Stories about Caribbean from April, 2009
Caribbean: Funding the Fight against HIV
Both Abeng News Magazine and Repeating Islands note that “Caribbean governments have been urged to provide financial support for the Regional Coordinating Mechanism of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP).”
Caribbean: Keeping Track of Swine Flu
As concerns over the Swine Flu outbreak continue to mount, Caribbean bloggers are educating themselves, just in case...
Cayman Islands: Same Old
“This election has the potential to again be nothing more than ousting current politicians who do very little and replacing them with politicians who are entirely incapable of bringing their generalizations to life”: The Cayman Islands’ Blog Man is afraid it's politics as usual for his country's upcoming elections.
Antigua & Barbuda, U.S.A.: Kincaid Honoured
Repeating Islands learns that Antigua-born author Jamaica Kincaid “is among the 231 new members chosen to join the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.”
Jamaica: Mad Tax
Abeng News Magazine‘s Michael Spence says: “The new gas tax added in the latest Jamaican national budget is bad but when you tax reading material…this has to come from a government that has gone mad and is intent on helping the poor to get poorer.”
Jamaica: Career Crime?
“In times of economic downturn, crime pays”: Jamaica Salt is saddened that “more and more Jamaicans are taking up robbery as a professional career.”
Jamaica: Calabash Countdown
“The line-up looks yummy”: Life, Unscripted, on the Rock begins the countdown to Jamaica's Calabash Literary Festival.
Guyana: e-Waste
“The mo’ they fall, the mo’ they break, the mo’ they break, the mo’ you buy. Slick, smart cell-phone makers and sellers”: Guyana-Gyal considers where all the e-waste goes.
Caribbean: When Pigs Fly?
The idiom "when pigs fly" is not a popular one in the Caribbean these days as regional bloggers, like the rest of the world, keep a close eye on the Swine Flu threat.
Bermuda, Turks & Caicos: Better Representation
Vexed Bermoothes is disappointed in his Premier's performance at the recently concluded Fifth Summit of the Americas: “I wish he had stuck to working for Bermudians’ benefit rather than playing cheerleader for the discredited TCI administration.”
Trinidad & Tobago: What's Happening?
Trinidad diaspora blogger Jumbie's Watch is not pleased with recent developments in his home country: “Have criminals become so hardened that they wage war on children now?”
St. Lucia: The Heat is On
Repeating Islands reports that the race for the prestigious position of the Oxford Professor of Poetry has become “decidedly unpoetic”.
St. Lucia: Ideas on the Strike
As members of the civil service take strike action in St. Lucia, Sun Rain Or… says: “It would be a welcome change is if St. Lucians found the time and impetus not to go back to inaction in between this and the next crisis.”
Haiti, U.S.A.: TPS for Haitians
jmc strategies reports that ” the New York City Council adopted…a resolution urging Congress to pass legislation granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitian nationals in the United States.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Re-engineering
“In Trinidad and Tobago engineers and scientist are not encouraged to build and innovate”: This Beach Called Life explains.
Jamaica: Gas Tax
“I've come to the conclusion that there is some irrational link between the price of gas in Jamaica and public tolerance levels”: Annie Paul thinks that the imposition of the gas tax is “long overdue”.
Guyana: Taking Root
‘If you can have a tree growing in you, what kind of tree you would want?” Guyana-Gyal poses an interesting question.
Puerto Rico: Indigenous Summit
The Voice of the Taino People Online says that a delegation of Caribbean Indigenous Peoples is speaking out on climate change at the Indigenous Peoples Global Summit.
Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago: Summit Summary
GuyToons, a Guyanese cartoon blog, posts a series of funnies on the recently-concluded Summit of the Americas, while Trinbago Forever waits to see what benefits will be derived from the Summit and Mauvais Langue adds: “Instead of wasteful spending, use the money wisely and spend it to fight crime.”
Guyana: Minor Charged
Guyanese bloggers Imran Khan and Live in Guyana take notice of a case in which a minor allegedly stabbed and killed her “stepfather”.
Barbados: Waiting on the Verdict
AfriKa CRY BLOOD is very interested in the outcome of the inquest into the death of Barbadian I’Akobi Maloney – the verdict will be given today.
About our Caribbean coverage
Janine Mendes Franco is the Caribbean editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
