NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I started a website five years ago titled " Fino' Chamoru na Inadaggao " meaning a forum for debating or discussing the Chamorro language. This was initially mean to be a website that would support a series of Chamoru Language Senatorial forums held during the 2010 Guam election. From October 19th - 21st that year, all the Guam Legislature hopefuls were invited to a forum where they would be asked questions in the Chamorro language and be encouraged to respond in the Chamorro language. Now as you might imagine/know, in 2010 and 2015 the overwhelming majority of local politicians, including those who are Chamorro, cannot speak the Chamorro language. Because of this, each participant was given the question ahead of time, so as to allow them time to translate the questions and prepare their answers in either English or Chamorro. Candidate were also allowed to have interpreters on stage with them, sitting behind them in case they had trouble following along or remembering w

Ti meggai i ekspirensia-na siha Si Mitt Romney gi gubetnamento. Guaha na biahi na mas maolek este sa' i manenimigu-mu siha, ti sina ma hatme hao put i meggai na tinaya'-mu! Lao, ti ilek-hu na taya' ekspirensia-na, ilek-hu ti meggai. Desde 2002 asta 2006 Si Mitt Romney ha fa'cho'chu'i i taotao Massachusetts komo maga'lahin-niha (gubetno). I mas dangkolu-na Si Mitt Romney na este na bida-na, ti gof maolek. Ti atanon este, ti gof bunito. Meggai inefresi-na siha lao guahlo' gui'. Ilek-na na Guiya para u atbansa iya Massachussetts, lao gi durante i tiempo-na gumof tunok i tano'-na put cho'cho', ekonomiha, salape' yan kobransa. An malalagu hao para un takhilo' na ofisinan pulitikat taiguihi i Apa'ka na Guma' (lol), debi di fattayon i che'cho'-mu pulitikat. Lao para Si Romne ti meggai yan para i Republicans ti umaya yan i sisteman hinegge. Massachusetts un sen "asut" na tano' gi i US. I bida-na

The ballots for the Gubernatorial election for Guam's 2010 election were recounted today. The unofficial Tuesday night count of the votes placed Calvo/Tenorio ahead of Gutierrez/Aguon by 583 votes. The recount today placed the official vote count with Calvo/Tenorio ahead of Gutierrez/Aguon by 487. The results were certified declaring Calvo/Tenorio the future Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Guam. The Gutierrez/Aguon team, while not protesting, has refused to concede because of some irregularities and problems their campaign witnesses with the storing and transporting of votes. In their letter that they submitted to the Guam Election Commission, they outlined the following issues which they feel affected the integrity of the vote count. There concerns were that election officials had not followed Guam law when transporting votes, that lockboxes which carried already cast votes, were seen opened at voting stations even though they are supposed to be kept closed and secur

Congressional BORDALLO, Madeleine * Democrat 29,389 Gubernatorial CALVO, Eddie/TENORIO, Ray Republican 19,875 GUTIERREZ, Carl/AGUON JR., Frank Democrat 19,292 Senatorial 1 ADA, Tom * Democrat 22,078 2 WON PAT, Judi * Democrat 21,775 3 MUNA BARNES, Tina * Democrat 21,145 4 PANGELINAN, Vicente "Ben" * Democrat 21,110 5 YAMASHITA, Dr. Aline Republican 19,851 6 RODRIGUEZ, Dennis Jr. Democrat 19,674 7 RESPICIO, Rory * Democrat 19,177 8 ADA, Tony * Republican 18,594 9 BLAS, Frank Jr. * Republican 18,374 10 PALACIOS, Adolpho * Democrat 18,203 11 GUTHERTZ, Dr. Judi * Democrat 17,524 12 TAIJERON, Mana Silva Republican 17,172 13 CRUZ, Benjamin J. * Democrat 16,538 14 DUENAS, Chris Republican 16,051 15 MABINI, Dr. Sam Republican 16,035 16 HADDOCK, Ray Republican 15,955 17 TAITAGUE, Telo * Republican 15,895 18 GUTIERREZ-LUDWIG, Corinna Democrat 15,040 19 SAN AGUSTIN, Joe Democrat 14,724 20 DIERKING, Steve Democrat 14,256 21 THOMAS-NEDEDOG

Esta ma tutuhun tumutufong i botu siha para i Dos Mit Dies na Botasion guini giya Guahan. Bai hu kekeegga' i tinifong este ki munhayan, puede ha' ti esta chatangmak annai sina ma takfiha hayi manggana'. Before the results are in for the Guam election, I thought I would post below some of the ads from the Democratic and Republican Gubernatorial teams. Some of them were pretty interesting. The Guamanian Dream. This isn't really a political ad, it's just a mashed up collection of stereotypical images and metaphors meant to convey strength, good feelings and the future. Oh, wait, that is what a political ad is. The Carl Gutierrez narrative of him reaching out to help anyone in need is very appealing, unless you actually think about that as a matter of Government policy, where it would lead to bankruptcy and serious government overextension. I don't know what is more painful to listen to. Pandering in Chamorro to voters, or pandering in Tagalog. I under

The shortcut for talking about the US military fighting in Afghanistan is to say "Afghanistan." Even though fighting there has dramatically increased in the past two years, it still hasn't come to the point where it has been embedded in peoples' minds as being a "war." There are few very people who say Afghanistan War and the phrasing of "the war in Afghanistan" could simply be descriptive and not meant to convey a unique particular set of events or a stand-alone period of time. Although the war there is getting bloodier and bloodier and more and more hopeless (at least it seems), it still is not its own experience, or hasn't had its own substantive impact on the US and its psyche. Even tiny, public relations wars such as Grenada have their own particular meaning, even if the events of the US invading a tiny island in the Caribbean for no real reason cannot under any circumstances be counted as enough to shoulder the label of being a "war.