Grammatically incorrect

March 18, 2008

Dear Sir,

If the statement attributed to Sen. David Burch in today's Royal Gazette is correct, namely, "I don't need no legislation to make me truthful", then by his own admission and his double negative he certainly does need the legislation, or a lesson in correct grammar!

A TEACHER

Devonshire

Bermuda's bread very expensive

March 17, 2008

Dear Sir,

On Saturday, March 15 the Royal Gazette had an article on soaring wheat prices in Lubbock, Texas. "The price of wheat has more than tripled during the past ten months." One consumer was quoted: "The bread she buys has jumped from 69 cents a loaf to $1.09 in recent weeks." That consumer would be horrified to learn a normal loaf of bread in Bermuda is around $5.

Think of the products made from flour such as breads, rolls, croissants, bagels, cookies, pizza etc and you will soon determine the price of the weekly grocery needs are going to climb dramatically. American crops of corn are shrinking because of federal incentives to grow corn for ethanol. That means cereal prices will also be rising. In Canada gas prices vary from about $1:05 to $1.20 per ltr. In Bermuda it is about $1.80 per ltr. That means every time you go to the pump and say fill it up, it will cost you about $30 more than in Canada.

In the meantime, the Senator who speaks for finance in the Upper House leaves us with the impression of that there is no cause for alarm and that Government has its fingers on the pulse with the devaluing dollar and much talked about recession in the United States.

More recently Opposition Leader Kim Swan, "called on Government to urgently conduct a survey to determine how many Bermudians are struggling financially." But Glenn Jones, Premier Ewart Browns press secretary said, Government is already tackling the situation. Well! If tackling means press statements instead of helping those at the checkout counter, we have a long way to go.

In conclusion our 'green people' have urged the Government to curb energy where ever possible, however we have observed many Government buildings are living up to the discount hotel chain in the United States slogan:

"We'll leave the lights on for you."

TOPPY AND SAUNDRA COWEN

Smith's

Rules are Rules

March 11, 2008

Dear Sir,

Your article in last Friday's Royal Gazette (7th March), 'It's allowing people to break the rules' began to shed some light on the issues surrounding the eligibility of Graeme Outerbridge and David Dunkley to sit on the Corporation of Hamilton.

The article rightly pointed out that in order to be elected to the Corporation's Council these two gentlemen have to be eligible to be on the Voter's Registration List. In order to do so they must either be the owner or the 'beneficial occupier' of a rental valuation unit in the City.

Lawyer, John Cooper, who acts as Returning Officer for Corporation elections, says the law is clear. He says the Municipalities Act makes it clear that if a single valuation unit is occupied by more than one tenant on some sort of shared basis then there cannot be an occupier of that valuation unit that is entitled to vote. He goes on to say that a tenant who has occupied the whole of a valuation unit, but only on an intermittent basis, is not entitled to registration unless they've had continuous occupation for at least three months prior to applying for registration.

Both Graeme Outerbridge and David Dunkley say they are legitimate occupiers, but even a cursory reading of Friday's article and The Royal Gazette article published on 19th February cast serious doubts on both of their claims.

In the case of Graeme Outerbridge, his landlord said he has "conducted several meetings here (at Mercury House) over the past few years." That is a far cry from either having continuous occupation as outlined by Mr. Cooper, or having sole occupation of a whole valuation unit. Renting a room for a meeting is not renting a whole valuation unit. Can anyone rent the Vasco Da Gama Building or the Leopard's Club for a few monthly meetings then claim to be a tenant of their building, and register as a City voter?

In The Royal Gazette dated 19th February, Graeme Outerbridge claimed that he "has had an office on the fourth floor (of Mercury House) for more than five years." It should be easy for the Corporation to prove that assertion. How about a visit to his office just to confirm that he has filing cabinets, telephone, fax machine, computer, his name on his office door etc. Does he pay City taxes for his "rental valuation unit"? Does he pay rent for the whole of a valuation unit as outlined by Mr. Cooper? Does he share a whole valuation unit, or does he just occasionally hold meetings in the boardroom at Mercury House? Is it true that the NLP used to rent an office at Mercury House, with Graeme Outerbridge as their legitimate nominee, but once the NLP went out of existence he would no longer qualify as a voter?

