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Robert Shiller, the Yale economist who nailed the housing bubble before it burst, was on Bloomberg Television with Trish Regan and Adam Johnson on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the U.S. housing market. As usual, Shiller was reluctant to declare that home prices had bottomed. He explained that the housing market is a speculative one and that there's no telling which way prices would go tomorrow. He also explained that there wasn't much reason to believe that home prices would appreciate back to levels seen during the last cycle.
Robert Shiller Destroys The Idea Of Investing In A Home, 2/7/13
While surfing the net, I have come across some sites talk about a list of 20 or 25 things you should always have with you – some ideas were good and some not so good and some not even considered. So I decided to come up with my own list. I generally have most of this with me at any given time – it drives my wife nuts. She always asks why I have so much schumer in my pants pockets and on my keys. As a city resident it this may be slightly urban oriented. So here is my version of 25 or so things that you should always try to have with you and my thoughts comments and explanations on each with some additional helpful hints I have adopted over my years:
25 Things to Always Have With You
In recent years there have been huge numbers of Americans that have sought to go “off the grid” and live a more independent lifestyle. It has been estimated that there are now approximately 3 million “preppers” in the United States, and many of them just want to be left alone so that they can take care of themselves and their families on their own land. But that is not the way America works anymore. In many areas of the country, government control freaks have essentially declared war on preppers and are attempting to force them back on to the grid. In some states, “nuisance abatement teams” are conducting armed raids on off the grid properties. Property owners are being cited for “code violations” and are being told that they are “bothering the neighbors”. In some cases, trees and gardens are being forcibly removed. In other cases, entire structures are being relocated or torn down. And in the most extreme cases, property owners are actually being forced off of their properties completely by these control freaks. You see, the truth is that in America you don’t really own your property. You are essentially renting it, and you can only do with it what the government allows you to do. And the government does not like people disconnecting from the grid and living an independent lifestyle. So these battles over property rights are probably going to get even more intense in the years ahead.
All Over America Government Control Freaks Are Forcing Preppers Back On To The Grid, 6/19/12
The following list of A to Z survival items and survival related concepts details what one may have simply forgotten because there’s so much to prepare for. Kind of like; “oh yeah, I am glad that something reminded me of what I need”, or “that’s something I never thought of and I will need it”. Most everyone will, of course, not be able to amass everything on this list, and there will of course be items and ideas not mentioned here, but it should be a good place to start for beginners and seasoned preppers alike. A person can always add more to any list of their own essential needs, as lists such as this are almost endless. It should also be realized that no list of survival items and ideas are perfect for any individual, and just because someone has just a portion of what is on it doesn’t mean that they are not prepared.
The goal here is to have a general inventory of “key words” that have to do with prepping and survival that have very brief descriptions and short reasons behind why they are so important regarding survival preparedness. The aim is to keep each survival and prepping word or set of words as compact as possible – that is, to not bog down anyone with lengthy explanations that could easily fill an encyclopedia size book. When the prepper/survivalist sees a word in relation to preparing it can and does trigger an automated response that brings thoughts of whether they need or do not need to do something about it in their own planning.
A to Z Survival Guide, 6/11/12
Prepping in both material and mindset is valuable not only because of the exponential increase in survivability in contingency situations, but in all the time and resources (i.e. money) spent in its pursuits. It is an investment. An investment in our future and likely the futures of those we hold dear. determine your needs, and protect the continuing fulfillment of those needs accordingly by considering all the angles you can possibly imagine. Use your imagination, be creative. Brainstorm, bounce ideas around with others who share your concerns.
Assessing Risk and Analyzing Hazards for Any Scenario, 5/10/12
Reality tells us that we may soon be coming to a point in which cash is no longer king. The economy has been drying up for years. Over one million Americans filed their initial unemployment claim over the last month. The dollars we bring home are buying less on every trip to the grocery store.
Barter Goods: Inexpensive Now, Invaluable Later, 4/29/12
Don’t underestimate the value of those skills for barter. If the grid goes down, people may be left with no access to medical care, serious gaps in their knowledge or the inability to repair vital items. If you possess those abilities, your skills will be in high demand.
