Pepperpot 12 20 2015

► Page XVIII

II

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

The Yukuriba F

OR too long, we’d been attempting to establish an agricultural community at Yukuriba Falls, aka Captain Roy Landing or Camoudi Landing.

This idyllic swathe of the Guyana rainforest sits perched on a hill over the Yukuriba Rapids, looking out at the forested Konawaruk Mountains.

Among the group was the now deceased Ernest Roy Bowen (Capt.) who discovered the Yukuriba Falls site.

Long before I ever set eyes on Yukuriba, it was Capt. Roy who, on a fishing trip through the Essequibo, paused for some rest one day on a stretch of sheetrock just below the hill above Yukuriba Falls. The seasoned bushman looked up and said to himself, ‘This must be one hell of a view from up there.’ Camping out among the rocks for weeks, Capt. Bowen, with his small team of Amerindian helpers (including Lloydy Semichee, and Agnes and Theresa Zavier) set out to chop through the forest, making the first clearing that would unveil this breath-taking prospect that is our view from Yukuriba Heights.

SETBACKS Over the years, the development of Yukuriba has been plagued by setbacks, including the prohibitive cost of transportation. The Yukuriba site was not as accessible as it is today; the developing highway, ‘Road to Brazil’ was at that time a series of treacherous stretches of hinterland trail. It took hours to cover the distance to Yukuriba, with most of that time consumed by vehicle break-downs and digging out of swampy mud holes. However, we persevered until the first major setback presented itself one day in 1994, when a man named Narine descended upon Yukuriba, proclaiming his entitlement to the land in spite of the Provisional Lease the Lands and Surveys Department of Guyana had issued to: Joan Cambridge, Ernest Roy Bowen, and Oscar Cambridge.

Narine argued that he had seen no document in the Lands & Surveys division “…to suggest that you have any right to be here...” Then, for emphasis, he added: “… my principal is arriving here in a few weeks, AND WHEN THAT WHITE MAN COMES, YOU HAD BETTER SPEAK TO HIM PROPERLY!” By then Capt. Roy had transitioned to the ancestors, and my brother, Oscar Cambridge, had grown weary from the attrition; he was unwilling to go on fighting for Yukuriba. What transpired thereafter is a stranger-than-fiction narrative; a tangled web of intrigue and skullduggery, beginning the day after that incident.

I turned up at the Lands & Surveys office in ► Continued on page VIII

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

III

Young and the Reckless

All I want for Christmas is a

CG motor bike

H

By Godfrey Wray

e sat on the ground in the darkness, knees drawn up and hugged by long, muscular arms. It was a position of choice; one that he could hold for hours without moving. He was enjoying the gloom; the pitch black nothingness of which people seemed so afraid.

If only they knew what comfort one could derive from embracing the black void, he mused. If only they knew how all the senses became so attuned and acute in an undisturbed, friendly atmosphere.

As if on cue he closed his eyes, willing himself to concentrate on every sound: his own breathing; the noises of the city; the ambient sounds of the night. English was his best subject and even though school was a thing of the past he remembered his teacher asking him to read a passage that had a particular poignant sentence: The night is dark, though the stars shine. So succinct, he reflected.

At first, darkness seemed to be claustrophobic and compressing but as he became habituated to the solitude, more and more he sought its influence. And, strangely enough, the acceptance had its benefits and advantages.

He looked around. Having developed remarkable night vision from constantly living in a house without electricity, he could see every object clearly outlined in the spacious oval room and even beyond in the corridors that snaked into the rear.

A key turned in the lock. Another one. And then a third.

The adrenaline immediately began to pump in Stevie’s veins. Gone was the dreamy casualness as he crouched in the shadow of the double-paneled blinds.

The 19-year-old was transformed. That special visceral thrill was back. And not even those who thought they knew him well would guess that their genteel school mate had a multiple persona -college valedictorian; teacher; soldier; and now…specialist thief on the way to becoming a permanent member of the ravishing CG motor cycle gang.

RUSSIAN ROULETTE A shadow morphed into the amiable gold miner his workers addressed as “Boss Man.” Gavin flicked on the light switch and greeted the clearly startled man with: “I was in the bank this morning when you withdrew a lot of money. I trailed you back here. Give me your gun and the money.”

The miner stammered: “I paid out all the money.”

Gavin walked over to the man. Without an utterance he put his gun to the man’s head and pulled the trigger.

There was no immediate recoil.

Just one sound…click.

“You like Russian roulette?”

Tremors of fear rippled back and forth throughout the businessman’s body like wavelets repeatedly rebuffed by a levee. He glanced at the young man who held the key to life or death and saw no expression in his fathomless eyes.

“Don’t shoot me man. Here is the gun… and the money is in the safe.”

Indeed the money was there and in the same backpack that was stuffed while in the bank.

The teenager nonchalantly took the bag and the holstered gun and said casually: “Forget you ever saw me.

Tell the police I had on a mask. And always remember you have a family that you love. We had you under surveillance for a while.”

Gavin walked to a nearby lamp post and removed a battered-looking CG look-alike. Cool, calm and

collected, he revved the throttle once then cruised down Vlissengen Road towards his gang’s headquarters. The celebrations would go on into the night and morning and by the end of the day he would no longer have to sing his woeful ditty – “All I want for Christmas is a CG 125 motor bike” or the less plaintive one – “I would do anything for a CG motor bike.” He would now have his own and he would have graduated to the highest level of the gang’s totem pole.

The Honda CG 125 is a commuter motor cycle that was made by Honda of Japan. It was in production from 1976 to 2008. Then it eventually moved to Brazil and Turkey. It’s the bike of choice for the young thieves in Guyana. A veritable scourge it is and one that the local police must work overtime to quickly eviscerate.

There is nothing more heart-rending than having your savings snatched from you and having to look on helplessly as brazen, unconscionable bandits dodge and slice their way to their horizons with audacious dexterity.

The CG125 was developed from the CB125 for Third World markets. Due to the design success, several direct copies of the CG125 have sprung up (mostly from Chinese and Korean manufacturers).

Christmas is a dry run for May 2016. The police must adopt their own “War of the Flea” tactics to dismantle this ubiquitous threat. Robert Taber’s timeless analysis would tell you to keep hitting the enemy here, there and everywhere to disturb their modus operandi. Today’s CG bandits are yesterday’s trunkers. They are getting bolder and bolder. Law enforcement must now be more proactive; not just reactive.

IV

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

Literally, a literary Christmas GUYANESE literature entered into the Christmas season on an upbeat mode and ended the year 2015 on a high note especially in the area of quantity. (Quality will warrant space and time to do proper analysis.) In the meanwhile, we can bask in the glory of our literary output.

The Guyana Prize for Literature The Guyana Prize for Literature was responsible for bringing to our attention some 13 pieces of writing in short fiction, the novel and drama. That was mainly through its shortlist and the eventual winning entries. The shortlist comprised of the following entries: ‘A Dip at the Sangam’

by Rueben Latchmansingh; ‘Dancehall Lyrics : Top of the Charts’ by Keisha McCammon; ‘Rebelle and Other Stories’ by Subraj Singh; ‘Rasta Lyrics’ by Cedric Castello; ‘The Hinterlands’ by Stanley Niamatali; ‘Johnson’s Dictionary’ by David Dabydeen; ‘The Last Ship’ by Jan Lowe Shinebourne; ‘All Decent Animals’ by Oonya Kempadoo; ‘God's Spider’ by Cyril Dabydeen; ‘60 Years of Loving’

by Maggie Harris; ‘Love in the Time of Technology’ by Sasenarine Persaud; ‘Desperate for Relevance’ by Harold Bascom; and ‘New York New York - Pieces of Dreams’

by Milton Bruce.

The Chairman of the panel of judges revealed there were 71 entries. That amount in itself is a whole lot of writing. What we do not know and there is no easy way of knowing is how many pieces of writing that were prepared for the competition but were not submitted for one or more reasons. If we were take all these efforts into account then it would be easy to speculate and say that the literature of Guyana is on sound footings.

The National Drama Festival And there is more to add to the above. For instance, the National Drama Festival accounted for some 40 scripts submitted to the competition of which 23 plays made it to the preliminary stage and final round. Let’s extrapolate again - if we add those scripts that were prepared but were never entered evidenced by dropouts and last minute changes, then we would have a whole lot of writings with which to deal.

Here are some of the outstanding plays in that competition: Colour of Race 2; Crack Jokes; Her Story 2- Deceit & Lies; A New Beginning; Diplomatic Blow; Red; Playing Chess with a Blind Man; Daddy’s Pet; Some Other Nights; Laugh of the Marble Queen; Dance for Love; Promise Land; White House on Black

Ancient 'Loch Ness monster' reptiles swam like penguins

(Reuters) Plesiosaurs, marine reptiles that thrived in the world's seas when dinosaurs ruled the land, swam much like penguins by using their flippers to "fly" underwater, scientists said on Thursday, resolving a debate that began nearly two centuries ago.

Plesiosaurs had four large flippers, and many had remarkably long necks. They lived from about 200 million years ago to 66 million years ago, disappearing in the same mass extinction that doomed the dinosaurs.

Nessie, Scotland's mythical Loch Ness monster, often is portrayed as looking like a plesiosaur.

The researchers conducted a series of computer simulations based on the anatomy of a plesiosaur from 180 million years ago called Meyerasaurus to find the most effective swimming strategy for this body design.

The method that produced the fastest forward speed was flapping the two front flippers up and down in an underwater flying motion similar to penguins and sea turtles.

"What was unexpected was that no matter what motion we simulated for the back flippers, they could not substantially contribute to the plesiosaur's forward motion," said Georgia Institute of Technology computer science professor Greg Turk.

The back flippers were probably used to steer and provide stability, said the researchers, whose work was published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology.

Plesiosaurs, which ate fish and squid, came in various

shapes and sizes, some with shorter necks and others with lengthy ones like Elasmosaurus, a creature about

A replica of the Plesiosaur ''Tuarangisaurus Cabazai'' made from polyurethane foam is pictured on display at the Argentine Natural Sciences Museum in Buenos Aires in this file photo from July 1, 2013. (REUTERS/ENRIQUE MARCARIAN/FILES)

Street; Trapped; Puzzle Me and Seven Deadly Sins.

The Theatre Guild Festival of One Act Plays And there is more to add to the above. There were many excellent scripts coming out of Theatre Guild One Act Festival of Plays including Creative Burial Ground; Black Rainbow and Her Story.

The Secondary School Drama Festival And there is more. The Secondary School Drama Festival produced some solid scripts: Blind Trust - West Demerara Secondary New Tales of Ole Higue - NOC/Aurora Secondary Farewell Felicia - Bishops’ High The Little Garden of Bitter Weeds - St. Joseph’s High All of the above writings were solid, studied pieces in prose, poetry and drama, with some pieces pushing the frontiers of Guyanese Literature especially the scripts that were dramatized for the public.

Guyanese literature ended the year 2015 on a high note, heralding in the New Year with promises of better things to come.

Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com 46 feet (14 meters) long. Meyerasaurus, unearthed in Germany, measured 10 feet (3 meters) long.

"The plesiosaurs were a highly successful group of large predatory creatures, yet we didn't know how they swam. Their body plan wasn't an isolated fluke, pardon the pun, because the history of plesiosaurs stretched over 135 million years and dozens of species," Turk said.

Plesiosaur fossils were first described in 1824. Ever since, scientists have debated how they swam.

"Plesiosaur swimming has remained a mystery for almost 200 years because it is difficult to determine how an extinct animal with a unique body plan moved," said paleontologist Adam Smith of Britain's Nottingham Natural History Museum.

There have been some competing hypotheses, Smith added, with some researchers suggesting plesiosaurs moved their limbs mostly backwards and forwards, in a rowing motion.

The underwater flying method is unusual because swimming creatures, including most fish and whales, tend to generate thrust using their tails, Smith said.

"Plesiosaurs are truly weird and unique creatures," Smith said.

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

V

Raising the standard L

By Dominique Hunter ast week’s article seemed to open the floodgates of pent up frustration and rekindled the conversation about Guyana’s absence from any serious regional arts and culture discourse. For years there have been persons who have shared similar frustrations and have been championing the cause - but to no avail. Even the most passionate advocate would eventually surrender to the very casual attitude directed towards these problems that have been plaguing creatives for so long.

And I say creatives because these problems aren’t unique to just visual artists.

There is a visible breakdown in every creative discipline. But perhaps one can make an argument in defense of the movers and shakers of Guyana’s art scene. Just imagine the herculean effort it would take to repair such an incredibly flawed and broken system that has made sustainability almost impossible. Where do you even begin?

Although change seems to be manifesting much faster in our physical environment, the same can’t be said for the manner in which we do things. This week we get down to brass tacks and take a closer look at those sorely neglected areas of our modus operandi. Below I’ve listed ten simple mantras that everyone (and I really mean everyone) would do well to remember and put into daily practice. These mantras, in my opinion, have the potential to launch Guyana back onto the regional arts and culture scene. So without further delay here they are: 1. Acknowledge that you don’t know everything. This is perhaps the toughest pill to swallow, for even the most conscious person. Too many times we allow our egos to assume control and ruin perfectly good opportunities to collaborate with more knowledgeable persons. Our unwillingness to even consider that there might be someone else out there who knows a bit or a lot more than us is precisely why we’ve been going around in circles for the last forty plus years. So the next time you feel the urge to drop snarky remarks about Ms/Mr. Know-it-all because they “feel they know everything”, consider this: they may not know everything but they may very well know more than you.

