Not illegally parked

May 11, 2009

Dear Sir,

I write with regard to the report of the Governor's car being spotted in a loading zone at the airport.

According to page 64 of the Traffic Code Handbook, which we licence holders must all abide by and agree to when signing for our Bermuda Driving Licence, it states that private cars may not park in loading zones between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, and on Saturdays restricted to one hour.

There is no mention of the Airport, St. George's or Somerset, which all have loading zones with no signs saying anything different to page 64.

So what would be wrong with HE's car being there at 6.45 p.m. on any day of the week?

I got a ticket in that same spot a week ago on a Saturday (for only 30 minutes) and am looking forward to my day in court!

Also the offence for which I was ticketed, under offence 'V' stated on the back of the ticket that I had parked in a prohibited 'piece or manner'. What does that mean?

PEMBROKE

A helpful bus driver

May 11, 2009

Dear Sir,

Well, well, fellow Bermudians! You will be as excited as we were this morning!

We saw a bus driver at Crow Lane not just dropping off his passengers, but taking a moment to get out of his bus to point two senior visitors in the right direction for Berry Hill Road – we presume he was telling them the way to get to the Botanical Gardens.

We only had a moment to take his picture (with his permission), and congratulate him for taking time out to make sure our visitors go back home and tell their friends – Bermudians are indeed friendly and helpful!

How often do you hear Bermudians are not as hospitable as they used to be? Here is a driver that dispelled this perception!

Happy Mother's Day.

TOPPY AND SAUNDRA COWEN

Southampton

Seeking total control

May 10, 2009

Dear Sir,

I was thinking, if the Premier is successful in firing Major Kenneth Dill as head of the Civil Servants … what's to stop him from firing all of the other Civil Service executives for supporting Major Dill? And, if he can do that, doesn't that mean these people will have to kiss their long awaited pensions goodbye – now they will have to be looking over their shoulders every minute of the day in fear that their positions could possibly be terminated? Boy, if this is not dictatorship, then what is? The handwriting is on the wall as it looks as if anyone who does not talk his talk and walk his walk – heads roll.

Just take the newspaper situation for instance … could it be that our Premier is trying to get his shop as tightly shut as possible so that nothing leaks in and nothing leaks out – are his latest actions one of trying to obtain total control … and again, isn't total control dictatorship?

PAT FERGUSON

Warwick

Obama backs the media

May 11, 2009

Dear Sir,

Last week, the Premier ordered Government communications officers – whose salaries are paid by taxpayers – to "reduce their contact" with The Royal Gazette and Mid-Ocean News, and the Progressive Labour Party later attempted to justify the unjustifiable by describing the action as similar to what President Obama's campaign had done to Fox News leading up to the 2008 election.

Rather than dispute the PLP's characterisation of the Fox News-Obama relationship, it might be more useful to read what President Obama said about the relationship of the press and democracy at the recent White House Correspondent's Dinner. (Meanwhile, the PLP should rest assured that Fox News remains a member of the White House press pool.)

In his speech, President Obama addressed the challenges currently facing the media today and then said: "Your ultimate success as an industry is essential to the success of our democracy. It's what makes this thing work. Thomas Jefferson once said if he had a choice between a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, he would not hesitate to choose the latter … The central point remains: a government without newspapers, a government without a tough and vibrant media of all sorts, is not an option in the United States of America.

"I may not agree with everything you write or report. I may even complain from time to time about how you do your jobs. But I do so with the knowledge that when you are at your best, then you help me be at my best.

"You help all of us who serve at the pleasure of the American people do our jobs better by holding us accountable, by demanding honesty, by preventing us from taking shortcuts and falling into easy political games that people are so desperately weary of. And that kind of reporting is worth preserving, not just for your sake, but for the public's."

KATHRYN GIBBONS

Hamilton Parish

Time to stand up

May 8, 2009

Dear Sir,

A simplistic solution, against the palpable fear factor on the table, is not necessarily to let the UBP in again, but to achieve what is desperately and urgently needed now, before Dr. Brown brings this Island in the eyes of the world to further disrepute, and to stop in its tracks the whittling away of our democracy in Bermuda.

