Summit success
-- Ortega shows, Chavez absent
By Mark Ramotar
GUYANA’S historic hosting of the prestigious and high-profile Rio Group Summit, with seven heads of state attending, was described by President Bharrat Jagdeo as a “success”.

The 19th Rio Group Summit, also attended by two Vice-Presidents from the 20-member grouping, ended yesterday at the Guyana International Conference Centre at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara.

Joining Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and President of Chile Michelle Bachelet, who were at the summit opening Thursday night, were President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega; President of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Antonio Fernandez Reyna; President of Honduras, Mel Zelaya; President of Panama, Martin Torrijos Espino, and Mexico President Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa.

Special invitee to the summit was Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Mr. Patrick Manning.

“I am very pleased with the level of participation we have had as several Presidents were present here with some Vice Ministers and Foreign Ministers and therefore I think overall I will term the summit a success,” President Jagdeo told reporters at the end of the summit.

A major disappointment was the absence of the charismatic and hugely popular Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez. He was expected here by yesterday morning and there was no immediate explanation for his not turning up.

Venezuelan Vice-Minister of Northern American and Multilateral Affairs, Mr. Jorge Valero, represented President Chavez at the meeting.

President Jagdeo announced that he managed to conclude a number of bilateral discussions with some of the visiting Heads, including the Brazilian and Mexican Presidents.

He said issues dealt with in the end of summit Turkeyen Declaration communiqué, range from strengthening democracy, ensuring democratic participation of member states of the Rio Group in international fora, the struggle to achieve balance, peace and security in the international region (and) strengthening the fight against terrorism, and strengthening the Rio Group.

President Jagdeo also said he is very pleased that two studies commissioned during Guyana’s Chairmanship of the Rio Group – a study on the treatment of Asymmetries in the context of regional cooperation and a study on the democratization of international relations – “both of these and their recommendations were accepted by the Heads”.

He noted, too, that Guyana put before the informal session of the summit yesterday, a whole range of issues and recommendations to deal with social sector problems in the region.

President Jagdeo and his colleagues said they were encouraged by the progress and achievements of the last 20 years and are convinced of the relevance of the Rio Group as a viable and necessary instrument for political dialogue in the region.

On this note, the Heads of State and Government reaffirmed the importance of the group as “a privileged space” for political consultation and coordination in Latin America and the Caribbean and renewed their commitment to the political consensus and principles outlined in the Veracruz Act of 1999.

The Rio Group leaders also endorsed the agreement reached in Guyana by their Ministers of Foreign Affairs on the strengthening of the Rio Group which paves the way for a more dynamic role for the grouping in political coordination and as a regional interlocutor with other regions and countries, as well as in the principal multilateral fora.

The leaders, according to the declaration, said “they recognised that the longstanding commitment of the Rio Group to the defence of multilateralism, based on full respect for the principles of international law, was integral to its role and importance as a regional block.”

The Turkeyen Declaration also noted that the Heads of State and Government recognised that the growing involvement of the smaller states of the region in the Rio Group represents a favourable step towards greater inclusiveness, resulting in a stronger voice at the global level.

In this regard, the leaders recognised that increased political dialogue and cooperation among the sub-regions of Latin America and the Caribbean, in particular between the countries of CARICOM and Latin America, would contribute to the effective functioning of the Rio Group.

“In an era in which sub-regional integration mechanisms are increasingly developing their own parameters of regional and international outreach, the Heads of State and Government underscored the need for the group to retain its focus as a regional and extra-regional interlocutor,” the Turkeyen Declaration said.

Heads of State and Governments of the Rio Group also highlighted the deepening of regional integration based on principles of co-operation, solidarity, as a fundamental means of reducing poverty and preventing the negative effects of globalisation from deepening the asymmetries which contribute to economic, social and political marginalisation.

“Asymmetries must be overcome in order to achieve equitable and just integration, and concrete and effective mechanisms must be developed to solve the major inequalities in our region,” the Turkeyen Declaration stated.

The leaders, therefore, noted the efforts being made to advance specific and effective measures and actions within a framework of common policies aimed at overcoming asymmetries in regional integration processes.

The leaders also thanked the Pro Tempore Secretariat of Guyana for its

excellent work in preparing the Report on the Treatment of Asymmetries in the Context of Regional Co-operation, and noted that it can serve as a basis for promoting specific and practical measures for overcoming these asymmetries, especially with regard to the special needs of small vulnerable economies of the region.

The leaders also agreed to keep this important subject on the agenda of the Rio Group in order to deepen further discussion and thus achieve balanced and harmonious regional integration.

The Heads of State and Government also examined the current situation in Haiti and adopted the “Declaration of the Rio Group on the situation in Haiti.”

In examining other dimensions of regional security, Heads of State and Government of the Rio Group yesterday viewed with deep concern the continued perpetration of terrorist acts in some regions of the world.

“They strongly rejected terrorism in all its forms and reaffirmed that irrespective of its origin or motivation, the resort to terrorism is entirely without justification.”

The summit also reaffirmed the leaders’ commitment to prevent, combat and eliminate terrorism and its financing by cooperating extensively, fully respecting the mandates of national and international law, in particular international human rights and international humanitarian law.

Heads of State and Government also agreed that the Rio Group would continue to strengthen and expand its contacts with countries and regional groupings with an action-oriented focus to ensure positive and advantageous results for the benefit of participating groups and also as inputs towards the amelioration of the international political, social and economic situation.

The Rio Group leaders also welcomed the initiative taken by Venezuela to host the South American Energy Integration Summit in April, 2007, as evidence of the strides which have been made in integration among the countries of South America in the area of energy.

Almost all the leaders, including the Brazilian and Chilean Presidents, yesterday expressed their gratitude and congratulations to President Jagdeo, the government and people of Guyana, for the gracious hospitality extended to them and the excellent organisation as well as the commendable effort on their part to ensure the success of the summit.

Mystery fire guts city house
By Shirley Thomas
A MYSTERY fire last night broke out at 304 Lamaha Park, Block “PP”, East La Penitence, Georgetown, quickly engulfing the one-flat two-bedroom house and reducing it to rubble in less than half an hour.

Nothing was saved in the inferno. Cash and everything else went up in flames, the family said.

The fire started around 20:30h and the fire department was summoned and responded promptly.

But neighbours, marvelling at the swiftness with which the building was destroyed, said it was already burnt flat before the fire tender arrived.

Despite gallants efforts by public-spirited neighbours to render assistance, little success was achieved since there was no water on hand to put the flames out, and the sand buckets used proved a poor substitute.

Now homeless are Carol Rose and her four children aged 11, 10, seven and two years.

Rose said no one was at home when the fire started as she and the children had gone across the road at a neighbour’s.

When she was alerted that her house was on fire, she said that with weakened knees, she ran across to her yard, only to see the flames billowing from within.

“I see the fire coming through the windows; from under the door and all around.”

The woman recalled that she saw one door open, but there was no way anyone could have entered the building since the flames were raging wildly.

Rose said it could not have been an electrical fire, since power was not connected to the building. Nor could it have been the stove, since she was not cooking at that time.

She said there was a wall lamp illuminating the building, but it was so firmly secured to the wall, there was no possibility it could have fallen off.

Meanwhile, neighbours said they first smelled something burning and began looking around the neighbourhood to determine what it could have been, when they suddenly heard a loud cracking sound emanate from Rose’s home.

“And the next thing we see is this big fire spreading quickly all over the house” one neighbour said.

Several attempts were made to secure water from different sources, but everything failed. Even where water would normally flow, none was coming at that time when they needed it most, the neighbours commented dolefully

As the fire continued to rage, all the tearful mother and her children could have done was keep a reasonable distance away from the heat, listen to the exploding gas cylinder and watch their gains go up in flames.

The destruction caused last evening has prompted residents to raise calls for fire hydrants to be set up in the scheme which has well over 300 houses.

Former senior civil servant killed in bus accident
A PROMINENT senior citizen was yesterday morning tragically killed after being struck down by a speeding mini-bus at the corner of Fern Drive and Aubrey Barker Road, South Ruimveldt Park, Georgetown.

Dead is Ernest Fitzroy Barrington, 72, of Lot 80 South Ruimveldt Park.

The retired Chief Management Services Officer of the Public Service Ministry died about an hour and a half later at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

His wife, Mrs. Doreen Barrington, said he suffered brain damage, broken ribs, excessive internal bleeding, among other injuries.

Also injured in the accident was Barrington’s son, Adee, 37, who was with him at the time.

He was examined and sent home, but is being monitored closely by his mother, a retired Health Officer.

Witnesses said the younger Barrington who was accompanying his father to Blue Mountain Road, North Ruimveldt, after being hit by the mini-bus, was hurled through the air and thrown about six feet away from the point of impact.

He sustained no broken bones, but suffered concussions and was late yesterday still in a state of shock and denial.

Mrs. Barrington told the Sunday Chronicle the accident occurred about 08:30h, a few minutes after her husband and son had left home.

She said it was her intention to take her husband across to Blue Mountain Road, a short distance away, with the family car. However, since she was not quite ready when he was about to leave the house, he decided that he’d walk over and have their son accompany him.

The distraught widow said that around 08:30h, she received a phone call from someone on Aubrey Barker Road, informing her that her husband had been hit down and was lying motionless on the road, and that her son had also been injured.

She said the information she received was that her husband and son were about to cross Aubrey Barker Road when an approaching mini-bus stopped, gave a signal and allowed them to pass.

However, another mini-bus coming from behind overtook the parked bus and ploughed into the two men attempting to cross the thoroughfare.

Mrs. Barrington said the men were taken to hospital by the driver of the bus that caused the accident.

She said that when she arrived at the hospital, her husband was still conscious and spoke with her, but that was not for too long. The injuries were too severe and he was bleeding badly.

The doctors did their best, she agreed; he was given oxygen, but died soon after.

Ernest Fitzroy Barrington, his wife recalled, served his country faithfully in many capacities within the government service.

In the 1950s he worked as a teacher at Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara and later migrated to the United Kingdom.

He returned to Guyana in the 1970s and took up an appointment with the Regional Administration at Matthew’s Ridge in Region One (Barima/Waini). He was also on the team named to set up the Guyana National Service in the 1970s.

His wife said he later worked with the Office of the President; the Guyana Electricity Corporation and the National Treasury before finally being appointed Chief Management Officer of the Public Service Ministry.

He leaves to mourn his wife Doreen; two daughters Dawne and Soyini of Canada and one son, Adee, of Guyana.

Cop on duty accidentally shot
A MEMBER of a Police Tactical Services Unit patrol was yesterday accidentally shot while on duty along Regent Street, in the vicinity of the City Mall.

Around 10:45h, Police Constable Ron Peters, 19, of Lot 225 ‘C’ Field, Sophia, Georgetown, was on duty with another rank when the colleague’s weapon – an MP5 rifle - accidentally went off, the bullet hitting Peters in his right calf, an official said.

On exiting, the shell of the round hit him on the left instep. He was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where he was treated and admitted.

Peters is the first of five children for his parents Carol Ann Peters and Kerwin Joseph of Sophia.

Guyana, Chile to push social issues
THE 19th summit of the Rio Group ended yesterday at the Guyana International Conference Centre, after deliberations and a caucus to chart a plan for expansion and preservation of the 20-member group.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) said the summit was characterised by the issuance of the Turkeyen Declaration that outlined the major issues to be addressed to further development and integration of the group’s members.

The agency said a meeting between Guyana and Chile highlighted the need to advance social and human issues, specifically with countries that have asymmetries and inequalities.

Chile President Michelle Bachelet, the first female leader of the country, reported that the meeting focused on social and human issues which plague development in Latin America and the Caribbean.  President Bharrat Jagdeo has been advocating for these issues to be addressed, President Bachelet said.

The Presidents sought commonality on how both countries can collaborate to access funding for the proposed programmes to combat the issues identified, the Chilean President said.

GINA said that in relation to CARICOM, President Bachelet noted that there are some specific cooperation programmes ongoing between Chile and regional bodies.

She noted the interest expressed by some CARICOM countries to integrate the Spanish language into their societies which could boost tourism and other economical areas.

President Bachelet explained that last year Chile had started a pilot programme for 30 teachers to undergo training in Spanish for a six- month period.

A programme with the Organisation of American States (OAS), CARICOM and Chile is forthcoming that will result in a fund being created to propel economic productivity in CARICOM countries, Bachelet said.

The agreements arrived at between the two Heads of State underscored the thrust of the Declaration of Turkeyen and the new objectives outlined by the Heads of State of the 19th   summit of the Rio Group, the agency said.

The Declaration of Turkeyen reflected the objectives that have emanated from the discussions of the National Coordinators, the Foreign Ministers and ultimately the Heads.

Special emphasis was placed on social issues, such as poverty, health and education to improve the lives of citizens in member states and advance the development process.

The importance of strengthening relations between Latin America and the Caribbean was recognised as a favourable step towards greater inclusiveness resulting in a stronger voice at the global level.

Guyana has relinquished its chairmanship of the group to the Dominican Republic whose President stated that his country would be happy to host the 20th Rio Group summit in March 2008. 

Travelspan GT to inaugurate schedule flights to Ft Lauderdale
TRAVELSPAN GT Inc will be inaugurating its weekly schedule flight service to Fort Lauderdale, Florida from Tuesday.

The airline said this new service will be on each Tuesday and will depart Guyana at 07:30h.

“The new service to Hollywood International Airport, Ft Lauderdale, Florida, will be operated via Port of Spain using our new Boeing 737-800 aircraft that features a First Class service and will provide excellent connecting services to Tampa, Orlando and California.

Travelspan GT Inc has been granted authorization by the United States Department of Transportation and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority to operate schedule flights between Guyana and Ft Lauderdale. Flights will be operated by Xtra Airways of Nevada, U.S.A.”, the airline said.

TravelSpan GT Inc. said it is looking forward to offering the travelling public the superior service it is known for in the New York, Trinidad and Guyana markets.

