Comments

Episode-821- Listener Feedback for 1-16-12 — 39 Comments

  1. I recently dumped my VOIP/Landline from Comcast. I converted my landline phone to a prepaid cell phone with a 100 minutes a year from Verizon Wireless. Now I am able to keep a dedicated cell phone in my house for emergencies and also keep my old landline number that I have become attached to but mostly only receive junk calls on. It was $25 for the cheapest phone and $25 to port my phone number. I paid $100 for the 100 prepaid minutes for a total of $150 for the phone and full phone number port. Verizon charges me $0.99 each day I use the phone and $.10 a minute/text. Mobile to mobile is free after you have been dinged for the $0.99 charge for the day. When I receive a voice mail I call the phone from another phone to retrieve the voice mail so I do not get dinged for the $0.99/day charge. Now I save about $30+ a month by not having a land line. I have only incurred about $30 of my 100 minutes in 6 months and now have a phone for emergencies that I do not use much.

  2. One other thing. Google voice is free from gmail.google.com and can make free North America calls. I bought an obi100 from Amazon which is a small electronic device to connect your old landline phones to google voice over the internet. The obi100 costs around $43 onetime charge. Now when I pick up one of my old land line phones it connects to google voice and I can make free calls to North America. No 911 though. Google also gives you an incoming phone number for your area.

  3. As for the Hugulkultur debate, why not use both large and small pieces of wood. Use a larger diameter wood as the base, and build small pieces on top of it. The small chunks give you the short ROI, then the large pieces last longer.

    Just a thought, not saying it would necessarily work.

  4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIuaGojewMM&feature=youtu.be

    It this link does not work youtube search for Sepp Holzer (terraces and raised beds part 1)

    It is a 3 part series I got a lot out of it. I understand how he thinks and works. Much clear now. He really does not go into hugle beds in detail but he is talking about them and the material he puts into his rows and beds. I feel if you understand the “concept” then the details fall into place and you can answer your own questions. As Sepp Holzer says all the answers we need are in nature if we just stop look and listen.

  5. Hey Jack great show as always but I died catch one thing that was not right. You can not put a 7.62 upper on a 5.56 lower. The magazine well on the 5.56 lower is not big enough for the 7.62 round.

    • That is correct, the AR-10 platform is required for 7.62x51mm ( .308), however 7.62×39 can be shot in the AR-15 platform with just an upper changeout and possibly a different recoil spring and buffer system.

  6. Regarding the situation in Greece – it was common in England during WW2 to send kids living in the city off to the country to live with complete strangers to keep them out of danger due to bombing – my maternal grandfather was sent off, along with his brothers, until he wasd 17 and joined the Navy. It was hard on all involved, but the parents would rather turn their kids over to complete strangers than risk them dying in a bombing raid.

  7. When buying/selling “junk” silver coins, I use:
    http://silverrecyclers.com/Calculators/coin_calculator.aspx

    It has the current spot price and a nice calculator.

    I have in the past bought Washington quarters at spot price, but not right now. There is about a 10% premium on physical silver over the “paper” spot price right now. At this current low spot price, physical metal is in short supply.

  8. Just a quick aside….. you cannot put a 7.62 AR upper on to a .556 lower….. they are two separate frame sizes. The .308/7.62 AR’s are a much larger framed weapon, and the two do not interchange.

  9. Having had to watch parents make the decision to leave babies/children at an orphanage I am in complete agreement with your statements today Jack. Whether it was mom & dad living in a tent city with no clean water or food supply & a seriously dangerous security situation in Haiti or a single mother dieing of AIDS in South Africa, the pain in their faces as they left their child with strangers was the same. I cannot imagine the feelings & emotions they had as they walked away. People that are forced into that situation are making what they believe to be the best choice for the child. At least they know that their son/daughter will be fed, educated and given medical care which is usually a whole hell of a lot more than they are able to do for them at the time. As a parent I cannot even imagine the anguish I would feel at having to leave my kids with someone nor do I want to even think about how bad the situation would have to be to make that an option. I pray that I nor the rest of this country will ever get to that point.

