One point not made was that the government has mortgaged away our country to other countries like China. When the whole ball of wax starts to melt, those mortgages are going to be called in and we, who were born and raised here in the USA, will find ourselves tenants on land that is no longer American owned. Actually, we are tenants already; most people just don’t know that… yet.

Also, remember the Federal Reserve isn’t federal at all. A wise banker once said, “Allow me to control the money and I don’t care who runs the country.”

Obviously, there is no simple fix. No, we cannot predict the future, but by looking to the history of once great nations, we can see the natural results of hyperinflation. Thank you for sharing in such a wise and concise manner.

Lizzie Hough

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I just read the article about free pallets for making bird houses. What a GREAT idea! Lots of good information.

I just started making bird houses and I can tell you, it’s addicting! I love it. I’m looking for a source to buy mini weather
vanes for the top of my bird houses. Any ideas? I can’t seem to find any information about tops for my houses.

Thanks,

Mary Pericolosi

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1. Safety, wear rubber gloves and boots. Concrete is a thousand times acidic than water, it can cause severe chemical burns to unprotected skin. If you do get a burn, flush with vinegar, it neutralizes the acid. I’ve found applying olive oil helps the healing.

2. Bull floating should be done perpendicular to your screed rod. This flattens the ridges that your rod may leave. Bull floating helps flatten and seals the top of the concrete, this should be done right behind the rod to keep concrete from drying out too quickly.

3. If you haven’t run a power trowel, hire a finisher. A power trowel used incorrectly will screw your floor up in seconds. The average home owner doesn’t have the skills to fix it. The power trowel pictured doesn’t have the correct blades for wet concrete, those are finish blades for use when the floor is about done. For most work you want Combo-blades, that is what will come on most rental machines.

4. Curing and saw cutting. The fact is concrete cracks, it needs to have relief cuts put in it so you don’t end up with a cracked up mess. Sidewalks should be done cut every 6 to 10 feet depending on how wide it is, a 2 foot wide walk will need less joints than a 4 foot walk. Slabs should be done every 10 feet maximum 12, this both directions length and width. Joints can be either tooled in when you are placing the concrete or saw cut the same day it is poured with a SoftCut saw or after the concrete is cured with a wet saw. Your concrete needs to be cured, by either chemical or water. Depending on the weather and your pocket book either works, if in doubt ask your ready mix salesman.

Bruce Wright,finisher
Zortman,MT

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First, best wishes to you and yours, hope they are all healthy again soon.

Regarding the “My View” in the issue 122, will you be posting this on the web site? We need to send this as far and wide as we can.

Hope it’s not too late. Here’s to Obama-man of color, the color being in red!!! If you want to use that in any way, feel free!!!

Thanks for a great mag. Dropped my sub to Countryside quite a while ago. Kinda seem to have lost their way.

Tim Vander Waal

Tim:

Dave

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Although largely unresearched, I generally agree with the thought process in Mr John Silviera’s The Path To Another Depression.  My feeling is that in the constant clash between politicians and the economy, most generally the economy suffers in order to benefit the politician’s quest for monetary/political gain.

However, in the third to the last paragraph, one of Mr. Silviera’s conclusions is; “Hence, GM’s Saturn, Chrysler’s PT Cruiser, and other small car disasters that have befallen Detroit.”  I have read and heard several times over the past few years that the PT Cruiser was the most successful new car rollout since Ford’s Mustang in the early sixties.  Obviously, my current understanding of the success of this rollout seems to be in direct contrast to Mr. Silviera’s conclusion.

If Mr. Silviera’s statement is correct, why was the PT Crusier a disaster?

If I am correct – the PT Crusier was the most successful new car rollout since Ford’s Mustang – what other statements in the article are incorrect?  or is the article just the personal unresearched feelings on the issue by the author?

Thank you,

Stan Thibault

The PT Cruiser may have started out with a bang, but by 2007 Chrysler was losing money on it and was trying to get rid of it.  (Here’s one site talks specifically about the PT Cruiser: .  You can find others on your own.)

JES

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Just a note to tell you how much I like your writings. They are GREAT!

I’ve been baking bread for a while now so you really struck a chord with your article about this, but I really like your perspective and look foward to all of your aticles and now that I found your blog I’ll checking it out regularly.

Hope all is well in the high desert today . We normally have mild winters here in central Texas but it is overcast and wintery today.

Best wishes,

Charles Allen

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I am curious why exactly you decided to settle on your present location?  While you drop some hints (suggestions of low tax and “reasonable” land prices), the fact that you provide no detail in this regard is a little perplexing.  Considering that you must have certainly kept your cost of living suppressed at your cabin in the PNW, makes many of us wonder at the meaning of the property tax issue.  I know that at one time your truck died and it seemed a major financial hurdle to replace it, from which time you were on foot?

Perhaps to pose a counterpoint, I currently live in Michigan, Napoleon Township to be specific.  It is not a wealthy community with a median income level of $43k/household.  I live on a dirt road, do have electricity and NG and due to our proximity to a sizable lake system a township sewer service was installed in the late 90’s which was quite expensive.

