PM's Self Reliance Tools: Why You Should Avoid Smart Phones

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

http://www.PoorManSurvival.com

For Independent Minded People!

ISSN 2161-5543

In This Issue:

1. Causes of the Middle Class Stagnation

2. Extra Cash for the holidays

3. Why you should avoid Smart Phones

4. Why have there been no arrests in the Wall Street Meltdown?

Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions.
- Author Unknown

Middle Class Stagnation…Burdensome regulation & tax system major contributors to our decline…US becoming less competitive in world economy.

The typical US household saw its income fall last year to 1989 levels

Median incomes fell 1.5 percent in 2011, while the official poverty rate remained essentially unchanged at 15 percent.

A family right in the middle of the income spectrum had an income of $50,054, which is actually lower than the 1989 median level of $50,624 expressed in 2011 dollars. The implication: For much of America the economy has produced not just one lost decade but two.

Inequality: A wage premium for the educated, the decline of labor unions, and the failure of the minimum wage to keep up with inflation have been among the factors widening the income gap between the rich and the middle class or poor. Some economists say that gap makes for a less vibrant nation. "Lack of opportunity means that its most valuable asset -- its people -- is not being fully used," Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University

Our rising level of public debt, in particular, is emerging as an obstacle to be reckoned with.

The prescriptions for the road ahead depend on the diagnoses of causes, but many economists agree on the need for stronger education, better matching of skills with job opportunities, and an effort to overhaul the nation's fiscal policy, including taxes.

Some economists also argue for policies targeted to boost the level of innovation and entrepreneurship (less red tape and expensive regulation).

Source: Yahoo News, US Census Bureau

Stop slipping screwdrivers by rubbing both sides of a flat screwdriver with blackboard chalk and it will keep the tip in place.

PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources

Like Good Customer Service, Many Company freebies have gone away…

In recent years, freebies from no-fee checking to in-flight meals have vanished. Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson offers an amusing glimpse into some of the goods and services that were once free but now have a price tag

So what types of goods and services now require that we pay a pretty penny? And what can we do to make sure we get these items as cheaply as possible? Here are some things to consider:

http://www.moneytalksnews.com/2012/09/17/10-things-that-used-to-be-free/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=email-2012-09-17&utm_medium=email

5 Easy Ways to Raise Cash
When you need money and need it fast, follow this strategy to build a pile of cash.

Making Money for the Holidays
This year, try thinking about the holidays as a money making opportunity rather than a money spending requirement.

Avoid smartphones in favor of basic cellphones with fewer features. All new smartphones contain GPS tracking technology allowing snoops to easily ascertain your location. Given the exponentially increasing government tracking of citizens through their phones, an older GPS-less phone protects you from overreaching government bureaucrats and untrustworthy snoops. To avoid being tracked at all, turn your cell phone off except when you need to make a call. Use voice mail to handle your incoming calls, and return your calls from your home or usual place of business

Jim Dempsey, Vice President for Public Policy at the Center for Democracy & Technology, citing ECPA, notes that the government claims it can track your movements without having to get a warrant from a judge, using the signal your mobile phone silently sends out every few seconds. The government also claims it can read your email and sneak a peek at your online calendar and the private photos you have stored "in the cloud," all without a warrant.

You can go to www.NotWithoutAWarrant.com and let your voice be heard by signing the petition demanding ECPA privacy protection upgrades now, so there may be digital liberty and justice for all.

Know thy Strengths

Think more about how you can make more of
what you already know, and some of the
abilities you have, along with some of
the skills you've built up.

If it helps, there's a good test which
will guide you to uncovering your key strengths
and abilities. There's no cost, and you
may want to check out:

http://richardstep.com/richardstep-strengths-finder-rssf

Uncover your hidden strengths with a free quiz at PrincetonReview.com/careers.aspx

The Nanny State Updates…

Sure makes me wonder why our government works so hard to screw up our Bill of Rights?

