We have a high standard

September 5, 2008

Dear Sir,

We are writing to correct an incorrect statement made in the promotion for an upcoming event, the Mother-Baby International Film Festival, which stated that Bermuda has a high infant mortality rate. We are concerned because Bermuda does not have a high infant mortality rate and it would be inappropriate to leave that statement unchallenged from the perspective of parents and parents-to-be, who may become concerned upon reading that statement.

In addition, it would be a disservice to all those who work in the paediatric health care field in Bermuda, whether in the hospital, the Department of Health (Clinics, or Health Visitors) or paediatricians in private practice, because their combined activities actually contribute to Bermuda having a very low infant mortality rate.

Figures from the Registrar General's office show an infant death rate of 3.6 deaths/1000 live births in 2001, 0.0/1000 in 2002, 2.4/1000 in 2003, 3.6/ 1000 in 2004 and 4.8/1000 in 2005, the last year for which statistics are available. These are very low numbers. The highest, the 4.8/1000 live births figure, is quite comparable with the figures for the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In the US, this figure is 6.3/1000. The figure for the world is 49.4/1000, according to the United Nations

We have learned that an online CIA fact sheet on Bermuda notes that infant mortality rate is 7.87 deaths/1000 live births. We do not know the source of the CIA's information, but it would not appear to be from the Bermuda Registrar General's office, the official keeper of vital statistics for Bermuda. We are already seeking to have it corrected.

However, we wish the public to be accurately and factually informed on this issue, as infant mortality rates are sometimes used as surrogate markers of the overall health of a country. In the promotion referred to, the statement was used to imply that obstetrical and neonatal care was not all that it could be in Bermuda, whereas in truth it is of a very high standard.

For specialist services that cannot be managed here (or in any hospital our size anywhere for that matter), we have well developed links for antenatal and postnatal referrals to some of the best medical centres in the world, on the eastern seaboard of the US and Canada.

We are part of their consultation, patient care referral and education network which is a most important arrangement for the Bermuda population. Finally, the promotion referred also to the high Cesarean section rate in Bermuda, which while at 31 percent is, however, no higher than that in the US, and a great deal less than the 50 percent in Brazil.

DR. EUGENE OUUTERBRIDGE

Chief of Paediatrics

Dr. DALE WILMOT

Chief of Obstetrics

King Edward VII Memorial Hospital

Revolutionary change

September 3, 2008

Dear Sir,

The proposal by BIU President Chris Furbert and Acting Premier Randy Horton, and endorsed by social activists, to reduce the working week to 35 hours is a bold and imaginative initiative for which they should receive our humble thanks and appreciation. With pay remaining as it is – it would make no sense for wages to be reduced proportionally – life would be so much better and less frenzied. My only criticism is that it does not go far enough. If the working week can be reduced to 35 hours at the stroke of a pen, why stop there? Why be so timid, so modest? Let Bermuda be an example to the rest of the world; let's go for the big-time.

The PLP Government should pass a law stating that the working week should be reduced by 5 hours each and every year starting in 2009. In doing so, by 2015 the working week will be zero hours. Can you imagine what wonderful possibilities this would entail?

Mothers and fathers (if we can find them) could spend unlimited hours with their children leading to perfect children eager to assist and admire adults. No speeding, no crime, and no insolence. There would be no morning rush hour, teenagers could stay in bed until 10 a.m. working off hangovers, and there could be endless vacations abroad. Life would indeed be just like Hollywood.

This would be such a revolutionary social change that work-mad countries like the USA would feel compelled to copy the paradise of Bermuda. Everywhere in the world could follow the example of Bermuda so that work, and the sweatshops of India and China, would be a thing of the past. Unlimited leisure would then be a human right, and both Mr. Furbert and Mr. Horton would be hailed as major benefactors of all mankind.

I would not be surprised if Mr. Furbert was compared to Nelson Mandela, and Mr. Horton to Bill Clinton (sorry I meant Barack Obama). They could be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, or even a Nobel Prize in economics, for having found a cure to a way of life that has plagued mankind since time began. Work would be history, and they would be in the intellectual pantheon of heroes, on a par with Einstein.

