A Minority Report....

That's just the title I could think of. Perhaps Tom Cruise's film [of the same title] was on my mind...

Oh well, what do you think of the counter report that the CNMI government is now scrambling to produce in order to provide a separate report on the veracity and credibility of the Federal Ombudsman's Office Report on the 20,000 migrant workers present in the islands?

Saipan Tribune reports:

"The Fitial administration has concerns about the data gathered by the Federal Labor Ombudsman, as well as the survey of only 10 Saipan Chamber of Commerce members to decide the fate of the CNMI economy, among other things.

“There are two main issues here-Interior's failure to meet the consultation requirement, and the credibility of data used to determine the future of the Commonwealth. One of the major tasks is to identify the potential impacts on the economy of these decisions...."

While the 20,000 legal aliens in the CNMI firmly clasp their hands in utter hope that they will finally be given permanent status in the CNMI or US citizenship, the rest of us can't help but think that this will be once again an uphill battle.

As the old adage goes appropriate for the islands, "Patience is indeed a vir-chew..."

Tina Sablan on the Run...

Below are extracted from Tina Sablan's website. These are comments she received from callers and other people she meet here in the CNMI:

“I would like to hear your thoughts about the tribune’s headline yesterday where cohen mentioned the possibility of granting permanent residence here in the commonweath to approx 8K non-resident workers. you testified in congress last month that you did not see anything wrong with this move and i wonder if you still have the same view today.” — Nicky/John Jr.

“all i ask of you is to PLEASE side with us.protect our future.DON’T GIVE PERMANENT RESIDENCY TO ALL NON-RESIDENT PEOPLE! this ideas spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R!!!! and this is your statement to the US CONGRESS.that is another issue i have with you, by the way.i like you, BUT YOU ARE SCARING ME.” — Nicky/John Jr.

“Tina, how can you put those animals above your own people?” — Anonymous caller, after the federal hearing in August

Read her response to this on Oct. 18 (Friday) paper

Poll: CNMI should concede to federalization

Our poll has ended with 80 people voting for this poll about whether the CNMI should concede to the impending feral, i mean federal takeover on the CNMI immigration system. Well do your math on this:

41.3% said Yes and ASAP while 22.5 said No and that's it.

Oh well, on to our next poll...

<----- Cast your votes now!

So much has been said about Tina Sablan's filing for candidacy to run on the next election this November. Tina all ready told the community why she is up to it. Now, she is calling for an open forum again.

The community's questions:

1. Does the forum intend to be a campaign?
2. Were previous forums part of the plan?
3. Why is Tina so slim? (oh, a letter to the editor blew the answer to this)

The Reveler

Isn't It Ironic, Don't You Think?

When the beloved CNMI governor graced for the first time the Rotary Club of Saipan's weekly meeting not so very long ago, he talked about the effects or impacts of the impending federalization of the CNMI. A Rotarian asked him if there were studies about all what he was saying. The governor replied with a strong "yes" and the study is being funded by the Insular Affairs Office.

OIA is a federal office, which obviously helps in drafting, amending and pushing the bill of the takeover. Hmmm...

All together now!

It's like rain, on your wedding day,
It's a free ride, when you're already paid,
It's a good advice that you just didn't take
Well, who would've thought, it figures....(Alanis Morisette)

The Buzz: The Railroad to Recovery

Oh no, not that the CNMI will have a railroad construction here to take Marpi residents to Garapan and San Antonio, but this railroad is meant for "the CNMI's recovery." The Middle Roaders just heard from someone who works for a federal office that the US department of that office has instructed the NMI office to restructure and prepare for the federal take over. His term was "railroading" and "sure."

The Buzz among the federal workers is that the implementation is set next year (yeah, we've all heard about that before). Now, here's an old one, a contract worker went back to his country to renew his US visa, but was told by the consul to wait for the takeover.

Now, now. Down boy, down. Fetch!

The Rev

New Poll: On Federal Takeover

<---- Cast your votes for our latest poll on US federal takeover of the CNMI Labor and Immigration system.

Comments are always welcome to back up your answers.

Can You Hear Me?

Now all eyes and ears are out for House Hearing here in the CNMI with Rep. Christian Dior. Oh, is it Christensen? Anyway, the hearing is just a side trip for the congresswoman, hitting two balls with one bird (oh whatever).

Everyone is going to be watching this hearing this coming Wednesday to be held at the Guma Hustisia Bldg. in Susupe.

