August 2011 The Newsletter and Blog for Guyanese Individuals, Associations and Groups Worldwide Blog: guyaneseonline.wordpress.com Trinidad declares a Limited State of USA to forfeit Ed Ahmed’s assets if he Emergency to control crime is convicted for mortgage fraud (Newsday) Trinidad– August 22, 2011 August 21, 2011 - KNEWS At midnight last night (August 21, 2011, TT was placed Prosecutors in the mortgage fraud case against New under a limited state of emergency to facilitate anti- York-based Guyanese businessman Edul Ahmad has crime curfews in hot spots, as announced a few hours given notice that they will seek the forfeiture of his prop- earlier by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. erties if he is convicted. Ahmad who was indicted on ten counts relating to bank fraud could also be deported The measure specifically al- at the end of his sentence if convicted, according to a lows the 5,000 Defence Force legal source. powers of search and seizure, and of arrest, so they will be A federal grand jury in Brooklyn has returned an indict- able to better supplement the ment charging Ahmad with participating in a mortgage work of the TT Police Service, fraud scheme in which he and others fraudulently ob- she explained. Details are due tained more than $50 million in loans. today of the areas in which the curfew takes effect. Ahmad‘s indictment alleges the defendant conspired to defraud financial institutions, including Bank of New At a 15 minute news briefing at York, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, N.A., Countrywide her Phillipine home at 8 pm, Financial, Flushing Savings Bank, Fremont Investment she said the documents to ef- and Loan, HSBC Bank USA, N.A., IndyMac Bank, One fect the state of emergency — a proclamation and regu- West Bank, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo & Company, lations — were already on their way to President and wholesale mortgage lenders, including New Cen- George Maxwell Richards to be signed. tury Mortgage Corporation and Ocwen Financial Corpo- ration. The measure follows two recent instances of mass kill- ings, namely four persons shot dead at Jonestown, As detailed in the indictment, from 1995 to 2009, Arima, on Thursday, a woman killed at Pt Lisas on Fri- Ahmad was a licensed real estate broker in the state of day and three killed in Laventille and another in El So- New York and also acted as a loan officer. As part of corro yesterday . the alleged scheme, he submitted false loan applica- tions and supporting documents to make borrowers of The 2011 murder rate is about 261 persons. Persad- mortgage loans appear to be more creditworthy than Bissessar said the State must respond to a very tragic they actually were. .more Also read this article: FBI spate of murders. arrests Ed Ahmed. ―We are of the view that this situation has reached pro- portions that we must respond in a most definite man- Inside this Issue ner possible.‖ Pg 01- News Pg 08- Commentary Pg 02- Editorial - Top 25 on Blog Pg 09- Guyana News The spike in murders, she said, was ironically due to Pg 03- Guyanese Online Blog Info Pg 10- Guyana News the police‘s success in seizing large drug hauls, saying Pg 04- Associations News Pg 11- Guyana News Pg 05- Associations News Pg 12- Tourism such sums won‘t disappear from the drug-trade without Pg 06- Associations News Pg 13 - Caribbean /Regional News such consequences. more Also read the Trinidad Pg 07- Associations News Pg 14 - Arts and Culture Express reports. Pg 15- Historical—Emancipation 2 EDITORIAL August 2011 The Newsletter and Blog for Guyanese Individuals, Associations and Groups Worldwide Welcome to the Guyanese Online Newsletter Please send your comments to the Blog By: Cyril Bryan. Editor and Publisher If you would like to comment on this newsletter please go to the comments for the August 2011 Newsletter on the Blog. This is the 18th edition of the Guyanese Online You do not have to use your actual name in your comments. Newsletter. We will now be publishing on the third week of every month so please send in You can also e-mail me at: [email protected] your information early. Cyril Bryan Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival TOP 25 – Most Popular entries Every year, around late July and early August, Toronto July 2011—August 20, 2011 comes alive with what was known as ―CARIBANA, a Festi- val that reflects the sounds and culture of the peoples of the Caribbean. It has now been renamed ―Scotiabank Toronto 1. Last Lap Lime 2011 - Toronto - Photo album Caribbean Carnival and the city has taken over the manage- 2. Triple Play & Fuh Fun Calderia BBQ 2011- photos ment of the Festival and major sponsorship is now provided 3. Easter Monday 2011 - 63 Beach Corentyne, Berbice by Scotiabank. Both of these bodies have stressed the impor- 4. Saints Caribjam and Victoria Pub Events - 2011 tant roles that the Band Leaders play in the production of this Photo Album Festival and in order to ensure that they are well compen- 5. GTLIME 10th Anniversary 2011 - Photo Album sated and supported, they have stepped in to secure the fu- ture viability of this event. 