June 3, 2005

Dear Sir,

I would like to express my deep appreciation and thanks to those wonderfully caring nurses, in particular, Nurse Sue, on Cooper Ward.

Those nurses went out of their way to see that I was made comfortable at all times following a serious operation. I am deeply indebted to them and the young trainees. Because of their constant concern for my welfare, I was able to make a quick recovery.

I will never forget their kind concern. In fact, all the staff with whom I had contact, nurses and orderlies, made an outstanding effort to see I was well cared for.

EDWYNA WAGNER

Hamilton Parish

June 10, 2005

Dear Sir,

I just finished attending two of the first three performances of "Tony and Tina's Wedding" at the Hamilton Princess. The first was held on Sunday in the Grand Ballroom and the next night by the moongate on the water. This is undoubtedly the best show I have ever seen here and therefore necessitated a second visit.

This interactive dinner theatre comedy that has run for 18 years in venues like New York City, Las Vegas and Hawaii has been adapted to the Bermuda stage and has been Bermudianised by both the cast and in concept. Simply stated, in addition to the cast, you, the audience are the guests at the wedding! You eat, you drink, you dance as a part of the show. When things begin to unravel, as they often do at weddings, you are surrounded by a multitude of hilarious, almost show-stopping scenarios ? there is stuff going on throughout the entire production.

There are so many things that make this show great ? primarily the cast. This Island is truly blessed with talented people, one of which, Nadanja Bailey, in fact just won a major comedy competition in Orlando, Florida. The music is fantastic, and the backdrop of Hamilton Harbour absolutely breathtaking, and the Fairmont Hamilton Princess provides a wonderful buffet. It's a one-stop shop for a perfect evening out and hats off to the Department of Tourism for reintroducing the concept of dinner theatre! This is not to be missed.

KATY BRASH

Pembroke

June 3, 2005

Dear Sir,

I see Mr. DeVent is sticking by his plan. He can do nothing about it anyway. He's not in charge, the BHC is. He will lose his job if he doesn't stick with it, and the person who takes it will have the same. He is told not to back down, no 'buts' about it.

But the Government could change all that over crowding by using the land they have, so why have they not used these lands, Why? We have Morgan's Point, Southside and we have Tudor Hill. That is the question everyone wants to know. Are they saving it for real estate for richer people to buy or sell? That land belongs to the people of Bermuda and it should be used for building places similar to Far Rockaway for the low income Bermudians, not to make money for the Government. The UBP already had plans for that. Not shacks and ghettos all over the place and I can say the UBP did build quite a lot of great apartments all over the place and all those people are happy with them.

Stop herding a segment of people all together and making them feel trapped and stressed. It's all wrong when you do have the land I mentioned above.

BERMUDIAN

Devonshire

June 2, 2005

Dear Sir,

This letter is written to express our sincere gratitude to all those persons who helped to make our third annual Tag Day a huge success. More than 50 people volunteered to sell tags at various locations while others assisted with counting.

A warm-hearted thanks to the members of the public for their generous donations. The monies raised will go a long way in funding educational endeavours and special events for foster children. The Foster Parent Association is truly appreciative of the community's response.

If you want to learn more about foster care, please call 294-5871.

SINCLAIR WHITE

President/Foster Parent Association

June 3, 2005

Dear Sir,

I was shocked to see the article in yesterday's saying that a man who had smashed a glass into a Police officer's face was given a suspended sentence.

When a gross miscarriage of justice like this takes place, it makes one wonder if the accused is somehow related to the judge. In a small Island like Bermuda, this could well be the case. Either that, or the person in question has a profound disrespect for the Police and all it stands for. No wonder it is getting increasingly hard to persuade young people to join the Police.

This kind of miscarriage of justice goes on all the time in Bermuda. It seems as if the criminals are the ones getting protection, not the victims. It is time to get some strong, unbiased judges on these cases, and stop all this molly coddling of criminals.

