I am a writer and media producer based in Trinidad and Tobago. Follow me on Twitter @JanineMFranco.
Latest posts by Janine Mendes-Franco from December, 2006
Guyana: Ovaltine
GuyanaGyal‘s nephew has his priorities straight.
Bermuda: Government TV
As the Bermudan government forges ahead with plans to open its own television station, A Limey in Bermuda maintains that “watching TV to find out about Government services makes about as much sense as entering the Tour de France on a unicycle.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Minshall's Vision
“T&T Carnival has become a celebrity thing and mas’, in its purest sense, is not about celebrity. In fact, it’s the antithesis of it,” writes Francomenz, as she reports on Peter Minshall's vision for the festival.
Jamaica: Remembering Neville Willoughby
Both Jamaican View and Leon Robinson remember Neville Willoughby, veteran broadcaster and radio icon, who died from injuries sustained in a recent car crash.
Bermuda: Joke about Premier turns serious
On the heels of Bermuda's Premier aiming racial slurs at former Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons in Parliament, a chef makes a joke and is subsequently fired and deported, leaving Christian Dunleavy to shake his head “at the silliness of it all”.
Barbados: Grenada's National Park to become Resort?
Gallimaufry reports on an article from Caribbean Net News about the government of Grenada's plans to sell an entire national park to make way for a resort development.
Aruba: Parlimentary Behaviour
The behaviour of parliamentarians quells any political aspirations Arubagirl may have been nurturing…
Anguilla: Convention vs. Corruption
Corruption-free Anguilla republishes an article by Indra Jeet Mistry, which calls for Caribbean governments to sign the UN Convention against Corruption – “the first legally binding, global anti-corruption agreement, marking an historic milestone in the fight against corruption. One year on…in the Caribbean, only Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and...
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Nine Mornings Festival
“The choir was far from melodious but I couldn't believe I was hearing right.” Being serenaded with Christmas carols encourages Abeni “to shake off the gloomy feeling” and be part of the Nine Mornings Festival – a unique Vincentian tradition.
Guyana: Letter to Santa
“Santa, ask not what Guyana can do for you, ask what you can do for Guyana”: GuyanaGyal writes a letter to St. Nick.
Venezuela: Preserving Indigenous Languages
As many as thirty-four indigenous languages are spoken in Venezuela and a special committee of the country's National Assembly is drafting a law designed at preserving them. The Latin Americanist also reports that there are plans to have indigenous representation on the Assembly.
Jamaica: Manley and the new global politics
The Latin America News Review posts an article by Claude Robinson about Jamaica's former Prime Minister, Michael Manley: “Professor Marable, one of America's most published and controversial academics, believes that Manley's central ideas about social justice in both the domestic and global contexts can have a new resonance in the...
Bermuda: Ritz Carlton to be approved?
A “nine-storey monstrosity, in the shape of the proposed new Ritz-Carlton hotel” may soon be erected in the City of Hamilton. A Limey in Bermuda shares his thoughts on the subject in the context of Bermuda's current planning laws.
Barbados: Greenland Dump Ill-Advised
Hans G. Machel guest authors at Barbados Free Press, criticizing the government's plans to continue to spend millions of dollars on an “ill-fated site” for mass garbage disposal.
Trinidad & Tobago: Flickr Photoset
See Trinidad & Tobago from some interesting angles in this Flickr photoset by klj_francis.
Trinidad & Tobago: World Cup Cricket Visa Requirements
“Aussie cricket fans are furious about new visa entry requirements to go to World Cup matches in Antigua, Jamaica and Barbados. It's the first time they have ever needed such visas, and they go at a whopping $128 a piece.” The Caribbean Beat blog wonders about the wisdom of the...
Barbados: Harold Hoyte Retires
“After 31 years, Harold Hoyte is retiring from The Nation News…the largest circulation newspaper in the country is still a major influence in Barbados – but it is no longer owned and controlled by Barbados citizens.” Does that matter? Barbados Free Press thinks so.
Trinidad & Tobago: Parang in Paramin
Christmas in Trinidad and Tobago is Parang season (from the Spanish Parranda, meaning “the action of merry making” or “group of serenaders”): The Trinidad and Tobago News Blog posts video and pictures from this year's Paramin Parang Festival.
Trinidad & Tobago: Retro BWIA
As Trinidad and Tobago's indigenous airline comes to the end of its life (BWIA will cease operations at the end of the year and reopen on January 1 under a new moniker, Caribbean Airlines), Thebookman refers to a BWIA ad from 1972 and says, “Perhaps in a couple of decades,...
Trinidad & Tobago: The Nutcracker
The Full Belly Project is a non-profit organization that designs and provides simple agricultural machines for people in developing countries: Taran Rampersad thinks it's “probably the best technology use” he's heard of all year.
Puerto Rico: World Cultural Diversity to be Protected
The Voice of the Taino People reports on the UN-backed international treaty to preserve global cultural diversity, which will come into effect in March 2007.
