Guam and Federal Money

Just some light posting through the holiday season. I didn't want you to think I had forgotten about you. Enjoy 2008!

And here are the 2006 numbers for federal assistance to programs in Guam to mull over as we get ready to compare it to 2007.

That is $519 Million in grants.
The city of Denver received $6 BILLION that year.

Guam runs on 1/12 the funding that Denver does.

Denver will be getting $50,000,000 from the Feds for security for the one week Convention.
Housing and Urban Development spent $32,479,085 on housing last year in Guam.

Guam Quarter

The Treasury Department is extending the State Quarter program an extra year to include DC and the territories.

Here is the story via Guam blogger, M. G. Ryan:

It was with great interest that I listened to the discussion in the House of Representatives, recently, relating to 1997's 50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act (Public Law 105-204). I am quite familiar with this program, as I am an active collector of the state quarters. The US Mint began releasing the quarters in 1999. The designs on each quarter were to reflect the history and spirit of each state. Each quarter was released in the order of the date each state was admitted into the Union. It is a ten-year program, with five quarters released each year, ending with Hawaii, our 50th and last admitted state, having its quarter released in late 2008.

I have to admit, I was a little sad with the prospect of this program ending next year. However, due to the previously mentioned discussions in the House of Representatives, there is a possibility of an extension of this program. How? With the proposal of HR 392 - The District of Columbia and United States Territories Circulating Quarter Dollar Program Act - the "collecting" can continue for another year by including the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

Good news, Ms. Ryan, the proposal passed.
Start thinking of designs; the territorial quarters will start in 2009.

Energy Emergency Preparedness

Like me, you have probably wondering why the Dept. of Homeland Security has delayed reporting the Energy Emergency Preparedness plan. If the power goes out in Guam, what is proposed for the safety of the island? Wasn't the plan supposed to be done around now.

I checked into it...

Hafa Adai Mr. Silverstein:

This is in response to your inquiry regarding the above caption.

To date, the Energy Emergeny Preparedness Plan is at its final draft. Unfortunately, due to the Guam Administrative Rules relating to "Procurement Control, Distribution, and Sale of Petroleum Products During Fuel Shortage", a draft was forwarded to Senator Espaldon's office for reveiw andimplementation under the Guam Administrative Rules for Guam Energy Office.

The Senator's office is now working on it and will get back to me as soon as possible. After this process, the final Energy Emergency Preparedness Plan will be forwarded to Homeland Security Office of Civil Defense for the final publication to be incorporated into the Territory Emergency Disaster Preparedness Plan. We will be communicating with Homeland Security Office of Civil Defense regarding the distribution to the general public. I'm almost sure that you might be able to access this manual electronically on the Homeland Security Office of Civil Defense website as it becomes available.

If you have any further information regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

PAT A. FLORIG
Program Coordinator
Guam Energy Office
548 North Marine Corps Drive
Tamuning, Guam 96913

"THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY"

Guam-Guam-Guam

I have been reading Guam-Guam-Guam, a good news aggregator blog that covers Pacific issues.

This week they pointed at a story about the massive US military build-up on Guam, and the story has a name in it that might be familiar to readers of this blog.

antiwar.com

Activists believe the redeployment will result in a total influx of approximately 35,000 people, a number they say will overwhelm their small island, which has a population of just 168,000 people. The southernmost island in the Western Pacific Mariana chain, Guam has been a U.S. territory since the United States won the Spanish-American War in 1898.

"Guam has basically no say," said writer Michael Lujan Bevacqua, a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego. "So the U.S. has the right to bring in whatever they want, and there is no framework that Guam can make demands or negotiate with the U.S. military. The Pentagon and the United States Congress are the sovereign owners, and they act like that. There is no relationship that says we have to listen to your feedback or we have to listen to your demands."

GUAHAN Project

Since 2003, the Guam HIV/AIDS Network Project (Gua. H/A N. Project) has been providing trainings and resources on HIV, AIDS, Tuberculosis, STDs, women's reproductive health, quitting smoking, diabetes, etc., but it was just this month that they launched their new outreach website.

It is looking great, and I welcome them to the Guamroots!

Next month, I will be sure to remind everyone about their local-cast production of the musical RENT, but for those who can't wait that long, I will give you an update on their event for this weekend:

December 22: Saturday
GUAHAN Project Film Festival
HIV/AIDS themed films and local productions for AIDS awareness
6:00 PM to 10:00 PM
GUAHAN Project Resource Center located directly across Tamuning Elementary School, Chalan San Antonio, Tamuning, Core Pacific Building, Third Floor, Suite 301
Refreshments will be served

Gov. Dean in Guam : the Video

click to be taken to video page

Howard Dean:

One of the first things that I did when I was elected Chair of the Democratic National Committee was made sure that territories had the same voting power as states. The idea that a delegate from Guam... [applause] The idea that a delegate to the Democratic National Committee from Guam was going to have a quarter of a vote, and the people from the states who has exactly the same job was going to have a full vote... that is not what we do in the Democratic Party, and we don't do it anymore.

DNCC Blogger Credentialing Problems

UPDATE: Problem fixed.


The online form didn't hit the page until this afternoon.
Right now, it looks like they are having problems.

When you submit the form it tells you:

ADODB.Recordset error '800a0cc1'

Item cannot be found in the collection corresponding to the requested name or ordinal.

/blog/success.asp, line 54

Blogger Credentialing Starts Today

The submission area on the Democratic Convention's site is not available yet, but they expect to have it live later in the day.


Click here for the rules in a .pdf file

Click here for the credentialing page.

Non-Blogger Media Information

All of the information below has been transcribed from:
http://www.demconvention.com/a/2007/09/press_logistics.html

2008 Democratic National Convention
Press Credential, Workspace & Housing Information and Key Dates

The U.S. Congressional Press Galleries are opening their credential application process today. Please consult the Press credentials and workspace section below for links to all four Congressional Galleries and a description of the press organizations that fall under their jurisdictions.

Those media organizations that fall outside the jurisdictions of the Congressional Press Galleries should direct their request to the DNCC Press Gallery. That application process will begin later today. Please check back here for the live link.

