Feedback http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback Readers' letters about the magazine and website. Mon, 14 May 2012 14:54:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Your “squatter” article http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/05/14/your-squatter-article/ http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/05/14/your-squatter-article/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 14:54:23 +0000 admin http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/?p=972 Hello Claire,
About your “squatter” article, I wanted to thank you so much for writing it. You are very compassionate and that is refreshing to see. Also, you did not hold back on the legalities of “squatting”. That is good for all to know more about. I watched a movie last night that had me in tears. It’s called “Missing in America”. It’s been around awhile but Danny Glover was in it and some other pretty, well known actors. It was about an area(looked like around Ranier in the movie) where a few veterans were living in the woods.I couldn’t stop thinking about it this a.m. so I just googled “living in the woods” or something like that, and found your article. Anyway, all I wanted to do was let you know I read it and appreciated it so much. I am almost 60, returned to college for a 2 year degree in Medical Administrative Assistant so I can hopefully get a decent job for as long as I can keep working. I am unmarried(divorced 16 years now)no children and I stayed in a homeless shelter recently just so I could get my bearings and figure out what to do next. I don’t drink, do drugs or smoke, but yep, I was among the homeless. If I were not a woman I might try living in the woods but also, I have always tried to be law-abiding and do respect others rights and properties.

I hope all the info you provided gets around to as many as possible. Caretaking could be a good thing for both parties. It’s hard to think about the millions of homeless though and especially those that can’t bear to trust or be near people anymore. I can relate a little but I know they have been through much more than I ever will experience.

Thank you again,
Denise R., OR

]]> http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/05/14/your-squatter-article/feed/ 0 High desert article http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/04/22/high-desert-article-2/ http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/04/22/high-desert-article-2/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:38:44 +0000 admin http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/?p=969 Claire,

I enjoyed reading your article. Having lived in W.AZ and then NM, I could relate so much of it. I am surrounded by trees in E. VA now but would rather be back in the high desert anytime.

One thing I noticed not mentioned in your article was the tendency of those traveling through, not to, the high desert, have a tendency to have thief dogs get “lost” or just plain let them loose to fend for themselves. Which leaves us with packs of wild dogs not afraid of humans, unlike healthy coyotes. That was one of the main reasons we used to go armed. Hell, the local authorities sometimes even [provided] the ammo we used on wild packs. It was that bad when the main roads weren’t that many miles away. I can only imagine how bad it is now, with the current economy, foreclosures, and job losses.

Dave

]]> http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/04/22/high-desert-article-2/feed/ 0 Jackie Clay-Atkinson http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/29/jackie-clay-atkinson/ http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/29/jackie-clay-atkinson/#comments Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:12:57 +0000 admin http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/?p=964 I have just discovered Backwoods Home and am thoroughly sold on this magazine. The articles by Jackie Clay-Atkinson are wonderful. I can’t say enough good things about them. They are clear, concise, down-to-earth, sensible solutions and information for those of us with some experience and newbies alike! I have gained more usable information from them than many books contain.

I will be subscribing to your magazine and plan on giving 2 gift subscriptions…one to our public library and one to my daughter.

Thanks so much!

MJF

]]> http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/29/jackie-clay-atkinson/feed/ 0 Question for Massad Ayoob http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/19/question-for-massad-ayoob/ http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/19/question-for-massad-ayoob/#comments Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:51:39 +0000 admin http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/?p=962 A rule we are taught our entire life is to never point a gun at anything we do not intend to shoot. With that said, when carrying a handgun in a pocket-style holster, the gun is at times pointed in a direction of people, like if sitting in back seat of car, or across from someone at dinner, or on a livingroom couch across from someone else, etc (a similar situation that I think about is a shoulder holster that happens to point the gun backwards)

I feel uneasy when this occurs because essentially, the gun is aimed in a direction I don’t want it to shoot. But yet, the gun is not in hand, finger is not near trigger, and is essentially secure in my pocket holster.

What is your response to this?

Thank you for your time!

Kevin McCubbin

Hi Kevin,

The direction of the gun’s muzzle, as seen in safety rules, is read as intentional pointing.  If a police officer is standing on the second floor of the police station, the muzzle of his holstered service pistol is indexed in the direction of those below him on the first floor.  The guns lying flat on tables at a gun show have their muzzles in a direction that countless visitors will walk past or through.  If your hunting rifles and shotguns, and mine, are standing upright in gun safe or gun, they’re in line with passenger planes crossing over our house.

So long as other safety protocols assure that the gun will not discharge wrongfully or unintentionally, and so long as the gun is not intentionally pointed at another person except in legitimate defense of self or others, I call it good.

