Time to fight back

July 11, 2006

Dear Sir,

How brazen are the criminals in this country to beat a man on a crowded street in broad daylight for no other reason than his ethnicity? It is a sad day when a respected business owner and father of two can not enjoy a football game at a local bar for fear of being beaten by four thugs. Surely this behaviour can not go unpunished. Yet even as I say those words I am almost positive that there will be no repercussion for the offenders. That is how little faith I have in the police and court systems.

The truth is that everyday heinous crimes occur on this Island and no one gets prosecuted. These men, that freely walk our streets, unrepentant of their crimes, are no better than terrorists. Yet they are allowed to wreak havoc as they see fit without fear of punishment. When will we, as a community, fight back?

It is not people like Mr. Medeiros that need to leave our Island, it is those ignorant people that spread the seeds of hatred and racism that need to go. And those same ignorant people also might want to take a history lesson before they start laying claim to an island that is named after a Spanish navigator and was first settled by the English. In my mind, that makes all Bermudians migrants to this country. We are all a part of Bermuda?s heritage and all have a stake in the future of this island.

I recommend that Bermuda hold an anti-racism parade to show Mr. Medeiros? four attackers that diversity should be celebrated. It is a shame that Mr. Medeiros had to be the scapegoat in bringing such an important issue to light but it is how we respond to this incident that will shape the future of race relations in this country. Let?s not back down and allow these men to continue their hate spree.

How to judge Bermuda

July 10, 2006

Dear Sir,

Reading your coverage of the Rebecca Middleton tragedy last week, I kept hearing Nelson DeMille?s own words in my mind?s ear: ?A society can be judged by its response to murder...?

We are responsible

July 6, 2006

Dear Sir,

Without a doubt, the crime against Rebecca Middleton was evil and the reports of how Bermuda dealt with the case nothing short of shameful. The fact that we have allowed the monsters who so brutally raped and killed her to continue to live amongst us is unforgivable. Let us not be pacified by the lack of a conviction in this case. Justice was not served; it was thwarted by legal wrangling, phenomenal blundering and self-serving strategy.

Resist the temptation to distance yourself by thinking of Rebecca as just a stranger; imagine that she was your own daughter. Would you not be outraged both by her cruel and senseless death and by the way the case has been handled so far? We are all stained with Rebecca?s blood. I am urging that we do the right thing and bring her killer or killers to justice. There are people in this country who carry knowledge with them as to what happened that night and I am asking anyone with any information on this terrible crime to make that truth known so that we can be freed to be the honourable and just community that we claim to be. The fact is that we are all responsible for what happened to this young lady and we should not rest well until her killers are held accountable.

Greed, not need

July 5, 2006

Dear Sir,

In Saturday?s Minister Wayne Perinchief expressed displeasure at Michael Dunkley?s plan to donate his proposed pay rise to charity. Minister Perinchief stated that ?other members of the Hose were not as well off financially, and this was precisely why the raise was needed?.

I would like to point out to Minister Perinchief that pay raises are not about how much the recipient ?needs? the money. It is about earning a fair wage for the actual job one is doing.

I suppose most people think they are underpaid, but it is all about your employer paying you what they feel the job is worth. I couldn?t very well go to my boss and ask for twice what I?m currently making just because I ?need the money?. I would have to sit down and prove that I?ve taken an extra tasks, undergone additional training, etc. If I just asked for the money based on need alone without any justification, what do you think my boss would say?

We would all love extra money to travel at leisure, and to treat ourselves to those little luxuries of life. Unfortunately, those of us in the real world can?t just vote ourselves a pay raise.

I don?t know why our esteemed politicians think that they deserve so much better than us ? the taxpayer. They are coming across as very greedy, dipping into a never-ending pot of money. As long as we, the taxpayers, get up every morning to go to work (some to two and three jobs) to pay our taxes, they know that the well will never run dry. They?ll enjoy these huge wages on top of the numerous other perks they benefit from.

I think I?ll run for Parliament, not to serve my country and to help make Bermuda a better place, but because I know I?ll make a ton of money... because after all, I ?need? the money just as much as they do.