ODDS AND ENDS

I have been asked to relate how the ownership of my homeland was accomplished. No problem.

Up until the late 70's the property was owned by the Old Man. Lock ,stock, and barrel. I lived many years under those rules and felt quite comfortable with the arrangement. The Old Man was a man of the people. True to his word.

After a lawsuit by a half dozen dissidents, basically dopers who didn't like the rigorous work of the valley, a lawyer was hired to make up a trust to own the land. This trust has never been broken, to my knowledge. In one evening the Old Man gave the village and all the property away to the people, who immediately signed it over to this land trust. The trust was run by 7 trustees whose basic mission in life was to see that the land taxes got paid. The trustees get no salary, just the responsibility. There are clauses making the mortgaging of the property extremely difficult. All of the land, and we added a lot after the trust as formed, is paid for and free of indebtedness. We must get up the money to pay the land taxes and that is about all here is to do. This method has worked for almost 30 years and seems to be successful. The Old Man was not willing to part with the land of the people without a fight. And though it is a matter of public record, no one has seen fit to take it on in court.

The business was made into a partnership. Everyone 18 and older was a partner in he business. The IRS hated that. We gave them as high as 90-some tax filings per year for the partners. There were two partners who were designated as managers. They could indebt the business. This was to enable them to do the daily affairs of commerce. If you had to go out and buy 4 new skidders or 6 new semi's then you had to be able to do the business required to finance the deals. We got in trouble financially in the early 90's and we had to go to becoming a corporation. The IRS said we could not go back to being a partnership. So the Old Man told them to get fucked and we filed the partnership papers. Nothing was ever said about that by the IRS. The sawmill business went belly up in the early "0"s. One of our other businesses had to buy it at auction. No one showed up to bid and it was bought for the minimum. But the market has been a disaster this past decade and the mill is not running.

So there you have the story of the transfer of ownership to the people. I hope this explains the matter in a satisfactory manner.
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I got this story from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,362124,00.html.

ROME — The U.N. secretary-general says world food production must rise by 50 percent by 2030 to meet increasing demand.

Ban Ki-moon told world leaders at a food summit in Rome today that nations must minimize export restrictions and import tariffs during the crisis that has caused hunger and riots across the globe.

Participants at the U.N. summit are trying to figure out how to head off skyrocketing food prices before millions more join the multitudes across the globe who already lack enough to eat.
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This Ban Ki-Moon must be a pretty potent force in the universe to tell the farmers of the world to increase their production by 50%. I think he is full of shit and living in a fairy tale mental condition. I have been having a discussion with Dragon about the climate situation of late and it looks like we are headed for a few cold years and maybe reduced harvests. If I have my figures straight we ought to come out of it in 30 to 50 years and then it will warm up again. It does not look like it will be dangerous cold and you wake up looking at a wall of ice slowly creeping down upon your house. No. It doesn't look that bad at all. But get ready for some chilly Winters. Some good wood stoves would be nice. Heat is always a popular commodity when the temperature is down around zero on a fine January morning. I bought my Bow Saw and my axe a couple weeks ago. That ought to get my fat ass to lose a few pounds! By the way, I think the cold spell started in 1998 and Dragon thinks it is started in 2004. I ain't conceding any points here but the highest temperature we had in 2004 was 89 degrees. Oh well!
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Some of the mainstream news media is making noises about how everyone should become a prepper to some degree. Funniest damn thing, though, they never make mention of having anything to PROTECT your preps. I guess you are just to have it ready when the riots trigger off and they start looting homes. AND WE ARE GOING TO HAVE RIOTS! It will take a HUGE drop in oil prices and a HUGE farm crop globally to avert such things. And it doesn't look like it is going to happen. It's raining outside my window right now. I can even hear some distant thunder. As of last Friday or Saturday, Indiana, the number 5 corn producer in the country, only had 75% of it's crop in the ground. And a lot of guys are replanting what they already had in. Pain and suffering. When the prices hit in August or thereabouts, look out! The people are going to go crazy. Americans are not used to going hungry and paying incredibly high prices. It is a whole new world. Welcome to globalism, America! And the crops that do come in are going to the highest bidder, not assured to go to the American public. And if a hurricane crashes one of our refineries on the southern Gulf Coast, Katie bar the door! Gas will shoot up like a rocket. Pleasant dreams!
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I have a reply for annamatrix.
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The problem is that some of us aren't the kind of survivalists people WANT in their groups.

[And that could be tough shit for THEM. We will end up needing all the help we can get.]

For example, I'm a devout Messianic Jew with four children under seven.

[A Messianic Jew? My God, woman, you're backing TWO losers. Mose's movement went into the tank a couple thousand years ago and the churches who say they are of the Christ have become the Apostate Church. Me, well I am just of God. Never knew those other fellas anyhow. But I know something about God. And he is magnificent.]

Nobody wants four small children underfoot, eating up stores and unable to contribute... not to mention how that ties MY hands.

[The kids are innocent. They had nothing to do with their arrival on this planet. And the oldest could probably work in the garden pulling weeds an hour a day. Subject to lavish praise and some sort of reward!]

On top of that, every group I've seen advertised says "No religious zealots". And since I'm not of the same belief system as the all-American 'christian', my keeping the feasts, not eating pork, and not observing X-Mess or Ishtar is a problem, y'know?

[You do what you can and what has to be done. If the Mutant Zombie Bikers are about to take your scalp it is NOT time to have a feast. I think that people don't want things to influence their lives that they don't understand and don't want to learn. I make it by following God. He lays the situation out for me and I try to cope with it. Keeps my ass busy, let me tell you! You might be a contributing member of a community that needed child care to free up women for working in survival. The young are the future and should not be neglected at all. You might get your ass stomped if you get caught teaching them how to be Messianic Jews but that can be avoided. My teacher heard the voice of God one day and it said, "Christian is not the name of my people today." That should piss a lot of folks off but that is just too bad. God didn't ask me what I thought before he uttered those words. And I don't observe Pagan/Christian holidays either. Bad practice, especially for the young. And you will eat pork if it is what is available to keep you and your kids alive. I am not your Priest but I will tell you that 99.99% of all religious dietary restrictions are absolute BULLSHIT. Probably pissed a bunch more people off with that statement. See, annamatrix, you have socially redeeming value! You have got me to open my big mouth about religion and a man ain't supposed to do that if he wants public approval. So much for public approval. Sigh...]

It doesn't matter if you've got stores to contribute, ammo and arms, critters and knowledge.

[Man! You got stuff like that? And I am married! Ain't that a pisser. But I have a friend who is an excellent prepper and is looking around for a mate. I'll tell him about you.]

What matters is that you're not a burden or a 'wack-o religious fanatic'.

[Just reason and logic. You can make allowances for some differences and supposed shortcomings but too much is simply too much. You ever heard about "keeping a low profile?" Don't rub people's noses in your lifestyle. Be cool. Dont go to the table carrying a sword. Go to the table with good food and drink. If you carry a chip on your shoulder someone will knock it off, sure as hell. Be mellow. Let your actions say good things about you.]

That's not including the lack of likeminded people in our areas, and/or the trust factor. Let's face it - you don't know Sam Survival from Son of Sam. Trust doesn't come in 10# cans.

[Finding trustworthy fellow preppers is, as one man wrote to me this very morning, like trying to find hens teeth. Not an easy occupation. Hang in there.]

Stay alive.

Michael

mboone@rtccom.net