Carter's plea for peace

December 11, 2002

Dear Sir,

What we need in the world these days is peace!

Too bad Jimmy Carter is not running for president in 2004. He would know how to put an end to the Middle East crisis and end the senseless killing of children, 95 year old little old ladies, and mothers leaving children orphaned.

HANNI K. VON METZGER

Southampton

Where will we live?

December 9, 2002

Dear Sir,

Over the last ten to 15 years, I have often had the thought that this island was becoming too small for its inhabitants. Much has been said about the affluence of our society and the prosperity of our island due to the growth of international business. As a benefactor of this economy, I am not writing to burn my bridges, merely to point out that it is about time someone in Government recognised that if we continue to allow international businesses to create a monopoly over the housing market, then there would be nothing left for our own people.

Every time I see a big building go up downtown warning bells ring in my head about: 1) who's going to inhabit them (through employment) and 2) where will the "new" inhabitants live. Obviously, if an exempted company is allowed to set up business here and then make the usual cry that there are not enough "qualified" Bermudians to fill the jobs created, then naturally in will come the expatriate to take up the housing space of a local family or individual. I know things are not this simple. However, I can't help but "wonder where will my children live?" if this cycle continues.

Recently, there has been a push to find solutions to the housing crisis for our Bermudian people. There have been many ideas and strategies put forth. I applaud Sen. Lt.Col. David Burch for his efforts. I would like to concur with and add to a recent option. Perhaps as Mr. Lister mentioned the exempted companies could work with local developers to erect suitable temporary housing for their contract workers such as apartment complexes of one or two bedroom units, thereby leaving houses and spacious dwellings available for our local families. I speak from the premise that people who are supposedly here on a temporary basis should require temporary accommodations. I do not agree with offering your own people sub-standard accommodations where "family roots" cannot grow.

Bermudians want homes to call their own, not apartments with sociological restrictions. Of course, this plan would work only if housing were more affordable to the average person. That's an entirely different can of worms!

THINKING OF MY UNBORN CHILD

Devonshire

A real job for the Colonel

December 9, 2002

Dear Sir,

There have been plenty of letters to you pointing out the mistakes made by our present Government so this letter should be a welcome change. At last they have done something right, they appointed Lt. Col. David Burch to a Ministry that was made to order for him. I wish him well. He has been wasted up to now.

A BERMUDIAN VOTER

Southampton

Letter for the ages

November 19, 2002

Dear Sir,

Enclosed is my all time favourite letter to your column, the undisputed champion letter on the fate of a political party written by (now) Senator Kim Swan on what was happening and what is currently happening and what is going to happen. Iwill comment in detail in my follow-up letter.

D.H. FOSTINE-DESILVA

City of Hamilton

`Cleared for take-off'

February 25,1989

Dear Sir,

On February 9, 1989, a United Bermuda Party Flight 40, destined for the House of Assembly, malfunctioned shortly after takeoff and salvaged an

emergency landing. There were several casualties, foul play has not been ruled out, some sources are linking this latest tragedy to the Paget-based organisation Concerned Bermudians, whilst others are placing the blame squarely on the pilot captain John Swan. However, despite public opinion the airplane has been cleared for continued service and has now resumed service as flight 23, with the same pilot operating in a crammed cockpit.

In addition, the airline has seen fit to utilise the same team of Senate technicians, which were part of the pre-February 9 disaster. It appears the FAA's inquiry has cleared them of any wrongdoing. All the MPs have hugged and made up, and now this country will live happily ever after because we now have a strong Opposition.

The moral of this story is clear. It is now the UBP who are singing yesterday's songs with yesterday's choir. If the UBP Parliamentary group feel they can fool me with a one-day soul searching session, they are dead wrong. The UBP is in need of a complete overhaul, and I recommend that the party leader bring the machinery back to the grassroots group for major repairs and alterations. I compare the current state of the United Bermuda Party to that of the united state space programme in 1987. The Election results require soul searching, study, and ultimately a change in direction. Take heed now, the Bermuda electorate is beginning to truly understand party politics, For if the UBP continues on this path they have for the past 20 years they will in all probability be the opposition UBP at the next election.

KIM SWAN

St. George's

P.s. The last time I saw sports combined with transport was in the movies, when Kareem Abdul Jabaar featured in another airplane disaster.What a message we are sending to the youth of this country .

In defence of Childwatch

November 22, 2002

Dear Sir,

This letter is in response to your front page article, "Fathers disrupt women's issues forum", as the name of our organisation, Childwatch, features prominently in the article.

I attended the Bermuda Family Council forum and I would like to dispel the inaccuracies in the article. Firstly, Childwatch did not disrupt the forum. Our presence there was to support the Council's initiatives on women's issues, particularly domestic violence, which we believed was the main focus of the evening. We were also there to support Erin Pizzey, the noted author and activist who had been invited to sit on the panel. Our third objective was to promote our workshop and film presentation on domestic violence against men which was to be held the following evening at the Auditorium upstairs the Liberty Theatre.

The issues discussed were actually raised by the speakers who spoke that evening. Furthermore, only one person who asked a question was a member of Childwatch. In fact, the moderator made it a point to take questions from a wide cross section of people around the room.

The forum had been advertised as a discussion of women's issues and the council's survey on women's issues and domestic violence. However, none of the speakers or the panellists discussed or even referred to any of the survey's findings. An analysis of the survey results was provided in a 15-page handout that most people attending did not have the time to read since they were busy listening to the speeches.

Furthermore, the latter part of your article, ironically the part that was placed on Page 8, shows that the issues that were raised in the discussion session were the same issues that were addressed by the speakers in attendance.

The article states that "a group of disgruntled fathers hijacked" the forum. I think that you should consider retracting this statement since that was not the case. The discussion session was not dominated by men since the moderator ensured that the gender of the speakers from the floor was evenly distributed. It so happened that the women who spoke raised the same issues as the men. I also take great offence with the suggestion that there were threatening behaviour by the men at the forum. While several people, both men and women, were understandably upset because some of the issues affected them personally, they were respectful and did not use profanity or threats. The fact of the matter is that the public address system broke down and people were asked to speak loudly so they could be heard. Your reporter does you a disservice with this type of biased and inaccurate reporting.

At Childwatch, we take the view that gatherings such as these are used to get feedback and feel the pulse of the community. Sometimes you get a response that you neither expected nor considered and that was the case at the forum. As the lady sitting next to me commented, the people in the audience were simply "keeping it real".

Lastly, I wish to state that the events at the forum confirmed what we at Childwatch have been saying for a long time. The issues that we bring to the fore are not gender-specific issues. These issues impact men and women equally and are having disastrous effects on our children and the community at large. The men have been complaining for a long time and now it looks as though the women are speaking up and out as well.

Childwatch will not allow its integrity to be compromised by factions that seek to turn this into a war of the sexes. The Minister of Health and Social Services stated in his opening speech that he had expanded the mandate of the Bermuda Family Council to include family issues and we will continue to support both the Minister and the Council in its future initiatives. We look forward to working closely with them in the future.

For the sake of the children.

HECTOR D. WATSON

Childwatch