[jonasmac]

Don't know how many Guamanians browse these boards, but I just bought The Best of U2 1990-2000 from the iTunes Music Store!!! I just decided to check it out thinking that it wouldn't work, but it did! I downloaded it to my work computer. Anybody know if it'll be a problem transferring to my Powerbook?

Does this mean that Apple finally recognizes Guam as a part of the U.S.? I'm glad they finally see us as AmeriCANS and not AmeriCAN'Ts (heh, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico").

It's about friggin' time. Hopefully soon we'll be able to buy from the Apple Store online too.

--jonas

[Adam Betts]

Where is Guam located at? I've never heard of it before.

[wataru]

Originally posted by Adam Betts:
Where is Guam located at? I've never heard of it before.

It's an American protectorate in the Caribbean.

(That's off the top of my head; Don't blame me if I'm wrong--I'm an American so I'm not supposed to know anything about them durn furiners.)

[ThinkInsane]

It's a U.S. territory, just like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, so it makes sense that iTMS works there, although I never thought about it before.

Hmmm, actually, it turns out that there are more. I wonder if the good folks in all these places have access too?

There are fourteen US territories and possessions: American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands (US) and Wake Island.

Oh, and Guam is not in the Caribbean. It's in Micronesia.

[jonasmac]

Yeah, I got that "Where's Guam?" a lot when I was in the mainland for uni. You'd be suprised at all the different guesses. We are located in the South Pacific about 3 hours east of the Philippines by plane and about 6-8 hours southwest of Hawaii.

iTMS's availability is a great relief, because from my experience, it's a pain in the butt to get Apple products sent over here. From what I've read, Apple ships products from Taiwan to the U.S. Mainland. It does not ship to Guam, even though Guam's closer to Taiwan than the mainland.

Anyway, wataru, for the record, we ain't "durn furiners"---we are full fledged United States Citizens with all the rights, priviledges and benefits that all Americans inherently possess--except for a voting member of Congress and the ability to vote in a national election and WalMart and much to our dismay Krispy Kreme donuts...

...but we DO have iTMS.

--jonas

[willed]

Originally posted by ThinkInsane:

Oh, and Guam is not in the Caribbean. It's in Micronesia.

[jack sparrow] arrrr, so there be no pirates then?[/jack sparrow]

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by jonasmac:
except for a voting member of Congress

You mean like everyone who lives in Washington DC?

Jonas, I think anyone can buy from the iTMS as long as they have an american credit card, but I might be wrong...

[Avenir]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
You mean like everyone who lives in Washington DC?

Jonas, I think anyone can buy from the iTMS as long as they have an american credit card, but I might be wrong...

If I recall, it got all pissy on me in Italy, even with an American credit card... guess it saw my IP had ".it" on the end of it. But then, maybe that works ok now.

[jonasmac]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh
You mean like everyone who lives in Washington DC?
Jonas, I think anyone can buy from the iTMS as long as they have an american credit card, but I might be wrong...

We've got a congressional delegate, but she's not allowed to vote on anything. She can lobby and work with other delegates to get Guam issues on other bills and such, but she can't actually vote. Not sure of all the political mumbo jumbo, but that's what I understand.

You may be right about the American credit card, but usually in the online field for "state" (especially if it's a drop down), you can't find "Guam." In any case, it's a start. I'm hoping that we'll be able to buy from the Apple Store online or that Apple will allow us to buy from an online reseller soon.

[Nebagakid]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
You mean like everyone who lives in Washington DC?

Jonas, I think anyone can buy from the iTMS as long as they have an american credit card, but I might be wrong...

a college essay de moi:
People who live in Washington, DC have similar rights to those who have been in jail for a felony or are under the age of eightteen. We do not get a vote in the way the city we live in is run.

Washington, DC was chosen as the home for the federal government by George Washington in 1791. It was at first a ten square mile diamond composed of land from Maryland and Virginia, but before the Civil War Virginia took the land back leaving the District as a ill-formed city. Today, the city is still ill-formed in the way we are denied certain rights that are guarunteed to every American.

We have been through numerous governing forms since the city was founded, including a council, a congressional appointed major, a tri-man run city. Finally in 1974, Congress allowed us to elect our own mayor and city counciL.

Although we have what is called 'Home Rule", our budget must be passed by Congress, and those who control how we spend our money are not elected by us. Since we do not vote for them, they do not care if we dislike what they do. We have a non-voting member of Congress but until she can vote, we have no barganing power.

Less than a week ago, members of Congress approved a ten millon dollar school vouchers program for D.C. They were abler to do this even though they cannot get approval for vouchers in their own states. Our deteriorating public school system continues to fall apart, but these leaders chose to use money to further their own political agendas, money that could be better spent to give teachers the raise they were promised and now denied, or even to remove the abestos from my school.

Additionally, thousands of people commute into the District everday to work for the federal government. Citizens of DC have been trying to lobby for a commuter tax so that we can recieve money from those who use our services and clog our traffic system but do not contribute anything financially. Yet, we lack representation in any voting body that would grant this.


There are several ways to alleviate the problem. Retrocession to Maryland, voting as part of Maryland for congressional purposes, and statehood are among the options to give District residents the voice they deserve. I am in favor of an amendment to the Constitution that would give the district two senators and a member of congress based on population, which would probably actually entitle us to only one representative. Such an amendment was passed by Congress over a decade ago, but failed because it was not ratified by enough states in the time alloted. Congress has enfranchised groups before with an amendment, including slaves and women. This would be easiest transition for the city, the federal government, and the rest of the country.

[TheDisaster]

Originally posted by jonasmac:
...except for a voting member of Congress and the ability to vote in a national election and WalMart and much to our dismay Krispy Kreme donuts...

You don't have WalMart!?!? You lucky S.O.B. !!!!!

[vod[k]a]

Originally posted by wataru:
It's an American protectorate in the Caribbean.

um, that's puerto rico

back to school for you!

[ZackS]

US possessions that are not states should just enjoy the sweet, sweet deal that they get. If you want to have the rights (laws and taxes) of a state, lobby and see if you can get the territory to request statehood. The US is still open to it and Puerto Rico was pretty close to becoming a state a while back. Good luck convincing anyone else of the "merits" though

[jonasmac]

Originally posted by ZackS
US possessions that are not states should just enjoy the sweet, sweet deal that they get. If you want to have the rights (laws and taxes) of a state, lobby and see if you can get the territory to request statehood. The US is still open to it and Puerto Rico was pretty close to becoming a state a while back. Good luck convincing anyone else of the "merits" though

Yeah, I don't care if I can vote for the President or not. I just want readily available Apple products....and Krispy Kreme Donuts, dang it!

[d0ubled0wn]

This thread brings back memories... I used to live in Guam from '79 to '81, I was just a li'l brat back then.

Jonas, you're better off not having a Krispy Kreme out there... I swear they put an addictive chemical in those donuts that make you crave 'em nightly!