A Limey In Bermuda

"Pathetic"

Having become a new father on Monday, I didn’t intend to blog much for the next few weeks. But I am so disgusted by the comments made by Deputy Premier Ewart Brown to the African Diaspora Heritage Trail conference yesterday,...

Paternity leave

At 3.36pm on Monday 25 September 2006, Aidan Oatley Wells was born. Things are likely to be quieter than usual around here for the next few weeks, as I get to grips with the responsibilities of being a new dad....

Brass neck

Housing Minister Lt. Col. David Burch, speaking about the use of Special Development Orders to short-circuit the planning process last week: “It is somewhat, I admit, an abuse of the system, but we are in a crisis and the crisis...

Closing the Causeway

After four people lost their lives on the Causeway at the height of hurricane Fabian in 2003, the structure has been closed to traffic when wind speeds exceed 50 mph. Now the Government is considering putting a wind monitor on...

Caption competition #67 winners

This week's caption competition is now over. Photo courtesy of The Royal Gazette The winners were: First: Full Fullish - Since unionising the laws of gravity, people were held at the mercy of the frequent wildcat strikes. Second: Bundy &...

Caption competition #67

This week's caption competition finds Education Minister Neletha Butterfield and friend jumping for joy. Photo courtesy of The Royal Gazette Photoshop entries are also welcomed and should be emailed to me. Winners will be announced on Sunday. Part of the...

Bermuda Hospitals Board: First public meeting

Notes from Thursday evening's public meeting, organised by the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB), about the location of the new hospital. The room was packed. Every available seat was taken, and people were standing in the aisles too. I estimated that...

How to win friends and influence people

Decide to build a new hospital in the middle of the Botanical Gardens. Wait for public outcry. Announce that you will hold public meetings to discuss the issue in a room that only seats 60 people, and that everyone else...

Hospital model for Google Earth

I’d like to thank Andrew for sending me this model that he built, which shows what the new hospital might look like. Because of the lack of information that's been released about the new hospital's appearance, the model is only...

Saving the Gardens

Local activist Lisa Vickers has started a blog to act as a focus for the campaign to prevent the new hospital being built in the Botanical Gardens. Save The Gardens will disseminate information about the Botanical Gardens and the plans...

Go home expat!!

There’s a new anti-expat leaflet being circulated. This one is a little nastier than those that have come before. The message starts in a way likely to make many recipients nervous: “We’ve been watching and we know you are not...

Government to expand public discussion on new hospital

Yesterday, in a speech about the decision to build the new hospital in the Botanical Gardens, Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert said, “We are calling on the Premier and the chairman of the Hospitals Board to produce detailed explanations of why...

New US passport and visa rules

The American Consulate has asked me to remind you that from 8 January 2007, new US government regulations will require all travellers to the United States, including Americans and Bermudians, to travel with their passports. Furthermore, effective 15 October 2006,...

Nothing that a bucket can't fix

When your new school cost $50 million more and took 3 years longer to build than you originally said it would, it must be a little embarrassing to have to admit the roof still leaks. At first, I was sympathetic,...

Caption competition #66 winners

This week's caption competition is now over. Photo courtesy of The Royal Gazette The winners were: First: J Galt Second: sleepy - Dr. Brown takes his ad campaign to a new level with his new slogan "Feel the lust". Third:...

Cutting off their nose

Last week, the Government was having some difficulty making the sustainable development documents available on its website. In order to ensure the public still had somewhere to get them from, the Department of e-Government asked if I would post them...

Please leave

I've been told that a number of anti-foreigner leaflets have been posted around Bermuda. I've not seen any myself, but apparently they say: "To all who this may concern, please leave we don't need you, foreign workers are taking up...

Caption competition #66

This week's caption competition is making a point. Photo courtesy of The Royal Gazette Photoshop entries are also welcomed and should be emailed to me. Winners will be announced on Sunday. Part of the OTB Caption Jam. Photoshop Entries J...

What’s affordable?

The use of a Special Development Order (SDO) to circumvent the normal planning process for the Loughlands development has been justified by the Government on the grounds that affordable housing is a matter of national importance. However, the new properties...

The lessons of Florence

During hurricane Florence, Bermuda suffered downed power lines, damage to the Causeway, and looting. So it's perhaps not surprising that some people are calling for power lines to be put underground, a more durable connection to the East End, and...

Caption competition #65 winners

Apologies for the delay in announcing the winners of this week's caption competition. With all the excitement surrounding hurricane Florence, I forgot. Photo courtesy of The Royal Gazette The winners were: First: SmokingGun - "Um Um P - it says...

