Tuesday, May 6, 2008

My harmless thoughts

PROBLEMATIC SITUATIONS
Our islands are full of guest workers, their families, acquaintances and what have they...but this is due particularly on our part as islanders. We invite them over to work, to fill positions not particularly inviting to today's generation. Like someone once put it, "we can fill these positions-even as a farmer but there has to be a pen always dangling from our pockets" even when you are sweating from tilling your farm.

Now the Feds are coming to run Immigration as they are better aware of who to admit into our islands and who not to (like my sister Nat likes to put it "duh"). If my body is covered with tattoo, would that mean I am Yakuza? Or, if my eyes are slanted, would that mean I'm Chinese, Japanese or Korean. We all have special characteristics from birth too. We have locals with slanted eyes (that we have termed them likely as Chinese even if they're not).

We have prostitution too just like any other part of the world but that's just another trait that's here to stay. They may be arrested, gone through the system and released just to be re-arrested again for the same crime. Some have been deported, some still remain as they are given a second chance to try and abide with the law and never to do it again. Yeah right!!!! Again, Nat would say "duh" to this. Signed by the President of the good U.S. of A, Immigration becomes controlled by the Feds as we sit back and see what happens.

PEW Monument
Whatever PEW stands for (acronym or not) I don't agree with what they are doing. Although these entire archipelago is under the U.S. by Constitution, I think they still have to consult with the residence who rely entirely on local resources like our open waters to include its contents and the land and what it holds preciously for its people to survive on. We islanders have survived on our local resources even long before SPAM (or canned goods) were ever introduced. We have our coconuts, taro patches, breadfruits and the plentiful local food we eat with our livestock that's also locally raised by individual families. So why do we need a monument for? A place were residents can't harvest crops or fish to provide for his family, let alone "no take zone". Bunch of crappy propaganda. What benefit do we get out of this?

RELOCATING THE MARINES
No problem relocating the 9,000 + Marines from Okinawa but training is another problem that will forever stay once they start. Field training includes defacing the environment as it will involve vehicles, a couple hundreds personnel at a time, beach landings, regularly scheduled live bombings on Farallon De Medenilla and now, the thought of military trainings on the island of Pagan. Those humongous malli'bong on that beautiful island will all be in for a great treat.