By Michael Benjamin A few nights ago I had a dream that was so horrible that I jerked out of my sleep in beads of perspiration. I dreamt that Guyana was in the election period and people were lined up at the polling stations patiently awaiting their turn to cast their ballots when someone uttered a racial slur and civil war broke out.I cannot remember what the person said but it was an outlandish remark that developed into taunts and subsequently a fight. It started as a fistfight and quickly developed into a gun battle. I literally felt searing lead grazing my body. Suddenly, I awoke, drenched in perspiration; my heart palpitating at a terrific speed. Slowly I realized that I had been dreaming. I breathed a sigh of relief. For approximately three minutes,NFL Jerseys China, I had experienced the results of civil conflict and believe me, I did not like what I saw.Guyana is a plural society and I have seen the six races enjoying the thrill of cohabitation while learning and appreciating the different cultural adaptations of each other. I have seen the ‘Seepersauds’ stretch out a friendly hand to the ‘Clarkes’ with no hard feelings. During my school days, Africans would poke gentle fun at their Indian friends referring to them as ‘coolie wata rice’ while Indians, in turn would rib Africans with ‘black man masala.’ These were comments spoken, and taken in jest until election time. Inexplicably, the two groups that respond affirmatively when ribbed with the above epithets are now highly offended.In order to control adverse racial rhetoric, the politicians enacted a bill against ethnic slurs. So the fond ‘coolie wata rice’ and ‘black man masala’ are now taboo and one can end up in jail if heard uttering them.Guyanese have become insensitive towards each other’s feelings and thoughts. We are so caught up in the economic mire that we have lost the deep sense of nationality and love for our fellow man. Instead of loving people and using things, we now love things and use people.All of our heroes are dead! While alive, our outstanding citizens are treated like ‘floorcloth’ and the only time you hear good words of them is when they are lying stiff and cold. That is why I plan one day to play dead just to see what funeral I am going to get! I can imagine the glowing tributes that will emanate from the lips of (oops! I almost called names.) I could also imagine the amount of crocodile tears that will flow because, “a true son of the soil has departed” and “life can never be the same without him.” I would lie unmoving and then suddenly get up, take a bow and say, “Thank you ladies and gentlemen for such kind, caring words.”We are a hypocritical nation because we fail to acknowledge the feats of our heroes in tangible ways when they are alive and are better able to appreciate the tributes, yet we raise a ballyhoo when they move on to the great beyond.I was never a good history student. As a matter of fact, I detested the subject to the core. I often wondered why it was necessary for me to be interested in the feats of Cuffy, Damon or even Burnham and Walter Rodney. Maybe, former President of Guyana, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham nailed this anomaly when a certain gentleman approached him and professed to be a dead PNC member. Burnham looked him in the eye and said, “Son,Cheap China Jerseys, you are of no use to the Party! We are more interested in stalwarts that are alive!”Notwithstanding my dread of history, I knew that I had to get a passing grade before I could have attained a degree so I battened down to the task. Mr Lloyd Kandasammy was my lecturer. He allocated 10% of the grade points to course work. For his first assignment,Cheap Jerseys, I was required to research one of our political stalwarts and write a biography on him/her. I chose Ms Janet Jagan. Before I started the research process, the only historical fact that etched my memory of Ms Jagan was the famous ‘throw it over her shoulder’ act of which everyone is familiar. My research widened my perspectives. I learnt that Ms Jagan, nee Rosenberg, was married to President Cheddi Jagan on August 5, 1943 in contravention of her family’s wishes because she believed that she had found the one she loved.My research further took me to the Red House on Main Street where I viewed a 30 minutes documentary ‘Thunder in Guyana’, which depicted the racial strife of the sixties. I read how Ms Jagan lived in Chicago where Whites were prejudicial to Blacks. I read how she defied her father’s wishes and went ahead with the marriage ceremony that united her with Cheddi Jagan. Later on Ms Jagan boarded a seaplane en route to Guyana to be with her husband.She later became embroiled in local politics much the same as the struggle that had characterized her life in Chicago. There is much more but for the sake of the

