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Episode-1277- Listener Calls for 1-10-14 — 51 Comments

  1. I haven’t listened to the podcast yet, but I saw the leaking pond problem.

    One of my employees is considering resealing his pond and brought me a website on recycled billboards. http://www.billboardtarps.com Apparently the vinyl can be used as pond liners at 10% of the price. He also gave me a link on a bonding cement too. http://rhadhesives.com/hh-66-vinyl-cement.html

    I haven’t had any time to research it myself, but it looks like it would be a really cheap alternative.

    • The 15-17 mil billboard tarps run about .17 a square foot while a 45 mil pond liner runs about .57 a square foot (http://www.webbsonline.com/Category/Pond-Liner-Underlay) This works out to be about the same value per thickness of material. The Pond Liner is EPDM rubber and has a 20 year warranty. I have no idea how long the billboard tarp would last. We once dug out a ditch down the side of a hill along the snake river and rolled out some carpet and then put the billboard material over that and made a water slide. The Tarp seemed to hold up well and did not rip.

      • An excellent comparison, Steve. I will pass it on to my employee since he is close to making a decision. Those billboard tarps would need to be rugged to put up with wind and the elements.

  2. Regarding the Media thing. THANK YOU. Exactly. Its actually very very scary shit and should put people in a more humility position. When you internalize it you start to realize how little of “facts” about far away events (that may or may not even have happened) you really start to realize how little grounding you have. It can definitely lead to “going down the rabbit hole” which can be counter productive.

    This is why I truly believe that one has to focus on the things within their control, their experiences, and their interactions with people (to their face).

  3. Regarding oil, thanks I had no idea that olive oil had been corrupted.

    I cook with grape seed oil all the time; one thing to watch out for though is to READ THE LABEL on it… the conventional grocery stores (all that I have seen anyway) don’t sell real grape seed oil… the ingredients will first say canola oil, followed somewhere later by grape seed oil. Places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s (I prefer the latter) have real grape seed oil.

    • The only olive oil we buy is california olive oil.

      We buy peanut oil in bulk when we see it for the right price. Its the only way to get cooking oil for cheap. I’ve looked at bulk coconut/palm oil (supposed to be the best/most transparent/healthiest) but man its super expensive.

      • Agreed Mike I am very fond of peanut oil as well. You can cook at high temps and it won’t become toxic and so far no GMO peanuts. Olive oil is wonderful stuff but not good at all for cooking at high temps.

        • Coconut oil is what we use. It really is not that bad on the cost. how much oil are you really using? we saute everything and never felt it was cost prohibitive. But we dont bake because we eat paleo-ish. I love the better coconut oil in scrambled eggs.

        • @shane

          We deep fry wings. We get a few uses out of it per go. Maybe reuse it 3 times? I think in general that takes 2 quarts of oil. We also use it for fried fish as well. Unfortunately my uncle just isn’t on board and uses canola or vegtable oil for his fish frys…. Peanut oil also has a stellar taste to it. Because of the high smoke point you’re really stepping out of the range of turning the oil into something quite unhealthy (unlike olive oil). Olive oil is probably best used for eating raw rather than cooking with it anyway.

          By bulk I mean the 4-6 gallon containers. You always have to be on the look out for a good price on it. Sometimes walmart, sometimes elsewhere. I definitely wouldn’t think that coconut oil is cost prohibitive for sauting, but filling up our iron skillet (only thing we use) with about an inch of oil to fry fresh catfish or Sac Au Lait (white crappie) now we’re talking some money.

      • Re cooking wings – we brine and grill ours. Soak them in a brine for about an hour, then drain, rinse and dry them with paper towels, then put on a rack and let them dry in the fridge for another hour (this will make them crispier). Grill over charcoal then toss with Frank’s Buffalo Sauce or whatever sauce you like – yum!!! No oil mess to deal with, either.

    • @ The New Mike, Yeah, Peanut oil. My local Aldis had a special purchase for about $10/gallon. I got 5. Avoiding GMO’s in cooking oil isn’t easy, and I just can’t afford coconut oil although I know I’d love it.

