Short takes on government, graduation, movies and travel

How could this governor give another State of the Commonwealth and not mention the schools -- especially given the talk about not even opening schools on time next year? Is this guy the leader of the island or Captain of the Titanic (the economy)? If his deal is investing in the future, how about actually doing that and investing in education. On that topic, how about a few words on law enforcement, public health, the environment, etc. His idea to violate every one's contract and not pay anyone on holidays is a stupid approach hatched from his half baked ten percent scheme. Keep eliminating the needless jobs, of which there are plenty, and stop the ten percent thing overall. What a lame speech.

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Why is it we are always waiting for foreign investors to ride in and save us? Are we that incapable as a people to not have our own quality businesses here on island. Do we know this place well enough not to want to invest in it. I can think of a few things this island could use, yet I'm not about to open these businesses for various reasons. The fly by night nature of the government's finances, the power situation and Article XII, whose time has very much passed, are key reasons for that.

A few things that come to mind: A decent French or Italian Bistro in the style of Cafe Urashima. That is a good restaurant with a pretty limited menu, but at least it isn't a noisy, gorge yourself buffet common in the hotels. What is served at Urashima is at least quality. It is quiet and dignified enough for actual conversation. I want a place with decent food, decent service, not as much as Giovianni's in price, but I'm not expecting cheap, and I think it would work. Now that Taste of India is no more, the decent restaurant options on island just reduced by about one third.

It would be great to have a decent space for things like comedy, live theater, live music, alternative film, book readings, lectures and so on. The theater in the park museum would be a place to do these things. I'm sure a place that caters to these interests would be profitable and would help the vibe and atmosphere of this island.
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U.S. immigration fees relating to the I-130, I-485 and so on are scheduled to triple in June. Those of you with a foreign spouse blowing this off, as I was doing over the paperwork supernova it entails, are best advised to move quickly before it costs a lot more. We have one clinic to do the medical portion of the forms, and it costs more for the medical than everything else combined. This is typical with limited competition. I think my wife needed like three different shots at like $100 each. Health coverage means nothing with this. I filed my wife's green card papers yesterday, not to mention my application for a teacher's license in the states, in case this whole sh**house goes up in flames next year -- a distinct possibility.
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Comedians often talk about the crowd, or distinctly the lack of personality in a crowd, as something that impacts them onstage. I have all seniors in their last month of high school, and their senioritis is infecting me. The prom is Saturday. Graduation is in a few weeks. One of the hardest parts of teaching, especially in a high school, is getting them to care about learning. I always wanted to know things, so indifference is not something I relate to very well. I routinely feel like I'm more concerned with the futures of my students than they are themselves. The counselors can't even get them to fill out applications for free college money. The parents are no help. The military is here regularly. I have several former students in Iraq right now. There are very few young people here I feel are ready to be in a globally competitive economy, and worse, I don't feel any sense of urgency from them about fixing the situation.
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I saw the film Children of Men, which got a 90 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and I couldn't believe how atrocious this movie was. The plot revolves around the fact that women can't have babies anymore for reasons not explained, at least before I turned it off after a wasted hour, and the world just seems very unhappy. Everyone is killing each other, and the whole world in the movie looks like the Sunni Triangle. Two characters no one cares about, one is pregnant so I'm supposed to care, run around trying to get somewhere to have the baby as people get killed all around them for no particularly good reason. What an abysmal piece of garbage. You'd be better off watching Twelve Monkeys again instead of this nonsense.
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Northwest, at least so far, hasn't run any kind of deal to the mainland in the summer, which they've done every summer since I've been here. I find Summer in this place miserable, and I'm eager to get out for a month. I miss things like decent restaurants, comedy clubs, concerts, museums, large book stores, alternative cinema, major league baseball stadiums (even if the Yankees stink) and all the cultural things I like about the states. I'm not in a "We Love Saipan" kind of mood right now.