PM's Self Reliance Tools

Saturday, January 7, 2012

When in Doubt-Sue-Using Small Claims Courts

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

http://www.PoorManSurvival.com

ISSN 2161-5543

A Free Press is the Guardian of a Free People

In This Issue:

1. When in doubt, sue

2. Free email encryption

3. Free legal, medical, schooling resources

4. More, Legitimate, Earn at home resources

5. Are you fed up yet?

In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress. - John Adams

Honda Sued Over Hybrid Mileage Claims

When in doubt, sue - Sometimes a good thing…

Heather Peters, a former corporate defense attorney, is urging other disgruntled Honda customers to opt out of a class action lawsuit over the mileage claims, and seek a larger payout in small claims court.

She launched a website "Don'tSettleWithHonda.org" with the intention of taking her legal fight viral.

Peters said claimants could be awarded up to $10,000 in small claims court, as opposed to the $200 in cash and a rebate of $500 to $1,000 toward a new Honda vehicle that will be awarded in the class action settlement.

Small claims court is for the little guy and one doesn’t require the services of an attorney to file such claims. Maximum award amounts range from a paltry $2,500 in AZ to as much as $10,000 in CA. Below you will find additional resources to make use of.

Guide to maximum amount you can sue for in small claims-State by State breakdown

http://www.civiltree.com/library/smallclaims/small4.php

Small Claims Frequently Asked Questions

Use the court form "Small Claims Writ and Notice of Suit," JD-CV-40. Type or neatly print your information on the forms. ... Where do I go to file a small claims case? www.jud.ct.gov/faq/smallclaims.html

Free PDF general guide to filing a small claims suit
http://www.courtclerk.org/forms/smallclaimsguide.pdf

Cola removes grease marks from your driveway or patio - pour directly from the can and let it sit overnight, then hose away.

PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources

CONSUMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM NEEDS ASSISTANCE- One of the consequences of Congress's 2011 budget showdowns could be the end of state consumer assistance programs: Texas is shuttering its one, The Washington Post reports. Funded through grants from the ACA, the consumer assistance programs need congress to fund future appropriations and "[w]hen the House and Senate failed to pass a budget last year, operating instead on a short-term fix that continued all existing appropriated programs, the consumer assistance program was shut out." The Texas hotline was staffed by nine people and received more than 6,000 calls from consumers needing help with insurance or claims, and the employees were able to hold events to help the public become more aware of their coverage options, WaPo reported. Thirty-four other states received initial grants to help support their programs, and it's now unclear how long they'll be able to operate them. The story: http://wapo.st/uLBcc3

Free Email Encryption In 15 Minutes

Private email is sent across the internet in plain text, readable by anyone who routes the message and by dozens of other organizations. Email encryption is the only way to secure your private messages and it is not as technical, time-consuming, complicated or cumbersome as you might think. If you can use email you probably have the skill to set up encrypted email in about 15 minutes. Check out these simple steps to get email encryption.... and did I mention it is completely FREE!

Find Discounts on Car Rentals

Many major rental firms, including Alamo, Budget and Hertz, offer coupon discounts. Find them at:

www.RentalCarMomma.com

www.RetailMeNot.com/coupons/carrental

Find Financial Help

For just about whatever challenge you might face, there seems to be a group willing to help. Here are some resources to review.

Returning to School - Get government grants up to $4,000 a year at:

StudentAid.ed.gov

FastWeb.com

Medical Issues - Find free or low-cost health insurance via state social services.

--NeedHelpPayingBills.com

Legal Advice-Find free help if you’re low-income at Legal Services Corp. at:

LSC.gov

Starting a New Venture

Post a goal for starting a new business, funding an adoption, etc. - friends and donors can pitch in the help you become successful at:

KickStarter.com

Legit Ways to Make Money Online With Free Startup
At no other time in history have there been so many options for the low-budget entrepreneur to build his own start-up business at very low or even no cost involved. The facilitator to this new business climate is the Internet. While scams and shady characters still inhabit this venue, there are several legitimate ways to make money online. Keep in mind that, generally speaking, the less money invested in the start-up, the more effort will be required to make it successful. Full story at:
http://www.ehow.com/list_7349222_legit-make-money-online-startup.html

Why do about a third of all U.S. states allow borrowers who don’t pay their bills to be put in jail?

