I am a writer and media producer based in Trinidad and Tobago. Follow me on Twitter @JanineMFranco.
Latest posts by Janine Mendes-Franco from August, 2008
Trinidad & Tobago: Flood Waters
As flooding plagues parts of Trinidad and Tobago, Jeremy Taylor says: “It’s odd that a country with a TT$45 billion budget, and a desire to become a ‘developed nation’ by 2020, can’t figure out how to fix its drains.” Jumbie's Watch posts photos.
Guyana: ‘Fineman’ Killed
The Guyanese blogosphere is rejoicing over news that security forces have killed country's most feared criminal, Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins, who was wanted for a series of massacres.
Bermuda, Trinidad & Tobago: Reviving the Federation?
Vexed Bermoothes weighs in on the call by Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister for regional territories to move towards economic and political integration: “My advice to Bermuda: stay out of it. As a community, we treasure our cultural and family links to the Caribbean. But there’s little benefit to us...
Barbados: Obama's Speech
Barbados Underground says that Barack Obama “delivered a high impact speech” at the Democratic National Convention, while Bajan Global Report refers to a story that claims Barbados’ Prime Minister “is…the only high ranking Caribbean official invited to witness the historic first embrace of an African-American as Presidential candidate for a...
Trinidad & Tobago: Battle of the Insecticides
Blogging from Trinidad and Tobago, This Beach Called Life writes a humourous post about two well-known household insecticides: “Baygon came in a green and red can and was considered the BMW of the insecticide world with its non-suicidal spray head, sophisticated scent, and high price. BOP, on the other hand,...
Jamaica, Haiti: Gustav Gets Closer
YardFlex.com reports on the damage that Hurricane Gustav has wreaked in Haiti, even as the storm heads for the North Coast of Jamaica.
Haiti: Homes Being Destroyed
“Cite Soleil, a shanty town in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is under siege by the UN occupying forces”: The Haitian Blogger publishes a statement by the Haitian Lawyers Leadership “condemning the wholesale expropriation and demotion being undertaken in Cite Soleil of 155 homes.”
Dominica: Agricultural Economy
“I strongly believe that if Dominica gets busy developing its agricultural product this could well have other spin-off positive effects”: Chris at Dominica Weekly thinks that going back to the land may well be the way out of the island's economic crisis.
Bermuda: Open Access
“Only bipartisan cooperation will make a dent in many of Bermuda’s problems”: Vexed Bermoothes supports public access to meetings of the parliamentary committee that is currently reviewing educational reform.
Barbados, Antigua: Digicel vs. Stanford
The Bajan Reporter is all over the story of telecommunications giant Digicel taking Allen Stanford to court “in order to protect its sole and exclusive rights as primary sponsor of West Indies cricket”. The West Indies Cricket Board insists “that the team that will play England on 1 November represents...
Jamaica: Athletic Subversion
“Jamaica's garrison politics found its way onto the Olympics stage in two performances – once in a scintillating display of athletic grace and vigor, and once in a celebratory performance of the “gully creepa”: Abeng News Magazine explains.
Haiti: Hurricane Gustav
“Tensions are running really high right now”: Pwoje Espwa describes the conditions as Hurricane Gustav passes over Haiti.
Cuba: Punk Rocker Arrested
As several bloggers voice their outrage at the arrest of Cuban punk rocker Gorki Aguila, Havana-based Generation Y claims: “They took him because nothing destabilizes the intransigents more than a man in his most free state.”
Barbados, Cuba: Broadcasting Meeting
Bajan Global Report reports on the Prime Minister's trip to Cuba to attend the 39th General Assembly of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, an organization which supports and promotes high quality work of regional radio and TV entities – but Barbados Free Press calls it “irony defined”: “We are disappointed that...
Trinidad & Tobago, U.S.A.: Michelle Did Well
Trinidadian blogger Afrobella is a “great admirer of Michelle Obama” and thinks she nailed her speech at the Democratic National Convention, calling it “poignant and resonant”.
Trinidad & Tobago: Leatherback Hatchlings
Now is Wow Too posts video of Leatherback turtle hatchlings in Grande Riviere, Trinidad, as they make their first trip out to sea.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Rapist at Large
The women of St. Vincent and the Grenadines are under siege by a serial rapist and Abeni is “very uneasy about the whole scenario…I have now developed an intense hatred for the rapist or rapists who have turned women into prisoners in their own homes. Is it too much to...
Jamaica: Gustav etc.
As Jamaican Annie Paul waits for Hurricane Gustav “to huff and puff and blow our house down”, she blogs about everything from Usain Bolt-inspired dance moves to Michelle Obama: “(She) was impressive, wasn't she? Neither pale, nor male–i can identify with that…”
Guyana: Reporter Fired?
Living Guyana says that a journalist has allegedly been fired for writing a less-than-glowing account of the Carifesta Opening Ceremony, which Signifyin’ Guyana agrees the reporter correctly described as “disappointing”.
Barbados: To Sign or Not To Sign
“The buzz issue in the Caribbean media in recent weeks is whether the CARIFORUM members will sign-on to the CARIFORUM/EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)”: Barbados Underground examines a few of the issues.
Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica: People Power
“The pictures of the Jamaican track teams facilities haunt me. But what they prove, perhaps is that all the high tech this, that and the other can’t take the place of the sheer power of the human spirit”: Trinidadian blogger Attillah Springer wonders “if we have what it takes to...
