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Showing posts with label current events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label current events. Show all posts

Saturday, October 12, 2013

7 Areas of Preparation Many are Underestimating





Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources


For Independent Minded People!

ISSN 2161-5543

 

 

You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.
- Vernon Howard

From The Smiling Dog Saloon Files

 

 

In This Issue:

1.        Crockpot apple butter

2.       7 things survivalists underestimate

3.       Use TOR for online anonymity

4.       Concealing spare ammo

Crockpot Apple Butter – No Sugar Added


*makes approximately 5-6 pints

Home made apple juice being made to use in the recipe. Store bought is fine too!

 

Ingredients:

21 whole Medium-sized Apples (use A Sweet Variety like Jonathan, Gala Or Fuji)

4-½ cups Unsweetened Apple Juice

6 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar

3 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves

1/3 teaspoon Sea Salt

 

 Instructions:

 

Apples cut, cored and seasoned – ready to cook down overnight in the crock pot

1. Core and slice apples with skin on. Using an apple slicer/corer makes it quick and easy to get all apples cut before they begin to turn brown. Make sure to cut out any bruised or bad spots.

2.  Add to a  6qt. crockpot, followed by the rest of the ingredients.

 

Apples cooked down and the immersion blender ready to make the mixture smooth.

3. Stir mixture a few times to coat the apples evenly with the liquid and spices.

4. Cover cook on low for 12 hours or overnight.

5. Turn off the crockpot and allow the apple mixture to cool for about an hour.   The apples should be very soft and a dark brown color when they’re ready.

 

Apple butter ready to be canned.

1.       Use an immersion blender to blend apple mixture to a smooth consistency.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can pour cooled apples and liquid into a blender and blend until the mixture is completely smooth.

 

7. Let the apple butter cool completely and then store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, freeze for up to 6 months, or can the apple butter for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.

 

Making soups from scratch is easier than you think. And the savings are bigger than you'd expect!
read more here

 

Secrets & Shortcuts of a Country Inn ChefYours free for the asking.  I wrote this a few years ago (my wife and I once owned a popular country inn which had been featured on PBS).

If you’d like a condensed version, download it at:  http://sdrv.ms/150KRSz

 

 

PM’s Roundup of Useful Resources…


It’s almost a guarantee that the ONE thing you didn’t completely plan for (or that you underestimated, in this case) WILL be that which “gets” you. That’s just the way life is, if you ask me. Fortunately, here’s seven things the author feels that we, as preppers, tend to underestimate: “I’m sure we’d all like to think…





The New World Order – a Documentary

You want us to shut up while our country and our sovereignty and our borders and everything we've ever been and everything we'll ever be is being destroyed. You got the nerve to call us traitors and call us conspiracy theorists just because we're informed.

You knowingly lie to your audience and you knowingly try to keep them from the truth and you try to keep them from learning the serious peril this nation and this planet is in. All these people do have is hurt. That's all the New World Order is. That's all there ever going to be.


 

 

Anonymity Online

Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security.


 

 4 reasons you want to declutter your life
read more here

 


The Nanny State-We love our government


A new study surveys five methods of data collection by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and finds that these agencies not only collect massive amounts of innocent Americans’ data, but can share and store this data for up to seventy-five years or more, creating opportunities for abuse and clogging government databases.


 

 


In its efforts to gather more intelligence, and overcome obstacles to this effort, the National Security Agency (NSA) has repeatedly tried to develop attacks against people using Tor, a software tool designed to protect online anonymity – and which is primarily funded and promoted by the U.S. government itself to help political activists, whistleblowers, militaries, and law enforcement. The NSA’s determined effort to crack Tor raises questions about whether the agency, deliberately or inadvertently, acted against Internet users in the United States when attacking Tor. One of the main functions of Tor is to hide the country of all of its users, meaning any attack could be hitting members of Tor's large U.S. user base.


 

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





There are lots of ways to carry extra ammunition in a discreet manner.

By Massad Ayoob

Autoloader Mags

The spare magazine is relatively flat and, in my experience, is best carried in a belt pouch on the side of the body opposite the holster. Vertical carry is best for concealment and fastest for access, and reloading will be more positive if each magazine is carried with the bullet noses forward.

For concealed carry, I don't see any need at all for a flapped mag pouch. It slows down access, and the extra flap of leather or nylon adds unnecessary bulk and bulge. Just make sure you have a good, friction-tight fit and you'll have all the security you need, with maximum speed and access.

