mallorys_camera | Can I interest you in some fine Nebraska beachfront property, Mr Bin Laden?

Move over, St. Terri and dying pontiffs – the biggest news stories yesterday from my admittedly biased perspective were the Goldman Sachs report warning that oil will shortly spike to $105 a barrel and the release of the shark.

I simply don't see how America's great shopping mall civilization can continue to sustain itself when gas hits five bucks a gallon at the pumps.

And the Monterey Aquarium without the great white? Who really cares?

Store revenues for the month of March came in at just under $10,000. This was a 40% increase over last year which is about the increase in over-all revenues the local hospitality industry is attributing to the shark. The local hospitality industry is pissed! Apparently the Aquarium honchos told no one beforehand. I can't help thinking it's a little stupid to let loose a predatory animal in a bay so popular with divers. I mean, this is an animal that's used to looking at human beings and thinking, "Lunch!" But maybe, sharks are incapable of even the most primitive conditioned responses.

There's also an interesting story about Islam clerics, poring over the Koran and concluding that a big tsunami will wipe out the United States in the year 2007. I guess the Koran didn't know about Kansas.