    • Question what I found on the shelf at my local store is Pompeian brand it reports being 100% Grapeseed Oil but it reports being imported from France. Do was know if France has the same problems as Italy?

      Thanks
      Robert

  4. Halliburton…only thing to add is Dick Chaney was the CEO before he was Vice Pres, and did a lot of crappy work in Iraq. I don’t know of any “containment” connections, maybe two separate topics.

  5. Topic Time Markers

    [5:16] Year 1277*
    [9:35] Thoughts on what a company is obligated to do for a customer
    [16:43] Thoughts on getting started gardening
    [24:31] What is the difference between anti war and anti solider for a libertarian
    [41:16] Choosing cooking oils from Chef Keith Snow
    [47:49] Thoughts on hummus as a long term storeable, how to make it happen
    [1:00:37] The local news illusion (with Conan O’Brian clip)*
    [1:06:02] A tip on the versatility of vacuum sealers
    [1:06:02] What empty shelves during winter storms teaches us about food storage
    [1:12:12] Converting over English Ivy into an edible landscape
    [1:18:44] Dealing with a leaky pond
    [1:24:41] What is the deal with “FEMA Camps” and Halliburton
    [1:33:04] Can you build hugul beds with Christmas trees, yep, and most other trees too
    [1:36:55] Thoughts on the ash borer and ash based hugul beds
    [1:36:55] Do you need borders for a raised bed, no but you might want them
    [1:45:06] The real purpose of modern survivalism

    * – Added by me.

  6. Hummus recipe with stuff easy to keep around. This is my go t hummus recipe for potlucks, parties or just light summer food.

    Put 1/4 cup sesame seeds in a cast iron pan on medium heat to toast, I use whole brown sesame seeds, but you could use white I guess. Stir every now and then, take off when lightly toasted or when starts to pop and dump into blender

    Meanwhile, put in blender:
    1 15 oz can cooked garbanzo beans, drained or 2 cups cooked garbanzos – reserve cooking liquid
    2T olive oil
    2T apple cider vinegar
    1 large clove garlic
    1/2 t salt
    1/4 t pepper
    1/4 t cumin, if you have any, could leave out
    start with 1/4 cup of the bean cooking liquid
    Blend, and more liquid as needed to get it to blend

    • Debbie, Great basic recipe. If I have spare extra asparagus, I cook it a bit, drained it into a pan and blend it in the humus using the asparagus drainings for the blending rather than garbanzo juice. It’s delightful, if not quite as stiff as I like.

  7. In my experience The PE stamp is proof that it works. Many times more than one. Also If you have staff that is trained in REVit render the project in 3d models so the AHJ can see long term. Also make the AHJ prove there is and ordinance that prevents you from doing so. And in my experience a nice friendly media package showing precidence helps MORE than you could realize. A good media package with statements from attorney,newspaper clips online articles etc. and throw in any applicable state laws. Also make sure you know want version of the “book” your AHJ is using. NEC,IFC,BOCA etc study those and match the enforced book to local ordinance. The truth is if its not in the “book” it is not enforceable. If your inspector doesn’t agree have a logical well planned and “book” supported rebuttal. It also helps to design your project based on the newest “book” vs what book the AHJ is using. To inspectors that means your up to date or ahead of the rules.

    A solder these days is a career. You choose your career as a solder. The boot heal of Missouri exist because a boot maker wanted to sell boots to both the north and south during the civil war and congress took his money. Its nothing new. Lots of kids these day join the military because there are no other jobs.

    I can see being bitter if you were drafted, but as modern solder that is the career you choose.

    History Repeats!! Did we already forget about the concentration camps we stuffed Japanesse Americans into. WHY IS THERE A MANUEL ON ENTURNING AMERICAN CITIZENS. Just Like we did to the Japanesse Americans.

    We already have a fear tactic in place its called “TERRORIST” the fact that we now have laws that allow you to be arressted for “making terroristic threats” if you yell at your neighbor.