 
Most of us carry the mag pouch just behind the left hip if we're right-handed, vice versa if we're southpaws. With an open-front concealment garment, such as a vest or a sport coat or an unbuttoned sport shirt, this minimizes the likelihood of the magazine becoming visible. Too, weight on the corresponding point at the opposite side of the body seems to "balance" the weight of the holstered pistol and increase overall body comfort once you are used to the presence of the object.

 
This principle is one thing that made Richard Gallagher's concept of the Original Jackass Shoulder System, the forerunner of his Galco brand, so famously popular and so widely imitated. The weight of the gun hung suspended in one armpit, with the weight of the two magazines (and perhaps also handcuffs), under the other. Another advantage, of course, was that the user's critical gear was all on one harness that he could be quickly throw on if a danger call took him from the Condition White of total relaxation to the brighter colors of "sudden call to arms."

A number of the people have gone with the currently popular AIWB (appendix/inside-the-waistband) carry, which places the holstered pistol on the dominant-hand side of their navel. Those who carry the pistol like this will often place the spare magazine pouch at a corresponding point on the other side of the navel. Again, it's a matter of "balance," and also keys in a little bit with the hands reaching to corresponding parts of the body during crisis, assuming that practice and training have drilled in the game plan well.

Some people carry their spare magazines in their pockets. I did so when I was very young and discovered that a generic eyeglass case with pocket clip that cost 29 cents at Woolworth's would hold a 1911 magazine in a trouser pocket without revealing its shape (though I needed a folded-up matchbook cover or two in the bottom of it to get the magazine up high enough in the pouch that I could retrieve it). By the time I hit my twenties, though, decent, concealable magazine pouches were available and I could afford to buy them.

There are a few pocket magazine carriers available, but none are as fast to access as simply reaching under the same garment that concealed the pistol and snatching one out of a belt-mounted pouch. In ordinary clothing, a magazine will make a coat pocket or cardigan sweater pocket sag a bit. Many dedicated gun concealment vests have elastic pockets to hold magazines upright. They conceal the shape well, but they tend to sag a bit. If the elastic is tight, the garment tends to rise with the magazine you're pulling on,

 
This writer wears BDU pants as default casual wear, and when carrying a mag in a pocket prefers the dedicated "magazine pocket," also known as "cell phone pocket," on the non-dominant hand side. With just the magazine in there, it tends to shift around a little bit. However, I discovered that if I put a compact, high-intensity flashlight with a pocket clip in the front of that pocket/pouch and the pistol magazine behind it, it conceals like a charm and the flashlight in front holds the magazine in a vertical position that does not shift appreciably.

When concealment is the highest priority and the wearer is dressed lightly, as with an un-tucked polo shirt or t-shirt (one size larger than normal, remember, with straight drape instead of waist taper!), an inside-the-waistband magazine carrier will be just as much more concealable as an inside-the-waistband gun holster

 

How Many Spare Mags to Carry?

It depends. I've met cops who carry four double-stack magazines when on duty. My department issues a single-stack .45 auto, and when I'm in uniform I carry three to four spare eight-round magazines on the duty belt. On my own time, I carry two spare magazines for a single-stack pistol and at least one for a double-stack. I also normally carry a backup handgun, and on patrol I have a .223 semi-automatic rifle with multiple magazines and a shotgun with an ample supply of shells on board in the vehicle. Our military personnel in combat zones, of course, carry more-and those who don't really believe they'll ever need to fire their defensive firearm, carry less.

Editor's Note: This excerpt is from Massad Ayoob's newly-updated
Gun Digest Book of Concealed Carry, 2nd Edition.

 
Massad Ayoob is the Director of Massad Ayoob Group and a prolific author. His works include the Gun Digest Book of Concealed Carry, Gun Digest Book of SIG-Sauer, Gun Digest Book of Combat Handgunnery and Massad Ayoob's Greatest Handguns of the World.

 

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“Until the next revolution”, the Poor Man

 

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This software will assist you and your family in what and how many supplies you will need when you will need to lockdown in your home until things settle down


 

 

 

 

A Shallow Planet Production

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Flea Markets:The Last Example of a Free Economy? Not if Regulators Have Their Way.




Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources


For Independent Minded People!

