I want to thank everyone for their indulgence this past week in letting me attend to other matters. And I very much appreciate those of you who dropped a note letting me know you were missing my daily blog.
Beginning with my June 2008 post "It's Been Five Years," the following is the continuing story of my travels from the United States into Micronesia ~ Pohnpei, Guam and Saipan ~ and my life since June 2003.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003 (continued) ~ Pohnpei
I may have already shared that I ate some Australian lamb at my (former) boss's house, a few weeks ago. Quite tasty, but didn't have exactly a lamb taste, but close enough. I assumed it was just because it was Australian, and that's the way Paul prepared it, is why it was different....
This morning, Lynn asked me to promise not to be mad if she told me something... It wasn't lamb.... It was "kidi" ... dog. Still pretty tasty, but I wish they'd told me. (That explains the absence of mint jelly.) They said they thought I'd over-analyze the experience too much, so they didn't tell me, and had a great laugh about it. They weren't going to tell me until I tried it knowingly, and then were going to see if I'd recognize the taste.
People here acquire a very odd sense of humor....
So, I guess the only thing I haven't tried is betel nut, which I'm not interested in.
So, I'm going to spend Saturday till Wednesday in Chuuk. It'll cost FSM more than $1,000 just for me to go, with per diem and airfare and car rental. All for a 1/2 hour hearing that could be done by telephone. I'm taking an investigator along to show me around and introduce me to witnesses I need to interview. I'm flying in Saturday afternoon. I'll probably try and catch a dive on Sunday, interview witnesses on Monday and Tuesday, fly out Sunday morning.
People keep telling me how lawless it is there in Chuuk. Some are serious, some are just looking for a reaction from me. It's the job. Someone has to do it, eh? Unlike my predecessor on these cases, I'm not going in like gangbusters. But things are going to get worse between the national goverment and Chuuk before they get better. We're about to indict a lot of high officials on theft and conversion of public funds, almost all from Chuuk.
The laws here are in such need of repair. Just about every aspect of them. No bankruptcy laws; consumer protection laws are a joke; reciprocal enforcement of child support laws are not enforced; many others date back to Trust Territory days, and need name designation changes, referring to offices that don't exist, and just need general updating; customs and immigration laws lack coherence and process; no serious ethics or conflict of interest laws. I could spend a couple of years re-writing and updating just about every aspect of the laws and writing regulations. Factor in that the U.S. makes arrogant, paternalistic, unreasonable demands without reciprocity, tied to threats that failure to comply with their demands will affect Compact II negotiations, and there's plenty of work to do.
Interesting stuff. My work ranges the gamut of every aspect of their legal issues here. My background provides me a good basis for where to look for answers to certain questions, even in fields I know nothing about. I never would've thought it, but I like working on immigration, customs, maritime resources and fisheries, foreign and consular affairs.
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