Editorial

Since for obvious reasons much of what was divulged in the US Embassy cables by WikiLeaks concerned individuals in government, the administration was reluctant to comment initially, although Dr Luncheon was eventually moved to dismiss the contents as “predominantly opinions,“ while PPP presidential candidate Donald Ramotar deemed them not “earth shattering” and described himself as “slightly amused” by them.

One credible estimate of the financial losses suffered by America in the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks places them somewhere close to 2 trillion dollars.

In a response to the mindless criminality that shook London and other cities in England last month, Boris Johnson, the colourful and sometimes outspoken, Conservative Mayor of London, writing in the Daily Telegraph on August 14, proffered the view that, in addition to the necessity for robust policing, a way had to be found to give young people moral guidance and hope.

Caribbean Airlines, formerly BWIA, has had a near monopoly on the Guyana air travel market for over a decade now.

As the tussle between the insurgent forces and the Gaddafi administration nears its end, Western minds will be turning more decisively to events in Syria where the minority Alawite administration is using its security and military resources to withstand the persistent and geographically widening popular demonstrations against its rule.

In May 2010, University of the West Indies Political Science lecturer Tennyson Joseph wrote a brief but insightful article titled, ‘The ‘Dudus’ Coke Affair: Lessons for Eastern Caribbean,’ in which he sought to place the so-called Dudus Coke affair in the wider context of what he sees as the legitimization of the role of crime in contemporary Caribbean political culture.

No matter the amount of times the government pleads ignorance and blusters, the stinging questions about convicted drug lord/phantom squad organizer, Mr Roger Khan and his connections to its senior officials will persist.

In the bad old days of absolute monarchy, several European countries had a crime on their statute books called lèse majesté.

For the last two weeks Canada has mourned the death of one of its most charismatic old-style politicians, Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP).

There has been widespread condemnation of the massacre of 52 people at the Casino Royale, in Monterrey, Mexico, on August 25.

Today marks the start of Amerindian Heritage Month with its annual focus on indigenous art, culture and achievements.

Singapore’s elections last week for the presidency of the country threw up a relatively narrow victory for Mr Tony Tan, a former Deputy Prime Minister of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) government which has dominated the country continually since the 1950s.

In his address to Cuba’s National Assembly on August 1, Communist Party Secretary Raoul Castro struck a note of even greater urgency than he has in the past about the need for Cuba to embrace economic reforms.

As far as admissions go, the one made by Agriculture Minister, Mr Robert Persaud in relation to the Skeldon factory was both breathtaking in scope and rife with repercussions for the industry and his government.

On Wednesday we reported Caricom Chairman Dr Denzil Douglas of St Kitts and Nevis as saying that Col Gaddafi of Libya should recognize that “the end is apparently very near and in order to prevent further loss of lives that there is now need for him to now relinquish and speak and talk and even discuss how this conflict can come to an end without further bloodshed.”

A fortnight ago the Arab Spring seemed to have lost its momentum.

In the space of a couple of weeks, two expatriate Guyanese were named to high-level positions in the sister Caricom state of Belize: Justice Kenneth Benjamin to the post of Chief Justice of Belize and Professor Cary Fraser to the presidency of the University of Belize.

At 84 years and frail of frame Mr Harold Rachpaul posed a threat to no one.

NATO planes flying over Tripoli on Monday, guaranteeing the movement of anti-Gaddafi forces as they entered the capital, signalled the sharply reduced security of the Colonel and the imminence  of his regime’s defeat.

We are in the midst of one of those now familiar seasons, when, for brief periods, serious allegations of inappropriate behaviour by public officials surface, set tongues wagging and, in the face of the indifference of the political administration, wither and eventually die.