Will this ever happen in Guyana?

Red Cross president forced out over 'personal relationship'

(CNN) -- Red Cross President and CEO Mark W. Everson has stepped down after revelations he was "engaged in a personal relationship with a subordinate employee," the organization announced Tuesday.

Mark W. Everson says he is leaving his post, effective immediately, for "personal and family reasons."

The Red Cross Board of Governors asked for and received Everson's resignation after it "concluded that the situation reflected poor judgment on Mr. Everson's part and diminished his ability to lead the organization in the future," the Red Cross said in a statement on its Web site.

Everson, 53, said in a written statement that he was leaving the $500,000-per-year job "for personal and family reasons, and deeply regret it is impossible for me to continue in a job so recently undertaken."

Everson -- who is married and has two children -- joined the Red Cross as president and CEO last May.

The organization became aware of Everson's relationship with a female Red Cross employee 10 days ago, Chief Public Affairs Officer Suzy C. DeFrancis told CNN in a telephone interview.

"I think the board acted very quickly," she said, adding that the woman remains in her job.

About Everson, DeFrancis said, "We're grateful for his service."

The board of governors on Tuesday appointed Mary S. Elcano, general counsel and five-year Red Cross employee, as interim president and CEO.

Everson had worked in the Bush administration from August 2001 -- including serving as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service -- until he was hired by the Red Cross.

"This is flabbergasting, that's all I can say. It's completely contrary to his public persona that he evidenced while he was at the IRS," said Suzanne Ross McDowell, a Washington-based attorney who served on an advisory committee to the IRS division that deals with tax-exempt organizations.

"From the standpoint of exempt organizations on the non-profit sector, it's just another news story that we would rather not see," she said.

"It's got nothing to do with the Red Cross," said Ira Milstein, a New York lawyer specializing in corporate governance who has worked with the organization and was impressed with Everson. "He was a team player and a good leader. To have him fall off a cliff like this is just sad."

A search committee has been formed to begin the process of finding Everson's permanent replacement, the organization said.

The job has been a challenging one. Marsha J. Evans resigned as president in 2005, after the Red Cross response to Hurricane Katrina came under fire.

Four years earlier, Bernadine Healy quit the post after the organization was criticized for mishandling donations intended for victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks and collecting vast quantities of blood that was not needed and ultimately thrown out.

Healy told reporters she "had no choice" about her resignation.

Meanwhile, DeFrancis acknowledged Tuesday that, 14 years after a court ordered the agency to improve its collection of blood, it has yet to meet federal safety and quality-control requirement

Happy-Go-Unlucky

TRIGGER HAPPY MINISTER OF THE GOVERNMENT

Recent reports have been carried prominently in the media to the effect that a Minister of the PPP/C Administration – Mr. Kellawan Lall, MP, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development - was involved in a brawl with a man, one Joseph Doodnauth, in a rum shop at Montrose, on the East Coast of Demerara, on Sunday, 18th November 2007, during which the said Minister allegedly struck down the man with his vehicle and, while his victim was lying on the roadway, fired several shots at him at close range.

The People’s National Congress Reform condemns this latest example of the lawless and unseemly behaviour of yet another member of the PPP/C Administration. In any law abiding Jurisdiction, self respect and the rules of public decency would have demanded the voluntary or requested resignation of this Minister. Instead, the Government’s spin Doctor has set out to publicly downplay and, by implication, condone the behaviour of this Minister.

This incident is further evidence that the Rule of Law in Guyana is being disregarded and eroded, especially since, it has been reported that this matter has been settled out of court, presumably as a result of political intervention, even though the matter is supposedly engaging the attention of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Taking cognisance of the publicly available information on this matter, the PNCR believes that the Minister concerned should certainly step down or be made to step down while the Director of Public Prosecutions conducts the necessary investigations to determine what charges should be brought against him.

The PNCR is not of the view that the settlement out of court should prevent the law from taking its course. Should this happen, then the Rule of Law in Guyana will continue to be seriously undermined, leaving the wider society with the perception that there are different laws for the poor and powerless in contrast to what applies for the rich and/or powerful.

It is ironic that, at the very moment when the PPP/C Administration has shouted from the roof tops that the use of weapons is spiralling out of control, one of its own Ministers should be engaged in such a lawless public act, involving his wanton and illegal use of a gun, in a manner which could have caused the death of the individual who he attacked.

If the Ministers of the Government cannot conduct themselves in a lawful manner then they are setting the worse possible example for the rest of the society and should not be invested with Ministerial responsibilities.

PNCR

The 11th Commandment

PRESS RELEASE: MINISTERS MUST OBEY THE LAW

The Alliance For Change expresses alarm and concern at reports of a Minister of the PPP/C government being involved in a bar brawl, and moreover, that there was reckless and inappropriate use of a vehicle and firearm such as to cause a breach of the peace on or about the 17th November, 2007, on the East Coast of Demerara.

Notwithstanding the reluctance or unwillingness of the victim of the alleged assaults to proceed with a criminal complaint, the Guyana Police Force, as protector of the public safety, has a duty to pursue this matter diligently and to lay charges if the statements submitted by members of the public establish that there was the likely commission of criminal offences.

The AFC calls on the main opposition party to confront the government on this issue and it is suggested that an opportune time to do so would be during upcoming talks to be held between His Excellency the President, and the Leader of the Opposition. The failure or refusal of the authorities to uphold the laws of the country strikes at the very heart of the observance of the rule of Law in Guyana. It is one thing to pursue relentlessly, and prosecute, the poor and helpless for having expired licensing documents for vehicles, or uncustomed liquor and drinks at Stabroek Market, and yet another, to have blatant violations of the law and ethics of the National Assembly violated. Justice cannot be one-sided or blind. The AFC is prepared to support any initiative led by the main opposition party to have the relevant Minister and Member of Parliament censured and sanctioned by the Assembly.

Mail Trail...SASOD

The following comment was posted in response to our post on SASOD


I quite agree. Where is SASOD and their condemnation of this horrific act of molestation. Can we interpret SASOD's silence as supporting child (boys) molestation?

From: No name, No warrant, simply Anonymous.

Blogalization

Could it be true that increased bloggers globally have pushed the envelope of the English Language. "Blogalization"...there is much debate on the use of the word, but quite frankly in the absence of a definitive meaning of the word, we must add to the debate.

There is a school of though that perhaps "blogalization" is similar in some respects to "globalization" because they infer a move to globalisms. Yes indeed, but there is no need to coin another word that speaks to a global movement because "Globalization" defines just what is taking place with bloggers globally.

"Globalization refers in general to the worldwide integration of humanity and the compression of both the temporal and spatial dimensions of planet-wide human interaction." It "has aggravated many of the region's most chronic problems--such as the pronounced degree of economic exploitation and social inequality that have characterized Latin America since it came under European colonial domination in the sixteenth century."

Richard L. Harris, "The Global Context of Contemporary Latin American Affairs," in Capital, Power, and Inequality in Latin America, eds., Sandor Halebsky and Richard L. Harris (Boulder: Westview Press, 1995), 279, 80.

