A wonderful lesson

June 21, 2009

Dear Sir,

This is an open letter to the following:

To the Honourable PLP Ministers and backbenchers. There is a saying "you get the Government you deserve". How apt right at this present moment. You have chosen to back a leader who has demonstrated deceit, dishonesty, questionable ethics, and recent illegal activity. Thus ... you have the Government you deserve. Until you stand up for what is right, you will continue to see abuse of power by one man. Now that he knows you will back him no matter what, it will only get worse. The "gang" leader has solidified his position, and you, the gang, stand with him. What a wonderful lesson for the gang youth of Bermuda! It doesn't matter how corrupt or evil he is. As long as the gang stands with him, he will get away with it! Minister Butler was quoted as saying, "I could not see the PLP fail". Well that is exactly what you are seeing now. An enormous failure by you, the PLP, to do the right thing. You have failed your party, your supporters and all the people of Bermuda. As I say, "You get the Government you deserve". Unfortunately, so do the rest of the law abiding citizens of Bermuda.

PEGGY COUPER

Pembroke

Uighurs decision was decisive

June 24, 2009

Dear Sir,

We have had a heated couple of weeks over the issue of the introduction of the four Uighurs into Bermuda. I have found somehow that my feelings do not match those of the ones caught up in the turmoil.

Much has been made of the fact that the US doesn't want to keep the men. No, it isn't an issue of personal safety. And, since I have not read that the US is afraid of being attacked by China, then as I see it, it has to be prejudice that's keeping the US populace from having the ex-detainees in their country.

I've seen that some people have said that it is unfair for these men to be given status (if that's what they'll indeed be granted) whilst others who should have preference are either denied or being kept waiting. I consider that on humanitarian grounds, the four men have been treated as a special case.

Some are angry about the term limit policy. As I understand it, this tiny country is densely populated and cannot go on infinitum granting citizenship. If, as a guest worker, you have worked here for six years and have been well paid, were you led to believe that you are owed a permanent place here?

Much has also been made of US Attorney General Eric Holder's remark that America is "safer" since we have accepted the Uighurs. I understand that so quoted, the remarks are out of context. Even so, I dare say that he must have misspoken. Since those wrongly detained have been declared as posing no threat, then "safety' itself could not be the issue. The answer, as I see it, is in paragraph two of this letter

More than one person has suggested that the Premier received a personal payment for his gesture. I consider the suggestion to be beyond insulting. For there to be a recipient, there would have to be a giver. Who would that have been? President Obama? How disrespectful a suggestion. We were told that there was no quid pro quo and my thought/expectation is that if Bermuda's name were to come up concerning any particular issue, we would be favourably looked upon.

Rather than feel up in arms that the Premier didn't consult me before he made his decision, I felt proud that he acted decisively to accommodate the US and end the agony of those four unfortunates. I consider that he represented us and had reasons for doing it the way that he did.

Government House and Whitehall might feel miffed that they were not consulted first and I feel offended that His Excellence suggested that if he had known that the plane carrying the men here were on its way, he likely would have had it turned back.

HELENE STEVENSON

P.s. Christians, we have been enjoined to pray for our leaders. Let's do so.

A request for information

July 17, 2009

Dear Sir,

Captain James Dunkley was employed by the P&O Shipping Company, but during the 1939-1945 war he was stationed in Bermuda. He was attached to the Royal Navy and worked on Convoy Escort duties. He was able to have his wife Phyllis with him in Bermuda. My family have known the Dunkleys since the early 1950s and knowing that I had also lived and worked in Bermuda, James gave me two mementoes which he knew I would be pleased to own.

The first was a Bermuda Savings Certificate, number 7967, issued on the 1st September 1941 to his wife Phyllis Mary Dunkley for the amount of 15 shillings. However it is the second in which I am seeking your readers' assistance. James had a Bermuda One Crown coin, with the two dates 1609 and 1959 on the face, which has a clasp which has been soldered on the back for attaching this coin-medal to your jacket.

