A Happy New Year To All

Well the new year has begun and I'm sure we've all just about settled back into the daily grunge of regular life after a season of festivities but, there are storm clouds on the horizon. Violence is becoming worryingly common in Bermuda. Not even just gun violence but, violence in general. Without this culture of violence and disrespect that is now rearing its ugly head we would not now be dealing with what is just another extension of a long existing problem. Crime in Bermuda has become almost a joke, a dark, dark joke at that. Whether it be a comedy of errors in the courts, a lack of manpower on the streets or the inability to solve the crimes there always seems to be something. But, perhaps this is changing. Things are happening now, cooperation throughout the community and and between Government and Governor have always been key and now we really seem to be moving in the right direction. Unfortunately it took the shock of such unnecessary loss of life to get us to this point and we still have a long way to go. I'm hopeful but, part of me believes its going to get worse before it gets better and I don't know if Bermuda can handle that. We depend too much on image for both IB and tourism. Both of which have already taken major blows.

If I didn't listen to the talk in town I might have been able to fool myself and say that we're experiencing the platinum period of tourism that we've been told about all last year but, the numbers don't lie and spending is down. Its part of a trend that I can only assume won't reverse itself unless something is done and given the Government's record on tourism over these past few years I can't deny that I'm worried.

Bermuda has a lot to deal with in the coming year(s) but, I think we'll be able to handle them. Bermuda used to be another world but, we can't claim that any longer. We face the same troubles as all the rest of the world. At this point we can do two things: Pretend the ships not sinking Or get out there and start bailing. There's no reason we can't return to some semblance of the country we used to be. All it's going to take is a lot of work and this is the crucial year. As we weather out the aftereffects of the recession, deal with crime we will also experience a change in leadership. Dr. Brown has always been a controversial leader but, undoubtedly he's made his mark. In the past he's been a close candidate to take my title as the King of Wishful Thinking but, he has the power to do a lot of good this year and turn the country around.

We can only hope.

Wishful Thinking