Random

...My friends all know that I have this mild obsession with citrus. So, I was excited to see the article in the LA Times on the citrus research center at UC Riverside. They're the best in the world -- and they make it all happen right in the heart of the smog belt.

(Isn't it funny that we latch onto certain things? A couple of weeks ago I had to gently explain to the produce worker in the grocery store that the limes he was selling as "key limes" were really bearss limes. And my citrus obsession is enough that I have to at least occasionally point out to people on Guam that what they call local lemons aren't lemons at all but are sour oranges which the rest of the world calls Seville oranges. It could be worse. I could be obsessed with golf or football.)

...Sad. Covenant Bible College is closing its doors.

...Regarding the financial state of Guam, from an article in the Pacific Daily News and a newsbrief from the Pacific Islands Report: For every 2 cents that the government of Guam had in the bank at the end of fiscal 2005, it owed US$1, according to the results of the latest analysis of the government of Guam's financial condition. If the government of Guam were a hospital patient, doctors would be frantically pounding on its chest. Government of Guam during fiscal 2005 had a financial health rating of 1.7 on a scale of 10, according to the analysis released yesterday by the Office of the Public Auditor. According to the results of the "Performeter" analysis for fiscal 2005, Government of Guam's financial health score dropped from a year earlier, when it was 2.86 out of 10. The fiscal 2005 Performeter score is Government of Guam's lowest since 2002, the analysis said. According to the analysis, large government debt, poor ability to pay short-term debts and the Retirement Fund's unfunded liability were the main factors.

GovGuam still hasn't finished paying people their 2004(!) tax-returns.

Why? Corruption. Mismanagement. Lack of experienced and capable leaders, and managers. Poorly written legislation which comes back to bite. An entitlement mentality (hold-over from early clan structure, as well as sense of victimization during colonial periods and WWII) .

...My former ministry partner in Turlock, Dan Whitmarsh, picked up on my tag. He always has interesting things to say.

...There is a new wave of immigration to Europe. No, not the Africans who have been pouring in over the past two decades. The newest wave consists of Southeast Asians attempting to get in from West Africa.

...David Fitch outlines his reasons as to why the lone-pastor model no longer makes sense.