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Saturday, March 31, 2012

10 Tricks for Surviving the Apocalypse, Reduce your food waste


Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources


For Independent Minded People!

ISSN 2161-5543

In This Issue:

1.       Tracking your food waste

2.      Top 10 Tricks for surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

3.      Why you probably don’t need to add enzymes to your septic

4.      How much freedom are you willing to give away?

"Isn't it appropriate that the month of the tax begins with April Fools Day and ends with cries of "May Day!" ~ Author Unknown

Reducing Your Food Waste - Save Some Dough!

When I was in the Navy our base threw away 5,000 lbs. of edible food every week; at the time, they wouldn’t donate it to area food banks.  According to the EPA, Americans today throw away 34 million tons of food every year!


That translates 226 lbs. for every person.


Suggestions to reduce waste:



1.      Grab a notebook or logbook and begin tracking your food waste – store it in the kitchen.

2.      Each time you toss food from your fridge, pantry or after a meal, record what you threw out.

3.      After 30 days review your notebook for patterns prior to making a new grocery shopping list.

4.      Adjust your list accordingly.  If you’re throwing away a half loaf of bread or a frozen item which now has freezer burn, buy a smaller amount or eliminate that item  Consider buying better food storage containers.



I’m guilty of finding freezer burn on many items, especially bread and bakery.  This means I don’t wrap them well enough or pay attention to the date I stored them.  Freezers are great money-saver to use when stocking up on sale items but you need to date everything and rotate stock. 



I also keep a Ziploc bag to store left over vegetables in the freezer and when it comes to making soup or stew, the contents are added to my stockpot.



Most Americans want life insurance after they’re dead.  I hope that doesn’t apply to you.  The time is now to firm up your preparations.  It just makes good sense. Be sure to read the piece in today’s Nanny State Updates



For homes without downspouts, set a barrel at the corner.  It will soften the flow of water when it reains and collect rainwater for future use.



PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources



Top 10 Survival Tricks for the Zombie Apocalypse

Over the years, we've shared a ton of tips for keeping yourself safe and healthy during an emergency. Here are some of our favorite clever survival tricks…




Free, Basic shed or cabin building plan



Why you probably don't need septic system enzymes:
1. The amount of enzyme in each dose of additive is small compared to the bacteria already in the tank or introduced with the first flush of human waste (in the case of a new system). If you think about it, you are constantly introducing bacteria to the system each time you flush the toilet. So, adding a small amount of septic system enzymes isn't going to help much, unless your system is under extreme shock. So, they might provide a small help if your system is under extreme shock. A study as West Virginia University showed a small benefit provided by bacterial additives when the system is under high stress (the tanks were stressed much beyond what would occur in a normal household).
2. Pumping your tank is actually very inexpensive, does not have to be done very often and is one of the best investments you can make.
3. Septic systems normally don't fail because the tank fills up and overflows. According to the US EPA, approximately 95% of septic systems fail because the drain field gets plugged with solids.

Will septic system enzymes harm my system?
The biological additives are unlikely to be harmful. The chemical additives could definitely harm your system. These products have the potential to sterilize your system temporarily. The resulting passage of raw sewage into the drainfield will hasten its failure. The acid and alkali products can corrode the plumbing and the tank. The organic solvents pass through the system unchanged. They can then infiltrate into the groundwater, creating a chemical plume that endangers nearby wells.  Of course, you can always do what Grandpa did, drop a packet of baking yeast into your toilet twice a year.  Seemed to work for him!

Visitors to the United States must now pay $14 to complete an online form that asks them a series of really bizarre questions. For example, one of the questions asks visitors to the U.S. if they ever "collaborated with the Nazis".



The Nanny State Updates…


China And Japan Are Dumping the U.S. Dollar In Bilateral Trade

A few months ago, the second largest economy on earth (China) and the third largest economy on earth (Japan) struck a deal which will promote the use of their own currencies (rather than the U.S. dollar) when trading with each other. This was an incredibly important agreement that was virtually totally ignored by the U.S. media. The following is from a BBC report about that agreement....

China and Japan have unveiled plans to promote direct exchange of their currencies in a bid to cut costs for companies and boost bilateral trade.

The deal will allow firms to convert the Chinese and Japanese currencies directly into each other.

Currently businesses in both countries need to buy US dollars before converting them into the desired currency, adding extra costs.



