Ranfred -- Universal Knowledge

Bash 4 mash

2010-01-26T17:10:00.000-08:00

As a founder number of the Blue Ice Breakers, I wish to inform you about an upcoming event that we have planned that can benefit your business greatly.

Our group, The Blue Ice Breakers, is a pioneer in organizing Mega Events and community development projects. This group comprises of individuals experienced in organizing and planning medium sized events individually. Now together as a group, Singers, DJs, Dancers, Managers and Community leaders all join to perform a Mega Concert and Pageant at The National Providence Stadium.

This event is slated for Saturday 20th February 2010 to commence at 6:30pm or 18:30hrs.

Marketing have already commenced throughout the country in schools, churches, community groups and other social networks.

Special guests at this event will include Timeka Marshall, Michelle Cole, Cleon Cadogan , Eddie Neblet,Celeste David, Big Red, Kester D, Vanilla, and lots more. This event will be streamed live through our website www.ranfred.com

Our Extensive marketing efforts includes fliers and posters in minibuses, promotional CDs, social network promotions and massive television and radio ads. To make this possible, we solicit the assistance of media houses, DJs and community groups nationally.

Tickets cost $800 and $1000 at the gates.

Sponsors this event your business will be featured on all our promotional material: Website, television commercials, fliers, promo CD’s and banners. This also guarantees you advertisement spot on our website www.ranfred.com and at the event at the National Stadium, where you can display and sell your business items to our mammoth audience as well.

--
Ranfred Williams
Tel #: 592-626-3269
Email: Ranfred89@gmail.com
Blog: ranfred-success.blogspot.com
Website: http://www.ranfred.com

Inhumane MOnstors

2009-11-05T14:38:00.000-08:00

I join Guyana’s former Attorney General, Bernard de Santos, Attorneys-at-Law Nigel Hughes, Raphael Trotman, Khemraj Ramjatan and 25 other prominent Attorneys, in strongly condemning the barbaric torture of the 14 year-old son of Ms Shirley Thomas, as well as the torture of Deonarine Rafick, by Guyana Police at the Force’s “D” Divisional headquarters at Leornora Station, over the alleged murder of ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) official, Ramnauth Bisram. When ever criminal investigations involve justice in the interest of the PPP, government agents are allowed to employ torture as a interrogation instrument.

Despite the diatribe of Police Commissioner, Henry Green, it is evident that the Police Force (GPF) indeed attempted to cover-up this barbaric act. Their investigation in how the media got word of this criminal ac and photographs of the tortured boy is repugnant. Commissioner Green and others may have committed obstruction of justice and malfeasance in office; crimes which warrant removal from office and prosecution.

The evidence shows that detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) who had been tasked with investigating Bisram’s murder, doused the teenager’s genitals with a flammable liquid and lit him afire, after they failed to coerce him to give up presumed information on the murder. He sustained third degree burns around the genital area. This is a most inhumane and evil act that is deserving of capital sanction.

What is even more abhorrent and criminal, is that the depraved detectives held the teen in prison for four days and refused him access to a medical doctor, his parents and an attorney. He was only taken to a hospital on the fifth day, after the press photographer secretly gained access into the prison and photographed his injuries, and the matter was reported in the press and condemned by the Guyana Bar Association and a group of prominent lawyers.

The brutal torture of the 14 year-old exposes the active policy of torture that has been countenanced by President Bharrat Jagdeo and his government. Dozens of Guyanese citizens have been tortured for political reasons, with impunity in the past under President Jagdeo - acts which his government has implausibly denied and covered-up.

The Jagdeo government cannot disclaim torture is an official government instrument. Recently, Guyana’s Minister of Home Affairs and National Security, Clement Rohee and Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, had the effrontery to argue in Parliament that several individuals who were tortured (for political reasons) with electric shock and then burnt, including three Guyana Defense Force (GDF) officers who were tortured in connection with missing GDF AK 47 rifles, were not tortured but that their treatment amounted to “roughing-up.”

This hogwash was later repeated by GDF Chief of Staff, Commodore Gary Best, while defending those criminal torture techniques. Commodore Best further demonsted contempt for the rule of law, by foolishly positing that the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Persons, “defines torture too broadly.” Best's contention is preposterous, repugnant to the constitution and international law and warrants stern rebuke.

Minister Rohee’s recent postulation on the torture of the 14 year-old is a phony, ostentatious, Rip Van Winkle-like argument of necessity, which has only been proffered because their agents were caught “red-handed.” Guyana’s Army and law enforcement officers are given carte blanche authority to torture certain citizens whenever it is politically expedient.

The lawlessness espoused by Ministers Rohee and Persaud, Commodore Best and others, have manifestly created an enabling criminal milieu in which the brutal torture of the 14 year-old and others, occur with impunity. Government officials who countenance and sustain such reckless and depraved disregard for human life - which constitute serious crimes against humanity, belong no where in public office, and must be held to account. Those who promote and commit acts of torture are indistinguishable. They must be removed from office, prosecuted and jailed, as prescribed by extant national and international law.

There are several Police and Army officers with ostensible political loyalties to the ruling party, who have been accused of barbaric acts of torture, and against whom compelling evidence has been provided and corroborated. Although their names known and have been published in Guyana and internationally, they are being protected by the PPP government. President Bharrat Jagdeo has a constitutional obligation to allow the course of justice to prevail against these individuals. They must be charged and brought to justice.

I read on Reuters news wire service that Minister of National Security, Clement Rohee has called for the interdiction of the Commanding Officer of the Force’s “D” Division, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Paulette Morrison. He argued that she must be removed from office for poor supervision of officers under her command. I know Ms Morrison; she is a woman of dignity and integrity who would never condone or cover-up criminal acts of torture. Ms. Morrison did not institute or countenance torture. The PPP government did.

Minister Rohee has therefore betrayed himself as a hypocrite who fails to realize that Ms Morrison is under the command of Police Commissioner Henry Green, over whom Rohee himself has ministerial jurisdiction. Therefore the buck stops at him. By judicious application of his logic, he and Commissioner Green must accept responsibility for abdicating their statutory and constitutional supervisory duties of the Police Force, and resign in disgrace.

It is a national ignominy that under Minister Rohee’s government and Police Commissioner Green, torture and other crimes against humanity have been institutionalized as law enforcement interrogation techniques; drug dealers operate above the law in full public view and collaborate with certain government and police officials, who allow their criminal enterprise to flourish, and officials who commit crimes retain the confidence of the President and are even promoted in some instances.

It is obvious that such corruption will not end until the United States Justice Department or prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC)) begin to nab these individuals. Suffice it to say, that I intend to contact US Attorney General, Eric Holder, about this and other matters.

The officers who tortured the 14 year-old child as well as the other individuals must be arrested and charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault, prosecuted and jailed. I call on Guyana’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms Shalimar Ali-Hack, to discard any possible fidelity to the politics, if and where it may exist, and honor her duty to the constitution and proffer indictments in these matters. Not only is her professional integrity at stake but so too is her personal credibility and her commitment to the rule of law and the course of justice.

It is also critical for the matter of torture in Guyana generally, to be publicized in the international community and for torture cases to be filed against the government and against Guyana Police Force and Army officers at the ICC, Inter-American Human Rights Commission and UN Committee against Torture.

Finally, President Bharrat Jagdeo must cease his silence on this matter. It is immoral. He must unconditionally condemn all acts of torture committed by Guyana’s Police and Army. There is no room for political or moral equivocations by Guyana’s Head of State on this serious criminal issue of torture.

When Humans Evolve

2009-11-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

I recant my regular objection to the theory of Evolution. I would ask, "If humans evolved from birds what are they becoming now?" Well here is the obvious answer: "We are now evolving from humans to Monsterous-Humans".

This is my conclusion to the graphic picture published in the Kaieteur News on Saturday 31st October 2009.

Ths picture and article was also mentioned on the Kaieteur News website, and attracted international attention.

It is just another case of the "People" who are appointed by the "Citizens" to protect the rights of the "Vulnerable people". However, we have the "People" funding and supporting the cause of some of the "Monsterous-Humans" who violate the rights and senses of the humble "Citizens". Example in the Roger Khan case where the alleged drug smuggler who was convicted in the US courts received the support and backing of a government, indirectly, but obviously nor out of complete negligence.

Now we have the Police force brutally torturing a teenage boy to force him to give information about some killing that had no eye witnesses.

Boy, 15, tortured

By Zoisa Fraser | November 1, 2009 in Local News

- detectives arrested

In a case that has sparked outrage, a 15-year-old boy has been left physically scarred after enduring days of horrific treatment at the hands of police, who are accused of burning of his genitals.

Two officers attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), who interrogated the teen, have since been arrested as the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) launched an investigation yesterday. The teen, originally held for questioning after last week’s murder of retired Region Three vice-chairman Ramenaught Bisram, was taken for medical attention yesterday after his attorney and the media turned up at the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station where he was in custody. The boy, who is two weeks shy of his 16th birthday, is currently a patient of the Georgetown Hospital and his parents are among the many who are calling for an independent inquiry to be conducted urgently and for the policemen responsible to be brought to justice.

According to accounts, the boy was tortured at the Leonora Police Station three nights ago and could be heard screaming for mercy by residents. The report of the incident comes a day after suspect in the murder, Deonarine Rafick, made similar allegations during a court appearance. Rafick displayed signs of a beating and had a gaping wound to his head which required stitches.

Stabroek News understands that there are two other young men in custody and there are fears that they too were tortured. The case has drawn comparisons to torture allegations made by Buxtonians Patrick Sumner, Victor Jones, and David Leander, called `Biscuit,’ against the army and the police.

Police, responding to a picture of the lad’s horrifically burnt genitals which was published on the front page of yesterday’s Kaieteur News, announced an investigation into “a report of alleged excessive use of force on prisoners by members of the force.”

The force said in a press release issued yesterday afternoon, that after the murder of Bisram, Rafick and “a male who told the police that he was 18 years of age” were arrested. They were subsequently interviewed by two CID ranks, “who are alleged to have used excessive force on the prisoners resulting in them receiving injuries. However, they were medically treated and remained in custody.”

Stabroek News was told last evening by one of Rafick’s relatives that he had not been taken for medical attention as was stated by police. The police further added that the two ranks, who were conducting the investigations and were responsible for the interrogation of the suspects, were arrested and taken into police custody. Investigations are being conducted by ranks of the police force’s OPR, under Assistant Commissioner Heeralall Mackhanlall.

Inhumane
treatment

The teen’s mother, Shirley Thomas and stepfather Doodnauth Jaikarran called ‘Birdie,’ yesterday appealed for justice. Jaikarran, while speaking to the media, said that what was done could not be humane treatment and expressed the desire that the ranks who committed the gruesome acts be met with similar treatment so that they could feel what his son went through. “I think the justice is to give them back the same treatment. This is not human treatment. They should get the same treatment, to feel the pains,” the visibly upset man said, stressing that the experience could have killed his son.

Quizzed on who could have carried out the acts, Jaikarran said he believed it was the police because another prisoner would not have been able to do that. “If they are saying that the police didn’t do it to them, somebody ain’t doing them wuk. They take liquid into the lockups?” he asked.

The man who was unable to find out which station his son was being held at for three days is convinced that the police had them running from station to station because they did not want the teen’s condition to be revealed. For him, the cruellest part of the ordeal was the fact that the child was not taken for medical attention, even though a hospital was less than five minutes away. “They want to kill the child or something. ‘Cause I can’t see you hold somebody and ain’t carry them for treatment. You cannot treat a prisoner like that, they must be treated like humans,” he pointed out.

