A Baptism Of The St. Georges S.D.A. Churdh

The St. Georges Seventh Day Adventist Church of Bermuda which is lead by:Burton-Schnüll the baptist in this clip. Some of the footage is poorly recorded but I hope you enjoy the short video any way.

Bermuda: the Wild, Wild West

Up to five years ago when I arrived on the island of Bermuda, the Island was known for its order, peace, friendly people, tranquility etc. These qualities along with its strategic geographical location made Bermuda the ideal vacation spot and as a result tourist from around the world flocked to the shores of Bermuda to enjoy the relief from life as they know it.

While going through my initiation training (which is required of every foreign trained experienced police officer before they began to practice) the major police concerns at that time were, petty theft, theft of cycles, bladed article and bladed article related offences, the domestic disputes and violence complaint etc. the small stuff and the police self-defense training were basically geared towards confrontation with bladed weapons (knifes, machete, daggers etc.) which were the weapons of choice.

However as of late, the place that was considered the isle of tranquility has experienced a complete metamorphosis. The attitudes and personalities of the citizens have changed drastically. This dramatic change that the island folks (Bermudian) more so the youths have and are experiencing has to do with the young people adoption of the negative aspect of the United States of America culture: the drugs and gang culture which entail:

· Fight for the scarce drug addict clientele

· Securing drug turf.

· Build brutal reputation in order gain respect.

· Instill fear in the law abiding citizen

· Instill fear in the law enforcement agencies.

Today we have seen a small group of the community’s delinquent setting the pace for the majority of the law abiding islanders, the others that call Bermuda home and the tourist that turn to Bermuda as a refuge from their routine lives.

2009 have seen residence developing a heighten sense of insecurity: they are afraid for their life. It seems as if the delinquent youths which are paddled by a selected, small group of the greedy adult population, have lost all sense of order and self-control. With this out of control conduct they have adopted a new weapon of choice unfortunately their new weapon of choice is the firearm and unfortunately they are using this dangerous and deadly weapon indiscriminately.

The year began with a young man opening fire on the police, which is in itself a new high for the Bermudian criminal and a Clare message to the police but more so the law abiding community. Because I have a keen Knowledge of the type of training, the inexperience of the supervisors in the Bermuda Police Service, the attitudes of management, and the courage level of the constabulary, I can declare without fear and with precise accuracy that the community has much to be concern over and afraid of. The above combination is the perfect strew for the criminal community to hold the law abiding community of Bermuda hostage; thus making them prisoners in their own homes and in their own country.

There are other contributing factors that aid the escalation of such crimes and the boldness of the criminal. The slap on the wrist justice system that Bermuda has is indeed created the perfect environment for the escalation of criminality.

Apart from the unwarranted attack on the police there were several incident that occurred on the twenty two (22 SM) square miles island. the shooting of three men on the 26th May 2009, and the retaliation shooting that followed the following Saturday, the July 22nd shooting in the vicinity of the Warwick Camp, the 4th and the 8th August incidents, the September 6th Shooting of a senior citizen, are some of the major gun incident that occurred on the 22 Sq miles island that is Bermuda.

When such devastating events happen in so small a place, it normally ricochets across the island, it reverberates in every home and it impacts every life. This is so because the island is so small that it affects every family or individual in one way or the other. The victim or the perpetrator is either: the friend, relative, acquaintance or is known to the small community. This situation makes the incident more touching and generates a grater level of fear within the community.

What is unfortunate is the fact that the powers that be; be it police administration, politicians, community workers etc. are lost as to how to stem the criminal tides that is washing over Bermuda. Because everyone seems to be lost, the mental stagnation gave rise to the blame game and thus blame is being banged about. This is no time to pass the blame from person to person or from institution to institution, but this is the time to take an honest and critical look the reality of the situation, asked and answer the tough question no matter how unpopular they may be.

I will like to ask one such question now: has Bermuda moral and criminal decline reach to far to make a recovery? I will also like to follow up my initial question with these questions. If not; what will it take to bring the island back to it former state? But most of all is the people ready for or is capable of dealing with the measures that must be taken?

Big Brither Big Sister of Bermuda

f

The Big Brother Big Sister (BBBS) Mentoring program of Bermuda has been making an overwhelming contribution to the youths of that island. Like many country of this world, Bermuda were not spare the devastating effects of poor, lack of, and inadequate parenting of the nation’s children and youths. These situations greatly contribute to the high level of delinquency, antisocial and criminal behavior that is rapidly getting out of control, behavior which youths are active and willing participants.

