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‘Corbin is living in a dream world’
-- President Jagdeo slams Opposition Leader on protests, scrutineers money
By Neil Marks
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday slammed Opposition Leader Mr. Robert Corbin, saying some $100M which should have gone exclusively to paying registration scrutineers is being used to engineer his party’s anti-government protests under the cloud of rising food prices.

The President said Corbin’s party was engaging in organised “thuggery” to get persons to join his protest in the city, saying some scrutineers who were supposed to be out in the field observing the house-to-house registration process were told to join the protest or risk not getting their payment.

Mr. Jagdeo is defending the measures he announced Wednesday to ease the cost of living, saying the measures were agreed to after countrywide consultations and were “fairly decent” given the country’s “tight” financial position.

“Clearly, he (Corbin) is living in a dream world,” Mr. Jagdeo charged at a news conference, saying Corbin is trying to make the rising cost of living a national problem when it is beyond the control of Guyana. Mr. Jagdeo said that 36 countries of the world have registered serious concern about rising food prices, and the United Nations has just launched a US$500M appeal for its World Food Programme to feed the world’s hungry.

Mr. Jagdeo said that a “sloppy process” led to the money being transferred en bloc to the party instead of monthly payments going to the scrutineers individually. The President is accusing the PNCR of crafting a list of fictitious names to collect money as scrutineers, while some of the scrutineers have not been receiving the full payment.

Mr. Jagdeo said the money is being misused to mobilise the protests in Georgetown, saying the government has “very reliable” information that the party hired buses to transport the protestors. The President said he has no problems with protests, but the PNCR has been bullying people unto the streets while some are being paid.

The Ministry of Finance has ceased releasing further funds to the PNCR until it accounts for the money which was released in the last four months.

“They will have to account for every cent,” Mr. Jagdeo stated.

The President said the solution to the rising cost of food lies outside of Guyana.

&Corbin can go and shout all the time on the streets…(He) has suddenly woken up…They (Corbin and the PNCR) only know the language of the street,” Mr. Jagdeo charged.

He said it was the height of arrogance (for Corbin) to think the lawless protest induced the President to announce the measures on Wednesday. He said the announcement came on the heels of the announcement by the National Milling Company (NAMILCO) that it was increasing the price for flour that day. The government is subsidising the price increases 22 bakeries - which control 95% of the market for bread, pastries and biscuits – would have had to pay. The measures extend for four months.

The government announced a five percent increase in salaries for government workers plus an additional $4,000 tax-free allowance for those with salaries below $50,000.

In addition, the government also bought 200,000 one-kilogramme packets of flour for sale (minus the price increase) to vulnerable groups. This sale is being done by the New Guyana Marketing Corporation.

He said these “transitional measures” for flour, costing the treasury $200M, are temporary, as there are indications of a possible stabilising and even partial reversal in the price of wheat on the world market in coming months, with some analysts suggesting price declines within four months.

Mr. Jagdeo also announced that under the "Grow More" food campaign, which promotes increased production by commercial and subsistence farmers, chemicals and fertilisers, along with some 600,000 packages of vegetable seeds, will be distributed across all ten regions of Guyana at a cost of approximately $20M.

Food prices have been increasing on a daily basis and by the end of April 2008, in less than a year, the price of wheat had risen by 130%, soya by 87% and rice by 74%. Record oil prices have increased the cost of agricultural production by boosting the cost of fertilizer and pesticides, mechanized cultivation and transport of inputs to production and processing centres and outputs to markets. Fuel has gone from below US$30 a barrel to over US$126 a barrel, in less than two years.

Increased demand for food and changes in eating habits has also spiked food prices. Rapid economic growth in many developing countries, especially India and China, and excessive consumption patterns by some developed societies, have increased consumers' purchasing power, generated rising demand for food, and shifted food demand away from traditional staples towards higher-value foods like meat and milk.

On average, it takes 7 to 8 units of grain to produce one unit of beef, so that as significant portions of the Indian and Chinese populations are now consuming more meat, this has resulted in tremendous increases in demand for grains.  The acreage ratio to grow primary consumption grains vs. feedstock for livestock has resulted in less grains being available for direct food.

In addition, with oil prices at an all-time high and the U.S. government subsidizing farmers to grow crops for energy, U.S. farmers have massively shifted their cultivation toward biofuel feed stocks, especially maize, often at the expense of soybean and wheat cultivation.

About 30% of U.S. maize production will go into ethanol in 2008 rather than into world food and feed markets.  Even though this perverse policy is not even motivated by sensible energy balances; it has wreaked havoc on the world supply of carbohydrate staples. The increased demand for maize for ethanol, in addition to supplanting food acreage, has also resulted in increased demand for wheat and rice, as consumer patterns shifted to these other carbohydrate sources.

