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LENTIL PEAS AND RICE; MACARONI PIE

COU COU; GREEN BANANA AND SALT FISH

BAKED PORK; FRIED CHICKEN

GRILLED BARRACUDA; FRIED POT FISH

LAMB STEW; FISH GRAVY

TOSSED SALAD; COLE SLAW

Written By: Maryanna Williams on Aug 17th, 2009

We dressed the Leader of the Opposition (left) and the Prime Minister in each other’s clothes. If we hadn’t told you, would you have known?

Much have I laboured these past two days in search of explanations: what is it about our political system that allows a Stephenson King to be a prime minister? My disappointment with King is unrelated to his education—or lack of. Far from it. What drives me crazy is his indecisiveness, his inability to honour his word, and his demonstrated lack of appreciation for the importance of his official position. It is now obvious why John Compton chose him to hold the fort in his absence. He trusted King to do nothing until his return. But Compton was never the same after his final visit to New York. And the rest is history.Stephenson King’s position serves to remind the electorate that every MP is a potential prime minister, therefore candidates should be chosen for office with greater care.

Too many of our election candidates are unemployable job seekers. It is for this reason I hold the strong view that those seeking to serve in government must have a track record that proves their capacity to earn a living outside of the politics. In developed countries like the United Kingdom, parliamentarians, especially those in cabinet, very often must make professional and financial sacrifices to serve as ministers. In recent times it has become clearer that in St Lucia we should be no different if we hope to raise our standard of governance. It is imperative that our politics attract the right people. This is not to say we can ever guarantee there will be no scandals and no improprieties.

There are no such guarantees in the UK or the United States. That is because human beings are not perfect. On the other hand, the last mentioned countries have put in place laws that essentially protect parliamentarians from their darker selves. You mess up, you are prosecuted, you pay the price. Parliamentarians and members of Congress are not allowed to engage in acts of impropriety with impunity. I do not accept the excuse that because we are a young democracy we have to be tolerant of mediocrity in any shape or form. The consequences of such thinking have for years plagued the poor African countries, where bad governance is the main obstacle to social and economic progress.

We must wait no longer, we must demand greater scrutiny of prospective candidates. The press must go out of its way to throw light on the next batch of wannabe MP. Many contributors to the current constitutional reform process have already been calling for a presidential style election of the prime minister.
While this may very likely avert the aberration of a King-type prime minister, there still remains the problem of the pool from which we must choose our future parliamentarians. We cannot continue voting for candidates only because they are affable, and come from a particular constituency or party. We need to subject not only the party leaders to heavy scrutiny but also the other parliamentary hopefuls. We should be especially watchful about such things as conflict of interest, private behaviour, employment record and commitment to public service. Had this type of screening been in place it may well have altered the selection process at the party level. It would also have deterred some candidates from seeking public office. Stephenson King slipped through the parliamentary door unchecked and now sits as prime minister.

In the meantime it seems to me that King must be given a way out of his misery. He must know by now that he is totally out of his depth. St Lucia cannot be allowed to hemorrhage while a hapless King pretends to know the answer to our problems. His colleagues must plan an exit strategy for him now rather than later. Any self-respecting prime minister would have resigned by now, given the number of blunders he has committed. It is no surprise to the nation that King has indicated no intention of properly dealing with the latest vexing issue: the Tuxedo Affair.

A man who for ten years was a hopeless job seeker before he magically landed the plum job of prime minister is unlikely to give it up without a fight. No amount of public shame, no number of mistakes or calls for his resignation will move him. The perks of his office are simply too addictive. If the governing members of parliament are loathe to eject him, then they too must be made to pay the price. On judgment day they should all pay: electoral defeat on a massive scale. Then again, is the present alternative any alternative at all?

We must not forget: we are where we are today because of palpable arrogance and poor judgment of Kenny Anthony who imagined his decisions beyond public criticism. Word is that he may soon find himself standing before another judge, this time because of his public statements about a foreign investor with interest
in the development of the Pointe Seraphine duty-free shopping area. Obviously, the nation remains undecided about Kenny Anthony’s return. But do we have another choice but to exchange one level of mediocrity for another? As they say, if we produced two Nobel laureates it should not be impossible to find another
son or daughter of the soil to take us out of this sorry mess we’re in. Indeed, either we discover a new leader soon—or we perish. It’s as simple as that!

