By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, May 20 -- Puerto Rico is debated at the UN as a case of decolonization, but Hawai'i is not. Still on Monday the King or Ali'i Nui of of the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi appeared at a UN press conference to launch a new currency and encourage people to buy it.
Inner City Press asked three questions: is the King trying to get Atooi inscribed on the list of non self governing territories, as happened May 17 with French Polynesia? The answer was unclear. The king, Aleka Aipoalani, said Atooi already has a seat -- "number twenty five" in the General Assembly, he said.
What are the benefits of minting your own currency? Will the coins just be worth the weight of the precious metals they're make of, or will there be some sort of sovereignty premium?
Here the King deferred to his expert, a man citing "Sovereign Economics" and displaying slides of the coins. Everyone will have their own reasons for buying, he said.
Finally Inner City Press asked, who is sponsoring this press conference? It's said that only if sponsored by a country or a UN entity is a press conference allowed and televised. (Others come in through the backdoor of UNCA, but these are not on UN Television.) The answer, after a pause, was that the press conference was sponsored by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Only an hour and a half earlier, Inner City Press covered then wrote about a press conference of the PFII, with representative from Kenya, Fiji, Canada and Alaska. This currency press conference felt different. Like we said, follow the money. Watch this site.
Footnote: all this takes place in a UN that wouldn't even distribute the letter of Somaliland, and is purported to "give" its airspace by the Somalia. We'll have more on this.
