NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I came across this article pasted below on the blog Ten Thousand Things . It is a great resource for issues of peace and justice in the Asia Pacific. The question of militarism and militarization are so important in this world today because the nature of war has changed. For much of the word war is still bloody and gritty and in your face. But for the First World and its allies they get to embrace a different technological relationship to war, one that makes it far more virtual that real. While soldiers still die and still bleed, much of the war has been privatized and has become digital. It is now easier to wipe humans and communities from the map than ever before. A screen of irreality sits between you and the human lives on the other side. Buttons take the place of weapons, so in a way you actually don't hurt much of anything, tin men and metal birds do it all for you. In Guam, a place that sometimes celebrates the fact that it is the tip of America's spear, having a con

I'm writing a section of my dissertation right now on the narrative that Guam "has no culture." This has led me around the internet looking for different articles from travel magazines and the notorious Lonely Planet guide that discusses Guam as a horrible place to visit, with nothing on the island of interest except the world's largest K-Mart. As I often tell people on Guam, you may feel all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings for the United States or for Americans, but stroll around the internet for a bit and visit the blogs or pages of people sent to work on Guam or stationed on Guam and you'll find an aircraft-carrier-load of negative and nasty comments. If you think that Sherry from Myspace was bad, or that Mike Ogle's trash from ESPN.com was racist, then you have to read the comments and testimonials below from the website, Virtual Tourist. The section was " Guam Warnings or Dangers " and is full of people who call Guam "hell" and think o