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Showing posts from November, 2013

Rihanna A Caribbean World Icon

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                                                                              The Caribbean Is One Nation. Rihanna used the moment to recall her youth. "Thank you so much," she said. Turning her direction to her mother, she continued, "I'll start by saying just about 20 years ago is when I really started making your life a living hell with my 'annoying little husky man voice,' you'd call it. And I mean just disrupting the entire neighborhood. . . I annoyed every one of my neighbors." We have had reason to comment on the illustrious mega star Rihanna before and we are happy, that on this occasion, our comment is to congratulate her on receiving the American Music Awards, Icon Award. Any objective observer would agree that she deserves such an honor. We at Mahogany Coconut do not hide our ecstasy when young ,gifted Caribbean Nation citizens stamp their names on the                                                                    international

Sandals Deal In Barbados.....time will tell.

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                                                                     The Caribbean Is One Nation.                                                                      Sandals Barbados Deal...time will tell by Michael Headley As Barbados is on the verge of celebrating 47 years as an independent nation the current discussion seems to be centered around the concessions, proposed to Sandals International, listed in the interim approval letter, dated November 05, 2013.  It has created more fireworks than  Guy Fawkes had hope to explode under the British  Parliament , on a similar day, November 05, 1605.  Many people are still trying to fathom the depths of the 25-year tax holiday sweet heart deal, that also included the waiver of all import duties, taxes, and no Valued Added Tax (VAT) on purchases of local or imported goods. Also, after his acquisition of Couples Resort, Gordon "Butch" Stewart, Chairman of Sandals International,   remarked about the beauty of the property a

Violence Against Women

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                                                        The Caribbean Is One Nation.            A crime that knows no borders By Margaret Diop We observed International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women yesterday and as we mark the next accompanying 16 days of activism against gender violence, the United States of America reaffirms its commitment to preventing and responding to violence against women and girls globally.  The theme of this year’s observance is “Intimate Partner Violence.”  An estimated one in three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime, and intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence experienced by women globally. Gender-based and intimate partner violence cuts across ethnic, racial, socio-economic, and religious lines. It knows no borders. It occurs in Trinidad and Tobago just as it does in the United States and every other nation.  Intimate partner violence includes not

Looking Back : Barbados Independence Poem

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                                                                     The Caribbean Is One Nation. The Poet's Corner Looking Back Hearing de National Anthem I standing ramrod straight I am a proud bajan Some say poor great                                                                               Barbados Flag At de Garrison Savannah Back in nineteen sixty-six See de playing field In a such a muddy fix Never see so much bajans In muh entire life All o’ dem wid one purpose                                         Independence not strife There in dey numbers Not caring ‘bout de mud Packing in de Garrison As many as dey could Some walked for miles Some come by donkey cart Barbados Coat of Arms A few come by motorcar All bajans to de heart For this very night They had eagerly planned Every one of them Down to a single man Was plenty activity Then de moment come We see Errol Barrow What

POEM : Cricket Lovely Cricket

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                                                              The Caribbean Is One Nation The Poet's Corner Cricket Lovely Cricket Ah, this national game is such a funny game, Named after an insect with a peculiar name. Cricket is a past time played with ball and bat,                          Out in de hot sun each player wears a hat.                              Besides bat and ball are two bails and six sticks, Equally divided and placed at two ends of a pitch. Batsmen bat in pads and a helmet they might wear, Plus another unmentionable that constitutes their gear.                                                                                          Bowlers have to run in while batsmen get run out, Nine men on de pla ying field in positions running ‘bout. Batsmen could be bowled, caught or even stumped Players shout for LBW if de pads get thumped. Batsmen bat in pairs since one cannot bat alone, Running off together the opposit

Johnson Killed Kennedy

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The Caribbean Is One Nation. The basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” - JFK by Pachamama President Lyndon B Johnson Everybody seems to remember a gloomy day on November 22 nd 1963 when a volley of bullets rang out in Dallas killing John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK), POTUS, and injuring Texas governor Connolly. Despite 50 years of propaganda by the conspirators to cover up the murder of the most powerful man in the world, the truth has emerged. In the last 50 years 2000 books have been written about these events, dozens of movies, many more documentaries, hundreds of unofficial investigations and several official investigations. Some of these official investigations were indeed conducted or controlled by the very people who were part of the criminal conspiracy, to as they said, ‘rid the world of Communism’. As part of the basic conspiracy related persons and possib

