http://mimbari.livejournal.com/
September 24-2010:
The Advent Of The E-Book!
Recently, I responded to an article that was published in the Stabroek News Online recently. It said that President Jagdeo of Guyana wanted to spend 30 million dollars on computer purchases for families.
I suggested in my response to this intention, that it would be a very good idea too, if Primary and Secondary school's children were given First Priority. And be made to pay about fifty dollars each, to help the state defray the cost per computer too.
However, upon reflection on this issue later, I also realized that E-Books are also a good facility to help students download Educational materials prescribed by Lecturer and Teachers Online. Which will also help directly, more students get the much desired/prescribed reading materials that the Lecturer recommended them to research for Essay writing or Long Paper assignments.
Conclusion:
Whichever medium (be it computers or E-Books) that the state provides, I still feel that the E-Books are the better choice for all students in Secondary Schools, and Colleges/Universities.
Derryck.
NYC.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Pensioners Are Cast Aside!
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/opinion/letters/09/21/pensioners-are-cast-aside/
http://mimbari.livejournal.com/99633.html
September 21-20110:
TO: http://propagandapress.wordpress.com/
GUYANA:
My Response To: Pensioners Are Cast Aside!
If pensioners are not considered eligible for credit, or for getting loans from any bank. Then all Pensioners aught to rethink their position when it comes to electing their Local and National Political candidates. Because if pensioners are seen as disposable people, then Pensioners MUST use their vote at the Ballot Box, to make a statement that WE ARE JUST AS IMPORTAANT AS THE REST OF SOCIETY. Even more so!
* Do not vote for any candidate who subscribes to this stereotypical prejudice against the over sixty citizens.
* Get the assurance that your demands and concerns will be met during the campaign for political office Pensioners.
* And hold those whom you elected to account for their promises. And if they fail to deliver on those promises or considerations, then DO NOT VOTE for any of those hypocrites in any future elections.
Unless all Pensioners get Politically Active and Assertive, we will continue to be overlooked, cajoled, and fooled by these unscrupulous politicians.
Derryck.
NYC.
http://mimbari.livejournal.com/99633.html
September 21-20110:
TO: http://propagandapress.wordpress.com/
GUYANA:
My Response To: Pensioners Are Cast Aside!
If pensioners are not considered eligible for credit, or for getting loans from any bank. Then all Pensioners aught to rethink their position when it comes to electing their Local and National Political candidates. Because if pensioners are seen as disposable people, then Pensioners MUST use their vote at the Ballot Box, to make a statement that WE ARE JUST AS IMPORTAANT AS THE REST OF SOCIETY. Even more so!
* Do not vote for any candidate who subscribes to this stereotypical prejudice against the over sixty citizens.
* Get the assurance that your demands and concerns will be met during the campaign for political office Pensioners.
* And hold those whom you elected to account for their promises. And if they fail to deliver on those promises or considerations, then DO NOT VOTE for any of those hypocrites in any future elections.
Unless all Pensioners get Politically Active and Assertive, we will continue to be overlooked, cajoled, and fooled by these unscrupulous politicians.
Derryck.
NYC.
Monday, September 20, 2010
President Jagdeo-Guyana: Laptops For All Students Idea!
http://mimbari.livejournal.com/99247.html
September20-2010.
My Response TO:
President Jagdeo-Guyana: Laptops For All Students Idea!
If president Jagdeo is truly sincere in providing 30 million dollars worth of computers for Guyanese students. Then I presume that only ONE member of any family qualifies!
Personally, I feel that all Primary & Secondary level students ought to be considered TOP PRIORITY.
Now we all know how expensive computers are. So I expect that the government will enter into an agreement with Dell Computers, Toshiba, or Lenova, and negotiate an agreeable price per computer.
And see how much could be ordered at the first go.
Also students entering for the first time in Primary & Secondary Schools MUST get First Priority.
I also feel that students MUST have a stake in these expenses too. So paying a small fee per computer per person, to the amount of $50.00 is not too much to ask.
Which will assist the state with these expenses!
Derryck S. Griffith.
Guyanese-NYC.
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/features/what-the-people-say/09/20/what-the-people-say-aboutthe-president%e2%80%99s-one-laptop-per-family-plan/
September20-2010.
My Response TO:
President Jagdeo-Guyana: Laptops For All Students Idea!
