Emergency Items That Run Out First

{EAV_BLOG_VER:872bc2e467c29277}

My thoughts and prayers are with those in the Midwest today who were slammed by storms and crazy weather in the last 24 hours, particularly those in Joplin, MO who have lost their homes.  I am also praying for those those who have been affected by the rising Mississippi River the last few weeks, and those who live in the area of the New Madrid fault who have had earthquakes on their minds as pundits have pondered recently what would happen there if we had a Big One in that area.

People used to laugh at us when we talked about being prepared. In fact, even I used to accuse my husband of being paranoid and thought it was just an unfortunate side effect of working for Homeland Security.

But preparedness is not just for "Survivalists" and "crazy people" who stockpile guns and live in caves Montana anymore. Preparedness is for everyone who has watched a weather report recently.

This list of emergency items was sent to me by a friend. These are the things that often are the first to run out in a time of panic.  You can laugh if you like, but think about the 70+ inches of snow we had this year in New Jersey and what might have happened if you lost power for about a week, or couldn't shovel out of your house.

Now would be a good time to think about laying in some of these supplies, especially if you are in an area that could be affected by tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, or other natural disasters.

1. Portable Toilet
2. Lamp Oil, Wicks, Lamps (Buy clear oil.  If scare, stockpile)
3. Coleman Fuel
4. Charcoal and Lighter fluid
5. Cooking utensils (hand can opener, whisk, etc)
6. Propane Heaters and all accessories that go with it (extra propane, heads, etc)
7. Fishing accessories (line, hooks, bobbies, etc)
8. Basin to do laundry in/wash boards, etc
10. Cook stoves
11. Propane Cylinder Handle-Holder

12. Feminine Hygiene/Haircare/Skin products.
13. Aluminum Foil Reg. & Heavy Duty (Great Cooking and Barter Item)
14. Garbage bags
15. Toilet paper, paper towels, hygiene items
16. Clothes pins/line/hangers
17. Coleman’s Pump Repair Kit
18. Matches
19. light sticks
20. Plastic Containers
21. Cast iron cookware
22. Fishing Supplies
23. Duct Tape
24. Tarps/stakes/twine/nails/rope/spikes
25. Bleach (plain, NOT scented: 4 to 6% sodium hypochlorite)
26. Canning supplies, (Jars/lids/wax)
27. Carbon Monoxide Alarm (battery powered)
28. d-con Rat poison, MOUSE PRUFE II, Roach Killer
29. Mousetraps, Ant traps & cockroach magnets
30. Paper plates/cups/utensils 
31. Baby wipes, oils, waterless & Antibacterial soap (saves a lot of water)
32. Hand pumps & siphons (for water and for fuels)
33. Roll-on Window Insulation Kit (MANCO)
34. Lumber (all types)
35. Cots & Inflatable mattress’s
36. Lantern Hangers
37. Screen Patches, glue, nails, screws, nuts & bolts
38. Paraffin wax
39. Goats/chickens

photo credit: Britt's Pics

Digg This: Hijacked No More

Back in the summer of 2010, there was a tempest in a teapot about a group of conservative Diggers who were supposedly "censoring" Digg.

A group of about 100 Diggers calling themselves the Digg Patriots were apparently using the "bury" feature to regularly bury liberal stories. This shocking discovery was made by Alternet, a blog that may actually be farther to the left than I was when I was young and stupid. I will not dignify the articles by posting links to them here.

The alternet article must be written by the same people who think the mainstream media is too conservative. Other articles currently featured on this blog have titles like

"What Happened When Fundamentalist Christians Tried to "Cure" Me of Homosexuality"

"Why Are Believers So Hostile Toward Atheists?"

"Brave Woman Who Grabbed Clip from Shooter Blames Right-Wing Media and Rhetoric ... In Fox News Interview"

Really?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

On what planet is Digg in danger of being snatched away from the many thousands of pornified, pro-marijuana, pro-gay, pro-abortion, anti-gun, anti-Israel, anti-Christian Digg users by a group of 100 conservatives?  When I first got on Digg in 2006 or 2007 conservative stories on the front page or anywhere else were nearly nonexistent. Just because there are more than there used to be doesn't mean there isn't still a gross imbalance in favor of left leaning articles.

I have actually learned to love these guys, even the ones with whom there are no words to describe how vehemently I disagree. I have been where they are, and believed what they believe with equal fervor. Maybe they will change their minds one day, maybe not. I did, but it did not render me unable to have a conversation, or to "agree to disagree."

I don't happen to care for burying stories, even ones I don't like. I feel very strongly that having to hear speech I don't like is a reasonable price of a free society. Just because I don't like something doesn't mean other people shouldn't have the right to read it, though I will bury comments that are blasphemous, racist, or just plain evil.  If I don't like something, I don't digg it.  On the other side of that coin, I have often dugg stories that I did not agree with because they made me think, or I found them otherwise worthy of recognition. My liberal Digg friends know that I am willing to digg all kinds of stories.

