Sour Grapes for Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

Fronds, Tentacles and Trash
Palms
My wife and I spent the weekend at the new Palms Resort. Our family business is such that we found ourselves hosting others on Valentines Day with no time for us so we decided to treat ourselves to a romantic get-a-way weekend at the Palms to make up for it. That is our story and we are sticking to it.

I’ll start with the negative impression, in honor of the Sour Grapes logo. The new owners have a landscaper on staff who doesn’t like plants apparently. He has been attacking the once lovely gardens at the ex-Nikko Hotel with a chain saw and a small army of machete wielders. Bare dirt is found where there once were luxurious flowering shrubs, stumps where beautiful palms and mature shade providing trees once stood. Even the signature tree that the original pool was built around has fallen to the crazed chain saw murderer. Gravel, yes gravel – as in little prickly rocks, replaces nicely trimmed greenery in a number of highly visible areas, and the desert landscaping concept seems to be growing elsewhere around the grounds.

I don’t own the Palms so I don’t get to choose, but I will point out that tourists come to this place to see and be part of a tropical paradise…a jungle like setting of green and exotic blooming plants, shining crystal seas and the adventure of getting to be near plants, people and animals not found in their homelands. If they wanted a desert they would probably have gone to Arizona, or Egypt. I would suggest you leave every green mature thing you can, commensurate with your plans for expansion. You, of course, can suggest that I refrain from suggesting.

Now I must say that the owner’s taste in things botanical is the only fault we (I) found with the Palms Resort (the rest of the family didn’t seem to mind Sir Hacks-a-Lot and his propensity for dirt). The rest of our experience was refreshing, relaxing, fun and rewarding. The restaurants are serving up fantastic food at reasonable prices. The pool, rooms and public areas are well maintained and clean. The staff is universally gracious and accommodating. We were made to feel right at home from the moment we walked up to the breeze wafted front desk to check in. The service was impeccable. The smiles, authentic. The new owners are doing a great job, that will include finding a world class Hotelier group to act as executive managers in the months to come. The prospects for attracting many new tourists by linking with a world renowned Hotel group are exciting.

There are plans afoot to increase the size of the pool and other projects are underway that will add value and prestige to a facility already steeped in an aura of luxury and accommodation. The Palms deserves our local support. Please find your way to the foot of the hill in As Matuis/SanRoque and enjoy the fine surroundings, excellent food and friendly staff at the new Palms Resort. You’ll be glad you did. (Go soon before the next attack of the Giant Bushcutter).
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Octopus hat
There has been a bit of controversy about free-dive spear fishing recently. When I was a lad back in the Stone Age, we spear fished using scuba tanks and thought nothing of it except how yummy the fish tasted. Times have changed and a new ethic of conservation surrounds most everything now, including the time honored art of fishing. The use of scuba tanks while hunting fish has been ruled an unfair advantage now that there are a lot more people and probably a lot fewer fish.

The replacement for scuba fishing is an art form that awes me. Free Diving. Part art, part sport, part subsistence activity, part excitement, part commerce, Free Dive spear fishing and the men (mostly) that perform it are a wonder to behold. I will relate a short experience to illustrate why I hold these special fishermen in such esteem:

During the last Micronesian Games the Free Dive team from Guahan came here to Saipan to compete. They needed to reconnoiter the area and someone mentioned I could pilot a small boat and might take them around as they explored the reefs for the best fishing spots. I did and they did. It turned out to be an educational experience for me. I thought free divers would want to go to 20 feet or so, spear a fish and get back to the surface to hunt another. Not so. They search an area from the surface, like pilots flying along over a submarine landscape looking for their quarry. When they find a likely site they take a breath and dive down 50, 60 even 70 feet….they wait, if they take a fish and still can, they wait some more for another…finally they come back to the surface to begin the process all over again. The free divers are pulled along behind the boat on towropes until another likely spot is encountered.

They use specialized gear including very long flippers and long single shot spear guns. Most wear a thin wetsuit to help prevent hypothermia from long hours in the water and to prevent scratches and scrapes from the rocks and coral they swim down to.