"Blogaliziation" is just another fancy word-some may say sexy- that sounds great in the 21st Century, but it just should not be part of any English dictionary. There is no integration of ideas by bloggers and no great march towards inclusiveness.

Here are a few other thoughts on "blogalization"

Killaman Lall...stars in Wild, Wild Guyana.

Today news that a Minister had whipped out his firearm and discharged a few rounds at a young man who is having an affair with one of his many ex-women, was on ever lip all across the country. It was an epic rum bar showdown without any of the scorned men having to take ten paces.

Imagine a Minister of the Government fighting over an ex-gurl. How much more jealous can he be.

The story published in the Kaieteur News did not name the Minister, but we will reveal that Minister right here without fear of contradiction, even as you patiently wait on other bloggers to do so.

This is him...do you know this gun-toting Minister?

All smiles after embarrassing the Government!!!

If you said Minister Clement Rohee, you are wrong. If your guess was Minister Henry Jeffery, you are dead wrong. Worst yet, if you even harboured a thought that the man above is Minister Kellowan Lall, believe us you are far from reality.

The foregone photo is actually that of Guyana's newest Minister of Local Government, Killaman Lall, who belives he is the next Sheriff in Georgetown...Maybe he was practicing on how to bulldoze his way through the City Constable and push out Ole' Mayor Green from Town hall.

He still needs some more practice, because all he hit that night of the brawl were a few stars above.

We here at Guyana360 are very concerned about the safety of the Minister. His wife committed suicide after attempting to shoot him.

Now that he attempted to shoot someone and also missed, what will he attempt next?

The police needs to ensure that his firearm is revoked and his license scrapped immediately. This is the only way that the force can correct its misdeeds by arresting the man that the Minister actually shot at. Talk about protection of citizens.

Odinga Safe...but Cabinet makes strange decision

Odinga, one of the President's henchmen is resting comfortably at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Georgetown Public Hospital after his speeding vehicle flew off the road some where at Hope along the East Coast of Demerara . Up to this afternoon relatives were hoping (no pun intended) to move him to a private facility since they realised that the public hospital is where you go to spend your last few days on earth.

For some strange and unimaginable reason we just cant figure out yet, the entire Cabinet has recommended to doctors that he remains at the ICU. Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon enlightened the media today at his Post Cabinet media briefing...

"Government is continuing its monitoring of the situation and is prepared to recommend to doctors at a inconvenient and inappropriate time another course of action which may involved having Mr. Odinga transferred to another Hospital. As Cabinet Secretary, I am obligated to assure the nation that all tender board procedures will be adhered to during this entire operation to ensure that not only BK is rewarded a contract...In the meantime we have appointed a new adviser on empowerment in Mr. Joseph O'Lall."

It will be days before we know to what extent Odinga has been affected, but doctors tell us that he may have permanent spinal damage. How sad, for a man that acts like Mr. Superman and who is almighty, so much so that he Ko'ed another boxing promoter right before the eyes of the President, yet remained a faithful adviser. As news spread of Odinga's demise, we heard from many former pageant contestants, who sang praises believing that the accident may have been an act ordained by God. As one of those women told us "Payback is a bitch".

But, as a person close to Government, "Dinga" as Six Heads call him, should have known better than to have his driver pelt down the road after a rugged Cabinet Outreach to Berbice. Those in Government appeal to us to be careful on the roads and what do they do...lick down, lash up and bruck up. We expect that charges to be pressed against the driver of the vehicle shortly.

Breaking News!!! Odinga in accident

Information reaching us this evening suggests that Presidential Advisor on Empowerment, Odinga Labumba was involved in an accident at Hope along the East Coast of Demerara...Details coming.

This is why Guyana360 hot!!!

Exclusive photos of the artistes to perform tonight at the Bourda Cricket Ground

BREAKING NEWS, BREAKING NEWS....Venezuela bombs Guyana

While President Bharrat Jagdeo moved his entire Cabinet to the eastern corner of Guyana, Venezuela seized an opportunity to blasts miners in the disputed border region between Guyana and Venezuela. Did President Jagdeo knew of the plan? Its strange that the President took his entire Cabinet to Berbice to politic. Why is our military still in the barracks and in the back lands along the East Coast and not on the border? More on this soon.

Story and photo courtesy of the BBC...



Venezuela has denied destroying two gold-mining dredges on Guyanese territory following a strong protest from Guyana's government.

Guyana says 36 Venezuelan soldiers used helicopters and Compostion-4 (C-4), a type of plastic explosive, to blow up the two dredges on Thursday.

It has summoned Venezuela's ambassador to explain the incident.

Venezuela denies using force and said the army was removing illegal miners inside its own territory.

Territorial dispute

The dredges were in a disputed border region that has seen a number of recent incidents.

Guyanese troops and police travelled to the border on Friday to investigate whether the incident took place on the Wenamu River between the two countries, or the Cuyuni River in Guyana, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Guyanese Foreign Minister Rudy Insally told the news agency AFP that his country was "very disturbed by this report because it affects our territorial sovereignty."

But Venezuela's ambassador to Guyana, Dario Morandy, told AFP that his country could provide co-ordinates to show the incident had occurred within Venezuelan borders.

The ambassador also accused illegal miners of polluting rivers with mercury and said Venezuela was protecting its natural resources.

What do these fellas have in common?

Email us your suggestions as to what these men may have in common...

Opposition Leader, Robert Corbin



Juniour Minister of Health, Bheri Ramsarran



Ganga Persaud (L) is the Serving Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Local Government and Member of the Public Service Commission. He was also Former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education



City Businessman, Kevin Jordan

Where is SASOD???

Kevin Jordan

While we will not advocate violence against Mr. Jordan in public, we strongly believe that people of this ilk should be shipped off to the USA and enjoy a more liberal society. SASOD, a local group of faggots have criticised about every reggae singer that enters Guyana over perceived anti-gay lyrics, yet they sit and refuse to put pen to paper when young boys are victimised. FIRE!!!

Government confusion...

Expensive point!!! TCL posted this full page ad in Kaieteur News...


The Guyana Government is obviously confused as to how they should treat with the Common External Tariff (CET). They blocked Jamaica from applying for a CET waiver on rice, but now Guyana is trying to have a waiver on cement extended. TCL is right, Government must be consistent on its policies.

Guyana's Laundromat

Hang em' to dry

President Bharrat Jagdeo continues his school boy's assessment of how economies run and how those who are elected to govern, fulfill their mandate to the electorate. The latest episode did hit us like bolts of lightening and we must confess, we laughed our hearts off to the bank.

The President just doesn't seem to have one iota (we can say this definitively on this blog because not even the private media can criticise the President) about money laundering. Perhaps he does and prefers to cast the spotlight away from Guyana.

Whatever the reason for his latest charade which saw him pelting blows at the United States and not taking the bull by its horn is totally unacceptable. Instead of seizing an opportunity to send a strong message to the launders and their agents, the President sought to lecture a body of bankers that the US needs to put its house in order before pointing fingers at Guyana. Very good argument except it is best suited for an encounter with fazil, boysie and the other boys you find in any rum shop and there are many sprawled across Guyana.

