Georgia Popplewell · May, 2006

Latest posts by Georgia Popplewell from May, 2006

User-built dictionary of English idioms

  31 May 2006

Jamaican Simone Champagnie links to What does That Mean, “a free, user-built dictionary of English idioms, buzzwords, and catch phrases from around the world”. The site includes entries from North America, the British Commonwealth, Italy, Japan and South Korea.

Bermuda: Parliamentary alibis

  31 May 2006

The Limey cites several examples of equivocation on the part of Bermuda's MP's over their failure to debate an important amendment to the Human Rights Act last week, and reports that a rally is being organised to protest the lack of debate among the MPs. Christian Dunleavy reproduces on his...

Caribbean: Lists

  31 May 2006

On his freshly launched blog, Jamaican novelist Marlon James weighs in on the New York Times “Top Twenty-Five American Books”. Barbadian blogger Titilayo singles out a few notables from TIME magazine's “list of “100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming our world”.

Canada: A legal on illegals

  31 May 2006

Jdid, a Barbadian immigrant living in Toronto, has very mixed feelings about the protests against the deportation of illegals which took place recently in Canada. “I feel badly for someone who built up a life here and then had it cruelly plucked from beneath them but at the same time...

Barbados: Labour party blogging

  31 May 2006

Barbados's incumbent Barbados Labour Party seems to have taken to blogging like a fish to water — at least for now. Four posts in the last four days, on topics such as why the “two major media organizations” in the UK and the USA contacted blog Barbados Free Press for...

Bahamas: Development proposal

  31 May 2006

Residents of a small community in the Bahamas vote against a proposal which would have helped “preserve the character of local communities”. Larry Smith says the proposal's “scope, bureaucratic complexity and level of detail” may be to blame, “and, of course, we should not overlook the ever-present influence of party...

Belize: Fauna photos

  29 May 2006

Mollusca‘s “Belize 2006″ photoset on Flickr includes some dramatic images of the country's fauna, including the highly venemous fer-de-lance snake, a colourful grasshopper and some tiny tree frogs.

Dominica: The Nature of tourism

  29 May 2006

Both Titlayo and Francomenz write about their recent vacations in Dominica. Titlayo posts a beautiful photo of Trafalgar Falls, noting that they are “one of Dominica's main tourist attractions, especially for cruise ship visitors, who were there in abundance the day we went.” Francomenz cautions that “Dominicans have an awesome...

Barbados: The risky business of political blogging

  29 May 2006

Barbados Free Press reviews the Barbados Labour Party's newly launched blog and outlines the risks a political party faces in undertaking such a project: “the two main risks can be shortened to this. . . 1/ Risk of Public Failure – Successful Blogging Takes New Skills & Commitment . ....

Bahamas: Ignoring the revolution

  29 May 2006

“These days, it is possible to link to other human beings anywhere in the world by using satellites, cell phones, and the internet. The world has changed, and – without realizing – we have changed with it,” marvels Nicolette Bethel, “But it appears we haven’t noticed this change. That this...

Trinidad & Tobago: More smelter woes

  29 May 2006

Attending a five-hour public consultation where Trinidad & Tobago's Environmental Management Authority tries to convince the audience that the aluminium smelter to be constructed in southern Trinidad is no threat to the environment, only serves to fuel Attillah Springer's anger and skepticism about the project: “We'd be seriously fooling ourselves...

Caribbean: WI cricket resurrection?

  25 May 2006

He's afraid of blighting them with his positive words, but Jeremy Taylor at the Caribbean Beat Blog has been more than pleased to see the West Indies cricket team show some of their old mettle in their recent encounters with India: “. . . in the last week some real...

Haiti: Personal geography

  25 May 2006

After discussing geography with some of the Haitians in his community, Troy, a US missionary working in rural Haiti, concludes — in what is certainly an over-generalization — that “in the Haitian experience, geography seems to consist of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Miami, New York, Toronto, and Boston – in...

Jamaica: Motorcycle bandits

  25 May 2006

Illegally-imported high-powered motorcycles are one of the latest additions to the arsenal of Jamaica's criminals, says Scratchie: “We tend to find ways to beat the systems here so of course importation rules are no exception. According to last night's news report the bikes are sent in barrels in pieces and...

Puerto Rico: Independence cretinism

  25 May 2006

Gil the Jenius defends his right to describe as “cretins” those who consider “El Grito de Lares”, a revolt which took place in 1868, as an important event in the Puerto Rico's movement towards independence.

Global Voices podcasting update

  25 May 2006

Over the past several months, the Global Voices team has been grappling with the idea of podcasting and how best to showcase the splendid variety of material being produced by podcasters throughout the world. After numerous stops and starts, we decided to settle, as least for the time being, on...

Trinidad & Tobago: Germany 2006's media darlings

  25 May 2006

They've appeared in Esquire magazine, several television and print ads and one of them's writing a column for the UK Guardian — the media cannot seem to get enough of the Soca Warriors, Trinidad & Tobago's football team. Stacy-Marie Ishmael at the Trinidad & Tobago World Cup Blog rounds up...

Trinidad & Tobago: Minty messages

  25 May 2006

Elspeth Duncan contemplates the charms of Trinidad and Tobago's iconic KC Dinner Mints, known for the “often grammatically challenged love messages” on their wrappers. (Among the messages Elspeth recalls seeing are “A women in love” and “True love never die”). To satisfy her curiosity about the circumstances of their composition,...

Cayman Islands: Gay cruise song

  24 May 2006

With another gay-themed cruise ship about to berth at Grand Cayman, Cayman Bobby is amused by the lyrics of a new song by local artist Barefoot Man recounting Caymanians’ attitudes to the last gay cruise to land on the island and points to some local double standards. Cayblogger disagrees, however,...

Cuba: Accomodating Cuba

  24 May 2006

What approach should nations adopt in relation to Cuba? Pondblog crafts an argument from the following ingredients: an article by the director of the Council for Hemispheric Relations (COHA), a US State Department report on state sponsors of terrorism, and a quotation from former Czech leader Vaclav Havel.