NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I would love to write up some of my thoughts on this article, lao tailugat yu' pa'go yan gi este na simana. I'm working on applying for promotion this coming week and also have a few deadlines for articles that have been consuming my writing time and energy. It does not help that this is the last week of classes either. ************* "Will Guam Be America's Next Pearl Harbor?" by Peter Navarro December 2, 2015 Real Clear Defense http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2015/12/02/will_guam_be_americas_next_pearl_harbor_108747.html Mr. Trump and Mr. Carson: Do you believe China would launch a first strike on American forward bases and, if so, will you commit to diversifying and hardening our forward bases to preempt such an attack? Senators Cruz and Sanders: As president, would you be willing to compromise with the opposing party on a budget bill that would restore military spending to a level necessary to defend our strategic and economi...

In 2005 I started a blog titled Decolonize Guam or "Peace and Justice for Guam and the Pacific." I ran it with a few other people for about six years, and posted more than a thousand news pieces related to Guam and Chamorros, but and also wider issues related to war and peace in the US and in the Pacific. For some reason (lao ti sina hu hasso sa' hafa) we stopped updating it in 2011, after things connected to the public comment period for the US military buildup had officially ended. It might have been because I started writing a column in the then Marianas Variety, which became a new focus for me. It could have been because I was now more consumed with my role at the University of Guam, as a professor though and using that venue as a conduit for various types of activism or educational events. I'm really not sure why I stopped posting there and updating it, but looking back I'm glad that we filled the site for a few years worth of content, as I find myself r...

I was speaking to someone recently about the issues of Pagan. There has been buzz for more than a year now about turning Pagan into a large-scale training area and firing and bombing range. There was an international petition drive to protect it that garnered more than 100,000 signatures. Some families with roots in Pagan have been to stay there again. But while for a time in 2013 it seemed as if Pagan was going to be taken any minute now, that has all changed. Things calmed down and grew quiet. The conversation I had recently was a warning that things may heat up again soon about Pagan. From Pagat to Pagan to Litekyan. If you can remember back far enough you can add even Sella in there if you'd like. Gi Fino' Chamoru sesso masangan na ti maimaigo' Si Yu'us. Sina ta sangan lokkue' na ti maimaigo' i militat. Ti maimaigo' DOD. Gi fino' un activist giya Hawai'i, i militat Amerikanu kalang un sen dangkolu na gamson. Maestitira huyong i kannai-na siha...

The Honorable James Clyburn Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, South Carolina 2012 Democratic National Convention Thursday, September 6, 2012 Fifty-two years ago, President Kennedy accepted our party’s nomination saying, “We are not here to curse the darkness; we are here to light a candle.” This is the fundamental difference between the party of President Obama and the party of Romney-Ryan. President Obama has lit candle after candle, bringing our country out from the darkness of recession, only to see Republicans douse the flames and amuse themselves cursing the darkness. The Romney-Ryan Republicans, however, have walked away from bi-partisan efforts to find responsible approaches to moving this country forward, bringing only more darkness. The architect of the Republicans’ backward blueprint is none other than their vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan. The Romney-Ryan plan will cut taxes for the wealthiest one percent, end the guarantee of Medicar...

I didn't get to watch much of the Democratic National Convention this past week. My teaching schedule meant I was in class when most of the action was going on. I've also had so many projects to work on lately that sometimes I don't get to watch news or read any updates. I'll be using my blog this week to post some of the speeches I've been hearing about, so I'll have a chance to actually read them. ***************** Vice President Joe Biden Posted: Sep. 6, 2012         My fellow Democrats, and my favorite Democrat. Jilly, I want you to know that Beau, Hunt, Ashley, and I are so proud of you. We admire the way you treat every single student who walks into your classroom. You not only teach them. You give them confidence. And the passion you bring to easing the burden on the families of our warriors. They know you understand what they’re going through. It makes a ...

