The recent Agence France-Presse article “Apocalypse now? In US and abroad many are prepared” was a bit of mixed bag. To begin, I must mention that I hardly deserve to be called “the patron saint of survivalism”. Only one man deserves that title: Mel Tappan. The article included a biting subtext that I’ve seen before from statist journalists. It sounded condescendingly anti-survivalist and anti-Christian. (One data point: The journalist’s name is Sara Hussein. That is one of the reasons that I declined to do an interview for the article. I suspected that it might be a hatchet job.) I should also mention that for some reason Sara Hussein also described me as being “anti-tax”. I don’t recall ever articulating that view per se in any of my writings. But I’m happy to go on record as being opposed to unequal or unfair taxation schemes. I could handle flat, reasonable taxes. I’ll also go on record that the planned Federal tax increases that go into effect in the U.S. in 2011 are likely to delay any economic recovery.
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Today we present another entry for Round 29 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include:
First Prize: A.) 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 between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum (Luger ) with 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP projectiles, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $249 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).
Second Prize: A.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $400, and B.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).
Third Prize: A.) A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing, and B.) a Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.)
Round 29 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.