Random

• The US is getting closer to releasing the six Uighur separatists from Gitmo for resettlement in the Western Pacific island state of Palau. Palau is probably the nicest and most progressive of the Micronesian islands states -- not at all a bad place to end up -- beautiful -- hospitable, too. But they aren't going to have a lot of patience with Muslim activity. Their proximity to Indonesia makes that a very sensitive issue.

• I met Mike Riendeau when I was hanging out at the library a couple of months ago -- super nice down-to-earth guy -- who recently moved here from Massachusetts as he was exiting the tech industry. He's just launched a new career in real estate. I'm guessing that as the market is recovering he'll do well.

• An ASU economic report compares Arizona, with a population of about 6.5 million, "to the 11 nations with the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita that have a population of between four million and 10 million: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates." Fascinating. ~ link (.pdf)

• The Phoenix Greyhound Park, which opened in 1954, is closing. I'm sensing a pattern. The same thing happened on Guam while we were there -- not that there is a causal relationship between our presence and the demise of the races. ~ link