President Obama’s inaugural speech was superb. What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it [...]
Entries from January 20th, 2009
Mission Creep
January 19th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
The Bermuda Government has hired a TV correspondent from a San Francisco Fox affiliate to head the snoring CITV mouthpiece (which seems to be trying on a new branding as BermudaVision these days). What’s interesting is her job description: Renee Kemp has left KTVU-TV, in San Francisco, California, announced the station, to become general manager [...]
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Scurrilous Thoughts
January 19th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
The Premier chastises the Opposition saying that trusts are legal and commonly used. That is certainly true – but they are not commonly used in government contracting where there is a public duty to avoid conflict of interest! I am not aware of Government saying on record that they know the identity of the beneficial [...]
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Turks Day 3
January 16th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
Day 3 of the Turks & Caicos inquiry into official misconduct and corruption continues to be a thriller. It sounds like politicians and their close family may have – previously hidden – ownership related to some of the controversial projects down there. A messy national embarrassment. This month’s GQ magazine also has a long and [...]
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More PATI Foot Dragging
January 16th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Reform, Transparency
Bob Richards, chairman of Bermuda’s parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which oversees Government spending, has just returned from a Commonwealth workshop revealing that most equivalent bodies meet in public. The Bermuda PAC still meets behind closed doors, despite Government’s ballooning budgets and need to increase accountability for its spending during the current financial crisis. Bermuda’s [...]
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Turks & Caicos Soap Opera, episode two
January 15th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability
Day two of the Turks & Caicos national embarrassment: the Premier attempts to explain the origin of $20 million dollars, give or take. Hilarity ensues. This has everything: ambition, vanity, greed, starlets, reputed gangsters, and alleged misconduct of every flavor. Pity, I don’t think the official inquiry will include the lesbian sex. Then they could [...]
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Cheers
January 15th, 2009 · Comments Off · Tourism
Details are hard to find about the inaugural party that Bermuda is paying for in DC this weekend. Except for this puff piece in Bloomberg about the “theme drinks” that will be served at the various inaugural booze-ups. Even now, some organizers don’t know exactly what they’re pouring because they’re still jockeying for donations. Others [...]
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What’s the Plan?
January 14th, 2009 · Comments Off · Business
The Associated Press reports: Bermuda is ramping up efforts to maintain its position as a leading offshore business center after several major companies announced plans to move to Europe, the mid-Atlantic British enclave’s finance minister said Wednesday Finance Minister Paula Cox said the territory is redoubling corporate outreach and pursuing legislative reform to fend off [...]
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New York Targetting Bermuda
January 14th, 2009 · Comments Off · Business
New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo said he will renew his push to revive the defunct New York Insurance Exchange, specifically seeking to draw business away from Bermuda. The market foundered about 20 years ago, partially because of the growth of Bermuda’s insurance sector. Dinallo now thinks the time is right to revive the Exchange, [...]
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Turks & Caicos Soap Opera
January 14th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability
The Commission of Inquiry into official corruption and misconduct has commenced in the Turks & Caicos Islands. In terms of political prurience, it may even top Monica Lewinsky. The first day sought to excavate some explanations from the Premier regarding holdings that were never reported to the Register of Interests, as well as the origin [...]
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