by Kellene Bishop

As crazy as it sound, I periodically engage in debates with another person or a cause privately in my mind. Ok. Yes, sometimes I do say things out loud just to see how they sound.  It’s how I formulate an articulate and sound argument on a particular issue.  I think I started it as a teenager when I plotted how I was going to rationally get away with pushing the envelope with my mother’s rules.  So, today, I am going to let you in on an argument that I’ve been having with myself and the imaginary USDA persons who believe that bottled butter is bad due to potential botulism poisoning.  I still hear so many of the concerns caused by the fictional USDA warnings about bottling butter. And I think it’s ridiculous—as is clearly noted in my previous article. So hear it goes folks…

First of all…why in the world would the USDA say that bottling your own butter increases the risk of botulism?? I may not be a scientist, but I do know what kills botulism:  heat and oxygen; 180 degrees of heat, to be exact, for about 20- 30 minutes. When I purchase my butter from the store, can I safely assume that there is no botulism in it when I buy it? Isn’t it fair to say that the manufacturers of the butter properly pasteurized it to eliminate botulism?  Um, I would certainly think so.  So, Mr. USDA, help me understand why is it that you are concerned that if I take my store bought butter from my refrigerator, put it in a pan and heat it for 15 to 20 minutes, which also exposes it to oxygen, which kills the botulism, and then transfer it to sanitized jars and seal it, that somewhere in that process I’m introducing botulism bacteria into my butter?! Botulism, by the way, originates from spores found in the soil!? Last time I checked I haven’t been able to grow butter in my garden. Botulism needs low oxygen, comfy temps, AND low acidity to thrive.  It’s not like I’m bottling my butter in the middle of my garden or field out back.  Yes, botulism is serious. You can’t see it, smell it, or detect it other than in a laboratory. So let’s be serious about it instead of spreading unfounded risks.  The growth of botulism requires low oxygen, low acidity, AND a comfortable temperature. Extreme hot or cold, along with the elimination of oxygen –AFTER the butter has been exposed to oxygen, is enough to cause the bacteria to become dormant.  Notice I said dormant-not eliminated.

In the past I have bottled my butter with a combination of the stove top, sanitized jars, a funnel, and shaking the contents for a while after bottling them. But lately I’ve been tweaking my method and am excited with the fact that I’ve made the process easier AND safer!  (I keep telling you all that I’m the laziest preparedness person you will ever meet. And what do they say about lazy people?  Give a lazy person a job and they will find an even easier way to do it.) hee hee

For starters, remember one thing about a solar oven.  It can easily reach 180 degrees and maintain that level with a modest amount of sun coverage.

Secondly, remember that you cannot burn or scorch anything in a solar oven. Thus, instead of having my butter melt in a saucepan on my stove for a long enough period of time that will  eliminate the botulism concerns, I’ve begun melting the butter in my solar oven.  This eliminates the oft-hyped concern that most bottle butter naysayers have to contribute about the process. At 180 degrees you are cooking low and slow. Botulism doesn’t have a chance in that environment.  This is why I teach folks that they can also use their solar oven to sanitize bandages, dishes, and medical supplies.  Heck, you can even pasteurize water in your solar oven!

My solar oven has simplified the bottled butter process substantially.  I take ½ pound of butter and put it in a sanitized ½ pint mason jar.  Then I add a single marble to the jar as well. (This will aid me in the shaking process.)  Then I put a lid on the jar, and screw it down tightly.  I melt the butter in the solar oven for about an hour—PLENTY of time!  The lids seal nicely and the butter melts beautifully without getting brown or scorched.

Then I cool off the jars of butter in the house, shaking them every 10 minutes for the first ½ hour of cooling. Then I put them in the refrigerator and continue to shake them every 10 minutes for the next half hour (the marble REALLY helps in this regard).  From there the golden jars of delight are stored downstairs in my cool, dry pantry for approximately 3 to 5 years.  No funnel, no mess, and no worries about botulism. Now when I make homemade bread, I can enjoy the taste of REAL butter on it, instead of the powdered stuff—even if there were no electricity for months and months.

Ah, freedom. You’ve just got to love it! Now, I feel so much better after this rant. How about you? *grin*

(Author’s note: I prefer the Global Sun Oven for its superior insulation, heat retention, seal, and sturdiness.  You can find them on Five Star Preparedness for a good, everyday price which includes drop shipping right to your door.)

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Counter Commodity Security

By Kellene Bishop

To be completely forthright, I wanted to write this particular article first in this particular series. However, I knew that it wouldn’t have as much of an impact if the foundation hadn’t been laid out properly with the previous articles. So think of this article as the cymbal clash that follows your drum roll.