If president Jagdeo is truly sincere in providing 30 million dollars worth of computers for Guyanese students. Then I presume that only ONE member of any family qualifies!
Personally, I feel that all Primary & Secondary level students ought to be considered TOP PRIORITY.
Now we all know how expensive computers are. So I expect that the government will enter into an agreement with Dell Computers, Toshiba, or Lenova, and negotiate an agreeable price per computer.
And see how much could be ordered at the first go.
Also students entering for the first time in Primary & Secondary Schools MUST get First Priority.
I also feel that students MUST have a stake in these expenses too. So paying a small fee per computer per person, to the amount of $50.00 is not too much to ask.
Which will assist the state with these expenses!
Derryck S. Griffith.
Guyanese-NYC.
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/features/what-the-people-say/09/20/what-the-people-say-aboutthe-president%e2%80%99s-one-laptop-per-family-plan/
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
My response to the Guyana-NIS Pension Qualification Regulations!
http://mimbari.livejournal.com/
September 15-2010:
My response to the Guyana-NIS Pension Qualification Regulations!
ATTENTION:
As a former employee of The Guyana National Insurance Scheme. I ensured that I contributed the prescribed amount as at September 01-1989, (750 contributions). This is the total amount that makes a contributor eligible for the NIS Pension.
I left Guyana in May-1989 to reside in the USA. I am now 60 years of age, and I get the impression that should I return to my homeland Guyana, I would not be eligible for the NIS Pension that I contributed to, and are legally eligible to receive, according to the NIS Regulations of 1969.
If this is the current reality in Guyana, then something MUST be done to ensure that it is re-instated forthwith, or have this matter addressed in A Court Of Law, within or without Guyana.
Derryck S. Griffith.
NYC.
---------------------------------------------
http://www.conversationtree.gy/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40:the-nis-and-pensioners&catid=1:blog&Itemid=3
THE NIS AND PENSIONERS
Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Monday, 29 March 2010 12:23
The National Insurance Scheme which was established by the PNC Government during its term of office was an act of foresight. It has provided a vital safety net for thousands of Guyanese faced with illness or disability arising from accidents during the course of employment. The contributions are burdensome for the lower paid and the benefits are wholly inadequate. But were it not for the NIS, nothing would have been forthcoming. It is to the credit of successive PNC and PPP/C Governments to have ensured the survival of the NIS which has the critical support of all Guyanese.
Under the National Insurance and Social Security Act, persons who are between the ages of sixteen and sixty and who are gainfully occupied in insurable employment are required to be insured and to remain so insured for life. Persons who are insured are entitled to a range of assistance including invalidity benefit, survivor’s benefit, sickness benefit, maternity benefit, funeral benefit, child care benefit and constant attendance benefit.
Upon the attainment of age 60, even though still insured according to the Act, the benefits available before retirement at the age of 60, which are set out above, are no longer available. The NIS no longer wants to hear from you. The only benefit payable is a modest and inadequate old age pension.
The retirement age in Guyana is 55. For those who have laboured in the sugar estates or the bauxite mines, their broken bodies do not allow them to work much after 55 anyway. Salaries which are payable for these and other non-professional employment are inadequate to enable such employees to buy annuities or make any savings substantial enough to significantly supplement the pension payable from the NIS.
Upon retirement therefore, at age 55 or a little older, many Guyanese face the daunting prospect of having to survive on an inadequate income even though expenses are likely to be greater.
An insured person is entitled to medical expenses if s/he gets ill. Consultation, hospitalization, surgical operations, cost of drugs are all paid for by the NIS to a doctor or a hospital of the insured’s choice. There is a recognition by the NIS in this policy that the services offered by the Georgetown Hospital, though considerably improved, might not be adequate to serve the needs of all insured persons.
As soon as an insured person attains the age of 60 these benefits cease. If consultation with a doctor, hospitalization, surgery or drugs are required, no help is forthcoming from the NIS even though this is the time when such benefits are most needed. And it is at this time that the pensioner can hardly afford it. By this time s/he is likely to have retired. As a person gets older s/he is more likely to require medical services than those who are younger.
Age brings a variety of potential illnesses and many succumb to these even if they may have made efforts to ensure that they had a healthy lifestyle. These ailments include hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease and others. These generally arise in the vicinity of 50 to 60 years and they require lifelong, expensive medication. After 60 the NIS does not want to know. It will pay no medical expenses and now it will not pay for any drugs. An insured person therefore spend his/her working life paying for insurance, hardly utilizing the benefits during his/her younger years when health is usually more robust, then when the assistance is needed after 60, it is not available.
