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​https://www.recipetineats.com/chinese-barbecue-pork-char-siu/

Mareena Robinson Snowden, is the first Black woman to graduate from MIT with a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering
Black girl magic was in full effect earlier this month when Mareena Robinson Snowden, became the first black woman to earn a Ph.D. from MIT in Nuclear Engineering. Snowden’s dissertation focused on the development of radiation detectors for future nuclear arms control treaties. According to her personal website, she is a native of Miami and earned a B.S. in Physics from the illustrious Florida A&M University. Snowden took to her Instagram to share some of her thoughts on her achievement:“No one can tell me God isn’t. Grateful is the best word I have to describe how I feel. Grateful for every part of this experience – highs and lows. Every person who supported me and those who didn’t. Grateful for a praying family, a husband who took on this challenge as his own, sisters who reminded me at every stage how powerful I am, friends who inspired me to fight harder. Grateful for the professors who fought for and against me. Every experience on this journey was necessary, and I’m better for it.”
She went on to shout-out a few Black women who’re also displaying Black girl magic. 
“When they ask where the skilled black female technical minds are, know there are many – @joymariejohnson, @_sai_89, @rhondalenai, @being_niaja, @jtiaphd, @siangoan, April Gillens, @beyoncizzle, Tiera Fletcher, Ciara Sivels, Grey Batie, @tashaleeb, @special_kay868, Staci Brown, Njema Fraizer, @jedidahislerphd, Delonia Wiggins, Jami Valentine Miller and many more – who show up proudly in the fullness of their black womanhood and fight each day for our place in these fields.”
Thank you Mareena Robinson Snowden, Ph.D. for all your hard work and dedication we look forward to seeing all the amazing things you will accomplish next!
Source:  The Black Detour2018

​When next you watch a flat screen TV or the slim screen on your laptop, thank Trinidadian research engineer Dr. Andre Dominic Cropper.
He is the mastermind behind the Flat Panel Display Touch Screen made from thin layers of laboratory produced diamond called Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED).
Cropper’s US patent for a new Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) facilitated the development of flat panel displays, which are today used in most electronic devices from ATM machines and flat-screen TVs to laptop computers.
He holds two patents for the inexpensive manufacture of OLEDs for use in TV displays.
Born on August 4th 1961, Cropper grew up in St. James and attended Newtown Boys’ RC School as well as Fatima College.
He had a keen interest in electronics from an early age, and his schoolboy hobby was dismantling and reassembling electronic devices.
He was also a keen swimmer at Flying Fish Swimming Pool, and went on to represent Trinidad and Tobago on swimming teams in regional and international games during the 1970s.
He, however, declined joining the T&T swim team to the 1984 Olympics in order to complete his university education.
He had already gone to the United States in 1978 and, at the time, had just graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Howard University in Washington D.C., but immediately started his Master’s degree. He graduated with honours in 1987.
Upon graduation, Cropper began teaching at Norfolk State University in Virginia. In his spare time, he began research on diamond technologies, and the use of thin layers of laboratory-developed diamonds as a semiconductor for new technological applications.
Cropper sent a proposal of this work to NASA, which was impressed by the idea. But, since he did not have his Ph.D., NASA stipulated that he would have to hand over his research to “a qualified researcher” and work under that person. 
Cropper refused the offer and decided to pursue a doctoral degree and develop his idea.
In 1995 he obtained his Ph.D. in Electrical/Materials Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia.
On completion of this doctorate, he returned to Trinidas where he began teaching at the University of the West Indies in the Department of Electrical Engineering.
In 1999, Cropper joined Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York, as a Research Associate and Project Manager of OLED applications.
His research work at Kodak included OLED applications, thin film diamond growth, production and its novel applications, new semi-conducting electronic and optoelectronic materials, flat panel display technologies, remote sensing, image exploitation and compression, information extraction and motion estimation.
His eventually took the position of Technology Development Manager for the Sensor Products within ITT Industries Space Systems Division.
In 2005 T&T recognised Dr. Cropper with the “National ICONS in Science & Technology” Award, and in 2006 the “Caribbean ICONS in Science Technology & Innovation” Award.
Also in 2006, Rochester Museum and Science Center, in Rochester NY, honoured him as one of the “Inventors – Who Makes Things Work in Rochester”.
In 2014, he was the recipient of the “Professional of the Year” Award for outstanding career achievements, from American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES), and from Raytheon the “STAR Award” for outstanding Achievements within STEM Community in 2014, as well as an “Inventor Award” in 2014 and 2015.
This Caribbean icon in innovation embraces the arts, believing there's a similarity between artists, engineers and scientists - they create new things.
In a video feature by NIHERST, published on YouTube in 2012, he says: "An artist creates something...brings new experiences to life. A scientist does the same thing - brings a new technology forward, creates something new. There's a lot of synergy between arts and science."
Dr. Cropper is married to Trinidadian Natalie Rogers-Cropper, a professional dancer and dance school administrator at Garth Fagan Dance Company.
Source: www.caribbean-icons.org 