  8. Jack, Your “real purpose of modern survivalism” rap was one of the wisest I’ve ever heard. It made me realize that I don’t object to much of anything that you say, except that it is wrapped in a survivalist, militaristic, gun blanket, which is troubling to myself and others. If you called it, “modern prudence,” Ben Franklin, Ghandi and I would likely be less troubled. (grin)

    • Ron, be careful when society has taught you that a word is wrong or dangerous. The people that want to control you begin first by controlling language and what words mean in the psyche of the populous.

      Nothing about TSP is militant first of all, you are adding that due to an incorrect assumption of a word. Guns, yep you bet your ass and Ron, go learn to use one, you might need it some day.

      Lets break the word down

      survive – to continue to live

      ist – a suffix denoting an adherent of a system of beliefs, principles, etc.

      So a survivalist is a person who follows principles that make it more likely that they will continue to live. Do not let others tell you what a word means, examine the meaning of the word based on facts.

      When I started TSP I thought about this and decided I would not let media and ignorance to reality make me change a perfectly good word to describe what we are trying to teach people and frankly what America has lost.

      It is also why to the dismay of some I “cuss”. There are times when shit is the right word, poo, manuer, turd, crap don’t fit as well. So I say shit. If people don’t like it, I say tough shit. Why? Because I can? No, because the word is no more “profane” then crap or excrement. Part of mind control is to make a word profane, to me no word in and of itself is profane. Concepts are profane.

      I can and modern media does convey very profane concepts, with no “cuss” words, it happens on broadcast TV every day. It is getting worse and worse and more and more foul as it grows. Buy hey they don’t say shit so it is all okay right. We just accept this shit? Really this is who we are?

      Not me bud, not on my watch.

    • Jack, I agree fully with everything you say to me in your reply, but the shoe lets us walk backwards as well as forward. Yes, words have been bastardized as propaganda tools, particular now in the fossil fuel, capitalist era of the last several centuries. You can’t deny that the word, “survivalist,” has come to mean, “crazy nut-job,” to whole gobs of folks in America, and that’s just reinforced nearly every time there is a mass shooting or bombing. More than a few of the real pathological nut jobs who commit such acts are known to have lived or studied survivalism and the media is not shy about pointing that out. Thus you fight an uphill battle becoming overly identified with “survival.”

      Any righteous fight is usually uphill, so don’t misunderstand me. I’m concerned more that your wisdom, experience and intellect is limited to too small a subset of America. Not that you are, but America doesn’t need another Limbaugh or Beck, no matter that it might energize those who live by categorical denunciation of whole segments of America who are truly concerned about the course of American society, like panzie progressives or libtards. We all do it to one degree or another, and it sucks. We need someone(s) who can bridge the divide between folks from all segments of America who honestly are concerned with the other, the neighbor, in compassion and empathy, and not just themselves. Jack Spirko is straddling that divide because of his understanding of permaculture ethics, and I hope he can strive to make that clearer. True personal responsibility is a multi-cultural street.

      Guns are still necessary tools in some instances, but turning them into a glorification culture is disgusting and deadly, IMO. I grew up on a small, poor, rotation farm in SouthWestern Michigan, so I know guns and hunting intimately, and I’m not a bad archer as well. When I was a tyke my father and uncle farmed about 200 acres together with one small tractor and 2 teams of draft horses in the early ’50s. There were plenty of hunting fields and forests. I loved tramping the fields and forests for game, the killing not so much. I guess I took after my father who would go hunting for deer in the Upper Peninsula each year with the guys, and never came home with a deer, while my uncle almost always did. I suspect that my father had seen more than enough killing Island hopping towards Japan with the army.

      I have a gun, an ancient, signle shot, long barreled, 16 guage, given to me by my uncle when I was about 10. I have a couple of birdshot shells and half a dozen that my brother-in-law reloaded with rock salt for me. It’s all that I will ever hopefully not need in the city. I’d go better if I were rural, but assault rifles and automatic pistols for civilians in great proliferation are simply juvenile fantasy crutches, far more likely to to harm you and yours and others than to protect anything, again, in my never too humble opinion.

