Some new points, please!

July 14, 2010

Dear Sir,

I wish to respond to the almost carbon copied arguments made my Robert Davies. Over the last few weeks he has been making more vocal posts in both the Royal Gazette and the BDA's Facebook page. His self-appointed notion that he has the BDA "scrambling for answers" is, as he says, "hogwash". The BDA have given their answers, and Mr. Davies assumes that by writing the same questions in either entire capital letters, or in more locations, that the answers will change.

Mr. Davies has been on a campaign to paint the BDA in a bad light because of his only two arguments. Firstly, that the three BDA MPs are false and that the BDA cannot answer his attacks, and secondly that the BDA is trying to censor him or simply "p*ss and moan" about his arguments.

With regards to his only major point, this has been hashed out on numerous occasions, all with the same accusations and the same replies. To assume that because members of the BDA have stopped rewriting their same responses means that they have no answer simply shows Mr. Davies' lack of understanding towards debate and disagreement. You can tell me all day that my favourite colour is red, and I can tell you it's green. Just because I stop replying to your argument does not at all mean I am secretly admitting to myself that my favourite colour is red. There is simply no point in reiterating my response.

As for Mr. Davies' continued point about the "exodus" of MPs, he fails to mention the "exodus" of those that have gone to the PLP as well. I have not seen such an attempt at discrediting those MPs by Mr. Davies as I have for those in the BDA. In my opinion, this is because they have entirely crossed over to the Government, and as such the UBP cannot touch them. What humours me is that as the BDA and UBP are two oppositions, so Mr. Davies appears to feel more threatened by those MPs in the BDA. The fact is that a large number of politicians and politically motivated people are leaving in this "exodus", some to the PLP, some to the BDA, and some independent. I have yet to hear of anyone leaving one group to join the UBP.

As per his assertion that members of the BDA are trying to censor him, or hide his "truths", I would simply like to point out that Mr. Davies' only "tactic" is that of opinion spam. He simply rehashes the same point in as many locations as possible. If even one person replies to agree (and it's never been many more than that), then he reposts the same point again, stating that he has a mass following. If someone disagrees, he pretty much copy/pastes his prior argument with a lot of CAPS letters, similar to the lovely bank phishing scams we get in our inboxes all too often. If there is no reply he says he has the BDA "pinned to a wall". The fact of the matter is that using this tactic will never lead to beneficial dialogue. What has been asked of him is not private dialogue so people cannot see what is going on, but to have a one-on-one dialogue where both sides can discuss their points with all their merit, and not let the back and forth punches be fuelled by a growing crowd. As we've seen in the playgrounds back in the day, that never solves the problem.

Mr. Davies probably has indeed encouraged more people to visit the BDA's party wall, but not to see his "points", just to see his point, spammed across it as if fired blindly at anyone who will read, accompanied with false statistics to support a notion which, while I'm sure has its supporters, is just simply not as popular an issue as he implies. The issue has been brought up, and discussed. Please Mr. Davies, bring in some new debate about other issues. I commend you on your passion and loyalty to your party, but let's steer away from the spamming and lean more to progressive discussion on the issues Bermuda is facing. That would be "a better way".

SCOTT LEITCH

Pembroke

Using the word 'killer'

July 10, 2010

Dear Sir,

At the risk of stating the obvious, words are powerful. They can encourage, soothe, placate, refresh, heal, and the like. They can also wound, pull to pieces, insult and destroy. In today's edition, a headline read "Killer earns 'time served'..." While the word 'killer' can mean one who kills, the term killer is slang and perhaps not the appropriate term to use.

More appropriate reporting in my view, would have used the person's name in the headline and in the body of the story relate exactly what the conviction was. Whilst the latter was actually done, you had to reach paragraph 15 to find it.

The 'killer' headline is sensationalist and does nothing to assist in the rehabilitation of the individual. I've noticed journalism in general going down this slippery slope with headlines such as "thug", "gangster", and the like. These terms represent opinions and not facts as they are subjective. And this type of reporting as a whole is subjectively used. I can recall at least two members of the media being fined for drunk driving but when their name appears in print or on the electronic media, I have never heard them being referred to as 'convicted drunks,' which, in any event, would be correct. Another member of the journalistic community stole a policeman's hat at a function but later had that downgraded to a prank. Is that person referred to as a 'thief-turned-prankster?'

Lest your letter columns and cyberspace are filled with anonymous and vile criticisms, and you well know my views on anonymity, I am in no way making light of the crime that caused the term in the headline to be used (should that need to be said?). What I am reflecting upon is the need to be more socially responsible in reporting if we want those who fall afoul of the law, particularly as it relates to serious crime, to have a real chance of being rehabilitated. You are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Perhaps the first agenda item of the new media council could be "Language and the need to be socially responsible".

CORDELL W. RILEY

Pembroke

Editor's note: Social responsibility, which tends to mean different things to different people, is only one of the many factors that the media must take into account in reporting the news. Others include context and relevance. In this case, the killer, Kellan Lewis, was convicted of the manslaughter of Kellon Hill at Elbow Beach in 2008. The offence for which Lewis returned to court for this month, and to which he pleaded guilty, was that of assault, namely that he struck a 66-year-old man on the back of the head with a steel reinforcing rod after the man tried to stop him from harassing a group of young women. The offence took place six weeks before Lewis killed Kellon Hill.