Jaikarran said that as far as he knew, his son was not involved in the murder. He pointed out that the lad would be at home at early hours watching television. He explained that the teen was picked up at his home in Canal Number Two, a few houses away from where the murder occurred. At the time of the discovery, he said the teen was in his bed. This was confirmed by the teen’s older sister, who was at home at the time.

The teen worked with Bisram as a carpenter when he was constructing his house less than a year ago but Jaikarran said that there was no problem between the two and that the late Bisram and his family had had a good relationship.

Meanwhile, the family’s lawyer, Khemraj Ramjattan, said all the treatment meted out to his client was “intensely cruel and inhumane. What my client has been saying to me is proof that this police force had some elements that are intensely cruel and inhumane. The torture that this little child went through is unimaginable.”

He told the media that the incident occurred on Wednes-day night and alleged that his client was beaten in the head, on the bottom of his feet and in the chest with a heavy object simply for him to say that he knew something about the murder. Ramjattan said that fact that his client was left with the burns since Wednesday night goes to show that “we have evolved into a state of madness. I have to shed a tear there as to what I saw, with the child crying and trembling all the time and since Wednesday he was not taken to hospital by police. They never did anything to ease the pain, but have them in the lock-ups since Wednesday.”

He added that he was trying to get the ranks to take the child to the hospital but was told that the police had their work to do. Ramjattan stated too that the parents have been frustrated and traumatized by what they have seen, having not been able to see the boy from the beginning as they were referred from station to station. “We have come to an extremely bad state and this is being done by people who are supposed to protect and serve and ensure the rule of law,” he declared.

Responding to a question about what he plans to do for his client, he said that he intends as much as possible to see that justice is done through the courts; to see that the policemen who committed the acts are prosecuted and that justice is done. At the administrative level, Ramjattan stated he plans to help prevent a reoccurrence by ensuring that the necessary mechanisms and operational approaches are put in place.

Commenting on past allegations, the attorney said that “not bringing charges to the policemen have created an incentive for them to continue doing it and that is why we need charges. Policemen have been identified here.”

He said that the allegations being made against the force by the public are being vindicated, so it is beyond “a shadow of a doubt” that torture is part of some elements of the force. Like the teen’s parents, he believed the delay in taking him to the hospital was a clear attempt to cover up. He said it was only because it was published on the front page of a newspaper that the move was made to take him for medical attention. He pointed out that the time has come to seek an international audience.

Wrapped in
a sheet
Stabroek News has been reliably informed that because of the burns, the lad was not wearing clothing while he was in detention. When he was taken to the hospital, he was wrapped in a sheet and was instructed by the police to cover his head with a jersey. The car used to transport him was moved very close to the hospital entrance to prevent media operatives from seeing the boy.
While speaking with Ramjattan, members of the media were approached by a CID rank and told to conduct the interview outside the perimeters of the station. The station gates were closed moments after the media operatives walked out. Later, while attempting to see his client, Ramjattan was also instructed to leave the station compound and had to communicate with the parents who were in the compound from the roadway.

By this time, persons passing stopped and spoke out about the gates being closed on the media and questioned if someone went to make a report what would be done. Attempts were later made to prevent media workers from performing their duties when they turned up at the West Demerara Regional Hospital. The policeman there said that he had received instructions from his “boss” that the media should not be allowed to take photographs. He was even heard instructing the security at the hospital, to throw media workers out of the compound and lock the gates. However, the media refused to leave and the rank later backed down but concealed the entrance to the room the boy was in with his body.

After seeing a doctor there and having his burns dressed, the teen was transferred by ambulance to the Georgetown Hospital under heavy security. There were ranks in the ambulance and the two cars escorting it. He was then whisked away into the Emergency Room.

Meanwhile, Deonarine Rafick’s father, Abdul, yesterday said that he is very upset with the conduct of the police, who beat his son mercilessly so that he could confess to a crime he knew nothing about. “They should set him free and search for the real killers. What dem do ain’t right,” the man said, telling this newspaper that the allegations surfaced when ranks turned up at his Canal Number Two Polder home on Wednesday night.

According to him, the ranks went with his son and conducted a search and it was when they were leaving that his son, a farmer, blurted out that he had been beaten. The man said that he was unable to see if there were any marks of violence because he was standing at a distance.
It was only when they turned up at the Leonora Police Station, where he was being held, that the family heard from residents that there were screams coming from the station. They then contacted an attorney.

Recounting how his son was held, Abdul said the police turned up at his house last Monday night and said they were taking him down to the police station for questioning but he never returned home until Wednesday night.

According to him, someone claimed that his son “walks late at night” and that was what prompted the police to go to his home.
On Friday, when Rafick appeared at the Wales Magistrate’s Court, his lawyer Pamela De Santos submitted to the court that he was not only severely beaten by the police but also burnt on the tongue with a cigarette. She had also named three ranks attached to the Leonora Police Station accused of carrying out the acts" Stabroek news, 1st November 2209

I will now dedicate this blog to followup this issue. Let Justice Prevail guyana.

Just email me at ranfred89@gmail.com to join my mailing list for updates on this matter.

Michael jackson Rest in Peace

2009-07-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon,

I can see the entire world is mourning the death of Michael Jackson.

Since I was about eight (8) years, I heard the words and melody of the songs of a genius. No one told me that he was going to be the greatest entertainer of all time with 750 million record labels sold and 13 Grammy Awards, but I simply know when I am in the presence of greatness.

He lived a star and shone from the age of ten (10) years. Throughout his life he pioneered and explored. To use a word as "experimented would be an understatement of the accomplishments of the self proclaimed "King of Pop". He preformed with confidence. He dazzled audiences. Now his life have shown us the sheer potential of persevering and Doing to the best of our ability what we are talented in.

He died a star; and as I told a good friend, "He will live an even greater portion of his life through his death."

Read more of the funeral arrangements scheduled for tomorrow 07th July, 2009 on this website.

http://www.michaeljacksonfuneral.com/

2009-03-28T19:43:00.000-07:00

is now up and running.

We are now conducting a national marketing campaign to promote our Research, SBA and Practicum Typing Services, Virtual Assistant, Information Technology Courses, Online Selling and Shopping Services.

With this campaign, we can recruit dozens of agents who have recognized and established businesses to spread the reach of this growing website and touch a growing niche market who are longing for these services.

Just imagine the amount of things that can get done without leaving your computer. Visit www.ranfred.com for more information.

Come on. Let us do all the hard work for you.

2009-02-14T12:54:00.000-08:00

Ranfred Williams International
Tel # 592-680-8830 Email: ranfred89@gmail.com Blog: http://www.ranfred-success.blogspot.com

Virtual Services

Below are just a few examples of the types of administrative, real estate and technical work Ranfred Williams International can handle for you and your company. In addition, I have a vast network of highly-skilled Consultants on tap; if we're not able to handle a particular task or project for you, I know someone who can.

If you have other types of work you need to outsource which you do not see below, never fear! Contact the Virtual Assistant and let's chat.

Administrative Services

• Airline & Hotel Reservations
• Appointment Setting
• Audio Acrobat Account Management
• Auto-responder Management
• Blog Administration & HTML Coding (WordPress, TypePad, Blogger)
• Bookkeeping (for your business of personal life)
• Financial Account and Portfolio Management
• Bulk Mailings (no more than 500 pieces)
• Bulletin Board and Forum Management
• Business Card Scanning
• Calendar Management
• Conference Call Setup & Management
• Contact & Database Management
• Correspondence (Business & Personal)
• CRM Management (TrackVia, SugarCRM, salesforce.com, Infusion, Relenta, etc.)
• International Shipping and Orders
• Customer Service & Support for your clients (Telephone, E-mail)
• Database Management
• Data Entry, Typing Projects & Word Processing
• E-mail Management
• Event Planning
• Forms Creation: Microsoft® Word & WordPerfect®
• Internet Research
• Live Telephone Answering
• Microsoft® Outlook® & Plaxo Management
• Meeting Minutes
• PDF Conversions (to & from)
• Personal Appointments
• Personal Shopper
• PowerPoint presentations
• Project Management
• Proofreading
• Reminder Alerts (meetings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.)
• Secretarial services

• Copywriting (Newsletters and Press Releases)
• Social Networking Account Management (LinkedIn, Facebook, Ryze, MySpace, Twitter, Hi5 etc.)
• Teleseminar & Webinar Announcements (web-based portals)
• Training Manual creation
• Transcription
• Travel Arrangements
• Voice Mail Management
• Web-based Newsletters & E-zines
• And so much more!

Feel free to contact us so we can begin doing all the hard work for you.

Tel # 592-680-8830 Email: ranfred89@gmail.com Blog: http://www.ranfred-success.blogspot.com

Your Virtual Assistant and Consultant is here

2009-02-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

Take five minutes to learn about the services we offer at Ranfred Williams International.

We have established our business to facilitate the growing demand for our services Internationally by commencing the operation of our cyber office.

We offer services to businesses and individuals in a wide range of fields.

Computer Training

Empire Computer Center
We offer in house computer training and refresher courses to persons around Georgeotwn, and on the East/ West Bank and Coast of Demerara currently. We are soon to expand our services to include an Interactive website that will allow us to service a wide national, Caribbean and even International audience.

Our services currently involve a couple of skilled and certified computer Instructors holding advanced Diploma in IT who are capable of training you on the use and application of the computer.

Our complete Computer Package include : Intoduction To Computers, MIcrosoft Windows, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Powerpoint, Microsoft Access, Internet and Email.

Call us for more information on our Computer Training Sessions Tel # 592-680-8830 / 676-7592

Business Consultancy

Ranfred Williams International
Our Business Consultancy Services ranges from placing advertisements in the Newspapers and magazines, online and offline; writing Newsletters and Pressreleases; managing accounts and investment strategies for international clients to professional advice on every aspect of businees.

We arrange a plan to suit your budget and needs to keep your business on the go and at the front of the marketplace.

Contact us now Tel# 592-680-8830

Marketing

Empire Storez
This is the marketing arm of our business. We are currently recruiting marketing representatives to do door to door, tele and cyber marketing to clients locally and throughout the Caribbean. Our products range from business solutions that would enable our clients to expand their clientele and business profitabliitly (Eg. websites newsletters, computer/ business hardware) to gadgets for entertainment and business.

http://estorez.vstore.ca/

Real Estate Agency

Netsurf International Real Estate
Do you or someone you know have a Property, House, Land, Vehicle, Guest House, Hotel, Holiday Apartment, Marine Vessels, Machinery, and Equipment etc for sale or rent in Guyana, the Caribbean or any other part of the World. Then make conact with us we will help you to get that article infront of an internatioanl audience.

Netsurf International Real Estate aims to have the most successful Real Estate business in each of the many market places that we operate. We continually strive in our approach to be dynamic, innovative, effective and efficient in our day-to-day operation.
http://www.netsurfire.com/

Call us to place your ads today Tel# 592-680-8830

Here are the pictures I promised from my neice's Birthday Party:

How about a little party

2009-02-03T18:51:00.000-08:00

It was a great day, the 29th of January, 2009, and I asked "How about a little party?"

So I decided to host and facilitate my niece's 6th Birthday party with the help of my brother at her home i n Colingen, on the East Bank of Demerara.

It was a fun filled afternoon.

There was cake, drinks, music, dance, laughter and of course lots of kids. Pictures coming soon

How about a Little party

2009-02-03T16:58:00.000-08:00

We all watched

2009-01-23T07:26:00.000-08:00

Time have come and gone the 20th and 21st of January, 2009, Two remarkable days in history for me. I watched the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, the first African American President of the United States of America. Many people looked in earnest as the world over came to a standstill to watch by way of Technology (Satellite and Internet) as history was written again.

