homo erectus

I live in Saipan, CNMI, a commonwealth territory of the USA. I am trying to run a business, but because interest rates are so high here, there is little if anything left at the end of each month. I do notice that interest rates are low in the US and would like to refinance . Does anyone know of lenders in the US that will loan to residents (US citizens) in US territories? Thanks.

Sorry, this is long. But here's the whole story.

A man who claims to be religious lives a couple of miles from me outside of town. He and his wife have a large ranch of cattle. They don't have to do much work because they have workers. There is even a maid in the house. Well, there was a maid, but she is gone now. And she is at the core of the problem.

About two years ago, the wife was depressed because she didn't have any children. She was too old, or she thought she was, and it bothered her a lot. She couldn't stop thinking about it. She told her husband that they needed to have a child. What was going to happen to all they worked for after they died? They could adopt a child, of course, but it wouldn't really be "theirs." She said that even though she couldn't have children, she at least wanted her husband's child to take care of. So she suggested that the husband have a surrogate child with their maid.

The maid had been with them for some time. They had always been nice to her, but of course a maid has to worry about someday maybe getting fired. She thought she would never have to worry about being kicked out of the house if she had the husband's child. And it isn't really that easy to find another position. So she said she would be the surrogate mother. And she got pregnant.

Instead of being happy, like she said she'd be, the wife became envious of the maid and treated her terribly. The maid tried to stay out of the way as much as possible, which wasn't easy to do.

Finally, the maid had a son, and the wife became even more upset. And to complicate matters, she suddenly became pregnant herself, even though she thought she couldn't. And later, she had a son of her own.

Now it really became difficult because she hated the older son and didn't want him around anymore. She couldn't stand to look at him. That son wasn't her's. She had her own now. So she told her husband how she felt, that she wanted him to send the maid and her son away.

The husband didn't like the idea very much, I guess, but pretty much just agreed to fire the maid. He told the maid to pack her things and gave her her last paycheck, which wasn't enough to keep her and her son very long. And he sent her out of the house.

And that's pretty much the end of the story. She's gone. Out of their lives.

Maybe I should just stay out of it. I'm not sure. But it seems to me that the husband was rather weak-minded and just did what his wife told him to do. The wife was a terrible person. I can't think of any other situation that I've seen in my life that makes me more sick than to see what she did. They're neighbors, or at least they live fairly close. They have a big ranch, so I don't see them every day or anything like that, and I wouldn't call them close friends anyway. Just acquaintances.

I've thought about going over and yelling at them, but that probably wouldn't do much good. I think the maid should sue them, and I'm thinking of helping her. There must be some law that would cover this kind of situation.

I'm wondering what I should do, but I can't decide. Am I making too big a deal of this? Am I thinking this is worse than it really is? What should a believer do in this kind of situation?

I have heard that new federal human trafficking legislation is about to be enacted or already has been. Is this true? Can someone point me to where I might be able to read the legislation?

Thank you.

According to what I have read, it appears that retaliation laws deal with retaliation occurring at the workplace, not after. But there are times when employers retaliate even after an employee has quit. Are there any laws regarding this? Is this called "retaliation?"

For example, in the case an employee has quit. The ex-employee may not have done anything to make the employer believe there is a lawsuit coming. But if an employer has not paid an employee or has not followed other parts of the employee's contract, that employer may perceive the ex-employee as a threat for court action.

If the employer visits the ex-employee's home to discuss this, calls on the phone and yells at the ex-employee, threatens legal action against the ex-employee, threatens the ex-employee not to return to the state or be arrested due to some alleged crime the employer has invented -- these (and other actions taken against the ex-employee) would appear to be retaliation.

Is this retaliation? Legally speaking, I mean. Or is it something else?

I worked as principal of a small school for 6 months, generally putting in 12 to 14 hour days. During the last 4 months, I was verbally abused by the president of the school, sometimes for as long as half a day at a time. Due to this abuse, I needed to go to a doctor for heart palpitations twice. I resigned my position in mid-December but am going through depression. The president of the school asked to see me last Monday, at which time he spoke for 2 hours about how I had damaged the school by quitting. Today, Friday, he sent me a letter to inform me that he would not pay me for my final half month of work.

Frankly, my condition is quite bad, and I don't know that I can hold a full time job at this point. I am glad I resigned, but this episode, as extreme as it was, may continue to bother me for some time. I feel that I am due some compensation.

Does the law protect employees from extreme verbal abuse? And what can one do about it?

And how many were killed by Saddam Hussein before it started?

In our area, the electricity is often interrupted. I would like to be able to charge a battery using bicycle power that would run some lights or perhaps run a toaster when this happens. Do you know of any websites that might assist me? (I'm probably using all the wrong words for a search. I have looked.)

If you are out there, please let me know.

It is estimated that Saddam Hussein killed 600,000 people. If that is true, then he has caused the deaths of fewer people than the Bushes have.

Consider this: George Bush Sr. instituted sanctions on Iraq which denied the country medicine and almost anything else. It is estimated that 1.5 million people died because of these sanctions.

During George Bush Sr's war in Iraq, the good ol' USA used depleted uranium bombs in southern Iraq. The radioactivity from these bombs has killed an unknown number of people and still does. Babies in these areas are still being born with birth defects.

During that same Gulf War, the USA, under George Sr. targeted the water system, the electrical system and the sewer system in order to demoralize the people and start an uprising against the government.

(Additional details will follow.)

Can you give some examples of freedoms that Americans have lost or, on the other hand, gained over the past six years?

Do you think Americans are more free now? Why or why not? Please give concrete examples of particular freedoms that have been gained or lost.

It's now Christmas in Saipan.

Oh the weather outside is frightening,

But the Buddha's so enlightening.

Turn the rice cooker way down low.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Our feet in the kotatsu touching,

Your ears I'll soon be munching.

Turn the rice cooker way down low.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

When we say oyasumi,

The neighbors can hear through the wall.

And when we get up to pee,

The sound echoes all round the hall.

I've got something to show you,

But the heater needs some toyu.

Turn the rice cooker way down low.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Kotatsu is a small table with a heating element underneath.

Oyasumi means good night.

Toyu is kerosene.

C Homo Erectus 2001

"I will kill this person if you do not deny Christ." What do you do? Deny Christ or not?

I'm asking this because many years ago I was given this ultimatum. Fortunately, I gave the right answer.

No, actually, many years ago I was asked this question and have always wondered how Christians would answer it.

Americans talk about how they've been wronged with 9/11, but when the country decided to go to war, it never asked itself, "Why would anyone hate the US enough to bomb a skyscraper in NY?" If it knew the answer to this, the US might actually be able to make progress in this war instead of making people angrier at them.

What do you think? Why would anyone hate the US so much?