I can barely keep up with the news coming out of Guam lately: Dispatch Japan‘s article “Dead Plan Walking” and KUAM’s report that “Talks Indicate Delays for Buildup” point to the inevitable demise of the ill-conceived military buildup on Guam. In the (repurposed) words of General MacArthur, “old military land-grabs don’t die, they just fade away…”

But the proposed buildup’s legacy – if a plan can have a legacy – is a renewed focus on self-determination on Guam. Julian Aguon’s “Legal Appraisal of Self-Determination” in last week’s Marianas Variety points out how murky the term still seems to those in America’s far-west colony, even as it clarifies what the right of self-determination means, in a legal context.