Friday, November 16, 2007

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

1 comment:

Jason said...

Håfa Adai Aaron,

I am a loyal reader of your blog. I say keep up the good work! I know that your blog will help spur the good people of Guam to come up with a political Guam blogger.

Si Yu'os ma'åse',

Jason Rosenberg
Director of Online Communications
Democratic National Convention Committee