Just my opinion.

This comes from people not going out there and earning their future! I worked 3 jobs all my life and no one gave me anyhting other than the opportunity to work, and for that i am grateful. There is no fast track people! You have to earn it one day at a time and to deny others who have been here earning a living is just plain spiteful!

Lets hope that when you get in front of St. Peter that he does not hold your hate for someone else or your envy of their situation in life against you! You define your outcome. If you want it badly enough you will make a sacrifice for it! So stop with the hating – all it does is make you feel better for the pain that is inflicted on someone else!

Is that what you want out of life? Is that living?

with that being the case and the fact that they have stayed with this country through good and bad times, paid taxes, employed Bermudians, spent money in Bermuda for goods and services for at least 20 years, we Bermudians should be welcoming them with open arms.

WTH is wrong with people?

Xenophobia is an irrational fear of people from other countries which is not the case. You are ASSuming that all those who have been on a work permit for 15 years are part of the IB sector when in fact not all are. I would be fine with OBA changing immigration as much of the progressive countries have were someone qualifies if they are working in a highly skilled sector but that’s not what’s happening. I’ve never been a PLP supporter and I gave OBA a chance but now see that they knee jerk amendments the same as PLP did. Think about it those here for 15 years came in under the government who many feel mismanaged the country. PLP kicked out those in sectors that require degrees while they allowed those who do not require degrees in. For those in blue collar jobs the fear is not irrational because they have experienced losing their jobs to permit holders who’s main difference to them is the amount of pay they are willing to receive for the job.

When trying to make a life in Bermuda with all priorities based on island receiving a low earnings makes it impossible. You Noel should even be mindful because there are many from place who are willing to work for half the amount you get payed and have the same skill set as you. The way OBA is pushing globalism everyone in Bermuda should be concerned because when it comes to bottom line in a global society everyone but those at the very top are replaceable. You are lucky to have another passport that allows you to escape to a larger jurisdiction with more opportunities. Not all are as lucky as you. #PrejudiceNoel

Blinded by you own Bs

Not all employers reap out of unfair wages and still survive and are successful while hiring a fair amount of locals. One case and point Rick Olson is an excellent example of an employer who is fair to Bermudians and still maintains success. This can’t be said about some of Mr. Olson’s competition. If Rick can do it so can they. Maybe him and the rest of the employers like him are just better at business management so they don’t have to resort to illegal means.

Yes I did say illegal. There may not be a minimum wage law but there is a law that applies to hiring a Bermudian over a permit worker because they are cheaper. Those who do so use lack of experience and qualification as the guise of greed. Since there aren’t any measures put in place like there are in other jurisdictions to check veracity of employer’s claims there’s no way to stop them from circumventing the law. These measures are a key piece of other countries’ immigration stipulations that OBA has purposely skipped over. OBA says that they are trying to live up to standards but leave out the full story and rely on the ignorance of the masses.

I’m not jealous of the cheaters because there is no risk in cheating. I’m annoyed at them for not putting in the effort. Nothing is stopping me from running my business. I’m not speaking for myself I’m speaking for those I know affected by the cheats. These cheats hinder the growth of Bermuda because they are the mechanism that causes millions yearly to leave the island in remittance. Money that would have been left circulating in Bermuda if they only were willing to give a local their fair share. These cheats are no better than the sweatshop owners in third world nations and deserve no glorification for their ill gotten rewards.

The reason Einstein’s visit to Lincoln is not better known is that it was virtually ignored by the mainstream press, which regularly covered Einstein’s speeches and activities. (Only the black press gave extensive coverage to the event.) Nor is there mention of the Lincoln visit in any of the major Einstein biographies or archives.

In fact, many significant details are missing from the numerous studies of Einstein’s life and work, most of them having to do with Einstein’s opposition to racism and his relationships with African Americans.
That these omissions need to be recognized and corrected is the contention of Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor, authors of “Einstein on Race and Racism” (Rutgers University Press, 2006). Jerome and Taylor spoke April 3 at an event sponsored by the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. The event also featured remarks by Sylvester James Gates Jr., the John S. Toll Professor of Physics, University of Maryland.

According to Jerome and Taylor, Einstein’s statements at Lincoln were by no means an isolated case. Einstein, who was Jewish, was sensitized to racism by the years of Nazi-inspired threats and harassment he suffered during his tenure at the University of Berlin. Einstein was in the United States when the Nazis came to power in 1933, and, fearful that a return to Germany would place him in mortal danger, he decided to stay, accepting a position at the recently founded Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. He became an American citizen in 1940.

