Digicel -- Sleep Deprivation

Free Night Talk eh? I'm guessing your aim is to deprive the Guyanese people of sleep just so they can use your so-called free service.

Don’t worry GT&T Cellink, we’re coming for you too.

A Glimpse of Mash '09

Hey friends, got a few photos of Mashramani 2009 to share. Check them out HERE. They're not alot but for those who missed it, they should give you some insight on how it went. Enjoy!

Some thoughts and insights into the T-Pain cancellation...

So without me writing it, I guess most of you would know that the circus is no longer headed to GT, but for those of you who are still a bit in the dark, to make a long story very short, HJTV announced that the show was canceled because of threats to kidnap and kill T-Pain.

Now come on Guyanese people, we are often said to be very hospitable people, is this any way to treat our intending guests? Bad bad people, come on bozos, this is not the way to treat the ringleader of the circus.

Now, kidding aside, as some are already speculating, it has to be sabotage on HJTV, but who, remains a mystery though. I can only imagine the financial losses that this promotion company is going to incur because of this cancellation. Why do we as Guyanese continue to want to make the news for all the wrong reasons? Gone are the days when people are just killed, now persons are being threatened to be killed even before they reach Guyana...oh Lord have mercy on us.

The show is still on though, HJTV has managed to include Beenie Man, Biggie Irie, Peter Ram, Sherwyn Winchester and Maxi Priests as the replacements for T-Pain. Personally speaking, I think this line up is much more appealing to the Guyanese people at this time of year. And to some people, T-Pain not coming would be great (the reason for him not coming isn't though). There was very little hype surrounding the original concert, not much interest was generated, ticket sales might have been low which prompted the promoters to unleash a barrage of promotions to give away tickets. So, at the end of the day what's the old maxim? Oh yes, All's well that ends well.

This piece is just speculation on my part however, and I'll share it with everyone. About several weeks ago, I was told that a secret concert with Beenie Man was being planned for Mash Day at GCC. Of course I dismissed it as nonsense because it was already well known that T-Pain was scheduled to be performing there instead. With this new announcement though from the HJTV, I'm suddenly very very curious about this occurence considering that the artiste that had the 'secretly planned concert' is now the headlining replacement...hmmmmm, I wonder.

Ponder on that good folks, and we'll try to do some digging over here.

39th Republic Anniversary

Tomorrow marks 39 years since we became a republic nation.  A time to truly reflect on what we have accomplished as a country.  Let's all celebrate this occasion and do something --  have a cook-out, view the float parade in person, or just give a friend a call and remind them of the 39 years.  Just do something.  At least you can say that you did.

GT&T -- They're at it again

As a follow-up to their failed promotion yesterday, GT&T was at it again today -- this time, going to even lower standards.  Instead of having RAZRs and L7s, they belched up some of the worst phones ever.  Yes folks, you guessed it -- the Morotola C113 and 119 along with the entire family of other 'C' phones and sold them at $5000 a pop.  I have not gotten any feedback as to how the sales went, but I was thinking -- who the fuck would want these pieces of shit for $5k?  It's worse than buying the refuse they were selling yesterday.   

Let's think back people ... remember that time when they were literally giving them away along with $1000 of talk time?  If they could have afforded to do that then, imagine how much they were actually paying for each phone in bulk.  If you bought one of these days then I am sorry for you.  You have just been caught up in a snare.  One that only our beloved GT&T could have thought up.  

GT&T – The Best Reason to Switch to Digicel

Today, GT&T had a bit of a cell phone promo – Buy a Motorola V3i (RAZR) or a Motorola L7 for $10K and get free tickets to the upcoming T-Pain Show along with the After Party and Glow Party.  Upon seeing this I thought wow, great phone at a great price plus a great incentive.  One thing though … there had to be a catch.  Ahh yes, GT&T and their beguiling ways.  Here’s the catch – the fucking phones were refurbished pieces of shit that the blasted people at our beloved telephone company threw at the Guyanese public as if we were all has-beens.  That's not all.  Within 15 minutes of starting the promo it finished.  The 3 or 4 phones that they had on sale were all gone.  C'mon, if you're going to do something like this, then do it right.  Get enough phones so at least 50 people can get one and not just 3 or 4.  Because of the soldouts the friggers began selling Bird phones.  What a shame and disgrace.  Your slogan is Getting better all the time, but really, is that true? Really?  Stop lying to yourselves and the Guyanese people.  

I wonder what they'll do next?

Digicel’s new ad – Free Night Talk.