It's the clash of the titans this Wednesday:

1. Tina Sablan vs. Tao Tao Tano's Greg Cruz
2. Dekada leader Boni Sagana vs Dr. Doom (oh i don't know who else is taking the stand)

We'll see what happens next on the CNMI's federal takeover possibilities///

The Reveler

The Buzz: Nikko-lodeon

Well, it's not new though, but the news around town is that:

1. Hotel Nikko is left suspended up in the midair. Bidders like Asiana or Kumho has backed out, they say, realizing that if Japan Airlines couldn't fill it up, how can they? So, they say, it's closing.

2. The revolving restaurant or simply called the 360(degree) is not at all going to happen. The AJ's Restaurant staff are now left out in the open.

3. Business owners and officials with business groups are cooking up something to express their protest against federal takeover. Buzz is, that they are meeting up silently how to counter federalization of the island.

So what've you heard around lately?

The Reveler

The Chamber of Secrets....

Potential IRs burden to the NMI?

A Canadian friend told me before with regard to the issue that the non-resident workers remit at least $1 million a year to their families back home, that if the local government would allow the families of these nonresident workers come to the CNMI, these remittances would be mitigated and money would revolve within the economy of the Commonwealth. Now, the Chamber is afraid that federalizing the CNMI and allowing these nonresidents petition their family members as potential immediate relatives (IRs) would hurt the CNMI. Read on news from the paper:

The leadership of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce expressed fear that, if granted nonimmigrant visas, thousands of long-term nonresident workers and their families could be “an immense burden” to the CNMI.

In testimony presented Thursday to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Chamber president Juan T. Guerrero reiterated the group's opposition to the “grandfather clause” in S. 1634, allowing workers who have lived in the Commonwealth for more than five years the right to “lawful nonimmigrant” status.

“Such action allows these individuals the right to remain in the Commonwealth (or, for that matter, relocate to the mainland United States) for purposes of living and working. This action would allow the right to immigrate family members to the Commonwealth under “immediate relative” status. .We have estimated that approximately 8,000 current workers in the Commonwealth would qualify for such status. There are two possible outcome scenarios under this grandfather clause, and neither is good,” said Guerrero.

He said allowing almost 8,000 individuals “to remain-and to immigrate immediate relatives to join them, for the long-term-are profoundly negative for the Commonwealth.”

“These tens of thousands of lawful nonimmigrants would be given the same preference for local jobs that this Senate has repeatedly claimed to be attempting to protect for United States citizens. These lawful nonimmigrants and their families would prove an immense burden on the local infrastructure in a way, and to a degree, that was never contemplated by-nor allowed-under the Commonwealth's existing guest worker program,” he said.

The other concern is the likelihood of these workers to leave the CNMI right away to travel and work in the U.S. mainland.

What are they so afraid of? These people would stay at least for a while. Some would as long as good paying jobs are available for them. These nonresidents (some that I had conversed with) know for sure that it's a huge risk to be relocated.

The Reveler

I Say Don't Shoot! What the...

Oh oh. The Chamber has spoken. This will be up in the paper tomorrow, i believe. Read on! I'm highlighting some words you might like...

Saipan Chamber of Commerce has taken Organization-wide Position on Proposed Federalization of Immigration

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce objects to federalization of CNMI immigration on principle; the CNMI government and business community did not have the opportunity to negotiate issues with the federal government. The legislation, as written, confirms that the federal government did not listen to the CNMI perspective.

There were a number of points that were not addressed: The CNMI has no guarantee of future access to a sufficient workforce; tourism is now the primary CNMI industry, yet there is no guarantee of future access to tourists from China and Russia; the entire guest worker program would completely phase out; and the legislation provides no economic relief for the impact of the contemplated changes.

Mr. Juan T. Guerrero is presenting the Chamber¹s position to the United States Congress in his capacity as President of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce. He is not in Washington, D.C. presenting his personal opinion.

The Chamber asks that retaliation not be taken against any individual businesses. Hurting one Saipan business hurts all Saipan businesses and residents. In a small economy, businesses rely on each other in daily commerce. There exists an economic domino effect, and if businesses suffer extensively, there will be a loss of jobs in the community.

So what do you think?

The Reveler

Stop Don't Shoot!

Whoa! Tomorrow's news will have Juan Pan's side of the story. He is obviously aware of the massive SMS/text campaign on banning or boycotting his businesses. He said, "Please don't shoot the messenger," adding that it was the Saipan Chamber of Commerce board's position on federal takeover.

The Reveler

Cohen, Stayman, and the federal takeover blues

Just a few weeks ago, U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources staffers Allen Stayman and Josh Johnson told local media that they’d be the ones drafting the CNMI immigration legislation after meeting with leaders of the local government and the private sector.

