Latest posts by Nicholas Laughlin from May, 2006
St. Lucia: privatisation of utilities
Should the St. Lucian water company be privatised? Should the mass transit system remain in private hands? Matthew Hunte weighs in. “We end up in a funny situation where (quite a few of) the same people who oppose private water are quite content to leave our transport system in the...
St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Condoms in schools?
Twenty per cent of live births in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are to teenage mothers. So why, asks Abeni, is the minister of education “vehemently opposing the idea of condoms being distributed in schools. At least it deserves some thought rather than a blanket refusal.”
Bermuda: Auditor general “under attack”?
Is Bermuda's government “engaging in a direct attack” on the independent auditor general? “Any doubts … should be put to rest,” says Christian S. Dunleavy. “This move ranks the tops in total stupidity. So high in fact that it wreaks of scandal,” says IMHO.bm.
Barbados: Senegalese “death boat”
“What circumstances did these men come from that drove them to make a desperate trip to a strange new land in search of a better life? How must the people who loved them be suffering now, in the agony of loss and not knowing?” Titilayo muses on the fate of...
Caribbean: What blogging is for
“Blogging … challenges the elitism that pervades the Caribbean and is a great experiment in the democratization of data,” says Geoffrey Philp in a thoughtful essay on the potential role of blogging in the region. “Blogging provides the kind of freedom that is anathema to many gatekeepers who want to...
West Indies: Cricket victory over India
Today Trinidad and Tobago hosted the fourth match in the current West Indies vs India One Day International cricket series. Francomenz didn't make it to the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain to watch the match, but she followed it on the radio. “Too exciting!!!” she wrote when West...
Bermuda: Breaking news: gay rights amendment defeated
Bermudan MP Renee Webb's private member's bill proposing the amendment of the Human Rights Code to include sexual orientation has just been defeated in the House of Assembly, reports Christian S. Dunleavy. “The Bill was defeated in committee, therefore there was no formal vote in the House and therefore —...
Trinidad and Tobago: Government not promoting local technology
“The one thing that is being wasted in this country more than money is the minds of our young people,” argues aka_lol of Trinidad and Tobago's Initiative Against Crime. “There has never been a government in our history who promoted local technology beyond their lips…. This country will continue to...
Jamaica: Family history and chicken soup
Geoffrey Philp reminisces about Struie, the small village in Westmoreland, Jamaica, where his mother grew up, and provides a “Jamaican-Miami” version of a traditional family recipe for cold-curing chicken soup.
Aruba: This week in politics
Aruba Girl summarises a busy week in Aruban politics: a member of parliament from the opposition AVP resigned, the justice minister said he would resign next year, and then the government announced that import duties on many goods would be doubled or tripled. “Now that … our national debt is...
Barbados: Barbados Labour Party starts blog
The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has started a blog, notes Titilayo; she wonders “how much of the impetus … came from the establishment and growing popularity of Barbados Free Press”. Meanwhile, Barbados Free Press itself compares the web presences of the country's three main political parties, and asks why the...
Bermuda: Drag queen defies parade ban
“Local drag artist Mark Anderson joined Bermuda's Heritage Day parade [on Wednesday 24 May] despite a Government prohibition,” reports A Limey in Bermuda. “Good for him…. Mr. Anderson is a gay Bermudian and homosexuals are as much a part of Bermudian society as majorettes and the Bermuda Regiment.” Christian S....
Jamaica: Ghetto tourism?
Francis Wade remembers taking tours of “slum” areas in South Africa and Brazil, and the lessons he learned from these experiences. “It would be powerful if we in Jamaica could get over our embarrassment long enough to realize that we are the ones in the way of giving structured tours...
Bahamas: Diplomatic ties with Cuba
It is “irresponsible politics” for Bahamas opposition leader Hubert Ingraham to say that if his party came to power he would downgrade the Bahamian embassy in Havana to a consular office, says Andrew Allen at Bahama Pundit. “Myriad Bahamian interests deserve representation above the consular level.”
Guyana: Report on International Day Against Homophobia
Wednesday 17 May was International Day Against Homophobia. Guyana's Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) reports on its programme of commemorative activities: a film screening, a radio discussion, and an interactive forum at the National Library.
Barbados: Internet penetration
Barbados has the highest Internet penetration rate in the Caribbean? Titilayo is surprised.
West Indies: Cricketer Ramnaresh Sarwan comes of age
Today the West Indies cricket team won its third One Day International match in the current series against India, in which Guyanese batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan scored 115 runs not out. “He’s coming of age before our eyes,” says the West Indies Cricket Blog. Ri at Revolution Island reminds us that...
Jamaica: Mango season
It's mango season in Jamaica (and the rest of the Caribbean), and Geoffrey Philp rhapsodises his four favourite mango varieties: Bombay, Number 11, East Indian, and Julie. He even writes a mango poem.
Montserrat volcano watch and West Indies cricket
A woman looks at the rear window of her car, broken by a flying rock from the nearby Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, on Saturday. Photo from the Trinidad Express website Nearly eleven years ago, Montserrat’s long-dormant Soufriere Hills Volcano began erupting for the first time in the island's recorded history....
Caribbean: A West Indian anthem?
Kyk-Over-Al links to a column in Guyana's Stabroek News criticising the new West Indian anthem adopted recently by CARICOM (the Caribbean Community), and the Caribbean Beat blog asks its readers how Caribbean leaders should have gone about choosing an anthem. “Via a competition, soliciting entries from the region's best composers...
Trinidad and Tobago: HIV/AIDS memorial service
Elspeth at Now Is Wow describes an HIV/AIDS candlelight memorial service held in Arima in east Trinidad, and explains why unexpected strong winds may have put out the lights but didn't dim the message. “The thing is to not give up.”
