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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

DIY Home Canning, Privacy Protection Tools-Free Downloads



Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources


For Independent Minded People!

ISSN 2161-5543

 

 

In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control, and those dedicated to the goals the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely.

Pournelle's law of Bureaucracy”

 

From The Smiling Dog Saloon Files

 

In This Issue:

1.        New-PayPal alternative and it’s free

2.       DIY Antiseptic ointment, Smokeless firepit

3.       More free ebook downloads-Getting Started in Home Canning

4.       Privacy is theft (Orwellian government-speak)- Updated Privacy Resources

 

 

Happy Halloween!

Starting last Tuesday, you can just email cash, free of charge, directly from your debit card to anyone else's, regardless of what bank each party uses. There's no login or password to remember and no special software or hardware required—you just use email. It works on both ends using any email service or program on any email-capable device, whether a computer, a smartphone or a tablet.

This new service, called Square Cash, comes from Square Inc., best known for equipping small brick-and-mortar merchants with smartphone-swiping devices that allow them to accept credit cards, and with tablets that act as sophisticated cash registers.

Square Cash permits you to send up to $2,500 a week in several transactions or all at once. At launch, it works only in the U.S., and with debit cards carrying either the Visa .  It isn't meant for buying things from merchants, online or off, only for person-to-person cash transfers.

There are other services that allow you to send money from one person to another digitally. You can do it via PayPal, or via a newer service called Venmo, which PayPal is in the process of acquiring. But I believe Square is simpler and more private. For instance, PayPal places received money in a PayPal account and you must transfer it to your bank in a separate step. Venmo has a strong social component that encourages users to post when payments are made.

PayPal, which is owned by eBay and accounts for 25% of its annual revenues, rakes in billions of dollars annually.  Setting up a PayPal account is time-consuming and vendors complain that chargebacks from customers are difficult to win (if the transaction doesn’t involve eBay however, your odds of winning a dispute are near zero), endangering what are already cash-flow starved businesses and your transactions are not anonymous.

The un-Patriot Act drove nail into the coffin for any financial privacy when using pre-paid debit cards or PayPal transactions as your Social Security number (in violation of the Privacy Act of 1974) is now required by the government.

PayPal can be a pain and expensive to use so this alternative might prove useful…

 

 

Protecting your financial records from identity theft
read more here

 

 


 

PM’s Roundup of Useful Resources…

 


Again, good reasons to store various essential oils and coconut oil as there are so many uses, including as an antiseptic: “Today I am going to share with you how to make an all-natural first-aid antiseptic that you can easily make at home. This homemade antiseptic has excellent antibacterial properties to treat everyday cuts, scrapes…


 


Raising Quick Cash
Most of us have faced a cash crunch at one time or another where a couple of big unexpected bills can wipe out your savings and even max out your credit cards. But there are ways to solve a cash crisis. Hopefully, with these tips and suggestions, your cash crunch will be short-lived and you'll have your finances in better shape quickly
. Read more.


This is a good fire design to know, especially for bug outs and other stealthy uses (link includes a video tutorial) because the design helps to hide the view of flames: “Today we’ll be covering how to create a Dakota Smokeless Fire Pit. These smokeless fire pits are great for hiding your fire from enemies.…


 

FREE Downloads – Getting Your Household in Order+Canning, Preserving, Pickling and Jams ebooks

From the Poor Man Survival crew…


 

Organizing your garage: lawn tool storage
read more here

 


This is an update to a piece we ran two years ago…even more uses.

To be honest, I’ve never used WD-40 for anything other than it’s intended usage: to loosen things up. Like many supplies you should have on-hand, however, WD-40 can potentially do so much more: “You might not have ever thought that WD-40 could be used for more than loosening up rusty parts or greasing up your…

Continue reading WD-40 Survival Guide (link)

 

 

Getting started with home canning
read more here

 



Storing crops in a passively cooled basement root cellar is one of the most efficient ways to preserve food year-round.
More...

 

The Nanny State-We love our government

Weapons of Moral Hypocrisy

One country has a chemical weapons stockpile that's three times as large as another country, yet denounces the latter country for having any at all. Which countries are these? They are the United States and Syria, respectively. Politics as usual includes hypocritical pronouncements of "moral" outrage.

