A Tale of Two Pacific Island Economies - a great article on economic development in the Pacific.

When the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) were part of the United States-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, it was simply assumed by many that the US would lead the islands to greater economic prosperity as it paved the way for political independence...

...by the time the United States got around to formulating a single consistent position calling for modest government spending in line with the avowed goal of self-reliance, the very Micronesians who once spoke eloquently of keeping cost under control had become the main proponents of large government and high budgets...

More info on spending and development in the Central Pacific:

Pursuing Economic Reform in the Pacific, Asian Development Bank

U.S. Administration And Prospects For Economic Self-Sufficiency: A Comparison Of Guam And Select Areas Of Micronesia, Pacific Studies

GDP of the FSM , Asian Development Bank

The Habele Outer Island Education fund is 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of educational opportunities and accomplishment in Micronesia’s remote Outer Islands. Learn more about how you can help at www.habele.org

This week Habele is mailing its inaugural annual report! The document details the Fund's accomplishments in promoting educational opportunity and success in the Outer Islands of Micronesia.

In FY 2006 the Fund received over $4,400 in donations from individual donors across the United States and Micronesia. All our US donors are eligible to claim these gifts as deductions, in accordance with our tax-exempt 501©3 status.

These gifts financed two complete scholarships (tuition and board) for Outer Island students studying in Palau. Habele also mailed five separate shipments of school supplies to Atolls from Ulithi to Eauripik. The Fund received school supplies and basic clothing from a range of individual and group donors, and spent over $200.00 to purchase additional educational materials. International postage fees for all these donations exceeded $130.00. These include the t-shirts donated by Rick Quinn, such as the one worn by a student at Falalop Ulithi Elementary School in the picture above.

The report includes pictures of students enjoying book donations, as well as personal letters of thanks from our scholarship award winners. For full details you can request a copy of the report by visiting www.habele.org and clicking on “email” to contact the fund.

Graphic-intensive website by natives of the Eauripik Atoll living in the United States. www.eauripik.tk. If you have a pop-up blocker you must disable it.

The Daily Kos reposted commentary about the role of Micronesia, and other Oceania nations, in controversial UN votes.There has never been a diary written about this grouping of four countries, so why are they considered 'the usual suspects'? …Well, these countries form the supporting block of countries that the United States can depend on, along with Israel and Australia, to customarily vote as a block of six.

Ulithi-based Peace Corps Volunteer Joe Andrews completed his mid-service technical training, and following a holiday in Indonesia, is returning to Falalop.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is sending off its first shipment of school supplies for 2007! Two boxes, packed full of pens, pencils, makers, papers, scissors, note cards, notebooks, and compasses were carefully wrapped Friday afternoon. The boxes will be brought to the Post Office early Monday morning for their 3,000+ mile journey to the remote atoll of Eauripik in the Central Caroline Islands.

The Habele Outer Island Education fund is 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of educational opportunities and accomplishment in Micronesia’s remote Outer Islands. Learn more about how you can help at www.habele.org!

U.S. Halts All Funding For FSM's Chuuk State
The United States has halted all financial assistance to Chuuk, one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, after the state government misspent $1 million in foreign aid. The suspension in financial assistance took effect on December 1, 2006…

The Navy Career of Gerald Ford
..After the fire, Monterey was declared unfit for service and the crippled carrier reached Ulithi on 21 December before proceeding across the Pacific to Bremerton, Washington where it underwent repairs. On Christmas Eve 1944 at Ulithi, Ford was detached from the ship and sent to the Athletic Department of the Navy Pre-Flight School, St. Mary's College, California…

Photo of the USS Monterey at Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands, 24 Nov 1944

Dive Site Brief on Ulithi
Ulithi Atoll (also know as Urushi, or Mackenzie Island) is a coral atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia, in the western Pacific Ocean. It is 106 miles east of Yap. Its islets have a total land area of 1.75 sq miles. Its huge lagoon is the world's fourth largest (209 sq. miles)...