Beach bar mystery

January 16, 2009

Dear Sir,

And lo, the Government taketh away with the one hand, and giveth with the other.

Thus it taketh away an already functioning beach concession on St. Catherine's beach in St George's, which provided for yea tourist and local alike; and yet happily it giveth pristine, protected land for a new beach concession at Warwick Long Bay because the tourists need more facilities!

Truly this government works in mysterious ways.

JANET WINGATE

Czech Republic

An embarrassment

January 15, 2009

Dear Sir,

I was appalled to read that our Premier has agreed to spend $75,000 of taxpayers' money on a party in Washington, D.C. Every day there are stories about more job losses, our hotels (and hotel staff) are suffering very badly due to the downturn in the economy, and yet $75,000 can be thrown away on a party! When will it ever stop?

The Premier should stop paying consultant fees to Julian Hall as well as to Rolfe Commissiong – that would save about $250,000. He should attempt to get back the $400,000 given to his friend Andre Curtis and, within a short time, he would have an extra million dollars to utilise for more worthy causes.

Why doesn't he donate the $75,000 to the BIU who will need to help the out of work hotel workers very soon?

When are the PLP supporters going to wake up to what is happening in this lovely Island – we have become an international embarrassment. Is this really what everyone wants for our future?

CAMELOT

Smith's

The children suffer

January 17, 2009

Dear Sir,

I would like to give you kudos in writing about the vexing question of making divorce, child support and custody proceedings less contentious in your Friday editorial, that few people dare to speak about.

The million-dollar questions are, when, if not why and who, are the ultimate beneficiaries? Is it really our children benefitting? Is the status quo in the best interests of our children?

We at ChildWatch are highlighting the task of a courageous 70-year-old grandmother, Sheila Peltzer, from Charlotte, North Carolina and her coach, Tim McKyer, a three-time Super Bowl Champion.

This grandmother, a retired teacher, and her coach will embark on Wednesday, January 21, and are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, a peak of 19,200 feet. This ten-day trek up the western route of this mountain through sub-zero summit temperatures will no doubt be an enormous task, for raising the awareness of Shared Parenting and Familial Dysautonomia (FD).

This gruelling climb is to bring awareness and change to the court system, which are denying children equal relationship with both parents. The grandmother's son has limited access to his children, which are denied the love of their grandmother, and dad. Two of her grand children have FD (Familial Dysautonomia) a rare and fatal genetic disease, resulting in recurring intensive care hospitalisation. Mrs. Peltzer's son is a respected physician, and cares for other people's ill children, yet is not allowed to care for his own. There is no cure for her grandchildren's illness, and are not expected to live long lives. The grandmother is devastated that the two children are denied half of their families, and they rarely see them because of what the family court did to her family.

Do we really have to climb mountains to bring this unjust and unconscionable reality to the fore in order to make changes? My heart goes out to this brave grandmother and her coach and my kudos to them also.

Tim McKyer claimed that his children were doing well, when they lived with him. Now, his children are having problems and are falling behind in school, ever since he has had limited time with them.

Dr. Linda Nielson, an expert on divorced fathers and daughters, Wake Forest University professor and president of American Coalition for Fathers and Children, stated that "children that spend only a few days each month with their dads are at increased risk of social, emotional and academic problems. If courts allowed more shared parenting after divorce, millions of children would benefit.

If you wish to send your encouragement and support to this grandmother, you may e-mail info@acfc.org or childwatch.bermuda@yahoo.com">childwatch.bermuda@yahoo.com and they will forward to Mrs. Sheila Peltzer. Or, if you would like to make donations in regards to Familial Dysautonnia (FD), please go to www.fdnow.org

EDWARD TAVARES

ChildWatch Co-Founder

Bad choice of words

January 15, 2009

Dear Sir,

I am the President of ROLO – Remembering Our Loved Ones and on behalf of the members we wish to respond to Mr. Eastmond's letter to the editor today – Make speed limit 35 mph.

After reading Mr. Eastmond's letter – and the words are harsh when referencing the general population of fatalities – I can tell from his letter that he has never lost a loved one, because if he did, then they too would be considered an "idiot" who killed him/herself (his words not mine).

Indeed, some of these people have taken risks while riding/driving, but how can he say in a broad statement that they are all "idiots" when some innocent victim's collisions were caused by other people? So now tell me who was the "idiot", the fatality/victim or the person who caused the victim to lose their life and is still riding/driving among us?

