Many towns are realizing the future is in the past. When people buy older houses, they have an interest in being a steward of part of that house's history. ... Keeping areas attractive is important.

The state we're in now is because of the policy decision to co-opt those people who in the past committed human rights abuses. There's a culture of impunity. They continue in many cases to abuse the rights of people under them. There are drug problems in the north, tribal problems, sheer criminality.

Consumers are worrying about interest-rate risks, their high credit-card bills and the fact that their houses haven't risen in value as much as last year.

They whirled past the dark trees, as feathers would be swept before a hurricane. Houses, gates, churches, hay-stacks, objects of every kind they shot by, with a velocity and noise like roaring waters suddenly let loose. Still the noise of pursuit grew louder, and still my uncle could hear the young lady wildly screaming, "Faster! Faster!"

Two more houses have come in the past year, huge houses. I remember when there was nothing.

You can't predict the future based on the past. Lifting 30,000 people off rooftops with helicopters is not going to work.