Justice Navindra Singh is expected to sum up the evidence in the trial of Orvin Roberts, who is indicted for the murder of 84-year -old drug store owner, Harold Rachpaul.Murdered: Harold RachpaulFollowing the summing up of evidence by the Judge today, the case will be handed over to the jury for deliberations.Rachpaul was found gagged, strangled and bound with an electrical cord in his apartment located behind his business, Rachpaul’s Drug Store, on Robb Street, Georgetown.The incident occurred some time between August 18 and August 19, 2011, during the course of a burglary.Roberts,NFL Jerseys Clearance, a minibus conductor, of ‘C’ Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown,Cheap NBA Jerseys Wholesale, is currently before Justice Singh and mixed jury charged with the murder.Yesterday, Police fingerprint expert,?? Assistant Superintendent of Police, Raffeik Ali, told the court that based on the analysis he conducted,Wholesale China Jerseys, the fingerprint impressions taken at the crime scene matched the prints police obtained from the accused.Ali was then questioned by Defence Counsel, Nigel Hughes. He insisted that the prints belonged to Roberts. He told the court that the prints had undergone computer analysis as well as manual examination.??? Ali explained that the computer identifies possibilities of a fingerprint match but the manual examination, can confirm it.State Prosecutor Narissa Leander subsequently closed her case.?? At this point, the accused was called upon to lead his defence. Standing in the prisoners’ dock, Roberts told the court he is innocent of the crime.He claimed that when police arrested him last February, for a crime committed in 2011, they took two sets of fingerprints from him.? The accused told the court that he worked partially in the interior and at the time of the crime, he was probably out of the jurisdiction.He recalled that his prints were taken by two different police ranks, who were acting on instructions from Detective Caesar.“I was so confused and foolish at the time, I allow them to take another set of fingerprints from me,Cheap Jerseys From China, the same day,”Roberts said that a policeman subsequently told him that his prints had matched the ones found at the crime scene at Robb Street. “I tell he that he got to be lying because I ain’t know nothing about Robb Street.”Roberts recalled that he was thereafter charged and placed before the court. Attorneys representing both the State and the Defense thereafter submitted their closing arguments.In his address, Attorney, Nigel Hughes urged the jury to consider the fact that there were no signs of forced entry to the building in which the elderly businessman was murdered.Hughes noted, too, that the only persons with access to the premises were the elderly man, his son and grandson – the latter two were never considered suspects to the crime nor were they questioned by the police regarding their whereabouts on the night of the murder.The lawyer also pointed to the likelihood that the prints from the crime scene did not match his client.??? Hughes also noted that the prints presented as evidence before the court had been considerably distorted.However, State Prosecutor Narissa Leander argued that the fingerprints found at the scene could not have belonged to any other person than the accused.?? She said that the fact that Roberts’ fingerprints,Cheap Jerseys From China, matched the ones found on the inside of a safe at the crime scene, indisputably links him to the murder. She urged the jury to use their commonsense and good judgment, when reviewing evidence of the case.At the commencement of the trial on Monday,China Jerseys Authentic, the victim’s son, Leonard Rachpaul testified.? He told the court that a Transport (Deed of Title) was among the items stolen from the Robb Street premises. He recalled that on the night of August 18, he secured his father’s Robb Street residence and business before leaving for his place of abode.Rachpaul said that his father instructed him to lock up the German Shepherd canine, “Jesse”, before leaving and he did so. He related that he locked up the dog, but left two smaller dogs in the yard.The man said that he returned to the premises around 8:00 am the following day and noticed that the German Shepherd was in her kennel.Rachpaul said that he later made the gruesome discovery of his father who was found wrapped up like a mummy with a sheet and a cord wrapped around him. The witness said though that his son was the first to enter the premises and make the discovery.Rachpaul recalled that he was closing the gate behind him when he turned around and his son (Vincent) came