(Part 2)

4. Hold yourself accountable. No one is perfect and no one should expect perfection from anyone. Mistakes are as natural as breathing and can happen with anyone. Having said that, should you find yourself in a jam, own up to it. Looking for a scapegoat to cast your inefficiencies onto will only serve to weaken your image as a team leader or member. Instead, accept responsibility for your mistakes and propose new ways of working around them.

5. Invest in your own education. For the past few years quite a number of persons have been questioning the value of pursuing an academic degree. I must admit that I too have questioned its value. But as I quickly came to realize, you won’t get very far unless you are qualified and have completed several courses of study to validate your work. It’s not impossible to reach your potential without an academic background, but it is a lot harder. My advice now will always be to acquire as much knowledge as possible. It doesn’t have to cost a ridiculous amount of money. In fact, there are a number of free online resources that are available to the public. Exploit them.

6. Commit to being patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day (I know, another cliché).

But understand that as with anything, trying to get any project off the ground is going to take time. There will be more setbacks than you initially catered for. Life has a way of keeping us on our toes like that. It would be a good idea to take up yoga or something to help calm your nerves while the storm blows over. Use that downtime to focus your energy on fine-tuning the details of your plan. More importantly, don’t give up.

7. Know your worth. Too often people, particularly creative people, fall into a terrible habit of selling their work for less simply because they want the sale. It is completely understandable that bills have to be paid but continuously selling yourself short will hurt more than it helps in the long run. As hard as it might be, don’t be afraid to say no. Don’t jeopardize your integrity for a few dollars. Establish your terms early on and everyone will fall in line or they will leave. Either way, you would want to be surrounded by people who respect and value your work enough to pay the price without question.

2. Ask questions. This cannot be stressed enough. If there is uncertainty regarding anything, the smart thing to do is ask a question rather than risk embarrassment by making assumptions. In addition to the embarrassment, there is also a pretty good chance that valuable resources may have been squandered in the process. Equally important to asking questions is to ensure you ask the right person(s). It should go without saying that asking someone just as “in the dark” as you will serve absolutely no purpose. So do everyone a favour and speak up if you have any doubts.

8. There is no box. When we realize that there are no parameters cordoning off our possibilities, we will finally be free from the burden of trying to think outside “the box.” Don’t be afraid to try new things at the risk of appearing weird or crazy. It has been said that the average person lives up to a mere two percent of his/her potential in their lifetime. Just imagine the things we could accomplish if we spent more time nurturing our true self instead of binge watching way too many television series on Couchtuner. This is where I bow my head in guilt.

3. Do your research. The importance of seeking out information and educational resources cannot be overstated. Before undertaking any project it is essential to conduct the proper research to ensure a solid foundation. The success or failure of any project is dependent on months (and in some cases, years) of extensive research and planning. This process of culling information usually involves additional parties.

Use this as an opportunity to get a second opinion, and a third, and fourth for good measure.

9. Appearance matters. This is a big one. As superficial as it may seem to some, the manner in which a person, product, service, event or project is presented to us makes all the difference in the world. Human beings are visual creatures and our propensity for beautiful things heightens with each passing year. Let the first impression be the best impression. Pay attention to the finer details. The viewing public will notice and have a greater appreciation for the work you’ve put in.

10. And finally, be nice. No one likes a jerk.

Dominique Hunter is an independent visual artist who recently graduated from the Barbados Community College with a Bachelor of Fine Art, First Class Honours.

VI

Toothache

the Christmas disease - Guava leaf and other solutions

By Dr. BERTRAND R. STUART

DDS.

TOOTHACHE should be renamed Christmas disease. But that cannot be simply because Christmas disease is a hereditary condition whereby the victim lacks a factor in the blood which is responsible for the clotting process resulting in haemophilia B. Two colleague dentists disclosed that their first (and worst) toothache was experienced on Christmas day. Many may be able to testify to similar experiences. But what is the point here? The point is that there is a distinct relationship between the ingestion of sweet and tooth decay.

During this festive season of Christmas there will be at least a ten percent increase in the incidence of dental caries among Guyanese. The simple reason is because of the higher sucrose (sugar) ingestion combined with the transient neglect in maintaining oral hygiene concomitant with the disruption in routine personal activities.

Dr. BERTRAND Although sugar by itself cannot affect the R. STUART, DDS. teeth in any way, the bacteria of dental plaque ferments these substrates (sugars and starches) most readily to product the acid that erodes the enamel resulting in tooth decay. It only takes bacteria a matter of seconds to convert sweet to acid and it is that acid which results in the exposure on the tooth’s nerve.

If you are unlucky to get a toothache during the Christmas holidays when dental services become virtually unavailable, here are a few suggestions.

Salt mixed with pepper can be a great use when a tooth becomes extremely sensitive.

Mix equal amounts of pepper and common salt with a few drops of water to form a paste.

Apply the paste directly to the affected tooth and allow it to sit for a few minutes. Another home remedy is using garlic which can also give tremendous relief from toothache.

Garlic has antibiotic and other medicinal properties that can be very effective in slowing down bacterial activity. Mix a crushed garlic clove (or garlic powder) with some table salt and apply it directly to the affected tooth to alleviate the pain. If you want you can chew the garlic.

Then there is clove which is better than the rest for toothaches. Cloves have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant and anaesthetic properties that help alleviate tooth pain and fight infection. Grind two cloves and mix it in a little olive oil or any vegetable oil. Now apply this solution to the affected tooth. Also, you can mix a few drops of clove oil in a glass of water and rinse with it. Many do not know that onion too can be used as a temporary remedy for toothache. Chew raw onion for a few minutes to relieve the pain or place a piece of raw onion on the bad tooth or gum. One can also rinse with warm salt water to get some relief from a severe toothache. Another proven home remedy for toothache is guava leaves. Chew one or two tender guava leaves until the juice starts working on the affected tooth. Another method is to put four or five guava leaves in water to boil. When it is cool add a bit of salt and use the solution as a mouth wash.

The modern approach which is designed to circumvent the deleterious potential of sugar on dental well-being is to substitute the carbohydrate with artificial sweeteners.

However, universal use of these would result in disarray for countries like Guyana whose economies depend on sugar cane cultivation. Presently, mainly diabetics use artificial sweeteners. It is academic to note that the scientific community is contemplating whether it is more prudent to develop a vaccine against the bacteria Strep mutans, the chief culprit responsible for tooth decay. Rumours in the dental community have it that a Frenchman actually succeeded in developing a vaccine against Strep mutans but because of the immense implications of having billions of persons becoming immune to tooth decay, the FDI paid him to abandon the project.

So caries do not result from a nutritional deficiency involving the formation of a dentition which is predisposed to decay. Rather, it is the net result of a variety of local influences in the environment of teeth involving the biochemical events in dental plaque which follow the intake of each item on the diet.

The high sugar content and sticky consistency are predominant factors for carcinogenicity. Tooth decay also depends on the amount and type of carbohydrate eaten, the food acidity, the length of time between intake and swallowing, enamel toughness from fluoride and how freely the saliva flows.

HAVE A HAPPY TOOTHACHE-FREE CHRISTMAS !

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

ARIES - You’ll be in the mood to enjoy yourself. With a delightful blend of energies, it would be worth your while to make the most of any available opportunities. As Venus continues retrograde, a romantic notion could feel right but may not be smooth sailing for a while. Despite the fun, Mercury’s move into Virgo suggests it’s time to knuckle down and proceed with plans that have been on the back burner. Tweaking diet and health routines can also be rewarding.

TAURUS - This week’s blend of energies encourages you to get your house in order, literally and figuratively. Get busy with important DIY projects and handle any family disputes wisely. Entertaining could be a lot of fun, despite one or two obstacles to contend with. The focus then shifts to fun opportunities.

There’s no need to look far for excitement - you can find it in your neighbourhood. Consider a new restaurant or other venue for a fun evening or day out.

GEMINI - Warm, tender feelings are enlivened this week, encouraging you to reach out to friends or family you haven’t seen or heard from in a while.

It’s also an opportunity to meet with neighbours or support charity or other events in your locale. Although you could encounter a few delays, an optimistic outlook can make all the difference. On another note, Mercury’s move into Virgo could see you planning ahead regarding a few changes you would like to make at home.

CANCER - Finances get a boost this week, but not before you’ve had to scramble to tackle a few problems. Delays to money coming in or going out might cause frustration, but it’s nothing you can’t resolve. As Mars hikes into this sector of your chart from Saturday, you’ll be motivated to explore new ways to earn extra cash and boost your income. Thoughts of taking up a course of study could leave you quite excited at the possibilities that lie ahead.

LEO - The week starts pleasantly, as friends and associates are likely to be in touch. Enjoy the company of a special partner or love interest - the opportunities for romance are yours for the taking. Venus continues retrograde, so try not to have too many expectations about the future. It’s best to go with the flow for now if possible. Although responsibilities at home could stand in the way of personal fulfillment, you’ll be firing on all cylinders by the weekend.

VIRGO - The focus on your spiritual sector could encourage you to go on a short retreat to relax and recharge. If you can spare an hour or two for a massage or beauty treatment, you could find it very soothing and healing. It’s time for you to be pampered and nurtured with a little tender, loving care.

Mercury heads into your sign on Friday, enhancing your communication skills and encouraging you to get involved in projects that are personally fulfilling.

LIBRA - Friends are in touch and want to have fun. Romantic opportunities abound, but it’s best to go with the flow rather than make any firm commitments. The more willing you can be to network and interact, the more options you’ll have to take life to new, exciting levels. Mars zips into Leo on August 8, so you could be in the mood to organise events. You may even be slightly competitive when it comes to a love interest or impressing others.

SCORPIO - Even if you’re uncertain about being in the spotlight, you can make great strides by taking advantage of this opportunity. Don’t refrain from advertising your goods and services - you’ll benefit greatly by doing so. Meanwhile, avoid being too pushy, as this could work against you. Your social life picks up later in the week, encouraging you to get in touch with friends you haven’t seen in a while. Joining a health or sports club could be very rewarding.

SAGITTARIUS - Travel and educational pursuits could hold a lot of appeal, particularly if you’re itching to expand your horizons. It’s a good time to let your curiosity lead you to new and exciting adventures. You may have a few doubts to contend with, too, causing you to hold back when in your heart you know it’s time to move out of your comfort zone. The words of a wise friend might be helpful here, inspiring you to try despite your fears.

CAPRICORN - Work and finances may be on your mind, as well as progress.

However, if you listen to friends or supposed experts, you may wonder if you’re doing the right thing. It’s best to go with your gut and follow through.

Things could work out even better than expected. Go easy if you’re playing with really large amounts of money, as retrograde Venus can cause unanticipated delays and reversals. Keep paperwork and receipts in case you need them further down the line.

AQUARIUS - Partnerships and relationships could keep you busy. There are plenty of options for an upbeat social life, although it helps to tread with care when it comes to romance. As Venus continues retrograde, this isn’t the best time to make big decisions or commit. Try to go with the flow for now. As Mercury heads into Virgo, it’s time to plan for your financial future. If you’ve experienced a few delays recently, a sound strategy could be just what you need.

PISCES - Work and lifestyle issues continue to keep you busy this week, particularly if you’ve recently taken up a new sport or decided to get fit and lose a few pounds. It helps to persevere, even though you might find this difficult in the weeks ahead. If you get off to a good start, you’ll be likelier to reach your goals. Mercury’s presence in Virgo can encourage a connection with someone who has some good advice for you.

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

Exercise of Powers of Magistrate & DPP I The case of Winston McLenon

N 2004, Winston McLenon, who was charged with manslaughter was at the end of the preliminary Inquiry committed to stand trial in the High Court.

But to his dismay, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) indicted him for murder instead of manslaughter and was told that the DPP could be right once the evidence on the depositions supported the new indictment.

But High Court judge Ian Chang referred to the murder indictment as procedurally unfair and irregular and quashed it on the grounds of procedural unfairness.

With the burden of murder behind him, the accused now faced the original charge of manslaughter with a $40, 000 bail as imposed by the Committal Magistrate.

On August 8, 2004, the accused appeared before Justice Ian Chang. He was charged with and committed to stand trial for manslaughter but was later indicted for the more aggravated offence of murder.

Before the members of the jury were sworn in and put in charge of the case, the accused was unrepresented by counsel. Judge Chang raised the issue of whether the DPP had the power to indict an accused with the aggravated offence of murder when he had been charged with and committed to stand trial for the lesser offence of manslaughter.

From the investigations that followed, the judge held the view that the Application by Robert Beresford for a Writ of Authority for the view that a magistrate could not lawfully commit an accused charged with manslaughter for the greater offence of murder and that the DPP could always indict an accused charged and committed for the offence of manslaughter with murder once the evidence on the depositions could support such a substituted charge.

