NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Several months ago, when the American presidential campaigns were just beginning I remember an incredible excitement about Ron Paul and his impossible bid for the Presidency. As a shallow sort of figure, as a mere symbol, I admit though he was fun to watch. First off, he was the only Republican who was anti-war, and this made the early debates alot more interesting than they should have been. I mean, so often I found myself feeling monumentally stupid to even be caring about these early debates since the actual election was more than a year away, and the ways in which these campaigns are reported nowadays, everything is recorded and analyzed, but then quickly forgotten. Its surreal how the immense amount of reporting on these campaigns can actually reduce not just how much we care about them, but how much we can readily remember. Its as if the sheer amount of reporting combined with the knowledge of how incredibly far away the election is can lead to a cynical deluge. The constant bre

8,000 Marines and their 9,000 dependents will be transferred to Guam from Okinawa by 2014. How will this affect our lives? Ecologically? Socially? Economically? Demographically? Culturally? Why are they coming here and why doesn't Okinawa want them? Why don't we have a say in this move? NOW'S THE TIME TO ASK QUESTIONS! --------------------------------- For more information, visit the websites below: http://www.chamorro.com http://decolonizeguam.blogspot.com http://minagahet.blogspot.com http://www.geocities.com/minagahet ********************* Merry Christmas!!!!

Guam and the Marianas Islands don't get much respect, especially in terms of the media in the United States, which consistently forget that these islands belong to the United States or are attached to them. This amnesia is of course very convenient for those wishing to avoid having to refer to the United States as "colonial" in a very ordinary and regular sort of way. Its possible to give the United States labels such as this in extreme cases, but even for some of the most critical people, such labels have to be kept from Guam, since their is nothing extreme about its relationship to the United States. The colonialness of it, is always there, and never really mentioned or dealt with. Guam basically proves that the United States is not an "extreme" or rare case colonizer, but an everyday one. Interestingly enough though, the Marianas Islands do however make regularly appearances in what I guess you could call the world wide web of American progressive/liberal web

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

Published on Friday, December 21, 2007 by Huffington Post The Shock Doctrine in Action in New Orleans by Naomi Klein Readers of The Shock Doctrine know that one of the most shameless examples of disaster capitalism has been the attempt to exploit the disastrous flooding of New Orleans to close down that city’s public housing projects, some of the only affordable units in the city. Most of the buildings sustained minimal flood damage, but they happen to occupy valuable land that make for perfect condo developments and hotels. The final showdown over New Orleans public housing is playing out in dramatic fashion right now. The conflict is a classic example of the “triple shock” formula at the core of the doctrine. First came the shock of the original disaster: the flood and the traumatic evacuation. Next came the “economic shock therapy”: using the window of opportunity opened up by the first shock to push through a rapid-fire attack on the city’s public services and spaces, most not

After so many persistent reports of Democrats in the House and Senate regularly caving into the demands of the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans, here at last is some good and inspiring news . In case you didn't know, Chris Dodd is runing for President. Head to his website by clicking here . ******************

I'm working on the latest issue of Minagahet for those interested, which will feature the testimonies given by Chamorros and their allies this year at the United Nations on the question of Guam's political status. While I'm doing that I just wanted to post here for those interested, the contents of the last issue of Minagahet, which provided links to those who are interested in what's happening on Guam, around issues of hanom, hambiento, fino' Okinawa, fino' i militat, yan fino' i maladjusted. If you would like to subscribe to Minagahet just email me and let me know and I'll add you to the list to receive it. **************** Minagahet Zine Vol. 5 Iss. 5 10/27/07 "The Invasion of Guam" Hafa Adai, yan welcome to i mina'trenta kuatro na Minagahet. Last month I decided to try a different format for Minagahet, which would feature lists of articles grouped around issues relevant to things such as the military build up, the environment, f

Subject: Call for Action against Henoko Military Base Construction Over the last several days, examination of the document on procedures for conducting an environmental impact assessment of the new U.S. Marine Corp Air Station constructed by the Japanese government at coastal Henoko has reached a critical stage. The designated location of the base covers Oura Bay, a part of Henoko cape, and U.S. military Camp Shwab, and the base is to have two runways set in a V shape as well as other facilities. The examination committee affiliated with the Okinawa mayor will submit its response to the document by December 17th. The Japanese government submitted the Henoko document to Okinawa Prefecture on August 9. Initially, the prefectural government and involved local leaders refused to accept the document in rejection of the national government plan on the grounds that the designated area is too close to residential areas. But they have now taken a seat at the negotiation table. In response t

In March 5-7 of next year, my department at UCSD will be hosting an important conference titled " Postcolonial Futures in a Not Yet Postcolonial World: Locating the Intersections of Ethnic, Indigenous and Postcolonial Studies ." The conference is being organized by graduate students in Ethnic Studies, but is being supported by faculty, divisions and offices around the campus. I am on the planning committee and am incredibly excited about this conference! ( pacha' i sanhilo' na link yanggen interesao hao pat malago hao muna'fanhalom abstract) The drive behind this conference comes from a number of conflicts and discussions, all of which have worked to push our department and hopefully Ethnic Studies in general, in the direction of being more transnational and more intranational. This translates into more common academic terms as engaging more with indigenous and postcolonial studies. The push for our discipline to be more transnational comes from the desire to sto

I received this comment my blog several months ago on my post " State of the Chamorro Language ." The author of the comment " One Hot Chamaole " apparently didn't like my post or my blog and left a rather annoying and useless comment, which she soon removed. I had the chance to read it before she removed however and thought that I would post it here in order to discuss some of the more "undiscussed" issues that the Chamorro language is up against. Her comment as you'll read below was not friendly and not very intelligent either. But, this is something you often find with people who claim to be preserving the Chamorro language, a very clear lack of knowledge about what the language is, how it is being killed, and how it can survive. The usual list of things which are endangering Chamorro language are tv, internet, movies, music, kids who don't want to learn, laziness. All of these things have their roles, however it is incredibly pointless and