Rif(t) Raff Ruffle

Oh my. Yesterday's news kind of taken me slightly off my seat when it was reported that the top two CNMI officials have had a rift for a long time now. I thought I could see it right before my eyes long before the rift between Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and his Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez.

I heard that the second head has not had the power of any sort to run the local government. Former Lt. Gov. Diego Benavente was tasked to handle the Water Task Force then. For Villagomez now, what he has done so far is to act as governor whenever (which was frequent) the governor was away for medical treatment or signed minor bills, laws or proclamation letters.

During that time of austerity, the Lt. Gov. signed something about the austerity Fridays that excluded some people including those are working at the Public Health. I remember the governor retracted that authorization and quipped on how surprised he was that "my Lt. Gov." was signing such document.

What does this tell us, I mean the rift between the two?

Again, you tell me.

The Reveler

'Never Get Over You Getting Over Me

Just a quick note.

One thing I admire about the current Governor is his pervasive charm and humor when he's around people and crowd. He was interviewed by the media about his health and yes, the news made it to today's paper that he is set to go to Manila for treatment in the best and most expensive Asian Hospital in the Philippines.

He quipped during the interview that he has not recovered yet since the night that he got booed. He laughed.

The Reveler

What's Life After Government Office?

This has been going on in my feeble mind about the staff of government officials or lawmakers that didn't make the cut in the recent election? For the lawmakers there are still much ahead of them in terms of finding alternative work after losing the election. They have always been resilient in these types of situation, but how about their staff?

I remember one of these staff used to have a more stable work also in a government agency but when his political candidate friend won the 2005 election, he was asked to join the lawmaker's team.

So, the incumbents lost. Where are they going to go now? Of course there's always alternative to that. However, what if some of the staff want to still work for the government but their names have been attached to their former bosses?

Oh well....

New Poll: Where Should She Go?

As others expressed the idea of getting Rep. Cinta back to public service, some suggested that she runs the Municipality of Saipan in 2009. Do you agree or not?

<-----Cast you votes now!

As for our previous poll, obviously Tina Sablan made the cut in the election and out of 53 votes 81.1 percent believed she would definitely make it.

The Reveler

Rep. Cinta's T-Giving Luau!

Reposting our dear friend Rep. Cinta Kaipat's invitation for this Saturday:

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, there are many things that I have to be thankful for.

I am thankful for the constituents of Precinct 1 who gave me the opportunity to serve in the 15th Legislature.
I am thankful for the people of Precinct 1 who voted to retain me in office.
I am thankful for my supporters from outside Precinct 1, on-island and off-island.
I am thankful for my staff, the best staff anyone could ever ask for.
I am thankful for my most loving and supportive friends and family.
I am thankful for my ever-expanding Beautify CNMI family.

And as a token of my heartfelt appreciation, I invite all of my supporters to a Thank You BBQ to take place this Saturday, November 24, at the Susupe Beach Park at noon.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the six representatives elected in Precinct 1. I wish them the best of luck.

Sincerely,

Rep. Cinta M. Kaipat
Your representative in the 15th CNMI Legislature

I read Jeff Turbitt's article today regarding his thoughts about our friend. I couldn't agree more. However, it's not the end of the world for our friend. She has planted several good seeds and she will harvest 'em fruits in due time.

(Photo linked from WeLoveSaipan.Com)

My Boo! My Boo!

Tan Holdings recently held its 35th Anniversary presentation featuring Filipino celebrity Martin Nievera where 10,000 Filipinos and other fans of the singer gathered one Sunday night.

Brad Ruszala was behind the voice over for the concert. It was time to acknowledge the dignitaries watching the show. He acknowledged government officials and when he acknowledged the presence of the CNMI Governor, the crowd "booed" him not that loud but it was loud enough to be heard by many.

Then the audience started murmurs about a general strike. The crowd then said that when the strike happens, it should have the same number of people.

Saipan Blogger vs. Hypercritical Thinker

Alas! These prominent bloggers are taking print media by "tropical" storm with their writing whims. Hypercritical thinker Jeff Turbitt writes for Marianas Variety and we read his column every Wednesday. Now Saipan Blogger Angelo Villagomez will soon be writing for Saipan Tribune. He just made the deal yesterday.

I wonder what could he be writing? Environment of course, but we will see about that. Villagomez for us is equally "hypercritical" of things.

Congratulations Saipan Blogger. Now, you can write about anonymous comments for the island to read and ponder upon!

Kudos to both!

Kudos to Tina Sablan!

Our sincerest congratulations go to Tina Sablan for making it to the election! She won with a bigger lead this time against Janet Maratita. What can we say? Uhmm...Goodluck on your new career path and may you take all the challenges head on....

Again, congratulations Tina!

(photo taken from Marianas Variety, Feb 9, 2007)

Absentee Ballot Now In

This is it. By 4pm today, Saturday, the winners will be officially announced. Will Tina Sablan make it? Will our friends Cinta and Waki make the cut? Much as we would say 'we hope so' but who knows. This election season has been crazy unpredictable (really now). Oh well, we can only hope, right?

The paper says today: "The Election Commission has received over 1,000 of the 1,517 absentee ballots sent out to CNMI voters in Guam, the U.S. mainland, and elsewhere.

More ballots will be retrieved from the post office at noon today. Counting will follow at the Multi Purpose Center in Susupe.

CEC executive director Gregorio C. Sablan said the tabulation should be finished by around 4:30pm.

Numerous candidates have their fates hanging on the absentee ballots.

Bite My Head Off

The Governor wrote a letter to Department of Interior Sec. Dirk Kempthorne asking for the removal of current Federal Ombudsman Jim Benedetto's "head" in the CNMI. However, Kempthorne is renewing Benedetto to remain as the Ombudsman in the Commonwealth for another three years.

