Saturday, March 14, 2009
my Saturday afternoon
Just got back from the old 'hood about an hour ago, then had some eggs & toast. I'm watching TV and trying to postpone cleaning - I should probably do some basic tidying-up before my roomie gets back from London tomorrow.
Is it springtime yet?
I just heard an ice cream truck drive by the house. Odd seeing as it's only 44 degrees F (or 9 C).
In a few minutes I leave for the old neighborhood to do some filming with a childhood friend.
In a few minutes I leave for the old neighborhood to do some filming with a childhood friend.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Picture of the day
Taken from a balcony at Hotel Nikko, overlooking San Roque and part of Tanapag, late 2001.
Picture of the day
Taken from a balcony at Hotel Nikko, overlooking San Roque and part of Tanapag, late 2001.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Battle Of Saipan (documentary)
VISITING Saipan nowadays is like coming back to what was once a thriving civilization that had been destroyed and abandoned. This was according to Adam Yamaguchi, a television correspondent and producer at Current TV, a cable network founded by former Vice President Al Gore.
He visited the island recently to document the “rise and sudden collapse of a tiny piece of America.”The trailer for his documentary “The Battle of Saipan” is available online (above).
“Saipan is a nice place that I would pay a lot of my own money to visit, but Saipan is facing one of the fastest economic collapses in history,” Yamaguchi said in the trailer.
He added, “The present battle of Saipan is an economic one, and throughout the islands you can see the victims.”
He said many of the foreign workers who came to work for garment factories are now loitering the island, jobless and have no means to go home.
He said some factory workers have resorted to prostitution just to survive.
The Current Web site includes an excerpt from “The Battle of Saipan” showing Yamaguchi talking with guest workers now in the sex trade.
“Saipan used to have the best of both worlds — cheap labor to allow it to compete with the prices of garments in U.S. mainland manufacturers, and no quota on what it could ship to the mainland,” Yamaguchi said.
He added that a few years ago, 17,000 Chinese workers were making clothing in over three dozen garment factories, earning $3 an hour “which is just 60 percent of the minimum wage rate in the U.S. mainland,” Yamaguchi said.
All this ended when World Trade Organization rules took effect in 2005 following a 10-year transition period.
Now, garment factories in Third World countries, where labor is cheaper, can also export their apparel to the U.S. without quota restrictions.
“Once the ultimate globalization success story, the island of Saipan now faces one of the fastest economic collapses in history,” the Current Web site stated. “After suffering a harsh history of military struggles as well as a temporary economic boom after becoming a U.S. commonwealth, the island now stands devastated. Scores of factories remain empty, rotting shopping centers litter the country, and former factory workers turn to the sex industry for survival.” (Marianas Variety)
Battle Of Saipan (documentary)
VISITING Saipan nowadays is like coming back to what was once a thriving civilization that had been destroyed and abandoned. This was according to Adam Yamaguchi, a television correspondent and producer at Current TV, a cable network founded by former Vice President Al Gore.
He visited the island recently to document the “rise and sudden collapse of a tiny piece of America.”The trailer for his documentary “The Battle of Saipan” is available online (above).
“Saipan is a nice place that I would pay a lot of my own money to visit, but Saipan is facing one of the fastest economic collapses in history,” Yamaguchi said in the trailer.
He added, “The present battle of Saipan is an economic one, and throughout the islands you can see the victims.”
He said many of the foreign workers who came to work for garment factories are now loitering the island, jobless and have no means to go home.
He said some factory workers have resorted to prostitution just to survive.
The Current Web site includes an excerpt from “The Battle of Saipan” showing Yamaguchi talking with guest workers now in the sex trade.
“Saipan used to have the best of both worlds — cheap labor to allow it to compete with the prices of garments in U.S. mainland manufacturers, and no quota on what it could ship to the mainland,” Yamaguchi said.
He added that a few years ago, 17,000 Chinese workers were making clothing in over three dozen garment factories, earning $3 an hour “which is just 60 percent of the minimum wage rate in the U.S. mainland,” Yamaguchi said.
All this ended when World Trade Organization rules took effect in 2005 following a 10-year transition period.
Now, garment factories in Third World countries, where labor is cheaper, can also export their apparel to the U.S. without quota restrictions.
“Once the ultimate globalization success story, the island of Saipan now faces one of the fastest economic collapses in history,” the Current Web site stated. “After suffering a harsh history of military struggles as well as a temporary economic boom after becoming a U.S. commonwealth, the island now stands devastated. Scores of factories remain empty, rotting shopping centers litter the country, and former factory workers turn to the sex industry for survival.” (Marianas Variety)
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Is this a fire or a UFO?
Seen in Google Earth's view of a house on Saipan, just south of the old Japanese jail (coordinates 15°11'56.18"N 145°43'7.39"E).Or view here on Google Maps.
Is this a fire or a UFO?
Seen in Google Earth's view of a house on Saipan, just south of the old Japanese jail (coordinates 15°11'56.18"N 145°43'7.39"E).Or view here on Google Maps.