But Judge Chang, in denying the appeal added, however that the Court was not prepared to say that the committal power of a magistrate was so limited and the power of the DPP so wide . However, denial of an opportunity to answer the substituted charge of murder at the preliminary inquiry did not per se constitute such procedural unfairness as would enable the court to quash the substituted charge of murder.

“The exercise of the powers of the magistrate and the DPP were circumscribed by the demands of procedural regularity and fairness.”

Candace Raphael represented the State while Khemraj Ramjattan represented the accused.

Justice Chang said: “When the accused was arraigned in the High Court, he was unrepresented by counsel. With the concurrence of the accused, the Court undertook to make efforts to have the accused represented by a counsel assigned by the State.

“Before members of the jury were sworn in and put

in charge of the case, the Court suo motu raised the issues whether the DPP had the power to indict an accused with the aggravated offence of murder when he had been charged with and committed to stand trial for the lesser offence of manslaughter and whether, on the assumption that the evidence on the deposition evidence sufficed to support a sufficient case for the greater offence of murder, the DPP had properly exercised such power.

“State counsel requested an adjournment for a few days to address the concerns of the Court and the adjournment was granted. In the interim the Court invited Mr. KhemraJ Ramjattan, the President of the Guyana Bar Association and lawyer with considerable experience in the practice of Crim-

VII

George Barclay inal Law, to appear on behalf of the accused and to address the issues raised by the court.

“Mr. Ramjattan accepted the Court’s invitation and entered appearance for the accused on the resumption of the matter. The Court expresses its gratitude and appreciation for the readiness with which he responded to the Court’s request for assistance.

“I have no fault to find with the general principles of law put forward by counsel for the accused but I am, after full and careful consideration of all the provisions of Chapter 11, and of their history, unable to agree with the narrow interpretation suggested by him for S. 113.

Such an interpretation would be entirely out of character with the rest of the Ordinance, the general scheme of which clearly demonstrates an intention to confer upon the Attorney General of this Colony wider powers than are enjoyed by the Attorney General of England in the bringing of persons to trial for indictable offences.”

Justice Chang in his judgment noted “if it would have been procedural irregular and unfair for the magistrate to have invited the accused to answer to the lesser charge only to commit him for the greater charge, it certainly would be procedurally unfair and irregular for the DPP to indict him for the greater offence of murder.

“I must mention that in the case of in an application by Robert Beresford Writ of Certiorari, Kissoon J. seems to have taken the view that under no circumstance can a magistrate lawfully commit an accused charged with manslaughter for the greater offence of murder and that the DPP can always indict an accused charged and committed for the offence of manslaughter with the greater offence of murder once the evidence on the depositions can support such a substituted charge.

“I am not prepared to say that the committal power of a magistrate under section 71 is so absolutely limited.

“Nor am I prepared to say that the power of the DPP under Section 113 (2) is so wide.

“However, I am prepared to say that the exercise of the powers of both these judicial officials is circumscribed by the demands of procedural regularity and fairness.”

VIII

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

The Yukuriba Story ► From page II

Georgetown that morning, after travelling through the night from Yukuriba Falls. It was a Friday morning; the end of the working week.

Standing in line, waiting to pay for the Yukuriba Provisional Lease in the Lands and Surveys office, I noticed that the cashier was extremely evasive, even furtive, refusing to take my money. “Next,” she repeatedly called out to the person behind me. I was not only stunned, but because the new PPP government’s proclivity to marginalise African Guyanese had begun to manifest itself very soon after the 1992 elections, I was also afraid. I’d spent the weekend reflecting on everything: Narine’s assured arrogance at Yukuriba the day before, coupled with the cashier’s puzzling behaviour. By Monday morning, in the grips of an irrepressible fury, and ‘ready to rumble’, I made my way to the Lands & Surveys office.

No one else was in the cashier’s line; she used the opportunity to whisper apologetically, “Ms. Cambridge, I was instructed not to take any money from you for Yukuriba Falls.”

Thus, the battle was taken up in The Guyana Supreme Court: ‘5033/95 J Cambridge –v- Comm. of Lands & Surveys et anor’, lasting almost seven years, and culminatng just after a representative of our Lands & Surveys Department casually informed the judge, “Your Honour, we cannot continue with this case; we can’t seem to find Ms Cambridge’s file.”

VICTORY! Fortunately, Ms. Cambridge was able to produce a copy of her file with every document relevant to the case, which fact facilitated the outcome of the case. It was eventually decided in my favour. Since then, I/we have been striving to get back to that place; that point at which we were so crudely interrupted.

Over the years, we've occupied Yukuriba in starts and stops. Besides the exorbitant cost of transportation, our efforts were plagued by an unbridled lack of encouragement or co-operation from government sources. However, we persevered, planting coffee, citrus, avocados, pineapples, bananas and plantains and numerous cash crops. We fed ourselves and supplied Demerara Timbers, the settlement located at Mabura, 28 miles before the Yukuriba destination, as well as itinerant pork-knockers and miners “trodding de backdam”, seeking their fortune.

We kept ourselves alive, but things really began to fall apart when I had to spend all those wasted years in the city, fighting the system to hold on to that plot of land at Yukuriba Falls.

STILL BATTLING Yet, here we are, still battling to achieve our dream for Yukuriba; which was also that of its founder, Captain Roy Bowen, who always envisioned Yukuriba as a community.

Our most recent aggravation is depicted in the images here. Accompanied by a team of three policemen, a customs officer, and a forestry officer, we went to Yukuriba to evict Dharmindra Deen from the Creative Farming Community site.

While confessing that he had illegally established himself on the land, Deen informed me:

Hitching a ride to Yukuriba Falls on a Demerara Woods (now Demerara Timbers) tractor.

humously) the immeasurable help received from the people with whom I interacted for nearly two decades, while living, working and researching in the Guyana rainforest, collecting the oral history that informs much of my creative work; especially the musical drama: Ting-a-ling-a-ling School bell ring Bush tu’n rainforest...

I’m especially grateful for having had access to recollections stored in the encyclopedic memory of the late (Captain) Ernest Roy Bowen (jnr), and for his expert guidance on the art of living “in de bush”.

“Me proper like dis place.”

“So do I; so do we, Dharmindra...”

Guyana’s rainforest happens to be the only pristine (as in unspoiled) tropical forest in the world. We have much to celebrate in this fact, and even more to safeguard, because the Guyana government, through a succession of in camera deals with foreign interests, including Chinese, Indians, Brazilians et al, has been giving serious cause for alarm. The troubling question is: WILL THERE BE ANYTHING LEFT FOR US GUYANESE? A number of young people -- not old enough to bear witness to Yukuriba’s dramatic history, but acutely aware of the need to claim for themselves a space in Guyana’s rainforest within which they will find encouragement to pursue their dreams -- have pledged their energies and support to the building a Creative Community at Yukuriba Heights.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge (in many cases post-

My thatched open sided house

I extend thanks also to: Egbert Van Sluytman; pork-knockers William Isaacs (Ponaki), Ronald Downer, that beloved infidel Bust’n Scatter (Mac Singh), and Jake and Vera Moshett.

Certainly to the late (Captain) David Andries; his wife, Rachael, and their children and grandchildren, especially Sheena, Shirley, Tiger and Margaret.

Many thanks to the late Captain Kendall and his wife, Semolina; to Joe Xavier, who was not only caretaker at Yukuriba Falls, but kept a careful daily journal of the movement of people through the place. Must not forget Magic, Sweat Beak, and Courtney and Tiger, who stopped in ‘to break bread’ on their way to the Pott Falls/ Akaiwanna mining areas.

These names represent just a small number of those people who generously shared their colourful experiences with me, thereby broadening and enriching mine.

My gratitude must also reach out to my brothers, who have all joined the ancestors; Oscar and Allan, who, on a visit to the USA, first stimulated my imagination with stories that moved me to seek the peace of Yukuriba, first to complete my book, Clarise Cumberbatch Want To Go Home: Ticknor & Fields N.Y. and Women’s Press U.K.; then to make it my home before I was forced to fight for the right to be there.

To my brother, Dudley Cambridge, who kept Yukuriba’s paths manicured and clean; its prospect beautiful.

And to my adopted son, Kelvin Stephens. They have all been pillars of support in the rainforest, as was my sister, Marjorie Cambridge-Carr, in the city, and my niece, Samantha Cambridge.

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

IX

Stay in shape for the Holidays C an’t find time to come to the gym? The gym can come to you!

Christmas season is here! Black cake, pepper-pot, cook-up, ice cream and the drinking of lots of alcohol will be added to our daily meals.

During this time most gyms are closed or you are just too busy at home so it’s difficult finding the time to actually go. Here is a simple 30-minute workout to keep you active and also help keep off those extra pounds. This speedy workout is taken from my popular body sculpting class. You will burn up to 350 calories and you will build strength while you’re doing it. It can be done anywhere, whether on vacation or at home. Do this routine just three times per week to keep off the extra weight.

What you will need:

A towel Water A mat Mop stick Skipping rope

WARM UP (REPEAT 3X) Run on the spot 1min Jumping jacks 25 Front kicks 30 Punches 50 Skipping 5 mins SCULPTING (REPEAT 3X) Squats 25 Pushups 15 Lunges 50 (alternate sides) Lying Superman 25 Bridges on heel 50 Skipping 5 mins Abdominals (REPEAT 3X) Russian Twist (using mop stick) 50 Basic crunches 25 Bicycles 25 Leg raises 15 Sit ups 15 Skip 5mins What about your diet?

The holiday season is a time we celebrate with friends and family. Unfortunately, for many of us it also becomes a time for over-eating and weight gain. The holidays don’t have to mean weight gain. Focus on a healthy balance of food, activity and fun. By implementing these few eating

tips you can stay healthy through the holiday season.

BE REALISTIC Don’t try to lose pounds during the holidays, instead try to maintain your current weight.

PLAN TIME FOR EXERCISE Exercise helps relieve holiday stress and prevent weight gain. A moderate and daily increase in exercise can help partially offset increases holiday eating DON’T SKIP MEALS Can’t stress this enough, before leaving for a party eat a light snack like raw vegetables or a piece of fruit to curb your appetite. You will be less tempted to over-indulge.

SURVEY PARTY BUFFETS BEFORE FILLING YOUR PLATE See what’s on the menu, choose your favorite foods and skip your least favorite.

Include fruits and vegetables to keep your plate balanced.

EAT UNTIL YOU ARE SATISFIED, NOT STUFFED Savor your favorite holiday treats while eating small portions. Sit down, get comfortable and enjoy.

BE CAREFUL WITH BEVERAGES Alcohol can lessen inhibitions and induce overeating and non-alcoholic beverages can be full of calories and sugar.

IF YOU OVEREAT ON ONE MEAL GO LIGHT ON THE NEXT It takes 500 calories per day or (3500 calories per week) above your normal/ maintenance consumption to gain one pound. It is impossible to gain weight from one piece of cake!

(Noshavyah King is a Certified Personal Trainer, aerobics instructor, Sports and Conditioning Coach and Zumba Instructor, and the owner of Genesis Fitness Express Located at Transport Sports Club. Tel: 6014481/6092765)

X

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

Maharaja Palace Restaurant

O

ne of Guyana’s top restaurants is the Maharaja Place, which offers Indian and Thai cuisine with more than 300 different dishes to choose from. It offers exquisite dining in a tranquil but magnificent atmosphere. Maharaja Palace, located at 207 Sheriff Street gives Guyana a different fine-dining experience that is culturally different from any other.

Thai Curry Chicken

Ingredients 2 teaspoons vegetable oil 1 4-ounce can or jar yellow curry paste 3/4 pound carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2"-thick rounds 1 medium onion, chopped 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1" pieces 1 pound potatoes (about 3), peeled, cut into 1/2" pieces1 pound chicken, cut into 1" pieces 1 13.5-ounce or 15-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk Chopped fresh basil and cilantro Preparation

Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add curry paste and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add carrots, onion, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add potatoes, chicken, coconut milk, and 1 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Divide curry among bowls and top with herbs.

Bottle Restaurant

A

scintillating combination of aromas, from fresh Caribbean spices to grilled snapper and baked lamb will awaken your taste buds as you enter the Bottle Restaurant situated at 294 Quamina Street, Georgetown. The courteous staff is ready to serve you as you enjoy the culinary delights.

With columns of English ballast bricks, hundreds of Dutch Bottles and Portuguese ceramic floor tiles, the Bottle Bar and Restaurant encapsulates Guyana’s rich colonial history and culture. The inviting family atmosphere is the perfect setting for enjoying a breakfast, lunch or dinner consisting of freshest seasonal produce incorporated into many of the traditional dishes of Guyana. The Bottle Restaurant has earned the distinction of being one of the best in Guyana.

Deep Fried Butterfish Fillets with a passion Fruit Mojo Ingredients 2 lbs butterfish fillets 1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour 1⁄2 cup milk 1 egg 1 tablespoon sugar 1⁄2 teaspoon salt 1⁄2 teaspoon paprika 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1⁄4 teaspoon oregano leaves 1⁄2 cup yellow cornmeal 1⁄2 cup vegetable oil Preparation Stir together all ingredients except cornmeal, fish and oil.

