How to not pay taxes
Posted: July 4, 2011 Filed under: 1. Philosophy, 8. Wealth Management Comments Off on How to not pay taxes…just become a corporation.
While I think it is wise for human beings to seek to pay the correct amount of taxes (and nothing more), it is deplorable for a non-human being (e.g. corporations) to make such serious efforts to eliminate their tax bills. The tax system is how we create shared social benefits. Not taking part in that system is criminal.
Via: OnlineMBA.com
Peak Oil 101…now with humor
Posted: July 2, 2011 Filed under: 1. Philosophy, 4. Energy Security | Tags: Peak Oil, Transition Voice Comments Off on Peak Oil 101…now with humor
Love the folks over at Transition Voice, especially their post A Snarky Guide to Peak Oil.
Recommended reading.
“All this preparation stuff isn’t necessary”
Posted: June 30, 2011 Filed under: 1. Philosophy Comments Off on “All this preparation stuff isn’t necessary”
…said a local acquaintance I happened to see at the pub.
He went on to explain to me why time spent growing my own food, developing a support network of neighbors for emergencies, and getting to know my local farmers was a waste. I should be putting those hours into my (previous) high tech career and making boatloads of money instead, he told me. Then I could “just hire those farmers to come work for me whenever I wanted.”
After almost spitting out my beer, I asked him a few follow-up questions:
- Do you have a wood pile to warm yourself in the winter?
- Do you purchase insurance of any kind?
- Do you take vitamin supplements?
He answered Yes to all three questions; I congratulated him on being a prepper. He conceded and bought the next round.
Building resilience into your life is no longer something you can ignore given the state of our economy and (more importantly) the state of our planet. Money will become less valuable as first-hand farming knowledge and personal relationships become more valuable.
Chickens aren’t the only ones who are sticking their heads in the sand, as my friend showed me the other night at the pub.
“Life goes on all around us, and it is good”
Posted: June 27, 2011 Filed under: 1. Philosophy, 3. Food Security Comments Off on “Life goes on all around us, and it is good”
Pure wisdom by elder Shepherd Bliss:
“Life goes on all around us, and it is good.”
A long, rambling read and worth every moment.
Creating time to grow food
Posted: June 25, 2011 Filed under: 1. Philosophy, 3. Food Security Comments Off on Creating time to grow food
Wisdom from Modern Victory Garden:
“What works best is to have the garden be a regular part of our every day lives (all through the year) and to do smaller amounts of work on a much more frequent basis.”
I could not agree more. Thankfully I can stack all my work phone calls into each afternoon and complete them while walking around the garden doing these daily light chores. I have other friends who can schedule their freelance work jobs around their garden’s seasonal needs; they work a lot in the winter, not as much in the summer.
I’ve also experimented with getting up earlier than normal with the sunlight and getting 20-30 minutes of scythe work in, cutting our pasture. It’s enjoyable and meditative…and knocks off one more item on my task list before the kids even get up!
Transition Town movement: US versus Europe
Posted: June 23, 2011 Filed under: 1. Philosophy, 7. Physical Security Comments Off on Transition Town movement: US versus EuropeAn interesting insight by Lindsay Curren, publisher of the US-based Transition Voice website, commenting on the writings of Rob Hopkins, co-founder of the UK-based Transition Town movement,
In America there’s another incentive to build local economies and local resilience: the lack of a guaranteed social safety net, and the crumbling of the strained services that are available. In Europe, we “still have nets that catch you when you fall,” says Hopkins.
To be, “more survivalist based” is therefore more natural for the United States. That’s why we may see more of a desire stateside to balance family emergency and self-defense plans with community building, a reality of the culture whether it fits in with Transition’s gentler original intentions or not.
Drinking on a hot summer day
Posted: June 20, 2011 Filed under: 6. Personal Training Comments Off on Drinking on a hot summer day
What do you drink on a hot summer day?
I’m mostly pounding yerba mate in the mornings and water the rest of the day, but I recently found a tangy recipe in The Scythe Book by David Tresemer for an old-time farm hand drink called switchel.
It’s a good pick-me-up in the early afternoon.
Recipe:
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 quart water (I added a bit more water than recommended for taste.)
Bad News Bees
Posted: June 18, 2011 Filed under: 3. Food Security Comments Off on Bad News Bees
Just as the Bad News Bears were an unruly bunch of kids, sometimes a hive of bees can develop a rowdy streak.
But good news came with the bad today…
Bad News: one of our hives swarmed, with 30,000 of the bees (half the hive) following a rouge queen out the door. Yikes, that means the remaining 30,000 bees left back in the hive will have a lot of work cut out for them to prepare for the winter.
Good News: I was having a casual work meeting in my backyard discussing the graduate program where I teach with a prospective student at the time, so I got to witness the swarming. Very cool phenomenon; imagine a tornado of bees rising up in front of you.
Bad News: the swarm headed down our hill, and settled on a tree branch…directly over a 2′ tall biting ant hill. Ouch.
Good News: the branch was only 12′ off the ground, easily reachable via an 8′ ladder, which helped us avoid the ants, too.
Bad News: to recapture the swarm, you need a place to put them, and I only had 80% of the needed materials on hand.
Good News: a quick set of phone calls to my local bee-keeping buddies brought out the calvary (pictured here, along with my son the documentarian) who dropped what they were doing and arrived with extra materials in hand (and lots of wisdom for the capture).
Best News: we (that’s the royal we, meaning mostly my beekeeper buddies) successfully captured the swarm and placed them in a temporary hive. After a few days in there I’ll attempt to reintegrate them into their original hive to keep them strong and productive. UPDATE: started the reintegration process; we’ll see what happens in the next 48 hours.
Using a broadfork
Posted: June 16, 2011 Filed under: 3. Food Security Comments Off on Using a broadfork
This thing is huge, heavy, and awesome.
Several of the farming blogs I read reference a broadfork, but no one sells them locally. Thankfully a google search gave me two blacksmiths in my region that hand make these useful tools.
Great for everything from harvesting potatoes to adding amendments to your garden beds. With our hard clay that is only 9 inches down, I’ll be putting this thing through it’s paces soon.
Get offline and get a life
Posted: June 15, 2011 Filed under: 1. Philosophy Comments Off on Get offline and get a lifeEver stop to think about just how ridiculous (and useless) your social media life is? Here’s a wonderful visual of it…
Opt Out En Masse 