The Only Proof I Need Against Boston Bombing

I'm a huge klutz. I probably cut or otherwise injure myself at least once a week. I was also training as a medic for the Army once upon a time. The point to these statements is this. Blood, when exposed to oxygen, gets darker. It DOES NOT turn bright red. The blood in these pictures reminds me of Karo syrup with food coloring (classic Hollywood prop) or Kool-Aide, or red paint.

And while we're on the subject......that leg injury looks extremely fake. Annoyingly so.

Man Gets Stabbed 7 times While Stopping Killer, NYPD Does Nothing To Help Him and Takes Credit

From http://www.secretsofthefed.com/meet-the-man-who-stopped-a-serial-killer-getting-stabbed-7-times-while-cops-watched-did-nothing-except-take-credit-for-the-arrest-video/ Is The NYPD’s “Protect & Serve” Policy A Thing Of The Past? WeAreChange recently got the opportunity to meet and Interview Joe Lozito, the selfless hero who put his life on the line to stop a serial killer. The story is only magnified when Joe finds out, that while being stabbed by the serial killer, the NYPD was standing by watching everything unfold from the safety of the conductors door. Currently in a legal suit, the NYPD and City of NY is arguing that the NYPD has NO duty to protect its own citizens. If you want to learn more about Joe and be updated about his court case follow him on https://twitter.com/joe_lozito

The Illegal Quasi-Government in Washington D.C.

from http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/master_file/federalgovernment.htm

The "Federal" Government is a Separate Nation and should be called the United States, Incorporated.

This Awareness indicates there are two governments operating in this country:

the United States of America is the Republic government created by the states, for the states, created by the people, for the people and there is the US government, which is a corporate government, or corporation. This federal government, should be called the United States of America, Incorporated. Corporations are not allowed by law to become politically charged in terms of their controls over the masses of a region.

The Illegal Quasi-Government in Washington D.C.

A corporation is simply an entity which makes its own rules for its own employees and for its own structural operation. The US government, which is on a ten acre parcel of property in Washington D.C. (District of Columbia), outside the United States of America is a corporation that has taken on the role of a quasi-government, but which has no legal authority to do so.

This Awareness indicates that any action whereby this quasi-corporation known as the United States Federal Government attempts to make laws, to impose laws on the states or on the people that have not been authorized by the states of the people, operates illegally. This Awareness indicates that any of the states or the people who give their allegiance, and give their rights to such a quasi-government are doing so illegally. Anyone who volunteers to let such a foreign entity control their lives is volunteering their freedom away illegally, and this is where changes will soon begin to occur, and where entities will begin to recognize a breech in the relationship between the people, the states, and the quasi-government in Washington D.C.

The Federal government, which is foreign to the United States of America, which is located in the District of Columbia, which is not part of the United States and which is in fact controlled to a great extent by the international bankers and by the laws and rules of the United Nations, whereby this Federal Washington D.C. state or country, has set itself up as a control over the United States of America as a quasi-government

This Awareness indicates that elected officials residing outside of the United States of America in Washington D.C., are not actually employees or officials of the United States of America, or its rules. The states' rules do not apply. The states' Constitution does not apply to these entities in Washington D.C. because they are acting outside the country in this second nation known as the Federal government.

This Awareness indicates in other words, the United States Federal government and the United States of America are basically two different countries, and the Constitution of the United States of America is not the law of the United States Federal government. Therefore, these entities cannot, while in the District of Colombia, be accused of treason. They are operating on behalf of the foreign bankers and their special interests.

Most entities are unaware of vanishing freedoms

This Awareness indicates essentially, these so called "freedoms" that entities have enjoyed or believe they had, are taken away without the public even realizing they are being taken. It is as though an entity is ushered into prison by a very powerful hypnotist and one who is very persuasive, who talks the entity along as he walks him towards the prison, and who even walks the entity through the gate and into the cell before the entity awakes to find he is imprisoned.

This is the way it will be for many entities. They will be deeply imprisoned, unable to escape before they know what happened. This Awareness indicates that of course, because there are many patriots who are well aware of what is coming, they have the opportunity to inform others and others have the chance to wake up before it is too late.

It becomes important for entities to recognize the need to risk communicating with persons of their own interest. If they are interested in the patriot movement, then it is important that they risk communicating with such entities, for you can't escape the reality by ignoring it. There are many entities who live in denial, right up to the time when they face the inevitable imprisonment, but of they recognize what is coming, if they are open to hearing what is evidenced in regards to the future events so that they do not ignore the evidence that is available through Patriot groups, then these entities stand a chance of adding their weight to the weight of others who are still dedicated to freedoms in this country and in other countries around the world.

