Welcome!

Hello readers - thanks for viewing my blog. Especially welcome are my beautiful wife Cyndi, our two wonderful children Tom and Lisa, and my siblings Jeff, Mary and Suzy. I posted often from America Samoa while I was there a few years ago. I also post from our past and later travels. Keep checking in, and please leave a comment!

They may not be readers, but our dogs Monte and Zoey have a special page with their own photos. They are involved in many of our trips, and all of our lives.

Click on photos and videos to enlarge and (usually) see them better.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Updates


   To my faithful followers, postings from American Samoa have been coming fast and furious to the end, but the end has arrived.  We completed our six month stay and have returned home to Minnesota.  Here are some highlights of recent postings; all postings are listed by month on the right side of this screen.  Keep checking - we plan to put up some followup posts about American Samoa in the next couple weeks.  These will include my final installment of American Samoa Courts; Samoan shells; Samoan flowers; and more.  So please browse around these posts, and the others too:

Impressions of the American Samoa court system; click  Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4(to be added)

First impressions of Samoan Life in Fa'a Samoa     click here

The importance and beauty of churches (falesa) in Land of 10,000 Falesa    click here

All about my home village, Leone, in Love that Dirty Water   click here

A trip Around Pago Pago Harbor    click here

Some nice videos of blowholes in action, Airport Beach Videos    click here and here

Fautasi Boat races for Flag Day in Fautasi Races    click here

Day trip to the island just offshore in Aunu'u    click here


Sip a pina colada with us at Tisa's Barefoot Bar    click here


Rick's visit to the hospital ER in What's Up, Doc?   click here

Birds of Samoa in What Came First, the Chicken or the Junglefowl?    click here

Encounter with the local constabulary in Police Stop My Car     click here

A new take on military music in US Marine Corps Band with video links,   click here

Hiking to a (nearly) deserted beach in Massacre Bay     click here

Othello, Samoan style, and Fire Dancers     click here

Drive to work with me in A Day in the Life    click here  with videos here

A tribute to US Special Forces in Justice at Last     click here

A day trip to the western edge of the island in Palagi Beach     click here

Trips to Western Samoa in  Savai'i  as well as Upolu  Upolu 1  and  Upolu 2

Hiking to a really deserted beach in A'oloau Bay     click here

Our vacation in Hawaii in Oahu     click here

Return to home page     home

Lunchtime at Pago Pago harbor
Sunset off Leone

Monday, May 16, 2011

Oahu

       All good things must come to an end, as must our sojourn in American Samoa.  We've enjoyed the island, saw new things, met great people and made new friends.  Now its time to go home and return to our former lives, older and hopefully wiser.

     Thursday evening we finished packing and of course had to rush to the airport - thanks to Ruth for a ride, we needed that!  Goodbyes all around - to Joe & Sarah, two up & coming lawyer stars; Kelly, a real go-getter, and all the staff at ASPD.  They bought me a kava bowl as a departure gift - figuring, of course, that if they give a present then I'll have to go!  Kava is a traditional Samoan drink, mildly desensitizing (like novocaine - your mouth gets numb if you drink some), used in ceremonies and prepared in a traditional way.  The bowls are used for the mixing, and so have taken on enormous value as symbols of the fa'a Samoa - the Samoan Way.  A kava bowl is representative of American Samoa - look on the back of the recent quarter issued for American Samoa.  Better yet, keep reading here because this is a photo of one:




     Best, come to my home and see one - it will be on the mantle with our other Samoan gifts - woven baskets, hangings, a fine mat, fabric and more.  As I said, Samoan people are among the kindest and most generous in the world.

     We flew overnight to Hawaii, rented a car, hung out awhile, then drove up to our resort on the north shore of Oahu where we will stay until Monday.  We went first to see Waikiki and had a delightful breakfast on the beach.  Here are photos:
Ala Moana Park in Honolulu - swimmers are out early here.
First good view of diamond head.
Surfer Dog at Waikiki.
Aspiring surfers waiting for their wave, Waikiki, 8 a.m.
Presenting to you - Waikiki Beach.
Waikiki Parrot Man - he rents parrots to tourists, then photos them!
Spectacular!
     Next we headed over to Diamond Head.  It's actually a volcano crater, almost exactly round, of which Diamond Head is the tallest and most prominent part since it overlooks Waikiki and the whole coast.  The military built a gun observation post on top, then several gun batteries all around it.  None were ever fired in a battle.  Now you hike up there on the old trail used by the Army.  Here's the trip, and what you see:

Diamond head from back - inside the crater.
Switchbacks on the trail up to Diamond Head.
Diamond Head crater; Koko Head in the distance.
Zooming in to Koko Head.
Informational sign at Diamond Head.
Cyndi at Diamond Head.
Now, a panorama shot of the view from atop Diamond Head looking toward Honolulu:

Honolulu; click to enlarge.
Here's a video from the top of Diamond Head:



     Then we got lost, got found, and drove up to Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu's north shore for a few days.  Here we plan to relax until our return trip on Monday evening.  Some photos are below.  An interesting little fact is that on December 7, 1941, an Army radar station located on the hill right behind this resort did in fact detect the Japanese airplanes almost 130 miles out.  But due to human error with new equipment (it had been put there 2 days before) the warning was misunderstood and ignored.  In the panorama below, look just above the palm tree in the middle; that's where the radar had been.

