Here is the story: A happy, hungry dog walking along the street, found a red, juicy, mouth-watering, delicious steak that the butcher had inadvertently dropped when he went into his shop. As the dog picked up the steak in his mouth, the savory juices made him hungry, but there were other dogs in the area; and so, he decided to take it home in his mouth to eat it in leisure. On his way home, the dog came to a bridge over a deep pond with a surface so calm and clear, it was almost like a mirror. Halfway across, he looked down into the mirrored surface of the water and saw his shadow reflected in the water. The greedy dog, thinking it was another dog with another juicy steak, made up his mind to have that piece, too. Without thinking, he opened his mouth and snapped at his shadow reflected by the water. The beautiful, juicy steak, slid over his tongue, through his teeth, and dropped into the water where he watched it as it rapidly sank and was gone forever. The sad hungry dog had only his reflection to look at, and the memory of that wonderfully juicy steak, which had slipped away.
Likewise, we should beware of losing our juicy steak: The Marianas Trench Marine Monument. The jobs, visitors, and the international prestige that a marine monument would bring to the CNMI will all slip away by believing the WESPAC generated shadows of deceit and misinformation.
You may want to investigate further, if you think the federal agency WESPAC has CNMI’s best interest at heart. Under WESPAC’s management, we only have two votes out of 13 on the Council or about 14% representation.
It’s also important to remember that WESPAC is under two Federal investigations for illegal lobbying (in Hawaii and California) and another congressionally ordered investigation for financial and managerial improprieties (sound familiar?).
For more information on WESPAC, see: , ,,
In short, WESPAC will do and say anything to manipulate us and keep THEIR control over the CNMI’s waters.
KEN KRAMER
Fina Sisu, Saipan
