If anyone should be fired it is the Minister. BERMUDA is in crisis and we need a BRILLIANT CEO for a TOURISM AUTHORITY and get these snail paced politicians out of the way. Minors has had a year at the helm of Tourism and she has failed. She has failed like David allen failed, Renee Webb failed and even Ewart couldn’t pull a rabbit out of the hat.

We have a BARBADIAN Tourism Director, who ran ONE STAR crappy hotels here that went bust. NOWEHRE in the CARIBBEAN would a BERMUDIAN be in charge of another caribbean islands Tourism Department. If we needed someone from overseas to do the job, then we need someone who is a VISIONARY, that can MAKE IT HAPPEN. Griffiths is only a “YES MINISTER” type.

Couple Tourism’s pathetic leadership with the rest of the PLP RED TAPE rules, policies, term limits, discrimination against foreign spouses of Bermudians, the Real Estate policy, The attitudes and unfriendly vibes towards foreigners and expats and you have created a Disaster. Bermuda engineered its own demise. The Recession is not to blame for the PAST 30 years of BS, political wars, Racial division, ex pat bashing and generally making people feel NO LOVE.

ONE HAS ONLY TO LOOK ON THE INTERNET AND SEE BEAUTIFUL VACATION DESTINATION AROUND THE WORLD THAT ONE WOULD PREFER OVER BERMUDA AS ONE WOULD GET TO EXPERIENCE THE SAME BEAUTY THAT BERMUDA OFFERS FOR WAY FAR LESS THE COST AS BERMUDA. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
ONE HAS GOT TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING WAY MORE BETTER AND REALISTIC THAN WHAT IS PROPOSED IN THIS SPEECH IF ONE IS REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT IMPROVING TOURISM IN BERMUDA AND GIVING BERMUDIANS JOBS.

Its really time for her and her tram to go from Tourism, a year of talk and expensive trips

The public always loses with weak leaders, this Lady is probably nice in a private setting with family and friends but come on now Paula get real, why are you holding us hostage like this? I hope her performance at bntb is better than with tourism and ib

Seriously! Good point.

I have no idea, what does BAT do? What have they done? Not much.

You are right on all the points you raise. The Elephant in the room however is that Minister Minors is not a people person, does not have the required charisma or personability to lead tis kind of charge, so her going on 25 more trips is quite frankly a waste of her talent as she is a good administrative manager that is her skill, she is not an enthusiastic Tourism Minister with the inate ability to enter a room, work the room and have everyone blown away saying, wow whos that lady and where can i book my next trip to Bermuda.

This is no secret, ask the Voters in Constituency 10 as they voted for her so she could get the job and she doesnt even acknowledge them so how she gonna go off di island and convince people to come around hurr???????

Earle, you are clearly part of the gravy train who dances for their supper and to keep perks you guys have to write positive spin on the blogs, print and run to show the MInister that you are great defenders, when this is all over and she resumes her previous career ask her what she feels she shold have done differently and look at the criticism aired on the blogs to see how many were valid.

Non Believer! But still a PLP Voter

LOL

………move from “looking to” and “we plan to”………..to “we have done x, y, z and created 10, 20, 100 jobs”

Also why you aint going to Paris with Walter and Binns on their Space trip? You could pick up some space tourists with your fellow Minister at the konfrence and buy a Gucci bag and shoes on Champs Elysees at the same time Gurl.

Spacetourist

It is now high time for action as an election must be held before the next budget, my view on the date of the next election is based on the fact that the next budget must have bad news in it that will increase the burden for individuals like me and all companies based here.

Please take down the following action items and work dilligently on them over the next 4 months, try to resist the temptation to get side tracked by your Permanent Secretary and other Ministry Officials as after the election they will still be taking the trips with the new Minister. Stop taking trips and get some real work done here show your supporters that you are a hard working MP who does want to speak with them.

i) Find a team of 5 PLP supporters to work closely with you to win your seat wherever that may be C10, C2 or C4.

ii) In the next 100 days actually do something tangible in the Tourism portfolio no more pretty speeches just action anything even sponsoring a show called Wall Street Wives on their Vacation to Bermuda.

iii) Do not wait until next year to roll out a plan for the ailing Tourism industry so please release the strategy by end of October. Remember you are paying the consultant not the otherway round see. Ensure your plan creates a more diverse offering (Spring Break, Casino, Essence Music Fest, VH1 Country & Western Awards) your target is way too low you should be aiming for the 750,000+ arrivals mark to encourage adequate bed and new hotel investment.

Minister we know you are dynamic and the best person in the PLP ranks for these important deliverables of IB and Tourism so show the public that you are a leader and not timid as i am growing tired of listening to the constant criticism of your performance.

The Bermuda first report has sufficient macro to implement a micro strategy so why is this taking so long?

Yours faithfully
Voter

I hope the new tourism strategy works in cohesion with any new and all existing economic ventures.

If they were serious about that statement they would seriously consider having a referendum on legalisation of cannabis.

Time to implement coffee shops and give tourists and locals what they want.

Senator Marc Bean made a statement in February of this year saying some of the “more “controversial” of the ideas was to look at establishing coffee shops like those available in Amsterdam for tourists who want to enjoy marijuana as part of their visitor “experience””

What ever happened with that?