The sport is a dangerous one with injury and even death possible for those brave and skilled enough to participate. They usually dive in pairs so one can keep an eye on the other as a safety precaution. When you hold your breath for 3 minutes or so and exert yourself by strong swimming, you can pass out and drown while unconscious. It is a looming threat every time they submerge. I saw these fearless free divers dive to the depths repeatedly over a two day period, maybe 40 or 50 dives each day and I must say it was a spectacular sight.

One day, one of the divers ascended and attached to his dive suit balaclava (skin tight head cover) was a sizeable octopus, holding on for dear life. When he climbed aboard the boat he deftly peeled the octopus from his head, a tentacle at a time and explained to me that it was hard to contain a smart and wriggling octopus once caught, but if you put it on your head the creature would hold on tight and change color to match its new surroundings (your bean) and ride peacefully all the way back to the boat.

I don’t free dive because I don’t have the stamina or the skills to do so. I don’t spearfish anymore preferring instead to comb the depths with a camera discovering the wonders to be found there using scuba tank air so I can stay submerged for an hour or so at a time. I won’t ring in with an opinion on whether certain species fish should be taken or not because there are reasons to do so and reasons not to that are complex and run close to the hearts of people on both sides of the issue. What I will do is gush effusive about the daring (mostly) young men who go out in search of fish with nothing more than their own skill, bravery and endurance to match wits with wiley aquatic creatures adept at skillful escape from predators. My hat is off to them, even if it has no resident octopus festooning it.
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Tinian rocks
Speaking of things aquatic, the Marianas Dive club (of which I am a member) made a trek to Tinian this past weekend (leaving me to wax eloquently about shrubs ‘n stuff back here on Saipan). They went to expand exposure of some of the scuba diving wonders to be found on that relaxing isle. They went to participate in the Hot Pepper Festival helping to educate folks about the undersea world. They went to help clean up the underwater sections of the main swimming and gathering beach there. They went to explore new dive sites with potential to be used by our tourists. They went to introduce scuba diving to a few new people. They went to have fun. They succeeded all the way around.

The Marians Dive club is a positive force trying to get the word out to the rest of the world that the Northern Marianas offers truly world class scuba diving and it is worth a trip from just about anywhere to get here and see the beautiful and exotic wonders that Saipan, Tinian, and Rota have to offer. Diving can be a big part of tourism here and the Marianas Dive club members work hard to promote that image and to be good stewards while doing so. Please think about joining them to help tourism grow here in the CNMI.
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Quotes of the week: W.C. Fields (1880 – 1946) was fond of making jokes about water, since he preferred gin. Here are a few:

“You can't trust water: Even a straight stick turns crooked in it.”
"Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.”
“I never drink water. I'm afraid it will become habit-forming.”
“I don’t drink water, isn’t that the substance fish make love in?”

He also said with a straight face:

“I have spent a lot of time searching through the Bible for loopholes.”
"My illness is due to my doctor's insistence that I drink milk, a whitish fluid they force down helpless babies."

All in all Fields was a pretty entertaining character.

Sour Grapes for Tuesday, January 29th 2008

Driving home a No
What is Taotao Tano?
I am not a spokesman for Taotao Tano but I will give you my opinion on what they stand for as I see it. I went to listen and see what they wanted. Here is what I found. They are not against foreign contract workers. They are not in league with, nor do they condone corruption in local government. They are not racist rednecks as some mainlander liberals, and mainland educated liberal locals would have you believe. They are not inarticulate boobs spouting hatred. Some big-government loving ‘liberals’, a few of our US government employees and a few other self interest oriented sympathizers of federalization call them that to try to close your mind to their message.

To me they seem to be a force trying to keep the indigenous peoples of these Islands from being screwed like the Hawaiians and the American Indians and other original native peoples around the world have been screwed. They simply want to stand up and say this is our island; come and visit…even come to stay if you want, but please remember whose islands they are. Don’t promise to give us a helping hand up, then shaft us by taking over our fledgling self government and try running the place according to your best self interest instead of ours. We don’t want to be ‘federalized’. We do not want to be taken over and ruled by you.

