GOOD NEIGHBORS

Give until it feels good

It feels good to help others in need.

How else to explain the healthy donations from passers-by to the Salvation Army's bell-ringing red kettle campaign? Even in a down economy, people in Hawaii dug deep in their pockets and hearts to boost the season's donations past $882,000, up 12.5 percent from a year earlier. The donations went toward holiday help to families, the Salvation Army said, as well as for year-round aid for those needing food, clothing and shelter.

Now that has a nice ring to it.

WOE IS ME

The jobless are likely more upset

A new survey shows Americans last year were less happy with their jobs than they've been in 22 years — only 45 percent of respondents in the Conference Board survey said they were satisfied, down from 49 percent in 2008. Some good reasons were listed for the decline, most related to the down economy, but, hey, at least those respondents have jobs. Everyone should be so lucky, and let's hope that it isn't too long before everyone who wants a job can get one.

RING OF FIRE

Memories of disaster can be a good thing

Folks in the “;Ring of Fire”; know when to head for the hills.

An earthquake and tsunami destroyed the homes of about one-third of the population of Rendova, one of the Solomon Islands, but lives were spared as residents with memories of previous disasters fled quickly to higher ground, officials said. Hundreds of families are homeless and aid is urgently needed, but even amid the chaos survivors emphasize that things could have been worse and rejoice that there have been no reports of major injuries or deaths.

The Solomon Islands lie on the “;Ring of Fire,”; an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim and where about 90 percent of the world's earthquakes occur.