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Sunday, March 15, 2020


  
PROGRESSIVE OPINION AND NEWS


THE MARIANAS GO FOR THE BERN
COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY
BY LUCY WARNER
MARCH 14, 2020


 A SMALL US TERRITORY HAS SELECTED BERNIE SANDERS BY A 50% MARGIN OVER JOE BIDEN. LOOK AT THE VOTE COUNTS FOR BOTH OF THEM IN THE NORTHERN MARIANAS ISLANDS. THIS IS A REALLY SMALL POPULATION APPARENTLY, BUT EVEN SO, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE VOTES IN TOTAL FOR OUR DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES. THERE WERE TWO OTHER CANDIDATES ON THE BALLOT, BUT THEY DIDN'T ADD MUCH TO THE NUMBERS. I WONDER HOW LARGE THE REPUBLICAN CAUCUSES WERE; OR IS THE PERCENTAGE OF CITIZENS WHO DO VOTE AT ALL JUST VERY LOW? I HOPE IT ISN'T A CASE OF VOTER SUPPRESSION.

ON THE HISTORY OF THE INDIGENOUS CHAMORRO PEOPLE WHO POPULATED THE ISLAND WHEN EUROPEANS DISCOVERED IT, DNA STUDIES AND LANGUAGE, SEE THE SEVERAL WIKIPEDIA AND OTHER ARTICLES THAT FOLLOW. THEY ARE OF COURSE MUCH LONGER THAN WHAT I HAVE INSERTED IN THIS BLOG, SO FOR MORE INFO GO TO THE ORIGINAL WEBSITES.

Bernie Sanders wins Northern Mariana Islands caucuses
By Adam Levy, CNN
Updated 10:25 AM ET, Sat March 14, 2020

VIDEO -- Biden or Sanders? How race and age shape the race, CNN

(CNN)Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won the Northern Mariana Islands Democratic caucuses Saturday.

Sanders won with 84 votes, while former Vice President Joe Biden received 48 votes and two went uncommitted. Sanders' win in the contest translates to four national delegates, while Biden captured two.

The Northern Mariana Islands, which has been a US territory since 1975, participates in the presidential primary process but not the general election. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the Democratic caucuses while Donald Trump won the Republican caucuses.

Visit CNN's Election Center for full coverage of the 2020 race

Biden has a near 150-delegate lead over Sanders, after the former vice president racked up a series of victories earlier this month that catapulted him to front-runner status, according to CNN's delegate count.

Sanders on Wednesday vowed to stay in the race despite the narrowing path for him to win the nomination.

The two candidates are scheduled to debate Sunday, which has been moved from Arizona to Washington, DC, amid coronavirus concerns.

The debate comes ahead of another round of Democratic primaries Tuesday in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio, which total to 577 delegates up for grabs.

This story has been updated with additional background information.
CNN's Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.

  

AVAILABLE DELEGATES TO THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION

Northern Mariana Islands
6 PLEDGED DELEGATES
5 SUPER DELEGATES

Date of Caucuses: March 14, 2020
Delegate Allocation: Proportional
Total delegates at stake: 11

The Northern Mariana Islands, which has been a US territory since 1975, participate in the presidential primary process but not the general election. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the Democratic caucuses while Donald Trump won the Republican caucuses. Republicans control the Northern Mariana Islands’ Legislature and governor’s office. The territory’s nonvoting congressional delegate is an independent.



I FIND THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES TO BE MORE INTERESTING THAN THIS TINY LITTLE VOTE FOR BERNIE, THOUGH IT MAY SHOW THAT THERE IS MORE POLITICAL ACTIVITY AND INTEREST THERE THAN I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT. IT ALSO MAY SHOW THAT THEY WATCH HIM ON THE INTERNET AS I DO, AND FEEL THAT THE THINGS HE WANTS TO PUT IN PLACE ARE GOOD. SEE ALSO THE MACROTRENDS.NET STATEMENT ABOUT THEIR LITERACY RATES, AND WIKIPEDIA ON THE HOUSEHOLD AND PER CAPITA INCOMES.

Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.

Northern Mariana Islands literacy rate for 2018 was 99.00%, a 0% increase from 2015.


