Category: Note

February 11th is the birthday of the late Burt Blumert (born February 11, 1929 in New York City, died March 30, 2009). He once owned Camino Coin Company (as did Dr. Ron Paul). JWR was a Camino Coin Company customer, starting back in the late 1980s, and can remember Burt personally helping him dolly out his first purchase of 100-ounce Englehard bars. That was back when they cost just $580 each. Those were the days! o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 69 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $15,000 worth of prizes for this …

February 10th is the birthday of Zvi Zvika Greengold(born 1952), a Centurion tank commander who was one of Israel’s most notable heroes of the Yom Kippur War. He was awarded the Medal of Valor. o o o A reminder: Gun owners should visit the whitehouse.gov petitions page and sign this petition: Petition Title: Repeal the NFA ”We the People wish to see the National Firearms Act of 1934 repealed in order to remove regulations on our 2nd amendment rights, increase national economic strength, and provide protection against threats to our national security.” More than 68,000 people have already signed the …

February 9th is the birthday of Major George Charles Nonte Jr. (born 1926, died June 30, 1978). I had the privilege of attending ROTC Basic Camp at Fort Knox in the same company with his daughter Yvette, in 1981. Some of the stories that she told me about her father were amazing. He was quite a guy. Cadet Yvette Nonte went on to a career in Army Intelligence, retiring as a Colonel. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 69 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $15,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First …

On February 8th, 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated. For 100 years, the BSA stood as a strong bulwark of conservative, libertarian, moral values. They successfully united boys from diverse backgrounds, different religions, and different ethnicities– uniting them based upon the principles required for a boy to become an upstanding man. The BSA was attacked from all sides for their righteous stance and even persevered and won their case (Boy Scouts v. Dale, 2000) in the Supreme Court. Sadly, they have in recent years caved from within. Reportedly, their desire to fill the executive board with allegedly amoral, …

On this day in London, Benjamin Franklin published An Imaginary Speech in defense of American courage. The speech was intended to counter an unnamed officer’s comments to Parliament that the British need not fear the colonial rebels, because “Americans are unequal to the People of this Country [Britain] in Devotion to Women, and in courage and worse than all, they are religious.” Franklin’s response included his usual wit and acuity. February 7th, 1867, is also the birthday of Laura Ingalls Wilder (died February 10, 1957). SurvivalBlog highly recommends the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, which are awesome books, as well as …

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6th, 1911. He was an American politician and actor, who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Prior to his presidency, he served as the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975, following a career as an actor and union leader in Hollywood. Reagan implemented sweeping new political and economic initiatives. His supply-side economic policies, dubbed “Reaganomics”, advocated tax rate reduction to spur economic growth, control of the money supply to curb inflation, economic deregulation, and reduction in government spending. In his first term he survived …

On February 5th, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt announced his plan to expand the Supreme Court to as many as 15 Judges. This unconstitutional move was in response to the hostility that the court held towards his “New Deal”, itself an unconstitutional expansion of government authority. Roosevelt was flushed with his landslide victory in 1936, so Roosevelt pressed his advantage. In April of that year, two justices conceded the high moral ground and capitulated to his demands allowing for a narrow victory on the New Deal. The reorganization was now unnecessary and in July the Senate struck it down, but the …

On this day in 1789, George Washington became the first and only president to be unanimously elected by the Electoral College. This was repeated again on this same day in 1792. Because of the way the early American voting procedure worked, the electors cast two votes with no distinction for president or vice president. Washington was chosen by all of the electors and is considered to have been unanimously elected. Of the others on the ballots, Adams had the most votes and thus became the vice president. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 69 of the …

This is the birthday of writer James Michener (1907–1997), known for his very well-researched epic novels, such as Centennial. This is also the birthday of painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894–1978). o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 69 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $15,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, …

February 2nd is the birthday of Ayn Rand (born Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum in 1905, died March 6, 1982). She is of course remembered for her novel Atlas Shrugged, which is considered a Libertarian classic. While I sharply disagree with her views on religion (since she was an atheist), I admire both her skill as a writer and her ability to articulate some core precepts of human liberty. o o o Since the 1,000 SurvivalBlog 2005-2016 Archive USB sticks sold out so quickly, we’ve had to revert to offering it on DVD. It is now orderable here, for just $19.95. o …

February 1st is the anniversary of the secession of Texas from the United States in 1861. A State Convention considering secession opened in Austin on January 28th, 1861 and on February 1st, by a vote of 166-8, adopted an Ordinance of Secession from the United States. It’s important to note that not all Texans favored this act and the state Governor, Sam Houston, while being loyal to the union, refused offers from President Lincoln to keep him in office and was subsequently deposed as governor. We also remember February 1st, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and …

On January 31, 1606, Guy Fawkes was executed for his part in the Gunpowder Plot against parliament and King James. Also on this day in 1872, American author Pearl Zane Grey was born. He was best know for his popular adventure western novels, including Riders of the Purple Sage, which was his best-selling book. As a boy, Hugh could often be found behind a copy of one of Zane Grey’s books, because he was an avid reader and any Zane Grey book was a favorite. o o o Today, we present the last entry for Round 68 of the SurvivalBlog …

January 30th is the birthday of historian Barbara Tuchman (born 1912, died February 6, 1989). She wrote some of the most engaging history books JWR ever read. January 30th is also the anniversary of the 1945 Great Raid on Cabanatuan Prison Camp where U.S. Army Rangers and Filipino Guerrillas liberated Allied prisoners. See Rescue At Los Baños, by historian and bestselling author Bruce Henderson.

Today is the birthday of journalist and inventor Thomas Paine (1737–1809). This is also the birthday of actor Tom Selleck (born 1945), best known for playing the title role of Magnum, P.I. He once dropped by my tables at the Reno gun show, and we had a great conversation. He is an avid shooter and quite pro-gun. – JWR

January 28th is the anniversary of the rescue of General James L. Dozier from his Italian Red Brigades kidnappers. Tangentially, Colonel Jeff Cooper created a shooting drill in honor of those who freed him– The Dozier Drill. o o o Our sincere thanks to all the folks who ordered a limited edition SurvivalBlog 2005-2016 Archive loaded on a 8 gigabyte waterproof USB flash drive. Those orders have all been packaged and labeled, and about half of them have now been mailed out, via First Class Mail, with tracking. The rest should be mailed on or before Monday, January 30th. That …