October 9, 2003

Dear Sir,

Belittling someone in order to silence him or her only shows the weakness of one's own argument. The biggest hole in Mr. Rolfe Commissiong's argument, as voiced in today's paper, is his obvious lack of understanding of modern women's issues.

For the desire to be represented as a group does not automatically fit into what he called, "white middle-class feminist ideology". Rather, it is part of a greater human desire to have a voice. The fact that black men have been oppressed in this society is not made insignificant when another group, in this case women, voice their own dissatisfaction. These women are asking for female representatives to work along with men - not to replace them entirely.

In attempting to silence women in the name of justice, he has in fact committed a new injustice. Thus the cycle will continue until we are all willing to: firstly, treat each other with basic respect and secondly, acknowledge that the best government would have representatives from all sections of the community.

Yes, I'm a black woman!

KRISTY WARREN

Hamilton Parish

Going underground

October 9, 2003

Dear Sir,

After hearing about Mr. Belco's moan about the cost of putting the cables underground, I thought about moaning about the meat I had to throw out due to having no electricity. Eating cold dinners, dipping water to have cold baths, plus the fact that I have two very young children to look after. How do you keep milk cold without electricity for the fridge? How do you heat it up without electricity for the stove?

I live in an area that when someone sneezes, we lose electricity. But I decided not to moan but to think of a solution. The one I thought of was that Belco need to put their cable underground, so does BTC and CableVision. Why not work together? Then the price would be one third to each of you.

If someone doesn't want their wires underground from the street to their house, put a pole on their boundary run, the wires and charge them for the pole. I hope you see where I am going with this. As an educated person, you should be able to figure out the rest.

COMMON SENSE

Connections with Cuba

October 3, 2003

Dear Sir,

Some thoughts on the ongoing Cuban discussions.

There has been much discussion about Bermuda's cultural agreement with Cuba, I would just like to point out to those who oppose this agreement that if they truly believe that this jeopardises the ties between Bermuda and the US then I believe they are sorely mistaken. I do not believe that Bermuda's ties to the US are closer than the ties between the US and the Bahamas, primarily because of the Bahamas' proximity to the US (50 miles separate Bimini and South Florida). Yet the Bahamas, like most other Caribbean nations has fairly close ties with Cuba. So much so that there are Bahamian students studying medicine in Cuba on scholarship, so much so that many Bahamians go to Cuba for medical treatment and some of the local health insurance companies have considered, are considering or have formed network relationships with Cuban medical providers.

If these persons truly believes that Bermuda establishing relations with Cuba will be detrimental to Bermuda's existence maybe they need to take a trip to Cuba to see that although the US Government has an embargo on Cuba there are more Americans visiting Cuba than anyone would admit to. Canada is not only the next-door neighbour of the US but the two countries make up the North American continent and the US is Canada's largest trading partner but Canada and Cuba have very close economic ties. The same could be said for Mexico and the other Latin American countries. Virtually every nation in the Caribbean has ties with Cuba. Likewise, many European countries have close ties with Cuba.

If these people believe that the US is going to single out Bermuda for having a cultural exchange agreement with Cuba then I believe they are sorely mistaken. What economic benefit does a cultural exchange with Bermuda have for Cuba? Further, what economic benefit could Cuba possibly derive from any relationship with Bermuda whose total annual budget is smaller than the net worth of those persons on Forbes annual list of billionaires?

I would ask those who oppose this agreement to read the following excerpts so that they have a better understanding of what the world outside the US believes, because unlike what many believe, there is a world outside the US. These excerpts are taken from a March 14, 2001 article written by Kathleen Parker of the Chicago Tribune:

"It's hard not to notice that Americans are all over Cuba and, parenthetically, that the Helms-Burton Act and the US embargo are ineffectual. Despite our best efforts to strangle the Cuban economy, some 150 other nations are enjoying normal trade relations and business associations with Cuba.

"The only person, in fact, who seems to benefit from our Draconian policies is Fidel Castro.

"…increasing numbers of Americans are ignoring our policies. No one knows how many Americans visit the island illegally, or at least no one's saying.

"Cuba doesn't stamp American passports and welcomes anyone who's friendly. The unspoken understanding, bothersome to one's sense of patriotism if not to common sense, is that US policies toward Cuba aren't worthy of respect or allegiance."