Aftermath

At 5pm, with the wind dying down, we decided that it was time to leave Hamilton and head back to St. George's. On the drive back we saw a lot of leaves and fallen branches, but no serious damage. A...

Florence strikes

8am on the top floor of the LPG building, Bermudiana Road. Slept reasonably well last night - we found ourselves a windowless office in the middle of the building and couldn't hear what was going on outside at all. Wind...

The South Shore tour

We left our home in St. George’s shortly after 1pm this afternoon. A friend called us to say that they’d heard police spokesman Dwayne Caines on the radio saying that everyone should now be wherever they planned to be for...

flickr group for hurricane photos

I've created a flickr group for photos of hurricane Florence's impact on Bermuda. It's called, appropriately enough, "Hurricane Florence in Bermuda". It's a public group, so feel free to post as many of your photos to it as you like....

Photographing Florence

My camera is still being repaired by Canon's inept factory service centre in New Jersey. However, I've borrowed my mother-in-law's, so hopefully I'll still be able to get some photos of hurricane Florence and its aftermath. Also, feel free to...

Waiting for the hurricane

It's 10am on Sunday morning, and although hurricane Florence isn't predicted to strike Bermuda for another 24 hours, already the wind is picking up. Although my wife and I would prefer to ride out the hurricane at home, as we...

Morgan's Point pre-fabs being evacuated

I have heard that the residents of the pre-fabricated emergency homes at Morgan's Point are being moved into hotels. Earlier this year, Housing Minister David Burch said that the pre-fabs could withstand winds of up to 140 mph, but that...

Open mike: The JEWEL initiative

The following submission was sent in by Jonathan Starling. With Hurricane Florence threatening, there is a need for grassroots self-reliance and social responsibility. I became a Regimental conscript in January 2003. I left the Regiment as a full Corporal in...

Caption competition #65

This week's caption competition welcomes Derrick Burgess to the Cabinet. Photo courtesy of The Royal Gazette Photoshop entries are also welcomed and should be emailed to me. Winners will be announced on Sunday (if we still have electricity then!).

Sustainable development documents

The Government is having some trouble making the electronic copies of the documents that comprise the draft Sustainable Development Plan available on its website. So at the request of the Department of E-Government, I'm making them available here too. They...

Open mike: Calvin Smith on race

The following submission was sent in by Calvin Smith. This morning at 4:00am, I accidentally entered your blog “Limey in Bermuda”. I had sworn off the blog after reading it once before and finding the correspondence so anti-Calvin Smith, I...

Who killed Bermuda's newspapers?

Last month, the Economist published a lead article looking at the challenges faced by newspaper companies in the West. The article quotes author Philip Meyer, whose book “The Vanishing Newspaper” suggests that newsprint will be dead in America by 2043....

Government starts blogging

The Government has launched its first blog. Titled “Charting Our Course: Sustaining Bermuda”, the blog has been established to help solicit public feedback on the draft sustainable development plan. Comments can be left on any of the posts on the...

Sandcastle competition

Alas, my camera is currently in for repair, so I wasn't able to take any photos of Saturday's annual Sandcastle Competition at Horseshoe Bay. Fortunately, Marcus Cooper did.

Wayne Furbert's Labour Day speech

Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert has called on Bermudians to make more of an effort listen to each other. In a speech at today's Labour Day celebrations, Mr. Furbert said that Bermudians tend to pigeonhole one another, seeing people only in...

Caption competition #64 winners

The chickens in this week's caption competition are coming home to roost. Photo courtesy of The Royal Gazette The winners were: First: Adjustah - Like most of the island, disgruntled Ag Show regular would like to give Neletha the bird....

Say cheese!

Good for the Westgate inmates who recently received their GEDs and Culinary Arts certificates. But I had to laugh when I saw this photo. I can hear the Gazette's photographer now: "C'mon guys, I need you to look happy! I...

Musical chairs

There has been a Cabinet reshuffle, prompted by the resignation of Education Minister Terry Lister for personal reasons. Neletha Butterfield moves to Education; Randy Horton takes her place in the Environment Ministry; and backbencher Derrick Burgess gets Labour, Home Affairs...

Caption competition #64

This week's caption competition is meeting a prize-winning Exhibitionist. Photo courtesy of The Royal Gazette Photoshop entries are also welcomed and should be emailed to me. Winners will be announced on Sunday. Part of the OTB Caption Jam.