Run your home like a corporation, more government folly

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin
Your Choice for Usable Urban Resources
http://www.PoorManSurvival.com

In This Issue:

· New Alt energy videos added
· New PM Contest-Survey-What Would You Do if…
· Middle Class really is vanishing, America Locks up too many
· Stupidity in government grows, economy declines
· Plastiki-amazing pop bottle boat
· The web of debt, run your household like a corporation
· Feds shut down over 70,000 blogs

In 1930, as part of a speech, FDR said, “The individual sovereignty of our states must be destroyed.”

Upgrade, Update, Uber Cool Frenzy

The Poor Man has been on a roll, adding new videos and resources to the site. This week’s new resources all under the our DIY tab on alternative energy and include:

· Turn Pop Cans into a powerful Solar Heating Panel
· BYO Solar Furnace
· Free Bio-gas Energy Device

We’re already eating lots of veggies grown from out garden. Nothing quite as good as homegrown tomatoes, cucumbers and squash! Our corn crop is coming right along too and should be ready in a few more weeks. After several years of failed experiments and attempts at growing stuff in the Arizona climate, this is great!

EBay note…as others have mentioned, it’s getting tougher to keep one’s PowerSeller status going. Mine was reduced to the bronze level this week (smaller discount) despite the fact I have a 100% feedback since I started 10 years ago. But I did get a letter and a certificate suitable for framing from ebay complimenting me on my status…like a grade school kid, I jumped up and down for joy at getting my star for the day…now I’m expecting a call from an expert at ebay HQ who will shower me with wisdom on how I can do even better – find me some new $99 laptops I can resell, that will make it better!

Stupidity in Government Grows, Economy Declines

There is a distinct correlation between idiocy in government and law and why our country is in decline and why the middle class is shrinking. Not many years ago a young man was denied a position as a police officer. Although he’d passed his training with flying colors, the hiring board decided his IQ of 120 was too high.

America locks up too many people, some for acts that should not even be criminal. No other rich country is nearly as punitive as the Land of the Free.
“One American adult in 100 festers behind bars (with the rate rising to one in nine for young black men). Its imprisoned population numbers 2.3 million...(yet) America’s violent-crime rate is higher than it was 40 years ago. Guess who profits from incarceration? Read the rest of this story and another on 10 Signs the Middle Class Really is Vanishing – READ the rest of the story at the bottom of our main page at www.PoorManSurvival.com

Apparently, no one was able to figure out who wrote that Monopoly Prayer, which I shared a couple of issues back. Tell you what, I have another small contest this week. The winner will get a CD ROM titled the Homestead Library, which features all kinds of how-to on using horses on your farm, raising rabbits for food and so forth – 24 PDF files from a group called Revolution Arsenal.

Capitalizing on the theme I started on the AARP community, I will ask you the same question…If you were running the country, what would you do to restore it?
Take our survey and you might win…http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DFWPHHS
>>>>
Total government brings total poverty and misery…
In 1935, Amos Pinchot wrote that, “Today the nations in the world may be divided into two classes. The nations in which the government fears the people, and the nations in which the people fear the government.”
>>>>

This week’s resources you can use

>>>Cheesemaking, sausage making, dispatching a rabbit and other useful homesteading skills via video and stills…good resource at:http://www.BuildanArk.net

Run your household like a corporation-your own Wall Street with this Coupon Bootcamp site…pretty cool blog & a worth checking out! http://www.preparednesspro.com/blog/your-very-own-wall-street/


>>>Sam’s Club is hosting an open house beginning Friday, August 6 through Sunday, August 8 for members and guests alike to take advantage of savings from everyday needs for home and work, and throughout key back-to-school departments including electronics.
Sam’s Club limits open house events and has only held a few throughout its history, including an event two years ago to celebrate its 25th Anniversary.
During an open house, non-members can shop Sam’s Club for free and are not required to pay the customary 10 percent service fee should they make a purchase.

>>>Low Cost Cleaners you make at home…
· For windows – mix a solution of 45% tap water, 45% rubbing alcohol and 10% household ammonia (I use the lemon scented variety). Some like to add vinegar to their window cleaning solution but I feel it defeats the purpose as the acid in vinegar will only neutralize the ammonia. This solution is also good for an overnight soak of antique glass which has become cloudy.
· All purpose cleaner – add ½ cup of washing soda to one gallon of warm water – don’t use this on fiberglass or aluminum (you might lose your fishing boat)!
· Disinfectant – Mix one gallon of warm water, ¾ cup of household bleach and one tablespoon of powdered laundry detergent. To achieve good results, leave this solution wet on the surface for about 5-minutes before rinsing an drying. I know some folks say you should no longer use bleach, but I think the stuff is great for a wide variety of purposes including keeping the drinking water you store clean.