There were mixed emotions fom people all over the world, Japan to Kenya expressed deep sentiments, not only at change that came to the United states, but that a man raised up that won
the heats of almost everyone, even the hardliners, Fidel Castro, who came out to praise him even after his Brother Raul Castro termed President Obama the Stench of Bush.

Personally, I believe that President Barack Obama is a great person and a smart thinker. However, the media and the public is painting an inflated image of him. He already started keeping some his promises to the people of America in Instructing the closing of Guantanamo Bay in keeping with his anti-torture policy.

This is a plus for him but persons were also expecting him to go soft on the Automakers. But this is a "Green" man. As he said : Stop empowering our enemies by making ourselves entirely dependent on them for the survival our economy. This was one factor that forced the slumping of the markets after his inaguration speech.

But I see his policies, I assess them and I say: "GIVE THE MAN A CHANCE." Give him 6 months and we will know how his policies will affect the economy.

God bless Barack Obama. God Bless the United States Of America.

Website: www.futuretech.site90.net

Ranfred Williams Birthday

2009-01-19T13:19:00.000-08:00

Who could imagine that they would miss it by just one day.

The birthday Ranfred Williams is just the day after the Inauguration of the First ever African American President of the United States of America.

On the 21st January, celebrate the 20th birthday of Ranfred Williams with him.

Schedule of Events for the 21st January:

Social in Georgetown at 9:00
Travel to Berbice at 11:30
Celebration in Berbice through the night

Call me for more information on how you can be a part of this After Inauguration event.

Get your Barack Obama pieces today: T-shirts, calenders, pictures, books, Just call me:

Tel: # 592-680-8830 Email: ranfred89@gmail.com
The whole world will be watching.

Activities for the Inaguration

2009-01-19T13:12:00.000-08:00

(AP) — A schedule of some official and unofficial activities surrounding Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20:

MONDAY, JAN. 19

• National Day of Community Service event: To honor Dr. King's legacy, Obama, Biden and their families, joined by Americans across the country, participate in activities dedicated to serving others in communities across the Washington, D.C. area.

• Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball, sponsored by the Texas State Society, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.

• Green Inaugural Ball at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture. Ball hosted by former Vice President Al Gore.

• Huffington Post preinaugural ball at the Newseum.

• Hip-Hop Inaugural Ball at the Harman Center for the Arts. Hosted by the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, Russell Simmons, LL Cool J,
among others.

• A children's evening concert at the Verizon Center honoring military families. Event hosted by Michelle Obama, who will attend. Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers are among the entertainers. 7 p.m. EST

• Obama to attend three private dinners to honor former secretary of State Colin Powell, Biden and Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, for their public service. Dinners at the Hilton Washington, National Building Museum and Union Station.

TUESDAY, JAN. 20 (INAUGURATION DAY)
Gates to the Inaugural Ceremony open at 8 a.m. EST. The inaugural festivities are scheduled to start at 10 a.m. on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. They will include:

• Musical selections of The United States Marine Band, followed by the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.

• Sen. Dianne Feinstein provides call to order and welcoming remarks.

• Invocation by the Rev. Rick Warren.

• Musical selection of Aretha Franklin.

• Biden will be sworn into office by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

• Musical selection of John Williams, composer/arranger with Itzhak Perlman, (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Gabriela Montero (piano) and Anthony McGill (clarinet).

• Obama will take the Oath of Office, using President Lincoln's Inaugural Bible, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts. Scheduled around noon.

• Obama gives the inaugural address.

• Poem by Elizabeth Alexander.

• Benediction by Rev. Joseph E. Lowery.

• The National Anthem by The United States Navy Band "Sea Chanters."
After Obama gives inaugural address, he will escort outgoing President George W. Bush to a departure ceremony before attending a luncheon in the Capitol's Statuary Hall.

The 56th Inaugural Parade will then make its way down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House.

Later that day, the Presidential Inaugural Committee will host 10 official inaugural balls:

• Neighborhood Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.

• Obama Home States (Illinois and Hawaii) Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.

• Biden Home States (Pennsylvania and Delaware) Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.

• Midwest Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.

• Mid-Atlantic Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.

• Western Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.

• Commander in Chief's Ball at the National Building Museum.

• Southern Inaugural Ball at the National Guard Armory.

• Eastern Inaugural Ball at Union Station.

• Youth Inaugural Ball at the Washington Hilton.

Unofficial balls include:
• Congressional Black Caucus Inaugural Ball at the Capitol Hilton.

• Creative Coalition Inaugural Ball at the Harman Center for the Arts.

• Recording Industry Association of America's ball for Feeding America.

• BET's Inaugural Ball at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

• Africa on the Potomac inaugural celebration at Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va.

• American Music Inaugural Ball at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.

• Inaugural Purple Ball at the Fairmont Hotel.

• Human Rights Campaign's Equality Ball at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel.

• Inaugural Peace Ball at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

• Impact Film Fund ball.

2009-01-15T11:22:00.000-08:00

Obama tells daughters he ran for president for them, all children

Thu Jan 15, 10:35 am ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – In an open letter to his young daughters, US president-elect Barack Obama said Thursday that he entered the race for the White House "because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation."

"When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me -- about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world," Obama said in the letter published in Parade magazine, a weekend newspaper color supplement.

"I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfilment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation," wrote the soon-to-be Dad-in-chief.

Obama's wish-list for children includes challenging and inspirational schools; equal opportunity to go to university, regardless of their family's financial standing; and well-paid jobs with benefits such as health care and a pension plan that will allow them to "retire with dignity."

The 47-year-old father of Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, said he wants to "push the boundaries" of discovery to encourage the development of new technology and inventions that improve lives and protect the environment.

And he spoke of his vision of a United States that has reached "beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other."

He would strive to send young Americans to war "only for a very good reason", trying first to settle differences with other nations peacefully.

"These are the things I want for you -- to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world," wrote Obama.

"And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure," wrote Obama, who on Tuesday will move into the White House with his two daughters and wife, Michelle.

Guyana's first Technology Magazine

2009-01-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

Press Release
FutureTech Magazine
6th January, 2009

The first Technology magazine launched in Guyana focuses on advancements in technology in the fields of Agriculture, Medicine, Information, Education and Entertainment. This wide cross-section of information attracts education as well as the techy enthusiasts who have a common desire to be informed on the direction of technology.

History:
Founder Ranfred Williams 19 yrs old is the holder of a Diploma in Information Technology with his eyes on a Computer Science Degree program to be commenced on the second semester of this year. The move to start a technology magazine was the inevitable direction for him since he was always inserted in following the patterns of technological development and how complex mechanisms work.
His pursuit for advancements in the technology sector saw the beginning of a Computer Center that facilitated an Internet Cafe, Computer School, Document, Gaming and Research Center early last year 2008/ However Empire Computer Center that was located in Rosignol came to a close within a few months. In the pursuit of his technology dreams, Ranfred Williams moved to Georgetown where he worked for an Internet Cafe Netsurf.com for several months before being promoted to Supervisor.

Ranfred Williams played a very active role in the fight for the cause of the Internet Interest Holders Group as he wrote, the press releases and chaired meetings to protest GT&T's blocking of VOIP and other faucets of the Internet. Future Tech Magazine is currently soliciting advertisements from International and local Technology firms so subsidize the cost of printing that would otherwise have to be passed on to the reading customer.

More information on vacancies, articles to be published, how to place advertisements and orders, and dates of publication can be found on our website:

http://www.futuretech.site90.net

Comments and suggestions should be directed to Email: futuretechmg@gmail.com

Block on some VOIP sites lifted

2008-12-20T09:29:00.000-08:00

Block on some VOIP sites lifted

BY Mark McGowan
Published: December 20, 2008 in News

GT&T, internet cafes continuing talks

Following the most recent discussions between GT&T and the Internet Interest Holders Group (IIHG), GT&T has removed the blockage on certain Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and Virtual Private Networks (VPN) websites, allowing some internet cafés, which were forced to close, the chance to resume business.

However, according to an official from GT&T, this move was done to benefit the Internet Service Providers (ISP) so that they could pass it on to their customers who possess devices such as the Yap Jack.

However, the members of the IIHG and GT&T are continuing their deliberations in an attempt to find a solution to the current impasse between them.

The IIHG, a group of internet café owners and managers, had protested against GT&T’s recent decision to block access to VOIP and VPN sites, which allow users to make international calls through the internet. The group is also protesting against the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) announcement that it will pursue and prosecute businesses that offer international telephone calls over the internet since it was “illegal”.

Stabroek News was told that on Monday, GT&T officials met with several internet café’ owners and once again outlined a proposal which was mentioned previously at a meeting of such persons. Based on this proposal, GT&T is willing to facilitate the continued use of VOIP by internet café owners, if this is done through their company. This would require the internet café owners paying US$60 for a “box”, a $10,000 monthly rental fee for DSL and buying minutes from GT&T. The company urged those gathered to consider the proposal and said that they were willing to negotiate.

When Stabroek News contacted Stephen Thompson, the head of the IIHG on Thursday, he said that his group was most likely going to submit a proposal sometime during the course of the day. Although, reluctant to disclose the full details of their proposal, he said that the internet café owners were not happy with the deal, and emphasized that the group was most opposed to being forced to purchase minutes from GT&T. He said that most of the internet café owners purchase their minutes from local representatives of overseas companies and said that these minutes were being sold at a cheaper rate, than what GT&T was offering.

He said that GT&T has promised to hold another meeting with the group and other interested parties as soon as the proposal is reviewed.
Nevertheless, Thompson insists that his group is advocating that the internet be free and fairly opened to all.

At a meeting held by the IIHG last Saturday, attorney-at-law Stephen Fraser said GT&T had no legal right over the internet service in Guyana, since it was never granted such right by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). He, however, advised the body to proceed with caution, since it found itself in a troublesome spot since it was being threatened by GT&T, GRA and the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) all at the same time.

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6 Comments

Brian says:

December 20, 2008 at 8:06 am

Your first paragraph is inaccurate. It was not discussions with the IIHG that made this possible…it was actually with the ISP’s themselves. The ISP’s are not a part of the IIHG body in any way.I hope that the IIHG is not taking the credit for this one.

Reply
Timo(3t) says:

December 20, 2008 at 8:29 am

GT&T need to relax, if it was not for these internet cafe and call center i would not be able to talk to my family overseas for 20mins at a time, and i am speaking for alot of people.
LIVE AND LET OTHERS LIVE

Reply
amen-ra says:

December 20, 2008 at 9:51 am

GT&T, GRA, and NFMU needs to relax and stop monopolising the internet, in the u.s.a the internet is free and one don’t have to pay to use it, certain equiptment could be purchased in a computer tech store and one is free to do what they want to do with it, no irs is on your back for money, the only money that is paid is the mnothly fee by the isp and that’s it.

Reply
Carl Peters says:

December 20, 2008 at 10:23 am

It’s absolutely absurb for GT&T to block international calls originated from the internet, this action does not give GT&T the rights to imply this drastic measures, after all, we are living in communist land for such action to be taken. Can some one let me know if the PPP government has renewed their contract, thanks.

Reply
vijay deo says:

December 20, 2008 at 12:26 pm

I want to ask GTT a question.Why one (1) min call from toronto to Guyana costs 29 cents/min and a call to trinidad cost 8 cents and to brazil 4 cents? I think the internation rates are charged by the rates in the terminating countries.A call to Guyana is one of the most expensive in the world and we are just above countries like Guinea.
Most people seems to forget the sex phone scandal GTT was involved in the early 90s.
Its a pity I still have family in Guyana which I am forced to pay these rates.

