Latest posts by Janine Mendes-Franco from August, 2009
U.S.V.I.: Alternative Energy
The U.S. Virgin Islands will soon have two alternative energy facilities which will “convert an estimated 146,000 tons per year of municipal solid waste into refuse-derived fuel.” Repeating Islands has the details.
Jamaica: Sort It Out
More confusion in Jamaican athletics – Girl With a Purpose comments: “It's a downright disgrace when as a people…we can't solve our own problems and have to depend on an international entity to knock some sense into our brains.”
Cuba: Concert for Peace?
The Cuban Institute of Music has announced that popular Colombian singer Juanes is scheduled to perform at a "concert for peace" in Havana come September 20th. Cuban bloggers are divided on whether the event is a good idea.
Cuba, U.S.A.: Prisoner in Poor Health
“Nobody, except the few of us motivated by our blood as Cubans and/or our consciences as free men and women, gives a damn”: Diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense shines a spotlight on the plight of Cuban political prisoner Ariel Sigler.
Bahamas: Young Mother Killed
As a young mother is murdered in the Bahamas, bloggers vent their outrage – Weblog Bahamas: “Stop the madness that is destroying our country”; Womanish Words: “Where is the public outcry? Where is the conscious, active women's movement in the Bahamas, and in the Caribbean for that matter?”
Trinidad & Tobago: Investigative Journalism?
Club Soda and Salt is infuriated with Trinidad and Tobago's “unquestioning media”, maintaining that instead of asking probing questions, “they are meeting with Manning to learn how to sit down and shut up.”
Bermuda: Educate, Don't Leglislate
Bermuda Jewel thinks that the proposed anti-gang legislation “is not a well thought out plan.” Instead, he believes that “education is the answer.”
Jamaica: Four Athletes Cleared
Girl With a Purpose reports that a disciplinary panel has cleared the four male Jamaican athletes of doping charges.
Barbados: Seeking Solutions
“The whole region is in turmoil and yet we expect West Indies cricket to be any better?”: Barbados Underground says that “a solution has to be found, not only for the West Indies cricket team but more importantly for the whole region.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Feeling Tight
“Tight belts. Tight thoughts. Tight minds that allow us no space to consider our humanity”: The Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister tells the public that they can loosen their belts, but Attillah Springer says that “tight or loose is the same old khaki pants.”
Suriname: Questions Seeking Answers
Artist and curator Christopher Cozier, blogging at Paramaibo SPAN, seeks to “generate a fertile exchange…towards transforming predicaments into mutually shared sovereign understandings.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Above The Law?
As a stash of drugs and ammunition is found hidden in the ceiling of a police station in Trinidad, This Beach Called Life says: “What this raid does for public confidence in the Service is to destroy confidence even further because for every police gang uncovered Mr. Public feels there...
Barbados: Respecting the Environment
Lani Edghill, guest blogging at Barbados Free Press, believes “our environment is trying to tell us something” and urges fellow Barbadians to change their consumption habits and get involved in environmental events: “We as a community have the power to change our behavior.”
Haiti, DR: Border Tension
Repeating Islands reports on growing tensions at the Haiti/Dominican Republic border, following the alleged murder of a Dominican citizen by a Haitian, who is “accused of committing the crime to steal a motorcycle.”
Bahamas: Making Marital Rape a Crime
Weblog Bahamas‘ Sidney Sweeting and Womanish Words throw their support behind a proposed amendment to the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act that would outlaw marital rape in the Bahamas.
Trinidad & Tobago: Gay Pride
As 2009 gay pride season winds down, Trinidad and Tobago's gspottt clearly reiterates its goals: “It’s an issue of openness, acceptance and equality…it’s about having the right to be…no more, no less, just human.”
Dominica, Haiti: Hurricane Preparedness
Dominica Weekly wonders if the island is prepared for the 2009 hurricane season, while Konbit Pou Ayiti fears that “Haiti is not ready for the rain.”
Antigua & Barbuda: Lessons from Working Girls
“For hundreds of years the feminist movement has been divided on the question of prostitution,” writes Antigua-based playing with ink, who thinks that “feminists…could learn a lot from sex workers who in many instances are exercising their right to self-determination, which includes deciding how they earn money given the economic...
Barbados: Call for Inquest
As the government announces that it “will be demolishing three properties at Archcot Terrace…as it moves to get the area to return to normalcy,” Barbados Free Press maintains that not enough is being done to investigate the building collapse that killed the Codrington family almost two years ago.
Bermuda: Choosing a Path
“Another day, another shooting”: 21 Square says that “some of the largest issues we face in Bermuda today are the inability for disadvantaged youth to see nor understand a path out of poverty via traditional routes.”
Trinidad & Tobago: The Cost of Propaganda
“The ultimate stakeholders, the public, must know how much it cost to make propaganda for a project which is ruinous to its health, economy and ecology”: In calling for public access to the accounts of the proposed Alutrint aluminium smelter plant, Trinidadian blogger Rhea Mungal republishes a letter advising against...
