>>>Where is CNMI?
>>
>>In the western Pacific, about 1,000 east of the Philippines, 120 miles north of Guam...its the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands...was head of the Trust Territory after WWII.
>
>I lived on Guam for 2 years when I was a kid. Dad worked for AT&T and they were laying phone cables in the ocean (yeah thats before satellites). Dad visited Saipan several times and always said that Saipan had the prettiest beaches and the clearest water, but alas that was 1962, 1963 and Guam has changed drastically over time. So I image has Saipan also? Dad discribed to me a Jimmy Buffett type atmosphere about Guam and Saipan. My brother Rick was stationed on Guam in the 80s and all those beaches we ran around on as kids are now owned by the Japanese and the Guamanians hate just about everybody. As he pointed out you can never go home....

[I've had my head buried in my keyboard, getting a rush project out by Dec 1...now I can breath again and get back to the UT.]

I can imagine how different it is now, from what it was 'back then'. I lived in Guam for a year and a half in 1991 and did some work in Saipan then...it's really changed even since then.

Yes, alas, the lagoon is not quite as clean as it was, but there is still some nice snorkelling.

When I was here in 91 there was one traffic light, and quite a bit of traffic...that was boom time...lots of tourists, construction, etc. Now, there are lots of traffic lights, about a third of the population are Filipino workers, and due to the Asian economic crisis, things have changed quite a bit...businesses going under, gov. having to cut back, etc.

I don't know about Guamanians hating everyone...it didn't seem too bad in 1991...at least the Guamanians I knew. I'm sure there is a lot of resentment on all these islands where colonial masters have imposed their system/methods (and, need I say, material goodies?) and locals have lost so much power. But we still love the US taxpayer for the grants, etc.!

J