Thank you for your interest in attending and covering the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO August 25 – 28. The following information provides you with information to begin the credential, workspace and housing application process for your news organization.

General information:

The Convention begins Monday, August 25 and runs through Thursday, August 28. Press credential distribution is scheduled for Sunday, August 24. A media party for all credentialed members of the press will be held on Saturday, August 23.

The application process for members of the press interesting in attending and covering the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver is outlined below.

Press credentials and workspace:

Applications for press credentials and workspace will begin on December 10, 2007.

The U.S. Congressional Press Galleries, in conjunction with the DNCC Press Gallery, will accept workspace and credential requests for all media organizations.

Please contact the respective Gallery listed below to begin your application process.

DAILY PRESS GALLERY: all daily newspapers (including foreign dailies), news wire services, and on-line daily news organizations.

Daily Press Gallery:
Jerry Gallegos, Superintendent
U.S. Capitol, H-315
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-3945
www.house.gov/daily/hpg.htm


PERIODICAL PRESS GALLERY: all magazines (including foreign magazines), newsletters, newspapers of less than daily circulation, and any website updated less than daily.

Executive Committee of Periodical Correspondents
C/O House Periodical Press Gallery
Robert Zatkowski, Director
U.S. Capitol, H-304
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-2941
Email: periodical.press@mail.house.gov
http://periodical.house.gov/


PHOTOGRAPHERS’ PRESS GALLERY: all photographers representing news organizations and news services. Freelance photographers must be on assignment from a news organization.

The Standing Committee of Press Photographers
P.O. Box 15273
Washington, D.C. 20003-0273
Attn: Jeff Kent
202-224-6548
www.senate.gov/galleries/photo


RADIO-TV GALLERY: all independent radio and television stations, groups or programs, domestic and foreign. Foreign broadcasters please work directly with the Radio/TV Gallery or with a domestic network. Contact the Radio/TV Gallery with any questions.

Radio TV Gallery:
Olga Ramirez Kornacki, Director
Room H-321
U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202- 226-5715
Email: rtvconventions2008@mail.house.gov
radiotv.house.gov

Press credential requests from news organizations that are not handled by any of the U.S. Congressional Galleries should be directed to the DNCC’s Press Gallery.

DNCC PRESS GALLERY: all other news organizations including blogs community newspapers, the publications of membership organizations, quarterlies, college media, production houses and media service organizations. Please visit the DNCC blog for more information on the blogger credentialing process.

DNCC Press Gallery
1560 Broadway
Denver, Colorado 80202
Phone: 720-362-2008
Email: dnccpressgallery@demconvention.com
www.demconvention.com

Media housing information:


All media requests for housing for the Democratic National Convention during Convention week and including pre- and post-convention week stays can be made beginning on Tuesday, November 13, 2007.

To begin your DNCC online housing application process, please go to the media housing website at www.ambassadorsevents.com/dncc/media

There is a three step process for reserving hotel rooms:

1. Fill out an online application on the media housing website to request the number and types of room(s) your news organization requires for the Convention.

2. Confirmation and hotel room assignments will be sent via email, starting in February and will continue on a rolling schedule.

3. Complete the process of reserving rooms by paying a deposit and supplying credit card information.

For more information about media housing at the Convention, please go to the Media Housing FAQ at www.ambassadorsevents.com/dncc/media

Key media dates:

• Begin making your housing request online beginning November 13, 2007
• Begin making press credential and workspace requests December 10, 2007
• Early decision housing request deadline is December 13, 2007
• Early decision housing assignments confirmed by February 13, 2008
• Room block lists and room deposits due by June 24, 2008
• Media Convention party is August 23, 2008
• Distribution of press credentials is August 24, 2008
• Democratic National Conventions runs August 25 – 28, 2008

For more information and regular news updates on the 2008 Democratic National Convention, please visit www.DemConvention.com.

We look forward to working with you.

Gov. Howard Dean in Guam

This Friday, Dec. 14., DNC Chairman Howard Dean will be in Guam as the keynote speaker at the annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner. Tickets are $40 per person, and you can get information by calling 671-646-1100.

Dean will be meeting with local Senatorial candidates Tom Ada (pictured) and Judge B.J. Cruz.

Pacific Daily News

"This visit is part of Gov. Dean's commitment to building a national Democratic Party that does not take any vote or voter for granted, no matter where they live. He looks forward to the opportunity to help support the Guam Democrats," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera.
Democratic party of Guam chairman Tony Charfauros said he hopes the visit will bring more of a spotlight to the island.

"I think it will benefit everyone. Any time you have someone with the stature of Gov. Dean, it will benefit Guam because now there will be some national attention brought to our island," Charfauros said. "I think if we discuss with Gov. Dean (the) local issues we have, he can at least discuss it with some of the leaders back (on the mainland)."

Hoping that Dean, as amazing as he has proven to be, will discuss your issues with 'leaders' thousands of miles away, just sounds to me like setting the bar pretty low. That is why I advocate for people to get involved online. If your issues are being blocked due to the way information and access are traditionally handled, you have to be on the front edge of using the new technology to break through.

That said, it looks like Dean and Charfauros are hitting the right note with this expansion of Dean's 'Fifty State Strategy'. One of the comments at PDN was particularly illuminating:

"Everybody wants to bash political parties; they are not a necessary evil, they are they way people get organized to win elections; like other human institutions, they are fallible, they make mistakes ...... etc.

but on balance, I know which political party looks out for my interests. National political parties do not pay attention to Guam much..... but if Howard Dean is coming out and is not expecting anything other than he is responding to an invitation and reaching out in the middle of a presidential campaign.... then maybe not much good will come out of it, but it does say something.

Congratulations to the local Democratic Party.... it is more attention than the local Republican Party has received...... it is only David Cohen that talks to us."

I like the sound of that.

Hotels for bloggers

I asked Convention CEO Leah Daughtry about hotel accomodations for bloggers.

She replies: (video here)

"Well, all bloggers are invited to apply for housing through the DNCC's media housing process, and if you haven't already done so you should go online right away at our website; www.demconvention.com to file your application. We've got plenty of rooms and we hope to be able to take care of everyone who needs to have a room and who is here to cover the convention."