The Nanny State Updates…

Folk singer Vance Gilbert says he was pulled off a flight from Boston to Washington by Transportation Security Administration agents and officers from the Massachusetts State Police and questioned about his reading habits. They apparently found it suspicious that he was reading a book about vintage aircraft while flying.

Restraining Orders

The government’s unconstitutional restrictions on our freedom to travel

Steve Bierfeldt, director of development for Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty, thought he was having a good day. At a regional Campaign for Liberty event in Missouri, Bierfeldt had sold thousands of dollars worth of conference tickets, bumper stickers, T-shirts, and books, and was now in the security line at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, waiting to catch a flight back to Washington, D.C. But the federal government had other ideas.

After discovering a metal box with more than $4,700 in cash and checks inside Bierfeldt’s luggage, officials from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) detained him for further screening.

TSA agents interrogated him for more than a half hour with a series of intrusive questions: “Where do you work?” “What are you planning to do with the money?” “Where did you acquire the money?” More at:

http://reason.com/archives/2011/12/19/restraining-orders

Appears to be another example of abusive police – what do you think?

West Point Grad Arrested For Defending Woman Abused By Austin Police www.youtube.com

Why was the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall made in China?

The Parting Thought – Are you fed up with government?

It’s a terrible thing to have to fear your own government…

Are you fed up yet? The voracious appetite of the government…

The National Defense Authorization Act has been signed by the president. I imagine it will only be a matter of time before complaining about the tax burden becomes classified as an act of sedition...and punishable by seizure of all property and indefinite military detention.

As a candidate, Obama criticized the last administration for holding Americans as enemy combatants without trial. He faulted it for wiretapping citizens without a warrant. He rejected the Republican claim that the president has the "inherent power" to go to war without congressional consent…now look at him!

While the middle class continues to struggle on the crumbs left over in their paychecks, the government continues to grow and it continues to suck money from the public and from the future of our children in order to pay for “protecting” us from our enemies and to provide us with the basic services we all want.

As we all know, there are dozens of hidden taxes and fees each of are required to cough up into government coffers each day. One look at your utility bills, property taxes, fuel bills and so on will convince you. Despite a never ending gluttony for your money, government services have eroded over the years. In most cities, roads and bridges are in desperate need of repair, while public transportation services in most cities are seeing cutbacks.

The creation of our so-called Homeland Security Agency saw more costs foisted on the public, especially in the area of transportation fees (have you looked at the fees tacked onto your airline ticket recently, for instance)?

I feel so more secure now, don’t you?

The self-employed get to see all the money they've earned in their hot little hands...before the government holds out one of its own hands in expectation and with a gun firmly held in the other.

An Internet search took us to a government website that warned that the self-employed have to foot the entire Social Security tax themselves. That's 13.3% up to $106,800. (And then there's the 2.9% or so for Medicare.) Employees see only half that tax because employers quietly pay the other half. The self-employed, however, see yet a bit more of their potential quality of life and future security stolen away.

That money isn't being put away for us by the feds after all. It's being used to pay current recipients of Social Security and Medicare, among other things. Social Security and Medicare represents nearly 75% of the total taxes actually collected by the U.S. government.

The rest of the government's expenses -- including protecting us from the enemies it creates -- is funded by deficit spending. That is to say the money was borrowed, adding to the already impressive $33 trillion in government liability. In its never-ending search for more revenue, the Fed and states have been looking to internet sales to grab your cash as described below…

Like a drug addict, tax collectors are always seeking their next fix

How The New IRS Form 1099K Impacts Your Tax Return

Online merchants will soon begin receiving new 1099-K forms from
Amazon, PayPal, Google and credit card merchant account providers.
What do you do with these forms, which are being forward to the IRS?
Tax guru Barbara Weltman explains.
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y12/m01/i02/s02

“Until the next revolution”, the Poor Man

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A Shallow Planet Production

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

The Folly of Voting, Self Reliance Expo, $5 Electric Bill

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

http://www.PoorManSurvival.com

ISSN 2161-5543

A Free Press is the Guardian of a Free People

In This Issue:

1. The folly of voting

2. Keeping a low profile

3. How to lower your electric bill to $5

4. How to build a greenhouse

5. Self Reliance Expo

The existing social order is a swindle and its cherished beliefs mostly delusions.

