Southlands on Facebook

One of the most interesting things about the BEST forum tonight was mentioned by two of the speakers, who happened to be girls in highschool.  They made mention of a group of nearly 500 people who had joined a group in opposition to the Southlands Project on the popular social networking website called Facebook.

The group features some 473 members at present, lists some 22 reasons of opposition to southlands, recent news, links,
photos, a bulliten board and a discussion board.  What many may not realize is that this is a clear cut example of what the future for younger generations will hold as these sort of resources begin to become prominant tools for empowering technologically capable individuals.

In today's Bermuda, individuals are not privy to a great deal of information and are required to go to great lengths to become informed and express their opinion.  Tomorrow's Bermuda is perfectly demonstrated by this website dedicated to the Southlands project which shows how the youth are becomming more and more connected with the world and the issues that surround them.  More so than any who have come before them.

Any indivdual is free to sign up to this website and use it as a means to not only track their friendships, but also share contacts and trace friendships back to those you once had lost.  Beyond this, the technology has also evolved to provide an advanced online meeting place for individuals to share ideas and express themselves on anything of interest.

In the future we will only see more of these kinds of technology rise into prominance.  Like it or not, the face of Bermudian politics and politics globally is guaranteed to change as the youth and other technologically enabled individuals become more connected and more aware of the world that surrounds them.  Freedom of speech and participatory democracy are soon to take on whole new meanings as we transition into the age where the younger generation has a true voice. 

If not for the coming election, expect that by the time the next one rolls around, the young generation will have amassed a voice unlike anything that has ever been encountered before.  A force and movement of organization behind the people to be reckoned with.  It is becomming clear that the future will guarantee greater access to information for all and a greater ability to express oneself, share ideas and have an opinion, regardless of how things were done in the past.

The only question is, how will our system of leadership adapt?

Presentation of SDO petition to Environment Minister

Another press release from BEST:

At 3pm on Friday 23 March 2007, The Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) will be presenting to Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield its petition objecting to the issuance of the Special Development Order for the Southlands development as published in draft form on 9 March 2007.

Mr. Stuart Hayward, BEST Chairman, said "These signatures have been collected in response to the Minister's request for public input on this important issue. We see our role in this as providing a vehicle for members of the public to make their feelings known."

Petition signatories of Bermudians, Bermuda residents, and interested parties around the globe have left comments on the electronic petition. These will be tallied and the totals added to those on the paper petitions.
BEST will continue gathering signatures until the SDO is either issued, modified or abandoned.

Update:  The time of the presentation has been changed to 3pm rather then 12 noon.

Southlands meeting tonight

I've been copied on a public meeting notice for the BEST group regarding southlands.

Southlands is going to look like this???

What do you think?  Does the proposed Southlands project look very 'Bermudian' to you?

Wondering about Southlands?

Courtesy of a BEST member, I've been forwarded the following marketing materials for the proposed Southlands project. I'll leave you to compose your own opinions for the time being.

source

(it's a flash animation, so give it a min to load)

BEST Demonstration Tomorrow

The Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce will be putting on a demonstration early tomorrow morning outside of Southlands to demarcate the length of the proposed southlands tunnel.  Details below:

Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST)

How long will the tunnel be?
Members of BEST have frequently been asked "How long is the tunnel at Southlands going to be?" We have decided to provide an answer in real life, in real time. To achieve this, members of BEST will assemble with placards on the verge of the South Road to mark out, to the best of our ability, just where the Southlands "land bridge" or tunnel will begin and end.

This vigil will take place Tuesday morning (20th March) during the morning commute. Placards will be in place by 7 am and continue until the morning commute subsides.

There will be no disruption of traffic, or trespass onto the Southlands site. The purpose of the vigil is merely to bring to the public's attention how much of South Shore Road will be diverted underground.

Southlands Theme

In honor of the Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce's dedication to saving southlands, and the launch of their website, I've decided to give my blog a southland's theme and urge that you:

Visit their website

Sign the petition

Make your opinion heard.

Southlands Online Petition

The Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST), a newly formed environmental group who is dedicated to saving Southlands has put together an online petition against the draft Special Development Orders for a new hotel on the property.

You can view and/or sign the petition by visiting the following link:  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/380235257

A greener approach

With the axing of 'Sustainable Development' by our new Premier in favor of SDO's destined to destroy what little natural preserves of Bermudian landscape we have left, our Premier's great new solution is to promote 'recycling'.

Mr. Premier, no offense, but would you get with the times?  Recycling is years old and should have been heavily promoted during the entire time the PLP has been in power.   It is great to know that we're getting a fancy new recyling plant but more needs to be done to encourage Bermudians to do more then just recycle but also be green friendly.

Has any thought been giving to invoking a deposit plan on recyclable materials by placing a tax on cans, bottles and other recycleable items that can be redeemed when they're returned to the recycling depot?  How about encouraging local grocery stores to promote the use of reuseable containers as opposed to the horrendous amounts of paper bags we go through?  I do recall a similar initative years ago promoting the use of reuseable bags though it is unknown what happened to it or why it stopped.

Could we be doing more to encourage energy savings?  Recently I replaced most of the lightbulbs in my house with florescents in an attempt to not only cut my energy bills but do my part to cut back on energy consumption.  Has government considered a ban on incandescent bulbs as a means to promote energy savings Bermuda wide as has been done in Australia and California?

A vaste majority of our water supply comes from rainwater that we do our part in polluting.  It would be tremendous to see more initiatives towards decreasing polution levels from vehicles and smokestacks.  One such concept would be to introduce yearly emissions testing to go alongside regular TCD testing and an revision of the licensing system to tax based upon emission levels rather then vehicle sizes.  This would do a better job of encouraging people to purchase new vehicles then the proposed elimination of used cars.

A whole host of other suggestions on how you individually can help contribute to fighting global warming can be found on the 50 things you can do to stop global warming list which I'd encourage all to visit and consider.