Remember that disastrous story that CNN aired about the Guam democratic caucus back in May? The one where they used footage of outer islands of Micronesia with people waving at a plane? CNN is trying to make good on that mistake and will begin airing commercials "promoting Guam as a world-class destination" later this month.

"The commercial schedule was provided to GVB at no cost, in response to a complaint the bureau made to CNN regarding an erroneous report aired by the news network on May 24, 2008 during which footage of Yap was misidentified as being Guam. GVB felt strongly that the footage misrepresented Guam's culture and the island's cosmopolitan appeal to such an extent that CNN responded with the offer to air the TV commercials in order to correct any damage their story may have done to Guam's image."

Click to view the official press release that includes airtime schedule:

A few months ago it occurred to me that I hadn't set foot in the Hagatna public library since grade school. I drove there on a Saturday morning and was disappointed to find that the library was closed until further notice due to the lack of air-conditioning. I figured with the state of GovGuam affairs, "until further notice" was a cryptic way of saying "indefinitely", and I toyed with the idea of organizing efforts to raise money for the Guam libraries. I only got as far as thinking about it since I have zero experience in forming non-profit organizations and haven't a clue where to begin. I still believe it's a worthy cause and if anyone out there can point me in the general direction of where to begin, I'd really appreciate the help.

The great news is the library is open again! I'm going to check it out tomorrow and I'll inquire with the people who work there on how I can help raise money to improve our public libraries. This is a cause that is close to my heart because as a kid I spent copious amounts of time hanging out and reading in libraries. It was a very special place for me.

Congratulations to Joy James for making it to the top 50 at American Idol in Phoenix! I'm not an American Idol follower, but I watched last night's episode because I heard she was going to be on. They didn't show her actual audition but I caught a couple of glimpses of her and was very proud to see a Guam face on a national network show.

"James, whose audition aired on Fox's popular reality show last night, said she was proud to have had a chance to represent Guam in the talent competition.

"The producers and the judges ... all knew me as 'the girl from Guam,'" she said. "All I wanted to do was tell the world that Guam is amazing and remind them to keep an eye out for us (because) our island is full of gifted, talented and amazing musicians and singers."

I'm very very excited for her! I think it's just so fantastic when someone knows what they want and they go for it, even if it means stepping (way) out of your comfort zone and traveling far away from home for a chance at greatness. Good luck, Joy!

I just read the paper and was surprised to find that Latitude13 was mentioned in a PDN story about Guam weblogs. :)