Machel Montano has been honoured for his work promoting Caribbean culture.
The soca superstar was honoured on Friday night at the Los Angeles 2nd Annual Caribbean Recognition Day which was held ahead of the Hollywood Carnival parade today.
Montano was honoured along with Puerto Rican actress Jeimy Osorio.
The ceremony was held by Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson in association with the Los Angeles Culture Festival.
In his post on Instagram, Montano expressed thanks for the recognition.
"Flew in from Chicago this morning and made it to City hall just in time. I’m honoured to receive recognition from the City of Los Angeles today on LA's Caribbean Heritage Day!! Come celebrate our heritage all weekend with us at @hollywoodcarnival," he wrote.
Source: The Loop, June 24, 2018

Keshorn Walcott opened his 2018 campaign with gold at a meet in Aanekoski, Finland, on Thursday. The 2012 Olympic champion produced a 78.58 metres effort to claim the men’s javelin title. Walcott took three throws, landing the spear 75.44m, 78.58m and 77.33m. The Trinidad and Tobago throwing star fouled once, and passed on his last two attempts.
Walcott forced Finland’s Jami Kinnunen and Toni Liflander to settle for second and third, respectively. Kinnunen threw 75.50m, and Liflander 72.12m

This unsung hero,  Former BWIA pilot, Capt. Michael Rezende has folded his wings on June 16, 2018. His good friend and a pilot too, Darrell Lou-Hing, wanted to let you know that Michael died  at 10:06 a.m Barbados time....very peacefully ......😪😪😪He was 72 his birthday would of been July 16.  Darrel does not have  access to the BWIA sites....and has asked that this message be posted so that his friends will know and that his life and accomplishments live on......😪 He fought a good fight, but really missed being able to jump in his car and go to the beach for his swim, could not ride his motorcycle.....So all those restrictions are gone. Here is the story that I am sure most of you never knew.

