Weekly Roundup - Living On Nothing Edition [Survival Today

Did you hear about the guy that lives on nothing? No seriously, he lives on zero dollars a day. Meet Daniel Suelo, who lives in a cave outside Moab, Utah. Suelo has no mortgage, no car payment, no debt of any kind. He also has no home, no car, no television, and absolutely no “creature comforts.” But he does have a lot of creatures, as in the mice and bugs that scurry about the cave floor he’s called home for the last three years.

To us, Suelo probably sounds a little extreme. Actually, he probably sounds very extreme. After all, I suspect most of you reading this are doing so under the protection of some sort of man-made shelter, and with some amount of money on your person, and probably a few needs for money, too. And who doesn’t need money unless they have completely unplugged from the grid? Still, it’s an amusing story about a guy who rejects all forms of consumerism as we know it.

How to Brew Your Own Beer and Maybe Save Some Money. A fantastic introduction to home brewing, something I’ve never done myself, but always been interested in trying. (@Generation X Finance)

Contentment: A Great Financial Principle. If I had to name one required emotion for living a frugal lifestyle it would be contentment. Once you are content with your belongings and your lot in life you can ignore forces attempting to separate you from your money. (@Personal Finance by the Book)

Use Energy Star Appliances to Save On Utility Costs. I enjoyed this post because it included actual numbers, and actual total savings, from someone who upgraded to new, energy star appliances. (@The Digerati Life)

Over-Saving for Retirement? Is it possible to “over-save” for retirement? Yes, I think so. At some point I like the idea of putting some money aside in taxable investments outside of retirement funds, to be accessed prior to traditional retirement age. (@The Simple Dollar)

40 Things to Teach My Kids Before They Leave Home. A great list of both practical and philosophical lessons to teach your kids before they reach the age where they know everything. I think that now happens around 13 years-old. (@My Supercharged Life)

Index Fund Investing Overview. If you are looking for a place to invest with high diversification and relatively low fees (for broader index funds with low turnover), index funds are a great place to start. (@Money Smart Life)

5 Reasons To Line Dry Your Laundry. My wife and I may soon be installing a clothesline in our backyard. In many neighborhoods they are frowned upon - one of the reasons I don’t like living in a neighborhood. I digress. One of our neighbors recently put up a clothesline, and we might just follow his lead. (@Simple Mom)

* 4 Quick Tips for Getting Out of a Rut * Young and Cash Rich * Embracing Simple Style * First Trading Experience With OptionsHouse * The Exponential Power of Delayed Consumption * How Much Emergency Fund is Enough? * 50 Questions that Will Free Your Mind * Save Money On Car Insurance

White Chocolate Cherry Bread (variation)
Posted by: “Steven

OK, I started to make the bread. Then I soon found that we had eaten up all of the dried cherries that I remembered in the cupboard. So of the dried fruits that I have, the best substitute I could come up with was dried blueberries. As for the chocolate, I knew that I did not have the white chips but I did have semi-sweet and knew that they would work just fine. So now my bread became “Blueberry Semi-sweet Chocolate Bread”.

Yes, I did use whole milk instead of the buttermilk.
For the next part, the recipe is for a 1 1/2 pound loaf and my machine only does a 1 pound loaf. I knew I could do the math but 2/3 of an egg was going to be a little hard. So instead I decided to give the machine a work out with a 1 1/2 pound on the dough cycle. (The machine did fine.)
After the dough was finished in the machine I decided to not change anything else, so I let the dough rise on a flat pan and baked it for 25 minutes. Let it cool completely.

The next morning I sliced it up and decided that some cream cheese might be a good topping (since I did have some on hand). It was absolutely delicious.

I still want to try the white Chocolate Cherry but that will have to wait until I get the proper ingredients for it.
Thanks for all of your help Karon.
Peggy

THE RECIPE AGAIN
I make a 1 ½ pound loaf. Three cups of flour.

The White Chocolate Cherry is the easiest!

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoons vanilla extract

3 cups white bread flour

2 teaspoons dry yeast

1 cup dried cherries

Put all these in your machine per machine order. Set to dough cycle. When it
comes out, knead as usual adding ½ to 1 cup of white chocolate chips as you
knead. This helps distribute the chips randomly through the bread.