Some U.S. States Now Seeking Sovereignty

This Awareness indicates, there are close to a dozen states in the US that have seriously been moving toward secession from the United States and regaining their own sovereignty. This Awareness indicates that Colorado, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Idaho, Hawaii; these are but a few of those mentioned as turning toward the pursuit of their state sovereignty. Technically, the "United States" refers to the states themselves, not the Washington D.C. government, and the Federal government, or the United States, Incorporated, refers to the corporation that is governing ten square miles known as Washington D.C. It is not part of the United States. It is a separate nation, incorporated as the United States of America, and it has self-appointed its own purpose as being that of extending rule over the separate United States. The sovereign states of the union being individually sovereign with their own constitution or charters or separate laws based on the Constitution of the United States.

The United States of Americas, Incorporated

This Federal government sees itself as a democracy, whereas the original states of the Union were a Republic . This Republic is no longer recognized by the "democracy" known as the United States of America. It should be understood that "democracy" essentially is majority rule, or what some call "mob rule," and a Republic is a system of government that is focused on the right of each individual. The rules are such to protect the rights of the individuals, not so much the mob or the majority, but of the individuals that make up the whole. This Awareness indicates that these things that most entities are not taught in their school or not taught through the news, through television or through the ordinary information sources of the country. It should be realized that the United States of America, Incorporated is dominated and controlled by 13 powerful banking families; the Rothschilds being a dominant influence, so that the laws are passed to help curb the freedoms of the states.

Most of the laws of the Federal government are essentially just corporate rules and corporate laws on the states who have become associated with the Federal government, given there allegiance or otherwise bought into the Federal government in Washington, D.C., a corporation. The government in Washington, D.C. is not set up to represent the states, but to control the states, as though they were subordinate corporations to this greater corporation.

Originally, the laws passed were by consent of the states, but it has reached a point now where the Federal Reserve Bank has such power and loans to the states or programs for the states can be financed from Washington DC, the states sell out and go along with the Federal programs in order to get Federal money.

This Awareness indicates that it has been a very slow and gradual take over of the states and their sovereignty and independence, so that the independence is more of a sham. The so-called independence day is a celebration that occurs each July 4th, more out of memory than out of actual reality of the present time. There is really very little independence. In fact, there is much talk of "interdependence," meaning that the states are dependent on the Federal government, and the Federal government has some reliance on the state for its taxes collected from the people of the various states, and in this sense there is an interdependence. They each depend on each other.

The Oversight of the Founding Fathers

This Awareness indicates this all came about by an oversight of the Founding Fathers, wherein the Rothschild lawyers and representatives recognized that the oversight was that Washington, D.C. government for the states had never actually been a part of the United States and therefore, they took over and created a corporation of this Federal government, making it a separate nation from the United states, and from that action began to move toward a gradual take over of the various states of the union through statutes and laws which the states bought into.

Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement

What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)?
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a secretive, multi-national trade agreement that threatens to extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe and rewrite international rules on its enforcement. The main problems are two-fold:
(1) IP chapter: Leaked draft texts of the agreement show that the IP chapter would have extensive negative ramifications for users’ freedom of speech, right to privacy and due process, and hinder peoples' abilities to innovate.
(2) Lack of transparency: The entire process has shut out multi-stakeholder participation and is shrouded in secrecy.
The eleven nations currently negotiating the TPP are the US, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, and Brunei Darussalam. The TPP contains a chapter on intellectual property covering copyright, trademarks, patents and perhaps, geographical indications. Since the draft text of the agreement has never been offically released to the public, we know from leaked documents, such as the February 2011 draft US TPP IP Rights Chapter [PDF], that US negotiators are pushing for the adoption of copyright measures far more restrictive than currently required by international treaties, including the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
The TPP Will Rewrite Global Rules on Intellectual Property Enforcement
All signatory countries will be required to conform their domestic laws and policies to the provisions of the Agreement. In the US, this is likely to further entrench controversial aspects of US copyright law (such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act [DMCA]) and restrict the ability of Congress to engage in domestic law reform to meet the evolving IP needs of American citizens and the innovative technology sector. The recently leaked US-proposed IP chapter also includes provisions that appear to go beyond current US law.
The leaked US IP chapter includes many detailed requirements that are more restrictive than current international standards, and would require significant changes to other countries’ copyright laws. These include obligations for countries to:
Place Greater Liability on Internet Intermediaries: The TPP would force the adoption of the US DMCA Internet intermediaries copyright safe harbor regime in its entirety. For example, this would require Chile to rewrite its forward-looking 2010 copyright law that currently establishes a judicial notice-and-takedown regime, which provides greater protection to Internet users’ expression and privacy than the DMCA.
Regulate Temporary Copies: Treat temporary reproductions of copyrighted works without copyright holders' authorization as copyright infringement. This was discussed but rejected at the intergovernmental diplomatic conference that created two key 1996 international copyright treaties, the WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
Expand Copyright Terms: Create copyright terms well beyond the internationally agreed period in the 1994 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Life + 70 years for works created by individuals, and following the US-Oman Free Trade Agreement, either 95 years after publication or 120 years after creation for corporate owned works (such as Mickey Mouse).
Enact a "Three-Step Test" Language That Puts Restrictions on Fair Use: The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is putting fair use at risk with restrictive language in the TPP's IP chapter. The US and Australia are both proposing very restrictive text, and Peru is willing to accommodate the bad language.
Escalate Protections for Digital Locks: It will also compel signatory nations to enact laws banning circumvention of digital locks (technological protection measures or TPMs) [PDF] that mirror the DMCA and treat violation of the TPM provisions as a separate offense, even when no copyright infringement is involved. This would require countries like New Zealand to completely rewrite its innovative 2008 copyright law, as well as override Australia’s carefully-crafted 2007 TPM regime exclusions for region-coding on movies on DVDs, videogames, and players, and for embedded software in devices that restrict access to goods and services for the device—a thoughtful effort by Australian policy makers to avoid the pitfalls experienced with the US digital locks provisions. In the US, business competitors have used the DMCA to try to block printer cartridge refill services, competing garage door openers, and to lock mobile phones to particular network providers.
Ban Parallel Importation: Ban parallel importation of genuine goods acquired from other countries without the authorization of copyright owners.
Adopt Criminal Sanctions: Adopt criminal sanctions for copyright infringement that is done without a commercial motivation, based on the provisions of the 1997 US No Electronic Theft Act.
In short, countries would have to abandon any efforts to learn from the mistakes of the US and its experience with the DMCA over the last 12 years, and adopt many of the most controversial aspects of US copyright law in their entirety. At the same time, the US IP chapter does not export the limitations and exceptions in the US copyright regime like fair use, which have enabled freedom of expression and technological innovation to flourish in the US. It includes only a placeholder for exceptions and limitations. This raises serious concerns about other countries’ sovereignty and the ability of national governments to set laws and policies to meet their domestic priorities.
Non-Transparent and On The Fast Track
Despite the broad scope and far-reaching implications of the TPP, negotiations for the agreement have taken place behind closed doors and outside of the checks and balances that operate at traditional multilateral treaty-making organizations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization.
Like ACTA, the TPP is being negotiated rapidly with little transparency. During the TPP negotiation round in Chile in February 2011, negotiators received strong messages from prominent civil society groups demanding an end to the secrecy that has shielded TPP negotiations from the scrutiny of national lawmakers and the public. Letters addressed to government representatives in Australia, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand and the US emphasized that both the process and effect of the proposed TPP agreement is deeply undemocratic. TPP negotiators apparently discussed the requests for greater public disclosure during the February 2011 negotiations, but took no action.
Why You Should Care
TPP raises significant concerns about citizens’ freedom of expression, due process, innovation, the future of the Internet’s global infrastructure, and the right of sovereign nations to develop policies and laws that best meet their domestic priorities. In sum, the TPP puts at risk some of the most fundamental rights that enable access to knowledge for the world’s citizens.
The USTR is pursuing a TPP agreement that will require signatory counties to adopt heightened copyright protection that advances the agenda of the US entertainment and pharmaceutical industries agendas, but omits the flexibilities and exceptions that protect Internet users and technology innovators.
The TPP will affect countries beyond the 11 that are currently involved in negotiations. Like ACTA, the TPP Agreement is a plurilateral agreement that will be used to create new heightened global IP enforcement norms. Countries that are not parties to the negotiation will likely be asked to accede to the TPP as a condition of bilateral trade agreements with the US and other TPP members, or evaluated against the TPP's copyright enforcement standards in the annual Special 301 process administered by the USTR.
https://www.eff.org/issues/tpp

Freecycle App for Android phones

Get this cool Android App

This is an "app" I made that links directly to Freecycle.org.  I made it because I couldn't find one in the app store.
I know it says it's for San Antonio, but it's not. It's the main site - I just couldn't change the name after it was saved.

Re-use Grey Water

Hell in Gaza - And You're Paying For It

Washington (CNN) – A majority of Americans say that Israel's current military strikes against Gaza are justified, according to a new national survey.

A CNN/ORC International poll released Monday indicates that 57% of the public says Israel is justified in taking military action in Gaza against Hamas, with one in four saying the attacks are unjustified.

According to the survey, nearly six in ten say their sympathies are with the Israelis, with 13% saying they side more with the Palestinians and 11% saying their sympathies are with neither side in the conflict.

"That's nothing new," added Holland. "The number of Americans who sympathize more with the Palestinians has never been higher than 18% since the question was first asked in 1988. Sympathies for Israel have sometimes dipped below 50%, but have been over that mark for the past eight years."