I HAVE TRIED QUITE A FEW TIMES TONIGHT TO FIND SPECIFIC DATA ON HOW MANY OF THE ISLANDERS HAVE A BACHELOR’S OR ASSOCIATES DEGREE FROM A COLLEGE. NOTHING, EXCEPT THE STATEMENT THAT THE LITERACY RATE THERE IS 97% FOR MEN AND 96% FOR WOMEN. ON THE ONE COLLEGE IN THE NORTHERN MARIANAS, SEE THE WIKIPEDIA’S ARTICLE AND THAT FROM EDUCATION.STATEUNIVERSITY.COM, AS WELL. THAT ARTICLE MENTIONS WHAT WE COMMONLY CALL “SWEAT SHOPS” AS HAVING BEEN A PROBLEM THERE. THE MANUFACTURERS PAID A FINE, BUT THE ARTICLE DOESN’T SAY THAT THE SHOPS WERE CLOSED OR REGULATED MORE CLOSELY. CYNICALLY, I WONDER ABOUT THAT.


BASIC DATA
Official Country Name:  Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Region: Oceania
Population: 71,912
Language(s): English, Chamorro, Carolinian
Literacy Rate: 97%

. . . .   Numerous programs are offered by the public school system, such as the provision of childcare for 190 families (380 children) whose parents are in school; bilingual education; and Head Start for children under six years of age. The country uses the Stanford Achievement Test 9 (SAT9) as their form of student assessment.

The Commonwealth has one postsecondary institution, Northern Mariana College, that offers programs such as associate of arts or science; adult, vocational, and continuing education; and professional development. For further studies students go to the University of Guam or the University of Hawaii.

CNMI faces three main issues to resolve: a 14 percent unemployment rate, an immigration problem, and reports of industrial worker abuse. A report from the U.S. Congress in 1998 estimates that there are at least 10,000 illegal aliens in the Commonwealth. Additionally, in 1999 several American clothing makers agreed to pay some $1.25 million as a settlement on behalf of more than 50,000 workers forced to work in undesirable conditions. Part of this settlement fund goes to an education campaign to create awareness for better work conditions.


 NOTE: ON INCOMES IN THE MARIANAS, GO TO THE WIKIPEDIA WEBSITE FOR A BREAKDOWN BY MUNICIPALITY (COUNTY) AND BY VILLAGE, OF WHICH THERE ARE 23. THE HIGHEST IS “CAPITOL HILL" AT A PER CAPITA LEVEL OF $15,754 AND PER HOUSEHOLD, $37,411. THE LOWEST RANKED VILLAGE IS “CHALAN KANOA III,” WITH PER CAPITA $6,083 AND $14,141 PER HOUSEHOLD.

TWO THINGS STAND OUT TO ME. FIRST, THE HIGHEST INCOME RANKINGS THERE ARE FAR LOWER THAN WHAT MUST BE A COMPARABLE STATUS IN THIS COUNTRY, UNLESS THERE ARE VERY FEW TRAINED PROFESSIONALS IN THE POPULATION, SO THAT THE WHOLE STANDARD OF LIFE IS CONSIDERABLY LOWER. THE LOWEST AVERAGE INCOMES ARE FROM VILLAGE #23, AND VERY SIMILAR TO THOSE OF THE POOR IN THE USA. THEY HAVE A LOW INCOME IN GENERAL, THOUGH, SO THE GAP IN WEALTH THERE IS NOT SO SEVERE AS WHAT WE HAVE HERE, AT LEAST ACCORDING TO THE STATISTICS I HAVE FOUND.

THE COST OF LIVING ALSO LOOKS SIMILAR, FROM THE FOLLOWING LISTING IN THE SOURCE FROM CARSSAIPAN.COM; BUT THE QUALITY OF HOUSING IS PROBABLY POOR, AND THE ADVANTAGES LIKE A COMPUTER AND INTERNET SERVICE ARE UNDOUBTEDLY ACCESSED ONLY BY PEOPLE OF THE UPPER INCOME RANGES. FOR SOME COMPARISONS, SEE: https://www.carssaipan.com/living-in-saipan/.  

  
INCOMES COMPARED IN WIKIPEDIA

List of Northern Mariana Islands locations by per capita income
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of Northern Mariana Islands locations by per capita income. In the 2010 U.S. Census, the Northern Mariana Islands had a per capita income of $9,656 — the 2nd-lowest per capita income of any state or territory in the United States (only American Samoa had a lower per capita income).[1] In the 2010 U.S. Census, the Northern Mariana Islands had a median household income of $19,958 — the 2nd-lowest of any state or territory the United States (higher only than Puerto Rico's median household income).[1]

Note: The Northern Mariana Islands does not have counties. The U.S. Census Bureau counts the 4 municipalities of the Northern Mariana Islands as county-equivalents.    . . . .


WHO ARE THE MARIANA ISLANDERS?

