Lil Hammerhead has a poll up on his blog that reads:
From this list of submitted names of presumably eligible residents who've never held public office, who would you like to see run for some elected office in the future? Select as many as you'd like. (note: BOE members were not excluded from the poll)I'm on the list.
There are only a few days left to vote. You can vote for other people, but don't forget to Vote Villagomez: A New Hope! Yes We Can! We Want Change!
This has nothing to do with life in Saipan.
CNN reports that the New York Times reports that "the woman at the heart of the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal is a 22-year-old would-be singer from New Jersey."
I love New Jersey!
The story continues:
"The newspaper said that Ashley Youmans -- now known as Ashley Alexandra Dupre -- was identified in court documents as Kristen, the high-priced prostitute who met with Spitzer at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on February 13."I saw in another article that her, um, professianal fee is upwards of $5000......per hour.
Wow.Saipan has been mentioned in the international media connected to two different stories this week.
I mentioned the first story, the 9 delegate votes for John McCain, in my previous post.
I would never want to get political with this blog...never...but this excerpt from the Associated Press report gave me a chuckle:
Some of the delegates elected at a party convention Saturday said they're convinced the former Vietnam prisoner of war can deliver better times for the far-flung U.S. territories in the Pacific. [emphasis mine]No comment.
Michael Moore says:
What an amazing night, not just for Barack Obama, but for America. I know that Senator Obama is so much more than simply the color of his skin, but all of us must acknowledge -- and celebrate -- the fact that one of the whitest states in the U.S. just voted for a black man to be our next president. Thank you, Iowa, for this historic moment. Thank you for at least letting us believe that we are better than what we often seem to be. And to have so many young people come out and vote -- and vote for Obama -- this is a proud moment. It all began with the record youth turnout in 2004 -- the ONLY age group that Kerry won -- and they came back out tonight en force. Good on every single one of you!I already voted for Barack in Florida. You should, too.
It finally happened.
Wednesday night I was riding around on my scooter after it rained. I took a hard right turn in Garapan and my tires' grip on the road slipped. I dove head first into the asphalt, but managed to brace my fall with my right arm.
My shirt and jeans didn't rip and I didn't bleed too much, but I've got some nice scrapes starting on the palm of my right hand, along my arm up to my elbow and then to the shoulder, along the right side of my torso and on my right foot. My jeans kept me from getting scraped on my leg, but I'm sore and there is a lot of swelling. My face is untouched.
[Insert joke about my face]
I was mostly fine yesterday, but today it really hurts. I was supposed to do work with Ken this morning, but I called him to cancel.
It hurts, but think I'll survive. Maybe I'll take a few Advil.
I wonder when my Jeep will be fixed?
******
I just checked CNN.com for the early Iowa Caucus results. The summary on CNN's main page for the Top Story reads:
"On the Democratic side, early results show John Edwards with a narrow lead over rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama [emphasis added]."The body of that same story reads:
"With 47 percent of precincts reporting, Obama had the support of 34 percent of voters, compared to 32 percent for Edwards and 31 percent for Clinton [emphasis added]."A second article reads:
"Sen. Hillary Clinton has taken an early lead in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, even before voters make their voices heard in the first-in-the-nation presidential contests in Iowa and New Hampshire [emphasis added]."So there you have it.
My good friend and former roommate, Florida Representative Scott Randolph (D-Orlando), is running for re-election in 2008.
In 2005, I stood beside Scott and Scott's wife, Susannah, as we made his first campaign T-shirts in their living room. I also set up their first paypal account, which helped them receive their very first online contributions.
I moved to Japan shortly after that, which of course led to my return to Saipan. Read the archives of this blog if you want to know the rest.
I missed out on helping Scott win his first primary election and his first general election in 2006. I'm 6,000 miles away, so the most I could do was put a campaign button on my website and send in a campaign contribution.
Scott is an environmentalist's dream come true. He is currently the Democratic Ranking Member on the Florida Committee on Environmental Protection and has spent his entire career working to protect Florida's fragile environment.
If you want to join me in helping to elect a Real Environmentalist, click HERE, and make your donation today. The maximum donation is $500 for the primary election and $500 for the general election.
Scott's opposition spent $1.7 million to defeat him last year...and lost. They'll be looking to reclaim his seat in the next election, probably spending even more money. Please donate. Every dollar will help us keep a real environmental champion in office.
My absentee ballot came in the mail today!
I took it home, filled it out, and brought it straight back to the post office.
