As the fiscal crisis takes new heights and temporary scaffolds removed, we\u2019d all be back to square one: broke! Well, some not so wise accountant advised, \u201cOnly on paper!\u201d I was like, \u201cWhat about papers in the bank, do they reflect a robust amount in revenues?\u201d No answer!<\/p>\n
When one is paper broke, would scouring the edges of the yellowish document show figures that the NMI has tons of locally generated revenue? I mean you could kite it but isn\u2019t this illegal? Let\u2019s do a quick review:<\/p>\n
Total revenue for fiscal year 2015 is $135 million. Less 15 percent for PSS and 80 percent for government payroll and there\u2019s a balance of $7 million. For this fiscal year, the settlement fund needs $25 million excluding the 25-percent cut last October. It\u2019s part of the settlement agreement! <\/p>\n
But if the 25 percent is restored, it means the Fund needs some $56 million, give or take. CHC, CUC and other Cs also need operating budgets. How do we divvy $7 million? Definitely not wearing bifurcated lenses! <\/p>\n
Admonishment<\/strong> \u201cBut you see bruddah da kine boys in the GOP have \u2018solutions-driven\u2019 style of leadership that pays the 25-percent pension pay cut and some Ulithi [utility] bills\u201d, he pointed out.<\/p>\n Lia came roaring in, \u201cYour GOP boys cut pension pay illegally and the payment made is to pay back retirees for money denied them unconstitutionally. So it isn\u2019t a \u201csolution driven\u201d decision. The GOP created the mess in the first place.\u201d Oooops! A pointed answer but true! Eh, da kine reply took out da kine wind from Magoo\u2019s assertion.<\/p>\n \u201cAs for your Ulithi payment, how long would this generosity last?\u201d asked Lia. \u201cIt looks a one-shot deal as Ulithi bills keep increasing and power delivery highly suspect today, right?\u201d Magoo didn\u2019t like the hard crusty queries and answers crawling out of Lia\u2019s pockets. He looked around like he\u2019s lost his key bunch just to avoid the discussion.<\/p>\n Lia unleashed it all: \u201cIt looks clever or smart but far from a wise decision. People know the score on this issue and treating them like starved stray dogs flushes out any sense of respect for those at the GOP helm, bruddah.\u201d Hmmm! Am I in the wrong crowd?<\/p>\n Healthy dosage of the classics<\/strong> An established musician myself of nearly 30 years, I prefer listening to what\u2019s known as the \u201cclassics\u201d for their beautiful melodies and meaningful lyrics. The songs include Over the Rainbow, Stardust; I\u2019m in the Mood for Love, Hawaiian Wedding Song, Stars Fell in Alabama, September Song, Moon of Manicura, Danny Boy, Here\u2019s That Rainy Day, among hundreds of them. What\u2019s a classic? Music you could hear played in over 1,000 radio stations the world over every hour.<\/p>\n Over the years, though, I\u2019ve played the classics on guitar because of their melodic tunes and level of difficulty. You simply must know how to play melodic chords including embellishment with comping. Going through the process teaches you razor sharp use of your chords like flats, fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth; eleventh and thirteenth or augmented pressed with precision.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve delved into jazz (old standards and smooth jazz) having developed an ear for it. It\u2019s the more complicated level you\u2019d never appreciate unless you\u2019re into it. Interesting, though, that two of my granddaughters could belt out jazz songs like second nature. At first I thought it was just something out of their memory. Nah! They said, \u201cGrandpa, give me a C-6 C-Major-7\u201d as they sang \u201cI\u2019ve got you under my skin\u201d, among others. Wow! And I thought it\u2019s limited to this old timer. It\u2019s in my grandchildren too!<\/p>\n Music is a nice relief valve of sort when hit with boredom. They\u2019ve eased and calmed my mind as I regroup to think things through in troubled corners. It\u2019s healthy, though, clinging to music throughout the course of the day. Other than prayers, it becomes that soulful outlet that eases your day as dusk engulfs the horizon out west.<\/p>\n Around the holidays I\u2019d move in and out of traditional and religious melodies. We also have our versions sung in churches all over the islands. You hear the choir belting out the same songs as they do the veneration of the Baby Jesus throughout the villages. Heard the beautiful renditions a long, long time ago in the old village. Humbling!<\/p>\n Having traveled north and south of the equator, I\u2019ve also heard traditional songs from Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. In all their expressions, it\u2019s about cultural tradition and the essence of passing it on to the next generation. Each group of islanders sings with pride representing their island countries in Pacific festival events. My only trouble was the NMI and Guam singing the same theme: Hafa Adai. A delegate sitting next to me asked, \u201cJohn, half-a-what?\u201d I nearly said, \u201cHalf-a-brain!\u201d<\/p>\n Interesting the national songs of most of these island nations had clear link with their colonial conquerors. Ours is the combination of two German songs. Still love the classics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the fiscal crisis takes new heights and temporary scaffolds removed, we\u2019d all be back…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[141,775,257,40],"class_list":["post-177310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-gop","tag-hafa-adai","tag-nmi","tag-pss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177310\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMagoo admonished, \u201cYou see, bruddah, sometime it\u2019s good to keep your opinion to yourself.\u201d Told him I wasn\u2019t looking for loot from seasoned and corrupt politicians. Nor am I ready to sell and trash the tradition of these isles for 30 silvers!<\/p>\n
\nEnjoyable listening to old songs that evokes varied reactions depending upon what nostalgia brings with it. You could get romantic instantly, melancholy, rejuvenation, river of tears, thought of a long lost friend or loved ones, or days of yore, among others.<\/p>\n