Wish for 2011January 3, 2011Dear Sir,Happy New Year !Last year, 2010 was full of economic problems, and violence. My prayer and hope for Bermuda is to eradicate the evil and violence that is destroying this Island. I pray that the Island will see a major change that will make violence a thing of the past.The Island needs the community to come together, and I hope that with the New Year, this will come.ERON HILLBermuda InstituteGovernment resolutionsJanuary 3, 2011Dear Sir,I have no resolutions for myself as I am already perfect in every way possible. I have however made a few New Year's Resolutions on behalf of our Government.1. Be honest about what went wrong with the economy. Stop the lies so we know what we have to fix.2. Listen to Bermudians, not foreign consultants. We each know our part in society and know what is wrong within our little country. We also cost a lot less.3. Live within the reducing means of the taxpayer. We cannot afford the spendthrift ways of the last six years.4. Keep your promise and reduce spending by at least $150 million in 2011.5. Start working for the long term benefit of Bermuda, not the short term political gains that fiascos such as FutureCare have reaped.6. Stop being so secretive to avoid unnecessarily harmful headlines about yet more underhanded Government deals with their close friends.7. Cut the Civil Service pay and benefits, including pension, so that those who serve the public are not better off than those they are supposed to serve.8. Avoid buying expensive, complicated machines that cannot be maintained properly on Island. For example, hire Bermudians to clean our roads.9. Make prison inmates or their relatives and friends pay for their accommodation, first class health care and food. Why should society pay twice for their crimes?10. Introduce training and help where needed, with incentives to convince prison inmates that returning to Westgate is a bad idea.11. Take action on drugs. Either decriminalise to eliminate the street profits, a primary cause of recent violence, or seriously go after those who import with impunity.12. Employ better prosecution counsel to ensure that the defence lawyers, whom the taxpayer often pays, do not continually outclass them in court13. Find some way to make defence lawyers accept moral responsibility at least for putting known guilty people back on the street.14. Tell us who owns the company that built the new police/courts building that isn't even big enough for senior police officers to have a few square feet.This is silly, I could go on for weeks adding to what I believe the Government should do. It could probably be summarised in one short sentence.Do what is best for all of Bermuda and her people…….and get us out of the unbelievable mess you have got us into.Hoping for a safer, healthier and more prosperous 2011 for all of Bermuda's People.POND DOGGEPembrokeWell done, Miss ThangJanuary 3, 2011Dear Sir,I would like to congratulate the radio hostess “Miss Thang” on her award from the Queen. She has earned it and she most definitely deserves it. Keep up the good work, “Miss Thang”. Her efforts for some of the unfortunate kids this Christmas was very kind hearted and an effort that didn't go unseen by Bermudians, foreigners, but most of all God.I hope that she continues the good work and I hope she is successful with her future endeavours because she is more than capable of achieving her goals.ERON HILLBermuda InstituteAirplane left without themDecember 30, 2010Dear Sir,On December 16, my parents, who are in their mid-80s, arrived in Bermuda from the US to visit my family and me for Christmas. This is at least their 20th trip to Bermuda in the 19 years that I have lived here. I tell my friends that the very best thing I ever did for my parents was to marry my Bermudian husband Richard, whom they love dearly. They are wonderfully lively and energetic people. Many of my friends and relatives jokingly remark that they enjoy my parents better than the two of us.My parents also enjoy Bermuda. They have been unofficial ambassadors of Bermuda in a lot of ways. During their visits over the years, they have purchased and given as gifts tons of pink sand, pints of rum and sherry peppers, pounds of rum cake, yards of T-shirts, frame upon frame of paintings and prints, tiles, banana-leaf dolls, perfume, china, cedar and have consumed gallon upon gallon of fish chowder.They've stayed at most of Bermuda's larger hotels including Fairmont Southampton, Hamilton Princess, Sonesta and Elbow Beach Spa and Resort. They've stayed at smaller hotels including Surfside, Harmony Hall and Astwood Cove to name just a very few. They even stayed at Mermaid, when Mermaid was Mermaid.They've prayed for the safety of the people of Bermuda during Hurricanes Bertha, Bill, Fabian, Felix, Florence, Humberto, Igor, Karen and all the other ones whose names I cannot recall (but my mother can) …. My Dad, who is a long-serving member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, even suggested one year that his fraternity should hold their annual ‘conclave' in Bermuda …and they did, bringing hundreds of visitors to the island. My parents have wined and dined at The Waterlot, The Newport Room, The Lobster Pot, Port o' Call, Red Carpet, Henry's, The Reefs, Ascots, and Harbourfront to name just a few places. They enjoy