The new hospital is needed

October 11, 2010

Dear Sir,

Mr. John Barritt, you need to stop. It is that type of UBP mentality that has got Bermuda in the predicament is in today. Do we need a new hospital and if so should it be this one? Yes we surely do. On a regular basis, your spokeswoman Louise Jackson goes on and on about the condition of the hospital. And something needs to be done about it. The Government is doing something about it and now you are asking, do we really need it? And as for the Extended Care Wing. Was it not your party who let most of the Government seniors homes become so run down that they had to be closed and in one instance demolished? And I did not hear not one word from Mrs. Jackson before she became a politician concerning the seniors or the seniors' homes.

Your party's modus operandi has always been let everything go to hell and then talk about how the PLP does nothing about. Was it not your father and his UBP colleagues who closed down the Hamilton Police Station some 30 years ago with a promise to build a new one and had 18 years to do so and did no such thing? There is now this big stink about the condition of the station and the mould. I know that quite a lot of those Policemen and women who have passed through that station voted for the UBP for those entire 18 years. Be careful what you ask for, you might turn around and get it. Also were they not the same ones who closed down the old Bermuda prison which used to be where the Hamilton Post Office is today. And sent the prisoners up to that old dark and dank Casemates barracks in the dockyard. If mould is such a problem, maybe the mould at the prison may play a part in our recidivism rate amongst are prisoners.

You see, your party and its predecessors never believed in building anything new, just use another old building lying around. And then you are amazed at today's market price. Can you imagine what a new prison would have cost to build in the 1960s versus what that piece of trash that was built in the 1990s. And it was built by a UBP-connected company at that. Or if the new police station was built back in the 1980s? And not in the 21st century. You do the math Mr. Barritt.

Lets go back even further when the UK government forced the so-called independent MCPs to open up four secondary schools in 1956. Where were they located? Three at Fort Prospect. The Technical Institute, Cunningham's and The Girls High. And the St. George's Secondary on Barracks Hill in St George.

All but one of those schools where opened in old mouldy and damp military barracks. Your party and its predecessors have never believed in building anything new. And you want to carry on with the same old mentality that got us where we are today. And your constituents would vote you and your UBP colleagues in time and time again. And Bermuda, that is not my opinion, those are the facts. So just like the Police at the Hamilton Police Station. When you vote for the UBP you get what you ask for.

LESLIE JAMES SMITH

Sandys

No such word

October 13, 2010

Dear Sir,

I noticed, in one of the stories you ran today about Premier Ewart Brown's press event, that it took place in something called the "Berkeley Cafeterium". My guess is that someone, somewhere, must think that cafeteria is the plural of a Latin word, of which cafeterium must be the singular. That is not correct. Cafeteria is an American English word borrowed from Mexican Spanish. Its plural would be cafeterias.

PEDANTIC

St. George's

Editor's note: Pedantic is right. There is no such word as cafeterium. In fact, it's the Berkeley Cafetorium, a large room that can be used as a cafeteria or an auditorium. Apparently, such a room can also be called an auditeria.

Riding the bus in Bermuda

The number seven pink bus to Hamilton bounced to a stop with a hiss. "Good morning" I said to the bus driver, as I flashed my three day bus pass. "Good morning" he replied. I took my seat purposely on the left side for two reasons. One so I could admire how neatly dressed the bus driver was in navy blue knee socks, highly polished black shoes, navy blue Bermuda shorts and light blue shirt with military creases. Two, so I could have a spectacular view of the beaches and cliffs to the ocean displaying hues of blues and greens and purple. Tucked into the cliff sides were hotels coloured peach, pink, gold, blue, turquoise, and all with white roofs to make the sunlight even brighter.