Shape into preferred loaf shape, I like round. Slash top and set to rise.
Because of the sugar content, this can be a heavier bread, so it sometimes
takes longer to rise. Allow up to 1 ½ hours to double bulk. Bake at 350 for
20-25 minutes to lovely brown. Feel free to egg wash if you like. I usually
don’t but, with an egg wash, you can decorate the top of the oaf with extra
dried cherries.

Allow bread to COMPLETELY cool before cutting. If you cut it warm, you WILL
have a hard, doughy center. YUCK!

Once completely cooled, slice and gobble! You e it by itself, you can ice
with a milk/vanilla/confectioner’s sugar glaze or, my personal favorite,
just spread with a little bit of room temp butter.

Warning: it will be a race to see who can grab this bread first!!!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bread-machine/

Serrano Chicken Sandwich
Posted by: “*~Tamara~*”

Serrano Chicken Sandwich

2 chicken breasts
4 slices pepper jack cheese
2 onion-cheese Kaiser rolls, toasted
4 slices fresh tomato
4 slices avocado

Marinade:*
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tbsp. cumin powder
1/2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Southwest Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
3 tsp. chopped onions
2 tbsp. chopped tomato
3 tsp. cilantro
1 tsp. peeled fresh garlic
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 dashes Lawry’s seasoned salt
1 1/2 dashes cumin powder
2 Serrano peppers, or fewer for less heat

*Or you can use a Mexican-style bottled marinade.

In a shallow pan, marinate chicken for 1 hour in marinade mixture (or use your favorite marinade).

Make up Southwest Sauce in food processor.

Remove chicken from marinade, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill until done, placing cheese on top of each piece at end of cooking to melt slightly.

Toast rolls.

Assemble sandwiches with tomato, avocado and Southwest sauce, and eat.

Southwest Sauce:
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Let the dressing stand for at least 1 hour to blend the flavors. Keep in refrigerator.

There will be extra sauce, which can be used up in sandwiches, salads or wraps.

Serves 2

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Recipes-for-2/
Need recipes with smaller servings?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Moroccan Lentil Stew - pressure cooker
Posted by: “~*Piper*~”

Moroccan Lentil Stew - pressure cooker

2 cups brown lentils
2 or 3 tomatoes,chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or pressed
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 1/2 teaspoons paprika (some hot,or some smoked paprika if desired)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1-2 teaspoons salt
2 Tbls. olive oil

Mix all ingredients in a pressure cooker or pot. Add 2 quarts of water,
Cover, and cook on pressure over medium heat for 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. If the lentils are still submerged in sauce, reduce the liquids so that the sauce is ample, but not watery. Adjust the seasoning if desired, and serve.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. Fresh Mango Chutney With Coconut
Posted by: “~*Piper*~”

Fresh Mango Chutney With Coconut

2 medium firm, but under ripe mangoes, 1 lb. each
1 tablespoon peeled fresh coconut, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground hot red pepper

Yield: about 1 1/2 cups

With a small, sharp knife or a vegetable parer with a rotary blade, peel the mangoes completely. Cut the flesh away from the seed. Discard the seed and cut the flesh into 1/2-inch cubes.
Place the mangoes in a serving bowl and add the coconut, coriander, ginger, salt and red pepper, tossing the ingredients gently with a spoon until they are thoroughly combined. Serve at once, or cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for no more than 8 hours before serving.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Ras El Hanout (Moroccan Curry) Mix
Posted by: “~*Piper*~”

Ras El Hanout (Moroccan Curry) Mix

2 tablespoons black peppercorns, crushed
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon ground mace
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon hot red chile powder, such as cayenne
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon crushed malagueta pepper
2 teaspoons dried ground galangal or ginger
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon turmeric
2 tablespoons crushed dried lavender
2 tablespoons crushed dried rosebuds

Place all the ingredients in a spice mill and process to a fine powder.
Store in an airtight container. Use to spice up stews, rice and couscous.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. Okra in Lentil
Posted by: “~*Piper*~”