It was design by our creator that the nuclear family was the ideal situation in which a child or children should be introduced into the family. There the father and mother will equally contribute to the proper nurturing, protection, and socialization of their off-springs, thus blessing the society with a healthy replenishment. Unfortunately the break down in societal norms, morality, and respect for each other have saw the emergence of our selfishness and the abandonment of rational thinking, love for family, and children. As a result of the forgone, the children have become the biggest lousier and the reluctant victim.

This situation have predisposed the children to many man created and man imposed danger. Thus transform the parents roles from the protector, nurturer etc. to roles that is aggressive, destructive and very unfriendly to the family.

It is in these situations those None Governmental organizations (NGOs) such BBBS, their members and affiliates seek to satisfy a need by providing a positive influence in the life of a child or a young person. Although the volunteers that lend their support to these NGO cannot replace, meet or fulfill the requirement of the absent parent; it is important to note that the investment of time means far more to a young person or a child than the volunteers will ever know or understand. Such investment far reduces the psychological, emotional and developmental impacts their present imposed situations have doom them to.

Mrs. Esme Williams: executive Director of the Big Brother Big Sister program in Bermuda as well as supportive team, possesses an undying passion for Bermuda’s youths and work with all of their might to ensure that the participants in the program are equipped with the necessary mental, social, creative and interactive tools to satisfy the requirement of being a Big (the mentor). Apart from training and control interaction (activities organized by the organization) the volunteers has the privilege to call upon Esme Williams and any of her support staff for advice at anytime.

Above is one of the many social activities organized that BBBS put on to ensure that mentors and littles are provided with control environment with their peers to interact and socialize. I hope this short video will motivate someone to become a Big brother or sister and therefore become catalyst that motivate a positive change in the life of a child.

How Far Were You Willing To Go?

At times individuals are forced to wonder, how far their adversaries would be willing to go in order to win a bottle when egos clashes. When all is said and done, would it have made me a better person if I win the little cat fight that we often get entangled in. It is a different thing when an individual is taking a stand against an ill, or standing up for someone who are too weak to stand for themselves.

I use this blog and other forum to expose the imposed hardship I experienced while I was in Bermuda. I suffered many injustices, stress, and other unwarranted hardship at the hands of two of my country men: Commissioner of Police George Jackson and EX-superintendent of Police Randolph Liverpool as well as Mike Jackman. all my troubles came because I stood up against evil and launched a campaign to have Ralph E. Gonsalves arrested and charged for the allegation of Rape and sexual assault of one of my ex-colleague: female Police Constable (who abundant her quest for justice and walked away, due to the stresses that was imposed on her) and later the allegation brought by a young Vincentian Human Rights lawyer who resides in Canada; both of whom will remain nameless for obvious reasons.

As a result of my effort against Ralph E. Gonsalves, there were some interesting activities that occurred behind the scenes that I have never spoken about. These experiences only seek to show that when certain character type (people) think you are down and are the victim of the strong, they develop the tendency and desire to participate in the demise of the victim. I was not surprised when one of my Vincentian brothers in the Bermuda Police Service knowingly became a tool of my adversary. This person’s conspiratorial action will shock you to the core.

Each time it was made public that Ralph Gonsalves had a death threat made against his life, a particular Vincentian police officer who is policing in Bermuda will come to my apartment outfitted with recording equipment, all in an effort to entrap me in either confessing to him of plotting or making threats against Ralph Gonsalves’ life. At times my fellow countrymen will do so in the presence of certain people who are willing to present even a slip of my tongue as evidence in a court of law.

You may ask yourself or attempt to ask me, why my fellow country man will do such a thing. I will attempt to outline his reasons.

It is important to know that he had agreed to be a tool of “The Friends of Ralph Gonsalves" and a foe of Allan Palmer. Firstly the Bermuda police authority did not have any just reason for my suspension and thus my suspension was a direct violation of my contract, my human and constitutional rights as well as the international labor laws. The police authorities were afraid that I was going to sue if I was reinstated. They also had promised Gonsalves that they will stop my campaign against him; but most of all they did not count on me making such a noise; they though I would have roll over and play dead like the hundreds of other they exploited who were blinded by the money or were to weak to fight back. The fact that my campaign against Ralph Gonsalves did not stop despite threats from George Jackson the Commissioner of Police, who threaten to take action against me (this was before my suspension) if I do not desist from calling into the radio programs and writing in the News paper in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as Jackson termed it “saying nasty thing against Mr. Gonsalves.” I informed George Jackson in the presence of Now Assistance Commissioner of Police Jackman; that he cannot instruct me not to participate in the affairs of my country.