At the risk of sounding like an asshole, I have to mention my theory on the real reason for peoples need to support Israel. It's the same reason most white people (in the US at least) watch their language around black people. They don't want to seem racist or, in this case, anti-semitic. It's been pushed so deeply into our subconscious, that we don't even realize it most of the time. It's a mixture of fear, pity, and guilt over events in history that many of us weren't alive for and have never participated in. Hitler invaded almost every country in my ancestry, and there's even a chance I have some Jewish in me, but I don't feel the need to support them for doing the same damn thing. 2000 years of persecution is not an excuse to knowingly kill innocent people - many of which are children.

(Since November 8, Israel has killed at least 93 Palestinians in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip. At least 64 Palestinians killed were civilians, including at least 21 children. (Source: Palestinian Centre for Human Rights) In addition, three Israeli civilians were killed by a Palestinian rocket.)

1. Gaza is under siege: This is not a symmetrical fight. The 1.7 million people in Gaza are living in an open-air prison, denied many of their most basic rights, including the rights to adequate food and clean water, housing, and sanitation, by a military superpower enforcing an illegal blockade that the U.N. has deemed to be illegal. Until the Palestinian people are able to exercise their human rights, we cannot expect to see a lasting ceasefire or peace.

2. U.S. role: American tax-payers are funding Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, in violation of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act. We are not funding Hamas. The U.S. must immediately end its complicity in Israel’s gross human rights abuses.

3. Action: Knowing is not enough. We need to do something – to raise our voices and protest U.S. complicity in these brutal attacks. This is a major opportunity to build your local (or national) efforts, as public outrage grows. Make sure to publicize your activist community and how people can get involved, by challenging the Obama administration and through boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaigns in response to calls for solidarity from Palestinians.

The Siege & International Law:
All countries and peoples living under military occupation have the right of self-defense. However, international law forbids the targeting of civilians in hostilities. Moreover, Israel is employing disproportionate force to injure and kill Palestinian civilians and destroy Palestinian infrastructure not in self-defense, but in furtherance of its illegal blockade and siege of the Gaza Strip. In 2011, U.N. human rights experts concluded that Israel’s policies toward the Gaza Strip constituted collective punishment and were a “flagrant contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law.” (Source: Reuters.)

Timeline:
* Israel began the violence on November 8, following a two-week period of quiet, when it invaded Gaza. During an exchange of gunfire, Israeli troops shot 13-year-old Ahmed Younis Khader Abu Daqqa in the abdomen while he was playing soccer. Ahmed died later from his wounds. (Source: Institute for Middle East Understanding and Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.)

* On November 12, Palestinian militant groups agreed to a truce if Israel ceased military operations. Israel responded to this offer by engaging in an extrajudicial assassination of Hamas leader Ahmed Jabari on November 14, sparking the current round of violence. An Israeli peace activist was negotiating with Jabari a permanent truce between Israel and Palestinian militant groups when he was assassinated. (Source: Institute for Middle East Understanding and Ha’aretz.)

* On November 18, an Israeli airstrike on the crowded residential neighborhood of Naser in Gaza City killed at least 12 people, including at least 10 members of the Al-Dalu family, many of whom were children and women. (Source: Los Angeles Times.)

Your tax dollars hard at work.......

The U.S. Role:
* The United States is complicit in and responsible for Israel’s grave human rights abuses of Palestinians. The United States provides weapons to Israel at U.S. taxpayer expense. In the 2000s, the United States gave Israel more than 670 million weapons, some of which are being employed now to injure and kill Palestinian civilians. In addition to funding offensive weapons for Israel, the United States is also funding for Israel the Iron Dome anti-missile system. By providing Israel the weapons to both attack Palestinians and shoot down Palestinian rocket fire, the United States is making it virtually cost-free for Israel to escalate its attacks on Palestinians. (Source: US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, here and here.)

* U.S. diplomacy is contributing to, rather than ending, the violence. The Obama administration is giving Israel a green light to continue its attacks on Palestinians by asserting that Israel is exercising its “right to defend itself.” Rather than arranging for an immediate ceasefire through the U.N., the Obama administration is merely calling for “de-escalating the situation,” which means in effect that Palestinians are being pressured to hold their fire while Israel continues to injure and kill Palestinians at will. (Source: White House.)

* Rather than providing Israel with the weaponry and diplomatic support to enable its vicious attacks on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Obama administration should exert diplomatic pressure on Israel for an immediate ceasefire and initiate an investigation into Israel’s misuse of U.S. weapons in violation of U.S. law to injure and kill Palestinian civilians. (Source: US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.)