Like it or not tourists want to come to Bermuda have fun and not be prosecuted and persecuted for having a smoke. Senator Marc Bean said: “people paid for their cruise ticket and part of the “experience”, outside of shows and drinking, was to enjoy some marijuana.
Mr Bean said putting these people before the courts and slapping them with a hefty fine only meant that they would forgo Bermuda, in favour of destinations with more relaxed views on smoking.”

Alcohol is way worse for you and actively kills people and destroys families and relationships every year. The same can’t be said for cannabis.

Alcohol is a drug. Cannabis is a natural plant that grows from the ground. There are hundreds of alcohol overdose deaths each year, yet there has never been a marijuana overdose death in history. The consumption of alcohol is also the direct cause of tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S. each year.

In 2001, there were 331 alcohol overdose deaths and 0 marijuana overdose deaths. Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Source: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5337a2.htm

Excessive alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States and is associated with multiple adverse health consequences, including liver cirrhosis, various cancers, unintentional injuries, and violence.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported 20,687 “alcohol-induced deaths” (excluding accidents and homicides) in 2003. Source: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/alcohol.htm

The CDC has no reports of “marijuana-induced deaths.”

There is little evidence, however, that long-term cannabis use causes permanent cognitive impairment, nor is there is any clear cause and effect relationship to explain the psychosocial associations.

The latest and most comprehensive research on marijuana has concluded that it does not contribute to the development of lung cancer. Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR200605…

There has never been a documented case of lung cancer in a marijuana-only smoker, and recent studies find that marijuana use is not associated with any type of cancer. The same cannot be said for alcohol, which has been found to contribute to a variety of long-term negative health effects, including cancers and cirrhosis of the liver.

Alcohol use contributes to aggressive behavior and acts of violence, whereas marijuana use reduces the likelihood of violent behavior.

Alcohol is clearly the drug with the most evidence to support a direct intoxication-violence relationship.

Cannabis reduces likelihood of violence during intoxication… Source: Hoaken, Peter N.S., Sherry H. Stewart. Journal of Addictive Behaviors. 28, pages 1533-1554. Drugs of abuse and the elicitation of human aggressive behavior. Dept. of Psychology, University of Western Ontario. Dept. of of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University.

Alcohol use is highly associated with violent crime, whereas marijuana use is not.

About 3 million violent crimes occur each year in which victims perceive the offender to have been drinking at the time of the offense.

Two-thirds of victims who suffered violence by an intimate (a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend) reported that alcohol had been a factor.

Among spouse victims, 3 out of 4 incidents were reported to have involved an offender who had been drinking. Source: U.S. Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics. National Crime Victimization Survey 2002.

Alcohol use contributes to the likelihood of domestic violence and sexual assault and marijuana use does not.

Of the psychoactive substances examined, among individuals who were chronic partner abusers, the use of alcohol and cocaine was associated with significant increases in the daily likelihood of male-to-female physical aggression; cannabis and opiates were not significantly associated with an increased likelihood of male partner violence.

…the odds of any male-to-female physical aggression were more than 8 times (11 times) higher on days when men drank than on days of no alcohol consumption. The odds of severe male-to-female physical aggression were more than 11 times (11 times) higher on days of men’s drinking than on days of no drinking. Moreover, in both samples, over 60% of all episodes occurred within 2 hours of drinking by the male partner. Source: Fals-Stewart , William, James Golden, Julie A. Schumacher. Journal of Addictive Behaviors. 28, pages 1555-1574. Intimate partner violence and substance use: A longitudinal day-to-day examination. Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York
Alcohol use is prevalent in cases of sexual assault and date rape on college campuses, whereas marijuana use is not considered a contributing factor in cases of sexual assault and date rape.

A Harvard School of Public Heath study found that 72 percent of college rapes occurred when the female was too intoxicated by alcohol to resist/consent. Source: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/cas/Documents/rapeintox-pressRelease/

Comparisons between alcohol and marijuana with respect to sexual assault are very difficult. This is because it does not appear as if marijuana is a significant contributing factor. The best way to “prove” this is through observation that many organizations dedicated to studying and educating about sexual assault do not list marijuana as a substance associated with incidents. Here is a good example from the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network: http://www.rainn.org/types-of-assault/sexual-assault/drug-facilitated-as…

Note their description of alcohol: “Alcohol is the most commonly used chemical in drug facilitated sexual assault. In large part this is due to the fact that alcohol is easily accessible and a chemical that many people use in social interactions.” Given the fact that marijuana is also “easily accessible” and used widely in “social interactions,” it is quite telling that marijuana is not even listed at all on this “Drug Facilitated Assault” page.

Another example: A Web site sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services lists alcohol, but not marijuana, as putting a person at risk for unwanted or risky sexual activity: http://www.4woman.gov/faq/rohypnol.htm#5
Alcohol use contributes to reckless behavior and serious injuries, and it is highly associated with emergency room visits, whereas marijuana use does not contribute to such behavior and injuries, and is seldomly associated with emergency room visits.

“Cannabis differs from alcohol … in one major respect. It does not seem to increase risk-taking behavior. This means that cannabis rarely contributes to violence either to others or to oneself, whereas alcohol use is a major factor in deliberate self-harm, domestic accidents and violence.” Source: British Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, 2002.

Conclusion: Alcohol is very bad for you. Cannabis is not. Bermuda needs to wake up and start establishing coffee shops like those available in Amsterdam for tourists, and locals, who want to enjoy marijuana as part of their visitor, and Bermuda life, “experience””