Odds ‘n Sods:

Tam, over at View From The Porch recommended this piece: Small Impact Tool Basics

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Doxycycline and Tetracycline Shortage Update

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Cheryl (aka The Economatrix) suggested this by Dave Hodges: Increasing Your Odds Of Survival

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Lisa Bedford (of the excellent The Survival Mom blog) has launched a radio network, with all female hosts.

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Global flight-path maps: Five interpretations. [JWR’s Note: Our ranch is blissfully situated in a little valley without any railroad tracks and that is not beneath any major air routes. There is a lot to be said for hearing only the tranquil sounds of nature.]

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R.B.S. sent: The Red Cross still hasn’t handed out more than $100 Million in Hurricane Sandy donations almost seven months after the storm

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A teenage homeschooler in Montana wrote to ask me for some advice on getting started as a writer. I’m not an expert, but I advised her that she should first read plenty of good fiction. I noted the novelists who had influenced me the most: David Brin, Algis Budrys, Tom Clancy, Gordon Dickson, Frederick Forsyth, Pat Frank, Ernest Hemingway, Dean Ing, Jerry Pournelle, Ayn Rand, and George R. Stewart. I was also influenced by the writings of number of writers on nonfiction topics (such as preparedness, firearms, Christian apologetics, and economics) like: Bruce D. Clayton, Col. Jeff Cooper, Friedrich Hayek, Henry Hazlitt, Elmer Keith, H.W. McBride, Ludwig von Mises, Dr. Gary North, Arthur W. Pink, John Piper, Lew Rockwell, Murray Rothbard, and Mel Tappan. For the record: I have never claimed to be a great novelist. I’m just someone who has focused on a captivating topic and therefore developed a niche following. At best, I might be mentioned in a minor footnote in some obscure history book on fiction writing. In contrast, the names that I’ve just cited are in another league, and will be remembered–and perhaps still published–for centuries.