Editorial

Georgetown has lost its appeal. Time was when it was a well laid out city, boasting concrete drains and canals, tree-lined streets, a demarcated downtown area and charming markets that could lure visitors.

Prime Minister, and de facto dominant leader in the Russian political system, Vladimir Putin, must have been taken by surprise at the revolt against his regime following the recent parliamentary elections in the country.

With such a short space between the announcement of election results and Christmas, the usual ferment of the season took on an additional frenzied quality.

At Christmas we are meant to embrace the better angels of our nature, learn from errors in the recent past and prepare hopefully for the future.

A lot of bread, so to speak, is going to be broken and a lot of drink is going to be consumed this long, Christmas weekend in Guyana.

Less than a month into her tenure, new Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Jennifer Webster, put her staff and the public on notice when she announced earlier this month that high priority will be placed on improving systems through monitoring and evaluation.

A year that began with a major surprise, the popular uprising in Egypt in January, and then in February with another, the popular uprising against Colonel Gaddafi in Libya that lasted for most of the year, put the global community, and in particular the major global powers on alert that arrangements which they had made with various powers in the Middle East and its environs might not have the stability that had been expected.

Egypt continues to provide Washington with sobering lessons in the frailties of US foreign policy, a policy that remains rooted in an archaic world view that perceives America’s vital interests around the globe as surpassing in their importance even the popular will of other nations and peoples.

Just days into his administration and with much political uncertainty around, President Ramotar’s government will have to urgently address the concerns expressed by the European Union about the need for swifter work on sea defence projects failing which grant funds can be at risk.

Commissioner Henry Greene’s less than toned figure suggests a man who has ignored his health for a long time.

The astrophysicist and philosopher Sir Arthur Eddington was once congratulated on being one of just three people who truly understood Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Most people are familiar with the definition of politics as the art of the possible.

Some time during the morning of Monday this week, Rawletta Onika Greaves of Scotsburg Corriverton went to visit her father’s aunt, a regular practice of hers, according to reports, and ostensibly her mentally-ill father as well, since he resided at his aunt’s home.

A lot of eyes will have been turned towards the European Union over the last few weeks, and particularly last week, as its member governments met to seek to try and bring some closure, at the level of policy agreement, to the issue of coping with what is now called the Eurozone crisis.

The shabby image of the Guyana Police Force is, arguably, its single biggest problem.

Last week protesters from APNU demonstrated outside of the premises of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, Dr Steve Surujbally and Chief Election Officer, Mr Gocool Boodoo.

Suspicion is the curse of this country. There are historical reasons for it, of course, which hardly need any elaboration, but in terms of its consequences it produces all kinds of irrationalities.

As the UN Climate Change talks in South Africa ended, one country emerged as an unexpected leader in the transition to green technology – the People’s Republic of China.

President Donald Ramotar would be forgiven for thinking that his term at the head of a minority government has not got off to the most auspicious of beginnings, with some worrying signs in the immediate aftermath of the elections.

A president chooses his own cabinet, or at least he should.