An inherent right

October 1, 2008

Dear Sir,

As a minor shareholder in The Bermuda Press, and intellectually disabled, I wholly approve of Adrian Robson's and Tim Hodgson's right of free speech, and to poke fun at members of the legislature and the bureaucracy. They should be given a raise in pay.

Ms Furbert mentioned in a recent letter to the Editor, that freedom of speech "is a right granted" to each Bermudian and non-Bermudian. She is wrong, perhaps spending too long in that hotbed of reaction, the Bermuda College, which in my opinion is a great opponent of free speech.

No one is "granted" the right to say what they want; it is an inherent right of everyone, subject only to the laws of libel and slander. The Bermuda Government does not "grant" anyone the right of freedom of speech despite many recent dictatorial examples to the contrary.

Perhaps she should check the Common Law, the Bermuda Constitution, and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Or maybe she believes in dictatorship.

ROBERT STEWART

Smith's

The power of words

September 30, 2008

Dear Sir,

I must respectfully protest your newspaper's choice of words for the article headline, yesterday, "Another Black Monday," concerning the recent nose-dive of US markets.

While I doubt your paper meant any deliberate offence, editors in the modern era of equality should shun newsy expressions like "Black Monday", "blackball", "blacklist", "black-hearted", "black sheep" "dark horse", "blackmail", "black market," "black mark", and "black magic", especially when one considers how "good magic" and "good witches" have been called "white", and the way little or inconsequential lies have been called mere "white lies".

Those phrases are examples of how institutionalised racism affects our language, and how it can reflect back upon people who hear it and unconsciously form racist opinions about "black" people in the minds of all people, black, white, yellow, red and brown. Subtle use of language can erode society's best efforts to defeat racism – unconscious racism, by going so often un-noticed, can do more harm than deliberately cruel discrimination (which, being visible, can be much easier to confront and overcome). Many white progressive citizens publicly disavow racism, yet continue to participate in institutional racism, never realising it, by hearing and repeating poor language choices – and many of those people would stop if they were led by wordsmiths like the writers and editors of your paper.

I know that historical Monday stock crashes were referred to as "Black Mondays", but they could and should have been called something else, and we can change any future expressions. In other cases, substitutions are easy: what we used to call "black markets" can now be called underground markets, and what used to be called "blackmail" can now be called "extortion" instead.

Your newspaper has struggled recently to keep the trust among Bermudians of African descent, in part due to allegations of racism. At this point, a legitimate criticism of government levied by The Royal Gazette is likely to be dismissed as racist; in the future, with more careful word choice, your paper may achieve greater credibility when making non-racist queries into government mis-steps.

A formal effort to remove cases of unconsciously racist language (perhaps by hiring in a scholar of Linguistics or Black Studies) could go a long way towards healing generations of damage inflicted upon societal attitudes about race, and may improve relations with government and the community at large.

We as a society may disagree on whether or not "Black Power" should be expressed angrily or with forgiveness. By being more conscious of our language, we can increase "People Power" for all.

ALAN L. GORDON

St. David's

Not the final word

September 23, 2008

This letter was sent to Commissioner of Police George Jackson and copied to The Royal Gazette.

Dear Commissioner Jackson:

I have reviewed the following quote, attributed to you, from The Royal Gazette.

"They are not here as investigators but to give us advice. It is a standard practice in all police environments that you will have some come band look at your procedures, especially when you have cases that have progressed to a certain stage and you have to see if you have missed anything.

"We are just looking for some additional input as to whether there are any more possible productive lines of inquiry, because a case isn't closed until there is some resolution to it."

Rebecca Middleton, the 17-year-old Canadian tourist raped and murdered in 1996, is not however among those cases being re-examined.

"This was dealt with in the Judicial Review and processes already", said Mr. Jackson.

"We are looking at other murders, unsolved murders that have not been brought before the courts. It is the most recent ones such as Jason Lightbourne, and any other one we feel we need to look at."

I am appalled that you would consider a lower court decision the final word, or refuse to review any killing in which no one has been charged with murder, and in particular the murder of the child who was in my care, Rebecca Middleton.

This is standard practice in developed countries, and expected as part of good governance — and Bermuda's obligation as a territory of the United Kingdom, which is a member of the United Nations Security Council, with obligations to the European Court of Human Rights, also cited by Bermuda's Human Rights Law.

To decline to review Rebecca's murder and to use the Ground judicial review is dishonest, and we cannot let that stand. Assumedly therefore if the family and friends had not gathered the funds to pay for the appeal you would have included it on the list. This is not acceptable.

You may be aware that I have contacted the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as has Rebecca's mother, Cindy Bennett, regarding the continued accountability of Bermuda to hold Rebecca's murderers responsible and for the integrity of the judicial process that has occurred and will occur in the future. I will be happy to provide copies of those letters, if requested.

FREDERICK P. (RICK) MEENS

Southampton

Time to tighten belts

September 24, 2008

Dear Sir,

It's over a year now since the US started into the mortgage mess, which has now evolved into the current credit crisis and the subsequent downfall of major institutions such as Lehman Brothers and most recently AIG.