  10. I personally think everyone should have a landline. First, for the reasons that you gave in the podcast. But secondly, at least here in CA, all cell phone calls to 9-1-1 go to a central Highway Patrol bank. This increases the likelihood of getting a busy signal. From there, if you get through, the call is then routed to your county sheriff. Then, the call may be routed again to local PD or FD (depending if your local PD/FD handles their own dispatching or not. If you use a land line, the call goes straight to the dispatching center that will be sending units to your location. Less chance of a busy signal, quicker dispatching.

    If you don’t want a land line, can’t blame you since I don’t use it anymore..but if I have to call 9-1-1, I don’t want to be using my cell phone if there’s a land line near me

    • I fought getting rid of my land line for similar reasons- and the fact that the power comes through the phone cord, so if power goes out, the phont company provides power for a while after, so you will have a working phone after voip & cell phones go out. [some cell towers also have limited time backup power] Now I don’t have any specs, soI am assuming that to still be true. But…. I bet that if they haven’t already, the phone company soon will be converting the copper lines from their central office over to either voip or fiber opetic system, then back to copper at your house. You’ll see no difference, but will no longer have copper all the way. And, even if still pure copper phone twisted pair wires are running all the way to the phone company, providing the dc power for your phone- remember you’ll need a phone that does not plug into the wall for power! i.e. no wireless phone or fancy function phone. As soon as your power goes out, even if your phone line is up, your phone will be off if it has an a/c cord. I use phones that don’t plug into A/C plug, mostly to reduce useless power usage, but also because my voip & router is on a UPS [backup power] so I hope that I may have a few minutes of phone if power goes out, if the local net has backup power.

  11. IDPA is great! My first time at an IDPA match I went mostly to just check it out, see if I was good enough to participate. Everyone there encouraged me to shoot the match that day. I placed 8 out of 22 in my class…not too bad for the first time. Don’t go into it concerned about your performance, use it as an opportunity to test your gear, practice live reloads and move/shoot at the same time. Once you feel confident, speed it up a bit and start to “game” it. You don’t need to be a classified shooter to participate although if you want to see how you rank then you can shoot the classifier when they’re held….but seriously, don’t think you’re not good enough, unless you’re an unsafe shooter then you’ll be fine.

    You’d be surprised who you might see there. My first match I ran into two coworkers I didn’t even know were shooters. The second IDPA match I participated in I ran into the guy who was shooting next to me at the Appleseed shoot I attended the year previous, we both got our patch that day.

    IDPA is some of the best fun you can have with your handgun. I spend much more time at IDPA then I do at the range now. If anyone wants to shoot one of the Austin IDPA matches just PM me, I’ll see you there.

  12. Why the .308 is superior to the 5.56 for civilians
    -we don’t have to carry our ammo miles at a time so we don’t gain a weight advantage
    -we have to stop an assailant with a torso shot, the military has to kill an enemy combatant without unnecessary pain and suffering(ie make headshots)
    -we don’t have full auto fire on our rifles, which the military exclusively uses within 25 meters or so(which is around the civilian maximum distance for lethal force), therefore since we don’t have the full auto option, our alternative is the higher power cartridge
    -if the military is engaged by someone on the other side of a cinder block wall, they put their 5.56 rifles down and and pickup an RPG, mortars, or call in artillery, we don’t have those options, therefore the magazine fed rifle chambered in .308 is the best defense we have (the 50 bmg isn’t practical)
    -in the city, you’re more likely to employ your rifle to kill off stray pitbulls than fight with it anyway and you don’t want to have to go search for an animal when you can just drop the animal where it stands.

    btw- 308 and 5.56 lowers have different magazine wells so you can’t buy one and have an upper for both.

    • Thanks for this, I submitted the original question and this is very helpful. If you were going to buy an AR and you had other handguns, rifles, and shotguns, it looks like from your answer you would go with the 308?

      • I went with the .308 because I’m 6’4″ and 200 lb’s and because of that I have a competitive advantage in the 3 Gun heavy metal limited shooting competition. If I shot more, or weighed less, or was elderly, or I had 2 jobs that left me in a physically weakened state at the end of my work day, I would have gone with the 5.56.

