Senate Hearing...

All ears (and eyes too, just stay up till late midnight on the internet) about the upcoming US Senate hearing on Immigration in the CNMI on July 19 (July 20, Saipan time.) Familiar faces will be there e.g. Gov. Benigno Fitial and other officials.

Would this event just as they say, only a courtesy visit for the CNMI officials? We would soon find out.

Stay tuned!

The Reveler

Piracy at the Caribbean, not!

China will be sued for piracy of American movies? Does that mean Sunleader here in the CNMI won't be able to sell them? Have you been to Sunleader in San Antonio and Garapan? DVDs and CDs galore baby! Here are some titles you won't forget when you splurge with these $5 DVDs:

*The Grunge 2 (This is hilarious. It's Sarah Michelle Gellar's The Grudge 2)
*Children of Min (I guess Clive Owen is Ho Chi Min here)
*Road to Rendition (Tom Hanks rendered a very good performance here)
*Shane Ward (A double CD of British Idol's debut album, the second CD when you listen to it, it's Robbie Williams)

Here's the news on CNN about US suing China:

CNN: NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The United States is set to file a formal trade complaint against China after prodding the Chinese for months to crack down on pirated copies of American movies, music and software, news reports said Saturday.

The move, expected next week in a filing at the World Trade Organization, is likely to escalate trade tensions between the two countries. The Senate Finance Committee is looking into tougher legislation on China's trade terms.

The Bush administration will file two cases challenging China's lax enforcement of its own antipiracy laws and its tight restrictions on the distribution of foreign movies, music and printed material, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The complaints come after years of work in Washington to build a case against China over alleged intellectual-property abuses, which hit U.S. exports ranging from auto parts to movies to books to scientific journals, the newspaper said.

The Reveler

Here come the feds again...

After the Feb. 8 hearing in Washington, D.C. on CNMI labor, immigration, law enforcement and economic condition, CNMI government and private sector leaders now have to deal with two visiting U.S. Senate staffers--former Insular Affairs Director Allen Stayman and Josh Johnson--supposedly for another fact-finding mission. Whether the federal takeover of CNMI immigration is a done deal and that their visit is only for a 'show', we may have to find out soon.