I have read with great interest the article in Thursday's newspaper, "Work Permit Shakeup''.

After reading the issues raised by Mr. Ezekiel and others quoted in the article, I feel compelled to write in support of the Government's proposed initiatives. Let me say up front that I consider myself to be apolitical, and I have a lot of expatriate friends, so I am not speaking from a platform of politics or xenophobia.

I find the responses with regards to setting time limits on work permits amusing. Many years ago I had the opportunity to work in Europe. My work visa was for a period of two years. My employer knew up front that I had two years to spend in their employ. In those two years, I lived and worked in a major European capital, I travelled extensively, enjoyed the experiences afforded me, and at the end of my two years I packed my bags and headed home without regrets and recriminations against a Government that had the audacity to tell me how long I was welcome to live and work in their country. My working experiences were incredible, and I came home knowing that I could put my newly acquired knowledge and experiences to good use in furthering my career in my home.

I therefore do not understand why time limits on work permits would or should adversely affect how a company does business, or restrict their ability to hire staff. How many times have all of us heard or read that we should not consider ourselves to be irreplaceable or indispensable. IF an employee were to transfer within a company, resign, quit or sadly leave this world for the next, the employer would have to refill that position, no questions asked -and such issues are dealt with every day by companies all over the world. So why the hue and cry if your secretary, accountant, consultant, manager, lawyer, chef, waiter, front desk clerk, technician, hairdresser, beauty therapist etc.

knows up front that they will have three years to live (well) and experience all beauty that Bermuda has to offer. In fact, in my opinion, these employees would probably appreciate a sense of "finiteness'', rather than living on the edge of the sword always wondering if their work permit will be approved.

Mr. Ezekiel also expressed concern that there was no guarantee that a Bermudian trainee would stay with a firm on completion of their understudy period, and this would therefore prove to be an expensive undertaking for a company. However, that is a basic risk that all employers face when they have a vested interest in the careers of their employees. Most of the companies I worked for all encouraged further education - whether paid for in full by them, or shared expenses, both instances of course contingent on the employee maintaining passing grades. Educational opportunities are one of the many benefits that employers offer, but there is never any guarantee that the employee will remain with the company as a result of being trained. It is then up to the company to think of other incentives to keep their trained employee - whether it is competitive salaries, promises of true career advancement which would in turn bring about additional incentives such as car allowances, housing allowance, help with mortgages etc., as so many of the international companies now do.

I am not advocating that any company should hire a Bermudian for the sake of hiring a Bermudian, regardless of qualifications. Any company should recruit the best person for the job. If the best person for the job happens to be a non-Bermudian, then that non-Bermudian should be encouraged to share his/her job knowledge with any potential Bermudian replacement. And at the end of their time in Bermuda, they should be thanked for their contribution to their employer, encouraged to be future ambassadors for a country that afforded them a great opportunity to live "la vida Bermuda'', and know that they will always be welcome to come back for a visit.

T. ASTWOOD Warwick Stop this pointless war January 24, 2000 Dear Sir, In a war, victory can only truly be declared when the enemy admits defeat. The defeated enemy may grimly hang on to the dream of victory long after his or her literal defeat and technically the war is still on. The literal but uncelebrated victor must gaze into the eyes of their pathetic enemy with some bewilderment, perhaps amused, perhaps beguiled.

I imagine drug dealers must find themselves viewing the much touted "war on drugs'' in much the same light. The war on drugs was won by the drug dealers years ago. It only remains for us to admit defeat. But we don't. Despite yeas of fighting, our society is inundated with drugs.

Governments, and especially the United States government, will not admit defeat; it amounts to political suicide. The United States can go on denying defeat indefinitely because it has the money to throw at the effort. With money it is very easy to appear to be doing something real. The United States did the same thing in Vietnam, and if you don't count the casualties, for a long time it seemed to work.

In Bermuda's case, its much the same. Except we may not have that kind of money. At first Government ignored the problem. Then they couldn't. Since then they have been throwing money at it. Safe political strategies were used.

There was a "zero tolerance'' for what we liked to call "controlled substances''. These strategies were borrowed from elsewhere and never worked elsewhere, but because they were used elsewhere, by an astounding logic, we used them here. The people who suffer from this policy of denial are, first, the users; they are mostly invisible and not a potential political force. They are, therefore, ignorable and so, largely they are ignored.

