Category: Caribbean

The HMS Cornwallis Mystery (Solved)

February 22, 2010 by Taran Rampersad

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with Ms. Marsha, an Attorney here in San Fernando that deals with conveyances. She's originally from Barbados; at 75 years young I imagine that she has many stories to share (we discussed that as well). Once the business aspects were completed, we spoke for a while about dates as references for numbers.

We spoke of the 1812 Overture, of 1942 (the Battle of Midway), and assorted other things. And because we were discussing World War II, which she lived through attached to her father's radio playing the BBC's London Calling, we ended up talking about the ship that was sank. The HMS Cornwallis.

She spoke of people diving for the supplies on the ship that were destined for Trinidad and Tobago - and how it's quite possible that everyone on Barbados at the time had something from the Cornwallis. An insult, she said, was to be accused of wearing 'Cornwallis shoes' or 'Cornwallis clothing'. An interesting piece of Bajan culture that would otherwise be lost in the sands of time. {Read more}

More On Carnival, CNMG, Copyright and Gayelle

February 17, 2010 by Taran Rampersad

When Edmund Gall first wrote about the de facto monopolization of Carnival broadcast rights in Trinidad and Tobago (read it!), he mentioned friend Mark Lyndersay's point that it was more about control than optimization. When I wrote about the issue last night, I took the same tack.

Is it the right tack? Some may not think so. Lets consider a parallel. Let us consider broadcast rights in sports.

In sports, media companies are granted rights to broadcast and rebroadcast a sporting event - be it the Olympics, the Super Bowl, cricket, tennis, etc. A key difference between carnival and sport is that sports broadcasts are typically of people getting paid to move a ball from one place to another. This is not to diminish their ability with balls - it is in fact because they are so good with moving balls around that they get paid. Carnival, on the other hand, has people who have paid to play mas (for foreigners, that means dancing and prancing in costumes some deem artistic).

Thus, the very basis of the parallel is skewed: Sports broadcasts are of people who are typically paid to play with balls. Carnival broadcasts are typically of people who paid to play themselves. The balls joke was too easy. {Read more}

Carnival, CNMG, Copyright and Gayelle

February 17, 2010 by Taran Rampersad

I would just like to point out that I'm supporting Gayelle here in Trinidad, that someone suing for coverage of what is labeled a cultural event is reprehensible.

I'd like to see everyone who was pictured or videoed under CNMG's copyright say that they signed a document stating that CNMG could exclusively display their images and videos for profit. Let me get this straight: people pay to play in bands, then the state owned enterprise CNMG takes the images of the people who spent money and profits from them?

Copyright. The government has taken a state owned corporation and made it in charge of commercial interests of Carnival - that's basically excising private enterprise and putting it in the hands of government. So the content that is owned by the State Owned Enterprise would belong to the government of Trinidad and Tobago which is supposed to be holding it in trust of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. What a brilliant way for the government to make money and assure more control of media in Trinidad and Tobago. A stupid tax with the capacity for censorship through a state run enterprise.

Hitler would be so proud! Not only getting the propaganda machine up but having the people subsidize it with their own spending on costumes, etc. {Read more}

Caribbean Innovators Challenge: Mobile Applications!

January 21, 2010 by Taran Rampersad

It wasn't too long ago that I was waxing poetic about innovation. Even my last post about the need for an emergency SMS system for nations is a good lead in to the Caribbean Innovators Challenge:

  {Read more}

On Earthquakes And The Caribbean

January 14, 2010 by Taran Rampersad

I didn't write anything about the Haitian earthquake. Global Voices has a great roundup of posts discussing the Haitian Earthquake (and even more here), and I have no new facts to add to the mix. It's horrendous. It's devastating. It's sad. And in its own way, it actually is helping Haitians get the much deserved attention that they have needed for some time - it's sad that so many had to die and become injured for it to happen.

When it comes to earthquakes, we all play Russian roulette with the planet we live on.

While everyone is up in arms about getting relief to Haiti - as well they should - they should be taking a few moments to look around their own country. Since the limelight is on, all the Caribbean nations should be looking into building standards and enforcement of those building standards.I can't write too much of other countries, but I can write a bit about Trinidad and Tobago's dangers.

