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Made in the USA?

I am a 23 year resident of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, half caucasion and half Micronesian and not indigenous to the CNMI. I write to let you know of my utter disgust with a grossly one-sided story that ran in your paper. Namely, "Made in the USA?" by Phil Kaplan.

Using all of four overly exagerated examples, Mr. Kaplan seeks to destroy the economy of the CNMI. I will be frank, Mr. Kaplan was here to serve himself. To make a "name" for himself. When this did not happen, he left in a rant. His own Catholic church was not happy with him.

I have no stake in any of the enterprises under attack by Mr. Kaplan, in fact I do not think the CNMI should have gotten into the garment business. However, they did, and labor conditions in general have improved astronomically over the last five years. In any stateside city of relatively the same population, you can find many many more labor abuses than you can here.

Your "mission statement" makes claim towards truthful journalism and your fearlessness at taking on the "big guys". Well, such one sided stories, containing no investigation whatsoever or comment by the party being attacked does not make for truth and you are certainly not attacking a "big guy", but a very small guy, who's economy can be easily destroyed.

The United States had forty years to follow the mandates of the the trust territory charter. They did not create any type of economy for any of the Micronesian Islands, instead they passed out USDA food. This kept us all dependant. Now that the CNMI is at a point where we no longer need funds from the US and our island leaders speak of independence, the US is getting antsy...It is time to put us natives back in our place. The fact is, the CNMI has done in ten years, what the Federal Government couldn't do in forty...do a story on that.

Anonymous




Please see a reader response to this letter.


Magic Words

"In this issue, two articles about underwear" was the banner on your September-October 1997 issue. What a great way to get me to read the entire issue searching for the "magic words". Which I did.

I laughed at "Customers Who Want Too Much" (I could relate to the article having worked as temp slave inbound call person for Smelly Temporary Services and Eddie Bauer), first mention of the word and "Workfare" articles along with J. Pleh's column on how the unemployed make better job counselors. But where was the second mention of the word "underwear"?

Yet afterwards, I felt like I had read the Seattle Times or had watched Geraldo by the way the word "underwear" pulled me in. Sneaky but effective. I guess someone's got to do it.

Keith Gormezano
Seattle, WA


From the Due Process of Law Department

SAY WHAT?! Ross ("America Does Not Need Capital Punishment") thinks that we women are feeling degraded when a rapist, child molester, wife beater and murderer is fried? Think again, dickhead. When the creeps of the world are given an exit out of our lives we feel SAFER, HAPPIER. What degrades us is having dickheads released back into society to prey on new victims. What degrades us is having dickhead rapists and murderers enjoying "meaningful long-term sentences" at our expense while our sisters enjoy meaningless time in their graves. What degrades us is seeing dickheads - as always - avoiding the responsibility for their actions by whining that executions aren't civilized & society should evolve other ways to deal with rapists & murderers. We say, fry'em, shoot'em, hang'em, anything that will eliminate another dickhead from harming another woman or child. And do it immediately after conviction. No muss, no fuss, no appeal.

Xena Women of Belltown



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Contents this page were published in the November/December, 1997 edition of the Washington Free Press.
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