Mahogany CoConut Blog

Knowing when to retreat Story Created: Jun 27, 2013 at 9:07 PM ECT Story Updated: Jun 27, 2013 at 10:43 PM ECT   Fights among teenage boys were probably more common a few decades ago than they are now. Then, as now, settling disputes through physical violence was seen as the “manly” thing to do. Indeed, many parents would have encouraged their sons to stand up for themselves by fighting. The crucial difference between past and present, however, was that fighting used to mean fisticuffs and, even then, the boys involved would rarely inflict serious injury on each other. Nowadays, the same attitude prevails, but young people are more likely to take up weapons in their conflicts. In the majority of these cases, the weapons, usually knives, are used only as a threat but, once displayed, it is all too easy for an argument to escalate, with fatal consequences. In similar fashion, those young people who turn to crime not only have weapons, but seem all too willi...

Ronald Jones Barbados Minister of Education Rise Up! You Mighty People – The Case of Brazil, its Implications for the Western Hemisphere and the Role of Political Minions like Ronald Jones   by Pachamama  The war which the publics of the world have declared against corrupt, neo-liberal, corporatist establishments has found its presence in all the major cities of Brazil. Brazilian non-violent warriors are employing a range of weapons of civil disobedience in their eternal search for economic justice. The clinch fists of the counterparts of a Ronald Jones(Minister of Education Barbados) are confronting them with state-sponsored violence, as is their duty – they believe. Brazil has been a leading light of a wider progressive movement in South and Central America for over a decade. Jones and his ruling global clique would desperately like to avoid the coming storms in the anti-Empire winter of rage. Some were mistaken in their assumption that that people’s movement h...

Fungee and Pepper Pot Mahogany Coconut is dedicated to highlighting aspects of our vibrant Caribbean culture. We are delighted to share the national dish of the island of Antigua and Barbuda with our many readers.                                                                                                                                                 Directions : Fungee Ingrediaents and Preparation 2 cups of corn meal 6 okras 4 cups of water 1 tsp salt Place water, okra and salt in a pan. Bring to boil until okras are cooked. Remove half the liquid. Stir with a wooden spoon. The c...

                                                                                                                         by William Skinner Lloyd  Best Sometimes in our collective wisdom, to demonstrate our intellect, we lose focus of the very same problems we are feverishly trying to solve. The failure of Caribbean thinkers to develop creative and sustainable models of development is now clear to all. The future of vibrant and prosperous Caribbean economies will not be found in copying:  Singapore, Cyprus or any such economies. The problems of our Caribbean educational system and more directly the University of the West Indies will not be solved by how universi...

Caribbean Flags TOO YOUNG TO DIE Cries of anguish: teen brothers killed for cellphone                By Gyasi Gonzales gyasi.gonzales@trinidadexpress.com Story Created: Jun 24, 2013 at 9:08 PM ECT Story Updated: Jun 24, 2013 at 11:31 PM ECT  TWO TEENAGE brothers are dead while police hunt for two other teenage suspects following the murders of the brothers over a cellphone and a tablet PC on Sunday night in Aranjuez. Dead are Jafar Kadir, 17, and his brother, Arshad, 16. The brothers lived with their mother and father at Boys Lane, D’Abadie. The last time their parents heard from them was around 9 p.m. on Sunday when they telephoned to say they would be home a bit late. According to the boys’ uncle, Hafeez Kadir, the boys had gone to their mosque known as the Nur E Islam Mosque in El Socorro earlier on Sunday. Around 7 p.m., they went over to the Aranjuez Savannah to lime with friends an...