Climate change and speculative capital have also played a significant role in the rise of food prices. Severe drought in Australia, one of the world's largest wheat producers, has decimated global wheat production, and the New Zealand Dairy Industry has also been severely affected by adverse weather conditions.  

DeSinco in Mother’s Day treat
AS part of the yearly celebration of Mother’s Day, DeSinco Trading on Sheriff Street yesterday honoured 80 mothers from around the Campbellville/Kitty community and customers by pampering them with a facial or a manicure.

According to the company’s Brand Manager, Ms Padma Prashad, the annual treat from DeSinco is done on the eve of Mother’s Day and is an initiative which was embarked upon four years ago as a way of giving back to their consumers.

The 80 mothers who were pampered were given a choice of a facial or a manicure and a gift bag chockfull with goodies for themselves.

Noting that the numbers keep growing with each passing year, Ms. Prashad said that last year’s event saw approximately 55 mothers being treated. She said she is confident that the response will be even greater next year.

Ms Prashad said DeSinco is exploring the idea of preparing something special for Father’s Day, so that fathers would not feel left out on their special day. (Nathalene DeFreitas)

Still as spry as ever
after 17 kids
By Shirley Thomas
FOR a woman who gave birth to 17 children, 14 of whom are alive, Jean Dalgetty does not look a day older than 65…if so much.

But in actual fact, she’s all of 77. Looking her usual chipper self, the winsome Bartician yesterday thanked God for showering her with His mercy and blessings as she recounted her more than 50 years odyssey in child rearing.

Born and raised at Bartica, Jean said she’d always dreamt of becoming a nurse -- helping to take care of the sick and of course, delivering babies.

But having gotten married at the tender age of 16, all thoughts of that would eventually fly out the window as she was delivering her own babies by the time she was 17. Within the first year of marriage, she had given birth to a bouncing baby girl. The baby was born in good health, and being her first, was pampered no end and wanted for nothing.

This was perhaps sufficient incentive to go for the second, who was born the following year. That was November ‘48. Her first four babies were girls, but both she and her husband longed for a boy, and so they naturally worked towards that. Thereafter, the babies came in rapid succession, she recalled. Some were one year apart; others two; but never three.

And so, for 25 long years, Jean continued to fulfill this labour of love. Unfortunately, by the time she was on her seventh child, the marriage ended in divorce.

A few years later, she entered into a second union, which was equally as prolific as the first and out of which came another 10 babies. In those days, she recalled, contraceptives were not as popular as they are today. Abortion was also out of the question for her, as it’s a thought she never entertained. She was 41, Jean said, when she gave birth to her last child. In all, she had ten girls and seven boys. Three of those boys would eventually die.

As for birthdays, on average there were about 19 in the home, but with such celebrations being costly, it was very rare that they had one. Of the lot, three persons had birthdays in January; one in March; four in April; two in July; one in August; one in September; three in October; and one each in November and December.

Of course,” Jean said, “it wasn’t easy providing for such a large family on one income.” Forced to seek employment outside of the home, she got herself a job as a cook.

She remembers her mother imploring her to give her two of the children so she could ease the burden, but she said it took her a long time before she agreed, for she always wanted all her children to grow up under one roof. Then her first husband insisted that he was going to take three of the kids to his parents, since he felt she needed the help. 𠇋ut I must thank God, they were all properly taken care of, and I have no regrets that their grandparents took them.”

What was really tough, she recalls, was having to take care of the household chores after she’d come home from a hard day’s work, tired and exhausted. Besides having to cook for about 12 to 15 persons daily, she also had to prepare school uniforms, and of course, plait and braid the girls’ hair which was a chore in itself. Since it would take her too long to do it in the mornings, she decided to do some at nights and tie them with head-ties so that next morning they would still be looking as neat as ever.

As for the preparation of the school uniforms, she remembers having to do them in the early days with a ‘flat iron’, which meant that she had to use a coal-pot which tended to generate a lot of heat. And, if she had any nappies to wash, she invariably had to do them even before her hands were properly cooled, since there were no baby pampers in those days, and no short-cuts to laundering baby’s clothing.

ȋut I was strong,” she said. “I got them fast, and by the ninth day I had to be back out at work.

She said she never got ‘lining-cold’ or anything of the sort; never troubled with sugar or high blood pressure; and was never diagnosed as having cervical cancer which they say is sometimes associated with giving birth to a lot of babies.

*nd as for my babies,” she boasted, “they too grew up healthy. I gave them a lot of plantain porridge and cornmeal. The younger ones were lucky to get in on baby formula – Lactogen, Klim, and Dancow milk.” By then, she said, the older children had matured considerably, and were able to lend a helping hand.

Of the 17 babies, all but one were delivered at the Bartica Hospital. One, however, was a ‘preemie’, she said, but with guidance from her mother and the midwife, she was able to see that baby safely through to maturity.