Winston Churchill is said to have observed, “If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain.”  The youth of most of the Diggers I know accounts for most of their opinions. But Churchill also said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” This is where many of the progressive Diggers fall short. They shout and name-call, but do not actually listen to opposing views, preferring to bury them instead. Perhaps the Digg Patriots felt that organized burying was the only way to balance the coverage.

I can remember once submitting an article about Barbara Bush recovering from a heart attack, just because I thought it was newsworthy. That was before I understood the anti-Bush vitriol on Digg that prevented any serious consideration of any article that even mentioned the name. The story was buried in the first couple of minutes. It wasn't a political story, just acknowledgment of a serious health issue experienced by a former First Lady that would have been newsworthy had it been about Hillary Clinton.

One of the charges leveled at the Digg Patriots is that they had multiple accounts, and when some of them were "banned for life" they came back in another incarnation.

Please. This happened every day of the week. Where was the outrage when liberals did this?

Anyway, that was before the unveiling of the publisher-heavy Digg 2.0, or 3.0 or whatever they are calling it. As far as I am concerned, that was the final demise of the "social" part of Digg that started when they took away the shout feature.

There is still a lot of interesting news on Digg, but it is no longer a daily, obsessive destination for me. I digg intermittently, and I am still in touch with a lot of the people I met there. I still follow a lot of the interesting blogs and sites I would never have known about if not for Digg. It is a great place to find out what the OtherSide is thinking.  But there are other social bookmarking/voting sites that have more appeal for me these days.

Glad to have my life back.

Photo credit: tutorial-net.blogspot.com

Are you an extremist?

"So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love?"-Martin Luther King

I posted this on Facebook earlier this week as I contemplated the end of my homeschooling journey.  While my son still has things to finish up, it can be argued that he is done with "homeschooling," as we have always done it.

I actually began thinking about extremism when I did my regular Google search on myself to be sure nobody is saying terrible things about me, and I came across this gem describing me as a Right Wing Extremist, apparently based on my Twitter account. That wasn't the only thing they got wrong, and if you went to that page it doesn't say that anywhere, so I am not sure exactly why it says it here.  But it did get me thinking about what it means to be an "extremist" and if there is really anything wrong with that.

When we first started homeschooling, we could have been described as "extremists."  We were motivated by a desire to shelter our children from The World, and to train them up as Bible believing Christians. We gave them a lot of opportunities to socialize with other children, but we did strictly control the quality and quantity of those interactions. We even homeschooled year round - From July 5 to Thanksgiving we had "9 week on/one week off" rotations, then taking off from Thanksgiving till January 2. Then more 9 week rotations until mid-May, and off again until July 5.  It worked well for us for a variety of other reasons, but it also gave us a reason not to be available in the summer when neighborhood kids were at home, and for them not to be available when we were off during everyone else's school year.  We preferred to spend time with other homeschoolers.

Actually, I was the one who preferred to spend time with other homeschoolers. It was tiresome to have to defend the way I lived all the time.  Remember, this was 15-20 years ago, when acceptance of home schooling was a lot different.  We were only the second homeschool family in our town.

Ultimately, we were motivated by love.  As we were both raised in non-Christian homes and had experienced many trials and sorrows during our own forays into the world, we wanted to give our children a foundation based on the truth of Word of God instead of on the winds of public opinion. A foundation that would help them avoid the snares that entangled us, and the heartache they caused.

Over the years, we began to relax our standards as the world changed, and the church changed. I got careless. I began to be concerned about whether they would be "irrelevant."  I opted for controlled exposure to media and other worldviews, and NEWSFLASH - kids are no more able to resist the siren song of the world when their exposure is "controlled" than when it is "uncontrolled."

My daughter just wanted to be like all the other kids.  My son, who preferred solitude, was glad to be able to stay home. They both got their wish. 

As for me, I agree with Dr. King. The question is not whether we will be extremists, but rather, what kind of extremist we will be.  There are plenty of things happening in higher education that we should be extremely concerned about.  You can read here about the Christian counseling student at a Georgia university who has been told she has to "change her beliefs" and submit to diversity and "sensitivity" training, or be expelled from school.  There are many others who have been thrown out of colleges around the country for refusing to affirm homosexual behavior.

Don't assume your children are strong enough in the Lord to withstand this kind of pressure to conform. Particularly when they are facing the prospect of being called haters or homophobes. Or facing the prospect of being saddled with paying off student loans for a degree they may never receive if they will not bow down.

If you are extremely concerned  for the future of religious freedom - or for that matter, freedom in general - in this country and have the nerve to say so, they will probably call you Taliban, teabagger, racist, or who knows what else.  If they know you are a Christian, they might add "Jesus freak", or perhaps "religious wingnut" to the mix.

Be an extremist - someone who is extremely, wildly in love with Jesus who talks to Him like He is real, and act as if you believe He can really answer prayer. Academic excellence is important, but what good is it if getting into that college of their dreams results in the shipwreck of your child's faith? Leading your children to Christ and helping them develop a living relationship with Him is imperative.  Jesus once said (in quite another context), "You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."