Dear Editor,
This is an open letter to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller:
I am starting this letter at three o'clock in the morning. It is that important. Some years ago, during your first tenure in office, I recall, the then Netherlands ambassador complaining publicly about his inability to sleep at night, because of sound system noise. I was so ashamed. I assumed you would be too and that you would do something about this plague that stalks the land. Being naïve, I obviously overestimated your tolerance for shame.
I am unable to sleep at night, but that's neither here nor there. I am old and will soon be released from this hell. I won't bore you with my medical issues, brought about by lack of sleep. My concern is for the silent majority, the aged, but particularly the young, all the people you claim to love. As regards the young, surely it can't be beyond you, to make a connection between lack of sleep and proper rest and hopelessly poor grades in school; attention deficit disorder; and disruptiveness in class.
Believe me, you don't need to be a psychiatrist, to relate these conditions to hopelessness, criminality and a backward economy. Please don't say that amplified screaming, shouting, swearing and thumping throughout the entire night, every night, is about freedom of expression and having fun. It is not. It's about those same delinquents I mentioned exercising the freedom to destroy and bring this society down to their level of depravity.
Avoid advising the distressed to call the police, it doesn't work. This is beyond the police, it's in your hands. You must ignore all political considerations, arrive at a consensus with the opposition, which cannot object, and solve this problem now, not 18 months from now. This is a nightmare, that goes on, and on, and on.
Are we a civilised society, or a cesspool infested by vermin? I know how I would answer that. I wonder how the Netherlands ambassador would? You do marvelously well, raising taxes and debt, but I am asking you to step away from your comfort zone for a while and really do something positive for the people of this country. Make our burden a little lighter, make us hate a little less. I suspect your secretary won't let you see this letter, it is after all bad news, and I understand that you avoid bad news. Imagine that, a prime minister who has no interest in the current events in her country. May God help us.
Steven Barrett
I can't sleep, PM
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This is an open letter to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller:
I am starting this letter at three o'clock in the morning. It is that important. Some years ago, during your first tenure in office, I recall, the then Netherlands ambassador complaining publicly about his inability to sleep at night, because of sound system noise. I was so ashamed. I assumed you would be too and that you would do something about this plague that stalks the land. Being naïve, I obviously overestimated your tolerance for shame.
I am unable to sleep at night, but that's neither here nor there. I am old and will soon be released from this hell. I won't bore you with my medical issues, brought about by lack of sleep. My concern is for the silent majority, the aged, but particularly the young, all the people you claim to love. As regards the young, surely it can't be beyond you, to make a connection between lack of sleep and proper rest and hopelessly poor grades in school; attention deficit disorder; and disruptiveness in class.
Believe me, you don't need to be a psychiatrist, to relate these conditions to hopelessness, criminality and a backward economy. Please don't say that amplified screaming, shouting, swearing and thumping throughout the entire night, every night, is about freedom of expression and having fun. It is not. It's about those same delinquents I mentioned exercising the freedom to destroy and bring this society down to their level of depravity.
Avoid advising the distressed to call the police, it doesn't work. This is beyond the police, it's in your hands. You must ignore all political considerations, arrive at a consensus with the opposition, which cannot object, and solve this problem now, not 18 months from now. This is a nightmare, that goes on, and on, and on.
Are we a civilised society, or a cesspool infested by vermin? I know how I would answer that. I wonder how the Netherlands ambassador would? You do marvelously well, raising taxes and debt, but I am asking you to step away from your comfort zone for a while and really do something positive for the people of this country. Make our burden a little lighter, make us hate a little less. I suspect your secretary won't let you see this letter, it is after all bad news, and I understand that you avoid bad news. Imagine that, a prime minister who has no interest in the current events in her country. May God help us.
Steven Barrett
I can't sleep, PM
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