Odds ‘n Sods:

Greg C. sent this: Newt Gingrich on D.C. Weather: ‘Mild Taste of What an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) Attack Would Do‘. Meanwhile, we read: 10 sobering realizations the Eastern U.S. power grid failure is teaching us about a real collapse. And on a similar note, there is this from Roger K. in Forbes: Power Outage Highlights Infrastructure Vulnerability. (Thanks to Jeff in Texas for the latter link.)

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I recently watched Ridley Scott’s movie about the Crusades, titled Kingdom of Heaven. I’m a fan of most of Scott’s films, but I quickly concluded that William Monahan (the film’s script writer) was suffering from a bad case of historical illiteracy, or at least selective forgetfulness. Oh, and speaking of historical illiteracy, yesterday morning I was doing some Internet real estate hunting on behalf of a consulting client, and I nearly sprayed my computer screen with a mouthful of raw milk and Raisin Bran. There, before my eyes, in Utah, was the web page for the Majestic Mountain Meadows housing development. That elicited my initial cereal snort and then had me laughing uproariously. (If you are scratching your head, see: M.M.M.) Oh well, at least ignorance of history is better than someone re-writing history to be politically correct or publishing documents like the Mayflower Compact that have been cleverly Dowdified to remove Christian references.

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Reader David T. sent: Who Needs a WeedWacker When You Can Use a Scythe?

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Former U.S. soldier aids Syria’s wounded

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Amidst widespread power blackouts: “Hot and hotter” forecast as heat wave bakes eastern U.S.