People who wish to cover the Florida delegation should probably also look for a room in Tallahassee.

Croatia weighs in on me and Jason... I think.

Demokrati i republikanci u strahu od blogera jer ih je te��ko 'usmjeravati'

Democrats and Republicans something bloggers the something 'something in quotes'.

Voice of America, I think. Croatian. Um...

U kolovozu sljede��e godine, u Denveru u Coloradu, strana��ku konvenciju Demokratske stranke, na kojoj ��e se i slu��beno izabrati kandidat za predsjednika dr��ave, pratit ��e tisu��e reportera - radijskih, televizijskih i novinskih. No, kako javlja Brian Larson, uz novinare iz tradicionalnih medija, u Denveru ��e biti i nekoliko desetaka blogera – koji ��e postupak predsjedni��ke nominacije pratiti na svoj na��in.

Denveru u Coloradu. Hey! I live there... probably.

Jason Rosenberg, je u Demokratskoj stranci direktor Odjela za Internet komunikacije. On ka��e da je utjecaj blogera, mahom novinara-amatera, porastao u odnosu na 2004. godinu, kada je odr��ana posljednja nacionalna konvencija Demokratske stranke: "2004. godine nitko jo�� nije shva��ao va��nost blogera. Strana��ki izbori su bili zanimljivi, nakon toga su uslijedili nacionalni izbori 2004. godine, me��utim tek 2006. – na izborima za Kongres – blogeri su pomogli demokratima da pobijede u nizu kongresnih utrka."

See that? In 2004 there were blogera, but in 2006 blogeri. And not just blogeri, but blogeri su pomogoli! That is why this convention rocks.

Jedan od blogera koji nastoje dobiti akreditaciju za pra��enje nacionalne konvencije Demokratske stranke je i Aaron Silverstein, pokreta�� bloga progresivne orijentacije squarestate.net.

Wait a minute. This is about me? Oh great, now I am going to have to find a translation.


I can't find it in the English section, but it looks like they quoted me as the lead story on the front page in Croatia...

Haven't found it in English yet, but apparently they quoted me on their front page and it was the lead story...

Demokrati i republikanci u strahu od blogera jer ih je teško 'usmjeravati'
Aaron Silverstein: "Stranačke konvencije još uvijek vrlo strogo kontroliraju protok vijesti. Meni je jasno zašto stranka želi da na konvenciji bude ograničen broj blogera – oni naime zaista pišu što misle."

I found a cleaner version without the special characters.

Throwing the page through the InterTran translator yields:

Democratic bi Liberals party is required unveil yet else more interesting for blogere – deemed Silverstein: "wing convention still very unsparing control the prototype board. A menu had conspicuously why does Liberals party I want to yes we do at convention branch office blogera – those namely truly which abstract. Still them does deemed the new phenomenon and does not wellspring info."

I think I was misquoted. I remember saying the new phenomenon doesn't necessarily wellspring info, but often does, at least when the blogeri is su pomogoli.

Don't Blink

At the 39 second mark of this news report you can see the subliminal messages that Fox31 decided to send out to Denver.

The rest of the montages are of Kos, HuffPo, FireDogLake, and other usual suspects, mostly set to pages about Giuliani, but you can see the first of two glimpses of the page 2008 Democratic Convention Watch at the 1:11 mark.

Minagahet

I have to check into the Blogger settings so that I can get comments emailed to me. This would move a lot smoother if I did that.

I sent this out just now. If you are in Guam and are thinking, "I can't believe he wants that guy to get the spot," this would be a great chance to jump in and point me in unexpected directions. Let's face it, as much as I would like to complete my quest here I am a man of action and don't want to have to rest on my laurels so soon.

Michael,

It is so good to hear from you.

As you have probably gathered from my blog, I am trying to find a good candidate to cover the DNCC next August in Denver that can bring a perspective on the news, events and politics that has traditionally been pushed away.

Your work more than any other that I have seen, reflects that possibility and I want to do what I can to help you be credentialed onto the floor of the Democratic National Convention and to help your independent voice be heard.

Jason Rosenberg is the Director of Internet Communications for the convention, and starting on Dec. 10th he will be gathering applications for the internet media interested in covering the convention and he wants bloggers from every delegation represented.

My clever (?) branding, schmoozing and networking has me high on Jason’s radar, and I know that he recognizes that the Convention has a stake in seeing that all grassroots viral efforts like this generate positive results. I do not work for the DNCC, and I don’t get to decide who is credentialed, but I know that his eyes are on me when it comes to finding the right blogger from Guam. (I copied him on this email, just in case he didn’t know that yet. You hear that Jason? Your eyes are on me.)

If you are interested in covering the convention next August, please let me know and I will keep you appraised of the timeline as it develops here in Denver, and will do everything I can to help you with the logistics of attending the event.

If, for whatever reason, Colorado is not in the cards for you, please share any information you can to help my site put a spotlight on the Guam Netroots, and maybe even find the right person for 2008.

Thanks! (and keep up the great work on all of your sites)

Aaron Silverstein

Great News!

Michael Lujan Bevacqua, who so far is hands down my top choice for the spot, has contacted me.

I will be writing him and seeing what we can develop!

More on this later...

Jason Rosenberg talks Blogs on KCFR

Jason Rosenberg and Joan McCarter from DailyKos.com spoke today on radio station KCFR.

They explained the importance of bloggers in coverage of the local delegations.

Listen to the podcast here:
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510072

The host tried repeatedly to push them to say that blogs were being included to provide a leftist slant, but the guests were not biting and underlined the relative independence of the blogging community.

It was clear from the story that this is a pivotal and transformational moment both for those engaged in bringing traditional journalism to the net and for the net-pundits who are bringing perspective and analysis.

That's a lot of pressure, people. Clearly, I better find someone more up to the task so I can spend that week napping.

Guam Delegation Questions Answered

Dan Slater, 1st Vice-Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, writes:

OK. I think I’ve cleared up the Guam delegation issues.