Mariana Islands
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mariana Islands (/ˌmæriˈɑːnə/; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: Manislan Mariånas) are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the western North Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east. They lie south-southeast of Japan, west-southwest of Hawaii, north of New Guinea and east of the Philippines, demarcating the Philippine Sea's eastern limit. They are found in the northern part of the western Oceanic sub-region of Micronesia, and are politically divided into two jurisdictions of the United States: the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and, at the southern end of the chain, the territory of Guam. The islands were named after the influential Spanish queen Mariana of Austria following their colonization in the 17th century.

Spanish navigators, beginning with Magellan in the early 16th century, were the first Europeans to arrive; eventually Spain annexed and colonized the archipelago, establishing their capital on the largest island, Guam. The Marianas were the first islands Magellan encountered after traversing the Pacific from the southern tip of South America, and the fruits found there helped save the survivors from scurvy, which had already killed dozens of crewmembers.

The indigenous inhabitants are the Chamorro people. Archaeologists in 2013 reported findings which indicated that the people who first settled the Marianas arrived there after making what may have been at the time the longest uninterrupted ocean voyage in human history. They further reported findings which suggested that Tinian is likely to have been the first island in Oceania to have been settled by humans.[1]

. . . .   Archeological studies of human activity on the islands has revealed potteries with red-slipped, circle- and punctate-stamped designs found in the Mariana Islands dating between 1500 and 1400 BC. These artifacts show similar aesthetics to pottery found in Northern and Central Philippines, the Nagsabaran (Cagayan valley) pottery, which flourished during the period between 2000 and 1300 BC.[4]

Spanish exploration and control

[ARTIST’S RENDITION, CAPTION: Reception of the Manila Galleon by the Chamorro in the Ladrones Islands, ca. 1590 Boxer Codex]

The first Europeans to see the island group were a Spanish expedition, who on March 6, 1521, observed a string of islands and sailed between two of them during a Spanish expedition of world circumnavigation under the command of Ferdinand Magellan.    . . . .  

The Marianas remained a Spanish colony under the general government of the Philippines until 1898, when, as a result of its loss in the Spanish–American War, Spain ceded Guam to the United States. Guam has retained a different political character from the Northern Marianas since this time. Following the Philippine–American War, Apolinario Mabini and other Filipino leaders were exiled to Guam in 1901.[13]:vi

Weakened from its defeat in the Spanish–American War, Spain could no longer effectively control and protect the nearly 6,000 islands it retained throughout Micronesia, including the Northern Marianas, Carolines and Pelew Islands. Therefore, Spain entered into the German-Spanish Treaty of February 12, 1899 to sell the Northern Marianas and its other remaining islands to Germany for 837,500 German gold marks (about $4,100,000 at the time). The Northern Marianas and other island groups were incorporated by Germany as a small part of the larger German Protectorate of New Guinea. The total population in the Northern Marianas portion of these islands was only 2,646 inhabitants around this time, with the ten most northerly islands being actively volcanic and thus mostly uninhabited.

Japan, allied with the Entente Powers during World War I, seized all of Germany's colonial possessions in East Asia and Micronesia, including the Northern Mariana Islands, and held them through the end of the War. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Germany was stripped of all her colonies worldwide, including the Palau, Caroline, Northern Mariana and Marshall Islands. By international agreement, these were all placed into trusteeship under the management of League of Nations which assigned them to Japan as the Class C South Seas Mandate. During this time, Japan used some of the islands for sugarcane production, modestly increasing the population of a few of the islands.

World War II

A U.S. Marine talks a terrified Chamorro woman and her children into abandoning their refuge. Battle of Saipan, 1944.

The island chain saw significant fighting during World War II. Guam, a possession of the United States since 1898, was captured by Japan in an attack from the Northern Mariana Islands that began on the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (December 8, 1941, the same time as the Pearl Harbor attack across the international dateline). In 1944, the United States captured the Mariana Islands chain from Japan:  . . . .  


CHAMORRO LANGUAGE ALMOST EXTINCT

Chamorro language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chamorro (/tʃəˈmɒroʊ/)[3] (Chamorro: Finu' Chamoru) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 58,000 people (about 25,800 people on Guam and about 32,200 in the rest of the Mariana Islands and elsewhere).[4] It is the native and spoken language of the Chamorro people, who are the indigenous people of the Marianas (Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, both US territories).

Speakers

"Hafa Adai" sign at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport in Guam

The Chamorro language is threatened, with a precipitous drop in language fluency over the past century. It is estimated that 75% of the population of Guam was literate in the Chamorro language around the time the United States captured the island during the Spanish–American War[5] (there are no similar language fluency estimates for other areas of the Mariana Islands during this time). A century later, the 2000 U.S. Census showed that fewer than 20% of Chamorros living in Guam speak their heritage language fluently, and the vast majority of those were over the age of 55.
. . . .  