Taking Action & Building the Movement:
While our short-term efforts are focused on getting Israel to end its attack on the Gaza Strip and achieving a ceasefire, even after this latest round of violence concludes, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip still will be living under Israel’s illegal siege and blockade, military occupation, and apartheid policies. Therefore, our medium- to long-term efforts require us to engage in campaigns of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, and corporations and institutions which profit from its human rights abuses of all Palestinians as a strategy to ending these policies. At the same time, we must also continue to pressure the United States to end all of its policies, including military aid and diplomatic protection at the U.N., which enable Israel’s continuing human rights abuses of Palestinians. The Obama administration must change U.S. policy toward Israel and the Palestinians to support human rights, international law and equality. Take advantage of the growing public outrage to direct people to how they can get more involved in local and national organizing efforts challenging the occupation and siege.

This post is a combination of articles found on the following sites:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=3350
and
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/19/cnn-poll-57-of-americans-say-israeli-attacks-in-gaza-are-justified/comment-page-1/

Make A Survival Washing Machine

homemade illustration of how to make a survival washing machine out of wood

U.S. government actually planned to nuke the moon as a show of force

(NaturalNews) The U.S. government has come up with some crackpot ideas before, but one of the goofiest was a plan during the 1950s, just as the Cold War was heating up, to - of all things - nuke the moon, simply as a show of force.

In what can only be described as part of the madness of the post-World War II and Korean War era, U.S. scientists and government officials actually debated over whether to detonate a nuclear weapon on the surface of the moon as a way to send a menacing message to the Soviet Union, according to Asian News International.

The secret plan, dubbed, "A Study of Lunar Research Flights," was nicknamed "Project A119." Amazingly, it was under serious consideration until it was finally scrapped by a dose of sanity among military leaders who feared the blast could wind up hurting people on earth. Obviously, it was never carried out.

Still, it was a serious plan for a time and involved some of the brighter minds of the day. Among those was noted astronomer Carl Sagan, who was at the time a young graduate student; he was tasked with figuring out what the behavior would be of dust and gas generated by the atomic blast, The Daily Mail reported.

Plan was to fire missile at the moon

Scientists and U.S. officials believed that if the Soviets could view the blast from earth, it would intimidate Moscow while boosting confidence in Washington following the launch of Sputnik, physicist Leonard Reiffel told The Associated Press in an interview in 2000.

Now 85, Reiffel says he directed the planning at the former Armour Research Foundation, which has since become part of the Illinois Institute of Technology, AP said. He went on to serve as a deputy director at NASA.

Sagan later became famous for popularizing science on television; he passed away in 1996.

The author of one of Sagan's biographies hinted that the popular scientist could have committed a security breach in 1959 by revealing details of the classified project in an academic fellowship application, a suggestion that Reiffel agreed with.

According to details of the plan, here's how it would have worked: A missile fitted with a small nuclear device would have been launched from an undisclosed location, then travel some 238,000 miles to the moon, detonating on impact.

Scientists determined it would have to have been an atom bomb, because a hydrogen explosive would have been too heavy for the missile to carry.

Reiffel said the country's space program, which was in its infancy in the 1950s, could have carried the mission out by the end of the decade, when the Air Force began to deploy intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads.

In the end; however, military officials nixed the plan because they feared it would put people on earth in danger should the mission have failed.

In addition, scientists involved in the project voiced concerns about contaminating the moon with radioactive materials, said Reiffel.

Nuking the moon as a show of force was not the only hare-brained idea concocted by the government in years past. Nor the most evil.

Nuking the moon not the worst thing

From 1955 to 1975, military "researchers" at Edgewood Arsenal, located near the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground base in Maryland, used animals and military "volunteers" to test a collection of drugs and chemicals ranging from potentially lethal nerve gases like VX and sarin, to incapacitating agents like BZ, CNN reported.
Military scientists also tested the effects of tear gas, barbiturates, narcotics, tranquilizers and hallucinogens like LSD.

This diabolical research was done under a secret Cold War program that ostensibly looked for ways to defend against a potential chemical or biological attack by the Soviets, who were, at the time, thought to be way ahead of the U.S. in "psycho-chemical" warfare, according to Army documentation at the time.

In 2009, a class-action suit filed by the Vietnam Veterans of America and individual soldiers, charged the U.S. Army and the Central Intelligence Agency, with the help of former Nazi scientists, of using at least 7,800 vets as guinea pigs to test the effects of as many as 400 different types of drugs and chemicals. They included mescaline (psychedelic alkaloid), LSD (psychedelic drug), amphetamines, barbiturates, nerve agents and mustard gas.

The suit also says the government worked to cover up the testing and the nature of its experiments, which began in the 1950s under such exotic code names as "Bluebird," "Artichoke," and MKUltra."