Barter Value of Skills, 4/27/12
Taking the urban garden to the next level, Seattle, Washington has officially broken ground on a dedicated seven acre area of city land set to be converted into an “edible forest” that will produce free food for the city’s residents and visitors, human or otherwise.
Seattle Creating Massive Edible Forest Filled with Free Food, 4/12/12
Modern, urban life is a minefield of toxic chemicals and health-sapping pollutants that can cause serious, long-term health damage if not carefully avoided or at least properly and regularly mitigated. But surviving the modern world requires a lot more than just avoiding toxic chemicals, as proper nutrition, essential skills, and self-sustaining living systems will all play a crucial role in surviving whatever may come our way in the very near future.
Six tips on surviving the modern world in the event of a crisis, 4/10/12
In my quest for ultimate preparation, I found that the average 72 hour kit sold at your local sports outlet isn’t a practical approach to bugging out. Most ready-made kits are all but useless containing minimal calories and a destitute number of tools for survival. That’s why I decided to create my own ultimate bug out bag.
Ultimate Bug Out Kit, 3/24/12
There is a reason why our ancestors relied so heavily upon essential kitchen items for their day-to-day survival, and it wasn’t because they wanted to make the best baked goods in the county. The “make due or do without” philosophy transferred into their food sources as well. The answer as to why our ancestors stocked these items is versatility.
The following are a list of essential items that are very deserving of a space on your emergency food shelves:
7 Kitchen Essentials That Deserve To Be On Your Preparedness Shelves, 3/23/12
Flowering displays are replacing urban decay all across America, with recent reports out of New York illustrating the power of creative, resourceful thinking in implementing successful, city-based farming initiatives. New York Daily News reports that a food pantry in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., has successfully created a 250-square foot indoor farm that produces food for hundreds of local families and their children -- and many others in the area are working on similar projects.
Indoor urban farm in New York helps feed hundreds of families, 3/20/12
People are now looking at their backyards with fresh eyes, searching for a handy and level spot to erect that new chicken coop.
Backyard Chicken Movement, 3/16/12
Living in a car isn’t something that anyone would recommend. However, when you get laid off, your emergency fund runs out, your home is foreclosed (or you get an eviction notice) and there’s nobody to help, living in your car might be the only choice, especially if you don’t feel safe at a local shelter. Unfortunately, in many places, sleeping in your car is not only frowned upon, but also illegal. Here’s how to get by until something better comes along.
How to Live in Your Car, 3/4/12
Certain home appliances are particularly troublesome, in terms of the EMF emitted, such as electric heaters, electric stove rings, microwave ovens, electric blankets, and hair dryers.
Cancer Alert: Beware of These 5 Home Appliances, 2/18/12
Below are the photos of a garden at the Supermarket of Hua Ho Department Store Manggis in Brunei Darussalam. The vegetable are were grown using the soil less gardening method called hydroponics. According to experts, food and water are fed directly to the roots in hy. This enables the plants to spend more energy growing the part above the surface, thus growing two times faster.
Since the vegetables were displayed without removing them from their growing media, customers can surely buy a very fresh vegetable. This display technique is also done by other stores in Brunei.
Vegetable Garden Inside a Supermarket, 1/15/12
How should people prepare for the difficult years that are coming? I get asked about that a lot. Once people really examine the facts, it is not too hard to convince them that an economic collapse is coming. But once they accept that reality, most of them want to know what they can do to prepare themselves and their families for the hard times that are ahead. Well, the truth is that it does not have to be complicated. Many of the things discussed throughout this article are things that most of us should be doing anyway. Now is not the time to be splurging on luxuries or expensive vacations. Now is not the time to be going into large amounts of debt. Instead, we all need to get back to the basics and we all need to do what we can to become more independent of the system. Just remember what happened back in 2008. Millions of Americans lost their jobs and millions of Americans lost their homes. Now experts all over the globe are warning that another great financial crisis that could be just as bad as 2008 (or even worse) is coming. Those that don't take the time to prepare this time are not going to have any excuse.