 

Camp FEMA: American Lockdown

In a country born out of political dissent, we watch our leaders in Washington slowly pass bills that label ordinary Americans as thought criminals and potential domestic terrorists for simply questioning the actions of their government. We see third party candidates and their impassioned supporters listed in secret government reports that call their allegiance into question and brand them as fanatics and extremists.


 


 


 


 

 


The Parting ThoughtNothing to worry in the land of the free!

 

Privacy is Theft – Orwellian Speak for the US Government’s War on Personal Privacy

Our government, which should be taking the lead in protecting us from this free fall into the dystopian territory that Orwell so chillingly described in his book 1984, actually takes the opposite tack, embracing new invasive technologies with gusto.

For example, a creative hacker recently revealed that New York City routinely monitors the movements of drivers by means of the RFID chip in each E-ZPass toll unit. The hacker modified his E-ZPass to light up and make a sound each time it was read, and he was shocked to discover that it was accessed repeatedly over the course of a short drive through Manhattan.

The New York system, called Midtown in Motion, includes 100 microwave sensors, 32 traffic video cameras and E-ZPass readers at 23 intersections to measure traffic volumes, congestion and to record vehicle travel times. It was introduced quietly in 2011, without advance notice to E-ZPass users, and no mention of it in the product’s terms of use.

Other governments, too, have modified ostensibly benign technologies for monitoring purposes, in the name of building “Smart Cities.” London, the capital of Orwell’s fictional mega-state Oceania, has created a surveillance-based congestion charge zone. London, of course, has long been notorious for its “Ring of Steel,” a surveillance cordon of nearly half a million cameras and sentry booths at choke-points on the city’s access roads.

And lest we think that private enterprise is likely to act as a check on government’s totalitarian instincts, consider the emergence of an unsavory new industry: websites that collect and publish mug shots and charge a fee from $30 to $400 or more to remove the image. Mug shots, of course, are taken of all arrestees, regardless of whether they are eventually convicted of a crime. Once taken, they are in the public record and fair game, just as your E-ZPass movements seem to be.

The fact is that the world of privacy and individual liberty as we knew it has vanished altogether. The struggle facing us is no longer to prevent encroachments on our privacy, but rather to adopt ways and means to shield it from the modern information economy and surveillance state.

The Poor Man has long recognized that privacy is the essence of liberty. Without privacy, our ability to act freely is constrained by the foreknowledge that everything we do will be watched and possibly judged. As Orwell predicted, in such an environment, second-guessing one’s actions becomes second nature. We no longer live as free individuals, but as extensions of Big Brother, whose will we try to discern so as to avoid trouble.

  

"I Lived. I Died. Now Mind Your Own Business." That's how I want my tombstone to read.

New :  How to Protect Your Privacy downloads added-Free!


 

Support the Revolution – Make a Donation to the Poor Man today!

“Until the next revolution”, the Poor Man

 

Much of what the Poor Man does is to promote the concepts of self-reliance, a voluntary society and economic independence -- writing articles, giving talks, maintaining blogs and an educational website -- he does for free. Donations made to support him in these efforts are much appreciated.  We'd like your help. We want PM to be a weekly resource to stay on track to achieving the goal of becoming self reliant.  If you have a resource to share please send it to us.

 

Keep our services free-Check our Resources

 

FREE-Just launched …our own Poor Man’s Barter/Buy/Sell Network Ad Site

Your Price – Share with like minded friends…A small price to pay…


 

New Books & Curiosities Added Weekly


 

 

 

 

A Shallow Planet Production

Saturday, October 26, 2013

What the Middle Class Should be Doing Now-Ich fühle mich glücklich.




Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources


For Independent Minded People!

