The Final EIS and What it all Means

The United States Department of Navy released its final “Guam and CNMI  Military Relocation – Environmental Impact Statement” (EIS) on Tuesday night.  (I’ve highlighted in previous posts – Tourism & Education, Environment, Housing - what the Grey Papers have found in response to previous EIS statements.) As always, I will take a look at what the EIS says.

If you are on Guam…

Please attend!

Help Wanted

Is there anybody out there with full size images of traditional Mwoakillese or Pohnpeian tattooing?  How about traditional shark images/symbols?

World Cup Update: Joy and Agony

In my previous post, I listed all of the Pacific Islander teams/players in the tournament.  Well the tournament has commenced for all my island peeps involved and there are two contrasting stories.

Samoan Tim Cahill, the most skilled and most well-known Islander in the tournament, had a most-agonizing start (and probably end) to his tournament after being sent off with a harsh straight red card on a late tackle he made in Germany’s 4-0 drubbing of Australia.  While the red card means he misses Australia’s next tilt with Ghana (6/19, 10:oo AM, ESPN), FIFA could hand down a two-game suspension leaving his fate in the feet of his teammates.  Check out the tackle below:

In sharp contrast, New Zealand’s Winston Reid (of Maori descent) had a joyous start to his World Cup campaign.  Reid scored a stoppage time equalizer to steal a point from Slovakia. While all teams in Group F are tied with 1 point, New Zealand’s next game is against defending World Champion Italy (6/20, 10:00 AM, ESPN).  See the goal below:

World Cup and the Pacific: Primer

Tim Cahill, Samoan descent, will anchor the Australia attack.

In an earlier post I mentioned that Pohnpei actually has a soccer league and a national team.  This is/was amazing to me.  (By the way, if you want an official Pohnpei jersey let me know.  First of all, you will support the team.  Secondly, how many people can say they have a Pohnpei kit?) Anyway, I digress.  For those of you not paying attention, the World Cup kicks off this Friday.  While I will  resist the urge to post some amazing advertisements and various other internet content, I will discuss the Pacific and the World Cup.  So without further ado, your 2010 Be Pacific World Cup Primer:

Support: Life Through My Lens

Hey y’all.  Please support my girlfriend/blogger/photog-extraordinaire.  She takes some amazing pictures and has been to some amazing places!  I posted the link below and in my links section!  Menlau!

Life Through My Lens – AE Raphael

I should also say that she fixed my Be Pacific header…looks great right?! She is a talent.

Nohnoh

Nohnoh Kimiya

Sorry for the hiatus.  I just haven’t had much inspiration lately.  I delete my Google Alerts and other Pacific updates I receive without reading them.  I have been too distracted by other things happening to think about blogging. Let’s think of this break as a little Pacific-regeneration.

And if that isn’t sufficient, I will use this weekend as an inspiration.  I spent Monday and Tuesday with my Mwoakillese (pronounced Mo-kill-ease) family.  My dad, brother Dylan and Uncle Tregar traveled to Illinois to visit my Nohnoh who is staying with my Aunt Kimiya, Uncle John (not Mwoakillese) and cousin Carly.

The Grey Papers: Housing

So far the Grey Papers have discussed education, tourism, and the environment.  The latest edition is out, this time discussing housing.  Once again, things look bleak.  As always, I’m here to relay the message.

In January 2009, Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority (GHURA), at the request of the Civilian Military Task Force (CMTF), conducted the “Guam Comprehensive Housing Study”.  The aim of this study was twofold: 1) to produce a comprehensive housing study for Guam; and 2) to develop a dynamic, interactive housing model to generate housing need forecasts for Guam.

So what did they come up with?

Does Size Matter?

13 miles x 13 miles

(Cautionary Notice: What follows is not a discussion of genitalia.)

One of the most irritating assumptions about Pacific islands is that they are small. Sure these islands pale in comparison to the vastness of the Pacific, but what doesn’t? Size is of course a matter of relativity. I think these islands shrink when one assumes they are isolated, but these islands are not isolated.  (However, they may be shrinking.) Whether by canoe or plane, Pacific Islanders have always traveled freely between islands.

And how small are these islands in comparison to your hometown or county?  And what if you think of an island not just as land or water?  If you think of the size of an island’s size in the context of the diaspora of it’s people, then these islands become much bigger.  For example, Mwokilloa Atoll, my ancestrial island, is 7,065 miles from Traverse City, MI, my birthplace. And I’m not alone.  I have met Samoans, Fijians, Chamorros, Hawaiians, and I am quite positive that there are many more.  Certainly, when you judge the size of the Pacific Islands from the context of diaspora, these islands become much larger.

But does size matter?

Links! Friend addition…

Damon says, "What you lookin' at?"

Thanks to my girlfriend Alex, friend Larry Cunningham, and friend/former professor/basketball-er (un)extraordinaire Damon for some of these links…

From Damon’s The American Lake: Polynesian Racial Profiling in Alaska

From Alex: Civil Unions in Hawai’i

From Larry: I’ve been trying to move away from the Buildup, but this is the best article I’ve seen on the militarization of Guam.