Caribbean Cultural Armageddon Beckons

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The Caribbean Is One Nation. The Caribbean Helplessly Awaits Cultural Armageddon byPachamama Caribbean Nation Flags A few weeks ago we had reason to comment on the remarks made by Prime Minister Kenny Anthony of Saint Lucia. Remarks made while addressing a group of people in Barbados. We would have thought that these comments would have had the Caribbean in intellectual turmoil. That Caribbean peoples would have been up in arms, no pun intended. We would have estimated that the highest councils of Caribbean governance would have been meeting, in extended seasons, to first assess the validity of the comments made, identify the countries most at risk, measure the possibility for contagion and adopt measures with hard implementation dates, aimed at changing the status quo of which the goodly Prime Minister spoke. We would have thought that leadership in civil society, from cooperatives to NGO’s, from youth groups to groups for the aged, from workers unions to corporate grouping

Assualt On Jamaican Athletes

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                                                              The Caribbean Is One Nation Neita -Headley While we do not condone cheating in any form or fashion in any sport, we find it quite interesting that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)is paying a lot of attention to Jamaica and its athletes. Over the past several weeks, the Jamaican athletic community has been forced, almost to the brink of international embarrassment, because some of its athletes have tested positive for banned substances. We in the Caribbean would be disingenuous, if we did not admit that we expected this to come sooner or later. The meteoric rise of Usain Bolt has placed the entire Jamaican and Caribbean athletic community under conspiratorial scrutiny. Back in 2012   Dan Bernstein a CBS writer questioned whether natural ability or drug enhancement was responsible for Jamaica’s dominance in track and field at the international level. No doubt his myopia prevented him from comprehending how a sma

Byron Lee Gone But Not Forgotten

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                                                            The Caribbean Is One Nation From time to time MCG will highlight Caribbean cultural icons . It is our pleasure to treat our world wide readers to the late Byron Lee . The incomparable dragonaires continue to bring musical/cultural pleasure to the Caribbean and  the world. Byron Lives on and on..........enjoy by hitting the link below photos.                                                                                                                                                         Hit link to enjoy Byron Lee and the Dragonaires http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWQhCsYJ4d8

Brief Political Roundup

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The Caribbean Is One Nation.                                                                                    Trinidad and Tobago Dr. Kith Rowley is riding high with four consecutive electoral victories under his belt. He will no doubt lead the PNM into the 2015 General Election. On the other hand, the political stocks of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar have never been lower. The UNC /PP, may want to find a new leader. Jack Warner is fading and unless he gets a dose of real luck, his new party (ILP) could well be DOA. Jamaica Opposition Leader Andrew Holness has cemented his  position as leader of the JLP by withstanding a recent challenge to his leadership. Youthful and very charismatic, we hope he now moves from style to substance.           Barbados The Freundel Stuart administration is fighting off the IMF. With a slender 16-14 majority it cannot afford falter. A recent no confidence motion against finance minister was defe

Barbados Political Parties Destroying Ministry of Education

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                                                        The Caribbean Is One Nation. Barbados Minister Of Education Ronald Jones The Mahogany Coconut Group (MCG) is concerned that Barbadian school children, can go to the Ministry of Education and have a legitimate punishment enforced by their school’s principal, overturned by a civil servant! Such a travesty occurred recently, when a group of school children turned up at the Ministry of Education, and succeeded in getting a senior ministry official, to overrule the punishment imposed on them, by their principal ,for frequently being late in arriving at school. What transpired  set a very ugly and dangerous precedent that will most certainly, result in far reaching negative effects on the dispensation, of discipline in our schools. The unbelievable actions of the civil servant, dealt a very low blow, to the principal. We know for a fact that many principals are now contemplating if it is worth their while to discipline student

Barbados Is Not An Independent Country

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                                                                           The Caribbean Is One Nation.                                            Barbados is Not an Independent Country (2) Barbados National Flag Submitted by Pachamama " When will the real independent people like Wynter Crawford, a man who was way ahead of his peers, or T.T Lewis ,a White man who, for his time, was more progressive than all the Black politicians, come in from the wilderness imposed upon them." Pachamama  As we approach the season before the silly season we can expect the regular public diatribes from officialdom as they seek to immortalize a constructed past and present an unmeasured guidance for their fairy tale visions of the future. The hard truth has been, is and will be that Barbados since 1627 has never been an independent country and may, never will be. We now know that the most influential factor in Barbados’ independence was the CIA pressure on Britain to relinquish its