Sources:
http://washington.cbslocal.com

http://www.dailymail.co.uk

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/01/health/human-test-subjects/index.html

http://www.naturalnews.com

Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/038152_nuclear_bombs_moon_government.html#ixzz2DhhFMVxH

Friday, November 30, 2012 by: J. D. Heyes

SURVIVAL: RECOGNIZE GRIZZLY BEHAVIOR

Casey Anderson Grizzly bear expert, host of Expedition Wild on Nat Geo Wild
As a bear biologist and wildlife filmmaker, I’ve made it my business to get close to big grizzlies in the wild. So I wasn’t worried when I took my dad backpacking to a secret spot just north of Yellowstone in 2004. He’d never seen a wild grizzly, and I was sure we’d have an encounter. We camped by a river and set out hiking before dawn. As the sun crept over the mountaintops, we found our first bears: two sub-adult grizzlies digging in a meadow. We hunkered down to watch them until, about five minutes later, an angry-looking grizzly emerged from the nearby edge of the forest. I could tell right away that this guy meant business. His legs were rigid, he kept his head low, and he was chomping his giant jaws together.

Instead of backing away before any of the bears saw us—as we should have done—Dad and I sat transfixed. Then we made an even bigger mistake. When the grumpy griz followed the younger bears, Dad and I tagged along. In a display I now know as badass grizzly bravado—and wish I’d better recognized and appreciated then—the big griz walked over every tree in his path, pissing on them as he passed.

I should have known what would happen next. Suddenly, the bear turned on us. He sniffed, whuffed, and started advancing. Instantly forgetting the first rule of bear-attack avoidance—don’t run—we sprinted for a cluster of Douglas firs. But the limbs were too high for my 65-year-old father to grab. After missing the first signs of threatening behavior, I made no mistake now: It was get high or get eaten. So I boosted Dad up, then found my own tree to climb.

The grizzly was in no hurry to leave. Instead, he wanted to show us who was boss. He didn’t try to knock us out of our perches, but he promptly began digging in the dirt below. (Black bears can scale trees, but grizzlies’ long claws aren’t great for climbing.) Dad and I prepared to spend the night; we envisioned fatigued limbs, hunger pangs, and possibly hypothermia. But then another bear charged into the meadow, forcing Mr. Big to defend his territory. While the dominant bear chased the intruder away, Dad and I took the opportunity to hightail it out of there.

I’ve spent 16 years studying grizzlies, but it took getting treed by one to make me pay closer attention to grizzly behavior toward humans—and how to react to it. I’ve learned that it’s really hard to stay calm and act smart when a 600-pound mass of muscle, claws, and fur is coming at you. So you have to prepare yourself mentally to suppress the urge to run. I take deep breaths, talk in a low voice (which calms the bear and me), and try to exude an aura of unruffled confidence. The good news? By understanding what grizzlies are communicating through their behavior—and faking serenity and being smart—you can feel more confident and comfortable on your next grizzly country adventure.

THINK LIKE A BEAR
Anderson studies grizzly behavior year-round—both in the wild and at his Montana Grizzly Encounter bear sanctuary near Bozeman. “Bears do all kinds of things to let you know what they’re thinking,” says Anderson. “But rarely, if ever, is it, ‘I’m going to eat you.’” Here, he offers four signs to recognize, plus tips for how to react.

1. Whuffing or Jaw Popping
A “whuff” is like a combination between a cough and a dog bark, and jaw popping sounds a lot like the human version, only louder and with more drool. Both are bear signals for “I’m uncomfortable,” says Anderson. Calm an irritated grizzly by identifying yourself as human. Calling “Hey bear, I’m going the other way,” as you slowly retreat should do the trick.

2. Turning Sideways
“This is the bear’s way of saying, ‘I’m annoyed that you’re here, and look how big I am,’” says Anderson. If it turns and looks at you out of the corners of its eyes, it’s sizing you up. Wearing a pack? Turn sideways as well, to make yourself look bigger. Either way, slowly raise your hands overhead. Now slowly back away, speaking confidently, while exuding calm.

3. Shoulders Squared, Ears Pinned
“Watch out if a bear faces you and pins his ears to his head,” Anderson says. “He’s saying, ‘I’m going to handle this aggressively.’” Take the safety off your (EPA-registered) bear spray as you back away slowly. “I’ve used bear spray more than a dozen times. If the bear gets to within 60 feet, aim the nozzle toward the animal, slightly downward at its feet. Give a half-second blast. If the bear is moving toward you, this will create a pepper cloud that it’ll run into. If the bear continues, unleash more short blasts as needed to deter it.” (It typically doesn’t take much.) Note: If it’s raining or there’s wind in your face, don’t spray until the bear is much closer.

4. Sows With Cubs Always Mean Business
Fifty percent of bear cubs are killed in their first year by adult male grizzlies, says Anderson, which explains why sows are so protective. If you know a sow and cubs are nearby, immediately ready your bear spray. “If a cub approaches you, resist the urge to panic,” warns Anderson. “If you back away too quickly, it’ll freak out the cubs, who’ll alert their mom to danger. Slowly retreat, but be ready to defend yourself at any moment.”

