Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Scott D. suggested this piece on commentary: Constitutional Convention Sleight of Hand?

   o o o

Courtesy of Hawaiian K.: How a Zero-Electricity Fridge Will Bring Medicine to the Developing World

   o o o

From Sean M.: Money is not the only thing you can lose in a failing bank

   o o o

Ann M. sent this “must read” piece from Fortune magazine: Eight really, really scary predictions; Dow 4,000. Food shortages. A bubble in Treasury notes. Fortune spoke to eight of the market’s sharpest thinkers and what they had to say about the future is frightening. And to fully satisfy your RDA of gloom, the following come to us from Cheryl, our Economic Editor: US Households Cut Back on Debt for First Time EverKey Senators Reach Tentative Auto Bailout DealNew Unemployment Claims Surge UnexpectedlyCalifornia Faces Bankruptcy, $15 Billion in DebtOil Nears $49 as Dollar FallsUS Trade Gap Unexpectedly WidensClosing Time (A sobering assessment of what’s really going on…) — Foreclosure Storm Will Hit US in 2009 Amid Job LossFear Triggers Gold Shortage, Drives US Treasury Yields Below ZeroOfficially Scr**ed by Real Inflation (The Mogambo Guru) — Freight Haulers Slam On The Brakes

   o o o

Jason sent us a link to an excellent scholarly piece: All the Way Down the Slippery Slope: Gun Prohibition in England and Some Lessons for Civil Liberties in America.