Best,

Mas Ayoob

]]> http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/19/question-for-massad-ayoob/feed/ 0 Ron Paul and the VA ‘Loyalty Oath’ http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/06/ron-paul-and-the-va-loyalty-oath/ http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/06/ron-paul-and-the-va-loyalty-oath/#comments Tue, 06 Mar 2012 14:36:37 +0000 admin http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/?p=967 Claire,
Went to vote before work this morning. Back when the candidates on the ballot were announced, there was a big brouhaha in the Republican Party about being forced to sign a statement supporting whoever is the eventual candidate. I didn’t have to sign anything today, I was just verified as a registered voter and off I went. So please let your Virginia readers know: don’t be intimidated, just go out and vote your conscience.

And yes, I voted for Ron Paul. I will never vote for Mitt Romney.

Sincerely,
Matt Maynard
]]> http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/06/ron-paul-and-the-va-loyalty-oath/feed/ 0 I wrote about your magazine on my blog! http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/03/i-wrote-about-your-magazine-on-my-blog/ http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/03/i-wrote-about-your-magazine-on-my-blog/#comments Sat, 03 Mar 2012 18:38:32 +0000 admin http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/?p=958 Hello!

I love your recipe for laundry detergent and have been using it for several months now. I blogged about it and mentioned your website and magazine in the blog. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe for free for us! It has saved me so much money and it is earth friendly. Love it!

Thank you,

Sara McFall

]]> http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/03/i-wrote-about-your-magazine-on-my-blog/feed/ 0 Editorial on “Real Problems” http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/02/editorial-on-real-problems/ http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/02/editorial-on-real-problems/#comments Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:37:03 +0000 admin http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/?p=956 No sane person could disagree with your editorial (guess that leaves out congress critters and bureaucrats), but does anyone in their right mind believe Congress or anyone else in a “position of authority” would allow these problems to be mitigated or eliminated?  One small example; a huge proportion of the country did not want a debt limit hike this last year. Poll after poll, etc. showed this.  Guess what happened?  And, if there was ever a more pathetic example of a leader than John Boehner, I’d be hard pressed to even imagine him.  Our last, best hope was the Republican majority in the House of Representatives and they have completely and utterly failed us at every turn.  Don’t even mention my home state senator, McCain, and his authorship of detention under NDAA.

Yes, the problems are easy to enumerate, but I don’t see them getting anything but worse.  Anyone that thinks a “major event” will be anything but cause to bring out more force is strictly an overactive “rose colored glasses” optimist.  Worst part is, I think most of our country could care less.

Enough ranting from an old guy.  I remember, with sadness, the title of G. Gordon Liddy’s book, “When I Was a Kid, This Was a Free Country”.

And, I really enjoy Backwoods Home.

Best,

Vic Safranek

]]> http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/02/editorial-on-real-problems/feed/ 0 Tackling the real problems that face us http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/01/tackling-the-real-problems-that-face-us/ http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/01/tackling-the-real-problems-that-face-us/#comments Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:32:03 +0000 admin http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/?p=953 Dear Mr Duffy,

I enjoy your articles and agreed with all your points regarding real problems we face. I would have been happier to see you mention the demographic time bomb  America faces from massive and totally unnecessary immigration. The only people in favor of massive immigration, benefit from it and pass on all the economic,social and environmental costs to the communities.

I think we will soon become a divided ethnic and tribal nation, unable to govern or agree on anything and become a weak nation ripe for the picking. Diversity does not make a nation stronger, Unity does.

Regards,

Robb Moffett

]]> http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/03/01/tackling-the-real-problems-that-face-us/feed/ 0 Stashing Junk Silver for bad times http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/02/16/stashing-junk-silver-for-bad-times/ http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/02/16/stashing-junk-silver-for-bad-times/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:51:45 +0000 admin http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/?p=949 Mr. Silvira;

In your article you stated a good amount of junk silver to have would be around $300 to $400 dollars worth. My question is, is that amount in face value of junk silver or would that be the amount you would spend to have some junk silver?

Thanks

Grant Underwood

Grant,

That’s my mistake.  I should have stated it clearly that that’s $300-$400 in face value in junk silver.  Nowadays, you’ll spend a several thousand to get it.

John

]]> http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/02/16/stashing-junk-silver-for-bad-times/feed/ 0 Massad Ayoob blog post http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/02/13/massad-ayoob-blog-post/ http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/2012/02/13/massad-ayoob-blog-post/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:42:03 +0000 admin http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/Feedback/?p=945 I don’t have the best eye for these things, but [in his Feb 13 blog post] are those 9mm rounds laying next to a 38 special revolver on the cover of that report? That’d be funny.

Regardless, thanks for all you do. I am an avid reader of your work. It’s changed how I live my life and think about how I go about my day as a responsible member of society. You’re a great American and I’m a huge Mas Ayoob booster whenever I speak to anyone on the topic of firearms, personal defense, and the legal considerations associated with both subjects.

Many warm regards,

Jeff Roberts

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