Now this is interesting. Yesterday the Tao Tao Tano CNMI Association led a rally in response to the Unity March held in December. The two newspapers on the island made the event the headline today.
Marianas Variety is claiming that the group that wants nonresident workers out of the CNMI was able to gather "thousands" of community members and its members to rally against federal takeover. The Saipan Tribune, on the other hand, reports that only 150 including government and business officials participated in the group's march yesterday.
So, I guess this discrepancy is not like what we had before regarding the Unity March, where we were debating if it was over 10,000 or only 3,000 people attended. At least in this case the people were debating on a thousand basis.
Is it 150 or over a thousand? It's like MV vs ST? "Witch is Witch?"
The Reveler
(Photo: Tacder/ST)
69 comments:
This is nothing like the Unity March dispute. The Unity March was a dispute about just how many thousands of people were there. Even the naysayers agreed there were thousands.
Several people took a count of the "motorcade", and even by Goros own admission only over 100 cars showed up.
If you do simple math, you can figure out that just over 100 cars will not facilate "thousands" of people. That is unless you fit 20 people or more in each car.. and many cars only had one or two people in them.
Didn't you see it Rev?
Well, according to "someone who was there", there were only 105 cars. I was in Tinian during the motorcade, so I couldn't see it myself. Perhaps the cars and trucks were fully packed, but like hammerhead said, there's no way 100 cars could mean thousands of people. Maybe the reporter included the number of people who came out to watch the motorcade?? I know that some people I know did not participate in the actual motorcade itself, but they did show up to watch the "event".
I was in Tinian, too. I was playing volleyball. What were you doing?
I saw the whole thing, and counted only 76 cars.
150 vs thousands? Come on now! Someone needs to issue an apology for misleading headlines. Did the reporters for both newspapers actually show up and witness the get-together? it is irresponsible journalism to put a headline that is inaccurate. If it is a direct quote, perhaps quotations should have been used.
It doesn't matter if there were thousands or 150 to me, but I do like to buy news that is accurate and unbiased. One of the two newspapers made a boo-boo.
By the way, if you get a chance, please participate in our survey on the top reasons you still live in the CNMI at www.marianaspride.blogspot.com
I believe it was a purposeful "boo boo". They ran the TTT press release and then tomorrow or the day after they'll run something more accurate.. maybe. All an effort to spin the event right off the bat. I'll keep my belief of the reason why to myself, for now.
Which newspaper said thousands participated?
The "We Didn't Support This Event After-the-Fact Because of the Poor Turnout Weekly"
variety did.
now angelo is trying to keep his moith shut and pretended he didn't know anything...unlike the Umarch w/c i attended, he had lots of comments before and after the events! get real! i might not be in this island for more months for i am a contract worker! but i want to see and hear people what is real! LU PITT
I don't understand why the Variety would say thousands.
I would have liked to have taken pictures of the event, but I was in Tinian this weekend.
By the way, what does w/c mean?
...and I haven't commented because I have to post about Pohnpei and Tinian first.
w/c = which
or mebbe white chili?
paki dalianmo! make it fast on your post about ponape and tinian because we contract workers wont be able to slept tonite unless we read about it.
wait, is angelo waffling again? mensen saina! a future politician for sure!
hmm...im a bit intrigue about your identity ms anonymousse...;-)
seems like you went to pohnpei with angelo?
Read my posts #618 and #619. I counted the cars, myself, in person, on the scene, at the fishing basin, with my own eyes etc. lol
However many were there, not a one was offered a green card for a hundred bucks or a fast track to US worker nirvana by quick peddaling organizers.
The truth is, there are lots of people on this island who detest the thought of big government and big business interests in the US taking command of the CNMI and running the local folks off like they have done or tried to do with every other group they have colonized or whose lands they have usurped.
There are plenty of others who welcome screwing the local population with promises of self-government while stabbing them in the back. Many of those would also like to milk the foreign worker population on their way out.
The attempt to sidetrack the issue into a numbers counting game is typical.
Goro is the one who promised 10 to 15 thousand, Bruce. And as for those who participated not being offered anything, how about the chance to keep their slaves?
I need more translation services. What does "mensen saina!" mean?
...and while your at it, what does "paki dalianmo!" mean?
means "please make it fast" (paki dalian mo.)
hear ye! hear ye! Marianas Variety wrote a follow up story on its story by the same author, saying that the rally draws mixed reaction from public...
goes by saying "we made a mistake on the number, so we make a follow up story..."
Lots of people just not motivated enough to show up eh Bruce? Nonsense.
Numbers do play a role here. If the community was so against federalization, they would have turned out to make a statement, especially after the showing that was made by the Unity March. The abysmal showing speaks volumes on exactly how the large segment of the community feels. Whether you would personally like to accept this or not.