Have you seen Point Lisas Industrial Estate? How about La Brea, where the powers that be will defy the very people that elected them to drop a smelter, complete with cyanide and fluoride pollution. Or the industrial island planned to be built off of Otaheite Bay where they will likely drop another smelter? 

Having seen all of that - nevermind the domestic building codes or lack thereof - what would happen if a serious earthquake were to hit these areas? Would, perhaps, toxins somehow be magically contained by rhetoric printed in the media? Would the Prime Minister say, "Things are OK!" and they magically would be? 

Of course not. Well, unless you're the one safely spewing rhetoric from a distance. {Read more}

Waxing Poetic About Innovation: Where De Man Wit De Hammer Gone?

December 12, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

I apologize in advance for what is a very long post, but I found it necessary in writing it and could  not find a reasonable way to break it into smaller pieces. Hopefully it isn't too burdensome to read.

When I read that Trinidad and Tobago ranked low in global innovation, I wasn't too surprised. And since, in some circles, I am considered an innovator because of one thing I was involved in some years ago... I have to write something about it. Innovation is closer to my heart than just about anything - or anyone.

When you speak of innovation (as I have been asked to here and there), it's easy to get caught up in abstract concepts framed by our own experiences. So let us start with the etymology of the word innovate - which was derived from the Latin innovatus, whose root is innovare. Literally translated,  it means 'into new'.

Renew. Change. That's what 'innovate' means. But when most people speak of innovation, they immediately start thinking of silicon-based life enhancements. That's wrong.

Innovation is greater than technology. Innovation is a mindset. Innovation is what keeps innovators up at night. It makes us disgruntled. It makes us unhappy. It can make us euphoric. It can make us extremely happy. As Nikola Tesla put it: {Read more}

Region Needs Something Worthwhile To Invest In

November 26, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

While bankers say that the [Caribbean] region needs investment, I believe it is important to point out that there should be worthwhile things to invest in. And when I write 'worthwhile', I do not mean only  to investors; thinking otherwise brings us things such as aluminium smelters. And aluminium smelters are at best a high risk to the environment - especially on an island. 

Granted, with less rigorous enforcement of safety, Trinidad and Tobago is a haven for industrial investment. My thoughts on this are not too far removed from Richard Feynman's comments regarding the Challenger space shuttle - the key being that just because something has not failed yet does not mean it will not fail in the future. NASA believed engines wouldn't fail even though they were used more. Trinidad and Tobago seems to believe that a serious industrial accident won't happen simply because one hasn't happened yet. Considering the number of earthquakes Trinidad and Tobago has been seeing, it is only a matter of time.

So yes - the region most certainly could use money. But what to invest in? More buildings? More sports complexes? Perhaps an island off of Otaheite Bay in Trinidad and Tobago? In a nation that is being pushed toward 'Vision 2020', where developed nation status is expected by 2020, we seem to ignore the fact that the smokestack is the sign of a developing nation. Things that other countries do not want in their own backyards are amongst the 'investment opportunities' that foreign investors should have taken off the table. But this hasn't happened. {Read more}

Much Ado About CHOGM

November 24, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

Yes, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) has the media abuzz. Other events migrate around it; it seems that everyone who wants to be someone has something to say about anything will be either protesting somewhere or lurking in the shadows.

To me, as well as others, it's just another pappyshow. Or, for the more American inclined, a dog-and-pony show. It will cause traffic before and after it, as well as for its duration. People who have been given microphones will say a lot of things, and those things will be reported by the media. I considered getting in to cover the whole CHOGM affair, but I really don't see the use. Karel Mc Intosh (Caribbean PR Blog) postulated the ineffectiveness of the whole thing over the phone last night as we prepared for a Trini bloggers meetup. In fact, central to the call was the need to change venue from Mangoes (Ariapita Avenue) to somewhere else because of the CHOGM affair.

So what, really, is the big deal? I mean no disrespect to those who have things to say about CHOGM, but I'd like to know what the point is. According to the CHOGM website: