Have times changed?

October 6, 2006

Dear Sir,

It has been some time since I last went to the Paraquet Restaurant but when I went recently I was quite surprised to see printed on my check their ?helpful tips? ? this refers to gratuities for their staff which they suggest at 16 percent, 20 percent or 25 percent. I thought in Bermuda it was usually 15 percent but obviously times have changed!

Do the right thing

October 13, 2006

Dear Sir,

The government is getting ready to rob us again, and there will be nothing we can do about it. I read with dismay an article in the Mid Ocean News of October 6 about the possibility of ?public-private? financing for the proposed new hospital. There was not much information given, but Ms Cox is quoted as saying that ?there are many details yet to be finalised?. The reporter suggests that these details may involve the new building being owned by the private sector and leased back to the government. If this is the business structure that the government is proposing then the potential for abuse is too great for Bermudians to accept.

We are not talking about a short-term lease for temporary office space. We are talking about a life-long commitment to pay rent to a few individuals in the amount of tens of millions of dollars. The owners of the hospital will probably be selected by the Cabinet. The terms of the contract will probably be negotiated by the Cabinet, behind closed doors (note the closed door negotiations with ProActive). No responsible, fair government would put itself into such a compromising position.

When you have a government such as we currently have, which has been shown to negligent in protecting the public purse (BHC, Berkeley), with leaders who intentionally lie (?we had to mislead you?) there is a great risk that they will swing the deal to favour themselves and their friends, to the detriment of Bermudians for the next few generations.

Am I being alarmist? Surely this cannot happen? Let me ask you this; if your next door neighbour borrowed your car and smashed it up, would you lend it to them again? If they borrowed money from you and did not pay it back (like taking your taxes and then losing it or spending it on themselves), would you lend money to them again? If you are not a sucker then tell these players that they have got to stop messing with our future. Do the RIGHT thing Bermudians. It does not matter if you are white, black, other, or any of the other five categories; if you have honour, then you will know what to do.

Punishment fits the crime

October 13, 2006

Dear Sir,

I would just like to comment on the situation concerning the two Americans being jailed for assault. I would like to say it?s about time. Violence has been on the rise for a while and these people need to learn that we the community are not going to tolerate this. The fact that the two Americans have families is irrelevant to their actions and the judge was right in their sentencing. Its not rocket science; don?t do the crime if you can?t do the time. Oh but they have families! Well boohoo, tear tear. I?m sure over half of the people in jail have families.

Criminals never think about their families when they are doing the crime. The rest of the Americans families should look at this experience as a learning lesson. When visiting a different country, do not break someone?s jaw and expect nothing to happen. The big problem is with one of the accused fathers, claiming that Bermuda is a much worse place to smash someone else?s face than ?Red China?. It seems to me that if Mr. Donovan?s son was the one eating his food through a straw, three months would not be near enough punishment for the attacker. His son would be in the hospital, he could lose his job or home, think about his family?

I say let Mr. Donovan go back to the United States and scream until he turns blue. No one in their right mind will side with him and accuse Bermuda of being inhumane. The punishment fits the crime. The guilty parties pleaded guilty. They knew what they did was wrong and now they are being punished. Consider this an extended vacation, or a life lesson not soon forgotten.

Too many question marks

October 16, 2006

Dear Sir,

With regard to your article in , October 11, 2006, ?Showdown Looms - Scott vs Brown? ? isn?t Dr. Brown one of the persons who was deemed ?unethical but not illegal? in the BHC scandal? And, was he not the Minister who after the last election, boldly and proudly said he had to (as he now states ?mislead?, which is a nicer sounding word than lie) ?deceive? the people in order to win that election? In my dictionary, the word ?mislead? means to ? lead astray; to delude; to lie; to deceive; to hoodwink etc. so whether or not he said mislead or lie, they are the same.

It?s like misappropriation of funds. Misappropriation sounds much better than stealing. It?s more sophisticated. Then there?s the word ?unethical?! This word sounds better than ?unprincipled; immoral; corrupt; dishonourable; depraved? and so on! Mr. Editor, if Dr. Brown does win the Premiership position, I want it to be known here and now, that I, the undersigned, do not want a person who is deemed ?unethical but not illegal? ? and, who is also a confessed liar, as my Premier!

Granted Dr. Brown is a very intelligent man who does get things done ? but when it comes to being leader of this country, if successful, I feel there is some hidden agenda of his that he will be bringing forward. I don?t think he had a change of heart in pursuing the leadership, because as he said in his resignation speech, he has wanted this ever since he was a little boy!

