NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

There are certain things in Guam and Chamoru life and history that exist as such potent and powerful symbols to illustrate reality, whether negatively or positively. You could argue the Karabao is one such positive image. Even the latte or the såkman/galaide'.  But when it comes to these types of negative symbols, you have the old standard, the vague image of island thieves or ladrones. But you also have two very powerful and obfuscating symbols that are more recent, from just the past century, that of SPAM and the brown tree snake.  I was in a virtual symposium last week where I talked about Spam as a way of talking about islanders and their relationship to everything from militarization to colonialism to the impact of capitalism and consumerism on everything from the land, the culture to the body itself.  The brown tree snake possess a similar sort of potential in talking about the impact on the island of Guam or the Chamoru people, their natural resources, by invasive species. I

In genera the website Vox is like a hundred breaths of fresh air each week. The videos that it puts out each week are enjoyable and informative, bumping up against critical political and cultural issues (ranging from borders, to hip hop, to even the infamous worst movie ever The Room). But on a regular basis, the voice that I appreciate the most is that of its co-founder and editor-at-large, Ezra Klein. His articles are well-written and often help bring together my diffuse and disparate thoughts about the new list of scandals from the Trump administration. They help articulate thoughts still fuming and forming in my mind, with a welcome clarity, at a time when it seems so difficult to be politically sane. His most recent piece on Trump's impromptu interview with The New York Times at his golf club, helps bring together so many troublesome issues about the Trump administration, and connects them to the man at its core, where there is increasing evidence each day, that he may no

The past few days have been quite hectic due to the threat to Guam by North Korea and President Trump's shocking response. I am trying to catch up on my posts on this blog, and so we'll see if I'll be able this month. Here are a few articles on the initial threat from North Korea to Guam.  ******************* North Korea Claims It’s Planning to Fire Missiles Near Guam 8/10/17 SEOUL/GUAM (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it was completing plans to fire four intermediate-range missiles over Japan to land near the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam in an unusually detailed threat that further heightened tensions with the United States. North Korea’s army will complete the plans in mid-August, when they will be ready for leader Kim Jong Un’s order, state-run KCNA news agency reported, citing General Kim Rak Gyom, commander of the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army. The plans called for the missiles to land in the sea

Like many issues that straddle both the US and Guam, there are ways in which their may be a shared, similar experience, but always ways in which geography, culture, identity, history and coloniality will make it different and distinct. For example, within a US context I may be on one side of any health care debate, but in Guam I may take a completely opposite position. Part of it depends on how I may see myself ideologically and politically in relation to issues of power, justice and progress in the US context. But when the discussion extends to the colonies, my sense of things tends to become more Guam and Chamorro focused. If Guam were a full part of the US, I might feel differently, but as it is not, I do not and should not assume that however things work in the US, is how they should work in Guam. Or that, like the colonial mantra goes, whatever is good for the US must be good for Guam. Because of this colonial difference, I haven't been following the Trumpcare debacle as muc