ISSN 2161-5543

 

 

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be".
- Lao Tzu -

 

From The Smiling Dog Saloon Files

 

In This Issue:

1.        Comrade Citizen-Your life is no longer your own!  Ich fühle mich glücklich

2.       What the middle class should be doing now, 7 Ways to be a better prepper

3.       Teaching children to become more savvy consumers

4.       What to do When they are hunting YOU!

5.       Struggling with debt-learn to cope from unexpected sources

 

 

Advice from Dear Slavey – the recent government shutdown was a preview…

Middle Class Americans, here are the key things to do NOW:

1) STOP using credit cards. And unless you already own your house outright, don’t even think of buying one. The prices are still horribly inflated and once the collapse comes, your equity will evaporate. The first things that will happen when the government defaults on its debt is a swift collapse of the dollar and a massive interest rate increase. Banks will be panicking and trying to survive. They’ll call in all their loans and attempt to get whatever they can from you if you have debt or a mortgage. Seriously, cut up your credit cards now and pay them off ASAP. Or if you can’t do that while continuing to eat and especially if you rent and have no assets, and your credit rating is already horrible, just stop paying them, especially if you owe $20,000 or less. By the time they start coming after you, so many people will be defaulting they won’t bother with the folks who don’t owe them substantial amounts of money and have nothing they can seize and sell.

2) STOP buying anything but food, water, precious metals, solar panels, gardening supplies, and the materials to build an outhouse in the backyard. Stock up on food and water, enough canned food and water to last your family two or three months. And if you live in a house, or have property, dig a deep hole, build an outhouse and buy the chemicals you need to keep it hygienic, because if the collapse comes there will be no utilities for a while. Convert to solar (they’re starting to sell solar panels at IKEA in Europe – hopefully here soon), and start growing your own food inside and outside your home.

3) STOP thinking any large corporation values your work and spend your free time working on developing your own small business if you’re in a typical 9-5 job. Obamacare has a hidden feature, it’s no longer viable for large employers to hire you full time because they’ll be forced to provide health benefits if they do. I have friends – a LOT of them – who used to make $70K plus with excellent educational backgrounds (useless pieces of paper these days) making $16 bucks an hour now doing the same jobs they used to be paid twice as much to do even five years ago who are fired every six months, then rehired by a different department in the same company two weeks later – or just let go – to keep them part time. Get out of the rat race as soon as you can and be your own boss. If this guy can start his own business, you have no excuse.

4) Maintain relationships with people you know will have your back and make a plan to take care of each other when the shit hits the fan. Look what happened in Acapulco when no government agency was there to do anything for them last month. Jeff Berwick and many others jumped in and kept people alive on their own. We have to be prepared in advance to have the resources to do that for ourselves as well.

Have a question for Dear Slavey? Email to tdv@dollarvigilante.com.

 

Note:  The Poor Man has been urging our readers for years to start a sideline business & you’ll find plenty of examples and tools to use at: 


 

 



 

PM’s Roundup of Useful Resources…

 

More free downloads from the Poor Man Survival Crew!

The Art & Science of Dumpster Diving + Other Free eBooks


 

 


I 100% agree with this article. It’s one thing to read about prepping here and there but to be a “better prepper” you really do have to learn new skills, prioritize your preps, and be involved in the community. I know many people choose to do that by leaving comments, others via forums, but there…


 

 

How convenient is it this…Home Depot now offers the
Sunforce 600 watt wind turbine?
Check it out here
http://earthpowernews.com/home-depot-sunforce-600-watt-wind-turbine/

 

 


 


Several conversions for common freeze dried foods that can be downloaded as PDF: “…But there is one thing I don’t love about homemade soups: Many require LOTS of washing, peeling and chopping of vegetables. So, instead, I use my pre-washed, pre-peeled, pre-chopped freeze dried veggies. They are nutritious (picked when fully ripe), full of flavor…


 


Some very good thoughts by Max Velocity about avoidance strategies if/when you’re being tracked by others, especially with dogs. This reminds me of various police shows (not the movies) where it was virtually impossible for the dogs to lose the scent, you had to fool the handlers: “I received the following request: “I am wondering…


 

Portable Emergency Food Preparation Preparedness that is made in the U.S.A.!  http://www.prepstove.com

 

Struggling with debt? Things you can learn from an unexpected place
read more here

 

 

How to buy a chainsaw
read more here

 

The Nanny State-We love our government



 


The Parting ThoughtNothing to worry in the land of the free!