The NIS makes a concession to pensioners by allowing them the cost of drugs. This is a major source of assistance for pensioners who can at least look forward to this modest relief. However, pensioners are at a great disadvantage. After a lifetime of support for and contribution to the NIS, they lose the benefits, particularly medical benefits, when they need it most. They issue is not whether or not they will need the assistance. As pensioners get older they develop ailments which require medical assistance. They face the prospect of having to step down from the fast and more effective services offered by private doctors and hospitals to the slower and more ponderous, though increasingly effective, attention given by the Georgetown Hospital or Regional Hospitals.
Actuarial and other studies have been done in relation to the NIS but these are not available. It is not known whether any have addressed the dire situation of pensioners. If not this is a situation then authorities need to address it with some urgency because pensioners may well be in a situation where they need the help. It is highly unfair for contributors to the NIS to be paying insurance for the whole of their working lives, hardly making use of its facilities when they are young and healthy, then when they really need assistance, it is not available. Something is wrong with such a system. Pensioners, though their situation is far better now than it ever was due to a beneficent administration, are suffering a raw deal and it should be addressed. (www.conversationtree.gy)
September 15-2010:
My response to the Guyana-NIS Pension Qualification Regulations!
ATTENTION:
As a former employee of The Guyana National Insurance Scheme. I ensured that I contributed the prescribed amount as at September 01-1989, (750 contributions). This is the total amount that makes a contributor eligible for the NIS Pension.
I left Guyana in May-1989 to reside in the USA. I am now 60 years of age, and I get the impression that should I return to my homeland Guyana, I would not be eligible for the NIS Pension that I contributed to, and are legally eligible to receive, according to the NIS Regulations of 1969.
If this is the current reality in Guyana, then something MUST be done to ensure that it is re-instated forthwith, or have this matter addressed in A Court Of Law, within or without Guyana.
Derryck S. Griffith.
NYC.
---------------------------------------------
http://www.conversationtree.gy/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40:the-nis-and-pensioners&catid=1:blog&Itemid=3
THE NIS AND PENSIONERS
Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Monday, 29 March 2010 12:23
The National Insurance Scheme which was established by the PNC Government during its term of office was an act of foresight. It has provided a vital safety net for thousands of Guyanese faced with illness or disability arising from accidents during the course of employment. The contributions are burdensome for the lower paid and the benefits are wholly inadequate. But were it not for the NIS, nothing would have been forthcoming. It is to the credit of successive PNC and PPP/C Governments to have ensured the survival of the NIS which has the critical support of all Guyanese.
Under the National Insurance and Social Security Act, persons who are between the ages of sixteen and sixty and who are gainfully occupied in insurable employment are required to be insured and to remain so insured for life. Persons who are insured are entitled to a range of assistance including invalidity benefit, survivor’s benefit, sickness benefit, maternity benefit, funeral benefit, child care benefit and constant attendance benefit.
Upon the attainment of age 60, even though still insured according to the Act, the benefits available before retirement at the age of 60, which are set out above, are no longer available. The NIS no longer wants to hear from you. The only benefit payable is a modest and inadequate old age pension.
The retirement age in Guyana is 55. For those who have laboured in the sugar estates or the bauxite mines, their broken bodies do not allow them to work much after 55 anyway. Salaries which are payable for these and other non-professional employment are inadequate to enable such employees to buy annuities or make any savings substantial enough to significantly supplement the pension payable from the NIS.
Upon retirement therefore, at age 55 or a little older, many Guyanese face the daunting prospect of having to survive on an inadequate income even though expenses are likely to be greater.
An insured person is entitled to medical expenses if s/he gets ill. Consultation, hospitalization, surgical operations, cost of drugs are all paid for by the NIS to a doctor or a hospital of the insured’s choice. There is a recognition by the NIS in this policy that the services offered by the Georgetown Hospital, though considerably improved, might not be adequate to serve the needs of all insured persons.
As soon as an insured person attains the age of 60 these benefits cease. If consultation with a doctor, hospitalization, surgery or drugs are required, no help is forthcoming from the NIS even though this is the time when such benefits are most needed. And it is at this time that the pensioner can hardly afford it. By this time s/he is likely to have retired. As a person gets older s/he is more likely to require medical services than those who are younger.
