On February 1st, we recognize the birthday of the late Dr. Gary North [1], in 1942. North was a prolific writer on economics and Christian Reconstruction. He passed away just less than a year ago, on February 24, 2022. His more than 50 published books are a lasting legacy. He also assembled a large free online library of books by other godly writers, through his Institute For Christian Economics (ICE) [2]. Those free books, totaling 38,000 pages, are all still available online. They are a great resource for homeschoolers and economics students.
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We also remember February 1st, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members.
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Today we are also featuring the regular monthly precious metals column from Steven Cochran. By the way, he mentioned that Gainesville Coins [3] is having a big sale on 1 oz .999 silver Buffalo rounds. Due to the ongoing silver shortage and massive market demand, the shipping date on these rounds won’t be until March 23rd.
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
Today we present the first entry for Round 105 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest [4]. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon [5]. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
- A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course [6] (a $1,095 value),
- Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees [7] in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
- A $250 gift certificate good for any product [8] from Sunflower Ammo,
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses [9].
- Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, [10] (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
Second Prize:
- A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses [11], excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
- A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
- Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord [12] (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
- Two Super Survival Pack seed collections [13], a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [14], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!
Third Prize:
- Three sets each [15] of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
- A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of [16] Directive 21 (a $275 value),
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [14], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.
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More than $775,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 105 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail [17] 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.