Like a true school boy with his runny nose and pink rag pinned against his chest , with lunch kit tucked in hand, the President sought to show how it was the US and not Guyana that had a bigger problem when it comes to money laundering.

Pissing poor and flimsy of the President.

When you speak Mr. president it's not about which country that has the worst track record, but you defend Guyana on policy issues and what you intend to do about a problem that needs fixing.

Quite frankly, we don't care much if the majority of the narcotics is destined for the US or even if the proceeds are laundered in the land of the brave first before flowing through to other small economies.

The U$ is free to launder money, import and/or export narcotics. But, what we are concerned about, is the fact that it passes through our porous borders and the drug dealers (which every Guyanese know) can set up shop by owning buildings and having Government concessions.

Mr. President, the next time you speak on behalf of the 54 % of the electorate that voted for your return, tell us about the progress that Guyana has made in prosecuting money launders and just how much drug dealers the police have captured.

While you are at it, please don't tell your next audience that an anti-money laundering bill has been crafted and is before the Parliament. It's laughable. You did not assent to several bills last year. This year you are still to assent to a few key ones, foremost among them is the "Recall Legislation". What is even more laughable, is the fact that your Minister of Home Affairs is still to make several bills operational although they were passed in the National Assembly months back.

One of those bills will help lock away for good, persons found with illegal firearms. Yet this bill remains a showpiece of the balded Minister of Home Affairs, who might still be unaware of Guyana's size.

Mr. President, you seem so defensive when it comes to money laundering that it makes us feel uncomfortable to even share information with local police. Not only us, but we are certain that many Guyanese will be scared to come forward and the media will be intimidated when tracking drug related stories.

Thanks Mr. President for defending the backbone of your economy that is so close to your heart.

The next time you want to hang your dirty linen (money laundering secrets) in public do it at a rum shop with Manniram Prashad (your more than good friend).

Is the President a Saviour?

President commits first prize to Kashif and Shanghai

President Bharrat Jagdeo today pledged to assist the Kashif and Shanghai Football Tournament this year when he committed to provide the $750,000 first prize along with any Value Added Tax (VAT) incurred by the tournament.
The President’s assistance is expected to stop various speculations in the media over the past months as to whether the tournament would be successfully staged.
The promoters of the tournament, Kashif Mohammed and Shanghai Major pointed out that several sections of the media had misinterpreted various bits of information they received about the tournament previously.
Mohammed said the tournament is in its eighteenth year and President Jagdeo has always provided financial assistance since its inception during which time he was Minister of Finance. He had also assisted in providing the lighting system at the
Mac Kenzie Sports Club Ground, Linden where the tournament’s main matches are played.
Last year, the Head of State provided $1M for the tournament.
This year’s tournament will run from December 16 and will see 16 football teams from various parts of the country competing to cop the $750, 000, $350,000, $250,000 and $150,000 first, second, third and fourth prizes respectively.

Newly crowned Miss. Guyana World plays up

Newly crowned Miss. Guyana World, Candacie Charles and Jamaican reggae artist, Vegas.

Miss. Braithwaite exposed!!!

Former Miss. Guyana World, Miss. DessiaBraithwaite

Strange Minister

Guyana's Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, who appears to exist in his own world at times made the most comical review of the political opposition. While a guest on the programme, "Getting it Right" (another Pure Propaganda Programme) aired on MTV, he was asked by the host, Bheri Ramsarran, a junior minister, about the silence of the opposition. Here is a take.

Ramsarran: Minister, we have not been hearing anything from the Opposition Parties, what is the reason for this?

Rotee : Precisely this, there are nothing...how can you expect to hear from nothing.

Ramsarran: But, Minister...

Rotee: No there are nothing and the Government has been doing a good job so they have to say nothing.

Mail Trail...

I am captivated and entranced by the beauty of this contestant. Miss Zamena Khan is a ideal example of feminine beauty. I will be very surprised if she dose not become at least the next Miss Guyana, and hope to see her as a contestant on the global scale in coming years. When the world looks at Miss Khan, we see the true beauty of Guyana!

Van C

P.S. Look out for update pics of the delegates of the Miss Guyana World Pageant, including exclusive photos from their sashing cermony.

Nandlall VS Glenn Lall

The blow by blow account is brought to you courtesy of Stabroek News, the home of Direct TV.

After fight rules, the bell rings...Ping Ping Ping!!!

Attorney-at-law Anil Nandlall has deemed "malicious and vindictive" a report carried in yesterday's edition of Kaieteur News (KN) and says that the report was printed because that newspaper's publisher, Glen Lall, has a vendetta against him, a claim which Lall denied when contacted by this newspaper.

The report carried in yesterday's KN was headlined, "Anil Nandlall's car sparks accident on East Bank Highway" with the sub-head saying that the police were seeking him. The report stated that a Ministry of Housing and Water vehicle was in the Providence Police Station compound following a collision with the attorney's car last week.

It stated that Nandlall was a passenger in the vehicle which was driven by someone else and following the accident an ambulance was called since they were both "covered in blood". It said that both the men "appeared to be extremely intoxicated and rudely refused the help of the ambulance". The report further stated that the police "have not been able to contact Nandlall or the driver for statements".

Yesterday, the attorney told Stabroek News that an accident indeed occurred two weeks ago in which he was a passenger in a friend's car. He said that he was not injured at all and the friend suffered a minor injury to the head. He noted that the police were informed and the matter has since been settled and the friend's car released. He denied that he and the driver were intoxicated and stating that he was an attorney practising in courts throughout Guyana declared "I am well known to the police so to allege that the police want to find me or are looking for me is completely wicked and malicious".


While it was stated in the sub-head of the news item that the police wanted to find Nandlall the text of the news item did not refer to this. Nandlall said that he had subsequently gone to the Providence Magistrate's Court, located in the same compound as the Providence Police Station and had even spoken to the rank investigating the incident.

When asked for a comment on the story when Stabroek News finally managed to contact him at 2:25 pm yesterday afternoon, Lall said that he hadn't seen his newspaper or the story as yet and "I don't have a clue what he talking about, not a clue."

Nandlall alleged "The publisher of Kaieteur News has launched a malicious and vindictive campaign against me because I represented someone in court who successfully sued the Kaieteur News and was awarded judgment in the sum of a few million dollars. On many occasions thereafter, the publisher of KN has repeatedly told me that he will 'deal with me' in his newspaper".

He said that a few days ago he had an argument with Lall and the publisher called an employee on his phone and reportedly told the employee to remind him to speak to his staff the following day "about Anil Nandlall".

The attorney further said that last Thursday while he was in court, Lall called and spoke to his secretary and "cursed and abused her and asked her to tell me that I have caused the electricity supply to be disconnected to his premises and that he will deal with me". Questioned on this Lall said that his electricity had "never been disconnected" and "I think he dreaming". "My electricity was never disconnected, I don't know what that man is talking about, maybe he dreaming", Lall asserted.

He said that he was not pursuing any "vendetta" against the attorney. "No, no I am not going down that road and I would never do that to anybody", he stated.

Meanwhile, Nandlall said that upon learning of what had transpired he called his brother, a senior functionary at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), who he said was on leave at the time and enquired whether the electricity had indeed been disconnected.

