· December, 2008

Stories about Caribbean from December, 2008

Trinidad & Tobago:

  31 December 2008

“It is an interesting note on which to end this year. Going back in order to go forward, knowing what went to know what comes next”: Trinidadian blogger Attillah Springer bids farewell to the Old Year and welcomes the new…

Bermuda, Grenada: Freedom of Information

  31 December 2008

Bermudian blogger Vexed Bermoothes reports that Grenada is in the process of introducing a Freedom of Information Act and public sector integrity legislation, with additional plans to “establish a common code of practice and ethics for media.”

Jamaica: Communing

  31 December 2008

“We won’t be condemning the Palestinians or the Israelis…we won’t be contributing to the chaos on frontlines…[we] have decided that our approach will be to help bridge communities”: Jamaica's Abeng News Magazine has a very clear goal for 2009.

Barbados: Football Match Mayhem

  30 December 2008

As four people are shot at a football match, Barbados Free Press says that this is “what happens when you combine no rule of law with no effective police force and a top-down culture of corruption in government…”

Bahamas: Students & Drugs

  29 December 2008

“In the Bahamas, the average age for male and female students who peddle and smoke weed/drugs is age 13 and 14, respectively”: Adrian Gibson at Weblog Bahamas says that “the illicit drug plague has ripped our social fabric and will unremittingly haunt the history of our island chain for many...

Haiti: Restavek

  29 December 2008

“In the truest definition of the word it means ‘one who stays with'”: Tara at The Livesay Haiti Weblog says that the Restavek system “might be one of the most frustrating ones of all for me to accept. The fact that children are used for labor and for the benefit...

Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba: City of Contradictions

  29 December 2008

Trinidadian blogger Tattoo spends Christmas in Havana and comes away with the impression that “the revolution has not achieved a new equilibrium. Instead, it has re-appropriated the inequalities inherent in any capitalist society and ensured that those in power are the haves as opposed to the have nots. And this...

Jamaica: Blogging in Times of War

  29 December 2008

The Israeli strikes on Gaza cause Jamaican Annie Paul to remember Nobel Prize-winning German author Günter Grass’ “heartfelt rumination on war and the role of writers in times of war”, saying: “While Grass did not explicitly mention bloggers (perhaps in 2006 they were not as omnipresent as they are today)...

Guyana: Best Books

  29 December 2008

Litblogger Signifyin’ Guyana lists her picks for best Caribbean books of 2008.

Global Health: 2008 Blogs In Review

  27 December 2008

Bloggers in 2008 showed all the ways in which global health is interconnected with other issues, by covering health stories that touched on everything from poverty and women's rights to the environment and economics. They shared stories such as the prohibition of cannabis in Japan, how ads for children's food...

Trinidad & Tobago, U.S.A.: Sock & Awe

  24 December 2008

Trinidadian blogger Attillah Springer is playing Sock and Awe, “the simply brilliant online game” in which more than 46 million people have pelted shoes at President Bush – but more importantly, she is “plotting ways to pelt intellectual shoes, coming up with ideas on how to bobolise those who would...

Barbados: Journalists Appear in Court

  24 December 2008

Barbados Free Press is keeping an eye on the case of the two arrested journalists, calling the open court hearing “a stunning victory by the dozens of local news media people who showed up to support”, while at the same time denouncing local mainstream media for not making an issue...

Jamaica: Bailout Plan?

  24 December 2008

“It is indeed a sorry state of affairs. Usually in times of downturn, alcohol sales increase as people look to drown their sorrows!”: As employees of a rum manufacturer are laid off, Jamaica Salt wonders whether “the government of Jamaica should be considering a bailout plan.”

Guyana: Bridge Opens

  24 December 2008

Living Guyana congratulates the government on the opening of the Berbice bridge, but reserves the right to ask a few questions.

About our Caribbean coverage

Janine Mendes-Franco
Janine Mendes Franco is the Caribbean editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.