Thank you, Ann

September 13, 2007

Dear Sir,

To Ann, my (PALS) Angel: You're leaving – another loss. But, before you go, I need you to know that you're leaving a lot of survivors that appreciate you so much for being there for us. But, especially from me, you have shown so much profound compassion and you have shown me an angel. A real one.

You have seen so much sadness, so much illness, so much death and you must have seen people like me, full of hope and in so much denial. It had to be hard, trying to prepare for us for what you knew was inevitable. I suffered through that because it was impossible my Yogi to die and leave us. But he did. I did not know that then. I cannot forget how I watched him dying. It was still a shock.

But you went all the way. Your going to his funeral meant you went all the way for me and Mia. We would have never met under better circumstances, but I am so grateful to God that we met anyway. I am a better person for having met you. You showed me the love and the realness. As long as there are waves, I will always remember you. Love you,

DAWN & MARIA

A badly thought out idea

September 26, 2007

Dear Sir,

Does Premier Dr. Ewart Brown think that by changing names on buildings i.e. the airport, and changing the names of public holidays is going to solve Bermuda's problems? If he does, then he is gravely mistaken. Please be aware that I mean no disrespect to Dame Lois Browne-Evans as I personally have admiration for her accomplishments as a woman, and as a black woman – but it begs the question: "Was she really our first hero?" Were there not people long before her that would deserve this honour also? The names listed by Mr. Zuill in his Editorial today are long and wide. It covers a multitude of Bermudians who have done great things for this island so why are they not included in this "National Heroes Day?"

It is fitting to honour someone who has done something great for humanity or for his or her country – but it is a very sad day when a Premier uses a deceased person for political gain! In order to implement this National Heroes Day, Dr. Brown wants to abolish our Bermuda Day holiday. This is absolutely disgraceful and badly thought out. Bermuda Day is a day when people can come together and celebrate their heritage.

Granted, as Mr. Zuill also stated in his Editorial "that while it can be argued with ease that the white community has still not fully embraced it (Bermuda Day), enormous progress has been made" (after the riots, this holiday I am sure that it was then called the 24th of May holiday, was suspended, and when it was resumed, 24th of May/Bermuda Day jumped from being a ninety percent white affair, to a ninety percent black affair). This is truly a case of reversing the tables!

Unfortunately, Dr. Brown has a lot of his priorities in the wrong place. He is trying to hoodwink the public once again – what he is doing is just window dressing. He is trying to make "his" people, meaning; "people who look like him" think that he is doing all of this for them. Not so! This is strictly for his political gain. Dr. Brown makes a good Tourism Minister, but he should never have been made Premier of this island.

I heard a comment on one of the talk shows, and this caller speaking on Dr. Brown, said, and I quite, "Give the man an inch, and he thinks he is a Ruler!" That comment was priceless. Unfortunately, I find it very hard to trust many of the methods that Dr. Brown uses in the running this Country. There are too many question marks and controversy surrounding him, and when your gut feeling tells you something is just not right, 99 percent of the time your gut is right. Bermuda needs a leader it can trust. It needs someone who clearly has the welfare of Bermuda and all of her people at heart. We don't need some egotistical, pumped up with self-importance person running this country. This country belongs to the people, not just a few individuals who think they are "Mightier than Thou!"

So Dr. Brown can change the names of airports, buildings, streets and holidays, but in the end, he will not be able to change the minds of a lot of people who can think for themselves. Change is good! But change just for the sake of change, is not!

PAT FERGUSON

Warwick

P.s. What in the world has happened to our roadsides? It has become a real jungle out there! I have been watching a palm tree grow out of a crack between a wall and the sidewalk on Rural Hill and it is now a full-blown palm tree. This is one of the priorities that have not been attended to. Just take look around Bermuda – there are weeds six feet tall on some sidewalks! Shocking!

