On February 25, 1791, the First Bank of the United States was chartered by the United States Congress for a term of 20 years. JWR’s Comment: Many economists point to this as the first in a chain of events that would lead the United States into perpetual debt and the positioning bankers as the nation’s ruling elite, opertating from the shadows.
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February 25, 1855: Bowery Boys gang leader William “ [1]Bill the Butcher [1]” Poole [1] was shot in the back by the gang of archrival John Morrissey in New York City. (He died on March 8th of the same year.)
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February 25th is the birthday of bluegrass music legend Ralph Stanley [2] (1927 – 2016). His harmonizing and high tenor solos [3] had an almost haunting sound to them.
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
Today we present another entry for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest [4]. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- A Gunsite Academy [5]Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course [6] (a $1,095 value),
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) [7] is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses [8]. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course [9].
- HSM Ammunition [10] in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.
- Harvest Guard [11] is providing a 200-Piece Bulk Mix Pack of their Regular and Wide-Mouth Reusable Canning Jar Lids & Gaskets. This is a $161 + shipping value.
Second Prize:
- A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training [12], that has a combined retail value of $679
- Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord [13] (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com [14] (a $287 value).
- Preparedness author Jennifer Rader [15] is providing a $200 purchase credit for any of her eight published food storage and medical preparedness books, including the
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [16], 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 gun purchasing privacy!
Third Prize:
- A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters [17] (a $305 value),
- Two sets of [18]The Civil Defense Manual, [19] (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
- A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC [20] that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [16], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.
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More than $981,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 123 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail [21] 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. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics [22]. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.