Reply
Rox says:

December 20, 2008 at 12:45 pm

Maybe if GT&T were reliable and actually made it affordable for the people of Guyana to use their services to make overseas calls; they would not have to worry about losing business. If they want to limit the VOIP and other serivces, they should provide a viable alternative. They definately have to learn the meaning of “Customer Service”.

Reply
Ranfred Williams says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

December 20, 2008 at 1:24 pm

Many thanks to all the people that stood up for this cause that affect the lives of thousands of persons. I had said that there is no spirit of Comradeship in Guyana, but that if we decided to form an alliance we can beat this problem. However, I take back that statement. The Internet Interest Holders Group displayed a high interest in the issue and Comradeship as the stood up for the right of the people and access to technology.
We have won.

Reply

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Toolbox * Permalink * * Discuss this Article(45) * Next Article in this Section Café owners seek ‘free and fair’ internet BY Staff

2008-12-20T09:24:00.000-08:00

Toolbox

Café owners seek ‘free and fair’ internet

BY Staff
Published: December 14, 2008 in News

– may take legal action

The Internet Interest Holders Group (IIHG), at a meeting held by the group yesterday, which was opened to all interested parties, said it was focusing its efforts at securing “free and fair internet”.

The IIHG, a body of internet café owners and managers which was formed following the Guyana Revenue Autho-rity (GRA) announcement that it will pursue and prosecute business that offer international telephone calls over the internet since it was “illegal”, and the Guyana Tele-phone and Telegraph (GT&T) company’s blocking of some software used to make international calls through the internet.

Thus far, at least one internet café owner has been forced to layoff staff.

The main argument of the group is that the ban on Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) is illegal because the various internet café owners are paying GT&T for a service and not part of a service.

According to Head of the IIHG, Stephen Thompson, the body is seriously considering taking legal action against the telephone company. He said it was seeking to have an injunction against the company which will prevent it from continuing to block the VOIPs and the VPNs sites, until the mater is resolved in court. With this in mind, the IIHG has sought legal representation from the Fraser and Housty Law Firm. He said the group would also appeal to the authorities to have an amendment to the bill that covers communication in the country.

Speaking at yesterday’s meeting, Attorney-at-law Stephen Fraser pointed out that GT&T had no legal right over the internet service in Guyana, since it was never granted such right by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

However, Fraser said, internet cafés were in a difficult position, since apart from being targeted by GT&T, they were also being threatened by the National Frequency Management Unit and the GRA. With three agencies posing a threat, he said, the body had to make decisions that were in the best interest of all concerned and to think seriously about all the available options.

It was mentioned that GT&T had made an offer to internet café owners, which involved them paying US$60 for a “box”, a $10,000 monthly rental for DSL and buying minutes from GT&T to continue to use VOIP, but it is not clear whether the IIHG will accept this offer.

Meanwhile, Fraser said that when it came to the GRA, it was the responsibility of the internet café owners to pay value-added tax (VAT) once they crossed the $10 million income threshold.

Thompson himself called on the café owners to pay their taxes. However, it was suggested by some during the discussions that it was the GRA, which was responsible for collecting taxes and should implement measures to ensure that persons paid their taxes.

However, Fraser emphasized that the effort was always required from the person paying the taxes.

Meanwhile, Mark Court who was attributed with pioneering the concept of internet cafés in Guyana, said these cafes have been in existence for 12 years and he found it strange that suddenly there was an attempt to close them down.

Lost business
When contacted last week, some internet café managers indicated that to some extent, their operations had been affected. Based on telephone interviews with several managers, it has been noted that those who access the internet through a wireless system have not been affected while those who have dial-up or DSL have been affected.

Shaurwayne Blackman, the owner of Action Tek Internet Café said he had been affected “everyway possible”. He said certain sites like Net2phone have been blocked and have been “on and off” preventing the use of the site. He asserted that persons who went to browse the internet at his cafe have also been affected as at times the pages load very slowly. The internet café owner, who has been in business for the past five years, said that the situation was frustrating to customers and he has lost business. “It’s been rough,” he stated adding that he had had to lay off two employees.

He said internet cafes owners would not mind putting their businesses “straight” but a tax rate lower than the 16% VAT rate would be preferred. He said that for the past three weeks there had been a degradation of service but since he also has a wireless system certain operations were not affected much. He emphasized that if the situation continued he would have to reduce the hours worked and consequently the salaries paid to the remaining staff members. He pointed out that every year, he pays income tax.

Stephen Thompson of Netsurf.com said he has been on a virtual shutdown since he was unable to offer calls from both of his locations. He stated that access was blocked to websites where software to allow voice communication was sourced. But browsing was not affected though he stated that he had to reduce his staff while attempts are made to resolve the issue. He declared that his staff were committed to the café and it was hard to have the situation impacting on them. He said that a “grace period” should have been allowed while attempts were made to sort out the issues. Thompson was in the internet café business since 2000.

Another internet café manager, who requested anonymity said that the café had sold cards, through which call could be made at home and persons had complained that they were unable to use them since sites like Mediaring were blocked.

Wireless unaffected
Attempts during the course of last week to get a comment from GT&T Director of Rate Making, Gene Evelyn were futile while the company’s spokeswoman, Allison Parker said she could not speak without consulting senior officials.

Meantime, other internet cafes that utilize a wireless system said they were not affected while several others, which do not offer calls, were also not affected.

Meantime, according to the ‘Current System Status’ on the website of internet service provider, Inter.Net.Works, in an entry posted on December 2, it was stated that GTT had blocked all VOIP (through which calls are made) traffic on its network as of 3 pm that day and the company had been advised that the network policy was implemented based on a GRA policy on lost revenue from VOIP calls. Another entry posted later that day said that GTT had advised that the network policy on VOIP calls should not affect peer-to-peer messenger applications and the policy is intended to disallow calls to international numbers.

The following day, another post said the telephone company had advised that the current network policy on VOIP calls is similar to the current policy for DSL. All VOIP applications are explicitly blocked while peer-to-peer messenger services are not explicitly blocked. Blocked services are disallowed in-transit when the traffic traverses GTT’s data platform, the post said.

The last entry, on December 4 stated that GT&Ts current block on VOIP calls has not been revised and noted that the company’s technical department had successfully tested some mainstream PC to PC applications including Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger and Skype, which are not included on the GT&T’s blocked list and found them to be working. Well established PC to phone applications such as Net2phone and Mediaring remain blocked and do not work, the entry had stated.

The IIHG had, in a statement, said that it will comply with any reasonable taxation imposed on businesses and warned that the blocking of internet calls will severely affect over 7,000 persons. It had appealed to the government to make the necessary adjustments to resolve the issue “so as to ensure stability in this sector” and asserted that in previous instances, the government ruled in favour of services like Mediaring and Dialpad signalling their interest in innovation in the telecommunications sector.

The statement had declared that the restrictions and limitations on the use of these services is a blatant attack on the rights of citizens to the use of the internet. It asserted that the telephone company’s blocking of VOIP’s and VPN’s implies aggressively that the company’s services must be used to make international calls which happens to be more expensive and said that the service and rates of the GT&T can be much better.

The GRA, in a statement late last month had said that a large number of persons and entities have become illegally involved in the international telephone call business and the entity is moving to prosecute them. “These individuals and businesses have essentially created illegal telecommunications networks that employ authorized VSAT equipment for unlawful purposes or VSAT equipment without the requisite licenses, SIM banks, broadband, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and international Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) providers like Vonage, Skype, and Packet 8 to offer outbound and inbound voice calls to the public for a fee. These operations are illegitimate and essentially result in tax evasion since no revenue is paid on these calls,” the GRA had declared.

It had said that such operations are increasing rapidly and its calculations indicate that their collective impact on the national revenue collection effort is too significant to ignore. Government has supported the revenue body and urged the entity to aggressively pursue the tax evaders and enforce the law.

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45 Comments

Bad News says:

December 14, 2008 at 7:36 am

The sweet tax free system is over for all involved for years now it was a free ride what if you have to pay? those people employed by the internet cafe do they have nis benefit it is time the young people in Guyana understand the importance of NIS too many will put labour in for nothing later.

Reply
- SandHurst First says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 8:51 am
  
  The sticker the government the wiser the population…Watch and see (oh shucks u in America) how many people with use a back door and make their calls…..remember its the internet we talking about here!!
- Kaieteur Gold says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 12:08 pm
  
  Hey “Bad News”! Re: “[...those people employed by the internet cafe do they have NIS benefit it is time the young people in Guyana understand the importance of NIS too many will put labour in for nothing later...]” How come there is now emphasis on the “importance of the NIS” (a sister organization of the now defunct Guyana Cooperative Agricultural and Industrial Development Bank - GAIBANK; and, an financial institution that was established by the L. F. S. Burnham Administration) and the values of the Guyana Cooperative Cooperative Agricultural and Industrial Development Bank - GAIBANK were not recognized in terms of creating employment for people such as those working at these “Internet Cafes’” in Guyana. The question is: Is it that more “NIS” money is needed for the completion of the “Berbice River Bridge” or what… so much so that it is now necessary to go after these “Internet Cafe’ Owners”! How about the Guyana Government’s GRA going after the “Hire Cars and Mini-Bus Owners for Taxes and NIS payments - They have been around decades before the “Internet Cafes’”?
- Joe Coxall says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 3:13 pm
  
  Bad News,
  The internet and all of its pheriferals, remain and should remain, the peoples free access of communication. If we allow them to tax and control it. eventually you will have to pay for every text word you present on this site and anywhere else.
  Give the desperately poor people a break, it is their only affordable means of communication, they are already taxing the overseas remittances, how can they again tax the communication pathways, that allow that remittance.
  
  I remember when calls to Guyana would cost 700 to 1000 thousand dollars US per month, if you were not careful. With the internet those sums now go to the family instead of to the phone company.
  
  I remember when all calls from Guyana were collect, because your poor family could not afford the call and you either took the call or not, because you are first thinking about your telephone bill.
  
  Your family wanted a smallpiece but could not afford to call, you do not mind the smallpiece, but the tele call was more than the small piece.
  
  So I say live and let live, give the people a break, you blood suckers.
  
  Joe.
- getreal says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 6:22 pm
  
  Hey Bad News, are you talking about the same NIS who didn’t pay out benefits to a certain judge and a certain newspaper editor after decades of service to our country. The same NIS who sits by while employees of certain government agencies doesn’t receive medical benefits in the ‘here and now’. Please we here on the ground in GT can’t worry about NIS when we get old if we still trying to survive on a daily basis in the ‘here and now’
RDMAN says:

December 14, 2008 at 8:13 am

Complete nonsense,with 16%vat and the phone bill are already high.Guyana has one of the highest rates per minute in the world,imagine the rates of Afghanistan is lower than Guyana.

Reply
Michael Dabydeen says:

December 14, 2008 at 9:27 am

It is time for someone to start acting right. GT&T has long been riding the monopoly horse and has finally gotten their way through policies from GRA. I agree with Mr. Thompson that some Internet Cafe indeed get off Taxes and I think that GRA should have moved towards educating Cafe owners on how to implement Tax programs so that all can benefit.
Stopping VOIP is a sign of dictatorship, something that was done many years ago. Blocking of VOIP is the same as banning commodities such as food items etc. It works the same way.

So there is some amount of wrong on both sides of the fence, but GT&T takes the greater chunk of the doings. It is time that they start acting right. We need to realise that stopping technological advancements is sometime that cannot be achieved. GT&T’s only concern seems to be their loss of income, not the poorer class and the people who are employed and are suffering. I, personally know of a single mom who works at a Cafe to support her daughter to going to school. How is she going to be able to maintain her child now that Business is closed by someone due to their greed.