​May 1, 1970
1970 BWIA HIJACKED
BW 400 Capt.Keith Melville, Mike Rezende, Michael Bower
May 1, 1970, Jennifer Hanna, then Selman, was the purser aboard the flight which originated in Trinidad and Tobago, with scheduled stops in Jamaica and the Grand Cayman.
Jennifer Selman, found herself at the centre of a hijacking drama aboard a British West Indian Airways (BWIA) Boeing 727 Sunjet enroute from Kingston to Miami, which absolutely terrified her.
"We had just taken off from Kingston and I was standing in the galley when two men approached from the economy class. I instinctively went up to them and asked if I could help, because they were headed to the first-class section which was not allowed." 
The men, Black North Americans, never answered. Instead they put a knife to the neck of air hostess, Elizabeth Wrigley and told her to go to the cockpit. "She didn't see what was happening as she wasn't facing them, however, I saw clearly and so I said 'Go Liz go, just go' I then pressed the emergency several times to alert the captain."
First Officer Michael Rezende said that “the cockpit door was opened and he saw Elizabeth Wrigley being force-ably held by a large Black guy with a knife to her throat and a gun that looked like a German Luger who held his gun to my head, declared to the crew that this flight is “Afro American Freedom Fighters One.” This was in the framework of American Black Power activism in America.
Flight Engineer Michael Bower told the Hijacker that this aircraft cant fly to Africa for lack of sufficient fuel. The Hijacker replied that we will then land in the sea.
Michael Bower then suggested in his wisdom, Why dont we fly to Trinidad where he can commandeer a Boeing 707 which could carry enough fuel to get to Africa. This clearly annoyed the hijacker who pointed the gun to Bowers head and said, You will be the first to die”, then pointing the gun to the Captian Melville, “and You second.” 
Realising that this was a nut case, Rezende, in an effort to calm the situation, said to the Hijacker, “ But you are Hijacking the wrong airline, all of us in the Caribbean are Black. We have Black Power.” This seemed to please the hijacker and hold Rezende in favor as he turned to the flight attendants in the galley, “ You see this Man, bring him anything he wants Coffee, cigarettes anything.”He then let Elizabeth go and she exited the cockpit, the hijacker then demanded that the Captain change course and fly to Algiers.
Bower then showed the hijacker the flight log which showed the #2 engine was loosing oil and needed to be topped up frequently. This seemed to put some doubt in the hijackers mind about the aircraft.
One of the hijackers announced from the cockpit, "This is your new commander and the flight's name is changed to AAFF, Afro American Freedom Flight Number One."
The Captain then suggested that they stop in Cuba to refuel and put some oil in the engine."At first they said he should put the oil in engine number one into engine number two, and the captain explained that that would take at least two days with the help of a trained engineer.
Instead of flying to Miami, the aircraft was forced to go to Havana, Cuba where the men held the 63 passengers, including the crew, hostage for approximately seven hours while demanding that the plane be refuelled and flown to Algiers for a meeting with American Author Eldridge Cleaver, a Black Panther who was living there in exile.
"It was really terrifying. They had a map with them and they were pointing out from a layman's perspective how they wanted to go from Cuba to Guyana, from Guyana to Natal in Brazil and then to Dakar, Africa. They were talking about uncharted territory and all the time I remember thinking that they might kidnap me and keep me in Africa since I was the only visibly black crew member," said Hanna.
F/O Rezende attempted to set the Transponder to the international distress code for a hijack but the hijacker said “ Dont Fuck with that!” making the crew realise that he knew something about aircraft. Communications were made with Havana and permission to land was recieved from the Cuban Authorities.
Wesley Chang, BWIA Area Manager for Jamaican and the Grand Cayman Islands said the two hijackers, identified as Robert Wiggins of New York and Robert Alonzo of North Carolina wanted to go to Senaga a Republic in Africa.
Quick-thinking and experienced captain, Keith Melville who told the men, who threatened to shoot up the passengers and throw their bodies outside, that there was a leak in the second engine.
On landing in Havana airport Rezende observed many fox holes dug around the perimeter of the runway with armed soldiers and anti aircraft gun emplacements, they were prepared for war.
Capt Melville put the aircraft firmly on the ground and applied full reverse thrust as approaching fast from the other end of the runway directly at the aricraft was cherry picker vehicle ( like what T&TEC uses to fix wires) with the arm fully extended and in its bucket were armed soldiers with automatic weapons pointing directly at the cockpit. The aircraft was immediately surrounded by military vehicles and troops. 
As soon as the aircraft came to a stop on the runway the cherry picker pulled up to the captain side window and the soldiers pointed their weapons directly at those in the cockpit who made hand signals to shut down engines and open the window and cabin door.
There must have been another truck with an air stair and the Cabin door was opened from the outside and a well dressed Cuban authority entered the cockpit and spoke in perfect English, who said “ Only One Hijacker , why did you not tell us? We would have shot him out as we approached the aircraft!” Rezende thought, “You not serious? you would shoot the terrorist behind Capt Melville?” The Authority then quite nonchalantly declared, “ get the Passengers and Baggage off the aircraft!” and told the Captain, “That’s US$50,000:00 for landing fees and US$50,000:00 for hotel accommodation!” Captain Melville protested that he did not have US$100,000:00. “No Problem, call Trinidad, have them call Mexico, Mexico will send money tomorrow! No Problem!”
"The hijackers walked off the plane straight into the arms of the Cuban authorities and that was that, end of drama. 
We asked the Cuban Authorities what would happen to the Hijackers? They replied “If genuine counterrevolutionaries we will train and send out, if not, they will cut cane!”
Passengers and crew were put on a bus and taken to downtown old Havana with its old Spanish Colonial buildings and to a hotel where everyone was assigned and individual room. The Cuban Authority told them they could go anywhere they liked in Havana but not out of the front door.
At Dinner time everyone was called down for dinner which they expected would be on the ground floor but the elevator would only go as far as the 4th floor, where dinner was served.
Next day the crew was informed that the Mexicans had paid the required fees and they were free to leave, the bus took them back to the airport where they boarded and cleared for takeoff and to the Cuban airspace boundary, where the US Air Force escorted them to Miami.
Joseph Denicola, Manager for North America operations, said the hijackers had surrendered to Cuba officials and the aircraft will continue to Miami.
After being Hijacked on Friday the Aircraft was released by Cuban Authorities on Saturday and allowed to fly on to Miami.
On Arrival in Miami Rezende said, we were met by every imaginable Government agency, FBI,CIA, Police Dept etc. And every one was interviewed numerous times individually.
The next day, says Rezende, "we operated BW 401, on time, back to Port of Spain, in spite of our stress. To this day there has never been a company inquiry as to what took place so that it may not happen again. BWIA displayed absolutely no interest whatsoever as to what happened although we (Capt Melville and Mike Rezende) submitted a written report of the incident. And the crew never received either a letter of commendation or acknowledgment."
“I do think the crew under the command of Keith Melville did an outstanding job considering that we have never had any training on how to handle such a situation, there were no hysterics, screaming or anything it just worked itself out completely calmly, must have been for the good training that the older wartime pilots and the past war experience together with the excellent training of Bidi Bell and Janet Scott .”
BWIA’s management and the Government of Trinidad & Tobago’s response to this life threatening incident was non existent and Staff were not told of the event, very poor in that it made no effort to analyse the implications of it and prepare and train all of its staff on how to deal with such incidents should they reoccur in the future, it was just swept under the carpet. Source:  his friend Darrell Lou-Hing