It was with some comfort that I read today the interview with the chief executive of the Bank of Butterfield stating that the bank is in good shape financially notwithstanding the meltdown on Wall Street and elsewhere.

I suspect that the Bank of Bermuda with its deep-pocketed parent HSBC is also in good shape.

However I am curious and concerned as to the state of the financial reserves of the Bermuda Government. The question I have is how much if anything has been lost? Perhaps the Finance Minister could give us an update together with an action plan to address any losses.

Bermudas two economic pillars are under threat. Tourism numbers will continue to drop given the deepening US recession and international business has recently warned that belt tightening is already happening.

On top of that under the likely Obama presidency international business might also come under considerable pressure to relocate. Our national debt is also at a record level. Would it not be wise right now to pull in our horns and/or gird our loins and immediately reconsider current spending plans? I know that this is politically unpalatable but I think it's a prudent course to follow.

ALBERT SODERGREN

Devonshire

Keep your promises

September 24, 2008.

Dear Sir,

I write in response to a letter from Give Us A Break in yesterday's issue.

I cannot speak for all St. Georgians; however I'm sure I will speak for many in answering the question "what does St. George's want?" Simply we want the truth; not promises to meet unachievable deadlines and empty assurances from politicians and civil servants. Above all we would like the feeling that our concerns, care and passion for St. George's is taken seriously, or even appreciated. St. George's and its surrounding fortifications are, after all, a World Heritage Site. This is by no means an insignificant designation by UNESCO and should not be taken lightly or for granted by anyone in Bermuda.

Sadly events have proven otherwise. We have been promised a Police station since the last election; the third promised date for completion will soon pass. We have been promised increased police presence, yet see little evidence. We were promised the rubble from the old Club Med would be removed using only 5 cubic yard trucks, travelling at 15m.p.h. through the town, covered with tarpaulins in 43 days. We were promised that there would be no large tractor trailers involved.

I, like most Bermudians, am glad to see the old hotel demolished and look forward to its replacement and the revitalising of the town that the new hotel will likely bring. I, as did many St. Georgians, make suggestions for alternate means of removing or disposing of the rubble from the hotel demolition and was willing to accept the arguments against these suggestions as impractical or not cost effective. It is the understanding and practicality we all share that makes all the recent hollow promises so difficult to accept.

Clearly to have the Police station reopened within a number of weeks as promised in the lead up to the last election was unachievable. Clearly the promised removal technique as promised in a recent town information meeting prior to the demolition of the hotel was impractical. A far more useful and positive approach would be to provide accurate and open information and produce practical time lines at the outset so that these promises are not seen as hollow. We would then have much more faith in what our government and municipal leaders are telling us and be far less cynical in our reactions. In turn this would encourage a greater level of cooperation and support from us all.

MARTIN BROWN

St. George's

Term limits at lower end

September 22, 2008

Dear Sir,

I fully realise that government are considering this whole matter at this present time. However most of the media attention has been focused upon those expatriates at the top end of the scale of employment, with little attention being paid to those at the lower end. Among those in the latter category are those who are employed in the horticultural industry, that is so vital to the preservation of this Island's beauty.

I refer especially to those employees who come from the Azores. They have given this Island and our general economy so much strength in the past that we ignore them at our peril. It has come to my attention that many of them are nearing the term limit of six years and their employers are receiving notification that their contracts will not be renewed.

This is causing stress and anxiety in the industry, for many of these industrious workers will not be easily replaced. The cost of doing business will undoubtedly increase and the ability to complete work within current time frames will be virtually impossible to meet.

In addition I have every reason to believe that workers in this category are not allowed to bring their spouse and children with them. If this is the case and I say this with full regard for the social strain and liability placed upon our education system, that this is an affront to Human Rights, and needs to be challenged.

DON MOORE

Smith's

Teach foreign languages

September 29, 2008

Dear Sir,

This letter was recently sent to the Teacher Talk Radio show email, and I'd also like to share it with the public now.

Hello teachers,

What do you folks think about having basic foreign languages taught in elementary school?

This could start at about eight to nine years of age for two years, until they enter Middle School, and then continue from there throughout school?

In Bermuda the vast majority of us know only one language, except si, oui, non etc. It is unfair in today's so called advanced society of Bermuda, with international businesses here, Us going college, us traveling worldwide that we must submit our students to only one language while so young. I feel the enthusiasm for learning, learning better & more should start at the primary school age instead of in later middle school, or senior school.

Your experienced viewpoints would be much appreciated.

ROGER & OUT

City of Hamilton

A simple solution

September 25, 2008

Dear Sir,

I hate to put the kibosh on Mr. Gibbons' brilliant idea to revamp Bermuda's postal code system. Now I'm all for facilitating Internet shopping (you need only ask my husband) but surely there are simpler ways …

My tried and true method is to simply add zeros before the Bermuda post code to ensure the magical five digit quota is met. Young Gordy need only enter "00DV03" and his packages will be sent off quicker than he receives his confirmation e-mail.

It's not a big gubment solution but it works every time!

WORKAROUND

Warwick 00WK10