Today, more than 60 percent of all foreign currency reserves in the world are in U.S. dollars. But there are big changes on the horizon. The mainstream media in the United States has been strangely silent about this, but some of the biggest economies on earth have been making agreements with each other to move away from using the U.S. dollar in international trade. There are also some oil producing nations which have begun selling oil in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, which is a major threat to the petrodollar system which has been in place for nearly four decades. And big international institutions such as the UN and the IMF have even been issuing official reports about the need to move away from the U.S. dollar and toward a new global reserve currency.

A lot of this is being fueled by China. China has the second largest economy on the face of the earth, and the size of the Chinese economy is projected to pass the size of the U.S. economy by 2016. In fact, one economist is even projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.



Law Enforcement Is Watching You

Do you remember the father that posted that "Facebook Parenting for the troubled teen" video that went wildly viral all over the Internet earlier this year?

That video was watched more than 31 million times, but it also resulted in both the police and Child Protective Services officials visiting his home.



Everyone should have a little sewing knowledge. Whether it's just so you can sew a button back on or fix size issues in an otherwise perfect shirt, knowing how to thread a needle can come in handy pretty often.




A number will spend the surplus on something you might not expect — filing for bankruptcy.



The Parting Thought –


How much freedom are you willing to give away?

When and where do American citizens draw the line?



The U.S. government has shown clearly through word and action that its concerns are not with the average American, and that its loyalties rest with decidedly smaller and more elite interest groups.



When any government decides it is no longer concerned with the freedom and prosperity of a nation, no matter how righteous that government claims to be, we MUST, as citizens, ask ourselves whether that government is still useful.



The progression of the past decade has seen a hailstorm of legislation and executive orders that impede personal liberties and erode Constitutional protections in place for centuries. So many trails towards totalitarianism have been blazed recently that it is becoming difficult to track them all, and yet, I do not think many in our country have asked themselves what this means to their future. What kind of rights are you ready to hand over to government? How many aspects of your life should the establishment be able to dictate?



The Power To Invade Your Privacy

The U.S. government has long held at least a private belief that it should be allowed access to every aspect of a citizen's personal life. In the past, the excuse of criminal suspicion was a standard rationalization, but this expanded beyond the targeting of individuals to broader surveillance of the populace as a whole with the advent of the drug war. Financial records especially became subject to government perusal without warrant and generally without any criminal charges filed.



This trampling of the 4th Amendment over a fabrication of a "war" on substances that by all rights should be legal anyway was just a taste of what was to come. With the explosion of the war on terror (another fabricated conflict), the application of mass surveillance became standardized. The Patriot Acts and the FISA bill, both upheld by so called "Republican" and "Democratic" presidents, have opened the door for centralized electronic spying in the name of "national security". Never before has the world seen such an unbridled assault on the private lives of common citizens. The big brother grids of the Soviet era are child's play compared to the data mining of the 21st century, and this tyranny is made possible by the marriage of government and corporate interests, working in tandem to ensure an ever tightening net.



The Power To Financially Destroy

Of course, much of the economic distress that we suffer today was generated by the corrupt activities of the Federal Reserve (a privately controlled banking cartel) and global financing conglomerates like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, however, the government's complicity in these activities cannot be denied. It was the Congressional repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act that gave international banks the ability to derivitize massive numbers of mortgages and create the ongoing implosion of the housing bubble. It was the SEC that turned the other cheek for years while credit fraud flooded markets and ratings agencies gave AAA status to toxic and basically worthless assets. It is the U.S. government to this day that defends the Federal Reserve's nonstop quantitative easing, the destruction of the dollar, and increased deficit spending driving our nation even deeper into debt. The passage of the bailouts despite an 80% opposition from the public sent a stark message; the government does not care what you think about the economy, and will do what it pleases, even if it means destroying your means of fiscal survival.



The Power To Militarize

Federal fusion centers and funding for local law enforcement has irreparably damaged state and county objectivity and opened the door to a steady diet of anti-liberty propaganda for police officials across the nation. Some eat it up, some don't. However, the issue here is one of intention. Why does the federal government feel the need to arm divisions of local law enforcement with automatic weapons, predator drones, and even tanks? Why is Congress going out of its way to free up FAA regulations to allow police organizations unprecedented access to predator drones, up to 30,000 by 2020, for use in civilian airspace?



Why does the DHS suddenly need 450 million rounds of .40 cal ammunition from ATK?

And why has Obama quickly and quietly signed the Executive Order for National Defense Resources Preparedness? Though many will claim the order only rehashes such continuity of government policies seen in older programs like Rex 84, I find it a bit disconcerting that our government suddenly feels the need to rehash Rex 84 powers at all!

