Fire Fighters Battle 2 Alarm Structure Fire in Torrington.

11/08/2014

Several Torrington residents are counting their blessings after escaping unharmed from a 2 alarm fire that ripped through a multi-family dwelling at 404 Main Street in Torrington. Torrington Fire Department responded to the fire which started at around 11:37 am. Fire Fighters from Winchester and other Litchfield County departments responded for mutual aid.

All of the occupants escaped the blaze, 1 adult and 1 child were taken to a local area hospital; the extent of their injuries is unknown at this time.  I spoke with several individuals at the scene who were observing from the parking lot of a bank across the street. According to a passerby, a dog was trying to go back into the house as occupants were running out of it. The dog reportedly got out safely.

An individual who lives at 398 Main Street who evacuated from his building and said that the fire was so hot he couldn't go near his window. He also told me that the owner of the property did not take care of it and that he had complained several times about trash and other materials in the back yard of the house.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Authorities believe that the fire started in the basement. The design of the house played a major factor in how quickly the flames spread. Deputy Fire Chief Christopher Pepler said, "This is balloon frame and the fire spread rapidly while crews were trying to extinguish it." The roof collapsed and the building was totally destroyed.

Intellectualism vs Productivism and the Key to a Thriving Economy.

The idea that one can become smart by acquiring a diploma or degree has not been challenged to the extent that it should be. In America, we have a society and an economy which are diverse and in many ways wasteful. Today, we have over 315 million people taking up space, consuming resources and living the illusion of an American Dream. You might believe that you are free, but you are just another cog on a gear in a massive machine.

The Breakdown of Our Lives
What have you done in life? You probably have spent the majority of your years paying off debt, paying taxes and trying to provide for your family. The first 25 years of your life was spent, will be spent or is being spent wastefully. That's right, the first 25 years of your life is, was or will be a total waste. By age 5 you are in school, likely public school. By age 18 you have graduated from the 12th step in the public school program and have acquired a piece of paper and a cute little hat with a cute floppy tassel. You were gifted a big heavy book full of memories, names and pictures. It is all bullshit that serves no valid purpose. The only reason a Diploma or a GED mean something is because the Dept of Education uses that piece of paper as a lynch pin that will make or break your future. If you have no diploma or GED, you likely will never get a job. Why is that? Why does a piece of paper, a glorified certificate of completion mean that you are capable and fully qualified to participate in the workforce?

After high school, you either have or either will gone three routes: Military Service, College/University, Work Force. Enlisting in the Armed Forces is probably a better choice than enrolling in college/university but those who lack both physical and mental strength and endurance will likely choose a life of debt, booze, girls, textbooks and prescription medication over a life of pride, honor, dignity and accomplishment. By going to college, you are only increasing the likelihood that you will become a status-quo slave to the economic system. By joining the Military, you at least have an option if you cannot make it in the civilian marketplace.

By age 30, you probably will have more regrets tan you can count. Missed opportunities, family problems, personal problems, financial troubles; the list goes on. The extent of your depression hinges on the path you took before you reached the 9th grade. The worst part is, you wont recognize how much of a waste your schooling was until you are in your mid 20's or early 30's. This realization will come at a point in your life when you have actual financial obligations but have no way of meeting them. You will search for a reason as to why your life is a mess, why you can't pay off those student loans. The answer is hard to accept but easy to find: Your education was meaningless.

Intellectualism is a Form of Economic Suicide

Such a statement probably seems extreme, but it is accurate. There can only be so many people dedicated to forms of work that do not produce goods. Do not confuse an Intellectual with a Thinker. A Thinker is someone who is able to create a solution, a product or a method while an Intellectual is someone who is able to create a problem by believing that they have the solution to an existing problem. Two wrongs don't make a right but hey, the dude from Harvard has got it under control. An intellectual does not contribute any products to the market place, they do not even fall into the category of the Service Industry. Intellectuals create policies, ideas, regulations and concepts that are designed to be imposed and standardized. An intellectual is easily described as someone who believes that because of their education, they know what is best for other people. They do not understand the idea of individuality, they demand conformity and collectivism. Without collectivism, their is no way to impose your will or control others. Intellectuals commonly will snark at others who question them by saying something along the lines of, "well, I studied _____ at Yale University." Little do they know that nobody other than fellow ivy league snarky snarkletons gives a damn. Intellectualism has no place in an economy, but thrives in society and when you put both an economy and a society into a blender, the end result is a thick dark slurry of tyranny and oppression. The reason our elected officials are useless is because they are Intellectuals. There can only be so many people who are in positions of control and power. The more intellectuals there are, the more we will have to import goods and export services. Nobody wants to do business where a few people get to impose their will on everyone else, this is why freedom works and big government doesn't.


Productivism is a Form of Economic Growth

In all developed, civilized countries, the need for the production of goods exceeds the need for the institution of ideas. Sure, ideas or concepts can become a product, we see this often in Silicon Valley where robots are being built to eventually replace human fast food employees. Automation was once an idea, a concept of science fiction, today, it is becoming a reality. The wheel keeps on turning though. Fast food workers may loose their jobs to robots, but there will be a massive demand for technicians and maintenance workers. Manufacturing has played a huge part in America becoming the most powerful country in the world but intellectualism is what caused the decline that we have seen over the last 30 years or so. For America to grow, the people need to contribute. They need to learn a skill and become an asset to both society and the economy. The main problem is the lack of work ethic in the 30 and under generation and this is largely the fault of pop culture, public schools and parents who are not qualified to be parents. Incentive does not exist if we don't create it and the truth is that we need to get tough on the millennials and future generations. This is why I support the idea of requiring high school students to get a job and hold it in order to graduate. Every single 17 year old should be forced to get a job and if they do not have one by age 18, they either need to stay in 12th grade until they get a job or they need to join the military.


The Concept of the 99% and 1%
The 99% vs 1% war is a corrupt perversion of reality living through a movement known as Occupy. The movement itself died out faster than it emerged, but the idea that there are two groups, a 99% and a 1% is very much alive. This idea is not a Leftist idea because when you look at what 99% means, it is referring to "The Masses" and when you identify the 1%, it is the Ruling Class or the Elitists. The truth of the 99% vs 1% has been obscured by political activist groups who hijacked the original movement and then mated it with the AFLCIO and the SEIU as a Socialist Workers Party movement who believe that all workers deserve a "fair wage." This begs the question, what is a "fair wage"? If one believes that $15.00 an hour is a fair wage for  fast food employee then I have a mountain in Florida to sell you. The incremental increase of the minimum wage is designed to eventually be at an amount sufficient enough for the Left to propose the idea of a "blanket wage" or Industry Wages. I will talk more about that in another post.

In reality, our nation is much more diverse than two demographics. I have categorized it into several classes, all must contribute and play a part in order for there to be prosperity and growth.
We have:
Ruling Class (2%)
Corporate Class (12%)
White Collar Class (20%)
Blue Collar Class (38%)
Poverty Class (28%)

The Ruling Class imposes laws, taxation, regulation, policy etc. The Corporate Class suggests what policies, regulations etc are created and they also provide jobs to the White Collar Class and a portion of the Blue Collar Class. Part of the White Collar Class provides jobs to the Blue Collar Class and the Poverty Class. The majority of the Poverty Class is unemployed and dependent on programs provided by the Ruling Class and funded by the Blue Collar, White Collar and Corporate Classes.

There is a massive imbalance within this breakdown of classes. It would take me days to explain every aspect of the problems but the current education, government, system, taxation and urbanization are problematic to both the economy and the society.

The Key to a Thriving Economy

The way to achieve economy stability is through social advancement. We need to abolish most of the Government and institutions that are not local. We need more Trade schools and less public schools. There should be public schools dedicated to technology and trades for grades 8-12. If teenagers learn marketable skills, they will not need to waste 3-7 years attending university pursuing a certification of participation in social slavery known as a Diploma. It's 2014 and anyone can become a millionaire by creating the next hit App for smartphones. School choice is very important and the ability for one to choose where they go to learn and what they learn should be a constitutional right. We need tax reform, starting with repealing the federal income tax and eventually defunding the IRS. We need judicial reform starting with decriminalizing all non-violent victimless crimes. Putting anyone other than rapists, murderers, batterers, scammers and drug dealers in jail solves nothing. We need all states to be right to work states and we need to end the Unions. We need to abolish the Federal government, go back to the gold standard and put every single aspect of governance into the control of local government and the people. Liberalism needs be outlawed. States should be encouraged to secede if the voters approve on secession.  It will take time, but America will be a much better place if those things happen.

