Calvin Smith supports the legalisation of cannabis. Sen. Smith called for a debate on the merits of decriminalising or legalising cannabis but has never stated that he supports either move.

Fallen on deaf ears February 25, 2000 Dear Sir, The Finance Minister, Mr. Cox, said that he had been listening before the Budget announcement. After the event, one has to wonder which member of BIBA he was listening to. Was it the lawyer who bragged that they had written the Premier's `reinvent retailing' speech - or was it the other members of BIBA who obviously successfully made their case that they should not be taxed? It certainly wasn't the retailers, who thought their voices were finally being heard only find that they are in actual fact being taxed out of existence.

Peppered throughout the Budget speech and economic review is the recurring theme that retailing and tourism are in trouble. However, the Government Budget just released indicates that there will be an increase in customs duty (rather than a reduction) and the changes revealed in this Budget will do more to damage and disrupt existing businesses than the Finance Minister and his advisors can possibly conceive. Those retailers who have concentrated on natural fabric garments have been stabbed in the back, and no amount of the Ministers side stepping the issue will change that. The 50% increase in duty on children's clothing is obscene when viewed alongside tax breaks which have been handed to the professional sector who do not even shop in Bermuda anyway.

they will ultimately have to live with the consequences of their selfish lobbying, and will have no-one but themselves to blame.

VOTER Anything but the pitts March 1, 2000 Dear Sir, What a surprise my wife and I encountered on Sunday, February 27, 2000, when we intended to have a brisk stroll around the city but only to be met by thousands of people, who were spectators to the go cart racing around town.

I have briefly witnessed go cart racing at Southside and came away with the impression that this sport is well organised. The Front Street race cemented my personal position.

From what I saw, every one - young and old, were enjoying themselves immensely and the go cart drivers seemed to be professional in their driving skills.

Although I had to leave before it concluded, I thought that it would be great to have a go cart race on May 24 (Bermuda Day), starting before the runners, cyclists, etc. I don't know if they have a gas tank big enough to get them from Somerset to Bernard park or whether or not they will need bails of hay - anyway, it is just a thought for the entire community to enjoy.

Best wishes to the Go Cart Association.

JOHN HARVEY Smith's Dodging the issue February 25, 2000 Dear Sir, I have to agree with the main thrust of the recent interviews with Arthur Hodgson and Stuart Hayward that there are limits to the growth that is desirable for the Island. I do however find some contradictions in their arguments. Mr. Hayward says we should consider Bermudian culture then goes on to look at how Americans view foreigners. Surely what is more relevant is how Bermuda has viewed immigrants in the past. He rightly points out that there are no native Bermudians, and I seriously doubt there was ever a time when less than ten percent of the residents on this island were born abroad. A high proportion of foreign born residents are part of Bermudian culture, it is an important part of what has made Bermuda the resourceful, flexible place that it is.

The strangest aspect of Mr. Hodgson's interview is that his answers bear no relation to the questions he is being asked. (I do agree with Mr. Hayward that the interviewer's antagonistic approach to this sensitive subject is unhelpful, but that hardly excuses Mr. Hodgson's non-answers). Mr. Hodgson is asked if he is blaming foreigners for the drug problem, his answer is that Bermudians are too busy - how is this related? With foreigners here to share the burden of work surely Bermudians are less busy than they would otherwise be. Mr. Hodgson is asked what does the breakdown of the Bermudian family unit have to do with foreigners living here, his answer is `Divorce and children born out of wedlock is a problem. We have to fight these problems.' He offers no shred of evidence that this has anything to do with the number of foreigners on the island.

Perhaps the most baffling portion of the whole interview is this gem from when Mr. Hodgson was a guest worker in another land. "I lived in Guyana and saw the growth of Indian businesses - although they came over later than the blacks, they were outstripping the blacks. You would see mother cooking and dad in the back peeping through the curtains and overseeing it all.'' What is this anecdote supposed to tell us? That if you work hard you can get ahead? That Indians somehow cheated to get ahead of the blacks? That the blacks needed protection from the influx of Indians because they couldn't compete? Mr. Hodgson's use of innuendo and insinuation are reminiscent of some of the nastier governments of the last century, but he probably feels right at home in a topsy turvy cabinet where the Minister of Transport thinks bigger cars will make Bermuda's roads safer and the Premier believes she is delivering open Government to the people.

