NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

At the funeral for Maga'låhi Ed Benavente today, I got a chance to talk to former Governor of Guam Felix Camacho. When Felix Camacho was first elected the group Nasion Chamoru was in decline in terms of its political power. Angel Santos had been elected into the Guam Legislature years earlier and formally left the group. Nasion itself had continued to fight and gotten a number of reforms implemented around land for the landless and for families that had lost land after World War II to the US military. Felix Camacho, seeking to make a sort of peace with Nasion Chamoru, which had been a notorious thorn in the side of the previous administration, reached out to Ed Benavente and offered him a position in his cabinet. I remember that time well, as I had already started hanging out with members of the Colonized Chamoru Coalition and so I got to listen in while members of Nasion Chamoru discussed whether or not Ed should join with Camacho. I won't describe the deliberations in detai

Diagnosis Guinaiya by Michael Lujan Bevacqua I flip through the untouched yellowed pages of a phonebook where photographs of smirking physicians remind me that there is no cure for what I feel. Symptom 1, the itching, restless dancing of fingers hovering above a keyboard, agonizing over an email to you. When I glance away, they audaciously type, “tåya’ åmot para guinaiya.” I spend sleep-starved nights tabbing page after virtual page from malware infected medical sites, each of which is sponsored by the fact that there is no cure for what I am feeling right now. Symptom 2, my poor eye, crooked and scratched, sprained in its socket from straining to watch you from afar. As my eyes fail in frustration, the normally invisible detritus of the world’s afterglow mimes the plot of the most recent installment of my life, “Tåya’ åmot para guinaiya” I Whatsapp friends and foes photos of my symptom-sick form, hoping for some positive prognosis, but each

Gi i Tasen Pasifiku, guaha dos na klasen isla, takhilo' yan takpapa'. Ti kumekeilekna este na i taotao gi un takhilo' na isla mas maolek pat mas malate' kinu i taotao gi otro. Lao este put i tano' gi ayu na isla yan i tinakhilo'-na gi hilo' i tasi. Iya Guahan, un "takhilo'" na isla. Lao meggai na isla gi Marshall Islands yan gi FSM, manakpapa'. Para i manasaga' gi i manakhilo' na isla siha "climate change" un fihu mapacha na asunto, lao ti magahet, ti atdet i chinathinasso trabiha. Lao para i manasaga' gi i manakpapa' na isla siha, esta gof magahet yan gof atdet ayu. Esta manathinasson-niniha put taimanu na para u inafekta todu gi lina'la', put hemplo gi este na tinige', i hanom ni' ma gigimen kada diha. ******************* Perishing of Thirst in a Pacific Paradise 12/28/2015 02:50 pm ET Peter Mellgard Associate Editor, The WorldPost MAJURO, Marshall Islands -- A few yards from the

The issue of Tiyan has been constant my entire conscious life, but has shifted so much over time. When I was younger it was a base one that I remember visiting several times. As I got older it became an issue of protest, the site of the most infamous protest act in modern times, the jumping of the fence by Angel Santos and others and their subsequent arrest where he spat on an officer. When I returned to Guam after living in the states for several years Tiyan had been returned to the Government of Guam and everything about it was different now. Before I left Tiyan was thought of as a beautiful place, that had the military "betde na cha'guan" luster that brightens the eyes of so many locals. Once it had been returned it began to symbolize something else, decay and incompetence of the Government of Guam. I found it interesting that the toxic chemicals in the area were put there by the US military, but people seemed to ascribe its disgusting qualities instead to the local

It is the summer, but my schedule is still packed. The Pacific Islands Bilingual Bicultural Association (PIBBA) is having their annual conference this month in the island of Luta (Rota). Gos malago' yu' mohon na bai hu hanaogue, lao chatsaga' yu'. The PIBBA Conference falls at the same time as the opening of the Guam Humanities Council exhibit "Sindalu: Chamorro Journey Stories in the US Military." I worked as the writer and researcher for this project and so I have to be on island for when it begins. But if it wasn't for this I would submit an abstract and go to Luta for sure. As I often say, any excuse to travel to Rota is a good excuse. Sen gefpago na tano'. Achokka' dikike' i mineddong-na sen dangkolu' i ginefpago-na. Below is the call for papers with other info on the conference. If you are interested please submit an abstract or at least just attend. **************** --> I Lingguåhi, I Kuttura, I Halige

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