What is a Time Bank, Pajama Mama, Best Free Software-More

Poor Man’s Recession Bulletin
Your choice for usable information

Inside This Issue:

· All about Time Banks
· How to Hold a Garage Sale
· Smarter Driving thru free software
· The promise of thin-film solar
· Meet the Pajama Mama


Cleaning anything involves making something else dirty, but anything can get dirty without something else getting clean…Laurence Peter


A bit of humor to start your day…
Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel “ pick up your shovel, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land”.

Nearly 75 years ago, President Roosevelt (Democrat) said, “ Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a camel, this is the promised land”.

Now Obama has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of camels, and mortgaged the Promised Land.

Furthermore, I was so depressed last night thinking about Health Care Plans, the economy, the wars, lost jobs, Savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc .
I called Lifeline, the suicide help line. I got a call center in Pakistan . I told them I was suicidal.

They all got excited and asked if I could drive a truck…
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Got a great idea?
Let your Fans decide! Post your idea on our Wall, and a video, too if you’ve got a lot to say.

Make a difference in the lives of those trying to make a difference by “Liking Up” the venture you feel are worthy. You just might make the next great alternative energy source a reality.

Via Twitter & Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/FUND-Me-FUND-Me-NOT/341596023308?v=app_4949752878#!/pages/FUND-Me-FUND-Me-NOT/341596023308?v=app_4949752878

>>>Finally, I was amazed to learn that accounting firms are farming out your tax returns to accountants in India. I knew American companies didn’t like American workers but this is crazy…in 2003, some 25,000 returns were done in India, by 2005 it was 400,000 and growing. Obviously, they have a way around our privacy laws or at least what’s left of them!
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How to Have a Blow Out Yard Sale

It’s getting to be that time of year again…Yard sales pop up in the spring and summer like mushrooms, but there is a knack to having a successful one. The reasons you may want to have a yard sale are numerous. Despite the hard work involved in getting the sale together, it is a chance to have fun, meet your neighbors, make money, lose money, get skunked, recycle, and clean out the clutter that has been accumulating.

The first order of business is to get a pad of paper and a pen and start going through the rooms in your house. What room has the most junk? Is it the kitchen, bedroom, garage? Check every corner of the closet, the shelves, etc. and evaluate everything honestly. Don’t get overly sentimental. If you haven’t used the thing in 10 years, why keep it around collecting dust? When listing your “inventory,” make notes like “Must go,” “Takes up too much room,” or “Can’t part with it.” This will help you organize what items will go in the yard sale. The greater assortment of goods, the larger your profit will be. More at:
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/08/08mar31c.cfm?fp

Responses to telemarketers…

‘I won’t be able to take advantage of that because I begin my 10-year sentence for mail fraud this week – I don’t want to make any commitments until I’m released.’

‘Thanks for calling, but the Social Security Admin just declared me legally dead. My bank accounts are frozen, & my lawyer thinks it will take a year or so get things fixed.’

Interesting Resources

Leslie Truex, also known as The Pajama Mama, truly knows how to combine comfort with making a living. For over a decade she has been working at home, often in her pajamas, and helping others do the same.

She is the owner of the 12-year old site WorkAtHomeSuccess.com which has been recognized by telework and small business associations as a quality resource for work-at-home information. She is also the author of The Work-At-Home Success Bible. She has been interviewed by The Daily Buzz, CNN.com, Women’s Day Magazine, Redbook, Today’s Parent and in a host of other media outlets.
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Dropbox is a free backup software that allows me to easily and securely backup the most important files on my computer to an external disk somewhere else on the internet. They offer 2GB of secured online storage for free. If you need more space than that, they have an account with 50GB of storage for $9.99 per month and another with 100GB of storage for $19.99 per month. www.dropbox.com

Terrific site for resources and green, eco-friendly goods
http://www.growandmake.com?ref=71
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5 Myths About Going Green-Video
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/video/5-myths-about-going-green.aspx

Free Colleges
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/03/26/college-for-free-yes-free/

How to Go Green in Your Kitchen Video
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/video-saving-green-by-going-green-kitchen.aspx

How to Protect Your Assets in the Coming Inflationary Crisis”
http://www.rcw1.com/m/PersonalLiberty1.php

Alternative Energy, Green Jobs Resource & News
http://www.alternativeenergy.com/

How To Make A Rain Barrel…good for the garden
http://www.naturalrainwater.com/make_rainbarrel.htm

The Best Free Software of 2010

Get what you DON'T pay for: Here are 196 programs that cost nothing but will make your computing life richer—all while keeping your wallet fat.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2361876,00.asp?KC=PCMA033010


Safer, Smarter, Fuel Efficient Driving™
FuelClinic™ software will show you how to improve your gas mileage and get 10% to 20% better MPG (sometimes more) using the vehicle that you already own, while helping improve road safety, reducing traffic congestion, and saving you money.
http://www.fuelclinic.com/

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What is Time Banking All About?
At its most basic level, Time banking is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community. That hour goes into the Time Bank as a Time Dollar. Then you have a Time dollar to spend on having someone doing something for you. It’s a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections.
Each Time Bank has a website where you list what you would like to do for other members. You look up Time Bank services online or call a community coordinator to do it for you. You earn Time Dollars after each service you perform and then you get to spend it on whatever you want from the listings. More at:
http://www.timebanks.org/how-it-works.htm