Does that make me the first person to vote for the 2008 Presidential Election? Yeah, I doubt it, too...but I'm probably the first person in Micronesia to vote for the 2008 Presidential Election, right?
Since my readers (both of you) are more concerned with Fotten Gaga girls and documentaries of Killer Saipan Tsunamis, I’ll spare you a treatise on my political philosophy.
I decided to go with this guy:
I was torn between Obama and Clinton. Both candidates would make great presidents and I spent a long time contemplating my decision, but in the end Barack gets my vote. I am still a huge fan of Hillary and as long as John Edwards doesn’t get the nomination, I plan on supporting the Democratic Nominee.
I would love to see an Obama-Clinton or a Clinton-Obama ticket in November. Their combination of experience, charisma and fundraising potential would be unbeatable. Plus, Oprah supports Obama. Who in their right mind would disagree with Oprah?
******
Kudos goes out to the Orange County Supervisor of Elecitons. They did a bang up job of getting me my overseas absentee ballot. They sent me a reminder notice to register to vote absentee a few months ago and then sent me a list of candidates through snail mail and email. Then my ballot arrived with plenty of time to get it back to them in time for the January 29 primary. They also mailed my ballot with a postage paid envelop. They make voting simple and effortless for those of us overseas.
Great job!
I've already requested my Florida Presidential Primary ballot. They've already sent me my list of candidates. Pretty soon I'll get my sample ballot and then a whole bunch of campaign fliers.
In 2006 I got my ballot for the September 5 Gubernatorial primary on August 8. If the Orange County Supervisor of Elections is as efficient as he was last time, that means I'll probably get my ballot right around the first day of 2008.
So who should I vote for?
Can we all agree on a few things?
Can we all agree that nonresident workers are an important and integral part of our community, economy, and in many cases, families?
Can we all agree that it was wrong of Boni Sagana to tell Dekada members that a $100 membership would buy them a greencard long before there was any serious hope of getting them one*?
Can we all agree that it was wrong of Taotao Tano to tell Dekada to Go Home?
Can we all agree that anyone living on this island has the right to participate in our democracy by invoking their First Amendment rights?
Can we all agree that there were lots of Labor abuses in the past and that they still exist today, however that there are fewer now than in the past?
Can we all agree that not all nonresident workers have been faced with Labor abuses?
Can we all agree that some nonresident workers knowingly came here illegally and are abusing the system?
Can we all agree that there are racists on both sides?
Can we all agree that Mainland liberals calling these islands a “rogue territory” and constantly telling us that “Saipan sucks” is not helping matters much?
Can we all agree that protecting indigenous rights and culture is a worthy cause?
Can we all agree that people have different definitions of indigenous rights and culture?
Can we all agree that most of the people that moved here from somewhere else came here because the situation here is somehow preferable to the situation back at home?
Finally, can we all agree that the issues that are truly keeping all of us down, regardless of where we come from, are underfunded public education, poor infrastructure, greedy and self serving politicians, poor land and water stewardship, lack of economic opportunity, alcoholism, poor diet, and a bloated government?
...or am I just taking crazy pills?
* We all can't agree on this one. See the comments section for discussion.
It is difficult being part of the ruling party's opposition.
Take America, for example. People in the Mainland tend to vote Republican not because they agree with the tenets of the Mainland Republican Party (War and Debt is good for the economy, No Dudes Kissing, Screw the Little Guy), but because the opposition party, my party, the Democrats, have not offered up their own plan in recent memory.
In 2004, John Kerry's platform was basically, "Vote for me because I'm not Bush."
Bush's platform was, "I'm a leader, I'll kill the terrorists, and I'll make sure no more dudes kiss each other."
Who would you vote for? Most people would pick the latter, not because he's right, but because he is seen as strong and moving forward. Kerry ended up looking like a latte-sipping, waffling French guy.
Then the only reason the Democrats were able to win both Houses back in 2006 was not because they were doing a particularly good job or offering up a better vision for America, but because the ruling party had screwed up royally.
******
The people fighting for improved Guest Worker status have an uphill battle to fight. They are not even an opposition party. They have no party. They have no power. They have only the support of both newspapers, various ethnic-based guest worker clubs, one soon to be politician, and a handful of American citizens.
They do not have public support from most local leaders, many overseas workers afraid of losing their jobs, Taotao Tano, the Chamber of Commerce, or the largest employer on island, Tan Holdings.
I support their right to boycott, strike, speak out, and march, regardless of the issue, but I am with Jeff in thinking that both sides are wrong in the debate, with a few slight amendments.