A ceremony to commemorate the inauguration will be held at the Hollywood International Airport on arrival of the flight.

Travelspan GT Inc started scheduled flights from Guyana to Port of Spain and New York on November 30, 2006 and has its corporate office located at 69 Main Street, Georgetown, five General Sales Agents Offices in New York, one in Fort Lauderdale and four in Trinidad & Tobago.

Travelspan GT Inc is a sister company of Travelspan Vacations of New York and Amrals Travel of Trinidad & Tobago.

Lessons of resilience, fortitude in Phagwah
-- President
HERE is the text of the message by President Bharrat Jagdeo on the occasion of Phagwah being celebrated today:

“It is with enormous pleasure that I bring Phagwah greetings to all Guyanese, particularly our Hindu brothers and sisters.

Phagwah or Holi, the Hindu Festival of Spring, is derived from the word 'Phalgun', the name of the month commencing from mid-February through mid-March, and is the last month on the Hindu calendar. The first month of the Hindu Year is `Chaitra’, falling in Phalgun.

And so Phagwah or Holi is the start of the Hindu New Year, an opportune time for all Guyanese from all religious and ethnic backgrounds to share in the happy spirit of Phagwah, to reach out and touch, to rekindle the bliss of brotherhood and sisterhood, and thereby purge feelings of selfishness and enmity.

This festival brings to light the familiar story of Prahalad, his father the demon king Hiranyakashyapu, and his sister Holika.

We all can draw lessons of resilience and fortitude from Prahalad as he unflinchingly stayed the course with his devotion and faith. Prahalad’s ultimate triumph of good over evil brings hope to all humankind committed to a path of peace and prosperity.

Phagwah is the one event when sprinkling coloured powder ('gulal') or coloured water on each other shatters all barriers of discrimination, so that everyone seems to be the same, and so universal solidarity is reaffirmed.

Let all Guyanese celebrate this colourful festival of Phagwah in joyous spirit without any distinction of caste, creed, colour, race, status, or sex. Let us be determined to build permanent bonds of friendship and unity to bestow greater stature on Guyana.
Happy Holi to all Guyanese here and in the Diaspora!”

PNCR Phagwah message
“THE People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) expresses sincere good wishes to the Hindu community of Guyana in particular, and Guyanese in general, on the auspicious occasion of the celebration of the festival of Phagwah in Guyana.

As the celebrated Indian National Kulapati Vani wrote many years ago, “festivals are gatherings for refreshing the spirit and enjoying life”. We urge all Guyanese to use this occasion to refresh their spirit and enjoy life, and to participate fully in this colourful festival and enjoy the rich elements of our religious and cultural diversity.

We are conscious, also, that our spirits are becoming increasingly sullen and sour in the brooding darkness that now engulfs our land. Violent crime, pervasive joblessness, creeping despotism, and deepening poverty, stalk our land; partisanship, discrimination and executive lawlessness compound bad governance; our economy and society are in tatters and our nation can only see dark clouds on the horizon.

We are heartened, however, by the true meaning of this festival which has not only a secular significance of fertility, rebirth, renewal and regeneration, but an important religious moral. The religious significance of Holi lies in the conquest of good over evil, manifested in the destruction by PHAHALADA of his demonic father KING HIRHNYAKASHIPU.

Several demons are now abroad in our embattled land, and as we urge the Guyanese people to appreciate the spiritual significance in this festival, we also urge them to brace themselves against the many evils that are in our midst and resolve, at this juncture, to take steps to end these calamities that now bedevil our country.
AGAIN HAPPY HOLI TO ALL GUYANESE.”

PPP Phagwah message
“THE People’s Progressive Party (PPP) extends best wishes to Guyanese in general and the Hindu community in particular on the festive occasion of Phagwah.

Phagwah is one of the most popular festivals in our country and has added to the rich cultural diversity of Guyana.

Its message of the victory of good over evil is one of hope for all those struggling to overcome obstacles towards social, economic and political progress.

As we celebrate Phagwah this year, let us rejoice in our significant achievements as a country.

Let us also rededicate ourselves to uprooting the evils of crime and corruption and other evils that still persist.

We have no doubt that our work for peace, progress and prosperity will triumph and our people will have a better future.”

`A time to share’
-- Reepu Daman Persaud
PRESIDENT of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud, in his Phagwah message, said the festival is “truly a time to share in the true spirit of Sewa and wherever there is hate replace it with love and take all steps necessary to reconcile differences and construct a united society.”

“Holi transcends all barriers. There is complete equality. The Rang or colours which smear us and make us virtually unidentifiable, removing every distinction even between Kings and subjects, emphasise the oneness of humanity or the famous Hindu perception Vasudeva Kutumbakam – Humanity is one family”, he said.

Mr. Persaud noted that an air of joy pervades the home and the family at this time with children touching the feet of their parents, spraying them with perfume and placing Abrak and powder on their faces and squirting on their clothing Abeer or coloured liquid.

“Parents bless their children and wish them not only Holika Shubh Kaamnanyea, but a bright and prosperous future. Greetings are extended to relatives and friends squirting abeer and powdering them.”

Persaud stressed that Holi does not license anyone to recklessly and wantonly drench passers-by or to barge into people’s homes and splash water on the occupants.

“These acts are against the spirit of our lovely Holi festival and should not from part of the Phagwah celebration.

Celebrate and do so happily but do remember the significance of the festival which sends a clear signal of respect for human rights so bravely fought for and won by Prahalad.”

GAWU message
“IT’S the annual semi-religious event again. Hindus primarily join with nature to welcome spring after the relative gloom of the previous winter.

The colours, the splendour and liveliness of spring induce devotees to disregard status and social norms as they employ water, abeer and coloured powers to celebrate life.

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) joins with the Hindu community as it involves all Guyana to observe and celebrate the festival of Holi – commonly called Phagwah here.

GAWU wishes to celebrate the festival’s hope and optimism whilst regarding the religious mythologies surrounding the historic event.

Mankind in all societies need hope to sustain life amidst the challenges of conflict, crime, disease, natural disaster and poverty. Holi offers this hope on the often-present horizon.

The Phagwah legend tells of Prahalad believing in the eternal God, Vishnu, much to the displeasure of his father an evil king. The father and king challenged Prahalad the son to sit on a blazing fire alongside the wicked Aunt Holika.

She was burnt as Prahalad survived. GAWU hopes that Guyana survives the fire and heat of political and economic challenges and sabotage.

GAWU sees the glorious, inclusive festival of Holi ushering in the reality of a `new’ enhanced city of some standards.

This season of Phagwah also offers a threshold for new economic activities in construction, hospitality and tourism-related employment and the hope of oil exploration, among other exciting events.

The Holi month of course, is the month of Cricket World Cup 2007 – with all the possibilities which the world’s third largest sporting event offer.

Many of GAWU’s membership are participants in the annual festival. The union wishes them and all Guyana a joyous Phagwah free from conflict and anything negative.”

Remember the poor
-- C.N. Sharma
LEADER C.N. Sharma and executive member of the Justice for all Party has joined in extending joyous Holi greetings to the entire nation.

At this time when Hindus celebrate their New Year, he said people should herald the event with remembering the poor and the unfortunate.

According to Mr. Sharma, the triumph of good over evil in the saga of Prahalad over his father King Hiranyakashipu proves that God is watching over us.

He said the entire nation must unite at this time when good triumphs over evil and help to eradicate the problems faced by the nation.

A major problem, major source
Editorial Viewpoint by Rickey Singh
NARCO-TRAFFICKING remains a most challenging problem for the Caribbean and Latin America region, including Guyana.

As the problem persists, at varying levels across borders, it has also become the norm for the United States authorities to regurgitate in annual reports, real and perceived problems for more effective responses by governments. Without, of course, sharing any blame.

It is not that governments, and those of our Caribbean Community in particular, are either unaware of or uncommitted to dealing with this horrible crime that, like an infectious disease, is affecting so many aspects of our social and economic life.

Rather, it is the little credit, if any at all, often sandwiched between layers of criticisms that fill the annual "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report" which comes from the leading nation in this western hemisphere that remains the single biggest consumer of illegal drugs --the United States of America. The latest such report, released last month by the U.S. State Department, is no exception to the norm.

No attempt should be made to minimise the social, economic as well as political problems resulting from drug trafficking and related crimes of money laundering and gun-running. 

Their harmful effects with corrupt practices by law enforcement agencies; the crowded prisons, violence and demeaning behaviour of our young people, including primary and secondary school students, hit us with depressing regularity.

What is of equal concern is that too often the U.S. State Department's annual report gratuitously indulge in language of expediency -- in the  absence of EVIDENCE -- to delink governments, and more specifically top officials and lawmakers, from facilitating either production, processing, shipment or distribution of illegal drugs.

The report would then move with full speed, consistent with a standard format, to virtually pour scorn on what such governments are failing and more than imply complicity with alleged corrupt cops, immigration and customs officials and even whack away at "weak" judicial systems.

Not just Guyana, but other CARICOM governments have had cause to complain against failure and/or refusal by U.S. authorities to share vital intelligence information they claim to have and which could be quite helpful, once verified, for effective and appropriate actions to significantly curb the flow of illegal drugs like cocaine and marijuana to the U.S. and Europe via Caribbean air and sea routes.

This, by no means, should justify the Guyana Government, or any of its CARICOM partners, from failing to actively and systematically pursue policies and programmes that could significantly curb the illicit drug trade.

For example, the foot-dragging by the government in relation to any visible effective implementation of the 2005 "National Drug Strategy Master Plan", to which the U.S. State Department report has also made reference in  chronicling the deficits against the Jagdeo administration's responses to the narco-trafficking.

Countries like Guyana do not, of course, have the resources to circulate anti-narcotics reports that could also expose the extent of illegal consumption of drugs in the U.S.; the level of related corruption and abuses that this horrendous crime has on its law enforcement and judicial arms; or how its private sector moguls are also linked to the drug cartels and barons who exploit Caribbean jurisdictions in accumulating wealth with their evil trade.

This is a factor that even sections of the Caribbean media often fail to focus on. More attention should be paid to the realities of life in the major centres of importation and consumption of illegal drugs, namely the U.S. and Europe with the former in the lead.  

Without divulging sensitive intelligence information/strategies, there needs to be more transparency in bilateral and multilateral cooperation arrangements between CARICOM and the U.S.

It could help to disabuse feelings abroad in our region that the cooperation and assistance flowing from Washington administrations are more geared to satisfy America's needs than responding to specific social and economic initiatives to enable significant reduction, if not throttling, of narco-trafficking criminal networks.

'Uncle Sam's' contempt for Caribbean
-- Different strokes for a 'spy' and a terrorist
By Rickey Singh
HEMISPHERIC security with a special focus on countering terrorism, reducing poverty and other major social issues that contribute to political stability and undermine good governance, would have formed part of yesterday's Rio Group Summit in the Guyanese capital Georgetown.

We should know by today if not by late last night, the key decisions reached from the official communique expected from the 20-nation summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders, whose deliberations had been preceded by a series of technical and ministerial meetings.

The Rio Summit was concluding in Georgetown five days ahead of President George Bush's one-week tour of five Latin American states starting on Thursday, March 8. 

The journey would take him to Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Uruguay with favourite topics of his like "war on terrorism", "democracy" and "social justice" on his work agenda.

It is ironic, though by no means surprising, that President Bush would want to discuss coordinated responses in the battle against "terrorism" while his administration maintains a policy of benign neglect, to say the least, in relation to one of the most notorious terrorists currently in the U.S. and wanted for the single most horrific terrorist act in the modern history of the Caribbean.

The wanted man is the Cuban emigre, Luis Posada Carriles, who has been implicated as playing a key role in the 1976 bombing of a Cubana passenger aircraft off Barbados killing all 73 people on board.

Two years ago CARICOM made a passionate call for Posada to be brought to justice for his role in the Cubana tragedy, consistent with the war against terrorism. Both Cuba and Venezuela are also still waiting on the U.S. government for the extradition of Posada to face trial for that unprecedented criminal act in Caribbean air space.

Now, as arrangements were being finalised for last week's Rio Group Summit and this week's five-nation tour of Latin America by President Bush, an important development took place in a Miami court that further exposes the hypocrisy and contempt of the administration in Washington in its "war on terrorism" and observing the rule of law.

The development was last Tuesday's sentencing by a Miami district court judge of a Cuban-born university professor and his wife to five and three-year prison terms respectively for admitting to "spying" for Cuba.

Eleven days earlier, another Cuban, Luis Posada Carriles, who should be facing trial for causing 73 deaths by terrorism, was instead informed of charges of "lying" to U.S. immigration. The contrast perhaps represents the latest example of the hypocrisy, the moral inconsistency, of the Washington administration.

This hypocrisy is well located in President Bush's policy and related attitudes of United States authorities in dealing with the documented case of the anti-Castro terrorist, Posada for his involvement in the Cubana tragedy off Barbados.

More, later, of the now 77-year-old Posada. First to the "spying" 61-year old professor Carlos Alvarez of Florida International University.

He admitted in court to sharing, in collaboration with his wife Elsa, information to Cuban intelligence on Cuban exiles living in Florida. Alvarez told Judge Michael Moore that he was once part of "an underground movement" to topple the government of President Fidel Castro. Later, however, he chose to be "an advocate for dialogue" with the intention to help improve relations between Cuba and the U.S.

According to information provided the prosecution by the political and intelligence arms of the United States government, Alvarez had used the codename "David" while he and his 56-year-old wife Elsa (codenamed Deborah) were engaged in sharing information with Cuban intelligence to "influence dialogue".

In sentencing them, judge Moore correctly noted that "a good motive is never an excuse for criminal conduct…"  Well, Posada and his collaborators in crime must be laughing.

They would include officials of the Ronald Reagan administration, and also significant roles played by U.S. Central Intelligence personnel who had trained, bankrolled and protected Posada over the years of sustained anti-Castro activities as documented in books, magazines and newspaper articles published in and out of the U.S. and found in archives.

