And We've Rattled Some Nerves...June 24, 2008

And We've Rattled Some Nerves...

...The RMI Government's operatives are fighting back with their own version of Island Rumor. They've begun circulating emails discrediting the former government, which we don't give a damn about. They're not in control...this government is.

...They've gone so far as to post "surveys" seeking the author of this publication.

...Don't be fooled by their tactics--we'll keep it coming.

...Marshallese taxpayers money put to good use seeking who authors the Islandrumors...WHAT A JOKE!

In The Event That You Missed It...(6)

Tuesday June 17, Number 6

In The Event That You Missed It...

…RMI Ambassador-designee Benjamin Graham's appointment has been on hold with the US State Department. There are two-folds to this issue, the first being that Graham is a dual citizen of both the US and the RMI. The second is the lack of communications between the RMI and the US on the appointment.

…It is common practice throughout the diplomatic community that before a confirmation of a country designee is made and a dipnote is issued to the host country, background negotiations and discussions are held between government officials to agree or otherwise on the appointment.

…In the case of Graham who was very obvious would run into a roadblock, the RMI Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Presidential advisers failed to soften the groundwork before the appointment and Parliament confirmation.

…We found out that during Minister Tony deBrum's meeting in Washington, the Graham appointment was raised. However, congress has informed deBrum that it cannot weigh in on the administration's acceptance or rejection to the appointment.

...With regards to the LUA, we learned that Minister deBrum, Ambassador-designees Graham and Phillip Muller raised the issue during their meetings. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs release last week on the Washington meetings failed to point out that Minister deBrum is proposing that the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) project be linked to the LUA.

…deBrum asked that the US fund a 750,000 thousand dollar study for the OTEC project and possibly fund this project. In turn, the landowners will agree to a 17 million dollar LUA.

…However, the current LUA will pay landowners 15 million annually and will increase to 18 million and an additional 4 million plus allocated to Kwajalein development projects.

…deBrum's proposal made us ask several questions (1) How will the OTEC project benefit the community on Ebeye; (2) Have they already selected a possible contractor?; (3) If so who?; (4) Why is the Kwajalein leadership now lowering their original 19.1 million demand; (5) It seems that the Kwajalein leaders will lose money by agreeing to a 17 million LUA including the OTEC project; (6) Did the majority of Kwajalein landowners agree to this proposal?; and (7) Did the Cabinet and government as a whole form this position?

…We've learned that the US position is that the Military Use and Operations Agreement (MUORA) will not be open for discussion. A dipnote on this issue was recently received by the RMI Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

…Also raised was Bill 1756. When asked about the RMI position, Minister deBrum said that the RMI government is still working on its position.

…Bill 1756 is not likely to be reintroduced since the Congress will now refocus its efforts in the upcoming US elections in November.

…The Cabinet members of the Litokwa Administration will now be able purchase with a government issued credit card with an unspecified amount of spending. How does this work and how do you make sure there are no personal spending towards the card? Is there a reason why this was discontinued by former President and Iroijlaplap Amata Kabua?

…The previous government did not allow credit cards for Cabinet members. All official spending had to go through regular government Purchase Orders.

…While this is happening, MEC is facing its biggest problems since customers are forced to use less electricity and most of the customers are disconnected for outstanding debts.

…It is still unclear if the major landowners are paying for their electricity billings like any regular customers.

…Our sources in Springdale, Arkansas are telling us that Speaker Jurelang Zedkaia is still in the area. Zedkaia traveled to Springdale more than a month ago to take part in the annual Constitution day celebration along with President Tomeing.

…We've noticed that President Tomeing's house is the only one with power during Rita village power outages.

…After digging into this issue, we found out that once he became President, Tomeing had his house hooked up to the Marshall Islands High School distribution lines.

…When did this policy come into effect? If we recall correctly, this policy was not in place during the last three Presidents' era.

…A very reliable source informed us that Education Minister Nidel Lorak is not happy with the way this government is handling its agenda, or the lack of it.

...Minister Kramer and MISSA Attorney David Strauss recently met with MLGOV Acting Mayor Titus Langrine to bargain a deal that really doesn't reflect the interest of Majuro community. Or does it? You be the judge. Rumor has it that in return for dropping the appeal (a day before trial) on the so-called "unConstitutional" judgement of receivership, MISSA would lower its monthly collections...hogwash, they should have offered to dump the receiver.