Okra in Lentil

1/4 cup fresh/frozen cut okra
1 cup split yellow lentil (tur or toor dal)
1 tsp.. tamarind paste dissolved in 1/4 cup water
2 green chilies (any kind), chopped
a pinch of turmeric powder
2 tsps. salt
2 tsps. oil
1 tsp. black mustard seeds, optional

Cook the yellow lentil either in a pressure cooker or over the range with enough water. The lentil should be mushy and easily break apart when cooked.
Heat the oil.
Add the optional mustard seeds. After they crackle and pop add the okra pieces and green chilies and fry for 5 minutes covered, stirring now and then.
Add the tamarind paste dissolved in water and bring it to a boil.
Add the cooked lentil, salt, turmeric powder and cook it all together for another 5 minutes till everything comes together and remove from heat and serve with plain rice or tortillas.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. Quick Tex-Mex Lasagna
Posted by: “~*Piper*~”

Quick Tex-Mex Lasagna

Seasoned Pinto Beans:
1 15 oz. can pinto beans, rinsed, drained
1 large jalapeno pepper, minced
1/2 envelope taco seasoning mix
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsps. ground chipotle powder
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

Lasagna:
8 oz. reduced fat sour cream
1 cup Mexican cheese blend, shredded
1 recipe Seasoned Pinto Beans, above
3 6” corn tortillas, cut to fit dish
1 8 oz. jar your favorite salsa
1 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped

To make seasoned pinto beans: Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.
To make lasagna: Stir reduced fat sour cream and cheese mix together. Set aside.
Spread half the pinto beans on the bottom of a lightly greased 13x9” pan. Layer with all the tortillas (cut them in pieces to fit if needed), sour cream mixture and remaining beans.
Cover and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Top with salsa and the Monterey Jack Cheese and bake, uncovered, for another 5 minutes until cheese melts. Sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.
Makes 4 servings.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
7. Quemada Salsa
Posted by: “~*Piper*~”

Quemada Salsa

“Quemada” literally means “burnt”, and that is what is done to the
tomatoes and green onions, giving the salsa a smoky flavor and rich color.

1 lb. tomatoes, cored
1 tbsp. garlic puree
1 bunch green onions, trimmed, washed
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. salt
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp, freshly ground white pepper
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. ground oregano
3 serrano chiles, stemmed
1 cup water

Place tomatoes and green onions on a hot mesquite grill (over hot coals,
not flames). Pile the cilantro on top, so that it does not touch the grill.
Grill the vegetables 10 to 15 minutes, or until the peppers are soft.
Place the vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat.
Add the serranos and saute until the peppers are soft.
Place the serranos, tomatoes, onion,and cilantro in a food processor fitted with the metal blade.
Process until coarsely ground. Remove tomato mixture to mixing bowl and stir until ingredients are evenly distributed.
In a separate bowl, mix garlic, lime juice, salt, white pepper, oregano, and water until well blended.
Add garlic mixture to ground vegetables and mix thoroughly.
Makes about 3 cups.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
8a. Corn and Jalapeno Custard
Posted by: “~*Piper*~”

Corn and Jalapeno Custard

2 tablespoons jalapeno chiles, stems, seeds removed, chopped
1/2 cup creamed corn
1/2 cup cooked rice
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup chopped black olives
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder

Combine all ingredients and place in a greased 8 x 8-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until set and lightly browned.
Serves 4 to 6.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
9. OT: Urgent prayer request
Posted by: “*~Tamara~*”

My boss’s 11 year old grandson was accidentally shot in the head while hunting this morning. His name is Beau. Please send out all the prayes you can for this precious lil boy.

Thank you,

Tamara

This is another great group owned by *~Tamara~*

To visit group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Simply-Spicy/

http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2009/10/rc-journal-the-dollar-crump.html

Saturday, 10 October 2009
RC JOURNAL: The Dollar Crump

Here’s a what if post that hopefully gets you thinking. Please feel free to rip it to shreds.

