It seems fitting, at the close of Bermuda’s 400th anniversary, to recount a little history. (It’s a pity so little was shared during the year). At the time of the wreck of the Sea Venture in 1609, a schism arose among those stranded on Bermuda. One group, under the authoritarian Lt Governor Sir Thomas Gates, [...]
Entries from December 29th, 2009
Balanced Guidance for the Police
December 22nd, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics, Islands
It seems the fight over so-called operational control of the Police has calmed down as the PLP realises that – as the bullets are flying – now may not be the time to seek that responsibility. The truth is that the Governor and the Bermuda Government do hold frequent meetings with the Commissioner of Police [...]
Tags:police
Squeeze
December 21st, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
The new Commissioner of Police is mourning the fact that, although they believe they know who the cuplrits are in the recent shootings, they cannot arrest them as the public is not willing to provide evidence. “We can’t lock the country down and protect every house on every street.” True, but if you know who [...]
Tags:police
Respect
December 21st, 2009 · 1 Comment · Bermuda Politics
Politics.bm recently posted that Bermuda’s recent self-destructive gunplay has its roots in our rancid political environment where “anything goes” in the name of political point scoring. It’s easy to write this off as a curmudgeonly rant, except for comments like this from the new Commissioner of Police: “They know they are supposed to fight with [...]
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Five Hours
December 18th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
How can it happen that a man is shot to death in one of Bermuda’s most densely populated neighborhoods, less than half a mile from Police Headquarters, and the Police are not notified until 5 hours later? WTincredibleF! It’s mindboggling. People subsequently admit having heard shots. Why did no-one do anything? These crimes are being [...]
Tags:Gangs·Gun Violence·Murder
Injunction Lifted
December 18th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Bermuda Politics, Media
The injunction against the Royal Gazette’s mystery story has been lifted, allowing the story to be published here. As it turns out, it’s not the grand evidence of mischief that many people were anticipating, but rather some straightforward news that Dr. Brown and Derrick Burgess (Minister of Works & Engineering) are seeking to buy the [...]
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Government Injunction Against the Media
December 16th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Media
The PLP and the Bermuda Government like to talk about their commitment to transparency and freedom of the press. But their actions undercut their claims. Bermudians woke up today (with the gunshots still ringing in their ears) to a daily newspaper that was also shot full of holes. It appears that the Royal Gazette was [...]
Tags:FOIA·PATI·Press Freedom
Squelching Accountability
December 14th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Bermuda Politics, Transparency
The PLP pays a lot of lip service to transparency and accountability but, based on their actions, one has to question their actual commitment. The PLP leadership refuses to allow the Public Accounts Committtee (PAC) of the House of Assembly to meet in public – an abberation among modern democracies. And, it appears that the [...]
Qualified Opinion
December 11th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics, Economy
It’s uncanny how the Premier manages to be far far away whenever there’s a bad announcement that needs to be made. Today it was revealed that the new Auditor General has issued a Qualified Opinion on the Bermuda Government Consolidated Fund for the year ended March 31, 2009 due to “deficiencies in internal controls in [...]
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Operational Control
December 10th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
As many other Bermuda voices have pointed out, Dr. Brown’s clamour to gain “operational control” over the Bermuda Police is a red herring. The real reasons behind this political tactic are likely: to avoid being blamed for the catastrophic growth in crime during the PLP tenure to fuel resentment against the UK as a proxy [...]
Tags:police