Thursday, May 20, 2010

News Roundup

World
World stocks tumble as debt woes rumble on
Cramer: Europe to Collapse in 48 Hours – or Never
Slightly scary stories about the leverage of European banks
Germany About to Pull the Plug On Europe, This is Going to Hurt!
Thousands of nonprofits may lose tax-exempt status
Greece Syndrome Defined
Earth in the Balance: 7 Crucial Tipping Points



Medical
Toilet brush 'blunder' death


DIY


Cooperative Extension System Offices

Here is a government program that sorta works, mainly because it is almost completely ignored by the government, so the people running it are free to do a good job.

We got a fantastic high-altitude cookbook from our local office when we first moved here that let my wife learn to make a killer loaf of French bread.

They often have some really useful gardening info.

And they have the equipment to check your pressure cooker.

How to Boil Water For Survival

You would think that boiling water is simple and straightforward.
You grab a pot.
You put water from the tap in the pot.
You put the pot on the stove and crank it to high and wait a few minutes until water is all turbulent and steamy. It will go faster if you put a lid on top, higher partial pressure and all that.
Congratulations you just killed all the germs in that pot of water. You now have safe drinking water. At this point you could even add a flavorant, like my favorite: hot cocoa mix.

This is also known as pasteurization. One of the top 5 health upgrades ever. Good to know if you have a access to a cow or raw milk. And also helpful if you made some stock and going to use it just to be sure, since your average meat stock is low in acid and rich in protein, making it an ideal bacteria breeding ground.

If you are into canning you'll use this to sterilize your jars and tools, and it will also work on medical supplies if there is a long term emergency and you are having to do it yourself.
You can even pour it over dishes and flatware to sterilize them, a useful tip if the dishwasher isn't working and you're sick.

If you are out in the wilderness and can make a fire you can sterilize the water even if you don't have a pot. Water boils at 212°F (100°C) at sea level but only 203°F (95°C) in Denver. Which is a lot lower then the melting point of a lot of materials. You can boil water in a paper cup though the top edge will burn off. Even a plastic water bottle will work, but you'll want to suspend it over the fire with some rope, hot rocks would melt the plastic. The fire will only discolor it. You wouldn't want to do that for the long term, chemicals and stuff, but it would keep you alive until rescue.

This also prepares you for a cooking skill upgrade. Once you can boil water you can learn to poach, braise and simmer foods. But that is another post.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

News Roundup

Emotional Preparedness

Are you ready to lose everything?

That is a very hard question to face. Our daughter died and it was very hard, she was only 9 days old.

Few people are brave enough to look at their own mortality much less their spouse's or their children's.

We are mortal and so we will all die. That is the nature of mortality. You can't make that go away and you can't ignore it.

Something that made dealing with it easier was suing decisions we had already made. We donated her organs and they were able to use her heart valves to save someone else's baby.

Since we are still young and tend to move around, we decided that whoever dies first should be cremated so we can keep them near until we could be buried together. So we keep her close in her urn.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The Family Lifeboat: Spiritual Preparedness

Do you think America is in a sustainable recovery?
or
Do you think there is trouble ahead of America and the world?

If you think there is a recovery, why are you reading this?

On the other hand, if you think, like I do, that there remains quite a bit of trouble ahead for America and the world that needs to be worked through, we need to prepare for that.

We need to prepare in several ways:
Physical: with food and water and the like.
Mental: with learning and thinking about what might be coming.
Emotional: by connecting with family and friends.

But today I want to write about the spiritual facet of our beings. We need to spend some of our time and efforts on strengthening our relationship with our God.

I have no idea what you believe or how you might worship, but are you putting the time into it that it deserves?

We can have a strong and personal relationship with our Heavenly Father and it is very simple:
Study the scriptures.
Pray to Him often, personally and as a family.
Spend time with our families talking about God and our relationship to God.
Go to church so we can worship Him and strengthen each other.

It's that simple. Most people think that is too simple. It isn't supposed to be hard. To be healed from snakebites all Israel had to do was look on a brazen serpent Moses put on top of a stick, but many wouldn't and died. Naaman the leper was told to wash in the Jordan river seven times and he would be cleansed and he almost didn't do it because it wasn't impressive enough.

This isn't a hard thing, but it is like a long-distance relationship, it takes extra special care and lots of little things to make it work.

Are you working on it?

News Roundup

Massachusetts Insurers Post Big Losses
Erase Your Copy Machine's Hard Drive to Wipe Important Documents
New electricity grids may be smart, but not so private
ProLogis testing products from solar-energy companies
White House says 1.5 trillion calories to be cut from food supply?
Union cries foul after court blocks BA cabin crew strike
Winning a property-tax reduction on your home
Gold Investing: A beginners Guide to the Gold Market
For Wall Street Villains: The Five Best Hideouts -- With No Extradition
Why are Japanese houses so damn cold?
Suppose 21st Century Disasters Like 19th Century
AccidentSketch Helps You Create Detailed Accident Reports
This Cartoon Seemed Far-Fetched In 1948
Things You Really Need to Learn
Clean Your PC
A Weekend Project for You
Crashing America
The new food pessimism
Make It Easy To Do Right.
The Battle for the Internet:
The Dollar Meltdown: Surviving the Impending Currency Crisis
“Do I have the right to refuse this search?”
Why Bother?
What Survivalists Have Right
Waste not, want not: here comes the new austerity chic
China boom may be ending, warns OECD
Drought in southern China
The Toilet Paper Shortage of 1973
Greek and Roman classics available online
How to Fall 35,000 Feet—And Survive