--George Orwell

Keeping a low Profile-You are being watched

It’s become a real challenge to keep a low profile from various government authorities. With various agencies offering rewards for those who turn you in for “offenses” such as taxes, construction without building permits, having offshore bank accounts, doing business ‘off-the-books,’ and more, what’s a citizen to do while simply trying to be left alone?

One of the main ways to stay out of trouble with government agents is to keep a low profile, i.e., stay away from those situations wherein you call attention to yourself. After all, if they don't know about you, they can't attack you. Here are some practical methods to use to keep a low profile.

It is not necessary, nor is it desirable, to fight the bureacrats on every front. If you do that, you will just gain a reputation as a "radical" and the effectiveness of your fights will be diluted. If you are going to fight a battle with the bureaucrats, you should pick an area where you have a good chance of winning and a venue where you can get some favorable publicity. This means learning all you can about the area before you start the fight and it means making sure you are in a good position, both lawfully and legally. But mostly it means to figure out a way around the problem rather than attacking it head on.

Offshore assets. The IRS is increasingly obsessed with tracking down and taxing the income earned on assets held in offshore bank and securities accounts. As of the beginning of the year, the IRS now has 800 new employees trained specifically in international issues. Along with the Justice Department, the IRS is aggressively pursuing these accounts.

Exit the system. Quit your job, rescind your Social Security Number, cancel your drivers' license, move into the hills, and start living off the land. This is not a method that most people will select although it is a very effective method. But, remember the law of survival. By exiting the system, you will be significantly reducing the odds of passing on your genes.

Become a Permanent Tourist. You can become a temporary resident of a country and then move on to another country before you have stayed long enough to be considered a permanent resident. Most countries treat visitors much better than they treat their citizens so this can represent a significant increase in your personal freedom. The method requires some manipulation of the passport system and it does mean that you will not be able to "settle down" but it does work. If you are interested in looking into this method further, you can find more information in "The World Citizen Ideas of Garry Davis". Don't forget to come back here when you're finished.

Go Offshore. Going offshore means to keep all or part of your assets in financial organizations in a country different from your country of residence. For example, if you live in the US, Canada would be offshore for you. (Although I don't recommend that you put your assets in Canada, either.) There are advantages and disadvantages to going offshore. An advantage is that your assets are managed under the laws of the offshore country which usually give a huge advantage to offshore assets. Unless there is a tax treaty between your country and the country where your assets are, your financial affairs will not be reported to your home country

A hand washer is a great way to get your clothes clean without electric power. Some even have a wringer to squeeze excess water from the fabric and speed up drying time.

Tip: Consider getting some clothesline and clothespins for the drying process as well.

PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources

The Self Reliance Expo will be in Dallas, TX on February 10th and 11th 2012. For more details visit SelfRelianceExpo.com

Project Gutenberg

This site was cataloging free eBooks long before eBooks were a big deal. All 33,000 titles are in the public domain.

File Formats: ePub, Kindle, HTML and text

Manybooks.net

Get all the copyright-free books that you'll find on other sites, plus new books that have been published under a Creative Commons agreement.

File Formats: ePub, Kindle, HTML and almost two dozen others.

DrugCite Tells You the Side Effects of Nearly Any Medicine and Provides Helpful, Relevant Statistics

DrugCite is a useful database of information about the prescription and over-the-counter medication, allowing you to look up the possible side effects of specific drugs and see statistics about their reported problems.