Ok, who’s seen this ad?  If you have, then you’ll agree with me and say it’s nice.  Yes, it is nice except for one thing – the appearance of Henry Rodney.   What came to mind immediately upon seeing the ad was the thought of Beauty and the Beast.  It’s like watching the dented ass of a gorilla prance around and sing.  Don’t get me wrong – Henry Rodney’s a great comedian and probably a great guy, but unfortunately he wasn’t very pleasing to watch in the ad.  Sherry-Ann Dyal on the other hand looked great but I doubt she would want to talk all night with Henry.  I don’t know what Digicel was thinking, but choosing Mr Rodney to appear in their advert was a wrong choice.  

"Our Greatest Visionary": Why does NCN and the PPP lie so much?

In promoting his death anniversary, NCN proclaims Dr. Cheddi Jagan as our greatest visionary leader. While I'm sure that there are people who will agree with NCN, I'm also sure that there will be many others, including myself who will disagree.

Anyone wonders why the crowds at Babu John are getting smaller each year? I think people are slowly realizing what Cheddi Jagan really was. Don't get me wrong, I'm not out to desecreate the man's legacy, heck I was even infatuated with him when I was younger, would surely have voted for him if I could have back then but what can I say, I woke up and saw things for myself and I gotta say, with each passing year, more people seem to be waking up to what Cheddi really was...

Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Mikhail Gorbachev were all visionaries, even Hitler (though he had a fucked up vision) was a visionary. Cheddi Jagan, however was many things, least of all a die-hard communist but visionary he was not. Sorry to the remaining hundreds of his supporters.

A Visit to the Botanical Gardens

Some friends and I paid a trip to the Botanical Gardens/Zoo this past weekend and boy were we in dismay.  Seriously, why is it called the Botanical Gardens?  It should actually be called the Bush, Weeds and more Bush Sanctuary.  It’s that bad!  If unsightly greenery were to take over the world then this place just might be their headquarters for world domination.  And what’s with all that crane shit in the water?  Hmm, I’m sure the manatees don’t really like that.  I wonder when this place will return to it’s former glory?  I’ve been waiting for years, yet I haven’t seen any changes.  I’m sure Habeeb Khan will get a fence for his huge gate long before any improvements are made to the Botanical Gardens.

After venturing around the grounds a bit, we decided to head into the actual zoo.  Boy was that a major mistake.  Friends, a word of advice – NEVER VISIT THE GUYANA ZOO!  Where the fuck were animals?  I saw a vulture that looked as if it probably was older than Methuselah, some battered macaws and a weird thing that was eating its own tail.  I don’t give the poor creature wrong – life must be pretty hard in there and maybe he just wanted to end the misery by committing suicide.  Then came the biggest shock of them all – a caged cow.  A FRIGGIN CAGED COW!  This must be, single-handedly, one of the worst things ever done by Guyanese people.  In all, it took us less than 8 minutes to traverse the path into and out of the zoo.  

I’ve made a plan next I want to see some Guyanese wildlife – I’ll pay a visit to one of the meetings of the National Assembly.  We’ve got a whole lot of beasts there just ready to bare their fangs at innocent prey.  Why I didn’t think of this sooner … I don’t know.

Guyanese culture at its worst

On most days for most of us, public transportation is a necessity, a way of life for the majority of this country’s population. On most days for most of us it is a free country so I would be very hesitant to tell John/Jane public what not to do. However, I would like to know if sometimes some people don’t think about some things. Do they not realize the tackiness, uncultured nature of certain things?

Two things happened today as I was traveling in a bus, both of these actions came from the same wretch, but I know for a FACT that many others practice similar habits.
Firstly, this woman had a rather loud voice and maybe she’s probably deaf or incapable of speaking on a cell phone because anyone within 100 feet of her could have heard her…who needs phones?, anyways that was not her transgression, we’re getting there though. After having a conversation with someone on the phone she then thought it would be ok, even cool or nice, to carry on another conversation, this time with an acquaintance (later identified as her neighbour) who was sitting four rows in front of her. What the heck is wrong with some people? Why the hell would you want to have a conversation under such circumstances? Could it not have waited until you got home? I really don’t give a blasted rass about what is going on with Shirley/Jenifer or any of your other acquaintances or neighbors and my guess is, neither do the other passengers. Shut the hell up and wait till you reach home, then you can start taking ‘lil name’. What ever happened to courtesy rules and maxims? Remember ‘quiet speech is a mark of refinement’? Can’t we have a finishing school here because some people can really use the help, too many are lacking in social graces.

Anyways, as if that wasn’t enough, during the middle of her public conversation this loud mouth wretch recognized someone on the road and then did the unthinkable -- he stuck her head, slightly past me, out the window and yelled out the name of another acquaintance…seriously, what the heck? I ask you good people, what is wrong with some people? Why the hell do you need to just yell out a name from a moving vehicle and then just sit back contented as if you saved the world? Why people do that is beyond me, but I can tell you this, at that exact moment, I thought about that war on bad manners from a few years ago. I guess we know which side won. What about public whippings, can’t we re-introduce those because some people really need a good whipping!

