Category: Note

2012 is the 60th anniversary of the founding of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (originally Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, LRL.) Lawrence Livermore is famous as the nation’s main nuclear weapons design center and is also home to a small American intelligence arm that tries to keep nukes out of the wrong hands. (Z Division.) I was born and raised in Livermore–the son of a scientist who worked at LLNL for three decades. My father, Donald Robert Rawles (1930-1985), operated and later managed the operation of several high energy particle accelerators. These included cyclotrons, linear accelerators, and a rotating target neutron source (RTNS-II.) …

After being out of print for nearly three years, the Rawles Gets You Ready Preparedness Course is available again. It is now sold only via digital download, but the good news is that it is now priced quite affordably for SurvivalBlog readers. — I heard that an editor at Wikipedia just nominated for deletion the articles about my novels Survivors and Founders, claiming that they are “non-notable.” (Even though they were both in Amazon’s Top Ten and on the New York Times bestseller list.) Release of the book prompted dozens of radio interviews and more than 200 reviews at Amazon.com …

Our friend Tam over at the always entertaining and often hilariously funny View From The Porch blog reminded me on a more serious note that today is the 100th anniversary of madman John Schrank’s assassination attempt on the life of President Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy, a statesman who was obviously made of sterner stuff than many of our contemporary politicians, went ahead with presenting a lengthy speech that day, even though a .38 caliber bullet was lodged in his chest. (The bullet went through a steel eyeglasses case and a 50-page speech manuscript, slowing it down considerably. Roosevelt carried that bullet …

Today we present another entry for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (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 …

Today we present another entry for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (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 …

From SurvivalBlog reader Mark C. I learned that on Wednesday, we lost a true American hero. Command Sergeant Major Basil Plumley died at 92 years of age in Columbus, Georgia. CSM Plumley was a combat infantryman in WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam. Sam Elliot played him in the movie “We Were Soldiers”. — Today we present another entry for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize …

Today we present another entry for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (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 …

Today we present another entry for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (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 …

Steve of Amateur Radio Ponderings just posted a nice review of my novel Founders. As an aside, I must mention that some non-Christians have slammed my novel at Amazon.com, giving it one star reviews. For the sake of balance, I’d appreciate seeing reviews from people who’ve also read the book but that don’t share their anti-Christian bias. The other main complaint about Founders is that some people found it repetitious. To explain: I took an 11-page post facto summary chapter from my first novel Patriots and fleshed it out into more than 100 pages, providing substantially more detail about Ken …

Today we present another entry for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (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 …

Happy Birthday to science fiction author David Brin. (Born October 6,1950.) He wrote The Postman, a great novel that was later loosely adapted into a passable movie by Kevin Costner. — Today we present another entry for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and …

I heard from my publisher that my latest novel Founders hit #11 on the New York Times bestseller list. The book also landed at #20 on their hardcover and paperback combined list and #32 on their print and eBook combined list. — This is the birthday of Jonathan Edwards (born October 5, 1703, died March 22, 1758.) He was a prolific Calvinist theology writer. Many of his writings were later collected in the multi-volume book “The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards”, edited by John Gerstner. Those excellent books are considered the benchmark for all other Bible commentaries, at least …

The folks at Barnes & Noble kindly positioned my novel Founders on the front table at most of their stores. Please thank the staff of those stores for doing so, and consider giving them some business. Thanks. — This is the birthday of the late Charlton Heston–born John Charles Carter–on October 4, 1923. He died April 5, 2008. He was best known for his lead role as Ben-Hur and for his many science fiction movies in the 1970s. For what its worth, I still like the movie The Omega Man with Charlton Heston better than the re-make, I Am Legend, …

October 3rd is the 19th anniversary of the heroic deaths of Master Sergeant Gary I. Gordon (August 30, 1960 – October 3, 1993) and Sergeant First Class Randall D. Shughart (August 13, 1958–October 3, 1993) in Mogadishu, Somalia. These SFOD-D snipers were both posthumous recipients of the Medal of Honor. They asked to be inserted to rescue Warrant Officer pilot Michael Durant, knowing well that their chances of survival were incredibly slim. Together, Gordon and Shugart accounted for at least 25 Somali KIAs before they died. The events of October 3rd and 4th, 1993 were memorialized in the movie Black …

Today we present the first entry for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (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 …