Why is Dr. Brown getting so sweaty about the UK’s intervention in the Turks & Caicos over the allegations of widespread corruption and official misconduct there? Here’s a clue. In a speech to the UK Parliament on April 23, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Gillian Merron said the British Government [...]
Entries from April 30th, 2009
Why does TCI bother Dr. Brown?
April 30th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Bermuda Politics
Tags:TCI·Turks & Caicos
Easy Come, Sleaze Ego
April 30th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Bermuda Politics
The radio news this morning is reporting that there was a showdown in the PLP Caucus last night, with the PLP backbenchers (with the exception of Zane DeSilva) putting forward, in effect, a no confidence motion on the leadership of Premier Ewart Brown. They had enough votes to carry the motion, but a decision was [...]
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Perks
April 29th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Transport
The radio news reports this morning that the “official car” assigned to Minister Cox (who does not drive) has allegedly had its GP license plates swapped for less visible normal plates and is being used as a personal/household car by a senior politician. Nice perk if you can get it. Who makes the decisions on [...]
Tags:GP plates
Slumpy
April 28th, 2009 · Comments Off · Reform, Tourism
US President John F. Kennedy once lectured the chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers about making public statements: “Forget those numbers. Numbers can come back to haunt you. Words can always be explained away.” In other words, bury the facts and statistics and talk about the Platinum Period™. You know that Bermuda tourism is [...]
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On 12
April 28th, 2009 · Comments Off · Business
The Bermuda Government is complaining that our island was included on the OECD grey list as Bermuda committed to the OECD standards in 2000 and was already negotiating a stack of tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) to reach the target of 12 when the list was released last month. The OECD has responded, positively but [...]
Swine Flu
April 27th, 2009 · Comments Off · Health
Health experts say that it is only a matter of time before a major influenza pandemic sweeps the world. Since the scares with bird flu a few years ago, many governments have taken to stockpiling anti-virals such as Tamiflu so they can react quickly in the event of an outburst. With the current outbreak of [...]
Tags:Flu
Cheerleader
April 27th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Bermuda Politics
Last week, the Premier raised a lot of eyebrows with the comment that “the dissolution of the [Turks & Caicos] government by the UK was the main subject of discussion at the Fifth Summit of the Americas this weekend.” After all, the scandal-ridden TCI was not on the agenda at the regional summit, leading the [...]
Tags:TCI·Turks & Caicos
gam-BLING
April 23rd, 2009 · Comments Off · Reform, Tourism
So, the dialogue is heating up over gambling again. Without making too much of a fuss, I am against gambling being legalised in Bermuda for the following reasons: I don’t think it will do anything for tourism. Gaming venues require a critical mass of hotel rooms to feed them and to create the buzz. Bermuda [...]
Winging It
April 22nd, 2009 · Comments Off · Tourism
The Platinum Period of Bermuda tourism lost its lustre before it even arrived. These days the Premier seems to be jumping the gun in announcing good news – trying to stay ahead of the bad economic reports we all know are coming. He hypes up the 2008 tourism numbers, only later to restate them dramatically [...]
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