Fear spreads vs organized crime

As I followed the petition to repeal the casino law, a three-tiered fear has emerged from the folks asked for their signature:

1). Employees whose contracts would be snuffed if caught supporting repeal of casino law.

2). Retirees who are hurting and want their 25 percent paid by June.

3). Outspoken supporters fearing for their lives from Asian organized crime.

These are legitimate concerns crawling out of an issue larger with implications that are far more egregious than what dimly witted politicians have lamely peddled. It’s the same as trying to cover the sky with a single palm.

It’s one time in our developmental history when I take pride in the permanency of the agreement with the federal government. We could rely upon the feds for full press court guarding the fragile fate of our people recently run over by a statist or dictatorial government.

Hell, suspect and incompetent leadership now sleeps with investors linked to Asian organized crime. It’s a microcosm of all that has gone wrong when we jump from the pot right into a sizzling frying pan!

‘Trust but verify’

President Reagan once said, ”Trust but verify” of expert advice and musings from loyal friends. What is said must be valid and true. Otherwise when the misinformation upsets the cart it turns into a messy “he said, she said” circus.

Out of respect, I usually skip jolting public officials to their senses. But when there’s the wide open and purposeful violation of trust, even the mute would delivery an oratory!

The guys and gals give towering speeches about transparency. Yet, they tiptoed between chambers peddling casino that was later signed into law in the dark hours of the night. Had to take off their platform shoes too!

It must be a signature accomplishment requiring an official announcement at the GOP kickoff rally. Oh? So this is another pillar of Republican achievement—shortsighted policy—founded on greed, though they know not everything is honky dory.

Maggots of filthy information started crawling out of the red carpet. I was busy choosing and slamming them into my empty rice sacks. I was stunned by the information I’ve gathered and placed on my radar screen. Appalling the strange bunch on the hill that is rumored to have succumbed to “sugar daddies” from Hong Kong and Macau.

Didn’t have to slave through deductive or inductive reasoning, though I employed the latter convinced that the domino theory would deliver the last checker voluntarily at my front door. As expected, all the grand tidings of filth came rolling into the shore.

To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. Inconsequential my position may be on casino but suspect undertakings by the elite on the hill make it imperative the advice from President Reagan, “Trust but verify.”

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When the Macau sugar daddy spat, our servile public officials found themselves swimming and drowning while yelling from the depth of the Pacific Ring of Fire, “How deep do we dive?” Woe! Whatever happened to gravitas or “integrity to leadership?”

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Public hearing by the Lottery Commission is another retarded act to fool the public. Gee! This administration is so deft in the masterful spin of the truth it could no longer believe in its own lies. Where did I hear this newly honed art?

The sad disconnect with policy

There’s the obvious disconnect in the essence of representation and in the substance of policies that have missed improving the livelihood of our people by oceans apart.

Kilili has called off his once popular and convenient town hall meetings when the people who elected him found the egregious agenda to grandfather over 14,000 newcomers. He also hides in his hermit crab shell fearful of explaining the familial fatal effects of Obamacare.

Legislators have also ordered their own version of the hermit crab shell from Kilili for instant use when cornered publicly to explain their ludicrous position on casino. This is the bunch that must have flunked problems of American Democracy in high school as shown by their ignorance that everything begins and ends with “we the people.” And you wonder why the total disorientation at home?

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If you look around you, there’s the blue ocean that has been and still is blue since the dawn of man on these isles. Its color hasn’t changed throughout history. We could fish it, traverse lanes for trade purposes or even defend regional security. What’s my point?

Like tradition, our way of life may have shifted a bit but it’s there as our permanent anchor today and throughout the rest of this century. It’s the essence of tradition that we return to in both calm and storm. It pacifies and stills our thoughts and concerns as we patiently, with a sense of humility and resiliency, resume our navigating the treacherous sea of change.

Private industry contraction

No rocket science the contraction of private industries here since the deployment of the apparel industry from the island. Residual businesses that were here supporting the industry have simply dismantled and moved elsewhere too.

That shutdown denied the CNMI over a billion dollars in revenue. Appalling the agility of leadership who never did anything to cushion the economic contraction. Perhaps most are still inebriated or drunk from the barbecue smoke of yester-years when life was good.

The guys and gals are still singing Lullaby and Good Night as the NMI is roasted in budgetary shortfall to clear its utility bills. The annual budget took a nosedive from $256 million per year to $140 million.