"My brother informed me that a few weeks ago GPL officials inspected the Saffon Street office of Kaieteur News and found that the meter at that premises was tampered with. GPL then back-billed the KN for $5M which is the estimated sum consumed but not recorded because of the meter tampering", the attorney declared.

He added that the publisher went into the power company's offices and agreed to pay the sum within a given period but the time expired without the money being paid, hence the disconnection of the power to the building.

He said that following that Lall went into GPL to speak to his (Nandlall's) brother and was informed that he was on leave. "He left a card with my brother's secretary and told her to deliver that card to her boss. It was his call card. At the back was written the expletiveaves", the attorney asserted.

Lall, while reiterating that the electricity had never been cut off admitted that he had spoken to Nandlall's brother, but "I can't even remember what I tell he" adding that he didn't know that they were related. Asked whether the allegation that he had left a card with the expletive written at the back was accurate he said that he had indeed left his card. Pressed as to whether an expletive was written on the card he replied "probably". Asked to clarify that response he then said "I don't know" adding that "he did something very malicious".

Nandlall, meanwhile, declared that the publisher had jumped to the conclusion that he had caused his brother to disconnect the electricity.

"This is ridiculous and completely wrong and the publication of this article is Glen Lall pursuing a declared campaign of vendetta against me to tarnish my character and reputation. This is a man who is using his press to damnify persons maliciously and for vindictive reasons. I intend to launch legal proceedings against him", the attorney declared.

7 line up for Miss Guyana World

All in a bunch!!!

PNCR Congress held no suprises

The People's National Congress Reform has successfully concluded its 15th Biennial Congress at the Party Headquarters at Congress Place , Sophia.

The Congress was addressed by the Leader of the Party, Robert Corbin, M.P. in a major speech in which he outlined a two year programme of reform and re-positioning of the Party to retool it for re-establishing its momentum and preparations for returning to office at the next general election. Topics included:

Ø the Party’s machinery, organisation structure, ideology, tactics, polices and manifesto;
Ø the Party Secretariat’s technology and work practices;
Ø getting closer to young people’s concerns;
Ø a code of conduct for party leaders;
Ø introducing “fresh and talented” young faces to leadership positions in the Party;
Ø standing firmly against crime and corruption;
Ø Economic empowerment for vulnerable communities.

These issues were discussed in detail in workshop groups and the party executive was mandated to put the decisions into an action plan to be submitted to the next general council of the Party.

The Congress also discussed several motions from local and overseas groups. Motions debated included Party discipline, changing the constitutional role of the Party’s Treasurer and creating greater accountability.

The Congress concluded with a rich cultural programme which featured top artistes as well as performances by young people from several regions.

The main focus of attention was the election of Office Bearers for the next biennium.


The election results announced today by the returning officer Attorney-at-Law, Joseph Harmon were as follows:-

Leader-
Robert Corbin

Chairman-
Winston Murray

Vice-Chairpersons-
Basil Williams
Volda Lawrence

15 members of the Central Executive
Amna Ally, Aubrey Norton, Clarissa Rheil, Oscar Clarke , George Norton, E. Lance Carberry, Florence Bourne, Melanie Cornette, Clement Corlette, Deryck Bernard , Mervyn Williams, Aubrey Armstrong, Mortimer Mingo, Ernest Elliot, Carl Max Hanoman.

The Congress was a fitting commencement of the 50th anniversary of the Party’s existence.

N.B.

The Vicent Alexander team wisely did not contest any of the positions in the party because the party's list was padded with mad people, dead people and PPP Ministers. The Alexander team should not of gone as afr as they did, since political careers were at stake. Don't belive us?

Firstly, The PNCR is drafting an amendment to the recall bill which will also make it possible for memebers of the Elections Commssion to be recalled. Still don't get it? Vincent Alexander sits on the Commission.

Secondly, as stated in the statement from Congress Place (above), the party is placing emphasis on discipline, so the wayward bunch could expect the hammer. There is a scorned leader in place.

The three main persons from the gang of defactors are Aleander, a former PNCR MP; Deborah Backer and James McAllister, two current MPs.

We could see the flashing headlines...

Our prediction is that Vincent A"licks"ander will be recalled as punishment, while Deborah will no longer be a "Backer " of the PNCR and James MACK-allister will be seen as an imposter within the party. All of this because they attempted to topple a political dynamite, who is about to self distruct.

That's the final word...

Twooo Pretty: more Miss. World Contestants

Leshana Morgan

Candace Charles

Three more Miss. Guyana World delegates

Sereeka Singh

Radha Charran

Pamela Mc Lean

More Miss. Guyana World delegates!!!

Sharmain Richmond

Over the next few days, Guyana 360 will feature the women taking part in this year's Miss Guyana World. Anyone reading this, please note that we would love to conduct online interviews with these young ladies...

Miss. Zamena Khan

Stella, Stella, Stella!

Kaiteur News Columnist, Freddie Kissoon once wrote that Stella was loosing her groove. After this calamitous commentary, we submit that her groove disappeared a long time, probably when UB 40 released "Grovin"

But, who is Stella Ramsaroop?

She is the wife of Paul Ramsaroop, who incidentally is the brother of Peter Ramsaroop, a chauvinistic specimen of mankind. Anyway, Stella seems to be grooving in the upper corridors of the society, after all she is dining in the United States with her husband and who knows, maybe sipping tea with Queen Elizabeth.

There is something screwed about her analysis on topical issues confronting Guyana. Unlike Peeping Tom and crazy ole’ Uncle Freddie, Stella is out of sync with what is really taking place in Guyana. Her sexiest overtones in almost every publication are over bearing. Come on Stella, where do you live? In the US, Canada, UK.

Stella!!! Stop enforcing on this humble third world society, the views of the first world nations that are responsible for the wars, suffering, torture and global warming.

Despite her best efforts to bring a sense of decorum and logical debate to the pages of KN, your ramblings always seem to degenerate into trivial sexiest appeals.

Launching a vicious attack on the open world of blogging is uncalled for and certainly outside her knowledge. Stella could have tried her hand at the changing role of women in the Guyanese society and how women in the first world nations are treated as oppose to those in the third world.

But, no…grooving Stella had to bring some pictures of women on livinguyana to the attention of 12,000 ordinary citizens, who couldn’t care if the Americas II cable shuts down again.

While recognizing the role of blogs has changed so much that many of them are used as official news sources, we still believe that a blog is one’s diary and perspective. Stella missed the whole nine yards, by giving nothing else but cheap publicity to livinguyana. This wonderful blog copies and paste the photos that jabbed Stella. Photos that can be found on a website that continually highlight the latest entertainment scenes in the city.

Instead of attacking the right source, Stella focuses on livinguyana as she attempts to once again promote her sexiest views. Come on Stella lets examine the entertainment industry in the US and its connection to the latest trend here.

Stella we are off to watch Whitney Houston in “How Stella got her groove back!”

US/Caribbean 17-point agreement

US President, George W. Bush (center) and regional leaders

1. We, the Heads of State and Government of the United States of America and of the Caribbean Community Nations of Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, meeting in Washington D.C. on June 20, 2007, reaffirm our unequivocal commitment to a secure and prosperous region and future for the benefit of all of our citizens.

