NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Throughout my interviews that I conducted for my graduate school research, when the issue of decolonization would emerge in the discussion, regardless of the demographic intersections of the interview subject, regardless of their life experiences or their level of education, all of them would find some way of saying that on the topic of political status change, mungga ma'åkka' i kannai ni' muna'boboka hao, don't bite the hand that feeds you. This narrative, while understandable for an island stuck in what I refer to as the decolonial deadlock, it was frustrating for someone who was seeking to study decolonization and convince other Chamorros of the need for it. Eventually, at some point amidst the interview conducting, the critical theory reading and the online ranting, I ended up watching the 200 movie Lumumba directed by Raoul Peck. It tells the story of the final months of Patrice Lumumba, an inspirational figure in African and global decolonization, who was th

Taya' fino'-hu put este na asunto'. Ti hongge'on i bidada-na este na palao'an Si Kim Davis.  Atan ha' este na articles siha ginen Si Allen Clifton, mas gaitiningo' gui' kinu Guahu pa'go. Atan lokkue' i memes siha put Si Kim Davis. Ai adai, sen dinanche, sen na'chalek. Mabuena. *************** A Message to Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis: You’re a Disgrace and a Hypocrite By Allen Clifton 9/2/15 Forward Progressives One of the most dominant stories of the last few days has been the continued refusal by Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, in defiance of the Supreme Court’s ruling that bans on gay marriage were unconstitutional. Wait, a slight correction – she’s actually not issuing any marriage licenses, not even to straight couples. In other words, she’s not doing her job. If you ask me, I get the feeling this is just all one big scam. Normally this isn’t a story that

The film American Sniper has been gaining so much attention lately, because of its new blockbuster status, the ethnic and racial hatred that it is stimulating and also the way it is leading to both a challenging and also a lionizing of the American soldier through the figure of sniper Chris Kyle. Bradley Cooper, who plays Kyle in the film recently came out in defense of the film, noting that if you have problems with the political aspects of war, blame the politicians, the ones who make the decisions to send troops into war. Don't blame the troops who suffer because of those fights. This of course makes sense to most people. The politicians are corrupt, they are the ones you can blame, but the soldier, the self-sacrificing warrior should remain untouchable. They didn't choose to go to war, they just obeyed orders and did what their country told them to do. But this defense of the film leads to the natural problem of dealing with the morality of conduct if a war is not justi

Ti este i minagahet put i minalago'-hu para Krismas. Guaha mas malago'-hu para i familia-ku para i manguinaiya-ku siha. Lao gi este na tiempo, anai fihu manstrinessed hit todu, maolek na ta hahasso este na siniente, i nina'chalek gi kuttura-ta. Gi minagahet sen ti ya-hu bunelos dagu. Ga'o-ku todu i otro klasin bunelos kinu este. Ya-hu bunelos manglo, bunelos aga', bunelos manha, bunelos mangga, bunelos pina. Lao ya-hu na rumhyme dagu yan hagu gi fino' Chamoru. 

I've been reading more and more articles by atheists lately. At first I was confused as to why, because while I've been critical of religion for most of my adult life, I never wanted to seek out a new framework for housing my lack of belief. Part of what seemed to spurn me in this direction is my World History classes and to a more limited extent my Guam History classes. In my World History classes we discuss the origins of human religion and the relationships between Zoroastrianism, Islam, Christianity and even Buddhism. I have an entire lecture in which we compare the historical figure of Jesus Christ, with the religious figure of Jesus Christ. From this we often move into the Bible itself and the notion that so many people whereby they feel the Bible must be true, but haven't thought about the consequences of that belief. We compare the God in the Old Testament to the God in the New Testament. The God of Noah and Job, to the God of Isiah

I have never watched Game of Thrones, but simply because it is discussed so much and a favorite of so many people I know, I by default absorb so much information about it. I know most of the major characters and most of the major plot points. From all that I know however, it still seems baffling to me that so many people find the show so engrossing. There are those who say it is the violence. The writing. The realism. The creativity. The intrigue and drama. The relationship to real history. I've heard so many different types of arguments.   So much of this reminds me of the first time I read Shakespeare's plays. I had heard for so much of my life that the works and words of William Shakespeare were the pinnacle of human creativity and expressive achievement. That these were great plays that were timeless in their quality and boundaryless in terms of their importance. When I read them I was intrigued but not that impressed. To this day when I read or hear Shakespeare I stil