Veteran’s day

Although not as highly celebrated as Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving or even Memorial day, Veteran’s day is actually one of the most important holidays of the year and one, when I was a kid, I loved.

On Guam veterans make up a great percentage of population.  First, there is the simple fact that Guam is Guam –The island was a Spanish territory for over 500 years.  And it is one of the few parts of the U.S. that was actually occupied by the enemy during WWII and so everyone that survived the occupation and helped in the survival of the residents can possibly be considered a veteran of a foreign war.  Second, people on Guam remember the Japanese occupation from either personal experience, from the accounts of their parents and grandparents or from merely driving around and seeing (and sometimes playing around) remnants of the war (huge guns, pill boxes and the occasional bomb that still gets dug up).  Many of the post war population of Guam want to serve our country in the military, either as active duty or reservists.    The fact that military presence is huge on Guam is probably due  in part to the many Guamanians in the military.

Any celebration of Veterans and freedom (Memorial day, Veterans Day, the 4th of July and the 21st of July [Independence Day]) is important to Guamanians.

When I was growing up, my parents had a business in the island’s capitol, Agana (now known as “Hagatna”).  Specifically, it was located right next to a little place called Skinner Plaza.  Because the Plaza itself is dedicated to various to wars and veterans (there’s a WWII memorial, a Korean War Memorial, a memorial by the Korean Community of Guam, and even a Purple Heart’s memorial) on Veteran’s day, there would always be a parade of Veterans.  I remember every year sitting outside my father’s business watching the World War II and Korean War Vets walk by.  Then later, when the Vietnam War winded down, Vietnam vets.  Most of the marchers were from WWII.  I don’t believe the parade still occurs, but if it did, it would include all the Veterans of the most recent middle east military engagements and probably less than a handful, if any, from WWII.  But that is the nature of time.

We must never forget those who defended our rights and freedoms.

God bless America and those who have kept us free.

Election is over, Congratulations to President Obama and a note on Liberalism

The election is finally over.  Now the post-election lambasting by conservatives is about to begin.

In defense of conservatives, many are conservatives due to their religious/moral beliefs and not because they necessarily hate us liberals.  They just think we are kind of, well, liberal.  I respect them for this as many of my friends are religious/moral conservatives.  I cannot and will not denigrate them for what they honestly believe and am glad they are willing to defend their beliefs at the polls.

I am a liberal with the liberal belief that all people have the right to their own beliefs as long as their beliefs do not harm or injure others.  And so except and am proud of my many conservative friends.

What I do have problems with are those conservatives who (1) do not believe that I too have a right to my beliefs, or (2) think that all liberals are leaches sucking money out of the government and are “takers” and “want from the government”ers.

I am a liberal because of my belief that the United States Constitution and the first 10 amendments thereof are the the best governmental and ethical blueprints in the world.  I believe in individual rights and freedoms. I believe that we all have the right to believe as we will as long as no one (else) is harmed by our belief(s).  I will defend another’s rights to believe as they want, even if those beliefs differ from mine.  I am willing to stand for and with a strong government that supports these blueprints and beliefs.

And yes, I am from immigrant stock.  I am an ethnic minority.  But like most, if not all members of my family, I have never taken welfare and always paid my taxes.  I am the only lawyer of my family.  My other relatives are doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers and accountants.  99% of them graduated from college and a few of them have a household income of more than $250,000.00 per year.

Many of my friends and colleagues who are immigrants, or can remember the hard work of their immigrant parents, have instilled in their system a strong work ethic and the belief that you must work hard for what you have and not rely on the government.

And at last discussion, most, if not all of them, are liberal and proud to be Americans.

We all agree that it’s great to now live in a country where we are free to be who we are, to believe as we will, to study what we chose to study, and to vote as we choose to vote knowing our vote will not be stolen on the way to being counted and the ballot boxes will not be stuffed for “the other guy.”

For this, I am very glad that at least for 4 more years, the President believes the same.

Happy Halloween, and then some.

It’s November 2.  If I were on Guam today, I would have visited my maternal grandparents, my uncle and various friends who have passed, and left them some flowers and burnt a candle.  Since I’m not there, I just remember them and hope that someone back there visited them and cleaned and decorated their graves as is the Island’s tradition on All Soul’s day.  Dia de los muertos in the Latin American tradition.  It was also recently the great American holiday of Halloween.  And yesterday was All Saint’s day in the Roman Catholic tradition.

I’m never really sure how to refer to this trio of days of the dead (Halloween, All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day).  But I hope you had a good past three days.

Here in Golden State, we had a very nice All Hallow’s Eve.  I’m glad the day was nice and all was well for us.  I hope those on the east coast, despite the devastation caused by hurricane/storm Sandy, took some time out to celebrate the end of the old calendar, remembered the dead, and celebrated life.