On waxed paper place cornmeal, dip fish into batter, then coat both sides of fish with cornmeal.

In 10" skittle heat oil until hot. Place 3 or 4 fish fillets in hot oil.

Cook over medium heat until golden brown.

Ingredients Passion fruit Mojo: 1 small onion, chopped 4 tablespoons butter, divided 1 cup passion fruit pulp

1 tablespoon thyme, chopped 1 tablespoon honey zest of 1 lemon 1 teaspoon sugar salt and pepper to taste Preparation In a small saucepan heat 1 tablespoon of butter. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes, add thyme, passion fruit, honey, lemon zest, sugar and cook for 10 minutes on medium high until reduced by half. Add 3 tablespoons of butter and season to taste. Plate the butterfish and drizzle with Passion Fruit Mojo. Serve with Basmati rice pilaf and braised pakchoy.

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

704 Sports Bar

704 Sports Bar of 1 Lamaha Street, Georgetown is 4,000 square feet of continuous sports, entertainment and food in stylish atmosphere which creates a center of attention for sports and entertainment fans. The walls are decked with visual displays, signed uniforms, iconic photography and sports memorabilia that will appeal to sport fans. Pizza and Beer Sunday at that serves variety pizzas, salad and a selection of drinks. The restaurant itself is contemporary looking with a casual counter style service.

Pizza Dough Ingredients 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon white sugar 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 1/2 cups warm water all-purpose flour, for dusting pizza sauce Ingredients 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste 1 1/2 cups water 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced salt to taste ground black pepper to taste 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano 1/2 tablespoon dried basil 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed Preparation Prep 10 m Cook 10 m Ready In 18 h 35 m Stir flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil, and warm water with a spatula until formed into a sticky ball of dough that pulls away from sides of a large bowl, about 3-4 minutes.

Cover the bowl with a light cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 18 hours, until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 550 degrees. Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle with more flour. Form the dough into a rectangle, and cut it into four equal parts. Shape each piece into a ball, stretching and tucking the dough to create a smooth surface, adding more flour if needed.

Cover the dough balls with a towel and let rest for 15 minutes. To shape the dough, sprinkle the surface with flour and lightly pat flat. Use a rolling pin to form a thin disk about 9 inches in diameter. Transfer the formed crust to the prepared baking sheet and top as desired. Bake on the bottom rack for 4 minutes, move to the middle rack and bake for 5-6 minutes more minutes, until the bottom is crispy and the top is lightly browned. Move to cooling rack to cool slightly before serving.

XI

XII

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

Avoiding Identity Theft Tips for Online Holiday Shoppers

SHOPPING online this holiday season could leave you with your identity stolen or at least an expensive surprise when a thief charges a ticket to India or Dubai on your credit card. Swearing off online shopping isn't necessary, though. You just need some simple steps to protect yourself from online fraud, which ticks up this time of year as more people shop.

Don't be phish bait Most people think they aren't vulnerable to phishing scams since they'd never get fooled into believing some Asian prince needs their help to move money. But sometimes an email can look like it's from a trusted company or bank.

Many people don't check before they click the links, or they send back whatever information the institution asks for

lock, it's probably not a good idea to send any credit card information over that link.

Credit cards, not debit cards Sometimes it may seem like a good idea to use a debit card, because the money comes right out of an account and keeps you honest-no running up huge debts. However, credit and debit cards have different rules. Generally, it's easier to get your money back (called a charge-back) from a credit card if you get scammed and a thief uses the card.

Check your statements Checking your bank statements more often is never a bad idea, but doing so during the shopping season is even more important. That way, it's easier to spot transactions that aren't yours. This is a good way to guard against the fraud that happens when thieves buy blocks of credit card numbers online, because the only way to know if yours is among them is when it is used. This way you'd know when that happens and can call the credit card issuer right away.

So here are a few common-sense tips to make your online shopping a little safer: Strong passwords and phrases Using a hack-free password may sound elementary.

Many people, however, continue to use passwords that are too easy for attackers to figure out. The most popular passwords in 2014 were "123456," "password" and "12345."

Guessing those requires no knowledge on the part of the hacker.

Beware of free Wi-Fi Sometimes you're sitting in the coffee shop, and you think, "Now would be a good time to get that gift for someone." Don't do it. Unsecured Wi-Fi networks are vulnerable to people listening in. A fraudster can just let his or her computer gather up all the data flying around the room, and sort out the usernames and passwords later. If you're going to shop online, do it from a password-protected network.

without first requesting more detail. Sometimes you get an email that says 'we'd like to expedite something, click here!

My advice…don’t click!

Prepare your phone Many mobile devices have passwords stored in the apps that allow for in-app purchases. So it's a good idea to opt in to services that let you wipe your phone remotely. That way, you can delete any information you don't want left out in the open.

False friends Scammers often take advantage of the clumsy typing skills of the average person, or the fact that few people pay close attention to the Web address of a site they are shopping on. If you see an email or are directed to a website where the Web address looks close, but doesn't match, then it's likely a fraud, and your information could be at risk.

Look for the lock On browsers such as Firefox and Safari, there's a small lock icon next to the site address, and the "https" (the S stands for secure) on the address bar. The lock shows whether the connection to the site is encrypted. If you don't see the

Google Eyes 'Needle-Free Blood Draw'

G

OOGLE is pursuing a new way to draw blood and help diabetes patient’s measure glucose levels.

The so-called "Needle-Free Blood Draw" would send an "abrupt surge" of pressurized gas into a barrel connected to the skin. From there, a micro-particle travels at high speed and penetrates the skin. A small amount of blood resulting from that is then sucked up through the negative pressure barrel, allowing users to determine their blood sugar levels.

While patented technology does not always result in actual products, Google has been working on a new way to determine diabetes patients' blood sugar levels with the help of smart contact lenses. Google is also working on a cloud-based platform that monitors glucose levels.

What is encryption?

Indeed, the entire technology Encryption is the most effective way to industry is taking greater interest achieve data security. To read an encrypted in health. Apple, for instance, has file, you must have access to a secret key partnered with major researchers for or password that enables you to decrypt its own Health-Kit platform aimed it. Unencrypted data is called plain text; at creating new ways to monitor encrypted data is referred to as cipher text. health-related information through its devices.

Q & A of the week:

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

XIII

BEYOND THE GHOSTS OF JONESTOWN

G

UILT is real, guilt is self imposed and guilt is fostered with fictions on the vulnerable consciousness to suit the agenda of others. Guilt can dominate us into false insecurities if its supposed root is not explored, only then to unearth substance or mirage.

There is no reason that a political, social, historical or cultural guilt should exist in any area of the Guyanese ethos because of what happened there at Port Kaituma in 1979.

The nightmare of Jonestown was indeed a tremendous tragedy, but when the elements of what transpired there are explored outside of political chest beating (which, as my source of political enlightenment Tacuma once said to me “Politics hardly deals with what is true brother, it promotes what is believable”) as a consequence of political score padding, many Guyanese would have been led to interpret that the Government of the day had sat in a dark room with the Reverend Jim Jones and planned for a fee the murder of 900 people, creating a day of unforgettable infamy.

But put politics aside and explore the social elements that embodied the ‘People’s Temple’ and its believers, and what do we find? The mid 1970’s the civil rights and the flower [Hippy] movement had just passed. Pop-along on Durban Park was our mirror to that era, with its afterglow still cascading with imagery, music and “people philosophy” adding to our world view. The Black Panthers, Malcolm X, Franz Fanon where part of our conversations. Bob Marley had also added to the scene with his hymns of freedom. We collected Earth, Wind and Fire and Third World album covers and digested Swamp Dog. So against this cold war, racism in America backdrop comes Jim Jones and his wagons escaping the bad first world, how do Guyana say no to this cry for help, and still be revolutionary?

That the Reverend Jim Jones was Caucasian did not matter. By then we had read enough to know that there were White Americans who had been supporters of the values of change that enveloped the Civil rights movement, that many of them were beaten and murdered in that struggle and we also knew the story of John Brown, the planter who had freed his slaves and fought his slave owning neighbours. What Guyana could be accused of was naivety; the songs Sam Stone and Harry Hippy were just songs. Madness had no shades of grey to us, and only the functional “Saggywang” was homeless, unlike the 90’s to the present, where drug addicts roam our streets. In the 70s we had not yet lost our perspective innocence.

Jim Jones seemed like a great idea - a communist using religion to bring Americans through their own free will to build a community where Guyanese coastlanders were reluctant to venture. This settlement would serve as inspiration, especially if that community prospered and expanded, as the early Islander settlers did with hinterland landings some like Madhia.

Perhaps Jonestown would with time evolve into the idea of the kind of township touted after Independence - to build a new capital in this same North western region of Guyana, and the North West is beautiful.

The impetus rest with our speculations that can only be extracted from the post Independence thrust, when large bodies of coastal youth would for the first time witness the splendour and majesty of the hinterland through the Youth Corps, National Service and the Defence Force. One of the advantages of Jim Jones is that he had done or said nothing in the USA to raise red flags with the radical Afro-American community, so that there were no negative highlight warnings; he had played his game well to the time of arriving in Guyana.

What we now know is that Jim Jones was a “drug addict” whose altered mind demanded demi-godhood over his followers, sexual dominance, control of movement and their every utterance and extension of his thoughts. Adolf Hitler was also a “drug addict” who also had found a logical exploitable assembly of contentions among his people that enabled him to rise to become their Messiah, and enforce subtle fetters upon mind and body.

He had ordered his Nation to fight to the last German, to die also with dignity; children too were not spared. Then in 1997 Marshall Herff Applewhite convinced 38 normal people in California that suicide would free them from their horrible state enabling them to join the “Mothership” to immortality, all adorned in sneakers named after Nike, son of the Titan Pallas. And of course we can’t explore the phenomenon of Jim Jones without adding Charles Manson, whose name and exploits should be common to us all.

How do we define and embody “The People’s Temple” into our active consciousness?

Simple. I can remember Debra Touchett [name spelt on sound] and a couple others who played B-Ball on the Parade ground. These people came to this country convinced they could make a

new start; they came to be part of us from their own free will, our open mindedness and small faults were not a bother to them.

The old, the young with their babies - all would have been new Guyanese citizens. We owe them this recognition.

Jim Jones and his henchmen betrayed them, his colossal drug-abused ego destroyed their dreams, minds and bodies.

Let us consecrate a museum on that location; build a monument to honour the innocence that perished there. We owe them and ourselves that. Thus, I’m initiating the conversation.

XIV

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

Yes, financial resolutions for the New Year do work (REUTERS) WE all know the drill by now: Make a New Year's resolution to lose weight or reduce spending or finally finish that novel. Fail in miserable fashion. Feel bad about yourself and scarf down a tub of double-chocolate ice cream.

It is enough to make you want to throw your hands up and not make resolutions at all. Like Cheryl Chen, a freelance writer in southern California.

"I used to do New Year's resolutions, and then never kept them," said Chen, 27, who stopped making resolutions altogether around three years ago. "I don't see the point in all the pressure. Everyone is always asking about them."

But before you swear off resolutions forever, check out new data from mutual fund manager Fidelity Investments. Fidelity's just-released New Year's Resolutions study discovered that making financial resolutions does, in fact, help get your fiscal house in order.

In fact, of those who nearly or completely achieved their resolution for this year, 56 percent said their finances had improved. Of those who fell short, only 34 percent reported better money circumstances.

"Financial resolutions are actually relatively easy to achieve," said John Sweeney, Fidelity's executive vice president for retirement and investing strategies.

"With diet or exercise, you have to get up every single morning and resolve all over again, but with something like a 401(k) payroll deduction, you just set it up once at the beginning of the year, and then it becomes part of your lifestyle."

In the Fidelity survey, 37 percent of those surveyed planned on making financial resolutions for Jan. 1, up from 31 percent last year.

The top three financial resolutions: "saving more," cited by 54 percent of respondents; "spending less," with 19 percent, and "paying off debt," with 16 percent.

The secret fears driving those money resolutions?

Most said unexpected expenses, the economy and healthcare costs in retirement.

All the financial pledges in the world will not mean a thing if you have no firm strategy for how to

pull them off. So how do you go from resolution to actual achievement?

It comes down to forming an action plan.

"If it's a few seconds to New Year's and you're just throwing something up in the wind, then it's not going to work," said Dr. John Norcross, a psychology professor at the University of Scranton who has conducted multiple studies on the subject. "It requires preparation. You have to be serious about the endeavor."

For those who are dedicated to their goal, the statistics are pretty impressive: Norcross found that 46 percent of people were able to keep their resolution for at least six months.

"We actually stopped doing the study, because we found the exact same thing every time," Norcross said. "People should be comforted that achieving your

resolutions is possible."

His main trick for success? Deliberately design your life so that you are more likely to succeed and not just rely on willpower alone. That means making realistic and attainable goals, publicly declaring them so that others will encourage and help you, and rewarding yourself for your successes.