Google drops Saipan from satellite view in Maps
If you look at the above image I snapped from Google Maps, you will see that Saipan and Tinian are no longer visible in Google Maps' satellite view, except as silhouettes, while Guam is clearly visible. It seems like in their haste to map the bottom of the ocean floor, they forgot about some of the islands as well. The islands also do not appear on the map. They ARE however available on the terrain view....
View Larger Map
In other news, work on my novel, "Invisible Island" is going along "swimmingly" (pun intended).
Google drops Saipan from satellite view in Maps
If you look at the above image I snapped from Google Maps, you will see that Saipan and Tinian are no longer visible in Google Maps' satellite view, except as silhouettes, while Guam is clearly visible. It seems like in their haste to map the bottom of the ocean floor, they forgot about some of the islands as well. The islands also do not appear on the map. They ARE however available on the terrain view....
View Larger Map
In other news, work on my novel, "Invisible Island" is going along "swimmingly" (pun intended).
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Staying put as Gustav bears down
Some Britons living in and around New Orleans have decided to ignore orders to evacuate from the path of hurricane Gustav.
James Lewis, 38, originally from London, is landlord of the Crown and Anchor English pub in New Orleans. He says he is determined not to see a repeat of the looting that destroyed his business after hurricane Katrina.
JAMES LEWIS, 38, LANDLORD CROWN AND ANCHOR PUB
I just have a lot of friends here in the neighbourhood who are staying and the pub is a community centre for the neighbourhood.
[Last time] I was forced by a friend to leave at the last minute - I wasn't going to. We snuck back in as soon as [hurricane] Rita had passed. That was three weeks afterwards and it looked like the day afterwards.
The ceilings were down, no roof, the kitchen wall was halfway down the street and the damage and destruction done by the looters. I'd only bought the pub a month before.
All the booze was gone, the place was pretty much wide open, so people just helped themselves.
Make sure you've got a hammer or an axe or a crowbar, you know, the usual stuff
We're all very prepared here, it's the old adage - prepare for the worst, hope for the best. We're not a bunch of idiots staying here.
Make sure that you've got food, water, ice packs in the freezer, board up the windows, make sure you remove any debris so that it doesn't turn into flying debris.
Make sure you've got a hammer or an axe or a crowbar, you know, the usual stuff, to make sure if the water goes up dramatically you are not stuck in the roof.
But err on the side of caution of course - particularly if you are going to be by yourself, absolutely, get out, don't be the only idiot staying there.
[There is a real] nervous energy, you could feel it start to go up last night in the pub. Everyone runs on adrenaline for the next four days.
Of course I don't actually enjoy it, you would have to be psychotic to be like that, my psychologist would come over and give me a smack if I said that.
But we've got a wonderful community here, everybody pulled together as a community and stuck our heads down.
I opened up within 24 hours of being back, and we were packed for a month afterwards with first response and National Guard, we met some wonderful people.
What would make me leave? I'm not sure. I'm a bit stubborn like that. I really don't know. This is my life.
Mr Lewis said his pub's website would be made available as a message board during the hurricane.
James Lewis, 38, originally from London, is landlord of the Crown and Anchor English pub in New Orleans. He says he is determined not to see a repeat of the looting that destroyed his business after hurricane Katrina.
JAMES LEWIS, 38, LANDLORD CROWN AND ANCHOR PUB
I just have a lot of friends here in the neighbourhood who are staying and the pub is a community centre for the neighbourhood.
[Last time] I was forced by a friend to leave at the last minute - I wasn't going to. We snuck back in as soon as [hurricane] Rita had passed. That was three weeks afterwards and it looked like the day afterwards.
The ceilings were down, no roof, the kitchen wall was halfway down the street and the damage and destruction done by the looters. I'd only bought the pub a month before.
All the booze was gone, the place was pretty much wide open, so people just helped themselves.
Make sure you've got a hammer or an axe or a crowbar, you know, the usual stuff
We're all very prepared here, it's the old adage - prepare for the worst, hope for the best. We're not a bunch of idiots staying here.
Make sure that you've got food, water, ice packs in the freezer, board up the windows, make sure you remove any debris so that it doesn't turn into flying debris.
Make sure you've got a hammer or an axe or a crowbar, you know, the usual stuff, to make sure if the water goes up dramatically you are not stuck in the roof.
But err on the side of caution of course - particularly if you are going to be by yourself, absolutely, get out, don't be the only idiot staying there.
[There is a real] nervous energy, you could feel it start to go up last night in the pub. Everyone runs on adrenaline for the next four days.
Of course I don't actually enjoy it, you would have to be psychotic to be like that, my psychologist would come over and give me a smack if I said that.
But we've got a wonderful community here, everybody pulled together as a community and stuck our heads down.
I opened up within 24 hours of being back, and we were packed for a month afterwards with first response and National Guard, we met some wonderful people.
What would make me leave? I'm not sure. I'm a bit stubborn like that. I really don't know. This is my life.
Mr Lewis said his pub's website would be made available as a message board during the hurricane.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
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