      All that said, I realize that Jack Spirko wouldn’t likely be where he is today if he tried to run, “theprudencepodcast.com”, as a business, so what are ya gonna do? Ha!

    • Sure is, almost ready to let others in. A core team has built a pretty good foundation, they are nit picking a few things before we go public and making sure we have a good no spam solution in place.

    • That is great news, Jack. I enjoy the message forum, and certainly the podcast, but I think the wiki site is going to be the TSP bible. Thanks man.

  9. Another plausible use for the “FEMA camps” is as an easier way to tend to the significant portion of the population that has the entitlement mentality in the even of a serious economic downturn.

    A large camp would allow services to be provided in bulk much more efficiently. Food would be trucked in and made in bulk to be served cafeteria style, medical would have a set location, entertainment would be easy (cable tv, free wifi & video games for example), security would be a given etc. The only thing you loose is freedom but with the right spin it could work for people who don’t really care.

    Steelheart

    • Yep it is quite possible the few structures that don’t seem to have any other purpose may actually be more to keep people out than to keep them in.

      I handed out food in the third world a few times, just to be a nice guy. After several times of having to dump it all and drive away for fear of being enveloped by a crowd, I stopped doing it. If you do set up any sort of relief center access in and out would have to be very secure. People generally don’t want to accept that but it is true, I have experienced it when handing out a bag of MRE left overs to kids. Imagine thousands of starving teacups!

    • This reminds me of something I ran across some 40 years ago while driving the mountain roads on a 90cc dirt bike in the Little Rocky Mountains just to the east of the large Indian reservation smack in the middle of Northern Montana while visiting a native American friend there. In one of the most sparce, uninhabited stretches I came upon, “The Little Rocky Mountain Bible Institute.” So why was the “Bible Institute” surrounded by an 8 foot high chain link fence with 3 strands of barbed wire angled out at the top? Not too hard to guess. Yep, keep ’em out, not keep ’em in, most likely.

  10. We need a few more “Soup Nazi” business…
    If we beat a small business down to the point where the profit margins are too thin, the owners may be behind a counter asking if you would like fries with your order…

    • Growing up in Eastern Ontario, ‘European Mountain Ash” was the in vogue tree, planted everywhere on the front lawns, and the mess with the orange berries; but the birds ate them. Currently I have green ash, and yes, they do grow quick. Followed by the ash was the ‘Silver Maple’, which is another relatively short lived tree, 30 years or so, and it makes a crappy wood for fire wood as a site note…

  11. I cook with bacon fat as much as possible, dare I say even stir frys….

    Grapeseed oil for dressings
    Safflower as well

  12. “Ok, I admit it. I’ve cooked and eaten a slice or two or ten of bacon for myself late at night”

  13. On the topic of empty shelves, here in Prince Edward Island, we have a 14 km bridge over the Northumberland Strait that connects to the mainland. When the winds increase to 80kmh, they shut the bridge down. Everything on this island arrives over that bridge, via truck. There have been situations where the bridge has been shut for three days due to high winds. And the trucks are lined up on the New Brunswick side for kilometers. Then when the bridge opens, there are trucks lined up outside the grocery stores, unloading. I went to the dollar store for friggin boot laces, and they were out!. It takes about a week for shelves to restock. Ferries use to bring products to the island, but they were shut down. We have a ferry service on one end of the island that is primarily used for passenger cars, tourists etc, but not large tractor trailers. So weather, truckers strike, fuel disruptions, it is the weakest link in our food supply

  14. The trick to making hummus SUPER creamy is a little secret. …Baking Soda! While boiling your chickpeas, use a few TBs of baking soda until peas are mushy. Baking soda eats the little membrane off each pea. Or else you have to shell those membranes off each pea which will do the same but very time consuming.

    Here is my recipe.

