Closed door blues

July 15, 2009

Dear Sir,

Last evening when my wife and I went off to St. George's Town Square, (to take part in the "festivities") we were dismayed in witnessing numerous retail stores inaccessible to the public; and more so, to the many visitors off of the cruse ship that had been in port. It was disgraceful in a tourist destination such as Bermuda. The advertising leading up the event described how special the evening was to be … but the many events planned hadn't come to fruition, (possibly this was due to sporadic rains) and I witnessed many people who were in attendance seeking some place to spend their dollars … The historical sights to visit, many seemed to have been closed as well. You lot are often complaining about "the lack of revenue from the tourist"(or locals for that matter) when in actual fact, you who are the vendors became your own worst enemy by not opening your store doors ...

RAYMOND RAY

St. George's

Kudos to BMDS

July 17, 2009

Dear Sir,

I think Bermuda owes a great debt of gratitude to the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society and Bermuda 2009 Charitable Trust for the wonderful presentation of "Wrecked on the Rock" at historical Fort St. Catherine in the first week of July. A special thanks to Barbara Jones who wrote and directed the production. Without the aid of curtains and stage lighting, Dr. Jones wove the improbable plot and drama of Bermuda's earliest days and drew us into the feeling of being there in those intriguing times. One of a large, appreciative audience,

BARBARA DALE ATWOOD

St. George's

When all else fails

July 15, 2009

Dear Sir,

A former PLP Cabinet Minister has the temerity to tell "white people" to "stand up for themselves politically". The supreme irony. How amusing is that? Bermudians of all hues are greedy, spoilt children ... and what we have today as a government is mute testament to just that. The facts of the matter are, that however misguided the Premier and his cohorts' race-baiting becomes, the PLP rank and file are not strong enough, intellectually or morally, to channel his undoubted abilities for the common good. The Premier knows it. Hence his lack of respect for his own colleagues.

The use of the racecard will continue. It's the answer to anyone who does not agree with the Premier's agenda and sadly for this country, it's the easy option. When all else fails, the PLP always falls back on what it knows best. Most intelligent, open-minded people are happy with what the PLP have achieved and don't see colour. However the time for our elected representatives to show what they are really made of is now. It's just not acceptable to keep blaming white people or the UBP legacy for grandstanding or dysfunctional and divisive leadership. Show some intestinal fortitude my friends – before it's too late. It's 2009 last time I checked ... not 1969.

THE EDGE

City of Hamilton

Why rejoin Brown's cabinet?

July 14, 2009

Dear Sir,

The recent announcement by Premier Dr. Ewart Brown that he will be able to persuade fired and/or Cabinet Ministers that have resigned, back into his Cabinet suggests that he can dispose of people as he sees fit and then they will come at his beck and call. Messrs T. Lister, Butler, James, Horton and Perinchief have all expressed their dislike of Dr. Brown's leadership style. Most have even called for his resignation. Why then would they rejoin Dr. Brown's Cabinet? Having read the comments that have been said by the previous mentioned ministers, it would perhaps surprise even the diehard PLP supporters that they would rejoin. So much integrity gained in recent times could be lost.

NON-CABINET MEMBER

Smith's

I would like to know...

July 17, 2009

Dear Sir,

An article in today's issue of The Royal Gazette, "Government holds up Human Rights Commission's annual report for a full year" reports Ms Memari, the HRC Chairperson, saying: "The 2008 annual report for the quango was submitted last month (June 2009!) to Human Affairs ..."

The article revealed: "The quango eventually produced a joint annual report for the years 2002 to 2005. In 2007, the HRC produced an on-time annual report for the first time in five years."

It revealed that 21 formal complaints were made to the HRC in 2006 and, of those, ten were investigated. If there was just one agent or officer in the HRC office, working 35 hours per week, for 50 weeks; that would add up to 1,750 hours in a year. This would average 175 hours (five work weeks!) for each of the ten cases that were investigated; or 83 hours for each – if all 21 formal complaints were investigated. That's for one staff! How many staff are there? What are these people doing all day? Too busy to get a report out on time? Would Minister Butterfield be kind enough to reply on this subject via the Letters to the Editor, please? It might be interesting to learn how many clients there were in 2007 and 2008, following the above numbers.

"The Royal Gazette's A Right To Know: Giving People Power campaign urges publicly funded bodies such as the HRC to be more transparent and provide taxpayers with details of how their dollars are being spent." Yes, I certainly would like to know how my tax dollars are being spent. I'm sure it is a very good thing to have a facility at which a person can air any grievance felt concerning his/her human rights. And remember, this is in addition to the government-funded Consumer Affairs which would, I presume, deal with injustices in the material market, such as complaints about poor workmanship, faulty goods, etc.

UN-COMMON SENSE

St. George's

P.s. Yeah, I'm chicken. I don't relish the possibility of receiving a "meany" e-mail.

A little stunned

July 25, 2009

Dear Sir,

Please allow me space in your paper to put a question to Jean Hannant. Are you bored? Not everyone has the privilege of being a professional proofreader. Wow. Although I am not the author of the letter that you speak of, I am a little stunned that you took the time to attack someone's grammar. I suggest getting a hobby.

MICROSOFT WORD DEPENDENT

City of Hamilton

Bordering on abuse

July 22, 2009

Dear Sir,

Lindo Foods advertisements on television are funny and very Bermudian. However, no matter how many times I hear or watch the advertisement on television featuring the two senior citizens shopping at Lindos with regard to the "old bag" I shudder. It truly borders on senior citizen abuse, especially when she gets him out in the parking lot and tells him in a horrible tone "just wait until I get you inside the house". In my opinion the guy is in for verbal abuse if not worse. This is giving out the wrong message and the ad truly upsets me. I really feel sorry for the guy and the way the woman looks at and confronts her husband is scary. I honestly think they should pull this ad from television as we are trying to guide people as to how to respectfully care for our precious senior citizens and this ad totally gives the wrong message. In the meantime, I do hope that a lot of the recyclable bags with the beautiful Bermudiana flowers get sold to help PALS as they do amazing work.

SHOW TENDERNESS

Sandys

Charity begins at home

July 16, 2009

Dear Sir,

Mr. Peter Forster is funny. This letter is dedicated to all those you know who have been charitable – filling those containers on tag days, buying raffle tickets, punching cards, giving money when children come around with those papers that say "I give this because ... ", giving money to Salvation Army etc. Is this man serious? Charity begins at home and no one gets to say whether or not I'm charitable enough. Charity is almost a luxury – after I get done running your business, sir, and cleaning your house, sir, and taking care of your children, sir, and after I make sure my children are fed, clothed and my household is taken care of. Then, sir, I'll come out and jog down South Shore to raise money for charity ... sir.

YOLANDA SIMMONS

Warwick

Lessons from William Shirer

July 15, 2009

Dear Sir,

After all these years, William Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" (1959) still makes chilling reading, especially as it chronicles the relentless rape of democracy by a dictator. According to Shirer, a dictator-in-the-making:

• Lies to the people;

• Intimidates critics calling them 'enemies of the people' (and eventually silences them);

• Invokes divine guidance when challenged;

• Uses race to divide the people;

• Surrounds himself with bodyguards;

• Distrusts a free press; increasingly controls and channels news and creates his own news media (eventually eliminating all free press);,

• Insists that his party members (and eventually the armed forces, police, courts and civil service) swear an oath of allegiance to his person rather than to the Constitution;

• Makes decisions alone, or with the support of a few hand-picked cronies;

• Defies (and eventually replaces) the Constitution;

• Marginalises, and springs surprises on Parliament (eventually abolishing it);

• Dismisses Cabinet members, and alienates others until they resign (eventually doing away with Cabinet altogether); and

• Abolishes local governments (such as Corporations) (and eventually appoints himself President, Supreme Justice, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and Supreme Leader).

Wake up, PLP, and take action before it is too late to change course!

BEEN THERE

St. George's

Bermuda is changing

July 14, 2009

Dear Sir,

I would like to share an experience with you that happened over the weekend (Sunday, July 12). My wife and I took our boat out on the water for the first time this summer and had a wonderful time until it was time to come back in. We came across a couple that were signalling for help as they were having engine problems and were unable to get back in. To our amazement we watched other boats ahead of us see them and go right by. We then went over ourselves to see if there was anything we could do to help and ended up towing them in. On the way in we learnt that another boat had stopped before us and refused to tow them in. It is disturbing to know that Bermuda is changing not only on land but also on the water as well. We all need to look out for each other as we never know when we will need help ourselves.

