Bermuda had its fifteenth road death of the year over the weekend. To borrow the unintended wisdom of our Minister of Transportation: “What we do have, is just reason to be offended and insulted … this should be an affront to every Bermudian”. There are no traffic police on the roads. There is no enforcement, [...]
Entries from November 30th, 2008
Funny Money
November 28th, 2008 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
Predictably, Bermuda’s attempt to flip the bird to the Queen on our new banknotes has flown awry. “To provide a sense of national pride” the new notes brightly feature local flora and fauna … except the bird that is a centrepiece of many of the notes is not the orange-billed Bermuda Longtail. According to Bermudian [...]
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Shooting the Messenger
November 27th, 2008 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics, Business
There is much talk in local corporate boardrooms about the arrogance of the Bermuda Government, its inexplicable hostility towards the international business community, and the disintegration of Bermuda’s once-envied public/private partnerships. The divide was clearly shown in the Senate yesterday, when a UBP Senator raised a quote from the CEO of major Bermuda insurer at [...]
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Full Of It
November 26th, 2008 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
As 21 Square points out, the Premier tries to explain away his racial stereotyping of white Bermudians in Parliament with an unusual set of verbal calisthenics: Dr. Brown: “When I say to you ‘If I had wings I would fly,’ I have not truly said I would or I could fly. The key point in [...]
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Transparency in PATI
November 25th, 2008 · Comments Off · Accountability, Transparency
Bermuda has been waiting for the promised freedom of information bill for a long time. The whole process behind Government’s efforts have been pretty stretched out and secretive – which goes against the whole concept of a transparency law! Barbados has recently published a draft law for public consultation. If enacted, Barbados will be joining [...]
The Politics of Money
November 24th, 2008 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
The BMA today announced that new Bermuda banknotes will introduced as part of the island’s 400th anniversary. Apparently the “The Queen has been moved as the main image” aka honey I shrank the Queen! And no, she has not been replaced by The Dame or The Doctor. Apparently there are flowers and stuff. For now, [...]
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Annual Postal Delays
November 23rd, 2008 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
Every year in Bermuda you can count on certain things. Fish cakes at Easter. Crown & Anchor at Cup Match. Dr. Brown flying off the handle in Parliament. And the international mail packing up from November through January. This happens every year; why can’t they ever plan for it? (Some positive news in today’s Infernal [...]
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Eternal Optimist
November 21st, 2008 · Comments Off · Tourism
The Premier is in Florida trying to drum up hotel investors. Genuinely, I wish him luck. His bio on the conference programme shows his sense of eternal optimism: … In July of 2004 following a Cabinet shuffle, Dr. Brown assumed the single Portfolio of The Ministry of Tourism and Transport, when the two Ministries were [...]
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Splinter
November 21st, 2008 · Comments Off · Accountability, Bermuda Politics, Reform
The Bermuda Sun today has an article about disaffected young members of the PLP and the party’s efforts to bring them into the fold. PLP chairman David Burt talks the right talk, but I think he’ll have difficulty balancing the desires of those splinter groups with the tight oligarchic command of Dr. Brown. And, in [...]
Changing Times
November 20th, 2008 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
Funny how the PLP bloggers are lauding Sir John as an “elder statesman” since he came out in support of the Expat ID cards in the Combined Opposition. Hey wait, how’d they know he was in the Royal Gazette? I thought there was a ban to prevent the hands of the party faithful from ever [...]
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