Editorial

Death came within a flash and violently to six occupants of a boat in the Pomeroon River on Tuesday.

After two decades it is difficult for a party like the PPP whose only apparent objective in politics is to retain power, to bamboozle anyone about its real motives.

A week after the mass shooting of 20 schoolchildren and six adults in Connecticut, the politics of gun control has never been more prominent in American life.

Last Friday’s editorial, which focused on Presi-dent Ramotar’s southward gaze towards the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) and deeper integration with the South American continent, ended somewhat tantalisingly with the thought that the shift of perspective away from the Caribbean Community might “reflect a growing perception that Caricom may have, for the time being, reached the limits of its possibilities.”

Last Monday, Dwayne Jordan joined a small local group which seldom receives new members when he was sent to death row by Justice Navindra Singh to await his execution for the murder of his wife, Claudine Rampersaud, on June 14, 2007.

That we have carried three editorials on the Syrian uprising in the course of this year, indicates how this issue has dominated the news and the attention of the major powers.

Recent television pictures of a frail, listless-looking Nelson Mandela accompanying news reports of a bout of illness which took him into hospital briefly serve as a poignant reminder of the mortality of South Africa’s iconic first black President.

In what was a fruitful encounter, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) on Friday breakfasted with the media during which it laid out its priority projects and issues it would like to be addressed.

It is certainly not unknown for the nerve centre of official communications in this country to disseminate bizarre statements, but the one which filtered into the inboxes of unsuspecting media houses on Tuesday was exceptional even by Gina’s none too balanced standards.

The apparent suicide of a nurse in London, a few days after she had been hoaxed by Australian radio DJs who pretended to be members of the royal family, has highlighted the difficulty of effectively regulating the media in a digital age.

Addressing a summit of leaders from the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), in Brasilia, on December 7, President Donald Ramotar alluded to our fabled continental destiny in his assertion that while Guyana attaches “significant importance” to its membership of Caricom, his government also believes that “continental integration has become more relevant and necessary for further development.”

It is bad enough that for more than two decades, residents of and visitors to Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, have had their senses assaulted by the sight and smell of garbage.

Over the last three weeks, Kamla Persad Bissessar’s People’s Partnership Government of Trinidad and Tobago experienced something approximating to a political trauma.

The end of protracted political regimes under the control of powerful, strong-willed rulers and driven by cults of personality are almost always attended by succession struggles.

Inevitably, the release of the annual Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index with its continued low ranking of Guyana has sparked denunciations of the survey from the government and sections of the ruling party.

Last week this newspaper reported on a picketing exercise protesting the decision to locate the monument commemorating the 1823 rising along the seawall opposite Camp Ayanganna.

After months of investigation, hearings and analysis, a comprehensive report from the Leveson inquiry has recommended that the British press have a new self-regulation body backed by legislation.

Despite a new methodology and scoring system, Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has once again given Guyana an extremely low mark (28 out of 100 points) on its annual report card.

We are living in exciting times. Technology that was not even a dream 30 years ago is available in the palm of our hands.

Last week Barbados celebrated its 46th anniversary of independence in the midst of what was obviously a strong sense of popular anticipation of general elections in the very near future.