DrugCite

How to build a greenhouse-Useful DIY

Save money and garden all year long by building a greenhouse.

http://www.mnn.com/your-home/remodeling-design/stories/how-to-build-a-greenhouse

How I brought my electricity bill down to $5

Lifestyle blogger shares the details of her energy-efficient lifestyle.

Of course, I had to see how my energy usage compared to the average American. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 11,040 kilowatt-hours (kWh), an average of 920 kWh per month.” However

http://www.mnn.com/money/personal-finance/blogs/how-i-brought-my-electricity-bill-down-to-5

Another essential emergency tool you should consider is a treadle (pedal) sewing machine. Not only is it useful for your own needs – it could even provide a source of barter/income in a pinch.

The Nanny State Updates…

Internet and Free Speech under attack by Congress

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) would give the federal government the ability to potentially shut down millions of websites.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin, is alarmed that SOPA would give the U.S. government the power to censor search results without even having to go through a court trial....

"Imagine my astonishment when the newest threat to free speech has come from none other but the United States. Two bills currently making their way through congress -- SOPA and PIPA -- give the U.S. government and copyright holders extraordinary powers including the ability to hijack DNS and censor search results (and this is even without so much as a proper court trial)"

The government should not take our property away without a fair trial.

But now SOPA would allow the U.S. government to hit Internet websites with a "death penalty" without even having to go to court.

Many believe that the language of the new law is so vague that it would allow the government to permanently shut down any website that even links very briefly to "infringing material". Prominent websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube would be constantly in danger of being given a "death penalty". The American people need to ask their members of Congress this question: Do you plan to vote for SOPA (The Stop Online Piracy Act)? If the answer is yes, that is a clear indication that you should never cast a single vote for that member of Congress ever again.

Canned goods were invented in the 1880s. The whole process of canning in bottles dates back to the great work of French confectioner and Chef Nicolas Appert, who perfected the process in 1810.

The Parting Thought – the folly of voting

"On 'Lost Freedoms in America‘...

"Like in Star Wars when Queen Amadaula says, 'So, that's how freedom is lost...with cheers and applause.'

Start a Peaceful Revolution - Don’t Vote (for democrat or republican)

Most Americans are scratching and clawing and doing whatever they can to make a living these days…but they’ll continue to re-elect the same wolves.

I’ve repeated this mantra for nearly every national election. No one ever listens. For some reason, the masses still think a vote for the lesser of two evils (which it usually winds up being) will somehow change things in America for the better.

It hasn’t and it won’t.

About 85% of elected politicians get reelected. This means the same foxes are guarding the henhouse and nothing ever changes. Voting for either party during the past 30 years or so, has proven itself dangerous to the country and particularly, to the middle class.

Most political campaigns don’t offer any real solutions, just mudslinging. Not one elected politician seems to have solved any of the problems we face such as our insane income tax system, ending the Fed, ending government growth, illegal immigration, fostering a better job creation environment, ridding our country of excessive bureaucratic red tape, etc.

I fear Thomas Jefferson was right when he said, "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." That's what's happened. Bush and Obama doubled spending and increased regulation. Government's intrusiveness is always more, never less. The state grows, and freedom declines."

Despite the promises made by politicians, is our country any better off? Is your family any better off? Do we have more freedom or less today?

The decline of the middle class is not something that has happened all of a sudden. Rather, there has been a relentless grinding down of the middle class over the last several decades. Millions of our jobs have been shipped overseas, the rate of inflation has far outpaced the rate that our wages have grown.

Today, only 55.3 percent of all Americans between the ages of 16 and 29 have jobs.

Since the year 2000, the United States has lost 10% of its middle class jobs.

If you think the status quo of either party has been good for the country, then go out and vote. If, on the other hand, you feel neither party has led this country on a socially viable path, don’t vote. If enough people didn’t vote, or at the very least, dropped their membership from the two parties, perhaps they might actually wake up to the national dissatisfaction most of us now feel.

Do we need another year of mud-slinging, no solution political campaigns? Instead of inspired leadership, we’ve been lead on a path of destruction. I say what we really need is another revolution. Our suggestion has always been, do what you can to become less dependent on the system!