ISSN 2161-5543

 

"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is
wanting what you get".

- W.P Kinsella -

 From The Smiling Dog Saloon Files

 

 

In This Issue:

1.        Flea Markets-the last real vestige of a free economy

2.       How to buy used canning equipment

3.       Paul Mason – the ‘nerd’ DIY Guy

4.       Tips for curbside composting, Can you really handle self sufficiency

5.       The government is here to ‘protect you’

 

 


 

   My wife and I enjoy flea markets, antique shows, church bazaars, estate sales and such.  They are one of the few areas of true free enterprise left in the country.  Thrift stores in many states have become a waste of time.  Organizations like Goodwill pay their CEOs 6-figure salaries while some ‘challenged employees’ earn as little as 22 cents an hour according to a recent 60 Minutes segment.

Besides that, these so-called thrift stores have begun skimming all the good stuff off the top and selling them online, cheating their customers leaving only tons of overpriced Target store rejects which usually have defects.

 

It’s also irritating to see many states collect sales taxes on used merchandise.  Another case of a double-dipping government or as my friends say, the “G” stands for gouge the citizen.

 

Most dealers at flea markets will wheel and deal and many of those folks that I know have been setting up at these venues for years.  There are many famous flea markets which have bit the dust in the past few years due to commercial expansion such as the old Park n Swap market near Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix.  I went there every single week when I attended ASU and loved to watch area Native Americans craft jewelry and leather goods.

 

Indeed, I frequently purchased wholesale lots of turquoise jewelers from these artisans and resold them to shop keepers in my home town of Cleveland in order to make extra cash for school (thank God for the GI Bill)!

 

Nanny State Regulators

 

If you regularly attend flea markets and collectibles shows, you may be familiar with fly-by-night operators who travel around the country selling stolen, counterfeit and pirated goods. The retail industry is lobbying legislators to pass regulations to help reduce what it calls "organized retail crime," which includes theft by shoplifters and employees for resale.

In a
Boston Business Journal article titled, "Retailers return to State House to push bill that would crack down on organized crime," I read with great interest that legislators had stripped out certain elements of a bill - "such as a proposed ban on the sale of certain items in flea markets,..."

I could not find the original bill, but found
this article about legislation in Indianapolis enacted last year that subjects flea markets to the same rules as pawn shops.

According to the article, flea market operators must be licensed if they sell certain types of products and are required to collect information from anyone who sells them such items, similar to regulations already in effect for
pawn shops.

"The law requires flea market operators to collect a thumb print from the seller, and keep records of the person's driver license or other photo identification. It also requires a ledger be kept with a description of what the person looks like and the license tag on the vehicle they were driving. Finally, the law requires that "regulated items" cannot be sold until 10 days after the information about the seller and the item is submitted to a police database."

What do you think of the push to crack down on the sale of stolen and counterfeit goods at flea markets? It's not just a matter of harm to manufacturers and retailers - product safety is at issue, such as the case with baby formula. But on the other hand, flea markets are the ultimate free market enterprise
. 

 

Find a listing of US & Canadian flea markets here:


 


PM’s Roundup of Useful Resources…

 

How to Buy Used Canning Equipment
Whether you're looking for used canning jars, used canners or other second hand canning equipment, know what to look for or you'll be wasting time and money buying inferior or even dangerous equipment.

 

NEVER use credit cards or credit again.


Financial Highway has been warning of the dangers of credit cards with posts such as Why Credit Cards Can Be So Devastating and Your Credit Card is Not An Emergency Fund. I am also a big advocate of giving up using credit all together and if I ever buy another house I plan to use cash, in fact I have Pledged to Never Use Credit Again.

Credit is basically borrowing money that you do not have and for anyone seriously wanting to be frugal it’s absolutely nuts to even consider taking on more debt in any form, if your car is falling apart, so be it, take the first tip in this article and walk. if you need to get a new phone, get a $10 phone from Virgin and get by until you have the cash to buy a more expensive phone. There really are no excuses when you think about it!

Paul Mason the DIY GUY who focuses on do- it- yourself projects that are nerdy!

Find his how-to videos at the top of the page.  Options include Home, About, That’s PS!, and The DIY GUY. If you want to check out Mason’s vlog click on The DIY Guide which will take you to hislanding spot on Geek and Sundry.