Turtle Bay Resort, from down the beach aways.
Beachfront east of Turtle Bay - sharp lava rock.
Beachside trail; much different from American Samoa trails!
Brazilian Cardinal; Suzy, you hooked us on birds.
 Here's the panorama from our lainai porch at Turtle Bay:

Turtle Bay Resort; click to enlarge.
     Down the road a short way are some local Oahu North Coast attractions.  We went snorkeling at Shark Cove, along with dozens of other snorkelers and scuba divers; we walked and saw the jagged lava rock that is all along the shore here; it's like razors if you are silly enough to walk on it; and we had lunch at a local "shrimp truck."  There is quite a bit of "aquaculture" up here, one major part is raising shrimp in small ponds all along the coast.  Awhile ago people would buy the shrimp from the farmers who sold it from trucks along the road; those morphed into cooking shacks with shrimp and other similar treats for sale.  I also saw the official Hawaii State Fish - the "humu­humu­nuku­nuku­āpuaʻa(I kid you not, that's it's name).  Of course we have photos:

Humu­humu­nuku­nuku­āpuaʻa
Shark Cove.  No sharks, lots of colorful tropical fish.
 
Shark Cove looking west across Waimea Bay to Kaena Point.
Jagged lava rock along shore.
Fumi's Shrimp Truck (the small white one.  Really.)
Weird overhang along shore.
     Last but not least was our sunset ride on horseback:

Rick and Cyndi, with Doug.
     Thus endeth our vacation at the completion of our Samoan adventure.  We fly home Monday May 16.  But keep reading and checking in, faithful followers, I still have a few posts to come.  Included will be my last installment on Courts; Samoan flowers, and maybe more yet.

 

Friday, May 13, 2011

American Samoa Courts, Part 3

High Court of American Samoa
     What is the structure of the judiciary in American Samoa, where did it come from, and why did I hint at a comparison with medieval feudalism?  The analogy isn't perfect, but it comes pretty close.

     Last installment I talked about a legal system and a society into which it brings foreign concepts.  I also noted that the legal system is the last major area in which the Secretary of the Interior retains control.  The short answer is that the legal system here came into being in the early 1960's when laws creating it were passed by the local legislature (the Fono) and approved by the Interior Secretary.  Since the Fono know very well that he wouldn't approve what he didn't want, they put into place a system that he would OK - and that was something modeled upon the US system.  Being new, it had to be built from the ground up.  Thus was an adversarial legal system imposed upon a society which, for thousands of years, had cultivated mores and methods of handling controversies by compromise and apology, and avoiding conflict at almost any cost.

     Feudalism was the default system of government back in the Middle Ages.  In fact, in one form or another, it was the default form of government all across the world.  At the top was the King.  But the King couldn't run an area of any size all by himself.  So he would give parts of it (a "Fief") to a variety of other nobles, to run those parts for him.  Those other fellows had complete control over their fiefdoms;  just remain loyal to the King and the noble could do as he pleased in his fief.  He could run it, well or poorly; benign or oppressive. He owned the land and the people.  There was no appeal, no alternative, for the ordinary guy who may not be happy with how the Lord dealt with him.

     Fast forward a few centuries.  Imagine a system where a single individual ran an entire branch of government more or less as he chose.  This person could hire those people he wished, and terminate them at his will.  He can make the rules and apply those rules (or not) as he saw fit.  He could select the "knights" who served at his court, and banish them at his whim.  He could punish knights and peasants for any perceived slights, disobedience or misbehavior.  There was no effective way to challenge or control his authority; when he makes a  ruling or an order, there is little or no recourse should someone disagree.

