How Much is a Chinese Muslim Worth? And the Enya Connection.

That would be roughly $11 million each! Geez, can I have one to sell? Ok, it isn't quite that way, but the U.S. is giving the Pacific nation of Palau $200 million in aid because they've agreed to resettle 17 Chinese Muslims--also called by their ethnic name of Uighurs--now being held at Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo). As the story goes, these Uighurs have been cleared of actually being terrorists, and the U.S. has been wanting to resettle them. However, we're afraid to send them back home to China (see shaded area of map for Uighur regions) because they may be imprisoned there or executed--because the Chinese government considers the Uighurs to be dangerous Islamic separatists (i.e., terrorists).

Confused yet? Stay with me! So yeah, it does sound a little like these 17 guys were sold, but figuring out what the hell to do with them has been a thorn in President Obama's side and was holding up closing Gitmo for good. Apparently, no one but Palau wanted the Uighurs. Albania took 5 Gitmo Uighurs in 2006 but said, "Thanks, we have plenty." Plus, Obama wants to close Gitmo by next January, so he's running out of time.

Not a bad deal, really. Palau (below) gets much-needed cash, and these prisoners get a new life in island paradise--sweet!

Wow--never thought I'd have a post with so many seemingly unrelated things. But wait--that's not all!

Did you know that Palau used to be a U.S. trust, ever since it was seized from Japan in World War II? We gave them their independence in '94, but we still have to defend them if they're attacked. And so Palau lets us have a military base there. Plus, if you're native Palauan, you can travel to the U.S. without a passport or visa!

So what does singer Enya have to do with this? Well, she has that phrase "from Bissau to Palau" in my favorite song, "Orinoco Flow!" Ok, NOW this is officially the most surreal post I've ever done.