Gof magof yu' na manunuge' ta'lo Si Desiree gi i blog-na, The Drowning Mermaid . Ti meggai na blogs para i Chamorro siha. Lao, nangga na'ya, ti mismo magahet este. Meggai na blogs mamfina'tinas ni' Chamorro siha, lao manmafa'tinas ha', ya ti manmasosteteni esta ki pa'go. Aligao gi i internet ya siempre para un fanodda' meggai na Chamorro na blogs, lao pinat manggaiunu ha' na post siha. Halacha managu Si Desiree, pues tumaiguenaihon, lao esta ha tutuhun ta'lo. Maolek i bos-na Si Desiree. Gi fino' Ingles ma alok na "articulate" yan "passionate." Fihu masasangan na kalang taisiente i tinige'-hu siha. Puru ha' fina'tinas tintanos, ya annok na ti mismo ginnen i korason. Si Desiree ha na'danna' maolek i sinienten i korason-na yan i hinallom-na siha i tintanos-na. I humuyonga na an un taitai i tinige'-na, sina pinacha' i korason-mu yan i hinasso-mu achagigu. In her most recent poem Desiree ...

This weekend I took twenty people on a Heritage Hike down to Haputo which is on a Navy base in the Northwestern part of Guam. The spot is a favorite of those with military base access and a spot which many who don't pine for the chance to visit. The hike down takes less than 10 minutes, and you are greeted with a secluded, shallow water beach, which is great for fishing, sunbathing and just relaxing. Haputo was once an ancient Chamorro village and the area above the beach to the base of the cliffs is full of artifacts. Some of the most beautiful latte that I've every seen on Guam we found there during our hike. For those who don't know, while the iconography of latte has them looming tall in the sky, most latte were small and stature, especially on Guam. That is why, when you find latte which are six feet tall, and still standing, haligi and tasa intact, it is truly a treat for the historical mind. The past few months of my life have been full of latte. I've written a...

I've been writing for months that "pro-buildup" groups on Guam have been strangely silent lately. The overtly pro-build side of Guam was for years the richest and most powerful on Guam, and nothing has changed. But for more than a year, those captains of industry and influence appeared to almost live in fear of small, protest and activist groups. They seemed content to sit on the sidelines and not just lick their wounds, but suck every drop of life from them, to keep from getting back into the debate and try to actually argue their side, and try to convince people, beyond the pointless rhetoric that the buildup really is good for Guam. Several weeks ago a new group emerged, Para Hita Todu which is promising to help give voice to the silent majority of Guam people who see the buildup as a good thing. Only time will tell how much they can accomplish, but so far, despite the fact that they represent so much money and power, they are off to a rather silly and almost comical s...

Despensa yu' na didide' ha' tininge'-hu gi este na ma'pos na simana. Para bai hu falak sanlagu ta'lo gi i otro'na na simana. Esta mas ki dos anos desde sumaga' yu' guihi. Magof hu sa' para bei in hami yan Si Sumahi, i hagga'-hu. Magof yu' na para u fanali'e' Si Sumahi yan i otro na familian-mami giya Kalifotna. I otro na simana i uttimo na simanan gi este na semester-hu, ya humuyongna bubula i che'cho'-hu. Pa'go (put fin) hu na'funhayan un cho'cho' nai hu transladayi GHURA dokumento siha put Fair Housing. Sen makkat este na cho'cho', sa' meggai na sinangan yan palabras gi ayu na papet siha ni' taya' nai hu hungok gi fino' Chamoru. Gi este mamaila na bakashon para bai hu fanaplika cho'cho' ta'lo giya UOG. Esta macho'cho' yu' guini para dos na sakkan, lao ti petmanente i puesto-ku. Este na cho'cho' ni' bai hu aplikayi "tenure track"...

I’m feeling depressed this month. Tinemba yu’ gi este na mes. I spent the last year trying to get a permanent job at UOG and got nothing despite applying for several positions. Right now I’m teaching part time at UOG this month to get by, but come August, I won’t have a full-time job but will still have two kids to support, credit card debt to appease and a mountain of student loan debt that is always mahalang for my salape’. I’m spending the month of July trying to line up some full-time work for decent pay, but haven’t found anything certain yet. This is especially so when I’m watching a movie and some fantastic, but old pop or rock song comes on, and I’m tempted to start singing along with the soundtrack of the movie. I used to do that, but movies have a way of chopping up or rearranging a song to make it fit and so its really really embarrassing when you are the only person in a theater yelling along to a song and it cuts out, but you keep belting it out for a few embarrassing sec...