Quote of the Week

"One cool judgment is worth a thousand hasty councils."
- Woodrow Wilson



Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Prepping Tip From a Guy Who's Not a Prepper: Try Your Bulk Food

I've never thought of myself as a "prepper" type of person. But I've always been one to make sure I have enough basic things on hand to ride out a small emergency. It just makes sense to me to be able to live somewhat comfortable for a period of time without being able to get more supplies. For some reason I always feel the need to said that before I post something on the subject.

Of course one of the most important items to make sure you have a good supply of is food. Keeping your pantry will stocked with canned and dry goods is can be beneficial for all types of short term emergencies. Being unable to leave your home due to severe weather for a period of time (snowed in, flooding, etc), power outages, and other natural disasters may keep you from the supermarket. and even if you can get to the store, you may encounter bare shelves or crowds of other unprepared people.

Keeping a few weeks worth of food on hand could help you service a temporary finical squeeze too. If you encounter a temporary layoff, surprise trip, or an unplanned mechanic bill; skipping a week or two's grocery bill may help make ends meet.

But before you start filling you cupboards with Spam, bags of rice, beans & peas, MRE's, and other long term canned and or  bulk items; I highly recommend trying some of the items you purchase before you buy a lot of it. Especially if you don't normally cook or eat it.

In a time of emergency is not the best time to try to figure out how to cook something new. Also your body may need to adjust to it too. So it may be worth it for you to mix some of these foods into your daily routine.

Plus, as I just discovered tonight with some store brand chili, it may taste like crap and not be something you'd want a stockpile of.

Monday, March 24, 2014

One Positive Thing About The Westboro Church

So the guy (I can't and won't call him a pastor) who lead the Westboro Baptist Church died. The only reason we know of him is because his church shows up at funerals for the fallen troops and famous people to protest against gays. They're not having a funeral for him. Weird.......

That to me is pretty sad. No I don't really care if they have a funeral for the guy. It just show (as if we needed more evidence) of how pathetic these people who claim to be a Christian church are.

When I think of a Christian church being active for the greater good in the name of God, I think of things like food shelves, soup kitchens and orphanages. I think of potlucks, bingo, spaghetti suppers to raise money for a local family that lost their home to a fire or for building a hospital on the other side of the word.

But with the Westboro crowd, there thing is protesting funerals with provocative signs showing how much they hate gay people. Doesn't seem to be the best choice of causes for a church, but that's their thing. It's pretty sad that they untied, organized, and put a ton of effort and resources into trying to anger people.

The saddest, most pathetic aspect of them, to me anyway, is that they do it in such of a cowardly way. If they are so outraged about gays, then they should take there protests to the source of their outrage. Instead for protesting funerals of dead soldiers, why don't they line up at every gay pride parade, or at concerts, movie premieres or sporting events of gay artists, performers and athletes?

The answer is obvious and simple. Most people have enough respect for the fallen and the family not to escalate the situation at a funeral, but the Westboro protesters would get the shit kicked out of them if they pick another venue. And in my opinion, rightfully so.

But there is one positive thing about The Westboro Church:
They're a collection of hateful people who are not influencing other churches from the inside. If we are stuck with a bunch of delusional haters, they might as well be kept together.


Sunday, March 16, 2014

Giving Heirloom Seeds a Try

With signs of spring starting to poke through the holds of this long winter, I have started to get ready for gardening. Over the last couple of years I have really gotten into gardening. It is really a fun hobby that can be beneficial to me for several reasons.

A big reason is I can grow more healthy organic foods where I have complete control of what fertilizers, pesticides, etc. are used. I will know exactly what and when something is placed on my food while I grow it.

Also, I have been making an effort to become more self-reliant. I like the idea of being able to produce my own food and not be dependent on other sources. For me it is mostly for the novelty of it, but it could be very beneficial to be able to produce garden foods in case of the unlikely long term disaster situation. But most importantly for me, it is a fun relaxing hobby that will produce healthy food in a reality inexpensive manner.

This year I am going to try something different. I ordered some heirloom seeds to plant this year’s garden with. The difference between heirloom seeds and the more common hybrid seeds more commonly found is that the plants will produce seeds that you can harvest and replant next year. By planting seeds from plants grown in your garden, over time you will develop a plant that will be more resistant to your local area.

The fruits & vegetables included in the Safe Harvest Seed Bank I'm planting this year

Today I purchased a Safe Harvest Seed Bank™ seed kit from LPC Survival, an online retailer. Here is the product description from their website:
The Safe Harvest Seed Bank™ contains the highest quality heirloom vegetable seeds available. The seeds are 100% Non-GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms), open-pollinated, and placed in specially sealed packets which provide for long-term storage.
The Safe Harvest Seed Bank™ is yours for one LOW price and supplies a LARGE balance of seeds from the most recent harvest.
It is also packaged for long term storage (5+ years) but priced so you can start planting this year! The affordability and great quality of this Seed Vault make it your best choice for both planting and storage!

While LPC Survival sells “prepper” and “off the grid” type products.  A lot of their products are not just for the “Doomsday Prepper” type people. Anyone who is interested in trying to live a more environmentally and fiscally responsible lifestyle can find many useful products from places like this.

Direct link to: Safe Harvest Seed Bank™


Thursday, March 13, 2014

Sheila Jackson Lee Thinks the Constitution is 400 Years Old

Sheila Jackson Lee Thinks the Constitution is 400 Years Old

Follow the above link, if you dare. Why do we continue to send MORONS like this to Washington D.C.?!

I'm started to re-think backing the 12 total years in Washington D.C. approach for term limits. I'm beginning to lean towards thinking one term in any office is enough.