I invite you to vote against this tyranny: http://freegyvoip.wordpress.com

Reply
tom says:

December 14, 2008 at 9:43 am

why it is so expensive to call only Guyana from North America and else where?

Reply
- Michael Dabydeen says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 10:07 am
  
  It is expensive to call worldwide. GT&T charges up GY$1000(US$5) per minute to call some parts of the world. It is among one of the cheapest rates they charge to call USA and Canada.
Mackydog says:

December 14, 2008 at 10:49 am

Render on to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
How else can the Government provide for the country if taxes aren’t collected? Some businessmen want to continue the old time tradition practiced during the PNC ERROR by operating businesses and NOT paying revenue making all the money and contributing nothing back to the people who support their businesses.

It’s time the Government (IRD) create laws to have all businesses large and small, even bottom-house cake shops operating in Guyana display a Government issued Permit To Operate, and if they don’t have one, be prosecuted and closed down. Businesses in Guyana have it too damn easy. The worst thing Guyanese businessmen hate is CHANGE.

RENDER ON TO CAESAR WHAT BELONG TO CAESAR.

Reply
- Kaieteur Gold says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 1:53 pm
  
  Hey “Mackydog”! Re: “How else can the Government provide for the country if taxes aren’t collected? How about telling us how much taxes were paid to the Guyanese treasury by the large foreign-owned gold mining, timber extraction… companies that were (are) operating in Guyana; and, the bauxite industries “not being start-up companies”… how much taxes will be paid into the Guyanese treasury by the majority-owned Russian and Chinese companies; also, when will the “tax holidays” granted to these companies (which are raping the Guyanese economy) be over! These are the real tax issues that you should be talking about here - don’t you think!
- getreal says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 6:32 pm
  
  Mackydog, I don’t think this is about paying revenue to the GRA, if that was the case GRA has avenues to ensure they get theirs. I don’t believe most of these cafe’s would make 10 million plus a year and as such would avoid VAT. But income taxes is a must- if they aren’t paying the GRA can legally go after them. These businesses are not underground, they’re in the open. I think this is about GTT continuing to maintain their monopoly at the same time repressing its customers. Thank god for Digicel who opened our eyes and finally gave us the way to utilize a cell phone instead of having it as an accessory.
guyanesestarfish says:

December 14, 2008 at 10:53 am

i remembered when i got my first internet, dial-up, i said “ah ha i going & call some me relatives overseas” now that’s over and done with and i fed-up browsing and ebuddy on the phone works great, the internet is useless to me now.
someone should investigate whose money is funding GRA upcoming staff party.

Reply
ALI says:

December 14, 2008 at 10:59 am

i have already make a comment few days ago
internet cafes must register their business and pay they income taxes and a yearly licence fee to operate or a yearly fee to gt&t for yap jack users
for a fact the yapjack providers are killing the internet cafes business and internet cafes have alot of overhead expencives
these things need to be regulated not every corner their a call center,

one more thing if gt&t can give us deal on weekends eg; calls to usa & canada for $20gd per minutes, gt&t would find their revanue incresing

please forgive me if i offended anyone…

regards
ALI

Reply
- Kaieteur Gold says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 2:14 pm
  
  Hey “ALI”! You have said inter alia; “[...I have already make a comment few days ago
  internet cafes must register their business and pay they income taxes and a yearly licence fee to operate or a yearly fee to gt&t for yap jack users for a fact the yapjack providers are killing the internet cafes business and internet cafes have alot of overhead (expenses) these things need to be regulated not every corner their a call center...]”
  
  Also,
  
  Re: “The Federal Communications Commission has canceled a meeting scheduled at which it planned to vote on a controversial free Internet plan”
  
  http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10122586-94.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0
  
  There are others in the world who are thinking differently than the way you are thinking; and, you need to wake up and smell the coffee - The best things in life are free.
- getreal says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 6:37 pm
  
  I agree, GTT should have been smart and got in the game early, be a leader not a petty follower. Push for regulation of the industry and offer competitive rates. The cafes have to register every year and renew their business license which is a ‘cakewalk process’. its so easy I don’t see why anyone wouldnt be registered to run their business in GT. And that brings to mind how crazy it is that GTT/GRA and the media would repeately say that these are illegal businesses when they would have been legally registered by the government through the Registrar’s.
Deryck says:

December 14, 2008 at 11:23 am

The government is right to corral the internet cowbows. These “businesses” use infrastructure that they have not invested in and therefore need to pay a licence to operate the businesses. Whay is the right of the Cafe owner to use Gt&T’s systems to offer servises that undercuts GT & T ’s revenues. Besides, it is only by implementing a moniotoring mechanisn to quantify the numebr of calls made/minutes used that the revenues can be properly taxed for VAT and the entreprenuers pay proper Income Tax as they should.

Reply
- Kaieteur Gold says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 2:25 pm
  
  How do you know that “It Is (Not) All About (errr…Jobs-Jobs-Jobs) Economy - Stupid!”
- getreal says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 6:43 pm
  
  Deryck are you kidding me Deryck, “These “businesses” use infrastructure that they have not invested in”, what are you talking about. Are you calling the internet an infrastructure, you sure cant be because its not. The cafe’s are paying for the use of the dsl/dialups they don’t access it for free, they are paying for that infrastructure that get invested in. And believe me the dsl is not lighting speed as GET advertises, I think they should spend their time and money improving on that. When the dsl/dialups go down, GET almost never offers an explanation we just have to tek whatever they dish out and you know what else we don’t get a prorated bill either for the days or hours they would have been down. The problem is GET didn’t not foresee the many benefits of the internet and dropped the ball a long time ago.
Unknow says:

December 14, 2008 at 12:32 pm

GTT doing the right thing cafe need to pay up too.

Reply
- Kaieteur Gold says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 12:52 pm
  
  Hey “Unknow”! Orion or Digicel BlackBerry’s “Bold” To The Left And Right and GT&T In The Middle; and, “You” Can Have What Ever You Like!
  http://na.blackberry.com/eng/purchase/
  
  :-$ ;-) :-$
- getreal says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 6:49 pm
  
  Dear Unknow, you need to go back to wearing your cell phone as an accessory if you had one, keep enjoying waiting 10 years or more for a land line, stay without credit in your cell phone because its too expensive to topup and only speak to your relatives abroad at christmas or on specail occasions instead of everyday. While the rest of us go to the internet cafe’s and keep in touch with our loved ones abroadm get our support money ontime, report the news direct and live. I wonder if you typing your comments at home or at an internet cafe. Te he he he.
Kaieteur Gold says:

December 14, 2008 at 12:39 pm

This anti-competitive, anti-innovative and monopolistic move be GT&T is ridiculous and when our business formerly launches in Guyana should GT&T continue to engage in this type of behavior them we will see them in the U. S. or Guyana courts.
http://www.OrionEnterprises.com

http://www.OrionResourcesIntl.com

“E pluribus unum” - “Out of Many, One,”!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pluribus_unum

http://www.greatseal.com/mottoes/unum.html

We Are In This Together!

KG.

Reply
STONEBLISS says:

December 14, 2008 at 1:54 pm

What about copyright issues, are they going to be dealt with too or are the poor musicians of Guyana going to be continually denied their human rights forever and ever to the enjoyment of all and sundry and at the discretion of the two GREAT peas in a pod(pnc and ppp). The golden arrowhead should be replaced by the jolly roger(skull and crossbones) in this land of piracy heaven.What about the evasion of paying royalties by the govt. owned radio stations and tv stations? What example are they setting?

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SWAT says:

December 14, 2008 at 2:48 pm

and pay up and stop blaming the GRA! It is your responsibility to pay taxes on the services you’re providing. Don’t give the GRA a reason to come after you for their revenue….because they will. You’re using GT&T infrastructure that was in place long before anyone of you could spell the word Internet. You guys are piggybacking off the GT& T infrastructure and are complaining to booth. The solution is simple: Pay your taxes…service restored. Business does not suffer. Don’t have to lay off employees. Everyone benefits. Nuff said.

Reply
- getreal says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 6:56 pm
  
  What page are you on, its not about paying taxes, its about GTT keeping their monopoly and now they would like to extend that monopoly to the internet which does not belong to them. Their DSL fees charged to their customers including cafe’s are the cost of the infrastructure. Wht GTT is trying to do is tell us how to use the dsl. GRA has a right to collect taxes and they should to that if cafe’s, hotels, taxi drivers, gpl, gtt, hair salons, grocery stores, video shops etc are not paying. GRA should not single out internet cafe’s as the only violator of taxes. Has the GRA even released any numbers, names or figures of who and how much they think is not being paid. They dont care, they are only looking to back GTT continued monopoly ambition.
SWAT says:

December 14, 2008 at 2:49 pm

Internet café owners you need to listen to Mr. Thompson and to your lawyer, Mr. Fraser and pay up and stop blaming the GRA! It is your responsibility to pay taxes on the services you’re providing. Don’t give the GRA a reason to come after you for their revenue….because they will. You’re using GT&T infrastructure that was in place long before anyone of you could spell the word Internet. You guys are piggybacking off the GT& T infrastructure and are complaining to booth. The solution is simple: Pay your taxes…service restored. Business does not suffer. Don’t have to lay off employees. Everyone benefits. Nuff said.

Reply
Joe Coxall says:

December 14, 2008 at 3:26 pm

Listen folks, if they try to tax this medium, then the people have to circumvent it, because the internet is free, except for the connection cost.
Just about every home in the USA have a computer, now everyone with a computer and internet connection in Guyana just have to download SKYPE and have the people in the USA do the same and continue to provide the service as an underground business.

Joe

Reply
- Kaieteur Gold says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 3:46 pm
  
  That is an excellent idea to use the “SKYPE” technologies Uncle Joe; but, why if someone is conducting a legitimate business they should resort to “underground” tactics when the “tax exemptions/deductions” for certain expenses would be in place.
- decanadianCarlVeecock says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 5:36 pm
  
  Joe..I think that SKYPE is on the restricted list by GTT&T
  I am no longer getting those call from Guyana…plus when I use my Yahoo Messenger, the voice mail no longer arrives.
  
  Is despotism at work now.
- getreal says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 7:01 pm
  
  i think some of the reporters that writes these stories should try to do some research of their own sometimes you know, just don’t write what people say, go do some fact finding. For instance GTT announced that they are not blocking messenger applications but that is not true, I’m trying to call someone on my yahoo messenger right now and its not going through, its going to voicemail and they person is not getting the voicemails. also I cant receive calls, the messenger just wont ring. Guess what you think I can call GTT customer service and make a complaint about this since they say its not blocked. I will tomorrow and let you know what their answer was.
- tiger says:
  
  December 15, 2008 at 2:35 pm
  
  YEA JOE, if the govt continue with this behaviour,this particular situation will go underground, as in the case when there was no computers in guyana some years back and guyanese was involved with the overseas calling racket.stricter the govt wiser the populance
Kaieteur Gold says:

December 14, 2008 at 3:34 pm

Here are some plans and strategies to all internet users in Guyana (who are opposed to these draconian actions by the Guyana Government and GT&T) about what could be done - with just about two years to General Elections 2011 your time is soon coming/approaching - # 1.0 You know what you have to do when you get to the polling stations. # 2.0. After the new Guyana Government Administration is sworn in… have it (as one of its election campaign promises) terminate the GT&T’s monopolistic agreement; and, WALLA!
Can You Do It (like the supporters of President-elect Barack Obama did)? Yes You Can! ;-)

It Is Time For Change; and, the Advancement and Development of the Guyanese people!;-)

Peace!

