Columnists

THERE was a time when CNMI leaders appeared before the U.S. Congress to report about the islands’ reduced need for federal funds. On Feb. 6, 1990, the NMI’s newly sworn in Washington representative, Juan N. Babauta, told the U.S. House Subcommittee on Insular and International Affairs that the prop…

OVER the Independence Day weekend the Biden Administration shifted its blame for rising prices, and specifically rising prices of gasoline, from Vladimir Putin to gasoline retailers. On Saturday, July 2nd at noon, President Biden’s Twitter account inveighed: “My message to the companies running gas…

WHEN I first started my business back in August 2009, there were a few hiccups in getting my business started. Thirteen years later, I’m still seeing the same problems that prevent businesses from starting as planned. We still have a long way to go, and I can confidently say that there have been va…

IN February 1992, the New York Times published a dishonest story headlined “Bush Encounters the Supermarket, Amazed,” in which the president was purportedly awed by a supermarket checkout scanner. The obvious intention was to paint the president as coddled and out-of-touch — “ducal” is one adjectiv…

IN 2001, the U.S. Department of Education sent me to Mexico for a month to do a “Comparison-Study between Mexico and the CNMI” as the origins of many things in the CNMI are Mexican and Spanish.  Needless to say, I found many things in the CNMI that originated in Mexico, not Spain or Spanish, rangin…

A MASSIVE, international effort is underway that rivals the space programs of 50 years ago.  Rather than charting the moon, however, this effort aims to map the entire ocean floor.  Currently it is said that we know more about outer space than about our own oceans, and for most of history that has …

DEAR FBI, We-the-People of the CNMI need your help NOW more than ever before in the history of the CNMI since WWII — for REAL!  First, I must THANK and offer KUDOs to Senator Edith DL Guerrero on her efforts to try and HELP the People — she is truly an AWSOME Senator just like she was an AWSOME Sec…

UNDER the U.S.-administered Trust Territory government, many people in the NMI complained about their virtually non-existent economy. Under the Commonwealth government, the NMI economy took off, but many people were still complaining, this time, about other issues. The local economy boomed in the l…

THIS year marks the 76th year since our ancestors were allowed to return to their family homes, farmlands, and property, to take back their lives and start anew. This truly is a legacy that we all should cherish and preserve as we celebrate Liberation Day from June 30th to July 4th. As a committee,…

AS we look forward to November elections, issues are being raised regarding who is eligible to vote here in the CNMI and who is disqualified from voting. Article VII of the Commonwealth Constitution states: Section 1: Qualifications of Voters.  A person is eligible to vote who, on the date of the e…