How To Prepare for the Difficult Years Ahead, 1/13/12
Many of us have, within our Bug Out Bag some kind of basic survival fishing rig (like those sold at Ready Made Resources or Camping Survival) be it a simple hook, line, and sinker tucked away in a plastic case, in the handle of a survival knife, a pill bottle, plastic pack or metal tin, or a slightly more elaborate setup that might include a small fishing reel and telescopic rod or a small Yo-Yo fishing reel. Regardless of what rig you possess at the time TSHTF, it is important to have some general knowledge and ability in order to accomplish the desired outcome while fishing—and that is catching fish. Let’s face it, those of us that have never fished for anything with the exception of the remote control between the cushions of the sofa, could benefit from some tips to increase our chances, especially if it means the difference between a much needed meal or going hungry for yet another day.
Survival Fishing 101, 1/12/12
A vegetable garden can do more than save you money -- it can save the world. At TEDxDirigo Roger Doiron shows how gardens can re-localize our food and feed our growing population.
Roger Doiron: My subversive (garden) plot, 12/31/11
When most people think of pollution, they think of the outdoors – garbage-choked streams or industrial waste.
But you probably spend a large portion of your time indoors – as much as 80 to 90 percent of your life.
You work, study, eat, drink and sleep in enclosed environments where air circulation may be restricted.
The typical American home contains 3-10 GALLONS of toxic materials – everything from glass and bathroom cleaners to garden pesticides and fertilizers.
Are you poisoning your household by doing the laundry?, 12/22/11
When the small British mill town of Todmorden, tucked in between Yorkshire and Lancashire, first began installing fruit and vegetable gardens all around the area as part of the Incredible Edible program, it likely had no idea that the novel, yet simple, concept would make the town a foremost inspirational and self-sustaining model of the future.
British town grows all of its own vegetables, witnesses improved civic life and reduced crime as a result, 12/15/11
I was speaking with my Mom the other day and she told me they had a power outage due to a wind storm. The loss of power took them by surprise and lasted for an entire day. They could not find all their backup lighting, and the propane stove was lost in the garage somewhere. We had talked about being prepared for this sort of thing before! She even said, “I know you talk about this in your book.” But sometimes the message does not always get through, or the intent to prepare is there but gets put off. This conversation helped me make up my mind on what to get my parents and my other relatives for Christmas: preparedness themed gifts.
Give the Gift of Preparedness, 12/9/11
For the purpose of this article, I am going to assume the readers house is somewhat like mine, located in Anytown, Suburbia, Eastern United States. The primary goal here is to defend yourself, your family, your home. and your preps from those who would otherwise do harm. It is assumed that the primary threat here will be bands of looters/thieves/social deviants, squatters, or loners looking to pillage.
Tips for Securing Your Bug-In Location, 12/6/11
Britta Riley wanted to grow her own food (in her tiny apartment). So she and her friends developed a system for growing plants in discarded plastic bottles -- researching, testing and tweaking the system using social media, trying many variations at once and quickly arriving at the optimal system. Call it distributed DIY. And the results? Delicious.
Britta Riley: A garden in my apartment, 11/28/11
The most powerful food and medicine on the planet is free, and it's growing right outside your door and around your neighborhood.
Did you know that wild local plants and foods are far better for you than organic produce from a supermarket? They're naturally loaded with plant-based medicines -- phytonutrients -- and you'd be surprised how many are growing near your home right this very minute. In fact, no matter where you live, there are an astounding number of wild plants in your region that have been used for thousands of years as FREE food and medicine.
How to find free food and medicine all around you, no matter where you live, 11/7/11
Chuhck Baldwin: It’s once again time for my annual survival list column. One does not have to be a prophet to know that we are on the precipice of some potentially catastrophic–or at the very least, challenging–days. In fact, most of us are already in challenging days, and some are already enduring catastrophic events. That is, if one would call being out of work, losing one’s home, facing life-threatening medical conditions without any prospect of medical insurance, several families being forced to live in one house due to homes being foreclosed, etc., catastrophic.
A Suggested Survival List, 10/20/11
Growing your own garden will save money, offset inflation and avoid shortages. It's an idea that may grow on you.
