NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

It is very easy to go through life and see so many things that tower above you as invincible, as constant, as eternal, as something which once had a beginning, but cannot seem to possibly have an end. If you ever wonder why despite the geographic and political distance between Guam and the United States, why people here are so desperately loyal to America, it has alot to do with the idea that what is American is permanent or that what is American comes with some sort of guarantee. Whatever is American can bring stability and order, anything else, whether it comes from Guam or from another island or another country cannot really be trusted. Ti anggokuyon hafa ti Inamerikanu. That is of course one of the main reasons why in most people's minds in Guam there are two very simple equations to understanding the military buildup. 1. More military = more money. 2. More military = more security. The first one is debatable, but leans towards being true. More military on island does provide t...

We've known for more than four years now that massive changes would be coming to Guam by 2014, because of certain decisions made by the United States (and Japan) to massively increase the size and scope of the American military presence on Guam. What is already known as "the tip of America's spear" will over the next five years will be sharpened even more, and will soon include a berth for aircraft carriers, a missile defense task force and close to 9,000 Marines and their dependents. Although the military buildup has been a constant topic of discussion and debate since 2005 when it was first announced, there was always this sort of reserved, removed calm in most people's faces and minds. Either it wouldn't be as bad as some crazy activists were saying, or it would make the island's economic dreams come true by bringing in "billions" of dollars and probably billions of jobs too. Everyone "knew" it would be big, but it was only people li...

The other day I was at yet another meeting of a group of concerned people of Guam, who were looking to collaborate in some way to respond to or counter the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed military buildup of Guam. We were discussing how we could best get out critical information about certain sites which will be drastically affected and possibly even cut off from public access with the proposed construction the military is planning. Certain areas which are favorites of hikers, most importantly the area around Liyang Pågat , or Pågat Caves, which is also the site of some incredible, above-ground Ancient Chamorro artifacts, could be cut off from the island in order to make way for a live-fire training range for Marines. Mount Lamlam, which is not only the highest point on the island, but the site of an annual hike for those carrying crosses to the peak in honor of Catholic Easter, could be restricted as well to make way for jungle training in nearby areas. During th...

I started a Youtube account in late 2006, just so I could rate Guam videos. I never even had any intention of ever uploading a video, since at the time I was using my infamous disposable cameras to capture everything and couldn't imagine buying myself a digital one. The first video that I ever uploaded wasn't even one of mine, it was something I had found on the internet on a Department of Defense information website. The video was meant to be a sort of press release on a round of public meetings that the DOD was having with regards to the military buildup, which at that point had been announced only a year earlier. After that I uploaded some videos which had been posted on the website of Guam's Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo. In fact the most watched video that I have is a video of her being introduced in the House by a fellow Congressman, who pronounces her name last name as if it were "bordello." Eventually after my mom bought me a digital camera during a Bl...

Este i ettimon na post-hu para este na såkkan, pues mandisidi yu’ na este na post teneki tahdong yan dongkålu. As the last post of the year, I thought I’d make it big, deep and personal. The image above is from the manga Berserk . As you can guess just from this image alone it is a fairly violent manga, with plenty of blood, guts, gore, depravity, etc. But every once in a while, when the main character (featured above) Guts is particularly enraged and actually does go berserk, the artist Kentaro Miura will draw a simple but ghastly image. These images set the tone for the carnage that follows. It is for this reason that they are almost more violent then the actual depictions of creatures and people being sliced in half. The stark black and white image, has a way of not only powering up the images that follow, but the reader as well, preparing their gaze, communicating through what are sometimes the most simplistic of images, the pure, sublime emotion that is about to be released. Some...

The We Are Guahan Coalition is organizing a hike to Pagat Caves this Saturday, January 2nd. Pagat Caves is a beautiful location which was once an Ancient Chamorro village. Numerous artifacts and latte can still be found there in the pristine limestone jungle. It is considered by many today to be a sacred site. The proposed military buildup of Guam would block off public access to this location amongst others on the Eastern coast of Guam, in order to build a live-fire training range for Marines being transferred from Okinawa. For those interested in joining the hike, we'll be meeting first at Winchell's in Mangilao at 9 am. If you come bring lots of water, hiking shoes, mosquito repellent, sun screen and wear hiking or tennis shoes. I last went to Pagat a few years back, when I was in poor physical shape and the hike down was fun, but the hike back up felt like I was getting a badly done bone biopsy with every step. I'll be going on this hike, and don't look forward to i...

Annai hu taitai este na tinige' " Indian tribes buy back thousands of acres of land " gof sinilo' yu'. The article discusses a centuries old injustice and violence committed against hundreds, perhaps thousands of different Native American groups, and is a perfect case study in how injustice operates and is perpetuated and maintained over time. Native American tribes tired of waiting for the U.S. government to honor centuries-old treaties are buying back land where their ancestors lived and putting it in federal trust. Native Americans say the purchases will help protect their culture and way of life by preserving burial grounds and areas where sacred rituals are held. They also provide land for farming, timber and other efforts to make the tribes self-sustaining. The article begins with these sentences, describing how from 1998 - 2007, Native American tribes put close to a million acres in trust. These acres are all purchased in the hopes of rebuilding the land ba...

The website Para Guahan is a great source of information from people who are being critical about the planned military buildup. When I say critical, I mean there are people from all different points on the political spectrum posting there, commenting there and sharing there. There are those who want to stop the military buildup, those who want to stall it, those who want to mitigate its impacts and those who want to ensure that the buildup truly does benefit the people of Guam. For those of you out there who are looking for helping in navigating the Draft Environmental Impacts Statement about the military buildup, then head over there. For example, click here to read some notes on Volume 2 Chapter 16 of the massive tome. Also, if you do want to get involved, there's information there on how you can. Yesterday, an interesting post appeared there which I wanted to repost here. It was a list of 198 Ways to Resist the Guam/CNMI Military Buildup . The list comes from the Albert Einste...