Journal 12/30/1988
P6 Cabinet ceremony highlights Marshalls-Japan ties
Marshall Islands and Japan both agreed to establish diplomatic relations in a ceremony that took placed at the Cabinet last week. A three-member mission from Japan presented a diplomatic letter from Sousuke Uno, the minister of foreign affairs. Foreign Minister Tom Kijiner confirmed the new relationship.
Journal 12/26/1997
P1 Marshalls breaks ranks to snub US request
“Following its conscience” led the Marshall Islands to join 125 other countries in signing a treaty to ban landmines, despite a request from the US government to consult with it before signing the convention. “We don’t want to make the US mad, but we had to vote our conscience,” said Foreign Minister Phillip Muller explaining the decision of the Marshalls to ignore the US request. “Usually we vote with the US. But we’re not just a rubber stamp for the US.”
P18 Merry Christmas
Majuro’s annual Chamber of Commerce Christmas parade went from Rita to Laura on Saturday, a week delayed by Typhoon Paka, but nonetheless enjoyed by all the kids who scarfed up nearly 3,000 pounds of candy on the route. Santa didn’t come from the North Pole to the Marshall Islands. He and his crew came from the end of Rita all the way to Laura with thousands of candies thrown to thousands of kids.
P22 Definitions: ‘High mokmok’
This term is used in English to refer to someone of extremely high stature and importance, as in, “Oh, let’s not go to that party, there will be nothing but high mokmoks there.” This word implies that the party will be boring and probably uninteresting because the term “makmok” means starchy and comes from the Marshallese for arrowroot. Starchy people have stiff necks, look very important all the time, and are generally boring. Perhaps you know someone who fits this description.
P22 Definitions: Kirin
This term was stolen by the people of Japan to name an alcoholic beverage they produce called Kirin Beer. Actually it is the name of a common tree that abounds around the Marshalls. We suppose it is the root of the word that causes so many people hereabout, when they empty their cans of Kirin, to throw them on the ground. Some Westerners mistakenly claim that this is littering, but actually it is a traditional custom designed to grow beer. This is a good indication of the level of intelligence of the average beer drinker.
Journal 12/28/2007
P1 Weza Claus
Santa (aka Bill Weza) loved his role in the spotlight so much that he suited up Friday and again Monday this week over at Entertainment Center to give the kids a thrill.
P4 Will JAL stick with RMI?
Two Japan Airlines flights this month is good news for local hotels and businesses, and it brings to six the number of charters this year. But after a hiccup-filled 2007, is JAL going to halt its charter service in 2008? That question is being asked by some people involved, and last month’s charter that had only 100 passengers — half the number of previous charters — is fueling concern. “The stakeholders are trying like hell to make it work,” said Marshall Islands Resort General Manager Bill Weza.
P4 Sabio leads Catholics
The Vatican announced Friday a changing of the guard for the Catholic Church in the Marshall Islands. On Friday, Monsignor James Gould, SJ, who has been the apostolic prefect for the Marshall Islands since 1993, stepped down as Fr. Raymundo Sabio, MSC, was named to take his place as apostolic prefect.
P7 Cohen leaves key role
David Cohen has turned in his resignation at Interior after five-and-a-half years heading the Office of Insular Affairs. He’s been the Bush Administration’s most visible spokesman in the islands as his office oversees implementation of Compact II. “After all the preaching I’ve done about the importance of the private sector, I thought that it was time to practice what I preach by returning to it myself,” said Cohen.
P8 Lack of backup forces blackouts
Two planned power outages last Thursday and Friday were interrupted by an unplanned outage that knocked power off to even more of the atoll than was already off.