Walter Byrd

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since Nov 06, 2022
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Recent posts by Walter Byrd

> "How to Overthrow the System: brew your own beer; kick in your Tee Vee; kill your own beef; build your own cabin and piss off the front porch whenever you bloody well feel like it.” ― Edward Abbey
4 hours ago
As I remember, hippies never called themselves "hippies." If anything, they called themselves "freaks."

Maybe permaculturalists could call themselves "ecofreaks?"

I think, to be a true hippie, you have to take insane amounts of all kinds of illegal drugs.
22 hours ago

We do not want to use our internet data for TV.



Why not? If you have fast and unlimited internet service, you should have plenty of bandwidth for both.

I totally respect your decisions, I am just curious.

Our library only has the Beamafilm service for movies and documentaries.



Add youtube channel, roku channel, pbs, and digital antenna.

If I were to pay for streaming, I would get PBS Passport. That gives you access to thousands more PBS  shows. It only costs about $5 a month where I live.
1 day ago
I cut the cable a long time ago.

With internet being fast enough to stream, why have a cable box and a modem-router?  I think the cable box should go the way of the fax machine.

I don't use cable or paid streaming services. I have a digital antenna, a smart-tv, and a regular tv with a roku. I also have a DLNA server - I used to have Plex, then Jellyfin, now I just use minidlna on my freebsd box.

I have my choice of way more content than I could watch.

Here is some of what I watch:
- Youtube channel on roku: watch anything on youtube on tv
- Kanopy: thousands of movies and tv shows free without commercials, all you need is a library card
- PBS: Nova, Nature, American Experience, All Creatures Great and Small
- Roku Channel

I would be interested to know what other here do.
1 day ago
Common mullein (Verbascum thapsus) earned the nickname "cowboy toilet paper" because its large, velvety leaves have a soft, fuzzy texture that historical adventurers and cowboys used as a natural substitute when no paper was available.
1 day ago
> 'Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without' -- Calvin Coolidge
1 day ago
I have been using open source for decades.

I would go as far as to suggest that open source users, and developers, share a similar mindset with permaculturalists.

No central authority. Freely accessible knowledge and ideas. Both are dedicated to frugality and reducing waste. People are put before profits.

Compare this to the ruthless computer corporations that push so hard to make systems obsolete and not repairable. When they say "upgrade" you have little choice. These companies aggressively guard their code and data formats. They fight to make it difficult for you to use other technologies.
1 day ago
I am in Denver. I am selling my 2010 Ford Ranger. Manual transmission. RWD. 25mpg. Only 96K miles. I bought it in 2016, and maintenance has been almost nothing. Everything is manual. Simple and  sturdy. Not much bigger than an ordinary car, easy to park and garage.

I still miss my 1992 Ford Fiesta.
I bought it used in 1998 for $700, and sold it in 2013 for $450.
Aside from getting about 40mpg, the cost of maintenance was trifling. About a year before I sold it, I bought 4 new tires for less than $150 - that included tax, extended warranty, and everything else.

I do not recommend a 2009 Nissan Versa with automatic transmission. Total nightmare.
2 days ago
Disclosure 1: I never recommend anybody do anything illegal ever.
Disclosure 2: I am not a lawyer, I don't know always know what is illegal.

In case anybody did not know: agorism is a libertarian social philosophy that advocates for creating a society based on voluntary exchanges by using counter-economics (peaceful black and grey markets) to bypass state control and taxation.

Google insists this is always illegal. By the absolute definition I suppose it is. But, could you essentially practice agorism, without breaking the law?

This 26 minute video got me thinking:
Permaculture Meets Agorism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GHB56fMfQU

1. What if you kept your income under the poverty level?
The people at Twin Oaks Ecovillage have their own water well, grow their own food, generate their own electricity. For income, they grow soy beans and make and sell: tofu, soy milk, and hammocks. Their individual income is probably well under $20K each, which, I think, means they pay no income tax. They have everything they need. What if there were a network of such places that networked with one another?

2. What if you were part of a 501(c)(3)?
As a non-profit, such as a religious or education organization, you might not only avoid income taxes, but property taxes, and maybe other taxes and government regulation. I think Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage makes a good percentage of it's income by teaching. Could it be a 501(c)(3)? I would think that religious communities, such as the Bruderhof, may avoid some taxes.

3. What about a gift economy?
As I understand it, you can get quite a lot of gift income before you have to report it. Maybe a partial gift economy could keep you below the poverty line?

I would be interested in any thoughts on this.