NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

The Chamorro language has lots of fans. This is something to applaud. Two generations ago, the Chamorro language was being used by more people, but had very few fans. Most people who used it didn't speak it to their children or those younger than them. So even if it was being spoken, it was not being passed on and so its death sentence was already being prepared. It had few fans, most of the older generations of Chamorros, who were World War II survivors and veterans of American colonialism, were not big fans of Chamorro. They saw it as something that was a relic of the past, tied to a stagnant and penniless way of life, and something to be gotten rid of to make way for English. The game has changed. Chamorro now has more fans. The Chamorro language has more than 10,000 likes on Facebook. Attitudes have shifted so that people say the language should be saved and should be used. They admit to a beauty to it and it being an important part of the heritage of the Marianas. Only

My answer to the question that is this blog's title, is a hopeful "hunggan" or "yes." I've been following this film for a while, although I admit, that he kept a lid on this one up until recently, unlike Sicko . I guess the lack of knowing and the relative dark that I've been kept in, has just increased my desire to see it. Moore's movies always have a sort of radical Americanist edge to them. They are absolutely patriotic and America-loving, but in a critical sense, always in the hopes of using such rhetoric in order to push the United States to recognize hypocrisy, to change itself, to change the direction its heading. When I watch Moore's film, I'm less conflicted or mixed then I am with other liberal or progressive critiques. Despite the fantasies of conservatives or Republicans, liberal rhetoric is just as exceptionalist, just as forgetful as that of conservative Republicans and can therefore be just as violent and colonial as the wors

Hu tutufong i ha'ani siha esta ki mana'huyong este gi i fanegga'an guini... Capitalism, A Love Story ************************************** Sunday, September 6th, 2009 This Is It! World Premiere of 'Capitalism: A Love Story' Tonight ...a message from Michael Moore Friends, Well, this is it! Tonight, at the Venice Film Festival, I will premiere my new movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story." After 16 months of production, I am proud to present this work of mine to you. It is unlike anything you'll see on the silver screen this year. Twenty years ago this week I premiered my first film, "Roger & Me." Tonight, my new film will premiere at the oldest film festival in the world, the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy. It is an incredible honor they've bestowed on us, and we feel very privileged to be able to present "Capitalism: A Love Story" tonight in Venice. The director of the festival said that our movie was &quo;

I'm sure its a constant refrain in almost any place, but in Guam, being an island, far away from its colonial center, this refrain seems almost oppressive at times. What I'm referring to is the idea that "nothing is going on" or that there's "nothing to do." When I was an undergraduate on Guam I would hear this all the time, usually as a preface to a rant expressing a desire to move to the states or to leave the island and its smallness behind. I know today a lot of why this urge to leave the island exists, apart from the insularity or isolation of any island, there is a colonial dimension to this desire. At times I may have even felt this, especially when I was first establishing myself as an artist on Guam, and had trouble selling my abstract work or finding places to exhibit my work. I pined for a larger market with a more mature or "modern" buying audience, instead of the Japanese tourists and local population who just wanted beach scenes