It’s VERY likely that over the next decade we are going to see the dollar fall to less than half of its current value (half is an optimistic assumption) as compared to global currencies. The combination of high and rapidly growing US debt loads (nothing is being done to reverse this trend), the erosion of US ‘safe haven status due to crony capitalism, and an accelerating movement among exporting nations to replace the dollar as the reserve currency (with a basket of currencies/gold) have turned this trend into an onrushing freight train. This depreciation and the loss of reserve currency status will have the following effects:

* It will make US government debt very expensive. Funding for foreign wars, big domestic programs, and economic stimulus efforts will dry up (we are already seeing the fear of this driving decisions on Afghanistan and health care ‘reform’).
* Costs for the middle class will skyrocket. The ongoing depopulation/depletion of the middle class participating in the global economy will accelerate.
* Locally produced goods/services will become VERY competitive with globally/nationally sourced goods. Why? Energy costs will zoom.

Resilience Everywhere

The beneficial upshot of this dollar crump won’t be much growth in US exports (there’s nobody to sell to). What it will be is a trigger for the rapid formation of resilient communities nation-wide as we decentralize to become competitive/survive. In short, communities that physically produce food, energy, services, security, and products at the local level and share info/insight/R&D virtually on a global level will enjoy prosperity. The penalty for those communities that don’t prepare for this shift are extreme — favelaization and black globalization/global guerrillas await.

Posted by John Robb on Saturday, 10 October 2009 at 11:28 AM | Permalink
TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451576d69e20120a5d69851970b

Comments

Mr. Robb,

Do you expect these resilient communities (RCs) to be legal entities or associations of citizens operating under the radar, sometimes or mostly illegally?
How do you expect the central government (federal/state level) to behave when faced with the loss of influence and legitimacy? Do you think it would encourage its own dismantling, or it would treat the RCs as destabilizing agents?
I wholeheartedly agree with you that the cost to produce goods in RCs (in ideal conditions) will be competitive with the global chains, but what happens with the price? It’s not hard to impose laws that tax goods produced in RCs much higher that those coming from the “preferred” global chains? The governing forces will need the proceeds to keep quiet the newly formed favelas and maintain the loss of legitimacy at a decent rate of decline.
I personally do see a future in RCs, but organized more like GGs or P2P sharing networks rather than kibbutzim.

Best regards,
CD

snipped- interesting comments....

Re: the RC versus legalities imposed from beyond its border or stakeholders.

A glaring example is security, which JR consistently includes in the locally produced list. Let’s say in Seattle we as a norm shoot people caught lurking on roofs after nightfall; and legalize, grow and tax pot. We would get screams of social injustice on CNN for the shootings, and screams of being drug selling hippies from Christian Coalition types.

This is the friction I see coming.

The only answer I’ve seen to overcoming such friction is in a comment by CD:

“I believe that one of the first types of successful RC will be one that assembles, conducts business, and disassembles faster than any significant hostile outside actor can react.”

Posted by: lancemiller777atgmaildotcom | Sunday, 11 October 2009 at 06:53 AM

Wikipedia, whic can usually be counted on to present the centralist view in key areas, has a very lengthy defense of central government’s power to stop formation of resilient communities in its article on Wickard v. Filburn.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickard_v._Filburn

The argument is basically that during economic crises the central authorities must prevent even individual farmers from acting autonomously because their independence can reduce overall “economic activity”. Of course, this gets back the more fundamental problem of governments taxing economic activity rather than artificial property rights.

Posted by: James Bowery | Sunday, 11 October 2009 at 11:26 AM

“I believe that one of the first types of successful RC will be one that assembles, conducts business, and disassembles faster than any significant hostile outside actor can react.”

that right there is a TAZ

Posted by: wu.ming | Sunday, 11 October 2009 at 12:24 PM

There are many potential models for many types of RCs already in existence in the US, and many other countries throughout the world. Intentional communities (IC) have been forming for many decades for many different types of reasons. These can range from sharing housing structures to local production focus to almost complete local economic integration. See http://ic.org to get an idea of the range of types of communities that are already in existence.

There are a subset of ICs that do have the level of integration similar to medieval monasteries. Many of these are religious, some are secular, like FEC communities (http://thefec.org).

