Dear Sir, "As it was in the beginning so shall it be in end.'' As far as it says in the Bible about the beginning, God created herbs on the third day of creation and saw that it was good.

So it could be plainly said that anyone who speaks out negative against the God-created herb, Cannabis Sativa, is out of place according to the Bible.

For your information, the official scientific name, Cannabis Sativa, comes from the Greek word KANNABIS and the Latin SATIVA, meaning "useful.'' JAHKEY Warwick UK's no circus, Piccadilly May 12, 1999 Dear Sir, Firstly, with respect to PICCADILLY'S diatribe, I am not in the habit of dignifying the rantings of faceless spineless, cowards who hide behind, nom-de-plume's (notice the French?).

However, only this once will I descend to such depths in order to set this misguided individual straight on a few things. I will stand by what I say and sign my name.

PICCADILLY, why are you so gutless? Secondly, you PICCADILLY have missed the point. As a teacher I advocated (and still do) that all Bermudian students and teachers should learn Portuguese because of the large Portuguese population in Bermuda.

I've never read any letter to the Editor by you advocating the same. Perhaps, it is you who has just remembered there is a large population of Portuguese in Bermuda who continue to suffer discrimination of all kinds on a daily basis. I also have a fair number of Portuguese clients who share interesting stories with me.

Our students and any other interested persons may travel abroad to study French, Spanish etc. (I have a daughter who is fluent in both languages) without giving up their birthright to do so.

Bermudians have been doing this before any White Paper and will do so after.

Have you, PICCADILLY, noticed the very large population of Bermudians of African and West Indian descent? Why have I not read where you are advocating that Bermudians learn Swahili or Arabic or Chinese? There are some very fine universities in Africa, Asia and West Indies too -- or is this thought too mind boggling for you to absorb? Why do you assume the people of African descent would `upgrade' themselves if they totally immerse themselves in European culture? Why should you assume that black people should want to `emigrate' to a European culture? Why should you assume that black people should want to `emigrate' to Europe to live amongst the very people who enslaved them, stole their land and native tongues, and left them with French, Dutch, Spanish and English? Do you realise how offensive your suggestions are? Or do you really care? Why is it racist for blacks of the diaspora not to want to be further Europeanised and to speak out against such assimilation -- but it is fine for Jews of the diaspora to retain their languages, culture, religion and identity? We all do not share Larry Burchall's Eurocentric view of the world, you know? With respect to attempting `to invite racial disquiet' by airing the attacks by British racists on non-whites in Britain, you insult my intelligence.

I lived in Britain for approximately three and one-half years and can tell you that it was rare if a non-white was not daily attacked or verbally abused by the racists that abound there.

Britain, in fact, is a country riddled with bigotry, racism and class discrimination and has been so for centuries. The English look down on the Scots, Welsh and Irish; those in the South of England scorn the North of England, and Asians, West Indians and Africans suffer both overt and institutionalised racism every day in Britain.

I am surprised, PICCADILLY, that you would try to paint the occurrence of an attack on the Bandladeshi and Afro-Caribbean community as a `one-off' or rare occasion. You should be ashamed of yourself.

No, I do not wish my children to live in such a hostile environment of badly behaved people. You would not send your child out to a football match where bottles may be thrown, would you.

PICCADILLY, have you looked around you? There are literally thousands of Bermudians who have sacrificed to bring home `internationally respected' degrees.

They also have a wealth of experience and have traveled widely. More widely than many of the people with whom you went to school abroad can imagine or afford. Better that Bermudians continue to mortgage their future then GIVE IT AWAY by accepting a British Passport to hell.

Your suggestion that black Bermudians should work, live etc. in Europe is the kind of thinking that advocates the `final solution' to the ethnic cleansing begun 400 years ago when Europeans enslaved Africans and brought them in chains to these shores. You know about that don't you PICCADILLY? Lastly, I never advocated that Bermudians, even if they were born here should not vote in an Independence referendum. What I do say was that such people are unlikely to vote for Independence.

What do you think PICCADILLY? And as far as Goethe being smarter than I, you don't know that to be a fact since you know neither him nor me (smile).

However, to give you some insight, I hold degrees in Education, Political Science, Economics and Law and have lived, worked, visited, been educated in Britain, Germany, Spain, Chzechoslavakia, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Seychelles, and Latin America over a period of (20) years.

That's how I dare to exercise my freedom of speech in projecting `my narrow sense of achievement onto Bermuda's future undergraduate population.' Why don't you PICCADILLY crawl out from behind your narrow little hiding place, reveal who you are and engage me in an open debate on any topic of your choosing.

Why are you hiding? Is it because both The Royal Gazette's editor, Mr. William Zuill, and the Mid-Ocean News editor, Mr. Tim Hodgson, are prepared to continue to allow your faceless and baseless attacks by simultaneously publishing your letter on the same day? Or do you want us to believe that such publication was coincidental rather than by design. By the way, that wasn't a bad photo of me, was it (smile).

If you wish to discuss the implications of the White Paper and Independence on and for Bermuda PICCADILLY, then give me a call. Meanwhile, I hope you don't catch your `death of cold' hiding beneath that damp rock. Come out into the clear light of day. Don't be a `worm in a hole' or we "crabs in a basket'' may snap you up! PHIL PERINCHIEF City of Hamilton Editor's Note: The editorial departments of The Royal Gazette and the Mid-Ocean News are an entirely separately. It was coincidence that the letters were published on the same day.

Stupid drivers abound May 18, 1999 Dear Sir, Our road safety habits are atrocious -- these are just a few exceptionally poor driving habits that I have observed just in the past week: A mother breast feeding her baby while driving -- sighted a mother pull into a layby to position her baby to breast feed then proceeding to drive down the road. Can you imagine the tragedy should that mother have a front-end collision whilst her baby is laying in front of the steering wheel? A taxi driver having dinner -- sighted a taxi driver eating his dinner while driving and naturally zig zagging along the road whilst his attention was on the content of the meal rather than the road. Can you imagine if he were to have a front-end collision with his fork in his mouth? A lady driver using her cellular phone, and of course there are numerous offenders of this activity, and usually the driver is a go fast, go slow driver operator who one minute is keeping up with the traffic and then own to a snails pace when the conversation is intense.

Can you imagine what a shock should a child or animal run in front on that driver's vehicle, who likely would not notice because his or her attention is focused on perhaps discussing what's for dinner? Let's get the cameras out and film some of this atrocious driving and put the culprit on TV so we can all see who the idiots are, or perhaps we should use the letters to the Editors column and reveal the licence plate numbers.

Good thought -- Taxi Driver 1828 -- be responsible and eat dinner at home and drive responsibility. As for the breast feeding lady -- I'll be watching. And for all the cellular phone users -- pull over and pay attention when you are driving. That includes Members of Parliament.

KAL St. Davids What's the big deal? May 15, 1999 Dear Sir, With regard to the naked dancers appearing at the Spinning Wheel nightclub for Mother's day, I would question how a work permit was obtained for them.

Did they advertise as required in the newspaper? If so how many replies did they receive from Bermudians? I would have thought there was no shortage of applicants, for as we all know there are many who perform this act for free to foreign expatriate females on our beaches, bushes, railway tracks etc. on a regular basis according to your esteemed newspaper and other media.

Even though the Prison officers are above the law and can do anything they want, it seems it may be unfair that they can bring in the lollipop girls and not allow these sexually frustrated females a little harmless fun to brighten up their lives also.

As for the owners of the night club, as long as they do not accuse anyone of cooking chicken on the club entrance, what is the big deal? Where is our famous sense of humour? SEYMOUR WOODE Paget