The Government is Preparing for Terrorist Attack.

At this time I have yet to locate any documents, press releases or news articles regarding this particular convoy. Considering recent events, I do not believe that this convoy is part of a drill.

A buddy of mine shared an amateur video regarding a massive convoy with a police escort. After doing some research, I was able to validate that this event was part of a Department of Homeland Security exercise or plan. Below is a list of links that prove that the trucks in the video, Con-Way, Wal-Mart, Coca Cola, CVS Caremark, are partners with DHS. The video can be viewed at by clicking the Facebook like at the bottom.

In a Facebook post on October 24th, I posted:
"We need to address the need for community/neighborhood security. How long before a hatchet attack happens in Waterbury or Bridgeport? Christmas season is here (stores are already selling Christmas stuff) and Radical Muslims obviously have a bone to pick with Christians/Catholics so one could assume that terror attacks are highly possible between now and January. The police can't be everywhere and we have an obligation as III%ers to look out for our friends, family and community."

The screen shot to the left was taken by me on my iPhone earlier today. As you can see, Conway is hiring hundreds of individuals for jobs that involve the Department of Homeland Security.

One can only imagine what is going on. The best case scenario is that there is no credible terrorist threat and this is all precautionary. The Ebola situation seems to be somewhat under control but that does not mean that a pandemic is not possible.

http://www.dhs.gov/ebola-response has some pretty useful intel regarding the Ebola outbreak.

 

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/americanattacks.htm  (A must read)






http://www.hsaj.org/?fullarticle=8.1.18






http://catalystdc.com/2010/12/wal-mart-america%e2%80%99s-best-%e2%80%9cbad-day%e2%80%9d-friend/






http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/truckers-play-role-in-homeland-security/


https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10205164307172845&id=1400026612

Ebola is Here to Stay and Millions will Die. You Need to be Prepared.

09/02/14

UPDATED: This entry was started on 09/02/14. I never finished it for some reason but today on 10/02/14, I will finish it. The first section is what I had typed first, the second section is why I am typing now.


SECTION 1:

Have you ever had a feeling that something bad is happening? The world today is on a crash course with not only a deadly virus, but war and global terrorism. Ukraine and Russia are at war, it just seems like it's nothing because the American Media is carefully covering the situation. So this Ebola outbreak? It is out of control.

Is it coming to America? It already did when the US gov't allowed infected aid workers to return here for treatment. I honestly believe that it was a stunt, designed to create a feeling of security among the masses. We know that Ebola HR has no known cure, we really don't know anything about it other than it is a very deadly disease that spreads almost as easily as the common cold.

Latest article on the Ebola Outbreak

I'm not a scientist so I'm not going to get into details about the virus, all I will say is that, it is in your best interest to not "come down with" Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever.

How can you be prepared? You need to have the proper Personal Protective Equipment.

SECTION 2:

As I write this, I am reflecting on the recent events in Texas where a man who is infected with the Ebola virus, is currently under quarantine. The CDC and other agencies quickly rounded up approximately 20 individuals who had come in contact with "Patient X." This, scares me.

First there will be 1 confirmed case, then 3, then 10, then 100, then 1,000.....But that can't be because our government will contain this! We have great hospitals and medical care! Yea well let me make this as simple as possible for you: Our government did not have a practical plan in place for a disaster like Hurricane Katrina. People died because FEMA (DHS) and the state of Louisiana had no idea what the hell to do.

We have great hospitals? Sure, compared to the rest of the world but ask yourself how many hospitals do you think are prepared to handle Ebola? Remember, Ebola has NEVER been in America before. There is no cure and the mortality rate is 50%. I don't believe that those two doctors got cured, I think that was a sham to make us feel safe because the government knew that a pandemic would happen in America. Think about it for a minute. A virus that has no known cure, but some how, within a week or so of an American doctor becoming infected, a hospital in America had developed a cure? Bengazi, Fast & Furious, need I say more? I have enough evidence to back up the probability of a cover up or some sort of Gov't propaganda just by citing two scandals and crimes committed by the federal government and the president.

There is overwhelming evidence to support the claim that the CDC is downplaying this crisis. Flex your brain and do some research.If I were you, I'd stop reading this now and begin preparing. Oh and please read my post about EV-D68 here: EV-D68 post .

Speaking of EV-D68, two kids are dead because of it, many more are paralyzed and I promise you all this, more kids are going to die because of it. Flu season is right around the corner. Pandemic in our future? I think so.


Thanks for reading.

What's Going on with the Stock Market

It is no secret that the US economy is barely recovering. Personally, I don't think there is any actual recovery but hey, who am I to disagree with the Fed? Us taxpayers are a bunch of investors and the Treasury is our financial planner; it is the biggest, most corrupt scheme in the history of man kind. A bail out here, a stimulus there and everything is sunshine and puppy dogs. And you know what? We are to blame. We let this happen and our collapse is on our hands.

That was a pretty strong intro huh? Well it's the reality that is revealed once you lift the curtain. Wall street hit an all time high (again). The Fed came out and told investors that they can expect low interest rates for a while. So, this is a good thing. Interest rates are low which makes investors well, invest. To the every day person, this means nothing but to someone with an open mind, this is not "cool".

Normal people don't understand that the stock market does not reflect the standing of the US economy. When the OWS folks talk about corporations doing what is best for the shareholder instead of doing what is best for their employees, they are talking about the way that the stock market works compared to how the economy.  Profit will always come before people and honestly, that is a good thing in most cases. Lets say that the stock price for Home Depot rises from $30.00 a share to $60.00 a share. That has nothing to do with an economic recovery. All that means is that HD has been turning a bigger profit by reducing their liabilities, changing up their product line or something.  If a law like Obamacare causes a business to lay off 6000 employees, that translates to 6000 former liabilities, 6000 people who the business no longer has to pay. As long as consumers keep shopping at that business, profits will be made but because the employee base has been reduced, the profit margin will have increased and the stock value will increase.

What if I told you that the Fed influences the stock market so that certain people can make billions of dollars. Warren Buffet. Smart man, but dirty, greedy and corrupt. Do you have any idea how much influence that one, wrinkly old bastard has? How about George Soros? In 1992, George Soros made a short sale of the British Pound and sent the Bank of England into panic mode. Surely a few little people will gain a little bit of money but when it comes to people like Warren Buffet, we are talking millions if not billions of dollars of profit in one simple transaction.

Money is like a 101 proof bourbon, too much of it will make you sick. Basically, if all you care about is the money in your bank, the cars you keep in the garage and how many financial and business magazines write about you and your wealth, you will destroy your family, your employees and your morals. Every "good" sign will lead to a bad sign and our status will rise and fall. The elite will shit on you, me and everyone around us just so that they can maintain power and keep making a boat fucking load of cash.

Keep your eyes open and please, don't panic. There is nothing you or I could do to stop the collapse that is coming. We can only prepare by buying physical bullion and stockpiling supplies and goods. We can only ride out the storm because unless a revolution happens, nothing can be done to change the course we are on.

Thanks.

Faulty Utilities are Deadly Hazards. CL&P Refuses to Fix the Power on My Street

I'm not one to complain about stuff like this but I feel that the negligence of Connecticut Light & Power must be addressed. During both 2013 and 2014, the power on Nanni Drive and Mountain View Terrace in Winsted Connecticut has gone out on numerous occasions. Some times the power is out for a few hours but sometimes the outage can last an entire day. This morning at around 5:20AM the power went out but was restored at around 9:30AM. It is mid September and the temperature was in the low 40s in the early hours of the day.


CL&P has refused to implement a solid fix to this problem that poses a serious risk to the residents in my neighborhood. The power goes out, they come and dig up the ground the access the wires or whatever and then they leave. They have done that at least 10 times this year with no effect other than making a mess of the street and yard. I personally am not too concerned about "surviving" these blackouts because I am prepared for them, but this isn't just a "me" problem.


What happens when there is 15" of snow on the ground and the temperature is in the teens? There are elderly people and children who live in this community who could freeze to death. The heat in our apartments is electric which is a huge problem in the winter. If the power goes out for longer than 2 hours or so, the situation could become very dangerous and deadly. What happens if an outage occurs during a major snow storm? We have all seen the wrath of mother nature and I have not forgotten the blizzards that hit the North East in  Feb/March 2013 and Feb/March 2014.


All I ask is that the town of Winsted and the state of Connecticut put the heat on CL&P. Force them to fix this ongoing problem. At the next town hall meeting, I will be bringing this issue up and if I cannot produce any results, I will organize my neighborhood to either protest or file a civil suit against CL&P. The carelessness of CL&P and the obvious disregard for the safety of those who live on these streets is downright immoral and may even be illegal. I am calling on my legislators and the Winsted BOS to demand answers and results from Connecticut Light & Power.


