CNMI Family Ties in Politics...Leukemic?

Marianas Variety reports today that "Blood Ties No Longer Work in NMI" according to a speech given by former PSS Commissioner of Education Rita Inos during the recently held Chamorro Conference.

Could this be true? Does this mean "Chong Won" (not sure with the real name) the Korean, will have a chance on the US Delegate seat? How about Sen. Crisosistimo? Is he in trouble this coming election? Who has a bigger clan here, Pete A., Gonzales, Sablan or Crisostimo?

Now, that makes an exciting election in Nov.

They all want to go to Guam

More people showed up at the Saturday job fair for foreign workers in the CNMI who want to work in construction jobs on Guam than those who joined the Sept. 17 CUC rally. People continued to come and go as early as 12 noon even though the registration was set to start at 1 pm.

Engineers, architects, masons, carpenters, technicians, electricians -- you name it...they all went there to register.

There's no guarantee they will land a job on Guam, but they're trying their luck.

Organizers of the job fair -- the United Workers Movement NMI -- will turn over their database and workers' biodata to the Guam Contractors Association.

They said the big crowd only shows times are hard here that skilled and highly qualified guest workers opt to go to Guam where wages are higher and more opportunities abound. Can't blame them.

While many of the workers who lined up are paid minimum wage here, there are those who have high salaries here but still wanted to try going to Guam.

We won't know the number of job seekers until the organizers complete registration until the end of this month.

How did $80K worth of 'ice' enter Saipan?

That is the bigger question to ask this administration than what to do with the man who was caught with 176.6 grams of the drug 'ice'.

Wake up Customs, Immigration, CPA, DPS and all other government agencies that are supposed to guard CNMI borders.

For such a small island with few tourists (nowadays) and smaller volume of cargo coming in, there are still remarkable volume of 'ice' making their way to Saipan.

Again, how did the estimated $80,000 worth of 'ice' enter Saipan?

Are there customs officers and other enforcement officers who are in connivance with drug suppliers?

Or are these enforcement officers and agencies sleeping on their job?

Will there be tougher border protection once the feds take over?

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It all started with a random check on a man who was driving without a seatbelt. It's the second biggest haul of illegal drugs so far in the CNMI, authorities said.

Was it pure luck for the police officers?

Special agents told the media it "only proves that methamphetamine hydrochloride is still a big problem in the Commonwealth."

The man caught with the 176.6 grams of 'ice' is a garment worker at Rifu Garment Factory in San Vicente.

He said he "picked up the package under the bench of a bus stop as directed by his friend, a person named Chen based in China."

'Power to the people' rally

Rep. Tina Sablan talks to the hundreds of people gathered for a peaceful rally to call on the US government to step into the power crisis on Saipan.







Young, old, brown, black, white, yellow join Wednesday night's peaceful rally calling for "reliable and affordable" power for all.












Using a candlelight, Rep. Tina Sablan, one of the leaders of the peaceful rally, reads a prayer for those affected by power outages while the crowd gathers near the stage holding candles and cellphones.

















Need they say more?












Businessman Robert Russell, left, shares his experiences about power outages while protest leader Ed Propst listens.

US Palin-Tics....

Just to loosen up a bit, and probably ride on her popularity ;-) below are some goofs I made up for fun. For fun only.

Regarding US Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin...

Question: What do you call the study of fossilized Alaskan PTA member, mother and a governor?
Answer: Palin-tology

Question: What do you call a group that performs spiritual practices in Alaska that originated in China?
Answer: Palin-Dafa or Palin Gong

Question: Why did she join the PTA?
Answer: Because her kids' grades are "Palin."

*John McCain is so white that he chooses a running mate that is "Palin."

Care to add more?

Next...Biden....

Quote of the Day: Alone on this Road

“The governor is going down this road alone.”

House Speaker Arnold Palacios reportedly said the above statement with regard to the lawsuit against US Federalization of the CNMI Immigration System.

In the report, the Legislature detaches itself to the Government Office's action on filing lawsuit against the US for taking over.

For full report, click here.

F&B 911: 747 a Rediscovery

Have you been to 747 Restaurant located in Garapan, around the area where the MIHA housing is? I have especially for an hour or two of "karaoke" usually.

Not until recently, I realized how great their food menu is in that restaurant. No wonder our Canadian friends dine in there almost every week. Reasonable yes. Luscious, totally! It's a Japanese owned restaurant but the owner wants a more universal appeal to it. The restaurant doesn't serve sushi. Crispy fried chicken and garlic rice are soooo good. The Crab Spaghetti is one of their runaway sellers.

If you feel like belting it out right after dinner just scoot to the karaoke rooms that can house at least 10 singers. The karaoke rooms have good deals too. For $5 dollars an hour per person, consumable. Drinks are from hard liquor to cocktails.

The restaurant prefers a call for reservations. 747 also provides hotel pickup and drop-off for diners, free of charge. Contact 747 at (670)233-8880. 747 opens at 6pm everyday.

Yellow Pages Anyone?

Marianas Variety (above) has printed its newspaper for two days now using yellow paper. Thought that was the supplement or the yellow pages. Below is an ad printed on it. Notice the advertiser's attempt to make its ad stand out with its yellow color? Hmmm....

McCain-Palin or Obama-Biden?

Who should win and why? Who will win and why? Is the media being fair?

CUC Protest (RALLY)

Could this be real? Could this be happening? The people will gather to hold a protest against the current power problem in the CNMI?

Text messages have begun to circulate encouraging the community members to join the rally on September 17 at 5:30pm. Assembly venue will be at the Garapan Fishing Base.

"Affordable, Reliable Power Now!!!" says the text message. "For more info contact Ed Propst for more details...."

CUC Chronicles

Just a quick note again.

The village of Chalan Kanoa had a 12-hour power outage recently. Residents from this village clamored about it. A source shared that one government official joked about it and told him that CK is less priority for the government to provide intermittent power because there are less voters in the village. This alleged government official said CK mostly has non-resident workers living around it.

Benedetto

It has now been reported that Ombudsman Jim Benedetto will soon be joining the U.S. Attorney's office in Saipan to be a federal prosecutor. Although this was first reported in the press very recently, it has been widely known around the island for some time. For quite some time, a number of anonymous commenters on this blog and others had been savaging the "Ombudsperson", accusing him of all sorts of misdeeds and attacking his character. Shortly after news that Benedetto would be joining the U.S. Attorney's office hit the coconut wireless, those anonymous commenters abruptly changed their tune and started giving Benedetto (well deserved) compliments for his integrity, fairness and commitment to the CNMI. Wow, what a coincidence!

For the record, Jim Benedetto has been an outstanding, dedicated and able public servant. He has always been fair, and has demonstrated that he cares deeply for all of the people of the CNMI. We wish him the best of luck in his new position, and commend U.S. Attorney Leonardo Rapadas for having the guts to make such an outstanding choice. And, unlike some of those Benedetto-obsessed anonymous commenters, we're not just saying that because we're afraid of pissing him off!