Mahogany CoConut Blog

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs. The Capitalist Failure in Detroit and its Implications for Small Developing Countries   by Pachamama  Detroit During the middle years of the twentieth century Detroit emerged as a major success for western industrial capitalism. That success imposed American technological dominance over the world and determined the modern transport systems. There was a massive drive to transform the means of transportation from horse drawn coaches to the more ‘efficient’ internal combustion engine. Within this success developed the largest and wealthiest middle classes yet known to man, largely through the efforts of worker’s unions’ engagement in successful collective bargaining. The population swelled to 1.5 million at the height of prosperity thus fueling industrial expansion in all other industries at an exponential rate. Detroit and its motor companies was indeed the leading edge of A...

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs. Mr. Kieron Pollard We are appalled that some Barbadians are incensed that Kieron Pollard, a Trinidadian, has been selected to captain the Barbados Tridents cricket team in the Caribbean Premier League. We are even more stunned that one of the anti-Pollard voices is that of former Member of Parliament, Mr. Hamilton Lashley, whom we know to be a progressive Caribbean citizen. We hope that he withdraws his opposition as soon as possible. We take this opportunity to support, Limacol, the sponsors/owners of the tournament. Sports in the Caribbean cannot depend exclusively on the regional governments. With scarce public funds being the norm, we are convinced that the private sector should be the main engine driving the development of sports in the region. It will be a travesty if petty insular positions deter businesses from investing in the sports sector. Sports people need sponsorship from the s...

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs. Mr. Jack Warner The late President of Guyana, Mr. Forbes Burnham, once talked about the vagaries of democracy. We believe that the victory by Mr. Jack Warner is instructive of such. Democracy like the weather is unpredictable. That is why, we guess, it is said that the voice of the people, is the voice of the Lord. Once the ballot legitimizes the democracy we are expected to accept it as if it were the divine wish of a superior being. We hold no admiration for Jack Warner but his victory in the by-election of Chaguanas West, in our opinion,   clearly sends the message, that the Caribbean electorate has a tendency to place personality and likability above all other considerations, in determining the suitability for political office. We are therefore forced to admit that perhaps politics “has a morality of its own”, a position held by former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr....

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs. We are not surprised that the workers of Barbados in particular and the Caribbean in general, are being accused of being “lazy” and basically non-productive. It is not unusual for those who have built up fortunes on the backs of the workers, to unleash their venom on the same workers. It demonstrates that the employer class in the Caribbean is functioning as masters and is not interested in anything other than their bottom lines. The entire Caribbean was built on the backs of cheap labour (slavery) and those who have inherited this wealth believe it is their divine right. Unfortunately, the Black political managerial class is so spineless, that it refuses to put the historical facts of our development on the front burner of national discourse. We note progressive citizens, who entire mainstream politics, quickly distance themselves from their activist platform and become consumed by petty party ...

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs. BY SHERRYLYN A. TOPPIN | SUN, JULY 14, 2013 - 12:05 AM Tia-Adana Belle Tia-Adana Belle hurdled her way into local track and field history when she became the first Barbadian female to win a world championship medal at any level. Belle won silver in the 400-metre hurdles in a personal best 58.42 seconds yesterday at the   IAAF World Youth Championships   in Donetsk, Ukraine. World leader Helene Swanepoel of South Africa won the gold in 58.08 and Germany’s Lisa-Marie Jacoby bronze, also in a personal best 58.75. The 17-year-old Ellerton, St George resident joins Shane Brathwaite, who won gold at the 2007 edition in the octathlon in the Czech Republic and Ryan Brathwaite who took silver in the 110-metre hurdles in Morocco in 2005. It is also Barbados’ first world-class medal since Ryan Brathwaite was crowned world champion in Berlin four years ago. Belle, a former student of Ch...

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs. Flags of Caribbean Nations It is now obvious that there is a cultural hurdle to overcome if the Caribbean is to move forward. So often we have restricted our discussion of culture to the entertainment or superficial level that we fail to recognize and understand that the economy itself is cultural in nature. In other words the cultural norms of a society have a direct effect on all the factors that contribute to the economy. One of our greatest cultural problems is our approach to time. Buses run late, we get to work late and then we realise that thousands of man hours are lost because of this simple fact.  Without a proper public transport system, it is virtually impossible to improve productivity. Hence, those who live in societies where things “run” on time, immediately realise the importance of organising their business in order to catch the train or bus that they need to get to a par...

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs. National Flag Trinidad and Tobago                           Young, black and in trouble By Rolph Balgobin Story Created: Jul 22, 2013 at 8:19 PM ECT Story Updated: Jul 22, 2013 at 10:25 PM ECT  In Pretoria, perhaps the world’s most prominent leader against racism may be working out his karma, preparing to die. His greatest legacy is Nelson Mandela’s impact on the scourge of bigotry that continues to jaundice our views of each other. Not so far away, in Italy, a demonstration of racism’s durability manifests in the case of Cecile Kyenge, a Congolese doctor.  A member of the Italian cabinet, she has been publicly likened to an orangutan by Senator Roberto Calderoli. Dolores Valandro, an Italian member of the Northern League in the European Parliament, suggested Ms Kyenge be raped “so sh...