     Welcome to American Samoa.  As I noted in an earlier post, Congress has the power to govern here, but has not done so.  The Secretary of the Interior may nominally be in charge, but he's a long ways away and has too many other things to worry about.  The fiefdom is the Judicial Branch in American Samoa.  Here is the structure; no matter who fills any particular role in it, the structure dictates how it is run.  Until this year (more on recent events down further) the Secretary appointed a Chief Justice of the High Court and an Associate Justice.  The Chief Justice has, by statute, complete control over the Judicial branch of government (I'll reference sections of American Samoa Code Annotated) (see A.S.C.A. 3.0102).  The Governor appoints the associate and district court judges upon his recommendation; and the Chief Justice controls their assignments (A.S.C.A. 3.1004; 3.1005; 3.1006; 3.1010).   He has complete hire/fire control over all Judicial employees - clerks, marshalls, probation officers, reporters, everyone (A.S.C.A. 3.0205; 3.0307).  All remain employed at his pleasure.  The Chief Justice controls the courthouses.  He also controls the lawyers who practice here.  Only the Chief Justice can admit attorneys to the Bar here, and he can disbar or sanction them (A.S.C.A. 3.1002(d)).  He also makes the Court Rules (A.S.C.A. 3.0242; 3.1002(c)), and of course as presiding judge he decides what they mean and if they are actually to be followed.  He has the power to punish unilaterally for contempt, which is as he defines it (A.S.C.A. 3.0203), with fines and/or jail time.  The Associate Justice (an Interior Secretary appointment) is the only independent position in the system, but even then his assignments, courtroom and staff are controlled by the Chief Justice.  This structure gives whosoever becomes the Chief Justice a significant, and in many cases dominant, degree of the legal authority over every person connected to the judicial system.  He becomes, de facto, the virtual Lord of this realm.  The analogy with a medieval fiefdom is uncomfortably close to present reality.

     What about appeals?  Where do you go if you believe you have been wronged by the Court?  There is an Appellate Division.  An appeal would be heard by of one of the other local justices and, until recently, two US judges who are assigned by the Interior Secretary to come out here and sit as appeals court judges.  These are usually federal District Court or Circuit Court judges from the USA.  This procedure occurred about every two years; the panel was named, they came here for a week or two and heard arguments on the cases accumulated for appeal, then departed to issue decisions later. This is, or was, the only independent check on the judiciary here - if a party was sufficiently aggrieved to file and argue an appeal, eventually it would get heard by a panel where the off-island judges could be the decisive majority, if they voted together.  So, belatedly at least, major errors had at least some small chance of getting corrected.

     Last year, however, the powers that be have acted to increase the number of Associate Justices to 3.  Now almost all appeals are to be handled within that group.  In fact, they simply renamed two existing judges to be Associate Justices; their regular assignments and other duties continued unchanged.  All justices have normal trial assignments, so all are subject to being appealed.  Now, for example, if the Chief Justice tries a case that is appealed, the other 3 local Associates will decide that appeal.  Nothing goes to independent judges; no one of authority off this island has any say in the matter.  This was sold as a cost measure to save the expenses involved in bringing US judges here.  I believe also that the elimination of any outside scrutiny of what happens here in these courts was far from an accidental by-product.  What it means in reality is that the same small circle of 4 people (Chief Justice and now 3 Associate Justices) will decide among themselves whether one of their number made a serious error.  Anyone want to place bets on how often a case will get reversed?  My thought is that it means bad decisions quickly, instead of better decisions slowly.  Me, I'd take the latter anytime.  Hence my conclusion - there is no effective oversight or appeal.

     A word on the Associate Judges (not the Associate Justice(s); the Associate Judges are a different position).  There are 5 or more Associate Judges; not necessarily lawyers, but all are titled men, two of whom sit alongside the Chief Justice and Associate Justices during cases.  A big part of the American takeover of Tutuila Island was a treaty obligation to preserve Samoan land ownership, and other customs.  The Associate Judges are all Samoan, and are there to maintain the Samoan point of view.  They rarely participate while the case is in court, although they have a limited right to do so.  All rulings during court come from the Justice in charge. The Associate Judges do participate in some decisions, although the Justice controls and can override both Judges if he wishes (A.S.C.A. 3.0231).  The only decisions in which the Associate Judges have a real vote are cases involving the granting of titles, an important concept in Samoan society.  My impression, from criminal cases only, is that the Associate Judges' main role is in sentencing; their opinions may help sway the main Justice.  But this isn't necessarily any benefit for the accused person; Samoan society can be quite harsh upon those who cause trouble.

     Such is the structure of the judicial system here.  Note that I made no reference to the persons filling these positions.  My experience is that the judges here are conscientious and quite capable as judges.  The problems, and there are problems, to my mind are rooted in the outmoded structure here, not so much the individuals filling these positions.  But because of the structure, the individuals do matter - perhaps excessively.

