Vexed Bermoothes

Blustery Opinions From Bermuda

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Entries from November 2007

Dear Paula

November 30th, 2007 · No Comments

Of the current Cabinet, Paula Cox is relatively unique in that she has current first hand experience with the international business sector which is at the heart of Bermuda’s economy. In addition to her demanding role as Minister of Finance, she holds a sinecure as a legal counsel at the insurer Ace.
Most Bermudians have […]

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Tags: Bermuda Politics

Trying Times

November 29th, 2007 · No Comments

The PLP party line has always been that a successful conviction was made at BHC and the island should move on. That’s no longer quite true. The Appeals Court overturned Terrence Smith’s conviction today over irregularities in the trial. The case will now have to start again in court.
Truth is that we should […]

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Tags: Bermuda Politics

Understatement

November 29th, 2007 · No Comments

Isn’t it embarrassing for a country whose companies include the leading providers of political risk insurance to be … well … such a political risk?

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Tags: Bermuda Politics

Spinning Like Mad

November 29th, 2007 · No Comments

You’ve got to give credit to Dr. Brown. He knows how to spin the news.
First there are the “public opinion polls” that are actually telemarketing calls design to “sell” his popularity. And then there’s the flurry of puffy press releases, like this one for the Sonesta redevelopment. Although placed overseas, ostensibly by […]

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Tags: Bermuda Politics

The Time is Now

November 29th, 2007 · No Comments

Dr. Brown says he wants to make sure that young Bermudians can get ahead in international business. This creates a certain sad irony:

To get ahead in international business, you need a good education.
If you have a top education and international work exposure, you are more likely to view the PLP’s management of Bermuda negatively. […]

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Tags: Bermuda Politics

PLP Green, ummm, Brown

November 28th, 2007 · No Comments

In a bizarre attempt to regain some environmental credibility, yesterday Minister of the Unvironment Neletha Butterfield announced that Government intends to ask the UK to extend the Kyoto Accord to Bermuda. After all, pop and sizzle green is the official PLP colour.
That would mean Bermuda would need to reduce our emissions of six greenhouse gases […]

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Tags: Bermuda Politics

Trust Gap

November 28th, 2007 · 1 Comment

You may recall that last week, Dr. Brown’s official mouthpiece Glenn Jones went on the record to reassure voters that Dr. Brown’s views were “crystal clear”: the PLP would use a referendum to determine whether to pursue independence for Bermuda.
Clear as mud.
Dr. Brown went on the record today to flip flop his stance: […]

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Tags: Independence

Grossest Incompetence and Ineptitude

November 28th, 2007 · No Comments

Commenting on the BCC fiasco, the Royal Gazette grows a pair:
Dr. Brown became the leader of the PLP and the Premier very much on the basis that he was the man who got things done.
And yet in this case, his Government has created a crisis which now requires an unknown amount of public money […]

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Tags: Bermuda Politics

Bermuda’s Advanced Cementia

November 27th, 2007 · 1 Comment

Dr. Brown’s press conference today raises more questions than answers:

If there are Newco prospects in the wings, why aren’t they negotiating directly with BCC? Why do they need Government to intervene?
How does this takeover move relate to claims relating to BCC that Derrick Burgess made in Parliament in 2004 that the PLP had a mandate […]

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Tags: Bermuda Politics

Neo-Forty-Thieves Cement Company

November 27th, 2007 · No Comments

It appears that the Bermuda Government, through its West End Development Corporation, has managed to shut down the Bermuda Cement Company, the sole supplier of bulk cement to the island.
After causing panic in the construction sector, Dr. Brown today announced that Government intends to nationalise the BCC operations:
“Upon buying the company, the government will immediately […]

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Tags: Bermuda Politics