Free Republic

In response to a recent The Hill article that covered the latest lawsuit for birthright citizenship, the Hon. Delegate to Congress for AMERICAN SAMOA, Amata Radewagen, wrote “the Hill’s headline ‘American Samoa residents sue for citizenship’ is not accurate”.

‘SHE’S NOW OR NEVER’ FOUNDER MENNE TALIVA’A HALL RUNS IN NORTH SHORE MARATHON (Honolulu, HAWAI'I)--She’s running to fight obesity, diabetes and heart disease. She’s running for her family. “I run for change!” exclaims Menne Taliva’a Hall, founder of a health and wellness sisterhood and Blog called ‘She’s Now or Never’ or SNN. "My quest to run marathons is a demonstration to prove that change is possible! I leave footprints in honor of family and friends that have passed on and for those that I love dearly." After shedding 150 pounds and finishing more than 20 half-marathons, Hall – blogger and...

Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga has raised objections with the federal government over a proposal that would list as threatened and endangered certain coral species found in the waters of American Samoa. He has also called for a face-to-face meeting with federal officials involved in this proposed action prior to making any final decision. According to the federal portal [www.regulations.gov], Apr. 6 was the last day to accept comments on the proposal. The governor's objections and his call for a meeting were outlined in a letter late last month to Rebecca Blank, the acting secretary for the U.S. Department of Commerce,...

LAST WEEK I GOT A SPEEDING TICKET. OK fine, I was speeding 32 mph in a 20 mph zone in front of the tank farm just past Scanlan's gas station. Well like a good citizen I go in to pay my ticket and the clerk tells me to pay $60.00.OK I pay my sala and notice that there are 2 revenue codes listed: 1 for (100-221-4510) $50.00 and 1 for (101-714-4512) $10.00. So I ask the clerk what the other charge was as I was only sighted for speeding.She tells me that the other charge is a Law Enforcement Fee....

The following is wholly my opinion and may contain factual or historical inaccuracies, but I did try to weed out what I could. My blog, my rules. I am reminded of the saying, "Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it." Citizenship is a weighty issue. With it comes responsibilities and benefits, many of which aren't clearly taught in civics classes these days. First and foremost though, with citizenship the flag and the U.S. Constitution will follow. In American Samoa we have had the US flag flying over our islands for the past 100+ years since...

The one thing that seemed obvious to me in this election is that Romney had the distinct disadvantage of having to campaign in the shadow of George W. Bush's legacy. Republicans, having allowed Democrats to define Bush's legacy as a failure, have to carry the weight of that legacy. Perhaps the only way to fix this is to go back and embrace the Bush legacy and correct the record. So long as Obama can blame Bush, it will be difficult to go back to some of Bush's policies that worked, because they've all been tainted by the Democrats as failures.

In a surprise move the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) has decided to branch out into interstellar diplomacy. Plans for an iPod shaped deep space probe, currently nicknamed the Peace Pod, have been under development since February when President Obama had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The Peace Pod shall carry a collection of President Obama's most famous speeches from his career in public service in the hopes that he will be able to bring peace and happiness to the galaxy. Expected to launch in 2012, the Peace Pod will carry high definition video of the President...

I live here. Our own home was untouched but many were far less fortunate. I'm posting photographs of the devastated areas, homes, and businesses. Taputimu CoastlineLeone ChurchLeone Post OfficeRescue Workers Evacuating Injured Over Broken Bridge93KHJ VW Bug overturned and quite a ways away from where it had been parkedPago Pago Park was completely leveledA "bus"...The bathroom is all that is left of this home.Another home completely washed away.Debris where houses used to be.Another foundation is all that remains of a structure.The Gogosina perched on land where the tsunami deposited it.The Gogosina againSite of the old Soli's Restaurant, more recently Bay...

Seven people including two Samoans still living in Apia have been charged with operating an adoption scam for a Salt Lake City, Utah organization that allegedly tricked poor Samoan families into giving up their children for adoption to couples in the U.S. The 45-page federal indictment handed down Wednesday and unsealed yesterday at the federal court in Salt Lake City accused non-profit group, Focus on Children (FOC) and seven defendants, Scott Banks, Karen Banks, Dan Wakefield, Tagaloa Ieti, Coleen Bartlett, Julie Tuiletufuga, and Karalee Thornock of operating the adoption scheme. Scott and Karen Banks along with Thornock appeared in court...

ASG and McDonald's cancel Utulei Beach lease By La Poasa Samoa News Staff The close to one acre of land on Utulei Beach that was leased by the government to McDonald's American Samoa for its second restaurant is no more, after both parties mutually agreed to cancel the less than 10-year lease. Acting Governor Ipulasi A. Sunia sent a letter to the Acting Territorial Registrar on Thursday, Jan. 18 informing the office that the lease has been canceled. This was also revealed yesterday morning by government attorneys at the High Court during a hearing on the Senate's case against American...

