January 3, 2003

Dear Sir,

Re: 'Panto was perverted', January 2, 2004.

As a non-Christian I had always believed the central tenets of the Christian religion: "Love thy neighbour as yourself" and "Judge not others lest you will also be judged", to be noble and worthy ideals of a truly tolerant religion.

Unfortunately, in my experience, Christians seem to forget these moral-based laws in favour of converting people who do not believe in the Christian lifestyle, by persuasion or if necessary by force. The bigotry and prejudice of these "Christians" surfaces when people who do not hold to the Christian laws, are denigrated, isolated, silenced and eventually persecuted. It is easy to see how the views given in the writer's letter will ultimately lead to further persecution of people who live alternative (to Christianity) lifestyles.

The writer is advocating the silencing and thereby the persecution of a minority group who have always been present in all societies and will always continue to be so. If that is the upshot of the Christian religion then you can keep it. B.I.B.L.E. Belittle, intolerate, burn, lynch, eradicate.

ENLIGHTENED

Smith's Parish

Change starts at home

January 6, 2003

Dear Sir,

I would just like to talk about the Bermuda that is slowly being shaped and the Government always puts a smile on my face when it comes to dealing with situations of our Island.

I hope that they enjoy the rest of their term if they think that the new seat belt law is put into play with that outrageous four digit fine. That's not even the average person's paycheque for a week yet the Government cares so much about the society.

We are being punished because we as society do not choose to wear seatbelt with a speed limit of 35 kph. One of every 20 road accidents is in a car, and I will tell you this: A seatbelt wouldn't have saved them because the usual outcome is the car going over a cliff or flipping. Anyone who thinks a seat belt would have saved the day is fooling themselves, but the Government is scaring the society to think its that much of a difference.

I am not saying that strapping the kids in or something simple like that should not be mandatory by the parent because kids don't understand the statement "keep still". But the speed is not so high that people should be wearing a belt but the option is there and it should be their decision and not forced.

The Government worry so much about this seat belt law but still bigger bike engines are being brought onto the Island, and that's the top cause of death on the road for a vehicle. But the bigger the bike fine, the more money in the Government; can't the average person see through the lines that money is the object.

No government is perfect but I think this Government is enjoying their status and the UBP is more leadership-orientated.

People reading this may think that its a white person writing this letter but I am black and the point is that I judge character and not colour.

I saw the one-hour long topic about "Tourism" and it made me laugh. It looks to me that this Super Government after four-plus years is panicking and now they are bringing the public into the situation.

This topic and speech on television should have been sent out five years ago when they were first elected. Apparently as they say that four years is not long enough to make a change. Anyone who believed that were fooling themselves but I hope they are happy with what this Government has done.

Ideas by a few of the speakers were excellent but it all starts with Bermuda punishment or those in society who just decide to live as if they were hard and thinks they are Americans on the streets, because that's a joke. If they were put on the streets in America, I bet they would straighten right up. But the people of Bermuda need to stop living in a state of "accepting their fate" and if they want changes it should start right at home, but how many Bermudians actually have the heart?

MR. B

Southampton

Points about pigeons

December 29, 2003

Dear Sir,

Good scientists must remain honest to their field of specialisation, and resist bias when making statements to the public. This applies even more stringently to those scientists who have achieved any sort of notoriety, since the general public will generally accept their word as reliable.

We will all remember the provoked suicide of the physicist Dr. Kelly this year. Here is an example of a scientist with integrity, who knew his subject, and knew of his responsibility to the public. How shameful that politicians, whose modus vivendi is the same throughout the world, completely trashed his reputation in order to discredit his expert opinion.

It is with these thoughts in mind, that I wish to remark on the article in today's entitled 'Pigeons posing health harzard - Wingate' by Mathew Taylor. I take no issue with Mr. Taylor, since he is a professional reporter, in my experience taking great care to reflect the words of his interviewee accurately and without spin. It has been some time however, since I have read such wholesale nonsense presented as scientific fact. All the more is the pity that it emanates from a retired long-serving Government conservationist.

I would appreciate the opportunity to put your readers' minds and those who feed and own domestic birds calling our veterinary hospital at rest.

1) Pigeons are exclusively grain eaters (they will naturally eat bread as it is made of wheat).

2) Pigeons always roost very close if not directly at their primary food source. One reason for this is the great sensitivity of their young. Anyone who has tried to raise an orphaned baby pigeon, will know that failure predominates. The young are extremely sensitive to cold, depending on round the clock warmth from one of the parents. Feeding requiring 100 attentiveness from the mother and father. The young are swallowing partially pre-digested, regurgitated grain-based nutrition as often as it is offered.