The second victims are not ignorable. They are the Police. Their job is to enforce unenforceable laws that are based on impractical assessments of the problem. A social condition has created a demand for a particular set of substances. Since we are consumers, the society we live in is set up to satisfy our demand. And it does. Very well. Within the distant confine of economic reason, if we want something badly enough we can have it.

Like an idiot Canute, the Police are given the extraordinary job of stopping the tide of much-wanted substances. They crow when they get a major haul, but no-one is fooled. A large haul may mean that a multiple of that amount got past them. The larger their haul is, the bigger the problem. Their failure to detect and punish infractions of the drug laws outstrips their failures in all other areas by a wide margin. And all their efforts do is push up the price of drugs. By the economies of scale, the smugglers get richer. The odds are against the Police, and they finally cannot do their job. For this reason, among others, their morale is in the dirt and to make it worse, everyone knows it. It is no wonder Bermudians don't want to be Policemen. As the Lebanese saying has it, "You get the Government you deserve.'' That also applies to your police force. I saw a moderately funny movie a week ago with a favourite actor of mine in it: Ice Cube. He hasn't got much range but he is very interesting to watch as a person. It was a sort of chamber farce, very light and not really all that wild. Other people must find Ice Cube interesting too because its being held over. It was only when I walked out of the theatre, after the film, that I realised that characters in the film had been smoking pot through out. Even though we enforce laws that put people in prison for large fractions of their lives, for possession of pot, I and everyone else in that theatre could comfortably watch people blatantly breaking the law, and we saw nothing wrong with it. We laughed and had fun. We didn't see them as criminals, we identified with them. This was not a radical film that was made to shock. This was a popular film, with socially condoned themes. What are we asking Police to do? A good definition of life might be the ability of an organism to change its environment. For we humans, that includes the environment inside our minds.

Drugs play an important part of many religions, including Christianity. We have been artificially altering our state of mind as far back as we have history. With the advent of world trade, we can now enjoy an exotic selection of the drugs of other cultures. With the advent of science, our choice will not diminish, it will increase exponentially.

By a bizarre social calculus, you can obtain enough alcohol to kill your self at several locations on Front Street. Many Bermudians have done just that and died, honoured, respected members of the community. But if your choice is pot there will be tow differences. First of all its a lot harder to kill your self and second, you will go to jail if caught. Both drugs are proven to be addictive. Both will seriously ruin your life if you let them, and both can be very pleasant and relaxing when taken in moderation. People like to say pot leads to harder drugs. I want to assure them that alcohol does too. One of these drugs is served in Church. The other will get you more time than rape.

It is time to legalise the use of all drugs used recreationally. We must finally take on the responsibility for our human behaviour. It is obvious that until the very crack of doom, people will go on taking drugs. It is also obvious that drugs must be regulated. People do not always make wise decisions about how much to take. Substances must be controlled, but now, lets do it responsibly, with a cool assessment of what and who we really are.

I advocate the following proposal (I steal it from the Economist). Drugs should be assessed by criteria: addictiveness, effect on personal health, and the effect on the user's ability to understand reality. All popular drugs have been exhaustively analysed. They should be regulated based on this research.

For example, if nicotine is much more addictive then pot or alcohol, as studies seem to indicate, it must be controlled more severely, than pot or alcohol. Drugs should be rated numerically if you like, and given a score.

Nicotine and cocaine will be very difficult to buy because they are the most addictive, but cigarette smokers may drive a car. Users of heroin would have to be monitored in special bars. Users of cocaine would have to have relatively clean records and be of a certain age because of the violence associated with that drug. Users of crack and PCP would have to pay for and endure complete supervision at all times. Their intake would be watched and recorded.

In my perfect, socially responsible world, adults caught selling to minors would be considered heinous criminals and put in prison. In a society that monitors its use of mind altering drugs responsibly, Police would be free to protect children. Protecting and having the man-power to succeed in protecting children is what the Police are trained to do, and what they should be doing.

An additional benefit is that the supplier of children is cut off from his support network in a society where possession is legal. His supplier will be completely within the law and not afraid to report his infractions would be fewer and easier to spot. The price of drugs would have to drop thus alleviating the burden on the poor.