2. Recalling our shared history of democracy, respect for human rights, social justice, and cultural and ethnic diversity, we highlight the value of our enduring friendship and recommit ourselves to enhancing our partnership to reinforce the development aspirations that guide our mutual priorities.

3. We pledge to continue promoting the consolidation of democratic norms, values, and institutions throughout the hemisphere and to enhance accountability and respect for individual rights.

4. We agree to take steps to expand economic opportunities for our people, to address the threats of terrorism and crime, and to provide the benefits of democracy to all members of our societies, recognizing that democracy will best flourish if our societies are stable and our economies are prosperous.

5. We recognize the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy as a critical element of the growth and development strategy of the Caribbean Community.

6. We are determined to strengthen our existing trade arrangements. We acknowledge President Bush's announcement to work with Congress to extend and update the Caribbean Basin Trade Promotion Act and the 1991 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. We further commit to the harmonization of customs procedures consistent with global standards and the advancement of technical trade cooperation.

7. We reiterate our support for Caribbean efforts to expand the services sector, and encourage a focus on the international financial services sector to facilitate a competitive means of economic diversification while remaining committed to the maintenance of appropriate regulatory and supervisory practices, consistent with the highest international standards.

8. Cognizant of the spread of HIV and AIDS and the impact on the economic and social development of our people, we pledge to deepen our cooperation in health and welcome the initiative to continue PEPFAR in the Caribbean.

9. Cognizant that more than 95 percent of CARICOM's energy needs are derived from fossil fuels, we pledge to increase cooperation in this area to achieve sustainable, secure, and affordable access to energy for all our citizens.

10. We agree to increase cooperation efforts in the field of education and workplace training. We commit to strengthen teacher training by expanding the Caribbean Centers for Excellence. We also commit to strengthen human capacity in the Caribbean to meet the demands of a 21st century employment environment through partnering with academic institutions and non-governmental groups as well as through skills training for youth via the Entra-21 program.

11. We declare our intention to negotiate an agreement on cooperation in Science and Technology including Information Communication Technologies.

12. We recommit to our ongoing efforts of cooperation in the area of disaster preparedness, mitigation, and recovery.

13. We acknowledge the multidimensional nature of the security threats and challenges faced by our countries and pledge to continue to work together in the fight against terrorism, trafficking in persons, drugs and small arms, and transnational crime.

14. We also acknowledge the successful security partnership developed to secure the CARICOM Region during its hosting of the Cricket World Cup 2007. To this end, we agree to continue strengthening the Region's security infrastructure.

15. We recognize the need to work more closely on immigration security issues in a manner respectful of national laws and government services capacity and sensitive to the effects of human displacement. We will jointly work toward the expansion of the pilot reintegration program for deportees in Haiti to include other CARICOM member states. We will develop new ways to facilitate, coordinate, and communicate between our immigration services.

16. We are heartened by the substantial progress in Haiti made by the Government of President Preval, with the support of international partners. We recognize that Haiti will continue to require substantial regional and international support in the implementation of a consistent and long-term strategy of institution and capacity building, and pledge to work together with the three branches of the Haitian Government.

17. On the occasion of Caribbean-American Heritage Month, we pay tribute to the generations of Caribbean-Americans who have helped shape the spirit and character of the United States of America and who continue to contribute to the growth and development of the Caribbean.

CIOG to the rescue

On June 27th/2007, Three Rivers Kids Foundation in collaboration with the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana (CIOG) will be taking 9 children from Guyana to India for much needed medical treatment.

Six of the nine children will be having open heart surgeries to correct serious heart defects, another will be under going neurosurgery to remove a tumor from the brain in order to save her vision, another will be having a large cyst removed from her liver and one will be undergoing diagnostic testing and treatment for Nephrotic Syndrome. These children will be treated at Max Devki Devi Heart and Vascular Institute, Saket, Delhi , The same hospital where the last batch of children were treated in November, 2006. These children will be returning to Guyana on July 26th/2007.

Three of the children with cardiac abnormalities have already developed complications such as Pulmonary Artery Hypertension (PAH) and cardiomegaly as a result of not having correctional surgery earlier. Dr. Viresh Mahajan, Peadiatric Cardiologist and Dr. Anil Bhan, Peadiatric Cardiac Surgeon will be performing the cardiac surgeries. Dr. Mahajan and Dr. Bahn are both very experienced in treating children with PAH. Dr. Mahajan has successfully treated many children with severe PAH who were deemed inoperable using a special banding technique and medications. His expertise in this area of cardiac treatment is well recognized and documented. He was one of only three Cardiologists in the world whose work was chosen for oral presentation in Philadelphia on Friday, June 1st/ 2007, and is a finalist for the Outstanding Investigator Award.

The three children who are not cardiac cases will be under the care of a team of doctors including Dr. Sandeep and Dr. Meera Lutra.

The children who will benefit from this exercise are Sarah Pasha, age 2 years from La Grange, W.B.D., Shiraz Ali age 4 years from Springland Berbice, Lijana James age 15 months from Berbice, Dian Persaud age 9 years from Straathavon Cane Grove, Varsha Chatterpaul age 18 months from 64 Village Corentyne Berbice, Trinity Leslie age 7 years from Timheri, Marlon King age 5 years from Georgetown, Khemlall Persaud age 7 years from 54 Village Corentyne Berbice and Divanie Ramdeen age 3 years from Edingburg Villlage East Bank Berbice. Six of the children will be accompanied by their mothers and two by their grandmothers. Zaheeda Hack, registered nurse from Guyana will accompany the group to London . Jeanette Singh, a registered nurse and president of Three Rivers Kids Foundation, Toronto Canada will accompany the group to India from London .

The projected cost of this mission will be approximately US $70,000. This include air fares for the children and their mothers and the cost for medical treatment for all the children. However, the final cost will not be known until all the surgeries have been completed.

"We are very committed to helping the sick children from Guyana who cannot be treated in their homeland." said Jeanette Singh. “In less than 2 years, we have helped 31 children and gave them a chance to live normal lives." "We are working with some of the best doctors in India in all areas of medicine."


Three Rivers Kids Foundation would like to express sincere thanks and profound gratitude for the help and support of our partners and associates, namely CIOG, without which this mission would not be possible. In particular, we would like to thank Br. Fazeel Ferouz and Fayann Resally from Guyana and Fazil Yussuf from CIOG Toronto Branch.

Sincere thanks to His Excellency Mr. Wheeler, British High Commissioner assisting with the visas for the group.
Special thanks to the Government for their support, financial and otherwise.

Heartfelt thanks to all our kind donors who donated funds to assist with this mission Especially Pandit Doobay and Omo Persaud from Vishnu Mandir in Toronto, Tallim Baccus, Pandit Bhola and members from Shiva Shankar Bhawan, Scarborough, Pandit Lokhnath, Pandit Chunilall and Dr. Dhanpaul from New York, Dave Pahuja from Lotus Loans, Dr. Gavin Jagan and Rohan Hiralal, Baracara Quarries of Guyana, Faizul Haniff from London for arranging accommodation for the group. Sincere gratitude to all the people who donated towards this worthy cause from Toronto New York and Guyana .


