Note from JWR:

Today we present another article submitted for Round 9 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $1,600.) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. I will again be sending out a few complimentary copies of my novel “Patriots” as “honorable mention” awards. If you want a chance to win the contest, start writing and e-mail us your article. Round 9 will end on March 31st. …




Selecting a Retreat Location in Australia, by Mike McD.

Saying that Australia is unique sounds clichéd but in so many ways it is true. It is the world’s largest island and the world’s smallest continent. It is one of the least densely populated countries in the world and yet one of the world’s most heavily urbanised. It is the flattest, driest, least fertile inhabited continent on earth but which through modern agricultural practices is one of the world’s largest food producers. The list of its unique features goes on. Selecting a retreat location in Australia requires this uniqueness be taken into account. Failure to do so will be fatal …




Odds ‘n Sods:

Michael Z. Williamson pointed out a fascinating web site: The Great Firewall of China. With it, you can test to see if any web site is banned by censors in China. Mike notes: “I tested my sites. My writing site is clear. My blade [making] site is banned.” Go figure.Out of curiosity, I just tested SurvivalBlog, and oddly enough, it is not banned in China. I assumed that because I had mentioned laogai slave labor system in China that my site would have been banned. This has me depressed. Clearly, something is wrong when even a reactionary “Capitalist rotor” and …