Waste of words

May 25, 2008

Dear Sir,

I tuned in to hear the House of Assembly on Friday, May 16, to listen to the debate on the drug policy. It was a waste of time for the simple reason I remember Nancy Reagan (US president's wife) say these words: "Just say no to drugs" and the United Bermuda Party is saying "they have got a war on drugs" and the PLP is saying "stand up against drugs".

The whole three are a waste of words; they don't have any meaning at all. If you are going to stand up – drop a dime on the dealers and drug pushers and be willing to go to court as witnesses to put away these parasites of this society which are destroying us. I remember a high ranked Police officer giving The Royal Gazette a statement stating that the police are aware of 12 big drug dealers and financers for illegal drugs and that these individuals cannot be touched because of a lack of evidence.

May I make a suggestion to the Police Commissioner? Why not set up a sting operation to get the evidence to put away the 12 imps of the devil. It may take two to three years of undercover work to get the evidence you need to prosecute and put away the 12 that are presently teaching others. I once watched a program on TV about drugs where the speaker made a statement that stuck with me. He said a young 11-year old junkie can find a dealer, why can't the Police?

Minister of Finance, Paula Cox, Bermuda has three economies and they go in this order, exempted companies, drug money, and tourism. If you are going to stand up against drugs, go all the way from pointing your finger to turning the key to the jail cell of the dealer found guilty. Like the ad used to say, When you drop an egg in a hot frying pan, it fries and that's what drugs do to your brain.

I worked on Court Street for 12 years. I used to go home with a headache every day and couldn't figure out why. One day a man was sitting next to me smoking a joint and I was upwind and therefore I got a contact high. That's when I learned that the marijuana smoke was giving me the headache. After awhile I learned to sit downwind. There was no war on drugs under the UBP and there is going to be no one standing up because of the fear of retribution under the PLP on drugs. That's all I need to say on the issue. I hope the politicians realise that we have lost a generation because of illegal drugs.

Minister Horton, I know the education system is broken and is in need of fixing but you can't fix it in a year. You can't even fix it in five years, so stop exaggerating and telling the public that you are going to put something in place to better educate our children this coming school year 2008-2009. You have had three public meetings back to back and less than 200 people attended each meeting. You have only reached about 600 people. Even the TV programme was not very informative to me.

I asked the opinion of some others who watched the programme as well and they were of the same conclusion. The meeting held in St. George's I was made to understand was open to the public, but the majority of the attendees were the trustees of the school that government gives a grant.

If you want to fix something in the education system try fixing how you teach the disabled. Bringing back the concept of the Friendship Vale School is necessary because some of the children should not be in the public school because they need specially trained teachers.

On May 19 I was watching CITV. There should have been a neutral facilitator. Mr. Scott Simmons is a part of Government and therefore he is not going to see anything wrong in the position which makes it difficult to get a cross opinion from him.

The more Minister Horton talks about education the more he makes me realise that he is flying by the seat of his pants. I need to see more of the people that are going to make this plan work and those with master degrees, Phd's in Ed. or anyone with a significantly high level of education, who have an interest in the education system, so they can put their opinions forward to the public. All I am hearing from is the three musketeers, Mr. Horton, Mr. Simmons the consultant plus Dr. Henry Johnson.

WILLARD FOX

Smith's Parish

Sad, dictatorial, uncaring

May 30, 2008

Dear Sir,

Well, no surprises here. The scintillating idea of removing aided school boards is in full swing. It was so obvious at a recent meeting attended by at least 200 parents, former students, teachers of St George's Prep School, that this was a done deal and the voices of the many were listened to in a totally condescending manner.

It galls me that the "cluster" idea is being wonderfully implemented by an accountant and the leader of the great concept is a bank manager. What happened to the idea of having members of the teaching profession make the vital decisions to improve the system? Next time a bank or accountancy firm needs assistance in sorting out their businesses, please feel free to call on all teachers to demonstrate how you should do it.