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana (GINA) — The upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in November is seen as the perfect forum to bring to the attention of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs), the need to support debt-burdened member states in their bid for debt relief. Debt was highlighted as a major hindrance to middle income countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) seeking to achieve a sustainable medium-term development strategy. This fact was pointed out during the first meeting in Jamaica on August 3, of the special Prime Ministerial Task Force set up by CARICOM focusing on a response to the impact of the global economic and financial crisis on the Region. Guyana’s President and Chairman of CARICOM Bharrat Jagdeo had noted that without debt relief, “the future of these countries will be dismal.” “We will need support from leading governments at the level of the boards of the IFIs for this to become a reality,” Jagdeo said. India will be one of several developed countries represented at the upcoming Commonwealth meeting that will be sought for support in this regard, according to Jagdeo. The Head of State while speaking at the 62nd anniversary of India’s independence on August 15 used the occasion to extend an invitation to India’s Prime Minister to visit Guyana during his stay in the Region for the Commonwealth conference. At the anniversary, Jagdeo had called for greater equity in the role of the developed and the developing world to fashion a global solution to the current economic and financial crisis. He made mention of the unfortunate situation of Asia having over 40 percent of the total global economy but owning only a fraction of the shares in the international financial institution. He was pleased however, that calls have been heeded for the Group of 20 (G20) Financial Ministers’ forum to be expanded into a Heads of State forum and expressed hope that the interests of the 170 odd countries that have a mere 14 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and are not part of the meeting, are taken into account. The Task Force has agreed that a group of Heads will meet with the Heads of the multilateral financial institutions to argue the case of middle-income countries to be eligible for multilateral debt relief. The group of Heads will advocate for sufficient resources to refinance some of the debt that some member states have already contracted on commercial terms, or with high interest rates. The support of the multilateral agencies would require political input from countries that are critical in the decision-making process at the level of the boards of the institutions, including China, the United Kingston and the United States. Thousands of delegates including 53 Heads of State and Government are expected to attend the meeting which is a biennial summit meeting of the Heads of Government from all Commonwealth nations. The first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) was held in 1971 and to date there have been 20 such meetings, the most recent in Uganda in 2007. The agenda for the majority of these meetings have been on issues affecting member nations and arriving at a common policy. Members of the Commonwealth are drawn from 53 independent member states.

LENTIL PEAS AND RICE; MACARONI PIE

BAKED PORK; FRIED CHICKEN

COU COU; GREEN BANANA AND SALT FISH

GRILLED BARRACUDA; FRIED POT FISH

LAMB STEW; FISH GRAVY

TOSSED SALAD; COLE SLAW

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Hurricane Bill: Five-day forecast track. NOAA graphic By Brian K. Sullivan BOSTON, USA (Bloomberg) — Hurricane Bill strengthened in the Atlantic and may grow into a major storm as it heads for Bermuda later this week, while tropical depression Ana dissipated in the Caribbean, the National Hurricane Center said. Bill packed maximum sustained winds of about 90 miles (145 kilometers) an hour just before 5 p.m. Miami time, up from 75 mph earlier Monday, the center said on its Web site. The NHC projects that Bill’s winds will reach at least 111 mph, making it a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, by Wednesday, and that the storm will pass west of Bermuda this weekend. “If I had a trip to Bermuda right now I would strongly think about canceling,” said Dan Kottlowski, a meteorologist at AccuWeather.com in State College, Pennsylvania. “There is nothing to stand in its way from intensifying into a Category 3 or Category 4 storm at this point.” Bill was about 975 miles east of the Lesser Antilles and moving west-northwest at 16 mph. A weather pattern moving east across the US this week will probably shelter the US East Coast from the storm, said Jim Rouiller, a senior energy meteorologist at Planalytics Inc. in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Bill will probably threaten Bermuda and the Canadian maritime provinces, Rouiller said. Ana was downgraded to a low pressure trough from a tropical depression and all tropical storm watches were discontinued, according to the hurricane center. The system’s remnants are forecast to move over Hispaniola Monday night, where it may drop 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain in the mountains, according to a hurricane center bulletin. The center said its latest advisory on Ana would be its last unless the system regains strength in the Gulf of Mexico. Water temperatures in the Gulf are close to 90 degrees in some places, meaning Ana has a chance to regenerate, Rouiller said. A hurricane center projection from earlier on Monday, before the storm dissipated, showed the system heading north of Cuba and up the west coast of Florida. That’s the same region where Tropical Storm Claudette intensified at about mid-day Sunday, after forming as a tropical depression earlier in the day. “Claudette is a testament to how ripe the Gulf is” in terms of fueling storms, Rouiller said. “Any system there has to be watched closely.” The 2009 hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, got off to an active start over the weekend as the year’s first three named storms developed in 48 hours. Ana, the first, developed on Aug. 15, and Bill formed later in the day. Claudette formed Sunday and has since weakened to a tropical depression over Alabama.

The tourism sector stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars this week with the cancellation of the Carnival Freedom cruise ship due to the threat of bad weather. The vessel, which belongs to the Carnival Cruise Lines, was reportedly due to call in St. John’s tomorrow.

President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association (ABCTA) Nathan Dundas said the ship was forced to cancel its call due to a diversion it had to make to avoid the path of Tropical Storm Ana.

“The vessel had to divert to the Bahamas on Sunday putting Antigua in a very difficult position to reach after that,” Dundas said. “The cruse lines policy is safety first for its passengers and crew, so there is always these necessary actions to be taken during the hurricane season.”

The ship would have brought approximately 4,000 passengers and crewmembers to Antigua.

While speaking to the AntiguaSun Dundas said that while they regret that Antigua will miss the call of the Carnival Freedom, they fully understand the reason behind the vessel’s cancellation.

Dundas went on to say that it is tough for the cruise tourism industry because they only have seven ships calling every month at this time of the year.