Somehow, when men are talking, they forget they can’t do everything women can do!
---Unknown

Meat Preservation - Some Salting & Smoking Ideas

Recently a friend of ours shared some home butchered, home smoked bacon with us that was simply delicious. Based on Kevin’s input here’s what he suggests.

Kevin uses a lot of salt and buys it in 50lb sacks locally. He uses one peck of salt to about 500 pounds of pork…all parts of the hog are salted, mid-section, ham, shoulders, and bacon. (I’ll pass on the pig snouts and feet). To salt pork:

Put salt in 5-gallons of water to make a brine. Take 4 lbs of salt, 2 lbs of brown sugar, and depending on taste, 1-2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper. Do not use metal tubs. Rub bacon thoroughly in the salt and brown sugar mixture, pack it tightly into a crock and cover with the brine.
Leave it in the brine for 4-7 weeks; then smoke it. (You can use an old refrigerator to make a small smokehouse).

See here for plans, supplies and recipes too: http://www.theingredientstore.com/foodpreservation/refrig_smoker.htm
http://www.endtimesreport.com/smokehouse.html

Smoking should be done over a ‘cold smoke.’ A small hickory fire, fire of corn cobs, (mesquite does nicely too) can be used too. You don’t need a big fire, just smoke. Put your ham in a brown paper bag and hang it socket side down so it will drain. Make certain your bag is well sealed to keep bugs out.

When you’re ready to use the smoked meat, don’t be overly concerned if there is some mold on the exterior. Just use a sharp knife to peel it off.

The Old Virginia method. Salt the hams down for 5-6 weeks, then brush the hams off and rub with hickory ashes. Let ‘em lay in these ashes for a week. Tie them up in your smokehouse and smoke them with green hickory chips for about six weeks.

To smoke fish, salt it down and then smoke it. Smoking fish should be a continuous process – 4-6 days of uninterrupted smoke. Most fish are smoked during summer months. Look for more information from your county extension office (complete link to every state is at our website under the Useful Links tab).

There are lots of recipes to try and you can find them online.

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>>>It’s not too early to think about making your own supply of fireplace logs…great way to recycle those newspapers you forgot to read. Just lay out a bunch of sheets end-to-end, roll them up as tightly as you can, tie up the ends with twine. Wet them down in a solution of slightly soapy water and let them dry thoroughly (which is why I’m telling you now). NOTE: Do not use these newspaper logs in your woodstove unless your manufacturer specs that it’s OK.

Christine Abela is a web site designer, specializing in websites for small craft-related businesses. Most of her clients are female, over 40, and with very little knowledge of SEO or anything technical. She has just written a free email course about selling crafts online. So if you are a crafter or work in a related area, you can get her free email course at http://www.sellingcraftonline.com.


News Clips to Sooth Your Soul

Mighty darn cool way to recycle empty pop bottles! Are they
selling the plans…this could prove to be the ultimate ‘poor man’s boat.’

· 'Plastiki' bottle ship completes epic Pacific voyage
The 'Plastiki', a boat made from 12,500 plastic bottles, completes her 8,000-nautical mile trans-Pacific voyage from San Francisco as she approaches Sydney Harbour on July 26, 2010.
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/42367?tid=14

>>>

A trend in the science of marketing and advertising has emerged that threatens to further impinge on our privacy. It involves disturbing and subversive personal data mining and unauthorized surveillance by retailers and advertisers.
Digital signage is a growing technology that not only captures a larger viewing audience through eye-catching advertising but collects and analyzes personal data through sophisticated facial recognition cameras embedded in a sign’s flat-panel screen unbeknownst to the viewer.
With the help of software integrated with the signage system and linked online, behavioral and personal characteristics of passersby are scrutinized by marketers. That information can be sold or marketed without the consumer’s permission or knowledge…more at:
http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=705&doc_id=194657&f_src=internetevolution_gnews

FTC Issues Report on Reforming Debt Collection Litigation and Arbitration; Recommends Steps to Protect Consumers and Repair a Broken System
A new Federal Trade Commission report concludes that the system for resolving consumer debt collection disputes is broken, and recommends significant litigation and arbitration reforms to improve efficiency and fairness to consumers. http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/07/debtcollect.shtm


Local cities across the country continue with high traffic fines…
PM has always said traffic courts are just another taxing tool

Michigan tried to introduce legislation in May that would have required communities to conduct the studies needed to set those limits said his efforts have been thwarted by what he called "special interests" who want to keep speed limits low in order to collect revenue from speeding tickets.
There are speed traps throughout Michigan on roads where the speed limits are artificially low," said state Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge.