WORRIED RESIDENT Pembroke A sign of the times February 28, 2000 Dear Sir, Bus into Hamilton -- three old ladies and myself, aged 87, strap hanging. Two Bermudian boys sitting unmoved ! WONDERING Paget Being kept in the dark February 25, 2000 Dear Sir, Just a short note to use your column to thank the Governor and the foreign office for showing the people how to raise mushrooms.

When there is contact between the AG's chambers and a defendant and a case is "not handled in the customary way'' then the citizenship is entitled to know all of the stinky details! Assuming that the people of Bermuda are not entitled to know the truth behind the handling of the Rodney Smith debacle will encourage me to vote for independence in the future so as to avoid a future full of "the mushroom diet''. Thanks Guv.

CURTIS A. DAWSON Pembroke Report was misleading February 25, 2000 Dear Sir, Today's Royal Gazette (Friday February 25) has a front page article headed `Immigration officials turn away Cuban pianists band' and the first paragraph intimates that Immigration officials turned them away from Bermuda.

Nothing, and I repeat nothing, could be further from the truth.

The Bermuda Department of Immigration, and in particular Dr. Martin Brewer and Mrs. Rosie Azhar together with those officials at the airport, have been cooperative, supportive and in every way helpful to the Bermuda Festival and its officials.

They have `bent over backwards' to satisfactorily resolve the difficult issues of visas. When artists arrive from Russia, Albania, Cuba, etc. they require re-entry visas from the US and/or Canada Authorities to enable the Bermuda Immigration Authorities to provide a Bermuda Waiver.

When these sometimes arrive late, the Bermuda Immigration Department have given the Festival all possible assistance - even to the extent of offering their services and contacts with the US and Canadian authorities.

I wish this response to express not only my distress at the unfortunate and incorrect headline but to assure staff of the Department of Immigration we are grateful for all their assistance and advice.

As it happens Chucho Valdes was contracted by the Festival to perform solo - the small back-up band was a much later suggestion - Mr. Valdes, more often than not, performs as a solo artist.

BERMUDA FESTIVAL LTD.

Dangerous and divisive February 25, 2000 Dear Sir, A few months ago Sandy Frith Brown offered a challenge to the parliamentary members of the PLP whereby he would eat his hat if they could collectively prove to have twenty Bermuda born grandparents. I have been looking forward to Sandy's `meal' with pleasure, but nothing has happened...which sort of indicates that they couldn't do it! Because everyone in Bermuda knows everyone else's business it must be pretty easy to find out the antecedents of the parliamentarians in question. I therefore invite the public to send in details of grandparents of all the members of the House of Assembly and in that way the community can decide who qualifies for founder membership in the Hypocrites' Hall of Fame.

The railing against foreigners in Bermuda is racist. For nearly four hundred years this Island has been populated by immigrants, and our prosperity and success is very largely the result of the efforts of these immigrants. Without an expatriate business community here there would be no opportunity for our next generation. The offshore companies are not in Bermuda to provide safe jobs for Bermudians. They are here for their own purposes, and Bermudians are fortunate that the spin-off throughout the community has benefited so many of them. Arthur Hodgson's line of thinking is dangerous and divisive, and John Barritt's comments about it are entirely correct.

Attacking others to disguise our own shortcomings will cost this Island dearly in the long run.

TAXPAYER A roaring success February 29, 2000 Dear Sir, On behalf of the Hamilton Lions Club, I wish to thank all the sponsors and participants in our Gasorama & Raffle, held at Terceira's Shell Station, North Shore Road, Smith's, on Saturday, February 26 under the patronage of Ralph Terceira, who with his father Malcolm Ralph Terceira Sr. have kindly sponsored this event every year since 1969, (31 years).