Drag Queens dragged to court part 2

Further to this, you just had to know that I wasn't done yet.

Whilst making their appearance in court in front of the acting chief magistrate, she had these kind words for the defendants:

" It’s a curse on the family. Go to church and give your lives to Christ," is what she told them while imploring the guys to change their attitude and fulfill their original purpose as men.

Apparently, the magistrate thought that she was still at church or maybe she just felt like delivering a sermon, either way, someone should have told her that the courtroom wasn't the place for it. What if these men were Hindu's or Muslims, would she be telling them to change their religions as well? Regardless of whatever, her opinions are just that, her opinions and she would do well to keep them to herself because I'm sure that many people don't really care for them much. Sure it's established that she has a sharp tongue but by no stretch of the imagination is a sharp tongue an indication of a keen mind.

I've grown up hearing from my parents that some people are wise and some are otherwise, well as of now, it's not hard to figure out which description best suit the learned (using that word loosely) magistrate. Can you imagine the audacity, the temerity and the gall of that woman to tell these people what is a curse on their family? maybe someone should tell her that in some places it's a curse on your family to be a lawyer also but no one was chasing her off to seek redemption for it here. And not content to leave it at that, she had to tell them also to fulfill their original duty as men. I'm sorry, but would that be the duty that the Honorable President was fulfilling by abusing his wife?

I must admit that I have never been a great lover of this magistrate. She strikes me as incompetent, biased, a puppet of sorts, the possessor of a tiny brain, big mouth and an opinion that nobody cares about, and I personally believe that no woman of our time has gone further with less mental equipment. It is indeed a very sad fact that nature not content with denying her the ability to think, has endowed her with the ability to write and pass judgment on others.

Drag Queens dragged to court

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, don't you sometimes just feel like screaming your head off? especially after reading something that wrecks your mood and your nerves.
Scouring over the Guyana Chronicle, I stumbled across this headline:

"Seven confessed homosexuals fined for wearing female attire"

Not only were they charged for wearing female clothing, they were also charged for loitering. What a mockery!! Since when has the law dictated what a person is allowed to wear? I wonder if soon we're going to have to display the Nazi symbol prominently on our attire. Whatever happened to freedom of expression? aren't these persons just expressing themselves? This is pure madness!

As for the loitering charge, that's even more nonsense. Am I not allowed to just linger on the road now? are we under some sort of a curfew? seriously, how come no one told me that we were living under martial law? On any given day, there are countless persons who just walk the roads aimlessly (I happen to be one of them), persons can always be seen sitting at the roadsides, or hanging at street heads, why was this never a problem? or is just because they individuals in question are homosexuals? If that's the case, then this nonsense has to stop.

Guyanese need to realize that the world is changing, the world has changed and we need to change with it. We cannot sit by idly and then want to play catch up with everyone else, it's just not possible. We need to put this old fashion, traditionalist mentality behind us and remember that the time for that has long gone. The world is not what it used to be - A black man is leader of the free world for Christ sakes -, the days for these narrow minded, myopic ideals have passed, it'll do well for us to get rid of what still remains of them.

Whether or not some people want to accept it, they need to realize that homosexuals form an integral part of society. They teach our kids, protect the country, look after us when we're sick and so much more so we need to realize that the time for this discrimination has to stop and people need to understand and appreciate that homosexuals now make a valuable contribution to the everyday lives of many many many Guyanese.

Read the story here. (not a permanent link)

Today is Budget Day...What are YOU hoping for?

Today is a day that affects the lives of all Guyanese, even if most of them don’t quite realize it.

Dr. Ashni Singh, Minister of Finance, will present the Government budget for 2009. This time however, he is presenting a budget when our country is feeling the ripples of a global financial crisis that has engulfed the economies of the developed and developing countries. Budget 2009 therefore comes at a most crucial time.

Our economy hasn’t grown much in recent years so it will be very interesting to note if the Minister will be forecasting growth in the economy during these turbulent times, or what the projected inflation rate will be.

What will also be interesting to know is how much of our GDP will be government spending on what and where exactly the money will be coming from. Well actually the last part isn’t much of a mystery. VAT, PAYE for individuals, corporate taxes for corporations will account for most of the government’s income, but where will the rest be coming from?

However, the part that will concern all of us is if the 16% rate of VAT will be reduced, a suggestion that has been made several times before but has always been rebuffed and whether the income tax threshold will be increased.