It also means tracking your progress, avoiding environments where you will fail (if you are trying to lose weight, don't walk by that French patisserie), and allowing yourself the occasional slip-up, Norcross said. Draw up a specific plan in place for when you screw up, and gobble down a donut or two.

After about three months, the new routine will have taken over and your behaviors will become automatic.

Revellers toss confetti over Times Square from a hotel after the clock struck midnight during New Year's Eve celebrations in New York January 1, 2015. (REUTERS/KEITH BEDFORD)

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

XV

XVI

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

The Holidays – Addressing Addiction and Mental Health

A

s it’s that time of year, I would like to talk about what the holidays can do for addiction and mental health.

While the Christmas season does hold great religious significance to many, to many others it’s a time for reunions, celebration and overindulgence in food, alcohol and other drugs.

I’m not trying to rain on Christmas’ parade but it is important to remember that while it is a joyous occasion, it also involves an increase in general stress of having to plan or attend numerous events. Then there is also the financial strain, accidents caused by drivers who get drunk at parties, domestic violence and reminders of loved ones who are no longer with us.

These factors can result in depression, heavy drug use and even suicide.

For both practicing or in denial alcoholics, Christmas is a time to look forward to as everyone consumes more alcohol than usual – even people who never drink use a little alcohol during the holidays. This tends to make that individual feel unnoticed (so he/she can drink how much ever desired) and also increases the likelihood of someone in recovery to relapse.

Christmas is even a difficult time for people in recovery. I spoke with Mr. Clearance Young, a friend and mentor, who is the coordinator of Phoenix Recovery Project (a drug rehabilitation center in Mon Repos). He explained that there are more admissions (for illicit drugs) throughout this season but the increase is mostly after the holidays. He explained that, as expected, clients are more depressed around this time, missing their family and friends – who do visit more often during the holiday season.

This is good and bad news- it means that people who otherwise would have admitted to having a problem will ignore it to participate in the holiday festivities. On the brighter side, they reach out for help after this period.

it is mostly from drug induced psychosis. She continued with the fact that more men than women are admitted but on a brighter note, they too do get visits from their families, even though it’s the holidays.

Take away message? Keep track of your drinking/drug use. Temptation will be everywhere but don’t be afraid of moderation or of saying no in general. Also, try not to force/ encourage or make people feel bad about not drinking – I know this happens! For those who want to cut down, you can make subtle changes like switching to beers that have less alcohol content or try drinking a glass of water in between every two drinks. Believe me- these small things can make a difference.

If you’re feeling low, take some time to do activities that you love, spend time with people who make you feel good and remember that where anything stands, something else stands alongside it- you are never alone.

Next week is my final column for 2015. One change I would love to see (within our community) for 2016 is the way we all speak and treat each other and I’m going to discuss the benefits of this change. I will also write about the current controversial topic of corporal punishment. Does it result in good or bad mental health? Join me next week! **************************** Suicide Helpline numbers: 223-0001, 223-0009, 623-4444, 6007896 **************************** Don’t be afraid to seek help. Say Yes to life and No to drugs!

Always!

Christmas and Mental Health Tis the season to be jolly? Not necessarily We all love to see how much happier our friends and family are during this time. It is important to remember however that depressed individuals do not get into the Christmas spirit like everyone else- they get sadder. This could be for many reasons such as unrealistic expectations, additional stress and anxiety, less time to exercise, loneliness- especially if everyone around has a partner - and most importantly, they see how happy other people are and they do not understand why they can’t feel just the same.

As I am new to GPHC, I spoke to my friend and colleague Dr. Meena Rajkumar about what happens in the Psychiatric Ward during the holidays.

She explained to me that there is an increase in the number of admissions during this time of year and as I expected,

Caitlin Vieira is a Psychologist and addiction specialist at the Georgetown Public Hospital, Woodlands Hospital and the Guyana Inter-agency Suicide Prevention Helpline.

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

XVII

?

Can she do it

Shauna Ramdyhan, Miss Universe Guyana 2015 debuts her National Costume on stage at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino Wednesday, December 16, 2015.

Shauna Ramdyhan, Miss Universe Guyana 2015 competes on stage in her evening gown during the 2015 Miss Universe Preliminary Show at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino Wednesday, December 16, 2015

G

Shauna Ramdyhan, Miss Universe Guyana 2015 is photographed by fashion photographer Fadil Berisha.

uyana has never placed at the Miss Universe pageant.

Shauna Ramdyan, a Foreign Service officer with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hopes to change that today when the 2015 pageant is held at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Her proudest personal accomplishment was graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree from Donghua University, Shanghai, China. She speaks Mandarin Chinese. She is the eldest child in her family, which she says forced her to cultivate leadership skills at a young age. She once shared a stage with many famous Chinese stars such as Jackie Chan and Andy laud during the World Expo's Closing Ceremony.

XVIII

How the

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

Wapichan people won the Equator Prize A

By Neil Marks

project started by a group of head teachers of the South Runupnuni to upgrade the skills of teachers but which later undertook a ground-breaking initiative by indigenous Wapichan communities to map and monitor their lands has been handed the prestigious Equator Prize.

Called the South Central Peoples Development Association (SCPDA), the organization, which has created a map of lands traditionally used by the Wapichan people was honoured as one as one 20 outstanding local and indigenous initiatives that are advancing innovative solutions for people, nature and resilient communities.

The Equator Prize is run by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and comes with US$10, 000. It was handed out in Paris two weeks ago.

Nicholas Fredericks speaks at the Equator Prize Ceremony at Theatre Mogador in Paris, December 07, 2015.

SCPDA is based in Shulinab, a community of 750 people, namely of the Wapichan and Macushi Amerindian nations.

The Association carries out projects in 17 communities of South Central and Deep South Rupununi.

Initially, the villages were not located in the flat savannah lands, but in the forests at points called Mirikeng – Locust Creek Mouth and Parakawitikeng – Bush Hog Creek Mouth.

But convinced by Christian missionaries of the need to go to church and school, the people set up various small villages.

Nicholas Fredericks, who now leads Shulinab village was in Paris to take part in various activities associated with the UN Climate Summit and to pick up the Equator Prize.

He said that the people still continue their traditional practices – hunting, gathering and fishing – but now they also herd cattle and sheep, raise pigs and rear poultry – as part of SCPDA’s expanded mandate to improve the diet of the people.

SCPDA provides the first pair of animals to villagers and they in return hand over the first drop back to SCPDA so the organisation could multiply its stock and then provide to other villagers who need.

The majority of people in Sulinab depend on the land for living; teachers and nurses are the only paid workers in the village.

Now, Shulinab is going back into the forests, “to open back village farms” owing to prolonged dry seasons, said Fredericks “Right now the people are afraid to use the cassava be-

cause if they do that they would not be able to plant back the sticks and you’ll be losing all your planting material.

“So we’re doing that; we are actually going back into the forest to for food security and to maintain our traditional species of crops.

But the people of the Rupununi face other challenges – ones that threaten their way of life.

The lands legally handed to the communities take up a portion just about quarter of the land the Wapichan people actually use, Fredericks said.

The communities know that because back in 2003, SCPDA started a natural resources mapping project.

With the help of their elders, and support from international organisations, they used GPS systems to map all of the areas they use for farming, fishing and hunting.

Fredericks said the territory used by the Wapichan people is consistent with what was developed prior to independence by the British Government which had formed the Amerindian Lands Commission.

The great leader of the Wapichan people -Daniel Kinchin – is said to have taken his bicycle and rode to many of the villages in the Rupununi to meet with village leaders and together they sketched out their territory – one that resembles what GIS mapping now shows.

“We know extent of use of our lands; we saw the overlap of communities, in that we share our land.

“We share our resources according to our customs.”

In 1976, the then government “parcelled” off lands and handed those to the Wpaichan people as community lands. But Fredericks surmises that the leaders may not have understood what they agreed to.

And so, the large swaths of land between communities were designated state lands and are leased for commercial activities such as mining and logging, causing destruction to lands used by the Wapichan people.

This in terms form a case study that has been presented to governmental authorities annually for the last five years so they could take action – but nothing has really been acted upon, Fredericks lamented.

He said that the government bears responsibility as a signatory to the Convention of Biological Diversity to “Protect and encourage customary use of biological resources in accordance with traditional cultural practices that are compatible with conservation or sustainable use requirements.”

Fredericks said that the Wapichan people have always used their territory in a sustainable way.

For example, he said that they don’t exploit one hunting area or kill pregnant or young animals. Further, he said that for farming, they occupy only the area they actually use to farm.

As a result of their historical use of the lands, the Wapichan people have developed a “living plan” and leaders from the various villages meet every four months to take the plan forward.

Together with the plan, the Wapichan people carried out three studies to determine. One dealt with ways to enhance crop production; another study dealt with controlling bush fires, and the third study looked at ways by which communities can improve their craft production.

After launch of the living plan however, the people started to see an increase in mining in some areas. The problems were many – social ills such as prostitution, the pollution of creeks and rivers they use for water and fishing, and more forested areas were being cleared.

And so, the Wapichan people embarked on an environmental monitoring project of their own, with the help of Digital Democracy using satellites.

Digital Democarcy said they are creating an early warning platform built on Google Earth Engine that will combine real-time satellite analysis that will alert community authorities to destructive practices with the aim of bringing a halt to such activities.

The community now operates a drone, which they helped build. Young people from the village are trained in the use of smartphones to support the project.

In addition, the villages have identified 1.4 million hectares of pristine forest for conservation purposes.

“By preserving the ecosystem – is a way of combatting climate challenge – could be a model for government and international community,” said Fredericks.

With the Equator Prize, community leaders have decided to set up an internet system at Shulinab and fix faulty systems in some other key areas.

Early next year launching, SCPDA will be launching the Wapichan’s people own website, and the village has just received funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation to continue the work of SCPDA with a focus on helping village councils manage their own affairs.

And SCPDA is also spreading its wings, with Fredericks announcing that its widely popular monitoring programme will be taken to Region Seven.

The Wapichan people now seek a listening air from the new government to their plight in the hopes that the government would act to remove harmful mining and unwanted development.

“We have always lived in harmony with our forests,” Fredericks said in a speech at the Equator Prize ceremony.

“We see the forest as our mother and have taken on this role to protect the forest from destruction in the name of development.

“For us the forest is not just about money, it is our life and our identity.”

Faye and Nicholas Fredericks accepts the Mogador in Paris, December 07, 2015. At righ Nations Development Programme, while at

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

XIX

The map created by the Wapichan people showing the territory they have used throughout history. The grey patches are areas of mining concessions the Wapichan people say they were never consulted on.

Equator Prize 2015 at a ceremony at Theatre ht is Helen Clark, Administrator of the the United left is her Assistant, Magdy MartĂ­nez-SolimĂĄn.

A photo taken using the community-developed drone shows destruction due to mining in Wapichan territory.

XX

Top

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

searches of

2015 The historic Supreme Court ruling recognizing gay marriage at both the state and federal level was among the most searched news events on Google this year, with over 180 million searches. (REUTERS/Gary Cameron) Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, re-introduced herself to the world on the cover of Vanity Fair, leading to 366 million searches. "Who is Caitlyn Jenner?" the world asked. Jenner's announcement sparked more interest than ever before about the transgender community, with search terms such as "What is transgender?" and "Am I transgender?"

(REUTERS/Carlo Allegri)

Searches on the Paris attacks spread quickly around the world as news spread of the incidents with over 897 million searches. The day ended with the highest search interest in Paris in the history of Google. (REUTERS/Philippe Wojaze)

Black Lives Matter was a social justice movement everyone was talking about in 2015, as evidenced by 189 million queries. A year after Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, other names became popular search topics: Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Laquan McDonald. Two slogans central to the protest movement became part of the national conversation, and popular search terms as well: "Hands up don't shoot" and "I can't breathe". (REUTERS/Craig Lassig)

The plight of the migrants and Europe's refugee crisis resulted in over 23 million searches on Google. The top searched question on the crisis in the U.S. was 'What is a refugee?', while in Britain it was 'Why do immigrants come to Europe?'. In Hungary the top question was 'How should Christians respond to the migrant crisis?' (REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis)

The "fight of the century" between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao resulted in 216 million Google searches. Among the top questions on the fight 'What time does the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight start?' and What channel is Mayweather vs. Pacquiao on?'( Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

XXI

Vietnam builds military muscle to face China (Reuters) Vietnam's military is steeling itself for conflict with China as it accelerates a decade-long modernization drive, Hanoi's biggest arms buildup since the height of the Vietnam War. The ruling Communist Party's goal is to deter its giant northern neighbor as tensions rise over the disputed South China Sea, and if that fails, to be able to defend itself on all fronts, senior officers and people close to them told Reuters.

Vietnam's strategy has moved beyond contingency planning. Key units have been placed on "high combat readiness" - an alert posture to fend off a sudden attack - including its elite Division 308, which guards the mountainous north.

The two countries fought a bloody border war in 1979. The likely flashpoint this time is in the South China Sea, where they have rival claims in the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos.

"We don't want to have a conflict with China and we must put faith in our policy of diplomacy," one senior Vietnamese government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. "But we know we must be ready for the worst."