Are you thinking about having an urban-suburban indoor garden? Today, indoor farming's a trend on the upswing, and for many good reasons. Among them is reducing exposure to the increasing outbreaks of Salmonella and deadly Listeria invading the food chain.
An idea whose time has come…again
Maintaining and cultivating a private garden is not new. During the war years of the 1940s, Americans were encouraged to grow small gardens on their land or in their homes: Victory Gardens. Back then, every American was encouraged to do his or her part in the war effort including growing some of their own food.
Indoor gardening: Grow 50 delectable edibles in your home, 10/18/11
Those who look to precious metals as a safe haven will obviously shy away from traditional storage methods. As such, you’ll need to take care and be meticulous when hiding these and other assets in or around your home. Nothing can be secured with 100% reliability, but if you get creative you can certainly increase your chances.
Shovel and Hole Maneuver for Hiding Gold, Guns and Other Assets, 10/11/11
Have you ever wondered what our ancestors did without refrigeration? How were they able to prevent their food from spoiling? Some of our ancient civilizations did in fact have refrigeration and used simple items they had on hand to create it.
The zeer, or clay pot refrigeration keeps food cool (icy cold) without electricity by using evaporative cooling. Essentially, a porous outer earthenware pot, lined with wet sand, contains an inner pot (which can be glazed to prevent penetration by the liquid) within which the food is placed. The evaporation of the outer liquid draws heat from the inner pot.
Effective, cold refrigeration, without electricity, 9/26/11
Apis mellifera, more commonly referred to as the honey bee, is one of the most beneficial insects in the world. Did you know that we have the honey bee to thank for one third of all the food we eat? Why, without the honey bee, we would mostly eat rice, wheat, and corn instead of the wonderful variety of fruits, vegetables, and nuts we enjoy every day. Not only do honey bees help make more food from pollination, they make a wide variety of products as well.
Keeping Honey Bees for Survival, 9/24/11
As what was once the proud nation of the United States of America slips into the status of a Third World nation, some economists are suggesting their wealthier clients consider moving themselves and their assets out of the country. What countries? The Czech Republic, Belize and Chile are among the top favorites.
But what if you can't leave the country? What if you lost your job, don't have any real assets to fall back on, or are simply reluctant to leave behind everything that's familiar to you?
Then you might consider living in a tree. It's no joke. It's an option some are considering.
Why You Should Sell Everything Now And Live In A Tree, 9/24/11
This particular case has to do with zoning idiocy and the little Napoleons who run government at the local level.
On the other hand, this is where we could be headed if the Monsanto-written, Obama-approved and Congress-passed "food safety" bill is actually enforced.
Read closely, the new laws prohibits you from growing and consuming your own food without government approval. To "keep you safe" of course.
Yes, it's insane.
What else is new?
Criminal Gardening - The future of home grown food?
We expect a lot of things on the east coast, but an earthquake is typically not one of them. I was sitting at my desk on the first floor of a five story building when the room started to move and the door started to shake.
My first instinct was to figure out what was happening and not about what I should be doing in the event this was an earthquake.
So what should I have been doing?
Surviving an earthquake, 8/24/11
The DuPont chemical company recently received approval from the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) for its new herbicide Imprelis (aminocyclopyrachlor), which has been alleged as an "environmentally friendly" alternative to other herbicides.
However, a recent New York Times (NYT) report implicates the herbicide in causing the widespread deaths of thousands of trees across the country, including Norway spruces, eastern white pines, willows, poplars, and conifers.
New EPA-approved DuPont herbicide linked to widespread killing of trees, authorities unconcerned, 8/2/11
Where blighted or abandoned land sits idle in vacant lots or on street meridians, under park benches or in the bare areas under trees, look for a latter day Johnny Appleseed to take aim. Under the radar of city planners and police, they may call their covert activities pavement pimping or guerilla or stealth gardening. Although their activities are peaceful, they may utilize to some extent the language of warfare. It is a war conducted against wastelands.
Guerilla gardeners sow seed bombs worldwide, 7/27/11
In the face of today`s burgeoning loss of seed diversity, the need for a doubling in food production in the next fifty years and the threatened spread of deadly food fungus has instigated seed hunters to scour world markets in a desperate search for the last varieties of wheat, rice, barley, lentils and chickpeas.