Looking back on her years of parenting, Jean said that even though she was not rich materially, she and her children shared and continue to share the blessings of God, and a home in which love abounds. She now lives with her 15th child, whose name is Dawn, on Hadfield Street, Lodge and feels very comfortable there. The others, she said, are always free to come visit her there, and whenever they do, they all have a really good time together.

ȁI pride myself as being a mother who’s always had an unconditional depth of love for my children. I gave them all an equal measure of love, and never showed that I had a preference for any one over the other,” Jean said.

She recalls one of the things that gave her courage and the will to keep on going, was that her children were very obedient to her, and seemed to understand that whenever she was firm with them, it was for their own good. “If ever I had to go out and told them to sit in the house and wait, whenever I returned they would be sitting just there”, she said with a sense of pride and satisfaction.

The gratified 77-year-old said, too, that in her home there was a rule of thumb that children had to have respect for parents and elders, and they grew up knowing that they had to be a band of children who looked out for each other as well.

She brought them up in the fear and love of the Lord, and likewise – taught them to be law abiding citizens, and to have respect for the laws of the land.

Even though Jean grew up as an Anglican, later, as she matured she became a member of the Elim Pentecostal Church and continues to fellowship there.

Asked what might have been her major regret during her years of parenting, and had she a chance, how would she do it better, she stated with conviction: “The one thing I am really sorry about, was the decision I eventually made to leave my children for a while and travel to Georgetown to seek a job that paid me better.” She said that even though no harm came to them during that period, her heart bled almost daily to look around and not see them by her side. 𠇋ut I communicated with them regularly by letter, and saw that their needs were met, until we could have been re-united once more,” she said.

Today, Jean Dalgetty has 82 grands; 50 great-grands and one great- great-grand. We at the Sunday Chronicle take our hats off to her.

The sack for CANU officers who fail lie detector test
- President Jagdeo
By Neil Marks
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday announced that officers of the Customs Anti- Narcotics Unit who fail the polygraph (lie detector) test will be sacked this week.

He made the announcement at a press conference yesterday at his State House residence, on Main Street in the city.

The President had said on Wednesday that all members of the CANU were to undergo the polygraph test as the government moves to ensure it has a unit it can depend on to fight drug traffickers, and that the results of that test would decide the future of those ranks of the Unit.

“We have to ensure that the people who we have are people of integrity; the best known method to test for integrity is to polygraph,” Mr. Jagdeo said.

The government has contracted a US firm to conduct the polygraph tests.

The International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) of the US has cited Guyana as being a transit point for cocaine destined for North America, Europe, and the Caribbean, but not in quantities sufficient to impact the US market.

In 2007, domestic seizures of cocaine were three times higher than the previous year due to improved counter-narcotics measures at the working level, although all but one of these seizures was minor in scale.

The Government of Guyana (GOG) laid the groundwork for an enhanced security sector by agreeing to a reform programme sponsored by the British Government.

Guyana is a transit country for cocaine and, to a lesser degree, marijuana.

The report said that Guyana’s vast expanse of unpopulated forest and savannahs offers ample cover for drug traffickers and smugglers.

In 2007, the GOG signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Great Britain to implement a US$5 million, multi-year programme for reform of the security sector, which includes enhancing the investigative capacity of law enforcement agencies.

GPSU call for 25 per cent pay hike unrealistic
– President Jagdeo 
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo says the call by the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) for a 25 per cent pay hike for public servants is unrealistic, given the country’s financial position.

In light of the high cost for food on the international market which has impacted negatively on many Caribbean countries including Guyana, President Jagdeo last Wednesday announced a 5 percent salary hike for public servants, a temporary $4,000 non-taxable payment per month for those earning under $50,000 monthly, and an initiative to keep bread prices from rising.

The President said that when one examines the $4,000 tax-free allowance and adds it on to the 5 per cent across-the board increase, the figure is quite substantive.

“GPSU knows that it’s not realistic, especially in light of the state of our finances and in light of them trying to protect corrupt people at Customs too,” the President said, adding: “If you look at what $4,000 tax free is to a person earning $30,000 a month, that is over 15 per cent. If you gross it up and calculate it as a percentage of $30,000, that is over 15 per cent and plus the 5 per cent salary increase. That is 20 per cent at the bottom.”

He posited that his government has done a lot to assist the ordinary people who are affected by this food issue, which is a global one.

“We have made a big effort to address this in spite of our tight fiscal situation, because we had to spend a ton of money subsidising water and electricity. We had lost a ton of money basically subsidising fuel. So, in light of all of these things, we have made a significant effort to address the people at the bottom and then also the support for some commodities and the removal of the VAT on quite a few items.”

As part of the effort to cushion the effects of the recent increase in the price of flour, the Government will subsidise for the next four months the additional cost for the commodity at 22 pre-approved bakeries, which the President said produce 95 per cent of Guyana’s bakery products.

Guyana, like many other countries, has in recent times been experiencing an increase in prices for some commodities locally which is largely due to price increases on the world market.