Regards,

Fazeel M Ferouz & Jeanette Singh
President CIOG and President Three Rivers Foundation.

Serious Internet Radio

DEMERARA WAVES - Guyana's Crest of Truth

Surfing around on the Internet and found this rather interesting site, controlled by someone trying to opose the government's strangle hold on radio. Very clever! However, their first interview fell short of good taste. One Lloyd King interviewed Mr. Tacuma Ogunseye, a washed-up rag of the barely breathing Working People's Alliance (WPA).

According to the website, DEMERARA WAVES- is Guyana's premier source for current affairs analysis that you will never get anwywhere else. We wish you guys luck.

"DEMERARA WAVES- the forerunner to our On-Air radio station whenever the Guyana government ends its decades-old monopoly- goes beneath the deep murky waters of Guyanese life to bring you content that you will never get anywhere. We aim to blend the basic information with context and backgroud to bring home to you the relevance of the issues and events as they unfold. Such analysis will aid us and our listeners to make reasonable predictions and rational decisions about evolving aspects of Guyanese life. DEMERARA WAVES is operated by a select group of professionals onshore and offshore Guyana with the aim of bringing you the stories behind the news and forecasts of newsy stories to come. We're committed to providing fair and balanced content within the confines of decency, and free of libel and slander."

P.S. These guys have ambition to open an on-air radio station. Free up the airwaves!

From Italy...

Ciao

volevo farti i complimenti hai un sito bellissimo un abbraccio dall'Italia

Elisa

Congratulations on a beautiful websiteLoved everything on your site and you did a magnificent job. You should be proud of yourself.

Guyana 360: Keep on reading, promise to visit Italy next year.

Who is your daddy?

The operative question should be who is daddy? It dawned on a couple of us that mothers continue to overshadow fathers in most families. Flipping though the what-ever they offer, local television stations and heard a song about how special moms are being played White Blackman Television. For a moment it was a wake up call. However, the operator quickly changed the selection.

The media continues to depict fathers in all the shadowy roles. In all the news, fathers are thieves, gunmen, rapists, child molesters, drug addict, unfaithful, uncaring and more recently, terrorists.

Where are all the good daddies; the ones that work blood, sweat and tears to make it right for the family, the fathers who never make it onto the pages of the newspapers or the headlines of the late night news?

There are hundreds of songs recognizing the contribution of fathers, but just a few singers have pulled the notes for their fathers.

“Pappa was a rolling stone” is apply used by mothers in the US to described fathers, especially those in low to middle-income afro communities. Closer to home, there are mothers who end up on the wrong side of the law. Just Friday one Acting Magistrate remanded some ten women.

The stereotypes in society make it fine for a woman to walk on a man because everyone feels that it’s the fault of the poor guy. When a woman gets pregnant, the cry is always about the man giving her a child or the man “breed her” as typical Guyanese would say. It takes two to get pregnant and this society needs to stop stigmatizing men.

It is a male dominated world and one of the ways sexists women try to overcome this is to promote gays and paint all men with a broad brush, often leaving no strokes as they paint over the good character of most men.

Women hurting by a man often live to tell a tale of meeting a beast, but that’s ok.

I have had the privilege of calling the greatest person dad. I couldn’t measure if my mom was greater, but dad has stuck throughout the years, riding our emotional roller coaster steering it away from danger on countless occasions.

To him, the dads of all of our staffers, and all those single parent dads around the world, Guyana 360 salutes you.

Tourism routing

About two weeks ago, Tourism Minister Manniram Prashad proudly announced that he was hosting a major tourism conference. He forgot to mention that it was yet another talk shop and in deed it could have been worst, save the appeal by President Bharrat Jagdeo that the event should not go through debating things already identified as needed.

As someone that has witnessed the blue waters of the Caribbean and the awesome Disney rides in Orlando, I feel compelled to bark at the tourism nonsense occurring in Guyana.

The debate about miniature interventions such as casino gambling should not be. There is need for the Government to make major interventions.

President Jagdeo we implore that you abolish the post of Tourism Minister and appoint a Presidential advisor, someone who had the experience of serving one of the islands in the Caribbean.

We applaud Manzoor Nadir, the former Tourism Minister. At least he seemed to have a head on his shoulder. The present Minister appears to be running around like a headless chicken. Until the President could appoint a workaholic like Robert Persaud or someone firm like Mosses Nagamootoo, the position should be abolished.

Wake up! There is no significant Tourism taking place here, hence there is no need for a Minister. It is a waste of taxpayers’ money. I could hardly wait for your much promised Cabinet reshuffle Mr. President.

Ignore the skeptics Mr. President, once you build it they will come. Jamaica and Trinidad has crime, yep tourists and celebrities flock there. It appears that from the unrealistic monies budgeted to advertise the product, that the Government is not serious about Tourism.

We understand the thinking behind it. While the monies will flow into the private sector, I am sure that with greater circulation the masses will be contented. Guyana could capitalize on the negative press that was bestowed during the last three weeks since that terror plot was uncovered. As part of defending Guyana’s image and the Muslim community, the President should have stitched in the fact that Guyana remains a beautiful place to visit, forever welcoming to Americans.

Risky sign @ Splashmin's

Empty lifeguard chair? Then this sign is true.

Boating at Splashmin's

Riding on the high seas, or maybe not.

Ripple effect

Sign @ Splashmin's

Rugged, yet important sign

@ Splashmin's Fun Park

Hanging around waiting!

Mail Trail...

This is swinging on the grapevine.


The newly appointed GINA Director was caught with his pants down in his office on Homestretch Avenue. This happened yesterday, April 16, 2007. A female staff member was also in the room in the vicinity of the dropped pants. There are reports that this new Director is a huge fan of Internet Porn and specialises in the viewing of animal/human pornography. I am quite sure the GINA Director wants to get to the bottom, and behind the naked truth.

Hats off....er Pants off to the GINA Director

TATA

Have a laugh!!!

Another day, another deadly plot by freelance Muslim radicals foiled. Oh, sorry. That’s the plot to blow up JFK airport I’m talking about. Many of you may barely remember given that it’s been over a week now and given the mainstream media’s lackadaisical coverage of it and given said media’s overwhelming wall-to-wall coverage of the far more compelling Paris Hilton saga.

Anyway, this latest plot, coming on the heels of the foiled Fort Dix Six plot, sounds like it would have been a real doozy had it come to fruition. The idea was to plant explosives on jet fuel arteries at John F. Kennedy International Airport, set off a chain reaction that would blow up all the many jet fuel holding tanks and obliterate the entire airport and everybody in it. It would have been one big orgy of flaming destruction and mass murder. Allahu akbar!

But as fate would have it, Russell Defreitas, the alleged plot originator, befriended an FBI informant and thus began the unraveling of another intended wanton act of jihad. Defreitas, by the way, is an American citizen originally from Guyana and a Muslim convert. He also happens to be a former JFK air cargo employee who knows the airport like the back of his hand. Also arrested were Abdul Kadir, a Muslim and former member of Parliament in Guyana, and Kareem Ibrahim, a citizen of Trinidad.