  13. Jack, Im sorry but i completely disagree with you point of view on Greece. I cant think of what will happen to my children in the hands of strangers and i cant bear the burden of the betrayal they will feel for dumping them to strangers. i would resort to alot of different things before abandoning them. if there is a place for them to have food/etc then i can find a way to provide it whether its immoral/illegal or whatever. And I really dont like your attitude towards people who disagree with you and i dont care if that pisses you off

  14. The IDPA is more fun than should be allowed with a handgun. And every club I have been to is very beginner friendly. I highly recommend for novice and advanced shooters alike.

    To the novice shooters, DON”T WORRY ABOUT SHOOTING FAST! Take it slow and accurate. There are two types of first time shooters; “the shoot fast and miss a lot” type and the “Slow and accurate” type. The latter always gains respect.

  15. One more vote for guerrilla back up power.

    On junk silver: $1 face value of silver dollars contains .765 troy ounces; $1 face value of all others contains .715 troy ounces. That is how I price mine when looking to buy or sell.

    Landlines are important not only for the reasons listed in the show and above, but also because when you do need to call 911 that is the exact time you wont be able to get a cell phone signal or your router will need to be reset.

  16. Forgot one comment: Jack, you mentioned “Contagion” on the show which my wife and I watched over the weekend. I love that movie because it moved my wife a little closer to accepting my prepper mentality. I now have a foothold.

  17. IDPA: I’m not really the competitive type, but I can now say I’ve gotten ‘into’ competitive shooting thanks to IDPA. I used to (ignorantly) subscribe to this stigma that competitive shooting is about how much $$$ you can spend on a single gun, and the arrogance of the shooters that can afford it. One couldn’t be further from the truth, on both counts.
    In IDPA, you can buy a bone-stock handgun from your sporting goods store and be competitive. Similarly, other shooting disciplines like USPSA/IPSC, Steel Challenge, etc. have a class/category structure that allows a place for anyone to compete, regardless of their wallets’ ability buy that $10,000 1911 race gun in .38 Super. Is competitive shooting cheap? Nope. Bullets cost money. Around here, an IDPA match fee is $10. Your first match is free. You’re told to bring 150 rounds to and IDPA match, but we usually average around 90-100 rounds per match. Expensive, huh? Again, around here, the matches are held at a couple of the big fancy gun club ranges. You don’t have to be a member, and it still only costs you the $10 match fee. BTW, you might find that being a member of a gun club isn’t quite what you thought it would be. I’m just sayin’.
    The people: You might be surprised to find that competitive shooters are a part of some of the biggest ‘open arms’ communities there are. New shooters are encouraged, welcomed, and accommodated with enthusiasm. Don’t worry about what you have/don’t have, just show up to a match. Tell the first person you see that you are new, and they will point you toward the Match Director or a Safety Officer. The MD/SO will find out what you have/don’t have, know/don’t know, get you what you need, give you a safety briefing, and introduce you to your first squad of shooters. Your life will be changed for the better. 😉
    Common question: “Is IDPA a substitute for training?” Nope. ** BUT ** it can coincide with training. The exposure you get to great shooters, many of which are instructors, law enforcement, military, and other shooters that are well-trained and experienced that you will be shooting side-by-side with, are typically more than willing to share their knowledge. If you don’t learn how to shoot better and with more confidence at an IDPA match, something dreadfully wrong and unusual is happening.

    .308 vs. 5.56 AR: $1200 for a bone-stock .308 (new or used), $700 for a bone-stock 5.56 (new) last time I checked.

    • @scoob – very well put. And I will second that there is zero intimidation factor for shooters new to the sport. My first IDPA match (15 years ago!) when down exactly as scoob describes above.

      Additionally, I think its time @Modern Survival sign up for his first match and bring his video crew. I am just say’in…

      Lastly, IDPA is a gateway drug. Next you will be looking at the three gun schedule, wondering about speed steel, then trying to decide what rifle to bring to Practical/Tactical rifle matches.

  18. Well, kinda…. you can indeed convert a regular framed AR to 7.62×39 by changing out the upper and bolt. You can run the same buffer and spring. It rarely turns out well though, the problem being the taper of the 7.62×39 being a poor fit for the AR platform. Its a nightmare trying to make a magazine with that extreme
    curve that fit into the “straight in” AR magwell.Reliability problems are rampant. There are also bolt thrust issues as well. If one wants a .30 cal traditionally sized AR, the newer 300 SAC Blackout or the somewhat hotter. 30 Rem are much better, and considerably more expensive, choices.