Age brings a variety of potential illnesses and many succumb to these even if they may have made efforts to ensure that they had a healthy lifestyle. These ailments include hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease and others. These generally arise in the vicinity of 50 to 60 years and they require lifelong, expensive medication. After 60 the NIS does not want to know. It will pay no medical expenses and now it will not pay for any drugs. An insured person therefore spend his/her working life paying for insurance, hardly utilizing the benefits during his/her younger years when health is usually more robust, then when the assistance is needed after 60, it is not available.
The NIS makes a concession to pensioners by allowing them the cost of drugs. This is a major source of assistance for pensioners who can at least look forward to this modest relief. However, pensioners are at a great disadvantage. After a lifetime of support for and contribution to the NIS, they lose the benefits, particularly medical benefits, when they need it most. They issue is not whether or not they will need the assistance. As pensioners get older they develop ailments which require medical assistance. They face the prospect of having to step down from the fast and more effective services offered by private doctors and hospitals to the slower and more ponderous, though increasingly effective, attention given by the Georgetown Hospital or Regional Hospitals.
Actuarial and other studies have been done in relation to the NIS but these are not available. It is not known whether any have addressed the dire situation of pensioners. If not this is a situation then authorities need to address it with some urgency because pensioners may well be in a situation where they need the help. It is highly unfair for contributors to the NIS to be paying insurance for the whole of their working lives, hardly making use of its facilities when they are young and healthy, then when they really need assistance, it is not available. Something is wrong with such a system. Pensioners, though their situation is far better now than it ever was due to a beneficent administration, are suffering a raw deal and it should be addressed. (www.conversationtree.gy)
Monday, September 6, 2010
My Response To: Ban Zaheed Emran Ally?
September 06-2010:
TO: propagandapress.wordpress.com
My Response To: Ban Zaheed Emran Ally?
I have often pondered this suspicion, after reading some of his abrasive and spurious aspersions.
But I am not inclined to categorize him as a Political Plant, nor someone who should be banned from this web forum
After all, if we believe in Free Speech on The Internet. Then to do otherwise would be hypocritical anyway.
Sometimes even the ignorant have something to say to us. Even if it is to their own ilk.
Derryck.
NYC.
TO: propagandapress.wordpress.com
My Response To: Ban Zaheed Emran Ally?
I have often pondered this suspicion, after reading some of his abrasive and spurious aspersions.
But I am not inclined to categorize him as a Political Plant, nor someone who should be banned from this web forum
After all, if we believe in Free Speech on The Internet. Then to do otherwise would be hypocritical anyway.
Sometimes even the ignorant have something to say to us. Even if it is to their own ilk.
Derryck.
NYC.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
RUM DRINKING & MORALITY:
September 02-2010:
TO: http://propagandapress.wordpress.com/
RUM DRINKING & MORALITY:
It seems to me that certain performing artistes are using the cliché of Rum consumption to promote or glorify violent behavior within the Caribbean and Guyana. This is not something new to this region.
It is quite evident within the Reggae Camp, where songs express or promote violence against Homosexuals or (Batty Boys), as is commonly used in Jamaica.
Some advocate for the enactment of legislation to punish anyone who indulges in such social defamation of character. But how could anyone prevent others from speaking FREELY their views on any common issue of concern to them.
To legislate for curtailment of Free Speech, is an infringement on our Civil Rights To Free Speech.
Therefore, finding some other solution to educate, and castigate those who would use music, or the public arena to promote filth, racial prejudice, division among people or ethnic groups, must be sought and encouraged.
Derryck.
NYC.
TO: http://propagandapress.wordpress.com/
RUM DRINKING & MORALITY:
It seems to me that certain performing artistes are using the cliché of Rum consumption to promote or glorify violent behavior within the Caribbean and Guyana. This is not something new to this region.
It is quite evident within the Reggae Camp, where songs express or promote violence against Homosexuals or (Batty Boys), as is commonly used in Jamaica.
Some advocate for the enactment of legislation to punish anyone who indulges in such social defamation of character. But how could anyone prevent others from speaking FREELY their views on any common issue of concern to them.
To legislate for curtailment of Free Speech, is an infringement on our Civil Rights To Free Speech.
Therefore, finding some other solution to educate, and castigate those who would use music, or the public arena to promote filth, racial prejudice, division among people or ethnic groups, must be sought and encouraged.
Derryck.
NYC.
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