“We expect that as the hurricane season heats up, there will be various diversions taking place as the ships manoeuvre and divert to put the interest of lives and safety of the ships first,” Dundas stated.

The ship’s cancellation will leave many of the cruise stakeholders including taxi drivers, vendors and store owners in Heritage Quay disappointed.

The cruise president also disclosed that the cruise line had previously announced that they would cancel the Carnival Victory that arrives in Antigua every Friday.

Due to the forecasted path of the Hurricane Bill, they have indicated that the Carnival Victory will call Antigua.

On Thursday, the country expects to have the Adventure of the Seas barring any unforeseen occurrences. Storm watches have been discontinued for countries in the Eastern Caribbean as Tropical Depression Ana moves away from this part of the region but, residents still remain on alert as Hurricane Bill quickly gains strength as it approaches.

Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer has expressed concern about the state of negotiations related to a global accord on global warming.

It’s less than 115 calendar days before the climate change conference in Copenhagen Denmak in December.

But at a recent meeting in Germany, more than 2,000 delegates from 180 countries failed to make any significant advances on one of the two draft agreements and left after five days of discussions with much work still to be done.

Prime Minister Spencer, according to a press release, said the window is closing on the opportunity to negotiate an accord before the Denmark conference.

“The calendar says 115 days until December, but with only three more negotiating sessions left – including the one in Copenhagen itself – our negotiators have given themselves very little wriggle room to complete the huge task of negotiating a sweeping accord on global warming that will put in place the necessary tools to address the adverse effects of climate change,” PM Spencer stated.

Attention is now turning to the special high level session of the UN General Assembly, to be held in September, when world leaders are expected to give their views on climate change. This will be followed by a gathering of the world’s 20 leading economies hosted by US President Barack Obama in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

UN Ambassador Dr. John W. Ashe, who chairs the second negotiating track where there was some progress agreed that time was indeed running short.

“The fear that the international community will not be able to reach a deal in Copenhagen is well placed, but given that there is so much at stake, the pressure to complete the negotiations may serve as the much needed catalyst that will force the parties to make the necessary compromises to seal the deal,” he said.

Climate scientists said carbon, mainly from fossil fuels for transportation and power, has accumulated in the atmosphere over the last 150 years to block heat from escaping, leading to a gradual warming of the air and seas.

And with the most to lose, the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries, including the small island developing states of the Caribbean and the Pacific, have joined together to ratchet up the pressure on the industrial countries by highlighting the real problems they would face from rising sea levels, the spread of deserts and the loss of water sources, declining biodiversity and the growing frequency and intensity of hurricanes, floods and drought.

Negotiators are grappling with three big interrelated questions: How much more can industrial countries cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions?

Developing countries are calling for cuts in greenhouse gases of at least 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 to avert the worst of climate change such as floods, droughts, heat-waves and rising sea levels.

How much can the large (Brazil, China and India, for example) developing countries slow the growth of their own GHG? And how much money (estimates vary between US $160 billion and US $400 billion annually) does the global community need to raise to help developing countries survive the effects of climate change? And a key point of dispute remains whether developing countries would agree to be legally bound to a Copenhagen accord.

BERLIN (AP):

Barely an hour after shattering his 100-metre world record for a First-World title, Usain Bolt was stretching and jogging at the Olympic Stadium.

After all, one year ago, he followed up such a double at Beijing Bird’s Nest stadium with two more golds and two more world records - in the 200 and sprint relays.

Few at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium will be expecting anything less.

Even though he had just turned days of hyperbole into an understatement again by slashing .11 second off his record to bring it to 9.58 on Sunday, even Bolt is among the doubters he can turn Berlin into a second Beijing.

I doubt it

“I doubt I will get a world record in the 200,” the Jamaican said.

Looking at repeats of Sunday’s legendary run in the Olympic Stadium might change his mind.

Running full-out in ideal conditions and against the toughest competition possible for the first time in his 22 years, Bolt blew away his own world record and made rival Tyson Gay seem slow despite setting a US record of 9.71 seconds, the third-fastest time in history.

It was the biggest increase in the record since electronic time was introduced in 1968. After Jim Hines ran 9.95 at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, it took 28 years to shave another .11 second, as Donovan Bailey clocked 9.84 in 1996.

Bolt did the same in 12 months.

After taking away Gay’s first title at the Worlds, he had been expecting the rivalry to get even more intense by the time of the 200 heats today.

“It is going to be even more difficult because I just took Tyson’s 100 metres champion title,” Bolt said. “He is not going to be smiling with me.”

Gay’s withdrawal

That was before Gay announced his withdrawal from the event yesterday, citing a groin injury that got worse.

Aches and problems is not Bolt’s style of running. Everything is free-moving.

When Gay kept talking to himself to instil confidence ahead of the 100m race, Bolt was shadowboxing with Asafa Powell and making sure his smile showed incessantly on the three huge stadium screens.

That will not change the coming day. He has one task ahead of him.

“It is going out there and run my heart out,” Bolt said. “It is going to be fun.”