******
In case you've been hiding under a rock for the last few days, the Unity March is next Friday. I'm sure it will draw a crowd, but the following question needs to be answered, "Who will draw a bigger crowd, Martin Nievara or Boni Sagana?"
Visit Brad's blog and vote!
******
If political marches aren't your thing, there will be a Ultimate Frisbee tournament next Friday up at the Marpi baseball field. Be there by 10 AM. The entry fee is a 12 beers, sodas, bottles of water, or bags of ice.
******
David Khorram wrote an outstanding piece for the Saipan Tribune on November 30 detailing the difference in values we're experiencing on this island.
Check it out.
******
My third article was published in the paper on Wednesday. This one is about the Green Christmas for the Children of the Marianas celebration.
The Association of Commonwealth Teachers is calling interested community members to participate in a pre-election educational roundtable discussion with the candidates.
The purpose is to ensure that teachers, parents, and the community are able to meet the candidates and ask questions regarding their plans for education.
The discussion is tomorrow night, Wednesday, September 25 at 7:00 PM in the cafeteria of San Vicente Elementary.
The 15 Candidates from Precinct 1 have been invited to attend. For more information, please email ACT at cnmiactnow@gmail.com.
Please repost this message on blogs and other media.
******
You may have noticed the polls listed in the left hand column. Please vote for Senate, Precincts 1-5, the Saipan Casino Act, and the Runoff Initiative. You can select up to 6 candidates for Precincts 1 and 3 and up to 2 candidates for Precincts 2, 4, and 5.
These results are in no way scientific, but it will be fun to see if these polls accurately predict the winners on November 6. May the most popular candidates be victorious!
The polls will end on November 5 at 5:00 PM.
******
William Betz, the douchebag webmaster of the website that shall not be named, is passing around this email:
My friend John Bowe will be appearing on the Jon Stewart show tonight to talk about his new book, "Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy." The book's focus is on the plight of Mexican and Central American farm workers in Florida, East Indian labor abuse in Tulsa and Asian "guest worker" abuse in Saipan, an American territory in the Pacific Ocean. John is an award-winning (and excellent) writer. The book demonstrates how "globalization" and the labor abuses (i.e., slavery) that result have had the effect of degrading not only foreign workers who are abused in the U.S. but also the character of our society as a whole. It's important for anyone who cares about the cause of human dignity.The interview will play on the East Coast, Monday, September 24 at 11:00 PM. It will be up on the Comedy Central website shortly after it airs. I will link to it when it is up.
Watch if you have the chance.
Bill
I leave for Thailand in 9 days. Woot!
I don't come back until after the election. Double woot!
Before I got to bed, I have to ask two questsion:
1. Why don't any of the candidate signs popping up on every street have websites, phone numbers, or some other type of information that would allow the voter to find out more about the candidate? I think that if a candidate were to produce a sign with a website prominently displayed, they would become the first candidate in Marianas' history to promote themselves effectively using a website.
Will the Marianas have to wait for me to run for governor in 2035 for that to happen?
2. Why are there no write in candidates? WTF?
(and the governor thing is a joke. I have no plans to run for office right now. I am too busy with Beautify CNMI and my MINA job to have time to think about public office.)
Ron Hodges, another guy who knows everything, no really, he does, offered up his suggestions for people he thinks should run for office. Oh yeah, he thinks they should run for free. He writes:
The goal of our elected representatives in November should be shifting to non-paid legislators by 2011. Possible volunteers might be Bishop Camacho, Jesse Borja, Dr. Ada, Dr. Khorram, Efrain Camacho, Dr. Brostram, Tina Sablan, Dr. Stearns, Karen and Dave Borja, Chuck Ann Jordan, Dr. Aldan, Sister Martha, Charles Cepeda, Judge Ed Manibusan, Absalom Waki, Dave Burger, Esther Fleming, Mr. Kim, Diego Benevente, Hector Sevilla, Rick Kautz, Beth Nepaial, Jess Wabol, Jim Phillips, Alex Sablan, Vic Cepeda, Dave Hokin, Greg Cruz, Pastor Lee, Pedro Dela Cruz, Mustafa Shakir, Ron Barrineau, Nick Sablan, Alexis Fallon, Marian Aldan-Pierce, John Baldwin, Tony Pellegrino, Jessica Barcinas, Bill Weiss, Eli Maravilla, Rip Stephansen, Pete Igitol, Doc Murdock, Tony Muna, Jeff Flores, Gilbert Saludez, and any honors graduate of MHS. Intelligence, talent, work ethic, diversity, understanding, and a history of unpaid community service would make the aforementioned stakeholders the most highly qualified representatives in CNMI history-times 20 for FREE.Dang it! So what do I have to do to get Captain Real Estate to notice my unpaid community service? I'll need his endorsement if I'm going to win in 2019.
