Editorial

Henry’s hand-ball

More than a week after France defeated Ireland in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup, thanks to a controversial late goal by captain Thierry Henry, sports fans and commentators all over the world are still arguing over what should be done to prevent cheating in professional sports.

President Obama in the East

President Obama completed his series of visits to the East with a final visit to South Korea, a country of which the United States has been a protector and patron since the end of the war between the North and the South that ended in stalemate in July of 1953.

David Clarke and the silence

Secrecy and unaccountability are so boundless in the day-to-day business of this country and its officials that an eyebrow is hardly lifted when outrages fly under the radar.

Exasperation

Nothing illustrates better the foolishness that goes on in the corridors of power in this country than the dispute between the city council and GPL.

‘A higher humanity’

A few weeks ago, addressing the Queen’s College anniversary celebrations (in a blackout), Dr Roopnaraine asked his audience (and by extension all Guyanese) to “embrace the idea that the quality of our life is dependent on the quality of life of others.”

Our public discourse

It is a pity that Dr Rupert Roopnaraine’s feature address delivered at the special assembly of the Queen’s College reunion a few weeks ago, was heard only by the QC faithful.

Children’s rights

Twenty years ago, the member states of the United Nations agreed to a binding treaty of international law which would allow all children in all countries and of all ethnicities and cultures to live in a world in which their human rights would be respected and adhered to.

Haiti’s progress

A somewhat surprising hiatus in the governance of Haiti, the removal of Haitian Prime Minister Michèle Pierre-Louis by the country’s Senate in October, gave cause for concern as to the progress which the country had been making in terms of its political stability.

Security sector reform and civil society

Within weeks of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal of its projected Security Sector Reform Action Plan, a gang of bandits staged an assault on several state properties in the heart of Georgetown and escaped.

Norway and our forests

It must have gladdened the hearts of all Guyanese here and in the diaspora to absorb the news of the munificent Norwegian decision to support this country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) to the tune of US$250M over a five-year period.

Taxis and tourism

Last week came the unexpected announcement from the President that taxis were all to have the same colour by August 2010.

After the Wall

In 1988, Freedom House, a group which monitors liberty around the world, estimated that in political terms 36 per cent of the globe’s 167 independent nations were free, 23 per cent partly free and the rest not free at all.

Lawlessness

There are expressions of shock as it has emerged that 16-year-old Vivian Singh Balrup was quite likely beaten to death because he picked watermelon someone else had planted.

World socialism’s end: Twenty years after

What used to be called the Western world, the area of the post-war world centred on the NATO alliance, has this week been celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the effective end of what, on the other hand, used to refer to itself as the World Socialist System.

The death of respect

The murder of People’s Progressive Party stalwart and former Vice-Chairman of the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara Region Ramenauth Bisram last month has opened a can of worms in legal and political circles and in the security community.

Wednesday’s blitz

Wednesday’s blitz by criminals against police stations, the Supreme Court of Judicature and a High School which left one man dead must be condemned in the strongest possible terms and the perpetrators brought to justice.

Ends and means

The government has perhaps been taken off-guard by the vehemence of the reaction from all quarters of society to the appalling injuries inflicted on a teenager by the police in the Leonora Police Station last week. 

Settling the future of books

Early next week a district court in New York will decide whether a class-action settlement that would allow Google to continue digitizing millions of old books violates federal antitrust legislation.

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