The silent and fearful contingency of dissension is, for those to "cross the floor" and join with the group, not necessarily to join the UBP, just temporarily maybe, but the ones who want Dr. Brown out, to force a vote of "no confidence". The rest, if achieved, would be easily accomplished, or to hang our hat on getting nine more courageous souls to declare their dissent, as Dr. Brown said, he would resign if they were found.

Fear is a common tool that dictators use and understandably it works, the record is for all to see, Stalin, Hitler, Mugabe. Dictators follow a set schedule. Muzzle the Press. Get control of the police and the army. Bribe the weak and politically hungry, to blind submission (we have seen all that already) and then we see they strut their stuff with outrageous arrogance. Has history not taught us that by now ?

One must sympathise and understand how powerful the Fear Factor is. The loss of a job, to lose the ability to pay the mortgage or even have it withdrawn, not to be able to look after and feed your family would mean disaster, and probably to have your spouse say, "Stay out of it, we have too much to lose, we cannot declare our real feelings". To be gagged in fear by your neighbours opposition to your sense of right or wrong is a high price to pay but the result is the same, it corrupts and corrodes the senses, so that the silence and fear that we see today is flourishing.

So what is it to be, People? Are we going to continue to be held hostage? Are we to stand by and watch this Island brought to a state of no return? Do we owe our children? Will they thank us? We have spent the last ten years with our mouths open in dismay at the tricks, treachery and chicanery of this government, and to constantly hear "Well the UBP did it, so what is so wrong with us doing it?"

Of course with that attitude, we would be treading water for the rest of time or drowning, which surely is unacceptable. I think the opportunity is now, we should gather our forces and do the right timely thing. This Government has its own agenda and so do we, we should act on it and give the above some urgent active thought.

DIANA WILLIAMS

Pembroke

An apology matters

May 11, 2008

Dear Sir,

Please print the following in your Letters to the Editor column:

It isn't often nowadays that I find myself in agreement with Mr. Rolfe Commissiong, but I have to concur with the comments attributed to him in this morning's Royal Gazette.

I, too, noted the minimal response from white members of Parliament to Mr. Wayne Furbert's race forgiveness motion. I think it is important for both black and white members of our Parliament to apologise vicariously for the wrongs done to the Bermudian community through racially biased policies and practices. Blacks, whites and Portuguese have all been damaged, whether oppressed or oppressor (and it is important to acknowledge that blacks have been as biased or, at times, more biased against other blacks and Portuguese (and vice versa) as whites have.)

With regard to Dr. Grant Gibbons' reported comment that "it would be presumptuous to apologise for something somebody else has done in the past", this situation can be compared, in a manner of speaking, to the trauma of incest. The family often knows that the crime has taken place, but cannot acknowledge it because it is too difficult to contemplate. The child is damaged both by trauma of the act itself and by the silence.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a legitimate psychological condition, an anxiety disorder, where the symptoms last more than six months and cause significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (e.g. problems with work and relationships). Certain of the symptoms can be compared to some of what we see in the black community both here and in the States (vis. Dr. Joy DeGruy's seminal study "Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome"):

¦ Feelings of detachment from others and emotional numbness (leading to an inability to feel another's pain and resultant disrespect for own or others' feelings and/or life);

¦ Chronic irritability and/or outbursts of anger;

¦ Hyper-vigilance (on constant "red alert");

¦ Substance abuse;

¦ Alienation;

¦ Mistrust;

¦ Shame and/or self-blame;

¦ Depression and hopelessess; and

¦ Sense of a limited future.

Many trauma sufferers develop a victim mentality that remains with them for life, unless and until they find healing. An important part of the healing process, whether or not the perpetrator ever apologises, is the empathetic validation from the family that the abuse took place. To say, "I am so sorry that happened to you", is simple, relatively painless, yet incredibly profound in its ability to begin the healing.

Seems to me, with regard to this traumatised-but-in-denial community, an apology all around the board wouldn't hurt, couldn't hurt and could be invaluable in beginning our healing.

SYLVIA HAYWARD-HARRIS

Pembroke