Writers - I just read the story. Again I ask.. was Mr. Erediano reporting on something he was not present at? Nowhere does he give a "reporters view" of the event. He just rattles off quote after quote. I'm sending my ninth grade son over to the Variety on Monday to apply for a job.. without hesitation, he would do a better job tenfold.
;-) i "kinda" know how this reporter works...in that paper, the reporters are trained to get more quotes because they feel that these quotes are the substance of their stories. can you believe this author's stories make it to the paper even though they are only a three simple sentences long?
no offense meant to its editor, if he's really good, why is he allowing such matters?
I have to be honest.. before this, the only story I've read by this particular reporter was one Brad included on his blog. It was horrible, but I just figured it a fluke. Guess not.
if you only knew...there's more than that...and i dont wanna sound personal on this one....;-)
I have a couple of q's. Why is Mr. Bateman so anti-American? And since he married a lady from the Republic of the Philippines, does he only want Philippine citizens to become U.S. citizens by marrying into the system?
I'm fairly new to these islands having only lived here for a bit under two years, but hearing anti-American rhetoric from a fellow mainlander seems very unpatriotic. As a New Yorker, I have worked with multi-nationals and people from all over the world, many of whom became naturalized U.S. citizens. To me, they are American as I am. My blue eyes don't mean I'm more American than a person with brown eyes.
What I have read about Bruce so far in his columns and on his blog is a bit strange. He supports casinos although they would decimate the island and only give money to one special interest group, and he is completely against federal intervention without doing proper research. Is he lobbying for a job with the current administration?
It is apparent from what I read that our labor system has been deeply flawed. Perhaps federal intervention will bring stability? I have read both sides of this issue, and it seems that federal intervention could greatly benefit the CNMI if given the chance.
I will leave the CNMI and head home once my contract is finished, but I sincerely hope that the people of these islands embrace American ideals. For at the end of the day, all indigenous people are really Americans.
For some odd reason Bruce Bateman hates America. There is some deep resentment there. I wonder what happened in the States that drives Bruce to detest the US Government and all that it represents. Bruce and a very few locals are against the US Gov't taking control of a corrupt system here in the CNMI. Almost all indigenous people want the US Gov't to take charge here.
if bruce bateman hates America and he is married to a filipino citizen, why not then change his citizenship to be a filipino citizen also? we will welcome him to our country! also, i saw a white american at TTT rally! an american against federalization? are these americans thrown by their own gov't that's why they have an ill feeling for feds? i would understand chamoros not wanting feds!!! but u.s. citizen? quite confusing!!!
also, at your age angelo you don't know what "w/c" means? before text messaging started, people are using this "w/c"...LU PITT
When was the motorcade?
It's hard to be positive about a thing headed up by George W. Bush.
anonymous, not all know some abbreviations or contractions whatsoever...
w/c can also mean wound care, wheel chair, water closet, et al.
it only depends on how you use it in a sentence, and yes, you used it ryt (right i mean)
;-)
weed consumer?
wonderful cook?
wide caboose?
TTT's Fuhrer (Furor) Greg "Lil Hitler" Cruz mentions in the Variety that by thousands, he means all the people that came out and waved swastikas and shouted "Heil Cruzler!" equaled thousands, even though there were only 150 at best that showed up for the KKK's free lunch...oops, TTT.
Even with Governor's orders and their prime minister Ramon Mafia Mafnas taking attendance, it still barely had anyone there.
Ya'hafa? Kao untungu Chamoru Power yan Chamoru Punch? Estumbe!
Biba si Goru Cruz para i Gobetnu!
i was more surprised by who actually did show up...
Ramon Mafia Mafnas is the brown supremisist whos job is to intimidate people in to doing things. how come his muscles didnt scare more people to show up? his a high blood dude. he yelled at my cousin when my cousin was just doing his job and dropping off a supeena. ai adai si ramon. his the bodyguard but taya brains, only hi blood.
Basta fan anonomouse! Mas paire yan mas brabu si Ramon Mafnas. Champion of our people.
Years ago Ray Mafnas beat up a Korean student at NMC in front of everyone...Now he is Fitial's chief policy advisor! Saipan is going down the tubes...fast. Mafnas is a hot headed little dick Chamorro who is more Korean than anything.
Why shouldn't white Americans oppose federalization? We're not ALL imperialist bastards, you know. Many of us (Mark Twain, Wm. Jennings Bryan, etc.) also opposed the US colonization of the Philippines.
no comment...
mind you people, not all wants to be US citizens....
Mafnas is a Moron.
But "the writers", it would be fair to say that a very large majority of the world would gladly accept American Citizenship.
Hey, anonymous, I assume when you call me an "imperialist bastard" you must mean that I am opposed to the enslavement of contract workers and trafficking of minor girls for profit. Thanks for the compliment.
the writers,
You might be correct to say that not everyone wants to be a US Citizen. Those people would be well to do Western Europeans or wealthy Filipinos. Everyone else wants to shop at kmart, and are willing to do whatever it takes.
