Negative USVI article

It's a Canadian (Ontario) news paper.

F.I.

The Hamilton Spectator's statements are true but they are not the complete story.

Our government is corrupt and residents feel powerless. I wish I believed this could be changed without outside influences but I don't.

Our medical services are inadequate but I prefer the medical options I have to Canada's system of socialized medicine.

Our islands are socially segregated by culture; folks from one island tend to socialize with others from their island rather than mingle with folks from different islands. Folks who live in Toronto's Little Portugal and Portugal Village, Corso Italia, Chinatown, Greektown, Little India and other neighborhoods also choose social circles of people with similar backgrounds so perhaps segregation by choice is a universal human inclination.

We have a single generating plant providing electricity and it is held together with bubble gum and tape, in large part because our corrupt government doesn't pay it's utility bills. There is no grid to import electricity from a neighboring island but most folks use cisterns, many folks have generators, and unless you live in a city your local power supply will inevitably have problems when disaster strikes.

Terrorists could fly a seaplane into a cruise ship but there are plenty of seaplanes and cruise ships in Canada that would work equally well.

A land-based anthrax attack might be launched on crowds during Carnival but it could also be launched on crowds during Canada Day celebrations.

Illegal immigration is a problem for a number of states and if Canadians know how to solve the problem they should let us know.

I suspect there's a reason illegal immigration and terrorist attacks aren't a Canadian problem but I wouldn't want the U.S. to become more like Canada in order to solve our problems.

Sad but it is probably quite true. The USVI is probably no better prepared than any small town on the mainland. The difference is the diatance.

One illegal was caught 4 times last week trying to cross the border in AZ. Yes they did catch him, but he just keeps trying until he will get in.

The USVI probably needs to take that article to heart and do their best to shore up where they can.

I doubt that the USVI is a real target, not counting the cruise ships. If something did happen, most people on the mainland would not hear much about it. H*ll, they think it's a foregin country. They want to know if there are many US citizens there. LOL.

It would not be a very good place to make an impact statement. That's good I think.

Hi Andrea,

I hate to even think about it, but I myself have wondered whether the USVI could be a "soft target" for a terrorist attack.

That said, I do think this article is a bit alarmist.

I also agree with Terry that terrorists seem to prefer large impact statements. For this reason, I believe that we might be too "small potatoes" to be a very viable soft target. At least let's hope so...........................................

So a terrorist attack on the oil refinery that produces a majority of the AVJet fuel for the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet aircraft carriers would not be noticed by but a few milion people in one short CNN film.
The VI are on the tops of all lists for security, just read the congressional records for terrorism that are not blocked by congress or others with seconday motives.
What form of stopage would happen to the cruise ship industry to sink a few in St Thomas harbor!
The Virgin Islands would be very news worthy. It would get a lot of play for a terrorist seeking a soft and easy target. I'm sure that the latest and greatest government spending spree for the tools necessary to protect the citizens of the VI are in an unknown checking account the local government cant find!

PS. The Hamilton Ontario paper is a really nice newspaper, printed just a little west of Buffalo NY or 50 mile from Toronto. I have seen it in the past. I would believe what they have to say. It isn't alarmist, it just is what is happening in the world today. The VI would be a very easy target.

My husband and I moved to STX from a condo located just over a mile from the Pentagon (which I drove by five days a week between 1997 and 2004), and from my former DC-based office(s), two of which were located three-five blocks away from the White House, and the other sat across the street from the Supreme Court and Congress. A workday that had me at my desk at 4:30 am until 8 pm on September 10, 2001 is the saving grace that kept me from being on the 10th floor of a building at 17th and I Streets that next morning, which would have been far worse fort his wheelchair user than being at home to feel and hear the plane take the lives of people at the Pentagon.

Ask me with a straight face where I feel more of a target for terrorism. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2001/09/12/AR2005033108313.html

Living with/facing the real problems that come with life in the USVI is a much better way of life for me than trying tocope with the stresses and problems of living anywhere else.

I always love it when people (and unnamed at that) from another country try to tell us how to make the USA better.

I too think the the VI is small potatoes, and not worth a look by terrorists. But if somebody convinces the feds that's it's a good target, and if that leads the feds to crack down on crime here, then fine with me.

