NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

The past few days have been quite hectic due to the threat to Guam by North Korea and President Trump's shocking response. I am trying to catch up on my posts on this blog, and so we'll see if I'll be able this month. Here are a few articles on the initial threat from North Korea to Guam.  ******************* North Korea Claims It’s Planning to Fire Missiles Near Guam 8/10/17 SEOUL/GUAM (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it was completing plans to fire four intermediate-range missiles over Japan to land near the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam in an unusually detailed threat that further heightened tensions with the United States. North Korea’s army will complete the plans in mid-August, when they will be ready for leader Kim Jong Un’s order, state-run KCNA news agency reported, citing General Kim Rak Gyom, commander of the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army. The plans called for the missiles to land in the sea

The past few days have been quite hectic due to the threat to Guam by North Korea and President Trump's shocking response. I am trying to catch up on my posts on this blog, and so we'll see if I'll be able this month. Here are a few articles on the initial threat from North Korea to Guam.  ******************* --> North Korea Claims It’s Planning to Fire Missiles Near Guam 8/10/17 SEOUL/GUAM (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it was completing plans to fire four intermediate-range missiles over Japan to land near the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam in an unusually detailed threat that further heightened tensions with the United States. North Korea’s army will complete the plans in mid-August, when they will be ready for leader Kim Jong Un’s order, state-run KCNA news agency reported, citing General Kim Rak Gyom, commander of the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army. The plans called for the missiles to land in the sea only 30-

The local media coverage of possible conflict on the Korean peninsula seems to be paradoxically vapid and obsessive. It is a constant for the media to cover, as it is a threat to our very life on the island and also something which provides an outlet for US military commanders to speak in strong terms about defense, stability and deterrence. The media seems to adore these moments, just like they love it when there are war games or large-scale training exercises in the region, as you get to play dress up for a day, and take rides in helicopters or an armored transports. When North Korea is saber rattling your average journalist in Guam seems excited to escape the tedium of local news coverage and regurgitate some exciting Department of Defense talking points. But for something that is covered so much, it is fascinating and frustrating, at how little is actually discussed. How little the media actually contributes to people understanding the relationship between Guam, the US and potent

 A great article that discusses the complexity of the average Chamorro relationship to the United States. It is inundated with sometimes strange feelings of patriotism, desires for inclusion and casual approval of militarism in close to ever facet of life. It feels natural for the most part, but at certain moments, doesn't seem to make sense. As I noted in another article, every once in a while there is a crack in the facade of Americanness for the island, and suddenly the generic patriotism or platitudes of Guam being part of the United States don't make sense. The colonial truth stares out at your through the crack, and if you've spent your life trying to avoid this reality, it can feel terrifying to realize that your relationship to the United States bares little similarity to what you see around you or what is taught to you at almost every level. Si Yu'us Ma'åse' to Jon Letman for his great article, which doesn't just ignore the ambivalence t