Just Friday, oil jumped to a record US$126 per barrel, extending gains to more than 11 per cent, since the start of the month, on fuel supply concerns and a rush of speculator buying. (GINA)
NEWS

Positive response to food assistance exercise 
THE ongoing sale of subsidised flour at various locations countrywide as part of the Government’s interventions to cushion the impact of the rising cost of food for Guyanese is progressing smoothly with positive response from consumers.

Earlier in the week, President Bharrat Jagdeo announced several additional measures to help citizens, particularly those deemed vulnerable, to deal with the current food price situation.

According to a release from the Government Information Agency (GINA), these measures include an arrangement with several bakeries to prevent the increasing cost of wheat from passing on to consumers and the sale of flour at the old price through a distribution exercise being conducted by the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC).

Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Robert Persaud, yesterday witnessed the distribution exercise in the Diamond/Grove area on the East Bank Demerara, where it was observed that the initiative is receiving significant responses. The exercise was being conducted from a vehicle at the entrance of the Diamond New Scheme

Minister Persaud explained that the initiative is a temporary arrangement that seeks to reach out to those most vulnerable and represents a significant investment by the Government. It is estimated that approximately $1.8M is being invested to carry out the exercise, taking into account the cost of transportation and staff along with supplies.

The exercise is targeting distribution of close to 150, 000 of the one kilogramme packets in areas in Georgetown, on the East and West Bank Demerara, East and West Coast Demerara, and in Berbice, Linden and Essequibo. To guard against the resale of flour, only two packets are allowed each consumer.

Beneficiaries from the East Bank Demerara expressed satisfaction with the interventions being made by Government particularly since the price increases are caused by global factors.   

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, one consumer said: “This is helping out the poor people a lot and I am thankful to the government for this initiative.”

Another, who resides in the Diamond New Scheme area said: “This is wonderful…from what I know, the way the economy is going, it is not just that everything is left to the government…it is just world prices that dictate how things go right and there is a demand right for food.

&…it is not the government fault, but it is nice to see they can do something to alleviate the suffering of the average working man and the government is taking the initiative to bring ease and that is wonderful,” the resident noted.

Another customer also noted that the people in the community regard the step taken by the government as a good idea which can help ease on the pocket.

&This initiative is very good and it is helping out a lot of people and people are depending on it…up to this morning there was a big crowd here,” the resident observed.

Earlier this year, a similar exercise was initiated for rice supplies and this is continuing through the GMC.

Some of the Government’s earlier interventions to help citizens deal with the current food price situation included the removal of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on basic food items, zero-rating the Excise Tax on diesel, and reducing the price on gasoline.

There has been strict monitoring of rice to ensure an adequate supply for the local market and non-restriction on the importation of flour to stabilise prices and attract quality flour in the domestic market.

In addition, a Ministerial Task Force chaired by Minister Persaud has been established to further analyse the effects of the rising cost for fuel on the international market.   

The ‘Grow More’ campaign is another effort to ease the rising cost of food and encourages farmers to increase crop cultivation and livestock rearing to ensure adequate food supplies for themselves and the country and to help satisfy the demand in the Caribbean Region and internationally.

One of the new measures recently announced is the distribution of approximately 600, 000 packets of seeds and planting materials to support increased agricultural activities countrywide.
EDITORIAL

RECKLESSNESS NOT AN ALTERNATIVE
WITH FAMILIES across this nation struggling to cope with the rising cost of living that has so much to do with external factors beyond the control of ANY government of our Caribbean Community, it is quite sad to note how intellectual bankruptcy has driven the opposition PNCR to resort to its old habit of disorderly street politics.

Now bereft of the skills and experience of shunned comrades who could have provided better judgement at this time of escalating oil prices and rising costs of consumer commodities, the PNCR has turned to anti-government protest marches aimed at forcing a reduction in the cost of living. But apart from empty slogans and political abuse, it is yet to offer sensible alternative remedies.

The party's march on Thursday was planned to coincide with a meeting of Parliament arranged to discuss the cost of living situation. That protest featured violations of the routes approved by the police and involved supporters setting afire an effigy of President Bharrat Jagdeo and the burning of a coffin labelled VAT.

Is the PNCR aware of the existence of VAT in other CARICOM states and the occasional adjustments being made as happening in Guyana? VAT has emerged as an enlightened mechanism for revenue earning to bolster social and economic development.

Burying VAT, as the burning coffin image suggested, is simply a reflection of the level of intellectual bankruptcy of a party that remains deeply attracted to the use of a divisive weapon in our society. Yet it pretends to be surprised when rejected at free and fair elections.

Just the day before the disorderly march, President Jagdeo announced a new set of measures to cushion the effects of the rising cost of living, including a five percent across-the-board pay increase for public servants and a $4,000 non-taxable payment per month for those with a monthly income of below $50,000.

