Odds ‘n Sods:

Hawaiian K. pointed us to an article by Robert Silverberg, over at Asimov’s: The Death of Gallium. The Peak Oil crowd may be interested to hear about disappearing elements. The crux of the problem: Infinite demand, and finite supply. Reading this makes me want to go out and invest in Gallium, Hafnium, and Indium–the elements themselves, or mining companies.) Or perhaps I should go for the speculative gusto and invest in a deep sea vent mining company.

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Tim P. mentioned this piece over at WorldNetDaily: Congress examines EMP threat–Iran believed to test missiles for attack on U.S.

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Arlyn sent us this article (also linked at The Drudge Report): With resources tight, Californians take on wildfires themselves. These folks sound a lot like SurvivalBlog readers! Arlyn’s comment: “Here is a story about rural California towns pulling together to fight the wildfires when the state government is out of resources to help them. I think this story shows that prepared Americans can fend for themselves when their government fails to help them. Improving one’s skills in self-sufficiency, fire fighting in this case, pays off when things get tough.”

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This Washington Times article describes something so ludicrous that only a bureaucrat could have seriously considered it: Want Some Torture with Your Peanuts? (A hat tip to KAF for sending the link.) OBTW, if this is such a great idea, then why not take it a step further and give each passenger a Running Man-type decapitation collar, so stewardesses can get prompt 100% compliance when they order “seat backs and tray table to their full upright positions.”