My point is that I don’t think we have to suddenly create RCs from scratch, as there have been decades of experimentation in creating a wide variety of communities that are in their own ways striving to what could be called RCs. They’re just ‘under the radar’ in general.

I think the situation is somewhat analogous to second and third century Rome, where the dominant form of political organization was collapsing. There were many years of chaos, but the models for the new communities that replaced the Roman power structure (Christian communities and ‘barbarian’ cultures) were already in existence. They only became predominant when the superpower started to lose control.

We already have models of RCs. The questions for me are more which models will be the best for a given local community in the specific conditions of its transition, and are there ways RCs can work together to prevent a transition period like Rome’s crisis of the third century?

Posted by: postrev.wordpress.com

http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2008/01/the-resilient-c.html

THE RESILIENT COMMUNITY

It should be clear, as we watch the gyrations and excesses of global markets, that no organization/state/group has any meaningful control over its direction. The same is true for almost every other aspect of globalization, from the environment to transnational crime to energy flows. In short, we’ve lost control and our collective future is in the hands of a morally neutral system that is operating in ways that we don’t fully understand (nor will we). The best defense against this emerging situation is not to call for new Manhattan projects or global treaties or Marshall plans, which won’t work since we can neither marshal the resources necessary nor collectively agree on anything other than the most basic rules of connectivity, it is to slowly introduce organic stability into out global system. The concept I’ve latched onto as a solution is what I call the resilient community.
This conceptual model creates a set of new services that allow the smallest viable subset of social systems, the community (however you define it), to enjoy the fruits of globalization without being completely vulnerable to its excesses. These services are configured to provide the ability to survive an extended disconnection from the global grid in the following areas (an incomplete list):

* Energy.
* Food.
* Security (both active and passive).
* Communications.
* Transportation.

The resilient community has broad applicability beyond just improving the ability of those of us in developed economies to preserve wealth and a quality of life despite severe system shocks. It can also be applied to the problems of counter-insurgency in semi-modern urban environment (to radically update a process that was built for the last century) and provide the potential for organic development in underdeveloped areas of the world. The key is that we need to support the open source efforts currently underway to expand this capability underway such as the transition towns movement to MIT’s low tech solutions effort.
I touched on this concept in Brave New War and here on this blog. Might need to put out a short book that really explores the concept in a way that allows people to get their heads around it.

Posted by John Robb on Wednesday, 30 January 2008 at 09:01 AM | Permalink
TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451576d69e200e55011db6f8834

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference THE RESILIENT COMMUNITY:
Comments

Dear Bob,
I agree with your very interesting vision linking resilience and community.
I have in mind that to built up those communities, some kind of free exchange will be at the root, just as a seed. I fell that people may be part of many of those communities All of those will have something in common different from traditional links (family, culture...). I look forward on having your thoughts about that.

Posted by: SWIMMER21 | Wednesday, 30 January 2008 at 09:52

snipped....

John,

The notion of resilient community is critical to leverage the benefits of globalization while simultaneously achieving sustainability and human fulfillment. Whether in economics, security, or the environment, globalization threatens to marginalize the human input as it would any other economic “cost” unless this process is checked by communities that are minimally self-sufficient—that is, they can negotiate with the global marketplace from a position of independence, rather than be forced into the marginalization-or-isolation dichotomy. Communities can interact with the global market as as equals, rather than in a subservient-master relationship, only when they can meet their basic needs in a local and sustainable manner, and only interact globally to their benefit, not out of dependency. I’ve tried to approach this concept in the links below. I’m looking forward to your further explorations of this theme...

http://www.jeffvail.net/2006/04/envisioning-hamlet-economy-topology-of.html
http://www.jeffvail.net/2006/04/rhizome-central-place-theory.html

Posted by: jeffvail

[These communities are indeed forming and several have been talked about on some of the lists.

Last year, I was invited to join one in Arizona, near Payson.