"A lot of communities don't want to lose that ticket revenue."
Finally, as the Poor Man has been predicting…(could social chaos follow)?
To cover for lost tax revenues, local governments will fire nearly 500,000 workers in the coming year, according to a national survey of counties and cities released Tuesday.

The National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that 270 local governments planned to collectively lay off 8.6 percent of their workforce from the previous fiscal year to the next one. That percentage of all local public sector workers across the country amounts to 481,000 people. The report's authors expect local governments to make even more spending cuts in the near future.
----Remember, the “G” in government stands for gouge the citizen!
<<<>>>
On July 9th, a blog platform that served more than 73,000 blogs, was quietly shut down without warning by the web host Burst.net on orders from the Department of Homeland Security.

Feds confirmed that the site was shut down after FBI agents informed Blogetery’s web host (Burst.net) that links to al-Qaeda bomb-making materials were found on the servers. Many (but not all) of the blogs have since been restored, but this was a frightening example of government power. Although it is important that the Feds acted quickly –no one can see any reason why blogs about gardening, cars and thousands of family blogs were shut down.
<<<>>>
The government is closing in and assuring the destruction of America as we have known it. The seeds were sown with the collusion of banks and government and the complete divorce of the currency from gold.

^^^^SPONSORS^^^^

Resources for Stockpiling and Disaster Preparation
http://www.tbotech.com/cmd.asp?af=1126539

Make Your Own Energy
Step-by-step guide reveals how to
make your own energy for $100 or less. http://tinyurl.com/PMEnergy

Terrific sites for resources and green, eco-friendly goods http://www.growandmake.com?ref=71
http://www.GreenIrene.Com/PoorMan

Don’t Get Caught With Your Pantry Down – the all time best book on family preparedness has been updated & now includes an online video segment as well. Highly recommended 11th Edition. http://tinyurl.com/PMBasics

Good source for your own domain registration, free lookups
http://www.namecheap.com?aff=10810

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Parting Thoughts

Despite all the hype and happy talk
from Washington and Wall Street,
consumer confidence plunged — AGAIN!
The Conference Board just reported that its Consumer Confidence Index fell far more than most economists expected — and it is now down nearly 20% since May alone!

Most people understand that the Fed, the regulators, and the monetary authorities have no credibility when it comes to: a) understanding what is going on, b) fixing it…rather the Washington-Wall Street cartel are still plundering the citizens of this country and Congress sucks up to all their nonsense…yeah, the recession is over and the sky isn’t falling!

The price of gold & silver reveal many people are not falling for government blather and propaganda. Confidence in our system is tempered by those in power who keep us permanently bamboozled with nonsensical economic statistics and there are many who continue to fall for it all hook, line and sinker.
If you are like the majority of us “middle classers” getting made poorer by the irresponsibility of our elected officials it will take a little time to accumulate a proper cache of stored goods and resources to include trade goods…the message is GET OFF YOUR ASS AND START Preparing!

We started predicting this last year…expect a VAT tax to become law within 12 months. Of course, this tax hits the lower income and what’s left of the middle class the hardest and if Obama has his way, the administration will soon lay their hands on your retirement accounts. To learn more about how the fiat money supply is rigged to hurt us or how the clowns on Wall Street have helped to jeopardize our nation’s credit rating, check www.webofdebt.com
Maybe this is why underground shelters are making a comeback. Recent reports suggest these cold war era units are being sold again to protect families against nuclear bombs and other disasters.

The Vivos network, which offers partial ownerships similar to a timeshare in underground shelter communities, is one of several ventures touting escape from a surface-level calamity.

Radius Engineering in Terrell, Texas, has built underground shelters for more than three decades, and business has never been better, says Walton McCarthy, company president.

The company sells fiberglass shelters that can accommodate 10 to 2,000 adults to live underground for one to five years with power, food, water and filtered air, McCarthy says. Doomsday anyone?

That’s it for this edition of your eagerly awaited fountain of knowledge and inspiration!

Bruce “The Poor Man”

http://www.PoorManSurvival.Com
http://www.GreenIrene.com/PoorMan
http://www.OldBookNook.com

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