The state of our education.

The Cambridge International Curriculum.  In a positive move, our Government has decided that this will be the future of our education system. Ten years into their reign the PLP government are finally doing away with the badly broken and archaic system implemented by the UBP some fifteen years or more before they took power. It wasn't going to be easy. Let's be thankful that education is finally on the front burner.

Truth be told, the "middle school" idea for Bermuda was a broken system from day one. Speaking with a "consultant" on board an Air Canada flight from Toronto who was being brought in to help develop the idea, he told me that Canada was moving away from the idea. That was 25 years ago... at least.  While there are still calls for  "Junior High Schools" "Intermediate Schools" or "Middle Schools", and many countries around the world still use these systems, the idea works best in places of higher populations.  It is unrealistic to have an overly complex system in an area where it is not needed. Our legacy of the "Middle School" "Super High School" is a failed one. It has not provided the structure or support needed for our youth and is currently producing people that are not prepared for further education. So many of our kids are fighting to get out of school at 16, simply because they are not getting the education they need. Too many kids are being pushed through the "meat grinder".

As I stated. It's not an easy thing. The struggle to increase graduation rates, attendance rates and reduce issues of illiteracy will be the primary battles to be won. I am heartened by the idea that the Bermuda College is now offering free courses, and the discussions as to their mission (a 2 year school or a 4 year institution) should continue to be explored. I only hope that once all the puzzle pieces come together, Primary, Secondary and College levels of education are productive. 

When I defend the need for my children to attend private schools, my greatest argument is that they can be held accountable for the sale of their product. The Government's system offers no such accountability. If my child struggles and fails in a Private School, as a paying customer, it is my right to demand satisfaction. In the current public system, there is no such accountability. Kids can come and go as they please, and teachers aren't given any incentive to produce a quality education. Let's hope with the move to the new system that it not only inspires the government, but the kids as well. 

Education first... our future depends on it.

 

Divine Intervention...

It is interesting that in times of personal challenge we seek guidance and support from the Lord. In the wake of the shootings over the weekend, local churches here in Bermuda held a prayer vigil in order to show support as a community. It's a nice idea, and the idea behind community activism is the correct one, but it will honestly take a lot more than a prayer service a t a few churches to get beyond the violence.

In my own personal spiritual quest, I have found that there are too many roads to the top of the mountain and too many "guarantees" that this road is the right one. Sorry, but if you step outside the box for a second, God isn't doing such a great job... is he? Let's look at facts. What has he accomplished in the last 2010 years? Promises of what is to come? Really? Keep praying. People are still being killed in all corners of our world and in our community.... and that's just the beginning.

Ok... go get your St. James Bible or your NIV, or whatever it is you choose to thump and start looking up the doctrines. Yes, I know... burn in hell, everlasting life, Jesus died for us and all that good stuff. It's no wonder the bible is always on the best-seller list. No, I won't get into the science versus creation debate, I'm getting into the here and now debate. God isn't saving lives, not on our streets, not on many other streets around the world. Has anyone seen the crisis in Eastern Africa recently? The oppresion of the monks in Burma, the slaughter of the Tamils in Sri Lanka? It's a sin what's happening over there, innocents dying, slaughtered.

I regress. This is Bermuda, paradise found... yup, and a few prayer groups will lift the spirits of a nation hungry for resolution, desperate for answers, praying for God to fill the hearts of the wicked and save some souls!!!! YES!!!! Can you feel it??? 

Eh.... I have an itch.

Let's be serious. God is not moving the hearts of those that did this. Let's hope he inspires a few witnesses. Maybe a parent, a church going believer of god will hand over their child if they know that they are involved. Maybe they will be so overcome in inspiration in the love of God that they will want justice to be served. Keep praying my people. God is not parting the clouds and showing the way to salvation. He (or she for the feminists) really hasn't done a lot to bring these sinners to justice. Judgement day awaits... until then they live the life of Reilly.

I'm just not feeling it... are you?

The answers lie in each of us coming together as a community and working together. If that happens in a church, so be it, but let's not think for a second that God will have anything to do with it. 

The war at home...

It's quiet now. As we look forward to the celebration of our country, Bermuda Day, a huge cloud hangs over head. In two days over the weekend 5 people were shot in separate incidents in what has been termed a "feud" between local gangs. One person has died at this point, we have no reports of any other fatalities as of this time. Is it over? Let's hope so.