Unfortunately, Dr. Brown has too many question marks behind him and as a leader that could be dicey. So can we believe what he had to say in his resignation speech, or do we have to ask the question, ?Has he ?misled? us again??

Revamp parking policy

October 10, 2006

Dear Sir,

While looking at my newspaper, I took note of the plan for terraced parking at the proposed new hospital. I think the time for outside parking at high use buildings in Bermuda is at an end. The hospital should have a parking building. It need not look like one. It may be combined with some other functional building either above or underground. I say this because acres of land are devoted to parking in an island which is short of land space. Compare also the present parking system at the hospital. Would not a parking building have made more sense?

A chance was missed when the Rockaway ferry parking was built to put in a proper parking building with easy access to the ferry. Older drivers would have been spared that horrendous climb up the hill to the parking lots. Ferry parking should remain free. The public transportation system needs to be subsidised if car usage is to be reduced.

There is one other observation to be made about providing a building for parking. We would expect a fee to be charged when subsidised public use is not in view, but we would not expect the parking building at a public facility to be regarded as a cash cow. I resent paying a dollar at the airport for out side parking.

That fee could easily have been 25 cents and that should be enough to pay for all costs associated with running the parking lot. Similarly when Bermuda gets around to building appropriate parking buildings the fees charged should be enough to cover efficient running expenses and to recover capital costs over a quite long period of time. There should be no plan for parking to make a contribution to profits. Does the Planning Department prevent hotels from making parking buildings? I hope not. Should it be so hard to get convenient parking at a hotel function for a large group of people?

Where is ?zero tolerance??

October 10, 2006

Dear Sir,

Front page October 10, 2006 ?Pizza Boss Feels Immigration Heat?. they broke the law, now we?ll see if the Minister of Labour, Home Affairs & Public Safety really means ?zero tolerance?.

Greaves showed restraint

October 21, 2006

Dear Sir,

As a Bermudian living in Boston, I would just like to say that after reading all the letters from so many Americans supporting the imprisonment of Donovan and Pontieri for their brutal crime, I am very proud of my fellow American friends. I am also proud of Justice Greaves for doing the right thing and making sure everyone understands that malicious criminals will be treated this way. In fact I believe this type of crime should deserve a longer sentence so I think Justice Greaves showed a lot of restraint.

Another victim in this case are the children. Yes, they will be affected by the deplorable actions of their fathers. Hopefully Mr. Donovan Sr. will stop wasting his money on travelling to Bermuda and instead use it to help the children get through this as best they can. Thank you Americans and thank you Justice Greaves.

Roads kill, not speed

October 10, 2006

Dear Sir,

As we witnessed the loss of yet another young man, Bermuda?s tenth road fatality. It put me in position to write this letter. I knew all three young men from ?da Eastside?; St. George?s. Why must everyone, and I mean everyone, blame these accidents on speeding instead of the real culprit: Ministry of Works & Engineering and Invisible Trenching. Bermuda?s roads are totally to blame for most of the fatalities we see on our roads in the past few years. Shocked are we, Bermuda! Why, look where young Derick Paynter Jr. died on Ferry Reach Corner. If you remember a few years ago we lost a tourist on the same corner, and I guarantee he was not speeding. Like Kevan Foggo, many people have slid out on motorbikes at that same location, I myself have been one.

Our roads do not stay consistent, and what I mean by that is, the surface of our asphalt. For 20 yards it is rough, then smooth, then large gravel in the asphalt. Then on top of that, you have trenching that does not get packed down properly. What is it, nobody from the Road Safety Council notices this? Take a slow drive anywhere in Bermuda and tell me where you do not find what I?ve talked about. If someone done a survey of the conditions of our roads, they would be surprised at the results.

What is up with the centre lines? You mean after nearly 50 years, I guess, we still can not find a nonslippery paint for the centre lines. Try stopping a bike on a wet or damp centre line and see how far you slide. As a matter of interest, you can run and stop in these same conditions and watch how far you slide under your own running power. So, Bermuda at times speeding maybe a factor in our road fatalities, but you must also look at our roads as well. I would say 90 percent of the accidents on bikes happen from our roads and the conditions they are in. The conditions are; poor, below average, in a nutshell. They suck! Lets fix this problem ? now!

Think I am lying? Take a survey yourself and use this as a guide: a.) How many trench lines do you see in our roads that are lower than the height of the pavement? b. ) As you drive, how many times does the texture of the asphalt change? c.) How slippery is the centre line in our roads?