Anti-shopping sentiment?

January 6, 2004

Dear Sir,

Bermuda newspapers seem to have a curious negative attitude toward shopping. You have this Jessie Moniz in the Mid-Ocean News complaining that the one lot of stores that are really trying to match US prices are rip-offs.

You print comments the other day from one or two salespeople who have been dead on their feet for years, and now have to wake up and be there when their customers want them.

Now, when there is a push to open on Sundays because that is when people want to shop, and have time to shop, as could be plainly seen the other day, your headline throws cold water on it. The world has adopted all day Sunday shopping. Why? Because this is when people can shop as a family, and when shopping becomes a fun outing rather than a parking nightmare, certainly in Hamilton, which for one day in the week is not blocked by all-day parkers who for some reason have priority otherwise.

If the newspapers had interviewed any of the thousands of people like us that really enjoyed shopping on the Sundays the stores were open, they would have got resounding support for the opening. What a relief it was to walk around relaxed, with plenty of parking and for the first time without having to worry about a parking ticket.

Also, it gives an opportunity to anyone wanting to make a few extra bucks selling to do just that. For those who don't want the money there is nothing that says you have got to work; if you don't want to, you certainly don't have to. Better to have the opportunity than not.

Renee Webb is trying to fix tourism. Opening Bermuda on Sundays is one way to help. On a rainy Sunday at $400 a night what else have they got to do? It's time Bermuda started to do what shoppers and tourists want, not waste time beating the bushes thinking up reasons why it can't be done. Maybe your reporters are worried about printing a Sunday paper ? just like they do most other places.

Cox leaves great legacy

January 11, 2004

Dear Sir,

I would like to pay tribute to the memory of the Honourable C. Eugene Cox. As your newspaper headline stated in Saturday's edition, he was 'a man of integrity'. When individuals pass we often gain a new and deeper appreciation of their contribution to society. Many of us will never forget his wise counsels and untiring efforts to make this community a better one. When I reflect on the life of Mr. Cox I am reminded of the great patriarch Moses who chose to suffer affliction with his people, rather than compromise in the courts of Pharaoh, he made great personal sacrifices for the political stance he took.

One characteristic other than the obvious ones of honesty and integrity that I associate with this great man is that of 'respect'. I would venture to say that Mr. Cox was the most respected Member of Parliament ever to sit in those chambers and I believe this was because he gave respect and thus earned it in return. A trait that some of our leaders would do well to emulate, as they appear to demand 'servitude' foolishly mistaking it for respect.

While I do not believe in titles I have to agree with former premier the Honourable Jennifer Smith JP MP that this man deserved at the very least a knighthood. I can think of more than one knight walking around here who does not command half the respect that Mr. Cox did. But shallow things like titles pale into insignificance when one considers the genuine love and respect that many of his people held for him. This is infinitely more important. Like the late Dr. Martin Luther King; C. Eugene Cox was a drum major for justice, a drum major for peace, and a drum major righteousness who led a committed life. Like those giants before him Dr. E.F. Gordon, Dr. Eustace Cann and others he leaves behind a great legacy that will never be forgotten and always appreciated.

Farewell to a friend

January 10, 2004

Dear Sir,

Like most Bermudians, I felt a great loss upon hearing that the Honourable Eugene Cox had lost his battle with the big 'C'. Mr. Cox was a man that anyone who knew him would be proud to call "my friend". Mr. Cox was not only a person who cherished personal relationships, he also never gave a commitment that he was not totally prepared to honour with all the resources at his disposal.

This propensity to commit totally to whatever he had to do was, in my opinion, the outstanding characteristic of Mr. Cox. In fact, he made such a sterling contribution to all aspects of his life that he could easily be chosen as the 'Poster Boy' of successful manhood.

My personal association with Mr. Cox began just after I returned to Bermuda in December, 1965 to take up the post of Government Statistician. I learned about Eugene from conversations with his cousin, The Hon. L. F. Wade, the deceased leader of the Progressive Labour Party. The talk in party circles at the time was whether Mr. Cox could be persuaded to stand as a member for the Progressive Labour Party. Eugene agreed and was elected in Sandys South in 1968 to join Mr. Walter Roberts as newly elected members of the Progressive Labour Party.

I think I need to say, for the benefit of Bermuda's younger generation, the decision by Mr. Cox to run for the Progressive Labour Party took a great deal of courage. He had just been appointed to the Bermuda Electric Company as the first black engineer by a board of directors that was unabashedly anti-PLP. Further, the company had been involved in a major industrial dispute with the Bermuda Industrial Union and its directors and certainly was not thrilled that one of its senior members had joined the PLP, a political party that openly supported the leadership of the BIU.

That action by Mr. Cox was typical of many other very courageous decisions he made in the political arena. Eight years later, in order to strengthen the PLP in Sandys, he gave up a safe seat in the constituency he shared with Walter Roberts to run against the very popular 'Flip' Galloway in the General Election of 1976. He was unsuccessful in that effort but won the seat handily at a subsequent by-election following Mr. Galloway's death. He held the seat from 1976 until his recent passing with increasing majorities.