In Guam, the language suffered additional suppression when the U.S. government banned the Chamorro language in schools in 1922. They collected and burned all Chamorro dictionaries.[6] Similar policies were undertaken by the Japanese government when they controlled the region during World War II. After World War II, when Guam was ceded back to the United States, the American administrators of the island continued to impose “no Chamorro” language restrictions in local schools, teaching only English and disciplining students for speaking their indigenous tongue.[7]

Even though these oppressive language policies were progressively lifted, Chamorro usage had substantially decreased. Subsequent generations were often raised in households where only the oldest family members were fluent. Lack of exposure made it increasingly difficult to pick up Chamorro as a second language. Within a few generations, English replaced Chamorro as the language of daily life.[citation needed]

. . . .  

Revitalization efforts

Representatives from Guam have unsuccessfully lobbied the United States to take action to promote and protect the language.[citation needed]

In 2013, "Guam will be instituting Public Law 31-45, which increases the teaching of the Chamorro language and culture in Guam schools," extending instruction to include grades 7–10.[10]

Other efforts have been made in recent times, most notably Chamorro immersion schools. One example is the Huråo Guåhan Academy, at the Chamorro Village in Hagåtña, GU. This program is led by Ann Marie Arceo and her husband, Ray Arceo. According to Huråo's official YouTube page, "Huråo Academy is one if not the first Chamoru Immersion Schools that focus on the teaching of Chamoru language and Self-identity on Guam. Huråo was founded as a non-profit in June 2005." [11] The academy has been praised by many for the continuity of the Chamoru language.
. . . .  

Classification

Unlike most of its neighbors, Chamorro is not classified as a Micronesian or Polynesian language. Rather, like Palauan, it possibly constitutes an independent branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language family.[16][17]

At the time the Spanish rule over Guam ended, it was thought that Chamorro was a semi-Creole language, with a substantial amount of the vocabulary of Spanish origin and beginning to have a high level of mutual intelligibility with Spanish. It is reported that even in the early 1920s Spanish was reported to be a living language in Guam for commercial transactions, but the use of Spanish and Chamorro was rapidly declining as a result of English pressure.   . . . .  


DNA STUDIES ON THE CHAMORROS ORIGINS

Expert: Chamorros originated from Southeast Asia
By Jon Perez | Posted on Jan 25 2016
Tag: DNA, people, Philippines, Southeast Asian

Molecular anthropologist Dr. Miguel Vilar’s recent studies on the origin of the ancient Chamorro people revealed that they originated from parts of Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Vilar, National Geographic Society’s project manager for the Genographic project, was on Saipan for a one-night lecture on “Researching the Origins and Genetic Distinctiveness of the Chamorros: A Bi-Parental Analyses.”

The former University of Pennsylvania post-doctoral research fellow based his analyses after getting DNA samples from 122 Chamorros from Guam, Rota, and Saipan in 2013. His study showed that the Chamorro people’s origins could be traced to Indonesia and the Philippines.

Results reveal that 92 percent of Chamorros belong to haplogroup E, which is found in both Southeast Asian countries but is rare in Oceania. A haplogroup is a genetic population of a group of people who share a common ancestor on the paternal or maternal lineages.

Vilar, who is tracing the connection of the Chamorro people to modern day Indonesia and the Philippines, told Saipan Tribune that this could be part of the Austronesian migration and expansion that occurred thousands of years ago.

“It was really fascinating to learn that these people were expert seafarers. They managed to find the [Marianas] islands just by looking at the stars, studying wind conditions and direction of the waves,” said Vilar. “It was a great feat and they truly are amazing people who discovered the small islands here in Micronesia.”

“We have to dig deeper on this and break down the components to understand more. We need to do more research and work on this,” said Vilar after his almost two-hour lecture that was presented by the Northern Marianas Humanities Council and attended by close to 100 people.

Filipino DNA further surfaced with the Philippines and the Marianas—Guam and the CNMI—being under Spanish colonial rule for hundreds of years. The Mariana Islands is the usual stop of Spanish Galleons going back to Spain by way of Mexico.

He said that in Guam alone five of the participants in 2013 showed they had Philippine lineage.

“This is mainly because of colonization. Filipino men integrated with Chamorro women.”

Vilar said that bones and other sources of DNA should be preserved especially in tropical islands where heat is one factor that destroys remains of people.

“As technology in identifying and tracing DNA further advances we need to preserve remains of ancient people. We don’t want to lose these evidences because of outside forces.”

Jon Perez | Reporter
Jon Perez began his writing career as a sports reporter in the Philippines where he has covered local and international events. He became a news writer when he joined media network ABS-CBN. He joined the weekly DAWN, University of the East’s student newspaper, while in college.


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