Additionally, steps were taken to curb rising prices on bread and involve the Guyana Marketing Corporation in a new outreach programme in making available consumer commodities at stable prices, including wheat flour.

The President also met with representatives of public transport associations that resulted in an agreement to avoid increasing fares at this time. The associations' representatives have, by so doing, demonstrated their own willingness to cooperate at this challenging period. 

The planned meeting of Parliament, which would have offered the opportunity for a full-scale debate on the cost of living problems, including the positive and deficit factors in the government's policies and programmes, had to be postponed to a later date since the PNCR chose street politics in preference to making known what alternative initiatives it has to offer.

Beating pots and pans, screaming, tearing down police barriers, and sending coded messages with hostile chants and the burning of an effigy of President Jagdeo and a coffin labelled VAT, may be easy for the PNCR. It is, after all, a party with a history of extra-parliamentary behaviour, to say the least, rooted in a culture of disrespect for the rule of law. 

That kind of politics is the PNCR's escape route from coming forward with alternative proposals, in or out of parliament, or engaging in rationale discussions with stakeholders, other than elements in a section of the labour movement who are more concerned with preserving their personal interest as they make irresponsible demands.

Where in CARICOM, but in Guyana, has an opposition party, the PNCR, found it necessary to organise anti-government protests under the guise of seeking to champion the public's concerns over rising food prices and general cost of living?

If that opposition also has, as exposed last week, access to funds said to have been disbursed in good faith for payment of legitimate scrutineers for registration of voters for the next Local Government elections, then all the merrier for the PNCR's strategy in mobilising protests consistent with its old politricks. 

The jury, however, remains out on the allegation by the government of failure by the PNCR to report on expenditure of some $100 million received for scrutineers for registration of voters, a charge the party has firmly denied but a matter which the Auditor General's office is to conduct. 

For its part, the Guyana Police Force has made clear its objections to what transpired as a PNCR "protest march" against the cost of living situation when protesters engaged in evidently orchestrated unlawful behaviour. The police kept their cool in the face of acts of provocation, but have telegraphed their message for maintenance of law and order.

The PNCR leader, however, needs to carefully reflect on the implications of current anti-government demonstrations with a view to bolstering his declining stature. He should be mindful about competing for leadership in extra-parliamentary politics among those whose public utterances and letters in the media leave no doubt about their appetite for inflaming passions and creating dislocations in this country which the PPP/C has the Herculean task of rebuilding. 

The reconstruction process is very challenging after 28 years of one-party dictatorship; gross mismanagement; widespread poverty; social degradation and institutionalised discrimination and corruption. What Guyana needs is not a throw-back to the recklessness of the past.

Let the PNCR come up instead with a viable alternative strategy to cope with the cost of living burden that all nations of our Caribbean region are bearing in varying degrees.

Burying the VAT offers no solution. And it will not happen.
FEATURES

A Mother’s Work
By Keith Burrowes
AFTER a hiatus of a few weeks due to some necessary commitments, I have decided to write this week on a theme appropriate to today – Mother’s Day. The quote that prefaces this article was chosen for two reasons.

First, it illustrates the sort of sacrifice and love that is the hallmark of motherhood universally; mothers portray the level of self-sacrifice that fathers do not often match. One cannot begin to overestimate the value of a mother to a child’s, or even an adult’s, life. Mothers nurture, educate, and generally oversee the development of our society. Every single tribute today dedicated to the wonderful nature of mothers is necessary, and all the gifts which will be given are well-deserved.

Second, I chose the Tenneva Jordan’s quote above because it is a demonstration, however basic, of maternal management within the home.

“A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”
- Tenneva Jordan.
While I acknowledge the varying facets of motherhood that will be highlighted and celebrated today, I wish to focus in this column on an issue which goes largely unacknowledged and unappreciated.

A housewife’s work or, more often than not, a mother’s work in the home, is exactly what we have named it – home economics. Even if we were to give it a less glamorous label, like ‘housework’, for example, it is hard to escape from the fact that it is work.

Globally, in recent times, there has been an increasing impetus to recognise the work undertaken by stay-at-home mothers/women. Surprisingly, in researching this topic, I’ve discovered that the question of compensation for the work done by housewives has been an issue as far back as half a century ago, to say the least.

‘The Economic Contribution of Homemakers’, 1947 by Margaret Reid, dealt with the issue at hand. “Homemakers,” begins the article, “are here conceived of as women who assume a major responsibility for household tasks, and for this work receive no money wage.  Since there are many such women, this article is in substance a report on a major enterprise in our economy.”