First, you have the super-delegate numbers correct. One for the Congressional delegate, and four for the DNC members (chair, vice chair, and two DNC National Committee persons). Then, normally, Guam would have had 3 more votes divided among 6 half-delegates, making a delegation total of 11 (Plus 1 alternate). However, the DNC adopted a rule earlier this year that allows states that go later in the delegate selection process to get bonus delegates as a reward for not front-loading the process (worked like a charm, as Feb. 5 shows).



Because Guam is scheduled to go on May 3, 2008 with its caucus / convention process, it was rewarded one extra delegate, which adds two half-votes. Accordingly, Guam’s delegation size is 13, plus 1 alternate. (By the way, Guam’s 4 pledged delegates represent 0.12% of the total number of delegates at the Convention – well, at least as of today; that percentage assumes Florida gets 0 delegates but still assumes that Michigan has its full delegation). In comparison, Colorado represents 1.63% of the pledged delegates.


More data for you: Guam has one member on each of the standing committees (Credentials, Rules, and Platform), and that one member gets a fourth of a vote on the committee. (Colorado gets two full votes on each committee.) As did Colorado, Guam had to adopt an outreach plan with delegation affirmative action goals. They have a goal of 6 delegates being Asian / Pacific Americans and 1 being “Youth”.


Hope all that helps! Let me know if you have further questions.


-- Dan

That last paragraph is very interesting. I wonder who the "youth" delegate might be?

Fox 31 NEWS

On our local Fox affiliate, they just ran an interview with Jason Rosenberg and ProgressCon 2008's Bobby Clark about bloggers at the Convention.

I am pretty sure that if you watch very closely, there is a momentary flash of GuamLovesJasonRosenberg.blogspot.com

I will try and find a clip.

If you were brought here by the subliminal call of the message, welcome!

Rosenberg at Roots Camp

Political progressives are gathering in Denver this weekend for the 2nd annual Roots Camp.

In one of the many break-out sessions, DNCC Internet Communications Director Jason Rosenberg spoke about the blogger credentialing process for the convention and took a number of questions.

I was on hand, and he was very generous with his comments about my work on this blog. I was glad that he was able to weave it constructively into the narrative of the convention, and I hope that it sparks something creative for one of the other bloggers.

A lot of useful coordination has begun within the Colorado netroots, and there were a number of good points raised. One in particular seems worth bringing up here.

December 10th marks the beginning of the application process, but the State Blogger Corps will not be finalized until April. By then, you can be almost certain that nearly all hotel rooms will be booked in Denver. I sent a question along to CEO Daughtry to find out what sort of resources may be available for out of town bloggers, but it does not look likely that the DNCC will be offering much help.

If you are attending as a Guam blogger, I will see what I can do to help provide for your housing, but if you are reading this because you are planning to attend from elsewhere, you might want to look into a few other options.

Obviously, booking your room early... or last month... would be good. Failing that, you might want to keep your eyes out for the housing share page on the ProgressCon site.

Right now, there is just a place holder there, but I spoke to Bobby Clark of ProgressNow and he started to say that they would be filling it out soon, but then he offered the suggestion that perhaps I should take it on. I just might.

Not tonight though. I have to get some sleep and head back for day two.

Dan Slater loves Guam loves Jason Rosenberg

I just got an email from Dan Slater, the 1st Vice Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party.

Dan is a blogger himself, and his DemNotes is the official blog voice of the Colorado Dems. There is a lot of good convention related news to be found there.

He tells me that he is going to look into the discrepancy in the number of delegates/votes/rooms and let me know what the real scoop is. Meanwhile, he has given me the contact info for two of the DNC delegates!

Party Chair, Antonio Charfauros
Party Vice Chair, Cecilia Mafnas

He passed along their addresses, both snail and e-, and he also gave me the contact info for the Guam Dems PO Box.

Myspace Guam

Myspace has a number of Guammy groups out there.

The user Guam has 7034 friends.
The group ChAmOrRo~StYlE has 2004 members.
The user Guam Heads has 2080 friends.

It looks like Myspace is where the Guahan community hangs out on the net.

The signal to noise ratio is horrible at MySpace. So many scams and fake posts that it is hard to see where any of this will give me any information. It is time I found someone to help. I am going to see what I can do to find Denver based Chamorro MySpace musician; Santiago the Artist. (Click to see his page and hear his work.)

Santiago,

Great music. Are you playing anywhere local soon? I would love to come and listen.

I am a blogger from Denver, and I am one of the writers the political website SquareState.net

The Democratic National Convention is going to be in Denver next year, and I am trying to find political writers online who are interested in covering the convention from a chamorro perspective. Personally, I am about as far from the one as you can get for the job. I have no connection to the islands or their culture. I do have a desire, however, to see that the media coverage of the convention reflects the full diversity of our country.

Maybe you can help me. I have a website set up called GuamLovesJasonRosenberg.blogspot.com

Jason is the name of the guy the convention has credentialing internet writers as journalists. I am trying to learn everything I can about Guam on the net and see if I can't point the right person Jason's way.

Right now, I am writing about Guam on myspace. Even if it has nothing to do with politics at all, could you reply to this and share with me some of your thoughts about the relationship between Guam and the internet, or maybe point me to someone out there whose blog I should be reading?

Thanks,

Aaron

2008 Democratic Convention Watch

DemConWatch.blogspot.com

Update: Guam Loves Jason Rosenberg plots out the route for the Guam delegation from their hotel to the Pepsi Center. Needless to say, Guam did not get the best hotel assignment. Maybe Guam should offer Senator Bill Nelson of Florida a spot in their hotel?

2008 Democratic Convention Watch has the full story on the Florida room assignment omission. Florida is being left out by design, and will have to rely on a nominee wanting to win favor by reinstating them. Right now, it looks like there are still enough rooms to go around if it comes down to that, but who knows as things get closer?

We could swing it like this, Sen. Nelson makes Guam an offer for a hotel room (Which I am sure would include a large deposit to cover damages to the room and adult movie rentals; I've been in Lauderdale on Spring Break, I know what Florida parties are like.)

Then, whoever from the Guam delegation is displaced can crash here at my place, we can split the Senator's money, I will make waffles and you supply the Coco-Jo's. Deal?

