Warning from Sea World

February 28, 2010

Dear Sir,

Seeing what happened last week at Sea World with the killer whale and its trainer, I have often wondered if something similar could happen here at Dolphin Quest; that the horribly limited amount of space that the dolphins have, in the Keep up at the Royal Naval Dockyard (the Maritime Museum area), might represent a real danger. Recently I was very disturbed to see that at least nine dolphins are being kept in three side-by-side pools that probably don't measure more than 2800 square feet. Let's understand that within this very small area, they perform, eat, poop, wee, sleep and mate. This is cruelty at best and I'm not so sure I would want to be swimming in water that contains all that!

If you are interested in the well-being of the dolphins, I invite you to visit the Dolphin Project website at www.dolphinproject.org where you can read about the effects of captivity on these wonderful animals. Some of the points made are that:

¦ The use of sonar is as important to dolphins as eyesight is to humans, but captive dolphins are severely restricted in using their sonar and this deprivation is one of the most damaging aspects of dolphin captivity.

¦ They want us to believe that the confinement of dolphins results in the paying audience learning to appreciate them and so they are motivated to contribute to the protection of dolphins in nature. This simply is not true; there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that the confinement of dolphins helps conserve them as a species.

¦ It isn't true that dolphins live better lives in captivity (being used in dolphin shows and swim programmes) than in the dangerous and stressful seas. That is like saying a human being would be better off never leaving his house out of fear of being hit by a car. To claim that it is in the best interest of dolphins to be sentenced to lifelong confinement is nothing more than propaganda used to sanitise the commercial exploitation of these complex intelligent creatures.

¦ Captive dolphins are known to become sexually frustrated in these programmes. There have already been accounts of human injuries from captive dolphins and video documentation is available.

KIM SMITH

Pembroke

Thanks for the help

February 28, 2010

Dear Sir,

After an unexpected three weeks in Bermuda, the crew of the S/V Amistad would like to thank all those who made our stay not only possible but productive and pleasurable.

In order of appearance: the Town of St. George's, Dockyard, and the City of Hamilton; Kenneth Bascome; Tavern by the Sea; East End Yacht Club; Ross Smith, of the Bermuda Heritage Museum; Mike Scott and the Spirit of Bermuda; Elena Strong, curator of the Bermuda Maritime Museum; Adam and Al, for their Bermudian hospitality; the Frog and Onion; Mark Tatem of The Royal Gazette and Simon Jones of the Bermuda Sun; Sir Richard Gozney, for welcoming us into his home for a warm and engaging evening; S. Peter Shrubb and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, for the generous use of their facilities; Mark O'Connor at Docksiders, for providing us a place to watch the Olympics and partake of local Dark-n-Stormy culture; Juice and Beans, for their friendly staff, generous Internet access, and nearly dairy-free Oreo smoothie;

Francois from Butterfield & Vallis; Milton Hill Sr., for his breathtaking woodwork and beautiful gifts to our crew; Ken Pitcher and the Bermuda Police Service Marine Unit, who first saw our need for an anchor buoy and then went out of their way to assist us in retrieving the anchor upon our departure from Hamilton; Vejay Steede, for his poetry; and Marty Amick, for his thoughtfulness, time, and much-needed hot showers.

Thank you for opening your homes to us and with hope, fair winds will bring us back to this wonderful island!

THE CREW OF THE S/V AMISTAD

Demand representation

March 1, 2010

Dear Sir,

In answer to "waiting for the BDA", February 19 letter, I care that millions have been wasted and/or vanished without a trace. I am perplexed as to why the Governor has not ordered a Commission of Inquiry. Failing that, is there anyone in the PLP that will stand up to the Premier and his cronies? If we as a country are not going to take the Auditor General's report seriously, why do we even need one? Who is it for? The report is damning, yet no one is held liable for the blatant disregard for the accounting of the taxpayers' money.

With a few notable exceptions, our political leaders have become nothing more than parasites who feed off our sweat and blood. They fail to appreciate Bermuda's potential or recognise her superiority and instead they view Bermuda as just another country to be sucked dry for their own benefit without any regard for any of the people who put them there.

These parasites have fed undetected for years, but our present economic crisis has lain bare just how badly the members of our political elite have squandered our wealth while failing to prepare us for rough times. In good times, it was more difficult to see what they have done to us, but now the true extent of their looting of the public purse and pillaging of our pay checks has been exposed.

Enough is enough. Why are we letting these politicians rack up $989.8 million in national debt? Politicians have forgotten that the money that sits in the public purse represents funds created from the labour, blood and toil of thousands of faceless Bermudians who get up early, go to bed late and miss countless weekends and nights with their families just to make an honest living.

We are all being told to rein in our spending, yet the Government has increased their spending projections for the coming year and we the taxpayers are required to sacrifice more of our hard-earned money to pay for it. Do not believe for a minute the puff that the Premier and the Minister of Finance are tooting about having to increase spending because we the people are demanding more from Government. They could easily provide for the social systems that are necessary for our elders and disadvantaged, if they would just stop wasting and pillaging the taxpayers' money.