In the case of David Dunkley, your reporter describes her visit to 57 Victoria Street (the building at the junction of Victoria Street and Court Street) where the sign outside says Sunshine Gas - and she asked to speak to someone from DWD Management. According to David Dunkley he operates his business, DWD Management, from that office. Surprise, surprise. She was met with a blank face from the receptionist.

This is entirely consistent with the reaction to an enquiry said to have been made by a senior Corporation official who called the same office, Sunshine Gas, asking to speak directly with David Dunkley and was advised they had never heard of him or of DWD Management. A package for David Dunkley was said to have been sent to the same address, but returned "not known at this address".

These issues raise serious questions that must be properly investigated by the Corporation of Hamilton. Is there any evidence that David Dunkley really has an office at 57 Victoria Street? Surely a man of his standing in the community would have his name, or his company's name on the premises. Surely he would have an office, with files, telephone etc. and pay his City taxes. I have passed that building thousands of times and have never seen David Dunkley anywhere near it. Is there anyone out there who can independently verify that David Dunkley is a continuous occupant at 57 Victoria Street?

If Graeme Outerbridge and David Dunkley can prove they are legitimate "beneficial occupiers" of rental valuation units at Mercury House and 57 Victoria Street, then they have every right to remain on the Corporation as representatives of City tax payers. But if they cannot, then they should do the honourable thing and resign - immediately. There's an old adage, "no taxation without representation". In this case it should read, "no representation without taxation".

I venture to say that if the positions were reversed, with Mayor Madeiros claiming to be a City voter because he occasionally uses an office in Hamilton to conduct meetings, then Graeme Outerbridge and David Dunkley would be shouting and screaming from the roof tops accusing the Mayor of being deceitful and operating a sham.

Sincerely

CITY FAN

I enjoy Burville's work

March 12, 2008

Dear Sir,

I would like to commend and congratulate Chris Burville for yet another absolutely spectacular photograph. Well done to The Royal Gazette for publishing this and Chris' previous photos of Nature on its front page.

May I suggest a special edition reviewing Chris' amazing photos for The Royal Gazette over the past few years.

JENNIFER HEDGES

City of Hamilton

Divide is cultural

March 16, 2008

Dear Sir,

I welcome Alvin William's commentary (Mid-Ocean News, March 14) in which he refers to my earlier letter to The Royal Gazette entitled 'Slavery'.

Just as he cherry picked from my letter, I am sure he will permit me to do the same. The key message in Mr. Williams' commentary is towards the end of his writing where he says:

"But it is the generally unacknowledged (at least by whites) consequences of slavery that concern me and most black people.

"The idea of cultural inferiority and superiority was never a factor in other examples of slavery; it was always understood that you were enslaving another human being simply because you had the power to do so.

"I too consider that the question of slavery should be put into perspective. But this can only happen if some important issues are resolved such as the racist mindset which holds that one's skin colour defines one's status as a human being and, most importantly, the righting of the economic consequences of slavery that are still very much with us today."

Thomas Sowell is a black American economist, political writer, and commentator. He was born in North Carolina. He obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago.

His studies are mainly US related. That said, in 2005 he wrote:

"For most of the history of this country, differences between the black and the white population – whether in income, IQ, crime rates, or whatever –have been attributed to by either race or racism. For much of the first half of the 20th century, these differences were attributed to race – that is, to an assumption that blacks just did not have it in their genes to do as well as white people. The tide began to turn in the second half of the 20th Century, when the assumption developed that black-white differences were due to racism on the part of whites.

"Three decades of my own research lead me to believe that neither of those explanations will stand up under scrutiny of the facts. As one small example, a study published last year indicated that most of the black alumni of Harvard were from either the West Indies or Africa, or were the children of West Indian or African immigrants. These people are the same race as American blacks, who greatly outnumber either or both.