The Kingman area has had them since the 1960’s and they come and go, usually they do remain.
granny]

http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2009/09/journal-a-college-degree-for-99-a-month.html

JOURNAL: A College Degree for $99 a Month

610xTo the extent that educational background is a factor in my hiring decisions, I would be more likely hire a person that succeeded at an educational program like Straighterline than somebody that went to a standard four year institution. Why? The choice demonstrates an ability to improvise — in that they were able to see the advantages of a $99 education vs. something equivalent at 100 times the cost. It’s also because they demonstrated an ability to operate successfully within an online work environment — which, despite it quickly becoming the critical job skill of the 21st Century, is something that traditional colleges don’t teach and most workers are terrible at.

Here’s a great article on the school by Kevin Carey at the Washington Monthly on Straighterline, and how the educational establishment is successfully resisting it. This resistance will halt progress until the prolonged economic failure of the global middle class makes the switch to online education (in this price range) inexorable.

Posted by John Robb on Friday,

Interesting comments....

This blog offers links to free e-learning websites for Electrical Engineers and architects.

Those seeking faster ROI for their Electrical Engineering Education and those students who want to be job-ready after graduation may visit this site.

philipjarina.blogspot.com

FREE CONTINUING EDUCATION AND E-LEARNING FOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS AND ARCHITECTS

Posted by: Philip Jarina | Monday, 07 September 2009 at 06:03 PM

I didn’t go to MIT to get a college degree. I went to learn how to be a civil engineer. And thankfully, came out a non-practicing architect and generalized systems engineer. Ask me the value of that as a first-in-class-high-school student and I’d have had no clue.

There is no point in having a college degree. The point is whether or not one has learned anything. My son is excited about building with stone. Houses, trailes, patios, chicken-coops. I love it. Do it once, do it right. He tells me he can look at a stone (circa Acadia Park) and know how long it will take him to bust it with a sledge into rock dust for a trail or wall underlayment.

That’s a spiritual understanding. Not a $99 a month credential.

$99 Credential tells you that bad bolts is what you are supposed to produce.

The focus on price is wrong. The focus should be on the understanding. No bad bolts.

Though I’ll leave it to a jury of my peers - peers - peers as to whether a bolt can be bad enough on a submarine.

cfm

snipped.......

Here is a new market for innovative education:

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20090912T230000-0500_159592_OBS_OF_CRIMINAL_GANGS_AND_THE_LAW.asp

“But in Japan they are taking the world of the criminal gang to a new level. Now, Japanese mobsters are apparently taking exams.

The core activities of Japanese criminal syndicates are the same as gangs all over the world. They include drugs, prostitution and protection rackets. Japanese gangsters like to put tattoos all over their bodies. Despite the law-abiding image of the Japanese society, organised crime is widespread. And their crime syndicates are much larger than those of other countries that have a high degree of formal organisation. One of the largest gangs is called Yamaguchi-gumi and it has thousands of members.

So concerned is the Japanese government by the spread of organised crime, that last year they introduced a new law which allowed gang leaders to be sued for the activities of their subordinates. This has caused Japanese gang leaders to panic. They are worried that they will have to go to court and pay fines because of the activities of their out-of-control associates. As a result of this, the leaders now require that gang members study the new law and then take a test. The 12-page test paper questions mobsters on a wide range of banned activities, from vehicle theft to the illegal dumping of industrial waste and phone fraud scams.

The gangs have reportedly identified loopholes in the new law and are circulating briefs amongst themselves. One loophole would see gang leaders writing ‘retroactive letters of expulsion’ to prove a suspect was no longer a gang member at the time he allegedly committed a crime.

“It is now illegal to give financial rewards or promote someone who was involved in a hit against a member of a rival gang,” reads a briefing distributed by one gang. “But it is not illegal to give them a salary with a front company and promote them within that organisation.””

Posted by: Duncan Kinder |

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA

Fly with the sun at Israel’s airport

With its large supply of sunny days, Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport will become one of the first airports in the world to generate renewable energy.

(Communicated by Karin Kloosterman, Israel 21C)

http://192.168.180.222/NR/rdonlyres/28CE2C98-5773-41DC-B35F-D393BE60FB9F/0/21cbgAIRPOT.jpg
Ben Gurion Airport (Photo: Anna Kaplan/ Flash90)

Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport is cashing in on a government initiative by installing solar panels to produce clean electricity that will help the environment and make money.

