Columnists

Kobler Field was Saipan’s main airfield until July 1976. THE NMI became self-governing in 1978. From 1945 to 1977, the islands were administered by the U.S. as part of a United Nations Trust Territory. It was the U.S. military, which invaded the islands in 1944, that formed the first post-Wor…

IT isn’t often that I get to participate in a debate between candidates for a seat in U.S. Congress; in fact, I’ve only ever done it once and that was just recently (a little over a week ago) in the U.S. Delegate Debate hosted by the Saipan Chamber of Commerce.  Overall, I think the audience got wh…

BC Cook JOURNALISTS have a saying that if a story is guaranteed to get attention and it fits the narrative they are pushing, it is “too good to check.”  That means that they take the story at face value and expect readers to take it also, without bothersome things like checking for accuracy.  After…

WE’VE heard it all before. Survey results indicating that many, if not most, Americans do not know who their state governor, their state legislator or member of Congress is. In the U.S., moreover, voter turnout has been consistently low compared to other democracies. We are told that these trends a…

Chia-ping Liu WHEN Taiwanese visit Guam and North Mariana Islands for vacations, they are warmly welcomed and enjoy the convenience that visa waiver programs offer them. You probably cannot believe that Taiwan passport holders are prohibited from entering United Nations premises while many people a…

BC Cook OCEAN rafting was popular during two eras of human history: in ancient times before man learned how to build ships and again in the 1950s when various scientists, anthropologists, heroes and crackpots felt they had something to prove.  William Willis spent most of his young life wandering a…

If you go into politics, you are more likely to wind up a villain than a hero.                                                                     — James L. Payne, Ph.D. HONESTLY, I had no intention of running for office this year, of all years. The incumbents seeking re-election have been in offi…

Lin Chia-lung TAIWAN is an indispensable partner in global supply chains, producing more than 90 % of the world’s high-end semiconductors and a significant portion of the advanced chips that are driving the AI revolution. Moreover, half of the world’s seaborne trade passes through the Taiwan Strait…

BC Cook IF we substitute China for Athens and United States for Sparta, we are writing history in advance for the Pacific. Since the end of the Second World War the United States has wielded hegemonic power in the Pacific region.  The Soviet Union treated it as a lesser theater of operations and th…