MAKE FIRE

Magnesium Block
Need convincing to pack this failsafe firestarter, which combines spark and tinder in one ultralight package? Magnesium burns as hot as 5,400°F, which is almost three times hotter than a standard flame. It even burns under water. The technique: Scrape a small pile of magnesium shavings (Cody Lundin packs the end of a hacksaw blade to avoid damaging his knife), and ignite them using matches, lighter, or the striker included with the magnesium block. To create a spark using the striker embedded in the magnesium, scrape it with your knife (if that’s all you have) or hacksaw blade. Tip: Pull back on the magnesium block, holding the blade in place, to prevent your hand from accidentally slipping forward and disturbing the tinder. Magnesium blocks cost less than $10, and practice makes a huge difference in performance, so buy two, one to train with and the other to pack.

Thou Shalt Not: Waste a good fire. Make gourmet s’mores: marshmallow + peanut butter cup + graham cracker. Plus scotch.

Yummy Goodness

Pemmican: The Original MRE

Invented by the natives of North America, pemmican is the original MRE.
Pemmican was used by indian scouts as well as early western explorers as an instant, ready-to-eat, high-energy food. It was light, compact and high in protein, good carbohydrates, and sustaining fats.
Given the incredible amount of concentrated nutrients and calories, pemmican would be a fantastic addition to any bug-out bag.
Traditional pemmican is very simple to make:
What you’ll need:
lean meat (beef, venison etc)
raw beef fat (I get this for free from my local grocer’s butcher)
(optional) berries (blueberries, cherries (no pits), cranberries etc)

Making pemmican step by step:
Pemmican is a combination of rendered animal fat, pulverized dehydrated meats, and if desired some dried fruits. Here’s the process:
Step 1: Dehydrate the meat and berries

Cut up the meat into thin slices and place the meat and berries on drying racks

Dehydrate until the meat and berries are brittle and break when bent (not rubbery)
In the photo above I used my home dehydrator. In college, since I didn’t have one, we would simply sandwich the meat and berries between two window screens and set them out in the sun to dry for a day or two. It was just as effective.
Step 2: Render the fat
For the fat portion of pemmican, you can use tallow (rendered beef or mutton fat) or lard (rendered pork fat). There are multiple methods of rendering your fat. Here’s the three most common (with my favorite being the Crockpot method) (I’ll be rendering beef fat in this example):
Method 1: How to render fat in a Crockpot
Cut up your fat in small pieces and place the fat into the crockpot.
Set the crock pot on low heat.
Cook until you’re left with mostly clear or golden liquid (they’ll be bits of hardened stuff on top).
Remove from heat and strain into a mason jar through a metal strainer lined with a coffee filter, paper towel or cheesecloth.
Method 2: How to render fat on the stovetop
Grind or chop up fat in a blender/food-processor/meat-grinder
Place a pan on the stove and add the ground fat.
Set the heat on the lowest possible setting. Cover and let cook, stirring occasionally.
Cook until you’re left with mostly clear or golden liquid with bits of hardened stuff on top.
Remove from heat and strain into a mason jar through a metal strainer lined with a coffee filter, paper towel or cheesecloth.
Method 3: How to Render fat in the oven
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Cut up your fat in small pieces and place the fat onto a pan into the oven
Cook until you’re left with mostly clear or golden liquid with bits of hardened stuff on top.
Remove from heat and strain into a mason jar through a metal strainer lined with a coffee filter, paper towel or cheesecloth.
Step 3: Combine the ingredients
After dehydrating the berries and meat and rendering the fat you’ll be left with the following:

Before you can combine the ingredients though, you’ll need to shred the berries and the meat. In the old days they’d pound it with a rock to turn it into a “powder”. In our days a blender is a lot easier:
Blending the meat and berries:
Throw the meat into a blender or food processor and blend until it turns to a fluffy consistency
Repeat with the berries
Now look at the ingredients:

After you’ve dried/shredded your meat and fruit and rendered your fat, simply combine the ingredients as follow:

Pour the liquid rendered fat over the meat/berries until it becomes somewhat saturated (if your fat has already turned to a solid, be sure to slowly heat it until it turns back to liquid before doing this step).

You’ll want to combine enough of the liquid fat over the meat/berry combination until it is saturated
You’ll know when it is saturated enough when you can easily form a ball and it doesn’t crumble apart:

If you dislike the idea of using animal fat as a binder you can replace it with honey instead. It will keep for a long, long time just as normal pemmican will.
Just keep adding honey to the dried, shredded meat and berries until it binds enough to form it into a ball shape.
http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/blog/how-to-make-pemmican.htm

