Message to Suzuki driver

July 6, 2007

Dear Sir,

To the driver of a white Suzuki: The adrenaline reaction from seeing my life pass before my eyes had me shaking and upset after you almost hit me on Harbour Road at the entrance to Tamarind Vale Road. Coincidentally, my girlfriend and I were also travelling East and were able to catch up to you. From your reply to my "suggestion" that you need to slow down as you had missed killing me by one foot, it is obvious that your apology is out of the question. "You should be in the driveway," was your response as you peeled off up Tee Street, implying that you knew exactly to what I was referring.

My bike was parallel to the wall and my girlfriend was getting on the back — a standard practice in Bermuda. However, it's also standard practice that if something, especially someone, is on your side of the road of whom you have clear view several hundred feet away, the safe and responsible course of action is to slow down and when the opportunity presents itself, go around the obstruction, leaving a wide berth, and continue on your way — versus, continuing at over 30 mph and just missing them.

Had a hard day at work? Count to sixty — at the most you would have to wait one minute, but I'll bet it's less. Traffic coming in the other direction? Count to sixty and wait until it is clear to pass. You had ample time to see me.

My hope is that the next time you are in this situation you will proceed in a much safer manner. Consider if your wife, significant other, child, parent is jogging on the road, walking on the road, riding a bicycle on the road. That strange feeling (hopefully) is called empathy and it is what keeps people respectful of each other.

STILL SHAKING

Warwick

Easy to verify claims

July 9, 2007

Dear Sir,

I read with interest the allegations made by Hon. Wayne Furbert regarding the Faith Based Tourism programme. It would be easy enough to verify the Premier's claims that this year over 1,000 tourists have come to Bermuda in respect of Faith Based Events. Simply poll the hotels on which events were contracted with this programme and how many rooms/guests occupied them.

Secondly, a simple poll of the local religious leaders could be conducted seeing which, if any, are on board with this program. How many have participated in the purported overseas speaker events, do they endorse the initiatives of this program etc. If the sponsorship materials are deemed to be true, then Mr. Furbert could retract his statements, if they are proven to be false, then they should be exposed to those who have contributed and the funds should be returned accordingly. And last but not least, a simple audit can be conducted on the finances of the Government funds whether they were administered by the Department of Tourism or prepaid to Mr. Curtis through his company, Harvest Investment Holdings Ltd. As the Government's fiscal year begins in April, from April to June is only one quarter. If an audit were to be conducted for the fiscal period 1Q 2007 and the funds were deemed to be used appropriately, then the matter would be closed. If there is nothing to hide, then an audit should be a welcome exercise to clear all involved and give credence to this program.

This is more than a matter of misappropriation of public funds, it may be a case of misleading the faithful in the name of God. With this in mind, the Hon. Premier should note that when character issues are in question, as in this case, the best possible closure to an issue is full disclosure.

CONCERNED CHRISTIAN VOTER,

Warwick

Sceptical about rates

July 3, 2007

Dear Sir,

First, I would like to congratulate all of Bermuda's high school graduates; I am still young enough to remember that high school is not always a great time in one's life.

Unfortunately, I am sceptical of the graduation rates that have been published in the media over the last couple of days. In today's paper the Ministry of Education announced a graduation rate of almost 82 percent; a 34 point improvement from last year's rate of 48 percent. Such a dramatic improvement is difficult to accept given the developments during the most recent school year;

[bul] Significant disruptions at CedarBridge due to the discovery of mould, resulting in classes being postponed, students being moved to alternative locations, etc.

[bul] Final exams and other activities postponed as a result of teachers 'working to rule'

[bul] The release of the Hopkins Report which was critical of the public education system

[bul] Education Minister Randy Horton publicly admitting in the House of Assembly and in published interviews that there are significant shortfalls in the current system.

Another reason for my scepticism is the lack of a sound explanation for this improvement; there needs to be a correlation between the improvement and the change in another variable; for example new teaching methods, improved text books, etc. The explanation given was "cleverer students". I am not questioning the ability of the graduates, but this doesn't support a 34 point improvement!!

I would like to believe that this improvement is an accurate reflection of our public school system and that these statistics haven't been bolstered to meet an agenda. If there is a problem with our public education let's fix it; not bury the problem in misleading statistics.

K. SMITH

St. George's

Move over Dr. Brown

June 30, 2007

Dear Sir,

As a (white) born Bermudian I can truly say that I do not have a problem (in general terms) with a PLP Government. This is contrary to what Dr. Brown would have us believe by his deceitful and dangerous attempts to mislead, polarise and segregate fellow Bermudians by our politics and the colour of our skin.

What I do have a problem with is any government (or its leader) that is not doing the right thing by its people, their national and international interests, reputation, good standing and their wishes, needs and wants. I also have a huge problem with is any person or government that is less than honest, has (and continues to) misuse or abuse their position, power and/or access to the Government's purse which is our taxpayers' money.

Dr. Brown — its time to stop this mischievous, dangerous and less than honest rhetoric and damaging all that is good on this Island. Its also time to stop using my hard earned tax payers money to further your lawsuits and your personal agenda.

If you love Bermuda as much as you say you do, its also time to do what is right and best for Bermuda - and that's move over and let the likes of Ms Paula Cox and Mr. Dale Butler take over. You do not act in my name, you do not speak in my name and you do not spend this Country's money in my name. Enough already from a registered Bermudian voter who wants to see a good and honest government — no matter the colour of their skin!

MAGGIE BENN

Warwick

Not happy with Zoom

June 25, 2007

Dear Sir,

I recently purchased a ticket on Zoom to visit family in Bermuda. I booked my return flight to Edinburgh to depart 3 hours after the advertised landing time at Gatwick, hopefully leaving plenty of time for any delays.

However my flight from Gatwick to Bermuda was three hours late arriving, despite only taking off half an hour late from Gatwick. After 6 hours of flying, and still seeing what appeared to be Tundra out of the right hand side of the aircraft, I asked the flight attendant where we were and how much longer we would be in the air. She informed me that Zoom is not CAA certified to fly more than 400 miles from land at this time and therefore the flight path went north via Greenland and Canada, before coming down the east coast of America and on to Bermuda.

This fact was confirmed by our pilot on the return flight who apologised for the delay on arriving in Gatwick and stating the above as the reason.

Whilst in Bermuda I telephoned the Zoom representative at C-Travel in Bermuda and the Zoom office in Glasgow - both places denied knowledge of the above and refused assistance in my onward flight to Edinburgh which, incidentally I missed, and had to purchase a completely new ticket. Low cost flight now not so low!

I wouldn't have minded the flight taking so long had I known. Why advertise landing times knowing full well they can't be adhered to?

Passengers flying on Zoom, particularly with onward flights, should reckon on being at least 3 hours late.

JAMES PATERSON

Edinburgh, Scotland