The Premier’s new press secretary has a finely tuned sense of NewSpeak. He says Dr. Brown won’t attend meetings with the Governor and Police Commissioner because he must have direct operational control so “we have complete responsibility for policing and Bermudians can hold us accountable for how we spend their hard-earned dollars.” Further, he says [...]
Entries from October 20th, 2009
Hoping for Sun
October 19th, 2009 · Comments Off · Tourism
I don’t suppose we’ll ever know how much the PGA Grand Slam cost Bermudian tax payers, once you add up the $14 million upgrade to Port Royal, the sponsorship money, the consultants, the travel & entertainment … Once you get behind the pop and sizzle, and look at it as investment … it is highly [...]
Tags:PGA
Change
October 18th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Bermuda Politics
The Bermuda Sun reports that the Premier is on a mission to push through “the most change the country can manage” in his last 12 months in office. Doesn’t that give you a warm and fuzzy feeling? As I commented during this year’s budget debate: Over the past 5 years under the PLP, our Government [...]
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Public Access to Information
October 15th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Transparency
Six years after it was first announced by then-Premier Alex Scott, the Bermuda Government has published its draft freedom of information access (FOIA) law for public consultation. A successful public access to information law (PATI) would represent a significant step ahead in Bermuda’s development, so I encourage all Bermudians to read through it and to [...]
Tags:FOIA·freedom of information access·PATI·public access to information
Focus on Now
October 15th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
VSB is reporting that Dr. Brown’s speech tonight, the source of many fatalist rumours on the island, is on the subject of “Bermuda: the next 400 years”. I suppose its easier to talk about the next 400 years, than the mismanagement of recent years, or the financial pain of the coming year. Despite the empty [...]
Tags:Economy
Bermuda First, someday
October 13th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
Politics.bm points out the draft Bermuda First website. It’s kind of like a Bermuda hotel: full of empty placeholders and PLP self-promotion. (Update: the site has now been taken offline). But seriously, is this what McKinsey & Co. brings to the table? An over-digested website with social media plugins? Hey why not add those Cheezburger [...]
Tags:Bermuda First
New Face at FCO
October 12th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
Amidst the disarray of Gordon Brown’s leadership, it looks like we have a new UK “face” for the Overseas Territories. The incumbent, Chris Bryant, has been promoted from junior Foreign Office Minister to serve as the new Europe Minister. He switches that role with Lady Glenys Kinnock who picks up responsibility for Africa, South America, [...]
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Cynic
October 8th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
“However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines [...]
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Deterrent Value
October 6th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability
Bermuda has a long-earned reputation for relatively clean government. However, public concerns about good governance have grown in recent years. In the courts recently: A man accused of offering a $10,000 bribe to a policeman is given a two year suspended sentence and a $5,000 fine. (Let’s hope the honest cop was promoted.) A civil [...]
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