The Blogosphere on the Trinidad and Tobago Bombing.

Given the seriousness with which the explosion in the capital of Trinidad and Tobago was treated (nevermind the foolish Police Commissioner and Special Anti-Crime Unit Head scattering evidence), I thought that checking the blogosphere for the bombing in Trinidad might be interesting. It was.

Michelle Malkin did a smoke and mirror redirect to Brian Maloney's sensationalistic linking to Al-Quaeda. All that's lacking is... evidence. We may never actually know that there were 'terrorist links' because of the helicopter wash, but what usually happens in a terrorist attack is someone claims responsibility. To the time of this writing, nobody has done so - or if they have, the general public hasn't been informed. So while Al-Quaeda is as much of a solution for a scapegoat as a disgruntled Maraj Jeweller employee, nobody knows - and it's unlikely that the crackpipeshot police force will ever know. Further, if it was Al Quaeda- there are plenty of other targets in Trinidad and Tobago which would have been more devastating and have less security than Frederick Street.

Indira's Ghetto has a more grounded (and colloquial) perspective:

...Ok, so Im pretty sure that everyone who's reading this has heard about the bombing in "the city." I have a question....if this was a pre- 9/11 world, and this happened, would there be any speculation of terrorism? I know they said that it's not being viewed as a terrorist attack, but just by making that statement, it was obviously considered in the options. C'mon.... is Al Qaida really gonna attack Trinidad? (maybe Trinidad is rivaling Mid East oil interests because we are sooo abundant in this resource...they wanna get rid of us, so they got the oil monopoly!...and the hired Osama and his henchmen as assasins to take us out by bombing on Fredrick Street right outside Maraj Gold! Ohh my God! The humanity!) I like to run with my imagination sometimes...as you can see....

So obviously, it's a local job...cuz Bin Laden and his peeps have moved up from C4, remember, they fly planes into buildings. Yuh know, I just read the express, and well people soo dotish....read this excerpt from the front page story:
"Military explosives experts led by Major Roger Best initially took the lead in investigating the scene when the intent of the act was not yet certain. The investigation was eventually handed over to the police after it was deemed to be a criminal act. "
1. "Intent of the act".........umm, usually, when people plant a bomb, it's to inflict bodily harm. Which, as I vaguely recall, it did.
2. "The investigation was eventually handed over to the police after it was deemed to be a criminal act." - Hmm, I dont see why blowing up the busiest corner in Port of Spain ( without anyone knowing).. would be deemed a criminal act. Hell, we do it all the time!
And to think, we rely on these people for news........well yes...

I will admit, from initial reports, all i heard was Maraj got blown up....tha'd scare me cuz, well my sister works there and my dad works right across the street ( I think he still does). I called, they were ok....longest 5 minutes of my life I must say. By the way, one thing i am pretty sure you are gonna be hearing a lot of...." I was gonna go in tong you know, and then I hear that happen, I say lemme keep meh ass home..." or something of that nature....doh say I aint warn u....
...

Her take on the local media of Trinidad and Tobago is something I share, but I think the real problem was that the journalists were getting quotes from people who can't think on their feet (and consistently remain in positions where they would have to). If the reporters report the quotes in the proper context, then the problem isn't with the media. It's with the people issuing statements without engaging more than 3 cooperative brain cells. The most sensible thing that could have been said is, "We're investigating and we will share our evidence (once we find where the helicopter put it) once we have completed our investigation. This being Trinidad and Tobago, we will have it done some time before 2020!". OK, that's a bit rough but I've lived in Trinidad and Tobago for quite some time and my patience is quite thin with that sort of thing.

Caribbean Free Radio did one better than everyone else by having a podcast and even setting up a Flickr Group for pictures after the explosion.

This picture is the best of all the pictures I have seen so far of the explosion. Whoever took it should be working for the local press.

Let's not forget TinyGrasshopper - a Trini native in New York City with a weblog. What's pride backwards? oh, yeah. shame. is a good read, though I worry that it agrees with my perspective too much. :-) A nice weblog I do have to check out more often.

So - let's take stock. One blog outside the Caribbean region, 4 weblogs in the Caribbean region. We have podcasts and pictures outside of the media - and the pictures are better than the ones available through the media.

Until something more substantial comes out - actual facts - I'll let this rest.