Odds ‘n Sods:

Heck sent us the link to a great article on utilitarian bicycles.

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Speaking of bikes, Reader W.H. notes: “There are several great videos and plans on the net for rail bikes, both with and without motors. I thought this version [with Spanish narration] was neat because it could be broken down.” (See the SurvivalBlog Archives for several articles and letter on rail bikes like this one, including some important safety provisos.)

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Condie Rice tells of Bush row after 9/11. Here is an amazing quote that sounds like something out of the movie Dr. Strangelove: “Rice revealed that the bunker beneath the White House where she was sheltering with Dick Cheney began to run out of air. ‘There were so many people in the bunker that the oxygen levels started dropping and the secret service came in and said we’ve got to get some people out of here. They literally went around telling people that they weren’t essential and they had to leave.’ Government communication systems were failing and Bush had to resort to an unsecured line to talk to Washington. Rice said: ‘Despite all of the sophisticated hierarchy, sophisticated command and control equipment that we had, at that moment much of it didn’t function very well and people instead did whatever they could to communicate messages.'” (Thanks to “Mr. Smith” for the link.)

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Elite Flee Drug War in Mexico’s Number Three City. (Thanks to D.G. for the link.)