Horrendous cruelty

February 27, 2004

Dear Sir,

This is in response to ?Next Door Neighbour?s? Letter of February 27 regarding the two Pitt Bulls who were apparently buried alive on Shelton Road.

I also happen to live just a few doors down from where this happened, and I?m not ashamed to say that I?ve also shed tears over what those two poor dogs must have endured.

I drive past that house twice a day every day, and I?ve always looked over at the Mother Pitt Bull and her puppy playing. They both looked happy and healthy, and appeared to be very loving dogs. Now when I drive past, it makes me feel physically sick to think about what happened.

The nine-month prison sentence is a good start, however, I must ask this question.

Has this poor excuse for a human being been banned from ever owning animals again? And if not, why not? A horrendous act of cruelty, such as this one, should surely have a lifetime ban attached. There should be no second chances for animal abusers ? the bottom line is, it?s a privilege to have a pet, not a right.

Personally, I think the real justice would have come from putting masking tape over the owner?s mouth, tying his legs and arms with rope, throwing him into the same hole and burying him alive with soil. Maybe several hours later, he?d have a better appreciation for the level of pain and suffering that he inflicted upon his own dogs.

One last note to the owner of that Shelton Road property. Out of respect and courtesy for KeKe and Solo, would you please remove the dog kennel gates which still remain stacked against your wall. For God?s sake, have some respect.

Unfair air fares

February 25, 2004

Dear Sir,

I went to get a quote on a flight from Boston to Bermuda, midweek April 13-21, and was astounded by the cost of $585.00 round trip, taxes and fees included.

As a comparison, one can fly from NYC to Los Angeles for $473 through May and this includes four nights at the Inn at Venice Beach. This is over 2,300 miles further to fly than to Bermuda!

One can fly from NYC to Toronto for $374, which includes 3 nights at a hotel in the theatre district.

One can fly to Orlando from NYC round-trip for $343 and this includes five nights at a hotel with continental breakfast and a free shuttle service to Disney. Also included is a 5-day car rental!

One can fly midweek from New York to Jamaica for $535. This includes a 7 night stay with breakfast at a hotel in Ocho Rios.One can fly from NYC to Cancun for $446 with 5 nights in a beach front hotel.

Through April, one can fly from NYC to London, England on Virgin Airways for $145 each way. That?s a total of $290!

Finally, one can fly from Oakland, California to Maui, Hawaii for $599, which includes a six-day car rental and five nights at the Maui Islander in Lahaina.

I could go on and on but no wonder Bermuda?s tourism industry is in such dire straits.

What is the point of getting more flights from different cities in the US (Chicago) when we cannot offer a reasonable airfare from the airports that already service Bermuda? As an example, the cheapest flight from JFK to Bermuda midweek 13-21 April is $619.25!

When are we going to be able to do something about the price of an airline ticket to Bermuda? No wonder our arrivals figures fall every year. This is what really needs to be addressed before adding further gateways.

The test of leadership

Dear Sir,

Leaders are people who raise the standards by which they judge themselves ? and by which they are willing to be judged. The goal chosen, the objective selected, the requirements imposed, are not merely for their followers alone.

They develop with consummate energy and devotion their own skill and knowledge in order to reach the standards they themselves have set. This whole-hearted acceptance of the demands imposed by ever higher standards is the basis of all human progress. A love of high quality we must remember, is essential in a leader.

Dependability is another requirement in a leader. To be dependable is to be willing to accept responsibility, and to carry it out faithfully. A leader will always be willing to take counsel from his people, but will often have to act on what his own mind tells him is right. This demands that the leader has trained himself out of any inordinate fear of making mistakes. To embark successfully on a career involving leadership demands a courageous and determined spirit. Once a person has decided upon his lifework, and is assured that in doing the work for which he is best endowed and equipped, he is filling a vital need, what he then need is faith and integrity, coupled with a courageous spirit, so that, no longer preferring himself to the problems he must solve in order to be effective.

One mark of the great leader is that he feels sufficiently secure to devote his thought and attention to the well-being of his subordinates and the perfection of his task, rather than being constantly worried about the approval or disapproval of others.