Economy is a poor man’s revenue: extravagance a rich man’s ruin.
--Lydia Child


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Resources for Stockpiling and Disaster Preparation
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Step-by-step guide reveals how to
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The Promise of Thin-film Solar
From Mother Earth News, by Steve Heckeroth


Every hour, the sun beams more energy to the Earth’s surface than the global population uses in a year. Meanwhile, humanity struggles with the effects of pollution, climate change and fossil fuel dependence. Could it be that the solution to these problems is right above us? Modern photovoltaic (PV) technologies take advantage of renewable energy from the sun by converting sunlight into electricity. So why aren’t more of us using this remarkable technology to power our homes? When asked, the reason most people give is the cost of installing a PV system. But new thin-film PV products are getting better and cheaper all the time. This technology could soon change the way we think about electricity and make sunshine our “fuel” of choice.

The Rise of Thin-film Solar

The type of solar-electric module currently dominating the industry is crystalline silicon, which is made by encapsulating wafers of highly refined silicon under rectangular sheets of glass framed with aluminum. These modules have been the primary solar energy technology for more than 50 years.

Crystalline modules still dominate in PV sales, but in the last few years most new development work has focused on thin-film PV technologies. In 2005, more than 95 percent of the PV market was served by crystalline modules. Since then, thin film’s share of the market has risen steadily and is now 25 percent. Hundreds of thin-film companies have entered various stages of product development or production.

Large-area thin-film PV modules and laminates have been commercially available since the ’90s. Thin-film modules still aren’t as efficient per unit area as crystalline silicon modules, however, they have other advantages over crystalline silicon. Perhaps most importantly, thin-film solar is much less expensive to produce. Many thin-film panels are produced from amorphous silicon. These solar cells require much less high-grade silicon than it takes to produce crystalline silicon panels. Thin-film solar cells can also be made from other semiconductor materials, including copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) and cadmium telluride.

Can We Make Every Roof a Solar Roof?

Rather than building massive new power plants, why not install PV panels on every sunny roof and on simple shade structures over every parking lot? The same mass adoption that allowed room-sized mainframe computers to morph into laptops could cause huge, centralized power plants to give way to rooftop PV panels. In fact, some U.S. policies already encourage distributed generation by giving substantial tax incentives to homeowners and businesses that install PV systems.

Because thin-film solar panels are both lightweight and flexible, it’s possible to incorporate them directly into buildings — as roofing materials, for example. The idea of building-integrated photovoltaics is not new. Architects have been using PV modules as roofing since the early ’80s, but using the glass modules available at that time was both challenging and expensive. Glass is transparent, long-lasting and weatherproof, but it can shatter and is not an ideal roofing material.

In contrast, thin-film solar cells work very well on rooftops. Uni-Solar’s amorphous silicon thin-film laminates have been available for more than a decade, and new solar roofing products may soon be coming on the market. In October 2009, CertainTeed, a leading North American manufacturer of asphalt shingles, announced an agreement to develop roofing-integrated PV products for the residential market. In September 2009, Dow Building Solutions announced it is working with Global Solar, a leading manufacturer, to develop thin-film solar roofing shingles.

Many other possibilities exist for building-integrated photovoltaic applications. A few companies are producing thin-film modules that can be used as windows, and there is also great potential for developing low-cost solar siding. For every new technological development that’s announced, there are dozens more in the works. In short, solar power is becoming more affordable and available all the time. It’s possible that future generations will wonder why people ever used fossil fuels to produce electricity.

Excerpted from Mother Earth News, the Original Guide to Living Wisely. To read more articles from Mother Earth News, please visit www.MotherEarthNews.com or call 800-234-3368 to subscribe. Copyright 2009 by Ogden Publications Inc.


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Seems Every country is in trouble…Parting Shot

As you might imagine, I subscribe to a large variety of newsletters, primarily of the economic forecasting type. I don’t see much optimism anywhere for any country other than India. The US is overextended with $100 trillion of debt and entitlement (Medicare, Social Security, etc.) problems, the Euro sucks because of Greece, Portugal and other budget concerns.

Probably what does frighten me the most is how states like California ($20 billion) and Illinois ($12.8 billion) will survive their indebtedness and WILL they ever learn anything about the future such as living within their means? Or, will they succumb to their normal behavior of seeking new ways to tax and spend? Some recently aired examples:

· New Hampshire literally stole $110 million from a medical malpractice insurance pool ...
· Colorado is trying to seize a $500 million surplus from a state workers’ compensation insurer ...
· Connecticut has tried to create its own magic accounting rules ...
· Hawaii has decided to change the definition of the English word for “week,” cutting schools down to four days ...

No doubt you’ve heard the news reports about the religious militia group arrested by FBI in MI, OH and IL…do you think they are the only group, which is fearful of our government and its unconstitutional actions, spendthrift ways and so forth?

The stimulus plan has pretty much been a disaster from what I can see – too much given to too many who created the financial mess in the first place. The next five years will be interesting as the warning signs are pretty clear and we’ve not faced up to the debt situation and lack of innovation here. My guess is, however, other nation’s will get hit even harder.

Celebrate Earth Day, April 22, 2010 and Happy Easter!

From the worldwide headquarters, the contrarian curmudgeon known as:
Bruce “The Poor Man”

http://www.poormansurvival.com


A Shallow Planet Production