I think it started when the Writers over at Middle Road posed the question, "Who would make a better leader, Tina or Angelo?"
When the poll started, most of the feedback seemed pretty positive:
run pole said...When the poll ended with Tina winning, the trolls came out of the woodwork.
Angelo or Tina.
They're both great leaders already and don't seem to be heading in opposite directions in regards to their vision of what is best for our islands.
Anonymous said...Hmmmm....
I can't believe 26.6percent of people voted the way they did. Sheds a little light on why the CNMI is in the predicament it's in. Hypocrites, Sheisters and Fly-by-Nights... who garner votes.
Anonymous said...The letter referenced in that last post was a response to an email I sent Tina after she used the Beautify CNMI email list to send out her "A Call to Action" diatribe. That letter was published in both newspapers, several websites, and she read the whole thing on the radio. She didn't need to use our list.
and how does Mr. Villagomez fit into this poll? He does not even refer to the CNMI as his home... (that is from a reference on his blog).
Herman's said...
Angelo is leading this one? Who's gonna be his sidekick, EJ?
Anonymous said...
wow...let's be honest now... you ended this poll extremely early. You left the Tina/Angelo poll up for a month. Why did you end this now? Did you end it when the results you wanted were achieved? Curiously suspicious? Angelo is a two-faced spineless idiot... he picks up cans and girls...yeah...good governor. Give us a break!
Anonymous said...
SandinBrad...it's not about the messenger... it's about the message. Yes, Cinta and Tina are beacons in the night here...both straight up and both with spines. I don't know if you read it... but after Tina's landmark three part letter in the paper last January...Spineless Angelo, who sent her a sharp rebuke...which happened to be forwarded to many people. If you haven't read it...you should. Basically, he proved himself just another crony... defending his "enfamilia".
Tina was right on in that letter, and for him to have the wherewithall to challenge any of it was only proof that he is just one of the gang, who, in the end will stick up for the history of his family...
SPINELESS
He touts himself a progressive/liberal...he may be... but not when it comes to sticking up for his relative politicians.
Get a copy of that letter he wrote her... it'll make you vomit.
Dear Tina (and everyone else for that matter),Sure, I sound like a total, um, David Cohen won't let me use bad words. But you know what? Tina and I talked about her running for office as far back as September 2006. I didn't want people to think that Beautify CNMI was created to be a launching pad for Tina Sablan's political career.
While I think it is great to have a vibrant open Democracy where people are not afraid to speak their minds, I don't want to spend this election year deleting dozens of 9 page diatribes against, well, anything.
If I get an unsolicited mass email like this again from ANYONE in the Commonwealth pushing what I consider to be a political agenda, whether right/wrong or if I agree/disagree, I am going to do everything in my power to report your email as SPAM (Tina, gets a freebie this time, but this is a final warning).
When I am successful at reporting you as a SPAMmer, that means that whole directories of emails, such as aol.com, hotmail.com, yahoo.com and gmail.com will be unavailable to your email address. I'm sure that will be fun for you. And if you don't think I can do that, try me.
Tina, I have nothing against you, but it is really easy for anyone on this list to hit "reply all" or to copy this list and send out something else.
Please use BCC in the future,
Angelo
Anonymous said...So the question remains, why am I such a threat to Tina Sablan's supporters? All of these comments are anonymous; I wonder how many of them are from Tina personally and how many are just from her supporters?
thank god sblogger doesn't meet the age requirement to run yet...
Anonymous said...
tina vs. angelo...??? that is like deep vs. shallow, a supercomputer vs. a vegetable, a stand-up and shoot straight citizen vs. a hair-gelled photo-op boy, a ferrari vs. a pinto... (and just so there's absolutely no confusion I equate sblogger with the vegetable, hairgel, shallow and pinto) :)
The deadline to file for candidacy in November's election was yesterday.
Some items from the news that stand out to me:
This Vizu poll thing is started to take over our blogs. While it is fun, it is getting to be a bit much (this coming from the guy who posted three attack blogs yesterday).
