I am a writer and media producer based in Trinidad and Tobago. Follow me on Twitter @JanineMFranco.
Latest posts by Janine Mendes-Franco from July, 2007
Trinidad & Toabgo: Enough Already
“I’m already tired of this election and it hasn’t even started yet,” laments The Manicou Report, as he examines the recently-formed UNC Alliance along with the rest of Trinidad and Tobago's political landscape.
Dominica: Carrying the Caribbean Way
“In rural Dominica one still can see people bearing on their heads.” Living Dominica admires this tradition.
Cuba: 26th July
“It’s official: Fidel Castro will not make an appearance at this year’s 26th July celebrations.” Child of the Revolution speculates about the content of Raul Castro's upcoming speech.
Grenada: Carbon-Free Holiday
Earth 911 reports on a Grenadian hotel's decision to go green: “It is the first resort in the world with a utility grade windmill. The resort will…be better than zero carbon, considering car, bus and truck usage and fuel operated equipment.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Caribbean Film Icons
“It took Spike Jones to push Horace Ové into second place in a new ranking of iconic Black directors.” As the Caribbean Beat Blog reviews the results of the 100 Black Screen Icons poll, it pays homage to some of the people who have contributed to Caribbean film.
Bahamas: Dreams of Independence
“Thirty-four years after Independence…our houses and our wallets and our cars are bigger, but we have grown smaller than our fathers. Where they dared to dream the impossible, we appear to be unable to dream even the attainable.” Nicolette Bethel, guest authoring at Bahama Pundit, reflects on what it means...
Trinidad & Tobago: Impressions of Chavez
“We do not –many say– yet know the REAL Hugo. But I know what his latest stance on foreign criticism is and there is nothing ambivalent about it.” Young Trinidadian Andre Bagoo shares his views on the Venezuelan leader.
Trinidad & Tobago: Where Goeth Trinidad?
“How can this happen in the richest country in the Caribbean?” An incident in the Southland causes KnowProSE.com to wonder what Trinidad has come to.
Jamaica: Prison System
“You are just a body waiting for the undertaker if you are not a good thinker.” Byron Skitta Mesquita at The Inmate Diaries shares a few lessons that the Jamaican prison system has taught him.
Jamaica: Summer Love
Summertime inspires Geoffrey Philp to write a poem…
Bahamas: Is Crime Learned or Innate?
“I'm convinced the Parliamentarians let their colleagues pass just in case they need the favour returned should they be tempted to put their hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Could that be the reason we let each other off with petty crimes as well?” Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com wonders whether...
Trinidad & Tobago: Film Reviews
Studio Film Club longs for the days “when there were film reviews in the local newspapers. Proper film reviews, written by people who knew what they were writing about” – and links to a blog that fills the void.
Trinidad & Tobago: Medical Board Regulation
“The back of the medical boys’ club must be broken as part of a wider programme of health sector reform,” writes Keith in Trinidad, as he weighs in on the proposed amendment to the Medical Board Act.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Service vs. Selfishness?
Attending her godmother's birthday celebration makes Abeni realise that the older generation lived lives of service: “Is it that their generation were imbued with a community and national spirit while we are more individualistic?”
Jamaica: Election Violence?
As Jamaica's elections draw closer, an atypical newscast gives CityGirl hope “that the supposedly uneducated are finally wising up, no longer willing to sit idly by while the politicians use them as baits…”
Cuba: Defecting at the Games
Child of the Revolution continues to follow the Pan Am Games in Brazil – this time, with a focus on a few Cuban athletes who have defected.
Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados: Harry Potter Launch
“It’s only after he puts on the pair of round fake-Italian sunglasses with the slightly reflective lenses that I realise that the figure in the purple cape I’d seen earlier lurking sheepishly near the self-help section is meant to be Harry.” Caribbean Free Radio posts an entertaining piece on the...
Jamaica: Corruption
A poem by Ricardo Paulwell at The Inmate Diaries compares corruption to “an open grave”.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Grenada: World Youth Games Medal
Abeni congratulates Grenada's Kirani James on his recent achievement of winning his country's first medal at the World Youth Games in the Czech Republic.
Jamaica: Election Non-Issues
Jamaica and the World identifies what she thinks are “4 biggest non-debates in the lead-up to the election in Jamaica”.
Haiti: Coffee Traceability
An Information Technology project will offer Haiti's coffee cooperatives more traceability and therefore greater leveraging power with their products. The Fair Tracing Project gives details.