    I think that having an entire branch of government dominated and in effect controlled by one person is inherently a poor system.  Our judiciary in the USA is decentralized.  Judges are independently appointed or elected, few or none owe their position or working conditions to another.  A state supreme court may administer parts, and even much, of the legal system, but that Court will have many justices (7 in Minnesota) with equal authority, and a majority rather than one person controls.  Even a chief justice of a state supreme court has little real power by himself, he is but a single vote on his Court.  Lower judges are not dependent on the favor of one person to retain their position.  They are thus free of that unseen but very real constraint.  Court personnel (almost all) are civil service or employees other agencies, not serving at the whim of one person.  Certainly, one result is diverse decisions and some eccentricity; but those are by-products of independence and therefor are strengths to be preserved.  We have real appellate courts, whose judges are not beholden to the judge they review, and so are free to correct errors rather than constrained to rationalize them.

     This spread of power and control is so inherent in our system that we is rarely think consciously of it.  Only when you see up close the alternative can you appreciate the strengths of our judicial structure back in the USA. Hundreds of years of human experience have demonstrated how commonly one person given complete authority will introduce distortions major and minor. Any person having power and control will rarely, if ever, give it up or limit it voluntarily.  Here in American Samoa the judicial system is dominated (and largely controlled) by just one position, one person.  The effects are much as one would anticipate.  This was perhaps justifiable when it was put in place at a time the island had about half its present population (which even now is only about 70,000 people) and it needed to become established.   But nowadays when there are more people, more government and much greater commerce, conditions have changed markedly.  As one major example, there is now an active Bar Association with over 30 members who are practicing lawyers here; when it was formed in 1971 there were only a handful of attorneys on the island.  The bench is deep.  But the judiciary here simply has not evolved and grown with the society it serves.

     My next, and last, installment on the Courts of American Samoa will focus on what it's like to practice here.  This territory is, to me, a microcosm of what happens when you impose an adversarial legal system upon a society which has ingrained traditional methods which aim instead to avoid or diffuse controversy.  Keep checking, loyal blog readers.  My next post, before completing my Courts cycle, will be about Oahu in Hawaii, where we go for a few days upon leaving American Samoa.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

A'oloau Bay

Cockscomb off Vatia, from trail down to A'oloau Bay
      Maybe it's getting boring, dear readers, constantly seeing and hearing about beautiful beaches on reef-fringed bays with palm trees swaying gently in the breeze.  Well, bear with me because there's at least this one more to come.  Last Saturday Cyndi and I hiked down to A'oloau Bay.  It's not far from Massacre Bay, essentially the next bay over to the west, and the hike starts from near to where the Massacre Bay hike begins - up in a village called A'oloaufou which sits up on top of the ridge which runs down the middle of Tutuila.  Here's my annotated map:


The hike was rugged, but somewhat shorter than to Massacre Bay and the trail more clearly defined (yet steeper and plenty slippery).  It took an hour to get down through the jungle.  Here are a few photos of the trail, and of the view; Cyndi once again was our official Blog photographer:

From the top, we go down the near ridge.
Trail with overhanging trees & vines.
Sometimes they overhang quite a bit!
Weird tree, common out here.
View from rare opening in the jungle.  Vines covering everything!
That's the ridge we came down.  Banana trees in the foreground.
     At the bottom we came out of the jungle to this beautiful bay which we had completely to ourselves.  Nobody lives down here; there are signs that people did so a long time ago but not recently.  If there is a history of significance to this place I am not aware of it.  It's just a bay, with a beach, and a fine place to swim, picnic and relax.  We did all that.  Here are some photos; just look and dream:

First view
Looking east to the Cockscomb at Vatia
From west to east; Rick is beachcombing.
Cliffs on the east side
Giant clam shell on driftwood
Small rock island out in the bay.
Rick on shore with driftwood.  Who is which?
Low tide.  That's where the trail comes out, at edge of jungle.
Big orchids in the trees.  Not in bloom.  Bummer.
Papaya tree
Closeup, papayas grow right out from the trunk!
Another view looking west
Looking back east.  Trail up that ridge.
     Here's a couple photos of some cool flowers we saw along the way.  The first were blossoms we found on the ground and collected; the other is (we think) a ginger plant forming with its little flower:



     Of course, this was what it is all about:


       The hike up was steep, but at the top the breezes felt cool.  We stopped along the way home for a view from up high to the south.  This looks over the large (well, for American Samoa; its only about a mile wide and a couple miles long!) Tafuna plain.  Here is what we saw, with Tafuna out to the left and our village, Leone, just beyond the hills to the right:
This is a panorama, click to view better.
Tafuna and Iliili area.
      This might be our last major hike here, as we return home on Thursday evening - after a stopover for a few days in Hawaii.  But keep checking, there's more to come.  Next is another installment of American Samoa Courts.