Nerd Crafting is where Mason puts all the crafts he can’t make himself.  That’s PS! is where you’ll find Mason’s monthly nerd craft. This is also setup blog style, so all you have to do is scroll down the page to see all the different DIY nerd crafts that Mason has put together for your consumption. The most recent entry is a TARDIS sewing box, but you’ll also find things like plushies (Pacman, Chewbacca, etc.) and fantasy swords (Sting from The Hobbit anyone?) The posts come with video tutorials as well as text description and patterns so you can try your hand at them.

http://nerdcrafting.com/

 

Tips for Composting Curbside Without Smells, Flies or Pests

Curbside composting may seem a daunting prospect at first — and have something of a "yuck" factor — but it's actually super easy to keep your compost containers clean.
http://earth911.com/food/compost-curbside-without-smells-flies-pests/

 


 



I happened to like this post quite a bit. I can and should say that the more I learn about and practice preparedness skills that I have a whole new respect for those people who REALLY live the lifestle, homestead, and have an wide array of wilderness skills that I’ll probably never have. Regardless, it…


 

The Nanny State-We love our government

 
California Police Arrest A Man Videotaping Them In Public And Then Shoot His Dog After It Leaps From Car

A videotape out of Hawthorne, California (15 miles out of Los Angeles) is raising questions not only about police arresting a man for videotaping them in public but shooting the man's dog when it comes to his aide. Warning: the arrest of Leon Rosby, 52, shown below, is a disturbing video with a graphic scene of the shooting of his dog, Max.


 


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

 

Dear Unconcerned Citizen…

 

The government is never here to protect you. And, as the US government yet again proved, all they can do is cause damage. The free market takes care of itself just fine on the Internet. The thought that some government agency can do what technology companies and organizations around the world already do is ludicrous.

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) develops and promotes Internet standards (effectively the free market architects of the internet), cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It is an open standards organization, with no formal membership or membership requirements and all participants and managers are volunteers.

"There has been a complete change in how people perceive the world," since Snowden exposed the NSA's massive surveillance efforts, and while "not a silver bullet," the chief technologist at security firm RSA notes, "anything that improves trust in this digital world is a noble aim."

The IETF held emergency meetings after Snowden let people know of the NSA’s activities.

From the Financial Times:

Key architects of the internet have started to fight back against US and UK snooping programmes by drawing up an ambitious plan to defend traffic over the world wide web against mass surveillance.

The Internet Engineering Task Force, a body that develops internet standards, has proposed a system in which all communication between websites and browsers would be shielded by encryption.

So, while Napolitano is warning that we need government to protect the internet the free market on the internet itself is working to protect itself from government!

THE US GOVERNMENT: FURTHER DESTROYING THE US ECONOMY

While the US government claims to be trying to protect US based internet businesses they have actually been mortally damaging them.

From Breitbart.com:

An industry group, the Cloud Security Alliance said last month that 10 percent of its non-US members have cancelled a contract with a US-based cloud provider, and 56 percent said they were less likely to use an American company.

Translated into hard dollar amounts, another report this month from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) said US cloud providers stand to lose $22-$35 billion over the next three years because of the publicity surrounding the PRISM program. The overall distrust among consumers and businesses in other countries will affect US tech industry bottom line as well. "The risk is that a country like Germany will say you have to be a German company to provide data services in Germany," Daniel Castro, author of the ITIF report told AFP. "I don't think that helps anyone. We do benefit from free trade and the robust competitiveness in the tech industry."

According to the report, the US dominates cloud computing market both inside the US and around the globe. US firms could see loses between 10-20% of the international market over the next few years.

Castro explained that the NSA dragnet "will likely have an immediate and lasting impact on the competitiveness of the US cloud computing industry if foreign customers decide the risks of storing data with a US company outweigh the benefits."

Anarcho-Capitalist.  Libertarian.  Freedom fighter against mankind’s two biggest enemies, the State and the Central Banks.  Jeff Berwick is the founder of The Dollar Vigilante, CEO of TDV Media & Services and host of the popular video podcast, Anarchast.  Jeff Berwick.



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.

 

Keep our services free-Check our Resources

 

Free – Updated Sideline Income Resources and Tools


 

Get the No BS – Ready for Anything Survival Files Download-Now includes…

Home Prepping Database Program

This software will assist you and your family in what and how many supplies you will need when you will need to lockdown in your home until things settle down


 

 

 

 

A Shallow Planet Production