How Far were they willing to go?

In Bermuda there is a Conspiracy charge that is widely used; it does not take much to prove that you have conspired to commit a criminal offence. It was the intention of the Friends of Ralph Gonsalves to gather evidence against me and charge me for conspiring to kill Ralph Gonsalves.

Did you notice that there were always vague reports of threats made against Ralph Gonsalves’ life, and there was never specific information associated with the threats? Were the threats made in person, via telephone, email or threats made via the postal system? Asked yourself why is it, that the threats against Ralph’s life had suddenly stopped. No one was arrested, no one was taken to court and no one was convicted for any offence related to the threats that were made against the life of the Head of Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Is it that the person(s) who were making the threats no longer has an interest in the death of Ralph Gonsalves.

In this technologically advance world, even a phone call made from a barred telephone, be it domestic, satellite or cellular phone can be easily tracked and the same with an email communication. It may be harder to trace/track communication that was made via the postal service system (a letter) but not impossible. Such communication can be tracked to a specific location narrowing the search to a particular post office, postal facility or postal receptacle most of which are surveyed by hi-tech electronic surveillance system.

Threat made via the telecommunication system or email can be easily detected. If the powers that be receive a threat against a head of state or head of Government, if the authorities have reason to take such threats seriously, then the source of the threats can be easily detected. However it is not so easy to detect the sender a threat laced mails when such was sent via the postal service system. We have examples of the trouble P John found himself in some years ago, when his election gimmick backfired. P John undertook a task; using the guise of anonymity, he circulated a document that was damaging to Ralph Gonsalves and his Unity Labor Party via the internet. He was quickly discovered and was forced to make a public apology in order to avoid the consequences of a lawsuit.

Now; was these threats against Ralph Gonsalves’ life that was released to the press authentic? Or were they just a part of the well laid plans that were coordinated to entrapped and have me charge for conspiracy to commit murdering the Prime Minister of St. Vincent: Ralph Gonsalves?

Could you imagine how this would have affected my life if I was so charged? What would have become of my legacy if I was convicted of conspiracy to murdering of a head of government? But Jehovah is good and has been good to me.

This plot failed in the same way the plot the Bermuda Police Authority also arranged for my downfall, when they use the beautiful young lady, to try and pressure me into giving her basic information about herself from the police system failed. I love women, but I know where to draw the line.

The big question that I am yet to answer is: how far did this plot went? Was it just a plot that found its origin, execution, failure and thus was just limited to the friends of Ralph Gonsalves in Bermuda or did it stretched across the sea to the office of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves? And if so what was his role and how deep was he involved? What is in the dark will soon come to the light.

Other questions that just came to mind are: how far were you all willing to go? Was the imprisonment of an innocent man been enough to satisfy your egos and your crave to do evil?

To my brother who join the ranks of the evil and whose efforts were targeted to my downfall and my imprisonment just remember what goes around comes around.

Such A High Price to Pay To Dwell In Greener Pastures

During the 1970s and the 1980s many West Indian teenagers left their families, their friends and all that was familiar to them and journeyed to Bermuda in search of and to graze on what was suppose to be greener pastures. Their crest was to make a better life for their families and themselves. The Bermuda Police Service benefited from this migration because most of the migrant were recruited by that institution.

In this period, Bermuda was engulfed with openly racist and other prejudicial practices that were considered an acceptable part of the system. In this era there were three classes of people who resided in Bermuda: they were the elite white, who by virtue of slavery found themselves at the top of the food chain; there were the black Bermudian who by the virtues of their birthright has a sense of entitlement and were considered second class citizen, and then there were the third class citizen which included the West Indian and the Portuguese who were considered as outsiders.

It is interesting that the elite white who were the chief land holders, the major employers, the law makers and the enforcers of the law, only saw two classes of people in Bermuda which were: the white and the none white people. The none white people were treated as inferior and without rights; this included the black Bermudian.

