My dad likes to keep pointing out that there are some great condos back in Tinley Park (my hometown). I'm pretty sure he's not a fan of me living in the city - or renting, because according to people who understand economics, it's a waste of money. When you rent you're not building equity, which is what American life is apparently all about. I would probably understand the housing crisis better if I did have some kind of condo or home or mortgage, but when you're counting change for gas money or deciding how long you can let the phone bill go before it gets shut off - equity is something foreign. The only thing I'm building equity on is a small collection of records and Simpsons memorabelia, which I've started selling on ebay.

Recently, thanks to the micro social networking site, twitter - a journalist freed himself from an Egyptian prison. Unfortunately, his translator who was also arrested, has since disappeared in the Egyptian prison system. Americans, I think - would find this pretty common. Often when we think of places like Egypt or China or anywhere in Latin America, not to mention the Middle East - we think of people unjustly imprisoned or disappearing for their political beliefs. We think of dictatorships and lost liberties. We like to believe that we're the shining beacon of freedom in an otherwise harsh undemocratic world.