Guam Delegates

4207 votes will be cast at the convention, but there will be 4,227 actual delegates seated.

Guam will have 11* delegates, but only 8 votes.

Here is how it works:

1 vote for Madeleine Z. Bordallo, the Democratic member of Congress for Guam. She was born in Minnesota, is the wife of former Guam Governor Ricky Bordallo, and is a former Lt. Gov. herself. I'll do a whole piece on her at some point.

4 votes for the DNC members. I am trying to get an idea of who these might be. Robert Underwood and Frank Aguon were the Gov./Lt.Gov. candidates in 2006 and former Governor Carl T.C. Guttierrez was in the primary.

3 votes for the six unpledged at large delegates, 1/2 a vote each.

In the interests of Dem. unity, you have to want to see a nomination by unanimous acclamation, but the mischief maker in me would laugh if one of the fractional voters decided to make the vote 4206.5 to .5

*-the DNCC hotel list says they have 12. Not sure yet where the 12th comes from if that is accurate.

Convention Hotel Assignments

STATE/TERRITORY HOTEL
Alabama - Doubletree Denver Stapleton
Alaska - Four Points by Sheraton Denver Southeast
American Samoa - Radisson Southeast
Arizona - Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center
Arkansas - Marriott Denver South at Park Meadows
California - Adam's Mark
Colorado - Grand Hyatt Downtown
Connecticut - Marriott Denver Tech Center
Delaware - Marriott South at Park Meadows
Democrats Abroad - Red Lion Denver Central
District of Columbia - Crowne Plaza, Downtown
Georgia - Doubletree Denver Stapleton
Guam - Sheraton Denver Tech Center
Hawaii - Marriott Denver South at Park Meadows
Idaho - Sheraton Denver Tech Center
Illinois - Marriott City Center, Downtown
Indiana - Sheraton Denver Tech Center
Iowa - Courtyard by Marriott, Downtown
Kansas - Doubletree Denver Tech Center
Kentucky - Hilton Garden Inn, Downtown
Louisiana - Radisson Stapleton Plaza
Maine - Hilton Garden Inn, Downtown
Maryland - Renaissance Denver Hotel
Massachusetts - Renaissance Denver Hotel
Michigan - Red Lion Denver Central
Minnesota - Four Points by Sheraton Denver Southeast
Mississippi - Hilton Garden Inn Denver South/Meridian
Missouri - Embassy Suites Denver Tech Center
Montana - Courtyard Stapleton
Nebraska - Embassy Suites Denver Southeast
Nevada - Courtyard by Marriott, Downtown
New Hampshire - Wyndham Denver Tech Center
New Jersey - Inverness Hotel
New Mexico - Crowne Plaza, Downtown
New York - Adam's Mark
North Carolina - Doubletree Denver Tech Center
North Dakota - Doubletree Denver Stapleton
Ohio - Curtis Hotel, Downtown
Oklahoma - Embassy Suites SE
Oregon - Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center
Pennsylvania - Marriott Denver Tech Center
Puerto Rico - Four Points by Sheraton Denver Southeast
Rhode Island - Four Points by Sheraton Denver Southeast
South Carolina - Radisson Stapleton Plaza
South Dakota - Doubletree Denver Stapleton
Tennessee - Marriott, Denver Tech Center
Texas - Radisson Hotel Denver Southeast
Utah - Warwick Hotel
Vermont - Magnolia Hotel
Virgin Islands - Marriott City Center
Virginia - Crowne Plaza, Downtown
Washington - Hyatt Regency, Denver Tech Center
West Virginia - Magnolia Hotel
Wisconsin - Marriott City Center
Wyoming - Hyatt Place, Denver Tech Center



Click to see your route to the Pepsi Center

Ok, you guys are getting screwed.

The Colorado delegation is staying a couple of blocks away from the convention at the Grand Hyatt and they have you down in Englewood. That's about 15 miles away. Guam at its widest is around 10 miles.

Your best bet is the light rail, traffic up I-25 can be very slow, but you would save more than half the trip if you find a way to convince me to let you use my place.

Looks like you might be better off than Florida. They aren't even on the list.
Is that an oversight? Or is that a message from the DNCC about their early primary?

Listening to Chamorro

There are a lot of Chamoru .wma files over at Capt. Santo's site chamoruboy.com. He has collected quite a bit of poetry, music, and historical information over there.

I speak a few languages, and it is a hard to draw comparisons to other languages; a little Arabic, a little Navaho, a little Hindi, a good deal of Spanish. Very little of the Asiatic tonalities that I would have expected.

He also has a small dictionary that will help me understand some of the sites my English keeps me from finding.

Capt. Santos served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and it looks like he has wandered the map of the world quite a bit. I'll drop him a line...

Capt. Santos,

First of all, thank you for your service. I do not know if you are currently deployed or not, but I hope wherever you are you are well and safe.

Next, I would like to thank you for your site. I am a political blogger from Denver, Colorado and I have been interested recently in learning more about Chamorro language and culture, and it has been an excellent resource to me.

Denver is going to be the site of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and I have had the opportunity to see first hand as their staff has made a great effort this year to bring more voices, particularly those on the net, into the media coverage of the event. It has been a strange hobby of mine to try to find suitable internet writers who can cover the activities of the Guam delegation and to direct them to the convention's Internet Communications Director, Jason Rosenberg.

Obviously, your website is not focused on journalism and you already have an important and time consuming job, but I thought that with your knowledge of the internet and your understanding of the issues facing Guam, you might be able to recommend to me some writers who I should be reading.

If you know any good Guam bloggers, send them my way or please drop me a line.
I have a little website where I am tracking my quest to find the right writer; guamlovesjasonrosenberg.blogspot.com
Please, check it out and comment if you can help me at all.

Thanks!

Aaron Silverstein

Guahan Magazine

To Jayne Flores, Editor Guahan Magazine:

Hello from Denver!

