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So, you expect to re-incarnated in Mumbai?

Since all mushroom clouds look alike to the average Joe or Jane...let's compare.

This can only be described as Hollywood inspired fantasy. Re-entry warhead fratracide alone would make any such "gigantic" coordinated EMP impossible.

Canada's latest F-18 replacement candidate takes to the sky.

That's the 14th century...1346 to the 1350s...first wave. Barbra Tuchman's great book, A Distant Mirror, is a good introduction to that age. Of course, if you're into Boccaccio, the Decameron (pdf) has a vivid description of the Pest by an eyewitness....himself.

Islam post-dates the Roman Empire by many centuries. What was left over from Rome was the Byzantine Empire that controlled much of the Middle East in the 7th century. It was in decline as Islam was rising. The law you refer to is Omar's Law/Covenant aka Pact of Umar...etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pact_of_Umar Omar was one of Mohammad's Companions and was Caliph after I believe Abu Bakr. It was under Omar's regime that Jerusalem was besieged and taken by force to be Islam's Third most Holy Place...a fairly modern term actually...coined by the Mufti al-Husseini. The Pact allowed infidels to retain their religion as long as they paid a tax (Jizya) and followed numerous points (listed on the wiki). It's part of Islamic Jurisprudence today.

I've been reading a history book about the Silk Road - A History of the World, that ran through the middle east to Asia from Europe down through the ages. That refers to the trade that went on between the Roman Empire and Asia, Persia, India, China, and the middle east. If you look back a thousand years or more ago, I don't think there was so much trouble with Islam and jihadists in the middle east. They did a lot of trading with the Roman Empire and parts of the Roman Empire sold slaves to them. There didn't appear to be the tension between the west and parts of the middle east that there is today. The parties did try to conquer each other at times such as in the Crusades and during the spread of Islam into Spain and France, and struggles in other areas, but I don't think there was an ongoing general hostility between the parties. I could be wrong about that and am just speculating as there was so much in the history of that part of the world. I will have to re-read the book but it is very long. But it seems there were even areas that Islam took over and allowed the Jews or christians to practice their own religion as long as they followed the laws or rules. But I guess not every place was like that.

You're the one slathering on the mustard. Must be to make it easier to pretzel your way around the principle and/or lack thereof on display at this point in this thread. I have no idea, I don't watch it myself.

The principles and/or lack thereof in play. The amount of stock people put into Iran's threat to wipe Israel off the map, not to mention the disparate reactions to threats of this nature did cross my mind. What Israel and Iran have to do Islamophobia in Canada is plainly obvious.

I hear all this talk about missiles yes. All it takes is one North Korean with a nerve agent to fly to Canada or the US ad let off a deadly virus. So I wonder is this missile stuff just a cover story? I never understood in this day and age with what we know about viruses and deadly contagious agents we are still talking about inaccurate, clumsy missiles. Maybe its chemicals the US is really worried about. How would we know?

That is amazing. His trench coat just went-up for auction. Columbo was part of the classic NBC Sunday line-up. You might recall some of the others like McLeod, Quincy ME (who got his own show), McMillan & Wife....etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NBC_Mystery_Movie Columbo went to ABC eventually for a revival.

I would agree that regional U.S. differences exist, but it transcends business to many other organizations, environment, and culture. The northeastern U.S. from Boston to Philadelphia is legendary for aggressive individuals and expectations in business, politics...even religion. Sports fans also reflect such attitudes in different U.S. cities from region to region. The midwest has a focused but more passive reputation, while west coast attitudes can seem flakey and narcissistic at times. In the U.S. military, there is a marked difference in organizational attitudes from east coast to the west coast/Hawaii/Alaska, which some say if reflective of the distance from Washington, D.C. Years ago, I found military commands on the west coast to be far more lax than in the east. Even hip-hop has its legendary east vs. west coast battles (Biggie vs. Tupac). The U.S. south has come into its own as population shifts favour relocations there. My experience with Canadians in business (mostly IT) is that they were usually competent, but most disliked conflict and the blunt directness of Americans. This is a common refrain for many other nationals when dealing with Americans, reinforced by popular media.