Micah wrote to suggest a useful mapping resource for choosing retreat locales. With it, you can pinpoint upwind nuclear reactors, (planned, operating, and closed), coal-fired plants, and more. JWR Notes: I did note an error in the location of the decommissioned Trojan nuclear plant. (It is not east of Bend, Oregon, as shown on their map. It is actually near Ranier, Oregon, in the northwest corner of the state. Apparently, their maps default to plotting somewhere near the center of a state if no detailed location is provided.) I must also mention the politics of web site’s creators are quite apparent. They list hydroelectric plants as deleterious to the environment, citing the number of fish that they kill by blocking spawning routes. This is a mostly fair assessment. Yet they soft-pedal the conservatively estimated 440,000 birds that are killed annually by wind farms. They state (with no reference given) that: “Wind turbines kill an average of about two birds per turbine per year.” What optimists! (More realistic statistics on bird and bat kills are substantially higher.) And while they ever-so-briefly admit the toxic chemicals that are used in making photovoltaic panels, they don’t mention the chemicals released at the end of life of each panel, even if there is an attempt to recycle it, nor do they mention the amount of CO2 that is released in making them. Because of their politics, the Energy Justice folks seem to suffer from selective blindness. I gather that if they had it their way and if they applied their criteria uniformly, then anyone living above 45 degrees of latitude would freeze in the dark.
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The makers of Homestead Drying Racks are offering a free e-magazine called Homestead Community Post. Their magazine has a nice layout and plenty of useful information. They plan to produce it quarterly.
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New Mexico, with a French Accent: New Mexico firm applies for first horse meat slaughterhouse. (A hat tip to Lee M. for the link.)
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Timothy R. suggested this: Gardening Companion Planting Chart
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Safecastle (one of our loyal advertisers) has announced a big series of storage food sales: April 4 to June 30: Red Feather, Bega, Future Essentials, MREs, Honey, Ghee: 5% off (in addition to normal member discounts)
April 8 to June 30: Grandma’s Country, Keystone, Yoders: 10% off (in addition to normal member discounts)
April 15 to June 30: American Family Supply: 15% off (in addition to normal member discounts)
April 22 to May 6: Mountain House cans: 25% off (in addition to normal member discounts)
May 7 to June 30: Lindon Farms: 35% off (in addition to normal member discounts)
Rebates are also awarded. Safecastle Royal Buyers Club members earn the following on storage food purchases:
3% rebate gift certificate if their total member food purchases from April 1 – June 30, 2012 have not exceeded $2,499.
5% rebate gift certificate if their total member food purchases from April 1 – June 30, 2012 have totaled between $2,500 – $7,000.
7 % rebate gift certificate if their total member food purchases from April 1 – June 30 exceed $7,000.