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> It looks like former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be making some new movies -- perhaps hoping to recoup some of the estimated $200 million it cost him to serve as governor. ~ SFGate

> More shooting in the neighborhood yesterday. Apparently, a man stepped out of a house on the block behind us and fired off five random rounds about noon. No one was hit -- and no one appeared to be a target -- but it drew a lot of police activity -- and the popo-copter. Last I heard they were still trying to catch up with him. Two months ago someone fired three rounds into the same house from the street. Hmmm...

> We have some other new neighbors -- a couple who just moved here from San Diego. He got a bit lost when returning his rental truck yesterday, was on foot, and didn't know how to get back home (it was too far to walk anyway). He flagged down a cop to ask for directions and the cop ended up giving him a ride home. That is very consistent with all of my interaction with the Phoenix police officers in this area. They are trying hard to connect with the community.

> Another good news story involving our police -- and a Good Samaritan neighbor. A man fell into a Phoenix canal at about 11:30 a.m., Tuesday. A neighbor heard the splash, ran to the canal, and dove in after the man. The police were not very far away either and at least one of the officers ended up in the water, too, helping to rescue the man. ~ Fox News

> And yet another good news story -- "Kate and Wills may ask wedding guests to donate to charity rather than buying them lavish presents." That's leadership! ~ Time

> This may be good news for Guam (I'm still not so sure about whether this kind of thing ultimately benefits or holds back). The Guam Fire Department just inherited two hand-me-down fire trucks from the US Navy. ~ KUAM

> My Twitter seems to load at a snail's pace in the evenings. Anyone else experience it that way?

> Did it come up on anyone's radar that Pakistan has a massive 7.2 earthquake early this morning? ~ USGS | CSM

Random

✽ My long-time friend Mike Gillett, who is an Army reserve chaplain and has done a couple of tours in the desert, works with vets in his civilian job. He is pretty frustrated with the poor treatment and bureaucratic headaches that our military veterans are receiving right now. Mike, by nature isn't much of a whiner, so when he sounds the clarion call it's worth a listen. He points to this Adam Liptak column in the NY Times.

✽ New statistics show one in five people on Guam have diabetes and up to 50% of Pacific Islanders have the disease. ~ link

✽ We are NOT God's masterpieces... Our latest MasterPiece Church newsletter is now online. ~ link

✽ Arizona drivers are now paying an average of $2.89 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline. ~ link

✽ "'The focus of the issue is predominantly Guam,' Seymour said. 'We really don't have a big problem with the other places.'" ~ link

✽ "America Must Boycott Arizona" -- Arizona already thinks of itself as the victim in this case. This is why people here are willing to embrace some extreme measures and people. A boycott would just reinforce that mentality and as the state digs in its heels to protect itself from critics it will become even more irrational in how it deals with the problem. We need people who can foster constructive dialog -- people who can come up with realistic solutions rather than knee-jerk reactions. ~ link

✽ New Pew research: 25% of African Christians still engage in traditional animistic religious practices. ~ link

✽ Recent deadly quakes ~ link

• Feb 2010: Magnitude 8.8 quake in central Chile kills at least 450
• Jan 2010: About 230,000 die in magnitude 7.0 tremor in Haiti
• April 2009: Quake measuring 6.3 in L'Aquila, Italy, kills 300 people
• May 2008: 87,000 die in 7.8 scale tremor in Sichuan province, China
• Oct 2005: Quake measuring 7.6 hits north Pakistan, killing 73,000
  

✽ Over 600 dead, 9,000 injured, widespread damage in this week's China quake. ~ link

✽ "A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional Thursday, saying the day amounts to a call for religious action." ~ link

✽ Mark Galli is quite quotable again:

In short, what Christians uniquely have to offer the world is not religious experience or even a unique religious way of life. We're not hawking "your best religion now," for our religion, upon close examination, seems no more admirable or sinful than any other religion. Christianity stands under the judgment and grace of God—as do all religions.

No, what Christians bring to the world is a message embedded in a story, and nothing less than a God-given, God-revealed message and story...

The Christian faith is, at its core, not about ethics or religious experience, but a message about a God who has gone to extraordinary lengths to be and remain on our side, to become the-God-with-a-name, Emmanuel, "God with us." Christians are not primarily mystics (those who experience God in a special way) or activists (those who live the way of Jesus). We are mostly witnesses of who God is and what he has done and what he will do in Jesus Christ, the God who in Christ has "a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Eph. 1:10). ~ link

Random

✽ One more thing to worry about -- Chagas disease ~ link

✽ 6.9 earthquake in Qinghai province, China ~ link

✽ The Arizona House further complicates the immigration problem with yet another "immigration bill." (Immigration issues in the US are supposed to be handled by the federal government but because Congress has been unable to create a workable reform plan states like Arizona are attempting to take the matter into their own hands -- which then makes it more difficult for a coordinated national plan once they get their act together on the federal level.) ~ link

✽ So, get rid of the pennies and the dollar bills. ~ link

Random

~ The DAWN network has a new blog -- SimpleChurch.eu -- nothing fancy but we can expect some stimulating fodder regarding the expansion of the church in Europe.

~ At about 7:50 this evening the earth shook hard -- not at all rolling, as we're used to in California. The neighbors all opened their doors or stepped out onto the parking lot just to make sure that they were not imagining it. But there was nothing on the USGS website or any of the news sites until just a minute ago (an hour and a half later). I suppose everyone was down on Marine Corps Drive camping out, partying, and waiting for tomorrow's big Liberation Day parade to start. We were down there for a bit tonight. There's a healthy buzz to it all.

I love Guam -- even if the earth shakes. They're saying it was a 5.0 quake. Of course, people will be comparing it to the 8.1 in 1993 and saying how weak this one was. Rightly so.

~ 101 quick simple meals from the NY Times

~ 82%, but I have no intention of seeking assistance with my addiction. It used to be considered healthy to have an avocation or hobby. But now anything you really get into is framed in the language of addiction.

~ Dr Lamin Sanneh, native of Gambia, West Africa, convert to Christianity from Islam, speaks out on the class with Islam over new global realities.

~ Yes, Charlie, I saw it. I'll try to see what I can come up with in the next few days.