Reply
- freespeech says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 8:56 pm
  
  the people have voted for change after 28 yrs, now most are happy, just a few are not and those are the ones wants free services without paying for it.
  we know what changes are long before obama.
decanadianCarlVeecock says:

December 14, 2008 at 5:33 pm

I refer to these quotes to illustrate the intransigent attitudes that
prevail in Guyana, plus the difficulties placed in the way of reporters
and the people in general as well as power exercises.
1.
He said that a “grace period” should have been allowed while attempts were made to sort out the issues.
…agreed, a grace period should have been allowed, but you think that
when people have POWER they would consider any such thing?
NOT AT ALL, BECAUSE WE WILL DO AS WE FEEL LIKE….ANYTIME !

2.
Attempts during the course of last week to get a comment from GT&T Director of Rate Making, Gene Evelyn were futile while the company’s spokeswoman, Allison Parker said she could not speak without
consulting senior officials

….THE USUAL RUN AROUIND REPORTERS GET WHEN DEALING WITH IMPORTANT
AND CRITICAL ISSUES.
YOU THINK THAT WOULD EVER CHANGE?…NOT IN THE LEAST. POWER AGAIN.

3.
( the GRA had declared )..that such operations are increasing rapidly and its calculations indicate that their collective impact on the national revenue collection effort is too significant to ignore.

….IF THERE EVER WAS A BLATANT LIE, HERE IS ONE! DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THOSE 600 SMALL OPERATORS WOULD BE GENERATING SUCH LARGE REVENUE THAT WOULD BE THAT SIGNIFICANT TO HAVE AN IMPACT ON NATIONAL REVENUE? THEIR
STAFF TOTALS 7200 PEOPLE WHO ARE STRUGGLING TO MAKE A LIVING.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF WHAT POWER MEANS… YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE WHAT WE SAY.

Reply
- getreal says:
  
  December 14, 2008 at 7:07 pm
  
  to add to what you’re saying its beneficial to point out that the revenue that gtt would have lost is not what the cafe’s has gained. GTT would have charged 100s times more than what the cafe’s charged which means that people would not have used their system often or not at all. GTT cannot charge us for using dsl/dialups and want to tell us how to use the internet which is a free application. However we should pay income taxes to the GRA and if there is any lucky internet operator other than a wholesaler out there they should pay vat as well.
gt_hopeful says:

December 14, 2008 at 5:50 pm

KaieteurGold:
I see that you have indicated some resources in an earlier contribution you made on this topic. It refers to an IBM link.
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/os/warp-withdrawal/

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/category/uc2/

If it is not too much, can you advise what service they offer relevant to info tech. you can email me on tic_fax1@yahoo.com. thanks

Reply
Kaieteur Gold says:

December 14, 2008 at 6:15 pm

This article also stated in part; re: “[...The last entry, on December 4 stated that GT&Ts current block on VOIP calls has not been revised and noted that the company’s technical department had successfully tested some mainstream PC to PC applications including Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger and Skype, which are not included on the GT&T’s blocked list and found them to be working. Well established PC to phone applications such as Net2phone and Mediaring remain blocked and do not work, the entry had stated...]” Here are some more of the best Instant Messaging (IM) solutions on the market:
Re: “IBM Lotus Sametime”

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/category/uc2/

So, what is the position/policies of GT&T on these that come with telephony integration should Instant Messaging sessions be required to be escalated to voice contact/s. 8-)

Reply
Kaieteur Gold says:

December 14, 2008 at 9:15 pm

Additionally, notice folks “[...IBM offers unified communications and collaboration solutions with enterprise IM, presence information, Web and video conferencing and built-in Voice over IP capabilities to help meet your expanding realtime collaboration needs...]“. Will someone explain the need (greed) to “tax” an already built-in technology that brings innovation to businesses throughout the world!
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/category/uc2/

Lets Go Guyana… For The Real-Time Business Communication, Coordination and Collaboration and Don’t Let Them Keep Ya All Back.

“Knowledge Is Power”!

Reply
Arnold says:

December 14, 2008 at 10:22 pm

They want better hospital,bridges,roads,schools,universities,,,,, development costs money,when cry for change, must pay ya’ll revenues. Or be struck out/close down.

Reply
Berbician For Life says:

December 15, 2008 at 9:37 am

What more the Governement of Guyana want to do with people trying to make a living, Now u attacking the internet Cafe, GT&T of them self have notting good for service and now this, ” God man” one thing to the next, presuring people. I think Digicel should bring out there intenet Service like how the offer it throught out the Caribbean, and let what GT&T wil say next.

Reply
God Bless Youth says:

December 15, 2008 at 9:46 am

What GT&T and the GRA trying to do, make no sence, In Guyana for 256MB is 10,000 and for the 512MB is 32000, when u put both together it don’t make, no sence either, when a man have to run 16 Computer in a internet cafe on 512MB intenet speed that GT&T thing they giving there best, all the doing is robbing Guyanese,cause u never get that, Now they want to block VOIP, what they need is a little more compertation, like LIME(Cable and wireless)cause like Digicel, did not open there eyes.”God man”

Reply
God Bless Youth says:

December 15, 2008 at 9:51 am

Every Body Pay a rental from GT&T, weather u buy the line from them or there is always some monthly somethinig u have to pay, then y now when u do all that they trying to block a internet owner from utilizing the internet to do watever he/she want. For the pass 25 years and still all of Guyana still can get a land line phone in there house,what the should b concern with, there minding other people business.

Reply
tiger says:

December 15, 2008 at 2:17 pm

when you have just one telecommunications company, which has the sole monopoly in any country, then you have no choice but to abide by their rules, thats the problem in guyana today, now if they was at least two of these companies that share the telecommmunations systems in guyana then there would not be a problem of this nature, besides the govt run system there must be a private entity to compete in this only held monopoly.

Reply
Politricks says:

December 15, 2008 at 2:46 pm

This is what we call moving backward- forward. I am happy the IIHG took such matter up. This is what you call nasty communication it happens throughout the Caribbean. Let the Government continue to tax and tax and don’t pay public servants a decent wage, see what will eventually happen. This was one of the vital source for communication and to create employment, to create investment because talk time is cheap. But instead the government keep legislating. If GT&T complains thats there problem if they fail to deploy modernize technology onto there existing network and liberalized the market then things would have been different but all they keep doing is ripping off. They figure monopolizing the market is the only solution but today we are in the 21st century and if they “GT&T” prefer to keep there existing network to stone age so be it but people will always move to alternative measure to enjoy a better standard of living.

Toolbox * Permalink * * Discuss this Article(6) * Next Article in this Section Block on some VOIP sites lifted BY Mark McGowan Publ

2008-12-20T09:11:00.002-08:00

Toolbox

Block on some VOIP sites lifted

BY Mark McGowan
Published: December 20, 2008 in News

GT&T, internet cafes continuing talks

However, the members of the IIHG and GT&T are continuing their deliberations in an attempt to find a solution to the current impasse between them.

Café owners seek ‘free and fair’ internet BY Staff Published: December 14, 2008 in News – may take legal action The Internet Interest Holders Group

2008-12-20T09:11:00.001-08:00

Café owners seek ‘free and fair’ internet

BY Staff
Published: December 14, 2008 in News

– may take legal action

Thus far, at least one internet café owner has been forced to layoff staff.

Meanwhile, Fraser said that when it came to the GRA, it was the responsibility of the internet café owners to pay value-added tax (VAT) once they crossed the $10 million income threshold.

However, Fraser emphasized that the effort was always required from the person paying the taxes.

Meantime, other internet cafes that utilize a wireless system said they were not affected while several others, which do not offer calls, were also not affected.

Guyana cannot develop if one organization restricts access to new technologies BY Staff Published: December 19, 2008 in Letters Dear Editor, GT&T’s

2008-12-20T09:10:00.001-08:00

Guyana cannot develop if one organization restricts access to new technologies

BY Staff
Published: December 19, 2008 in Letters

Dear Editor,
GT&T’s recent move to block all VOIP resources on the internet could be considered just another attack on the freedom and rights of the Guyanese people. These resources were created by other companies overseas to make it easier and cheaper for family and friends to keep in contact.

In my opinion, GT&T does not have the authority to block or degrade any service provided by international companies via the internet. Guyanese have the right, just as do all other people in the world, to be able to use the services provided by Net2Phone, MediaRing, Skype, etc, to make international phone calls since they would be paying those international companies for the service.

Why should Guyanese pay the excessive prices that GT&T charges for their landline international services when there are cheaper alternatives? This seems to be greed on GT&T’s part since the people who would need the internet to make calls, would also make use of either GT&T’s ‘blazing fast’ DSL service.

By degrading VOIP and blocking VPN services it seems that GT&T wants to have its cake and eat it too.
How will the internet café owners and other GT&T customers be reimbursed for services already paid to those international companies that provide them with VOIP solutions? Not forgetting all the VPN solutions that would have been purchased and blocked by GT&T?

It has to be taken into consideration that GT&T does not own the internet; they only provide their customers with a connection or gateway to the internet, and all services offered on the internet should be made available to the customer. GT&T has no right to block services provided on the internet for their corporate benefit.

Why should someone pay $116 per minute to the United States, when you can use Net2Phone and pay the equivalent of $10 per minute? It must also be noted that VOIP calls are much clearer with less ‘lag time’ than GT&T’s landline service.

Our country cannot develop if we cannot use new technologies that are easily accessible on the internet because we are restricted by one corporate entity that seems to have the support of other organisations.

For one to fully understand how profit oriented GT&T really is you just have to remember the title given to Mr Gene Evelyn, the Director of Rate-Making. I have ‘Googled’ this job -title and it seems that currently Mr Evelyn is the only person in the world to hold such a title. I would like him to please explain to me why Guyanese have to pay such a high price for bandwidth.

It is shameful to see GT&T charge us $9,980/ month for a 256kbps (kilo-bits per second) connection when the same connection from the Telecommuni-cations Services of Trinidad and Tobago’s (TSTT) BLink Broadband using the same technology costs the equivalent of G$2,415/month.
What GT&T considers ‘blazing speed’ and high speed internet is their 512kbps connection, which costs $33,250/month. When using such an internet connection

in Guyana, most users would be content with the speed at which web pages load and the download speeds achieved in which 100MB (megabytes) can be downloaded in 30 minutes. But to the seasoned internet user, a 512kbps connection is nothing compared to TSTT’s 10Mbps (10 megabit per second) connection which can download the same 100MB file in a mere 1 minute, with a cost equivalent of $21,280/month.

After looking at the huge difference between the two companies’ pricing schemes, I wonder how the Director of Rate Making at GT&T justifies that of his company.
What I am most confused about is GT&T’s latest bandwidth plan, the 1Mbps connection that they sell for $120,000/month. Why was it not advertised publicly, and why is the price so high? From my calculations, and I am no mathematician, a 1Mbps connection, could be considered as two (2) 512kbps connections, so how does the company explain how they came up with the price of $120,000/month? From my calculations it should work out to no more than $66,500/month.

I am reminded of when GT&T started an ad campaign when Digicel was introduced to the market. The ad campaign had a nationalistic theme, “It’s a Guyanese thing.” It is laughable to think that we are supporting a company that is hindering our progress in using new technologies that would encourage development. Why is the use and development of internet technologies for an entire country left solely in the hands of a company that appears to have no interest in the people supporting them, and why should we continue to support them?