Middle Road added another poll yesterday, this time asking the question, "Who should and could be the next Governor of the CNMI?" The choices are as follows:
I couldn't believe my eyes when I read this story about RP Consul General Wilfredo Maximo telling the Filipino community not to participate in a boycott of Juan Guerrero's businesses.
Maybe I'm oversimplifying the problem, but let's see, if you are a foreign worker you can't vote, you could lose your job and have to go home at any time, and nobody on the Hill has your interests in mind. EVER.
Considering the status of most overseas workers, a boycott seems like a pretty good way to get your message across. It says, "Hey, Juan, go ahead and screw us...because we're going to screw you right back."
The only people to be hurt by this boycott are Guerrero and his employees. There will be no net loss of jobs, because unlike the boycott of Jollibee, there are plenty of other businesses that can perform the services offered by Guerrero. He does not hold a Monopoly on baking bread, arranging travel plans, or sending money to the Philippines.
I find it appalling that the so called leaders of the Filipino community aren't willing to stick out their necks for the people that they are supposed to be representing. Not only that, Maximo took it a step further and accused the people fighting for a living wage of blackmail.
I don't want to be accused of misquoting him, so here is what he said:
"I believe that a thoughtful and healthy debate on the issue is the way forward. Pressure tactics like boycotts through text message campaigns are a form of blackmail as it is an attempt to impose one's views on others under threat of drastic action”Pardon my French, but are you fucking kidding me? That somebody would dare call a boycott a "pressure tactic" and "a form of blackmail" is sickening.
Like a lot of people, I disagreed with Taotao Tano's "Go Home" and "This is OUR Land" protest signs. What a great way to kill any ounce of credibility that your group might have.
I went to the last Taotao Tano meeting and it seemed like they had a lot of good ideas and were concerned with a lot of important social issues facing our community. I had high hopes for Taotao Tano and it saddens me that they are blinded by their racism.
The immigration status of foreign contract workers is probably one of the most important issues facing our islands, but their protests sound eerily similar to the "Nigger, Go Back to Africa" philosophy of the Ku Klux Klan and the Republican Party.
There are so many issues facing this island. Blind racial hatred should not be one of them.
Taotao Tano has already identified a lot of the issues. They are concerned with the mismanagement of CUC, the legalization of marijuana, and a host of other things.
I'd like to add to that list:
1. Jack Abramoff, part II
The Governor just decided that he's going to pay a lobbyist $15,000 per month (that's $180,000 per year) to represent the CNMI during Federalization. Hiring Jack Abramoff worked out so well; I'm glad to hear that our leaders don't worry about repeating their mistakes the way I do.
Taotao Tano should be pissed about that. How many jobs is $180,000 per year? I could hire 15 professional beautifiers at $6.25/hour and have them spend 40 hours per week cleaning up this island. For minimum wage I could hire 30.
What is better for our economy, having more people dedicated to improving our tourist destination or paying off Joe Biden's grandson?
2. John Del Rosario publicly speaking out against Article XII
Taotao Tano should also be pissed off that the Secretary of Public Lands is publicly supporting getting rid of Article XII. It is good to know that the guy in charge of the majority of the land in the CNMI is in favor of selling it off for a one time profit. I just know he'll do the right thing when the time comes.
Alright, that's enough for now. I have to go cleanup the Lighthouse. Public Service beckons.
Have a Happy Fourth of July, Everyone!
Guns & Roses, the soon to be Greatest Coed Soccer Team EVER, is still looking for male and female players for the upcoming coed soccer league starting in July. I'm Guns. Brad is Roses.
We don't want players with experience and/or skill. We're looking for players that will have a good laugh when Bruce Berline rams into an 85 lb Thai girl, killing her on impact. We also need a player who owns a big cooler and a player with experience grilling chicken. Extra consideration will be given to the player with the best marinade. Double bonus consideration to the player willing to pay for cold, frothy beverages to fill the previously mentioned cooler.
If you play on our team, you'll have your picture in the newspaper, too. I have already talked to Brad and he is going to do a week long feature on the Greatest Coed Soccer Team EVER in the Saipan Tribune. He has also promised to cover only games in which we win.
If you don't want to play, we're also recruiting a firm.
Contact Brad for more info.
In other news:
THIS is very important.
So is THIS.
In political news:
I was sitting in Cafe at the Park this afternoon when Clyde "the Chamorro Glide" Norita and Ray Yumul walked in and sat down at a table with reporters from the Tribune and Variety. Norita announced that he is running for Senate as an Independent candidate.