Thanks.

My Response to Greg Gutfeld Asking: Should Americans Boycott Burger King?

09/05/14


link to what I'm talking about


I like Greg Gutfeld but really? Did Chris Matthews buy him dinner the night before or something?


The story goes like this..
Burger King is moving its corporate operations to Canada. The people who say that Burger King is buying Tim Hortons are idiots. Burger King isn't buying anyone, 3G Capital is. Burger King couldn't compete with other fast food restaurants and after years of failure, a Brazilian multi-billion dollar investment firm bought Burger King for $3.8 Billion. Also, 3G Capital paired with Berkshire Hathaway and bought H.J. Heinz Company for $28B a few years ago.


By the way, Warren Buffet is the man who founded and is the Chairman, President and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. I have had a problem with Money Bags Buffet ever since he said that rich people should be taxed more, while he refused to voluntarily cough up some more dough. Listen you rich jerk, if you think you are under taxed, just give put more zeros on the check you send the IRS every spring and quit trying to sound like a damn human. I digress.


So, should Americans boycott Burger King? No and any American who does is a damn fool. Burger King is a business, businesses require a little thing called profitability. Seeing that BK is at the bottom of the food chain in regards to fast food, they need to make every penny count. The people who would boycott BK are of the same level of stupidity as the fast food workers who are spending their day protesting for a $15 minimum wage.


I see so many of these "Social justice" morons who know nothing about economics or business, but somehow have concluded that businesses can afford to pay their workers $15.00 an hour. I say we put Rachel Maddow in charge of Taco Bell for a year and see what happens. Let the female Jay Carney run that sucker into the ground, I mean, she seems to know sooo much about everything! The same fools who believe that Al Gore is the lord of Climate Change are encouraging borderline retarded burger flippers to take part in something that if successful, will result in them losing their jobs to BurgerBot 1.0.


You know who Americans should boycott? The God damn US federal government. The corporate taxes are driving BK out of the US and into Canada, Burger King can sprinkle as much sugar on their bullshit burger and claim that their decision has nothing to do with taxes, I'm not eating it and neither should you. If BK was a manufacturer, they would have moved to China 20 years ago. The EPA, FDA, Chamber of (Crony) Commerce, IRS, and Congress have been making decisions that have sent USA corporations and manufacturers packing since before I was born. I can sit here all day and explain the difference between the business climate in China compared to the US and you would end up saying "Shit, I'd move over there too."


People are moving out of NY faster than they can say Big Apple. The same is happening in Connecticut, New Jersey, California and many other states. Why? Big Government, high taxes, regulations and restrictions have done nothing but damaged these states. Economic recovery is not happening in any of these Big Government states run by Obama praising statist despots. The governors are committing economic suicide by doing things that sound good, but never work and never would work. Obamacare and gov't controlled health insurance might sound good on paper and shit, it might even work in theory. It would and will never work in practice. When politicians implement policies, laws and regulations, or even Bailouts, it sounds good and seems good, but these are not the droids you are looking for. Even if these things did work, the politicians would only make it work for them and their cronies. The workers always loose when the government gets involved with a corporation. Just look at General Motors.


If you're not pissed off at any of this, you're either brain dead or not paying attention. Burger King is not the enemy, Obama is not the enemy in this case either. The Federal Gov't as a whole is the enemy and We The People need to do something before more businesses shut down or move to Canada, China, Mexico or any other foreign country.


Thanks.

Headline: Tesla Needs $3B in Tax Breaks for New Battery Factory.

09/04/14
Business

article

Tell me you all saw this coming. By the way, Ford Motors never took a bail out.. Suck on it GM freaks.
Tesla makes a nice and I mean NICE car. I have seen at least 7 around in CT in recent months and I'll admit it, I'd buy one but because I understand that electric vehicles are horrible investments that will have no resale potential once the EV hits 50,000 miles, I'll stick to fossil fuels.

From the article"

Before we go to the next stage of pouring a lot of concrete, we want incentives there that make sense and are fair to the state and Tesla,” said Tesla CEO Elon Musk about a month ago.  

 What's wrong with that statement? Why does the state even need to be involved in the development and expansion of a private business? You want the state of Nevada to give you a reason to build your massive factory there? How about you give Nevada a reason to permit your factory. Batteries are not a "Green" or eco-friendly product. It's interesting, CFL light bulbs are better for energy efficiency, but contain toxic mercury. Solar Panels contain lead and cadmium and according to This Article from MotherJones.com,

 In the coming years, SVTC estimates that 1.5 billion pounds of solar panel waste containing 2 million pounds of lead and 600,000 pounds of cadmium will be disposed of in California alone.

Totally green man riiggghhhtt??(said in a surfer dude voice). So, Nevada, do you think that your state gov't will give Tesla the "green light" with their factory? Two words: Harry Reid. The old, denture wearing demented statist moon bat used a para-military force (the BLM) to try to chase Cliven Bundy out so that a Chinese company could build solar panel power stations on that land. It had nothing to do with some endangered turtle or grazing permits. Infowars.com Article

Harry Reid will at the very least push (very deep and hard) to get other politicians in NV to support Tesla, even if the taxpayers don't want their tax dollars being wasted on a non-viable product known as electric vehicles. There is no demand for them. Yes there are people who are buying Chevy Volts and whatever car Tesla makes but the numbers are not on the side of eco-freaks and electric vehicle manufacturers. The only people buying these cars are people with 100K in disposable income who need to feel good about themselves.

Let me put it this way, if there was an actual demand for Electric Vehicles, there would be Chevy  dealerships with just as many Volts as Silverados in their lots. The same applies to the Nissan Leaf and all the EVs out there. No demand for the product is why Tesla needs the Taxpayer to bankroll their operations. All in all, if the NV Taxpayers oppose the Tesla plant and put the fire under Harry Reid, Tesla will be one step closer to bankruptcy. The only thing that is positive about this battery factory is the creation of jobs; they will be Union jobs so I don't actually consider them jobs but hey, it is what it is.

Tesla would not exist if we didn't have a President who was violently pushing an anti-fossil fuel agenda. Elon Musk, who I think is full of more shit than my septic tank, is a nobody with a lot of money and good idea. He exploited the stupidity of the Leftists and now the Federal gov't..err, I mean the US taxpayer is the only reason Tesla is in business. That being said, I think that every taxpayer in a state where there is a Tesla dealership should demand that Tesla give them one of their Electric Vehicles for free as a "thank you" gift. Even though we had no say in your creation, you're welcome.


Thanks for reading.

Understanding Sustainable Self Employment

09/04/14
Business

Self employment, the home based business, working for your self on your terms. If I had to define Freedom, it would be with two words: self employment. I'll let you in on a little secret, anyone could be self employed and anyone can make a living from their couch. You're probably like, how can this be? You can't be serious. So I can work from home, profitably without needing to go back to college? Yes. It's 2014 and if you're reading this, you obviously own an internet connected device. Now the truth is that self employment is easy, but not as easy as you might think. Actual work is still needed, dedication, persistence and patience are needed. You can't expect to wake up and be a work from home master, you need to educate yourself, but you don't need to go to college or anything.

What is so great about self employment?
-Well for starters, you have freedom. You can choose your own hours, you can work as little hours as you choose. For me, I can spend about 10 hours a week working and make $3,000. I'm not bullshitting you. 10 hours a week for me, broken down in 2 calender days is about 1.5 hours of photographing the items, 6 hours of listing the items, 1 hour of printing shipping labels, invoices and order records, 1 hour packaging the items, and finally 30 minutes driving to the post office to drop off the packages. (the last 2 hours and 30 minutes of work comes 7 days after I spent those 7.5 hours photographing and listing the items).
The week before Christmas 2013, I cherry picked some of my good stuff and I sold $840.28 in 7 days time, $270.50 was my profit.

-Time management, what you sell, how you sell it and pretty much every aspect of self employment other than when you need to file taxes and how much your life expenses are is all on your terms.  You can work Monday and then not do anything until Friday. As long as you make enough money to pay the bills, you can do whatever you want.

-Taxes. Depending on the state that you live in, you wont need to collect sales tax if you sell online. In CT, from what I understand, I only need to collect sales tax on sales to residents of CT. If the buyer is in Vermont for example, I don't have to collect sales tax on that sale. Depending on your tax code and loophole knowledge, you probably can avoid paying some federal taxes if you fly under the radar. I've found that as long as you don't make a lot of money, the IRS wont notice you as easily but if you are making $8,000 a month, yea you should try to pay your "fair share".

