Random

~ Top 60 Japanese buzzwords/phrases of 2007 -- Link

~ Keith Drury's "Seven Advantages of a Denomination" -- Link

~ The Chinese government, which has invested heavily in US dollars, is beginning to worry about their investment. Even public speculation about the value of the dollar feeds the dumping frenzy. -- Link

~ China continues to work on buying friends and influence in the Islands -- Link.

~ Skin cells to stem cells -- truly hopeful research.

I wonder what will become of California's state funded stem cell project if it turns out that harvesting stem cells from aborted babies is unnecessary. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine ("CIRM") was established in 2005 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. The ballot measure, which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research in California universities and research institutions, was approved by voters in 2004 as an in-your-face response to the US ban on using federal funds for stem cell research. So, does the state need another ballot measure to undo what they did in 2004? That's the problem with initiatives -- they're hard to reverse.

~ Move over MBAs -- businesses are into hiring vets these days -- Link

~ Would you sell your right to vote for $1 million? Most NYU students would permanently give up their right to vote -- some for as little as an iPod. Baffling. Truly baffling. -- Link

~ There are times when you can't help but be proud to be an American! I don't know how many sailors were sent but the US Navy deployed troops from Guam yesterday to India & Bangladesh to help with the relief and rescue work. A category 4 cyclone (hurricane, typhoon) belted Bangladesh's southwest coast last Thursday. There are perhaps 10,000 dead and countless homeless and foodless.

~ The Government of Guam is annoyed with the US military for leaving them out of the loop regarding the troop build-up on Guam. (I can't imagine why the military would want to do an end-run around a local government which has been unsuccessfully trying to figure out how to close a landfill for 20 years.) But it's sounding more and more like they'll have to work something out. -- Link

~ About $1 million has slipped through the fingers of GovGuam workers says the auditors -- uncleared, unaccounted for travel advances. -- Link

~ And you thought that your church was dysfunctional -- Link. Might God bless the nephew who is riding it all out.