My name is Aaron Silverstein and I am a new media journalist for the Colorado political website SquareState.net.
At a recent media walk-through in advance of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, we were told that the convention would be reserving credentials for their 'State Blogger Corps'.
Under the direction of Internet Communications Director, Jason Rosenberg, they will be selecting internet writers from around the country to cover each of the delegations.
It will not at all be hard to find good writers here in Colorado eager to cover the convention, but who would be an appropriate political blogger from Guam? That is the question I am trying to answer on my small new website; guamlovesjasonrosenberg.blogspot.com.
I am not working for the convention, but I know that the staff is following my progress in seeking the perfect Guam blogger.

What can you tell me about the "netroots" in Guam? Are there good writers who write specifically for the internet and focus on the politics of Guam, who might be both willing and able to travel to Denver, Colorado next summer?

Anything you can share will be helpful.

Thank you,

Aaron Silverstein

Mining Minagahet

I have been reading minagahet.blogspot.com lately. He is a good writer and covering a fascinating topic. He hasn't posted since my message to him, but as I said he seems terribly busy.

It would be hard to find a better candidate for the job. He is passionate about the politics of Guam, a good writer, very active on multiple sites, and travels offline to places like the UN when he has a chance to spread the word about his causes.

Alas, I haven't heard from him yet, so I will mine his bookmarks while hoping.

Guam Bloggers United has been dormant since January.

Tales of the Guambat is a nice personal blog, and has been running now for four years. I have a little trick I do to quickly test the political content of a blog. After I read the most recent couple of posts, I click on October or November 2006. This is from Guambat's blog on November 7th, 2006:

Generally, i believe in responsible voting; one should really take the time to figure out if the candidates know what the fuck they are doing. however, sometimes i just feel like all is futile and it wouldn't matter if i wrote in saaaaay, douglas moylan's name in every write-in space on the ballot (and so what if i did??). however, i have to admit i gave one vote to someone that i was on the fence about, and i mainly gave it to that person because the other day i was driving towards work and stuck near hafa adai exchange; i saw that there was someone doing one of the those drive and wave campaigning thingies at the itc intersection. i couldn't quite tell who it was, but when the candidate turned, i thought, "hey, that looks like [redacted]'s ass." and as i drove by, what do you know? it was [redacted]'s ass after all. wow, you could almost literally see [redacted]'s ass from a mile away. i sort of felt bad because the last time i saw this candidate, i had to think hard to remember who this person was; however, i would recognize this person's ass anywhere.

sooo...i felt a little bad about this and that was enough to tip a vote in that person's favour. sad, sad, sad.

Ok, so Guambat is not so political, but it looks like she is a great food blogger.
I have to try out some of the dishes she shows on her other blog Scent of Green Bananas.

Guampedia has a political section, but it is just an outline with mostly historical entries planned. In all of my searches so far, I still haven't found an official website of any political parties.

Ah, wait. It looks like 'Naison Chamoru' had a site with a slate of candidates up in 2006, and through that they link to the names of the primary candidates from all the parties. That will give me something to feed Google tomorrow.

Meanwhile, listen to Minagahet.blogspot's Guam Talk 5 and hear about the history of the suppression of the Chamorro language and culture, and his personal journey in rediscovering an identity within a language.

Sadly the bit he has posted thus far ends before we get a chance to hear him speaking Chamorro, but it looks like he will be bringing more forward soon.
It is a great recording by any measure, but it has an added dimension of poignancy for anyone engaged in the process of bringing 'new voices' into the political conversations around the Convention.

Connect the Dots

Past Coverage : New Possibilities

NPR (Audio)

"At the Democratic National Convention, your political worth is measured not just by who you know but also by where you are sitting. The seating chart of the State delegations is carefully crafted to put swing states like Florida, Missouri and Pennsylvania up in front of the podium, and more importantly in view of the TV cameras, but for every valued delegation some other state is banished to the cheap seats..."
"...besides the Vermont delegates like hanging out with their friends from Guam."

Convention coverage usually touches somewhere on Guam. But the coverage is always just about how poor their seats are, or how far they have traveled. Let's face it. I picked Guam for this blog because for me it was the definition of obscurity. It wasn't until I saw the dot on my page referral map that I knew where it was... and that is always part of the big news from the convention on Guam. "Most people don't know where it is."

That is the big tragedy of traditional media coverage, if you are not a state with a major media market or a lot of delegates unsure of which way they will swing, you do not matter. That sort of coverage hopelessly narrows the political conversation and makes the conventions a stupid meaningless practice. They are a big campaign ad for the campaigns, and as long as they drop the balloons and some woman shows up from middle America with red, white and blue face paint and a funny hat, they will keep putting on these shows, but the predictability is killing them. They are predictable because the only story that the television networks can cover are the stories that have already been decided long ago.

People from Guam will be there. They will come from far away. One of them will be spotted at some point wearing a 'hawaiian shirt'. They will have lousy seats. Until they are covering their own stories, that is all we will ever get, and none of the policies critical to their survival will ever matter.

Westword

How to Recognize a Guam Delegate: Guamanians are gorgeous. Their exotic mix of Malay, Chamorro, Filipino, Spanish, Asian, and American ancestry has produced people who are extremely easy on the eyes. Although the Pacific island is a part of Micronesia, don't expect to see delegates running around Denver in grass skirts and coconut-shell bras. Guam is the westernmost outpost of the United States of Discount and Fashion Mall Shopping, and every store is duty-free! Guamanians are as trend-savvy and fashionable as any mainland MySpace suburbanite, and they dress the part. Otherwise, telltale signs of the Guam delegate will include the need for a down coat whenever the temperature dips below 86 degrees Fahrenheit and the wearing of zoris. Zoris — or flip-flops, as they are called on the mainland — are worn all day long, with any outfit, by either sex. They are only removed during daylight hours one at a time, to emphasize a point during a zori attack — or political debate, as it is called on the mainland.

Tom Burka

Guam Delegates Threatening To Capture Plum Massachussetts' Floor Spot

Feisty "Red-Shirted Warriors" Ready To Rumble

Courageous and strong-hearted delegates from Guam, the U.S. territory that has fielded the smallest number of delegates on the floor, 12, surged forward in what appeared to be a carefully coordinated thrust into Vermont, Connecticut, and Maryland, making a stab at capturing the coveted seating held by Massachussets directly in front of the stage.

