Who stands for the Commonwealth?

A family gathering took place yesterday as we celebrated my youngest daughters 5th year birthday as well my two Jr. High graduates. It was the perfect day for an outing at the beach, the wind blew gently and consistently, the water seemed mirror like only until the jet ski rider rips through the water creating ripples as far as one can see. It was this perfect where friends and family gathered and shared concerns on the upcoming guberatorial election, only reason this came us is the Juan/Galvin duo were adjacent to us as they prepared for their campaign party. "Who stands for the Commonwealth?" asked an individual..

The question lingered in my head, but as I continued to listen, the discussion took a turn, where all candidates are of equal status today and no indiference is seen amongst them, this would be a difficult choice for voters to make. Again, the question lingers, who stands for the Commonwealth? Our candidates make promises, some may be kept and some not and we cannot hold them to it if they do not meet the promises as expectations always depending on circumstances. The question asked for who will lead us, who will endure the painstaking decisions that could affect their constitutents in the name of keeping the Commonwealth alive. The question asks, which candidate will make a change for better and stop this non-sense hirings of friends and family who simply cannot fulfill their basic duties and repsonsibilities when given positions at the helm of critical government agencies, and offices.

When placing your vote this primary election as well the actual gubernatorial elections, set aside preference, set aside, the 'I Know him", set aside the promised jobs for family and friends, but set your expectations on who will stand for the Commonwealth!

Joke of the week - Mr. Postman...

It was Postman Pat's last day on the job after 35 years of carrying the mail through all kinds of weather to the same villages and towns.

When he arrived at the first house on his route, he was greeted by the whole family there, who all hugged and congratulated him and sent him on his way with a gift cheque for £50. At the second house they presented him an 18-carat gold watch. The folks at the third house handed him a bottle of 15-year old Scotch whisky. At the fourth house he was met at the door by a blonde in her lingerie. She took him by the arm and led him up the stairs to the bedroom where she gave him the most passionate love he had ever experienced. When he had had enough they went downstairs, where the blonde fixed him a full English breakfast: Bacon, eggs, beans, mushrooms, sausages & fried bread with freshly squeezed orange juice. When he was truly satisfied she poured him a cup of steaming coffee. As she was pouring, he noticed a £5 note sticking out from under the cup's bottom edge.

"All this was just too wonderful for words," he said, "but what's the five quid for?"
"Well," said the blonde, "last night, I told my husband that today would be your last day and that we should do something special for you...I asked him what to give you". He said, "F***him. Give him a fiver."
She smiled shyly and said, "The breakfast was my idea."

Smiles from Bad Eyes!

This morning around 06:34am, I was outside and ready to head out for work when Boni slips out of the door dressed in ablack outfit. I thought to myself, wow, I have not seen her wear that before and it looked beautiful on her as I stood from a distance. I waited to comment on it as she walked closer and low and behold, it did look good on her except, it wasn't an outfit. Boy did my bad eyes make a great morning after I commented on it.

She was wearing a black slip silk robe that comes up just above her knees and without its waist tie, she had a hair clip pinned in the center to make it seem as if it were a fashion belt. From afar, it looked stunning on her and while she approached and I took a second look at what she wore, I smiled and commented stating exactly what I thought of the outfit as she came out from the house.

That was funny and yet sometimes having bad eyes could bring a smile and more at the right moments. Enjoy your day!

WE, the indigenous have a voice...

In 178 days from today, the Federal Government will take over the CNMI's labor and Immigration, hence head note 3(a) is gone, the Garment manufacturing tariff that allowed the CNMI to be competitive, now much more to be retracted on the covenant of our very own livelihood, Immigration which would put a halt to our tourism industry and jeopardize the way we live, the way we survive.  It appears that our old guards, our older politicians have served within their means, they have served to protect the people, the indigenous and visitors alike. Today, I worry that our experienced leaders have felt that they lost the battle, now I question, what happens to us?  The indigenous people of the CNMI who since 20-30 years ago, had no say on the matters of governing our land, our prosperity, our livelihood.   WE, the indigenous have a voice that WE whould exercise.

Today, we have a voice, we are in the mere 18 years to 40 who have not really shared our thoughts, our ways of handling issues.  I would like to state commendations to our young leaders such as Ray Yumul, Tina Sablan and Ralph Torres for being in the political Arena despite the challenges.  But is that enough? Our generation is faced with difficult choices.  Our generation will be the driving force for future islanders.  Should we sit idle and let this be where the Federal Government dictates our very lives by enforcing regulations that do not complement an economy for growth, but rather hinder the growth we need for ourselves and our children and their children.  The people who sit on the nation's capital stating that in the past 20 years, there has been Labor & Immigration abuse, fine, but was that our time?  No, it was not us, our generation has been listening to our elders, following orders and chores to maintain a home, guess what?  Our home is much larger than the four walls we sleep in, our home is the land we till, the waters we fish in, the community we engage with, the people who will be here until we take our last breath. 

You have heard numerous talk and spread of issues regarding how the U.S. handles their border, yet still 20 million are in the US illegally by crossing borders from Mexico and elsewhere. Then here they are looking at us?  Remotely isolated, a land mass of 48 square miles, where would they go? Where would they hide?  Is it really necessary to take over Immigration and Labor and cripple us from economic recovery? 

Ask yourselves these questions, I for one would love to spearhead a group, a mass group of people to make a standpoint on allowing OUR generation an opportunity to self governance.