Even before being facilitated in escaping from prison in Panama for his involvement in the attempted assassination of President Fidel Castro in that Central American state in 2004 during an official visit, Posada had earlier been assisted by U.S. intelligence personnel in Caracas and anti-Castro Venezuelan elements to escape from jail while awaiting trial for his role in the 1976 Cubana tragedy.

Perhaps for that Cubana bombing tragedy, Posada also had "a good motive", to use words of judge Moore, since it was consistent with his driven CIA-sponsored commitment to get rid of a "dangerous enemy" of the Empire in the Western Hemisphere -- namely the Castro government. That very government in Havana with which the other Cuban emigre, Alvarez, was an intelligence collaborator.

Posada's "good motive" in his campaign against "Castrosim" had previously engaged him -- as  also documented -- in bombing targets inside Cuba, that resulted in deaths, injuries and destruction,     Also, as an active collaborator with the CIA and the anti-Sandinistas "Contras" when he operated out of El Salvador under the codename "Ramon Medina" to help destabilise the then government in Nicaragua..

Now, however, while the governments in Havana and Caracas, as well as CARICOM have been calling for him to face trial for his murderous role in the Cubana bombing tragedy, Posada is waiting to answer charges in a Texas court. But surprise, surprise, not for ANY of his terroristic activities.

No way. Simply for "lying" to immigration officials in his quest to become a citizen of the "greatest democracy"—U.S. -- that has been his sanctuary, on and off, for a pretty long time.

It seems that in Bush's America, a Cuban emigre who engages in confessed intelligence collaboration with Castro's Cuba must pay the price, along with his wife, of imprisonment for their unlawful "spying" activities But the other Cuban emigre, Posasa, a well documented terrorist whose criminal activities have wasted many lives, can simply be prosecuted for "lying" in order to secure U.S. citizenship and be at home with members of his family

What utter hypocrisy, what deep contempt for our Caribbean governments calling for Posada to be tried for the Cubana tragedy. What mockery of the rule of law and Bush's own "war on terrorism".

Posada is due to face a jury on May 11 on charges of illegal entry into the U.S. (which one of them?) and "lying" to immigration personnel in his effort to secure U.S. citizenship. What a political show – U.S.-style!

Integrating Latin America and the Caribbean
By Sir Ronald Sanders
(The writer is a business consultant and former Caribbean diplomat)
GUYANA has become the first English-speaking country to host a summit meeting of the Rio Group made up of 20 Latin American and Caribbean nations.

In addition to the Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo, several other Heads of Government of the Rio Group were in Guyana for the meeting held on the weekend of March 2nd and 3rd.

While a larger turnout of Heads of Government would have made the meeting more meaningful, some very important ones showed up including Mexico’s Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa, Brazil’s Luis Ignacio Lula de Silva and Chile’s Michelle Bachelet.

Guyana is the current official representative in the Rio Group of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) countries, but Belize is also a member of the group, and the Guyanese President invited Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Patrick Manning to participate in the informal sessions of the summit.

With attendance too by the Dominican Republic (DR) President Leonel Antonio Fernandez Reyna, there were several interests represented at the meeting.

The DR and CARICOM countries are together presently negotiating with the European Union (EU) for an Economic Partnership Agreement which will determine the aid, trade and investment relationship between these two groups for some time to come.

Similarly the DR and Central American countries represented at the summit are party to a Free Trade Agreement with the United States, and five of the Latin American countries are deepening their own trading arrangements under the umbrella of Mercosur.

Then there is the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) being promoted by the Venezuelan President as a regional integration strategy for Latin America, as well as a possible alternative to the U.S. notion of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

And, in the midst of all this, are the, albeit stalled, but nonetheless overarching negotiations in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for new arrangements that would govern world trade rules.

Discussions about trade were not expected to feature highly on the agenda of the meeting, and while the Declaration of Turkeyen, the end of conference communiqué, will undoubtedly try to reflect a consensus position of the Rio Group, with all the different and, in some cases, divergent interests involved, whatever they say on trade is unlikely to advance the international agenda.

The great value of this summit is that it provided an opportunity for a small but important number of Heads of Government from the Caribbean and Latin America to talk informally and to exchange ideas about how the relationship between Latin American and Caribbean countries could be deepened in their joint interest.

Meeting at the political level is a necessary first step for creating the framework for an economic relationship that could benefit the people of Latin America and the Caribbean, through trade and investment. But, at the practical level it is the business communities in each of these countries that could give flesh to the bones of such an economic relationship. In turn, they will need an enabling environment which must include the establishment of direct transportation arrangements, access to financing, and a facility for English, Spanish and Portuguese.

The Rio Group is primarily an organ of political consultation; it does not have a mandate to institute arrangements for economic integration, and a summit meeting of only some Heads of Government, however influential they may be, would be reluctant to do so.

Further, the group does not have a permanent secretariat and its work between meetings is carried out by the country to which the Chairmanship falls.

However, there are other organisations to which members of the Rio Group belong who have the capacity to initiate arrangements for structured economic relations between Latin American and Caribbean countries. CARICOM and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) countries, and CARICOM and Mercosur could formally pursue discussions that might have arisen from informal consultations between the Heads of Government.

It is to be hoped that, arising from this meeting, the Rio Group will take on the role of promoting Latin American and Caribbean economic integration through institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank.

In any event, Guyana did well to carry the work of the Rio Group during its period of Chairmanship. It has also done well to host the summit, and, in doing so, to act as a bridge between Latin America and the Caribbean.

A conference of Latin American countries in English-speaking Guyana as the representative of CARICOM has immense symbolic value.

It demonstrates that the divide between the two sub-regions, which are a consequence of colonial history and imperial interests in the past, can be overcome.
(Responses to: ronaldsanders29@hotmail.com)

What's wrong with Italy?
By Gwynne Dyer
THE most extreme diagnosis of Italy's problem was offered by journalist Peter Popham in the Independent.

He blamed it all on the Vatican: "Imagine that Hitler did not die in his bunker in 1945 but instead cut a deal with the new West German government, giving him continued sovereignty over a small patch of Berlin -- and continued intellectual hegemony over the millions he had brainwashed during the previous decade....Italy's Vatican problem is a lot like that, with the difference that the Church has been wielding its mind-control for nearly two millennia."

The trigger for this extraordinary outburst was the week-long political crisis that nearly brought down Prime Minister Romano Prodi's centre-left government, Italy's 61st since the Second World War. Yet Popham is not anti-Catholic. It's just that, like most people who spend a lot of time in Italy, he has simultaneously fallen in love with the country and utterly lost patience with it.

It's an affliction he shares with a great many Italians: no country except Argentina spends more time debating what is wrong with it. He blamed the Vatican on this occasion because the crisis was provoked by a government plan to legalise "civil unions" (marriages by another name) even for gays, which greatly annoyed the Catholic Church. But it's more complicated than that.

The vote that Prodi's government lost was actually on a proposal to leave 1,900 Italian troops in Afghanistan until 2011 and to double the size of an American military base outside Vicenza. Both projects are very unpopular in Italy, but they were part of the deal that created the nine-party coalition behind Prodi's government, and only two senators from the far left defected in the key vote on 21 February.

The government would still have won the vote if senator-for-life Giulio Andreotti had not unexpectedly voted against it. But the 87-year-old Andreotti, seven times prime minister and often known as the "Prince of Darkness," is a strong supporter of NATO and the American alliance, so why would he vote against that bill? Because it was going to be so close that his surprise "no" vote could bring Prodi's government down.

Why would he want to do that? Andreotti has always been very close to both the Catholic Church and the Mafia, but on this occasion it was the former tie that mattered. The Vatican wanted to kill the "civil union" proposal, which required killing Prodi's government. Andreotti just seized the opportunity that presented itself. It worked, too: a week later Prodi managed to revive his coalition government, but this time their agreed programme does not include the "civil union" project.

The normally judicious Peter Popham was so irked by this that he implicitly compared the Pope to Hitler, but it is nonsense to blame all of Italy's ills on the Vatican. The Catholic Church used to have huge clout in Italian politics, but that is because almost all Italians used to be devout Catholics. It's still a bit weird to have a tiny sovereign state ruled by a foreigner in the middle of your own capital city, but the Vatican today has no more influence on politics in Italy than the evangelical churches have in the United States. (But no less, either.)

Most Italians would agree that there is something wrong with their country, but it's not the Church that bothers them. The stagnant economy makes matters worse -- even Spain will overtake Italy in per capita income in a couple of years -- but there is an underlying sense of frustration that permeates Italian life.

The Byzantine bureaucracy and the ubiquitous corruption are a big part of the problem. Getting a job usually depends on what group, party or family you belong to, not on your abilities, which is hugely frustrating.

The core problem is that Italy is not really a modern society at all.

For almost forty years after 1945, while the rest of Europe was growing and changing very fast, Italy grew but didn't change, because politics and all of society were frozen in a deeply conservative and profoundly corrupt pattern. In order to keep the huge Communist party from winning power and taking Italy out of NATO, the Christian Democratic party had to be kept in power permanently -- and it was, thanks to foreign money and foreign intelligence services, to its alliance with the Catholic Church, and to its other alliance with the Mafia.

That system ended fifteen years ago when the Christian Democrats imploded in a blizzard of corruption scandals and Communism simultaneously went out of fashion, but Italians have a lot of lost time to make up.

Moreover, the decision to swap the lira for the euro was a disaster for Italy, because it lost the ability to remain competitive by continually devaluing its currency. Italian politics are still poisonous, the justice system is a joke, and the efforts at reform are endlessly sabotaged by the beneficiaries of the current state of affairs.

But that is about what you'd expect at this stage of the process of modernisation, because it IS a process, and it takes time. Spain is about thirty years into a similar process, dating from the death of Franco and the end of fascism, and it is thriving at every level. Italy is fifteen years in, and feeling the strain. But it will probably get there in the end.

(** Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.)

Public Justice
By Kwame Gilbert
PEACE is simply defined as “freedom from war or strife”.
Technically, peace in this sense can be imposed by the sword or the barrel of a gun. Marxist and totalitarian governments have managed to have “peace” for years. Yet the collapse of Marxism in 1989 showed that coercion will not bring peace or sustainable development. A structure for growth and social development must be in place that will allow for a reasonable degree of freedom and justice.

The Biblical foundation for social peace is justice. This divine concern is so serious that in the Old Testament, the word Justice and related terms are used about 500 times and about 200 times in the New Testament. It is not easy to define Justice, but its essence can be inferred from the Old Testament concept of lex talionis or the famous “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” dictum (Ex. 21:24).

The term justice “suggests primarily man’s conduct towards others, especially in matters of legal or personal rights”. (Carl F.H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority).

It is external. It deals with laws governing relationship and the use or things that order life in society. God insists that governors are to rule with justice (Ps.89:14). Such a command is not a contradiction to His nature as merciful.

Justice has three essential dimensions. Firstly, it deals with equitable and fair legislation for every one. This is important for evangelicals to note, since in a pluralistic society, the challenge is that one has no legal right to impose his religion on others. How then can evangelicals be faithful to the command of evangelizing the lost and at the same time observe the command to do justice?

Firstly, the Christian should so live their lives by both word and deed in a way that promotes a process of inculturating Christian values in society. The attempt must not be to demonize or discriminate against others on the basis of their religion. To do this would be promoting the very injustice Christ abhors. Rather the focus should be on living the Christian life so effectively that those who are otherwise persuaded will be converted, not by unjust force, but by our Christ likeness.

Secondly, the Christian legislator must seek the denominators of common grace for all mankind and ground their actions on them. The second dimension of justice is that it is concerned with remedy. Due process is crucial in administering justice. If the remedial process is violated, then there can be no ample protection for the rights of a person.

The penal code of a nation may consider rape as a crime but if a poor victim has no means to hire or avail the services of a good lawyer, or if the accused has the means to bribe a judge, then there will be a miscarriage of justice. The crucial question then would be: Is the remedy available and affordable to the poorest of the poor? If this is not the case, then that society is unjust. God commands that justice be given to the afflicted and to slaves (Job 36:6; 1 Chr. 18:4)

Thirdly, justice includes penalty. For justice to exist, the penalty of law must be equally applied to the guilty, whether he/she is rich or poor, and not dependent on whom one knows or does not know. Moreover, it must be commensurate to the offence.

It must also be noted that because God requires everything to be just, then justice is a standard which can be applied not only to people. Even weights and measures must be just, i.e., they must be fair (Lev.19:36).

The responsibility to do justice is not only for evangelicals. It is for all of us who are God’s creation. If we as sons and daughters of Guyana do not give justice to our own people, we cannot expect foreigners to give justice to our people in the Diaspora.
Charity and justice begin at home.

Rationalising the depravity of human reasoning
“Never reason for what you do not know. If you do you will soon believe what is utterly against reason.”
-- Ramsay
By P.S. Thakur
THE human mind is never at rest.
There are external (awake) and internal (asleep) stimuli. Within seconds, the mind goes from one subject to another and from one level to another. In wakefulness in human beings, the thinking power becomes even more active -- from brawn power to brain power.

The term “rationalization” in the dictionary is often defined as “reasoning” or “explaining”. This may not be fully correct as “explaining” may not be the same as “reasoning”.
This paper will define “rationalizing” as “justifying”. Unlike explaining which may offer several points of view and objects, “rationalizing” here is where the speaker attempts to justify his own argument or behaviour. It is therefore not objective but subjective.

As long as man has had the ability to reason, from time immemorial, he has been using reasoning to justify his actions. The basis upon which this is done is his “ego”, his self-protecting and self-esteem. An individual has the strong need for self-preservation. The ego has been with us and developed from childhood. Those of us who are more insecure more have the need to protect that ego, especially if it had been abused as a child.

There are three main levels of rationalization. The first is to blame others when events go wrong in our lives. The next is to blame things and events associated with the person or the incident – a divorce, failing an examination, etc. The third is to blame our self, followed by guilt.