Food diversity extinction is rampant. In the USA, 90 percent of historic fruit and vegetable varieties have vanished. In the Philippines thousands of varieties of rice are now shrunk to a few hundred. China has lost perhaps 90 percent of wheat varieties. This former diversity was the result of more than 10,000 years of domestication.
Without seed diversity, climate change or plant disease can decimate the plants people depend on for food.
Seed hunters make mad dash to save the food crops of humanity, 7/19/11
Thanks to a recent admission by the USDA that it does not have the regulatory framework to even regulate GMOs, the world of biotech is set to unleash a tidal wave of genetically modified seeds upon the United States. This is the upshot of Scotts Miracle-Gro challenging the USDA over its GMO grass seeds, to which the USDA threw in the towel and essentially announced it can't technically regulate many GMOs at all.
Welcome to the new world order of GMO self regulation, where the companies that produce the GMO seeds now get to regulate their own behavior!
Coming in 2012: Genetically modified front lawns and the mass spraying of neighborhoods and playgrounds with RoundUp, 7/17/11
The human practice of growing food from and amongst the trees goes back millennia. There are examples of food forests, or forest gardens, in Vietnam and Morocco stretching back hundreds and thousands of years respectively. Much of the east coast of North America was managed this way by the native peoples before the arrival of Columbus. Forest gardening is the most sustainable and ecological way of producing food known to man. In the past 30 years, forest gardening has become popular thanks to the efforts of dedicated people.
Forest gardening is not about just taking your annual vegetable garden and putting it into the forest. It is about designing a system based upon productive trees as the primary source of food. These include fruit and nut trees, and trees that nurture or support them. A forest garden can contain berry bushes and other shrubs. The understory contains plants such as herbs, mushrooms and vegetables that are shade or partially shade tolerant. These plants form guilds (mutually beneficial groups of plants) with the trees and shrubs to create connections that strengthen the overall resiliency of the system and to lessen or eliminate the need for outside inputs.
Food Forests - Design modern solutions from ancient traditions, 7/15/11
Amazing: a pile of earth, dug out from a building site, can be turned into a small house called an Eco- Dome. The folks at the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture teach professionals and students from all over the world how to build structures like this.
This Superadobe technology was first presented to NASA for lunar habitats, and can build single or clustered homes on earth which are resistant to fire, floods, wind storms and earthquakes. Long sandbag tubes are filled with earth and compacted in layers which are reinforced and connected with barbed wire.
Eco Dome - Earth As Shelter
We get more done, and feel healthier and stronger since we adopted this way of life. We truly believe everyone will be living like this in 20 years. The benefits and the rewards are so very worth the small amount of effort required. People focus too much on the 'work' aspect of it, it should be looked at as more of a zen practice. Growing and preparing food is very zen and is a very karmic and devotional practice!
Why Growing and Preparing Your Own Food is the Future
During fall foliage season, wild fruits abound, as do berries and nuts. There is really nothing finer than cracking wild walnuts by a cozy Autumn woodfire, while feasting on a wild apple pie -- unless, of course, it's a bowl of wild plums! Unplugging from The Man does not result in austerity. It results in simple prosperity. It is personal freedom. To become unplugged is to become free. Each thing that we can do to cut ties with The Man and its established order creates more freedom.
Wildcrafting: Seeing the world as a garden, 5/18/11
Since our nation's founding the federal government has, in times of emergency, claimed extra-constitutional powers and authority. Under the guise of acting in the public's best interests, Washington has taken away privacy rights, free speech, and habeas corpus, among others. There's no reason to think it wouldn't happen again.
With that in mind, would it surprise you to find out that if disaster strikes in your part of the country, the federal government is prepared to take over local food supplies, in part by confiscating farms?
FEMA to confiscate food from local farms in emergencies?, 5/11/11
Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Gustav. The recent tornadoes throughout the south. Flooding in Missouri. The devastating fallout from a major earthquake along the New Madrid fault line. The devaluation of the U.S. dollar. Hyperinflation. Civil unrest.