Quote of the Week: "I DO NOT BELIEVE IN RUMOR"

…And from a reader and subscriber: "Islandrumors is another site to blow hot air without subatance but to me it is a site to create rumors and confusion. Get greative and list your ideas to improve this country. Every problems we are facing now are inheritance from you know who. If you were part of that you know who, then it is high time you put your thinking cap and come up with solutions and not rumors."

…Islandrumors say: We were not or are a part of the "you know how." Our findings are not rumors, rather facts that have never been disputed. This is our 6^th Edition and following the last edition, the RMI government press releases confirmed that our findings are right on the money, although they've omitted several facts.

And Finally This Week in RMI History…

…In June 1998, the RMI received a shipment of food during the severe drought that crippled the economy and and the lives of 22,000 Marshallese. FEMA, US Red Cross and several other agencies delivered 30 days worth of food and water supplies to the islands.

… In 2004, Senator Pete Dominici, former Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Senator Ted Stevens, former Chairman of the Appropriations Committee gave former RMI President Kessai Note assurances that they will hold hearings the following year on the CCP after the Administration released its report.

And The Verdict Is…(5)

Tuesday June 10, 2008; Number 5

And The Verdict Is…

...Released today in the Washington Post http://blog.washingtonpost.com/washingtonpostinvestigations/2008/06/hill_committee_says_abramoff_h.html?hpid=news-col-blog

...Last week we said we would reveal some numbers on the RMI-Johnston contract we found that the lobbying contract between the RMI and the group contained a sign on bonus of 90,000 dollars and a hefty 30,000 dollar a month bill for the next few years.

...We will continue to dwell on this important issue regarding former US Senator Bennett Johnston's firm who was recently hired by the Tomeing Administration. Do we know if Cabinet approved or AG's office was given a chance to review the contract? It is well known that without going through a bidding/interview/screening process, RMI will end up retaining the most expensive lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. Based on public information available via internet; the firm is considered one of the more expensive ones in the Metro area.

...A source of ours gave us this link: http://www.public-i.org/lobby/profile.aspx?act=countries&co=mh showing how much it cost the Kwajalein Negotiations Committee in 1998. Of course, this was the bill from Jack Abramoff in which the Note Administration settled in 2003 for a little over 200,000 dollars.

...Issues raised by Minister deBrum in Washington last week were on Ambassador designee Ben Graham's appointment; Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)/LUA agreement and Bill 1756 that has been shelved by US Congress due to lack of position on the RMI side. It appears that the Kwajalein landowners will agree to a lesser lease if the OTEC project goes through. OTEC and LUA details, US' position on Graham's appointment and Bill 1756 will be discussed in our next edition.

...Minister Tony deBrum wrote several e-mails to College of the Marshall Islands board members chastising them about giving Father Richard McAuliff an honorary doctorate degree during the commencement ceremonies.

...A diplomatic passport privilege was given to Deputy Chief Secretary Mr. Fred Pedro while Chief Secretary and others Deputy Chief Secretaries (Ataji Balos and Jorelik Tibon) were not approved. We hope this process does not undermine key positions within the government.

...To date, President Litokwa Tomeing's TAs is in the 83,000 dollar range. This is the total sum since taking the office less than five months ago. The President announced earlier this week that the government has not used RMI funds to travel; however, we find his comments contradicting and misleading. We urge the Marshallese people to go to Finance and the President's office to view the President's TAs. After all, these are public information.

...We are estimating that the President's Office alone will incur a super whopper 200,000 dollars in travel before the year ends.

...Earlier this week after a three week absent, President Tomeing finally arrived on Majuro after going to Taiwan, Arkansas and a rest-over in Honolulu for a week. Tomeing announced that his recent traveled was fully paid not by the RMI government. We disagree.

...Foreign Minister deBrum has been on the "Jet Set" and has not been in the Marshall Islands more than a week since becoming Minister and has only visited Ebeye once since the new Administration came to office.

...It seems to be a habit of this new administration traveling either to Washington then up to New York for sightseeing or vice versa.

...We're telling you this because Finance Minister Jack Ading, Mrs. Ading and Secretary Jefferson Barton traveled to Europe and on the way back, stopped over in DC for a few days then up to New York to visit the tourist attractions there.

