I just love this.

Elon Musk, co-founder of Paypal, unveiled his latest startup’s crown jewel, a small kerosene and oxygen fueled booster rocket. SpaceX revealed its launch vehicle, the Falcon, to crowds in Washington DC on Thursday, December 4. SpaceX is not competing for the X Prize by putting humans into space; instead the company plans to enter the cutthroat satellite launch industry with rock bottom pricing.

Next week a commission on World War II reparations is set to hear testimony from survivors of the Japanese occupation. The PDN diligently published the stories of many survivors, detailing the abuse and horrors they suffered under the Japanese.

I don’t know if anything will come of these hearings, but I certainly hope so. While Guam was given a chance to claim recompensation shortly after the war, times were difficult back then and many people were not aware of their rights or lacked the chance to properly file for damages. I hope this commission holds the Japanese government accountable for the atrocities committed 60 years ago and provides compensation for those harmed by the occupation.

The strangest thing happened today. I was having this discussion with Erwin a little before noon. Nothing uncommon in this, we are cubicle neighbors and collaborate throughout the day. Today’s conversation was about how I was exposed to so much recycling when I was in New Zealand and Australia. On Guam nobody recycles; there is no waste disposal/recycling program, so all the trash goes into the Ordot Dump. It is simply to expensive to recycle glass, metal, paper and plastic on island, or at least that is the excuse given to the public. But in New Zealand, all the trash was broken down – bottles, paper, plastic, metal – everything was part of a recycling effort. A far cry from our dirty little island.

Then I mentioned that some recycling exists on Guam. The stalled incinerator project calls for a waste management policy that includes recycling, and there is that tire recycling company in Barrigada.

“You mean that one that caught on fire a few months ago?” Erwin asked.

“Yeah,” I replied and turned to look out the window. “Fuck me! Look, it’s on fire again!”

Sure enough, thick black clouds were rising from behind the airport, towards Barrigada. I took a photo at about 13:00, after I returned from lunch. By then the fire crews were trying to contain the fire, so the huge black cloud was more gray from the dousing. Still it looks impressive.

I swear, it happened exactly like that. I guess we jinxed the place. I can’t imagine they will stay open now. This is their second massive fire in under 5 months.