NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

“Trump and Consequences” by Michael Lujan Bevacqua The Guam Daily Post March 30, 2016 There’s a Chamorro saying, comes in different forms, but follows this basic logic, “ an esta masångan, mappot pumañot tåtte .” Once something has been said, it’s difficult to swallow back. This applies to what parents say to their children. What friends say to each other. What people post on their Facebook or Instagram. It is a simple reminder, that while it is easy to spit whatever nonsense comes into your mind at any given moment, the ease with which it is verbalized, is in direct contrast to how impossible it may be to rid the world of it. Nowhere is this more true than for politicians. There is an amazing process in which lifetimes of public service, legacies of accomplishment are reduced to gaffes, or mistakes or slips of the tongue. You must always be vigilante about what you say, because once it leaves your mouth, it belongs to the world, and it can be used to elevate you higher

  Democracy for America, who was disseminating it on behalf of the Bernice Sanders campaign. I'm posting it here because I feel like I've been neglecting the Presidential campaign in the US lately because of research commitments, writing commitments, activist commitments and then my loves and my family. To be very honest, I've only been following the campaign(s) to the extent to which Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah or Seth Meyers are covering it. This makes it easier not to be horrified at the deadly organism that is the Republican campaign and Republican candidates, as it is presented to me as ridiculous, as just the fluff perfect for jokes, even if they are tragic ones. As a result, even if they are foretelling doom and destruction for America if someone like Donald Trump or Ben Carson is elected President, the humor is a cushion, making it easier to deal with, since while it may not provide much pleasure for the intellectual portions of my mind, it sure as hell feeds the p

Even though I wish I was at the Rallies for Sanity and Fear today in Washington D.C., that desire to be there is more for the fact that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are funny shows and I enjoy watching them, and so a rally based on them, will most likely be ridiculous and hysterical. My desire to go isn't much of a political desire, after all, even though The Daily Show is about politics, it is not really supposed to be about politics, but about making jokes. Jon Stewart has shown regularly over the years, that he is a comedian and he has no political loyalties. Even though it is obvious he is more liberal than conservative, more Democrative than Republican, the worst thing you can do is approach him as if he should be on one side of the issue or the other, because then the comedian in him will want to irk you by completely bashing the things you thought he should respect. I can understand Jon Stewart not wanting to be reduced to a liberal fire-thrower or water-carrier,

Sen magof hu na sumasaga' yu' pa'go giya Guahan. Estaba, annai sumasaga' gi lagu, fihu mampos mahalang para este na isla. Lao desde hu "move" hu tatte para Guahan, hassan nai na nina'mahalang yu' ni' i lina'la' gi lagu. Hunggan, guaha na biahi, mandiseha yu' na este giya Guahan, pat este giya Guahan, lao ti presisu este na siniente. Mas ki nahong i lina'la'-hu guini, guaha na biahi, mas ki bula'. Mismo machuchuda' i tasa-hu. Lao desde hiningok-hu put i dos na rallies ni' manmaplaneha ni' i fumati'tinas i Daily Show yan i Colbert Report, fihu mandiseseha yu' na gaige yu' gi lagu ta'lo. Ti para mo'na ya ti para apmam, lao para un simana ha' buente, kosaki sina hu saonao ayu na linahayan gi ayu na dinana'. For those interested, I've got the rally and march messages below. ************************ "RALLY TO RESTORE SANITY" Jon Stewart National Mall, Washington D.C

This past week I got some of the best news I've gotten in a long time. I defended my dissertation last June, but had some revisions to take care of before I could submit it to my graduate school. Last week after almost two months of waiting, I finally received word from my dissertation committee that the last draft I sent them was acceptable and that I can finally submit it and officially become a Ph.D. Right now I'm working on the finishing touches or small little "details" of the dissertation that need to be taken care of. I'm completing my works cited page, looking for any typos or grammatical mistakes, writing up my acknowledgements and preparing my table of contents. One of the most fun and interesting details that I have left to take care of is choosing my epitaphs for each chapter. These are quotes or passages which are meant to be "teasers" or "sneak peeks" of my chapters. One thing that I've learned is that these sorts of detail

Fihu gof hosguan yu’ nu Si Stephen Colbert. Guahan iyo-ña programman telebishon, ya kontat ki na’chalek i fina’tinas-ña, Guiya la’mon hafa pau na’fanhuyong. Maseha hafa na gof "silly" na hinasso, siña ma na'magåhet gi i show. Gof suette este na klasin taotao, sa' este na inebra i guinife todu. Desde ha tutuhun i show-ña, meggai na’chalek na bidå-ña. Gi i ma’pos na sakkan, ha kesaonao i botashon Amerikånu pare Presidente. Matakpånge un patten i Space Station para Guiya. Ya gaige un to’lai giya Hungary, ya dipotsi matakpange para Guiya lokkue’. I mas na’chalek na patten i show-ña, annai mama’mumumu Si Colbert yan un otro sesso “random” na taotao. Mama’mumu Si Colbert yan Si Sean Penn, Si Barry Manilow, Si Kongresa Eleanor Holmes-Norton (ginnen Washington D.C.) yan Si Willy Nelson. Gi este na ti mismo na yinaoyao, Si Colbert ha chanda i otro taotao, ha fa’enimigu gui’, ya sångan meggai båba put Guiya gi i show-ña. Ya pues ma kombida ayu na ti magåhet na kontrariu halo

I'm writing my dissertation right now, but my lack of blogging lately has been bothering me, so I might just post other peoples' stuff for a while, so I can finish my third dissertation chapter, without too much guilt for not posting anything the past week. I came across this on the Daily Kos: LATE NIGHT POLITICAL SNARK : "Attention passengers: The Straight Talk Express is no longer in service. ... Barack Obama is our new president. I think I speak for everybody when I say, 'Anybody mind if he starts a little early?' ... At the end of the night, the electoral vote count was 349 for Obama, 148 for McCain. Or as Fox News says: 'too close to call.'" ---David Letterman - "People were worried about the Bradley effect. Apparently, it was not nearly as strong as the Bush effect." ---Jay Leno - "You know who I blame? The Large Hadron Collider. It is the world's largest and highest particle accelerator. You may remember we were warned tha

I just finished up a lovely interview with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton from Washington D.C. I saw her, her staff and most of her delegation all wearing buttons or shirts that said "DC Statehood" and "No Taxation Without Representation." I stopped someone wearing one of those shirts, asking if I talk to them about their movement, and thankfully enough I happened to stop Congresswoman Norton's chief of staff. Amongst the territories, Washington D.C. is like the Alpha Male or Bulaka , because of her privileged status, as the only one whose constiuents pay Federal income taxes, and whose geographical region houses the center of American power. I know plenty of Norton and her positions because of this relationship. Most other Americans probably know her from her ongoing fued with Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report.

Everytime I see film of that infamous green background speech that John McCain gave a few weeks ago, I cringe. Ko'lo'lo'na annai ha chalekin maisa gui'! Especially when he laughs at himself. He reminds me of an old man who isn't quite old enough yet to not care about other people's discomfort and be oblivious to whether or not they are paying attention, and so still nervously tries to provoke people to respond to what he is saying, to pay attention to him. That little smile that he gives makes me feel sad, but also sends a shiver up my spine. Last month, in an effort to spice up the faltering campaign of John McCain, Stephen Colbert threw down another gauntlet to net-savy audience, by challenging them to take a short segment from that infamous speech, and twist it until John McCain was exciting! Some of the entries have been uploaded to Youtube and so I'm posting them below. I have to admit, that even though watching the actual video of the speech makes