Some time ago as I visited a member of the Church in a nursing home, which was a new facility with a lot of amenities, I said to the dear lady, “This is a very nice place!” As she sat in her wheelchair, she looked at me with sadness and said, “This is a place full of homesick people!” “Are you homesick, I asked?” “Oh,” she said, “this place will never be home!” Though I have visited many such facilities before and since that afternoon, I’ve never heard a more poignant definition or description of a nursing home.

Chinese real estate investors are now flocking primarily to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. (China Daily, January 28, 2014). “Investment and education are the main drivers of Chinese migration… The expanding number of Chinese emigrants [nearly 50 million now] is creating business opportunities for a range of industries” (ibid.).

“China has tested a ‘hypersonic’ aircraft which is so fast that it could render the defense systems of every nation on Earth obsolete and reset the global calculations of nuclear diplomacy” (The Times, January 16, 2014).

“Three-quarters of the world’s big carnivores—including lions, wolves and bears—are in decline, says a new study. A majority now occupy less than half their former ranges according to data published in the journal, Science… The researchers say the loss of these species could be extremely damaging for ecosystems the world over” (BBC, January 9, 2014).