All of these are disasters that have happened or are waiting to happen, and each one brings with it unique circumstances. But there a few common threads interwoven through all of them. One of the most important of those is the issue of personal preparedness.
Americans preparing like never before - are you ready for the unexpected?, 5/10/11
The freedom to grow, sell, and buy clean food is under serious attack. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made it clear that the agency is not a friend of food freedom and that it is willing to do whatever it takes to go after those involved in the "Slow Food" movement in order to protect corporate interests.
In response to this increasing FDA tyranny against traditional food, a group of food freedom advocates is holding a "Rally for Food and Farm Freedom" in Washington, DC, on May 16, 2011, and you can help lend your support by attending or offering financial assistance.
Join the Rally for Food and Farm Freedom in DC on May 16, 5/10/11
In just a few short months, we've witnessed people power in action. From the Middle East to the Midwest, movements have risen up to overturn tired dogma and challenge entrenched power. Many of us were inspired by these events. And many of us were surprised. Perhaps we were growing skeptical that people power could still work. Maybe we had forgotten a vital fact about our world: that bold citizens, united around a common mission, can still come together to create major change against enormous odds.
Xtremes: Subversive recipes for catastrophic times, 5/9/11
If you have a fallout shelter, a BOB, a BOV, a retreat location, but you don't carry concealed on a daily basis and you have zero knowledge of martial arts, then you're missing the mark. If you're prepared for a nuclear war or the fallout resulting from such a war, but you're not prepared to deal with the knife-armed maniac at the corner store, or the two thugs who try to jump you at the ATM, or the gang member who tries to car-jack you at the red-light, you need to shift some of your energy/resources away from the pie in the sky Red Dawn stuff, to something more realistic and applicable on a daily basis... You need to focus on staying safe in an increasingly dangerous America. If you’re ready for a total collapse you need to make sure you are ready for the possibility of a partial collapse or some variation of a partial collapse. You might not be in a situation where you need to get out of Dodge and you may not be able to ride into dodge with your rifle and clean up the town, you may find yourself somewhere in-between. Make sure you remain focused on the possibility of the partial collapse. Be prepared to have to take increasing measures to stay safe in an increasingly dangerous nation.
Unrealistic Mentality of the Modern Survivalist, 5/6/11
Do you want everything that goes down your drain winding up on your backyard produce? Well that's what happens to those who use organic compost made with municipal sewage. More than half of the 15 trillion gallons of sewage flushed annually by Americans ends up in a fertilizer product and those products contain everything that goes down the drain from Prozac flushed down toilets to the motor oil rinsed off factory floors (http://motherjones.com/environment/...). The U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn't regulate which fertilizers can be labeled as "organic" which means anyone can use the term, including those companies that are packaging what we flush.
Many types of organic compost are really packaged human sewage, 5/6/11
Designer Suzanne Lee shares her experiments in growing a kombucha-based material that can be used like fabric or vegetable leather to make clothing. The process is fascinating, the results are beautiful (though there's still one minor drawback ...) and the potential is simply stunning.
Grow your own clothes with Kombucha
As people are turning away from chemical ingredients in everything from cleaning products to beauty products, they are also turning to chemical-free foods by growing food in their own backyards.
In order to keep your homegrown produce as free from harmful chemicals as possible while keeping crop-destroying pests to a minimum use natural pest control methods. If prevention doesn't get the job done, try some home remedies first. As a last resort, you can turn to organic pesticide--just make sure all the ingredients are listed and they are all things you are not afraid to put on your food.
Green gardening secrets: How to eliminate bugs and pests without using poison, 5/4/11
The passage of an urban farming amendment in San Francisco has sparked a wave of joy among backyard farmers from across the Bay Area. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors recently voted to amend the city's zoning code in such a way that now allows backyard growers to freely cultivate produce and sell it without having to purchase a conditional use permit (CUP), which can run upwards of $3,000. And the victory could also help spur many other urban areas to take the same route in allowing urban gardens on residential land.