I waited a couple of days to write this, simply because I needed to get my thoughts in order. Let's run through the emotional checklist. Shocked: No, Worried: Yes, Angry: Yes, Hopeful: Yes. I could go on and on. These acts of violence in our community are seemingly commonplace now, and we should all understand that it just won't go away. We can't pray for guidance and we can't wish it away. It is here and now, and we must deal with it here and now.

It is strange that not so long ago, the local daily newspaper ran a series of articles on Gang Life. We had experts here talking to students, people who had lived the life, and more importantly had lived to tell about it. I'm not sure how many students needed the message. The victim who's life was taken was 27. I'm sure he didn't, and those who shot him didn't get that message. He probably skipped school that day. I apologize, that's a bad joke at a time we need to find answers, find hope and that we should all be terrified that this war isn't over.

Still, we have to believe that at some point in the future, people will recognize that gang-life is a way of life and that we can't just sweep it under a rock. The police for all of their efforts can not predict when these things will happen and we are all handcuffed to a time and place that if we are in the vicinity of a gang member, if we know it or not, we could find ourselves as innocent by-standers, and maybe even victims. It truly is a scary thought. When will we be safe?

What makes Bermuda special is that in fact we are one community. Our size and population, smaller than Camden, New Jersey, demands that we are in deed a community, and that we have every right to treat it as such! Crime is inevitable. The challenges for young males to find their place in life, to accept positive leadership roles is huge, but we must prevail. It is our burden, our responsibility, our challenge. We must restore confidence and fight the status quo. We must work together, east end, west end, Middletown and 42nd Street, it doesn't matter where you are. Ord Road or Fairylands, Jonestown or Wellington. The voices of the many MUST outweigh the stupidity of a few.

Our community is such that we know who is responsible, we know someone who knows someone, who knows why this has happened. We must not leave it to the police to solve the problem. It's our problem and it's time we dealt with it. It will hurt. It won't be easy. Someone's child will be held accountable, gangs must realize that they can not keep our community hostage any longer. We can not allow the gang-life to continue to threaten the fabric of our society. How do we do this? We organize. Parish councils, committees, working together in every corner of society. This isn't about US and THEM, its not about BLACK or WHITE. It's about Bermuda, One community, One heart. 

Happy Bermuda Day everyone. Let's hope for our future.

The passion inside me.

Aside from my wife and family, there has only ever been one real passion in my life. There has been, only one, that I have carried with me since before my cousin passed away many years ago. This affair has given me many wonderful moments, and along with many others this affair was one that we were never more faithful toward.

Newcastle United. Now finished with the English Premier League, relegated after 16 years to the Championship.  My love, my pain, and now my sorrow. A year of ultimate frustration has lead us to the end of our life in the Premiership. In truth it has been a club in decline for the past few seasons. Still there was a grit, a fight in them that always kept us in the mid-table, and we had hoped for so much more. The Newcastle fans, known throughout the world as the "Toon Army" are some of the most passionate in the world. I often told my son that it takes real "cajones" to support a team like Newcastle. It's easy to support the Manchester Uniteds, Liverpools, Arsenals and Chelseas, because they don't understand struggle. They don't understand support. They don't understand pain. 40 years without silverware. Try and do that.

So, as we found yet another loss today, my son said to me. "Who will you support next year dad?"

"Newcastle United" I replied. "until I die."

Who do you Trust?

 In Disney's "The Jungle Book" the slithering snake Kaa makes a near successful attempt to get the man-cub Mowgli to "Trust in me" as he mesmerizes the young boy and lulls him to sleep with his perilous song. Only an intervention by the "bad-guy" Shere Khan prevents Kaa from making Mowgli a sumptuous snake snack!

"You can believe in me." Kaa says. Really. We've heard the words of a few snakes in our day, and unfortunately for us it becomes harder and harder to distinguish the snakes in today's world. It was easy in the children's movie. While the snake was bad, he really wasn't the one to fear. The polished and more slick Shere Khan provided the ultimate menace and even as the story has been re-written a few times since, it is this simple tale that provides the important morals for our island life.

