Top restaurant 'stinks'

September 11, 2002

Dear Sir,

My congratulations to Rudy's Bistro for declaring its space as "smoke free". On Monday night I spent an unpleasant hour in the Tuscany Restaurant on Front Street in a very smoky environment (until I moved out onto the porch which was hot, but smoke free).

All restaurants should be smoke free. My advice to Bermudians don't go to the Tuscany Restaurant - they don't even have a no-smoking area - and if they did, it would be about as workable as smoking/non-smoking on the aeroplanes of the recent past.

I did complain to two waiters in the Tuscany Restaurant and asked to speak with the manager. Both waiters said they were sympathetic but did not smoke themselves - I reminded them that they did - passively!

To the manager/owner of Tuscany, call me when you make your premises smoke-free I will come and enjoy your good food - but your premises stink.

SANDERS FRITH BROWN

Warwick

Praise for Adult Education

September 10, 2002

Dear Sir,

Perhaps the parent that complained to the Department of Education about their child, having been offered the option to attend the Adult Education School as an alternative to CedarBridge, should do some research before spouting the kind of drivel reportedly quoted in your paper referring to it as 'school for dummies'.

After being in the public school system for his entire school career, my son attended CedarBridge Academy for two years. In June of 2001, with two years to go, it was obvious that it wasn't a good 'fit' - and we were thrilled that the AES found a spot for him. Within six months he attained his GED, attended a prestigious summer art programme abroad and is now enrolled in the Bermuda College - dong what he always wanted to do - art.

Waste of time? I hardly think so. In fact I know an individual who was accepted into a British law school with a GED after he successfully passed the entrance exams and was subsequently called to the bar locally.

All I can say is, if a child has the chance to attend AES, their parents should feel mighty lucky they have room for him/her, and we know many parents who feel the same way we do.

Trust me, at this point, a Diploma is the only way to fast-track a child (that doesn't fit, and is lagging behind in a conventional high school setting) towards resolving serious issues of self esteem and financial self-support in early adulthood. In effect, what the AES offers, goes way past learning to tuck in shirts and wearing the high coloured socks.

Here's the letter that we sent to the AES in June of this year:

Mrs. Beach, Mr. Gibbons and Mrs. Franks, We would like to thank you for everything you have done in helping our son work towards getting his GED! I must say how very impressed we are with the Adult Education School, and appreciate that it takes the combined efforts of all of you to produce the kind of environment that you have created.

Your demand for students' good conduct and expectation for them to treat others with respect is modelled on example, because clearly that is the way they are treated. Conscientious follow-up in attendance, obvious cooperation between staff, encouraging parental involvement, along with teaching skills that go way beyond academic instruction, exhibit the kind of concern that provides an opportunity for all students to achieve success. Thank you again, and God bless you!

PROUD PARENTS OF A COLLEGE STUDENT (AND CEDARBRIDGE DROP-OUT)

Bermuda's successes

September 3, 2002

Dear Sir,

I would like to compliment The Royal Gazette on the series by Roger Crombie dealing with offshore tax neutral domiciles. Most Bermudians assume that the ultra rich come here to live or visit because of the natural beauty of the Island. Certainly that is a factor but most of them are here because Bermuda is the preeminent tax neutral domicile.

Crombie's first article spoke of the Isle of Man. That country is working very diligently to catch up to Bermuda particularly in the areas of e-Commerce and offshore financial services.

Anyone and everyone walking or riding down Front Street will be impressed by the imposing structures of ACE, XL, Barcardi , Zurich, etc. These buildings are tangible evidence of big business hard at work in Bermuda.

Tax neutrality is intangible, impossible to touch and not very easy to see unless you are a world class tax expert. Bermudians need to understand that offshore tax neutrality is very bit as important to Bermuda's economy as the insurance and reinsurance industry. Around the world there are many such tax advantaged countries.

What makes Bermuda so special? Several special qualities contribute to Bermuda's success:

A very stable and progressive government.

A legal system that is very favourable to commercial enterprise.

Bermuda is the third most wired country in the world; modern, forward looking, with world class communications.

Highly respected financial services provides: international banks, law firms, accounting firms, the Bermuda Stock Exchange, etc.

Geographical location - halfway between the US and Europe - easy for each to get to.

ECONOMIST

Paget

What is the Regiment for?

September 11, 2002

Dear Sir,

I would just like to ask the public a few things: Firstly, if the main purpose of the Bermuda Regiment is for hurricane clean-up, then why after months of being enlisted why haven't we been taught this yet.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that if Bermuda was to get hit by a massive storm Bermuda would be crippled. Secondly whenever I'm up there all the ranked soldiers there seem to think we are training to go to war, when really all the Bermuda Regiment's key reasons for existing is for internal security.

Just think about it.

9270

Smith's Parish

An end to traffic madness

September 7, 2002

Dear Sir,

I thought you may be interested in an article I saw in the "Anchorage Daily News" dated August 31, 2002. It is headed "New Law Keeps Impound Lot Hopping".

"Dozens of Anchorage drivers learned the hard way over the past week that people caught driving with a suspended license might kiss their cars goodbye.

'Drivers that we are stopping now are quite surprised,' Said police Lt. Carolyn Stevens, as she stood in front of seized cars at a South Anchorage impound yard.

Between August 21 and 28, Anchorage police impounded 81 vehicles - a record number. Thirty eight of those came from drivers charged under the drunken driving laws. But the other 43 resulted from the city's brand new zero tolerance stand on driving with a suspended or revoked license.

Just over a week ago the Anchorage Assembly passed a law that allows the city to impound a vehicle for up to 30 days if the driver is convicted of a first offence of driving with a suspended or revoked license.

And it is a second offence, the city will keep the car and sell it. There have already been 12 such forfeitures under the new law, police said. 'We are enforcing this vigorously, and we will continue to do so,' Anchorage Mayor George Wuerch said. 'Driving on a public highway is not a right, it's a privilege.'

Wuerch added that there is a reason people had their licenses suspended or revoked in the first place. Police say repeat offenders have lost their licenses because of drunken driving, leaving the scene of an accident or a history of just plain bad driving.

Such people need to be off the road, says Assembly Chairman Dick Traini , who sponsored the measure. Offenders get their day in court to argue why the vehicle should not be seized, the city attorney said. If a forfeited vehicle is still being paid off, then the bank can pay the impound fees and sell the vehicle itself.

The sales price is deducted from the remaining balance on the car loan. The owner loses the equity, as well as the wheels. City officials said so far no one has challenged the new law.

Local defence attorneys had no comment, and the Alaska Civil Liberties Union said it has not researched the matter.

Police are not surprised by the number of vehicles that are being impounded under the new law, said Stevens, of the Anchorage Police Department. They discover unlicensed drivers when pulling motorists over for other reasons, she said.

Police, under the new law, can take the vehicle even if it is owned by someone other that the driver, if the driver is caught with a suspended or revoked license. But that is not cut and dried. 'If it is a borrowed car and the owner was not negligent in loaning the car then usually what (would) happen is the owner gets the car back,' City Attorney Bill Green said.

This could be just a prelude. After the new year, the law is scheduled to expand to cover the estimated 30 per cent of Anchorage motorists who are driving without insurance.

The Assembly decided to delay the effective date of the insurance part of the law until January 1 in an attempt to first educate Anchorage drivers so they will get the mandatory insurance.

Article written by Sean Cockerham at scockerhamadn.com"

At least a similar law would keep offenders out of prison as recommended by Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons.

ANTONY SIESE

City of Hamilton