There’s no denying that wall of Mediterranean heat that hits you like a brick when you disembark at Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv. Soon, Israel’s major international airport will take advantage of all that sun and be partially powered by solar energy. That will make Israel one of the first countries in the world to generate renewable energy sources at its airport, and the first to do so in the Middle East.

The 50-kilowatt solar energy pilot project slated for 2010 will be 5,382 square feet in area. An array of solar panels that will convert the sun’s energy into electricity will be installed above the airport’s long-term park-and-fly parking lots, in the most impressive of the many new green ideas from airport executives.

Other environment-friendly targets include finding new ways to reduce noise pollution; recycling waste (both liquids and solids); a plan to reduce hazardous substances while preserving panoramic views; and building future terminals with green-certified construction materials.

With annual energy costs running at $15 million, the airport executives expect a return on their solar energy investment to the tune of $100,000 - as the sun-powered electricity is sold back to the national grid, as part of a government initiative. Since solar energy is clean energy, an added benefit is the huge amounts of additional greenhouse gases that won’t be entering the atmosphere.

This strategy dovetails nicely with a proposed energy conservation plan at the airport, which calls for a reduction of 15 percent of the airport’s energy costs, which were about $1.9 million in 2009. As a government-owned entity, the airport’s goals are also in line with Israel’s national strategy for 10% renewable energy by 2020.

Sunny profits that are green too

The Israel Airports Authority’s (IAA) director of commerce, business and development, Eyal Kshepitsky, tells ISRAEL21c that this environment project is under his purview because it makes solid business sense. The energy will be collected, and then sold back to Israel’s Electric Company at high rates.

Despite it being a business venture, IAA chairman Ovadia Eli says it’s also part of his long-term vision, to green the recently remodeled airport that serves millions of tourists and business people each year.

Eli, who was not available for comment, was previously quoted as saying: “Solar energy is the cleanest renewable energy source known today, and does not pollute or make noise. We’re pleased to have the opportunity to build this project, which will help the environment and generate profits, as well as saving us a lot of money.”

Kshepitsky, who is also responsible for airport shop tenders, tells ISRAEL21c that the environment is a top priority at the airport, as evidenced by the fact that Eli made sure that every executive unit at the airport is aware of the new project. Kshepitsky sees additional advantages to the solar investment: “Not only will we get solar energy, we will get protective shade above our long-term parking lot to protect the cars during the long, hot hours of the day.”
In terms of return on investment, the airport project, “will give us four times [the money that] we are paying,” asserts Kshepitsky, who notes that the solar energy buyback deal is guaranteed by the government for 20 years. Constrained by 50 kilowatts per site, “We are examining the possibility of installing some at other airports and areas,” he adds.

The IAA executives chose Ben Gurion as the pilot site because it’s the largest airport in Israel. If the pilot is a success, they will consider installing similar arrays of solar panels at Israel’s other airports. Eilat, in the southern tip of the country, would likely be the next location. The almost-always scorching hot city has a short runway, but can welcome some international flights.

Cashing in on the sun

According to local news reports, the IAA has already been making efforts to drastically reduce noise as well as complaints about noise from neighboring towns and villages. From 1999 to 2005, an estimated 25% decrease in noise was measured in aircraft taxiing and take offs from runway areas
.
Since the opening of the airport’s new Terminal 3 in 2004, about 30 million passengers and an equal number of visitors and employees have enjoyed the facilities.

The recent upgrade is a big change from more than five years ago, when passengers deplaned onto hot tarmac to walk into an island-style terminal, usually accompanied by considerable chaos and confusion.

Since its renovation, the Airport Council International ranked Ben Gurion Airport high up among the world’s airports that serve a similar number of passengers. A perk of passing through the airport is the free wireless internet available. In many western countries airports charge big bucks and Euros per hour and there are frequent connection hassles.

Kshepitsky says that the tender for the new project has not yet been released. When it is opened, his team will choose from among a number of local solar energy providers, such as Sunday Solar, Interdan and the Arava Power Company. The IAA is following the lead of schools, institutions and businesses - and local and foreign investors - looking to benefit from the government’s attractive plan of cashing in on the sun.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.