NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Read the article below about the case of James Leon Guerrero, notorious on Guam for robbing the Bank of Guam. The Federal Government was planning on seeking the death penalty for him and another Chamorro for their role in killing a prison guard. The article recounts how the death penalty has been dropped due to a Federal judge ruling that Leon Guerrero has a history of untreated mental illness. And so while Leon Guerrero will remain in prison for the rest of his life, he is no longer in danger of ending up on death row. For the past few years I have been meeting with Leon Guerrero's defense team to discuss with them aspects of Chamorro history that may be relevant to the case. Through these meetings I learned about mitigation, and the exhaustive amount of research that should take place prior to trying someone in a capital case. I have spoken to them about the impact of World War II on Chamorros and the trauma that gets carried into postwar generations in both visible and invisib

I've been living back on Guam for more than a year and a half now, and while I've become immersed in Guam politics and issues, my knowledge of national or regional politics in the states has taken a hit. While I was living in San Diego for five years while in grad school, I eagerly followed the ideological battles between Democrats and Republicans. This following culuminated in the presidential election in 2008 which ended up consuming my blog for a year. I used to be able to name 90 of the 100 US Senators and close to a 100 of the members of the House of Representatives. Nowadays however, when I try to recall who is the junior Senator from whichever state, I'm pretty sure I'm just making up whatever name I recall (unless its someone who has been there for ages). For instance, I have no idea how it came up in a conversation, but last fall, a student who had gone to school for a year in Pennslyvania asked him if I knew who the Senators for that state were now. I mistake

Published on Saturday, December 22, 2007 by CommonDreams.org Progressive Good Tidings of 2007 by Mark Engler Understanding what is wrong in our society; speaking out against injustice; denouncing abuses by the powerful. All of these are crucial tasks. Many of us devote a large part of the year to them, and they are certainly necessary if we are to create a better world. At the same time, it is highly doubtful that these acts are sufficient. Creating positive social change takes more. It takes the knowledge that people can organize to win justice and an awareness that, even in inhospitable times, some things can go right. The holiday season provides an important moment to reflect on a few of those advances that offered hope in 2007-many of which came about just in the past few weeks. In early December the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the NSA, released a new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran. The document may have single-handedly undermined the White Hous