Please pray that any protests following the George Zimmerman verdict will be peaceful. I urge my readers–especially those in cities in the southeastern United States–to be prepared to hunker down at home to avoid a lengthy period of rioting. (This could be similar to the west coast riots following the Rodney King trial decision.) The history of riots here in the States shows that riots during summer months can be the worst and the most protracted.
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Barton Biggs [1] passed away one year ago, today. He was a money manager who favored personal preparedness. He is greatly missed.
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This is also the birthday of Colonel Einar A. Malmstrom [2]. He was born in 1907, died in the crash of a T-33 [3] on August 21, 1954 near Great Falls, Montana. He was a decorated Air Force pilot, a Luft Stalag POW in Germany, and a test pilot. By the way, Malmstrom AFB was one of the settings for my novel Founders [4]. (The base was named in his honor.)
It is noteworthy that a number of WWII veteran pilots met their demise in the P-80/F-80 and T-33. (The latter was the two-seat trainer version of the F-80.) In addition to Einar Malmstrom, there were also ace pilots Richard Bong [5] and Don Gentile. The level of complexity of the new 600 m.p.h. jets was daunting, and in some ways the T-33–like many other jets with steep glide ratios–was an unforgiving aircraft in the event of engine trouble. The early ejection seats lacked a canopy breaker. With many years of service, the Lockheed-designed trainer has plenty of lore. My father, Donald Rawles, was a T-33 instructor pilot during the Korean War. Many of his student pilots were French and Belgian, which made his role even more difficult and at times downright perilous, due to the language barrier. I can remember reading through one of his old notebooks. It included a lengthy hand-written engine re-start procedure, in the event of a flameout [6]. I cannot imagine going through that checklist in the brief time available in a low altitude glide, or much less when recovering from a flat spin.
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Today we present another entry for Round 47 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. [7] The prizes for this round include:
First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses [8]. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), F.) Two BirkSun.com photovoltaic backpacks (one Level, and one Atlas, both black), with a combined value of $275, G.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and H.) A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com. The current value of this roll is at least $225.
Second Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 [9] Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. C.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. D.) $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P.), E.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials and F.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).
Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of [10] Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value. E.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value), and F.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections [11], a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.
Round 47 ends on July 31st so get busy writing and e-mail [12] us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.