Monthly Archives: March 2017

CBS San Francisco Bay Area

Caribbean Poet, Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott Dies At 87 CBS San Francisco Bay Area Walcott was a prolific and versatile poet whose dazzling, painterly work captured the essence of his native Caribbean and earned him a reputation as one of the greatest writers of the second half of the 20th century. Walcott was long the most prominent ... Derek Walcott, Nobel laureate whose poetry celebrated the Caribbean, dies at 87Washington Post Derek Walcott, Who Wrote Of Caribbean Beauty And Bondage, Dies At 87NPR Derek Walcott, Poet and Nobel Laureate of the Caribbean, Dies at 87New York Times Los Angeles Times -The Root all 151 news articles »

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Caribbean Poet, Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott Dies At 87 - CBS San Francisco Bay Area

Slide: 1 / of 2. Caption: Caption: Haitian students participate in an Earthquake and Tsunami Emergency drill in Cap-Haitien, on May 6, 2016. HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images

Slide: 2 / of 2. Caption: CARIBE WAVE Photo Archive/NOAA

If you happen to be sunbathing on a quiet Caribbean beach next week, dont be alarmed if a helicopter flies overhead warning everyone to evacuate to higher ground.

Its just a drill. A tsunami drill, actually, called Caribe Wave 2017, that will mobilize more than 300,000 people in 48 countries and territories in the Caribbean basin. The simulation will test the communication systems that connect those communities to the seismologists in Hawaii whose sensors and algorithms predict tsunamis. And perhaps more importantly, it will test the ability of local officials to get large numbers of people to drop what they are doing and move to safety.

Advertisements on local media make sure that teachers, bosses, and hotel waiters in each country know whats coming. Local police and volunteers put on orange safety vests and direct traffic; choppers issue loudspeaker warnings. But some things cant be replicated. Sometimes, tsunamis create weirdness along the seashore as the ocean recedes for long distances just before the waves roll up. The effect can be mesmerizingand some people are killed when they wander down to the beach to pick up shells or explore the ocean floor right before the big wave hits.

If it sounds involved, it is: UNESCO distributes a 147-page handbook to local officials that details how the whole show will go down next week. The chain of communications starts at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, which uses the US Geological Surveys thousands of seismic sensors to estimate where and when a tsunami will hit. Each countrys emergency center receives that information, including wave heights and local maps of earthquake effects, through a dedicated satellite line, fax, or e-maileven Tweets and texts.

This exercise is meant to test that chain, says Bernardo Aliaga, tsunami coordinator at UNESCOs Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in Paris. Some countries are more top down, the police will just give the order and evacuate the coastal zone. Other communities are organized through their local leaders to proceed in an orderly way through established routes.

Some placeslike the French island of Guadalupeget involved big time. There, tens of thousands of schoolchildren, hotel guests, and government workers will (calmly) run, walk, or drive to higher ground on March 21 for the evacuation drill. On islands like the Bahamas, only a few emergency officials acknowledge receipt of the tsunami center warning.

While most visitors probably dont think about the chances of a killer wave when booking a Caribbean vacation, they do happen. NOAA officials estimate tsunamis caused by earthquakes, landslides, or volcanic activity have killed 3,500 people since the mid-19th century, including a 1946 event that killed 2,000 people in the Dominican Republic and a 1918 Puerto Rico quake-spawned wave that killed 140. The Caribbeans tropical islands and coral reefs sit along the junction of several tectonic plates or above subduction zones, where two plates meet and one slides under the other, down into Earths mantle. Other islands, like Haiti, straddle strike-slip faults, where plates rub up against each other.

While the region is seismically active, what really matters is the location of the epicenter and how many people lie in a tsunamis path. Tourism fuels the Caribbean, with nearly $30 billion spent in 2015 by 29 million non-cruise ship visitors, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization. There could be 500,000 people along the beaches in any given day, says Christa von Hillebrandt-Andrade, manager of the National Weather Service Caribbean Tsunami Warning Program based in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

Von Hillebrandt-Andrade and her colleagues have been running these evacuation and emergency response drills in the Caribbean since 2011. This year, the exercise will test three scenarios simulating separate earthquakes: one off the coast of Costa Rica, another off the coast of Cuba and a third northeast of the Lesser Antilles.

On the French territories of Martinique and Guadalupe, Tuesdays tsunami drill will be followed by a two-day search-and-rescue exercise that will see 500 specialized units flying in from France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Spain, according to Patrick Tyburn, tsunami coordinator for the four French islands (Martinique, Guadalupe, St. Barts, and St. Martin) and civil defense chief for the French Lesser Antilles.

These European crews will set up at an abandoned hospital on Martinique, bringing in volunteer victims who have been injured by the incoming wave. We try to take into account tourism, Tyburn says. We used helicopters during the exercise to make alerts on the beaches, and we also started to work with the port to organize evacuation of cruise ships in case of a tsunami.

While visitors might not see tsunami evacuation route signs at every beachside bar, more and more hotels are taking the threat seriously. Staff at many hotels are now training for the rare, yet potentially catastrophic, possibility of tsunami emergencies, according to Aliaga.