THE RICHARDSONS

Sandys

Postal service delays

July 17, 2009

Dear Sir,

I wonder if the Post Office will now change their slogan — We go the extra mile. Obviously now they won't go the extra few yards. It is to be hoped that if we have to comply with the new regulations then the level of service will improve to an acceptable level. Where is the hold-up in getting a letter from Hamilton to the Foot of the Lane? It regularly takes six days, sometimes longer. If it rains we have no delivery. I lived for a while in the UK, much of which is very rural. We had two deliveries a day (by a lady on a pedal bike) out in the country, in all weather including rain, snow and fog. We also had guaranteed next day delivery anywhere in the country if posted anywhere (even in a rural post box) by 4 p.m. Even if we go in to Hamilton and post letters at the GPO it still takes nearly a week to travel back one parish.

The counter service also needs some upgrading. Unless you go to Hamilton (and some of us do not work in the city and cannot get in during Post Office working hours) it is often impossible to buy a quantity of 35 cent stamps. These are the stamps for local mail — probably the most used. Is it not reasonable to expect the Sub Post Offices to maintain an adequate supply for small businesses that do not use a franking machine? We have just had a letter franked in Hamilton on July 8, correctly addressed to the physical address in Paget, put in our Hamilton P.O. Box on July 17. We have deliveries to our physical address. Why wasn't this delivered as addressed? I would also be interested in knowing why we have such a large Mail Storage Facility. Surely this is a contradiction in terms. Mail should be delivered, not stored. Let us hope that if we do our part the Post Office will do theirs.

LETTER FAXED TO AVOID DELAY

Paget

Desperately in need of help

July 14, 2009

Dear Sir,

The silence is deafening. The whole island should be screaming for better protection for our girls and women. Who is teaching our young men to grow up to be decent and respectable? They are desperately in need of help. See how many are behind bars for varying crimes. Also, let us help our girls and women to "shore up" their self-esteem. The incidence of young girls suffering abuse at the hands of boyfriends is disturbing.

KEEN OBSERVER

City of Hamilton

Bayou Classic is popular

July 16, 2009

Dear Sir,

I beg to differ with Mr. Michael Dunkley's comments in Wednesday's Royal Gazette, dated July 8, 2009, as it relates to the Annual Bayou Classic held in New Orleans, Louisiana. I have been attending the Bayou Classic since 1989. As a matter of fact when I first started attending it was then sponsored by the Coca Cola Company and later became sponsored by State Farm Insurance. The only year I did not attend was when it was moved from New Orleans to Houston, Texas as a result of the devastation to the city as well as to the Superdome as a result of hurricane Katrina.

Furthermore, Baton Rouge happens to be my home away from home, which incidentally is also the city were Southern University's main campus is located. In addition to that I have children who live in Baton Rouge, and have grown up with the Bayou Classic being a part of their culture. Their mother was once the captain of Southern University's Dancing Dolls and they have an uncle who once played in the Southern University's nationally renowned Marching Band under the then leadership of director Dr. Isaac Greggs.

For Mr. Dunkley to make a blatant statement only attracts semi-famous television personalities, rappers and sportsmen is a misleading statement television networks competing for the exclusive rights to televise. The game is only the climax to the activities. There are other activities that occur as of Thanksgiving Evening that lead up to the game on Saturday. This event draws politicians and professionals from all walks of life, predominately African Americans, from city mayors, senators, congressmen and former candidates for the presidency of the United States. Furthermore my children's uncle, Isaiah Leggett who is the County Executive of Montgomery County of the state of Maryland, a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and who has been a law professor at Howard University Law School, as well as once being considered to become the Lieutenant Governor for the state of Maryland and a graduate of Southern University in regular attendance at the Bayou Classic.

This Classic is attended by University Presidents and professors, high school principals and teachers, school district superintendents, physicians, attorneys, clergy and pastors, entrepreneurs, bankers – the list goes on and on. And a vast majority of these persons are either graduates or friends of Southern and Grambling State Universities, the two Louisiana rivalry universities that the Bayou Classic celebration is centred around. Mr. Dunkley, in the future as it relates to the Bayou Classic, please get all your facts straight before commenting on something that you know very little about. I would suggest that you try attending one of these Classic, you might end up wanting your family's firm Dunkley's becoming a vendor.

RKS

Warwick