June 9, 2005

Dear Sir,

I wonder how the Glenn Blakeney JP, MP feels now. The Bermuda public wants to know who represents Alexandria and Mary Victoria Road. Well, it is Mr. Blakeney, though no one would know it. When a defence of his constituents was called for, his voice was not heard. When his constituents were called liars, his voice was not heard. Mr. Editor, I am sure the residents of his constituency have noted his silence on he Prospect housing proposals. I am sure the residents will speak and make their voices heard at the next election. Hmmm ... this should be interesting.

A DEVONSHIRE CYNIC

June 5, 2005

Dear Sir,

Let me agree with Mr. Ferguson in complaining about Air Canada's high fees.

Air Canada charged me $900 for cargo shipment of my recently deceased husband, to keep his appointment at the crematorium. He did not have a seat or a meal, in fact it would have been more economical to have sat with him in a coach seat. I may have enjoyed his meal too.

A POOR WIDOW

Devonshire

Tinted helmets

June 11, 2005

Dear Sir,

We often hear of having tinted windows in cars being too dark. The excuse is "the operator isn't visible to others". Well, then, shouldn't full faced (tinted) helmets be illegal also?

JUSTICE OR JUST US?

St. George's

Send coward home

June 14, 2005

Dear Sir,

On the front page of Thursday's (June 9) we see Rohan Richards leaving court after being found guilty of sexual assault holding a copy of his indictment in one hand and in the other. Are you sure? When I first saw the picture of him bearing what appears to be a proud smile, I thought that he had just been awarded a diploma or some award from Buckingham Palace. Talk about arrogance!

Mr. Editor, Richards should not go to prison in Bermuda. No, instead, he should be deported back to Jamaica immediately. May I suggest perhaps two good reason why Richards should be deported?

1. Bermuda's hard-working taxpayers should not and would not be overburdened with paying good money (thousands of dollars) to feed and house criminals from other countries (bad enough feeding our own criminals) who contribute nothing good to our society.

2. If Richards were deported and banned for life from ever returning to Bermuda under any circumstances, the victim in the case, would be assured that he (Richards) would never ever again be a threat to her God-given right to live in peace. What will happen if and when Richards is released from prison somewhere in the future? Will he resume his cowardly attacks on her? It may be someone else next time.

I say goodbye and good riddance, rat!

Right-wing ties

June 5, 2005

Dear Sir,

I wonder if you are aware of what is being written about your religion columnist, Michael J. McManus.

Twice in recent days I have read in different publications that he is subsidised by the Republican religious right-wing in the US.

The allegation is that McManus and other commentators are being paid by the Bush administration to promote right-wing policies.

is aware of the controversy. An organisation, Marriage Savers, founded by Mr. McManus received a $10,000 grant from the Bush administration. Mr. McManus has written about Marriage Savers from time to time in his column "Ethics and Religion". In a column published on February 5 in , he acknowledged he should have disclosed the payment and apologised.

Slow down, bus driver

June 11, 2005

Dear Sir,

This afternoon my four-year-old son and I decided to catch the bus home to Somerset instead of the ferry as we usually do. Due to it being close to half past the hour we ended up having to catch the Number 7 bus to Dockyard. When we got on the bus we sat in the second last row since we had a long way to go and wanted to accommodate the visitors and locals who were getting off before us.

As we were going along Church Street my son says to me, "Mommy I'm falling out off my seat". I thought he wasn't sitting in the chair properly so I helped him sit back. Before we got to Crow Lane he said to me, "I'm falling out of my seat, that driver needs to slow down". A few more times during the ride he stated to me again that the bus driver needed to slow down.

As we got closer to home I told him to get ready to ring the bell. He told me, "OK, and when I get off I'm going to tell her to slow down". My son usually gets shy and backs out when he says that he is going to tell someone something. When we got off the bus, I got off before him but he stopped and told her, "Slow down". As he got off the bus I heard a few of the passengers laughing but she was shocked. When he got off he asked me "Why are they laughing?" All I could say to him was that they don't know better.

It is a shame that a four-year-old notices when someone is speeding and has to let her know. If all Bermudians were like this our roads would be a whole lot safer.