Scripps Howard

Twelve delegates flew for 18 hours to the continental United States for the Democratic National Convention this week.

Why such a long trip? These delegates are from Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific. The smallest delegation to the convention also traveled the farthest to get here.

"We are American citizens," said Tyrone J. Taitano, 46, a Guam delegate. "But because of the system we have no voting representation in Congress, but just like there are Americans abroad, there are us."

The last time the NY Times did a story that they archived under their 'Guam' topic was in January.

Guam isn't the big story. Getting bloggers from Guam won't make it the big story. But the thing to realize is that the ~Big Story~ is not the big story these days. The big story is the millions of tiny constituencies that the internet can quilt together. Advertisers love the internet and even cable because you can target individuals in highly personal ways. Political strategists should pay attention.

The fire hose of big media covering a big event still reigns supreme, but the Republicans will always be able to take slightly more advantage of the power of corporate television. When Kerry debated Bush, they went to split screen and pushed the cameras in on Bush to equalize their heights and make Bush look more immediate and powerful. See if that happens again next time the heights are reversed. For a party of diverse people, we need to use the power we have to give them their own eyes, ears, and voices.

Otherwise, it narrows everything.

28 tags for Guam

Lefty Blogs doesn't list Guam.

So we go to the mother load, the fire hose, the big bloggity blog blog.

Daily Kos has 28 stories that carry the Guam tag.

Abramoff related Guam scandal (20)
Russian over flights of Guam (2)
On first glance none of those seem to be written from a Guammy perspective.

One story about territories generally that sas:
"All residents of the territories are full US citizens in all respects save the right to vote in federal elections. They have no say in who becomes POTUS nor are they adequately represented in Congress, a fate they share with the residents of D.C."

That is almost true, but given the nature of this blog I would have to say not 100% accurate. Almost though.

One that was Guam specific was about a rally in Berkeley, California in response to a Guam military build-up. It had a poll attached asking if Guam should remain a US colony.
Yes - 14; No - 28; America Doesn't Have Colonies - 9

It rated two comments. One criticizing the form of the diary, and one from ohwilleke (a guy I know here in Denver.)

Another diary looks at all of the candidates for the 51st Star including Alberta, Canada.

I found a diary written by someone who mentions that he used to live on Guam, who was writing about the general need in our country for someone to lobby in the public interest.

Then I finally found a diary that was right on the money.

The author was 'Hope for Guahan' and the diary is: July 4th- The Irony in America's "Independence" Day

As a U.S. citizen, I refuse to partake in a celebration of "independence" when the truth of the matter is that America has willfully taken away another’s independence so that they can reap the benefits. The irony in this is that America, and its agencies, knowingly abuses others in the very same way they have been abused by Mother Country.

Unfortunately it was the first and last post he made. He never even made another comment. It looks like he was treated rudely and left. It even prompted a reader to do his own diary asking why people were being so harsh on the newbies.

But in Hope's diary is a suggestion that I take a look at Minagahet.blogspot.com, and I think I have something there.

Minaghet may be a rare sighting of the elusive Guam-Poli-Blogger.

Blog dedicated to Chamorro issues and usage of the Chamoru language. This blog is meant to inform readers about the issues affecting the Chamorro people, who are the indigenous islanders of Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Luta and Pagan of the Marianas Islands.

His latest post makes him sound incredibly busy. He lists 10 things he has to do today each of which is more than I do in a... well they are more than I do, let me just leave it at that.

1. Attend a educational policy meeting at UCLA tomorrow morning for Pacific Islanders.

2. Supervise a college networking workshop Saturday morning at the 6th Annual National Pacific Islander Education Network Conference (NPIEN) at Paramount High School.

3. Have my brother Jack record another "Guam Talk" with my friend Josette Saturday afternoon.

4. Meet with other grad students in the department on Sunday to help finalize plans for an Indigenous and Postcolonial Studies Conference we're organizing next year at UCSD.

I can't even read past #4 without having to go lie down for a bit...
... ok I am back.

Michael,

I feel guilty distracting you. In fact, have a friend of your's read this and summarize. I always use far too many words.

I am a political blogger in Denver who will be covering the 2008 Democratic Convention.

As part of their outreach into the internet, they are credentialing 56 bloggers to report on their delegations at the event.

My blog GuamLovesJasonRosenberg.blogspot.com, is following my story as I attempt to find a suitable Guam based blogsite and help point them in the direction of Jason Rosenberg, the Internet Communications Director for the DNCC.

Your work here seems to be a goldmine, and I will be working my way through it. When there is a break in the action, drop me a line and let me know who else in the Guam blogging community I should be discovering.

I hope you don't mind, but I lifted your picture off this post and am adding it to where I am talking about you on my site.

Best regards!

Aaron Silverstein

Site Meter

As I have said earlier part of the credentialing process involves site traffic.

I am trying to set up a site meter on my site using the free meter at sitemeter.com.

It will help me track page views (this is a one page blog, so that number will be low), visitors (I expect this number to be through the roof with over a quarter million views a day), and unique visitors (this one will also be low, all of those visits will be from me.)

So far it is showing zeros across the board, and I am here watching, so maybe it takes a bit to kick in or I have it set up wrong. I am working on that now.

... Oh, hey. I think I got it.

Latitude 13

I don't know that much about her politics, but I might not really care.
(Who am I fooling, I care, but I am going to contact her before doing all my homework because I love her site just on the look of it!)

I found latitude13.com, the online home of Guam based photographer and graphic designer, Josie.

Her dogs are named Yoda (props!) and Leeloo (love!), and she writes a great blog about the scene local to 13.28 degrees North, 144.47 degrees East.

She has a Flickr account filled with shots that would make a mailman from heaven weep while delivering the postcards.

She might not be the elusive guam-poli-blogger yet, but if we could get her viewpoint and camera to Denver, that is a blog I would watch.

Josie,

Hello stranger! Beautiful work, I really like what you are doing on Latitude 13 and want to talk with you briefly about blogging Guam.

I am a political blogger from Denver, Colorado. I am covering next year's Democratic National Convention, and it has led me into a strange sideline.