But while Einstein may have been grateful to have found a safe haven, his gratitude did not prevent him from criticizing the ethical shortcomings of his new home.

“Einstein realized that African Americans in Princeton were treated like Jews in Germany,” said Taylor. “The town was strictly segregated. There was no high school that blacks could go to until the 1940s.”
Einstein’s response to the racism and segregation he found in Princeton (Paul Robeson, who was born in Princeton, called it “the northernmost town in the South”) was to cultivate relationships in the town’s African-American community. Jerome and Taylor interviewed members of that community who still remember the white-haired, disheveled figure of Einstein strolling through their streets, stopping to chat with the inhabitants, and handing out candy to local children.

One woman remembered that Einstein paid the college tuition of a young man from the community. Another said that he invited Marian Anderson to stay at his home when the singer was refused a room at the Nassau Inn.

Einstein met Paul Robeson when the famous singer and actor came to perform at Princeton’s McCarter Theatre in 1935. The two found they had much in common. Both were concerned about the rise of fascism, and both gave their support to efforts to defend the democratically elected government of Spain against the fascist forces of Francisco Franco. Einstein and Robeson also worked together on the American Crusade to End Lynching, in response to an upsurge in racial murders as black soldiers returned home in the aftermath of World War II.

The 20-year friendship between Einstein and Robeson is another story that has not been told, Jerome said, but that omission may soon be rectified. A movie is in the works about the relationship, with Danny Glover slated to play Robeson and Ben Kingsley as Einstein.

Einstein continued to support progressive causes through the 1950s, when the pressure of anti-Communist witch hunts made it dangerous to do so. Another example of Einstein using his prestige to help a prominent African American occurred in 1951, when the 83-year-old W.E.B. Du Bois, a founder of the NAACP, was indicted by the federal government for failing to register as a “foreign agent” as a consequence of circulating the pro-Soviet Stockholm Peace Petition. Einstein offered to appear as a character witness for Du Bois, which convinced the judge to drop the case.

Gates, an African-American physicist who has appeared on the PBS show Nova, said that Einstein had been a hero of his since he learned about the theory of relativity as a teenager, but that he was unaware of Einstein’s ideas on civil rights until fairly recently.

Einstein’s approach to problems in physics was to begin by asking very simple, almost childlike questions, such as, “What would the world look like if I could drive along a beam of light?” Gates said.

“He must have developed his ideas about race through a similar process. He was capable of asking the question, ‘What would my life be like if I were black’?”

Gates said that thinking about Einstein’s involvement with civil rights has prompted him to speculate on the value of affirmative action and the goal of diversity it seeks to bring about. There are many instances in which the presence of strength and resilience in a system can be attributed to diversity.

“In the natural world, for example, when a population is under the influence of a stressful environment, diversity ensures its survival,” Gates said.

On a cultural level, the global influence of American popular music might be attributed to the fact that it is an amalgam of musical traditions from Europe and Africa.

These examples have led him to conclude that “diversity actually matters, independent of the moral argument.” Gates said he believes “there is a science of diversity out there waiting for scholars to discover it.”

It serves no purpose, except to divide a country. We are one people.

Maybe they wouldn’t want them at the pay presently given by the employers who hire foreigners over them but who would when they have to support their family in such an expensive country. It’s different when your family lives back home where the currency is a lot lower and a days pay in Bermuda converts to enough for a months worth of necessities when sent back. Employers whine that they can’t pay a Bermudian a fair wage but these are the same employers who charge an arm and leg for their products. The same employers driving a beamer, living in a massive house or going on frequent vacations.

If cheap labor continues to be the norm in Bermuda soon every local’s job will be at risk because it’s only a matter of time when the rest of the employers figure out there is cheap labor available for any job type there is even yours Jus’ Wonderin’.

As someone who’s only 2nd generation Bermudian myself and thus the son of immigrants, I’ve done a lot of soul-searching/reflection on this issue, and totally understand where the people in favour of this OBA-initiated reform are coming from. I’m not even necessarily opposed to the idea of certain long-term residents receiving status, however, the criteria needs to be decided in a fair, bipartisan matter, not by the stroke of a pen belonging to a political party that knows they’re utterly toast at the next election unless they stack the deck in their favour. It’s an extremely sensitive and complex issue rooted in an ugly history, which is why it cannot be decided in that way. That said, I would not blame anyone who falls into their criteria for taking advantage of it and applying, because I’d likely do the same thing if I was in their shoes. I hope that makes sense.