    • 2 (14.5 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained or 14.5 ounce bag of Dried beans (BEST Quality)
    • 4 rounded tablespoons tahini sesame paste, found in both dairy and dry specialty foods sections
    • A drizzle extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1 teaspoon crushed pepper flakes
    • 2 teaspoon (1/3 palm full) ground cumin
    • 2 teaspoon (1/3 palm full) ground coriander
    • 1 clove garlic, crushed or 1 tsp
    • Coarse salt
    • 2 lemons , juiced
    • 1tsp cayenne pepper
    • Pita breads, grilled and cut into wedges for dipping

  15. Laurence Vance is on Lew Rockwell.com a lot. He had an article a few yes back entitled Thank a soldier? Why should I? He is one of those sanctimonious A-holes. He writes a lot of anti soldier articles.
    Not a big fan of his work.

  16. I’m one of those sanctimonious jerks that criticize soldiers and I admit it. I do however agree with Jack on his points. I recognize we all get to where we’re at through different paths and we shouldn’t criticize others just because they haven’t reached the same point yet. That would be like an adult playing basketball with a child and criticizing them for not doing so well. Therefore I don’t have any problem with people that are unknowingly supporting a corrupt system, my only problem is with those that understand it and yet continue their support for personal gain (e.g. Paul Krugman for economics).

    One thing I will disagree with or rather point out that wasn’t discussed, is that we need to neutralize the reverence for violence (i.e. soldiers) in society. They’re just doing a job like everyone else and don’t deserve any more respect than the mechanic that fixes my car or the nurse that tends my wounds. So while it’s not fair to heap a bunch of hate onto an individual, we shouldn’t equally laud them with praise. Thats a double standard. It’s a career path that they chose, so just don’t expect me to thank them any more than I thank the other people that I pay to do a job.

    • You know what, yes they do get more respect then a mechanic.

      A mechanic can quit their job a solider goes to jail for doing so
      A mechanic is paid overtime
      A mechanic doesn’t get sent to a combat theater
      No one shoots at a mechanic (I am sure there are rare exceptions)
      A mechanic doesn’t take an oath

      I could go on but most sanctimonious jerks don’t listen to stuff like this anyway. LOL.

      Frankly most soldiers don’t want a damn thing from people that have a low opinion of them anyway. Most don’t even expect to be thanked! That is actually why we should.

  17. A couple of additional thoughts regarding leaking ponds. Observe, observe, observe. Look for critter damage. Muskrats can do a serious number on a pond dam. Where is the drainpipe and/or spillway? Are they solid and functional? Are there trees growing on your pond dam? Do you have snapping turtles? your ducks won’t last long around hungry snappers. The caller may need to supplement his turtles with high-velocity supplements before any ducks are added. FWIW

  18. Jack, it’s good to know that you, a fellow Vet, has come around to being anti-war. I ‘m looking forward to the day when you come around to recognize that being “pro-soldier” is in contradiction to being a “libertarian,” as you claim to be. You may defend yourself by ranting about me being a purist, but I’m not even a libertarian. You claimed that there are many ways to look at the libertarian ideals, but it really boils down to one. That is the libertarian non-aggression principle: No one may commit violence against an others person or property and that violence may only be used as defense from offensive violence and violence may not be used against a non-aggressor. Every US soldier that you may possible know, was an adult when they volunteered into the US Military, they used violence in offense against non-aggressors, most continue to cover up their criminal acts, most continue to admit their heroism, many actively sell the Military machine to young people and you continue to support them. Good luck in your personal progress.

    • @TheFreeRanger, you assume to much, I was antiwar while I was rolling around in the sawdust pits of Fort Benning. You are exactly the type of libertarian I was talking about in this episode. One disconnected with reality.

    • As I stated above, I am NOT a libertarian, nor would I call you the names you called any libertarian purist from your podcast. A pre-emptive strike, maybe? So, what is the difference between an anti-war Vet and a Vet who is ashamed of their military actions? I’d say, about 20 years of struggling with a bad conscience. Just because a young person falls for their government’s propaganda and volunteers for the military, doesn’t make that returning Vet immune to PTSD, alcoholism, depression and homelessness. As Stefan Molyneux says, “There is a physics to morality that propaganda cannot surmount.(14JAN14)” So, I ask you again, please stop supporting Vets and playing into the US Military’s recruiting tools. The discomfort these young Vets feel as they try to sort out their military actions from their personal ethics is on your hands. BTW, your self-defense excuse does not hold up in a war of aggression fought by soldiers who joined, voluntarily. I challenge you to invite Stefan Molyneux on your show to discuss this matter from first principles, as you prefer to do. Clean that “sawdust” out of your eyes and see the ethical conflict you are espousing, as a so-called “libertarian.” Good luck.