That seems to be their message, and if you have missed it, it is because they usually articulate it in their own sovereign language, not yours. Try listening closely with an open mind and you will hear a different message than the stereotype their opponents would have you believe.

(As I said, I am not their spokesman. If the real spokespersons of CNMI Taotao Tano think I am wrong about their message or their goals, I invite them to reply through an unedited message in this column or through a letter to the editor).
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Don’t let the Red Herrings Sway you
Proponents of ‘federalization’ (a nice way to say US takeover), will try to make you believe the recent CNMI Motorcade protest was about the new labor law (15-108), or about the plight of foreign guest workers, or about a bloated government, or about how many cars showed up to protest, or twenty other off-subject items.

Not so. That grass roots upwelling of residents both driving and watching were trying to show support for an independently governed, self sufficient CNMI. A country simply trying to govern itself as promised.

The small but vocal takeover camp wants to divert your attention into counting cars or claiming some vague discrimination because they don’t want you to focus on the real root of the issue…a big powerful country taking over a smaller, militarily helpless one. That is what it is about. That is what the motorcade and the CNMI citizens sought to bring to the attention of the Island’s leaders and the US government legislators. The motorcade was about protesting that takeover.

Those who participated and most other citizens here are opposed to a federal takeover. It’s that simple. We realize that a house that does not control who comes and who goes or how long they stay does not control its own destiny. It does not govern itself. Its controllers do.

Some of my friends in the mainlander community are in favor of the takeover. Some of them are uncomfortable with the culture here. They don’t believe the local population is capable of governing itself. They want this place to be more like their hometown back on the mainland.

But this is not the mainland. This is not their island. They, and I, are guests of the indigenous people here. Under a UN mandate, the US signed on as a helping hand ‘big brother’ to help lift the CNMI and its people into position to self rule. That promise was codified in the Covenant. Now instead, they want to become George Orwell’s version of “Big Brother” government oppressing the people and forcing its rule on those incapable of fending them off. In short, taking over control now that the UN’s attention is diverted elsewhere and they want control of these Islands for their own use.

The universal claim of the pro takeover groups is that US rule will be somehow better than what we have now. I’ve heard it 20 times at least. It’s got to be better than what we have now they say. Oh? How so? Invisible, uncaring bureaucratic authority 10,000 miles away interested only in their self interest is not my idea of better government. The spirit and the promise of the Covenant was and is self rule, not subjugation.

So don’t be fooled by the many red herring stories or by counting the cars. Focus on Anti-Federalization, on Anti-Take Over, on Pro CNMI independent self rule. That is the core idea behind the recent protest motorcade. That is the core value of the CNMI Taotao Tano and the core value of most of the CNMI’s citizens. They want to promote a free and self-governing CNMI. They try to stave off those who would steal their islands as they stole governing autonomy and land from many other indigenous peoples. It’s that simple. Most of the citizens here don’t want a federal takeover. Pass it around.
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End of an Era
It was with a great deal of sorrow that my family attended the last Sunday Brunch
hosted by the great Hotel Nikko Saipan two days ago. This hotel closure represents the passing of the last major Japanese investment in the CNMI and as such marks the beginning of a new era in our tourism industry.

There are still plenty of people, companies, and organizations that rely on and contribute to the continuation of a vibrant Japanese tourist market here on Saipan. We should all support their efforts. Other market segments, most notably Korea but China and Russia as well, are growing strong and beginning to replace some of the ground lost from our tourist base in Japan. We should support their efforts too.

I am sure UMDA, the new owners of the hotel, will find top notch operators and do an excellent job of running the hotel and attracting tourists from Japan and elsewhere. We hope they will be able to continue the employment of the gracious staff that works there.

We’ll be going back to try the food and the service when the new Palms Resort gets up and running. Meanwhile I want to personally say thank you to the many pleasant staff persons at the Nikko who, over the years, have made our visits there a wonderful experience.
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Quotes of the week: Who can protest and does not, is an accomplice in the act. The Talmud

Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous. –William Proxmire, US senator, reformer (1915-2005)