What are the risks?
-You can go broke if you don't budget your money or if you don't sell enough. You should think of every sale as a commission based sale but where you only earn money if you sell something. If your monthly cost of living is $1,500 you should obviously want to make at least $2,000/month. That left over $500? Spend it wisely but guess what, you can spend it on your terms.
-You need to take initiative to provide for yourself constantly. I always need to make sure that I have enough inventory that I can sell. Right now, the price of Silver is very low at $19.60 or so per ounce and I have many ounces of bullion that I cannot sell until the spot price gets back over $27.00/oz. I will get more into bullion another time. If I can't sell something, it sits on a shelf or in a safe.  Money doesn't grow on trees but dust accumulates on everything.
-When you deal in second hand items like Grandmas old Pewter knickknacks, you need to know what the fair market value of said item is and if it is even worth buying. Also, if you don't have cash to spend on new inventory, that is a problem.
-If you don't understand your market, you will risk everything and you probably will lose.
-There is not job security in the sense that you know that you are getting paid to work X amount of hours. You need to secure your own income and you are entirely responsible for the business that you want to build

My Experience
I am self employed and I've been doing what I do, successfully for over 5 years. I am a Numismatist aka a Coin dealer. I buy sell and trade coins, collectibles, antiques, oddities and outdoor/survival gear. I mainly sell on eBay but occasionally go to expos, trade shows and conduct direct sales. I personally know that working from home is not for everyone, being your own boss is hard work. Here is a list of some the things that I need to do:
-Photograph my products
-List my products
-Know and understand my products
-Track my inventory
-Track my costs, expenses, fees, losses, gains, sales, profits, purchases, quantities and personal income.
-File tax returns
-Understand the market and the client/customer base
-Know the current demand for my products
-Know the condition of second hand products
-Package and ship products that sell.

I also need to purchase all my supplies like:
-Printer paper
-Printer ink
-pens
-notebooks
-Polishes, tarnish removers, solvents etc.
-Bubble wrap, packing tape, boxes and bubble mailers and shipping label paper.
-Postage
-storage bins

Being self employed requires an investment of money. There are things that you need to buy in order to conduct business. Many of these items are one time purchases like a computer desk and some shelving. Because I sell on the internet, I had to purchase things like a shipping scale, a good printer and a quality digital camera. One of these days I'll buy an Ipad but I'm waiting for the post-holiday sales. When I buy an Ipad, I'll go over why it is the device that you need if you are self employed.

What do you need to start a home based business?
-Money aka working capital. I really shouldn't have to explain this one.
-Knowledge of what your business is, what you want to do and how you're going to do it.
-A good computer, an internet connection, a cell phone, printer and basic office supplies.
-An FEIN (Federal Employer Identification Number). Not really a requirement but worth having and it's free to obtain one through the IRS on their website.
-Customer service skills. Are you a people person who knows how to handle stupid customers or upset customers? You better be.
-Sales skills. You need to know how to "pitch" your item to potential buyers. I'll do more on this later.
-A PayPal account.
-An eBay Seller account or a website and domain. I have both but prefer eBay because I am familiar with it.
-Organization. You need to keep all your paperwork and records in a file cabinet or box. Your inventory and all your supplies should be organized as well.
-Communication skills. You will be talking, typing and texting people often. If you end up sounding like an idiot, you will loose business. Dn't tlk lyke dis err else u wont b getten ne shyt. Yea, don't be that guy.

At the very basics, those things are what I recommend you have. When it comes to educating yourself, buy books and read business and entrepreneurial magazines. I have price guides, how to guides and many other books that I need to conduct my business. Remember I said that I buy a lot of second hand stuff? That means I need to travel and meet with clients (people who have stuff to sell). Usually I find clients on Craigslist or through family member referrals. I have a nice, professional looking Pelican case that I use to carry my portable scale, a couple of magnifiers, precious metals testing equipment and other things. The Pelican case and a Staples portable file box with a price guide or two and other stuff go with me to every meeting with a client.

What you DON'T need.
-When you first start you, you don't need to buy things like business cards or advertisements. I started small and worked my way up the food chain. I didn't have businesses cards until my 3rd year of business, not because I didn't want them but because I didn't really need them.
-You don't need to quit your real job. I advise that if you have a job already, but want to become self employed, you should do both for at least 1 year before quitting your other job.
-You don't need to go to college. Business school wont teach you anything that $200 worth of books at Barnes and Noble wont teach you. I actually have zero college under my belt except for a Gunsmith degree and I now make over $30,000 a year.


Thanks for reading. I'll probably add more to this at a later time. Have a good one.

6 Steps to Get Winsted Back on Track. Analysis of the Special Election.

09/04/14
Economics

This post is more of a local thing.
My town Winsted, is having a special election on Saturday September 13th. Why? Well because the town is a mess. See, there was this guy named Henry Centrella who with the help of other town officials, essentially robbed the town. I haven't been in Winsted long, I moved here in 2013.

Why did I choose Winsted? 
-Very low crime.
-Very quiet.
-Main St USA type of town.
-Located right at Route 8, Route 44 and less than 15 minutes from the MA border. 30 minutes to Hartford or Waterbury and great shopping and dining both in and around town.

Winsted is a great town that is worth fixing. I don't really care about paving the roads as much as other people because we realistically need to get our priorities straight. Yesterday afternoon two Democrats who are on the ballot came to my door to talk to me about why I should vote for them. On paper, I'm a Republican but in reality, I'm a political mutt. I lean Libertarian on most social issues and some government issues but I'm a small government conservative who thinks that local gov'ts should be in charge, not the federal gov't. That being said, I told the two Democrats that I vote for the candidate, not the party and I'll do my research before I cast my vote.

What's the reason for the special election?
Well, the way I see it, the Democrats are trying to oust two Republicans who were elected in April of this year. Those two Republicans are Marsha Sterling and Glen Albanesuis . The Democrats are crying foul, claiming that the appointment of Sterling and Albanesuis was undemocratic and illegal.  So far, the DTC petition has gotten roughly 430 signatures; none of the signatures have been verified yet.
So in about 5 months time (April to September), the Democrats think that they what it takes to boot out Sterling and Albanesuis.

Let me put it this way...... What would Americans think if Congressional Republicans tried to impeach Obama 5 months into his first term? 5 months? Really? I can understand wanting to elect a new "leader" after 20 months, but 5? Rome wasn't built in a day folks. The special election is a pure political power grab by the Democrats. They are perverting the truth about the all too recent Lambert Kay deal to make it look like Sterling screwed the town out of a manufacturer, tax revenue and job creation.

Sterling was elected by the Board of Selectmen after Mayor Lisa Smith resigned for what she called "personal reasons." Gee, I wish I could just get away from my job, duties and responsibilities by citing personal reasons. Maybe I could pack up all my stuff and leave my fiance and our daughter because hey, I gotta do what I gotta do.

The between the lines reality
The Democrats are chomping at the bit to take charge or Winsted for only one reason: Take control of the town and then borrow money from Malloy and Obama to try and save the town by funding projects that they believe will be good for the town. Then, a few years down the road, Winsted will need to pay back the fed and state. Can you say tax increase? With the Lambert Kay deal still in our memory and the firing of town manager Dale Martin (Which was more than reasonable), the Democrats think that those things are enough to muster support from the registered voters to kick out the Republicans.


6 Steps to Fix Winsted:
-Businesses need to come to Winsted. Businesses lead to job creation and job creation leads to natural revenue generation and non-influenced (meaning government didn't throw money at a problem to provide temp. relief) economic stability. There are several vacant store fronts and locations in town, Winsted should create incentives for new businesses and also the town should work with private financial institutions to get small businesses and start ups the funding they need.

-Organize the community to help with the small stuff like beautification and litter clean up. We can make Winsted look great without spending taxpayer dollars to do so. There are also many jobs that the town should leave to the private sector. If it is cheaper to have a landscaper mow the grass at the parks than it is to pay town workers to do the same thing, hire or contract the private business.

-Sell off any town property that is a source of waste and only spend money and resources on issues that need to be addressed. I remember reading about the town budget and something like 500K was going to be spent on new lights at a sports field. If the lights still turn on, don't change them. When you fix things that are not broken, you are wasting money. Is there an extra plow truck sitting in the garage? Auction it off.

-Give Marsha and Glen a chance. It has only been 5 months, I say give them another 15 months and if nothing gets better, call for a special election.