The renewal seems to make Benedetto stay longer than the current governor, whose term is up for two more years.

Hmmm...I wonder now, if the local government also had asked for Cohen's head?

Film Revue: Reign Over Me (2007)

Did you ever think that comedian Adam Sandler could make you cry? I know we've seen him on Punch Drunk Love but as I was surfing the net for video streams I came across a site where they have a link to this movie (great copy btw) and I watched the movie Reign Over Me, where Sandler teamed up with Oscar nominee Don Cheadle.

The story is about post 9/11 and Sandler's character is silently grieving from the loss of his entire family even his dog from the plane that crashed onto the Twin Towers. He appears to be suffering from amnesia but he just wants to forget. The story revolves around this plot and how Cheadle permeated to Sandler's character is the whole story.

Highlight of the movie is when Sandler finally opens up. 'Brought tears to my eyes....

Verdict:

Movie is not for action movie freaks. Intelligent dialogues with patches of "Madison" humor from Sandler.

The Reveler

Reforming CNMI

I know. I know. There have been several discussions about the Reform Bill, now enacted into law. Several nonresident workers are now scampering to seek answers to questions or vent to people about their concerns and questions.

Some of the questions are:

1. When is the effectivity of this law? When does it start? (January 2008)
2. So does that mean the three year period before the periodic exit starts also in January or those that meet the three year requirement would have to exit asap?
3. So when a nonresident that works for only one year with one employer, then does not renew his/her contract and plans to work for another company, does that mean that the three year counting will start all over?
4. What will happen when a company's most reliable employee, perhaps the head of a department, would have to exit and never return to work after six months, would the company be able to hire same skilled and trained employee from the CNMI?
5. What will happen to the Reform Law when the federal takeover of immigration system and labor happens?
6. What are the opinions of the business leaders here such as the members of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce on this issue? Should they make a public statement on this one too?
7. Under the current labor and immigration system, it takes at least six months to take a foreign worker to the CNMI. So, when the employee has to exit, the vacant position either should be filled by a resident, what if he/she does not qualify e.g. education background, experience et al? Would a company hire someone who doesn't know how to write on ledgers and balance accounts? What if it's a sensitive post where a company's assets and financial stability relies on?
8. Does the law only prohibit consensual transfer?

Let's help make others understand more about this law.

Venting on Vending Machine

I have never learned and I hate it. I have been a victim among many others by the two vending machines at the Gilbert C. Ada Gym in Susupe. It was my fourth last night that I was soooo darn thirsty and in need of the drink and I had no other option but to get a drink from these machines only to piss my self more that the machine ate my money and didn't dispense any drink.

Would you believe that a can of soda costs $1.10 each from these machines? I wanted Gatorade. I kept on inserting coins hoping it would work but no sireeee! I was sooooo thirsty and the machine frustrated me more than ever. Oh well, big deal. They say kids play with the machines and put a lot of things in there. I don't think those defective machines have a place at the gym.

Ok. I know. I should bring my own drink right. Whatev....

The Reveler

Poll: Will Tina Make It or Not?

Our new poll asks whether you think Tina Sablan will make it to the top 6 in her precinct when the absentee ballots are finally counted. She is on a neck-and-neck battle with Janet Maratita and Cinta Kaipat.

So what do you think? What went wrong and right on the result of her votes?

<-----Cast your votes now!

---

Poll Results:

Our last poll about NMC's shutting down of Tinian and Rota instructional sites:

75 percent of the votes said Yes and should've been decided a long time ago.
12.5 percent said no.
12.5 percent of the voters were surprised to learn that there are other campuses on the two islands.

The Reveler

Election Giveaway

Tacder and I were doing our rounds during the election last Saturday and we saw one supporter here in one of the public schools on Saipan giving away a betel nut bags to voters after they voted in that precinct.
ZZZzzzzzz....

Below is not a photo of a homicide or something to that effect, but this is a photo taken during election counting where a spectator couldn't control any further and slept a bit during the counting while waiting for the announcements....

Saipan Casino Axed

It was unanimously voted from all the precincts that the Saipan Casino Act should not be allowed on Saipan. However, Rotanese decided that it is. Those that said Yes for Saipan Casino were 3,492 while No is 4721. Despite the result these figures only show that people are really divided in this issue. There is a significant number of CNMI residents that desire for that "hope" from a casino on Saipan.

The Rota Casino Act of 2007 result shows that 788 of them want the casino while 144 was not in favor.

On other highlights of the election, Tina Sablan is currently on 6th place while Cinta is in 8th place. Tina is only ahead of Janet Maratita by 13 votes. Still there are 333 absentee voters to consider in two weeks. However, Zaldy of Marianas Variety said the trend for absentee voting is usually the same with the actual voting here in the CNMI. Only six will be selected from Tina's precinct.

Waki is in 7th place in his precinct? GOP mostly won. Crisostimo and Salas are on neck and neck battle for one seat at the Senate.

Ray Sakisat got nine votes out of over 800 voters.

For the partial list of the election results follow this link.

Election Kudos Et Al

We on Middle Road would like to say "good luck" to our friends that are running for a seat at the House of Representatives: Tina Sablan, Rep. Cinta Kaipat, Rep. A. Waki and Brad Ruszala.

Liquor ban is effective tomorrow from 7am to 7pm until voting on polling places ends. So in other words no drinking while voting. ;-) If you are caught intoxicated while voting your votes won't be counted. Kidding. Just make sure you don't see double while voting. ;-)

Also, no political ads are allowed during election day. The ads include on print and broadcast media. So, sorry Nahal, your ad is banned too (smiles)