Random

> On Guam the mayors have very little political clout. They do play an important role in the community but they're more like ombudsmen (Interestingly, they can also function as armed peace officers if they go through the training). They are respected but their influence is mostly informal in nature. They have ceremonial responsibilities. They certainly don't have the power to contract workers to build facilities on a US Naval base. ~ bizarre story

> "Diabetes on the March" -- weird that it spreads in clusters. ~ Slate

> Lots of Minnesota churches are not meeting this morning. Sleep in day -- or maybe everyone will get up and watch Benny Hinn on TV -- or better yet, Davey and Goliath reruns. ~ link

> My sister-in-law's brother, Brad Kindall, says he drove through a blizzard to officiate at a wedding in St Paul yesterday. But they've canceled their gathering for today. ~ link

> New primer on biblical Greek ~ link

> Advent Conspiracy: "Did you know that 36.3% of Christmas shoppers will use a credit card for their purchases?" What do the others use? I hardly see anyone paying for much of anything with cash. Perhaps the rest are all using debit cards. It seems that 36.3% is a low figure. ~ link