Mr. Cox's popularity in Sandys reflected his untiring efforts in that community to address the concerns of the constituents of that parish. Perhaps his crowning effort was the many years he spent as chairman of the Board of Sandys Secondary. I don't think anyone would argue with me when I say that under his leadership, Sandys Secondary moved from a struggling high school to the position of being able to compete with high schools of a much longer existence and certainly a far greater financial endowment.

During the time of Mr. Cox's involvement in politics and the community and as the person in charge of power generation in Bermuda, Mr. Cox still found time to be an excellent husband to his wife Alinda and a doting loving father to three very successful children. Needless to say not too many people who are as involved publicly as Mr. Cox can boast of having raised a successful lawyer, chartered accountant and a systems analyst. Further, the lawyer, Paula, has followed in her father's footsteps by pursuing a successful legal career and yet finding time to be one of the more successful members of the PLP Cabinet.

There is much more I could say about Mr. Cox. His ability as a soccer player, he was known as the "black Gemmell". Gemmell was as Englishman who was stationed here and was largely responsible for the success of a team composed of British Navy personnel known as "Danbar". He was responsible for the success of Belco's power generating capacity. He was not satisfied with having graduated as a tradesman from the very successful Dockyard training centre but went on to acquire an engineering degree from McGill. He took on the very challenging task of Minister of Finance and after six years in that post, enabled Bermuda to maintain its "AA" credit rating on Moody's and Standard & Poors each of those years.

For all of the above reasons, I strongly hold the view that Mr. Cox could justifiably be selected as the "Poster Male" to illustrate what it means to be a successful citizen of not just Bermuda but the entire world.

Rest in Peace, good friend!

Time for a divorce

December 28, 2003

Dear Sir,

Mr. Tony Blair and his politicians misled the British public by politicising the idea that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Editor, Mr. Blair and his politicians politicised the idea that Iraq was an imminent threat to the British people and their national security and then successfully politicised the idea as a pretence, as a pretext to invade a sovereign country. Then, Mr. Editor, Mr. Blair and his politicians had the audacity to politicise the idea that a pre-emptive strike on Iraq was the one and only option available, no other! So tell me, Mr. Editor, what makes you think that Mr. Blair and his politicians would not mislead the Bermuda government as to the real reason why a big and powerful British bank, HSBC would want to buy a small and globally insignificant Bank of Bermuda.

Finally, Mr. Editor, what makes you think that Mr. Blair and his politicians would not mislead the Bermudian public as to the real reason why they usurped the democratic right and the democratic will of the Bermudian people. Mr. Editor they accomplished this by undemocratic means by dictatorially politicising the appointment of one of their own British judges, Mr. Richard Ground, to the position of Chief Justice of Bermuda. Mr. Editor I am outraged, every Bermudian should be. It appears to me Mr. Editor that the only way that we the Bermudian people can protect ourselves from this continuous British mistreatment and disrespect by finally filing for divorce from Britain once and for all, on the grounds that Britain has been unfaithful. Mr. Editor we know that to be turn on numerous occasions, therefore, Mr. Editor I am instructing our Bermudian lawyers to file the necessary papers for divorce immediately so that we can finally be free of Britain. Free to become the successful, independent and sovereign nation that we are suppose to be.

Waiting for CableVision

December 29, 2003

Dear Sir,

I should be grateful if you would be kind enough to publish this example of the utter contempt and incredible incompetence which Bermuda CableVision Ltd. continues to exhibit towards their subscribers and their own inability to exhibit towards their subscribers and their own inability to operate utility service. On Thursday morning September 4, 2003, my electrical service was discontinued and with it went my CableVision service. My electrical service was restored on Sunday afternoon September 14, 2003. My CableVision service was eventually restored in the afternoon of Thursday, October 23, 2003. At that time I showed a workman my cable wire which had been dislodged from the house, by a falling tree during Hurricane Fabian, and would have been laying across a private road had I not improvised a solution whereby traffic on this road could drive under the cable wire as opposed to driving over it. When I confirmed to this workman that I was receiving "a good picture" he indicated that his job was to get a picture for the whole area which he had done and that I should re-attach the wire to the house myself. He did indicate that he would make a report of the matter so that the "pole to house" workmen can come to fix it. Since that fateful day - Thursday 23, October ? my wife and I had paid a total of five visits ? three to the Church Street office and two to the Laffan Street office ? to request assistance. Trying to talk to a "warm body" telephonically is like trying to get blood from a stone. I have also spoken to the workmen on every CableVision truck I have seen in the neighbourhood. They all seem to have similar replies e.g. "We just work from pole to pole" or "We don't have the particular tools to do that", or "If I finish this job in time I'll see if I can help you", or 'I will report it when I get back to the shop", etc. On one occasion I spoke to a workman who had 'gotten me a picture, in the first instance and remembered my 'downed cable wire".

So here it is the 29th December 2003 and I still am looking forward to the arrival of a CableVision "pole to house" repairman to re-attach the cable wire from the pole to the house, a la pre-Fabian.

Perhaps sometime soon I will give you an insight into the debits and credits of my CableVision account as impacted by Hurricane Fabian. Thank you for your indulgence, thus far.