Trav meets the King of Japanese Sumo! Akebono!

Check it out! Former Yokozuna Akebono (Chad Rowan) stopped by the Patti Arroyo show the afternoon before Geran Haga II. I couldn't help asking for a picture and a quick promo. He was great about it! He says he's down about 100pounds from his fighting weight, but as you can see from the photo, he could still probably make a quick meal of me!


akebono.mp3


After Patti saw my photo, she got one of her own. As you can see Akebono seems a lot friendlier with Patti. This makes me glad!

Jun Espaldon-Calls in after the finals of American Idol

How great is this? Guam's Fox 6 American Idol Contest Winner Jun Espaldon calls us with all the insider info from Los Angeles! He is a great interview..he ought to think about a career change and be a radio reporter!

junidol.mp3

Parents of Astronaut William McCool vist Guam and the Big Show

Back in 2003 when When Guam South Elementary /Middle School became CDR William C. McCool Elementary Shool, Barry and Audre McCool couldn't make the official signing ceremony. This week they attended a special tribute at McCool Elementary Middle. We caught up with then the day before the ceremony.


mandmmccool.mp3

Senator Ray Tenorio Introduces Minor Curfew Bill

Senator Ray Tenorio speaks with Travis Coffman on the Big Show about cutting down crime with a minor curfew bill.
curfew.mp3


Bill%20110.pdf

A letter to the Right Wing Guam War Claim haters

A letter from one of our listeners to Sean Casey-

You can write him at sean@wcbm.com

Tamuning, Guam
May 11, 2007


Dear Mr. Casey,

Your "Outrage Of The Day" about the passage of HR 1595 - The
Guam Loyalty Recognition Act - was replayed this afternoon here on
Guam.

When I first arrived on the island in 1991 I felt exactly as you do
about the matter of US taxpayers paying for the atrocities suffered -
AND THEY WERE SUFFERED - by the people who went through the
Japanese occupation of Guam during World War Two.

However, I have learned enough about the realities involved in the
situation to have changed my mind, and believe you are probably a
fair enough man to consider that a possibility yourself.

Although the people of Guam in the 1940s were not US citizens, the
passage of The Guam Organic Act in 1950 made them such. The
peace treaty between the United States and Japan - signed in San
Francisco in 1951 - legally voided all US citizens' claims against the
Japanese government and - in effect - cheated the people here out
of rightful compensation due them for what they went through during
the war.

Ironically, people in other areas of the Pacific which where under the
Japanese occupation during the conflict - and which were NOT US
TERRITORIES - were paid for what they endured at the hands of
the Japanese while the newly created US citizens on Guam were
not.

By abrogating their just claims against Japan the United States
assumed the responsibility to treat the people of Guam fairly.

And that has not happened.

The real outrage is the American people - who pride themselves on
their profound sense of fair-play - have not made good upon their
promises to those on Guam whose rights were denied through the
actions of the US Government in 1951.

It really is as simple - and as just - as that.



The response from Sean Casey

From: "Sean Casey"
Date: May 16, 2007 12:26:51 AM GMT+10:00
To:
Subject: Re: If You're Fair...


Thank you for contacting me regarding the debate for reparations for the people of Guam. Let me first say, that I am opposed to reparations in general. Once you start paying reparations then many groups and/or countries who have been wronged or offended will beging making claims. The U.S. is involved in the middle of a lengthy war against terrorism and we need all available revenue. I have read Delegate Bordallo's statement, HR 1595 and many other documents regarding war claims for Guamanians. There is no question about the bravery and loyalty of the people of Guam who were attacked and invaded on the same day as Pearl Harbor. There is also no question that Guamanians suffered, were tortured and died at the hands of the Imperial Japanese. I have not in any way, shape ,or form questioned this or implied that the people of Guam are not deserving. I do note the following:

1. Millions of dollars were awarded as compensation as part of the Guam Meritorious Claims Act of 1945.

2. 3,000 U.S. soldiers sacrificed their lives to help liberate Guam.

3. Over the last 63 years, I believe that Guam has benefitted from the special relationship with the United States. Is everything equitable and fair? Probably not, but that could be said of so many things including the tax structure of the United States. My ancestors were discriminated against when they first came to the U.S. after the great potato famine struck Ireland. They were refused jobs and when they did find work were undercompensated. Often, the only work they could find was dangerous work in the mines, yet no one is seeking to compensate the Irish. I'm sure that there are many other groups who can claim the same. The point is: nothing is perfect and life is not always fair but Japan should do the right thing and compensate Guamanians in spite of the 1951 treaty.

I appreciate you taking the time to write me.

Sincerely,

Sean Casey
WCBM Radio
Baltimore, Md.


The rebuttal

Dear Mr. Casey,

Thank you for your prompt and well-reasoned reply.

Were the United States Government immune to handing out huge
sums of money in no-bid contracts and wasting the people's
resources hand-over-fist in blunders and bamboozles favoring only
the World's Moneyed Elite, I'd say your case is firm on the obligation
of the US to assume war reparations to those on Guam who were
the only US nationals to suffer under Japanese occupation during
World War Two.

But we both know that is NOT the case.

Not only are the amounts involved in the Guam war reparations
"bupkis" - relative to the amounts poured into the sand everyday in
Iraq - it's probably a fairly good investment for the United States in
the general goodwill of the people of Guam - who are currently being
asked to bear various burdens of the relocation of The Third Marine
Expeditionary Force from Okinawa to their island.