6. CAL Plane from NYC crashes at Guyana's airport + video and updates For almost everyone it is still CARIBANA. From the first 7. "Go Brave! - Obama" by Singing Francine CARIBANA in 1967, which I attended, to this year's Scotia- 8. Famous People of Guyanese Heritage bank Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2011, the themes have 9. Last Lap Lime 2011 - QC Alumni Toronto always been the showcasing of Caribbean culture. People 10. Last Lap Lime - Toronto - Monday August 1, 2011 LOVE IT!! From its inception, this event has always been a 11. Corentyne centenarian reaches an amazing 110 replica of Carnival in a North American setting. It basically is years a free street party, but limited income was being realized by the organizers. The bands and their costumes and all the 12. Plane Crash - Editorial infrastructure in holding this event must be paid for. The fi- 13. TAKUTU BRIDGE - Rupununi. Guyana nancial infrastructure of the past Caribana committees could 14. Guyana - Original Folk Songs not sustain such a large Festival. It required a high level of 15. "Little Richard" - the entertainer management and financial support and so the city and the 16. Tilapia production idea for Guyana - Tony Vieira sponsors stepped in to ensure it's continued success. 17. GTLIME-10th Anniversary Dinner Dance - Toronto - July 30,2011 Although there are many who may not agree with the 18. Nostalgia 561 – Saga and Romance of the ‗Sea Wall‘ changes that have taken place with respect to the Festival, 19. Places I Love - Beautiful Guyana! the importance of maintaining a Caribbean influence in To- ronto must be the priority and focus here and we should be 20. Buxton-Friendship Express Newsletter - July 2011 very proud of the financial contribution we make, as a people, 21. Port Mourant Market in Berbice - 2011 to the economy of the city during this Festival....remember, 22. REDjet expanding flights from T&T to Caribbean it's the largest annual Festival in North America and contrib- 23. St. Stanislaus - CARIBJAM - Toronto - July 29, utes a whopping $550M to the city's coffers. It has become 24. History Wm Fogarty Store, Georgetown, British too big to fail and MONEY TALKS!! Guiana 25. Pictures: Caribbean Airlines plane crash in Guyana What people find most amazing about the Toronto Carnival is its size of over a million people stretching for miles along the Lakeshore Boulevard, the multi-racial mix of the crowds, and the many languages heard being spoken by those wit- Guyanese Online nessing the event. Toronto is truly a multiracial and multilin- gual city, encompassing people from over 150 countries. a The Guyanese Online Newsletter and the Guyanese true melting pot of people who love Caribbean music, food Online Blog Website are independent publications that and the carnival atmosphere. Today, with digital phones, have been designed, edited, produced and published by cameras, and expansive social networks photos and film clips Cyril Bryan. are widely distributed. Individuals, Organizations, Associations and Guyanese Here are two video clips of the event. groups should send e-mails with their announcements, Video1– The Official Music Video for Scotiabank Toronto features, news, pictures, videos, ideas, event reports and Caribbean Festival. advertisements for publication to the editor: Video2- An earlier travel video featuring Caribana shows the large crowd of revelers and spectators. Cyril Bryan’s E-mail: [email protected] The Newsletter and Blog for Guyanese Individuals, Associations and Groups Worldwide Blog: guyaneseonline.wordpress.com 3 Guyanese Online Blog August 2011 The Newsletter and Blog for Guyanese Individuals, Associations and Groups Worldwide The Guyanese Online Blog New Blog Entries for July 2011 The Guyanese Online blog has over 600 articles and videos on various subjects. Your comments, articles and ideas are During July we published 41 new entries: welcome. Thank you for your readership and support!! Click on the title to view :- Support us by clicking the online advertising … THANKS!! New Amsterdam Association Ball – NYC – October 8, 2011 CARIBANNA SCHOLARSHIPS New Blog Entries for August 1-20, 2011 Buxton-Friendship Express Newsletter – July 2011 St. Stanislaus – CARIBJAM – Toronto – Friday July FBI indicts President Jagdeo‘s friend – Ed Ahmad 29, 2011 ―Rip Off Britain‖ – a society in shambles – letter Guyana Cultural Asso – New York – July CARIBBEAN EVENTS CALENDAR – to Decem- 2011 Newsletter ber 2011 Thomas Jefferson – a very remarkable man Keep an eye