Most significantly, Hanoi is creating a naval deterrent largely from scratch with the purchase of six advanced Kilo-class submarines from Russia.

In recent months, the first of those submarines have started patrolling the South China Sea, Vietnamese and foreign military officials said, the first confirmation the vessels have been in the strategic waterway.

partners. Russia and India are the main source of advanced weapons, training and intelligence cooperation. Hanoi is also building ties with the United States and its Japanese, Australian and Filipino allies, as well as Europe and Israel.

The outreach covers weapons purchases, ship visits and intelligence sharing but will have its limits. Hanoi shuns formal military alliances under a staunchly independent foreign policy.

Vietnam is seeking more Russian jet fighter-bombers and is in talks with European and U.S. arms manufacturers to buy fighter and maritime patrol planes and unarmed surveillance drones, sources have told Reuters. It has also recently upgraded and expanded air defenses, including obtaining early warning surveillance radars from Israel and advanced S-300 surface-to-air missile batteries from Russia.

Indeed, increases in Vietnam's military spending have outstripped its South East Asian neighbors over the last decade, according to estimates by the Stockholm International

President Xi Jinping among political and military leaders.

Hanoi dispatched dozens of Vietnamese civilian vessels to confront the 70 coastguard and naval warships China sent to protect the oil rig in mid-2014.

"It was a reminder to all of us just how dangerous the South China Sea has become," said one retired U.S. naval officer.

For its part, China's military strategists have long been frustrated at the two dozen military outposts that Hanoi has fortified across the Spratlys since losing the Paracels in 1974, Chinese analysts say. China is building three air strips on manmade islands it is building on reefs in the Spratlys that it took from Vietnamese forces in 1988.

A statement to Reuters from China's Defense Ministry said the two militaries had close, friendly relations and China was willing to work hard with Vietnam for regional peace.

"Both sides have frank exchanges of view on the South China Sea ... both sides should look for a basic, lasting solution both sides can accept," the statement said.

China's historic claim to most of the South China Sea, expressed on maps as a nine-dash line, overlaps the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. Taiwan also has claims in the area.

Some $5 trillion in shipborne trade passes through the waterway every year, including most of the oil imported by China, Japan and South Korea.

DIVISION 308 Militarily, the tensions are 'PSYCHOLOGICAL UNpalpable northwest of Hanoi CERTAINTY' at the headquarters of Division The importance to China 308, Vietnam's most elite milof protecting its submarine itary unit, where senior army base on Hainan Island - the officers talk repeatedly about projected home of its future "high combat readiness". nuclear armed submarine The phrase is on billboards fleet - could be another flashSailors hold Israeli-made Galil riffles while marching during a celebration to mark National Day at Ba Dinh beneath images of missiles and square in Hanoi September 2, 2015. Photo taken September 2, 2015. REUTERS/Kham point. Beijing also has jet portraits of Vietnam's late revofighters and many of its best lutionary founder, Ho Chi Minh, warships stationed around and its legendary military hero, General Vo Nguyen Giap.

Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Hainan Island. This South Sea Fleet is close to Vietnam's Perched between Vietnam's craggy northern mountains and "They are not doing this for national day parades ... they northern coast and its vital deep water access channels to the the ancient rice paddies of the Red River Delta, 308 is Viet- are building real military capabilities," said Tim Huxley, a re- South China Sea and beyond. nam's oldest division and still effectively guards the northern gional security expert at the International Institute of Strategic Vietnamese generals make clear to foreign visitors they approaches to Hanoi.

Studies in Singapore. know their limitations. Two decades of double-digit increases Reflecting deep-set official sensibilities towards offending in defense budgets have given China a vastly larger and better Beijing, one senior officer, Colonel Le Van Hai, said he could OIL RIG FLASHPOINT equipped navy, air force and army. not talk about China. But Vietnam was ready to repel any While communist parties rule both Vietnam and China and Foreign military envoys say they struggle to gauge Vietforeign force, he told Reuters during a rare visit by a foreign share political bonds, the two countries have a history marked nam's actual capabilities and how well they are integrating reporter. by armed conflict and long periods of lingering mistrust. complex new weapons. They are given little access beyond "Combat readiness is the top priority of the division, of Fresh academic research has revealed how the Sino-Viet- Hanoi's gilded staterooms. the Ministry of Defense and the country. We can deal with namese war in 1979 was more intense than is widely known, Vietnamese military strategists talk of creating a "minimal any sudden or unexpected situation ... We are ready," he said. rumbling on into the mid-1980s. The two sides then clashed credible deterrent" – raising the costs of any Chinese move "High combat readiness", along with references to the at sea in 1988 when China occupied its first holdings in the against Vietnam, whether it is a naval confrontation or an "new situation", increasingly feature in lectures by senior of- Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea - a defeat still attack across the 1,400-km (875-mile) northern land border. ficers during visits to military bases and in publications of the acutely felt in Hanoi.

If conflict did break out, Hanoi could target ChiPeople's Army of Vietnam. The phrases also surface in talks China also took full control of another South China Sea nese-flagged merchant container and oil ships in the South with foreign military delegations, diplomats said. island chain, the Paracels, after a naval showdown with then China Sea, said Thayer, who said he was told this by Viet"When Vietnam refers to the 'new situation', they are using South Vietnam in 1974. Hanoi still protests China's occupa- namese strategists. coded language to refer to the rising likelihood of an armed tion.

The aim would be not to defeat China's superior forces confrontation or clash with China, particularly in the South More recently, China's placement of an oil rig in disputed but "to inflict sufficient damage and psychological uncertainty China Sea," said Carl Thayer, a professor at Australia's De- waters for 10 weeks in the middle of last year sparked an- to cause Lloyd's insurance rates to skyrocket and for foreign fense Force Academy in Canberra who has studied Vietnam's ti-Chinese riots across Vietnam. investors to panic", Thayer said in a paper presented to a Sinmilitary since the late 1960s.

The rig's placement on Vietnam's continental shelf 80 gapore conference last month.

While ramping up combat readiness, Hanoi's once-reclu- nautical miles from its coast was a game-changer, officials Vietnam's foreign ministry did not respond to requests sive generals are reaching out to a broad range of strategic in Hanoi privately said, hardening suspicions about Chinese for comment on this story.

XXII

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

Runaway boy wants to go back to school - Gets help through ‘Love Revolution’

A

runaway b o y, n o w i n c a r c e rated at the New Opportunity Corps (NOC), the country’s main juvenile detention centre, has his eyes set on returning to school.

And he is getting help to do that through collaboration between the President’s Youth Aw a r d P r o g r a m m e (PYARG) and its Trinidadian counterpart.

Amafika Luke and Timmy Temal, Director and Assistant Director Training of the President Award Trinidad & Tobago during their visit to the New Opportunity Corps last week as part of their visit to Guyana in assisting with training leaders of the local award under the new international licence, partnered with the local award programme in their ‘Love Revolution’ programme.

The Trinidadians partnership will see the sponsorship of one of the inmates, Granville Odle, who grabbed the attention of the training directors.

The inmate, who was interviewed during the annual Christmas luncheon, convinced the Trinidadians when he spoke about his work and the skills attained since being at the institution.

At age 10, Odle,

from the South Ruimveldt area in Georgetown, ran away from his parents’ home to the streets where he got entangled with the law and was sentenced to four years at the New Opportunity Corps.

He said boldly during the friendly conversation with the award leaders that he

got one year of his sentence reduced and is presently working at the institution’s Stock farm as custodian of the duck section.

Daily tallying and care is his responsibility, and while he enjoys the programme, he has learnt new techniques in duck farming from his instructor.

Since he was placed at the New Opportunity Corps, Odle’s mother has never visited. He said he did not know his birth date, though he knew it is sometime in March and he is now 13-years-old.

He could not say what his home address was; he said he was not keen on returning

anyhow.

Odle said he would welcome the opportunity to go back to school and study agriculture.

The local President’s Youth Award Programme Guyana Executive Officer Mr. Allister Collins was then informed and has undertaken to work the New Opportuni-

ty Corps in outlining the details for the inmate to be a part of the ‘Love Revolution’ programme.

Clothes and other personal and education materials will be sent to the institution and a monthly update on the inmate will be submitted for monitoring.

Trinidadian’s Award Training Director left, Mr. Timmy Temal, NOC Inmate Granville Odle and Mr. Amafika Luke.

PYARG

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

T

XXIII

in restructuring mode

he President’s Youth Award Programme of Guyana (PYARG) has commenced a process of restructuring under the new international award licencing scheme.

Trinidad & Tobago Training Director Mr. Amafika Luke and Assistant Director Mr. Timmy Temal concluded a one week visit to Guyana last week to commence the

first phase of the restructuring.

The duo who came to Guyana on the invitation of newly appointed Executive Officer Mr. Allister Collins who was in Grenada in August as a part of the Guyana Contingent to the Caribbean Award Sub Regional Council (CSAC) where the new regulations of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award was released and the T&T duo was asked to provide assistance to

Trinidadians Mr. Luke and Temal, CDC’s Operations & Training Officer Major Sean Welcome and PYARG(M.S) Executive Officer Mr. Allister Collins

Inmates of the Lusignan Prison listen to a speech by Dr. Astell Collins.

the Guyana award programme.

On arrival Mr. Luke and Temal expressed gratitude to the Executive Officer, Mr. Collins, for their visit and ore so to impart knowledge on the international new operations to their Guyanese leaders.

During the first day they were also granted the opportunity to meet the Champion of the Duke of Edinburgh Award of Belize Ms. Cynthia Ellis- Topsey who also was visiting in Guyana seeking partnership for the Belize.

The commencement of the visit, which focused on the format of operations of the award in Guyana was done at the award secretariat on Middle street, Georgetown, where the Executive Officer and staff briefed the training directors on the procedures of operation in Guyana.

This followed visits to Kuru Kuru College, New Opportunity Corps and Port Mourant, where the award unit in New Amsterdam conducted a blood drive.

The Trinidadians were given a detailed outline of the PYARG (M.S) camp site which is in the process of approval for construction under the new administration and the ideas for hosting local and international silver expedition and training exercises.

Guyana was granted their operational licences after successfully completing the validation process in September this year and upon the Executive Officer attendance at the International Award Conference in Canada.

A new training schedule will be introduced in 2016 across the country and all unit leaders will be retrained.

The final session was done with the Field Assistants where more information on the local award programme was gathered for a more structured programme will be implemented.

A formal visit was made at the Civil Defence Commission where Operations & Training Officer Major Sean Welcome met the team and outlined the agency’s operation and the need for partnership with the local award programme to develop support in the future.

The local award programme will soon be collaborating a number of training and workshops to enhance the mandate of the Civil Defence Commission mandate.

XXIV

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

XXV

Things Your Make-up Artist Wishes You Knew

D

ue to the hectic holiday season, which has me up to home decorations and so on, I share with you this article from Bustle.com. Here goes: The women and men who practice the application of makeup and cosmetics (and hair styling) professionally are akin to wizards, in my opinion, and having your makeup done professionally, at least once, can be an exceptionally fun experience, especially on a day like your wedding, when hiring a makeup artist to create your bridal look is often well worth the investment.

Obviously, we can't all afford to splurge on a Makeup Artist (MUA) for our big day, and if you can't, there are some helpful wedding makeup tricks out there. But if you can, you're in for a relaxing, far less frantic, beautifying experience — one that will have you glowing all day long.

Since so many women approach their wedding day (or consultation, special event, etc.) with little to no experience working with a MUA, the process can feel a little bit overwhelming. What are you supposed to bring? Should you wear your own foundation? Is tipping necessary? Luckily, like any professional, most MUAs

will guide you through the process with much support — especially if you confess to being a virgin to the process. They want you to love your experience, and to feel pampered, lovely, and well taken care of, so they're going to go the extra mile for you. It's really intrinsically part of their job.

But like any independent contractor (which many are) or specialist, a MUA has a lot of overheads (as we know, makeup is not cheap, and whatever you have at home, they have at least tenfold), most of which comes out of their pocket.

They haul all of their supplies to your location, give you 100 percent dedication and creative expertise, then painstakingly clean each tool and brush (or replenish their supplies) in order to keep their makeup kit up to code for you and the next client. Not to mention, the years they've spent perfecting their trade, either through extensive mentorship or cosmetic school.

In order to ensure you have a great experience and foster a good working relationship with the MUA you'll be trusting your face to, I spoke to a handful of MUAs, from varying backgrounds, to get a better feel for what they wish their clients knew going into a consultation or in preparation for the day of. Here are the considerations they shared, so that you can walk into your appointment, or sit down on your wedding day knowing your MUA thinks you're the best client they've ever had! Because if he/she's excited to work with you, you're pretty much guaranteed to look even more radiant!

1. Come With A CLEAN Face Many women either forget that their MUA will be applying foundation, don't feel comfortable leaving the house without it, or simply don't realize that they should come to their appointment without any makeup. Speak with your MUA first to get a clear understanding of what she/he wants, but in most cases, a MUA will want to start with a fresh canvas. That means no foundation, no primer, no mascara — nothing! Your MUA will provide all of these things, and will want to apply them for you as part of their complete package. You wouldn't walk into a pizza parlour, wanting a freshly made pizza, but carrying a half cooked crust, would you?