GT&T says that they will have another fiber-optic link operational in Guyana by 2010, but why should we have to wait until then for affordable internet and have to endure restrictions to our internet service when the world at large can enjoy free and fair internet use?
Yours faithfully,

Josh I Vandall

“How the internet killed the phone business” BY Staff Published: December 19, 2008 in Business By Andre Griffith The primary business pursuit of I

2008-12-20T09:09:00.001-08:00

“How the internet killed the phone business”

BY Staff
Published: December 19, 2008 in Business

By Andre Griffith

The primary business pursuit of Internet Cafés is facilitating international voice calling, in order to do which the cafés utilise Internet connections from a number of providers who provide international connectivity. The fees for these calls are somewhere in the order of 3 to 5 US cents per minute, that is, about 6 to 10 Guyana dollars per minute.

A quick check with the rates published in a 2008 telephone directory revealed that I could expect to pay 90 – 100 Guyana dollars per minute to call the United States, up to 134 dollars per minute to call Canada and up to 136 dollars per minute to call to the United Kingdom. The degree of disparity in the respective sets of rates helps to illustrate the so-called seismic shift that has taken place in the global telecommunications industry. Seismic shifts in industries are occasioned by a number of factors, among the more common of which are de-regulation and changes in technology.

One of the effects of deregulation is that entities previously barred from participating in an industry are able to participate, fundamentally altering the industry structure from monopolistic or oligarchic one to a more competitive environment. Examples of these are to be found in the airline industry where flag carriers were exposed to competition on long-haul international routes, the financial industry where investment banking, insurance and other financial services companies were allowed to offer traditional banking services, and telecommunications where monopolies were dismantled and, subsequently, providers such as cable television operators were allowed to enter the business of telecommunications, proper. The ‘uglier’ side of de-regulation involves reduction of standards required of businesses and reduction of regulatory oversight which is almost inevitably attended by abuses by businesses.

While de-regulation (or indeed making of new regulations) is the result of deliberate government action, technology change is mostly a result of innovation within industries themselves, and when the seismic changes hit, there are, invariably, spectacular winners and equally spectacular losers.
As far as the situation in the local Internet Café industry is concerned, what is playing out is reflective of a fundamental technology change th
at is now reaching our local telecommunications landscape, that is, penetration of Internet access and the phenomenon commonly referred to as convergence. This transformation is so powerful that the Economist magazine of September 17-23 2005 proclaimed the demise of telephony with the sensational cover headline “How the internet killed the phone business” which has been “borrowed” for this piece.

Convergence is driven by advances in digitisation technology. When we speak of convergence we refer to the fact that today we can turn almost any information into computer data. In other words, all information streams converge to data. We can take still images (such as photographs), moving images (video), and most importantly from the point of view of GT&T we can turn voice into data. We can store the data on digital media and, again most importantly, that data can be transported over data networks like any other computer traffic.

The Internet gives us a low-cost, public data network with virtually ubiquitous presence globally, while convergence gives us the ability to convert any information into data. Taken together what you have is the potential for the complete destruction of the traditional business and pricing models for telecommunications carriers, and as the fore-mentioned article from the economist showed, the reactions from telecommunications carrier the world over are varied. Predictably some operators are blocking access to services such as Skype, while others are attempting to structure contracts with their subscribers to prohibit the use of these services. It is notable that our provider does both of these things. On the other hand, other companies attempt to embrace voip and to be innovative in offering other services recognising that revenues from voice-only offerings will inevitably disappear.

Most readers would probably see nothing new or revolutionary about Internet access since already, it would seem that most of us cannot remember a life without it. A slight retrospective however should put this in perspective. Less than a decade ago, “broadband” Internet service was not available from our licensed provider. Ten years ago, there were no alternative service providers. Twenty years ago, our telephone company was a state-owned monopoly, and even upon privatisation in 1991, the “Web” – which was the “killer app” that drove Internet adoption the world over – did not exist.

The purpose of this digression is to reinforce the point that with Internet access as with convergence, technologies as they exist and are used today were unforeseen close to two decades ago when the Government of Guyana signed an agreement with Atlantic Tele Network, GT&T’s parent company. In this regard, my particular concern is with the blocking of voice over IP (voip) calls over networks where the customer has already paid for a service that is data. With respect to this, I venture the opinion that data is data is data, and that if I have paid for a data service, I have a right to send whatever data I choose, and my voice ceases to be voice after it goes through the conversion process.

At the heart of the argument is the interpretation on the “exclusive right” to provide “all national and international voice and data transmission” that was granted to GT&T by the agreement of 1991. Although this is first and foremost a legal matter, it concerns technical concepts thus I offer a technology-based argument. If the agreement of 1991 had envisaged all technologies, then, first off, there ought to have been no need to make a distinction between voice and data since under convergence they become one and the same. Having misplaced my copy of the contract, I have to rely on memory when I say that broadcast networks in general were specifically omitted, but video (almost exclusively distributed by television broadcast in those days outside of theatres and videotapes) was not mentioned in the agreement. Again this would tend to show that the present day situation where non-broadcast television networks such as cable outfits are digital operations, was not countenanced. If our cable television operators were to provide digital television services, then the video payload would be in the form of a stream of data. Would the cable television operators then be in violation of GT&T’s rights? If the answer is no, it means that there are limitations to the interpretation of “all data transmission”. If the answer is yes, I would be at a loss to appreciate, how a company could have rights to a service nowhere stated in its agreement, when care was taken to specify the other two services. For that to be so, the exclusive right would seem to me to apply to the underlying transport mechanism (in this case a data network), rather than the service per se delivered over that network, (video) which was never mentioned in the agreement. But this brings us back in a circle! If the right applies to the transport mechanism but the agreement had no concept of future technologies, then it is only logical that the right was limited to the transport mechanisms in place at the time that the agreement was made! This raises the question as to whether Internet service too ought or not to be part of the provider’s service portfolio since data transmission at the time was largely limited to fax and telex messaging. The permutations are endless and require the application of legal minds to any unravelling process.

Personally, I would welcome an unbiased legal opinion. In the meantime, I believe that with respect to bolstering declining revenues from the sector, the public interest may be better served by hiring good accountants to determine the reasonableness or otherwise of allowing 1.2 billion in advisory fees as a legitimate expense as opposed to taxing the cafés out of existence.

we held a meeting

2008-12-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

Internet Interest Holders Group meeting held on Saturday 13th December 2008 at Bree Academy (next to the Red house) from 1100 hrs to 1300 hrs.

Our attorney Mr Stephen Fraser was present and there were some interesting comments and discussion by the members and panel. Look for more information in the media.

Let us fight Together for the Freedom of the Internet - Stop the Tyranny Now

2008-12-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

Who gave GT&T the right to block VOIP in Guyana. We are a third world country because after 42 years of Independence we allow ourselves to be behind technology. We just made a major step backward -- by blocking VIOP. Variety of Internet Operation Perequesites. ---- Correction ( Voice Over Internet Protocol) This must stop. Join us at our Internet Interest Holders meeting to be held at the Private School, next to the Red House, High Street, Kingston, Georgetown. All aRe Invited. 10:00 am on Saturday 13th December 2008. See and be there

Secretary,
Ranfred Williams
Internet Interest Holders.

Internet café group says call blocking will hit thousands

2008-12-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

Open to reasonable taxation

A body representing internet café owners says that it will comply with any reasonable taxation imposed on their businesses and warns that the blocking of internet calls will severely affect over 7000 persons.

The Internet Interest Holders Group, a body of internet café owners and managers which was formed following the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) announcement that it will pursue and prosecute such business that offer international telephone calls over the internet since it was “illegal”, is appealing to the government to help resolve the issue.

In a press release, issued under the name of Netsurf Manager, Stephen Thomas, the Group said that last week’s blocking of Voice Over Internet Protocols (VOIP) on Dialup and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) by telephone company, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) will force many businesses to close their doors and send home staff since they cannot afford to retain their services.

It said that this move targets some 600 internet cafes, which accounts for about 7200 persons. “The more alarming issue is that this move comes around a time when the United States of America is in the middle of one of the worst depressions in its history”, the statement said adding that since the unemployed persons cannot afford to pay their utility bills they may possibly be forced to become desperate and begin illegal activities.

The statement assured the GRA that it will comply with any reasonable taxation that will be determined by legislation and appealed to the government to make the necessary adjustments to resolve the issue “so as to ensure stability in this sector”.

The group said that the effects of the move will also indirectly affect the national foreign exchange take since “the poor people who use the internet are persons who are trying to cut back on expenses and would be forced to minimize the time spent on long distance calls to their friends, family and business colleagues internationally”.

It asserted that on previous instances, the government ruled in favour of services like Mediaring and Dialpad signaling their interest in innovation in the telecommunications sector.

The statement declared that the restrictions and limitations on the use of these services is a blatant attack on the rights of citizens to the use of the internet. It asserted that the telephone company’s blocking of VOIP’s and VPN’s implies aggressively that the company’s services must be used to make international calls which happens to be more expensive and said that the service and rates of the GT&T can be much better. GT&T could not be reached yesterday for a comment.

For quite some time the internet in Guyana was known as an avenue that allowed persons to communicate and share information internationally with greater advancements as technology and education developed, the group said. Businessmen have observed that there is potential in the internet in developing a new revenue base, the Group observed. It appealed to the public to support the lobby for lifting sanctions against the internet.

The internet group urged public support via emails to icoauguyana@yahoo.com or by phoning 698-6153.

What a Pity Internet Cafes in Guyana are closed down

2008-12-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

It is a pity that the Government of Guyana is currently displaying a show of force against the unexpecting, unfortunate and susceptible masses of Guyana who account for 80 percent of the population.. Two events that encapsulates this obtained heavy media coverage and attention in recent times. One being the forceable adjustment of the prices for fuel at the gas pump of a private businessman.

It goes to show that our autocratic government have a very thwarted agenda to oppress the people of our country by telling us what prices we must pay. I believe it is customary that a democracy imposes price control to lower prices but since The average man must pay their prices and must be forced to resell at their prices, we have empowered a government that works against us.

Still I believe that the majority of us have not got the big picture where we are forced to do things in an anti-competitive way that is negative for our personal economic development.

The other issue is that The Government is forcing the GRA to sanction the Internet Cafes for using features to allow cheap and affordable calls to the public. Imagine a case where internet Cafes are able to offer oversea calls at G$20 and in some cases G$10 per minute which works out to US$0.10 and US$0.05 per minute contrasted to a cost of $35 per minute to the United States using our local land line services. Rates to the Caribbean are exasperatingly higher.

I find it counter democratic that they went even further make a ridiculous move in the month of December to block all the Yap Jacks from dialing through their lines. Their argument was that “These individuals and businesses have essentially created illegal telecommunications networks that employ authorized VSAT equipment for unlawful purposes or VSAT equipment without the requisite licenses, SIM banks, broadband, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and international Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) providers like Vonage, Skype, and Packet 8 to offer outbound and inbound voice calls to the public for a fee. These operations are illegitimate and essentially result in tax evasion since no revenue is paid on these calls,” the GRA had declared.
http://www.stabroeknews.com/news/go-after-internet-cafes-cabinet-urges-gra/

Can someone please define tax evasion for me. Since there are laws governing the use of the VSat Equipment, claims of illegitimate use can be warranted. BUT to say that VOIP services are illegal and a means of tax evasion, is like saying that producing your own Bio-diesel to run your car on is illegal because you opt not to use the imported gasoline that attracts heavy Government tax.

I have a solution. If anyone want to chat with their family and friends, and have a Personal Computer at home make contact with me and I will help you to get the system so you can chat internationally with your friends and using your computer at the lowest rate.

At the time I am writing this article there are 68 comments by concerned citizens on the Stabroek news website on this article if you feel concerned make your voice heard. Let us save our communication and freedom of speech.

