commentaries

Well, that was certainly more than I ever thought I'd know about helium but do find it interesting that a PhD candidate from Harvard doesn't know that Thanksgiving is the 4th Thur of November.

"For Americans, the third Thursday in November can mean lots of things, usually some combination of food, family, and football." or getting ready for the real thanksgiving holiday that is always on the fourth thursday in november. wow.

This is a valid argument. Wasting rare elements on frivolous things like balloons is silly.

They could always try using hot-air balloons instead! Or hydrogen, I hear that works well too.

How am I going to sleep tonight knowing this dire threat that faces our country? How will I enjoy Thanksgiving with this disaster hovering over us? Between that and the killer asteroids approaching, whatever will we do? (insert sarcasm emoticon)

Hot air works too. Why not find a way to tap all that hot air coming out of Washington DC?

The world's problems must all have been solved if we are now worried about helium.

I have tried to find out the real reason for the helium shortage and the best reason I can come up with is that the government is selling off it's massive reserve and there has been no reason to explore for natural gas deposits that contain helium or to refine more. That and it causes a huge price jump. So I don't know if it is a true shortage or a man made profit maker. You be the judge.

A little help, please. Is this article irony, satire or tongue-in-cheek meant to get us off the topic of the elections? Some good news, though, the mohair subsidy is alive and well.

"could amount to a taxpayer-financed subsidy for consumption of this scarce publicly owned resource." AND 1/2 THE SUPPLY HAS BEEN SOLD. Folks when this is gone, any more is going to be VERY expensive. This is one of America's strategic commodities.