You will be surprised to know that the third group came about because of the attitude and treatment that were aimed at West Indians and the Portuguese by the black Bermudians; while the Black Bermudian flunt their their birthright to the West Indian and the Portuguese (Even then a large percentage of Portuguese were/are Bermudian by virtue of birth but still are not treated as if they belong).

When these teenage young men arrived on the island of Bermuda, the only familiar thing they knew were their reflection in the mirror. Unfortunately there were points in their youthful lives when they look into the mirror and did not recognized the person who was looking back at them; for they were riddled with depression and other imposed trauma. This was the unfortunate price to pay for grazing on greener pastures; a price in my opinion that was much too high to pay for money.

The fact that these young men were recruited by the Bermuda Police Service (paramilitary organization) made it worst; the hierarchical and the regimented system that exist in the Service give rise to many more stresses and problems that did not plagued others who had migrated.

I have heard some gruesome stories of the inhumane, unethical and unlawful treatment that were inflicted on the West Indians that lived and dowelled in Bermuda during this period. these Stories revealed the continual and indiscriminate rap of these helpless young men by their superior officers, and because of the shame that is/was associated with such undignified behavior and treatment the young naive teen took a self-imposed vow of silence (some at the prompting of their rapist and some out of shame) which they maintained up to today.

There was a touching story of betrayal that caused my stomach to turn when I heard the details. One individual told of a superior officer who quieted his mother’s concern for her son’s safety; (her son being in a strange land far from all he knew) by vowing to and reassuring this trusting woman, that he will look out for her son and see to his safety. Unfortunately this superior officer took advantage of the trust placed in him by the mother and her son and later became the young police officer’s sexual abuser. It is important to note that such behavior were common practice in Bermuda. Today there are many West Indian in Bermuda who were able to break away and disassociate themselves from the evils that were inflicted on them, while on the other hand there are those who have adopted the lifestyle and are on the down low, keeping their deranged sexual habit between a few close friends and anyone they can recruit to join their group.

So when you see any of my fellows West Indian from that era, please know that they were guess of Bermuda yet they were treated with the uttermost disrespect; they were not protected and there were no redress for the evil that was inflicted on them. That was a very high price pay and a painful legacy to endure while serving and ensure the safety of the people of Bermuda.

What was unfortunate was when a victim, becomes the perpetrator, ensuring that the same dirty legacy of rape and other sexual abuse of those who were/are weaker than themselves. It is also important that you understand that West Indians were not the only victim of such humiliating abuse, there were also many native (Bermudians) victims also.

Gary "Guppy" Young; May You Rest In Peace

Once again the Bermuda Police Service has lost another presumable healthy young man from a sudden illness. The Police Sergeant (PS) Gary Young who is affectionately know by all as “Guppy” Young did not meet his sudden death accidentally as is common for people of his age but was another victim of a sudden illness that has been plaguing so many police officer of the Bermuda Police Service both serving and retired. A concern for which no one seem to care (not the Bermuda government, not the management of the Bermuda Police Service nor the Bermuda Police Association) and have for too long gone unattended

SP Young was a soft spoken; well mannered and friendly gentle man who did not care too much for stress; thus he did not waste time worrying over the things he had no control over and encouraged his men to do the same. I can say without a doubt that he was a helper, he will go out of his way to make the people around him comfortable, he will perform the duties for his constable to ensure that he meet a doctor’s, family or other important appointment.

Although Sergeant Young was not a big talker, he was one of those supervisors who had jokes and very often he will break the tension and stresses of the job with a good joke and everyone present will have a good laugh compliments of SP Young. He also loved to dish out a good heckling but he was careful not to go over board.

Because Mr. Young was a private man, who kept his private and professional life seperate in the same way most of us do, I cannot speak of his family and social life, but for what I know he did good by me and by most of the people he came into contact with. It is with this in mind that I am taking this opportunity to extend my deepest sympathy to the family of PS Young, his close friends and beloved colleagues. Brother Young may you rest in the arms of Jesus and may that rest be in peace?

*Unfortunately I do not have a photo of PS Young if you have a photo of Mr. Young can you email it to me at allanp460@hotmail.com so I can post one with the article

Dr. H. L. Gates: A Victim or an Aggressor

One of the issues that have received a lot of media coverage in the United States of America (USA) and should be of concern to people every where is the incident involving the arrest of a black professor of Harvard University: Dr. Gates by a white police officer: who is attached to the Cambridge Police Department. This incident give raise to many questions, and generated a great deal of tension; both racial and political. Although it seems as if this matter was resolved over a round of beer on the front lawn of the white house which is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington District of Columbia.

