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Saturday, April 20, 2013

10 Ideas for Re-Using Mason Jars, Does Privacy Matter?


Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources


For Independent Minded People!

ISSN 2161-5543

 

In This Issue:

1.       DIY distilled water

2.      10 ideas for using Mason Jars

3.      Clean house with only 3 ingredients

4.      Does privacy matter –few Americans seem to care

 

 

"I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary,
too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious."

-- Thomas Jefferson

 

 

Make Your Own Distilled Water

Make your own distilled water from stream or lake water, salt water, or even brackish, dirty water, using these DIY Solar Still Plans. With just a few basic building materials, a sheet of glass and some sunshine, you can purify your own water at no cost and with minimal effort.

Distilled water is not just for drinking, and it’s always worth keeping a few gallons of it on hand. Clean water free of chemicals and minerals has a number of valuable uses:

• Always refill the lead-acid batteries used for
solar energy systems or automobiles with distilled water

• Water delicate plants like orchids with distilled water; minerals and additives like fluoride or chlorine that are present in most tap water can harm plants

• Distilled water mixed with antifreeze is recommended for
car radiators, as it’s less corrosive

Steam irons become clogged with mineral deposits unless you use distilled water

The principle of using the sun’s heat to separate water from dissolved minerals has been understood for millennia, salt ponds being the best example of how this knowledge has been put to use in the past. In salt ponds, seawater is drained into shallow ponds and then baked and purified in the sun until all that remains are crystals of salt. In this case, the pure water that gradually evaporated away was considered a useless byproduct, but as far back as the time of the ancient Greeks it was known that seawater could be made fresh and drinkable by this process.

A solar still works like a salt evaporation pond, except that the water that invisibly evaporates is extracted from the air; the minerals and other impurities are left behind and discarded. As the hot, moisture-laden air rises up to the slanting sheet of relatively cool glass sealed to the box, water condenses out in the form of small droplets that cling to the glass. As these droplets get heavier, they roll down the glass to the collector tube at the bottom and then out to the jug.

The box is built from 3/4 " BC-grade plywood, painted black on the inside to absorb heat. We used a double layer of plywood on the sides to resist warping and to help insulate the box, with an insulated door at the back and a sheet of glass on top.

Finding a good lining or container to hold the water in the inside of the box as it heats and evaporates can be complicated. The combination of high heat and water containing salt or other impurities can corrode metals faster than usual and cause
plastic containers to break down or off-gas, imparting an unpleasant taste to the distilled water. The best liners are glass or stainless steel, although you can also coat the inside of the box with two or three coats of black silicone caulk (look for an F.D.A.-listed type approved for use around food). Spread the caulk around the bottom and sides with a taping knife. After it dries and cures thoroughly, just pour water in—the silicone is impervious to the heat and water.


 

 
Surviving as a single mom
read more here




PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources


I positively love up-cycling, recycling, re-purposing, reusing, or otherwise finding a use for things that a lot of folks would throw in the trash. From old socks to scrap paper to old shower doors, I can find a use for it. Even scraps of food can go into a soup, be fed to the dogs or chickens, or added to the compost bin. On our homestead, very little is left for the trash can.

Mason jars are the most versatile of things. Besides using them for their intended purpose – canning food – I have either tried or found 10 more ways to use these handy containers.


 

 
Get your container garden off to a great start with these helpful resources and tips
read more here

 


People have been cleaning with household staples like vinegar, baking soda and lemons (or lemon juice) for a long time, and believe it or not, these items are safe and often effective.
If you clean with these items, you may buy less, spend less money and have fewer harsh chemicals to worry about.
Here's how!


 

 

How to make your own seasoning blends
read more here

 

The Nanny State Updates

 

[Video] CNN Reporter Blames Boston Tragedy On Conservatives

CNN's Peter Bergen apologized after the fact but once again, the lame-stream media decided to immediately advance the false narrative that patriotic Americans are the terrorists...

Continue Reading

[Video] Obama Supporters Sign Petition To Ban Free Speech

Caught on video because otherwise, some people simply won't believe it...


 

A simple automobile GPS could be your best friend in an
emergency. Either in your car or removed for hand-held
operation, it can navigate you to the nearest hospital
or police station for aid as well as show you the way
out of a chaotic city

 

 


The Parting Thought:  Does privacy matter anymore in America?


I love this country.  I love the freedoms we used to have…George Carlin

 

 Every day we learn something new about how government is either denying or stealing your privacy…Big Brother is like a rabid dog which needs to be curbed.

 

Stop Giving Away Your Privacy

The best thing you can do just say no!

For better or worse, you are the person most responsible for shielding your Social Security Number. Therefore, your mission is to limit the amount of people who have access to it

 
1. Anyone who calls or sends you an official-looking email, who texts you a link to any site or designates a number to call where you are asked to confirm your SSN. If they call, check the credit or debit card that is the subject of the communication, call the customer service number listed on the back, and ask for the security department. If they email or text, do the same, or go directly to the institution’s website (provided you know who they are). Make sure you type the correct URL, and make sure that the page where you are asked to enter your information is secure. Only provide personal information if you’re the one who controls the interaction

2. Public schools: Your utility bills confirm your address; your email and phone number give them channels to contact you in an emergency. Asking for your Social Security number is a bit overkill.

3. Little League, summer camp and other extra curricular activities: For the same reasons as school, a Social Security number should never be required by these groups. If they ask for your child’s birth certificate, show it to them, don’t leave it with them unless they can prove they will protect it. And even then, can you really believe them? If you use credit to pay for the activity, the organization may need your Social Security number but If you pay for it upfront or with a direct debit to your bank account or credit card, they don’t. Period.

4. Supermarkets: A frequent shopper card is neither a loan, nor a bank account. It’s merely a tool grocery stores use to track your purchases, primarily for marketing purposes. Regardless, many supermarket chains request customers’ Social Security numbers on their application forms. Refuse and leave it blank if they ask for it.

Privacy is more precious than ever, and getting scarcer. Government agencies continue to push legal boundaries with surveillance cameras, drones, GPS tracking devices, x-ray scanners, stop-and-frisk searches without a warrant, sometimes without a suspicion of wrongdoing. It’s not just law enforcement agencies that are doing it. The tax man is in on the action, too.

The American Civil Liberties Union found this out by posing a simple question to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS): Do you obtain a warrant before reading the public’s emails, text messages and other electronic communications? The bureaucrats naturally responded with 247 pages of documents, which reveal that the IRS thinks it can read anything it pleases. Who needs a judge’s approval?

The cavalier attitude is codified in the 2009 edition of the IRS handbook, which declares the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures does not protect emails because users “do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such communications.” Citing the hopelessly obsolete Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, which was written a few years before Al Gore invented the Internet, IRS snoopers argue they only need a subpoena to browse through emails that have been opened or that are more than 180 days old.

How dumb are we as Americans?

More specifically, how irresponsible and stupid is the U.S. government when it comes to our rights…

Get more privacy protection resources by clicking on the Privacy Tab at:





 “Until the next revolution”, the Poor Man

 

Join others striving for Financial Independence in the Poor Man Survival community on how to take back control of your money. Updated for 2013 and now includes a Will Kit.




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