NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

For all of the damage that Donald Trump can do, he definitely helps bring about exciting renewals and rediscoveries as well. Much has been made of the competition between major newspapers for "scoops," but I would also like to mention how Trump's behavior and his regular, often mindless assaults on the norms of governance, provide great fodder for columnists and editorial boards as well. I've pasted below an editorial from the editorial board for USA Today. I never thought I would ever save an editorial from that newspaper, but with Trump's behavior, even they ended up making an articulate and impassioned case against his behavior.

One of the downsides to a year of Trumpsanity, is that the news is constantly happening and evolving, whether through strategy, stupidity or insanity, and there just isn't enough time or energy to write about it or comment on it. That is one thing I've found about this blog for instance, is that I would frequently find myself …

The newest train wreck in more than a hundred days of constant train wrecks. Once again I can't turn away, and I find myself reading everything I can about President Trump firing FBI Director James Comey. So many comparisons to Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal, and still so much resistance from Republicans to take their role as a co-equal branch of government and provide oversight to the chaotic Trump administration. Here are some articles out of the deluge I've been wading through the past two days.

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Comey's dismissal may turn the anti-Trump wave into a tsunami
by Dana Milbank
Washington Post
May 9, 2017

This will not stand.
President Trump performed his latest impersonation of a Third World strongman, firing FBI Director James B. Comey late Tuesday in ham-handed fashion as it was becoming clear that the FBI probe into Trump’s ties to Russia, which Comey was overseeing, was becoming a bigger problem for Trump while new testimony expos…

This editorial is written from Maine, by longtime peace and demilitarization activist Bruce Gagnon. I first met Bruce in 2010 during a solidarity tour to South Korea. I learned so much from him, as he is so much more involved in international peace and demilitarization work than I am. The stories he shared of his struggles, his travels, the victories that movements he's participated in have garnered were both so educational and inspiring to me. In this editorial he poses something which Guam, as the Tip of America's Spear, as Fortress Guam, as a strategically important base to the US should consider, but rarely does. What if the massive amount of money that the US invests in bases and weapons, was used for something else? Something that didn't destroy, attack or defend, but provided stability in a more direct sense? In Guam we have become so accustomed to the variety of militarism that exists in the US, we constantly forget to ask questions about its nature, and whether t…

The idea of pay raises for politicians is always out there. People fell like politicians are always getting them, even if they aren't getting them at that precise moment. It is one of the things that if you asked people what is wrong with government or what politicians are good at, chances are very good they would cite "giving themselves raises" as one of their main skills. Part of what is always so odious about this is the fact that raises for politicians are something that always lies within the control of the politicians themselves. The way this issue is always present even when its not is tied to the level of trust of government leaders. The issues of GovGuam raising its wages last year was very interesting because of how it was an rare moment of harmony within branches of government, where they seemed to be eager to work together to keep this issue as quiet as possible. There was a small amount of protest about it, but ultimately it simply reconfirmed the apathy th…

The issue of gay marriage is really being push right now in Guam. There seems to be a much broader support for it as opposed to a few years ago. There is still some resistance, especially on religious grounds. I haven't seen any reports yet on whether or not local bakeries are supporting or fighting this issue. This is intriguing because as you can see from the reports below, cakes, the making of, the selling of, the religious freedom involved in deciding who you do and do not make cakes for, has become a ground zero of sorts

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This Bakery Refused to Serve a Same-Sex Couple and It May Cost Them $135,000
Published: April 26, 2015 | Authors: Aviva Shen | Think Progress | News Report 

A bakery that turned away a lesbian couple looking to …