The order is a claim to eminent domain, not just over land, but over every resource imaginable in the face of a "national emergency". Using military force, all goods, services, and property, can be confiscated in the name of support for military and governmental logistics. In an article written in February titled "The DHS Defends Globalism, Not America", I warned that Janet Napolitano's language of supply chain protection and resource allocation could only be supported by the pilfering of goods from one place to feed another.



Now we see that this was indeed the intention all along. Given that the John Warner Defense Authorization Act allows the president to declare a national emergency and martial law for almost any reason at any time without oversight from Congress for at least 6 months, the possibility of vast programs of resource confiscation becomes much more likely.



Excerpted from Whiskey & Gunpowder



“Until the next revolution”, the Poor Man



Remember, remember the 4th of November…

Get your “We don’t need another election” Protest T-Shirt Now




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A Shallow Planet Production

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The Dumbest Generation, Swap Online Tool, Farm Schools

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
For Independent Minded People!
ISSN 2161-5543
In This Issue:
1.       The steep cost of a cashless society
2.      How to establish a farm school program
3.      Swap Online – makes trading easy
4.      Homeland Security now tracking Prepper Sites
5.      The Dumbest Generation?

Inflation is taxation without legislation. - Milton Friedman

The Steep Price of Living in a Cashless Society

Believe it or not…the government is shredding billions of dollar and burying them in landfills according to the New York Times…the push for digital money.

The trend is very clear: Cash is on its way out. It might take another 10 or 20 years or longer for the US and other economies, but eventually so few businesses will accept cash that it will be relegated to jangling jars and cruddy sofa crevices. Governments will have no choice but to halt the fresh minting of coins and printing of bills, and eventually non-electronic money will dry up all together.

On the good side, some of that cash is being recycled into roofing tiles, fuel pellets and postal packing material.

What it means is dozens of central banks are starting to abandon paper money which will force all Americans into a new, trackable currency.

It may come as a surprise, but there is no legal requirement for businesses to accept US dollars.  Example:  Apple stores won’t accept cash and Southwest Airlines won’t take cash when you purchase cocktails.

More than 90% of our money supply is already digital in nature.  What this will mean for Americans (eventually) that unless you’re willing to barter for something, your only choice may become a debit or credit card.  There is already a bill being floated in Congress that would remove legal tender status from US coins and FRN’s.
The Treasury Dept already requires Social Security payments to be direct deposited into bank accounts.


The introduction of ‘mobile wallets’ or smart phones are paving the way for an all digital economy AND all that makes it easier for government snoops to track you! This will make many companies, such as Verizon, incredibly wealthy at the same time.

Did you know that lint from washing machines is a leading cause of expensive septic system failure?

PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources

Swap-online.com has been created to be an online community of people who embrace the idea of Trade & Barter. The concept is quite simple…everyone has stuff that they no longer need or want and other people want that stuff and are willing to barter & trade for it.
Free and Useful Prepper related downloads

Daily Deals - As Low as a Buck

How to establish a Farm to School program
A three-step approach offers a way to implement a locally sourced, healthy eating plan in any community.
Part of a trend
Similar programs have been established at 9,807 schools in 2,305 school districts in all 50 states, according to the Farm to School network website. “Because these numbers are self-reported, there are very likely more programs going on than this,” said Chelsey Simpson, the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Farm to School membership and communications associate.
Farm to School is a nationwide program that connects students in grades K-12 with healthy, locally sourced food through a variety of education and experiential learning initiatives. “We like to think of this as a win-win-win,” said Simpson.

Nicolas Leschke is the co-founder of Efficient City Farming, a company currently building an aquaponic farm on the roof of an old malthouse in Berlin that will produce both vegetables and fish.
Nicolas Leschke is the co-founder of Efficient City Farming, a company currently building an aquaponic farm on the roof of an old malthouse in Berlin that will produce both vegetables and fish. Previously, Nicolas was the Interim CEO at Malzfabrik, the co-Founder of Project Dharma, the Business Development Director for Entrepreneurs’ Organization across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and he was the co-Founder of the Accelerator Programm Germany. He also founded Planet Audio Guide in Italy, which claims to be the first GPS audio-guided city tour in the world. Nicolas holds a BA degree with honors in International Business Studies with French and Spanish from London’s European Business School…read the min-interview here:
 What's better than earning a higher interest rate on your savings?  Helping a worthy entrepreneur, in the process. Microloans offer the opportunity to beat the banks while you save the world.

