Happy Thanksgiving

“And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, ....
Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth;
Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards;
Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart;
Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.
And it pleaseth God that He hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.
And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not His hand in all things, ....”
~ Doctrine and Covenants 59: 15-21  (Emphasis mine)

Although the above scripture was given within a similar context of time and place as the very first Thanksgiving, the principle - of thanksgiving - is timeless, and so is the scripture.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! 
Oh, and Go COUGARS!!! .... Beat Yelping Utes! .....LOL!

Tuesday Blizzard

So was the blizzard a much ado about nothing, after all?

Companies let people go home early. Stores were packed. Games were canceled. Schools were closed early. And I was home eating suai’a and faalifu kalo?  Wow! ... (Thank you Bea and Una!)  Yes! I think we should have more blizzards ...hahaa.... It’s part of living in Utah! 

These pictures by the Deseret News effectively captured the ontogeny of the monster.

And the winner of the blissful blizzard attire award .... iiiiiiss ... guy in shorts!.... LOL!

Who said there's no such thing as a generation gap? ....LOL! ... Write your own caption.

Sarah Refudiated

Okay back on the home turf  ...

So, Sarah who?  Sarah-one-letter-too-many-in-PALIN-in-the-you-know-what!...LOL!

Yes, she is credited for the new word “refudiate” - coinage of “refute" and "repudiate” added this year (to what? ... book of refudiated words?). Exact definition is still in the refudiating phase..

But here are some examples of how I would use it.

1. Sarah’s new reality show “Alaska” has been “refudiated” evidenced by a 40% drop in viewership from its debut several days ago.

2. The voters did refudiate the McCain/Palin ticket in 2008 race because of Sarah’s refudiable personality.

3. The voters will refudiate Sarah in 2012, when - not IF - she decides to run for POTUS.

Incidently, last night, daughter Bristol who was rumored to win DWTS was also ....[drum roll] ...refudiated by the fans and voters of the popular dancing show.  Bristol calls these voters haters.

Oh, and now a peek into what Sarah scribbled in the palm of her hand (cheat sheet) for interviews some time ago.

Outside Looking In

First of all, here are some excerpts of letters in the Samoa Observer recently vilifying those of us outside Samoa.

“...we have our own media in Samoa that can look into the tsunami Fund report and interpret for themselves and report on their findings if the funds were handled transparently and accounted for!”
“And by the way, what is it with these supposed Samoans living abroad being ashamed and bad mouthing our Government?”
“What in the world do you know about what we literally go through as people living in Samoa? You only think you know from what you read and hear.  Try coming over, work here, school here, live here, breathe and eat here, before you talk about here.”
“...but at least Samoa is in the hands of Samoans, run by Samoans, and being in charged [sic] by Samoans.”

Here’s my response - printed November 20, 2010.
Dear Editor,

One needs to “live [in], breathe and eat Samoa” in order to know and/or understand Samoa is a flagrant misconception.

Here’s a lesson on perspective - literal and figurative. Imagine yourself immersed in the middle of a large corn field, or in a ma’umaga with wide laukalo well above your head. You can only see your immediate spot and location; your perspective is quite limited.

Likewise that’s how you feel sometimes living inside Samoa - or any other place for that matter. You have some advantages being in that place, but there are drawbacks as well. While in that place, you can develop and acquire a tunnel vision perspective.

You can even develop an insular and territorial complex as well, even to the point of detesting other Samoans outside Samoa - as in your letters. Moreover, you can become self-censored because of any ties, affiliations and other relationships at home. Therefore, you run with the crowd, so to speak, wherever it takes you and you become passively supportive of the status quo.

Now, in contrast, imagine someone in a helicopter - representing an outside perspective - hovering above the ma’umaga. He has a better view and perspective of your situation, your whereabouts and even an easy way out of the thicket.  The one in the helicopter also has a better view of any imminent danger, like a large ferocious wild boar with curled tusks coming towards you.

Similarly, some of us, outside Samoa, are able to see your situation from a far (pun intended) better standpoint. Hence, do not discount other perspectives and viewpoints albeit critical and countervailing.

Not surprisingly, there are a lot of people in Samoa who share with some of us “outsiders” the same and/or similar opinions about the government. In fact they may be a lot more disgruntled, disaffected, dissatisfied and embarrassed with the present government than some of us expatriates.

Those disgruntled ones at home even write to this paper voicing their concerns, dissatisfaction and grievances. Except for a few “brave” ones who disclose their names, most do not apparently for fear of repercussions, retribution and retaliation.

I’m sure you’re withholding your names too for similar reasons, especially that there are people at home - possibly family members, co-workers or other acquaintances - that disagree with your arrant support for the government. You see, we can detect that from outside - hovering and looking in.

Of course Samoa has its own media that can look into the tsunami report, but how fair and transparent will that be if it’s government controlled - or affiliated - media? Moreover, the outside media has every right to file a report of their own especially because the funds are from those countries. They want to know if the money is spent effectively and appropriately. Why would the PM become very upset with the scrutiny if everything is in order and meticulously documented?

And of course Samoa is in the hands of Samoans, as claimed, which is wonderful and fantastic.
However, the truth is that some would rather be ruled by a non-Samoan who cares deeply about Samoans than by a Samoan who is indifferent to and condescending of his own people; and definitely not by a Samoan who regards other Samoans - and others - as idiots.