Traditionally, our budgets have been full of numbers and words but always lacking in vision, optimism and hope, let us hope beyond hope that 2009 will be different.

New Judges to be appointed...it's about freaking time.

Our honorable President announced that he will be appointing two new judges. Finally, what took so long?

Mr. Jagdeo while making this announcement stated that he’s conscious about the vacancies in the High Court but noted that the function of filling these vacancies lies with the Judicial Service Commission.

Maybe I’m wrong but someone ought to remind Mr. President that HE has to appoint judges (not many things happen in this country without Mr. Jagdeo’s approval). The JSC cannot instruct a person to just go and take up office and work at the High Court, all they do is offer recommendations.

And while you’re at it, please also remind him that the JSC recommended these two persons to these positions since very early last year but he didn’t confirm them for whatever reason, maybe he lost their papers among those unsigned bills on his desk.

Anyways, all of that is in the past, we’re getting two new judges (one of whom is hyped to be a good judge, similar to Justice Barnes, the other lacking in criminal expertise).

I do wonder now though, if these judges will be confirmed judges or temporary ones who in the end might not get their benefits like a recently retired judge (reporters still include his name in lists of current High Court judges though).

And since I’m out wondering, I’m curious to know how long it will take to replace Ramson at the Appeal Court and just who that replacement might be. Justice Ramlall better be prepared for some more disappointment though, he might just be overlooked…again.

Cellink is again engaging in some silliness

Ok Cellink, we get it that the competition has the hot red for their color but come on, don’t you think that this is a little foolish. First there was the blue Santa Claus, then came the blue Mother Laxmi and now for a sponsored Cellink event, we have the blue rose for Valentine’s. Oh come on, don’t you know that some things are bigger than competition? And a blue rose for Valentine’s is just plain silly. Where’s the love people?

It's hard not to notice the grammys on TV tonight.

You just gotta love, and hate Guyana for this. The grammys are on right now but can you imagine that a whopping 7, yes you got that right, 7 channels are showing the broadcast.
If I didn't want to watch the grammys, then I would have been without half of my viewing possibilities tonight. Sorry for those people who did not want to watch the show, your choices are limited (at least tonight).
It seems as though much thought does not go into what these stations are broadcasting...oh well.

What the hell is going on with the Guyanese cricket team?

Fourth straight loss for Guyana in the current regional four day competition is totally unacceptable. Someone in the local cricket organization needs to make a divine intervention and do something to prevent this Guyana team from slipping into further decline.

Imagine this, The Windward Islands have 36 points, that's 36 more than Guyana. That is shameful! No offense to the Windward's, but they were always one of the teams Guyana could count on to do better than but now there's this.

Cricket has always been one of our pride, even when very little seems to be going well in our country, cricket often remained solid and gave us hope. When the WI team was struggling, our own national team was performing credibly...what went wrong?

Serious questions need to be asked of our cricket bosses and serious answers and solutions must be forthcoming.

Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo has a sense of humor

The government clearly has to be joking right by announcing Dr. James Rose as chairman of the Integrity Commission right? They have to be. How else can you explain, appointing a PPP man to examine and investigate the finances of other PPP people, MP’s and other public officials? Seriously, are you freaking kidding me...Bitch Please!!

Speculation is over. Ramson it is...WTF?

You cannot begin to imagine how disappointed I was when I heard the announcement that Mr. Charles Ramson has been appointed the new Ag.
Personally I think it's a sad day for those folks over at the AG chambers...good luck from now on, God knows you all are going to need it.

I would seriously like to know the rationale for this decision, the real rationale and not that diplomatic, iditoic crap about years of service and experience. I want to know why the fuck was he given another chance to fuck up this Ministry again. How the hell could he be a better candidate than Ralph Ramkarran? Only a fool would think that people would prefer working with Ramson than Ramkarran and only a bigger fool would think that Ramson is better suited for this position.

Hey, but what the ass do I know? What I do know is this though, with this appointment, the PPP has again missed an opportunity to put the country first. I don't know why I still continue to hope that things with them are going to change. This isn't America and sadly we don't have a Barack Obama that we can say 'yes we can'

Sarwan scores 100...let's hope it's the end of his drought.

Shortly before Lunch on Day two of the first test against England at Sabina Park in Jamaica, Ramnaresh Sarwan hit his tenth boundary to bring up a well deserved century, his twelfth overall.

Congratulations Ronnie. Most of us know that he has been struggling for form for a long time now, and in the process many of us have gotten so tired and frustrated with him, however let's hope that his knock in this match so far, signals a return to form.

At the crease with him when he reached his milestone is a man who would know a thing or two about form, Mr. Bat all day Chanderpaul. Hopefully these two Guyanese will be able to push the West Indies to a excellent first innings score.