(a) Blaming others is a way of protecting the ego. Blaming the person directly involved is the first step in failing an examination; it is the teacher in an examination; it is the spouse in a divorce. It is often what he did or did not – error of commission, error of omission.

(b) While still blaming others, there is onset of the next step. We then tend to blame things or events associated with the person or event. In the case of divorce we may blame it on financial problems, in-laws, etc. In case of failing the examination it may be the type of test, multiple choice or essay or matching time to study. At this point the mind goes searching to find reasons that may be the cause of the problem. The mind even becomes creative in doing so. This makes the ego feel good and this matters a great deal, to alleviate the pain.

(c) The third level is to search the self to find possible causes. “Maybe I should have…” “Maybe I should not have…” The degree of self-blame depends on the level of self-esteem. Those with low self-esteem tend to dwell more on the self-blame. This may reach unhealthy proportions. Those with strong egos will give little or no blame to self. A constructive and realistic self-examination is what is best needed to deal with any such problem. While it may be difficult to change others or the circumstances, it may be much easier to understand ourselves, adapt or change our perception and behaviour.

Guilt is often associated with self-blame. Where it is not obsession or debilitating, it may be a good censor to thoughts, feelings and behaviour that need examination or change.

When we blame others, we often look to others who will support us in our rationalizing. We tend to turn to close friends and relatives who may agree with us even if we are wrong -- a principle known as Groupthink. We then stay away from those who disagree with us. The rationalizing then becomes more ingrained and others may confirm our rationalizing and even extend it, offering more “good reason”. The more the better. If we were once in doubt, we are now convinced -- innocent or not.

The next step in the process is to move to extremes and even become bitter. In the case of the examinations we may drop the course. This may be even after just one examination.

In the loss of a job, we may seek revenge of one kind or another. While doing so the rationalizing continues each step of the way.

In the constructive self examination we adapt, adjust and go on with our lives. In other instances we become bitter, hurting ourselves in the form of heart attack and ulcer. If we have not adapted, but maladapted, the bitterness will continue.

It is always advisable to self examine and even become aware of the rationalizing process as a first step to deal with the problem.

Each difficult situation in life should become a learning experience as we become more mature and constructive in dealing with similar or other problems in the future.

The Greater Caribbean This Week
8th Business Forum of Greater Caribbean to support trade among ACS countries
By Rubén Silié
SINCE its inception, the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) has placed emphasis on the issue of trade as one of the more dynamic themes, and in fact, it can be said that the initial leitmotif that encouraged the countries of the region to come together under this scheme was precisely the issue of trade.

Nevertheless, the countries comprising the ACS have been restricted in the advancement of negotiations to establish their own trade area, since each group of countries comes from a very specific trade tradition, which to some extent, having operated in a particular way for so many years, limits their possibilities of opening up to new markets, even if it is with their closest neighbours on the littoral.

For historic reasons, the earliest trade links were confined to direct relationships with the metropolises, which is understandable given the monopolistic and concentration mechanisms applied during this period of Caribbean history. However, that initial stage, led by European countries, was followed by the predominance of the United States of America over any other trade destination. That northern power's dominance explains why trade with and from the United States accounts for approximately eighty per cent of total trade within the region.

It could be said that the Caribbean has always (though not entirely) been under the control of one authority or another, commercially speaking. Its political independence has not allowed the region to redirect the focus of its trade relations from a perspective that reflects its own interests and the interests of its neighbours.

The link with the North American market is so strong for ACS countries that the fluctuations in their own market follow the demand generated in the North.

At the core of all of this is the regional economic liberalisation process in which international organisations played a crucial role, with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank leading the structural adjustment programmes that give a new shape to our countries' economies and trade schemes.

However, the mechanism of subjection of these economies to the United States economy does not function solely because of geopolitical reasons (although this factor lies at the heart of the current hegemonic scheme), but it also influences a clearly defined policy regarding differential treatment for exports from that group of countries.

It must be borne in mind that the numerical growth of the Greater Caribbean diaspora in the territory of the United States of America is seen as a new factor for attracting exports toward that country. This is influenced by the growing demands for ethnic products by the migrant population in that country, as well as by the financial sector that is becoming stronger as a result of remittances.

When the governments decided to come together in the ACS, they thought that this association could serve as a mechanism to give a new direction to their trade relations, giving greater consideration to the interest of the countries within the group, or at least reversing the historically inherited order.

With respect to increasing intra-ACS trade flows, one of the initiatives undertaken has been the Business Forum of the Greater Caribbean, whose eighth instalment will be held in March, in Panama City, Panama.

The Business Forum of the Greater Caribbean has undoubtedly played a proactive role, seeking to create a business environment that would help improve the competitiveness of the companies belonging to ACS states, regardless of each state's level of development or export strategies. Every year, business meetings are held as part of the activities developed during the said forum and they have been giving entrepreneurs an opportunity to expand their businesses and make them grow. The statistics from recent forums have proven this and companies are deciding more and more to exhibit their products at that event, which has facilitated the insertion of new products into other international markets.

Yet another beneficial result of the forum, and one that we must emphasise, is the participation of international presenters, who develop relevant topics regarding international trade. As high level professionals, they provide an up to date tool with their knowledge on the issue. This is highly useful for entrepreneurs who are developing their skills on how markets operate in the Greater Caribbean region.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the experiences gained in previous forums have allowed us to deepen the understanding of this new "business culture",  and the ACS Secretariat therefore recognises that the expansion and strengthening of trade relations among the countries of the region require actions that go beyond market access. Thus, it is imperative for contact to be established between the social and political actors, which for us, is the fastest way to increase knowledge among them, this being the best approach toward overcoming the stereotypes that still hinder spontaneous rapprochement among Caribbean people.

(** Dr. Rubén Silié Valdez is the Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to: mail@acs-aec.org)

Georgetown crowned Pepsi Cup champions
… Berbice whip Bartica 6-3 to claim third place
By Isaiah Chappelle
THE holders of the Pepsi Cup were decided from the penalty spot at the GFC ground, Bourda, yesterday, as Upper Demerara triumphed 4-3 over Georgetown to be crowned champions of the inaugural Inter-association Under-17 championships.

Berbice whipped Bartica 6-3, to claim the third place in a play-off that had one hat-trick each for the teams.
Upper Demerara dominated the match but the strikers could not match the good build-ups, messing the many chances while Georgetown’s goalkeeper Kerry Graham was the city team’s one bright spot to earn the Most Outstanding Goalkeeper award, with wingback Kris Comacho offering good support on the left flank and captain Trevon Lythcott on the right.

Georgetown had one clear chance after a goalless first half, when a free Andrew Murray Jr, who was already called to the senior national squad, got a loose ball just in front of the goal, 25 minutes in.

He took the shot from just inside the box and the ball went high over the cross.

That was matched by Kevin Beaton of Upper Demerara, six minutes later. He collected the ball inside the box at the left, with goalkeeper Graham already out of the goal advancing to try to intercept, and he sent a right-footer past the goal at the right.

No goals came in regulation time, a situation that remained unchanged at the end of extra time, forcing the players to the penalty spot.

Upper Demerara took the first kicks and the first five shots were on target, until Murray lined up the city’s third kick, sending a soft shot straight to the goalkeeper for an effortless save.

The next kicks for both teams were good and Upper Demerara seemed to be one goal away from victory. Then Graham blocked captain Clive Vickery’s shot and Georgetown were back in the game.

But the highly touted Mannaseh Primo sent his right-footer wide of the goal to the left, sending Upper Demerara wild in celebration.

Upper Demerara captured the two Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards, Michael Crandon for the final and Beaton for the championship.

Former national Under-15 captain Sherlon Edwards of Berbice scored the most goals in the championship, netting seven.

Earlier in the third place play-off, Edwards blasted a hat-trick, but that was matched by fellow national youth player Dwayne Blake of Bartica, which turned to be the only goals for the interior town team, while one each came from Kenston Lindey, Roger Crandon and Delroy Ferdinand for Berbice.

Marketing representative of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), bottlers of Pepsi here, Alana Johnson said the companies were happy to promote young people in sport, in which talent was showcased.

President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass said it was a proud moment for the national governing body because sponsors were hard to come by.

“For development, you need support. DDL was kind to join to develop Guyana’s football. It is quite a battle to attract sponsors, some citing indiscipline among players for not coming on board.”

Klass said he was impressed with the young players in taking the penalties, some outshining senior players.

“Some senior players do not do it as good as these young players.”

But the football boss warned that winning was not the ultimate criterion, but how the game was played, commending the young players on their fair play.

“Continue to train hard and work hard, and continue school. The senior players have set the standard now and we no longer return from international tournaments with our head hung low.”

Rastas and Baldheads clash today for Banks DIH Trophy and GT&T’s $75 000
THE cream of Guyana’s past and future footballers will be on show today when the ‘I’ Movement Promotions football event is staged at the GFC ground.

Kick-starting the triple-header will be a U-13 match-up between Santos FC and Uprising FC for the Trophy Stall trophy at 15:30 h. The second contest will bring together Uprising and Western Tigers for the Steve Ninvalle trophy in a U-17 affair.

Among the national youth players to be in action are Michael Henry, Cloyd Bascomb, Lumumba Hinds and Telston Bowen for Uprising, while Tigers will have in their line-up Manasseh Primo and brothers Odel and Kallo Nelson.

The main attraction featuring Rastafari Patriarchs and Baldhead Masters will not have in any overseas player due to flight difficulties; however the ‘I’ Movement Promotions is hopeful of having the overseas players for Part Two of the Series set for month-end.

Both camps have expressed confidence in winning the Banks DIH challenge trophy and the GT&T’s cash incentive of $75 000. Expected in the Rasta line-up are former national players Gordon Brathwaite, Vibert Butts, Orrin Agard and Terry Burnette. Past seasoned division one players Natty Wiltshire, Terry Frank, Peter Prescott, Hector Forte, Deryck Gritten and Allan La Rose will be part of the Rastas’ side.

The Baldheads will be spearheaded by ex-national captain Terrence Archer and will include Nicky Thompson, Selwyn Bailey, Marlon DeSouza, Dennis Hunte, Carey Jacques, Ken O’Donoghue, Ronald Barker, Michael Pedro, Calmeth Young and Mark Van Lewin.

The feature game will kick off at 19:00 h and the teams will be met by officials from Banks DIH and GT&T as well as the Minister of Sport.

Essequibo Under-15s beaten by innings and 33 runs
By Ravendra Madholall
STAGGERING from one disaster to another, Essequibo cricket reaped the bitter harvest of indecision, indiscipline, complacency against Demerara at the completion of the initial round of the 2007 Castrol two-day Inter-county cricket competition at Bourda yesterday. It was a humiliation-in-awaiting.

Outplayed at every turn by their better-prepared opponents for the particular demands of this level of cricket, the Cinderella County boys were trounced by an innings and 33 runs, 28 minutes after the resumption of tea.

This was a humbling loss that only magnified the extent of continuous declining standards of their cricket. Once again an atrocious batting performance saw the young Essequibians fold for 87 in their second innings after Demerara, as was expected, declared on 211 for seven with a comfortable lead of 120.

Scores in the match: Essequibo 91 and 87; Demerara 211-7 declared.

With the contest ending early yesterday, the Essequibians have little time to get things sorted out before taking on defending champions Berbice tomorrow at the Police ground, while Demerara manager Ian John hailed his team, especially the bowlers, for their consistency and accuracy and more importantly effectiveness in grabbing 20 wickets in just over 100 overs.

“The guys did extremely well, taking 20 wickets in less than two days on a typically flat Bourda track, so it was a good all-round effort. The bowlers did their job well; just the batsmen will have to show more application at the crease and score runs heavily,” John revealed.

Demerara resumed yesterday morning comfortably placed at 159 for four with Delon Fernandes on 41 and wicketkeeper/batsman Kevin Singh on one. Fernandes went on to hit an impressive half-century while Singh grafted a solid unbeaten 37 before the declaration came at 11:03 h.

The left-handed Fernandes hit four fours from his 85-ball 55 and he featured in a fine 46-run fifth-wicket stand with Singh, who faced 45 balls and hit three fours in 69 minutes in a steady unbeaten 37.

Essequibo fast bowler Neal Romalho, who bowled with some amount of accuracy and good line and length, was highly rewarded with the impressive figures of five for 29 from 10.3 overs while Keron McLennon and skipper Rovindra Mohabir picked up a wicket each.

At lunch the visitors were 22 for one, and, probably were informed by their coach Vibert Johnson that application will be the ingredient to at least salvage a draw. But right-arm La Rose had other ideas.

La Rose bounced in from the northern end and immediately accounted for McLennon (8) who was spectacularly stumped down the leg-side by Singh and Rove Harris (0), to leave their team precariously placed at 22 for three. Devenash Ramnarace who made a quick 15 became La Rose’s third victim.

Mohabir (5), Melvin Seepersaud, who top-scored in their first innings with 26 and did not capitalise on his promotion to number six, stayed around for 13 before he flashed at a ball outside the off-stump by off-spinner Ricardo Devers.

Royan McAll (6), Romalho (3), and Dwayne Singh (3) were undone by a combination of off-spin and leg-spin by the home team while Keron Sewnarine who made a defiant 15 tried desperately to make Demerara bat again.

La Rose, whose leadership was quite sound, nabbed three for 14 from nine overs while off-spinner Jagdesh Bishun in his eight economical overs grabbed two for four. There was one-wicket apiece for Shameer Fazal, Devers, Amir Khan who took four wickets in the first innings and pacer Seon Daniels, bowling for the winners.

Demerara will now meet Berbice in the final round beginning next Thursday at the Police Sport Club ground.

Australia the hunters rather than the hunted
By John Mehaffey
KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (Reuters) - World champions Australia will approach the ninth World Cup starting in the West Indies this month as the hunters rather than the prey after losing their number one ranking to South Africa last month.