...During this said trip, our sources are telling us that the whole delegation flew "First Class" and that the Secretary told the source that "this is a true government because we travel according to our titles" and that the Minister was present while he made the comments.

...We also found out that Health Minister Amenta Matthew returned from Geneva via Washington, DC where she spend a few days then went up to New York.

...A pair of "eyes" saw Resources and Development Minister Fredrick Muller in Honolulu where he was supposedly to fly out to Europe for the Food and Agriculture meeting, but returned to Majuro instead. We're wondering how much the TA was and will it be returned to the government since the trip was not completed.

...Our inside sources have confirmed that the RMI Government's new vehicle policy allows RMI tax payers to pay for 80% of the Cabinet Minister's vehicles (with private license) and 20% by individual Ministers. No clear policy has been forthcoming so people are left to wonder who is paying for gasoline and insurance coverage.

...As part of the downsizing, USAKA will not renew the contracts for Macy's Store which will soon to be replaced by the usual military exchange store and the residential area is considered barren land as most expatriates have been laid off from work.

...According to reliable sources, the major FAA projects that were already in the pipeline and committed for the RMI have been scratched off the list due to lack of funding on the US side.

...On the return trip from the big canoe race in Ailinglaplap, many people were stranded on board the MV Jeljelet Ae at Majuro port, because they thought it was a charted trip and no one was able to pay. The fuel was purchased by the sponsors of the widely publicized race with some additional costs to Marshall Islands Shipping Company (MISC). The spectators, MISC, sponsors, passengers, were considered losing parties on this major event. The only winners on this trip were the Ailuk racers.

...We received an email saying, "The power outages on Ebeye weren't blackouts but rather regular weekly generator maintainence. There is one going on today for the lagoon side. When the job exceeds 6 hrs and the job is not done, the power on the ocean side will be put off while the lagoon will be on. No blackouts to date so the info is misleading."

...This email from Honolulu is contrary to our very reliable sources on Ebeye.

...We received this email: "Your rumor website should get the facts first before you post them to make insinuations that are aiming to ruin reputations and integrity of this administration. My suggestion is for you to post both negative and the positive of the issues. This is what the real concern citizen does to educate public on the pros and cons of a situation so the whole country understands the issue, and as such should have more saying in what's happening in the country."

...Our comment to the above email is why this government is so defensive about our thoughts and comments when they criticized the previous administration on the web and through their radio station V7EMON? If you can't handle the heat stay out of the kitchen!

...We also say what parts of our "RUMORS" are false? We challenge the government or anyone else to come out and say that our findings are false. Otherwise, sit back and let us implement the transparency part which the Tomeing government lacks.

Picture tells a lot…oops! I did it again…: http://www.iisd.ca/ymb/wfs/pictures/5jun/5junfullth/DSC04662full.jpg

Finally this week in history…

...In 2004, former President Note met with Guam's National Olympic Committee President Mike Blas to show his support for the admission of the Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee into the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In January 2006 in the same room the meeting was held, RMINOC executives informed President Note that the RMI had been admitted into the IOC.

Let's Now Take A Closer Look…(4)

Tuesday June 3, 2008, Number 4

Let's Now Take A Closer Look…

...On June 3rd, (DC date) Foreign Minister deBrum and Ambassador Muller will travel to Milan from holding 2 meetings in Washington, DC after a week their. Their tickets including Arkansas, DC, Milan, NY and back to Majuro totals a whopping 18,000 dollars each.

…Well, it turns out a new deal between the RMI Government and lobbyist Hunter Johnston was signed last week by Foreign Minister Tony deBrum, Ambassadors Ben Graham and Phillip Muller with the Johnston Group.

…If you recall, the Johnston and Associates lobbying firm worked for the Kwajalein Negotiations Committee. In fact, in May of 2002, now Minister in Assistance to the President Christopher Loeak said that he was "delighted to have retained a world-class legislative affairs team in the U.S. to assist the KNC in its delicate discussions with the U.S. Government and the RMI regarding access to Kwajalein,"

…forward to May 2008, Johnston has delivered absolutely nothing to the people of Kwajalein.

…rewind back to January 4^th, 1999 when the RMI hired Jack Abramoff with a $50,000 retainer and a 450 thousand dollar bill. Who orchestrated the deal and the Wicked Witch of the West (WWW) plot? It is none other than the person who has labeled himself as the "architect" of the RMI-ROC relations. The Foreign Minister, along with Ambassadors Muller and Graham can now be labeled as the "architects" of this NEW "top-secret" deal.

