Round 70 Non-Fiction Writing Contest Winners Announced!

Any article submitted but not published will automatically be rolled over to Round 71. Here are the winners:

First Prize goes to J.D. for “Austere Dentistry and Temporary Fillings” published on April 1st, 2017. He will receive the following prizes:

  1. 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.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chrome-lined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. An infrared sensor/imaging camouflage shelter from Snakebite Tactical in Eureka, Montana (A $350+ value),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Continue reading“Round 70 Non-Fiction Writing Contest Winners Announced!”

Basic Rifle Marksmanship- Part 1, by Mark Bunch

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For most of my life I have been a rifle shooter, competitor, and instructor. I have also carried a rifle in combat when people I didn’t know shot at me. I know a fair amount about the subject and would like to share some of the things I have learned about basic rifle marksmanship along the way. A man or woman with a quality rifle and the training to use it is a formidable combination indeed.

What are you going to use it for?

Just as with handguns, a prospective buyer needs to know what he/she is going to use a rifle for in order to choose the correct tool for the job. You generally get what you pay for in life, although there are some pretty good value priced rifles. There is also the option of buying a good quality used rifle from a pawn shop or gun dealer.

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The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods – a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Today’s focus is on Islam.

Islam

The Christian world received unwelcome but expected news this week. Pew Research Center released a study that projects the Muslim population in America will double by 2050 and is on track to become the world’s dominant religion by the end of the century. This news comes on the heels of two acts of mass murder perpetrated by Muslim extremists last week. It’s not good at all.

o o o

Trump spent time last week hawking the idea of an “Arab NATO” to opppose the Sunni Islamist terrorists in the Islamic State and al-Qaeda as well as Shi’ite Islamist Iran. Apparently, the concept was well received with a diplomat stating that the plan is moving forward and being studied. It will be called the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO). Oh, how we have short memories in the political world. In 1955, Great Britain, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Turkey, backed by the U.S., founded the first METO dubbed the Baghdad Pact (to oppose Soviet influence in the region). The end result was the violent overthrow of the British-backed Iraqi monarchy by Arab nationalists only three years later.

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The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

“The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.” – Theodore Roosevelt, The Kansas City Star, May 7, 1918

New Frontier Compact, by X. Liberal

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Dear Readers,

This is a Compact I wrote for a ficticious people in a ficticious land and at a time of world calamity. It is not based upon any Constitution of political significance of today, unless otherwise noted. I’m anxious to obtain feedback. If you were going to ratify this, what changes would be needed from your perspective? I will also not have time to reply to feedback but will gather all into account.

Of course, if the balloon goes up today, this might come in handy real soon.

Thanks and God Bless! – X. Liberal

PREAMBLE

We, the peoples of the New Frontier, in order to preserve our Union, restore peace and justice (not social justice), for ourselves and also for our prodigy, do ordain and establish this Compact for the New Frontier.

ARTICLE I (Restoration)

Section 1

  1. To save succeeding generations from the scourge of Elitism, which many times over in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
  2. To reaffirm our faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whose teachings are a code of conduct not to be undermined and are to be written into law of the land. To that extent, in the notion of our Christian Jurist Father Sir William Blackstone, any law contrary to God’s law must be expunged from the law of the land, and
  3. To immediately restore full fundamental human rights outlined in the U.S. Constitution, underscoring human rights are granted to each human equally through their Creator in Heaven, and any government embodiment must assume the responsibility to safeguard and protect these God-given rights according to Psalm 82:4, and
  4. To promote and establish conditions under which justice and respect for all laws established in the land, obligations arising from treaties, pacts, domestic and international law are to be maintained through Judeo Christian principles, and
  5. To promote human free will, in which God has given to His creation as a gift, for their own pursuit of happiness, and
  6. Reinstate the original Bill or Rights further outlined in ARTICLE VIII of this PACT.

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JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

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Here are JWR‘s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers:

Books:

The Collapse of Complex Societies

America’s Financial Reckoning Day: How you can survive America’s monetary and political decline in the 21st Century

Note:  This title is also available as a Kindle e-book.  (Everyone should own a Kindle Fire Tablet.)


Movies:

Unbranded. An amazing documentary about four new Texas A&M graduates who go on a grand adventure.  They adopt a string of 16 wild mustangs from the BLM,  green break them, and then immediately ride them from the Mexican border to the Canadian border.

Swimming in Auschwitz. (Currently available only for Amazon Prime members. Keep in mind that if you become an Amazon Prime member that you will get streaming access to thousands of movies and television shows at no extra charge, as well as free shipping on most orders.)

