Columnists

NOT so long ago, the South China Sea situation seemed to be “quiet.” There were also many other hot spots in the world, so the public paid little attention to the South China Sea. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has a profound impact on Southeast Asian countries, especially those directly involved in t…

THIS harrowing account comes from the memoir of Captain Kenneth Ainslie, who was tasked with towing four old ships across the Pacific in 1947.  With no surgeon aboard his small ocean tugboat, he had to take matters into his own hands. “Two days earlier one of the firemen had come to me with an inju…

TWENTY-FIVE years ago, the CNMI was struggling to make sense of the sudden economic downturn caused by the Asian currency crisis. The financial contagion was global in scope and had weakened the CNMI’s two major tourism markets, Japan and South Korea. There was also a newly elected CNMI administrat…

Joint Region Marianas Commander Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson places a flower at the base of the statue of Santa Marian Kamalen, the patron saint of Guam, during Guam’s 78th Liberation Day parade in Hagåtña, July 21, 2022. The island’s patron saint led the parade, and was symbolic of the World War I…

OVER the past few years we have witnessed hundred-year anniversaries for the Great War and seventy-five-year anniversaries for the Second World War.  2018 marked the centennial of the conclusion of the War to End Wars, while all over the Pacific, historic dates such as the attack on Pearl Harbor, t…

IN June 1982, Marianas Variety published a report from the South Pacific Commission (now known as the Pacific Community) stating that “some of the Pacific Islands are now being used as staging posts by small ships and aircraft to facilitate the movement of illegal drugs.” In the same month, a Varie…

FATHER’S Day is an extraordinary occasion with a special place in our hearts. This memorable day allows us to express our gratitude and pay tribute to the unsung heroes who have significantly shaped our lives and provided unconditional love and support. While Mother’s Day often takes th…

WHEN I moved to Saipan 15 years ago, Taeko Castro was one of the first people I met.  It is no exaggeration to say I could not have survived without her.  She taught me so much about islanders and life on Saipan and even about myself.  She was an extraordinary woman with an island-sized heart.  Tae…

IN his inaugural address over 41 years ago, the CNMI’s second governor vowed to, among other things, improve the islands’ health services and education system. He also said that the CNMI “cannot rely forever on the assistance from the federal government. Such an attitude of dependence can only resu…

NO two words fill us with more fear and disgust than human trafficking.  Human trafficking includes many different crimes, each loathsome to our senses: child pornography, forced prostitution, slavery.  There are others but let us focus on these. According to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent,…