      • Again people like you who see only black and white ignore the 99% of the world that exists in shades of gray.

        • thefreeranger wrote, “I challenge you to invite Stefan Molyneux on your show to discuss this matter from first principles, as you prefer to do.”

          Don’t do it Jack as it being on your show wouldn’t be very productive, I suspect. However, what could be very productive would be a debate between the two of you in a neutral space with a mutually agreed upon moderator for the debate. Let it range until it peters out and see where the two of you end up. I’d suspect more agreement than disagreement in the end, and a considerable value to your mutual audience and both of you.

          I’d find a way to pay to see that, and there aren’t many Americans with less to pay with than myself. I’d prefer if you could both be in the same space if this could happen, but Skype or preferably satellite feed with streaming would be acceptable. Would that interest you, Jack? You have more than enough chops for it and I would be more than willing to get in contact with Stefan and do the initial grunt work or more to bring it together. I have access to knowledge and resources here in Chi-town from a lifetime of TV production work. Wondering?

          A technical question: You said one time on a show thread that you had sent me a private e-mail, which I never saw or responded to. Probably my screw up. If you would prefer to discuss this off show-thread, let me know on the thread and I’ll figure out why I screwed up and correct it. Thanks!

        • I have ZERO interest in debating Stephan on the .5% of what we disagree on. Given we agree on 99.5% of things if we ever speak that is what we would speak about.

        • Well, Jack I had to laugh out loud at myself after that embarrasing oops. Having only seen them for the first time in that debate, I got Stefan and Peter mixed up in my mind. Peter is the one I’d like to see you in debate with and I doubt whether that would result in 99.5% agreement. I can’t even agree with myself that often. I’m sorry and chagrined about my mix-up. I imagine that you were as confused by it as much as I was by your response. The offer still stands, with that very significant change. (You’ve gotta admit that pinning in my pea brain something like, “Zeitgeist,” to a Stefan rather than a Peter is sorta understandable. (grin))

      • Oh and sanctimonious ass isn’t a name it is a description. People that sit from the comfort of both safety and from the comfort of knowing what they know today vs. what they believed yesterday and verbally crapping on people far more brave then they like ever were or will be.

        Sanctimonious ass, yea that fits.

  19. English Ivy. I’ve had to battle it and you said it right, you never really eradicate it you just sort of bring it under control. It was growing on the side of my house, eastern and western, when I bought it two years ago. You are spot on about the amount of root material it has, it’s hard to believe.
    I sheet mulched it, and mulched heavily with pine straw. That was round one. A year later I did it again. On the eastern side of the house I planted strawberries into the sheet mulch and straw. Now the strawberries are firmly established and are literally kicking the ivy and monkey grass’ ass. Recent six degree cold did not phase them at all. On the western side of the house I put down landscaping cloth before I built a deck where the ivy was. It still survives but it’s manageable.

  20. If you don’t add water to hommus, what you get will be sticky and not like any hommus you would get from an authentic middle eastern source. My sister gave me a hommus recipe and the way it came out it was not creamy like the stuff I get from a restaurant down the street or one of the actual brands of real hommus. I finally asked the guy at the restaurant and he told me you have to add water to get it to be creamy. I just use chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, water, and olive oil and run all that through a blender and it comes out decent. If it is creamy enough it also will freeze pretty well too .. I always seem to come across this kind of thing where people try to make something outside that ethnic circle that it comes from and something always ends up missing. Pad Thai is another thing that is very tricky to make, but it’s not so simple as what’s missing from the hommus.

    Jesse Ventura interviewed a congressman about the fema camps and someone in a high place had that episode removed from true TV, and even if you recorded it it still removed it from your player.