On sites like Microplace, you make microloans to entrepreneurs around the world — usually in locations where there’s no easy access to banks and financial services, especially for the poor. No ATMs, no credit cards, no insurance – according to Microplace, this is how 40 percent of the world lives, on as little as $2 a day. The idea behind these small, short-term loans is to help people out of poverty with business loans that spur entrepreneurship and provide stability.
Use baby shampoo to get rid of mud stains from clothes.  Brush away what you can, then rub a few drops of the shampoo in before placing it into the washing machine.

The Nanny State Updates…

They're Watching:
Homeland Security Tracking Visitors Across Alternative News and Prepper Web Sites
No one is immune to the surveillance state. Whether you're a prepper, alternative news buff, or none of the above, the government wants to know what you're doing.
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you."

If there ever existed individuals and groups that threatened the status quo it's now, and they can often be found congregating at alternative news websites, forums and preparedness oriented online communities. Government officials at the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have done everything in their power to marginalize their dangerous ideas and activities going so far as to even issue security bulletins to private businesses like banks, surplus stores, coffee shops and other retailers outlining what employees should look for and when to say something to law enforcement officials.

Activities like putting a Ron Paul bumper sticker on your car, paying cash, buying gold, stocking up on food, promoting "anti-U.S." and "radical theologies," and demanding personal privacy are all now considered to be suspicious in the eyes of a government hell bent on destroying the Constitution.
A recent report from well known survival author James Rawles suggests that Preparedness oriented web sites are a prime target of government snooping and sniffing. A website like Rawles' Survival Blog, or even the PoorManSurvival.com site.

It has come to my attention that from August of 2011 to November of 2011, the FBI secretly redirected the web traffic of more than 10% of SurvivalBlog's US visitors through CJIS, their sprawling data center situated on 900 acres, 10 miles from Clarksburg, West Virginia. There, the Feebees surreptitiously collected the IP addresses of my site visitors.
You can be assured that if the FBI is engaging in this type of surveillance, Survival Blog and other preparedness web sites aren't alone. Chances are that, as Rawles mentions, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of websites being tracked and monitored in similar fashion. Areport from the Intel Hub confirms  these suspicions and we'd venture to guess that most other web sites in the alternative news sphere will see similar access logs.

Lift out grease stains from garments with Wonder Bread.  Rub the stains with a slice and it will absorb the stain.

The Parting Thought – The Dumbest Generation?

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

NEWSWEEK gave 1,000 Americans the U.S. Citizenship Test--38 percent failed. The country's future is imperiled by our ignorance…

Too many Americans can’t even tell you how many sides a triangle has…
American citizens are naturally stupid. I hope this doesn't offend the few smart, nice Americans (still not found by scientists but believed to exist).
Americans are prone to a condition known as dumb-and-dumber, where those afflicted believe what they would like regardless of the facts.

Americans are also enslaved easily, which is why they continually vote the same slave-masters into office. You just need to offer them free stuff and they will follow you without hesitation. If they resist offer them food stamps or other ‘benefits‘.

Historians believe that writers and philosophers once roamed the Great Plains and traveled down the Mississippi. Evidence suggests they may have been chased into Canada, Europe, or burned at the stake. Some Americans find the idea of a species of free-thinking individuals roaming the United States blasphemous

One of our sideline businesses includes answering the phones on weekends for a storage business.  Folks who rent these units owe rent on the first of the month and are given a 10-day grace period before late fees kick in.  Invariably, calls come in after the 10th to ‘let us know they’ll be late with their payment, do I have to pay a late fee?”  Almost always, it’s the same people who call each month.  (Of course, they always call after business hours knowing full well the office staff won’t be in).

A woman in Benton Harbor, MI fell off a pier into Lake Michigan while texting on her phone.  Nearly 33% of auto accidents are blamed on distracted drivers, usually due to cell phone use.

A Gallup poll shows that 1 in 4 Americans believe we won our independence from a country OTHER than Great Britain. Many people said France. Others said China. I'll let that sink in. China? Most folks don’t even know the Great Wall of China is in China.

American spending on public education is in the top five of the world, yet the results are dismal at best…

I’m sure you’ve all seen this cringe-worthy video on YouTube of Kellie Pickler (of American Idol 15 minutes of fame). Competing against a 5th grader, she was asked: “Budapest is the capital of what European country?“. Her reply? “I thought Europe was a country“.

For a sampling of Jay Leno’s Street Walking clips (where Americans demonstrate their lack of knowledge about our own country and the world) click here:

“Until the next revolution”, the Poor Man

Remember, remember the 4th of November…
Get your “We don’t need another election” Protest T-Shirt Now

Follow us on Facebook

 Twitter

Keep our services free, visit our sites…
Check our Resources

New self sufficiency books added weekly

A Shallow Planet Production