TT’s 4x100m team will receive gold medals a decade after the Beijing Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) yesterday dismissed Nesta Carter’s appeal against the ruling to strip Jamaica of its relay title.
Carter appealed the CAS decision in February after testing positive for methylhexaneamine, a banned stimulant, in 2016, eight years after the sample was collected.
Marc Burns, Keston Bledman, Richard Thompson, Emmanuel Callender and Aaron Armstrong were on the TT relay team that was initially awarded silver after clocking 38.06 seconds. With the ruling, Japan and Brazil were confirmed as the silver and bronze medal winners, respectively.
The result of the decision also meant Michael Frater and Asafa Powell lost their gold medals along with Bolt, who can no longer lay claim to a historic gold medal three-peat (100, 200 and 4x100m) at three consecutive Olympic games (2008-2016).
The CAS judgment noted: “We (do) not accept any of the arguments raised by Nesta Carter contending that the test results should be ignored or that the decision should otherwise be overturned for certain alleged failures.”
It continued: “Accordingly, the CAS panel dismissed the appeal and the decision is confirmed.”
Carter was also part of the Jamaica 4x100m team that beat TT for gold at the 2012 London Olympics, as well as the 4x100 relay teams that won gold at the World Championships in 2011, 2013 and 2015.
The news was both expected and welcomed by the TT team.
Speaking with Newsday yesterday, Burns said while receiving the gold medals in 2008 would have been more impactive, he and his team-mates can celebrate their positions among the world’s elite runners.
“At that time Trinidad and Tobago’s achievement would have been more monumental with the medal haul… and (my) team-mates could have benefited financially with the gold medal,” the 35-year-old said.
“But, the fact still remains with this confirmation, the team will be part of an elite fraternity of Olympic gold medallists, and that title cannot be taken from us.” Burns sympathised with Bolt and the other Jamaican athletes who were penalised for Carter’s actions. “(However) it is still disheartening for clean athletes to lose out when we try do things the right way,” he said.
“Bolt’s legacy has already been cemented as one of the greatest athletes to ever grace the sport of track and field and his achievements will remain for generations to come.”
Newsday also spoke with TT Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis who said the local governing body will wait until it receives official correspondence from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) before making a full statement. Pending this communication, Lewis said “it’s (still) one of those moments where it’s not an overwhelming sense of jubilation or triumph” given the time lapse and the repercussions for the Jamaican athletes.
“It will always be a bitter sweet scenario because we are one Caribbean people,” he said. Lewis lauded the IOC for its “determination to address the issue of doping in sport.”
“The T&T Olympic Committee, which is in fact the de facto national anti-doping organisation at this point in time, remains firmly committed to clean sport and clean athletes,” said Lewis.
Source: Newsday, May 31, 2018

​Malay rose apple, red guava and mountain apple are some of the names by which our local Pomerac is known?