Day: December 15, 2014

Notes for Monday – December 15, 2014

December 15th is Bill of Rights Day. (The Bill of Rights became law on this day in 1791, following ratification by the state of Virginia.) We encourage our American readers to gather publicly and read the Bill of Rights aloud. The 15th of December, 1923, was the birth day of Uziel “Uzi” Gal (born Gotthard Glas). According to Wikipedia, he was “…born in Weimar, Germany. When the Nazis came to power in 1933 he moved first to England and later, in 1936, to Kibbutz Yagur in the British Mandate of Palestine where he changed his name to Uziel Gal. In …


The Care and Feeding of a Woodstove

Here, at the Rawles Ranch, we heat our house with a masonry wood stove. Because of the thermal mass of its masonry construction, the stove holds heat and, therefore, provides a much more consistent heating effect; well, that is the case for at least three-fourths of our house. Our stove’s wood box is large, so there is the risk of overheating the living room, especially in the fall and spring, when the afternoons warm up outdoors. In those seasons, we have to be careful to keep the stove’s air vent nearly closed almost all of the time. (However, we are …


Scot’s Product Review: Panteao Productions, LLC

The ability to learn is, in my view, about the most important of the many gifts God gave us. During my stint as a teacher, which continues as I homeschool my son, I got to study learning styles and the ways people manage to accumulate knowledge. Some of us best learn to do something by reading about it. Others best learn if someone tells them how to do it. Then there are those who best learn by seeing others do it, and finally there are those who can only learn if they do it themselves. While I remain convinced that …


Recipe of the Week: Basic Pinto Beans

We eat a lot of beans, prepared in a variety of ways. I read on SurvivalBlog that alot of people are stockpiling “beans, rice, and bullets”. However, I’m wondering if all of those people who are stockpiling beans know how to prepare them so they will be enjoyable. Here is our most basic recipe, which is sometimes spiced up more with additional red chili, cooked longer for softer/refried beans, or added to other recipes. I cook up a big batch and can them, as it is just as easy to make a “mess” of them for additional quick meals later. …


Letter: OPSEC

Mr Rawles, I received an interesting letter today that profoundly reminded of OPSEC. The letter was notification of a class action suit against Oregon ARCO stations. They failed to disclose their prices when the station charged a 35 cent debit card transaction fee. While my visits to Oregon Arco stations “south of the river” are quite sporadic, the dates of time are what really got my attention– January of 2011-August of 2013. This seems to prove three things to me– our debit and card purchases are being tracked and cataloged, and perhaps Mr. Snowden is not the ogre he is …


Economics and Investing:

Paying Down The Debt Is Now Almost Mathematically Impossible. – E.B. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: Venezuela Has a 93% Chance of Defaulting on Its Debt Greek Bonds Extend Worst Week Since Euro Crisis Greek Stock Rout Means ASE Is 2014 Worst After Russia Memo To Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat: Does Your Crony Capitalist Plunder Know No Shame? – FDIC is not a free market solution, and Glass–Steagall was only needed because of FDIC. It’s an example of government regulations necessary to protect us from a prior government mandate. Perhaps we could try the free market again? Perhaps …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Thug run “fake roadblock” documented by NJ driver’s dashcam. – T.P. o o o Teachers Are Being Mandated To Get the Flu Vaccine or Wear a Mask and Gloves. – D.S. o o o “Knockout Game” Player Shot By Concealed Carry Permittee . – RBS o o o From the Department of Fiscal over-reach: Despite promises, Social Security still trying to collect old debts from kin. – B.B. o o o Cop admits on camera MRAP is for “Constitutionalists”. – T.P.