Consider the following excerpt from a study done in Bangladesh last year and titled, ‘The Economic Contribution of Women in Bangladesh Through their Unpaid Labour’ -- “… even those women who have paid jobs must continue bearing responsibility for household work, with its many time consuming tasks. As a result, many women spend most of their time on housework.  Women also perform paid labour within their homes, such as taking in piece work or assisting in family productive activities, such as farm work, running a family business, etc. Typically, however, any work that receives little pay is considered unimportant and labelled as ‘women's work’, despite the fact that such work actually brings tangible economic benefits to the family. Since housework and childcare are unpaid and are carried out almost exclusively by women, they are considered to be without monetary value.” 

Here we have two studies published a significant time apart, in different parts of the world and the issues are essentially the same.  If it is generally acknowledged that housework contributes significantly to the economic well-being of societies the world over, how is it that no one has come up with a system for compensating women for the work they undertake in the home? 

Consider this – imagine if all the women who are stay-at-home moms or who engage in a significant amount of housework each day were suddenly transported to another planet.  Every single job that they undertook would either now have to be taken over by men, which would impact on male productivity, or, more importantly, some person (or alien creature) would have to be paid to do those very same activities.

So where does that leave us?  If it is that monetary compensation for housework is somehow impracticable, as critics of the idea would claim, how does one demonstrably show appreciation for the home economics outside of the Mother's Day food baskets and perfume sets?  This column doesn't allow, both in terms of space or scope, for that level of analysis but -- gauging from the fact that a workable solution has not presented in the 60 years since Ms Reid’s article -- I don’t think that these questions are going to be answered any time soon. Until society comes up with a way to start issuing cheques to those homemakers in our midst, all we can do is show our appreciation in the best ways we know how. Happy Mother’s Day!!

One day is not enough
By Sarada Singh
TODAY is Mother’s Day, a day in honour of mothers that is celebrated in countries throughout the world. In the United States, where celebrations in its modern form originated, it is observed on the second Sunday in May. Many other countries also celebrate the holiday on this date, while some mark the observance at other times of the year.

Although a holiday honouring mothers is certainly in order, one day out of the entire year falls extremely short and can never make up for the years of affection, nurturing, support, and love that mothers give to their children on a daily basis throughout their lives. Technically speaking, we would not have had a world had it not been for dads as well, but seeing that the day does not belong to them, we have no choice but to leave them out of the equation just this once.

On this day, hundreds of millions of sons and daughters the world over will thank their moms for all the love and support they've provided over the years. It remains one of the most popular holidays in many countries; more telephone calls are made on the second Sunday of May than on any other day of the year, and greeting card companies, florists, and other gift-related retailers will do brisk business today.

In Guyana, the story is no different. There is a big euphoria over the day -- the hustling and bustling to find that special gift is evident in the capital city of Georgetown; even the salons are filled to capacity around this time.

The story of Mothers Day is a long one. It is neither a recent phenomenon as many believe, nor it is the creation of a card and gift marketing syndicate as assumed by cynics of Mother’s Day festival.

Surprisingly, Mothers Day celebrations go way back to Ancient Greece and Rome hundreds of years ago. And Mother’s Day celebrations in the UK are much older than one might think, as the Brits have been at it long before the tradition saw the light of the day in U.S.

In the U.S., the efforts of Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis are greatly recognised for starting the tradition of Mother’s Day, but several other women too have been credited with furthering the cause of Mother’s Day.

Today, Mother’s Day is celebrated in more than 46 countries around the world, though at different times in the month of May. In some countries, however, it is celebrated at entirely different times of the year.

This notwithstanding, Mother’s Day has come to be internationally recognised as the day to honour all mothers and to thank them for the services they impart for the benefit of their individual child and consequently to the development of mankind.

Though Mother’s Day celebrations take place at different times around the world what is remarkably the same is the feelings with which people celebrate Mother’s Day. To my mind, this is so because mothers in the East are equally as caring as those in the West; there simply is no difference between mothers from one part of the world and another. And so it is, too, with the way children feel. All over the world, people love to celebrate Mother’s Day with their mothers and shower them with love.

People see the day as an opportunity to pay tribute to their mothers, and to thank them for all their love and support. Throughout the ages, however, the holiday has seen many transformations, evolving over time to express the values of many different cultures and societies in different times and places.

The ancient Greeks and Romans held festivals every spring in homage of the great mother deities. Later, the early Christians held celebrations honouring Mary, the mother of Christ, on the fourth Sunday during Lent. However, it wasn't until the 17th Century that the English created Mothering Sunday to venerate all mothers. Anna Jarvis, an activist who never married or had children, is considered the ‘Mother of Mother's Day’ in America. Her efforts ultimately led President Woodrow Wilson to proclaim Mother's Day a national holiday in 1914.

Celebrating motherhood
This is a historical tradition dating almost as far back as mothers themselves. A number of ancient cultures paid tribute to mothers as goddesses, including the Greeks, who celebrated Rhea, the mother of all gods. The Romans also honoured their mother goddess, Cybele, in a notoriously rowdy springtime celebration, while the Celtics marked the coming of spring with a fertility celebration linking their goddess Brigid with the first milk of the ewes.