There is only one door to the bus. Therefore bus protocol is that one must wait for passengers to exit before you get on the bus. One morning an elderly lady with a cane very slowly entered the bus. Before she took her seat she looked at everyone and said good morning to all of us. and everyone on the bus replied good morning back to her. I loved it. this happened the next day when a different elderly man entered the bus. "Good morning" he said to the whole bus. "Good morning" all replied. I couldn't help but feel in a good mood after experiencing this. I started saying good morning to everyone I encountered. I found myself saying "thank you and have a nice day" to the bus driver as I exited the bus.

I loved to people watch and listen to conversations on the bus. Many of the conversations were about the economy. And surprisingly to me many were about the U.S. election. People were generally thrilled with Obama's election to the US Presidency. One day two elderly black men almost had me in tears as they talked across the bus to each other about the election of Obama in their lifetime.

One day there was not a seat to be had on the bus as it was filled with happy schoolchildren of about ten to 12 years of age and one teacher, on a school field trip. when I got on the bus a boy of about 11 gave me his seat. It astounded me. Then I watched as other grown ups got on the bus and were given seats by other young children. At one point the children were talking loudly and the bus driver told them from his seat to quiet down a little. and they did.

There were small signs on the bus indicating no food, beverage or smoking on the bus. At one stop a young boy entered, and the bus driver said something to him and the boy backed down off the steps, the doors closed and the bus continued. I couldn't figure it out at first until I saw that the boy had a lollipop in his mouth, which I guess the driver considered food and wouldn't let him on. Wow! I thought. I think I like this place.

On my return bus trip from Hamilton I sat on the opposite side of the bus so I could view the rolling velvet lawns of the beautiful golf courses, and large stone houses and restaurants along the way. All of them graced with a variety of flora and fauna in mind boggling colours. Obedience, respect, politeness, well behaved children, Shangri la like views of nature that artists could not make up, and all to be had from public transportation, riding the bus in Bermuda. Recently an American visitor told me about her stay in Bermuda in 2008. she was so impressed with Bermuda's bus service that she wrote an essay. This is it. Great Job BPTS!

HORACE TUCKER

Preserve the clubs

September 15, 2010

Dear Sir,

I am writing you about the black workingmen's clubs in Bermuda and why they came into existence. It was because people of colour were not allowed to join the white organisations because of racism which was alive and well organised to keep the racists apart. Therefore, something had to be done with the black men to keep him involved constructively, so they started to form their own clubs where they would meet after work and on weekends. Some of the activities were geared for family involvement such as football or soccer and cricket. There were youth programmes, women auxiliaries and lots of sponsored community activities, but today I don't know what these clubs are turning out to be.

In the earlier years the membership has grown tremendously and they were very successful. Nowadays the football players are smoking the grass instead of playing on it. When I used to attend my favourite football teams' training sessions down on the field known as the "desert" back in the early 70s you can experience for yourself how players came there in whatever state they came. You would have thought they were working for an airline, they were as high as a kite, and the coach would have them put on the sideline until they came down from their flight.

I want to say that the clubs are in a financial dilemma and don't know how to get out of debt, or how to raise their revenue, and therefore they are going to be in this situation for a long time to come. the selected leaders are not financially skilled to get the club out of the debt. All the clubs are now involved in a new sport called, elbow bending, and I don't mean arm wrestling, I mean bending down for a glass of rum, and they are becoming professionals at it. There is one black organisation that I admired for years, "The Leopards Club". In the 40s and 50s they were involved in the community, they used to have a weekly one hour radio programme. They had speakers that covered a variety of subjects on health, legal advice, etc. etc. Today all they have now is valuable property on Cedar Avenue. the building is deteriorating, and I believe if some exempt company offers them the right amount of money the would sell out (amen).

Our national cricket and football programme is a financial drain to the island. What chartered accountant would audit the books and tell them to go on and waste money? If it's the Financial Minister Paula Cox, she wold give a rubber stamp and say waste the money. We need to get the cricket and football programs back on track locally before we could invest internationally. When this happens I would gladly go back to support my team NVCC at the games, but at present I don't attend due to the behaviour of the team players, officials and fans.

W.S. FOX

Smith's