NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Protecting Paradise on Pagan Island by Jerome Kaipat Aldan Earthjustice June 14, 2016 http://earthjustice.org/blog/2016-june/protecting-paradise-on-pagan-island I was eight years old when Mt. Pagan, one of two volcanoes that created Pagan Island, erupted. I have many precious childhood memories of that beautiful island. I remember going for swims in the ocean. Small houses made of wood and tin blended in with the natural beauty. To this day, Pagan remains a paradise, a place to go and be close to nature. The water is clean and uncorrupted. It is a pristine place, a natural wonder. The U.S. military wants to destroy that paradise, turning it into a live-fire training ground for sailors, pilots and Marines. In 2013, the Navy and Marines proposed expanding training activities in the Mariana Islands. In addition to expanding existing facilities on the island of Tinian, the Marines have set their sights on taking over the entirety of Pagan, displacing those who still c

Ya-hu i titilu-ña este na tinige' gaseta. Put fabot, kao siña ma sotta i islan Pagan? Sen gefpå'go ayu na lugåt. Esta meggai na lugåt gi hilo' tåno' mandinestrosa ni' fina'militåt. Kontodu meggai na lugåt giya Guahan yan gi otro isla siha gi kadenå–ta. Atan i isla mafa'na'an FDM. Esta i meggaiña na Chamorro manmaleffa nu ayu na lugåt. I mañasaga guihi på'go i bomba yan i paluma siha. **************** “Leave Pagan Alone” by Cherri Anne E. Villahermosa Marianas Variety April 8. 2015 NORTHERN Islands Mayor Jerome Aldan’s message to the military is to “pack up and leave Pagan alone.”  Aldan was among the public officials who were in the House chamber yesterday to hear what the representatives of the Marine Corps Forces Pacific had to say during a meeting that lasted for more than three hours. Aldan in an interview said he has not changed his position and is still opposed to the proposed use of Paga

Next week public comment and informational meetings will be taking place in Tinian and Saipan with regards to recently proposed plans to militarize Tinian and Pagan. For people that are wanting to follow the discussion there between leaders and activists I've gathered together some recent news from The Saipan Tribune and The Marianas Variety. CNMI leaders are putting out a request for help in terms of analyzing and disseminating information about the DEIS or draft environmental impact statement for the build up proposals. They are also requesting an extension as the document is close to 2,000 pages long. It has also, as far as I know, not been translated into Chamorro or Carolinian. *************** 'CNMI will benefit from military trainings here' by Jayson Camacho Saipan Tribune 4/20/15 The U.S. Department of Defense’s planned military buildup in the region has put the CNMI community in a quandary, with some supporting military activities on Tinian and Pagan

From the AP, found on the Huffington Post

Published on Friday, November 8, 2013 by TruthDig.com The LAX Shooting, Domestic Terrorism, and the NRA by Sonali Kolhatkar   Gun violence in the U.S. has claimed more than a million lives over the past 50 years, and the problem is only getting worse. (Image: endthenra.com) Each time a horrific shooting takes place, the nation pauses, politicians pay lip service and the country’s biggest gun lobby—the National Rifle Association—remains silent. After a suitable period has passed and public rage has receded, the NRA makes cynical pronouncements about activists abusing the memory of victims of the violence by calling for gun control. Americans, replete with lethal weaponry, move on without making any connections between the the cold metal in their holsters and the dead. We tend to see gun violence not as a pattern that needs a strong and immediate response, but as a series of discon

More on Pagan. Hopefully one of these days I'll be writing on this blog about how I am gonna make a trip up there.  **************************** Beautiful Pagan paradise PUBLISHED ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 02, 2013 00:00 BY JENNY SANTOS - FOR VARIETY WHEN I was growing up I always wondered what it was like 5,000 years before I was born. My parents were raised on an island with vegetables, fruits of different sorts, local produce and wild animals. There were few worries and they had everything including food from the sea and birds, fruit bats not to mention giant coconut crabs. I was 16 when I first went to Alamagan and it was an experience that I never could have imagined. A long and breath-taking boat trip from Saipan, passing three other islands before reaching, the island of Alamagan was worth every hour it took. Along the way I saw dolphins riding the blue waves and surfacing alongside the boat as we sailed up to the Northern Islands

Pagan Island, the “Crown Jewel” of the Marianas, is again slated for certain environmental devastation, this time by a proposal from the U.S. Military to use it for “live-fire training” which includes everything from artillery to bombing. Pagan is a small island in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It is one of the most biologically and geologically diverse islands in the archipelago, and is home to many threatened and endangered species, some of which are found nowhere else in the world. Aside from its stunning beauty and rich ecological resources, Pagan is also one of the most habitable of the northern most islands in the CNMI. In fact, this island has supported the ancestors of Pagan islanders for over 3,000 years, as evidenced by Chamorro stone ruins found skirting its beautiful beaches. The U.S. Military plans to occupy ALL of Pagan Island for live-fire training and military exercises, ignoring the indigenous rights of Pagan Island

Published on Sunday, December 9, 2012 by Common Dreams   There’s No Country That Would Tolerate Missiles by Johnny Barber   ( Photo: Johnny Barber) Walid al Nassasra and two of his daughters stand staring into the pit where his brothers sheet-metal roofed, cinder-block home stood until it was hit in a pin-point strike with a precision guided bomb from an F-16 fighter jet (provided by the United States) on 19 Nov 2012 at 10 pm as the family slept. If not for the clothes and bedding strewn about, it would be difficult to tell that a home once stood here. His brother Taqwfiq, like Walid, is a farmer. Their family has been farming in the Rafah area for 35 years. They are poor people, scratching out a living on a small plot of land. As we sat and talked with Walid, Israeli F-16's roared across the sky. His brother as well as a 12 year old nephew remains hospitalized, the nephew is in the ICU with skull and hip fractures. His sister-in-law is bli