 

Bureaucracies force us to practice nonsense. And if you rehearse nonsense, you may one day find yourself the victim of it.
Laurence Gonzales

 


It’s a sobering reality to most of us that we are not in control of our lives.  Your life is no longer your own!

 

Comrade Citizen-You Must Comply… Ich fühle mich glücklich.

 

The illusion of control is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to control events, for instance to feel that they control outcomes that they demonstrably have no influence over such as government regulation. Example:  You no longer have any personal or financial privacy thanks to government interference and requirements.  The effect was named by psychologist Ellen Langer

 

Can anyone tell me where the local, state or federal government doesn’t have control over our/your business or personal lives?  Each year the government, at every level, strives to dominate and control every aspect of our lives from the bedroom to the boardroom.  Increasingly, citizens have less and less say-so in how our government dominates our lives.

 

"We the people" The preamble of our constitution begins with these words. Nonetheless our nation was conceived with individual rights and freedoms. The word "I" which represents the individual, we all have an individuality of our own, yet government at every level has sought to eliminate individual rights much like Communist regimes.

 

There are two things that control our lives and the way we live them. Our behavior and attitudes and lifestyle are governed by them.

 

Definition of Politics: The activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, esp. the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.

 

Some people prefer being controlled, to have others do the thinking for them.  I recall when I was drafted into the service (against my will) how many of us laughed at what we called “lifers,” those who spent their 20 or so years in the service because they got their ‘three squares a day, clothing, and were told what to do – they didn’t have to think for themselves about much of anything.’

 

Most pencil-pushing bureaucrats are like this as well.  They’re unable to do anything outside of the massive book of rules and regulation.  They simply do their time and get out unable to think on their own even if the ‘rule’ winds up costing the taxpayer untold extra time and money to accomplish something in an efficient manner…this is one of the reasons why government costs us so much and squanders untold billions of our national resources…too stupid to think on their own but oh so willing to demand that citizens obey like little robots.

 

Most people are still deluded into believing they are free but Truth is only as real as our delusion allows.  The fact is the United States has become an Orwellian delusion or like the opener from the old TV show The Outer Limits.

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image; make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to the outer limits.

Great moments in bureaucratic stupidity: requiring a disaster plan for a magician’s rabbit

And yet the bureaucracy wonders why we laugh and point at them. Magician Marty Hahne received a letter from the US Department of Agriculture ordering him to submit a disaster plan for the rabbit he uses in his act:

My USDA rabbit license requirement has taken another ridiculous twist. I just received an 8 page letter from the USDA, telling me that by July 29 I need to have in place a written disaster plan, detailing all the steps I would take to help get my rabbit through a disaster, such as a tornado, fire, flood, etc. They not only want to know how I will protect my rabbit during a disaster, but also what I will do after the disaster, to make sure my rabbit gets cared for properly.  I am not kidding–before the end of July I need to have this written rabbit disaster plan in place, or I am breaking the law.

Oh, he also has to prove he’s received training in how to implement Operation Save The Bunny.

My plan: In the event of disaster, Mr. Hippity-Hop is on his own.

As I was writing this a newscast (in MI) announced a legislator wants to pass a law making it illegal to smoke in your own vehicle if there is someone under 18 in the car…

Will the Nanny State ever stop meddling in our lives and just leave us alone?

 


Support the Revolution – Make a Donation to the Poor Man today!

“Until the next revolution”, the Poor Man

 

Much of what the Poor Man does is to promote the concepts of self-reliance, a voluntary society and economic independence -- writing articles, giving talks, maintaining blogs and an educational website -- he does for free. Donations made to support him in these efforts are much appreciated.  We'd like your help. We want PM to be a weekly resource to stay on track to achieving the goal of becoming self reliant.  If you have a resource to share please send it to us.

 

Keep our services free-Check our Resources

 

FREE-Just launched …our own Poor Man’s Barter/Buy/Sell Network Ad Site

Your Price – Share with like minded friends…A small price to pay…


 

 

 

 

 

A Shallow Planet Production