The Convention is credentialing bloggers to cover their delegations, and while I have nothing to do with choosing who gets those credentials, I was curious about who in the world would have the money, time, and interest needed to be the political blogger from Guam.

Jason Rosenberg is the internet guy for the Democrats, and I have been running a site called GuamLovesJasonRosenberg.blogspot.com chronicling my attempts to learn about the Guam internet scene.

My post today features you!

Now, don't be fooled into believing anybody is reading the site just yet, but do not underestimate my ability for shameless self promotion. I intend to get the people there and create an opportunity for Guam to have a larger voice in what happens here in Colorado.

Help me get the facts straight on the Guam political scene, Guam blogs, or even just stop by and say hello to Denver.

I don't know if you are a Democrat or not, and it doesn't really matter. I have a feeling that those labels mean something different in the middle of the ocean than they do here in the middle of the continent. I just want to find out more about what that difference is.

Please stop by and let me know whose blogs I should be reading.

Thanks!

Aaron Silverstein

Technorati and Credentials

GuamLovesJasonRosenberg.blogspot.com has risen to the stratospheric ranking of 4,450,048 on Technorati's list of most influential blogs.

How did we do it?

Well that question ranks slightly below the question, "Why did we do it?" on the list of most influential questions so we will take on the Why? question for now.

To be credentialed for the 2008 DNC as a member of the State Blogger Corps, your blog has to have been in existence for six months (We are hoping for a 'Dog-Months' exemption) and you need to have at least 120 posts of a political nature. (The Whig Party is making a comeback, mark my words. There, that was politics. 116 to go for me.)

After that it is whoever can make the case that they are making an impact, part of that is traffic numbers, part of that is unique to each blog, and part of that is Technorati ratings.

To find your Technorati rating type in the URL:

http://technorati.com/blogs/YOURBLOGNAME

Include the www. and the .gov part and all that. For instance, mine is

http://technorati.com/blogs/guamlovesjasonrosenberg.blogspot.com

Holy Cow! I just moved up to... oh wait, still the same 4,450,048
Damn you, cmmichaels, and your myspace blog! Your mention of Hasselhoff has you at 4,446,976, but not for long. I am gunning for you, baby. Your neighbor's cat or Jason Rosenberg, guess what Guam wants to talk about. Sure, its the cat, but for how long. For how long?

Oh wait. I linked that blog. That will move up it's authority rating. Oh well. Then I am gunning for someone else and I won't say who. That's how this game is played. Go to it people, and I will see you in Denver in August 2008.

Post #3 (only 117 to go!)

Shoyoroll

Hello Guam!

I am a blogger from Denver, Colorado, the site of the 2008 Democratic National Convention. I am planning on covering the event, but have no official connection with it whatsoever.

The convention staff is making a real effort this year to include the online community in their coverage, and to further that they are trying to credential a local political blogger from every state and territory to cover the convention on site next summer.

Obviously, being in the host city the competition for the limited spots could be quite strong. As a joke I told the Director of Internet Communications, Jason Rosenberg, that I would take Guam's spot if nobody else wanted it. What started as a joke is leading me into a fun search to find someone who would be a good fit for the position.

Candidates should be websites that are over six months old, with at least 120 posts of a political nature, who apply through demconvention.com starting on Dec. 10th.

But at this point I would like to just understand the political netroots of Guam.

I am using my website guamlovesjasonrosenberg.blogspot.com to track my quest in finding a progressive blogger from Guam who can come join us here in Colorado.

Which blogs should I be reading? Who should hear more details about the convention? Where can I even find the Democratic Party website for Guam? Help me find out.

Thanks!

Guam Blogs

HAFA ADAI!

I am trying to find the GuamRoots...

Nothing really on the Democrats site. I can't find an official site for the Party or for Chairman Mike Phillips. Wikipedia isn't helping.

I found these, but they don't seem political.

Auntie Charo is getting into the spirit!
Yes, I know that she is awfully concerned about protecting the kids from movies made by atheists, but I like the level of distrust and disgust she holds for the "great white father in D.C."

Wait, I found the Guam Blog, the "official blog of Guam."
Get this, its Government tag links to exactly 120 stories, and it will turn six months old in December! Those are the magic minimums to be considered for a credential to the DNCC.

From its 'About' page:

This is an example of a WordPress page, you could edit this to put information about yourself or your site so readers know where you are coming from. You can create as many pages like this one or sub-pages as you like and manage all of your content inside of WordPress.

Now that is my sort of people! I am going to have to get in touch with them and let them know about the Convention.

Meanwhile the search continues...

Guam Loves Jason Rosenberg!

Welcome to my new at least six month old blog, Guam Loves Jason Rosenberg. We recently moved from our old site to this new location due to bandwidth issues. That is why this blog looks so recent, and why our old hosting company deleted everything. Also our Flash only content kept it from archiving or being Google friendly. Let me see am I missing anything? Oh the URL. Um yeah... that was Pets.com, and for complicated reasons it won't show up now. The name was an acronym for something. Write me and I will make something up tell you what it was.

Anyhow, this blog is dedicated to the issues facing the territory of Guam, specifically as it relates to the Denver Democratic National Convention and the feelings of Guamanians about Internet Communications Director, Jason Rosenberg (we love him.)

I myself have moved to Denver* to be closer to the events on the ground, but I invite my fellow Guamers to comment here with any questions or concerns you have around the campaign.

Frequently Unasked Questions (FUQs):

* Is this a Joke?
Yes, but it is a serious joke. Unless they settle the writer's strike and something good comes on television, I plan to seriously learn something about Guam and its relationship to the DNCC and make an actual contribution to the conversation. Help would be appreciated.

* Does this have something to do with the credentialing process around the DNCC's State Blogger Corps?
If no legitimate Guam blog emerges, then I might go for it. If one of my Guamite collegues gets the nod from the DNCC, has nice things to say about Jason Rosenberg (whom we love), and does not come across as 'scary', I might even be able to help them on this end with logistical support and finding some housing.

(*- note: I am lying about the being from Guam thing. Or am I? ...Yes, yes I am.)