I am not an expert on love but I do know one thing: Mortlockese Love is the real deal. It is genuine and sincere, it defies descriptions. If you're shown love Mortlockese style, you will lose yourself in its warmth, comfort and beauty that you will always find yourself coming back for more. Incidentally, I'm not talking about eros or your typical sexual love. I am talking about the love for your own people, your family, your relatives, your fellow islanders, your lands and your seas. It is the love of all these things combined and more. It is also the love you extend to your neighbors, to strangers and to visitors that come to your islands. It is the love of your own rich culture and traditions and unique lifestyle. It is the love that I'm afraid we will lose through our exposure to foreign customs and influences if we're not careful.
For instance, on Oneop, as on any other island in the Mortlocks during the Japanese rule, young men were selected to go and do hard labor in the phosphate mines of Angaur, Palau. Actually, they were ordered to go. They did not have any other choice. To refuse is to defy the Imperial Empire and would end up severely punished or even executed. The selection of able-bodied men to go on such a dangerous and sometimes fatal mission was not an easy feat. The local chief was given the task by the bumon cho and the kenpei tai to pick who was to go. This difficult task always tore his heart to shreds. Who would want to send his father, uncle, cousin, brother, nephew or son to die in a far away land? No one. So, out of concern and compassion for his people, the chief decided to send only those that were related to him - his brothers, uncles, cousins, nephews and sons. At least, if something happens to any one of them, only he and his family will suffer and grieve for their loss. He just could not send anybody else. However, that wasn't always the case.
During the general assembly before deployment, the chief openly wept as he read out the names of the men he had selected to go to Angaur. As he called out each name, a young man stood and went to the front. Everybody started to sobbed and wailed and cried out his name. His mother and female family members went up to him, put coconut oil and mwaramwars on him, sobbing and begging him not to go. The next name was called and the same thing was repeated. There was sadness all around. The chief continued to read off the names on the list and after a while, the people started to realize that all those young men standing up there at the front were from the same family or clan; that of the chief's. Immediately, young men from the other clans jumped up and stood in solidarity with them, volunteering to replace some of their brothers on the list. To them, it was unthinkable and unacceptable to send all the men from the same family into harm's way. Some of them were needed to stay behind and look after their womenfolk and children.
The Mortlockese Love that becomes apparent in situation like these guarantees that people on those islands live together in peace and love and harmony. It makes sure that no family or clan is deprived of its rights to live and prosper and produce offspring that will carry on their family name into the future and beyond. It is the kind of love that makes me proud to be a Mortlockese.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
What is a Mortlockese?
Is it an identity? Yes. An ideology? Of course. And a Mortlockese is an individual, a bonafide citizen of the Mortlocks Islands who was born there or elsewhere to Mortlockese parents and grew up in the Mortlockese culture and upbringing that distinguish him or her from other peoples. The Mortlock region spans southeasterly from the Chuuk Lagoon, specifically from Lukeisel (Nama, Losap, Piisemwar) in the north, through isolated Loilam or Namoluk at the south end of Appong, out to Namosepei or Ettal which is effoch iaas away from Moch which shares the atoll with Kuttu, and long and skinny Ta which stretches from Aliar Pass to Parang end of Satowan-the sub state center. East of these, there is Lekinioch always staring down at Oneop through that seven-mile stretch of blue lagoon called Nomonemu. Remochuloks are found in large groups in Weno and scattered throughout the rest of the big islands in the Truk Lagoon. They can also be found in Sokehs, Sekere and other villages in Pohnpei. There is a large contigent in Guam and in Honolulu as well as in Maui and the Big Island. They are also scattered all over the continental USA and throughout the world. But wherever they are, these Mortlockese never forget their identities, their roots and cultures and the islands that they left behind. For them, those islands are always refered to as "Back Home."
My Stance on Abortion
Abortion should be banned not only because it is immoral but also because it is a crime against humanity. Its acceptance by the American people and this administration is orchestrated by lies, deception, and by treacheries of those that stand to benefit from its legalization.
First, abortion of a fetus at any stage of its development is immoral because the fetus is a human being and as such, deserves the right to live as does any other individual. While the proponents of abortion argue that the fetus is just a "blob of tissue", many experts from the medical sciences unanimously declared that it is human and that its life begins at conception. A leading researcher at the Department of Genetics at the Mayo Clinic testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that, "By all the criteria of modern molecular biology, life is present from the moment of conception."