But why stop there? I would like to suggest that the next project for the PLP Government be an increase in wages. They could start off with a minimum of $1,000 per week in 2008, increased each year by $500 per week, so that by 2015 the minimum wage would be $4,500 per week for zero hours on the job. Let's go for it brothers. Make it part of the next Throne Speech. Workers of the world unite – the only thing you have to lose is your chains.

ROBERT STEWART

Smith's

Where are they?

September 2, 2008

Dear Sir,

I am stunned by my country when we have issues to confront. We have a Big Conversation that everyone is making an "effort" to take part in. Why can't we have a Big Conversation with thousands of dollars thrown at it about violence?

We have Government/Union pay discrepancies and we have thousands of people converging on the city bringing the country to a virtual standstill. We are so proud of the fact that we can stand up for our rights when we feel there has been some injustice done (especially when it affects the pocket book).

My astonishment is born out of the following questions:

Where are the same people (Bermudians and people living in Bermuda) when we have a murder or an attack or a peace rally or some other incident? Because our youths are killing one another at an alarming rate in our neighbourhoods and putting the rest of the country at risk, shouldn't we have the same knee jerk reaction and bring the country to a standstill crying out for peace in our country?

Why did the same Police Officers who were "off-duty" who led the march earlier for contracts and pay not present themselves in a show of solidarity along with the "brothers-in-arms" of the Unions? The same people who all too often rush to the aid of fellow members at the drop of a hat in times of "need" which is more often than not as a result of some disciplinary debate?

Why are the union bosses, church leaders, community leaders, sports club chairpersons, etc. noticeably un-united? The heads of government who are vying for what seem to be "brownie points" have left a poor taste in a lot of mouths and Sir John hit the nail on the head – we need to unite and stop pointing fingers as the country is divided and the ones that need us the most are taking over in a violent way.

Where are they is a question that we need to ask ourselves. What is more important, the pocketbook or our country's current violent state? I am stunned at our apathy.

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS

Devonshire

Is there another way?

September 2, 2008

Dear Sir,

Re the 35-hour work week: While I can understand any government trying to appeal to the electorate by offering less work for the same pay, I do not understand the PLP and Randy Horton's recent offering. France has tried for a number of years now to work a reduced week – mainly to assist with the massive unemployment they suffer from – but we don't have that problem here.

Another thing to remember is that in France the reduced hours did not effect business but the employee as payment of overtime was barred. If a business needed the extra hours, they had to employ another worker to fill the gaps.

The PLP should use some of this magical 'thinking outside the box' that they do in Cabinet and see if there is another way around this? Maybe we should have more public holidays? Maybe we could work four 8.75- hour days a week and then take a day off each week? Better still, we could work a 35-hour week in the summer – say from May to October, when the weather is good and we can spend time with our families, and then work a 40 hour week for the rest of the year?

MIKE C

Warwick

Voting for McCain

August 29, 2008

Dear Sir,

I noticed your front page article and photo in The Royal Gazette concerning the party and celebrations for Barack Obama! Can we expect the same "Equal Time" coverage for John McCain and the Republicans at the RNC this week as well? Or is this going to be a very biased one-sided affair along racial lines, regarding your coverage?

Not everyone in Bermuda supports Obama. I'm sure McCain and the Republicans have quite a few supporters as well! One thing is guaranteed here in the USA ... this is going to be an extremely close election! The national polls have McCain and Obama running neck and neck.

Personally, I support McCain even though I'm considered an Independent as are millions of other Americans. Our vote is going to be the deciding factor in this election! I still maintain what Bill Clinton said earlier... electing Obama would be a "roll of the dice" and this is not Vegas! Clinton is a brilliant politician. He is a Yale and Oxford University graduate, as well as a Rhodes Scholar! When Bill Clinton speaks, people listen!

BRUCE McCLARRON

Tucson, Arizona

SWAT definition

August 29, 2008

Dear Sir,

Definition of a SWAT team: Two parents armed with an Oleander stick and or wooden spoon ...

ROBERT HENDERSON

Smith's

Right up their alley

September 3, 2008

Dear Sir,

It is well known that the Bermuda Police Service provides a security detail for the Premier. I would like to suggest a means whereby these security men could be released to perhaps provide more of a Police presence in the City of Hamilton. The Government likes to spend lots of money, so the following purchases should be right up their alley. The Premier and the US Consul General are close friends so I am sure the wet lease of one AH 64 helicopter gunship and one M1A2 Abrams tank should be no problem.