I find it interesting that there is no byline on the article. There used to be a guy in Michigan (?) who published a newsletter for homeowners in the Virgin Islands. He, too, would read the newspaper and retell all the stories of corruption and incompetence. His kicker was that the Feds needed to come down and take over. I am not sure what the purpose of this article is.

Especially since there are no sources for the commentary. I don't recall 90% of police cars being destroyed in Marilyn and having to sleep in cars.

RL

dntw8up Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Hamilton Spectator's statements are true but
> they are not the complete story.

Should be called the Hamilton Speculator. You can make any statement seem true.

> Our government is corrupt and residents feel
> powerless. I wish I believed this could be
> changed without outside influences but I don't.
>
> Our medical services are inadequate but I prefer
> the medical options I have to Canada's system of
> socialized medicine.

Ever wonder why many Canadians with money come to the US for their medical needs.

>
> Our islands are socially segregated by culture;
> folks from one island tend to socialize with
> others from their island rather than mingle with
> folks from different islands. Folks who live in
> Toronto's Little Portugal and Portugal Village,
> Corso Italia, Chinatown, Greektown, Little India
> and other neighborhoods also choose social circles
> of people with similar backgrounds so perhaps
> segregation by choice is a universal human
> inclination.

And Toronto is boring compared to most cities in the US of a similar size.

> Terrorists could fly a seaplane into a cruise ship
> but there are plenty of seaplanes and cruise ships
> in Canada that would work equally well.
>
> A land-based anthrax attack might be launched on
> crowds during Carnival but it could also be
> launched on crowds during Canada Day
> celebrations.

Like the Canadians aren't

> Illegal immigration is a problem for a number of
> states and if Canadians know how to solve the
> problem they should let us know.

I believe the Millenium bomber came from Canada on a phony visa that go him into Canada.

> I suspect there's a reason illegal immigration and
> terrorist attacks aren't a Canadian problem but I
> wouldn't want the U.S. to become more like Canada
> in order to solve our problems.

Didn't they just break up a big terrorist cell in Toronto???

Most Canadians have an inferiority complex because of the US. They won't admit it, but many, many would love to live here and next to our neighbors to the south, have a high number of illegals.

So dnt makes good points

Isn't that the Island News - I think he still publishes it

According to an article on St. Thomas Source, the piece appeared in the British magazine, "The Economist" as well as in the Hamilton Spectator and the author is former St. John resident and Assistant Attorney General Martin Alperen.

The complete Source article, including reaction from V.I. Government representatives, can be read at

new.onepaper.com/stthomas

Jane: Yes, that is it!! Thanks!

sounds like a bunch of Canadian haters

Many of the points he makes are true. It can't hurt the Vi Island to get some more attention by the mainland. I do think the US does forget about this gem of a resource it has. I think Islander should write stories and send them with pictures to mainland newspapers. I bed a great many of them would print the article if presented well. It does not have to be a negative article. If you love art write about VI art. If you love food do that etc. It would be a great way to promote any of the VI Islands.

Iris

Linda, I had the exact same feelings about this article, until I found out that it was attributed to VI assistant attorney general Marty Alperen. From what I remember, he was studying the Virgin Islands as a target for terrorists as his thesis. He is extremely knowledgeable on this topic. It would have given the article a lot more credibility if he'd signed his name. Otherwise, it sounds like an uninformed person spouting off with no attributions or facts to back up what he's saying.

This has to be one of the most BS articles I've ever read! Here are my thoughts:

"If any of these events caused a fire at sea, the Virgin Islands would have almost no means of fighting it. Emergency services are primitive in the extreme. Police, fire, paramedic services, search and rescue, communications and roads are all inadequate."

I know the infrastructure is not up to par with the continental U.S., but there are ton of places in the world (including in the Caribbean) that have it worse off. I think that "primitive in the extreme" is way too harsh of a comment.

"Although most officers are hardworking and honest, complacency is endemic (drinking while driving is winked at here), and the force as a whole is not trusted."

The police arrest drunk drivers all the time. Read the newspaper.

"A large unskilled labour pool finds few jobs to do. Addiction to drugs is common, and substance abuse is accepted and even routine. Bars are as ubiquitous as the smell of pate, a favourite local snack of fried dough stuffed with meat."

Yes, there is a large unskilled labor force and a lot of people are addicted to hard drugs, but would you really agree with the comment that "substance abuse is accepted and even routine." What "substance" are they talking about? Marijuana? Because that is the only illegal substance that is even remotely close to being accepted and routine and even then some locals notified the police of hidden marijuana fields. Coke, crack and heroin exist, but are definitely not accepted nor routine!