The proponents of abortion or "choice" argue that women have the rights to control their own bodies. It is their bodies and they can do whatever they want to do with it. However, what they seem to overlook is the fact that the fetuses that they carry inside their wombs are separate individuals. As individuals, they have separate circulatory systems and each has its own DNA setup, unique and different from the mother and from anybody else for that matter. In fact, the heart of a fetus begins to form 18 days after conception and its heartbeat begins to be measureable after 21-24 days. Its brain begins to form on the 25th day and starts to produce brain waves by the 6th week. So, while it is true that the mothers can do whatever they want to do to their bodies, it is morally wrong to abort a fetus because it is the same as killing another human being.
Second, abortion is a crime against humanity because no matter how one views it, statistics show that it is genocide. Since the Roe vs. Wade became law, thirty-seven million babies across America had been lost due to abortion. It is also a crime because, initially, the pro-choice groups argue that legalizing abortion would help reduce child abuse and neglect. However, statistics show that in 1973 when abortion became legal in the United States, there were 167,000 cases of child abuse and neglect that were documented by the Department of Health and Human Services. The following year, there were 785,100 cases; a 370% increase from the previous year. In the third year following the legalization of abortion, there were 2,025,200 case of child abuse and neglect which, sadly shows that there was an increase of 1112% and that abortion has a direct link to this crime against the innocents and the helpless.
Third, abortion should be banned because its legalization is a result of lies, deception and treachery, with which the pro-choice people used to accomplish their goals. The two landmark cases which bring about this immorality, Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton, were never the true intentions of the plaintiffs. The counsels in these cases used the plaintiffs and their lawsuits to accomplish their own hidden agendas. On the other hand, many women had abortions because they were pressured and coerced into it by their spouses or partners who do not want to give child supports, and by a society who turns a blind eye to these helpless mothers who need help and support in dealing with pregnancies that nobody seems to accept.
In conclusion, because abortion is immoral, criminal, and does not serve any good or purpose other than exterminating millions of babies, then it should be banned.
First, abortion of a fetus at any stage of its development is immoral because the fetus is a human being and as such, deserves the right to live as does any other individual. While the proponents of abortion argue that the fetus is just a "blob of tissue", many experts from the medical sciences unanimously declared that it is human and that its life begins at conception. A leading researcher at the Department of Genetics at the Mayo Clinic testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that, "By all the criteria of modern molecular biology, life is present from the moment of conception."
The proponents of abortion or "choice" argue that women have the rights to control their own bodies. It is their bodies and they can do whatever they want to do with it. However, what they seem to overlook is the fact that the fetuses that they carry inside their wombs are separate individuals. As individuals, they have separate circulatory systems and each has its own DNA setup, unique and different from the mother and from anybody else for that matter. In fact, the heart of a fetus begins to form 18 days after conception and its heartbeat begins to be measureable after 21-24 days. Its brain begins to form on the 25th day and starts to produce brain waves by the 6th week. So, while it is true that the mothers can do whatever they want to do to their bodies, it is morally wrong to abort a fetus because it is the same as killing another human being.
Second, abortion is a crime against humanity because no matter how one views it, statistics show that it is genocide. Since the Roe vs. Wade became law, thirty-seven million babies across America had been lost due to abortion. It is also a crime because, initially, the pro-choice groups argue that legalizing abortion would help reduce child abuse and neglect. However, statistics show that in 1973 when abortion became legal in the United States, there were 167,000 cases of child abuse and neglect that were documented by the Department of Health and Human Services. The following year, there were 785,100 cases; a 370% increase from the previous year. In the third year following the legalization of abortion, there were 2,025,200 case of child abuse and neglect which, sadly shows that there was an increase of 1112% and that abortion has a direct link to this crime against the innocents and the helpless.
Third, abortion should be banned because its legalization is a result of lies, deception and treachery, with which the pro-choice people used to accomplish their goals. The two landmark cases which bring about this immorality, Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton, were never the true intentions of the plaintiffs. The counsels in these cases used the plaintiffs and their lawsuits to accomplish their own hidden agendas. On the other hand, many women had abortions because they were pressured and coerced into it by their spouses or partners who do not want to give child supports, and by a society who turns a blind eye to these helpless mothers who need help and support in dealing with pregnancies that nobody seems to accept.
In conclusion, because abortion is immoral, criminal, and does not serve any good or purpose other than exterminating millions of babies, then it should be banned.
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