What’s Going On With Mitch McConnell’s Hands? As Caraballo notes (and as a significant amount of reporting backs up), the inadequate federal and local response to the storm was  “the real disaster.” It was only a few weeks ago, for example, that the Trump administration—perhaps with its eye on tight polls in Florida—allocated $13 billion for rebuilding infrastructure in Puerto Rico. The Samoana High School graduate and son of Utulei was Student Government Association President at the American Samoa Community College. Samoa does not have a President, but has a Prime Minister, and his name is Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi He credited those who helped him come this far: Selaima and Enesi Enesi, Sialevene Lutali, Toke and Semalama Sipelii and his grandmother Amui Sipelii. Photo illustration by Slate. (In 2018, territorial police seized more than $1 million of the drug, in the course of 25 raids—a significant amount for a place with a population of about 55,000. We Cracked the Redactions in the Ghislaine Maxwell Deposition, Man Appears to Repeatedly Flash White Power Hand Sign at Trump Rally, As the publication WorkBoat recently documented. One of her group’s missions, and a change she’d like to see from Washington, is simply to give the public clear information about what’s happening, and how they can make their views known. “It was through participating in extracurricular clubs like PTK, HOSA and Build Exito. Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/84.0.4147.89 Safari/537.36. A bleak headline ran in the Virgin Islands Consortium in March that read “Retirees Doomsday: GERS Benefits Could Be Slashed 45 Percent or More if Pension System Collapses in 2023-2024.” GERS would be the territory’s Government Employees’ Retirement System, which was established in 1959, currently serves about 8,700 pensioners, and is about to run out of money. In the Northern Marianas, as on Guam, the U.S. military has for decades controlled land owned by local families, particularly those of Indigenous Chamorro or Refaluwasch descent. “In the old days we used to arrest people in Hawaii, we would arrest people into the states,” he says. In March, a protest by affected retirees on St. Croix was broken up by the police. “People say all the time that they don’t know what these different projects are,” Arriola says. He also intends to increase student engagement and empower the Pacific Island community to rise above and help him create a better space for both current and prospective students transferring from the Pacific region. American Samoa - American Samoa - Government and society: Because American Samoa is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States, not all provisions of the U.S. Constitution apply. Mission Founded. Packed With Artifacts of Urban Extravagance, the proposed buildup of the territory’s military bases, the Trump administration—perhaps with its eye on tight polls in Florida—allocated $13 billion, Irma and Maria in rapid succession just three years ago, , a protest by affected retirees on St. Croix was broken up by the police, “the bonds will be repaid even if it goes bankrupt.”, a recent and so far unsuccessful effort to legalize marijuana, Environmental Protection Agency’s own data, set for renegotiation during the next presidential term, one large base at the end of World War II, has plans to conduct live-fire training there and on the entirety of Pagan, after taking strict measures including sealing itself off from outside travelers in late March, In 2018, territorial police seized more than $1 million of the drug, when the local FBI office closed due to budget constraints. You can give us a loan, we’ll invest your money, and then we’ll pay it back,” Clendinen says. At right is His Highness Tuimaleali’ifano Va’aleto’a Eti Sualauvi II, … It’s complicated!) The issue wasn’t just the storm itself. When did organ music become associated with baseball? How long will the footprints on the moon last? Just give us access to the money we already generate.”. Ano ang Imahinasyong guhit na naghahati sa daigdig sa magkaibang araw? And this he says prepared him for his student leadership role at PSU. Incidentally, no sitting president has been to American Samoa since Lyndon Johnson, or to the Northern Marianas at all since they came under U.S. control. Clendinen’s analogy is, of course, especially potent in a place that’s been hammered by hurricanes before, including Irma and Maria in rapid succession just three years ago—but it’s fitting, given that the estimated cost to bring the pension fund back to long-term solvency is $2 billion. But personally, I’m skeptical because we have seen so many U.S. politicians’ promises on Puerto Rico being unfulfilled. What is the hink-pink for blue green moray? Ano ang mga kasabihan sa sa aking kababata? In September, USVI Gov. Help us cover the central question: “Who counts?” Your Slate Plus membership will fund our work on voting, immigration, gerrymandering, and more through 2020. 1st Samoan President of ASPSU May 6, 2020 News Motutama Nogotau Sipelii is the first Samoan to be elected as the Student Body President for Affiliated Students of Portland State University. You can cancel anytime. Ano ang pinakamaliit na kontinente sa mundo? Copyright © 2020 Multiply Media, LLC. 1888 June 17 . All Rights Reserved. * “We still have a bunch of people with blue tarps on their roofs,” she says, “and we have a huge problem with our power electric system. First, some good news that a president attuned to matters of public health might want to note: American Samoa has had zero—not even one! These are laws that restrict transit and commerce between two U.S. destinations (say, American Samoa and Hawaii) by non-American carriers (say, Samoa Airways, which is based in the independent nation of Samoa); these limitations, in turn, reduce competition (in this case, which is not hypothetical but very real, the only flights between American Samoa and the rest of the USA, during nonpandemic times, are on Hawaiian Airlines). Joseph H. and Flora R. Dean arrived in Samoa from the Hawaiian Mission on 17 June 1888 and officially organized the Samoan Mission. Albert Bryan Jr. offered a plan to sell $1 billion in debt with a promise to investors that “the bonds will be repaid even if it goes bankrupt.” (Bryan’s other proposals have included a recent and so far unsuccessful effort to legalize marijuana, with sales helping to fund GERS.) “Since we’re so far away from everybody, if we’re ever going to get tourism working or perhaps more trade working, we have to have these foreign carriers,” Sanitoa says. There’s no easy fix, and the problem has been building for years. “God allowed for something like this to happen.”