Weeds

It's been rainy and gray. Sunday was a torrent; Monday mostly dark and misty; Tuesday half and half. There have been some rainbows, too. And now it's just steamy and hot days; but very cool nights.
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There are more and more untended places around Saipan. The population is dwindling and nature is covering tracks.

Here are some photos of wildflowers and weeds. If you know the names of any of these, please tell me in the comments.




fleabane?


morning glory?




tangentangen

Saipan Politics

Photo from Saipan Tribune

When I say this photo on the front page of today's Saipan Tribune, my first thought was "why are these men smiling?" Don't they realize that the CNMI is in dire straits? Don't they have any sense of forboding? Aren't they the least bit concerned about the gravity of the situation?

I was at Java Joe's and chatting with Tina Sablan and Glen Hunter. Of course the Governor, Lieutenan Governor, Senators are smiling...they've just spent hours in a swank hotel.

Five hours of "leadership" meeting on the economy and they didn't have the good sense to use a government building? They had to go to a hotel? Who paid for that? Was there any bidding for this government expense or is our governor just friends with the hotel owners?

I really think the elected officials have completely lost touch with the realitiy on the ground. Their focus is on their own political hides.

Governor Fitial is a Republican again. This is his strategy for saving his political skin. (And writing a letter in support of Tom Delay, another "good" Republican."

The others are slapping each other on the back, grinning, "cooperating," and trying to convince themselves that they belong in the political fraternity where they can enjoy the perks of privilege.

What came out of the meeting? We have only a few details.

There will be $6.2 million pumped to travel agents to encourage tourism here. $100 paid for every tourist from Osaka and Nagoya during low peak times. Aren't all times low peak just now? Will this really be enough to stimulate travel? Are we going to get our money's worth? Can we afford it? This doesn't sound like a terrible idea, but how long can we buy our tourists? And what will the actual proposed legislation look like?

There was some mention of reprogramming funds and looking at "lapsed" federal grants. The first is always dangerous and usually means less control by the Legislature and more power to a Governor who has already abused his power repeatedly. The second shouldn't take a summit of leadership to consider. We apparently have federal money available to us for a number of projects that we have not spent, which Kilili has pointed out.

That's it...that's all we've been told so far.

While the governor is concerned about ending the austerity measures, no one is talking about the need for new thinking and lifetime commitment to austerity, to frugality, to a balanced budget.

No one is talking about cleaning up Saipan so tourists might better enjoy visiting. (Thanks is deserved by our Mayor who has at least addressed the roadkill problem.) No one is talking about small businesses--except to continue to fight minimum wage.

Our leaders continue to look for pie-in-the-sky solutions. They want the big kahuna to come in and give us money, no strings attached. That big kahuna could be casinos or crime and they wouldn't care, as long as the price was right. There is no thought for ethics, for principles or community values. And when any prospect appears that might look like the desired solution, there is an immediate blindness and unwillingness to look closely--just the usual grasping at straws.

None of them would recognize a real solution if it came up and bit them in the ass because a real solution would not mean money in their pockets; would not mean an immediate turn-around and super economic prosperity. A real solution would mean we'd have to work, to change, and to allow for gradual improvement.

We will continue to sink with this "leadership." They will continue to smile because they are clueless. As long as they can eat nice lunches and meet in luxury hotel rooms and be fawned over by people impressed with their position and power (big fish in a tiny fishbowl), they will remain out of touch with the reality in the community.

And that's a shame because they are also blind to the talents and resources of our people. The leadership might bash foreign workers when they're in the mood to cater to certain voters, but they don't really see the value of any of the people here--local, haole, and foreign. They are unaware of talents they can't recognize--like education, like visual or performing artistry, like the analytical/scientific mind, like the practical laborer. All they care about is whether they will continue to get elected and have money in their own pockets.

And so they are still smiling.

Happy New Year!

Dark skies, and rain. At first it was just a mist (about 7:30 AM) but now mid-morning it's a steady downpour.
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I have been swamped with work and life! Thus, no blogging for such a long time! And as a result, I've been getting more than my share of spam. So I've enabled word verification on comments. I think this is a nuisance, but hope you understand.

It's a new year. Wishing everyone peace and joy for 2011.

Zombie Prom

We've had some spectacular rainbows, and rainbow mist. I've been sick with flu for 2 weeks--seesawing between abject misery and mere fatigue.

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From the North Star

I read this "viewpoint" in the North Star (the CNMI's catholic newspaper), published 10/10/2010. At first I thought it was written by someone in Saipan!

Then I hit the phrase "spending money on doughboys" and wondered if this was from the WWI era.

But no...from the bottom of the column, I learned it's from a 9/30/2010 Rhode Island Catholic newspaper. In Rhode Island,
"doughboy" is defined as "No relation to the Pillsbury softy, the Rhode Island doughboy is typically a big square of pizza dough that's deep-fried and dusted with sugar."

Change this phrase out to sashimi platters or cases of Bud, and the "viewpoint" hits home!



I've heard tell from various people about Jesus Borja campaigning at a funeral in Tinian and Juan N. Babauta at a recent funeral here in Saipan. I'm sure that the other candidates may be tempted to engage in this conduct, too.

I just wonder if any of the candidates actually read the North Star--and will have the decency to desist.

No Budget-Essential Services

The relevant constitutional provision of our CNMI Constitution reads:

If a balanced budget is not approved (by the legislature) before the first day of the fiscal year, no money shall be drawn from the General Fund, provided that certain government services and employees shall remain available as provided by law, in order to deliver services essential to the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the Commonwealth and to protect against damage to and destruction of property.

The exact contours of this provision are now being tested by our current situation. And the limitations and protections of this provision seem to have already been stretched beyond reason and good sense in service of political motives.

1. The Saipan Tribune reports that Attorney General Ed Buckingham has used and is using public funds to hire a private attorney to represent him in the OPA investigation into his use of public office to support federal election (House of Representatives) candidate Joe Camacho. The hire of attorney G. Anthony Long occurred on September 17, 2010 --so predates the constitutional restriction on expenditures of public funds. But now the question becomes whether the continued services of Mr. Long can possibly be considered "essential services" during this government "shut-down." The answer seems obvious--NO! Legal services to cover Mr. Buckingham's ass in the investigation are not vital to "health, safety, and welfare OF THE PEOPLE."

No time that Mr. Long puts in from October 1, 2010 to the enactment of a budget should be billed to the public or paid for with public funds.


2. The Marianas Variety reports that Deputy Police Commissioner Ambrosio Ogumoro told DPS supervisors during work hours in a meeting to have their subordinate police officers bring food to a political gathering for US House candidate Joe Camacho. Almost worse than this political pressure is the report that police officers, while on duty, "delivered picnic tables, cut fish and helped in the preparation" for the political gathering.

Not only is it a violation of law for state government workers to aid in a federal election campaign as part of their state government work, we are in a SHUT-DOWN and only essential services are to be provided and paid for.

Helping on a political campaign is not essential service for the "health, safety, and welfare of the people of the Commonwealth."


We need a full investigation of both of these. We may need a lawsuit challenging expenditure of taxpayer funds in derogation of the Constitution. And for this, we need leaders to take the lead. They must step up and insist on behalf of all of us that the tyranny end; that our rights be protected; and that our government remain and return to democratic principles.

CNMI Political Negotiations-still no budget

October 3, 2010. Still no budget.