NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Everyone hates "politics." It is almost funny how it works. How people sneer, and jeer and frown when something happens and its "political." On Guam for example people say or think these things so much and so often it makes you wonder what they expect? In an ideal world, government is supposed to work for the good of all and run based on strong principles. The same goes for those elected into the government or working in it. But we don't live in an ideal world. We may pine for it, dream about it. But in truth, the ideal world only exists to make us feel crappy about the world that we have. The ideal world also exists to be an excuse to keep us from acting in this world. No one has the ideal form of government, but for the majority of people, if their government is found wanting, they fill the void of inadequacy or mediocrity not with engagement, hardwork and a determination to fix things. Instead, they fill the gap with complaints that make them feel like they

I've written over the past week in various ways, that the organizing against the military buildup on Guam (or the critiquing of it) has helped spur alot of new activity and new creativity. One of the primary outlets that we've seen this energy and this concern expressed is through Youtube. The uploading of footage or clips of people giving some very insightful and emotional testimony has been the largest presence, but there have been small attempts by others to create short videso to make use of the medium and also get the word out about what is going on. In the past three weeks, these videos have all together been viewed thousands of times, and for Guam related videos which don't involve nearly naked women or high school children beating each other up, this is a very big deal. Across Youtube, you'll find ways in which people are using it for critical and progressive causes, but Guam and Chamorros have yet to take advantage of this yet (except for a few scattered ex

The media on Guam seems obsessed with the conflict of interest represented by Matt Rector being both a Senator in the Legislature and the President of the Guam Federation of Teachers . I don't see anything inherently wrong with this inquiry, it is something which can be questioned and should be looked at, but I think its almost hysterical how narrow or selective the idea of "conflict of interest" is in this case, (and the way it is usually conceived of). In any community, the ideological glue that holds it together will always mark the interests of some as being a conflict or something which will taint the governance of said community, whereas a myriad of other equally or more dangerous interests will go unnoticed, or worse yet, be seen as essential or positive. So in this case, the idea that a Senator is the President of a labor union on Guam becomes the ultimate sin, whereas the fact that various businessmen on island have repeatedly obstructed legislation or passed l