NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I am a video game geek. And you can tell this not just by how many times your wallet or bank account is drained because of the deep, craving need to own a certain video game or system, but also by how many time your schedule gets completely thrown out of whack because your mind got lost in playing a video game, or even though you knew you were running late, you convinced yourself that one more level or now in the case of games like Rock Star Band or Guitar Hero , one more song. Since I returned to Guam to start working on my dissertation, there have been many moments where my schedule has gone awry because of the fact that video games are such a tempting distraction. Another way in which you can identify if you are a video game geek is if you use video game metaphors or references to describe the world, sometimes even to non-video game adept audiences. There are some ways in which once arcane video game geek knowledge or fanservice has wormed its way into popular culture. I remember s...

Magof-hu na ma ilihi Si Obama giya Amerika. Para meggai na diferentes na rason, hu sappote gui’ yan ya-hu gui’. Lao yanggen mismo Guahu la’mon, ga’0-ku na Si Ralph Nader u Presidente Amerikånu. Mas maolek i hinasso-ña, ya mas umaya iyon-måmi na idea siha, kinu iyon-måmi yan Si Obama. Fihu mama’liliberal Si Obama, lao puru ha’ liberal Si Nader. ************************************** Dear President Obama: Underneath many of our country's economic problems is the thirty-year collapse of consumer protection-both of the regulatory kind and of the self-help kind known as proper access to justice. Last month major consumer groups sent you a letter proposing action to rein in exploitation of consumers as debtors, as buyers of oil, gas and electricity, as patients needing health insurance and as eaters wanting safe goods. Under the Bush regime, the words "consumer protection" were rarely uttered and the Bush administration almost never initiated any pro-consumer efforts, even with...

Joint Guam Program Office Public Meeting January 22, 2009 Agat, Guam *************************************************************** 6:25 – Took pictures of a lovely sunset. The mayor’s office is right on the beach. 6:27 – Met a member of the JGPO who was there at the Critiquing the Military Buildup Forum I spoke at last November. He asks for my info so that we can meet up. Someone behind me whispers not to give him my real email address. I do though. 6:28 – The Agat Mayor Carol Tayama opens the meeting. 6:30 – John Jackson, executive director of JGPO starts his opening remarks. He invokes early the idea that this military buildup is not a transfer or a new move, but is in actuality a “return.” 6:32 – Jackson builds off his previous point, by admitting that the Marines are actually already here. There are four or five of them in the room right now. One of them in fact is marrying a local girl next month (this is not a joke, Jackson actually said this). 6:34 – A woman is introduced whos...

In a few hours Barack Obama will be sworn in as President of the United States. I closely followed the election while I was in the states, writing regularly about it on my blog, sometimes to the detriment of my other work. Watching MSNBC and reading liberal blogs, when I should have been reading about sovereignty or about colonialism. I was so caught up in the election, that when I was able to attend the Democratic National Convention in August, with a press pass and everything, it was not just exciting for me in some general sense, but more like the reward for all the hard work that I had been doing, following things in the election, writing about them and blogging about them. As soon as I came to Guam however, things changed. It was hard to keep up with the campaigns as much, for a variety of reasons. My internet is slower and less reliable on Guam. My grandparent's didn't have MSNBC as part of their cable. But these reasons are minute, the main reason that I wasn't as pa...

Please consider signing this petition titled "To Prevent the Construction of a Mounded Landfill on top of Inarajan Watershed at Layon, in Dandan, Municipality of Inarajan." I'm pasting the entire text of the petition below, and a link to its online form can be found here . I would love to write more about this issue right now, there is so much going on and so much to be said. If you've ever wondered why some of the more conscious people on Guam refer to the Federal Government as "Federales" in a sneering or fearful way, one of the reasons is happening right now, over the landfill issue and the attempted exortion of the Government of Guam to the tune of almost $1 million dollars a week . Unfortunately I can't spare the time right now as I'm rushing to finish up a book chapter so I can get back to work on my dissertation. (The pictures in this post are all from the tinanom yan halom tano' on either the land around my family's house in Mangilao...

Just thought I'd share a discussion thread that went through recently on the listserv for my department. It started with a student sending out the announcement below regarding a protest in support of the people of Gaza and calling for an end to the invasion. I should note that my department, Ethnic Studies at UCSD is currently in the process of coming up with an official statement regarding the crisis in Gaza. ************************************************** The Massacre is Continuing and So Should Our Response! The energy and scale of these recent protests have been fruitful internationally. Please come and show you support again at this Emergency Mobilization Event! For 16 days Israel has been committing massacres and war crimes against the Palestinian People in the Gaza Strip. The death toll so far exceeds 900 killed and more than 4300 injured, many very seriously. With many bodies still buried under the rubble of schools, mosques, hospitals, markets, police stations, apartmen...

Rashne: Hafa Adai Miget! Miget: Hafa Adai Rashne! Hafa bidadå-mu på’go? Rashne: Para bei fanegga’ kachido. Kao malago hao na ta hita na dos? Miget: Buente. Dipende nai. Hafa pon egga’? Rashne: Slumdog Millionare. Miget: Oh, bula hiningok-hu put enao. Gof maolek hun. Manggana gui’ meggai na premu. Rashne: Hu’u. Masusedi i mubi giya Mumbai, pinat gi sengsong i manaiguma’ siha. Miget: Ya taotao Mumbai hao no? Rashne: Hunggan, dumongkalo’ yu’ guihi. Meggaggai na hinasso-ku ginnen i tiempo-ku guihi. Miget: Pues siempre nina’lamahalang hao ni’ este na kachido. Rashne: Siña. Ti sumåga’ yu’ gi ayu na klasin songsong (ti taiguma’ i familia-ku). Lao yanggen mana’mali’e i otro na lugat Mumbai siha, siempre bei tungo’ siha, ya bei hahasso iyo-ku “home.” Miget: Teneki dinilok hao tuiguini put i hinatme giya Mumbai gi i ma’pos na såkkan. Rashne: Hunggan. Gof mahalang yu’ para i ciudåd-hu yan i familia-ku ni’ mañasåga’ ha’ guihi. Miget: Hu’u. Manggaisuette hit na tåya’ mandano’ annai ma hatme. Rashne...

Another article on the Israel attack in Gaza. This time from Salon. Its a very good one. Its been getting so tough to find good pieces by liberals and progressives in the United States on this issue, especially since Democrats are deciding to show their bi-partisan spirit with Republicans over this issue, and argue that Israel can do whatever it wants to create a "durable" ceasefire. What the hell kind of rules of engagement are these? You might find it weird that a blog which is pinat put Guam and Chamorro stuff, would be re-posting so many articles about the crisis in Gaza. Sometimes I think its a little strange to, that the behavior of Israel can enrage me so much. Different parts of the world, very different circumstances, histories, power relations. But, at the same time, in this wealth of differences, there are always this small, tiny, gof dikike' na clues, that hint at some absent, yet nonetheless potent tie, a link, especially in the way both relate to the United ...