They realize there is a cost to not being prepared, says Aliaga. And they are not willing to pay that cost.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is avoiding costs of their own. President Trumps proposed budget calls for eliminating 14 percent of NOAAs budgetincluding a tsunami preparedness grant program. It would help local officials buy signs and sirens, and conduct drills along parts of the US coast that are most at risk from tsunamis. The Caribbean may be prepared for a tsunami, but the Pacific Northwest may not be as lucky.

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The Caribbean Is Mobilizing 300,000 People for an Epic Tsunami ... - WIRED

Awesome! Michelle Neil is an awesome sister who is on the move. In acknowledgement of March, Womens History Month, we have decided to feature Neil. She is a successful, well-rounded individual who is making our Caribbean community very proud to call her our own. Yes, our own Michelle Neil was recently appointed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf to the State of Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. In this capacity she will work directly with the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention committee which is the planning, coordinating and policy-setting body for the commonwealth.

I feel extremely honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve on this committee, stated Neil proudly. I am looking forward to working with others who have impacted changes that will impact the juvenile population. Neil confirmed that she was recommended to Wolf by either a deputy, chief or possibly the District Attorney. They were involved in the final decision-making.

Neil has accomplished a lot in life. Since 2003, she has been the Senior Victim-Witness Advocate in the Juvenile Court Department of the Philadelphia District Attorneys Office. In this capacity she has seen both negative and positive changes occur in the juvenile system. For example, in 2016, there was a 20 percent decrease in overall juvenile arrests and 24 percent decrease in juvenile crimes in the schools. The decrease, said Neil, is as a result of diversion programs such as Youth Aid Panel (YAP) and Police Diversion programs. On the other hand, juvenile cases involving guns have increased approximately 6 percent.

Neil, who was born in Jamaica, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Temple University and a Master of Theological Studies from Palmer Theological Seminary. She is well qualified. She is also an adjunct professor of Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice at Harcum College. She is a volunteer with YAP, a volunteer with Team Jamaica Bickle and a very active member of her church. How does she do it? How does she balance it all?

Everyone needs a good support system and this lady is no different. She shared that at work, she has strong support. One of the chiefs and a former deputy are extremely helpful in pointing me in the right direction, she said. They help me to navigate the new role that I have taken on. However, my faith in God is what gives me balance. My favorite Bible verse is Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me; therefore, if God puts an opportunity in my way, then he will certainly equip me to do the job. He did that with teaching. Teaching comes naturally for me. It is a joy to be standing in front of individuals who have a desire to learn. It doesnt seem like work.

When asked how she is able to balance all of these responsibilities, Neil said that she is currently divorced with no children, so balancing is a lot easier than if she was married with children. According to Neil, time management skills are extremely important.

Her advice to young women aspiring to be great and successful in a competitive world: Females throughout the world are not being recognized for what they can contribute. They are not being paid like their male counterparts. Get your education. Apply for internships in your desired field, volunteer, speak to accomplished individuals in your desired field. Give your best in whatever you do. Learn as much as you can in all areas.

Neil said that she credits her Caribbean background for her success. It taught me all about hard work, she added. It also taught me to give my all and focus on whatever project I am working on. I approach everything that I do with a spirit of excellence. I am fully aware that this is only the beginning.

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Recognizing Caribbean community's on-the-move Michelle Neil during Women's History Month - The Philadelphia Tribune

Chinas involvement in the Caribbean has steadily increased during the last decade, evidenced by the number of public buildings and infrastructure constructed by Chinese companies.

The Jamaican Government and China are contemplating the building of a new parliament, further deepening the relationship that has grown with little study on its implications for both Jamaica and China a type of David and Goliath story, but with the main characters working together as allies rather than enemies.

Why is China engaged in a region of small developing countries of questionable strategic value? Why are Caribbean governments so receptive to the Peoples Republic of China? Why do some regional states side with Taiwan against the One China policy? Why are Caribbean exports to one of the worlds largest markets so small? What is the region doing to attract more Chinese tourists?

The answers to these and many other questions can be found in the book: Dragon in the Caribbean written by Ambassador Dr Richard L Bernal, pro-vice chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI) where the much anticipated book will be launched tomorrow at 6:00 pm at the UWIs Regional Headquarters on Mona Road.

Guest speaker will be Dr Peter Phillips, former minister of finance and former lecturer at UWI, with remarks from Sir Alister McIntyre and comments from Sir Hilary Beckles, noted historian and UWI vice-chancellor. The event will be followed by a reception courtesy of LASCO and is open to the public. The book, which is not yet in bookstores, will be on sale at the launch.

One of the principal recommendations of the book is that, given the importance of the relationship with China, the Caribbean needs to learn more about that Asian giant, its history, culture, economic prowess, and political system.

Professor Franklin Knight of Johns Hopkins University suggests that Dragon in the Caribbean adds significantly to the understanding and appreciation of the policy-making powers at play in the relationship between the Caribbean and China. He notes that the book provides an overview of Chinas changing position and rise in power in the global landscape as well as its growing economic and political presence in the Caribbean.

The nature, extent and character of this development is then examined and analysed by reviewing development assistance, trade and foreign investment in the Caribbean. Bernal, the former Jamaican ambassador to the United States, outlines some of the considerations and motivations of China and the countries of the Caribbean for deepening their relationship, and discusses the challenges and opportunities for the Caribbean that this relationship presents in the immediate future.

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Bernal unleashes 'Dragon in the Caribbean' - Jamaica Observer