Speaking to reporters after the Australians had practised at Arnos Vale yesterday morning, Australia middle order batsman Michael Hussey said it had been disappointing to lose the top spot to South Africa.

The two teams meet in the final group A match in St Kitts on March 24.

"I guess we become the hunters rather than the hunted," said Hussey, who captained Australia in the absence of the injured Ricky Ponting in their 3-0 loss to New Zealand last month.

"We really enjoyed being the number one side in the world and we tried harder and harder to make the gap further and further between the number one and the number two.

"We now have to try to get that number one place back, we have to try and make the gap bigger again."

Australia play a warm-up match against Zimbabwe tomorrow followed by a game against England four days later before travelling to St Kitts.

Opener Matthew Hayden and all-rounder Andrew Symonds will not be considered for tomorrow’s match while they recover from a broken toe and torn left arm muscle respectively.

But Ponting and all-rounder Michael Clarke played a full part in yesterday’s practice. Ponting had been suffering from a hip injury while Clarke had a sore back.

Hayden walked briskly around the outfield several times and Symonds had a few gentle throw-downs in the nets with a tennis ball.

Hussey said Australia had put the New Zealand defeats behind them and were ready for the challenge of the biggest World Cup yet.

"The Australian team is so meticulous about their preparation," he said. "They are an experienced side who know their own game so well and what they need to do."

As the Australians warmed up on the outfield to the roar of aircraft taking and landing at E.T. Joshua airport, the pilot and passengers of a single-propeller light aircraft had a narrow escape when the plane crashed upside down into a stream only 200 metres away from the stadium. Eyewitnesses said the pilot and three passengers, who were taken to hospital, had been shaken but unhurt.

GABF meets CBC payment deadline
By Joe Chapman
THE GUYANA Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) on Friday confirmed that the mandatory fees to show intent of participation at this year’s Caribbean Basketball Championships were paid to the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) ahead of the deadline for such payments.

The male tournament is scheduled to take place August 6-10 in Caguas and the female from August 11-14 in Morovis, Puerto Rico.

President of the GABF, Colonel (Ret) Godwin McPherson, said that the federation and the Twinkllas.com website had paid the US$2 000 fees to the CBC before Wednesday March 1.

All countries interested in playing at this year’s championships were required to pay this initial $1 000 for each male and female team.

Guyana last contested the CBC championships in Barbados in 2000 and has missed the 2002, 2004 and 2006 tournaments after failing to pay debts incurred over annual affiliation during the period.

However, last year the GABF cleared those debts and now seemed ready to send teams to this year’s tournaments.

The best performance of any Guyana team was the 1996 winning of the women’s championship.

A decision was taken late last year to have the Caribbean Basketball Confederation’s (CBC) Senior Men and Women basketball championships staged this year in Puerto Rico.

Last year’s biennial championships, as it were, saw Jamaica win the men and the women’s titles.

They had duplicated the 2004 Cubans who dominated the championship at home to win double crowns. Guyana last contested the Caricom Basketball Championships in Barbados in 2000.

The CBC Executive Committee in November last year in the United States Virgin Islands decided that the Junior Tournaments would not be played as planned in 2007.

The bid for the staging of the championship was won by Puerto Rico over the Dominican Republic and Suriname, whose bids were not considered after they failed to show at the General Assembly of the Caribbean Basketball Confederation, which met towards the end of January in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles.

The decision to divide the staging of the tournaments came from the Puerto Rico Basketball Federation and supported by the majority of the Caribbean basketball federations.

But, this was after host nation Puerto Rico Federation had proposed to stage only the men's tournament. It was noted that the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) rules mandate that both competitions be held in the same country.
The two top teams would qualify for the 2008 Centrobasket Tournament.

ICC amends laws for match referees to decide on matches
MUMBAI, India (Reuters) - The International Cricket Council (ICC) has amended its laws so that match referees, rather than umpires, will decide whether games should be terminated if a team refuses to play.

The amendment to Law 21.3 follows last year's row at the Oval when Pakistan lost to England by forfeit for refusing to take the field after being accused of ball-tampering.

The rule change was adopted at a two-day ICC board meeting which ended in Cape Town on Friday. It takes immediate effect.

"The Board's decision reflects the fact that the match referee is the chief executive of the match, the person who has overall responsibility for the way the game is played and officiated," ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed said in a statement.

"This decision does not, however, detract from the on-field role of the umpires and they would, of course, still remain an integral part of the process of awarding a match in those circumstances."

The ICC said umpires would still have responsibility for determining the end of a match in all other circumstances.

The decision to amend the law relating to teams refusing to play was a direct response to last year's chaotic end to the Test match between Pakistan and England.

Pakistan refused to continue playing after the two umpires, Australia's Darrell Hair and West Indian Billy Doctrove, penalised the team five runs for ball-tampering, a charge they hotly disputed.

Under the existing laws, the umpires had no alternative but to award victory to England, though the repercussions did not end there.

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq was later banned for four one-day games for bringing the game into disrepute. He was cleared of ball-tampering.

Hair, who was blamed by Pakistan for causing the row, was later sacked from the ICC's elite panel of umpires.

World Cup format and regulations
LONDON, England (Reuters) - Format and regulations of the cricket World Cup starting in the West Indies on March 13:

*1st round. The ninth edition of the World Cup will be contested by 16 teams, the most ever. In the first round they are divided into four groups of four teams and play each other once. The top two from each group qualify for the super eight.

*Super eight. The winners and runners-up from the four groups will play each of the other teams except the team which advanced from their own group. The top four qualify for the semi-finals.

*Semi-finals and final. The second and third place finishers will contest the first semi-final while the teams placed first and fourth will meet in the second. The winners meet in the final in Barbados on April 28.

*Points: Two for a win, one for a tie or a game without result in the preliminary and super eight stages. Teams qualifying for the super eight carry forward only the points gained in the group stage against the other qualifier.

*Key rules:

If the scores are equal, the match is tied regardless of the number of wickets which have fallen.

Each match comprises two sessions of 3-1/2 hours each with a 45-minute interval. First session 0930 - 1300, interval 1300 - 1345, second session 1345 – 1715

If the start is delayed or play is suspended, the match can be extended by a maximum 30 minutes.

*Key innovations:
Powerplay - Fielding restrictions when only two fielders are allowed outside the 30-metre circle surrounding the wicket with at least two in catching positions will be applied in three blocks totalling 20 overs.

The first powerplay of 10 overs automatically comes into force at the start of an innings. The fielding captain must then nominate two five-over spells when restrictions will apply.

Bowl-out - Cricket's equivalent of soccer's penalty shootout if the semi-finals or final end in a tie. Bowlers from opposing teams take turns to bowl at a set of three stumps. The team with the most hits after five deliveries each is the winner.

U.S. Cricket Association suspended again by ICC
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Reuters) - The U.S. Cricket Association (USACA) has been suspended for a second time by the sport's world governing body.

A statement from the International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday said USACA had failed to hold elections for its own officers and formally confirm a new constitution as agreed.

The USACA will lose funding from the ICC until its membership suspension is lifted, the statement said.

Additionally, the U.S. will be withdrawn from the World Cricket League division three series to be held in Darwin, Australia in May and relegated from that division.

The USACA was previously suspended in 2005 but that was lifted last year on the proviso it organised its administration on the lines laid out by the ICC by the end of 2006.

"It gives the ICC Board no pleasure to re-enact this suspension but given the lack of progress towards a functioning administration of USA Cricket it has been left with little alternative," said ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed in a statement.

"It is especially disappointing that the USA players have had to be penalised in this way for matters that are largely beyond their control.

"The ICC recognises that the USA has vast potential as a cricketing nation but without a functioning administration that potential is likely to remain largely untapped."

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has been asked by the ICC to monitor progress in the U.S.

Legends meet to plan for second Stanford Twenty20
ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) – Organisers of the Stanford 20/20 cricket tournament have begun planning for the second staging of the event, scheduled for later this year, the Antigua SUN reported Friday.

The paper, which is owned by the financier of the tournament, Sir Allen Stanford, said the West Indies cricket legends, who comprise the Stanford Twenty20 board, met here Thursday to discuss plans for the event.

Only Sir Garfield Sobers, who was unwell, was absent at the meeting chaired by Sir Allen, the SUN added.

Reverend Wes Hall, a member of the Stanford Twenty20 board, said they were privileged to be asked to organise the second tournament.

“It’s alright to have a good season, but it’s better to do it again,” Hall told the SUN.

“The mere fact that Sir Allen has decided to do it again speaks volumes to his commitment and we as the legends are very happy, having met again. The mere fact that we want to do it again is indicative of our commitment to the enhancement of West Indies cricket,” he added.

Hall also disclosed there were plans to upgrade the Stanford Cricket Ground, the venue for last year’s tournament which attracted large crowd throughout.

“There will be a difference to the ground next year. There will be improvements for the players and for the fans … this is a beautiful little ground, but we have seen the need to make improvements and that is what we will do,” Hall explained.

“We looked at the funds that have been given to the various countries to make sure they are spent in the right way. It is essential that this happens, as it is imperative for the advancement of cricket.”

A number of major plans will be introduced in a bid to make the tournament bigger and these will be announced during a press event scheduled on April 3 here.

Guyana are the defending Stanford Twenty20 champions after beating Trinidad & Tobago in the final last August.

Kennard Memorial Turf Club Phagwah meet ...
Six horses to gallop for $150 000 and DDL trophy
SIX seasoned horses, of which three are from the Jagdeo stables and two from the Simms stables, will gallop through six furlongs of pristine track in Bush Lot Farm, Corentyne, Berbice, hoping to win $150 000 and the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) El’Dorado trophy in the D class and Lower event of the Kennard Memorial Turf Club Phagwah meet tomorrow.

Jagdeo’s horses are Isle be True, Ice Folly and Fire Power while Simms’ will race Getting Something, Laura Lee in Flight. The other horse in the race, Go Geronimo, comes from Saul’s stable. A total of 45 horses will compete in the seven races carded for the day.

On Thursday, DDL plunged into the one-day event with over $300 000 of support.

Information from the club indicated that the ground is in excellent condition.

Action races off from 13:30 h with the G class event for a first prize of $95 000, race number two - the L and Lower – will run for a first prize of $75 000. One of the feature events is the third race, the F and Lower class over a distance of one mile for a first prize of $130 000.

The next big event of the day will be race number four, the three-years-old event also running over a mile and also for $130 000 first prize.

Other races include the J and Lower over five furlongs, and the I and Lower over seven furlongs.

Georgetown names 17 for Linden/Georgetown basketball rivalry
GEORGETOWN has named a 17-man squad for the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) Georgetown versus Linden three-game series which is now scheduled to begin on March 17 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

The Georgetown coaches have also released the names of 15 female players who will represent the side at the competition.

According to Bobby Cadogan, one of four coaches who selected the squad, there will be three nights of games. On the 17th and 24th, action would take place at the Sports Hall, while Linden would host the competition on March 18.

The male players are: from Courts Pacesetters - Royston Siland, Stephan Gillis and Naylon Loncke; from Ravens - Darcel Harris, Kevin Lawrence and Damian Liverpool; for Nets - Fabian Johnson, Triston Tulloch and Sheldon Howell; for Beepats’ Scorpions - Darren Gordon, Carl Jackman, Kester Gomes and Darren Thomas; for Pepsi Sonics - Ryan Melville and Richard Braithwaite and one each for Bounty Colts - Dayne Kendall and Maccabees - Bevon Gordon.

The female players selected are: Natasha Alder, Amera Alphonso, Sophia Elliot, Kean Andrews, Rashawna Quintin, Delicia Mayers, Latoya Hamilton, Tameke Derouche, Natolia Primo, Karen Norville, Shaneka Atwell, Laurel Anderson, Candacy Atkins, Natolia Bishop and Michela Burnett. The coaches are Cadogan, Mark Agard, Phillip George and Lugard Mohan.

Sehwag picked only at Dravid's request - Vengsarkar
MUMBAI, India (Reuters) - India's chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar disclosed yesterday that out-of-form batsman Virender Sehwag was picked for the World Cup only at the specific request of skipper Rahul Dravid.

The 28-year-old Delhi batsman goes into the showpiece event in the Caribbean starting on March 13 following a prolonged form-slump which nearly cost him his World Cup place.

Vengsarkar, a former captain, said Dravid wanted Sehwag in the team and that made the difference.

"I was not under pressure as such, but I will always back the captain," the chief selector told CNN-IBN news channel.

"Some players in the team also back Sehwag. Sehwag has done exceedingly well in the past."

Sehwag has been in poor form of late, having scored just one fifty in 13 innings since August, but showed his old touch when he made a quick 46 in the series-clinching victory against Sri Lanka last month.

India, the 1983 World Cup winners, are in Group B with 1996 champions Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda.

Lewis fit to bowl in England's first practice
By Mark Meadows
STUBBS, St Vincent (Reuters) - Pace bowler Jon Lewis was fit enough to bowl several overs yesterday in England's first practice session in the West Indies ahead of the World Cup.

Lewis, 31, injured his ankle in Australia and has not had any real bowling practice since a tri-series match with New Zealand two months ago. His selection in the World Cup squad was subject to fitness.

The team flew in on Friday, changing flights at Barbados and travelling on a small propeller plane to land at St Vincent's tiny airport. Yesterday, a light aircraft crashed not far from the runway. All four occupants escaped shaken but unscathed.

BACK PROBLEM
James Anderson, who also missed the back end of England's victorious tri-series campaign, bowled some overs from a shortened run-up after shaking off a back problem.

Kevin Pietersen was the first to bat in the nets after fully recovering from a fractured rib sustained in the first tri-series match in Australia in January.

Captain Michael Vaughan, working his way back to fitness after long-standing knee and hamstring problems, also batted early on and looked comfortable against some local St Vincent bowlers.

"We just cleared some cobwebs from the flight. It was nice to have a little net," Vaughan told reporters back at the team hotel on the beach.

"You are always quite sceptical about how (Caribbean wickets) they will play. The first two weeks are crucial for me but also the team.

