Columnists

Christopher Concepcion ON Feb. 16-17, 2024, the 20th Annual Tinian Hot Pepper Festival will take place in the Marianas highlighting Tinian’s famous “donne sali,” the island’s diminutive but famously potent hot pepper. The Tinian Hot Pepper Festival is one of a handful of annual signature events con…

BC Cook LAST week we began the incredible story of Jorge Cristobal, a Chamorro from Guam who fought in the Pacific War.  We pick up his account at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, as he stood on the deck of the battleship California, dodging bullets from attacking Japanese planes: “Most of us stayed o…

Ambrose M. Bennett THE TRUTH of the matter is Ambrose M. Bennett is going to “tell-it-like-it-tis” as we say in my culture and the truth is that it seems the CNMI is now committed to China, America’s rival and even foe, over Japan which is our ally. I can see a lot of students, who are now adults, …

“YOU should run for office.” This is usually what some concerned citizens would tell other concerned citizens who have strong opinions about how their government is run, and the problems it’s supposed to “solve” but won’t or can’t. As if a deeply held belief is all that it takes to succeed as an el…

BC Cook JORGE Cristobal graduated from high school on Guam in 1934.  What he did over the next several years set him up for a rendezvous with history.  Here, in his own words, is his incredible story: “After graduation my father decided to send me to Japan so I could learn the porcelain trade from …

ONE of the most pressing matters that should be discussed at the next U.S.-CNMI Covenant Section 902 consultation talks is the need to resuscitate the non-performing economy of the CNMI, particularly over the past five years. The only industry that the CNMI now has, and which is still viable, is th…

ANYONE who has observed up close how government works for, say, 30 years will most likely realize why it can’t be run like a business. “Overspending,” for example is not a bug but the main feature of government. Lack of funds will not prevent government from overspending. And a government awash wit…

Ambrose M. Bennett FIRST, I failed to mention and thank KFC for their awesome one-day MLK Day sale and Bank Pacifica for the awesome adds over the internet for Dr. King, as they even remembered it was his birthday which doesn’t always fall on MLK Day which is the third Monday.  But the TRUTH and RE…

Liana Sablan-Hofschneider  The following is the text of the testimony provided by the author to the CNMI Senate. HAFA adai and good morning, Madam President and members of this distinguished  body. I am here this morning to provide testimony  regarding H.B. 23-95. My name is Liana Sablan-Hofschneid…

Ambrose M. Bennett  THE TRUTH is Dr. King was REAL and what he did was historical as he not only changed America but he even changed most of the world and today is “a day on, not a day off” to promote his dream of “racial equality for all people of color.”  The reality is the CNMI would look & …