Then the Premier could travel from his home to the Cabinet Office in the helicopter and land right in front of the building. Just think of how many tourists would flock to the Island to take photos of the daily morning landing of the mighty gunship on the front lawn. Then when the Premier needed to run an errand or give a speech or kiss a few babies, he could travel in the safety of the Abrams tank. I am quite sure not too many vehicles will get in the way of one of these 70-ton monsters. Just think, if all the parking spaces are full, he could just ride over the cars and flatten them like pancakes. The policemen released from his security detail could then place tickets on the flat cars for parking in a tank no- parking zone.

BILL NEARON

Pembroke

What is good parenting?

August 25, 2008

Dear Sir,

Wow! Are you serious? I am a new parent of a 12-week-old! No one, I believe, is a "good parent"! There is no rule book on Parenting! Only a "behaviour" torch that is handed down!

Plus, I'm sure the Premier and David Burch, when they were teenagers, were out getting into mischief, all teenagers did at some point. Some more than others. Parents have a hard enough time dealing with trying to keep a family together and surviving and now you want to add to that stress! For that is what you, (Premier/ David Burch), are proposing.

Question: Does David Burch even have kids? In fact, how can the Premier's 'bulldog', (David Burch), be allowed to refer to Bermudian children as ... 'Mummy's little puppy'... (Royal Gazette, August 23, 2008).

So if we were to get technical, it isn't much of a leap to suggest that the Premier stand trial for all his sons' alleged wrong doings? If we were to judge him like the Government is about to judge us as parents based on our offspring's actions would he be a good "role model" for "good" parenting? Is David Burch?

Solutions:

How about instead of putting up so many office buildings and environmentally destroying my/ our island, improve the youth and community centres with real programmes that actually fit the community that it supports!

Bring back teen entertainment and teen summits! Remember them? Finish the National Stadium with an Olympic size pool and state of the art training facility. A possible way to take kids off the streets (Maybe Zane could help you out for a small fee!) Tap into our youth through more successful sports. Run by qualified Bermudian trainers and coaches. Something other than a failing cricket programme! Look towards the Olympics, Mr. Premier and David Burch, for your inspiration!

Show some national pride for Bermuda and its people! Maybe take a dare and actually walk the streets with some pride as oppose to ducking behind unnecessary security and a car that can't get out of second gear! It's time to start leading, instead of coming up with unrealistic solutions that won't solve the problem, but only create more problems for you, me and my fellow countrymen!

MOHICAN ISLANDER

St. David's

Unforgettable

September 3, 2008

Dear Sir,

The Towne of St. George is a World Heritage Site providing a sightseeing feast for visitors and sightseers alike. The Town and surrounding countryside shows off unkempt roads and byways with decorations of litter and trash of every description.

Abandoned trucks, plant and equipment are a spectacle of wonderment, broken railings and collapsed walls a memory of where one could in days past rest awhile, dilapidated and derelict dwellings and boarded up shops a reminder of those that once occupied them, brawling and robberies are features of evening entertainment, a disused Police Station a cause to stand and stare in awe, with additional attractions such as the Queen Street race track, "only too pleased to help you" layabouts, a whistling nomad, absorbing museums once so inspiring and inviting – and a Church that shows pride and glory with trees growing from its tower and gutters.

Unforgettable experiences and sights so welcomed by the visitor and sightseer, with camera eagerly at the ready. Neither the Corporation nor anybody else seems to care.

OHHOWITUSEDTOBE

St. George's

How about shift work

September 3, 2008

Dear Sir,

Reducing the work week ... won't that cost us more? Won't it mean that they start their overtime 2.5 hours earlier ... Just going by the garbage, mine is usually picked up around 9 at night (sometimes nearer 11 p.m.) so I am guessing that they are making major money with all the OT.

Does anyone know what a garbage man makes these days, with all that OT? Has Government thought of shift work for some of these departments? If these guys are doing five to six hours of OT a day, wouldn't it be cheaper to hire a second crew?

CURIOUS

Pembroke