Random

• Our friend Mei, who is visiting her family in China, reports that she can't access my blog from there. The Chinese government must still be blocking the blogger/blogspot sites. Information and opinions are dangerous.

• The fire alarm in our building went off at 3:15 this morning -- as in AM -- middle of the night! I went out to the control box to figure things out and eventually managed to punch the right buttons in the right sequence to silence the noise. In the whole time, though, I don't think that any of the neighbors even stuck a head out the door to see what was happening. The whole place could have been engulfed in flames and they'd have never known it.

• JetAmerica is a new airline which will focus on mid-sized US cities -- an under-served niche. This is why I don't stress over the airline mergers. There is no shortage of entrepreneurs ready to jump into the airline game. ~ link

• The glass-wall house in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' is on the market for $2.3 million. ~ link

• How Chile positioned itself ahead of time to beat the recession ~ link

• Kiplinger's 10-best US cities to live and work ~ link

• It's looking like one-third of Maryland's millionaires have taken up residence elsewhere after 2008 legislation raised their tax-burden. ~ link

• What's your car made of? "Even if cars soon start running entirely on electricity or hydrogen, they'll still need 100 gallons or more of oil to make their plastic parts, such as seats, dashboards, bumpers, and engine components..." ~ link

• "The North said it is no longer bound by the armistice which ended the Korean War in 1953..." I was chatting with our son Kent who lives in South Korea and he says that the people in his town are pretty much taking all of the nonsense in stride. They're used to it. ~ link

• "Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest." ~ Proverbs 14:4 (NLT)