  19. Funny the big logs vs small logs in a raised bed question came up. I was skimming through Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture (see pg 34) and this topic caught my eye. I actually sent Jack the relevant page as an FYI, but Sepp has done it both ways, and explained pretty clearly what his experience was.

    In a nut shell:
    – The thick material lasts longer (duh)
    – The thinner material tends to acidify the soil (I’m sure this depends on the material used, but his stuff had that effect due to the wood resins). Can be a good thing, can be a bad thing.
    – The thinner material can overfertilize the soil.
    – Aeration is greatly improved, and compaction is reduced by using thicker materials.
    – Yields were better with thicker materials
    – He doesn’t shred wood materials for raised beds anymore, but he does use thick branches and entire shrubs.

    It wasn’t that thinner materials had any significant problems, it was that there were compelling advantages to the thicker materials. In other words, use what you have. Just don’t shred or split your wood if you happen to have thick stuff.

  20. This last Saturday Ed Wallace on Wheels talked about “downward class mobility” in reference to the same article you were quoting. The last two Saturdays he was absent from the air via the Internet due to them moving studios so I know you likely missed the show. Are you still following him? On another note given what he was saying about the damage that higher blended ethanol >10% was causing damage how does that & the other guy with ethanol mesh?

  21. I got a solid rubber tire for my wheelbarrow from Ace Hardware. It’s durable, needs no maintenance or Slime, and never goes flat… ever. It’s outlasted the cheap wooden handles, in fact.

    • I did the same thing- bought a “no-flat” tire for the wheel barrel. Costs a bit more, but well worth it, for not getting flats. I want to get them for my bicycle too.

  22. @Medicus: +1! I forgot to mention the solid wheel barrow tire. I think I paid about $30 at Home Depot, which was almost what I paid for the wheel barrow, but WELL worth it!

  23. Nearly 2 years ago, after losing my job, we turned our home phone off and we still have a dial tone!! We can only dial 911, but it still works for that and costs nothing!!

  24. Get out and try a IDPA match. I shot my first match about two years ago and found it to be more addictive then anything else I’ve ever done. The people you meet are friendly, helpful and walk you through the whole match. Most importantly, you’re meeting fellow shooters from all walks of life and have the ability to really improve your skills.

    While people say IDPA and other matches are not training, they do teach good gun handling skills, allow you to shoot from unconventional positions, shoot on the move and get some adrenaline flowing.

    • more scaryu accurate Ron Paul from 2003: http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul128.html

      this is 2003!
      “…Congress should act to remove taxpayer support from the housing GSEs before the bubble bursts and taxpayers are once again forced to bail out investors who were misled by foolish government interference in the market….”
      “…Perhaps the Federal Reserve can stave off the day of reckoning by purchasing GSE debt and pumping liquidity into the housing market, …”
      “…When housing prices fall, homeowners will experience difficulty as their equity is wiped out. Furthermore, the holders of the mortgage debt will also have a loss. These losses will be greater than they would have otherwise been had government policy not actively encouraged over-investment in housing….”

  25. I agree that Ron Paul would have a better chance against Obama in 2012 than Mitt or Newt. I voted Obama 2008 – and I would vote Paul in 2012 against Obama no question. And I know many ‘far lefties’ like me who now see his form of libertarianism as closer to what I originally thought was liberalism [when it was about live & let live, & being open-minded, against racism, etc… not a safety net/statism is main focus of government which it is now] . I bet peopel would be very surprised just how well Paul would do here in Brooklyn! keep up great work, Jack! You were the reason I fianally made the jump to Paul. before, the big {R} next to his name ruled him out in my mind. Paul is only the 2nd politician I’ve donated to.. [i’ll leave off #1 so I don’t get flamed!]

  26. About the ‘downward migration’ – i totally agree – people my age doing similar to their parents as far as status of job, education, competence, etc, have less than our parent’s had at this age & job level. Part of the issue is hidden inflation, incomes not keeping up, jobs leaving U.S. & we were not prepared to work in new industries, people being sold on the consumer economy so they cook less, buy processed & packaged, do less themselves, and have huge ‘burn rates’ [cable, cell phone, home phone, mortgages etc].