San Francisco votes to allow small-scale commercial farming in residential areas, no conditional use permit needed, 4/25/11
With help from the FDA and USDA, the biotech industry is set to completely take over our food supply with genetically modified ingredients, irregardless of the wishes of “we the people.” Through collusion, subterfuge, and a bit of back-door manipulation, Monsanto can write it’s own ticket with the U.S. Federal Government’s stamp of approval. If the rules get in the way, then change the rules, or at least their interpretation, to fit the situation.
A Government of Monsanto, by Monsanto, and for Monsanto, 4/20/11
Though some might argue that nanotechnology offers benefits not afforded by normal molecules, the environmental and human health consequences of this "breakthrough" technology appear dire, to say the least. New research published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials explains that nanoparticles damage beneficial soil bacteria and ultimately ruin plants' ability to uptake necessary nitrogen.
Nanoparticles destroy soil and the environment, study finds, 4/20/11
The city of Oakland, Calif., which is marked largely by blight and crime, has decided to go after a backyard gardener for growing and occasionally selling the fruits of her labor. According to a recent report in the San Francisco Chronicle (SFC), Oakland city officials are summoning Novella Carpenter to either pay a costly permit fee and penalties for providing locals with backyard produce items like Swiss chard without government approval, or face city sanctions.
Oakland officials threaten to shut down urban gardener growing food on her own land, 4/8/11
Financier and progressive activist George Soros is formulating a move to control food and grain production by purchasing grain elevators in late March in several parts of the United States through his Soros Managment Fund's backed Gavilon Grain. With purchases made in March, Gavilon Grain will become the third largest grain company behind Cargill, and Archer-Daniels Midland.
Soros moves to control American food and grain production, 3/31/11
Lawsuit Filed To Protect Themselves from Unfair Patent Enforcement on Genetically Modified Seed
Action Would Prohibit Biotechnology Giant from Suing Organic Farmers and Seed Growers If Innocently Contaminated by Roundup Ready Genes
Farmers and Seed Producers Launch Preemptive Strike against Monsanto, 3/31/11
Water Storage
Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds For Domestic Supply, Fire and Emergency Use. Includes How to Make Ferrocement Water Tanks, By Art Ludwig
Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds
This is the first in a series of articles in which I’ll be explaining some of the basics in getting you, your family and your pets ready for anything if you are in your own home and disaster strikes. Perhaps I understand the rudimentary elements of lack of creature comforts a bit better than most people through visits to my father’s homestead in Nova Scotia as a child. He was one of 12 children (4 boys-8 girls), and the family survived on the harvest and preservation of what they produced on their subsistence farm. It was there that I learned what living off the land was truly like first hand.
Disaster Preparedness Part 1: The Basics, How You Think Could Save Your Life, 3/8/11
Bicarbonate of soda or baking soda has many different uses in the household. Although much more expensive products have been developed over the years to do the same jobs, baking soda can work for you just as well, if not better. Use it in the following ways:
61 Uses of Baking Soda, 3/2/11
With all this great fruit on our hands, we looked at our options of preserving it which were canning, freezing, and drying. We went out and bought an electric food dryer. One of the round ones with all the plastic trays. Well, after using this thing, we realized that some of the wetter fruit took over a day to dry with this thing on constantly. UGH! Also, it tended to dry unevenly from the top to the bottom and it didn’t hold too much fruit. It would cost us from $1-2 per day to run in electricity. Not too bad but it was added cost...
Solar Dehydrator Video and Instructions, 2/24/11
Katrina is absolutely the best example I know of the need to be prepared for a disaster, be it man-made or the work of Mother Nature, especially if you have to leave your home during a storm, fire or civil unrest. Disaster comes in many forms and a lack of preparedness could cost you your life. That’s what happened to way too many people in New Orleans. More people were taken by Katrina than needed to be, and most perished because they weren’t prepared.
In these times of uncertainty, stronger storms, blizzards, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes and the ever-present terrorist threats, disaster preparedness is perhaps more important now than it has been at any time in the modern era!
Are You Prepared? A Grab-and-Go Bag Could Save Your Life, 2/21/11
Our home is our castle, and most castles have walls. I don't think I need to invoke Robert Frost to prove that lots of people want to make their own yard a sanctuary from the busy outside world. Privacy fences are our modern castle walls.