Double jeopardy chance

July 12, 2010

Dear Sir,

According to the Bermuda Sun, the Premier, Dr. Brown, is promoting an "Endless Summer" campaign in an effort to increase the number of Canadian visitors.

He should remember that Bermuda has some serious unfinished business with the Becky Middleton murder, which still leaves a bad taste with many Canadians.

Government is now uniquely positioned to rectify this incredible miscarriage of justice with the pending double jeopardy legislation and should not miss this opportunity for justice to be finally done.

ALLAN DAVIDSON

Warwick

Small man is forgotten

July 4, 2010

Dear Sir,

It has become clear to me that the Progressive Labour Party has lost its way. The small man in Bermuda has been completely abandoned in favour of big business and perceived big pay offs. Take the plight of the general trucker as an example. Years ago they complained to the PLP Government that companies with tractor trailer dumpsters were using them in ways that they were never intended to be. Previously these dumpsters were only to be used to haul items that couldn't be safely carried in a HC truck.

Someone had the foresight back in the day to implement this law to protect the general trucker, protect the roads and prevent these behemoths from travelling our highways routinely. How many times have you nearly been knocked or forced off the road by these monsters, crossing the centre line while swinging around corners to prevent their loads from scraping Bermuda's walls? The law also says that all loads should be covered, but these dumpsters usually are not because they feel that they are so high that none will notice. The complaints were logged to TCD and the PLP Government long before this recession reared its ugly head, but I am sure some will say that they are only complaining now because of it. Despite many complaints to the Government about their plight nothing was done. They where basically told that the Transport Minister has the final say, that their complaints had fallen on deaf ears.

How could something so easily rectified be allowed to run so horribly afoul? Should a large section of the community's complaints be ignored in favour of large profit by a few? Wasn't the Progressive Labour Party supposed to be better than the ones that came before? First it was the taxis, then it was the general truckers… you may be next. First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a communist; then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a trade unionist; then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew; then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak out (Martin Niemöller).

CLINTON J.A. PAYNTER

St. George's

Bumpy roads

July 8, 2010

Dear Sir,

I would like to question the brains behind the new yellow speed reducing strips laid on the streets of the old Town of St. George. Now our roads are not only in need of paving, but are also an eyesore. The potholes and damage from carting away the old hotel were filled and now have been replaced with the bumps. Were these strips put in place to slow down the traffic? I for one can attest, after catching on to the word, that the slower one drives over these strips, the worse the shake-rattle-n-roll is. Rather than try and rattle my old car's muffler off, I think I shall follow the pack and stick to 25 kph when driving through the town.

On another note, I think it would be best if the Transport Minister informed the Tourism Minister that our visiting tourists should be advised white lines mean crosswalks, yellow lines mean beware.

TIRED OF BEING BUMPED ABOUT

St. George's

A slippery slope?

July 13, 2010

Dear Sir,

Like many Bermudians, I am very concerned about the growing size of our national debt for which taxpayers are on the hook – both present and future generations. Rampant spending under the "not-so-watchful eye" of the Premier in waiting, Finance Minister Paula Cox, has put us in a very untenable position indeed and is robbing the financial futures of our children and grandchildren.

In the daily today, it was noted that various staff from the Finance Ministry travelled literally around the world – London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Los Angeles, Boston and New York to canvass investors' appetite for subscribing to the $500 million Bermuda Government Bond issue being planned. Your article also noted that Bermuda (read Taxpayers) would have to pay a premium return to investors of 2.62% over the US ten-year note which, at present rates puts the yield just under six percent per annum. That translates to interest payments of approximately $30 million per year with no reductions paid on the $500 million principal loan itself, an amount as large as the Tourism Ministry's annual budget. These numbers are huge and the Minister needs to explain to us how and when she expects such loans to be paid off.

I am also very curious as to why the Finance Minister felt it necessary to send Ministry officials around the world to "talk up" the bond issue, when on our very doorstep in Hamilton are insurance and reinsurance companies with capital to invest totalling over $30 billion. It makes me wonder whether the local insurers know something we in the public don't and hence have no desire to invest in a sinking ship.

Has the PLP Government taken us down the slippery slope to financial ruin? Only time will tell Mr. Editor. But while we taxpayers are grimacing from the pain to come to pay for this large borrowing, HSBC are smiling because they will earn fat commissions from the bond sale, which will no doubt translate to large bonuses for certain HSBC/Bank of Bermuda executives.

So I guess you could say some people will indeed benefit from our present predicament.

ALLAN D. MARSHALL JP

UBP Candidate for Parliament

Hamilton South, District 7

Editor's Note: Since this letter was written, the bond has been issued with an interest rate of 5.6 percent which means annual debt payments on the interest will be $28 million. About ten percent of the bond was taken up in Bermuda.