Issues to digest for posterity

The tranquil island of Rota is now pursuing the establishment of a casino industry on that tiny isle. The mayor is a proactive leader who wanted some action in terms of healthy economic activities. His proposal may be met with disdain from leaders just north of it, Tinian. Both isles share a common denominator: they are not about to sit on their laurels and watch their island economy wither into severe poverty level.

While I have no specific position given that the issue is solely the purview of the people of Rota. However, there’s a flip side to this issue that calls for careful review. For instance, while Macau, the casino mecca of Asia may have thrived financially, it also had to deal with powerful gangsters who engaged in violent show of territoriality. I’m not sure that peace and security have returned to Macau.

Cambodia has recently shut down its casino industry to weed out corruption in both public and private sectors. It has opted to strengthen other more stable economic ventures over the the bright neon lights of casino joints to ensure that the quality of life of its people isn’t compromised by greed of instant windfall profits from the corrupting influence of the mobster riddled casino industry.

In Los Angeles, people (the poorest of them all) who flock to casino joints in Indian reservations have spoken of their ill-decisions to wager everything from biweekly or monthly income to the last family property. Perhaps it is the dream of “making it” that has led them to total bankruptcy. This side of gambling and its bankrupting effects is available in the LA Times Special Reports section. You can access it so you learn the harsh experiences of ordinary people who regret the addictive and bankrupting aspect of gambling away an entire future.

Las Vegas isn’t only the mecca of casino gambling and big time entertainment, but it has also become the mecca of monied mobsters who frequent the place to show-off their lavish lifestyles paid for through extortion. These information call for review and discussion among the people of Rota. It’s your future and you all must collectively look beyond the bright neon lights of casino joints to ensure that you don’t hastily compromise the more satisfying tranquility and humility of island lifestyle.

The debate must focus on the realities of bringing casino into the future of the young children of Rota. What has happened in other places as discussed briefly isn’t to interfere with your decision, but to illustrate with factual indicators that it isn’t all profits and that beneath the glamour are greater problems beyond what meets the naked eye. Therefore, the need for deliberative discussions so you can intelligently decide whether to roll or hold.

Culture: A mouth wash

We speak of culture as though it turns into a brand new mouthwash daily. We spit out yesterday’s mouthwash and replace it with a new one (actually it’s the same mouthwash), but it feels good talking about it for it soothes our bruised ego.

I was once fired-up to enter this dark and deep tunnel with a $27 million cultural center which never made it to the governor’s shopping list. At the legislature, it was treated with neglect or the usual ten foot pole or some weird leper. Yet, around the Flame Tree Festival festivities, we hear taller than Abraham Lincoln speeches of the importance of the indigenous culture.

Even I get to relish disoriented discussions on cultire in that we often turn it into a “foreign” matter that is best left parked in our back pockets. So much for culture. Man, it’s the victim of an old adage: “After all is said and done, a lot more is said than done”. Culture, anybody?