So where did we go wrong? Where did we lose our focus? Who is in fact the "one to trust'? In Bermuda it is now a war between the daily printed media who continues to sing it's song "Trust in me" and the polished slick premier Ewart Brown who really holds all the power. We have seen this before haven't we? The daily gazette has been a constant source of irritation for the premier, so much so that they have been banished for their inability to report the truth, or at least their version of it. The fun has begun!

In the last few years the media has pulled out the PATI idea (Public Access To Information) seeking what they call transparency. Since then it's been (continuing our hollywood script idea) a Tom Cruise/Jack Nicholson standoff from "A Few Good Men"...

Jessup: "You want answers?"

Kaffee: "I think I'm entitled..."

Jessup: "You want answers?"

Kaffee: "I WANT THE TRUTH!"

Jessup: "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"

It's almost too funny isn't it? A lack of trust between the ruling government lead by the slick (depending on your point of view) Ewart Brown, and the antagonist Gazette editor Bill Zuill has lead to the point where no official government statements will be given to the Gazette. With a swipe of his paw, Shere Khan has dismissed the nuisance Kaa out of hand, and has kept his mission in line. Destruction of the man-cub. Now we're not sure if Khan or should we say Brown's mission is that clear. With rumours of dissention and possible leadership challenges within his pride, Khan... I mean Brown will have to keep his eyes open and his claws sharpened. He is very busy trying to keep the forest in order, his ducks aligned, and ensuring that he gets the pizza that he paid for!

Stuck in the middle of all of this is Mowgli, the hunted man-cub, protected by a few dedicated friends who try and steer him to safety. They may not have all the answers, but they must keep him going. There is little transparency in the dense jungle. All kinds of traps are set, and if he's not careful Kaa (the media) or worse Khan (Brown) may actually influence him into becoming dinner. His friends push him and pull him and try and make sense of all the craziness of the day. 

At the end, they can save him from Khan, but not from himself. For it is in his own need for comfort and acceptance that Mowgli falls for the blushing beauty of a young girl. Let's hope that we are that lucky. 

Happy 400th Birthday Bermuda!

"Bermuda is another world - 700 miles at sea.
And the way the people greet you - is like a friendly melody.
To touch a flower in the morning - to listen to a honey bee.
To hear a bird who sings a song - just to say that he is free." - Hubert Smith

Happy Birthday Bermuda!! 400 years old! As May 24th approaches, BERMUDA DAY, it is a special time for all who have lived and prospered in our pink sand paradise! I have often said, if you can't make it here, you can't make it anywhere. Like modern day pirates we have plundered our way to a way of life not many in the world would dream of! Yes, Bermuda truly is... another world!

Our "neverland" existence has afforded us many luxuries. Untilmost  recently, jobs were plentiful and most Bermudians have lived the life of Reilly (who is he anyway?). 90 minutes to New York City, if you catch that early morning American Airlines flight, you can be in mid-town Manhattan well before noon! How many people on the east cost would complain over that commute? Bermudians have access to most airports on the eastern U.S. seaboard and with regular flights to the U.K. and Canada, it is pretty tough to not find someplace to go! Which leads us to a thought. If it's so easy to leave, and most Bermudians can't wait to leave... are we truly that blessed to live here?

Ahhh Bermuda, for all of its rich beauty and heritage, most Bermudians still need to "get off the rock." The funny thing about that is, we make it easy for Bermudians to leave, but are we doing everything in our power to attract people... tourists, to come to our little haven? What do we offer in competition with much cheaper locales in the Caribbean and Mexico? A cruise to Bermuda offers one port. A Caribbean cruise offers many ports, and if you choose the right cruise you can include Mexico on your vacation as well!  Bermuda beaches are beautiful, pink sand and loads of sun. It would be hard to find anything as beautiful. That said, should pink sand be the main reason for people to come here? What about the golf? Loads of choices for the avid golfer, some of the best in the world. More golf courses per square mile than anywhere else (fact). Still if golf is your game, isn't Myrtle Beach the place to go? Where do Bermudian golfers go on vacation? Yup... Myrtle Beach. Not many Bermudians hang around the rock for a Golf vacation. True, they play here all year long so why hang around? We've hosted the Grand Slam of Golf here for two years, and have failed miserably in attracting the tiger to even give us a sniff.

