Changing the flow

March 18, 2005

Dear Sir,

I never cease to wonder why nothing has been done to remedy the high concentration of the traffic on Church Street between Par-la-Ville and Burnaby Street. This problem occurs on a daily basis, and it is further compounded during busy periods. I am certain our city fathers are aware of the problem but have failed to come up with a solution. There are several reasons why we experience congestion in this area.

Traffic travelling south on Par-la-Ville Road and turning left on to Church Street, traffic travelling south on Wesley Street and turning left on Church Street, traffic travelling north on Queen Street and turning right on to Church Street all merge at the roundabout and proceed to travel east on Church Street.

Four pedestrian lights between Queen Street and Burnaby Street, which are all on an on-demand system, further exacerbate the condition. Instituting the following changes can minimise this congestion. Burnaby Street between Victoria and Church Street, which is presently one way going out of town, should be converted to two-way traffic. The four pedestrian lights on Church Street between Queen and Burnaby Street should be put on a time system as oppose to an on-demand system.

Questions on dolphin park

March 20, 2005

Dear Sir,

Well done to the organisers and participants in last Friday?s march to protest the proposed new dolphin park, One can only hope that the appropriate Government Ministers will consider the myriad of reasons as to why another park of this nature is unnecessary.

Unfortunately, Dr. Brown has stated that it should go ahead and his word it seems is law. The Minister of the Environment will have to put some serious spin on her press release when yet another unpopular, biased and erroneous Government decree is forced down our throats.

It was interesting to note the spokesperson for the marchers made reference to having obtained the requisite permit to exercise their democratic right to march; having received warning that the gathering could be deemed illegal. Does the Union have to obtain similar permission for their monthly soirees up and down Front Street every time they seek some pitiful excuse for a day off?

In the end one suspects the new park will be opened regardless, and a dolphin will be named Ewart in honour of Dr. Brown and his dogged disregard for common sense. If he wants to see dolphins so badly why not stick the park off of his house at Captain William?s Bay. Or would that be too close to his backyard?

Make prisoners work

March 19, 2005

Dear Sir,

Government pays $16,000 per student per year in the public school system. Contrast this with $62,000 per inmate per year in the correction system. Why should the tax payer expend more on coddling criminals than it does on education? Here on the outside, most of us do not eat, drink, wear or live in anything we have not worked and paid for.

Why should we be further burdened by providing the same comforts to the people who would deprive us of our property, our security and our lives? Rehabilitation should be the process of educating convicts in the way the civilised world works and not permitting them back into it until they have a firm grasp of the basics, starting with don?t work, don?t eat.

On conviction, a convict should become liable for $62,000 per annum, adjusted yearly for inflation, for the term of his incarceration. Add to that fines and reimbursements to the victims of his crimes, amortised at the current lending rate. Payment in full would be required before his release back into society. On his first night inside he would be issued one bright orange jump suit and his last free meal. Everything thereafter would be his responsibility to earn, food, hot water for bathing, laundry etc. $170 per day of productivity just for room and board, before what he owes to society. There would be no time for cable TV.

Earning a release would be the easy part, there are dozens of construction projects which need labourers, journeymen and skilled craftsmen. Roads need cleaning, vegetation needs clearing, garbage needs collection, buildings need painting.

Parole would be a simple balance sheet exercise, if the debt is paid early, you can walk. If you are delinquent you accrue interest until you are current. If you break the rules you get additional fines and your debt grows. Before Amnesty and the bleeding hearts get excited, bear in mind that this is exactly what you and I do every day of our lives, we earn our living, we incur debts and we pay our debts. All I?m proposing is requiring convicts to do the same and putting the money saved to better use.

A parishioner speaks

March 18, 2005

Dear Sir,

As a parishioner of Holy Trinity Church I PERCEIVE A NEED FOR CHANGE with the BISHOP for the Anglican Ministry

Outraged at treatment

March 10, 2005

Dear Sir,

On March 4th my family went to the Sleep Shop Outlet on Harvey Road, Paget. After leaving work and picking up our son we headed for the Outlet and arrived there at 5.45 p.m. (The shop closed at 6. p.m.). Upon arrival, I stood outside the door of the shop while I waited for my wife and one of the women inside very rudely shouted out to me that the store was closing in five minutes.

