We'll be going to Famous Sichuan, an inexpensive but high-quality Chinese restaurant south of Canal in Chinatown. They have an aquarium out front where you can pick the fish you want to eat. You can get a decent entree there for $12, not including tax & tip. For their menu, see http://www.famoussichuan.com/

Please don't show up without RSVP'ing. A $5 deposit is required to RSVP.  Your $5 will be refunded to you in cash when you show up at the event.  Failure to show, or cancellation less than 24 hours before the event, will result in a forfeiture of your deposit.

There has been a lot of publicity in recent years on the subject of "microlending" in the third world -- small loans to poor people, especially women, which have been very socially beneficial.  This article reports that microlending has been going through some growing pains in India.  Loan-related suicides.  In Adam Smith's 1776 Wealth of Nations, he advocated against lending of money at high interest rates, because people who could qualify for loans at lower interest rates tended to be more responsible people, who would make better use of the loan.  He would have been shocked to hear of how Americans routinely borrow at 29% on their credit cards.

Some companies are getting fed up with problems associated with outsourcing their manufacturing in China and are bringing the work back home, in spite of the higher cost.  Made in America.

There has been a lot of excitement over efforts by the US congress to bring the Internet under more control.  What are the other threats to the Internet?  Could the Internet Ever Be Destroyed?