There are changes in the wind. Fairmont Hotels, which own 2 properties here, run one as a resort, the other as a business mans hotel, a City Center, so to speak. We have failed to fill other resorts beds in recent years - Sonesta Beach (failed), Club Med (Failed) and numerous other resort properties have or are failing as I write this. Yet we push on. Club Med is gone, to be replaced by another resort sometime soon. Sonesta is in it's third or fourth re-design (who keeps count) cutting room numbers down dramatically to appear as a profitable business. It's a head scratching, confusing and frustrating deal for a tourism department.

So where does this leave our venerable industry? Tourism at one time was built from the ground up. College weeks brought in wild and crazy kids from the east coast for a week of partying and getting to know Bermuda. College Weeks is gone. With it is the hope that these kids, and when they get married would come here on a honeymoon, and for future anniversaries filled with memories and families and legacies. All...gone. We have directed our market to a specific clientele. Have we? What clientele? Our marketing strategies have been repeated failures and if it wasn't for the conventioneer or the businessman 3 day stay, we'd probably have no industry at all. We do NOT compete with the Caribbean or Mexico on any level, simply because we can not offer what they offer.

Thus comes the plea for that NEW idea of bringing casinos to our shores. Surely such evils will be resisted. What next? Burlesque? Strip Bars and nude beaches? The conservative, religious right are cringing at the thought. Not on our island. Not today, not ever! We will not become another Negril or Cancun, no way... no how. Yet we are willing to let the tax cheating pirates from the U.S. insurance market flood our shores with their treasure laden coffers filled... hidden away from U.S. authorities, and employing many young Bermudians with no security for the future! That's right people. As fast as they came, they can leave and we can't stop them. If they need to move their treasure to another island to keep it safe... they will do so! What happens then? Our ever efficient government (Premier included) are testing the powers that be in Washington D.C. this week. Nothing like kissing a little backside! Pucker up guys!

This brings us back to tourism, our backup plan. What backup plan? Our #2 industry... Can someone please explain it to me? We're on course for some dramatic times my fellow bermudians. You have no idea.

Re-inventing Michael Vick

Michael Vick gets to go home today. In his worst nightmare, he wouldn't have imagined that his life would have turned out this way. With two months of house arrest to go, he is ready to get on with his life... and why shouldn't he? 

Apologies to all the animal lovers who are still upset with the man for making a mistake. Apologies to the animal rights activists who still see him as enemy number 1. He's not. Aside from NFL defenses, he never hurt a single human being. Not that he was charged a crime for anyway. He was convicted for running a dog-fighting operation. A horrible thing for sure, and to that end he has paid for his crime in both prison and in his wallet.

There is a lot of talk about how he will be able to continue his livelihood once his "time" is officially over. There is a lot of talk as to what teams would "risk" an unpopular move by taking a chance on Michael Vick. Are you kidding me? Michael Vick is an impact maker. A player who makes a difference on the field. Certainly there were questions about his ability as a "Pocket QB" but there can be no questions about the man's athletic ability.

Back to the main issue. Many people have done things a lot worse than Michael Vick has done. Many have come out of prison and led highly productive lives. There is absolutely no reason to believe that Michael Vick won't. For a man to be denied an opportunity to resume a career that was at a level higher than most in the prime of his life is frankly... unacceptable. For the better part of 2 seasons football fans have been denied seeing him on the football field. It would be a bigger crime if he wasn't able to do that again. If he's physically and emotionally ready to return to the NFL, and if the Atlanta Falcons seriously consider it, he should be given every opportunity to earn a spot on the team he still is under contract with.

The crime is done, the sentence (according to the law) has fit the crime and it is long time that we begin the healing process and allow a very talented football player a second chance. Animal lovers and activists must continue to fight, but must continue to direct their anger at those who are still abusing, not those who aren't. Continued anger at Vick and the NFL is wrong. It is time to let those wounds heal.

To NFL Commissioner Tagliabue and Falcons owner Arthur Blank. Remember the player he was, the person he was. The man we know as Michael Vick has paid enough. Give him his second chance.

Talent...

I have moments etched in my mind that explode like fireworks on the 4th of July. I am mesmerized by a group of kids with the power to transform lives with lyrics that pull at the very heartstrings of those who choose to walk along with them. At a time where the boundaries of art are limitless, we are inspired by those who can break through the vices that are sworn to hold them down.

