Permanent hearing loss

[B]Hearing Aid[/B]

While I am in favor of a CUC rate schedule that has users paying the actual cost of power production, I think the process that got us there could use a little streamlining. As an example, the public hearing requirements could be met by holding a meeting lasting two and a half minutes and could be held in the small lower lobby of the CUC building where the hotdog cart is located. It would save a lot of time because the spokesman for CUC could just walk downstairs and say “the new rates will be such and such an amount” then go back upstairs and go back to work. It would save lots of money since no venue would have to be rented and no lengthy reports and justifications would need to be drafted by office personnel. It appears that the public comment portion of the proceedings could be dispensed with as irrelevant since the rate-hike juggernaut rolls on, heedless of any ideas, complaints, cries of anguish or other input anyway. The name says it—public HEARING, not public speaking. The NBA calls it a slam dunk.

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[B]Watering Downs[/B]

Nope, not a racetrack. It’s the latest craze here on Saipan. First PSS wants to reduce the Praxis requirements so as to find a spot for the teachers who failed (about half of them). Now we discover a slight discrepancy in the Public Utilities Commission board member requirements causing a quick shuffle and a slight watering of the selection criteria. From the original specification requiring utility industry and financial professional specialists, I think it’s down to “Can they breath in?” and “Can they breath out?” I would apply but I’m not sure I can qualify for the breathing out part after holding my breath for so long.

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[B]Veterans Day Praise[/B]

As I sit here writing this on Veterans Day I’m thinking of a guy that was lying on a bed next to mine in a recovery room at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital. I was there for about four months but Dennis had been there for a long time before I came and was still there when I recovered and left. He was a Naval aviator and had caught some automatic arms fire in Vietnam. He had 15 or so entry and exit wounds, mostly in his extremities. Luckily he lived through it, thanks to good medical attention. Even luckier, he had the Veterans Administration to help him with a host of programs, ongoing medical assistance, educational opportunities, rehabilitation and others. He wasn’t just discarded like a scratched LP.

The VA may be an unwieldy bureaucracy and there may be reams of paperwork and long lines but they stand there ready to help guys like Dennis get on with their lives and provide moral backing and physical assistance that often makes the difference in a successful transition back to civilian life. Great thanks must go out to the folks in the armed forces who go out and serve. Just as great thanks should be provided to those who take care of and assist them when they return. Thanks, servicemen. Thanks VA.

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[B]Incoming Rounds[/B]

With the recent Demo party wins in the U.S., and the new House Speaker’s already spoken animosity toward our Commonwealth’s independent regulation of our own immigration issues and labor pool, should we be issuing flak jackets?

We don’t loom large as a mainline issue back in the States. In fact, most citizens don’t even know we are out here. But as a cause célèbre we could find ourselves in the line of fire. Why? Because we are easy target without any real retaliatory capability. Grandiose speeches about the plight of the working class, the jubilant aid that can be brought to bear to help the “oppressed” workers etc. etc. garners votes from the blue-collar set, long the backbone of the Democrat party. They can also play the trumped up post-911 security card, claiming they must run roughshod over local immigration in the CNMI in order to protect themselves from imaginary terrorist bogeymen.

So they could position themselves with a nice piece of PR work to appear to be “protecting the country” and “helping the downtrodden” at the same time. Meanwhile, our side of the story will never be heard because we don’t have the political clout or the media access to make ourselves heard. Never mind that the “downtrodden” workers stand in line to get an opportunity to come here. Never mind that our economy is dependant upon nonresident contract workers to provide service to the hundreds of thousands of tourists who come here. We may be in the news for a month or two, and then the media blitz will be off on another assignment leaving us to twist in the wind. By the way, don’t think the U.S. Republicans would do any different if they thought they could make political mileage out of it.

Stand by to be steamrollered if the Dems decide to jump on the PR bandwagon. On the other hand, if we are quiet, maybe we will disappear in the tumult. Shhhhhhh.

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[B]Back to Blackouts?[/B]

Wouldn’t it be nice if we returned to scheduled rolling blackouts? Then at least we would know when to expect a power outage. As of now it still goes off all too often but we only know it will occur at the most inconvenient possible moment. Now where was that extra roll of toilet paper?

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[B]Quote of the week:[/B] The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may be only the beginning. —George Baker (1877-1965)

[I](Bruce A. Bateman writes Sour Grapes when the moon is full and the mood strikes. Stay tuned for each exciting episode. “Yes, he is opinionated.” bbateman@pticom.com)[/I]