No, I mean that you (since you apparently support federalization) assume that the local people are either unwilling to deal with such problems (thus inherently heartless) or unable to do so (thus interently incompetent). You also assume that these problems will be solved by the federal government, which you assume will necessarily be more humane and more competent than the locals.
These are racist and imperialist assumptions. I hope you don't allow your commendable zeal for justice for contract workers to lead you into them.
All injustice, all oppression, all bullying, all slavery, and all vindictive and punitive legislation is wrong. Fight it all.
I want to shop at Kmart!
I want to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. I'll have a strawberry lemonade and the meatloaf.
50!
Kmart? that's an indomitable dream!
obviously, you have not been to the Philippines, the country has equally good shops there...
still goes to my point noni, not all wants to be in that post, but you are totally right on your point.
the writers,
Yes I have been to the PI before. Green Belt etc. have really amazing shopping...if you are the 10% minority Filipinos that have money. The rest of the country is a fourth world dump. Gov't corruption in the PI is so absolute that it is a way of life. From the police to the military it is corrupt. But you already know that...Filipinos working in Saipan want US Citizenship, and they want it like yesterday. That is why you see old white men with young Filipinas. When you marry a Filipina, you also marry her family, including the 18 yr old hunchback retard from the province.
It ain't imperialism to follow up on what was agreed upon by nearly 80% of the voters when they approved the Covenant. It's not imperialism to decide that after 15 years of local government failures to enforce the labor laws, the feds might do better. Rooting for the underdog is commendable, but romanticizing is naive. Some things are better off being left to the feds.
"When you marry a Filipina, you also marry her family, including the 18 yr old hunchback retard from the province."
that's a pretty fucked up thing to say...
you should buck up and identify yourself if you want to start hurling unfair generalizations upon a whole race of people.
you're an ass and a coward.
nobody will disagree that some people abuse the "dating game" on saipan.
what you said was wrong, and you know that. otherwise you would have posted your name.
Some things are indeed better off being left to the feds -- like defense and foreign policy. Other things are better off being left to the locals -- like everything else. That's what 80% of the voters agreed to.
The feds might do better? Sure, they might. On the other hand, they might not. Remember, only one chapter in that "slavery" book is about Saipan. The others are about Florida and Oklahoma. We can always improve our own performance. If the feds take over and don't do any better, all we can do is bitch about it.
Anyway, I'm glad you think I'm commendable. Since I have also commended you in my previous post, we seem to have established a mutual commendation society, which I think is highly commendable.
Biba Taotao Tano!
Hey, anon, I have been married to a Filipina for 18 years and she's till not U.S. |"She's in no rush" or so she tells me.
So, did I marry the wrong one, or is she one of a kind? No 18 year on hunchback or retard in her family and most of her family were US citizens even before I married her.
I know she did not marry me for money (cause I don't have any), nor for citizenship (cause she's in no hurry) so it must be for my looks.
yes it's a choice. however, shouldn't be just right or legal to have your wife under your citizenship wing?
the governor also had the similar case where her wife of 20 years just had her citizenship last year....
your wife can always have dual citizenship, which is common in the Philippines now.
i guess for you it's not that important...;-)
Angelo and Bateman would get less votes than a Greg Cruz and Jack Angelo ticket, which is sad because I think the are equally qualified...for dogcatcher.
Perhaps Harry and Cinta would throw their hat in that ring.
Well, we might just find out about the Bruce thing...because he says he's running for Governor!
Biba Bat Shit Crazy Haole!
60!
I would vote for Bruce Bateman if:
a. he pay me.
b. he give me a job.
c. he legalises casino on saipan.
d. he give me free beer at his porky.
e. he get binadu and fanihi and we party together.
f. he admit that he is really in teh cia.
g. if he is a catholic.
h. if he is gonna admit to honesty in our goverment.
biba taotao tano!
Hey Rev, that is exactly what I tell her. It is important for me, another vote in the familia, but it is really up to her.
TTTFBB
taotaotano for bruce batman
TTT supports Bruce Bateman, James Atalig (Rota), Harry Blalock, Cinta Kaipat, Fong Quan (Tinian), Greg Cruz, Ben Fitial, Willie Tan, Dick Pierce, Jack Angelo, Lynn Knight, Jack Abramoff, Mike Grantieddi, Mark Zacharias, and Joey Arriola for the next Anti-Federalization Party of the new commonwealth.
How many of those guys are currently in federal prison already? Joey is a pedophile but Atalig was acquitted by an all local jury with 3 relatives in the box for beating and raping a poor girl. Bateman is not that bad.
Who would you vote for in that field?
Hey anonymous! Don't you ever step on PI soil again! Tell your name & I'll pull your eyes out coward!
sorry kim, we don't use the "F" word here. We welcome all comments and that has been discussed before....
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