During the 17th Century, those living on the British Isles initiated a religious celebration of motherhood, called Mothering Sunday, which was held on the fourth Sunday during the Lenten season. This holiday featured the reunification of mothers with those of their children from whom they were estranged when working class families had to send off their young children to be employed as house servants. On Mothering Sunday, the child servants were allowed to return home for the day to visit with their parents. The holiday's popularity faded in the 19th Century, only to be reincarnated during World War II when U.S. servicemen reintroduced the sentimental (and commercial) aspects of the celebration’s American counterpart.

Motherhood is the greatest blessing any woman can have. It is a symbol of love, kindness and forgiveness. A mother's touch is the first human touch in a child's life. A mother's heart is filled with a never-exhausting love for her children. She lives and dies for them.

A mother is the most beautiful woman in a child's eyes. It is a mother's love, pure and unadulterated, which nourishes a child and helps him see and understand the cruel and harsh world where he is destined to spend the rest of his life. Only a mother knows how it feels to be a mother.

Mothers shoulder a huge responsibility of instilling good in her child's heart. Being a mother is tough. A mother's every action and word is under the deepest scrutiny, and therefore she is always ever cautious of her conduct.

Also, mothers have an incredible role to play in determining the future of the country. No, not in voting for education, or against gun control, though those things are important. The immense power that mothers have is in forming the lives of the future generations and we should always remember that “We only have One Mom; One Mommy; One Mother in this World; One Life. Don’t wait for the tomorrow to tell Mom you love her.”

Happy Mother’s Day!

LOOK OUT FOR OBAMA/CASTRO MEETING
Cuba in the ‘politics of change’                                    
By Rickey Singh
AS PRESIDENT GEORGE .W. BUSH was hurling his latest political insult at Cuba last week, it was becoming increasingly evident that Barack Obama is not only set to emerge in November as the first Black American President, but to become the first US Head of State to meet with President Raul Castro--brother of the retired legendary Fidel Castro.

With the seismic shift in presidential electoral politics occurring in the USA, the small Caribbean nation of Cuba, 90 miles away from the world's sole superpower, appears destined to have a different kind of confirmation of Fidel Castro's memorable prophesy that "history will absolve me", in the revolution he set on course back in 1959 and when, finally, the mighty USA ceases to blind itself to the Cuban reality in this first decade of the 21st century.

Do not expect miracles following an expected meeting of Obama as President with Raul Castro--whether in Havana or Washington-- once the young charismatic Senator of Illinois becomes the new tenant in The White House in January 2009.

For, with his constant promise to give a significantly new meaning to the "politics of change in America", he can hardly ignore the challenge that Cuba presents as part of making that "change" a reality.

In signalling his own fundamental break with the past in terms of years of anti-Castro politics by the now governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) he leads, Prime Minister Bruce Golding returned home last week from an official visit to Cuba and has been speaking of new approaches in Cuba-Jamaica relations for mutual benefits. 

The title of an editorial in last Wednesday (May 7) Jamaica Observer spoke volumes: "Golding buries Seaga-era Cuban policy", it said, as the text reflected on the previous hostile relations that existed while the former JLP leader and ex-Prime Minister, Edward Seaga (now in retirement) was in charge.

Seaga was also one of the closest of CARICOM allies with successive Republican administrations--beyond the US military invasion of Grenada in 1983.

Bush's way 
Speaking last Wednesday in Washington at a meeting of the Council of the Americas, President Bush mocked as "empty gestures" new measures introduced by President Raul Castro to improve living conditions for Cubans, including freedom to purchase commodities hitherto out of reach; staying at same hotels like foreign visitors; and having access to more land to increase food production and market their produce.

For President Bush, "Cuba's change in leadership has not changed the way it (the government) treats the Cuban people...The regime has made empty gestures at reform, but Cuba is still ruled by the same group that has oppressed them for half a century.." 

Bush also returned to his familiar position in demanding "release of political prisoners" and for the holding of "free and fair elections..."

Truth is, the world is quite familiar with the fundamental difference in the governance systems in the USA and Cuba. Also with the reality of Bush's own policies that account for the gross human rights violations of political prisoners by America at Guantanamo. 

Nor should it be forgotten how George Bush was defeated by Al Gore with more than half a million popular votes at the 2000 election, but ended up being President by a single casting vote of then US Chief Justice William Rehnquist to halt a recount of the votes in Florida.

Those who advocate free and fair elections--to which all CARICOM states correctly subscribe--must not ignore how George Walker Bush became President of the USA. In this context, it may also be instructive for all friends of the USA to carefully monitor developments to flow from last month's majority ruling by the US Supreme Court in support of voter ID at elections.

The ruling, which upheld an Indiana law, could have serious negative consequence for Democratic voters, especially of the Black American and Hispanic communities, according to reports in leading US media.