Trinidad? Guyana? What the heck is going on? I thought Trinidad was a place where the locals languorously while away the sultry hours entertaining loud-shirted tourists by playing steel drums and doing the limbo. But here’s an interesting factoid: Trinidad is the Caribbean’s leading producer and exporter of oil. Another interesting factoid: Trinidad has a small but significant Muslim population.

Hmm . . . Muslims, oil . . . Sounds like a sure-fire recipe for trouble. In fact, did you know that in 1990 a radical Islamic group known as Jamaat al Muslimeen staged a coup attempt in Trinidad during which the prime minister and others were taken hostage? Fortunately, the coup was unsuccessful, but it’s highly doubtful that Trinidad has seen the last of its Islam-related problems.

As for Guyana, it’s located on the northern coast of South America not far from the island of Trinidad. It has no oil, but guess what it does have. That’s right, Muslims, approximately 10 percent of the population. And as we have learned in recent times, wherever Muslims go in any significant numbers, trouble and/or jihad is almost certain to follow.

So, getting back to the JFK plot, it was a pretty big story and you’d think the New York Times would have been all over it like white on rice. But one day after the news came out, its coverage was buried on page 37, while featured on the front page was (surprise, surprise) yet another story about those poor Club Gitmo detainees.

Well, hey, the Times seemed to be saying, what’s all the fuss about? After all, JFK “was never in imminent danger because the plot was only in a preliminary phase and the conspirators had yet to lay out detailed plans or obtain financing or explosives.” And anyway, “safety shut-off valves would almost assuredly have prevented an exploding airport fuel tank from igniting all or even part of the network.” In other words, the whole thing was a crackpot scheme by a bunch of bumbling losers that was still in the planning stages and probably had a next to zero chance of ever being pulled off. So why get the public all worked up over nothing?

Well, what about the people’s cherished “right to know,” which the Times so often cites when publicizing information that damages the Bush administration and its fight against terrorism (see endless NYT stories about Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, secret Bush program to monitor terrorist financial transactions, etc., etc.)? Even if it’s true that this particular plot had little chance of succeeding — and we don’t know that for certain — it rates front page coverage because it provides profound evidence that the psychosis of radical Islam continues to spread around the globe with the ferocity of a biblical plague.

Even the Caribbean, which most of us thought of as an innocuous playground for vacationers, appears to be seriously infected.

If the New York Times’ standard for newsworthiness when it comes to terror plots is to be inextricably linked to their apparent plausibility, then to what back page would the 9/11 plot have been relegated had it been foiled ahead of time? Arabs in flight schools learning how to fly, but not to take off or land, were going to commandeer commercial airliners with box cutters? And they were going to take out both World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and possibly the White House or the Capitol? Come off it! This story belongs on the funny pages.

John Edwards recently said that the global war on terror was nothing more than a “bumper sticker” slogan used by Bush to justify everything from abuses at Abu Ghraib to the invasion of Iraq. The New York Times is in wholehearted agreement and believes that when it comes to foiled or alleged terror plots, it’s all inconsequential silliness and BushCo scaremongering. At least, it is until the next time thousands are slaughtered. Then, you can count on page one headlines screaming about intelligence failures and demanding to know why Bush didn‘t protect us.

Guyanese looked to be Bailed out

A judge denied bail for three suspects accused of plotting to bomb New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, ordering them to remain in jail until a hearing on a U.S. request for their extradition.The three men _ Kareem Ibrahim, Abdul Kadir and Abdel Nur _ smiled and waved to about 20 supporters and family members in the courtroom on Monday but did not speak. A son of Kadir said FBI agents had questioned relatives over the weekend.

Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicols said he was denying bail «given the nature and the seriousness of the offense, and ordered them to remain in jail until an Aug. 2 hearing on a U.S. extradition request.

The suspects, arrested this month in the twin-island Caribbean nation, are accused of participating in a Muslim terror cell that planned to blow up a jet fuel artery that runs through residential neighborhoods and feeds Kennedy airport.The alleged mastermind of the plot, U.S. citizen Russell Defreitas, 63, is a Guyana native who worked as a cargo handler at the airport until 1995.

He is in custody in New York.U.S. authorities claim the alleged plotters unsuccessfully sought support in Trinidad from Jamaat al Muslimeen, a radical Islamic group that staged a deadly coup attempt here in 1990.Rajiv Persad, an attorney for Kadir and Ibrahim, argued for their release on bail, noting they do not have criminal records and that Kadir served until last year as an opposition legislator in Guyana's parliament.

There is no evidence that these men would abscond, given that they are solid members of their communities,» Persad said.Defense attorneys said Kadir and Nur, who are from Guyana, have relatives in Trinidad they could stay with if granted bail. Ibrahim is from Trinidad.Relatives and acquaintances of the suspects have expressed skepticism that they would be capable of organizing an international plot.

We know that the allegations are all fabricated,» said Talibah Ali, a member of the mosque where Ibrahim is a Shiite cleric.But Israel Khan, an attorney who represented the U.S. government at the bail hearing, said, You cannot look at a person and say that he looks like a terrorist or not. They come in all fashions.

There is evidence of conversations of them plotting to carry out this offense,» he added.In court, Khan handed defense attorneys pictures that he said depicted Kadir and his family carrying semiautomatic weapons and handguns. He offered to show them to the judge, who replied, «I don't need to see them at this stage.

Over the weekend, agents from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation accompanied by local police interviewed two children of Abdul Kadir in Guyana, his son Salim Kadir told The Associated Press on Monday.

«We were questioned by about four FBI agents but we have nothing to hide,» he said, adding that documents were seized from the family's home, though he did not provide specifics.

Abdul Kadir, 55, a former mayor of Linden, Guyana, was taken off a plane in Trinidad and arrested as he prepared to fly to Iran through Venezuela to attend an international Islamic conference.

Hats off to Sarwan

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 29 (Reuters)

Ramnaresh Sarwan has been appointed as the new captain of West Indies following the retirement of Brian Lara, Caribbean media reported on Sunday.

CMC Sport said that Sarwan had been given the job at a meeting of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on Sunday.

The WICB were not immediately reachable for confirmation.

The 26-year-old right-handed batsmen from Guyana had been widely tipped to take the job for the upcoming tour of England. The first test is on May 17.

Sarwan, who was Lara's vice-captain, has played in 65 test matches and 124 one-day internationals.

Unethical Andrea!

Andrea is a sassy looking floor manager for NCN's Guyana Today show but she needs to be thought a lesson or two on etiquette or the dos and don'ts of being on television. She is used to being so much behind the scenes that now when she is allowed to be in front of the cameras she literally wants to gobble up all the attention.

Some nerve you have Andrea that you stick your spoon in every food of container at the Indian Trade Fair and then stick it in your mouth repeatedly. Container after container, the same spoon you stick in your mouth. Shameful and disgusting! These are the same containers of food that we will have to eat from if we turned up at the same stall you were advertising.

Couldn’t you just allow some one to take out a bit from each bowl and place it into a saucer of some sorts, than to have you just dipping one spoon in each container? Gee we wonder how much they pay you. You need to make a public apology sister.

This is what Guy TV has become. Schuuups!

Ole Higue!!!