But early this week, Committee chair Jeff Bingaman and ranking member Pete Domenici asked Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, in a letter, to draft the immigration takeover bill based on then-Sen. Frank Murkowski's S. 507 (which would have provided a 10-year transition period for the issuance of nonimmigrant temporary alien worker visas, and is identical to S. 1052 as passed by the U.S. Senate in the 106th Congress)

Hmmm.

Cohen is currently on Saipan doing legwork for the draft bill.

Where does that leave Stayman, Johnson and the committee?

To approve or disapprove Cohen’s draft bill.

Cohen said it himself. (Will it be a waste of time if they reject Cohen’s draft?)

We sure hope that Cohen’s draft bill will be shared with the CNMI as well.

We want to know what’s axed, what’s retained by the committee. And why.

it's interesting to know how they differ on issues -- comparing Cohen's draft bill with that of what's going to be introduced by the committee.

Has Cohen taken (or will take) an approach different from that of Stayman and Johnson?

Libra Mae Sparks Chronicles 1

Welcome to the Libra Mae Sparks Journal. You're right, she is that effective for bringing entertainment to the CNMI with her profound weekly column at Pacific Times. Sources told me that Sparky is no longer an individual but has now become a COMMITTEE. Ooops, did i just capitalize that word. Sorry Sparky, that's your style. Should be yours alone.

Anyway, another excerpt from her highly intellectualized column. This time she poses as a local speaking about the federalization of the CNMI Immigration and the Dekada Group, composed of Non-Resident Workers. The Dekada is composed of members that have been working in the CNMI for at least five up to 40 years on the island, yet have remained aliens:

Pacific Times, March 2, 2007 (only excerpt)
"Now, do the DEKADAS have LEVERAGE like the Philippine Veterans? NO. What have they done for the CNMI lately? Have they volunteered to risk their lives for the country? NO. In fact, they even DEPLETED our coffers by SENDING OUT close to 90 MILLION dollars every year to their country of origin. What have they contributed to the economy? NOTHING!!!! They USED our small island to improve their ECONOMIC LIVELIHOOD in their country while depleting ours. Some of them GOT SO MANY valuable things from us, including our women's HUSBANDS!! I know, I know, I am hitting people below the belt, so let me just advise the DEKADAS to be a little bit more GRATEFUL to the CNMI. They were properly paid for the services they provided, so it's a QUID PRO QUO situation. They scratched our backs, and we scratched theirs. So, the DEKADAS should NOT act like a Bunch of INGRATES.

The problem is that WE, the CNMI local residents, are also SUCKERS. We allowed ourselves to be mere bystanders to the PROSTITUTION of our land. People come and go and for as long as we see beautiful legs, bulging boobs and gyrating asses, we think we are BIG SHOTS. So now, you are starting to see your island becoming SMALLER and SMALLER, right? Who is to blame for that? The Governor? You're so DUMB and DUMBER if you think that way. If these foreign workers can make their VOICES HEARD, so shouldn't the VOICES of the CNMI local residents be LOUDER so we can be heard as well? What have we become? A bunch of MUTED SCARY CATS?

Honestly, I am in favor of improving our immigration rules. Take note, I said, IMPROVE, NOT FEDERALIZE. We need to allow the foreign workers to bring their spouses and children to the CNMI so they don't need to send money to their country. IMPROVE the CNMI immigration laws by using the US mainland formula as template. Once given the immigrant's visa, then these workers will become OURS, no longer owned by the country where they came from. We retain the 90 MILLION dollars and we GROW as a NATION. The ECONOMY OF SCALE that the Governor is talking about will then KICK-IN.

It's not STAYMAN that can make or break us, it is WE, the locals who will do that to ourselves. Remember, IMMIGRANTS made America as GREAT as it is right now. We are a country of immigrants and no amount of debates can wash away the fact that CHANGE IS INEVITABLE. We can always CHANGE our IMMIGRATION RULES to IMPROVE IT, but NEVER SHOULD WE ALLOW to FEDERALIZE IT. The COVENANT - the AGREEMENT, MUST BE UPHELD!!!!

P.S. By the way, where is DAVID COHEN?? Is he a FRIEND or a FOE? Just when you need him, he's not there. Oh, well. There are NO permanent friends. NO permanent enemies. Just permanent INTERESTS. It's okay, Governor, your goal is our goal. Your Marianas is our Marianas, so, Good Luck, sir.

Sparky has such a gift of gab. For one moment she's saying that "IMMIGRANTS made America as GREAT," then this, "We can always CHANGE our IMMIGRATION RULES to IMPROVE IT, but NEVER SHOULD WE ALLOW to FEDERALIZE IT. The COVENANT - the AGREEMENT, MUST BE UPHELD!!!!" (why so angry Sparky?)

The Reveler