"If this disparity is not due to race, it is equally hard to explain by racism. To a racist, one black is pretty much the same as another."

Sowell continues: "What then could explain such large disparities in demographic "representation" among these three groups of blacks? Perhaps they have different patterns of behaviour and different cultures and values behind their behaviour. There have always been large disparities, even within the native black population of the US/ None of these disparities can be attributed to either race or racism. Many contemporary observers attributed these differences to the existence of slavery in the South, as many in later times would likewise attribute both the difference between Northern and Southern whites, and between blacks and whites nationwide, to slavery. But slavery doesn't stand up under scrutiny of historical facts any better than race or racism as explanations of North-South differences or black-white differences. The people who settled in the South came from different regions of Britain than the people who settled in the North – and they differed as radically on the other side of the Atlantic as they did here – that is, before they had ever seen a black slave.

"Slavery also cannot explain the difference between American blacks and West Indian blacks living in the United States because the ancestors of both were enslaved. When race, racism, and slavery all fail the empirical test, what is left?

"Culture is left."

Sowell argues that the culture of the people who were called "rednecks" and "crackers" was a culture that produced far lower levels of intellectual and economic achievement, as well as far higher levels of violence and sexual promiscuity. While a third of the white population of the US lived within the redneck culture, more than 90 percent of the black population did.

Although that culture eroded away over the generations, it did so at different rates in different places and among different people. It eroded away much faster in Britain than in the US and somewhat faster among Southern whites than among Southern blacks, who had fewer opportunities for education or for the rewards that came with escape from that counterproductive culture.

As late as the First World War, white soldiers from Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi scored lower on mental tests than black soldiers from Ohio, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania. Again, neither race nor racism can explain that – and neither can slavery. The counterproductive and self-destructive culture of black rednecks in today's ghettos is regarded by many as the only "authentic" black culture.

So, there we have it by a learned Ph.D. It's all about culture. That perhaps would explain why peoples of all colours have their Sir John Swans and Brian Duperreaults and also why peoples of all colours have their share of rednecks.

Perhaps one final point. I was grateful for Mr William's acceptance that not all whites are born with silver spoons in their mouths, something frequently alluded to by other black letter contributors to the RG. Will he also accept that the 'as yet unborn white child' is also unfairly punished by black people?

SMITH'S

Cottage takes the brunt

12th March 2006

Dear Sir,

Anyone who drives through Flatts Village will be well aware of the historic old cottage sitting on the waterfront next to Flatts Public Dock. A few years ago this cottage was beautifully restored from a derelict old building to a magnificent centrepiece for Flatts. Since then we have seen other properties gradually being improved and renovated, including the public dock. Flatts seemed to be on the upgrade.

Sadly, however, with ever increasing traffic and ever larger vehicles speeding through Flatt's Village we are now witnessing the gradual destruction of that lovely little cottage as large trucks persistently smash off pieces of the corners, and even knock off the shutters. The cottage used to be protected by a BELCO pole on one corner, but now this has been removed it takes the brunt of any fast moving large vehicles who refuse to slow down, even for pedestrians.

Last week the cottage was completely re-painted and the corners all repaired over the weekend, but within days it has already been smashed by at least two vehicles.

Now is the time for Works and Engineering staff to look at what can be done to correct this dangerous situation and take action to protect one of Bermuda's real treasures. A couple of well placed protective steel poles or barriers would do the trick, or perhaps a one way chicane to slow down traffic in both directions. Whatever the solution, something needs to be done NOW. Road Safety Council please take note.

On a related note, the cottage owner obviously provided a little area at the eastern end of the cottage for businesses in that immediate area to place their trash for collection by W&E. The alternative is for each property to leave trash in front of their individual premises for collection, so this is a public service. Last Friday I saw the trash collection truck picking up garbage in Flatts but they ignored all of the trash bags left there. It now looks like a tip.

If W&E has decided not to collect trash from this convenient location I suggest that the cottage owner block off the alleyway, and that W&E officials meet with Flatts property owners to decide on a new location for safe and efficient trash collection.

RJS

Smith's Parish