It's only speculation, but the problems the intended USMC move
here will NOT be enhanced by allowing an unresolved matter of
sixty-three years duration to continue to go ignored... whether by the
United States or by Japan.

Regardless, it would still seem worthwhile to ask Delegate Bordallo
to come on air... if she would. She's not likely to agree with you, of
course. But that's what makes good radio.

The Big Show Bestseller Big Book of the Month!

If you have a relationship with your favorite books, you'll appreciate this mystery, romance, thriller about a young man and his discovery of the love of literature. Now one of my favorite books! Find out more Tuesdays and Thursdays on the Big Show!

Plus you'll get a chance to win a $5 gift certificate towards any book at Bestseller in the Micronesia Mall or GPO!











At the first light of dawn in postwar Barcelona, a bookseller leads his motherless son to a mysterious crypt called the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. This labyrinthine sanctuary houses the books that have lost their owners, books that are no longer remembered by anyone. It is here that ten-year-old Daniel Sempere pulls a single book-The Shadow of the Wind-off of the dusty shelves to adopt as his own. With one fateful turn of a page, he begins an adventure that will unravel another man's tragedy and solve a mystery that has already taken many lives and will shape his entire future.

Outrage of the Day Sean and Frank

What the uninformed are saying about the Guam War Claims effort

How you can help the Guam War Claims Effort!

Here's a great suggestion from a Big Show listener on how to get action on Guam's War Claims issue.

Dear Travis,

There are a number of our fellow Guamanians suggesting we write
e-mails to all the US Senators about the now pending reparations
law.

That cannot hurt, of course.

However, it's been my experience you get a better response from
people in Washington with hard copy correspondences. In fact, you
get the best when you send hand-written letters... and post cards.


http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/
senators_cfm.cfm



And that's the real point:

There is a locally very famous - and very powerful - photograph of
two little boys with a home-made American flag they carried to greet
the Liberation Troops in 1944,

It seems worthwhile to have that photograph made into a post card
with the legend: "Why have we cheated them?" beneath the image -
leaving the back of the card blank for short personal messages in
support of passage of Guam war reparations - appealing to the
American sense of fair-play - to be sent to every one of the hundred
US Senators... by as many of us as there are post cards made.

In fact, it would not be a bad idea to sell the cards to raise whatever
funds we need to make Guam's collective efforts in correcting this
genuine historic wrong as successful as we possibly can.
Businesses could be encouraged to buy them & give them to
customers or supply them to schools. Children could even send
send post cards as class projects.

And it wouldn't be a bad idea to see if you can find the two little boys -
we hope they are still with us - and have them on your show.

Actual University of Guam college class-you wish you took!

Traditional Micronesian Seafaring, taught by Dr. Lawrence J. Cunningham, Assistant Professor of History, and they built a canoe over the last semester.


Here are some
photos:

Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader-A fun Quiz

Grade 1
1. What man is on the front of the U.S. twenty dollar bill? _________________
2. A heptagon is a shape with how many sides?_________________
3. If you add equal amounts of red and blue paint, what color paint do you get?_______________
4. True or false: The Earth's Moon gives off its own light. _________________
5. How many adjectives are in the following sentence? "My teacher was a lovely woman."________
Grade 2
6. Which color absorbs the most light? _________________
7. Inca civilizations were concentrated on what continent? _________________
8. Which is longer, one kilometer or one mile? _________________
9. Emma has 2 yardsticks. She also has a 12-inch ruler. She places them end-to-end in a line.
How many feet long is the line? _________________
10. True or false: In geometry, parallel lines never meet. _________________
11. Of a drum, violin or saxophone, which is a woodwind instrument? _________________
12. A chimpanzee's natural habitat is on what continent? _________________
13. What is the largest and heaviest organ in the human body? _________________
14. How many millimeters are in a centimeter? _________________
Thursdays 8/7c on

Grade 3
15. True or false: A turtle is an amphibian. _________________
16. The cerebrum is the biggest part of what organ in your body? _________________
17. In the Northern Hemisphere, in what month is the autumnal equinox?_________________
18. What is the official name for the North Star? _________________
19. The Tropic of Cancer lies entirely in which hemisphere? _________________
Grade 4
20. How many articles are in the following sentence? "I went to the store and bought a loaf of
bread and an onion." _________________
21. In the equation 6 divided by 2 equals 3, which number represents the dividend?____________
22. What is the lowest prime number? _________________
23. How long is one regular term for a U.S. Representative? _________________
24. In square inches, what is the surface area of a cube with 5 inch sides?_________________
Grade 5
25. What is the greatest common factor of 2 and 3? _________________
26. What is the world's second-largest country in terms of land area? _________________
27. What is the compound word in this sentence? The bus driver took an alternate route
to the airport. _________________
28. True or false: "Carefully," "easily" and "barely" are examples of adjectives. _________________
29. True or False: An icicle-shaped mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cavern is a
stalagmite. _________________
30. If you have a gross of pencils, how many pencils do you have? _________________



ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER? TM & © 2007 JMBP, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
1. Andrew Jackson 2. Seven 3. Purple4.False (It reflects light from the sun) 5. One (Lovely) 6. Black 7. South America 8.
One Mile9. Seven Feet 10. True 11. Saxophone 12. Africa13. Liver 14. Ten 15. False 16. Brain17. September 18.
Polaris 19. Northern (23 degress north of the equator) 20. Three (the, a, an)21. Six 22. Two23. 2 years 24.
150 square inches 25. One26.Canada27. Airport 28. False (adverbs) 29. False (it’s stalactite) 30. 144 pencils