He who would be a leader must pay the price in self-discipline and moral restraint. This entails the correction and improvement of personal character, the checking of passions and desires, and an exemplary control of ones bodily needs and drives.

Leaders have to submit themselves to a stricter self discipline and develop a more exemplary moral character than is expected of others. To be first in place, one must be first in merit as well.

It should not surprise us then to find that the greater number of acknowledged leaders to have been people who trained themselves in the art of discipline and obedience.

He who has not learned to render prompt and willing service to others will find it difficult to win and keep the goodwill and cooperation of his subordinate.

Greed drives housing crisis

February 24, 2003

Dear Sir,

The housing crisis is caused by over population and greed. There are too many people in 21 sq. miles, we have become the second Hong Kong without a doubt. We did it all by ourselves we became greedy.

We have become nasty people and will take any little green patch of land and build on it and because we have these people who can afford these high rents who cares about the poorer Bermudians that struggle just to pay his rent and put food on the table for his children, it must be very terrifying.

The saying is so true, ?the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? and also the saying, ?everybody for themselves.

Until something is done to cut back on people coming in, housing will only get worse and disaster is just around the corner.

Strive for zero inflation

March 1, 2004

Dear Sir,

I fear that we have misled ourselves. Present and past governments have been happy to say that our cost of living has been rising by an acceptable few percentage points annually. This is a mistake. We are so far ahead of most of the world in our pricing of goods and services that we should be aiming at zero or even a negative rate of inflation. To a layman it seems that one of the inflators of our economy is the Bermuda Government building programme. It guarantees the need for imported workers for construction trades, and the added persons on the rock put pressure upon housing, schooling, other services, and transportation. What we need is a moratorium upon Government building until the construction trade runs into a slump.

There are problems with local workers in the construction trade (other trades too, but we are dealing with a key one first), and we need to solve them by other means than importing foreign workers. Contractors have opted for the most part to hire foreign workers because they lead to fewer labour problems. We have to find a solution to our labour problems not bury them in the discard pile. We must train Bermudians for the trades. We must establish norms for work performance. Attitudes to employers, to work standards, and to fellow-workers need to be established by positive models and positive training. Negative models have eroded confidence in local workers among employers. This has to be addressed and reversed. The whole population needs to be educated as to the fate of industries and businesses which price themselves above global market rates. We are another world up to a point, but believe me we have reached that point. We are taking our place as part of the outside world in increasing measure as each month passes.

I was involved since the early 70?s, when Bermuda College was first established, in attempting to set up, with the cooperation of industry, training schemes for Bermudians. There are too few of them in existence now after 30 years. 30 years is a long time. Resistance must have been strong for such little progress. We have no time left for waiting around now, training schemes have to be imposed as a matter of urgency.

In addition to cutting government spending on a never-ending building programme, we need to deal urgently with a social problem. Providing assistance in housing much faster for low income families will help to staunch the present flood of dissatisfied underachievers as families are relieved from the necessity of holding multiple jobs just to pay the rent. Bermuda needs to spend some of its surplus money on the problem YESTERDAY. I do mean yesterday. We are too late already. These are the high spot problems. There are other things that have to be done, but immediate attention to these will go a long way towards that very desirable flat line economy that will give us some catch up time.

I am dismayed to find that the new government is continuing the ?big-spender? policies of the former UBP government. We need to keep heavy government spending for depression years. Incidentally, do those people who are demanding more government services realise that they will be taxed even more to provide them? Consumers get what they pay for.

Government makes sure you pay for what you get. This is not a bad thing. How else can any government increase services? Just let everybody be aware that more policemen, more inspectors, more regulations and more services of any sort, mean that sooner or later there will be higher taxes. The more that government provides and pays for with our money, the less money we have left to do the things that we might choose to do.

BERTRAM GUISHARD

Sad sale items

February 21, 2004

Dear Sir,

Royal Gazette classified ads are fast becoming the best comedy show in Bermuda.

Three recent ?:

Rot iron table

Swayer jacket

Barr?s Bay Park

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