"The population of the Virgin Islands comes from all over the world, but particularly from other Caribbean islands; the different groups remain unassimilated and self-contained, with their own meeting places and their own social circles."

The article fails to mention that most of these immigrants have their children in the USVI, and what do these second generation immigrants identify as - Virgin Islanders!!!! There is way less immigration than in the 60s and 70s, and most of the population is native born. No matter where their parents come from they always see themselves as Virgin Islanders first.

"On St. John, West Indians hang out at Mooies bar, Cap's Place is almost exclusively for Dominicans and St. Lucians prefer Tony's mobile food van (which hasn't been mobile for a decade). There is very little mixing and no unifying force."

Wow... so they use the tiny island of St. John that has about 3% of the USVI population as an example in an article that is supposed to be about the USVI as a whole?

I hope no intelligent person believes this article, as the key to a well written article is QUOTATIONS. The one quotation I see was copied from an old Daily News article.

And they have the audacity to say "More honest government, a more diverse economy and efforts to achieve a more united community would not go amiss either." Why doesn't Canada figure out why they have mad cow disease in their country before telling us how to run ours. Why doesn't the UK (a British magazine also ran the article) figure out how to stop their own citizens from turning into terrorists before they tell us how to run our territory?

Island News
1680 Shadywood Rd.-Suite C
Wayzata, MN 55391

Minnesota, Michigan...one of those cold M states! 😉 You can also get some of it on line, I think. I always thought that the guy had a burr under his saddle.

I understand how people could respond poorly to the article. It is hardly BS or poorly written, however. The Economist is one of the most respected publications in England, and its contents meet an extremely high standard.

Just wanted to add that TSA in the St Thomas airport has some serious issues, from what I can tell.

On our way out this past Sunday, here is what we experienced:

1. The lady who checks your ID as you first enter the metal detector area was sitting there slumped over her podium - literally leaning over so that her chest was on the podium. I inadvertently walked into the line to the left, but she wanted me on the right side. I didn't know this because she didn't say anything, but was pointing to the floor in front of her (according to a traveler behind me). Other travelers were trying to figure out her silent sign language and lazy pointing and hand gestures. She acted disgusted with her job and with us. Once we reached her podium, she said she wanted passports (as she spoke to the air while facing away from us). I held mine up and then my mom (who is 1 wk away from hip replacement surgery and was walking with a cane and carrying a bag of her own) pulled her passport out, opened it and handed it to the lady with the picture page open. The lady waved it off and said it was upside down - so she wouldn't look at it til mom put everything down so that she could use two hands to turn it around for this lazy woman to see - the woman was still leaning over and hand gesturing and to everyone and rolling her eyes at everyone who didn't see her pointing to the floor in front of her bed - i mean podium ;). She had such a nasty attitude that I was seeing red by the time we left her....especially with what she had done to mom. There was a second lady behind this one, who was sitting on a chair and talking on her cell phone. She never got off of that phone the entire time we stood in that line.
Some pair they were.

The people at the metal detector were great - efficient, engaged, making eye contact, seeming to know what they were doing and taking charge - and finding things in people's luggage that shouldn't have been there.

Then we got to the gate and the real chaos began.

We were at gate 4 (I think)....then they made an announcement that our flight was to board at gate 7 and was ready to board. Everyone got up and rushed gate 7. TSA started to set up these long tables at gate 7 because they needed to search bags. Everyone waived in a semi-circle around the gate and these tables. Then they announced that the flight was actually going to depart from gate 6. Again, everyone rushed the gate and a big crowd was standing at 6.....and they started to bring the tables over from 7 to 6. But then someone realized that the gate agent was from Delta, not USAir - so gate 6 was a Delta flight.

A moment later, they announced that USAir was going to board at the original gate - gate 4. Elderly people and people like my mom with her cane and walking with a bad limp were trying to move with the crowd. I was sure they would do the usual pre-board for people who need special assistance or more time to board. Nope! They called the pre-board (while everyone is still making their was from across the terminal from gate 6) and then they IMMEDIATELY start calling zones - now the special assist people are in the rear of the crowd because they cannot move fast enough....and people start to exit to the tarmac in no certain order.....everyone is going out. But, WAIT, what happened to the bag check and the TSA people with the tables? Suddenly, someone realized that TSa had not checked bags for the people who were now boarding the plane randomly. So they stop everyone who is left inside and say they want to check bags - tables are moved in and the checking begins - but there is a huge crowd and after you get checked, you just move through the crowd to the door and say you were checked. How on earth do they know who has been checked or not?