We have to accept who we are. There are those among us who do not choose as we do. Making their behaviour illegal does not help them if they need help. It distances them from us. For awhile, that might be comforting to us. Ironically we pay for that comfort with rising crime rates, which of course, make us uncomfortable. That seeming comfort is also very expensive. All wars are. The police, with extraordinary bravery, ingenuity, and commitment proceed to try and enforce laws we ask them to enforce. In the process they drive drug use underground, and drug users into the hands of criminals. The criminals make very large amounts of money. Once in a while they lose the battle, but the war, they win, win, win and as long as we don't change our strategy; they will go on winning.

JOHN ZUILL Pembroke Take Cablevision licence January 30, 2000 The following was sent to Renee Webb, Minister of Telecommunications and E-Commerce and copied to The Royal Gazette.

Dear Ms. Webb Re: Repeal of License of Bermuda Cablevision Ltd.

It is time to withdraw the license of the Bermuda Cablevision Ltd., 19 Laffan Street, Hamilton HM 09 (Fax: 295-3023). Or at a minimum your Ministry, or the appropriate authorities, should conduct a thorough investigation into the public accountability of this organisation.

Tonight, from 9 p.m. onwards , as on repeated occasions during January 2000, Bermuda Cablevision has suddenly fizzed off the air. Tonight the winds have not even been unduly harsh. I am not an avid Super Bowl fan. If I were, I would have been possibly devastated.

When it does resume transmission there is never ever any public pronouncements or apologies to its Bermuda clientele. Never, ever is there any subsequent message across our TV screens as to perhaps legitimate reasons for Bermuda Cablevision's numerous demise of transmission.

The Bermuda clientele is just a captive audience and victim en masse. Never, ever does Bermuda Cablevision make any public amends or public relations overtures with any credit renumeration to the accounts of its inconvenienced clientele for the loss of hours of transmission. However should a client miss a monthly payment, the client will be informed of this indiscretion forthwith.

Do our various tourist accommodations subscribe to this organisation for their guests? Undoubtedly many do. How very embarrassing an image this "gray-out'' of the public airways must present to our far-flung guests to Bermuda! Fortunately, unlike the locals our tourists are but temporary customers. No doubt the call could go forth for one to invest in alternative medium such as a dish. However, what impact shall our environment suffer to have a blossoming of these metal mushrooms dotting our pristine landscapes? There goes another assault on the visual aesthetics of Bermuda.

Bermuda Cablevision has just paid out a handsome dividend to its shareholders, albeit after a long period of time. Yes, the shareholders should share in the fruits of any corporate largess. However, give the people of Bermuda and its guest visitors an improved and consistent service. Then the dividends will take care of themselves! Members of the Bermuda public and our guest visitors should bombard by telephone (292-4595), and/or write and/or fax (295-1462) you, the Minister of Telecommunications and E-Commerce, to demand that Bermuda Cablevision lives up to its license responsibilities. Bermuda public, you have been very understanding and considerate long enough! FOR CONSUMER CONSIDERATION St. George's Been losing for years February 2, 2000 Dear Sir, I am writing in response to the recent publicity these gift clubs are receiving. Frankly, I think we should cut right to the chase and not cover up the real issue here. The issue is not the fact that the people who come in on the bottom of these so-called pyramid schemes lose, is it! Quite frankly we have been losing for years. The banks charge so much in interest that by the time we have paid off our homes (if fortunate enough to purchase one in the first place) we have paid for them almost twice. That goes for any loan taken out at the bank.

Let's talk about schemes that are legalised on this Island. Crown and Anchor, where the fate of the person winning or not lies in the flip of the right card or roll of a specific number, slot machines that are available in most of the Pubs on Front Street, betting, pools, bingo and stocks. All of these were only a few are lucky (as Mr. Eccles so gracefully put it) are legalised. Why? Because Government has a fee for them (betting license etc.) that's why. So please don't humour us by pretending to be worried about the little man losing! These gift clubs have been a blessing to a lot of people. People are finishing their education, paying off bills, helping someone else out of difficulty and the list goes on. Yes, we all know that there is a risk involved, but that risk is up to us. We break our backs to earn our money, and only now are we interested in us losing it. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL THIS TIME? If you are really concerned about the PEOPLE, catch the real crooks and leave the people alone who are really trying to do good on this island.

GET A REAL JOB Sandys Parish