The Inter-Press Service (IPS) in a report on April 28 titled "US Supreme Court gives Republicans a boost", also quoted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat) as decrying: "The court's decision places obstacles to the fundamental right, especially the poor, the elderly and individual with disabilities, to participate in the electoral process..."

Confronted with the challenges of their own governance system, the Cuban government of President Raul Castro would hardly be sidetracked by President Bush's latest jibe about "empty gestures" by a dictatorial regime in Havana. 

From Eisenhower   
Not since President Dwight Eisenhower imposed a most unique punitive economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba in February 1962, has there been a meeting of a President of the USA and Cuba, the small Caribbean nation that has successfully defied for 46 years endless attempts by successive Washington administrations to suffocate its revolution and have Fidel Castro cry to "Uncle Sam".

In contrast to her Democratic rival, Hilary Clinton, an intellectually challenging, charming and tenacious candidate, continues to engage in a words game on engagement with Castro's Cuba.

Obama, on the other hand, went on record last February in a televised debate to tell America and the world that he would "move quickly" toward a meeting with President Castro's replacement (Raul Castro was then still acting).

This position, unique for a US Presidential candidate, was consistent with Obama's previously expressed commitment to hold direct talks with controversial world leaders of nations such as Syria and Iran, viewed as hostile to the USA.

While the very articulate Hilary Clinton engages in a words game about wanting to first see "evidence of change in Cuba" (a reference to the Cuban political system) before committing herself to a meeting, as President, with her Cuban counterpart, Obama, has declared with characteristic eloquence:

"If we (Presidential candidates) think that meeting with the Cuban President is a privilege that has to be earned (by him), I think that reinforces the sense that we stand above the rest of the world..."

Now, some four months later, and with greater momentum building for his presidential campaign, there seems good cause to keep watch for a Barrack Obama/ Raul Castro meeting. Greater the optimism will be should the Democrats end up with a historic formidable duo of Obama/Clinton ticket for November.

President Obama
By Gwynne Dyer
On the assumption that President Barack Obama survives for a full four-year term -- for it is generally assumed that, as the first African-American president, he will face a higher than average risk of assassination -- what changes will he bring to the United States and the world? It is remarkably difficult to say, for no president since Lyndon Johnson has come to office with so few commitments to specific policies.

Oh, all right then, since Gerald Ford -- but neither of those men was actually elected to the presidency.

It is now a near certainty that Obama will be the next US president. The media will try to maintain the illusion of a race for the Democratic nomination until Senator Hillary Clinton finally retires from the race (which may not be until the convention in August), because it helps to fill the awful gap between the 24-hour news cycle and the actual amount of news available. But as leading independent pollster John Zogby put it on Wednesday, "To all intents and purposes the race for the Democratic nomination is over."

After last Tuesday's North Carolina and Indiana primaries, there is no mathematical chance for Hillary Clinton to win a majority of the delegates to the Democratic convention, and the flow of money for her campaign is already drying up. It is unimaginable that the so-called "super-delegates" (senior Democratic party figures who get an automatic vote at the convention) would reject the verdict of the primaries by opting for Clinton, so the case is closed.

Having seen off the Hard Man of the Democratic party, Obama must now defeat the Hard Man of the Republican party in November. (Clinton promised to "obliterate" Iran if it attacks Israel; Senator John McCain has proposed threatening North Korea with "extinction.") But it will be hard for Obama to lose while the United States is plunging into a deep recession and the Republican candidate is still shackled to the Bush administration's war in Iraq.

About the only thing that would give McCain a chance of winning is a big terrorist attack on the United States that drives voters into the arms of those who promise security through endless war. Al-Qaeda would be happy to oblige, for the presence of American troops in Iraq is its best recruiting tool and McCain has said he would be willing to see US troops stay there for a hundred years. But al-Qaeda in its current state probably lacks the resources for such an ambitious project.

So Obama gets the presidency -- and then what? A longish honeymoon, in all probability, while Americans congratulate themselves on having transcended the racist legacy of their past, which means that Obama will have a better chance than most new presidents to change the way things work. Moreover, he will probably be able to depend on Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.

On the other hand, he will inherit a ravaged economy and a lost war, so he has little room for expensive domestic reforms or dramatic initiatives abroad. Getting American troops out of Iraq will take several years and use up a lot of his political credit at home, even if it does wonders for America's reputation in the rest of the world. And he will not be able to cut bloated US military spending at the same time, so there is no early "peace bonus" waiting for him on the fiscal front.

Indeed, there is little that any American president can do about a recession in the short run except to wait it out. Like Bill Clinton before him, Obama will ultimately have the job of repairing the huge budget deficit bequeathed to him by his Republican predecessor, but the only step he can take in the short run is to roll back the huge Bush tax cuts for the rich. So what else can the Democrats do in the meantime that doesn't cost too much?

Reversing the Bush administration's assault on the constitutional rights of American citizens and the human rights