In defence of Quinton

October 6, 2007

Dear Sir,

Today's Royal Gazette carries a letter written by Mr. Rendol James taking issue in a previous article entitled "What the UBP stands for" written by Mr. Edness. Having grown up with Mr. Edness in the UBP, I thought I would just take the time to tell the people a little about the Quinton Edness I know and maybe just maybe Mr. James will reflect and retract. First and foremost, Mr. Edness cares about Bermuda, his island, his people and his blessed Warwick. To sit and talk with him for any length of time means that you will hear countless stories about Bermuda and its people. People he has grown up with, worked with and played with. People like the South Shore boys, Nelson and Rip Simons, Flick Rabain and Boopsie Burrows, all Warwick boys.

The stories you hear are about Bermuda and how Bermudians black and white played together in their childhood, how they worked from an early age, how they struggled to get educated, the battles to get their jobs and above all their love for Bermuda and how that love has never wavered.

Quinton Edness appointed me to the Bermuda Hospitals Board around 1972 along with Sir John Swan, because the hospital was in trouble, its receivables and payables were out a couple of years. We were able together with the hospital team to fix that problem in four years.

Mr. Edness did that because he wanted to make it right for the people of Bermuda, so that we would be able to hold our heads high and let everyone know we had the best hospital care in the world. So that visitors and International company business would know that if they had a medical issue in Bermuda, you were in good hands.

Years later, Mr. Edness was the Minister in charge of Public Works and Housing. In this capacity the Bermuda Housing Corporation was under his portfolio. His Chairman at the time was David Lines, I was the deputy together with a fine board of Bermudian blacks and whites. Over the next ten years, the BHC build several developments, Middletown, Far Rockaway, Ducks Puddle, Boaz Island, St. David, Longford Hill, St. Georges, Hamilton Parish and many more. In addition to all of those we had a mortgage programme that provided mortgages to first time home owners with only ten percent down and a landlord's rental scheme that helped home owners find tenants for the apartments or houses.

I should also mention that we put rules in place for the Corporation that required a board members signature for any expenditure over a certain amount. Every plan had to be approved by the board and board members were active and proud of their accomplishments. The biggest controversy was a leaky window not millions going out the back door. When you were appointed as chairman or deputy chairman of Mr. Edness's boards you met with him every Thursday afternoon after lunch for a good three hours or until the business was done and he was satisfied that Bermuda and benefitted from the work you were doing, because he cared.

Mr. Edness was instrumental in the building of the incinerator plant and the airport. Talk about naming something after somebody, I wouldn't think twice about that. Yes the critics will point out that these projects were over budget for one reason or another but you can take to the bank that they were honest mistakes. Bermuda and Bermudians today are better off because of these two efforts.

Mr. James talks about Mr. Edness not being up front in the struggle of equal rights for all Bermudians. Mr. James, Quinton Edness was always the champion of equal rights and human rights. I was with him in Australia when he visited the Government and researched their child development program. Mr. Edness was at the forefront of the Human Rights Acts, The Heritage programme, Criminal Proceeds Act and many more ... because he cared.

Mr. Edness believed in the partnership of the races and the UBP to this day stands on that premise. My relationship with Mr. Edness is a testament to the credo. We in the UBP were brought up to believe that the partnership between blacks and whites was the only way Bermuda could progress, Mr. Edness, Dr. Clarence James, Stanley Ratteray, John Stubbs, Flip Galloway, Lancelot Swan, C. V. (Jim) Woolridge, Ronnie Barnard, Sir John Plowman, deForest Trimingham, John Patton, The Vesey's, Sir Bayard Dill, Sir James Pearman, Sir Edward Richards and many more were among the first new UBP team in 1968. They all believed in the partnership that works, They cared and believed, and did not bolt when they could not get their own way, they cared about all of Bermuda, Mr. James, I was there and I saw it.

A little different now isn't it?

WARD YOUNG

A note of thanks

September 29, 2007

Dear Sir,

This summer I was lucky enough to be one of approximately 80 Bermudian students given the opportunity of working with the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB). I would like to express my appreciation for the opportunities afforded me and my fellow students this summer. I feel the programme set up with the Office of Staff Affairs has been a tremendous help to me and the other participants.

In today's work environment, where gaining positive workplace experience and securing a desirable job is increasingly difficult, the opportunity provided to many students whether they be training to become nurses, therapists, doctors, technicians or other allied health professionals, is extremely helpful. The eight weeks that I was employed with the BHB Summer Student Programme allowed me to gain experience in the laboratory at KEMH.

