Etc...

Get out of here with that

It's no secret that China is turning increasingly to a Western-style economic system. Just don't even think of trying to call it what it is: capitalism. Liu Yuzhang found that out the hard way. He applied for permission to register his business under the jazzy name Shanghai Capitalist Competitiveness Co. Ltd. - to "keep pace with the times." Private enterprise accounts for more than half of China's gross domestic product. But that cut no ice with the court to which Liu submitted his request. It turned him down flat, saying the use of the word "runs against the nature of the socialist system" and "may misguide the public."

In Ider, Ala., last week fire destroyed a building and the truck parked inside. For any rural community of 670 people, that would be big news. But it was doubly big for Ider because the structure was ... the fire house. The best guess is that the truck, which had just returned from another blaze, had been leaking fuel, which ignited due to some malfunction. The town has two other fire trucks, but both were out on other calls at the time.

Georgia is a migration magnet for young Americans, with more 20-to-29-year-olds moving there than to any other state between 1995 and 2000, according to ePodunk.com. The online information site's analysis of newly released Census Bureau data found New York lost the most residents in that age group (130,000), followed by Pennsylvania and California. EPodunk's top 10 states for 20-somethings in the last five years of the 20th century, and their respective net growth in population:

1. Georgia 102,500
2. North Carolina 93,400
3. Colorado 64,200
4. Arizona 58,500
5. Florida 48,600
6. Nevada 45,500
7. Virginia 40,500
8. Texas 39,200
9. Tennessee 32,800
10. Washington 31,000