October 21, 2002

Dear Sir,

On Sunday, October 20, I was once again faced with a situation that I feel is unwarranted, unfair and just plain disgusting. On arriving at the public dock at Jew's Bay, Southampton I was immediately struck by the stench of rotten fish. Distributed over the dock were clumps of fish scales and other remains. Having access to an inexhaustible supply of water, would it not be more civic minded to dip a bucket overboard and wash down the dock? I must say that most public docks in the western end of the island have been plagued with this thoughtlessness. Hopefully those responsible will modify their behaviour and remember that our public docks are for the convenience and enjoyment of all.

SCUBA DIVER

Sandys Parish

October 16, 2002

Dear Sir,

Mr. A Sherwall truly has a problem. As an Anglo-Saxon Bermudian, I do wish we could give him more comfort in his debilitating and recurring “health” problem, from which, I'm sorry to say, there is no known cure. But I may be forgiven for suggesting one very old possible “relief” trick that will at least diffuse some of the excessive irritation? Use an old bag, hang it on a tree's low-lying branch, make sure the word “America” is clearly written on it - then punch it freely and frequently! Daily application is best. Good luck!

ELA

Pembroke

October 19, 2002

Dear Sir,

Has Donald Rumsfeld joined the editorial board of the Gazette? “Terror Everywhere” (Editorial, Page 4, October 18, 2002) is indistinguishable from the most neurotic Pentagon briefing. I doubt there is a single resident who agrees with the “Bali today, Bermuda tomorrow” hysteria of this embarrassing editorial. Maybe such paranoid rubbish plays well in the White House and 10 Downing St. but the Editor will have to do far better than this to persuade us that a small wealthy island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean without a foreign policy or sectarian antagonisms is a “ripe target” for al Qaeda.

Can we please put events in context? Bali is part of Indonesia, a country seething with al Qaeda sympathisers not to mention disgruntled nationalists who despise Australia for intervening in East Timor. Does this sound remotely like Bermuda? Undeflected by the peculiarities of the tragedy in Bali, the Editor seeks enlightenment in the mindless truisms of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette: “And it is only the world stage that provides the international dimension.”

We are then warned that our “enviable standard of living” is in fact an Achilles' heel in the “war on terrorism”. Instead of parroting discredited American foreign policy articles of faith, the editor might consider precisely what sort of material envy drives a multi-millionaire and his disciples to dwell and die in the caves of Afghanistan.

The Editor then goes on to defend this weekend's anti-terrorist jamboree with the perplexing suggestion that, despite increased airline security on both sides of the Atlantic, hijacked airplanes may soon flock to Bermuda. This bears an eerie similarity to the so-called urgent need to attack Iraq; no one is able to answer the question; Why now? We are told simply that we have to be “ready for any sort of terrorist incident”. All that is missing is an open invitation for the American military to re-occupy the former bases. “Terror Everywhere's” hallucinations are, frankly, terrifying.

Please stop the scaremongering, Mr. Editor. The public money should be spent on realistic anti-terrorist measures such as combating money laundering and tackling the 100 HP extremists oblivious to oncoming traffic.

VERITAS

City of Hamilton

October 10, 2002

Dear Sir,

Please allow me to send my Halloween-greetings to my young friends in Bermuda. Many years ago, after becoming a resident in Bermuda, I was introduced to the custom of Halloween by finding green bananas on my front steps. After I complained about those bananas to my dear friend Trina, she explained to me the Trick or Treat habits of Halloween. Since then I was prepared to welcome my young visitors in our home in Fairylands and I enjoyed their Halloween visits very much. Dear young friends - today I would like to share a few memories with you and I hope that your parents will show you my letter to the editor. There was this visit of a beautiful boy of three years old who had all these plastic tools hanging around his hip. He went straight through my study to the toilet, telling me: “I am the handy man!”

In another year my first visitors were three girls and their little brother of about four years. This was the year I had white pearl necklaces, earrings and matching bracelets on my display. For boys I usually had small metal cars, fire trucks, etc. The girls decided to get the sets with the pearls. I was very surprised to learn from the little boy, that he wanted them as well. No fire truck, no ambulance - just pearls! When I asked him, why, he told me: “They are for my mom. She sits out there in the car. I love her so!”

In the first year I just placed all gifts on a table - unattended. The little guests knew just to take one piece. But then came a group of about six teens. And when I realised that they just emptied my display, I ran after them, stopping a girl who hesitantly came back. I told her that the group did not steal from me, but from the children who would come later. Embarrassed she ran away. A few minutes later she came back with a handful of gifts, explaining that the boys were not willing to give some of the gifts back. Dear young lady: you must be about 26 or 27 years by now. I cannot tell you, how proud I was about your stamina and courage to take on your peer group, doing the right thing. Thank you.

There was the year, when I gave away modern classical music on CDs. As you can imagine, that is not to the liking of everybody, so I always gave a little warning. A young boy asked me whether I would play it for him, because he only liked music that gave him goose bumps. After listening for a while, he showed me his forearms - and sure enough - there were goose bumps! As I later learned, Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Legere used this music for a ballet performance in City Hall.

Once a beautiful Pharaoh, dressed in white with a golden snake on his forehead, visited our place. At that time a C was playing in the background with American-Indian flute music. He asked me what kind of strange music it was. When I told him that it was native Indian music he looked at me in disbelief: “Are you a native Indian? ” There are many more such stories, but this letter would become too long. So please let me greet you, my dear young friends. I will cherish these memories for the rest of my life, although I am no longer living in Bermuda and cannot welcome you to my home any more. Have a pleasant and safe Halloween. Thank you again for your visits. My best wishes to all of you!

CISELA BIERMANN

Switzerland

October 21, 2002

Dear Sir,

I refer to your headline “Police Service forced to recruit from overseas”, Royal Gazette, Saturday October 19, 2002, in paragraphs two and three: “Government said efforts to attract just locals would not be enough to maintain the force's roster of 436 officers as officers retire, resign or get sacked... Terry Lister said: ‘It's clear to us that, on examination of the recruiting figures for the past seven years, local recruiting continues to fall short of the numbers actually required to sustain the effective operations of the Police Service'.”

This is news? This is not news. This is typical Government, finally admitting what has been public knowledge for years. Mind you, let's be fair here. Anyone remember General Election time 1993? Around two dozen overseas Policemen, all of whom had served here for at least five years, and had all served in other jurisdictions before they came here, were conveniently “axed” as a cost-cutting exercise at the end of their existing five-year contracts, and were not replaced.

Why not? Did the Government of the day suddenly find some radical new command structure which allowed them to chuck away over 200 years of accumulated experience just like that? If so, nobody's made it public. Let's hear it straight from the top: What is the problem with recruiting experienced Police Officers from overseas? I'm not holding my breath waiting for a sensible answer.

DAVIE KERR

St. George's>