Coming…or going?

A whole lotta folks are taken aback that the GRA withdrew its tax fraud cases against Sanction Man and Daadie. What the heck?? Didn’t they defraud the Government of billions and billions of dollars in taxes when they smuggled out those TWO TONNES of gold to the US through false declarations?? Didn’t they bribe the Government officials who’re supposed to ensure compliance with our laws to look the other way?? Meaning to look down as they counted the bribes passed below the table??
Well, Sanction Man’s (impartial and disinterested!!) sister thinks not!! As is the pattern with the “man of few words”, Hana came out immediately on social media to gloat – “I told you so!!” That butter wouldn’t melt in Sanction Man’s mouth, much less grease from his hands to ease official scrutiny!! She insisted that the reason for GRA dropping the case was because they had no case!! The whole process was a political ploy by the PPP/C Government to discredit the political juggernaut her brother had become!!
Meanwhile, the GRA had issued a statement which explained it had received legal advice to withdraw the case – in light of the Government’s decision to proceed with the US extradition request for Sanction Man and Daadie. “In light of this extradition request and Government of Guyana’s decision to proceed with the said extradition request, and taking into account all relevant legal principles, including international comity, appropriateness and fairness, these charges were withdrawn and discontinued,” the GRA elaborated. This clearly went over the head of the protective – if ambitious – sister, who derided Government supporters’ “comprehension level”.
Government spokesman VP Jagdeo had also explained that the Government wasn’t abandoning its efforts to recover the 171 billion owed by the smuggling miscreants – just shifting gears!! Sister Dear also didn’t listen to her brother’s lawyer – who gotta be milking this cash cow’s udders till his fingers are sore!! The fella explained, “They [the Govt] are trying to focus more on the extradition proceedings. There would be an issue when those having a pending charge; it could affect the extradition process. There is some requirement that they must not have pending criminal matters in the requested jurisdiction.”
One requirement is that extraditions have a “double jeopardy” caveat – meaning you can’t be tried in the requesting jurisdiction for a crime if you’re already convicted in your home jurisdiction!! And in any case the extradition would’ve been held up for the case to work through the judicial labyrinth up to the CCJ!! So the Government’s gonna proceed on the less strenuous route to simply show the courts – starting Nov 10 – that the evidence provided by the US makes a prima facie case!!
There’s none so blind as those who won’t see!!

…overheated planet
Clearly the developed countries and their corporations – which historically contributed most to human-caused global warming to enjoy the products of industrialisation via fossil fuel-generated energy – are suffering under a delusion!! To wit, since 1996, the various UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COPs – “Conference of the Parties” to take action – means Cop-out!! ‘Cause that’s what they’ve been doing on the commitments they made at these COPs towards providing funds to mitigate global warming – especially the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and the Paris Agreement (2015).
So here we are at COP 30 being held in Brazil – with Pressie in attendance – and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced that the world’s gonna exceed the 1.5°C (2.7°F) tipping point within the next decade!! If anyone needed a signal of what that means for us in general, they should remember that last year was the hottest ever within recorded history!!
And for us Guyanese in particular, our coastland with 90 per cent of our population is five feet BELOW the (rising) sea level!!

…war prep?
What does the US Southcom head’s visit mean for us – as the US’s largest flotilla of battleships since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis tightens their Venezuelan Caribbean cordon?
Delivering THOR Mjölnir anti-drone weapons to neutralise Mad Maduro’s threats?