Many people hold fast to the opinion that Boris Gates was responsible for the escalation of this incident, while others say that the officer acted outside the perimeter of his powers. Yet all of the pundits fail to go into any detail to justify their claims.

Here we have a situation where a police officer went to investigate an incident of a possible burglary. On arrival at the scene, the police officer approached the home and was met at the door by the suspected intruder. I Guess the officer stated the purpose for his presence to the alleged intruder and asked him to proof that he is who he said he was and was indeed the official custodian of the premises. The alleged intruder went into the house accompanied by the officer, retrieved two pieces of picture identification and presented to the officer in an effort to verifying that he was who he declared himself to be.

The big question that must be answer is: was Dr. Gates actions enough to satisfy the officer need to ensure that the law was not violated, being violated and the professor, was who he said he was and had a lawful right to be in the house. There are a few indicators that tell me that Mr. Gates effort was more than satisfactory in convincing the police officer that he was indeed who he said he was and that he was the lawful custodian and resident of the house in question.

The following are the indicator that officer Crowley was convinced of Dr. Gates’ residential status:

1. 
   
   Dr Gates presented not one but two picture ID to the officer (A driver’s license and his college identification)
2. 
   
   How would an intruder in this case Dr. Gates know exactly that there where and where to get picture ID of himself in the house he was unlawfully breaking into?
3. 
   
   The fact that the officer arrested Gates only after he exited the house for the offence of Disorderly Conduct. An offence that must be committed in a public place and such conduct must be to the annoyance, disturbance and displeasure of someone who has a lawful right to be in that place. As Soon as the professor proof that he was indeed the lawful custodian and he lawfully inhabits the house, the police had no lawful rights to remain in the professor’s house. So the fact that he invited the Doctor out of his house and arrested him while outside his house is proof that he was convinced that the man was how he said he was. It is important to note that if there was a problem with the verification of Gates’ identity then the officer had all rights to arrest him on suspicion Breaking and entering or burglary (depending on the jurisdiction) pending the proper verification of his identification.

The second question that must be answered is; did The Harvard professor commit an offence?

From an objective evaluation of the evidence and the piece of law I have conclude that Dr. Gates did not commit any offence; he may have shouted at the police officer in his effort to get him off of his property, he may have also expressed some personal opinion by trying to tie the officer’s behavior to that of race, (the officer being white and Gates being a black man) and it very well might have been, regardless of what was said, It is possible that the general behavior of Dr. Gates may have hurt officer Crowley’s feelings, but hurt feelings is not a lawful reason for taking away an individual’s liberty and arresting them.

Each officer has an obligation to be guided by the law in the execution of his or her lawful duties. There are times when an officer can affect an arrest without that person committing an offence; and they are:

1. 
   
   To prevent the commission of a crime or
2. 
   
   For the individual’s safety or the safety of another.
3. 
   
   On suspicion that the individual have committed a crime (even if he did not).

Other than for the above reasons every officer ought to affect an arrest on commission of a crime or on suspicion that an individual has committed a crime.

Now that we have concluded that Dr. H Gates did not commit an offense or in any other way violated the law, we can conclude that officer Crowley under false pretence arrested Professor Gates behaving as if his arrest was lawful. It is important for police officer to understand that if someone hurt your pride, they may not be in violation of any law or any body of law and no one should be arrested because their action or words did some damage to your pride.

Although the Professor is a renowned IV league School professor, Dr. Gates was not the professional in this situation. Officer Crowley was the professor and had a professional obligation to resolve this issue according to the law of the land, his training and the professional ethics that should always govern his behavior.

Police officers are professional people and they must allow professionalism to guide their behavior and their action, they must also allow commonsense to prevail and they must stop abusing the power that is entrusted to them for the protection of the community. Just remember that, each time you act unprofessionally your behavior and action impacts on the institution you serve and affect the very people you have sworn to protect and serve.

To my fellow police officers, remember each time we insults an individual only because we are in a position of authority, or inflict blows on a member of the community for any reason other than in defense of ones’ self or a victim of a crime; and even then he or she has to be responsible with his or her actions, or their actions may be constituted as abuse of one’s power and thus, your actions may result in the commission of an offence or a crime for which you may be charged and tried.