-Restructure the town government and do whatever you can to create incentives for businesses and families to move to Winsted. Advertise more to draw in tourists and residents from other towns. Make more people aware of what Winsted has to offer, simplify the budget, reduce waste and create efficient protocols and processes.

-Let the taxpayers and town residents have a say in all of this. Put someone in charge of transparency and updates so that everyone has the ability to see exactly what is going on in Town Hall. Release budget information on a quarterly basis and let the tax payers see how their money is being spent.


I'll end this post by saying that if I didn't screw myself with my political activism, I would consider running for some position to at least put good ideas on the chalkboard. I have a lot of experience with politics and also with business. it is very interesting what the media has said about me. People who know me, people who talk to me regularly were shocked at what was said about me. Sure, I should have used different words to vent my frustrations but passionate political speech isn't a crime. 90% of what has been said about me on Facebook and the news is bullcrap. I've said some things that are offensive, controversial and twisted but again, that is the glory of America. I have a right to speak my mind and I want everyone to speak my mind. This special election is essentially something I support on the basis of letting the voters have a say in who is in charge of their town, but I think that it is not something that we need right now. I bet my savings account that I could turn Winsted around. I doubt I ever will get the chance but if someone offered it to me, I would take it. Over the past 3 months, I've been trying very hard to change my course and focus my energy in more productive ways. When we fall, we get back up and keep going and when I finally am a "free man" again, you will see the new me. Maybe then, I will have established a better name for myself.

Thanks for reading. Share your comments and stuff below.

Connecticut Economy. Self Destruction has been 20+ years in the making.

09/03/14
Economics

In this article on my local news paper Register Citizen Article, there are a few key things that are not said. If you have an open mind and are not afraid to speak the truth, you will be able to read between the lines.

The Connecticut economy isn't struggling or lagging; it is in a politically induced coma. The policies of the big government left and the Statists have done everything they can to turn CT into a great state to live in, but a horrible place to work in. Ever since Gov. Lowell Weicker signed into law a massive, deadly clot in the arteries of Connecticut: Income Tax.
This is an article, from August 23, 1991. That date, is when Connecticut began the process of self destruction. Article The path that Connecticut has been on for the last 23 or so years, is the same path Chicago, Detroit, Camden, California and many other cities and states have been on or will soon be on.

If you don't live in Connecticut, you probably don't know how bad we are doing. My grandparents and most of my family has lived in the Valley area and Waterbury for the last 150 years or so. My Grandmother worked at Timex in Waterbury, my grandfather worked at Int'l Silver in Wallingford after retiring from the US Army Air Force after WW2. Up and down Route 8, there are big, red brick factories that once were where so many CT residents made their living and lived the American Dream. I always ask people how many jobs would be created if just 30% of the factories were up and running today.  

Bridgeport looks like shit today, so does Torrington, Waterbury, New Haven and many other cities here. If I told you that Connecticut is exactly like Chicago, with the only difference being CT is a state and Chicago is a city, it would be the easiest way to get the point across to even the most oblivious Liberals.  

The corruption isn't limited to Democrats either. Rowland couldn't and can't keep his paws clean. Malloy, in reality has done a lot of harm to the state. We are 3 Billion dollars in debt, and will hit 7 Billion by 2019 because of him and his decisions as governor (my prediction). When Malloy went after the gun rights of CT Residents, he shot himself in the foot. Not because he banned a bunch of different guns, but because the law resulted in several major manufacturers relocating because they could no longer operate here. It is one thing to raise taxes, taxes can be lowered. Once you effectively shut down a specific industry and manufacturers relocate to other states, you will never get them back. Colt will never return to CT once they get "down south." 

Give it a few years, CT will end up resorting to pathetic tax free zones, like NY did as a last ditch, do or die effort to revive their economy. Malloy and Cuomo could write the definitive guide on crippling a state. Lets take NY, NJ and CT, combine them and I think the numbers are over 6 million people. That's right, over 6 million people have left those states because of failed political policies and ideas. 

Did I mention that my family will be moving out of CT in 4 years? Oh and 25 people who I personally know have either relocated to TX, TN, SC, NH, FL or ND  or plan on relocating to other states in the next few years. Everyone is tired of the high taxes, big government and dead economy. 

In the next 10 years, CT will have a population of less than 2.3 Million people. Out of 10 residents, 7 will live at or below the poverty level, 2 will be middle class and 1 will be upper class. Crime will skyrocket and there will be nothing good to say about Connecticut. All will fall like Rome.

Thanks for reading.

Why Are So Many Casinos Shutting Down? Economic Predictions 5 Years Ahead.

09/02/14
Economics

The politics of it all
Apparently, Atlantic City NJ is going from 12 casinos to 8 casinos by the end of 2014. When Donald Trump starts closing down his businesses, you know something can't be right. What's going on? What happened to the economic revival and shovel ready jobs that Obama promised us? Hey Harry Reid, you should get out of the game before the collapse of Las Vegas is on your hands. In the bigger picture, "Obamas Economy" has become an obvious cancer on the body that is the Congressional Democrats (and some Republicans). Come 2016, most Americans better have got their eyes open and th eir heads out of the sand because we as a nation cannot survive 8 years (because the next POTUS will be a 2 term one) of this economic depression and societal oppression.

I've been wondering how many people caught this scary trend. I don't know who else has publicly said it, but I'll say it here and maybe I'm the first to say it. I believe that Atlantic City NJ will end up like Chicago by 2018. What does that mean? Well the city will effectively see the majority of it's tax base leave for states like South Carolina, Texas and Tennessee. The remaining residents will be the poverty stricken and city employees who think that their Union will save their jobs and livelihoods. Crime will sky rocket and then more businesses and people will leave. I really don't have the heart to continue this paragraph but please, we don't need another Rahm Emmanuel authoritarian utopia.

I came across an article about a Connecticut casino, Foxwoods. Foxwoods Article

From the second paragraph:

 "The Mashantucket Pequot (mash-ehn-TUHK'-eht PEE'-kwaht) Tribal Nation has reportedly been selling off land near its reservation in southeastern Connecticut. And in a report this week, credit rating agency Standard & Poor's lowered its rating for the tribe and said the chances of a debt default appear to be growing."

It's one thing when a government (state local or federal) is so deeply in debt that recovery is likely not a reality, but when a private business is in this situation, the only salvation possible is either a gov't bailout or being bought out by another company or an investment group. Unfortunately, nobody is investing their money and resources in an industry that only thrives when economies are booming and when there is a strong middle class. Governments are too big to fail unless the populace takes action to completely reform and rebuild their government. Employees can picket, protest, and plead all they want, if you work for a Casino, you should start looking for other employment before 2016.

More than just blackjack and video poker
It's not just casinos that are going to be negatively impacted. Remember the domino effect? What about the gas stations and convenience stores that sell to tourists and travelers who are going to the casinos? What about the coach bus companies that millions of Americans use to get to and from the casino? There are more than just game tables and slot machines at casinos. There are restaurants, shops and even arenas. I've been to Mohegan Sun twice and I loved it; I can't imagine what CT would look like if both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun closed down.

I would like to know if the number of employees that are going to get let go are the total number of people who work at the casino, or just the people who are employed by the casino. In Atlantic City NJ, 5,000 people lost their jobs when the Showboat Casino and Revel closed this (or last) week. Are those 5,000 employees of the casinos, or are they employees of the casinos and the franchised businesses that are located in the casino? Casinos are like shopping malls. Someone owns the building and leases spots (or whatever you'd call it) to franchises and other retailers. If the people who own the building run out of money and need to close down the building, that means all the businesses that are in the facility will need to relocate and there is a possibility that many business will not relocate at all.

Local Impact
When any major business closes down, it usually results in a portion of the local population leaving for work. Maybe that only applies in failing states like Connecticut and New Jersey that are deeply in debt, over tax their residents and have little to offer anyone who wants to live the American Dream. You've heard about the old Gold Rush ghost towns right? Once all the gold has been panned, people move out in search of a new location. An entire town, built only because of the discovery of a massive amount of gold in the ground. There are many towns in America that are thriving today thanks to a local military base. Parts of North Dakota are booming because of the discovery of natural gas pockets. If you have about 30 minutes, I want you to look into the economic boom in Williston ND that is grossly under reported by the Media. I may live in the NW corner of CT, but I know that many residents of NJ are scared and worried because of the casino closures in Atlantic City. Again, domino effect.