2. Silence Is Golden You'll meet, you'll greet, you'll discuss details, and enjoy each other's company. But, when it comes to actual makeup application, there are times ► Contiuned on page XXIX

XXVI

L

etisha wears a classic jumper with cap sleeves and lace top with just a hint of sexy at the sides. She gave the jumper a simple timeless look by wearing nude shoes. You can give it a more daring look by adding red shoes if you like.

K

ellyann is wearing one of our best-selling pieces - a high low cocktail dress with a full lace top paired with a classic bold red peep toe fudge heel for that classy but sophisticated, sexy look.

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

T

his is Britney. Can you say glamorous? This jumper is for the chic lady who wants to be sexy but not going overboard. It has a haltered back in gold glitzy goodness. Perfect for your staff socials.

Dressing I for the

G

reen and red spells Christmas.

This short skater cocktail dress is worn by Kellyann. It has a halter back with a deep V and carries a gold and black belt. Perfect for the daring women.

C

rystal wears this midnight-blue lace tube cocktail dress. It’s paired with silver glitter pumps and screams Christmas. This piece is also available in red and nude.

t's the most wonderful time of the year, especially if you love dressing up for all the Christmas festivities. This is the perfect opportunity to wear something flashy and stand out in a crowd. Think bright colors, revealing styles, bold sequins and soft silks. Below are our favorite trends for holiday clothes that will win over all the naughty and nice people you're hoping to impress this year.

When you're shopping for your party dresses this festive season you can find all the best pieces at Pink Memo Boutique - The Courtyard Mall on Robb Street between Wellington and Camp Streets.

season

O

dessa is wearing one of our mommy friendly dresses; it’s sophisticated and classy fitting just above the knee depending on your height. The hint of colour makes it the perfect day dress.

C

rystal is in full black sexiness.

Every woman needs a little black dress and this one is unusual with an uneven bottom and long sleeves with a hint of skin by the waist line. Perfect for a night out in the clubs.

T

his piece worn by Crystal is chic, simple and classy is perfect for a day-into-the night look. Nude is an easy color to wear because it doesn't require a lot of thought into what to wear to match it, shoes etc. It can be worn with any colour. Here, Crystal pairs it with nude and black snakeskin peep toe stiletto.

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

XXVII

Mother Teresa to be made Catholic saint in September – paper Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Nobel laureate who dedicated her life to helping the poorest of the poor, will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in September 2016, an Italian Catholic newspaper reported on Thursday.

Avvenire, the official newspaper of the Italian Catholic bishops conference, said on its website that Pope Francis had earlier on Thursday approved a decree rec-

ognising a miracle attributed to her intercession with God. Mother Teresa, who died in 1997 at the age of 87, was beatified in 2003 by the late Pope John Paul. Beatification, which requires one miracle, is the last step before sainthood.

Avvenire said the second miracle attributed to the intercession of Mother Teresa, which is required for canonisation, involved the inexplicable healing of

Catholic nuns from the Missionaries of Charity, the global order of nuns founded by Mother Teresa, pray at Teresa's tomb on her 18th death anniversary in Kolkata, India, September 5, 2015. a man who was suffering from a deadly brain disease.

Family members prayed to Mother Teresa and he recovered, leaving doctors at a loss to explain how, the newspaper said.

A Vatican spokesman said he had no information about the report.

The paper, which has been well informed about similar stories in the past, said the pope would most likely hold a canonisation ceremony

for Mother Teresa in early September.

Mother Teresa was born AnjezĂŤ Gonxhe Bojaxhiu of Albanian parents in Macedonia in 1910 in what was then

part of the Ottoman Empire.

She founded the Missionaries of Charity to help the poor on the streets of Calcutta and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

XXVIII

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

Sixty years on, Attenborough back to Great Barrier Reef for new series (REUTERS) BRITISH naturalist Sir David Attenborough first visited Australia's Great Barrier Reef in 1957, scuba-diving in its crystal clear waters along with an array of species.

Nearly 60 years later, the 89-year-old returns to the world's largest coral reef for a new television series, exploring the spectacular ecosystem.

"The Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough" sees the broadcaster aboard the 56-metre (184-foot) Alucia research and exploration vessel, which features a state-of-the-art Triton

submersible, laboratories and a helicopter.

"The huge privilege there was on this trip ... 60 years after my first one, is that we had this extraordinary technology," Attenborough told Reuters.

"You just sit there ... and in front of you there is the water.

You aren't breathing it, you're not looking through a glass or porthole, or anything, you're just surrounded by water. ... And all these fish come swimming by."

Last summer, a heritage committee of the UNESCO cultural agency said the reef's outlook was poor due to threats like

pollution and climate change, but it stopped short of listing it as "in danger".

"The biggest danger for the reef at the moment is the one which comes from international sources ... the increase in temperature of the water and the increase in acidity of the water," Attenborough said.

David Attenborough "If the temperature goes up two degrees, the consequence will be that a very large number of species of coral will die.

And so the reef is in real, real danger and it is going to take international cooperation to deal with that."

Attenborough has been making television documentaries for decades, travelling all over the world.

"I would like to think the programmes I've made ... have done something to spread an understanding of the natural world," he said. "People who watch them may realise not only what a wonderful world we have inherited, but the danger that it is in."

That danger, he said, is largely due to overpopulation.

"The best solution is that the people of the world ... would have the right to determine how many children they have," he said. "They have the social right, the medical right and the educational right to do that."

"The Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough" airs on Britain's BBC One this Christmas.

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

XXIX

Things Your Make-up ... ► From page XXV

when you'll want to sit back and relax — in silence. Your MUA is doing their best to create clean, crisp lines, and nothing is more difficult than applying makeup to a moving face. So, chat first, then while your MUA applies lipstick, and other delicate details like eyeliner and mascara, take a verbal break.

3. But Don't Be Afraid To Speak Up Your MUA sincerely wants you to be happy. If there is any part of your look that you're unhappy with, let her/him know.

Have some patience in the process — things might not look the way you expect in the middle of your makeover, but talk to your MUA about your expectations. If things are clearly going in an unplanned direction, speak up. The last thing either of you want is to walk away with regret, and the only way to prevent that is clear communication.

4. Make A Mood Board/ Look List Whether you're considering a variety of styles and aren't sure which way

to go, or you have your heart set on exactly what you want, making a mood board or look list is a fantastic way to clearly communicate with your MUA about your expectations.

When you say, "I want to look like Jennifer Lawrence," you're leaving a pretty wide margin for error. Except, it won't really be error, because your MUA will be imagining Jennifer Lawrence from the Silver Linings premiere, and you'll be thinking of Jennifer Lawrence from the Catching Fire premiere.

Creating a mood board with images of the looks you envision gives your MUA well defined guidelines, ensuring you'll get the results you expect. And with Pinterest, making mood boards and look lists is easier than ever. You can email your MUA a link to your board in advance so she/he has time to prepare, and so you can start a conversation about your goals long before the day of.

5. Don't Demand The Impossible Even with contouring and airbrushing, your MUA has the same canvas to work on that you do — your face.

And although she will do everything in her power to achieve the look you're aiming for on your behalf, she's not going to be able to change the fact that you look like you. (Nor, for that matter, should you want her to. You're beautiful, obviously!)

That being said, all of the makeup in the world can't undo years or months of skin damage in one sitting. Plan on having an open and honest discussion with your MUA before she begins, and be realistic and accepting of what she tells you her limits might be. If she says something won't work out, trust her. She/ he's not trying to hold back — she/he wants you to love the end result!

6. Prepare Your Face If you want to look radiant on your wedding day, remember to spend the week (or at least day before) exercising a good moisturizing routine.

Keeping your face and lips moisturized will ensure smooth and even application of makeup, less creasing, and a polished finish. And, again, make sure you clean your face.

Our MUAs say that the problem area where they're most likely to encounter

leftover makeup is around the eyes. Wipe your eyeliner carefully with makeup removal pads, or use a lightweight oil to clean your face of excess, stubborn mascara and makeup.

7. Plan For Small Touch Ups Most MUAs agree that on big days, like your wedding day, it's wise to plan a few moments later in the day to add a little powder to your look, blot any oil, and touch up your lipstick.

So sneak away between your ceremony and your reception and give yourself a quick check. Your look will last, since the benefit of working with an MUA is that she/he is trained to make looks built for longevity. But a little maintenance will keep you fresh that much longer,

and you know you want to look stunning for that first dance with your sweetie!

And On A Final Note: Tipping Like any service professional, your MUA will most certainly accept and appreciate a tip, although it isn't entirely expected.

More than likely, their fee is enough to cover their travel cost, the supplies they provide (which have to be regularly replenished, and sometimes purchased specifically for a client's needs, and are not cheap), and their business expenses, plus a little bit more, because yes, they are in business to make a living.

Keep in mind that as a freelance artist (which many MUAs are), they are responsible for all of

their insurance, marketing, fees, etc., so what may seem like a high cost really just covers the basics.

If you're pleased with the service you've received, and you feel a tip is in order, your MUA will be honored (after all, they did just take care of you in a very personal way, and you wouldn't ask just anyone to paint your face).

But, if the service was above and beyond your budget, tipping at 20 percent isn't necessary — feel free to tip what you can afford.

Or, if you really want to show your gratitude, recommend them to your friends and family. Your referral keeps them in business, and is one of the very best (and most sincere) thank you's you can extend.

XXX

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

Mexican artist Toledo mourns disappeared, murdered in new show (Reuters) Bloodshot faces, baked into ceramic pots, grimace in pain.

Gnarled fingers poke from ashen clay. A skull and hands, the only remains of a body, grip the top of a wall, trying to escape.

They are among more than 100 pieces created by Francisco Toledo, perhaps Mexico's most famous living artist, for his "Mourning" exhibit, a memorial to the country's recent mass killings and disappearances, including 43 students from the Ayotzinapa teacher training college in Guerrero state who went missing in Sep-

tember 2014.

"Never before has there been such violence in Mexico as in recent years, really," he said in a weekend interview. "I wanted to leave a testimony of this violence."

The government said the 43 youths were incinerated by a drug gang in league with corrupt police who rounded them up in the city of Iguala in Guerrero after mistaking them for rivals.

The cas e and s ubsequent investigation sparked international condemnation of Mexico. To date, the remains of only one of the missing stu-

dents have been definitively identified.

Toledo said "Mourning," on display at Mexico City's Museum of Modern Art through March, was inspired by ancient black pottery from his native southern state of Oaxaca, which borders Guerrero.

The haunting pieces include crouched figures with scarlet-grooved eye sockets, exposed rib cages and perforated knees and elbows.

Crimson-dotted ceramic ropes fasten bones to a black drum topped by a dog's head, a reference to pre-Columbian cultures in

Mexican graphic artist Francisco Toledo attends an interview with Reuters in Oaxaca, Mexico, December 12, 2015. which canines guided the dead through the underworld.

Toledo also recalled the case of Tlatlaya, where prosecutors say soldiers executed at least a dozen suspected gang members

who had surrendered to the army in June 2014.

Tlatlaya is near Guerrero, where Toledo said the pre-Hispanic Yopes civilization sacrificed slaves.

"In a way, this type of sacrifice is being repeat-

ed," he said.

Besides "Mourning," Toledo has turned to other art forms to stir awareness of the Ayotzinapa students.

The 75-year-old Toledo created 43 kites, each stamped with the face of one of the missing, and sprinted across a soccer field to get them aloft.

Toledo, who has sold his paintings for as much as $902,500, sponsored an Ayotzinapa-themed poster contest, with entries coming from as far as Poland, Germany and Israel, his daughter Sara said.

The 50 winning posters have been exhibited in Barcelona, the Netherlands and Britain in a fundraising drive for the students' parents.

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

North Korea sentences Canadian pastor to hard labor for life

(REUTERS) NORTH Korea’s highest court has sentenced a South Korea-born Canadian pastor to hard labor for life for subversion, the North’s official KCNA

news agency reported on Wednesday, a punishment condemned by Canada as “unduly harsh.”

Hyeon Soo Lim, the head pastor at a Toronto church

South Korea-born Canadian pastor Hyeon Soo Lim stands during his trial at a North Korean court in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang December 16, 2015. REUTERS/KCNA)

that is one of Canada’s largest, has been held by North Korea since February. He had appeared on North Korean state media earlier this year confessing to crimes against the state.

Lim admitted during the trial to “not only viciously defaming the highest dignity of Korea and its system but also possessing the wicked intention of trying to topple the Republic by staging an anti-state conspiracy,” KCNA said.

The court said Lim had attempted to overthrow the North Korean government and undermine its social system with “religious activities” for the past 18 years, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.

The prosecution sought the death penalty, but the defense asked for leniency despite the gravity of his crimes “so that he can witness for himself the reality of the nation of the Sun as it

grows in power and prosperity,” KCNA said.

The court sentenced him to hard labor for life, it said.

The Canadian government said it was dismayed by the “unduly harsh sentence” imposed, particularly given Lim’s “age and fragile health” and said it had not been able to meet with Lim since his detention, despite repeated requests.