So, someone with a brain realized this and yelled for everyone to STOP! She was a TSA person and seemed to be in charge. She was really mad and said to the other TSA agents and the USAir gate agents "How do we know who has been checked? We have total chaos! We need to stop and regroup" The agents who had checked bags started to tell her who they had checked already but she just put her hands up to them and told them to stop because it was too confusing. People at the door started to push -I know because I was the first person behind the door and had been checked - so I was getting pushed toward the door by other people who had been checked already and wanted out. The first class people were really mad because there had been no time for first class to board with priority as they should have.

They started moving those tables again and then one of the bag check agents came over and pointed out who had been checked - and I was allowed out. I don't know what else happened in the terminal - but there were quite a few people on the plane who had not been screened and the screening that I had was a joke anyway. I could have stored a 1ft X 1ft bomb in my bag and they wouldn't have found it with how they checked at the gate.

I don't blame the people - airline and tsa agents because I suspect these people have not been trained to screen properly and keep order. The USAir gate agents should have, however, known how to call the boarding and time it so that the pre-board, special assist and first class have time to get up there - if you could sprint that fast, you wouldn't need special assist, would you? And to call all those zones without any breaks is what caused the massive rush and subsequent confusion and pushing.

In addition, they had changed mom and dad's seats and had given them a middle and a window rather than the aisle - and they said that my daughter and I also had middle and window. Mom can't do that with her hip.She had a special medical card and a doctor's note saying she needed that leg on the aisle for frequent stretches. The gate agents refused to change her seat - saying the plane was full. Dad asked and they said no. Then I asked ) very nicely and explained that it was a medical need and she had paperwork - and they just looked off to the air and refused to look at me or help - and one was scrunching up her mouth and looking away while I spoke to her. Mom just accepted it and said she would just have to be evacuated by wheelchair in Philadelphia since her leg hip would surely lock and she wouldn't be able to walk after this.

Once on the plane, mom and dad were not only not on the aisle, they were in the LAST row - so mom couldn't even try to recline for relief of the hip. But, guess what, I was on the aisle!! So, we offered to switch with them, and the flight attendant overheard the conversation and started moving passengers around so that we were all in the same area and mom was on the aisle.

Also, the gate agents had refused to put some small children with their parents, so the flight attendants also moved them around. Literally, the whole plane was playing musical seats. Flight attendants were calling "two seats here! who needs three together? ok, now we have two here? Who needs an aisle?". Everyone was so happy and people started to make jokes and help each other with moving and organizing the seat changes. If it hadn't been for the FA's we really would have left STT on a very sour note. It was the only "nasty islander" experience of the entire trip and is such a shame for people to leave the island with that last impression. The nasty USAir gate agents and the TSA lady at the entry to the metal detect area need to be fired.

What's even more alarming is the lack of organization on those bag screenings. I am not sure why they do that last screening, and I guess it is an entry to the US requirement becuase the US doesn't do that when you are leaving. Either way, STT doesn't seem to know how to do that in an organized and effective fashion. And, I was surprised that they were selling bottled water from the terminal cafe and allowing people to bring it to the gate. US Airports are not allowing that.

The "lady at the gate" works for the VI Port Authority - not TSA. All the TSA agents are trained stateside - and they are VERY good. They take their jobs seriously and are extremely conscientious and professional. The gate change was not their fault, nor was your mother's seating assignment. In my experience the STT TSA is more effective than at various airports in the States, and their attitudes are excellent. We all owe the TSA a big thank you. They are usually under appreciated, if appreciated at all.

peace.... bert

Bert,

The gate agents I was referencing were USAir, not TSA. When I use the term gate agents, I am not referencing TSA since a gate agent is an airline agent.

However, what happened in the airport that day was chaos and potentially dangerous. I am not here to lay blame for that since I don't know who was at fault and who should know better how to handle such things - Airline, TSA, Port Authority...whomever. That isn't my area of expertise. If the airline agents are making things bad for TSA, then TSA needs to meet with the airlines and develop a plan. The USAir agents seemed to be successfully working against TSA on the day I flew.