Random

• There is bit of a tropical depression forming just north of us in the CNMI. We're on the edge of it but Guam is not getting much rain right now. I suspect that it will be well on its way to Japan by the time it becomes a tropical storm. You all in Tokyo might want to keep an eye this way for a few days.

• Eyeless ant from Mars discovered in Brazil. ~ link

• One thing that I've learned over the years while working with people from other cultures is that you NEVER put a Bible on the floor or ground -- not if you want people to take it or you seriously. I even hesitate to underline in a Bible or take margin notes because I'm aware that someone from a non-Western culture might see it sometime. I suspect that God is less concerned over such things than they are but if we're serious about connecting with different kinds of people it is a good sensitivity to nurture -- even if we're mostly around people who wouldn't think a thing of it. ~ link

• Gmail has a new feature which will trigger a warning box if it thinks you have forgotten to attach the document that you are promising to someone. Of course, if works best if you spell "attachment" correctly when you mention it in the email you are sending. You also have to enable the feature in the Gmail Labs section. ~ link

• It was a good day on Wall Street for those who have been patiently waiting for the other shoe to drop so they could buy low.

• Praying for Malaysia ~ link

• New airline fees -- United Airlines is doubling the price of second checked bags to $50 for domestic flights. Frontier Airlines is going to charge $15 for a first bag and $25 for a second. I'm thinking that I'd glad I'm no longer flying around the US -- not that it is really all that much more costly in the overall scheme of things -- just annoying. Of course, if you fly Southwest you don't have to put up with that nonsense.

• The number of international visitors to the US increased last year -- in spite of the airline shenanigans and economic roller coaster. Life goes on. ~ link

• We're all excited -- Melissa Heck is coming back -- arriving at 2 a.m. tomorrow (that is tonight). A lot of us are planning to go to the airport to welcome here back to Guam. We know that she has already made it as far a Tokyo -- she was chatting with Cheryl from the Narita airport a few hours ago.

Melissa is our dean of women at PIBC. She went home to Pennsylvania in June to do some support-raising but while there her father got sick and died -- so her return was delayed. I'm suspecting that there will be a lot of zombies on campus tomorrow after the middle-of-the-night welcoming party.

• Rick Lindholtz has a post-Ike report from Houston ~ link

• David Fitch does a good job of keeping the conversation about mission and conversion in balance. ~ link

• Steven Evans thinks that more Christians should give up daily devotions. What do you think? ~ link