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs. Michael Hastings – Death By Remote Control?   by Pachamama  Michael Hastings ‘ ’And one morning all that was burning,  one morning the bonfires  leapt out of the earth  devouring human beings  and from then on fire,  gunpowder from then on,  and from then on blood.  Bandits with planes and Moors,  bandits with finger-rings and duchesses,  bandits with black friars spattering blessings ….’’  -        Pablo Neruda -  He was driving along a street in California when eye witnesses saw his Mercedes explode in a ball of flames. Others heard a massive explosion. This explosion threw the engine of his car sixty meters from the resting place of the rest of the vehicle. The rest of the car slammed into a tree. Hastings was left in an inferno while residents attempted to control the fire ahead of t...

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs Caribbean Heads of  Government We are not surprised that the recent CARICOM heads of government meeting in Trinidad and Tobago has come and gone with just passing notice. CARICOM seems to be the least passionate of all Caribbean political interests at this time. We are convinced that our Caribbean leaders are so hell bent on remaining in political office, that they see CARICOM as nothing more than a show window. We go “window shopping" but we are buying absolutely nothing. The historical path of Caribbean integration, stretching from the failed West Indies Federation, to CARIFTA and the present CARICOM does not need repetition here.  We are concerned about the failure or lukewarm approach, to using CARICOM, as a vehicle for transforming Caribbean economies. We see an abject lack of vision and unless we collectively pressure our governments to quicker and more decisive leadership, our ...

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs. Seaga blames failed education system for society's injustices Edward Seaga FORMER prime minister and leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Edward Seaga, says Jamaica's failed education system is to be blamed for the injustices that permeate society. Seaga made the remark during his address to guests at the JLP's inaugural Founders Day lecture held to commemorate the party's 70th anniversary last week Monday at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. According to Seaga, the number of 'uneducated' students graduating from schools each year far outweighs those who leave educated. "Every year, schools graduate twice as many students who are uneducated as those with an education. This is the wellspring of poverty, the source from which all injustice is derived, the splitting of the society into first and second-class citizens," he said. He argued that the cons...

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs. Requiem to Trayvon Martin  by Pachamama Trayvon Martin A black child walking to his father’s home in a gated community of Florida is gunned down with malice and forethought yet an all-white jury finds a murdering Hispanic-Jew not guilty by reason of self defense.  This is not the America of the Jim Crow era. It is not the America of the slavery period. It is not the American of the Reconstruction epoch. It is Barack Obama’s America of 2013.  It took a public outcry to even get the racist government of the State of Florida to even charge the assailant in the first place, in what to most observers seemed a clear cut case for the arrest and charging of Zimmerman, police and District Attorney had to be brought under heavy public pressure for charges to be lodged in the first place. Aldon Maddox, of the Trawana Brawley case in New York, correctly predicted seven months ago th...

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs.   WI players weak in mind games Editorial Trinidad Guardian Friday 12th, July 2013 West Indies team emblem On yet another occasion, the mental brittleness of West Indian cricketers, the batsmen in particular, has been demonstrated as the major weakness in the team performing consistently at a high level. After winning (even though they tried desperately to lose their first game against India) their first two games in the tri-nation series with India and Sri Lanka the West Indian batsmen simply could not apply themselves to the not-too-difficult tasks set them by the two Asian teams. All of Gayle, Samuels, Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Smith, Sammy and Ramdin consistently gave away their wickets to thoughtless and suicidal shots. In the instance of Gayle, Pollard and Samuels, one false stroke looked much like the one of the previous innings. Sammy showed that he knows of one way t...

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs. Edward Snowden – Can He Escape the All-Seeing Eye of Empire ?                                                                              by   Pachamama  Edward Snowden Edward Snowden is reportedly hours away from landing in Cuba as a first step to political asylum in a South American country, most probably the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Snowden may well qualify as the person in the history of mankind that has given more people, more places, more information about a globalized national security state which few people knew about and less were willing to consider as fact for the fear of being called ‘a conspiracy theorist’.  His immoral and illegal sequestration in Shereme...

We present and encourage progressive Caribbean views of Caribbean and world affairs. THIRTY THOUSAND failures Published:  Tuesday, July 9, 2013 David E Bratt MD             Trinidad and Tobago National Flag Secondary Entrance Assessment Examination SEA. Such a trivial, stupid exam and so much fuss about nothing. The annual SEA results have come and gone once again, like so much of the wind and gas that passes for sound an fury in T&T. This is an exam that nobody approves of. It proves nothing except that children with better memories or test-smart children, do better in a certain type of test than less technically proficient children. It makes hard-back men and women tremble in their beds at night when they think of their exam experiences or ponder the results for their child. It forces children to spend their time studying exam questions when they should be reading or playing outside before the concrete monsters the Go...