The future of Casino Cities
If the American economy stays its course, you will see 8 casinos turn to 6 casinos and then 6 casinos turn to 3 casinos. You will see a population of 10,000 turn to 7,000 and then from 7,000 to 4,000. City spending will not really decrease but tax revenue will go down exponentially. In due time, Chicago will just be one of those many failed cities in America on some website top 10 worst places lists.

Thanks for reading.

Full In Depth Analysis of Bugging Out vs Evacuating.

08/21/14
Preparedness

 "When the SHTF, I'm going to the woods," says the prepper. Why? Why the woods? Is there something special about the wilderness that makes it the holy grail of Bug Out Locations? When 100,000 people are all saying "I'm goin' to the woods when the SHTF," you should be the one guy to say "when the SHTF, I'm probably not going to the woods." I guess "the woods" refers to the opposite of the city or urban areas. If you live in Brooklyn, yea, get out of the city ASAP. If you live in a main st USA town like I do, where the population is less than 8,000 and there are more parks and trails than there are sidewalks, you probably don't have to worry about the civil unrest that would occur in Waterbury or Hartford (aprox 30mins away from me).

What is the difference between Bugging Out and Evacuating?

Evacuating is the real deal, bugging out is not. 9/10 disasters that will happen in our lifetimes will not be long lasting. 10/10 disasters will be regional or confined to less than 2 states. 10/10 disasters will not be big enough to turn an entire nation upside down. The reality is, there are only a handful of examples that all serious preppers should examine and plan by:
-Hurricane Katrina
-Hurricane Sandy
-Multi-State Blizzard
-Pandemic/Epidemic of some sort
-Economic Collapse (more of a financial planning thing).

Lets look at Katrina and Sandy. How could you survive them? LEAVE THE FUCKING AREA THAT IS IN THE PATH OF THE STORM! It is that simple. Forget the 5 years worth of food and water, all you need is about 1K in cash, a few bags and cases to pack up your clothes, valuables, electronics and necessities in. Don't wait for the gov't evac order, leave as soon as your gut tells you to get moving. If you asked any of the residents of New Orleans who did not evacuate before the hurricane "hit," they will tell you that they wish that they evacuated. The people who did leave will tell you that they are glad that they did evacuate.

Multi state blizzard, you don't even need to bug out for it as long as you have enough supplies to not die in your home. If you have a fire place, you better have enough wood. Generator? You better have enough fuel. Blankets, food and water, stove, grill, fuel etc. That's it. No need for any fancy shit. If you do choose to bug out, you have one option: Bug out before the snow starts falling and head south.

Pandemic/Epidemic is also easy. The best way to not get sick is to avoid contact with people, animals or anything/anyone that could be contagious. Bugging in, sealing off your house from the outside world is the easiest but if you live in an area that is full of sick people, the next best thing is to evacuate to a location that is not near any people.

Economic Collapse, like I said, is more of a financial thing. You need to have enough money to survive being unemployed for an extended period of time. You should stock pile important things like food, water and clothes. Guns and ammo are probably a good idea too and so is bullion.

People tend to use the term "Bugging Out" very loosely while also over thinking their bug out plan. Thanks to Hollywood, reality is non-existent to many preppers. Bugging Out has become something of a fantasy, something that will be fun or some shit. The truth is that bugging out is a hyped term that really is just a hobby specific term for spur of the moment evacuation and temporary relocation. In real life, there are only a few situations or events in which humans have had to "bug out" for an extended period of time:
-Civilians in Poland had to "bug out" when the Nazis invaded them. (you can replace Poland with Iraq and Nazis with Islamo-nazis aka ISIS if you want).
-Civilians in war torn and poverty stricken Communist countries who "bugged out" to escape genocidal regimes and blood thirsty police forces.
Refugees are just everyday people who are "bugging out," waiting for the war to end.

If you asked most Preppers, they would define "Bugging Out" as leaving your home because of a dangerous situation or event, maybe to never return. That dangerous situation or event could mean anything that places you, your family and your community at risk. Some events happen so quickly that you can't bug out because there is no time; like a Tornado or Earthquake. The idea of "bugging out" is incredibly flawed. I have watched hundreds of YouTube videos and watched many episodes of Doomsday Preppers, there are only about 5 scenarios that have been widely used as a backbone to a preppers bug out plan. There has yet to be an economic collapse that has resulted in a total breakdown of society in modern history for an extended period of time. When the US economy "crashed" in 2007/2008, it wasn't even a crash. It was a housing bubble that resulted in a domino effect because of people who had their heads up their asses. People who had no savings, no plan. People who lived for instant gratification, people who did not prepare for tomorrow because they were too busy living for today.

There is no point in preparing for something that historically has either never happened, or has only happened once every couple of thousand years. Yea, we are in debt like fucking crazy, the world is falling apart and our society is full of MTV Zombies and Reality TV junkies who have no morals, no god and no future. As a culture, Americans are pathetic and we are constructing our own demise; there is nothing, you or I can do to stop it and no, spending every penny we have on MREs, guns and ammo wont do a damn thing. Bugging out to the woods wont save you either because you are an idiot who has traded reality for a redneck with a crossbow who became an instant survivalist and marksman once Zombies started hitting the streets.

I'll wrap this up by saying this.
Planning to bug out in the way that the freaks on TV do will get you killed because the term SHTF  has been perverted by money hungry paranoia spreading fear mongers both in movies and on YouTube. (yes, I'm talking about douchebags on YouTube like Jason A who spew bullshit about pending martial law 364 days a year). No, the rapture isn't coming and Jesus wont reappear in Texas if Rick Perry becomes President. Obama isn't coming for your guns, your state police are and even if the world is run by the Illuminati or some elitist cult, what the hell do you think you can do to stop them Capt. America? Nothing, so drop the tin foil, and fix your shit before you go bankrupt buying toilet paper and Twinkies. 9/10 disasters that happen in your life time, will require you to evacuate your home and relocate for less than 5 months unless you live directly in a wildfire zone or in an area that is historically prone to devastating floods or tornadoes. Fire, wind and water are really the only threats to your home. Looters might break some windows and steal your TV, but you still have your home. A tornado could destroy your home but unless you are directly hit by the tornado, your home will probably just suffer repairable damage. If your home is 80% under water, you probably will need to find a new place to live and if a wildfire transforms your home into a pile of coals, you will need to find a new place to live.

Thanks for reading. Sub, follow and all the good shit. Enjoy the rest of Labor Day Weekend.

What You Need to Know About Burger Kings' Move to Canada.

08/28/14
Business

So the story goes like this...

The fast food chain Burger King is buying Tim Hortons and in doing so, BK will be taking their corporate operations out of the US and into Canada. The MSM says that Burger King is doing this to flee Americas corporate tax rate (which is the highest in the world) and take advantage of the Canadian corporate tax rate which is almost 50% lower.
What Burger King is doing is called Tax Inversion and it is perfectly legal (and is should be). How much money BK will be saving is another question but I doubt it will be billions. I have only eaten at Burger King once in the last 15 years. To be blunt, their food sucks and economically BK shouldn't even be around today if not for a Brazilian private equity firm that saved them from going under.

Here is the deal folks:
America is a horrible, horrible country to be a corporation or manufacturer in. Yea yea, we have tax loop holes and all that stuff that corporations can take advantage of, but ask yourself this question:
If America is such a great country to incorporate and run a manufacturing company in, why did many corporations and manufacturers "sail" over to China and other foreign countries? When GM went under (which was a good thing), an entire city essentially imploded and manufacturers like American Axle gave pink slips to their America works and opened a facility in Mexico. Companies have been leaving America for over 25 years. It's not an Obama thing or a Bush thing, it's a government thing. "It's a government thing" is the answer to every question about why the US economy is in the shitter and why we are almost 20 Trillion dollars in debt with over 100 Trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities.

BIG GOVERNMENT IS BAD FOR BUSINESS. TAXATION(THEFT) IS BAD FOR BUSINESS TOO!!

From Businessweek.com  http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-26/the-burger-king-tim-hortons-deal-isnt-about-taxes
"Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) went as far as to propose a boycott. “Burger King’s decision to abandon the U.S. means consumers should turn to Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers or White Castle sliders,” he said in a statement." 

Although I don't know who this politician is, he is right and many Americans are probably saying "I already eat at Wendy's." Funny that Sherrod didn't mention McDonald's instead of White Castle (He's a Democrat, go figure). The article goes on to say that Burger King isn't moving because of taxes. Well, I think it is more likely that Burger King isn't moving just because of the boot on their necks that is the IRS. No matter what the Media says, Burger King is moving because it is a decision that is good for the shareholders of BK and for the company that is Burger King.