“This is a serious violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations

and the right of states to have consular access to their citizens,” spokeswoman Diana Khaddaj said in an emailed statement.

KCNA did not mention what specific activities Lim engaged in, but Xinhua reported that Lim confessed to helping people defect from North Korea, and had met the U.S. ambassador to Mongolia regarding the plans.

Most defectors fleeing isolated, repressive North

XXXI

Korea travel to South Korea via China and Southeast Asia.

It is also possible to defect via Mongolia.

The court held that he fabricated anti-North Korean propaganda as part of a U.S. and South Korean-led “human rights racket” against the country, Xinhua said.

A church spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment late on Tuesday in Canada.

XXXII

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

Female survivor may be cause of Ebola flare-up in Liberia (Reuters) An outbreak of Ebola in Liberia months after the country was declared free of the virus could have stemmed from a survivor who became infectious again after her immune system was weakened by pregnancy, experts investigating the case said.

The theory being discussed by U.S. and Liberian researchers and the World Health Organization raises concerns about whether it will be possible to bring to an end the worst Ebola epidemic in history, with as many as 17,000 survivors in West Africa acting as a potential human reservoir of the virus.

Ebola can lie dormant and hide in parts of the body such as the eyes and testicles, and rare cases of the virus re-emerging have been reported before.

If proven, the Liberia case would be the first known example of such a patient transmitting the virus to others.

Health officials have been trying for weeks to explain why Ebola flared up in the Monrovia suburbs in November, nearly three months after the country was declared Ebola-free a second time and outside the typical incubation period for the virus.

The probe has focused on the family of Nathan Gbotoe, a 15-year-old boy who died of Ebola on Nov. 24, victim of an epidemic that has killed 11,300 people.

While Nathan was thought to have originated the "Duport Road Cluster" of three cases, the focus has since shifted to his mother: 33-year-old Ophelia, the sources said.

A main hypothesis for the new cases is Ophelia's "recrudescence", meaning a surge in virus replication from a dormant state, thought to be linked to a weakened immune system.

According to this scenario, Ophelia caught Ebola more than a year ago from her brother who died of a presumed Ebola infection in July 2014.

She is then believed to have recovered, but the virus flared up again this year while she was pregnant. Antibodies fighting the virus tend to drop towards delivery.

It is not known exactly how she might have transmitted the virus, which is found in bodily fluids, to her family. Despite her experiences, Ophelia is still alive.

Officials have since contained the Liberian outbreak and those in contact with the sick been released from quarantine.

Neighboring Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free in November and Guinea and Liberia are set to follow in December and January if all goes well.

Experts said that the theory means there can be no let up in the monitoring of survivors for months or even years to come.

"The affected countries want to say they are Ebola-free but they need help with continuing surveillance and health care monitoring," said Jonathan Heeney, Professor of Comparative Pathology at Cambridge, who has written about human reservoirs of the virus.

"If you turn your back on this, you will see more of these cases."

"BEWITCHED" FAMILY Liberian officials have already ruled out the possibility that the virus was introduced from another country or from an animal, as happened in Guinea when the epidemic began in December 2013.

"It is the same strain of the virus that we've known here, that we have been dealing with in 2014," said Tolbert Nyenswah, head of Liberia's Ebola response, quoting initial findings.

The Liberia country head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Desmond Williams, who is involved in the investigation, declined to comment, saying studies were ongoing.

The WHO said it assumed that the latest cases "arose as a â–ş See page XXXIII

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

XXXIII

Female survivor may be cause ... â–ş From page

XXXII

result of a rare re-emergence of persistent virus from a survivor", but did not elaborate.

The sources say that another possible explanation is a secret sexual relationship between a family member and another survivor, al-

though interviews have so far yielded few leads.

This was thought to be the cause of a past flare-up of Ebola in Liberia in July.

In an indication of how hard it is to monitor survivors in West Africa, Ophelia's husband denies that his family ever caught Ebola and says his son

An Ebola virus treatment center is seen in Paynesville, Liberia, July 16, 2015.

was bewitched. Doctors diagnosed him with the virus in November and he recovered.

"It's all a blind lie," Nathan Gbotoe Sr. told Reuters.

He refuses to return to his Cow Field neighborhood for fear of coming under the same spell.

U.S. army scientists are

trying to establish the origin of the new cases by reconstructing a genome from the family's virus samples and comparing it with others mapped since the epidemic began.

CLASSIFYING SURVIVORS The re-emerging virus in the brain of a Scottish nurse caused her to catch meningitis in October, doctors said.

Officials in Sierra Leone have reported other unexplained deaths, which may be Ebola relapses.

Some doctors are therefore urging closer monitoring

of survivors, including women, to prevent future flare-ups but warn against policies that might lead to their being ostracized.

So far, screening of survivors has mostly focused on men who can submit semen samples under voluntary programs to test whether the virus has lingered there. Less is known about the persistence of the virus in vaginal fluids.

Professor Heeney suggested that survivors could be divided into "carrier" or "cleared" categories, based partly on factors that may weaken the immune system and cause the virus to repli-

cate to high levels, such as pregnancy, HIV and the use of immunosuppressive drugs.

Those deemed susceptible might be treated with antiviral medicines, he suggested.

Adam Kucharski, an expert on infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said he thought that transmission from recrudescent survivors, if proven possible, would be "extremely rare".

He said stigmatizing survivors could make it harder to spot new cases since such people may not seek check-ups.

XXXIV

CXC

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

English

Chronicle Pepperpot December 20, 2015

XXXV

Diwale - complete and entertaining - A review of Shah Rukh/Kajol’s latest film

A

fter their last outing in Chennai Express, I kind of had an inkling of what Rohit Shetty and Shah Rukh Khan were going to offer in Dilwale. Just another typical run-of-the mill entertainer. While Chennai Express didn’t leave me disappointed, it didn’t leave me in awe either. But Dilwale still does manage to look a lot more appealing from the promos, songs and the trailer. Living in Dubai, with a few spare hours to kill, I decided to go watch the film anyway. And two and a half hours later, I came out completely satisfied. Each Dirham was well spent!

The film captures you in its very opening. The first bit of the story is told in a flashback where the protagonists are in their late twenties. Shah Rukh Khan is every bit his charismatic self. Kajol is drop dead gorgeous. And the chemistry between them hits the roof! Even after all these years, the two of them can still pull it off with panache. Let me clarify, Dilwale is no DDLJ. The relationship dynamics between SRK and Kajol is very different here. They are born into rival gangster families in Bulgaria, Vinod Khanna’s gang v/s Kabir Bedi’s gang. This very setting warrants large scale action pieces and Shetty doesn’t disappoint. With car chases and guns blazing, the action is easily at par with Hollywood!

Khan is in top form, drifting his black sedan and firing away with his golden pistol at the same time, taking out the baddies ruthlessly and unmercifully. But a major twist awaits.

A twist that is an ace up Shetty’s sleeve. The two warring gangs are about to make peace, for the sake of SRK and Kajol’s love. But all is not as it seems, with betrayal around the corner. The songs especially Gerua and Janam Janam are magnificent, and are going to stick with you throughout.

The second part of the story, is where the cool kid Varun Dhawan and the subtly eye-catching Kriti Sanon come into the picture. Varun is SRK’s younger brother and doesn’t know much of the family’s past (of them being gangsters).

Instead, SRK runs a huge car modifying garage (think DC) along with Varun. Varun, of course, comes across Kriti and falls head over heels in love with her. Or Manma Emotion Jaage, as he sings. Their love story now blooms, and is less tense than SRK-Kajol’s, but equally watchable. Varun with his charming smirk and Kriti with her beautiful eyes pull off almost every scene with ease. The energy between them is superb. Naturally, they fall in love. But there’s one catch. Of course.

The direction by Shetty is awesome, to put it simply. His vision and the scale of the film is insurmountable by any other entertainer in this genre. There are no compromises on budgets and it reflects on the film.

The comedy element in the film is its strength. With top notch performances from the likes of Varun Sharma, Boman Irani, Sanjay Mishra and Johnny Lever, you will definitely laugh out loud every time they are on screen. A special applause has to be reserved for them, as they lift up he film, the moment you feel it might lag.

All in all, Dilwale was a great joyride with plenty to watch out for. Superb music. Stunning action. Unbelievable landscapes. Energetic youth in the form of Varun-Kriti. And of course, the enigmatic SRK-Kajol!

Each of these elements can make you want to watch the film by themselves. And when put together, Dilwale is the great entertaining result! The film ends on a high note with Tukur Tukur, a song that you will keep singing to yourself long after the film is done. Watch it, as by Rohit Shetty’s standards, it’s his most complete and entertaining film! (Priyanka Kapoor/Bollywood Bubble)

Going, going, gone; Adele U.S. concert tickets sell in minutes (REUTERS) TICKETS for Adele's first concert tour of North America in five years sold out within minutes for venues on the U.S. East Coast on Thursday, leaving thousands of fans empty-handed and venting their frustration on social media.

The British singer's 56-date tour, announced earlier this week, follows record-breaking sales of 5.2 million units in the United States alone of her new album, "25."

Fans reported getting stuck for 45 minutes or more on ticketing websites, only to find that seats were sold out for major cities on the tour that starts in July in St. Paul, Minnesota and ends in Mexico City on Nov. 15.

Adele Adele's representatives said tickets for some shows were going on sale at 10 a.m. local time in the relevant cities, but otherwise declined to comment.

Hashtags #adeletickets and #adelesoldout trended on Twitter, with fans posting memes, messages and GIFs inspired by the Grammy Award-winning singer's lyrics and music videos.

"Hello from the ticket line. I've clicked refresh a thousand times," tweeted Maggie Sage Hunter, in a twist on the lyrics to Adele's hit single "Hello."

"3 days worth of Adele tickets sold out in 2 minutes and I am heartbroken," wrote Sammi Steger.

"Just spent an hour trying to get #adeletickets in Boston and no luck...At least I can say that I tried," tweeted Jen Taranto.

Tickets for many shows appeared within minutes on secondary market sites like Stubhub, with asking prices ranging from $9,999 each for seats closest to the stage at New York's Madison Square Garden to $300 each for those in the furthest reaches of the arena. Official prices ranged from $40 to $750 each for premium packages.

Adele's "25" album is already the biggest selling album of 2015 in the United States, and has broken records dating back to 1991 when Nielsen Music first started tracking sales.

Tickets for the singer's UK and European concert tour, starting in February, also sold out within minutes when they went on sale earlier this month.

Disney's 'Star Wars' rakes in $14.1 million in opening day sales (Reuters) Walt Disney Co's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," billed as the biggest movie release of the year, raked in $14.1 million in ticket sales on its opening day in some international markets.

The movie opened at a number of European markets, including France, Italy, Sweden and Belgium, on Thursday.

Star Wars is expected to haul in between $180 million and $223 million in the United States and Canada from its Thursday night debut through Sunday, according to experts.

A visitor takes a picture of character Yoda from the Star Wars film series during a press preview for the exhibit "Star Wars Identities" at the MAK museum in Vienna, Austria, December 17, 2015. (REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger)

Leonardo DiCaprio explains why he ate raw Bison liver for The Revenant (VANITY FAIR) THIS past October, while describing the extreme lengths to which he went while filming The Revenant, Leonardo DiCaprio volunteered, somewhat nonchalantly, that he ate raw bison liver. “I can name 30 or 40 sequences that were some of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do,” the actor said of his work on Alejandro González Iñárritu’s survival epic. “Whether it’s going in and out of frozen rivers, or sleeping in animal carcasses, or what I ate on set.” And now, in a new interview, the three-time Oscar-nominated actor explains why, exactly, he ate an uncooked animal organ when the reportedly $135 million drama certainly had the budget for a fake.

While speaking to Variety, DiCaprio admits that the prop department did indeed build a faux bison liver from jelly— certainly a more edible alternative to the authentic organ. But DiCaprio, concerned that the fake did not look genuine, volunteered to eat an actual bison liver. In addition to the challenge of finding a real bison liver, however, production had to get permission to feed one of Hollywood’s most valuable movie stars a raw, potentially diseased animal organ by getting clearance from both his team of lawyers and agents.

DiCaprio generously walks Variety through the experience of biting into uncooked bison liver, explaining, “The bad part is the membrane around it. . . . It’s like a balloon. When you bite into it, it bursts in your mouth.”

Speaking to Yahoo several months back, DiCaprio confirmed that Iñárritu included the take of him eating the real deal in the final cut of the film. “When you see the movie, you’ll see my reaction to it, because Alejandro kept it in,” DiCaprio revealed. “It says it all. It was an instinctive reaction.”

“Without it, he may not have gotten to the truth,” Iñárritu said of DiCaprio’s edible sacrifice, even though the Birdman director did have his own concerns—specifically, as Varietywrites, “could [he] get sick from eating a potentially disease-ridden organ”?

Ultimately, the actor did fall ill, but due to the hypothermia-caliber weather conditions rather than the liver. Says DiCaprio, “I got the flu quite a few times.”

Several months back, DiCaprio shared that in addition to braving the cold and the bison liver, he also slept in animal carcasses for his Oscar-worthy performance.