Who ever said that Guyanese culture is not alive must be bloody dead by now. It came across to us as shocking and bizarre, that killing of a guyanese woman in Bare Root on Saturday for reasons best known to the creator.

Residents are clearly sying that the woman had to be killed because she appeared to be a blood sucking spirit , some sort of vampire. They call them Ole Higues in Guyana.

We don't know much about these evil spirits...But here is bit of history if your are ignorant like us.

Ole-Higue

Also known as "Fire Rass", she is the Guyanese equivalent of a vampire. Ole-Higue is always female. She sucks the blood of unsuspecting victims as they sleep. Her favorite victims are young children.

The Ole-Higue's distinguishing feature is the fact that during the day she lives among other Guyanese as a somewhat introverted and quietly old lady, maybe you know one… she possibly lives at the edge of your village.

At night this seemingly harmless old woman removes her skin, places it gently in a calabash and travel across the sky as a ball of fire heading to the home of her intended victim. To enter the home she shrinks herself and enters through the keyhole.

Guyanese believe that there are 3 ways to catch an Ole-Higue:

*To turn the key while she is trying to get through the key hole. As a result even today many Guyanese lock their doors and then turn their key to a horizontal position to allow an Ole-Higue to make it part way into the hole. The rustling of the key should wake the tenant who can then turn the key fully and crush the Ole-Higue. The next morning one should see a pile of bones on the doorstep.

*To find the skin of the Ole-Higue in the Calabash and put hot peppers in the skin, an Ole-Higue who tries to wear this skin will be burned by the pepper and then sing a well know song…Lawd skin yuh ing kno me?… why yuh bite me?

*Since the Ole-Higue is of Dutch and Afro-Guyanese heritage the Dutch side makes her miserly. The easiest way to catch her is to spill rice grains on the floor in front of your front door. As the Ole-Higue enters your house she will be compelled to count every rice grain.

A smart Guyanese will make sure there a large helping of rice on the floor and no bags in sight. As a result the Ole-Higue will have to pick up the grains with her right hand and place counted grains in her left hand.

As is to be expected her hands can only hold so many rice grains and it is only a matter of time before the grains begin to fall back to the ground and the process begins again. When the home owner awakes the next morning he/she should find a very tired and incredibly distressed Ole-Higue counting rice. At this point in time a smart Guyanese will beat the woman to death with a special anti-Ole-Higue broom.

We're back!!!

We’re back and so is heeeh haaah, heeeh haaah.

It feels as if we have awoken in the middle of a movie by the horror master himself, Steven King. Like Morgan Freeman in Dream Catcher we have been plunged into a horrifying struggle with a creature from another world.
That creature is Guyana, one of the more picturesque places one would surely like to call home, but for most of the times, its hell on earth.
A good friend of ours would remind us regularly that God had plans for Guyana, but like his pastor would say, the man above works in mysterious ways, even those who claim to have a good relationship with the Supreme Being sometime marvel at his works.
Our Friend is head-strong in his belief that God has plans to make Guyana the hell’s pit.
He said look around, there is plenty space and more leaving, even the donkey that end up at the Cheddie Jagan International Airport, Sharma said wants to leave.. But its more like Only a donkey would want to come here.
Now that’s another talking point.
We never wanted to put Guyana in disrepute as soon as we returned to the super highway.
Nonetheless, that donkey some of us saw at the CJIA, is now a popular beast, after many tourists who were in Guyana for cricket took photos of him, one appeared on KN’s front page today.
Its not that the donkey is trying to leave, but he is actually just landed and was waiting to be picked up like many overseas based Guyanese, who relatives sometimes leave stranded despite the little Uncle Sam dollar they send back.
But as one lady who sat two rows in front of us on our flight said, that donkey is part of the hospitable welcome at the CJIA. She said what struck her is that the darn beast just stood there and said nothing and, didn’t even offer her a garland.

Guyana’s Tourism is “Giddying Up.” And we are happy to be in Guyana and we will Giddy Up on this heeee heee heee blog.

All aboard!

Tell it as is...

We spoke before on what competition does for a country and it came to pass. The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company should have in its coffers enough money to spring an advertising blitz on new entrant Digicel. They should have, after all they raped the pockets of innocent Guyanese for years, reaping huge amounts of money.

Surely, one retired Major General, who now heads the GT&T operations must be hitting himself in the head for taking up the appointment when it was offered. Not only him, those sorry-ass entertainers which include Hits&Jams, Sterosonics, and the two divas of local music, Tamika and Celeste must also be drooling.

Ramnaresh Sarwan, who once advertised for GT&T has now switched, partly because Digicel sponsors the West Indies team. For more than one reason, 'Ronnie' we know is happy. We spoke to him about it at the Digicel VIP Party which was held at the Pegasus. (More on that at a subsequent date).

The best that GT&T has done so far, is to play on the minds of those same innocent Guyanese by telling them that GT&T is a Guyanese company. Nonsense! GT&T is a subsidary of Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN), a US-based entity.

GT&T has boasted of having more customers while at the same time neglecting to update their platform to effectively handle the high volumes of calls that accompany increased customers.

Instead of being honest with consumers, they continue to peddle lies in the media even though a full-page advertisement that mimic Digicel's countdown ad. According to Digicel folks, "They are here to stay."

Say goodbye to GT&T, Digicel has awoken a tired, hungry, giant size consumer population.

Press Freedom? #4

Reporters Without Borders condemns Guyana government
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

PARIS, France: Reporters Without Borders has condemned the Guyanese government's withdrawal of virtually all state advertising from the Stabroek News, the country's leading privately-owned daily, and its refusal to respond to the initiatives taken by the newspaper in response to this discriminatory measure.

"Governments must not allocate advertising to some news media as a reward, and withdraw it from others as a punishment - this is spelled out in the Chapultepec Declaration, which Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo himself signed," Reporters Without Borders said.

"Unfortunately, the government's silence in the face of the Stabroek News' legitimate demands suggests that the newspaper is being financially penalised because of its editorial positions," the press freedom organisation added.

"The government must provide an explanation and if it is slow to do so, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights should instruct it to provide one."The Stabroek News, which is critical of the Jagdeo government, said its earnings from state advertising (government announcements, ministerial press releases etc) had declined sharply since November, three months after Jagdeo's reelection as president.

The Guyana Press Association and the Stabroek News accused Nanda Gopaul, permanent secretary at the office of the president, of ordering the Government Information Agency (GINA) not to assign any more advertising to the newspaper.

The GINA subsequently confirmed that only Guyana Revenue Authority advertisements were henceforth to be placed with the Stabroek News.The newspaper's editor, David de Caires, said he never received any reply to his request for a meeting with GINA director Prem Misir.

De Caires wrote to Misir on 3 January claiming that the Stabroek News was being directly attacked "for political reasons," in violation of the March 1994 Chapultepec Declaration on freedom of information and expression, which Jagdeo signed.

Karen Persaud, the person in charge of advertising at GINA, told De Caires on 9 January that his request "has been taken into account but has not yet been examined by the department concerned." De Caires wrote back the next day complaining about this "unclear and unsatisfactory" reply.

He has heard nothing more since then.