To get to the point, I pay nearly $400/month property tax for our 1/4 acre and 1300sqft floorplan home.  The summer and winter millage adds up to 46.01/1000 in property value or 4.6% of the assessed value per year.

It is specifically this high and unavoidable tax which could be increased at any time (virtually unavoidable now with the population in exodus, over 20% unemployment and a 50% drop in home prices, which are not reflected in our valuations).  For me, I see no possibility of retirement in this environment.

My search for my “Shangri La” has taken me to south eastern Colorado, specifically Custer County.  If you take a look at this website County assessor you can see that taxes on 36 acre lots and homes vary from $6 – $800 annually depending on whether they are zoned agricultural.  Centennial Ranch is an example of a subdivision which has a cattle grazing lease, which provides allows for agricultural zoning.

The location gets 16″ of rain per year, so is not nearly as dry as the spot you are in, and wells are generally successful.  The fact that the valley base elevation is approximately 7000ft does of course contribute to low humidity year round and one can forget about growing things without a greenhouse.  No need for air conditioning.  The area is not terribly remote, although obviously the farther one is off the beaten track, the more attractive the property prices.  I have been to a few places with my dodge ram 1500 (2wd) that were rough enough (in summer) that I was passed by others on horseback…..   One does have a large number of days per year with good solar insolation (clear blue skies) so passive solar, photovoltiac and water heating are all feasible most of the year.   In summer, the daily temperatures may rise into the 80’s but with the low humidity it feels very pleasant.

I am personally somewhat stuck with my home in Michigan, since if I sold now I would be walking away with a balance of about $80k that I would have to pay off (difference between mortgage and market price), so I figure I have a few more years to go before I will be able to get out of here.

Custer county has many of the challenges you mention, including lack of work opportunities in the vicinity.  I am fortunate in that my wife is an RN, so her job is very portable and relatively in demand and I expect to be gainfully employed building the home 6 months of the year and working as a migratory worker all winter during that phase.  Once the home is built I hope to be working on a consultancy basis for remote clients and I have a fair amount of time to work that plan out prior to the move.  Wireless and sattelite communications are certainly making cyber commuting easier all over rural america, the biggest hurdle is between the ears of your potential manager, where ever the work is at.

In closing I must say that I enjoy reading your essays, although it would be nice if you wrote a book and disclosed all the facts that are left out of your short stories.  I would buy it,that is for sure.

Best regards,

Keith Olivier
Jackson, MI

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Being the oldest of four children, my father elected to teach me to hunt and use guns in a responsible manner. I am a petite woman that has lived in Alaska for six years, brought down moose, caribou, elk, deer and even bear that was maruading my homestead.

I carry a .270 Manlicher with custom stock using 110 to 150 gr. ammon (depending on intended targets) and a .38 police special. I can put three rounds the size of a 50 cent piece at 100 yards off hand with the .270.

Would I hesitate to use a gun to protect myself or someone else if necessary? No qualms here! And freshly killed game on the table beats beef, pork or chicken any day.

Thanks,

Linda Alexander
Gold Beach, Oregon

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I opened your webpage, which is indeed a masterpiece of useful information, and found a political article. I happen to be a strong supporter of President Obama and am really hoping that he will be given a chance to make some difference. I get tired of his every move, idea, thought, action, being criticized. He can’t pick his nose right.

When he came into office no one gave him a manual on how to clean up the mess he inherited. How can he be wrong on everything. The previous administration sure didn’t do everything 100% right. So I get offended when I see a magazine that promotes simple, close to the earth living going off into political commentary.

I’d like to think that I will be reading the articles on living simple. There are magazines that are specifically focused on political analysis. If I want political commentary I can subscribe to one or more of them.

I called up your website to subscribe to the Backwoods Home magazine, but first I want to know if the article I read is going to be the kind of fare I will be getting or is this just a one time editorial?

A potential subscriber

Harold Wheeler

Harold,

The articles you see on the website, which comprises hundreds of articles, some with a Libertarian viewpoint, is an accurate representation of what is contained in each issue of the magazine.

Dave

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Raw milk contains living enzymes and probiotics that are killed when pasteurized. Also, much of the vitamin content is lost when pasteurized. Pasteurization is not needed when milk is handled correctly and it ruins one of the very best parts of having a cow – slurping down that milkshake on the front porch, knowing that it is the healthiest thing you consumed all day!

Pasteurization was originally introduced because disease was being spread through raw milk because of the filthy dairy conditions. It was cheaper/easier to fry the milk, than to clean up their act.

I hope you will at least include this argument in your article so that folks can decide for themselves with all the facts on the table.

The dairy industry conned the public into thinking that milk needed pasteurization because it was inherently unclean so that no one would ask the obvious question, “why don’t you people just clean up your act instead of destroying one of God’s most incredibly healthy foods?”

Thanks,

Sandy

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