If there are any comments on these excerpts I would welcome them as there are many more where these came from. The dissenters say that Bermuda earns its living from the US, well I hate to tell you this but that applies to most of the world. It has been mentioned that Fidel Castro has committed serious human rights abuses. Was it not inhumane for the US armed forces to flatten Afghanistan while looking for one man or more recently what the US forces did in Iraq because of the lies as told by George Bush and Tony Blair that Iraq was harbouring weapons of mass destruction? Is it not inhumane to operate a policy that accepts Cuban exiles and gives them automatic US citizenship yet returning nearly every Haitian exile to Haiti, where economic conditions are significantly worse than Cuba?

I have a few final questions for those detractors. "Why are the US embargoes on Cuba in place? Are they there because Cuba has a Communist regime? If so, why was there never an embargo on the former Soviet Union? If so, why is China a major trading partner of the US? The embargoes were put in place after the CIA's failed paramilitary invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs during April, 1961. Could this embarrassment not be the real reason for the embargoes? What have these embargoes accomplished? Nothing, as 40 years later Fidel Castro is still in place and Cuba is still surviving.

Clearly the excerpts from the newspaper article presented above show that Cuba has many more trading partners than the US Government will admit to and they also show that many US citizens themselves do not respect the embargoes that are in place by their own country.

GUILDEN M. GILBERT, JR.

Nassau, Bahamas

Offensive comments

October 9, 2003

Dear Sir,

Rolfe Commissiong should be thanking his lucky stars that Bermudian politicians do not face the same intense scrutiny by the media as those in the US or England after his statements regarding the lack of women named to the Senate.

Mr. Commissiong's comments about the feminist movement and about Bermudian women are so offensive that there would be calls for his resignation - if he held an elected office, that is. It is hardly a "middle-class white feminist" interest exclusively to have women represented at all levels of government; that is in the best interest of all women, and all of society.

Democracy works only when all citizens have a voice. In this case, 50 percent of the demographic is completely missing from the picture. What entitles Mr. Commissiong to speak on behalf of Bermuda's black women, I am not sure. But I do know that even without the help of black Bermudian men, there are other structures systemic sexism in place that have forced the same problems on women worldwide - inequality in the workplace and business world, inadequate research into women's health issues, lack of political influence, and physical and sexual abuse, for starters. Then again, I am no expert on black Bermudian women and the "prism of their unique history and culture".

Mr. Commissiong clearly is. I am certain then that Bermudian women, especially those of African descent, will be overwhelmed with joy by the news that they are not an oppressed people. This will allow them to stop pursuing equality and to devote all the time they want for cooking, shopping and having babies.

ANDY SMITH

Warwick

Hurricane and hardship

September 30, 2003

Dear Sir,

This year my wife and I made our annual trip to Bermuda from September 14 to 19. Hurricane Fabian was a disaster. We did admire the hard work and determination of the Bermuda people to put their homes, businesses and services back in good order.

The strike by the Union was an additional hardship to both Bermudians and visitors. The strike was poor judgment by the Union leaders. A labour strike should be the last resort and not the first option.

We look forward to seeing the Island in good repair on our next visit.

WALTER & GERALDINE KNECHT

Yardley, Pennsylvania

Ban on dog breeds

October 9, 2003

Dear Sir,

There has been a lot of talk in your tabloid about the present ban on specific dog breeds.

I do not think I have to voice my opinion on that subject at this time, but I will make one suggestion. The people of Bermuda must ask themselves, are our two political parties serious about dog control in our country?

Point being, both parties put together dog committees (the most recent being June, 2001) whose excellent recommendations to date have not been considered.

I also want to make mention that specific breed banning was not in either of the reports.

How do I know? I was a member of both committees.

CHARLES BUTTERFIELD

Dog Trainer

Hamilton Parish

Special delivery

October 6, 2003

Dear Sir,

This is a big thank you letter to the bus driver operating the number seven 8.20 bus from Dockyard on Thursday, October 2.

My mum and I were travelling from Dockyard - I reside in Sandys and my mum is here on holiday and is staying by the Somerset Bridge.

It was dark and raining and she was unsure of the stop and went quite a way past. After alerting the driver he tried to intercom a bus going back to Somerset Bridge with no success. He then proceeded out in the pouring rain with an umbrella to flag down a taxi - eventually a Police car stopped and delivered my mum home safe and sound. So to the bus driver and two Police officers - thanks again!

SHARON CUMMINS

Sandys Parish