· July, 2009

Stories about Trinidad & Tobago from July, 2009

Trinidad & Tobago: Media Meekness

  31 July 2009

B.C. Pires recalls a radio show he used to host in the context of falling journalistic standards in Trinidad and Tobago: “From that thin end of the wedge we have reached this stage, where the Prime Minister can make the most foolish statements completely unchallenged – and the Media Association...

Trinidad & Tobago, Curacao: Sweet Tooth

  31 July 2009

Lifespan of a Chennette blogs about traditional sweets from Curacao: “It was a reminder that even if names were different, and languages, the people and food of the Caribbean do share so much!”

Trinidad & Tobago: Emancipation Celebrations

  30 July 2009

“On August 1, 1985, Trinidad and Tobago became the first country in the world to declare a national holiday to commemorate the abolition of slavery”: Repeating Islands highlights Emancipation Day celebrations in the twin island republic.

Trinidad & Tobago: PM vs. the Media

  30 July 2009

As the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago declares that the media is against him, KnowProSE.com says: “My olive branch for the Prime Minister would be, ‘You fix the government, we'll fix the media.’ But the point is that he isn't fixing the government…”, while This Beach Called Life sums...

Trinidad & Tobago: Thoughts on Alleged Plot

  29 July 2009

Of the alleged plot to assassinate the Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, This Beach Called Life says: “Strangely, no one has been arrested even though the Papa claims he knows which group likes him the least.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Mother Earth

  28 July 2009

“It’s not how many tractors you have or how much oil you drill or how many smelters you build. But the humanity and the humility of what you do with your knowledge and your resources”: Trinidadian blogger Attillah Springer fears that we will pay for the “gross and sloppy mishandling...

Trinidad & Tobago: Assassination Attempt?

  28 July 2009

The Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister has revealed an alleged plot to assassinate him a few years ago, prompting diaspora blogger Jumbie's Watch to call the claim “a serious piece of dotishness.”

Trinidad & Tobago: LGBT Rights

  27 July 2009

As Emancipation Day approaches, Trinidad and Tobago blog gspottt focuses on human rights, observing that “in the Anglophone Caribbean, discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender often intersect with other socio-economic conditions.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Anti-People?

  27 July 2009

“The Prime Minister is on record for saying that despite what the people think he will proceed with the [aluminium smelter]. Despite what people think. And the environmentalists, those crazy people who want to sustain the environment longer so that we can sustain ourselves…are ‘anti-people'?” Trinidadian blogger Taran Rampersad takes...

Trinidad & Tobago: Top Sites

  23 July 2009

KnowProSE.com takes a look at Trinidad and Tobago's most viewed websites, saying: “It's really interesting to see how the Internet use has changed…and will continue to change as internet penetration continues.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Media Responsibility

  21 July 2009

Attillah Springer considers the role of the local media in light of a comment by the Prime Minister: “It’s a time-honoured tradition in Trinidad now for Prime Ministers to have suspicion and contempt for the media. Papa Patos is right this time though. The media aren’t playing their role properly....

Trinidad & Tobago: Stifling Democracy

  20 July 2009

In response to a move by the Trinidad and Tobago government to have the Director of Public Prosecutions consider laying charges against a group of citizens who protested outside the Prime Minister's residence, This Beach Called Life says: “When people say you and your Government don’t care, Mr. Prime Minister,...

Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados: Plantation Governance

  17 July 2009

“My thesis is that Caribbean governments today are run exactly like the plantations of old, the only difference being that there are fewer white people cracking whips; the overseers have taken over the Great House”: Barbados-based Trinidadian blogger B.C. Pires builds on the late Lloyd Best's Theory of Plantation Economy.

Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Crime Approach

  15 July 2009

“The idea that we are in CARICOM and a one size fits all is not possible. What is suitable for Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica might not be necessarily so for Barbados”: Barbados Underground suggests that one nation's approach to tackling crime may not be necessarily right for another.

Trinidad & Tobago: Crime Reporting

  14 July 2009

This Beach Called Life thinks that the “high murder rate has desensitized us from understanding the effects of murder and it has also made the job of a crime reporter in Trinidad and Tobago boring” – so, in an effort to “to make life easier for future crime reporters”, he...

Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados: Farce Meets Abject

  13 July 2009

“West Indies cricket is not a compass for but a barometer of the West Indian nation. The status and performance of the team does not point us in a new direction; it merely reflects where we are as a people. And we’re in a mess”: From Barbados, B.C. Pires examines...