…Our questions are (1) did this deal go through the proper bidding process; (2) did it go through the Attorney General, the Finance Office for approval; (3) did Cabinet approve this new contract?

…Although we know the dollar figures to this contract, will the government come out and be transparent about this or will it remain in the doors of an exclusive Washington Club.

…Our findings on these figures which include a sign-on bonus and lofty monthly fee will be revealed next week.

…Will Minister Loeak say he is "delighted to have retained a world-class legislative affairs team in the U.S. to assist the RMI in its delicate discussions with the U.S. Government and the RMI regarding access to Kwajalein,"?

...We won't be to surprised if Johnston doesn't deliver in the next few years!

…It's worth remembering that Tony deBrum formed a close personal bond with Jack Abramoff, and got him a contract with the RMI government. But when Jack was disgraced Tony insisted he had nothing to do with Jack!

…What will happen if this new contract blows up in the face of the Marshallese people? The truth should be told, and be told immediately.

...Remember when we told you we'd inform you more on the TWO TYPES OF CROOKS? Re-read the first few lines!

… Segueing on, the United States Air Force said it successfully tested a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base to an open-ocean site near Guam on Friday.

…The test confirms the Defense Department's capability for conducting long-range missile tests into the open ocean without use of Kwajalein, the traditional target for long-range ballistic missile launches.

…"This mission was different in the fact that our normal target area (Kwajalein) is pre-configured for our re-entry vehicle scoring," Yeates said. "To gather the data we needed in this new location, we joined with the Navy and one of their oceanographic vessels."

…On a different note, who is paying for Majuro street lights?

…we found out that the Guam Power Authority (GPA) is disconnecting its street lights because no one is paying for it, why not MEC?

…why is the RMI the only place on earth that subsidizes landowner's electricity bills? This practice was first introduced when the government was established in 1979 and something should be done to remedy this added burden on MEC. Now is the time to do something!

…if the fuel tanker from Korea does not arrive on schedule due to weather conditions in early June, Majuro will face its first backout or required power rationing to conserve the fuel in its tank farm.

…we learn that in Samoa, some government departments and ministries had their electricity supplies cut off because of unpaid bills.

…this is quoted from an email we received: "The President has announced that his administration will start visiting the out islands to talk with the people and find out what their needs are in which this will be the first in the history of the GRMI, literally to send government representatives to visit the out islands. So starting to implementing this, the President has started with the Kabinmeto. This is the first trip which you are accusing Mike to have the vessel stayed extra day so he could play riwut. This is really ridiculous to assume such thing when you don't know that when Iroj visits his people he just doesn't do a quick appearance and leave. There are manit and people would be uncomfortable if Mike would not spend a day with them. Not only Mike was on the trip but also the designated representatives of the President, they were; David Kabua and Kaiboke Kabua. Next trip will be Ratak ean."

…but wouldn't the people rather see their President visiting them? Here the problem belies, the President has been traveling non-stop!

This week in 2004…An historic telephone conversation between President Kessai H. Note and former Republic of China's President Chen Shui-Bian took place. President Chen called President Note to thank him for his attendance during his inauguration ceremony the previous month.

The Funny Thing is that...(3)

Tuesday May 27, 2008, Number 3
The Funny Thing is that...

…there are two types of crooks. The first one doesn't want the public to know. While the other just doesn't give a damn whether the public knows or not! More on that later!

… we received a response on the events of Ailinglaplap by a reader who said, "For your information, the Ailinglaplap events is fully funded by the Iroij Anjua and Imata. They are spending over $70,000.00 for this event. That means chartering the Government vessel to transfer people and the boats that will participate in the events."

… the sum of $83,000 is up for grabs in prizes. We guess that someone will fork up an extra 50 g's to fund the charters.

... President Tomeing led a large delegation to Arkansas last week to participate in the 29^th Constitution Day celebrations after attending the inauguration of Taiwan's new President.

...President Tomeing's delegation included First Lady Tomeing, Minister and Mrs. Tony deBrum, Ambassador and Mrs. Phillip Muller, Ambassador and Mrs. Ben Graham, Speaker and Mrs. Jurelang Zedkaia, Senator Kaibuke Kabua, and several Presidential and Foreign Affairs staffers.