3) Point one and two help us to understand why the association between man (grain eaters and producers of grain based food and producers of heat for their homes in the cooler months) and pigeons is such a close and successful one. Go to any city in the winter, and you will find pigeons pressed close against window ledges for the heat.

4) With the exception perhaps of Blackwatch Pass and similar man-made structures, which are very close to human homes and achieve both protection from weather and a higher ambient winter temperature, you will find no pigeons fighting for longtail holes along the exposed Bermuda coastline. There is no food for them. They do not eat fish, or rotting fish or seaweed crabs or anything else from the sea. They are sensitive to high fresh water. (No one throws sardines to the pigeons on Trafalgar Square). If the Audubon Society can produce a genuine photo of a pigeon nesting with chick in a coastal longtail hole, let them produce it for publication in a respected journal, because it will surely be a phenomenon that would interest many eminent zoologists.

5) Man has lived in close communication with birds ever since his dawning day.

6) Now to microbiological facts: ALL birds, including the blue ones, carry intestinal parasites, bacteria and viruses in their intestines. So do primates, including numero uno - the human. Whether or not they cause illness in either species is a feature of the health of the individual's immune system. (Therefore man-generated things like PCB, dioxin, and heavy pollutants and stress, which severely hamper immune response are far more serious health hazards) some bacteria are in fact essential for our survival and correct digestion. If any animal, including the human were to be raised in a microbe-free environment, it would die. We cannot choose where or when or how our organism interacts with the teeming microscopic world, although there are some long-proven methods for recognising and minimising the numbers of the more harmful ones.

7) The Bermuda roof is an excellent structure for outright killing of most microbial and parasite life that hits it. The white colour and intense concentration of the UV light spectrum is to them lethal probably within much less than a minute. It the weather is also dry, desiccation means death to bacteria and viruses and one-celled parasites within seconds to at most minutes. Anyone scanning a slide can tell you after minutes of a smear being made, most useful identification of microbes is over.

8) Treat your tank, as recommended by the Health Department with one cup of bleach per thousand gallons of water every two to three months, or as soon as you buy water, and you can forget any nightmares about salmonella and climbing up top with a bird net or rifle. Even if you did not treat your tank you could forget about the salmonella, unless your tank is close to the cesspit and there is some damage to the tank wall.

9) You are at much, much greater risk of catching salmonella when you are stressed from overseas shopping, jet lagged and using airline toilets; eating in restaurants where a human carrier is preparing food and not washing their hands after visiting the toilet; handling uncooked meat originating from an infected animal that has not been cleanly slaughtered.

This is getting too long, so I shall have to save up poultry facts for another time.

Perhaps, however, this letter may - my feathered friends please excuse the expression - 'kill two birds with one stone' and help to illustrate why Dr. E. Brown's recent remark on VSB Radio Morning News (December 23 in supported of Independence for Bermuda is also wholesale rubbish. Did anyone else catch his remark? Even lower life forms seek Independence!"

Dr. Brown, all animals, all life forms are strictly inter-dependent, even the ones you treat.

DR. A.M. WARE-CIETERS

Pembroke

'Marvellous' opportunity

January 6, 2003

Dear Sir,

I was shocked to read on the front page of Monday's Royal Gazette that the Matilda Smith Williams Home may have to close its doors due to a lack of funds.

According to the report the home is suffering a financial deficit in excess of $100,000 and its owner, the AME Church, is finding it difficult to keep the operation afloat. It was also disconcerting to learn that in recent years two other rest homes have closed their doors while others are facing severe difficulties.

I do believe however that this "challenge" also presents a marvellous opportunity for the Christian community of this country, irrespective of denomination to come together and work for the good of all. I would humbly like to suggest that the various churches pool their economic resources to ensure the survival of this institution. Perhaps Christian leaders like Bishop Vernon Lamb, Dr. Goodwin C. Smith, and Elder Samuel Bulgin amongst others could lead out in this effort.

In his book 'Sources of Strength', former US President Jimmy Carter discusses the church's tendency to forget the practical ministry of Jesus Christ. He illustrates this by mentioning a church in one of the big cities of the South erecting a new building at the cost of $35 million complete with all the pleasures of a huge health resort to serve the congregation. But at the same time having to cancel plans for an outreach ministry in an inner-city neighbourhood due to lack of funds.

In recent years right here in Bermuda we have witnessed the building of grand edifices all over the Island that are dedicated to the glory and honour of God, but concurrently there have arisen greater needs for the homeless, seniors and so on. Where should our priorities lay?

Finally I would like to conclude by saying that the churches in Bermuda tend to be very generous in meeting the needs of others outside of this Island, nothing wrong with that. But in the Matilda Smith Williams home we have an obvious need right here and maybe just maybe the churches in this country would do well to meet it.

RECMAN

Devonshire