NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Governor Eddie Calvo's 2016 State of the Island Address Posted: Mar 31, 2016 5:21 PM Updated: Mar 31, 2016 7:21 PM  State of the Island Address 2016 Lt. Gov. Tenorio, Madam Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, Congresswoman Bordallo, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, but more importantly… Manelu’hu, manaina’hu, yan I man’hoben, Welcome to the Guam Capitol District! Look at how beautiful this city has become. This museum will be open in a few months. Paseo renovations are underway. I can’t wait to deliver next year’s address in the Guam Congress Building next door. And I have to tell you, as a son of Hagatna, a resident of Agana Heights, and a worker in the capital, I’m so happy that some of the best restaurants opened up shop here. We welcome even more business. We welcome artists, performances, tours, and the return of the government of Guam to the seat of government. We have even bigger plans for this place. I received the Hagatna Master Plan for consi

I participated in a round table discussion earlier this week on education in Guam and its relationship to Chamorro language and culture. We were asked to share our viewpoints on different aspects of this issue, ranging from what we might feel public school education on Guam is doing right and what we feel it is doing poorly. The Chamorro language program in DOE is a very curious institutional animal in terms of analysis. Students are mandated to take Chamorro language in both elementary and middle school and can take it as an elective in high school. Compared to other indigenous groups that are trying to revive and institutionalize their languages this is very impressive and Chamorros can be considered to have a real advantage. But the Chamorro language program in Guam's public schools is impressive in the abstract but in practice it is incredibly ineffective. I polled my students this week about their experiences in Chamorro language classes in DOE. Most focused on the fun act

Published on Tuesday, August 6, 2013 by Common Dreams Remembering Hiroshima at Los Alamos, New Mexico by Rev. John Dear   In 1981, while traveling in Europe, some friends and I visited Dachau, the Nazi concentration camp outside of Munich. Most of it was razed to the ground, but the original fences and barbed wire remained, along with a few buildings. That was enough to send chills down the spine. It was too much for me to take in. It’s still too much for me to take in. Upon leaving, I noticed the beautiful suburban neighborhood surrounding Dachau. The houses, green trees, streets, shrubs, shops—it could have been any suburb in the U.S.—and it was right next to the Nazi concentration camp. I was shocked and asked the officials, “Was Dachau like this 35 years ago? Were these homes here?” Yes, they answered. They smelled the smoke--and went on with their lives. The normality of evil! The suburba

After serving eight terms as one of the most progressive members of the US House of Representatives, Dennis Kucinich is leaving Washington D.C. next month. Kucinich was often the most reasonable voice in very unreasonable and irrational times. He ran for President several times, once I got to see him at a campaign stop in Atascadero, California. He was proud defender of the often time embattled and much maligned label of liberal. He will be missed. Below is the text for one of his most famous speeches given in February 2002. ***************** A Prayer for America by US Rep Dennis Kucinich February 17, 2002 I offer these brief remarks today as a prayer for our country, with love of democracy, as a celebration of our country. With love for our country. With hope for our country. With a belief that the light of freedom cannot be extinguished as long as it is inside of us. With a belief that freedom rings resoundingly in a democracy each time we speak freely. With the unde

Sometime last year I spent a morning with some members of We Are Guahan preparing for an upcoming round of Heritage Hikes that we hoped would visit Spanish Steps, Tweed's Cave, Pagat and Haputo Beach. Our initial round of Heritage Hikes featured places that are open to the public, but have some relationship to Guam's militarization, either in a contemporary or historical sense. For later rounds we tried to choose sites on bases in hopes of testing to see how sincere the US military is that the public have good and regular access to historical and culturally significant places. That morning we went on a tour of the historic sites that can be found on Navy Base Guam, including a walk around the area where songsong Sumay used to be. In a way, a historical tour around Naval Base Guam is actually a depressing trip. It is a tour of absence. Almost a tour of nothing, a tour of the long gone traces of something. There is plenty of recent history on the base. It has only existed s

For those of you who have been hearing about Pussy Riot and their being put in prison, here are some English lyrics to the song that got them convicted of "Hooliganism" motivated by religious hatred.  freepussyriot.org ******************** Punk Prayer By Pussy Riot English version by Carol Rumens (Chorus) Virgin Mary, Mother of God, banish Putin, banish Putin, Virgin Mary, Mother of God, banish him, we pray thee! Congregations genuflect, Black robes brag gilt epaulettes, Freedom's phantom's gone to heaven, Gay Pride's chained and in detention. KGB's chief saint descends To guide the punks to prison vans. Don't upset His Saintship, ladies, Stick to making love and babies. Crap, crap, this godliness crap! Crap, crap, this holiness crap! (Chorus) Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Be a feminist, we pray thee, Be a feminist, we pray thee. Bless our festering bastard-boss. Let black cars parade the Cross. The Missionary's in cl