…the President announced that a new consulate office will be established in Springdale. The question now is who will head the office. Last we heard the person who was "supposedly" selected to run the office is on the "no fly list."

...while the President, Speaker and Senator Kabua headed back to Majuro, the rest of the delegation will travel to Washington, DC. From DC, Minister deBrum and Ambassador Muller will continue on to Atlanta then to Milan, Italy.

...The President will remain in Arkansas for the remainder of the Week.

...Minister of Public Works Kejjo Bien went to the Philippines for an official visit and while there he visited a family member who was referred to the hospitals there.

…a reader of ours pointed out that several yeas ago the Marshall Islands Journal had a front page story that labeled former President Note has having "Joined the Jet Set" for traveling, Yokwe Online once featured a story called the "Road to Disaster." We're wondering what they'll label this administration that seems to enjoy traveling since they came to power four months ago. Shhhhhhhh….

…again, one of our "eyes" saw Minister Christopher Loeak board Continental late last week back to Majuro. (We'll find out where he went and let you know).

...the Children's ward at the Majuro hospital was flooded due to toilet plumbing problems and human waste and bad odor were left overnight while the sick children were sleeping.

...the following day the cleaning people used really strong cleaning supplies while the Children were still in their beds and now we are questioning if this is dangerous to the children's health, but this is not something new because other rooms face the same plumbing problems.

...the air conditioning system at the hospital does not have a control and the patients are often freezing and sometimes we notice them sneaking out to get warm.

...there is a cleaning crew which comprises of only the Filipina (Lydia) who is left to clean the whole hospital by herself and it's been 3 months since they replaced the laundry person at the hospital.

...we should now question the hospital administrator and why is he/she sleeping at the wheel and we would recommend that a maintenance contract be secured to make sure this doesn't happen in the future.

...Marshall Islands Ambassador to the United States Benjamin Graham's latest survey revealed that 93 percent of 129 stores in both Majuro and Ebeye are illegally selling tobacco products to youths under 18.

...Marshall Islands has joined other Pacific countries to ban fishing vessels they sell licenses to from fishing in the high seas.

...The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded more than $2.5 million in emergency management grants to the U.S. Pacific territories and the freely associated states. Marshall Islands will receive a share at of the pie by receiving $87,435.

…the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5658, the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009" by a vote of 384 to 23. The bill authorizes defense spending and policy for 2009, and contains several provisions sponsored by Congresswoman Bordallo that will strengthen Congressional oversight and accountability of the ongoing military build-up on Guam.

...congratulations to Mr. Filimon Manoni who will take the top legal post in the RMI government as the Attorney General and thank you to former AG Posesi Bloomfield for your service to the Marshallese people.

… House of Delegates of Palau recently adopted a resolution expressing disapproval for the treatment of President Remengesau and First Lady Debbie Remengesau by Continental Micronesia and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

And to spice things up…

This week in RMI history shows that in 2004 former Foreign Minister Gerald Zackios met with the Taiwan National University to discuss the exchange of notes between RMI and ROC doctors. At that time the University would send doctors to the RMI for duration of one to two years. Arno Senator Zackios emphasized that the other possibilities would be for the University to provide scholarships to Marshallese students interested in the medical field. Talks began between the University and the RMI Ministry of Health through the ambassadors from both countries, thus, the birth of the medical exchange program between Taiwan and the RMI.

Also this week in 2004, ship building companies—Dragon Ship Building Ltd.; Ching Fu Shipbuilding Company and Taiwan Navigation showed interest in changing or come under the RMI flag. Former Foreign Minister Zackios acknowledged that the opportunity would strengthen the Marshall Islands Trust Company should the ship companies decide to do so. Former President Note called the moves "beneficial." Note is quoted as saying the International Registries Incorporated (IRI) is a major "contributor to the local economy."

Finally this week in 2004, talks between the former President Note and China and Mandarin Airlines' about a survey team to the RMI was "very positive." Talks began to see the feasibility of having the airline service the RMI. China Airlines would begin flights between Taiwan and the RMI while Mandarin Airlines would support Air Marshall Islands on its domestic flights. Obviously, the plan didn't materialized, but a year later, talks began between the previous government and Japan Airline—the beginning of the direct tourist flights from Tokyo.

We say until next week, keep your Rumors coming and remember, without Rumors life would be full of empty stories!