President-Elect Obama's victory speech

2008-11-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

President-elect Barack ObamaChicago, Illinois November 4, 2008
Hello, Chicago.
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen. McCain.
Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
I congratulate him; I congratulate Gov. Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years, the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady, Michelle Obama.
Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House.
And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best — the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.
To my chief strategist David Axelrod who's been a partner with me every step of the way.
To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics. You made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.
It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy, who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.
It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.
This is your victory.
And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.
You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.
There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.
I promise you, we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.
This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.
Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world: Our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
To those — to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Remarks by John Mc Cain

2008-11-07T18:40:00.000-08:00

November 5, 2008

Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.

My friends, we have -- we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too. But we both recognize that though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African American to the presidency of the United States. Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.

Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer in my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day, though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.

Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences, and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

It is natural tonight to feel some disappointment, but tomorrow we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. We fought as hard as we could.

And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.

I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends. The road was a difficult one from the outset. But your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.

I am especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother and all my family and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign. I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.

You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate's family than on the candidate, and that's been true in this campaign. All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude, and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.

I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I have ever seen and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength. Her husband Todd and their five beautiful children with their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign. We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country.

To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly month after month in what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship.

I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.

This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life. And my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.

I would not be an American worthy of the name, should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century. Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone and I thank the people of Arizona for it.

Tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama, I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president.

And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history, we make history.

Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.

Research

2008-10-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

For Years, I have been browsing the Internet and discovered my ability to research and collect information on the Internet. I utilized this potential and privately conducted research for local customers in my small village of Rosignol, in Berbice, for a couple of months. However when I moved to the city, I joined a firm Netsurf.com and successfully incorporated my research and design strategy into the business. Now netsurf.com offers document design, although on a small scale, and research to many valuable customers every week.

I plan to utilize these skills in the development of my magazine Edu-Kate and website Ranfred.com both scheduled to launch on the 21st January, 2009.

The Website Ranfred.com will feature, a social platform including forums and a chat room, to allow educators, councillors and entrepreneurs to share their ideas and interests with the interested public.

Another feature of this website will be our research and writing services, where we will market our services on an international basis to customers who are desirous of conducting research, or simply gathering information for an assignment (from the levels of the primary schools, to tertiary institutions, not excluding government and business entities).

Currently, We are offering these facilities on a medium scale to international customers.

Do you want us to do some research for you or gather information for your school assignment, just email to money_biz_2007@yahoo.com include "Urgent Assignment" in the subject line.

This is Important

2008-09-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

What preperations do you have against financial crises and do you have retirement plans.Well contrary to everything that you have been taught, saving your money in the bank is not the best way to go.

If you had observed the financial situation on the international markets closely you would have noticed that the economic problems that occurred rippled into the lives of the ordinary man and there is more still to come. You and I would be affected indirectly as well by the restructuring of Wall Street. One official in a Middle Eastern country went as far as saying that president Bush and his International wars were resopnsible for the global shakeups .

Let me say blunty that these things happen. The result from mismanagent. Let me not be the one to point fingers because if you were in my position you would be happy when these things happen.

I got you there.

International shakeups and even smaller regional ones that are focused in a specific country affect the value of the currency of major countries.

Well how can you benefit form this? I will be discussing how to benefit from financial shakedowns in my confrence on Saturday at 1 pm Eastern time I will show you how you can turn your life around by using a proved system that will shatter everything you ever learnt about money. When I am finished I will set you on a course to financial success.

Please send this message to all your friends. We have to do this together. Just add this email money_biz_2007@yahoo.com to your messenger and join me on our yahoo web confrence Saturday 27th September, 2008.

You willl not regret it.

Ranfred Williams

The Fall of The Us Dollar

2008-09-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

If I refused to comment on the situation on Wall street, I will be doing myself and the economic community a great disservice. Everyone is talking about it. Never before have I seen Guyanaese on the street arguing about the declining value of the US dollar, the merging of US companies and international economic problems.

Therefore I will task myself with clarifying the issues and shakeups and explain how they affected the US Economy, the world markets and our lives as individuals. I will conclude by speculating on how this affects our future.

Let me first hope that you are/were not an employee at Lehman that filed bankruptcy just last week.

According to the New York Times "Lehman's slow collapse began as the mortgage market crisis unfolded in the summer of 2007, when its stock began a steady fall from a peak of $82 a share. The fears were based on the fact that the firm was a major player in the market for subprime and prime mortgages, and that as the smallest of the major Wall Street firms, it faced a larger risk that large losses could be fatal.

As the crisis deepened in 2007 and early 2008, the storied investment bank defied expectations more than once, just it had many times before, as in 1998, when it seemed to teeter after a worldwide currency crisis, only to rebound strongly. " ...

"By the weekend of Sept. 13-14, it was clear that it was do or die for Lehman. The Treasury had made clear that no bailout would be forthcoming. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Federal Reserve officials did encourage other financial institutions to buy Lehman, but by the end of the weekend the two main suitors, Barclay's and Bank of American, had both said no. Lehman had reached the end of the line. "

Read the entire story on posted by the New York Times by clicking here:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/lehman_brothers_holdings_inc/index.html?excamp=GGBUlehmanbros&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_id=BI-S-E-GG-NA-S-lehman_bros

My first comment is that for a business to reach a point where bankruptcy is the only option, there are setbacks that it faced early on that leads to the entire decision

2008-09-17T18:21:00.001-07:00

Teens need attention
Current mood: animated

Are you a teen that have been suffering depression or do you know one.
Well forget the smile on my face because I have been there and I know what it is like to be depressed. Well I was not born to millionaires neither was I always happy. In fact I believe I have few moments of happiness in my childhood that I can remember.

But it takes more than self-assertion to become a happy and successful adolescent. Well self-assertion is not a inborn talent. And in fact I know that there are thousands of youths that lack this came talent.

The social programs in schools only go so far and no further in meeting the social needs of our youths like you and I.

The side-effects of teenage social, and emotional instability are great and insurmountable. Lets talk about depression, suicide, and drug abuse. The ills affecting the youths.

"A teen with an adequate support network of friends, family, religious affiliations, peer groups, or extracurricular activities may have an outlet to deal with everyday frustrations. But many teens don't believe they have that, and feel disconnected and isolated from family and friends. These teens are at increased risk for suicide."

"In the United States, depression is the most common mental health disorder. Each year it affects 17 million people of all age groups, races, and economic backgrounds. ... Depressed kids and teens are more likely to use alcohol and drugs than those who aren't depressed. Because these can momentarily allow a person to forget about the depression, they seem like perfect fixes. But they don't fix anything; in fact, they can make someone with depression feel even worse. ... Depression can be successfully treated in more than 80% of the people who have it. But if it goes untreated, it can be deadly — it's the No. 1 cause of suicide." http://www.kidshealth.org

We can and must arrest this problem because these adolescents are the adults of the next generation and if we do not take their plights seriously we will result in a generation that is insane, hooked on drugs, scarred by suicide, or altogether dysfunctional socially and emotionally.

If you have an idea on how we can make a positive move for our kids post it here

Together we can beat this.

2008-07-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

I have not seen any response from any person that was on the scen.I will follow the advice to speak as little as possible for the sake of safety. But I was again on the scene about 5 minutes after the young man died in the motorcycle accident and was the person to contact the relatives in Blairmont. I must admit that some of the comments were simply untrue. Let me also say that speeding is not going to be stopped by any adjustments in the theory tests because alcohol consumption is not a factor of the theory test but of the accident in question. These situations can be better dealt with if people visit the actual graveside medium (our roadways) an treat the problems firsthand and implment speedbumps, trafic lights, cops and morals in the youths.

The police Force and you

2008-07-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

"Ranfred Williams July 08, 2008 190.80.49.41
It is an eyesore and a plight that the police force is no longer a unit that can be trusted to enforce the law in Guyana as a good friend of mine once said they changed the law into "Loose All your Worth."

Must I mention my perasonal experience also where they stopped me and asked me to offer them a bribe for failing to observe the traffic light while I was using the pedestrian crossing. However I fortunately hadn't any cash on hand and since the only option was to spend some time in the jail, I informed them.

Fourunately they warned me and let me off. I presume that the police force have become more of a business than a law inforcement unit."

Response to the death of the teenage brothers

2008-07-15T11:01:00.000-07:00

The folloiwng was my letetr to comment to the Guyana Times
"Ranfred Williams July 07, 2008 190.80.49.41

I made several attempts to contact you guys about becoming a reporter and still have not yet placed a call or visited any of your offices. However I feel that to capture incidents like this on the medis within such short notice is very great work that needs to be complemented. The situatin is tragic. Yet we the concerned guyanese public only does three things about situations like this. #1 We express regret and anger, #2 we pass on the information to our relatives and friends with a kind of jubliating air. THen #3 we forget about it.

For situations like this to be stopped we need to have a team of perople dedicated to the assessment of these situation and influencing the enforcment of standards that will prevent the reoccurances of these situations.

So far the media in Guyana have proved to be only a source of information and not a tool of influence.
Look for example at the internationl news channels like NBC, CBS and CNN. These people are dedicated to making things happen Sometimes news anchors spin off to become the hosts of their own shows because their networks notice their potential.

In Guyana we still need some dedication, perseverance and pioniers in their respoetive feilds."

Guyana's Solution

2008-05-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

Guyana is facing a crises that we caused on ourself. The great news is that we guyanese have a soultion. Some of us recommend international help. Others of us recommend a new goverment. Even other of us request that we subject to the rulership of the United States of America or even the United Kingdom once again.

(Excues the expression.) But without apology, I want to shout to the top of my voice that we have a solution.

It is with pity that I see people suffering from hunger and poverty in what was once called the 'Breadbasket of the Carribbean'. I have to hold my nose when I walk in certain parts of what we used to call the 'Garden City'. The plight is so great that I must begin to publicly comment on the great atrocity that we guyanese commit on ourselves.

Let me emphasize that I am not a politician nor do I have any such affiliations or aspirations. But I now dedicate my life and my career to create a revolution in Guyana by educating them on some basic concepts that can be adopted to transform the atmosphere and the status of our lives. I start now and will not stop until one person listens. Until one person can say that they learnt something that changed their life.

My aim is not to get a large following but to here someone say some day that their life was changed.

Ranfred -- Universal Knowledge

Bash 4 mash

Inhumane MOnstors

When Humans Evolve

Boy, 15, tortured

Michael jackson Rest in Peace

Come on. Let us do all the hard work for you.

Your Virtual Assistant and Consultant is here

How about a little party

How about a Little party

We all watched

Ranfred Williams Birthday

Activities for the Inaguration

Obama tells daughters he ran for president for them, all children

Guyana's first Technology Magazine

Block on some VOIP sites lifted

Block on some VOIP sites lifted

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Toolbox * Permalink * * Discuss this Article(6) * Next Article in this Section Block on some VOIP sites lifted BY Mark McGowan Publ

Block on some VOIP sites lifted

Café owners seek ‘free and fair’ internet BY Staff Published: December 14, 2008 in News – may take legal action The Internet Interest Holders Group

Café owners seek ‘free and fair’ internet

– may take legal action

Guyana cannot develop if one organization restricts access to new technologies BY Staff Published: December 19, 2008 in Letters Dear Editor, GT&T’s

Guyana cannot develop if one organization restricts access to new technologies

“How the internet killed the phone business” BY Staff Published: December 19, 2008 in Business By Andre Griffith The primary business pursuit of I

“How the internet killed the phone business”

we held a meeting

Let us fight Together for the Freedom of the Internet - Stop the Tyranny Now

Internet café group says call blocking will hit thousands

What a Pity Internet Cafes in Guyana are closed down

President-Elect Obama's victory speech

Remarks by John Mc Cain

Research

This is Important

The Fall of The Us Dollar

The police Force and you

Response to the death of the teenage brothers

Guyana's Solution