"Kevin will certainly come back in and over the next two warm-up games it is up to the players to hold their hand up and stake a claim."

But England coach Duncan Fletcher, who confirmed the two warm-ups would be 13 players-a-side, said they were almost sure of their best starting lineup.

"We are pretty close. It is the bowling area where we have got some decisions to make," he said.

England trained in intense heat on a playing field in the small village of Stubbs, with the team minibus going along an unmade road past stray goats to approach the venue.

Their session was accompanied by steel band music and the crashing of waves against cliffs just below the picturesque setting.

England's first warm-up game is against Bermuda tomorrow ahead of a clash with Australia on March 9 also on the island. The real action starts for England on March 16 when they take on New Zealand in their first group match in St Lucia.

United win at Liverpool as Chelsea beat Pompey
By Trevor Huggins
LONDON, England (Reuters) - Manchester United moved closer to the Premier League title with a dramatic 1-0 win at Liverpool yesterday that left them nine points clear of Chelsea.

The champions were 2-0 winners at Portsmouth, with Didier Drogba scoring in the 33rd minute and Chelsea's other Ivorian striker, Salomon Kalou, coming off the bench to make sure.

United substitute John O'Shea fired a stoppage-time winner to give them 72 points with nine games left to play, while Chelsea are second on 63 with a game in hand.

Liverpool are third on 53 points, but Arsenal closed to within a point with two games in hand after ending a miserable week with a morale-boosting 2-1 win over Reading.

The northeast derby finished 0-0 between Newcastle United and Middlesbrough, Wigan Athletic's revival continued with a 1-0 win at Manchester City and Watford let slip a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Charlton Athletic in a relegation dogfight.

Manchester United had only 10 men when they scored after midfielder Paul Scholes got a straight red card in the 86th minute for raising his hand at Xabi Alonso.

"Today's a massive result for us," manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports, recalling that United also scored a winner in the final two minutes last Saturday at Fulham.

"You need that bit of luck to win a championship, there's no question about that, and I think we've got it in the last two weeks," he said.

The United manager said England striker Wayne Rooney, who made way for O'Shea in the 74th minute, would be assessed today after suffering a knee injury.

Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez was clearly frustrated by the outcome.

"It's unbelievable how we lost this match because we controlled the game and deserved to win it," Benitez told the club's Web site (www.liverpoolfc.tv.).

"We controlled the attacking side of the game and had many corners and free kicks, but in football you sometimes have luck and sometimes have bad luck."

CHELSEA TRIUMPH
Chelsea, who have a home game with United scheduled on April 15, kept the title race alive by winning at Fratton Park. Drogba celebrated his African Footballer-of-the-Year award in midweek with his 29th goal of the season, a superb volley from a long Ashley Cole cross from the left.

However, it needed a brilliant one-handed save from keeper Petr Cech to deny Pompey substitute Andy Cole a headed equaliser before Kalou slid home Chelsea's second.

Coach Jose Mourinho wondered how many points Chelsea would have had without Cech being out for three months after suffering a fractured skull in October.

"It's a question without an answer -- but we could answer it by saying this is a goalkeeper who gives you 10-15 points a season," he told Sky Sports. "He's the best."

Though he respected United, Mourinho said: "Our job is to fight them, to keep winning matches, to win the next two and get back again to a six-point gap and keep the pressure on them."

Arsenal returned to winning ways after defeats in the FA Cup, Champions League and Sunday's tumultuous League Cup final with Chelsea, which led to three of Arsene Wenger's players getting banned.

Gilberto converted a 51st minute penalty and fellow Brazilian Julio Baptista hit the other before a late own goal by Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

Wenger, who has been asked by the FA to explain his allegations that a cup final linesman lied in his report, said: "We missed a few chances in the second half because we were a bit slow to make our decisions, because we have given a lot physically in the last week."

As for himself, the Frenchman added: "Like the players, my decision-making is not the best at the moment ... maybe sometimes my language is not subtle enough."

Fulham drew 1-1 at home with Aston Villa and it was the same scoreline in Sheffield United's home game with Everton.

Legacy Run set for next Sunday to end at Guyana National Stadium
A LEGACY run has been organised by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund for next Sunday beginning at 06:00 h.

The 10 km run will commence from two points, Friendship on the East Bank of Demerara and Guyoil Service Station on Sheriff Street, with both groups finishing simultaneously in the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

The event is scheduled to attract some 1 500 Guyanese of different ages, ability level, and gender, who will also be given the opportunity to experience the country’s premier sports facility.

Ambulances, doctors and other medical personnel will follow the run throughout. It was also assured that adequate security will be supplied for competitors and officials at all times.

Participatory T-Shirts will be given to all starters at the starting points, while individual certificates will be distributed to all persons completing the run. Trophies for each of the three categories, people with disabilities, largest contingents and most organised, will be presented.

Transportation for participants and officials will be provided at various points of the run. The activity is expected to be held annually.

Roger Gary plans
-Guyana Fashion Xpo
WITH six international models and a parade of local and overseas designers to descend on Guyana, Roger Gary looks to add another feather to his cap.

He was here less than two weeks ago to join the “Firestorm” clan of his friend Michelle Cole for Mashramani. That was just after he was in Ecuador for their new generation model search.

He left Guyana for his home New York earlier this week but he will rush back to Guyana for a month-end showcase to launch what he is calling the Guyana Fashion Xpo.

Among the top models he has already roped in are Carla Campbell, a former Sports Illustrated Cover Girl, Bobby Roache who the ladies would know from Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” video, and Jade Cole from Season 7 of America’s Next Top Model.

For the Guyana event, which he plans for next year, he is taking his experiences and that of Michelle Cole to create fashion spectacle never before seen here.

“We want to implement other aspects, rather than allowing it to be just about models on a catwalk. We want to create an atmosphere where people can see the designs closer and we will also have accessories and other things pertaining to fashion,” he said this week.

Regarding his own prowess, he said “its easy for me, I was born to do it, for some reason I could organize things, and I’m good at motivating.”

After the March launch, Roger Gary heads for India to work on the Supermodel of India, and who knows what else!

“I love coming home,” he told us, but no word yet on whether he will design for Miss Guyana Universe this year as he has done over the last couple of years.

Guyanese produce CXC Physics text
VETERAM Physics teacher Mr Clarence Trotz and one of his former students, Mr Alec Farley, have collaborated to produce “CXC Physics”, the first textbook of that subject nature to be produced by Guyanese.

Trotz, in a recent interview with the Sunday Chronicle, said that the text was commissioned by Macmillan Publishers and will be in book stores around mid next month.

Trotz, 73, said he has been in the profession for the past fifty years and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. He currently teaches Physics at his home to students from Form Four to the Upper Six level.

Farley, he said, resides in the Bahamas and teaches at the St John’s College there. He said he was his teacher in the 1960’s.

He told this newspaper that he taught at Queens College from 1957 – 1980 and was the head master from 1974 to 1980. He is currently a member of the Old Students Association.

He subsequently headed St Stanislaus College from 1980 to 1982. He was then the coordinator of Mathematics and Science in the Education Ministry until 1988.

Trotz said he then spent two years as the head teacher of the Montserrat Secondary School before migrating to Britain where he taught from 1991 to 1996.

Farley was an old student of his in the early 60’s. Trotz was the first CXC Chief Examiner for Physics from 1985 to 1989. He said that for the corresponding period, Farley was Chief Examiner for Integrated Science.

In addition, Trotz helped put together the first CXC Physics Syllabus in 1985.

The two started the book in 2001 and it was completed in 2004. According to Trotz, little research was needed because of their vast experience. “After teaching for so many years you don’t have to do much research,” he said, adding that most of the information came from memory.

He pointed out that the book is based on the CXC syllabus and even goes beyond because it also caters for students doing the GCE examination in the Bahamas. Trotz said every chapter has the objectives clearly outlined.

Some of the topics covered include Waves and Light, Behaviour of Matter, Forces, Energy and Mechanics and Measurement and Practical Work. According to Trotz, the book has large print, diagrams to accompany explanations and is not difficult to understand.

He said that he plans the write the CXC regarding having the book placed on the booklist for examination students.

He said too, that the National Centre for Educational Research Development (NCERD) and the Ministry of Education received copies of the book about two weeks ago and he is currently awaiting their pronouncements.

Trotz said students who were able to browse through the book opined that it was well written and presented.

According to Trotz, one student who wrote the examination last year expressed regret that she did not have a copy of the text in time for her studies.

The book which has 587 pages will be used by the entire Caribbean. The Series Editor is British Dr Mike Taylor.

Pursuit of Happyness for Sidewalk Tuesday
THE Sidewalk Film Club is inviting the public to a free screening of Pursuit of Happyness at Sidewalk Cafe this Tuesday.

The Club had announced Blood Diamond for the screening but has switched it with the Will Smith blockbuster.

Based on the life of Chris Gardner, a self-made millionaire, this drama stars Will Smith as a man who finds himself jobless and homeless at age 30, living in a San Francisco train station with his infant son.

Smith was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the movie.

Other films for March have been proposed by the Francois Xavier Bagnoud Center-Guyana Care and Treatment Network; and SASOD.

The club is open to suggestions for documentaries, features and other films which could be screened later in the year.

Preserving our literary heritage
Rayman Mandal and Release Publishers, Georgetown,Guyana.
by Petamber Persaud
“Mandal” means a place of intellectual and cultural activity in India.
Rayman Mandal has always been and continues to be intellectually inclined, gathering his knowledge from institutions around the world and from an exciting, fast-paced and rewarding life. Not onlydid he acquire knowledge but he also shared his knowledge in various ways, from politicking to teaching to writing to publishing.

His education was varied and complex, influenced by prevailing social, political, and economic conditions of his time. His early education came by way of the Ursuline Covent for Kindergarten at Camp and Church streets; Sacred Heart Primary, Main Street; and by private tutors. The private aspect of his education was coloured by ambitious considerations to suit the dictates of his father.

Mandal spent two years at Queen’s College but his father relocated him to St. Stanislaus College because Mandal’s youthful zest for life redirected his
attention to sports and art which his father thought were useless pursuits.

He finished college in 1960. Influenced by his main tutor, Jadu, and the exciting pre-independence conditions at the time, he became active in the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO), youth arm of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), a move which catapulted him to Moscow, USSR, where he gained distinctions in his Diploma in political science.

In a relative easy transition, he was appointed to Budapest, Hungary, where he was Guyana’s representative at World Federation of Democratic Youth

(WFDY). There he became English editor of WORLD YOUTH, a magazine published in several languages. In 1966, he returned from Europe to a new Guyana, an Independent Guyana, and being intellectually inclined, he was determined to get higher education.

Mandal started studies at the University of Guyana where he successfully pursued a double-major in French and Spanish in 3 years. He had earlier passed his “A” Level exams in French and Spanish studying on his won. His pursuit of intellectual inquiry also fed his thirst for literature, and he opened himself to writings from different worlds and cultures, writings which eventually influenced his writing.

Mandal produced a “different” poetry – philosophical, satirical and abounding in symbols. Nineteen seventy-four found him at the University of Ontario reading for a master’s degree in Spanish, after which he returned to Guyana as Lecturer in Spanish at the University of Guyana. This constant returning to Guyana characterises his love for his country and his intention to contribute to its national development. Between 1976 and 1979, his first stint at the University of Guyana had ended.

In 1980, he was awarded a Fulbright/Laspan Scholarship, and was accepted at the University of Texas to pursue a Phd. in Latin American Studies. There he spent three years majority in Latin American Literature and Politics. Mandal passed his doctoral exams, but personal circumstances prevented him from completing his dissertation which was supposed to be on the Novel of the Dictator in Latin America.

Returning to Guyana for the third time in 1983, Mandal continued to lecture in Spanish and Latin American literature at the University of Guyana. After teaching at University of Guyana, he moved to New York in 1986, where, after teaching for twenty unbroken years at Horace Mann School in New York, one of New York’s most elite private schools.

Rayman Mandal was born in Durban Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown, British Guiana in 1942. He was the second of ten siblings. His mother, Ursula Ragwoen, was born in Guyana while his father, Altafar Rahim Mandal came to Guyana from West Bengal, India in the 1930s. The father was a general merchant who continued his financial pursuit by opening the eventual popular “Bombay Bazaar” in Robb Street.

Although his mother was of Tamil decent (Madras), she was inclined to Catholicism, while his father was a staunch Muslim. That situation led the children to acquire the best of both worlds. Apart from using his experience as an educator and political activist, Mandal’s intellectual activity extended to writing poetry, starting a literary journal, “Release”, and a publishing house, “Release Publishers.”

“Release” was intended to be an outlet for the creative mind, be it in writing or publishing, and for anyone to appreciate. Mandal summarizes this in the poem “Voices”. Voices may “implode in silence”.

This was during the period when people were afraid to criticize the government. Therefore, writing had to be supported by its publication or else all is lost as “even the frog’s croak grows hoarse”.

“Release” ran from 1976 to 1979 parallel to his teaching stint at the University of Guyana. The journal survived the paper and ink shortages of the 1970s, but the survival of the publications was partially due to acquisition of the magazine and books by the Ministry of Education. The target audience of his publications was, among other things, the schools. From the Release Publishers came many significant and singular publications including “Poems of Resistance”

(1979) and “Poems of Affinity” (1980) by Martin Carter who was a contributing factor in the encouragement of the magazine.

Others books coming out of that house include Temples and Mosques by Karna Singh (1980), and Guyanese Sugar Plantations in Late 19th Century by Walter Rodney (1979).

Release Publishers also produced works on Amerindians such as Guyana Legends, Focus on the Amerindians edited by Dr. Walter Edwards, as well as Geomorphology of Guyana by Dr. Daniel. Mandal also published the first Journal of the Arts for the Faculty of Arts. Most of these publications are now
out of print and Mandal hopes to continue publishing when he returns to Guyana.