This experience has made me aware of the professional opportunities available in Bermuda and not just the sort of training and experience that are required but how fortuitous we are in Bermuda to have some of the most dedicated and professional health care personnel anywhere. I am hopeful that this system can be used as a model to introduce further areas of work opportunities to interested students. On that note, I would highly recommend other students who are interested in such a programme to consider applying for the summer programme or volunteering with the BHB as this was how I began my career at KEMH.

I think I speak on behalf of all the students who have benefited, and will continue to benefit, from this tremendous experience and I wish to personally thank Debbie Byrd, Linda Trott, Lynea Wales, Dr. Clyde Wilson, the KEMH laboratory staff, as well as the entire BHB. team for making this such a rewarding and beneficial experience for so many of us. My time here this summer has strengthened my resolve to come back upon completion of my studies and help make the Bermuda Hospitals a centre of excellence in serving the community.

NEIL C. CATTELL

Flatts

An unjustified attack

September 29, 2007

Dear Sir,

I am writing this letter as response to the letter to the Editor in The Royal Gazette, written by LaVerne Furbert on September 24, 2007. I would like to say how pleased I am to see her exercise her freedom of speech, without fear of reprisal, to defend (in her mind) the democratically elected party, the PLP, of which she is obviously a member. It is one of the hallmarks of democracy to be able to do this. Unfortunately, she chose to use this freedom to defame my character by insinuating that I am a racist. This was an unjustified personal attack. It was also an obviously weak, pathetic and desperate attempt to polarise an issue that clearly has nothing to do with race or discrimination. It seems to me that the environmental movement, started by the courageous youth of our country, may have the effect of uniting Bermuda regardless of race.

Which I think is a great deal more responsible than engaging in hate propaganda.

As I doubt that 20 signatures signify a "white coup d'état" it is puzzling why this is so threatening to the PLP. Perhaps, it is because without racial hatred, the entire political platform for which the party stands would collapse. There is no room in a unified Bermuda for either the UBP or PLP. Let me say now publicly that I do not support either party. There is no political party in existence in Bermuda that is liberal enough for my humanist sensibilities.

I have been an activist since I was a child, starting in the 1980s when I marched with my mother in Washington, D.C. for the Equal Rights Amendment, to give women the same rights as men under the US Constitution. My mother, who was a part of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, was a founding member of Up with People, which was a group dedicated to promoting cultural awareness and world peace through understanding.

In fact, my mother, Esther Diaz-Lanz, is mentioned in Norman Vincent Peale's book, "Enthusiasm Makes the Difference" as a model for the new generation, a generation who were taking responsibility for the world's problems by approaching it with positivity and integrity. She was active in Bermuda, starting the Consumer Rights Bureau. She also was one of the first people to stand up against the racist policies of the former UBP. Ms Furbert could learn a great deal from her, and people like her.

In addition, if Ms Furbert had done her research, she would have seen that, in no way have I ever made any statements about the closing of the Trimingham 's department store. My concern has always been the building itself, as a cultural landmark, and in particular saving the façade as was done with Newstead. There is no reason why it should not have been kept, even with rebuilding.

The inspiration for the petition came from an article within The Royal Gazette called "Queen of the East owners have permission for a driveway" dated May 30, 2007 in which conservationists called for the resignation of Neletha Butterfield due to the de-listing of the property during Heritage month. I think that a better idea than tearing down Government House would be to tear down the old Club Med, make it into a park – perhaps dedicated to Dame Lois. And then, another good project might be to build a university (four-year) so that all Bermudians could have access to a higher education. I believe the Baselands are available.

"The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization." Frank Lloyd Wright

"This is land for people who love nature, who believe that the best of the environment should be saved and want to create a family legacy that can be passed to future generations unchanged, unspoiled, and naturally beautiful." Everitt Drew

The petition can be viewed online at:

www.thepetitionsite.com/17/petition-for-the-dismissal-or-resignation-of-nele tha-butterfield-from-the-position-of-minister-of

ILONA JOHANNA PERRY