Most Americas (OWS cough cough) don't get this at all and if they did, they would be boycotting Burger King and every other corporation in America. Businesses do things that are good for them. This is why profit will always come before people because without profit their are no people. The choice Burger King is making will indeed throw many of their USA employees under the bus, but that is the cost of being successful in the global market. BK wants to generate more profits and have less expenses. Taxation is an expense so logically, the less money that you need to give to the taxman, the more money you have to invest in new locations, products and more employees. Employees are expendable and this is business as usual.

I don't know why I even care, I don't eat at Burger King and I never will.

Thanks for reading.

Thoughts on Doomsday Preppers and the Hollywoodification of Prepparedness

08/28/14
Prepping

Doomsday Preppers...I'm not talking about individuals, I'm talking about the TV show. I watch it but at the same time I can't stand it. To me, watching Doomsday Preppers is like watching Bobs Burgers. It's enjoyable to watch, it's humorous and sometimes  funny in a dumb way, but it sucks compared to shows in the same genre like South Park or Family Guy.
I think a lot of people still don't understand that there is a huge difference between real life and the Entertainment industry. Hollywood, or as I call it Commiewood, has given millions of Americans the gift of stupidity and disconnection through movies and "reality" TV shows. In the Entertainment industry, Jack Bower can shoot a guy once, and the dude drops dead. In real life, people (and even animals) don't always go down with one shot. Doomsday Preppers has forever tarnished the preparedness industry and hobby.

There are two types of people: Preppers and Prepared individuals. Doomsday Preppers doesn't show either, they cherry pick the "preppers" based on what the Entertainment industry standards believe will get viewers. In all honesty, if you want to see real preppers, just go onto YouTube and view the home videos of people who show off their Bug Out Bags. Yea, it's probably more boring than watching a guy with 4 kids shooting a bucket full of Tannerite with a .50cal to blow up a 1 ton truck. Real life IS boring. It's nothing crazy for the most part! I used to watch shows on TruTV like Operation Repo until I realized that there is no business on the planet that would operate like that. I know real preppers and I know people who are prepared which is why I can distinguish the TV preppers from the real ones. The problem with the Entertainment industry is that people who watch this crap somehow don't understand that reality TV is not real.

If I had a dollar for every person who watches the Walking Dead and then thinks that they know everything about a Zombie Apocalypse, I'd have enough money to buy an island and build a SHTF castle on it. Everything about a Zombie Apocalypse is fiction and science based theory, there has never been an Outbreak of a Zombie Virus and it is more likely that Ebola HR will kill 150,000,000 people in the next 5 years than a Zombie Virus will infect all (or most) humans in the next 100 years.

My main problem with Doomsday Preppers is that they claim to show everyday Americans, when we all know that everyday Americans don't turn school buses into up-armored campers or have $80,000 to buy a bunker. Doomsday Preppers only shows people with a lot of money. I've seen every episode of the show since it began and I guarantee that every prepper family on there makes at least $350,000 a year. If you were to catalog everything a Doomsday Prepper family has, you would find that they spend a lot of money on being prepared for shit that likely will never happen.

Atlas survival bunkers start at around $60,000. Then you have land and then property taxes on your home,your BOL and your vehicles which most likely cost over $800,000. All that financial security aka bullion cost you 30K, you spent 15k on firearms and ammo and then over 10k on survival gear. 3 meals a day for 365 days is 1,095 meals. How many mouths do you need to feed? 4 people? Okay so that's 4,380 meals but the biggest package Wise sells is 4,320 servings so you buy that one for $7,000 and then you buy another 780 servings for $1,449.99. I bet you still plan on putting your 4 kids through college. You have 3 dogs, 5 chickens, 4 goats, 20 meat rabbits and .50 acre garden? You probably spend over $10,000 a year on feed and farm supplies.

My point is that rich people can buy nice things and things that middle class people can't buy. Things like that is what Hollywood knows gets views. People watch shows like Doomsday Preppers that are designed to get you to watch once and then watch again and again and again. The Entertainment industry doesn't care about how real normal people prepare for an economic collapse and to be honest, the Doomsday Preppers preppers are going to be the people going to prison for life for being trigger happy freaks who kill their neighbors as a precaution that they don't follow them to the bunker.

If you want to see how real normal prepared people "prep," check out my YouTube channel, Pajama Prepper, or check out some of my favorite YouTube guys like Southernrepper1 and Cumberlandprepper1.
Follow my blogs and read what I post. I have no agenda and I don't get paid to say anything or push any products (sadly). If you want reality, you'll get it from someone like me. Doomday Preppers is a good TV show, but it should be watched for shits and giggles only, it is NOT an educational show and it certainly is not a show about real preppers.

Thanks.

Nasty Winter Predictions and Preparations for 2014/2015

08/25/14
Preparedness


As much as I don't like Yahoo.com, they sometimes have articles that interest me.
Like this one for example http://news.yahoo.com/farmers-almanac-predicts-another-nasty-winter-154326000.html


As I sit here sweating like a dog (I was just outside testing out my dads old Hillary tent during a humid and hot day, while wearing jeans and a heavy knit golf shirt), I am both sad and happy that this winter will be "nasty." Personally, I don't mind the cold. I have seasonal allergies that turn my nose into a cold sored waterfall of salty slime, and make my eyes more blood shot than a Zombie pothead.

That being said, I prefer the cold weather. On the other hand, I remember last winter, and the winter before that. Late January through early March was a frozen hell. Here is a video I took of a very unusual April snow shower.

As a prepper, there are luckily only a few bad things that can happen during the winter and it is very easy to be prepared for those things. I learned something new this year:
Never trust the Weatherman. Thank God these guys don't work for the Pentagon because their intel on the weather is usually wrong. I now rarely watch the Weather Channel, I get my weather info straight from http://www.wunderground.com/US/CT/

What are some of the situations associated with extreme winter weather?
-Blackouts (power outages)
-Roads blocked by fallen trees or too much snow and/or ice
-Freezing to death (it happens more often than you know)
-States of emergency (CT and MA both had shut down after a massive blizzard in 2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2013_nor'easter)
-Closed schools
-People lose their jobs http://www.nhregister.com/business/20140314/connecticut-lost-10400-jobs-in-january-harsh-winter-blamed

So, how can you prepare for those things?
Here is a list of some basic supplies that you should have:
-Flashlights (one per person + at least 2 back up flashlights)
-Plenty of blankets (fleece throws are great and not expensive)
-Batteries (if your flashlights each use 2 AA batteries, you should have 2 batteries in each light + 6 exztra batteries for each flashlight)
-Emergency Radio. (WX/FM/AM is best, a police scanner would be better if you can afford one.)
-Power Bank for electronic devices and phones
-Ripstop tarp (used to cover your vehicle to make clearing the snow off it easier)
-5 gallon bucket of sand (keep in your vehicles trunk, if you lose traction, put some sand down in front of your tires to help get you back on the road)
-Road flares (if you crash your vehicle, these can be used to alert drivers of the wreck and also signal for help if you don't have a flashlight.
-Snow shovel
-LED lantern or light with strobe mode (for signaling emergency responders if you need help)
-Money aka savings. If you lose your job, you should have enough cash saved to pay bills and buy basic things for at least 3 months.
-Things to keep your kids busy (if you have any.)
-Hand warmers
-Bottled water (one gallon per person per day)
-Non perishable foods and snacks (at least 6 days worth)
-Jumper cables (cold weather can kill your car battery)
-First aid kit.
-10 gallons of gasoline for your snow thrower.
-Motor oil for your snow thrower.
-Fire extinguisher (this is a general household prep)
-Bags of rock salt or ice melt.

*I recommend candles but you NEED to keep a window cracked open to ventilate your house and prevent a buildup of Carbon Monoxide. This applies to fuel (kerosene) lanterns and heaters, propane stoves etc. If you have a fireplace, you're lucky because I don't. You should stockpile firewood and keep enough firewood for a week stored in the garage or basement.

If you have the money, buy a generator. If you keep it outside (which you should), you should have it chained to something so that no one can steal it.

Well, it's still August and we have a few months left until the first snowfall. The best place to buy some basic supplies is a hardware store like Home Depot or a mega retailer like Walmart. If you can, shop at locally owned mom n' pop businesses instead.

I hope you found this useful. Feel free to share your winter weather stories and experiences. Don't forget to follow me and share this with your friends. Thanks for reading.

The Preppers View of the Ferguson Riots.

08/19/14
Prepping.

As much as I want to get into the politics of what is going on in Ferguson, I really don't have any desire to do so. I spent a lot of time analyzing and reporting on the Trayvon Martin issue and yes, it was well worth it.