Rayman Mandal has now retired from teaching in New York and plans to return to Guyana in the near future to rekindle his love for, among other things, literature and publishing.
Source:
•Interview with Rayman Mandal, Georgetown, Guyana, January 2007

James Brown: Great Black Artist of the Mod Scene (Part 2)
By Terence Roberts
WHAT interests us here is James Brown’s music; his songs and skilful musical structures of his band.

Without this James Brown would not have become respected and admired internationally. Brown’s personal life was filled with all sorts of sensational rumours, controversies, highs and lows, etc, because Brown was not a God, but a man.

We therefore leave all the disputes and arguments over his extremely famous life to lawyers, lovers, racial commentators, relatives, gossip mongers, etc. Brown’s music, however, is a plea for less upheaval.

One of Brown’s most beautiful and moving songs, in tone, structure and poetic verses, is “This is a Man’s World”. It stands out from many of his fast funky songs because of its magnificent mixture of classical orchestration with his crisp, clear, slow poetic tone of voice.

It opens with a spiral of sound, before Brown’s voice in sheer earnestness sings this balled of high and low tonal range. His words describe man’s many progressive inventions, achievements, good and bad, as when he subtly refers to slavery, material corruption, etc, with this line: “And you know that man made money, to buy another man.”

But in the song’s end Brown reaffirms the importance of simple romantic and family love with these worlds: “This is a man’s world, but it would be nothing, not one little thing, without a woman or a girl.” This unforgettable song ends with Brown’s voice echoing the sadness of a life without female company: “He’s lost in the wilderness and bitterness.”

Brown’s continual emphasis on sexual and romantic fun, and pleasant everyday social living, was not some macho stance, but a solution to many human problems which develop when we lose sight of basic human values.

James Brown’s songs as well as his sense of fashion and style were part of the cosmopolitan Mod Scene, with its emphasis on neatly tailored, bright close-fitting clothes, long hair, neat appropriately matching footwear. Brown’s pressed and styled hair was purely an artistic statement, related to the bohemian look and lifestyles of great composers like Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, etc; Brown asserted his right as a black artist to share equal values with great European musical artists.

Brown’s Mod style in clothes and hair, later came to influence the New Wave, Punk, and Funk-Rock of mod dance bands like Blondie, Billy Idol, Prince, etc. The Mod style emphasises a community of relaxed, non-racial, social and artistic values.

Brown’s music was a part of the Mod scene which emerged in Guyana since the 1960’s, when youths of all ethnic and mixed backgrounds refused to follow the segregated and belligerent ideas on race and class which some groups and individuals sought to foment in colonial and independent Guyana.

Brown’s powerful lyrics and his band’s music proved that the artistic work of blacks did not have to be relevant only to those of their race, but could transcend colour bars.

An intelligent, and egalitarian international Mod scene was inspired by songs by artists like Brown, who were not aggressive or bigoted, though they were often frankly free-spoken, as when Brown surprised many with “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud”. The Mod Scene was fostered by other songs and Bands like: “Groovin” by The Young Rascals, “Ferry Across the Mersey” by Gerry & The Pacemakers, “Hold On I’m Comin” by Sam & Dave, “Higher and Higher” by Jackie Wilson, “Uptight” by Stevie Wonder, “Midnight Hour”, “Mustang Sally”, and “Land of A 1000 Dances”, all by Wilson Pickett, “The In-Crowd” by Dobie Gary, “Don’t Let me be Misunderstood” by The Animals, “Blame It On The Bossa Nova” by Lesley Gore, “Baby Love” by The Supremes, “The Look of Love” by Dusty Springfield, “Jimmy Mack” by Martha & The Vandellas, even “Strangers In The Night” by Frank Sinatra, and many others of a similar relaxed and positive social sentiment. Also, we must never exclude those beautiful instrumental tunes by Booker T & the MGs”.

The key to the influence and effect of James Brown’s many songs lie in their brilliantly constructed musical form.

All great art is achieved through special and unusual form. Such form, as in contemporary painting, may simply be one colour applied, but for a reason, or what may be inscribed in that one colour.

Brown’s strict musical structures were ingenious methods of conveying precise tones, stops and starts, rhythms, and stylistic changes within a single tune. Listen to “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” and you can hear various stylish forms and rhythms in the same tune.

The music behind Brown pops like a huge bubblegum, it bounces in and out like hot sex, and Brown intends it so. In “I Got You” Brown expresses pure joy in this unforgettable early tune that is so simply yet complex musically; listen to the horns and rhythm section as Brown expresses a rich black and generous human appeal, with tonal lines like: “I feel nice, sugar and spice”, and “When I hold you in my arms, I know that I can do no wrong, and when I hold you in my arms, my love, won’t do you no harm”. The song ends with an amazing upbeat shout: “Hey! Such style was musical form of a new, relaxed, innovative excellence. That is the secret of Brown’s success.

One of Brown’s greatest tunes is “Cold Sweat”, where he also introduced the two-part tune, one with more words, the other more instrumental. Reggae would later follow this style with its sung and “Dub” versions of songs. But Brown’s “Cold Sweat”, especially Part 2, would cause those Mods of the Guyanese scene near the cinemas at Regent Street’s Beer parlours, and at house fetes, to get up and get down as a group, mainly male, as this was a song with a male topic, a male drive.

Brown’s “Cold Sweat” is pure artistry, tight and delicious. “Hot Pants” was another song which spoke to every girl in Guyana who rode their bikes and walked around town or sat at Cafes in tight shorts. I mean shorts, not those of today that cover the thighs. Strangely, in Guyana of the 60’s it was mostly creole Guyanese girls of European extraction who went pubic in such short “shorts”. “Sex Machine” signalled Brown’s ability to “stay on the scene like a rhythm machine.”

There was no live performer like James Brown. He moved like kinetic sculpture, his body movements acted out defeat and victory, weariness and rejuvenation; he acted out the will to live and enjoy life.

His professionalism was paramount; it is said that when he opened and closed his fist while performing, it meant inattentive band members had played a wrong note, and were to receive a deduction of five dollars each time from their pay cheque. Brown, like The Beatles, and The Animals, was a founder of the international Mod Scene, whose multi-racial members express solidarity and similarity in their fashion, social ease, and artistic interests. James Brown helped build a better world via music.

The Businessman and the Bush Rum hidden under his floorboards
Two Courts found Sanichar guilty of unlawful possession of spirits
CUSTOMS Bush Rum Squad removed the flooring of businessman Sanichar’s dining room, at Triumph, East Coast, Demerara, on January 31, 1961, where they found a quantity of bush rum.

Sanichar , who claimed the bush rum as his property was charged with unlawful possession of spirits, and was convicted by a magistrate.

Represented by Senior Counsel, Mr. E. V. Luckhoo , (who later became Chancellor of the Judiciary) Sanichar appealed the magistrate’s ruling, contending that he did not have a fair trial.

Appearing for the Crown was the then Crown Counsel, Mr. Mohammed Shahabuddeen (who later became Attorney General of Guyana).

The Full Court constituted by Justice Harold Bollers and Justice Guya Persaud upheld the magistrate’s ruling and dismissed the appeal brought by Sanichar.

The facts of the case disclosed that in the appellant’s (Sanichar) absence a number of bottles containing bush rum were found by customs officers under a floor board in his dining room. The room adjoined a grocery on the lower storey of a two-storeyed building.

A door leading to the room was kept open all day but was locked at nights. There was no evidence that persons other than the appellant and his family occupied the premises.

Three days later, and after it was decided to prosecute, another customs officer visited the premises and on this occasion the appellant admitted without having been cautioned that the rum was his.

On this evidence he was convicted of being in unlawful possession of spirits. On appeal it was contended on his behalf that any of the inmates could have placed the rum under the floor board and that in the absence of a caution his statement was inadmissible.

The Full Court held there was enough evidence to support a finding that the appellant was in possession of the rum. The statement was admissible in evidence.

The judgment of the Court disclosed that the appellant and his family occupied a two-storeyed building at Triumph, East Coast, Demerara. He used the top storey as his living quarters, and a portion of the ground floor was devoted to the operation of a grocery and parlour.

There was a room contiguous with and behind the grocery and connected to a kitchen by means of a passageway; a door opens from the room on to the passageway.

he evidence is that the appellant and his family used the room as a dining room, and when the officers of the Customs and Excise Department visited the premises on January 31, 1961, they found in this room a tin of biscuits and about six dozen empty bottles.

Upon the removal of two boards of the floor in this room five large bottles and 9 half bottles containing liquid and labelled “D’Aguiar’s XM Rum were found.

The officers thereupon informed the appellant’s daughter, the sole occupant of the shop present at that time , that the appellant would be prosecuted.

The Government Analyst had certified that the 17 bottles all contained rum of varying strength and totalling approximately 266 fluid ounces ; 20 fluid ounces are equivalent to one pint.

As a result the appellant was charged for the unlawful possession of spirits, contrary to section 89 (1) of the Spirits Ordinance, Chapter 319. The appellant was convicted , and it is against this conviction that the appeal is now brought, the judgment explained.

The appellant’s case was that he was never in possession of the rum, and on this appeal two main points arise from discussion.

The first is that there was not sufficient evidence before the magistrate on which he could have found possession in the appellant, and secondly that the evidence to the effect that the appellant had, on one occasion when another Customs Officer had visited the premises some three days after the date of the alleged offence, admitted without being cautioned, that the rum was his, ought not to have been received on the ground that it was a statement made without the necessary caution having been given.

There can be no question but that the rum was found on the premises of the appellant, and secreted under the floor of a room occupied by the appellant, the Full Court had said.

After rejecting a number of submissions by Appellant’s counsel, the Full Court had said “we are of the view tht the magistrate has before him enough evidence upon which he could have found that the appellant was in possession of the rum.”

Dealing with the second submission, the judgment added that “if the evidence of the appellant’s admission that the rum belonged to him was legally admissible, we are clearly of the opinion that this would have satisfied the ‘mental element’ referred to in Meerza v. Harding.

“The evidence is that no caution had been administered before the alleged admission, and the submission is that the Customs Officers having previously made up their minds to prosecute the appellant, should have cautioned him before making any enquires of him, and as a result, the answer given by the appellant three days after the seizure of the rum was inadmissible.”

Counsel further submitted, according to the judgment, that the answer was elicited – if indeed it was elicited – as a result of a trap.

Continuing its judgment, the Full Court explained that “it has long been established as a positive rule of English Criminal Law, that no statement by an accused is admissible in evidence against him unless it is shown by the prosecution to have been a voluntary statement, in the sense that it had not been obtained from him either by fear of prejudice or hope of advantage, exercised or held out by a person in authority.

“The point of that passage is that the statement must be a voluntary statement, any statement which has been extorted by fear of prejudice or induced by hope of advantage held out by a person in authority is not admissible.

“As Lord Sumner points out, logically these considerations go to the value of the statement rather than to the admissibiity. The question as to whether a person has been duly cautioned before the statement was made is one of the circumstances that must be taken into consideration, but this is a circumstance that a judge should exercise his discretion.

“It cannot be said as a matter of law that the absence of a caution makes the statement inadmissible; it may tend to show that the person was not upon his guard as to the importance of what he was saying or as to the bearing upon some change of which he has not been informed.”

“The mere fact that a statement is made in answer to a question put by a police constable is not in itself sufficient to make the statement inadmissible in Law”, the Full Court asserted as it dismissed the appeal and affirmed the conviction and sentence by the magistrate.

Blood Diamond for Sidewalk Tuesday
THE Sidewalk Film Club is inviting the public to a free screening of Blood Diamond at Sidewalk Cafe this Tuesday.

Set against the backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990's Sierra Leone, Blood Diamond is the story of Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) - an ex Mercenary from Zimbabwe - and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) – a Mende fisherman.

Both men are African, but their histories as different as any can be, until their fates become joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives.

While in prison for smuggling, Archer learns that Solomon - who was taken from his family and forced to work in the diamond fields - has found and hidden the extraordinary rough stone.

With the help of Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist whose idealism is tempered by a deepening connection with Archer, the two men embark on a trek through rebel territory, a journey that could save Solomon's family and give Archer the second chance he thought he would never have.

The movie begins at 19:30 h.

Other films for March have been proposed by the Francois Xavier Bagnoud Center-Guyana Care and Treatment Network; and SASOD.

The club is open to suggestions for documentaries, features and other films which could be screened later in the year.

THINGS YOUR GIRL SHOULD NOT KNOW
By Sherry Dixon
I am not discriminating this week.
Men are complaining that I am always giving advice to women and not to them. So here goes – something for you guys. Woman often tell themselves that they need to keep some secrets from their men. Well, the inverse is true as well. There are certain things that your woman should never find out about you.

For instance, she doesn't need to know about the hot girl who works at your office, and you don't want her to know that you cried for a week after your ex dumped you flat.

After all, you always need to maintain some leverage in your relationship. And as soon as your lady has all the goods on you, the power distribution will have shifted dramatically. Furthermore, keeping some information to yourself might help keep her honest, and it saves you from the risk of public embarrassment.

Here are the top 10 things your girl/woman should never know about you. Keep this valuable info to yourself, but remember this: If your woman can potentially find out about any of the following from another source, you might as well give it up right now.

If she discovers any ofyour little secrets by means of an alternate party, you'll have to deal with her screams over both the information in question and the fact that you tried to cover it up.

Your conquest count
Look, you know how many women you've bagged and it's probable that some of your friends do, too. But that's where this circle of info should close. It's not necessary to give your current lover a running tally of conquests. Sure, you both want to be safe when it comes to sex. And I encourage you to get yourself tested to prove to both her and yourself that you're clean (of course, she should do the same).

But there's no need to divulge numbers -- doing so will upset her and put you at risk of spending the night alone.

Your income
As a relationship progresses, it is natural that a couple come to grow familiar with each other's finances. But in the early stages of dating, there is a very sound and reasonable argument for playing your personal monetary value close to the vest. Two words: gold diggers. You could have the bank account of Donald Trump or the debts of Mike Tyson; either way, she shouldn't know. Let her dig you for you first.