. Asiah Clendinen is its acting chief operation officer and puts the situation in stark terms: “It would be devastating. Natalie Caraballo, the executive director of the nonprofit Proyecto 85, which promotes gender parity and representation in Puerto Rican politics, says that recovery and reconstruction remains one of top issues for territory. On this front, Biscoe Lee says, Guam residents are lacking a president “who actually believes that it’s affecting lives.” According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s own data, the U.S. territories—all of them islands—are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including coral bleaching and the destruction of essential ecosystems and fisheries (and, along with it, cultural identity), as well as impacts on tourism. Correction, Oct. 21, 2020: Due to an editing error, this piece originally mischaracterized the mission of Proyecto 85. Join Slate Plus to continue reading, and you’ll get unlimited access to all our work—and support Slate’s independent journalism. Slate relies on advertising to support our journalism. Arriola calls this not just “militarism run amok, where it’s far beyond what’s necessary for national defense” but also “clearly an issue of territorial seizure, but all through legal means”—the laws themselves are part of the problem, offering insufficient protections to local residents and their concerns and livelihoods. Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa PlanetRulers - Current Heads of State & Dictators Photos and bios of the current Heads of State, Dictators and First Ladies When the territories don’t have political power, or a place at the decision-making table, the specific details and urgency get lost—and, along with it, the funding and policy priorities needed to make a difference. As a senator in the Guam Legislature, Régine Biscoe Lee has an insider’s view of the power dynamics in the territory’s relationship with the federal government. (Some exceptions apply: Northern Marianas residents who previously lived in the states can vote in the election, as can American Samoa residents who moved there from Illinois. This is 25 percent of our GDP—a huge number.” And though 8,700 people may seem like a relatively small number in the states, that’s about 8 percent of the territory’s 107,000 residents, a substantial number to be affected by such severe cuts. The Samoana High School graduate and son of Utulei was Student Government Association President at the American Samoa Community College. This is too important. “It’s a blockade to properly exercising our local rights and self-determination,” Arriola says. There are also, of course, plenty of people who would like to have their voices heard in national-level politics. I realized that I wanted to be a doctor and a leader that would lead by example. “I want the president to know that we need assistance. Clendinen offers an appeal to the federal government, including a future POTUS, as a key to better financial health for the territory. But the lack of power within this convoluted system of—let’s call it what it is—modern-day colonialism, doesn’t mean there’s a lack of political activism. When disasters strike, laws can save lives. Pagkakaiba ng pagsulat ng ulat at sulating pananaliksik? The terms of those compacts—including allocations from the American federal government to the areas where these immigrants move—are set for renegotiation during the next presidential term, and it’s essential, Biscoe Lee says, that residents and leaders of affected U.S. territories be fully included in the decision-making. Biscoe Lee has a long list of areas where Guam “needs a seat at the table,” including self-determination regarding the territory’s political status, the underfunding of its Medicaid system, and the buildup of the U.S. military base on the island, but she points to the issue of climate change as especially instructive. The territories have zero senators, and each territory elects just one representative to the U.S. House, where they can serve on committees but can’t vote on any actual bills—again, shut out when it matters most—even though Congress holds ultimate power over all laws affecting the territories. Moreover, the United States has not provided an organic (charter) act setting forth a system of government. It’s been three years since Hurricane Maria hit the USA’s largest territory, killing thousands of people (the exact number remains unknown), knocking out power for months, and causing nearly $100 billion in damage. President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, center, and his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, wave to those in attendance following a devotional in Apia, Samoa on Saturday, May 18, 2019. His goal is to return home and build a research lab and develop health care related policies for American Samoa. On 27 October 1888 a new meetinghouse was completed on Aunuu. But the big concern that Larry Sanitoa, a member of the American Samoa House of Representatives, wants to discuss is meth (generally called “ice” in the territory), which he says has become a widespread problem. Why don't libraries smell like bookstores? We don’t have another avenue. Let the USVI keep all of the money it generates, like customs taxes and gas taxes, she says. WASHINGTON – Puerto Rico voters upset at President Donald Trump for his long-running feud with the island over disaster aid don't have much recourse at the ballot box ... (American Samoa…