NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

For those wanting to learn more Chamoru or practice their Chamoru reading, the most prolific writer in the Chamoru language remains playwright and language teacher Pedro Onedera. He has written books, poetic collections, numerous plays and regularly publishes a column in the Pacific Daily News, which is written in Chamoru with an English translation. For those at the beginning of their Chamoru learning journey, his writings might be too difficult or complex. But for those who are already at the intermediate level of learning, they are a great way to push yourself in the language and really try to engulf yourself in a Chamoru narrative or series of argumentative points.  Here is his most recent column from this week talking about håyi i gayu-ña gi i botasion guini giya Guåhan guini na såkkan.  ************************ Ti bai hu bota engkåmen yan hagas hagas by Pedro Onedera Pacific Daily News August 5, 2020 På’go na simåna na ma tutuhon i sanhalom botadot para i primeru ileksion ni’

I have spent the past few weeks meeting with people who are running for political office here in Guam this year. Some for senator, some for governor. This year promises to be an exciting one in terms of campaigns and candidates. With five teams running for governor (4 Democrats and 1 Republican). More than 80 packets for senatorial candidates have been picked up, with only 15 possible seats in the legislature. Mampos meggai na månnok manmalålagu gi kånton guma'! What is different this year however is not just the amount of candidates, but also the diversity in terms of their background. More and more, people are running for office who haven't been in formal government service before. They haven't worked in a political machine. They are outsiders, activists, educators, working class people, lawyers, professionals, veterans, journalists and more. The question remains however, and I will acknowledge from the very start of the conversation, that there is nothing intrinsic

During the 2016 election, I followed the website FiveThirtyEight on a daily basis. I found the commentary to be very enlightening, as it wasn't just their reporting about polls, but also their analysis on what makes a poll informative or effective. The media in general often times picks polls that fit the narrative they are trying to promote, or they have their own internal hierarchy over what makes one poll useful and another less so. But these critical information points are rarely discussed openly, even if more astute media viewers or consumers can make their own best guesses. Although after Trump's victory in the election, I stopped consuming that type of poll-focused news. But as the US mid-term election season is starting up again, and we've ahead a round of very interesting special elections, I've slowly been drawn back to the website. This type of coverage, in the form of a group chat around the recent apparent Democratic-victory, is what makes it su

While watching the health care drama unfold for Republicans over the past few weeks and months, I kept thinking, who does this remind me of? Today it finally hit me, the Republican party, with their years of whining about Obamacare and promises to repeal and replace as soon as they were put in power, are like some of my worst students. For years they promised this, they knew that eventually it would happen and they would face a real test. But instead of studying, instead of preparing, they just kept procrastinating and accomplishing nothing helpful. Now, even their best efforts are laughable in the face of the fact that they had so much time to work something out, and can only resort of the dirtiest tricks now to try to get something, anything passed. *************** How Republicans Got Stuck on Repeal by Jennifer Haberkorn Politico 7/31/17 Republicans openly speculated in November whether they could fast-track an Obamacare repeal bill to Donald Trump's desk by Inaugur

Some recent updates on the health care debate in the United States. It is fascinating to contemplate that in the past few years one party lost political power in order to expand health care to tens of millions of more people, and now another party is on the verge of potentially losing power as well, by taking health care away from tens of millions as well. ************************* "Americans decided that health care is for all. Republicans want to roll that back." Former Vice President Joe Biden Washington Post July 17, 2017 As vice president, I met with Americans all across our country. What they told me over and over is that the Affordable Care Act gave them peace of mind — that if they got sick, or if their child got sick, they could get care and not have to worry about going broke as a result. They no longer had to lay awake at night wondering:  Can I pay for this treatment? What happens if she gets cancer? How will I feed my family and afford the care?

"Donald Trump Has No Plan to Make America Great Again" by Derek Thompson The Atlantic June 7, 2017 It’s “Infrastructure Week” at the White House. Theoretically. On Monday, the administration announced a plan to spend $200 billion on infrastructure and overhaul U.S. air traffic control. There was a high-profile signing in the East Wing before dozens of cheering lawmakers and industry titans. It was supposed to be the beginning of a weeklong push to fix America’s roads, bridges, and airports. But in the next two days, Trump spent more energy burning metaphorical bridges than trying to build literal ones. He could have stayed on message for several hours, gathered Democrats and Republicans to discuss a bipartisan agreement, and announced a timeframe. Instead he quickly turned his attention to Twitter to accuse media companies of “Fake News” while undermining an alliance with Qatar based on what may be, fittingly, a fake news story . It’s a microco