Survival Fighting

http://www.prepperideas.com/survival-fighting/

Updates and Toys

My usually boring schedule has suddenly become busy lately, causing me to fall behind on "blogging". Sorry but I still consider it a strange verb. But I suppose that's common with any evolving language / vocabulary.
It may seem rediculous to some people, but with the rising uncertainty of what kind of future we are facing, I've been putting more energy into making sure my car is in decent running condition and stocked with emergency necessities, as well as updating my bug out bags. I keep more than one to be sure I'm prepared to sustain not only myself, but my wife and our dog as well.
My biggest additions to the bags have been a variety of homemade jerkies (beef, chicken, & venison), a new hatchet to replace one I lost, and more ammo for my pellet gun.  I know that last item might seem odd to some people, so ill explain my reasoning real quick.  I have a simple Powerline 201 by Daisy that shoots BBs and pellets. Its small and lightweight but does the job on small game.  The pellets I use are the destroyers. They are basically the pellet version of a hollow point bullet. In a situation where you don't want to give away your location, a quiet weapon seems to me to be a better choice. Personally i'd rather be safe and eat squirrel and rabbits. Small game also doesn't require preservation like larger amounts of meat would; leaving us capable of staying mobile if need be. It's also helpful when you dont have electricity or solar/wind/water generated power.
This is just my opinion of course. Each person should do what they feel is best for themselves and their family. Cheers.

Make Your Own Hard Cider

Firstly the legal bit : Here in the States, adults 21 and older can produce up to 100 gallons of wine or beer every year, or up to 200 gallons for a household (from what I've found it is pretty illegal to distill your own hard liquor, or sell what you produce without a license). If you are in another country, check your local laws pertaining to wine making, brewing, and distilling of liquor. If you aren't old enough to do it, find an older sibling or friend, or maybe your parents if they're interested in preparing for anything the future holds. Also, there are dangers associated with any sort of alcohol production, especially with wild yeasts and sterility. Everything needs to be as clean and sterile as possible to cut down on the dangers and health risks processes like these pose. Now, on to the good shit.
One of the easiest alcohols to produce is apple cider, or "hard cider" here in the states. Really it is just fermented apple juice, and comes in around 6% alcohol by volume. Apple cider is so easy to make, nature actually does it on its own. In fresh milled apple cider there are enough yeast particles found to ferment under its own control, as long as you contain it properly. To make a natural batch just put some fresh apple cider into a glass jug (this is your primary fermentation vessel), attach an airlock and rubber stopper(or a balloon with a small hole if you are wanting to MacGyver this shit prison style), add a quarter cup of brown sugar (molasses, sorghum, or some other natural sugar) and allow it to sit at room temperature for a few weeks. You'll soon notice some bubbling action, and gas being released as the wild yeasts come to life and start pissing out alcohol into your apple juice (called must at this point).
After a few weeks of bubbling and gurgling, you'll notice this action slowing and coming to a halt. This occurs once the yeast has eaten all of the sugars in your must, and alcohol production slows to a halt. Now you'll want to switch your must into a freshly cleaned glass jug. Use a small hose to siphon the top 90% of the liquid from inside your fermentation vessel, leaving behind particulates, yeast and the rest of the unwanted crap (called lees) at the bottom of the jug. Now, you cannot leave head-space (open area) inside the jug above the surface of your fresh brew, because it will oxidize and begin to turn to vinegar. Top it off with some sterilized water, so that your jug is full while you let it age to perfection (also referred to as secondary fermentation).
For around 21 days (or even up to three months) you can leave your brew in secondary fermentation to allow your cider to mellow and age properly before you bottle it (if you plan to go that far, I'd just leave it in the jug and cap that shit). You don't want your brew to slosh around during this time, as you want it to clarify and all the leftovers to settle out once again. I mean, you could have drink your brew before now, but it wouldn't have tasted all too great. So, since you've waited this long, have your buddy post guard, and kick back with a tall glass of brew!
Most of us here in the States have heard of Johnny Appleseed and how he roamed the country planting apple orchards. Many of our greatest cities sprang up right along side these orchards, but many of us never learned that he didn't plant the apples for us kids to eat. He planted them for us to make cider. Don't make a waste of his efforts!
As a quick side note, since i failed to mention this before. This is for making still cider, not sparkling. Sparkling cider has dangers of exploding bottles if you arent careful, so I wont teach you how to carbonate your cider.

Sage as a Mosquito Repellant

Throw a stick of sage or powdered sage into your fire. The sage scented smoke that the fire will emit keeps mosquitoes and other annoying bugs at bay for the entire area.

Blessed Samhain

10 Ordinary Objects Repurposed Into Extraordinary Furniture

1. Shopping Cart to Chair and Side Table

2. Old Chair To Swing

3. Church Pew to Headboard

4. Wooden Ladder To Bookshelf

5. Trolley to Chair

6. Suitcase to Chair

7. Folding Chair to Shelf/Closet Unit

8. Bike to Bathroom Counter

9. Wood Pallet to Bed

10. Leather Belts to Chair

For more ideas go to: http://www.buzzfeed.com/stacylambe/26-ordinary-objects-repurposed-into-extraordinary

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