There are lots of considerations that go into privacy fencing, some that apply to all privacy fences, some that apply only to specific types. This is a comparison of different types of privacy fences showing their relative cost per foot ($), useful life, attractiveness (on a scale from Michael Moore to Mandy Moore), do-it-yourself difficulty, maintenance, and level of privacy. Plus, I am going to recommend comprehensive how to books and show you a list of materials and tools that you will need if you want to build a privacy fence yourself.
Make Your Home a Castle With Privacy Fencing, 2/19/11
Transforming a room in your house to an indoor gardening area, 2/18/11
Growing sprouts with oceanwater: How To Grow Sprouts, 2/17/11
Thanks to “just in time” inventory practices; America has an average of just three days of food on its grocery shelves. Inventories are kept extremely well managed and tight thanks to the amazing efficiency of modern-day transportation and manufacturing systems. Depending on your age, you might remember when grocery stores had excess stock and inventory in the “back room.” Those days are long gone. If the “just in time” trucks stop rolling for any reason, your local grocery store will be empty within days, and that’s even in good times!
Bartering, Inflation, and Growing a Garden, 2/16/11
Raising chickens is an important part of a long term plan for health, barter, and survival purposes. I will share with you my personal experience with raising chickens within a major metropolitan area.
How to raise chickens in your backyard, 2/15/11
Survival is a mindset. The most valuable item one can have is knowledge. One area of preparedness that gets reams of attention is the firearm. The debate over which type, caliber, and capacity is endless. Some of this is based on opinion, while other on experience. Yet with all the hoopla about the importance of firearms and ammunition, you never see much about care and cleaning. I’m not going to throw my hat in with the hundreds of “experts” on firearms out there in the preparedness community, but I do want to talk a little about the importance of protecting your investment. High quality firearms are an investment. The investment purpose of firearms, for the serious survivalist, is not a hefty return on the investment. The purpose of this investment is to provide safety (the ability to provide) and security (the ability to protect).
Protecting Your Firearms Investment, 2/11/11
Burglars prefer to break into a home when no one is at home. To determine whether the owners are home or not, burglars have come up with several tricks for finding empty homes to burglarize. If homeowners can eliminate some of these telltale signs of an empty house, they may decrease the chance of being burglarized when they are gone.
10 Tricks Burglars Use to Tell if You Are Home, 2/10/11
Finding great self-defense weapons on a tight budget can be a challenge. There are tons of tactical weapons out there, but if you’re like a lot of us, the trick is finding something that you can afford. If you’re one of those folks - this guide is for you.
Shooting on a Shoestring, 2/6/11
When talking about emergency preparedness and survival, your vehicle is your ticket Out of Dodge if you decide that ‘Bugging In’ is not your first choice of options. There are a number of good tips that can help keep you and your family safe as you navigate your way out of an urban disaster area.
Vehicle Emergency Preparedness, 1/24/11
We all have important documents that we need to keep track of. Lots of us have some things that are very expensive or even priceless that we never want to lose. You need to hide valuables somewhere. Storing these items can be tricky if we want to make sure that they aren't lost, stolen, or confiscated. If you hire someone else to hold on to them for you, you add an extra layer of risk that they won't keep their promise. A family Bible and old family photos are almost value-less in a damage calculation in a lawsuit. Here are some of the 3 best ways to discreetly hide your valuables at your own house.
3 Ways to Hide Valuables at Home, 1/12/11
It’s a good idea to keep a little cash in your home for emergencies. How much you decide to keep is up to you, but I would suggest keeping enough cash on hand to pay for a week of groceries, and maybe a night or two in a hotel. Because this money will not be earning interest, and is subject to being stolen by a burglar, I don’t suggest keeping a huge stash in your home. When you’ve settled on an amount you should think about secret hiding places to stash the cash. We’ve all seen those spy movies where the guy removes the tile from the back splash behind his stove and pulls out a cache of bills, passports and ammo. Well, the following ideas may not be worthy of James Bond, but they will improve the chances of your money surviving a break in.
7 Places to Hide Cash in your Home
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