As we entered the store the lady repeated her statement. The problem was not so much the comment, but the way in which it was said. Added to this was the fact that no one came to assist us while we were in the store. My wife and I were angered by not only the disgraceful level of service but also the total lack of respect that every man, woman and child are surely entitled to.

Situations such as this occur too often in our country and nothing is said or done about the level of service that many of us are subject to. I am also guilty of allowing this type of behaviour to go unreported.

Usually I would complain to my wife and then forget about it, but this incident was such that I would not allow it stand without being reported. My next step was to call the owner of the store to mention the incident, but I was told that he does not deal with customer complaints and I should leave my name and number.

There was no mention of the person that I should speak to concerning my complaint which led me to believe that my situation would fall on deaf ears. Therefore, I did not get the feeling that this situation was taken seriously by the owner.

On a bright note, I went to Four Seasons Furniture Store this weekend under the same circumstances and received excellent service. I would just like to commend the Four Seasons Furniture Store and the fact that they gave me the knowledge that there is still good service in the retail sector.

Supply & demand basics

March 17, 2005

Dear Sir,

With one arrogant, and ill-advised, stroke of the pen Minister Randy Horton all but assured the failure of Bermuda Homes for People concept. Fundamental laws of supply and demand willed it so. Why? Because when one offers the same product at significantly different prices, no matter how politically correct the cause, simple laws of supply and demand will come into play to right the situation.

In view of some of the hidden costs revealed in your Editorial on March 15 (a must read for anyone considering purchasing a unit in the higher price bracket) someone shall have to bear the additional financial burden. The lottery winners are an unlikely choice, ultimately leaving the price increases up to those purchasing the more costly units. And, prices will go up.

On the other side of the equation, enter Minister Horton?s faux pas of limiting the resale of already built Bermudian-owned condominiums to Bermudians only; hence denying the more potentially lucrative non-Bermudian market to those Bermudians wishing to sell.

The move essentially limits demand, and will cause an undue hardship on Bermudians wishing to sell their condominiums because to do so they will have to lower the price. The price of these units will be forced down, thus moving them closer in price to the units listed by Bermuda Homes For People.

They will be seen as a more attractive option and reach an equilibrium point, but unfortunately it appears that it will be at the expense of either the BLDC, if they take it on, or the Bermudian taxpayer. My wager would be upon the latter. Worrisome to say the least.

Give us a break, BA

March 19, 2005

Dear Sir,

Would British Airways? office please explain why they charge an outrageous price to fly to the UK, is it because they have the ?monopoly?? They hold us to ransom people, and we continue to pay. Why? No choice really, the inconvenience of going to the US, etc. to save $100, or so. Give us a break.

SKIPPER INGHAM

Hamilton

A modest proposal

March 19, 2005

Dear Sir,

It is generally accepted that dolphins are among the most intelligent of animals and they, by their sonar-like senses, can communicate with each other over vast stretches of ocean. A sign, ?No More Captive Dolphins?, carried by a marcher pictured in today?s paper prompts this observer to offer the most democratic method of settling this seemingly intractable controversy in truly democratic fashion.

Using their state-of-the-art electronic sensors, the trainers/keepers should encourage all captured dolphins living at Dockyard, and other like places in the world, to form a kind of BIC. The dolphin BIC would be charges with fact finding to report back to all dolphins the pros and cons of sovereignty versus dependency.

Facts would be gathered from dolphins swimming freely with the sharks, killer whales, and other marine predators in the warm and cold waters to our south, that daily must work hard hunting for food while avoiding the ensnaring nets of fishing fleets operated by people who have no regard for animal rights and who will kill them.

Similarly, the dolphin BIC should report the facts gathered from the defendant dolphins so as to compare their sheltered secure life, safe from a hazardous world, well fed, stroked and loved daily by visitors from abroad who pay for their good life in exchange for watching them frolic in their protected world.

Their trainers/keepers will offer the defendant dolphins a choice. The dolphins would vote, either by a general election putting in authority a group of humans who will guarantee that swimming in the open sea will be safe, food more plentiful, lodging more available and affordable, and self esteem and ?grown up? feelings higher for all, or, they will decide by dolphin referendum with their brains and emotions unclouded by promises of a better life.

But in any event, one promise will not be broken: once they are sent into the open seas they will never again, even if they ask to be recaptured, be allowed to enjoy the friendly confines of the secure sheltered lives they have known.

PAYCHECK-$18,000-PER-YEAR (LOOKING FOR $12,000 RAISE)

Hamilton Parish