It is in these Brave New Voices, that we celebrate their victories, and cry with them as they share their pains. Their prayers for the future, their recognition of history and their place in the world today. These poets, kids, dazzle us with lyrics that are truly beyond anything we have seen before, they amaze us with their dramatic and exquisite emotional representations of the world they live in.

It is a wonderful thing. To find artists dedicated to greatness, offering a heartfelt expose of the times of their lives. Their thoughts on the most debated topics of the day. Like a painter, they give us colour and texture, like a dancer they give us movement and grace, like a musician, they work to a resounding crescendo and bring us safely home again. We are truly blessed to share in their journeys, and left drained by the sheer magnitude of their works. It is not often that we can give credence to such lyrical genius. One would be prodigious, many are simply mind-blowing.

There comes a time when we must sit back and simply be left in awe. Anyone who watched this series on HBO will completely understand how much this means.

The Money Crunch

I guess it is a sign of the times. Money is tight. If the big bucks corporations are getting billions in bailout bucks, it was only a matter of time before that ripple effect hit the far corners of the world. Even here in Bermuda, a haven for the uber-rich, we are seeing the effects of a lack of funds. Having never had to worry about work in my life, I now find myself for the best part of four months... unemployed. Twenty five years in the work force has led me to the point where I'm seriously questioning decisions I have made the past few years. 

As with most, sacrifice are made. I don't expect it should carry on much longer, but until then it's going to be an irritant for me, and those who have lived with the benefits of my labour. Yes, it's a time to learn for my kids, who thought that daddy's wallet had an endless supply of cash and if not the ATM machine would easily fill it up. Oops... that isn't the case. With less and less opportunities in the employment sections of the newspapers, this is easily the most frustrating period of my life.

I'm not alone in this. More and more local companies are laying off people. Competition for jobs, once a problem other countries faced, is becoming more of an issue every day. Am I scared? Sure. I'm not 21, and have more responsibilities than I did back then. Gone are the days where I could do shifts, working 12 hour weekends and public holidays. It hasn't gotten to the point where I'm considering that, but who knows? I might just have to.

As I said, I'm not alone. It is the hardest time our generation has ever faced. We have always endured strains before. Hurricane season is coming as well. It is a perilous ledge we are perched upon. it would not be unrealistic to find that our financial crisis would be drastically deepened should we get a visit from something such as that. Our ability to recover, which has always been one of our strongest points, could be well and truly tested.

Gloom and Doom? Not yet.... not yet.

Defending your political stance

It took some time. I had always walked a liberal line and even though I never felt the need to defend such a stance, it has become more prevalent now than ever before. The days of voting the family way are long gone, and in Bermuda where voting has always been done along the family line and more recently...  a racial line it is even more important to find a set of values among the hyperbolic rhetoric that one can be consumed by. FInding a reputable media source, a way of thinking that supports your personal values, your personal visions, and the way you see the world is as important now than ever before.

It is not so black and white. The choices are many and the repercussions are laden with problems, everything from ridicule to accepting responsibility for your actions. In the U.S. the right would believe in the right to life and the right to take it. Guns and babies. A strange combination to be sure. While that stance is accepted in many parts, it is seen now as an extreme, one that should scare most open minded citizens. It is difficult to understand how having a gun on one hand while asking people to keep an unwanted fetus makes any sense at all.

The left is equally beset with it's own issues. Mainly their lack of incisive decision making. There is hope in the path of Obama, but we should realize that his presidency will be ultimately defined by how well he rebuilds his own country. It's strange to live outside the U.S. but be so intrigued by their political process and their ideas on democracy. Truly there is no middle ground for the liberal at heart. Ideally it is unknown whether we should look at the American model as the ideal one. A country that still struggles to find answers to basic health care and with an education system so backwards it is hard to imagine how anyone can ever become president.

The other influence, Britain, which may have more of an influence on us, as we are set up with the British "Parliament" also is bereft with problems. Labour or Conservative - much like Bermuda.  Unfortunately, there is also a lack of a third choice here as well. The "either/or" idea is one whose time has truly passed. If we do not find representation here we are left to making the best of poor choices.

The search for a true middle ground goes on. One without religious connections, or family ones. One that is not based on race, creed or culture, one that is truly dedicated to human rights and will be held accountable to the people.

Good luck to us all.