August 28, 2006

Dear Sir,

After the third day in a row trying to find a place to park within walking distance of the Government Offices and Post Office on Parliament Street in Hamilton, my frustration has come to a head.I have resigned myself to the fact that drivers of GP cars may park wherever they want, and for as long as they wish, without having to display parking vouchers.

However, I finally decided that I had to "speak out" when I noted a dark blue Grand Caravan, licence "MS BDA" parked on numerous occasions directly across from the Post Office on Parliament Street for more than the ONE hour allowed by the parking voucher. This car was parked last week Friday with multiple parking vouchers on display. I made four trips to the Department of Immigration that day, and the car never moved.

Today I again had business at the Department of Planning and the Department of Immigration, which required two trips to the Government Offices. MS BDA was parked in its usual place at 10.10 a.m. with one parking voucher displayed. A "parking lady" was dutifully giving another car a ticket, and I wondered if MS BDA would receive one too.

I returned to the Government Offices at 2.40 p.m. and the car was still parked in the same place, this time with four parking vouchers displayed. The back of the parking voucher states the "rules" for using the voucher. The last statement, in bold print, says "...under no circumstances should you park in any one parking spot for more than one hour".

I am sure that I am not the only person frustrated by the parking situation in Hamilton. If this had been an isolated occurrence, I might have shrugged it off, but knowing that this car is "hogging" a parking space for hours at a time day after day, my patience finally gave way.

Thank you for allowing me to vent my frustration, and I am hoping that the next time I have business at the Government Offices, I will not see MS BDA parking for more than an hour, without even attempting to move the car.

FRUSTRATED IN PAGET

August 31, 2006

Dear Sir,

We are writing to express get well wishes to Mayor Jay Bluck from the Busbys in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Our Family had the opportunity of getting to know Mayor Bluck when he used to participate at the Radnor Hunt Three-Day Event. We subsequently have enjoyed visiting with the Hamilton Ambassador many times over the past 20 years. Mayor Bluck is the epitome of the true Bermudian Ambassador.

Mayor Bluck ? get well soon. May your recovery be speedy!

DAVE BUSBY AND FAMILY

West Chester, Pennsylvania

August 30, 2006

Dear Sir,

A hospital in the Botanical Gardens?

Over my dead body.

Our parks are greater healers than any man-made institution will ever be. To carry through with this plan is like trading in your doctor for a second-rate orderly. It is just simply stupid.

Our parks absolutely must be considered sacrosanct. They are the closest we have to the great nursery in which the human being was born. Without the richness of nature, we would have no poetry, no art, no music, no religion, no romance, no peaceful solitude, no sense of play and, in our case, no tourist industry. To turn around and destroy the source of culture is to destroy ourselves.

In the Sixth Book of Virgil wrote: "The descent into Hell is easy" ("Facilis descensis Averno"). The word for hell, "Averno," means "a place without birds," from the Greek "without" and , "bird."

No hospital can help us down there, or as our Government would have it, right here.

There is also no argument that building in the parks is acceptable if for a good cause. Once that precedent is set, any silver-tongued teacher, preacher or cultural leader can step in and say we need this park for schools, churches or art centres. The step from there to development for low cost housing and then to high cost condos is an easy one. The time to stand still and do nothing except gaze at the beauty of nature is now, and always.

There are well-developed alternate plans for rebuilding the hospital on its present site. This is the route we must take, or bid goodbye to our health and sanity forever.