He might be regarded as a master of spin in some quarters but Hector doubts some of Premier Alex Scott<$> gambits will even manage to fool even some of the people some of the time.

Hitting back at polls showing him trailing leadership challenger Ewart Brown by two to one he claimed to a reporter this week that other barometers of the public mood had put him in a much better light.

Quoting from a Bermuda Omnibus Survey he read out stats which showed Governmental satisfaction had improved notably over the past three months with four in ten residents completely or mostly satisfied with Government.

After reading the passage Mr. Scott said: “And I skip” before reading out another passage which said there had been a significant decline in the proportion of residents completely dissatisfied with his Government.

Sounds good? But aren’t you just a tad curious about the passage he skipped? Hector’s pal was too. It read: “Nevertheless the majority continues to be either mostly (36 percent, up two points) or completely (20 percent, down eight points) dissatisfied with the performance of the Government.”

To be fair to the Premier he did immediately hand over the whole section. But Hector wonders how desperate you have to be to start quoting from polls saying most people aren’t happy with you in a bid to bolster your case?Supporters of Ewart Brown <$>who feel that Alex Scott has lost his way and is lacking direction should have been at Prospect Primary School on Monday night. Hector hears Mr. Scott was spotted wandering the corridors of the school in vain looking for the assembly hall, where he was due to speak at a PLP constituency meeting. After sticking his nose in a few empty classrooms, the Premier finally found what he was looking for and was able to give a trial run of the speech he delivered to delegates on Wednesday night.Hector hears the now traditional sight of the PLP tearing itself to bits in another grim leadership fight had led one party stalwart try to claim that the UBP were jealous because they were getting no coverage. However outlandish that claim might seem perhaps there is a kernel of truth with the UBP incredibly scheduling a public meeting tonight to discuss better governance.

Meanwhile, according to Alex Scott at least, the eyes of the world will be watching the machinations at Devonshire Rec. Hector doubts whether wars will grind to a halt in order not to miss a moment of the leadership battle — but he does think it is a more enticing prospect than another Wayne Furbert speech.The modern-day equivalent of the ducking stool seemed to be operating in Magistrates’ Court this week. When the temperamental air conditioning unit in Court One went on the blink, it started dripping water on one irate defendant waiting for a traffic case to be dealt with. Hector was unsure whether the fines she was later ordered to pay left her cold, or whether the defendant was still suffering from the impromptu soaking.When it comes to great locations for an afternoon out of the office Deepdale doesn’t particularly show up on Hector’s radar, not when there’s so many licensed premises with open doors to be found in town. But still, he can understand why a jury couped up in scintillating surrounds of Supreme Court number one for five days might wish to escape to the great outdoors even if the only option is an afternoon excursion to the Back of Town.

So he can’t blame them for passing a note to the judge asking for time-out to experience the sights and sounds of Deepdale so they might better acquaint themselves with the locale of an alleged attempted murder.

But is Deepdale such a no-go area nowadays that even with the safety-in-numbers entourage of a jury of 12, five lawyers, a judge and escorting Police officers they should stay cocooned in mini vans for as much of the time as possible?

Or was Crown Counsel Carrington Mahoney<$> simply trying save his courtroom colleagues from too much exertion when he suggested the court party got out of the vans at “one-way” Deepdale to look around and reboard the vans to be driven all of 100 metres to Parsons Road to disembark at another trial location?

Why not just get out and stroll the whole way? It seems Acting Chief Justice Norma Wade-Miller <$>was reading Hector’s mind when she asked Mr. Mahoney: “Are you afraid we’ll get clobbered?”