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Economics & Investing for Preppers

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Here are the latest news items and commentary on economics and investing. We cover market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Today we focus on investment guns. And most of these items reflect the quirky “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor):


Precious Metals:

First, over at Gold-Eagle: Gold price rises as Asian stocks, dollar slip after oil slump

o o o

And I found this tantalizing prediction over at Kitco: Gold To Move Closer To $1,300 This Week – TD Securities

 
Commodities Economics:

Moving on to commodities.  Martin Tillier: The OPEC Elixir Wasn’t Potent Enough

o o o

And then this, from Investing.com: Strong start to summer driving season pushed U.S. oil rises towards $50

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The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

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“Forthwith flashes of actual flame, a bright glare leaping from one to another, sprang from the scattered group of men. It was as if some invisible jet impinged upon them and flashed into white flame. It was as if each man were suddenly and momentarily turned to fire.

Then, by the light of their own destruction, I saw them staggering and falling, and their supporters turning to run.

I stood staring, not as yet realising that this was death leaping from man to man in that little distant crowd. All I felt was that it was something very strange. An almost noiseless and blinding flash of light, and a man fell headlong and lay still; and as the unseen shaft of heat passed over them, pine trees burst into fire, and every dry furze bush became with one dull thud a mass of flames. And far away towards Knaphill I saw the flashes of trees and hedges and wooden buildings suddenly set alight.

It was sweeping round swiftly and steadily, this flaming death, this invisible, inevitable sword of heat. I perceived it coming towards me by the flashing bushes it touched, and was too astounded and stupefied to stir. I heard the crackle of fire in the sand pits and the sudden squeal of a horse that was as suddenly stilled. Then it was as if an invisible yet intensely heated finger were drawn through the heather between me and the Martians, and all along a curving line beyond the sand pits the dark ground smoked and crackled. Something fell with a crash far away to the left where the road from Woking station opens out on the common. Forth-with the hissing and humming ceased, and the black, dome-like object sank slowly out of sight into the pit.

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Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – May 30, 2017

By proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, the first major Memorial Day observance was held to honor those who died “in defense of their country” Known to some as “Decoration Day,” mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.

The 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances that had taken place in various locations in the three years since the end of the Civil War. In fact, several cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mississippi; Macon, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois. In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon B. Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo–which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866–because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

The Rawles Rationale

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The following is my core rationale on the nature of government, liberty, and Godly personal conduct in the 21st Century. You may have seen some of these rationale statements in my books or blog posts. I plan to expand this at a later date:

Rights

  • The degree to which you allow your rights to be trampled is inversely proportional to your knowledge of (and respect for) the Constitution.
  • Whenever someone must buy a license or pay a fee to exercise a right then it is something less than a right. It is in fact a mere privilege, subject to the whim of petty bureaucrats. Fundamental rights are not abstract tokens that are given or sold by other men. They are in fact primary liberties bestowed upon us by God, our maker. Rights are not substantially secured by asking, “Mother may I?” of any government agency. Rights are more properly demanded or boldly seized and then conspicuously exercised regularly. This secures the liberties that have legitimately belonged to us since birth. If need be, lost rights can and must be restored through proscriptive use. Do you live in a land where your rights have been marginalized into privileges?  Then it is either time to change your government, or to change your address. Much like a muscle that atrophies with disuse, any right that goes unexercised for many years devolves into a privilege, and eventually can even be redefined as a crime.

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SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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This column is posted on Tuesdays. Here, we present news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. We also mention companies in the region of interest to preppers. Today’s highlight is a Hydrographix company that camouflage dips guns.

Idaho

First, one of my consulting clients asked me to make a mention of Dawson Ridge Beetleworx and Hydrographix, in Moyie Springs, Idaho. They camouflage dipped several rifles for him. He was thrilled with both the quality of their work and their reasonable rates for camo dipping. (About 50% of what their competitors charge.) They have dozens of camouflage patterns available. He added one caveat:  “Just don’t  bring them any camo dipping work during deer and elk season, which keeps them very busy with their other ventures.”

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The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods – a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Today’s focus is on physical security

Security

Worried about privacy but not really trusting commercial VPN offerings? Reader P.S. sent in this link on building your own VPN using some commonly available software and a hosting service. Building your own VPN is easy. Just follow the step-by-step directions. It can also give you superior performance.

Physical Security

Reader D.F. was looking for an inexpensive way to build a garage and ran across this product. BallistiCrete claims Level 4 protection when applied thick enough (anecdotal stories claim up to .50BMG). BallistiCrete is easily applied to gypsum board walls. It can also provide security in fairly hostile environments. You can apply it by spraying or hand troweling. It will also cure in only five days.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:”

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

“For the naive mind there is something miraculous in the issuance of fiat money. A magic word spoken by the government creates out of nothing a thing which can be exchanged against any merchandise a man would like to get. How pale is the art of sorcerers, witches, and conjurers when compared with that of the government’s Treasury Department!” – Ludwig von Mises, The Theory of Money and Credit