I le ma lenei, se oute mautinoa lava e toatele ma anoanoa’i nisi o i matou o loo aumau i atunuu i fafo, ae sili atu lo matou iloa o Samoa - i soo se itu lava, e aofia ai le gagana, tu ma agaifanua atoa ma le tulaga o loo iai le malo - nai i lo nisi o loo alaala ma nopia’i i Samoa.


O lea, e le talafeagai ma e le agatonu ni tuua’iga ma faasea e faapea e matou te le o malamalama i tulaga o iai Samoa. E pei ona faatomua atu, e le faapea a e nofo i Samoa ona faato’a iloa lea ma malamalama i le tulaga o iai Samoa.

Lastly, faamolemole we “outsiders” don’t just “read and hear” anymore, we also now “see” - timely, if not in ‘real time’ - what’s happening at home through modern technology. In fact most of us outside Samoa have seen the notorious TV3 video clip a hundred times while some - if not the majority- in Samoa may not have seen it at all.

O lea, amana’ia ane se manatu, e tusa lava fo’i pe e pei o le timu e pa’u i le tua o le pato, ia ae o le mea sili o lo’o velo se ‘aso.

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” ~ Aristotle.
(“O se faailoga o se mafaufau a’oa’oina le mafai ona faia o ni fetalaa’iga e tusa lava pe le taliaina ma talitonuina.”)

Soifua,
LV  Letalu

Think local and global

(printed in the Samoa Observer 17 November 2010)

Dear Editor,
The PM’s rambling and outbursts are indicative of an old man with a confused and flustered mind resulting from obvious discombobulation. I think TV3 is quietly having a blast and a feeding frenzy - which only get better and more ambrosial - with our PM.   The outside media can actually have him pilloried if they want. In the US - the media kingdom of the world - this type of “polimediarama” is a media’s bacon; it’s a carcass to the media vultures.

What’s pathetic is that with his vainglorious and lordly attitude especially of calling all other people stupid and idiotic, the PM has now become intransigent and has perhaps severed any lifeline of advice and counsel from an advisory body (if there’s one) and from those ( if there are) who may be responsible for damage control in the PM’s Office. (Then again this is a divinely appointed government which is infallible and therefore does not need to be corrected.)

The PM needs to at least be aware that in today’s media-saturated world, there’s an expression that says: “He who controls the media controls the world.” 

Now that can be interpreted in the PM’s favor being the one who controls the media - and everything else - in Samoa, therefore he can still weather this drama and crisis domestically at least.  However, he should not underestimate the power and influence of the outside media in casting him as being audacious, arrogant and bullheaded.  In other words, domestically, he may come out unscathed and still, amazingly, win elections.

Conversely, at the same time, he can be viewed as a stinker by the outside world, let alone by Samoa’s closest friends of NZ and Australia.  Such effects can hurt his political career but more adversely his reputation as an individual.

Think local and think global. Punimatatogo plus Puniloa represent a balanced, wise and discerning “core”. Samoa is not independent in the strictest and more inclusive sense of the word.

Lastly, a simple word of wisdom: “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.” (“E lelei ona avea ma se tagata taua, ae sili atu ona taua le avea ma se tagata lelei.”)

This should be an effective antidote for the petulant, belligerent and unbridled PM.

An Update

After reading the Samoa Observer article (yesterday) about a court decision involving land dispute and banishment in a village in Samoa, I couldn’t help but think that the court arbitrators must have read my blog ...LOL!  A village fono decision to banish a family has been overturned by the Court.

Here’s another important development in the ongoing clash between the faa-matai and democracy, as discussed in one of my posts dated October 15 titled “Faa-Matai and Democracy - An Analysis” from which the following excerpt - as prologue - is taken:

"Land Ownership
Democracy: Private ownership
Faa-Matai: Communally owned, and intrinsically attached to chiefly titles (matai).

Here’s a question that may not have been specifically answered as far as land ownership is concerned. Who owns family land in the village - the village or the aiga? The Land & Titles Court, handles and resolves cases involving land disputes among families, hence land virtually belongs to the aiga. Yet, when a family is banished, the expression goes, “ua faasa ma ele’ele o le nu’u” (“they’re banned from village lands”). Of course there’s village land that will be off-limits to the culprits, BUT the land they live on is theirs, and I’m sure there are banished families that can subsist and sustain their everyday lives on their land (incl. access to government roads) without ever setting foot on the rest of “village” lands. Banishment is cruel and deprive families of their rights to their land. Where does the village council get its authority to ban an aiga from its legal and rightful property? It may come from the communal mandate on which village administration is based, if not some frivolous eminent domain regulations or confiscating powers of the village council. Or it could be based on the village’s claim and control on matai titles which, ideally, are inseparable from customary/traditional land ownership."

Compare that with these excerpts from the article on the ruling (compare matching color-coded text):

"The Land and Titles Court has rejected an application from Tanugamanono village to legalise the eviction of a family from their village."

"The hearing was before the Vice President of Land and Titles, Fuimaono Nonu, on Friday 5 November. In its ruling delivered a week later, the Court accepted Ms Tutuila’s application to return to their property and live in Tanugamanono."

"The family of Faumuina Tutuila was ordered to leave their home and store within a month. Fuimaono told the Court, the gist of the village’s application was to legalise the banishment of the family from all lands belonging to Tanugamanono."

"Vice President Fuimaono pointed out the village’s decision to evict the family was harsh considering there are other forms of punishment which could have been used against the family."