A funny short story... Once upon a time, in a land far away. There was a princess in a tower, guarded by a dragon. The Princess was named Little Beast because when her mother gave birth, the first words she uttered were, that little beast almost gave me a hemorrhoid. So as is tradition, she had to be named something out of the mother's first words, and Princess Hemorrhoid was just too horrid to inflict on the royal get. But as it is, most princesses are named "At Last" and "Never Again". So Princess Little Beast grew up far away...

Blessed Are the Peacemakers Blessed are those who bring peace to the world Always by sacrifice, sometimes at the edge of a sword But for good men to kill, to save strangers far away That is a sacrifice only good men can make. It changes the heart, it changes the mind, it colors the soul, and takes a toll But good men who fight evil and with little to gain for any but those, who they have chosen to save. Blessed are those who bring peace at great cost And count the toll in the lives of their friends yet...

The government's case against two Chinese nationals accused of numerous criminal charges in connection with an alleged prostitution operation that was uncovered in Pago Pago late last month has been bound over to the High Court. The Chinese nationals, Fu Shen Kuo and Ju Sheng Wang, will appear in High Court this morning for their arraignment where they are expected to enter not guilty pleas. After hearing sole testimony from police Det. John Cendrowski yesterday afternoon District Court Judge John L. Ward II ruled he found probable cause that the crimes for which the government charged Kuo and Wang may...

By Fili Sagapolutele Samoa News Correspondent American Samoa's "high risk" designation by the U.S. Department of Interior will not be lifted anytime soon even though the FY2005 audit was submitted on time. "One of the conditions for lifting the high-risk designations is that the ASG have two consecutive years of timely, clean single audit reports," DOI's deputy director for Insular Areas, Papali'i David B. Cohen told Samoa News by e-mail from Washington late last week. "The fiscal year 2005 audit was timely, but not clean. It therefore cannot be counted towards the lifting of the high-risk designation." "That does not...

Hawaiian Air seeking the federal government's intervention to respond to American Samoa's concerns was anticipated by his administration Governor Togiola said on his weekend radio program. Togiola said it is his personal opinion that Hawaiian does not want to respond directly to local concerns, especially on the issue of reducing air fares for the Pago Pago route, because the airline does not want to reduce the current high fares. So instead of addressing the high fares and excessive charges imposed on American Samoa's passengers, Hawaiian Air is dragging the issue around by asking DOT for a ruling on the executive...

Tours of the canneries and part of the National Park of American Samoa in Vatia is being planned for members of the U.S. House Committee on International Relations that are arriving on Wednesday. Their actual time of arrival has not yet been confirmed. The delegation, headed by committee chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), includes Congressman Faleomavaega Eni, Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Melvin Watt (D-N.C.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and support staff, will be on island for five to six hours. They have already visited the Philippines and South Korea. The governor said on his weekend radio program the delegation will be hosted...

Anybody else watching this? The girl with the glasses needs to be sent to hang out with Hezbollah so she can learn first hand what Israel is defending itself from.

The American Samoa Government (ASG) still needs to improve the way it accounts for its monies. An off-island firm contracted to audit ASG's financial statements for the year ended Sept. 30, 2004, said the system of financial accounting and reporting used by the local government is inadequate. RC Holsinger Associates, which issued their independent auditors' report in June, said the ASG audit reports show "significant failures in internal control structure related to general accounting and grants administration." The independent auditors also noted that there is "evidence of a failure of identified controls in preventing or detecting misstatements of accounting information...

Senate President Lolo M. Moliga is urging Governor Togiola to take immediate steps to protect the security of local birth certificates and other documents issued by the Office of Vital Statistics, which comes under jurisdiction of the governor's office. Lolo's request, outlined in a July 25 letter to the governor, followed a meeting last week Tuesday with Nancy K. "Sam" Finn, the regional director of the U.S. Department of State's Passport Office in Honolulu. During the meeting, Lolo said Finn raised with him "very worrisome issues that ought to be addressed immediately." "The bottom line is the security system connected...

Eleven U.S. firms - ranging from telecommunication to a major hotel operator - have signed up to participate in next month's business mission to American Samoa, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Interior. ASG and DOI's Office of Insular Affairs are banking on this business conference to attract new industries that would help diversify the local economy instead of only one major industry, the canneries. "ASG is prepared to work with anyone interested in setting up operations in American Samoa," a government official said early this week. DOI's deputy assistant secretary for Insular Area, Papali'i David B. Cohen cautioned American...