Latest posts by Janine Mendes-Franco from June, 2011
Trinidad & Tobago: A Case for Children & Computers
Lisa Allen-Agostini is irritated by “a call for the dismantling of the Government initiative to give laptop computers to all incoming secondary school students” and explains why “our children…deserve to reap the benefits of progress.”
Cuba: Old & Black
“Being old in Cuba is a problem”: But, explains Iván García, “it becomes harder if you are black.”
Trinidad & Tobago: The CL Financial Letter
Afra Raymond posts a copy of “the CL Financial letter of 13th January 2009″, which he finally has in his possession after “three applications for this document under the Freedom of Information Act.”
Jamaica: Buju Gets 10 Years
As news spreads that reggae icon Buju Banton has been sentenced to 10 years in jail on drug charges, Jamaica Salt comments: “10 years is indeed a long time…but he’s reported to have took the news calmly and he was lucky in a way as the judge threw out an...
Haiti: The Other Side of the Martelly Story
Wadner Pierre refers to a mainstream media article about Haiti's new president, saying that the story fails to mention “the illegitimacy of the way in which he was elected, and the ongoing destruction of earthquake camps that his government is helping to facilitate.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Markets & Monasteries
From “soots” to Benedictine monasteries, Chookooloonks photoblogs about a lovely day spent during her time in Trinidad.
Jamaica: Bob's Legacy
“Three decades after his death, the revolutionary Tuff Gong Rastaman is now completely made over and repackaged as the poster boy for the Jamaican tourist industry”: But Jamaica Woman Tongue thinks that “if Marley were a youth today, he would sound a lot like Capleton, Sizzla and Anthony B.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Martelly's First Month
“He will need to learn how to build a coalitions and make compromises”: Toussaint on Haiti assesses President Michel Martelly's first month in office, noting that “there are some troubling signs.”
Bahamas: Elections, Then & Now
Blogworld hearkens back to the country's 1977 elections to make the point “that the elections coming up have every chance of being equally memorable — not necessarily in the same way — but memorable nevertheless.”
Puerto Rico: C-Sections Too Prevalent
“48% of Our births are by cesarean section, the highest rate in the world”: Gil the Jenius says that “Our future children–and their mothers–absolutely deserve that We strive for their greatest welfare, rather than settling to merely serve the system.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Warner's Resignation
Jumbie's Watch and Plain Talk share their thoughts on Jack Warner's resignation from FIFA.
Guyana, Bermuda: Food & Graffiti
Guyana-Gyal suggests a way to help control rising food prices, while a bermudian's view suggests that the best way to deal with graffiti is to “have [it] removed within 24 hours.”
Caribbean: Thanks, Dad!
Father's Day, that worldwide celebration honouring dads and their important role in the family dynamic, is marked in the Caribbean on the third Sunday of June and regional bloggers posted en masse yesterday for the occasion. From the eloquent to the irreverent, here's what they had to say…
Haiti: Preserving Architectural History
Throwing Down the Water is concerned that “the historical houses of Haiti are mostly being left to rot, to fall into disrepair or – worse – to be lived in happily and well, until some landlord comes along and decides that a cement box would look better in their place...
U.S.V.I.: The National Park on St. John
A Nation or Nobody blogs about a report on National Parks, Tourism, and Local Development, written 30 years ago, which he feels “should be required reading for every student in the US Virgin Islands…it [also] has the power to speak to a much larger audience on issues of development, government...
Trinidad & Tobago: Defending Our Dialect
“I doh know bout alyuh, but I love to talk Trinidadian Creole English all de time”: Karel Mc Intosh suggests that “an educational approach to Creole must start by raising the level of awareness of what Creole languages are, how they came into being, who speaks them and what their...
Bermuda: Responding to Corruption
“Corruption happens in every country around the world,” says Politics.bm, adding: “What shows your character and values is how you respond to it, not how you respond to those who want to root it out.”
Jamaica: Court Date Set for “Dudus”
Jamaica Salt notes that a trial date has finally been set for Christopher “Dudus” Coke, and takes a look at “how are things on the outside in Tivoli Gardens, West Kingston” since his extradition to the United States on drug and arms trafficking charges.
Guyana: Blogging Etiquette
“If somebody use work from you’ blog on their website, and make it look as if you’s writing for them, and they don’t link back you’ writing to you’ blog…you think is a form of stealing?”: Guyana-Gyal wants some link love.
U.S.V.I.: Literary Reflections
A Nation or Nobody bonds with a fellow litblogger over “how two Trinidadian writers, Naipaul and Lovelace, have interpreted the infusion of North American cultural forms into the Caribbean”, saying: “It is my opinion that Afro-Caribbean, Indo-Caribbean, and Euro-Caribbean literatures are in fact reflections of each other, not categories that...
Bahamas: On Fixing the Education System
“When a process in the market fails to provide the results people want, they scream for government intervention, yet when a government service fails, people call for more government”: Rick Lowe at Weblog Bahamas thinks that a critical part of the problem with the country's education system is “because of...
