#marianas

Favorite Line: “So, truth or dare, was I good to you?” 

 Why I Like It: I love the bridge of this song. I don’t do it justice when it’s just a single vocal. This is one of my personal favorites by Marianas Trench. Josh’s vocals are underrated. They are a lot of bands out there with amazing vocalists that don’t get recognized because they aren’t mainstream pop singers. I URGE you to check out the original. It’s a work of art.

The Mariana Islands (now the United States of American territory of Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas), stretched out across Micronesia.  The original inhabitants did not survive long after the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th Century, what with the introduction of Western disease and a curious propensity of the Spanish forcibly to move the entirety of the Chamorro populations from island to island.  After the disastrous end (for the Spanish) (well, without going too far down the rabbit hole of the imperial compulsion some might say found its nexus there at the end of the 19th Century, maybe it was disastrous for the United States of America, also) of the Spanish-American War, the Spanish looked for anyone willing to “buy” some of their territories - and the Germans were thrilled to push their way into the Pacific, without a very lot of trouble on their part (just 837,500 German gold marks).  The Marianas were transferred to the Germans, but the Great War put paid to their imperial impulses (at least as far as the Pacific was concerned....).  Which explains (er....) the Marianas now comprise the United States of American territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Stamp details: Top left: Issued in: 1899 From: Las Marianas, Spanish East Indies MC #3

Top right: Issued in: 1901 From: Herbertshöhe, German New Guinea MC #7

Stamp on bottom: Issued on: June 13, 1916 From: Simpsonhafen, German New Guinea MC #21

Hangin’ in there....

PACIFIC OCEAN (September 8, 2018) -- An MV-22 Osprey returns home, as sundown approaches, to United States Navy amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) during flight operations in the Philippine Sea.

                                             USS Wasp (LHD 1)

The Wasp and her Expeditionary Strike Group components and escorts are currently deployed to the western Pacific Ocean.

                                     __________________________

>>CLICK the two top photos for great close-ups....

>>Top photos: Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Daniel Barker, USN

                                          *          *          *          *

>>Note: Shortly after these photos were taken....

....on September 11, USS Wasp, with embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), assisted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and local civilian authorities with initial damage assessment operations in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) (red oval below) following Super Typhoon Mangkhut. The islands of Rota, Saipan, Tinian and Guam were in the storm’s path. 

The Ospreys played a significant role....