hamburgers from Dorothy's, The Spot and Speciality. My mother thinks that Bermuda hamburgers are the best. They've sent countless numbers of their friends on cruises to Bermuda… They've supported my daughter and her schools by purchasing raffle tickets and by attending countless ballet and piano recitals, football matches, school musicals and other performances. They've donated money to local charities and churches.Even with the wind and the rain that many of us complained about over the Christmas and Boxing Day holiday, they remained upbeat, positive and simply very, very glad to be here, ‘in beautiful Bermuda' as my mother often says.They were scheduled to return to the US on Tuesday, December 28.On Monday evening, I checked them in “on-line” and printed out their boarding passes. We arrived at the airport well in advance of the two-hour check-in requirement (did I mention they are in their 80s?). And as usual, they checked in again at the counter, where their bags were weighed and my mom was given access to a wheelchair. My dad, who is a notoriously ‘big-tipper', did his thing and as customary, tipped the taxi driver, the sky cap, even the guy who pushed the wheelchair. We said our goodbyes and off they went or so I thought.Several hours later we received a call hoping it was from my parents saying they had arrived at their destination but, no. My mother and father were still at the Bermuda airport.Their USAir flight had departed without them!After returning to my home that evening, my parents explained that once inside the departure area, they were escorted to a waiting area and told that someone would come for them. Their boarding passes had been taken away, so they waited and listened and waited some more. But no one came for them.It was not until much later they were informed the plane had left without them!How could this happen, you may be wondering. Well, I'm wondering the same thing and I'm not nearly as nice as my parents. (I won't even get started on the implications to supposed airport security procedures which begs the question, who was sitting in their seats?)And they were understandably very upset. After all these years, they deserve much better treatment. I trust however that Mom and Dad will be back. I hope so. Our daughter graduates in May.My family and I really need them and love them. I think Bermuda needs them too. But what happened is inexcusable and a cause for alarm.N.B: Mom and Dad arrived home safely yesterday. Should anyone from the airline or from Tourism choose to respond, to react or even to apologise, my parents can be reached at wardjsward[AT]aol.com.JO-ANN PULLYPagetPoor airport treatmentDecember 4, 2010Dear Sir,I cannot comprehend the treatment of our senior citizens.My mother is 83 years old and although quite feisty she is a small person with several pins in her hip so walking is challenging, let alone lifting. She came home to Bermuda to visit for the Christmas holidays and other than some less than perfect weather had a wonderful time.That is until she arrived at LF Wade airport to return home. Checking in for departure was smooth and staff very courteous.Through US Customs with no problem. But then taking her bag to be screened she was made to lift it while several very healthy male and female staff stood and watched her struggle.They then proceeded to open her suitcase, rummaging through the contents, pulling items out and then standing there while she had to re-pack. At the next check point, the contents of both her handbag and carry-on were dumped out on the table. Is the staff at the airport that bored that they need to amuse themselves at an older person's expense?My mother was in tears when she called me later that evening. I just hope that in some point in their lives those persons that showed such disrespect have the same bestowed on them.Thanks for listening.DAUGHTERPembrokeMinister's backgroundJanuary 3, 2011Dear Sir,Today I had to smile when viewing this article in the first Royal Gazette of the year 2011; it was in reference to Health Minister Zane DeSilva selecting “healthy food to eat “ at Hamilton MarketPlace, where he'd been to encourage residents to get serious about their “health and fitness”.Now, don't get me wrong because I do support any suggestions referring (positively) to health issues but I was just curious in knowing if there had been any “Health Ministers” with medical background? Zane, I think your remarks and health tips are to be respected by many, if not all, who read the article in today's Royal Gazette, but I do feel (personally) a Health Minister should have a medical background.RAYMOND RAYSt. George'sOver the topDecember 31, 2010Dear Sir,Although you are a fan, Mr Editor of Sen Burch, he is considered over-domineering (I guess all military men are like that) in his comments in your newspaper last week about house fronting. His comments appear to be over the top and sound like political extortion to me!Just because the PLP has in the past engaged in racial extortion, it's not going to necessarily work with political extortion in today's Bermuda. It may backfire on him as well as the average Bermudian.It seems to me Mr Editor that expats also know how to use extortion and if we start down that long and dangerous road we may not be able to find our way back.CHARLES SPANSWICKCity of Hamilton