The Government could decrease spending on holidays disguised as Government business, consultants for just about every conceivable issue, excessive fleets of Government cars, bodyguards, excessive amounts of assistants, vacant offices in Washington, wasteful concerts, an inability to build anything without going over budget by tens of millions of dollars and so on and so forth. Demand that your chosen Minister and/or the Governor stand up and do something today. Wake up Bermuda before it is too late!

MELINDA MAYNE

Hamilton Parish

BRRI is not working

March 1, 2010

Dear Sir,

Under the leadership of Premier Dr. Brown Rolfe Commissiong was given the task of advancing race relations. Great, as a black Bermudian male, I'm all for it. Let's tackle it head on, start "The Big Conversation", begin to heal age-old wounds and start the healing process towards better race relations here in Bermuda. At least I thought that was the aim of this Race Relations Initiative.

Well, some three to four years and hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to Mr. Commissiong later, we have yet to see any progress in this area. Yes, a big conversation has started, but only one of controversy and mistrust. When will there begin a "meaningful conversation" worthy of the time and money that has been spent on this initiative? One that will advance blacks and whites towards harmony, love, trust and respect for one another. One that will help us be a better Bermuda.

Mr. Commissiong, who is consultant to the Premier in these matters and who is supposed to help guide us toward racial harmony is failing miserably. Not only that, but his comments made on radio and television have done nothing but to continue the polarisation among the races in Bermuda. If after four years and hundreds of thousands of dollars this is what we have to show for this initiative, I ask as a taxpayer who contributes towards it that it be terminated due to poor performance. Spend our money on something that will benefit Bermuda. We obviously cannot afford to spend money on something that is not working.

VOTER

Sandys

Nice work if you can get it

February 27, 2010

Dear Sir,

Based on the most recent reports, I have realised that I am only one of three Bermudians who is not providing consulting services to the Government. Perhaps I should meet up with the other two unfortunate Bermudians and come up with a plan since I hear the pay is very good. Unfortunately, I am not sure what we could consult them on as it appears that every conceivable topic has been covered (two or three times in some cases). Perhaps we could consult Government on the use of consultants; the "Ministry of Consulting" has a nice ring to it.

KENT SMITH

St. George's

P.s. If Government does take us up on our offer we will need to renegotiate the payroll tax on our fees and be paid in US dollars.

A step backwards

March 4, 2010

Dear Sir,

A caller on an afternoon talk show said that he didn't want to hear any news from any other source than what is put on the Government channel, CITV. I shuddered to think that someone could think this way. Our forefathers and mothers fought for freedom, freedom to think, freedom to express our thoughts, freedom from tyranny and dictatorship and now people wish we could go back! I was reading "The Private Patient" by P.D. James and came across the following quote which intrigued me: "Frankly, I wouldn't lift a finger to muzzle the popular press. When you consider the machinations and deviousness of governments, we need some organisation strong enough to shout occasionally. I used to believe I lived in a free country. Now I have to accept that I don't. But at least we have a free press, and I'm willing to put up with a certain amount of vulgarity, popularisations, sentimentality and even misrepresentation to ensure it remains free." (p. 65,66).

I hope we never go back to the way things were and the way they still are in some countries that are led by tyrannical leaders and oppressive governments where the fight for freedom goes on today.

FREE TO SIGN MY NAME OR NOT!

Devonshire

Integrate local sports

March 1, 2010

Dear Sir.

I viewed many events in the recent Winter Olympics on TV and I was very impressed by their racially integrated teams. I wish that more sports teams in Bermuda were as well integrated. There are a few white football players in local teams that are 90 percent or more black, but there are many local football and cricket teams without a single white player. Surely it is long overdue that this situation be changed. Sport is a great equaliser and I am sure that more racially integrated teams would lead to more racial harmony in Bermuda. It is up to our Members of Parliament and other local leaders to take a lead, and make greater efforts to have local teams much more racially integrated.

JOHN T. GILBERT

Paget

'Expert' got it wrong

March 1, 2010

Dear Sir,

This is in response to the letter written by Peter Bromby Sr. in The Royal Gazette on Monday, March 1, 2010. Please consider all sides of the issue before giving yourself the title of "local knowledgeable expert". In your proposed solution to "fix" the Causeway, you failed to consider that although the bridge is not widely used during the winter months, in the summer the bridge is under heavy use by boats wishing to pass into Castle Harbour. Without this bridge, it is necessary to travel a much further distance around St. David's to enter the Harbour, which for smaller powerboats (for example, those that tourists rent) is a much riskier route. There is no need to infill the bridge when the engineering technology exists today to build bridges that resist breakage under high winds and storm surge.

You also failed to consider the consequences of infilling the Causeway on marine life. In the 1940s, the construction of the airport closed off many waterways into the Harbour, and as a result it is very turbid, restricting the growth of corals. Infilling the Causeway would exacerbate this issue and create an even more unstable environment for corals and other animals in the Harbour. A new structure does not need to be built if the current one is considered safe and is monitored on a regular basis. It is wasteful to spend money rebuilding a structure that is deemed structurally sound. The only concern regarding the issue of the Causeway is creating better guidelines for determining when to close it based on wind speed and direction.

JESSIE HALLETT

Pembroke