Obama’s DOJ Grants ATF New Gun Grab Authority

The Obama administration via the Department of Justice has given authority to the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to “seize and administratively forfeit property involved in controlled-substance abuses.” This means now that people who are not dealing illegal drugs, just using them and anyone who might associate with them in the same residence or be in a vehicle can have...

House votes to extend FISA for five years, inviting more unconstitutional surveillance On Wednesday, September 12th, the House of Representatives voted 301-118 to extend the 2008 amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for another five years, despite continuing secrecy, unanswered questions, and concerns from across the political spectrum about its sweeping invasions of privacy.

Taking your dog to a wooded area? Get them vaccinated for Lyme disease or ask your vet about topical prevention treatments.

The Parting Thought…No jail time for crooked brokers!

Why No Jail Time for Wall Streeter’s Who Bankrupted the Country?

Financial crooks brought down the world's economy — but the feds are doing more to protect them than to prosecute them…

Not a single executive who ran the companies that cooked up and cashed in on the phony financial boom — an industry-wide scam that involved the mass sale of mismarked, fraudulent mortgage-backed securities — has ever been convicted

Wall Street is a "protected" operation. Protected means cops are aware of illegal activity, but are paid off to look the other way and even protect businesses from potential harm.
In Wall Street's world, the beat cops are their regulators, including the SEC and the CFTC. Above them are the Federal Reserve and an untold number of politicians and legislators who pimp and pander on behalf of banksters by writing laws with loopholes so their donating "constituents" can always get out of jail free.

While obvious maggots like Bernie Madoff and Alan Stanford are thankfully rotting in jail, not a single Wall Street executive, lieutenant or soldier responsible for the pump-and-dump mortgage-backed racket that decimated America's most prolific dream machine and economic engine has come close to being locked up.

What are they working on?

According to Adora Andy of DOJ, "This RMBS Working Group effort is focused on a narrow issue that was one of many factors that contributed to the financial crisis. This is a targeted strike, specifically examining whether those who originated the underlying loans and sold them to securitizers, as well as the actual underwriters and securitizers responsible for packaging and selling the RMBS offerings, made any false claim or other misrepresentation or omission regarding the ability and likelihood of the borrowers to repay their mortgage loans, the value of the collateralized property, and whether the underlying mortgage loans and properties complied with certain underwriting guidelines and standards. Right now, there are other active efforts underway by untold numbers of staff, at the Justice Department and in many other agencies, regarding many of the other illegal factors that contributed to the financial crisis."

Do you get that? They are not focusing on Wall Street.

Instead, they are focusing on the "they" as in "after all it was you and me." We did this; we lied and cheated when we conspired with mortgage brokers taking our applications.

Yes, it's us and them, those hundreds of thousands of folks who aren't in the business of writing loans any more because there are no jobs there any more and they've all gone back to being used car salesmen, because there are plenty of cars out there that folks bought, leased (whose leases were securitized, don't you know) and had to abandon when they lost their jobs.

So, while Rome burnt to a crisp, the protectors did their thing and are continuing to do it

Do you get that? They are not focusing on Wall Street.

Instead, they are focusing on the "they" as in "after all it was you and me." We did this; we lied and cheated when we conspired with mortgage brokers taking our applications.

Yes, it's us and them, those hundreds of thousands of folks who aren't in the business of writing loans any more because there are no jobs there any more and they've all gone back to being used car salesmen, because there are plenty of cars out there that folks bought, leased (whose leases were securitized, don't you know) and had to abandon when they lost their jobs.

So, while Rome burnt to a crisp, the protectors did their thing and are continuing to do it.

And, they'll do it as long as it takes for the statutes of limitations on these crimes to run out. Which is happening, starting already.

Will anything change? No. That's because Wall Street is protected by bureaucrats.

Source: Condensed from: http://www.moneymorning.com

“Until the next revolution”, the Poor Man

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