I'm sure you will all rally around that suggestion. How sad, dictatorial and uncaring this whole farce has been, but these are the times we now live in.

M MOORHEAD

Former School Principal

St. George's

It's different now

May 30, 2008

Dear Sir,

I must take issue with Dr. Hodgson's letter in today's paper where she asserts that all governments of the past have "done as they wished, spent as they wished and ignored all the basic principles of democracy and the laws of natural justice". Nobody will claim that the UBP or even the PLP, until Dr. Feelgood came to power, were perfect but to suggest that what is going on in Bermuda today is the same as it always was is a gross distortion of the facts.

Unfortunately there is not enough space in this column to list all that is wrong, but working backwards I do not ever recall a previous government that: shut down the House because they did not have the courage to face difficult questions, wasted millions on tourism promotion supporting questionable advertising gimmicks and shows, threw the Auditor General out of his office while he was on holiday, spent millions on personal entourages and travel to irrelevant destinations.

I wonder what many of the 52 percent of the electorate that voted in this Government are thinking, even in their wildest imagination they could not have expected such arrogance and disregard for democracy or the rule of law. Sorry doctor, we've never had anything like this.

ALAN GAMBLE

Hamilton

An act of kindness

May 28, 2008

Dear Sir,

After recently spending an afternoon at the Aquarium, my family and I went to catch the Number 3 bus to take us to a relative's home with whom we were staying. As we walked toward the bus stop, we noticed our bus approaching. We began running quickly, and were relieved to make it to the bus before everyone had exited. Catching our breath, we waited until the last person stepped off the bus. As we went to board, the doors immediately closed and the bus pulled away. We began yelling as loud as we could, but the driver continued on without us. Standing there in disbelief, we were suddenly greeted by a lady in a car that had been directly behind the bus. She said that she had seen the entire incident and was shocked that the driver had left us.

She asked where we were going, and then offered to take us there herself. Being from the States, we were hesitant to accept a ride from a stranger. I kindly thanked her, but said we would simply wait until the next bus arrived. But she insisted that it was no trouble at all, and that she truly wanted to do this for us. So we agreed to her generous offer and accepted the ride.

She apologised for the driver's actions and said Bermuda is known for its hospitality and friendliness. She did not want our vacation to spoiled by this one incident, and unselfishly went out of her way to make us feel welcomed. This random act of kindness (unheard in the States) made our vacation more special. I hope the bus driver who left us that day will be more careful in the future, and will go out of his way to make vacationers feel more welcome too.

MIKE WEAKLEY

Orlando, FL

Address Flatts Bridge

May 9, 2008

Dear Sir,

What is going on with Flatts Bridge? It's literally falling to pieces. I did read in the paper a while ago that the bridge is going to be repaired and the metal jacks beneath it are not exactly holding it up — so why are they there? A lot of the hand rails have fallen out and the plastic bags have been tied on to the remaining railings — I presume to let people know that there are big holes that children could fall through!

This is an area that is well visited by residents and tourists and as so much time and money has been spent on a supporting wall for the new townhouses between the top of Collectors Hill and Store Hill on Middle Road shouldn't we expect Flatts Bridge that is carrying enormous trucks over it every day to be repaired really quickly?

JUST WONDERING

Hamilton Parish

An embarrassment

May 23, 2008

Dear Sir,

Well, well, well, another well presented Annual Peppercorn Ceremony with all the ceremonial pomp and circumstance, H.E. the Governor, The Mayor of St. George's and Hamilton, the Deputy Premier, and other dignitaries, but who is missing? Not for the first time. This man who would presume to be the Premier of this country does not even have the decency to turn up for this time honoured ceremony. What an embarrassment to the other officials who took time out to be here. I am sure one of his many advisers? could have advised him that something was happening that day to which he should have been attending. Perhaps he was too busy at the Playboy Mansion.

THIS MAN HAS GOT TO GO!

MALCOLM SIMPSON

Sandys