The Premier's luncheon speech to the Bermuda Employer's Council sparked a debate this week as members left the banquet room.

It was not about equal opportunity employment, or Bermuda's future financial prospects -- two of the main planks of the Hon. Sir John Swan's speech.

It was the Premier's description of Bermuda as "the second most isolated country in the world.'' What country, BEC members were heard asking each other, was the world's most isolated? "St. Helena,'' in the Atlantic Ocean 1,200 miles off the coast of Africa, Sir John later told The Royal Gazette .

As another point of interest, Sir John said Bermuda was the second most densely-populated country in the world.

The first? Gibraltar.

*** An article that appeared under the byline of House of Assembly Clerk Mr. James Smith in the English journal The Parliamentarian raised eyebrows in the newsroom of The Royal Gazette .

Reporters felt it was well-written, but there was something rather too familiar about it.

The October article -- about a 30th anniversary reunion of four veteran Bermuda MPs -- bears a strong resemblance to a story that appeared in the May 14 edition of the daily newspaper.

For example: "There were fond memories, like the smell of Portuguese bean soup permeating the Sessions House on Budget Days in the 1970s,'' The Royal Gazette reported.

"Several nostalgic moments were alluded to at their special luncheon, including the recollection of the smell of Portuguese bean soup permeating the Sessions House (where the Assembly Chamber is located) on Budget Days in the 1970s,'' penned Mr. Smith, who did not attend the luncheon.

"I took a few things from it,'' Mr. Smith said of The Royal Gazette article when questioned about the similarities. In fact, all of the direct quotations in the article were lifted without credit from the daily, as was much of the other information and some of the turns of phrase.

Mr. Smith, a former Bermuda College history lecturer and author of the book Slavery in Bermuda, said he was not paid for his contribution.

*** Mr. Robert Mulderig, president Mutual Risk Management, has built a reputation as one of the Island's top businessmen through meticulous management and insightful guidance of his company's affairs.

So when the avid reader of Forbes Magazine settled down on a flight to his Cayman office last month, one would think he would have noticed its selection of Mutual Risk as one of the world's BEST 100 small companies.

Not so.

In fact, Mr. Mulderig, in overlooking the listing of his company, admitted he became annoyed while perusing the magazine's criteria for its selections.

"Although I didn't have our financial results in front of me, it occurred to me they had missed us,'' he said.

"I wasn't happy about that so I made a note to contact them to find out why and left it at that.

"When I got back home my father called saying it was great that the company made the list. I told him `No we didn't' and that I was annoyed about it.

"He said: `But I'm looking at it right now. You're number four on the list.' '' So it was that Mr. Mulderig learned of his company's prestigious recognition.

But how the company managed to get the number four listing remained a question.

Mr. Mulderig wasn't quite sure because the same November issue ranked the 200 best small US companies numerically.

"The 100 best companies were not in alphabetical order, so we wondered whether it meant Mutual Risk was the fourth best company in the world,'' he said.

"It was then that someone looked into my office saying that the three companies before ours were from Australia and the three after it were from Canada. Sure enough they were in alphabetical order by country.'' *** A lot of companies hook up their telephone systems to radio stations or Muzak channels to provide background entertainment for callers put on hold.

None of them do so with the intention of directing business elsewhere.

But a call to Lindo's Market this week left one reporter wondering. While placed on hold, a radio station playing in the background aired a commercial extolling the advantages of shopping Miles Market as "simply the best.'' *** Governor Lord Waddington may be some 3,500 miles from London and the gossipy world of British politics.

But he has not escaped the attentions of the country's newspapers, who remember him as "Wadders'', the former Tory home secretary.

He cannot have been pleased when The Times, of all papers, called Government House about the mystery surrounding his official Daimler.

The Times gossip column had heard The Royal Gazette story about a Bermudian photographer who says he took a picture of the car at the side of the road.

The photographer alleges a man claiming to be a detective called at his house and "confiscated'' the snap.

Government House officials and Police have denied any knowledge of the incident.

The Times reported "claims of censorship'' following the episode. Lord Waddington, its columnist wrote "is evidently running the sort of tough, no-nonsense regime on Bermuda yearned for by the more right wing of his former Cabinet colleagues back home''.

Conspiracy theorists note: Delegated Affairs Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto, whose Ministry has a working relationship with Government House, was seen walking to work after her car broke down on East Broadway during Wednesday's rush-hour. No photographers or shady security personnel were visible.

LORD WADDINGTON SIR JOHN SWAN.