared to be a sacrificial lamb. Since the General Election on November 9, 1999 much has transpired politically in this country under the leadership of Premier the Hon. Jennifer Smith and the Progressive Labour Party Government. Some of these things are deemed good. Some bad. History will tell all.

An issue of tremendous personal concern to me, is the Hon. Lois Browne Evans and Mr. Ira Philip's acceptance of their respective Queen's Awards. It has always been my understanding that the PLP, and these individuals particularly, encouraged people to refuse such awards.

I wonder what prospective PLP awardees of the past think now. Does their talk not match their walk? Is it a situation where you do as I say, but not as I do? Have they lived long enough to demonstrate their true hypocrisy? Is their acceptance of these awards a part of a process of prostituting the historical and philosophical ideals of the PLP? What is the true currency of Dame Lois Brown Evans' knighthood? Can she, or can we, afford to pay the price? On a softer note, I would like to be a fly on the walls of Buckingham Palace when she kneels before the Queen to be dubbed with a sword in acceptance of this award.

REV. DR. LEONARD SANTUCCI Pembroke Land tax a smoking gun August 5, 1999 Dear Sir, I note little comment in your newspaper concerning the land tax issue, presumably because 75 percent of land tax payers believe they are going to pay less. Or at least that is what they have been told by the current government.

I urge all land tax payers to wake up and in modern parlance "smell the coffee''.

I have a house in St. George's that I have spent the last four years refurbishing at considerable expense and in keeping with the expressed desires of St. George's Corporation and the spirit of the efforts of The St. George's Foundation.

Clearly that effort and expense has prompted whomever assessed my ARV to resort to financial rape. Based, in large part I am reliably informed (take note Alex Scott), on some discriminatory factors as to who owns the property rather than a fair and equitable calculation. Why, for example, did the house valued at $14,100 last year become $20,400 (increase 41.84 percent) for this year and mine at $15,000 is now assessed at $32,400 (increase 116 percent).

My 1998/99 ARV was $15,000 which prompted annual tax of $573.36, this does not include the additional St. George's Corporation tax of approximately $250 per annum.

My 1999/2000 ARV is now to be $32,400 which will prompt tax of $2,628.00 per annum. This is an increase in payable tax of 358.35 percent! I am informed that I will in this tax year receive a 60 percent discount which will reduce my payment to $1,051.20. This still represents an 83.34 percent increase in payable tax.

Be warned land tax payers, look at the tax you will pay without the discount and you will find that nearly all of you will pay more, including the example of the $14,100 ARV quoted above, who will pay an extra $200 per annum approximately (a 40 percent increase). The 60 percent discount is an old and tired tax trick to hide the truth. The 60 percent will become less and less as the years go by and this government overspends. Next year it will be 50 percent or 40 percent or 30 percent and then no discount at all.

Government also be warned. These extortionate increases will eventually be passed onto the people of Bermuda in the form of increased rents, redundancies in the retail sector, redundancies in the hotel sector, the loss of international business, increased prices, less tourists. Take time out to learn the rules of economics and the canons of taxation and you will find you are playing with a smoking gun that could mortally wound this island.

PHIL CRACKNELL City of Hamilton No sympathy for cabbies August 10, 1999 Dear Sir, With disgust I write this letter after having read this weekend's commentary on the protesting action by the taxi drivers of this Country in reaction to the passage of the Motor Act which would allow Funeral Directors to own limousines for the purpose of transporting mourning families to funeral proceedings.

With disgust because the arrogance of this island's taxi drivers is indicative of the attitude that has supported and contributed to the decline of our tourism industry during the last ten years. I am in full support of the limousine service being available to not only funeral parlours but to hotels and guest cottages as well.

The more to limousine services is the way the transport industry is going.

Face it and deal with it! If you visit any other country, you will note that many hotels are offering limousine services as travellers are demanding "package'' type travel plans and often times transport to and from the Airport is a part of that. And we can hardly rely any longer on the former "ambassador'' of this Country when it is he who is ignoring frantic calls for transport at midnight from such locations as St. George's! Taxi drivers, as small business entrepreneurs, will be subject to the same challenges as any small business enterprise, and they must be willing to introduce new and innovative ways to continue to survive in their business. We are not here to protect them, or their industry; we are here to partner with them to maintain their livelihood. But they must be willing to work too.

Working means not parking their car for 16 hours per day because they refuse to let anybody else drive it. Or taking a day off when it is raining because they do not want anybody wet to get into their car. Work also means taking work in whatever form it comes, whether it be the $50 ride from the airport or the young lady at the bus stop with groceries and young child who hails for a ride home. And it is not a 9-5 job.

Ironically, I find it quite amusing that the drivers would even fight to keep the funeral driving business as it with disdain that they treat the local population; refusing to answer calls in certain areas or demanding payment for a fare as soon as a local gets in the car.

We are all working together here. Stop taking, taking, taking and give a little bit. It won't hurt and we will all benefit. I know how tough it can be, but you have chosen this bed, now lie in it and stop asking the Government to buy you a new one when it gets a little lumpy.

LOCAL LEFT AT THE BUS STOP! City of Hamilton Camping a local tradition August 5, 1999 Dear Sir, I am writing in response to a Letter to the Editor: "Campers are an eyesore''.

As a Bermudian raised all my life in America, I missed out on many traditions that are held near and dear to the Island's heart.

I came back here in the summer of 1995 for Cup Match and never made it to the field or game.

Why? I was invited to camp at Chaplin Bay. You know, "the Ghetto on South Shore below Warwick Camp''? I met aunts, cousins and new-found friends for the first time. We swam, ate, and talked, and all in peace. There were no fights or bad attitudes. Even people who were strangers to each other prior to the camping treated each other like lifelong friends. These people I speak of are hard working Bermudians looking to relax.

The author of the previous letter to you must be without friends or any sort of joy.

Maybe during one of your Sunday swims, you looked over and saw the families and friends smiling and having fun while camping. Maybe it made you think about what is lacking in your own life.

I would urge you not to let the empty feeling of loneliness make you bitter.

Had you a less anti-social frame of mind you might have come over and made some new friends.

This past Saturday I was approached by a young couple from New York City who asked about the campers. I took them over and introduced them to some of the people I know.

They were offered food and drink and remained there talking long after I left.

Not once did the words slum, ghetto or eyesore come out of their mouths. (And they were white.) Furthermore, my aunties, known at Chaplin's as the "Oh Boy Campers'', are kind, friendly and always maintained a neat area. As with most campers, they clean up well before they leave.

Campers are not the problem. People with small minds like you are.

ANTOINE RAYNOR Southampton