Why was a permanent clasp attached, it is obvious that it was not just this one coin which had this clasp? Were these coin-medals issued to particular individuals or for general purchase and why were they so made? I would be grateful if any of your readers could provide me with any further information on this coin-medal which is now 50 years old this year.

TONY HIDDEN

adhidden@aol.com

Kudos to Island's Doulas

June 8, 2009

Dear Sir,

The recent production of "Birth, the Play", by the Doulas of Bermuda demonstrated a long held truth: The Arts help us better understand ourselves, giving deeper meaning to our shared experiences. Since time immemorial, women have been sharing their childbirth experiences. The play's characters reacted to their situations in ways that were unique yet also universal. The message could not be missed that women's feelings about their births are not to be trivialised. As each character struggled to achieve her birth destiny, we in the audience took away powerful lessons about the need to take an active role in achieving our own dreams, whether it be a satisfying birth or a meaningful career. Bravo, Doulas of Bermuda!

LISA DALPORTO

Certified Nurse-Midwife

Author of Birth Options in Bermuda

Are we in a mess?

June 11, 2009

Dear Sir,

On a sober note, what do you and the reading public think about the following? Take a deep breath! Gangs running amok shooting at each other, violent crime at an all-time high, public education seemingly in a state of confusion, overcrowded roads, drug use all too prevalent, tourism arrival figures at their lowest in years, Future Care for the select few, international business becoming increasingly nervous about being here, unkept promises of new hotel development, a continual stream of alleged unethical behaviour, massive public debt etc. In a nutshell, Mr. Editor, has Bermuda become a mess? Will we continue to go down the path of uncertainty, or will we get new leadership willing and capable of pointing us in a more positive direction?

FUEL FOR THOUGHT

Smith's

For harsher jails

June 17, 2009

Dear Sir,

These women all volunteer for chain gang duty to get out of lockdown. If they spend 30 days on the chain gang, picking up trash, weeding or burying bodies, (even though it's a little weird when the public sees them all chained together), they can get out of punishment cells and back to the tents. They work seven days a week, eat twice a day, no coffee, no cigarettes, no salt, no pepper or ketchup and no organised recreation. Human rights group regard it as the harshest jail system in the United States. They have to pay $10 every time they need to see a nurse.

If they want to write to their families they have to use special postcards with the sheriffs picture on them. If their loved ones visit they see them through thick plate glass or over a video link. Around 2,000 inmates live in tents under the blazing Arizona sun in temperatures which last summer often exceeded 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Several prisoners complained they often receive rotten food, the cheese is old, the meat has green spots and the heat kills you! The Sheriff told them he didn't care "If you don't like it, don't come back," but 60 percent of inmates did in fact come back for more than one term. They should come to Bermuda prisons where they serve their time in luxury.

WE NEED HARSH JAILS IN BERMUDA

Pembroke

Slow down Bermuda

June 3, 2009

Dear Sir,

First of all I would like to send my condolences out to those families who have lost someone regarding Bermuda's road traffic fatalities. I believe that we are having too many accidents on this island. Citizens and tourists of Bermuda should be cautious riders or drivers.

Bermuda could have speed bumps in a lot more open areas where a lot of people don't drive. Another suggestion is that we give every eligible driver a curfew. But what about the Police? The Police need to catch these speeders in action.

Now I'm not in charge of making the laws, but in my opinion I think that the curfews should be like this:

18-23 years – off the road by 10 p.m.

24-26 years – off the road by 10.30 p.m.

27-29 years – off the road by 11 p.m.

30-35 years – off the road by 11.30 p.m.

36-41 years off the road by 12 p.m.

42-52 years –off the road by 12.30 a.m.

53 and older – off the road by 10 p.m.

Be a better driver!

Slow down Bermuda!

JADA S.L. SIMMONS

Gilbert Institute