People make bad choices and take risks everyday, sometimes instinctively, sometimes purposely, and yes it is very frustrating when we see the lack of care and thought displayed by people of all ages "not just the young" using the roads in a reckless manner, but to label all fatalities as an "idiot" is not acceptable by any means.

I don't know this man from Adam, so I don't even know if he drinks, or what he gets up to on his personal time. Although he is expressing his concerns and frustrations about what he sees and the use of our roads, he shows absolutely no compassion for the family members left behind and those still grieving the loss of their loved one, especially the recent fatalities in 2008/09.

In the instance where a person may have been responsible for his or her own death, doesn't he think for a moment that the family has to come to terms and accept that poor decision made by their loved one which ultimately ended their life? It would seem not, given his "idiot" remarks! I do believe that his remarks are extremely harsh to those family members whose loved ones made a good choice and still became a statistic.

Al Eastmond's choice of words could have been better when referring to the victims. We hope our response will bring comfort to those families who found Mr. Eastmond's letter offensive.

ANGEL NOTTINGHAM

R.O.L.O – Remembering Our Loved Ones

Be fair CableVision

January 18, 2009

Dear Sir,

An anonymous "KEG, Pembroke" is parroting CableVision's notion that it is fair to load the question about ZBM/ZFB TV carriage with a rate increase. Consider:

1) How many subscribers would favour ESPN or HBO being provided for free? Many would, so should they?

2) How many subscribers would favour a general Cablevision rate increase? Not many.

In 2007, Cablevision had net operating income of $10.8 million or $45 per subscriber per month. This is oodles of profit to pay a fair price for ZBM, VSB and ZFB TV with no subscriber rate increase and substantial profitability. No increase is needed.

The fact is that CableVision has been taking a service that is freely available and selling it on to the public.

We hope that CableVision will enter into fair trade with Bermuda TV stations. We may even see those flags on their satellite channels disappear indicating that they are using pirated reception cards.

May this silliness stop soon so that we both can better focus on serving our customers.

In the meantime, despite Cablevision's alleged Court "win", ZBM-TV-9 and ZFB-TV-7 continue to be carried.

William R. Craig

CEO

Bermuda Broadcasting Company

A Sunshine 'thank you'

January 15, 2009

Dear Sir,

The Sunshine League Children's Home wishes to say "thank you" to all who assisted in any way with our Annual Tag Days on Friday, December 5 and Saturday, December 6, 2008.

Thank you to every person who volunteered to offer our tags to the public, employers who allowed their employees time off from regular duties, those who provided refreshments and to the businesses that allowed us to tag from their premises.

Thank you to the general public for your cooperation and generosity, which made it possible for us to be, bless with a total of $24,184.08.

And during the ensuing year may you all be blessed.

BETTY HOWES

Tag Day Coordinator

The Sunshine League

Store markups 'too much'

January 15, 2009

Dear Sir,

Returning to Bermuda from university, I am disappointed with grocery store owners and merchants who appear to be taking advantage of Bermuda's GDP by unfairly inflating the prices of goods on their shelves. Everything in Bermuda is two to three times more than the price in the high end supermarket chains in the United States.

Consumers are not dumb. We realise that in business, everything costs. When calculating the price of an item, grocers look at shipping cost, landing fees, Customs duty, electricity and salaries. Although all of these fees are legitimate, their mark-up for profit is in most cases the sum of the fees and then some.

Common sense tells the consumer that grocers are in business for the profit, but I would love to know what explanation they have (or are willing to give) to justify such inflated prices. Ramen noodles, which cost on average 15 to 20 cents in the United States, cost 79 cents in Bermuda almost three times the average United States price. And to add insult to injury, grocers are breaking up packaged items, such as bar soap, and selling them individually. How much lower will they go?

If the price of oil has dropped drastically, why hasn't the price of goods dropped? Are Bermudian grocers so immune to the economic crisis in the world, and the basic needs of the people, that they continue to inflate prices (increasing the prices of goods on a weekly basis) in order to maintain high profit margins. Or have Bermudians become so complacent that they accept everything as status quo?

DISGUSTED

Paget

Editor's note: An investigation by Government into food prices in December (Royal Gazette, December 13, 2008) found that markups on grocery store prices were not excessive.