I don't live in Ferguson so I am sorry if I don't have all the information as to what is happening on the streets, my information only comes from what I have read online and seen in news reports and independent reporting on the TV and on YouTube. I want to give a shout out to all the citizens who have uploaded real, uncensored footage of the riots via their smart phones. You are self-deputized journalists and the work you are doing is of greater value than anything Chris Hayes, NBC, FNC, MSNBC or CNN has to report on. The police can try to silence you, but stand tall and exercise your rights without fear.

This post will be laid out as if I were actually preparing to evacuate and bug out. I will be using my knowledge and going according to my family bug out plan for incidents of martial law and civil unrest. Our bug out plan is essentially a modified version of our hurricane evacuation plan. Specifics and details will be left out for operational security reasons.

If I lived in Ferguson, I would have bugged out within the first hour of the initial protests. But what about my job or my fiances job? Well, seeing as most of the city is shut down, I'm sure our employers would understand. My daughter is only 1, so we don't have to worry about her missing any school. We would pack up both our vehicles and head out of town. The sky isn't falling so we wouldn't need to take all the SHTF gear.

What about our home? What if some rioters break into our home? That is why I have insurance and a home is just a home. I would rather not be home when the looters come because I need to protect my fiance and our daughter. We would take all our important documents and items and we would empty out our safe, but we would leave all non essential property. Before we leave, we would board up all the windows from the inside (I'll talk about that later) and secure all entry points.

Okay so what would we pack?
-Clothes. Because we don't know how long we will have to be out of town, we will pack at least 10 days worth  of clothes. If we need to bug out for more than 10 days, we will find a coin-op laundromat.
-Toiletries. Shampoo, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes etc.
-Guns and ammo. Even thought we likely will not need to use force to defend ourselves, taking our guns and ammo is more or less to prevent looters from stealing them. Remember, we are packing up all important and essential items.
-Documents. Passports, anything that has to do with insurance, proof of ownership or identification. Because I am self employed, I would take all my business paperwork and licenses.
-Electronics. Laptop, cameras, flash drives, chargers, baby toys. Xbox 360 and games. All of these items can be packed up into one box that wont take up a lot of space in the car.
-Clean out the safe. Coins, bullion, jewelry and heirlooms.
-Business stuff. I often do business at expos and coin shows so I would take my pelican case that has my scale, magnifiers, testing solutions and other important items. I would also take my transport case.
-Money. As soon as we got out of Ferguson, we would stop at the bank and withdraw a few hundred dollars.
-Our bug out bags. Our bug out bags have a lot of essential gear in them.
-Baby items. Diapers, bottles, sippy cups. The stroller, pack and play crib, baby toys, blankets. We wouldn't take much baby food because we could buy that stuff once we are out of Ferguson.
-Medicine and first aid. We would pack all prescriptions and OTC medications. We keep everything in a Plano case with a lock on it so that our daughter can't  access any of the medications. We would pack both our IFAKs as well.

Where would we go? Because the situation isn't wide spread and the riots are really just in Ferguson, we could go anywhere. Because there is a possibility for the riots and protests to spread to other areas, we would choose a "bug out location" that is at least 100 miles away and not in an urban area.

The reality is that this sort of bug out would be a vacation. I think that because I am a father, it would be best to treat all bug outs and evacuations as "adventures." I do not want to cause my fiance or daughter to worry or be scared. Again, our daughter is only 1 year old, but when she is older, I will want her to be able to understand why we need to "bug out" but I don't want her to think that the world is ending. I think that it would be better if we had a group of people to bug out with also. Instead of just my fiance, daughter and myself, it could be us and the neighbors or close friends. We would try to reach out to our neighbors and friends through direct contact and through social media and encourage them to join us on evacuating until the riots end and things get back to normal.

I'd like you, the reader, to share your thoughts.
Thanks for reading.

Understanding Martial Law and Civil Unrest.

08/19/14
Prepping.

Martial Law is a very serious topic that every prepper should be talking about. I have read many other blog posts and watched many videos on WROL and Martial Law but too many of the posts and videos are wrong. Instead of looking at a declaration of a state of emergency from a realistic point of view, many people jump on the "they are coming for your guns" scenario. In this post, I will clarify and provide facts about  martial law and civil unrest. How governments go about enacting protocols, the levels of response and escalation, and what causes the declaration of a state of emergency/martial law.

If you want to know the facts and the reality, don't watch any of Jason A's videos on YouTube. None of his videos are reliable and he has been claiming all sorts of nonsense for years without anything actually happening. The media is not going to elaborate on the truth, hell, most newscasters are idiots who are only good at reading a teleprompter. The news coverage is only good if you want to see examples of what martial law looks like. The events in Ferguson have shown millions of Americans that our police depts are becoming more like gov't sponsored para-military forces. The police state is not a myth and yes, you should be very concerned with the militarization of the police.

I use the terms martial law and state of emergency in the same capacity. Both mean the same thing, but have two different understandings.
 -State of emergency is used more to describe the action of a governor in making the declaration that, due to some sort of event (riots, hurricane, floods, tornadoes etc), the protocols that are in place for responding to said events must now be initiated.
-Martial Law is used more to describe the law enforcement response that would happen after a disaster or during a riot. I think the easiest way to explain it is to say that martial law would be declared because of civil unrest or a civil uprising.

Despite what conspiracy theorists claim, martial law will never be declared by a US president. NDAA has nothing to do with a state response to civil unrest. Martial law has historically only been declared on a local level. States of emergency have historically only been declared locally and regionally (local meaning town, city or state, regional meaning multiple states). Hurricane Sandy prompted multiple states to declare states of emergency. Hurricane Katrina resulted in a state of emergency in Louisiana (I do not recall if TX or FL were hit bad enough by Katrina to result in states of emergency there), but martial law was really only declared in New Orleans.

Protocols:
It took me a while to find just one official document on just one formal protocol for civil unrest. This is a PDF of the Military Field Manual 3-19.15. http://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-19-15.pdf
The great thing about US gov't manuals is that they are full of information that allow you as a civilian to know exactly how "gov't forces" would respond to said situation. The US Dept of the Army puts out field manuals, technical manuals and pretty much manuals for everything that everyone from the common Infantry soldier to the elite of the elite.
Sometimes protocols are called guidelines. Essentially all levels of government have response guidelines and protocols. Some of the information can be found through an internet search but a lot of the information can only be obtained if you are a member of a fire dept, ambulance corps, police dept, national guard etc. Some protocols are created by councils or private organizations.
Although this document is about an Influenza pandemic, it is a great piece of intel.
 https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/PI_Best_Practices_Model.pdf
Here is another one about bathing water.
 http://www.ct.gov/dph/LIB/dph/environmental_health/recreation/pdf/beachguide.pdf
Here is an example of a protocol that was created by a non-governmental organization
http://www.northcentralctems.org/documents/MCI%20Protocol%20Letter0001.pdf

Here is the actual letter from Governor Daniel Malloy to Denise Merrill (who I personally know) when Malloy declared a state of emergency because of Hurricane Sandy
 http://www.governor.ct.gov/malloy/lib/malloy/2012.10.17_Sandy_Declaration_of_Emergency.pdf

Here are some more protocols from my state:
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/pub/chap517.htm
http://www.ct.gov/demhs/lib/demhs/ct_srf_aug_2011.pdf

States of Emergency and Martial Law declaration:
Right now, in Ferguson Missouri, a state of emergency is in effect. States of emergency could be declared because of many different situations from storms to protests.

Gun Confiscation:
Honestly, I don't believe that gun confiscation would happen on a national level. Registration does lead to confiscation. Confiscation could mean that the police require all gun owners to turn over their arms to the police for the duration of a state of emergency, or it could mean SWAT going door to door and conducting raids to take your guns by force. Instead of explaining how gun confiscation happens, I'll explain how to avoid it below.

What to do when martial law is declared.
Knowing the fact that martial law will more than likely only be declared on a local level, all you need to do is pack up your vehicle and get out of the area. If you live in New York City, you might just have to go only 5 miles out of the city to avoid possible gun confiscation. Do you know how many residents of New Orleans would have survived if they just drove to an area above sea level instead of staying home to ride out Katrina? Yes, I am saying that bugging out or evacuating can be the difference between life and death.

You NEED an Evac Plan.
If you and your household don't have a bug out plan (I call it an Evacuation plan), then you should start one right after reading this.
I will do a different post on establishing a household evac plan and go over the supplies that you should stock up on.

Thanks.