The festive season must have arrived early this year, what with the recent raid of the governor\u2019s office by the FBI. This was dovetailed by the subpoena of documents from employees associated with Imperial Pacific International.
\nWhy the raid and subpoena? For leadership, it\u2019s good to cross check these events against our rights to self-rule under the Covenant Agreement.<\/p>\n
Feds<\/strong> Understood that the feds don\u2019t discuss issues under investigation. But need we be left ignorant why the unusual events? It\u2019s the titular head of these isles whose office was raided. Do we not deserve an explanation? It\u2019s our governor\u2019s office!<\/p>\n In the meantime, about the only thing new is the U.S. government charging Mayor Efraim Atalig and Evelyn Atalig with conspiracy, wire fraud, and theft from program receiving federal funds, among others.<\/p>\n Reportedly, the Ataligs are accused of arranging CNMI-government funded trips to California, Palau, Guam, and Saipan under fraudulent pretenses.<\/p>\n Santa<\/strong> Sounds plausible but equally shortsighted when viewed against what\u2019s already provided (25%) and the financial needs of other departments and agencies that provide services NMI-wide. Isn\u2019t scarce fiscal resource and its fair distribution an issue, sir?<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Senate President Vic Hokog and Sen. Terry Santos are eyeing establishing a dialysis center on Rota to ease hardship among patients who need to go to either a medical facility in Guam or on Saipan for treatment. The planned project is a must, so patients could have the comfort of being treated at home.<\/p>\n Dialysis treatment entails three treatments per week for about four hours per session. So you could imagine how hard it is for patients having to travel to Saipan to ensure toxins are removed from their blood.<\/p>\n \u201c`Kanamee\u201d<\/strong> Or are Da Boysis espousing poverty as a matter of policy? The issue requires nothing less than $750 million per year to meet employees\u2019 salary upgrading. Herein lies the challenge of finding the money to help upgrade the quality of life in family homes.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the guys put on the fa\u00e7ade of confidence while looking intelligently disoriented, tightening Sears Roebuck ties.<\/p>\n Moreover, they\u2019re making $99,500 annually, thus the seeming despondence neglecting wages and salaries for the rest in the public sector. Is it ignorance, arrogance or both?<\/p>\n Well, at least we all know how to say it\u2014\u201c`kanamee\u201d\u2014but have no clear idea what the concept entails. It begins in the family home. If families hardly make it through the day it simply means you\u2019ve failed them.<\/p>\n It means we must buckle down to working on a set of plans that provides a blueprint of what must be done hence to improve the quality of life in the islands. <\/p>\n Quietude<\/strong> With reading usually comes soulful melodies I\u2019d hum while going through materials. I read tons daily delving into research work on matters of interest prepared by foundations. <\/p>\n The elected elite needs to revisit reading pertinent materials so there\u2019s some semblance of educated discussion articulating viewpoints.<\/p>\n Income<\/strong> Views move from economic diversification, a concept hardly understood even by advocates, to mining seabed resources. But what do we have in our waters that are in demand in the global market? Is the 200-mile EEZ here ours or is it rightfully the feds?<\/p>\n Beyond grandiose plans, it makes sense improving upon what we have today on the three populated islands. It\u2019s a matter of improving what\u2019s a home now! If we succeed we could move on to bigger things. Must take it a step at a time employing reality check. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The festive season must have arrived early this year, what with the recent raid of…<\/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":[],"class_list":["post-312995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312995","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=312995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312995\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe raid would have gone unnoticed but, when the feds moved in full bore, it raises suspicion and curiosity, \u201cWots on Da Hill?\u201d There\u2019s yet to be public information about it.<\/p>\n
\nThe infectious festive season had Rep. Donald Manglona offering to increase fees for the \u201ceducation tax credit\u201d over and above the constitutionally mandated 25 percent.<\/p>\n
\nThe hardship among 15,000 employees relegated to endure life in poverty-income land is the most serious issue for the elected elite here. It\u2019s all about improving the quality of life for families here. EVERbody home? <\/p>\n
\nAt day\u2019s end, I usually head to the quiet corner of my mind to pick an issue for review and analysis. It\u2019s a healthy exercise that keeps the mind from sliding into early dementia.<\/p>\n
\nAt a coffee shop, lively discussion ensued on poverty income of nearly 15,000 employees here. The central query is how do we improve it for sufficiency meeting family obligations.<\/p>\n