Brian Lara —a man set apart Published:  Sunday, June 23, 2013 Nicholas Clarke Brian Lara English journalist James Fuller spent five years in T&T painstakingly researching the life and career of the country’s proudest cricketing son. The resulting work, Brian Lara: An Unauthorised Biography, charts its subject’s rise from a Cantaro native to world-conquering batsman while offering unique insights into what made the famously complex individual tick.  Fuller set out to tell Lara’s story from a Caribbean perspective, drawing on the testimonies of family members, neighbours, classmates, teachers, teammates and coaches to provide the inside scoop on the man responsible for some of international cricket’s most memorable moments of the past 25 years. A must-read for any West Indian cricket fan, the book is destined to become a fixture on bookshelves and coffee tables throughout the region.  Fuller, whose wife Farah is Trinidadian, sp...

Proud to be Caribbean American..... Camille Alleyne   Trinidadian Born, NASA Rocket Scientist – That’s Camille Alleyne!     Where are you from originally?  I am originally from Trinidad and Tobago  So you’re a NASA Scientist?! Tell us more!  I am an Aerospace Engineer by formal education and have worked in this capacity, managing space projects both at NASA and Department of Defense, for the last 16 years.  I am currently the Assistant Program Scientist for the International Space Station (ISS) and specifically responsible for developing innovative strategies for communicating the benefits and value of the ISS.  I am also responsible for integrating  all of the  ISS education projects and activities, globally.  I hold a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering, a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering and currently working on my Doctorate in Educa...

Barbados Coat of Arms As we approach the middle of 2013, it is obvious that throughout the Caribbean, the collective political managerial class has been reduced to acting like chickens without heads. We are not going to dwell on the party based political arguments, which are relentlessly fueled by two groups: those who want their party to remain in power and those who want their party to regain power. The situation in Barbados has now reached dangerously comical levels.  Both the Democratic Labour party and the Barbados Labour Party continue to appear useless when it comes to managing our island state. We however cannot be only critical of the DLP/BLP.  It is equally dismal on the private sector side, that is now complaining about everything and embarking on the most alarming and bold faced economic blackmail imaginable. The private sector is saying to the government, it will breathe new life into the economy under the condition that we can privatize everything: the h...

Sir Ronald Sanders No need for a trade war between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago T he state of the Jamaican economy and the increasing hostility to trade with Trinidad and Tobago by Jamaican manufacturers are matters that should concern all of the other 13 member countries of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom). It may be that in some form of quiet diplomacy unknown to the publics of the 15-nation Caricom, the secretary general of the Caricom Secretariat is already engaged in behind-the-scenes activity to try to end the verbal slogging that has characterised the recent relations between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. If that is so, then hopefully his efforts will result in an understanding of how the two most populous English-speaking countries in Caricom can resolve the differences that have arisen. If no such initiative has as yet been taken, then consideration might be given to doing so. The intra-Caricom trade figures reveal two important...

Barbados Flag We recently published an article concerning the murder of a teenager by one of his peers in Trinidad and Tobago. We are now saddened to report that in the past two weeks, there has been stabbings or other acts of violence in primary school students in Barbados. Throughout the region, there seems to be an unsettling development concerning our very young citizens and the use of guns, knives and other dangerous and illegal weapons in our schools. This is causing widespread panic in our schools and the time has certainly come for the authorities to embark on a program of curtailing violence  in all educational institutions. It is obvious to us and some social scientists, that enough is not being done to identify and treat psychological issues confronting our young people. Too many of them are being forced into manhood and womanhood thereby robbing them of the precious childhood that is so important to intellectual and social growth. There can be no doubt that a...

Sex Education is Vital  A recent revelation by a Barbadian reverend regarding the preference for oral sex has apparently ruffled some feathers. We believe that the days of our Caribbean region ignoring changing cultural norms are coming to an end. The truth is that the region is not going to escape how people determine to live their lives and habits when it comes to their sexual activities or preferences. According to reports, it is felt that this love for oral sex is reaching our very young citizens as early as primary school. We are not shocked. During the early seventies, there was evidence that our Caribbean children were becoming sexual active at extremely young ages. The fear of teenage pregnancies was the main focus of our family planners but alert citizens knew that becoming pregnant should have not been the main focus. In recent times, we have been aware of at least two studies which conclusively showed that the trend of early sexual activity is now a problem for ...