By the kind donations of various businesses and individuals we were able to offer 22 prizes in our "Gasorama 2000 Raffle'', and as a result collected approximately $17,500 in supoort of the Hyperbaric & Wound Care Unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and the Family Resource Network, this sum being the highest in the history of this event. (Prizewinners in March 2's Royal Gazette .

Thanks are also due to the members of Hamilton Lions Club, Lionesses and Leos of Bermuda, and many friends who supported this event by selling and purchasing raffle tickets,and by further augmenting the above sum by attending on the day to pump gas and wash cars.

Our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who assisted Hamilton Lions Club to further the motto of Lions International -- "We Serve'', and thereby significantly easing the life and health of so many local residents.

Hope to see you all again next year! DEREK FLETCHER Co-chairman, Gasorama 2000 Not the right answer February 25, 1999 Dear Sir, Given their unusual behavior, I have often wondered if Bermuda's politicians were smokin' dope. Thanks to Senator Calvin Smith, we can now assume they are.

Sen. Smith's suggestion that we legalise marijuana because the law negatively impacts black youth displays stunning reverse logic. Indeed, the drug law does judge criminal behavior -- but the solution is to encourage opportunity and self-discipline among our young citizens, rather than erase a law that has wide community support.

Bermuda would be unique -- a rogue state -- amongst our trading partners if marijuana was legalised here. Such an act would have a dire impact on our relationship with the United States, including the preferential Customs and Immigration pre-clearance Bermuda currently enjoys.

Maybe we should begin a mandatory urine sample testing regime for Bermuda's politicians -- now that's an idea! GET A GRIP! Warwick Good riddance March 01, 2000 Dear Sir, In response to "Unimpressed Mom'' regarding the removal of Nickelodeon, I am afraid I will have to disagree with her and praise the fact it is off the air.

As a result of the loss of Nickelodeon, perhaps more parents will spend some quality time with their kids after school and during weekends rather than sitting them down in front of the TV to keep them occupied until bedtime.

I do however agree with the rate cuts.

TIRED OF TV Warwick Reverend needs support March 5, 2000 Dear Sir, I am sorry some of my fellow parishioners at St. Mark's have decided to send a protest to the Archbishop of Canterbury against the appointment of the Rev.

William Hayward to the Smith's Parish living, for I would have thought they would see it as their duty to help and assist him instead. After all, St.

Mark's is supposed to be (and is proving to be) a strong parish -- what we should be able to do is to help a fellow Bermudian gain experience rather than whine about his not having any.

As Mr. Ira Phillips so ably recounted in recent issues of The Mid-Ocean News, the parish has gone through vicissitudes before. We should also remember that our last Bermuda-born rector was Archdeacon the Ven. George Tucker -- by all accounts one of the best rectors we ever had.

W.S. ZUILL Preach to the converted March 2, 2000 Dear Sir, To St. Mark's Parishioners.

I received this e-mail from a very good friend. I thought I would share it with all of you. It's too deep not to pass on....

One Sunday morning during service, a 2000 member congregation was surprised to see two men enter, both covered from head to toe in black and carrying sub-machine guns. One the men proclaimed, "Anyone willing to take a bullet for Christ remain where you are.'' Immediately the choir fled, the deacons fled, and most of the congregation fled. Out of the 2,000 there only remained around 20. The man who had spoken took off his hood, looked at the preacher and said, "Okay pastor, I got rid of all the hypocrites. Now you may begin your service. Have a nice day!'' And the two men turned and walked out.

Reverend William Hayward, you are not going down because they are not around.

Even if you have two people in your church on Sunday mornings, you still preach.

DEBORAH ALBUOY Warwick Magnificent mums February 20, 2000 Dear Sir, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Meet-a-Mum Association for providing the Emergency Department at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with a new look to our Paediatric Room. Mothers Debbie Larcher and Charlotte Cogling spent many hours painting a beautiful and colourful collage of Walt Disney characters on the walls. Their hard work and dedication will be forever appreciated by the many children and parents who visit our department in times of illness.

Thank you very much! TARA JACKSON, RN ENCC on behalf of the entire Emergency Department Staff