Then, if you're flush, you can buy her the stuff she likes and such. And if you're broke, she'll either ditch you because you don't buy her stuff, or she'll prove that she's of a worthy character by sticking with you. So keep your Benjamins to yourself.

The location of your porn stash
Guys like porn. A lot of chicks do, too. There's no sense, however, in mixing up your fantasy world with the real one.

As soon as your lady gets wind that you have a porn stash, there's a good chance that she'll be crying about how she has to compete with Jenna Jameson or Nia Long whenever she sleeps with you.

And man, you do not need that kind of stress every time you want to get it on. Worse yet, she could get all crazy and throw out your collection when you aren't looking. Protect your porn, and keep it under wraps.

Your weaknesses
Maybe you cry during insurance commercials, or maybe you aren't really as self-confident as you make yourself out to be in public. These frailties don't matter - as long as she never finds out about them. If she does, she'll start making all sorts of "cute" jokes at your expense. Or the revelation that her man isn't quite the man that she thought he was will put her off of you entirely.

Be strong and keep your weaknesses undercover no matter what they say about men should show their feminine side. To hell with that!

Your strip club experiences
Do you like going to peeler bar? Enjoy watching the ladies dance around erotically for your pleasure? Want to maintain the strip club as an open option for an evening's entertainment?

Then do not tell your woman that you go there. Don't even concede that you used to go regularly. She'll want to know why you like it, and how much you spend on "tips" for the girls. Even those women who claim to have no problems with strip clubs will somehow twist this habit of yours to their advantage. Simply put, this is a conversational road you do not want to go down.

Your weirder fantasies
Certain fantasies should be shared and enjoyed together. But you may be into freaky stuff that she just wouldn't understand. Maybe your sexual fantasies involve garden tools or shellfish, and you're just not sure if your lady will appreciate them. Well, there's a good chance that she won't. There are certain daydreams that you and your imagination should take care of on your own, and that you shouldn't divulge to your lady.

Once she knows what dark thoughts are running through your head, she may head for the door faster than you can say "gimp."

Your masturbation frequency
Women know that guys masturbate. It's a fact of life. But your woman doesn't need to know the frequency, duration and tools that you use to get off - it might just pique her curiosity. A guy wants to be alone when he's playing with himself, and you don't need her trying to sneak up on you when you're having some "personal time."

Your ex-girlfriend memorabilia
You might have kept naked pictures of your exes. Maybe you've stashed away their love letters or their panties. Heck, you may have a whole database of their names and personal info printed up on an Excel spreadsheet.

Whatever the case, never let your current squeeze find out about your memorabilia. Even if she's willing to leave the past in thepast, you can bet that she won't balk at dropping their names as ammo in future fights.

For example: "I see then. I guess Melissa would have never done that, would she?" Get the picture? Besides, these are your private memories - your new girl just doesn't need to know.

Your embarrassing moments
We've all had them. And I'm not just talking about light embarrassment, like farting in public or getting caught in a Freudian slip. I'm talking about severe, crippling embarrassment, on the scale of soiling the sheets or having an ex post an indecent picture of you online. If you've suffered this kind of monstrous humiliation, she

should not get a whiff of it. The idea of it and the accompanying visual will surely blow your cool factor right out of the water, and leave your woman killing herself with laughter.

It's not the best way to remain slick, and there's a good chance that she'll never look at you in the same light again. You've already lost your pride once over the incident; there's no need to relive the experience.

Your cheating past
Maybe you were just a conniving player back in the day. Or you might have had complicated issues with an ex that drove you into the arms of another woman. No matter what the reasons, no matter how strong your determination is to mend your ways and get a clean start with someone new, your cheating past is something that you never want to reveal to your lady.

She'll automatically think that you're looking to score behind her back every chance you get, and you'll never get a fair shake from her again.

The dirt on your buds
Never dish the dirt about your buddies to your woman. What constitutes dirt? Well, think of it this way: Never tell your girls things about your pals that they wouldn't reveal to their own ladies – for instance, the 10 things listed above. There are a couple of very good reasons underlying this.

The first is that finking them out is a serious violation of the guy code. The second is that you don't want to implicate yourself by association: If you're always going on about how much time your buddy Dave spends at the peelers, she'll start to wonder how much time you spend there with him. Be a man, cover for your brothers and you'll cover for yourself.

Now that you know what information you should keep well-hidden from your woman, you'll always look cool and strong for the ladies. Just
remember; loose lips sink ships.

The dangers of drug abuse in dental patients
By Dr. Bertrand R. Stuart, DDS
EVERYONE is affected by the stress of modern life and in the quest for respite, ironically, uncontrolled self meditation in all forms is practiced which sometimes leads to serious situations.

Occasionally, dental personnel prescribe medications for their patients unnecessarily, an act which in itself constitutes drug abuse. While all drugs produce undesirable side effects cognizance must also be given to the various conditions derived from the use of certain drugs.

Up to eight grams (one third of an ounce) of sugar is added to every two teaspoons of some liquid forms of medication in order to preserve the product and conceal an unpleasant taste. If taken several times a day, the last intake often at bedtime and perhaps kept in the mouth for a minute or two before being swallowed, the effect on the teeth will rapidly be catastrophic in the form of decay. Therefore, without quite realizing it cough syrup, etc. can cause dental caries in persons who do not adhere to the rules of oral health.

Aspirin is probably the most frequently used drug. Indeed, it is widely to be capable of preventing chronic heart disease if taken consistently, and also promoted as the best medicine for arthritis. However, a daily intake of two to three aspirins results in five milliliters (one teaspoon) of blood being lost in the faeces every 24 hours due to the erosion effect on the protective mucosal barrier of the stomach.

If this continues for some time without dietary supplementation of iron, the person may eventually develop iron deficiency anemia, the symptoms of which can include a smooth tongue surface, tenderness in the oral cavity, pain when swallowing, tiredness and shortness of breath. Hookworm infestation may present identical symptoms. Because the oral symptoms predominate, it is likely that the dentist will be the first to diagnose the problem, especially in postmenopausal women.

Every patient currently on systemic corticosteroid medication should be covered with an extra dose of steroid on the day he visits the dentist. If this is not done, the stressful experience could trigger an adrenal insufficiency syndrome with a sudden fall in blood pressure, leading to severe shock and even death.

It is estimated that the risk of an allergic reaction in asthmatic patients is five to 10 times higher than in normal patients. They are especially prone to react allergically if treated with penicillin or aspirin. Aplastic anemia is a serious and sometime fatal complication of the use of drugs that can depress the bone marrow, resulting in an arrest of the production of red and white blood cells and platelets. One of the first symptoms in this condition is spontaneous bleeding of the gums with oral sores in a very pale patient.

Among the drugs known to induce bone marrow depression are chloramphenicol and phenylbutazone commonly known used to treat typhoid and arthritis respectively. Patients suffering from grand mal epilepsy (the type with convulsions) usually take hydantoin sodium. This drug causes the gums to swell which may ultimately cover most of the crowns of the teeth.

It is advisable that before dental treatment these persons should have pre-medication with sedatives such as diazepam or oxazepam.

Chlorhexidine is a widely used, very effective disinfectant in the mouth. The recommended concentration routine use is 0.2%. It is well known that Chlorhexidine can cause discoloration of the teeth and tongue while inducing taste disturbances.

Consequently; as an important participant in the treatment process, the danger of potential drugs must never be underestimated.

Facing Fear
HELLO,
Adult child of an alcoholic here.  I still don’t know what to do with my life.  I don’t take any risks.  I live in television, movies, and books.  Is there a career in that or is that just escapism?

I have big dreams and then talk myself down.   Example: What if I wrote a novel, and it gets published?  What if someone starts to stalk me?  Or sues me?  Or someone from my past writes something about me in a tabloid?  I don’t start anything so I can’t finish anything.  I know there is more but am so afraid.
Becky

Becky, Wayne often says he admires the amoeba, a tiny creature with only one cell.  If you watch an amoeba through a microscope, you will see a creature which moves toward what it needs and recoils from what it doesn’t.  Life is no more complicated than that. 

People with good parents and favorable circumstances build from a center of encouragement, and they have a place to fall back to.  People whose development was thwarted cannot change until they are freed from their negative conditioning.

To cope with things like alcoholism or abuse they developed certain patterns of thought and behavior.  These patterns are the normal operation of a mind recoiling from a bad situation, and unfortunately, they can’t be changed by will power alone.  These patterns include such mental habits as reliving bad memories, physical habits like holding tension in the muscles, and emotional habits like dwelling on fears.

Last week we offered three techniques to break these patterns.  The mind can be freed through simple exercises focusing on the breath; books on mindfulness, relaxation, and meditation explain such techniques.  The body can be freed through simple stretching and flexibility exercises, like the warm-ups people do before a sport, or the exercises taught in a beginning yoga class.

Two weeks ago Tamara made a comparison to a block of ice.  We cannot change its shape with will power, but if we restore the ice to its original form—water—we can refreeze it into almost any shape we desire.  If we restore the mind and body to their original state, we can break our negative conditioning and transform our lives.

What you need to do is recondition your mind, recondition your body, and understand what you are capable of by seeing what others are capable of.  That is why we mentioned a third technique: look for good role models.   They can show you how to live.   Seek out highly functioning people the way ancient navigators sought the pole star.

Lastly, we want to address your fears.  The fears you have today are no more than the fears you had as a child in slightly different form.  As a child you worried about why daddy was drunk and why mommy lied for daddy.  As an adult you torture yourself with fears about being sued or being trashed by a tabloid.  When you dissolve your negative conditioning, those fears will also dissolve.

Can you publish a novel?  Perhaps. But often the desire to write or paint or live in the country is simply a placeholder.  It stands for something else.  It stands for the desire to uncork the bottle; it stands for the desire to release the energy trapped in negative patterns.  Until you begin to change you won’t know what your desire to write is really about.

What we are suggesting is very, very simple.   It does not preclude using any other means, like counseling or support groups, to help you change.  But people who follow this path look back after a period of years and feel their life was guided by an unseen hand.   That unseen hand is the natural unfolding of their potential as a human being. 

Like the amoeba, which can change its form to adapt to circumstances, you can change in ways you cannot now imagine.
Wayne & Tamara

Authors and columnists Wayne and Tamara Mitchell can be reached at www.WayneAndTamara.com.

Send letters to: Direct Answers, PO Box 964, Springfield, MO 65801 or email: DirectAnswers@WayneAndTamara.com.

The Environmental Protection Regulations 2000
Air Quality Management, Part 1
LAST week we looked at the Environmental Protection (Noise Management) Regulations (2000).

This is one in a set of FIVE Environmental Protection Regulations developed under the Environmental Protection Act (1996).

This week we examine the Environmental Protection (Air Quality) Regulations (2000), another one in the set of FIVE Environmental Protection Regulations. The Air Quality Regulations is a tool used by the EPA to manage the amount of air pollutants emitted into the atmosphere.

These Regulations allow the EPA to determine and establish the allowable level of atmospheric pollutants that can be emitted. The allowable amounts and concentrations of pollutants are not expected to affect the health of plants, animals and humans.

Air Contaminants – Impacts and Sources
Solid Particles
Dust, fumes, mist and smoke all contain solid particles. Lead present in smoke and exhaust fumes is of major concern as are nickel and arsenic. When inhaled, these particles, lodge in the lung tissues and may cause respiratory problems. Solid particles also create eye and skin irritations.

Sulphuric Acid
Sulphuric acid is a very corrosive substance. It is formed when sulphur burns air to form a gas which dissolves rapidly in water vapour. Much of the sulphuric acid in the air is formed from the burning of coal, oil, and gas. Persons can be exposed to sulphuric acid in the work place in industries which produce chemicals, detergent, soap, fertilizer, and lead acid batteries.

Fluoride Compounds
Fluoride emissions are produced by industries that manufacture aluminium, steel, glass, phosphate fertilizers, ceramics, bricks and clay products as well as the burning of coal. Excessive fluoride is unhealthy for livestock. It accumulates in the bones of animals and causes deformities and other damage.

Hydrogen Chloride
Volcanoes are a natural source of hydrogen chloride. The burning of fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel also produces hydrogen chloride. Open burning of plastics also emits of hydrogen chloride. Hydrogen chloride dissolves to form hydrochloric acid which is corrosive and can be detrimental to human health.

Chlorine
Fertilizers, cleaning agents, PVC pipes all contain chlorine compounds. Chlorine is corrosive and when released e.g. by burning of PVC it can have hazardous effects on human health. Some studies have associated chlorine with growth retardation in babies and reduced sperm count in men. The severe short and long term impact of chlorine pollution is that it is respiratory irritant.

Hydrogen Sulphide
Hydrogen sulphide is a smelly gas that is emitted from decaying matter such as sewage, dead animals etc. In high concentration, this gas is poisonous.

Nitric Acid
Nitrogen combines with oxygen to form oxides of nitrogen. These gases dissolve in moisture to form nitric acid. Nitrogen oxides are produced naturally by bacteria in the process of decay. They are also formed in volcanic action, and by lightning. Man-made emissions are mainly due to burning of fossil fuel. The gas is also emitted from welding processes and in the use of explosives. Nitrogen oxides are respiratory irritants and are harmful to humans and vegetation.

Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide is created whenever a fuel such as wood, gasoline, coal, natural gas, kerosene, etc. is burning. When inhaled, it can affect organs such as the brain and heart. It also affects the process of growth and development in babies. It can also affect our concentration, slow our reflexes, and make us confused and sleepy.

The air we breathe is precious, save it from impurities! Do join us next week were we will look at the Environmental Protection (Air Quality Regulations) 2000, Part 2.

You can also share your ideas and questions by sending your letters to: “Our Environment”, C/o EIT Division. Environmental Protection Agency, IAST Building, Turkeyen, UG Campus, GREATER GEORGETOWN. Or email us at eit.epaguyana@yahoo.com with questions and comments.