"For a fire to keep on burning late into the night, you need the logs to catch, and the world's economic firewood has long since been soaked by oversupply and feeble demand now exacerbated by a post-bubble psychology discouraging risk taking, " observes Gross, who still believes stocks are overvalued.

FORBES: Bondholders' Dilemma: Deflation Vs. Inflation

Dams are springing up on Myanmar's rivers, to generate hydropower to keep the lights burning in Yunnan.

ECONOMIST: How Myanmar is moving ever closer into China��s orbit

It is nasal bombardment, in a good way: wafts of curry drift in the breeze, cinnamon sings on the sidewalk and many shop owners keep a stick of incense perpetually burning.

BBC: Toronto as a world map