As I’ve shared with you previously, preparedness is not about being ready for an “end of the world” type of scenario. It’s about independence of everyday scenarios.  I am positive that if we are prepared to handle everyday scenarios head on, then even when such scenarios are compounded into more alarming, widespread scenarios, then we will also be ready for those as well.

 I’m going to assume that most of the world would agree that we are reliant on others for our food sources. Very, very few persons in the world nowadays have the skills or the wherewithal to produce all that they and their family consumes in terms of nutrition.  As such, we are reliant on the grocery stores to stock what we want, we are reliant on our paychecks clearing the banks in a timely manner so that we can purchase the food we need; we are reliant on the health inspectors to ensure that we don’t die or get violently ill as a result of the food we eat; we are reliant on the Federal Reserve to make sure that the money which we pay for our foods has sufficient value to buy enough of what we need; we are reliant on transportations flowing smoothly so that we can get our food delivery; and we are reliant upon Mother Nature to nurture and grow the foods that are planted and harvested each year. Frankly, an interruption in any of these areas will not only affect our personal food supply, but because such a snag in a constantly tenable situation would be so widespread, it would also bring with it some dire domino consequences.  As you can see, food preparedness is very closely tied to many other areas of preparedness including physical, medical, and financial.  This is exactly why I’ve attempted to lay a better foundation for you relative to understanding how tenable the financial world in on an international basis. Because you need to understand that are in order to understand why an imminent true-blue food shortage is about to change your financial world as you know it.

 No, I don’t say the words “worldwide food shortage” lightly.  I don’t believe in fear mongering, inducing panic, or chaos.  That kind of emotional manipulation only helps the retailers of “emergency preparedness” supplies.  But what I do believe in is education.  If you are able to see the scenario we have before us in it’s proper light, then you are able to calmly, deliberately, and strategically prepare for a more serious scenario.

Food Shortages photo c/o www.foodshortageusa.com

 FOOD SHORTAGE—the two words that initially bring about distrust, disgust, and denial in most persons who hear them. And yet even our government officials are blatantly sharing food shortage information with us on the USDA website. The disturbing thing is though that the USDA has such food shortage information on the exact same page in which they are predicting a bumper crop scenario this year.  In addition to the USDA reports, there is unlimited, credible, and undeniable information that there will indeed be a food shortage for 2010.  Even the mainstream media has dared to share information of the 450% increase in pricing on some standard produce such as tomatoes and green beans due to weather related harvest shortages.

So, why are we sure to experience a food shortage this year?

1)      Mother nature has wreaked havoc in several key areas of the world—including in the farming capital of the world, our own Midwestern states.  Our spring last year was so wet, causing many farmers to plant later in the year.  Unfortunately, the water continued to wreak havoc on the farms as they attempted to harvest their crops. Over 30% of all of our key crops in the Midwest went unharvested due to the wet soil conditions (as in the Mid-west and the South), record droughts (as in Texas) or unexpected freezes (as in Florida). Click here to see article.  We are already playing things close in our food supplies this last harvest. We really couldn’t afford a 30% hit.  

Tie this in to how it plays out in the financial world, it means that there will be less supply of food in spite of increasing demand.  Larger demand for something in short supply requires higher prices. At present circumstances, you food budget may purchase as little as 30 percent less food than it did before but as much as 400% less food than it did before—yup, that means you’ll be in the negative.

2)      Several key exporting food nations have experienced the same kinds of shortages who have been some of the key exporters of wheat, rice and other grains. Unfortunately, these nations are having to rely on food IMPORTS this year.

The tie in to this problem as it relates to the financial aspect is the same as #1, except that it pinched not just the pricing, but the plain and simple availability of food.  In which case, money won’t make a bit of difference if you don’t even have the commodity around to purchase it.

3)      2009’s early financial crisis.  Farmers could not get credit to run their farms properly and certainly not in response to the additional help they needed in the face of adverse weather conditions. As a result, there was drastic drop in the number of crops that were planted.

This means that they are, at the very least, behind one harvest season—and that’s assuming that they were able to make it through this past one in spite of a lack of financial aid.  This inhibits the farmers from being able to get ahead by planting enough to make up the financial difference.  Unfortunately, the further behind one gets financially, the less likely they are to qualify for financial aid. A lack of farmers definitely means a lack of foods. According to David Miller, Director of Research for Iowa Farm Bureau, as of December 2009, the net farm income was down by one third! He predicts that the drop in income will continue during 2010 as well. In other words, once the farming industry gets behind on food production, it’s unlikely that they can catch up.  Our population is ever increasing in the U.S., not going down. Thus the need for food will continue to increase as well. We’re in a vicious downward cycle right now.

fusarium head blight or scab, photo c/o www.ars.usda.gov

4)      New insect enemies have begun to infiltrate entire wheat and soybean crops that we do not yet have a suitable weapon for. Officially called a fusarium head blight or scab, it’s more commonly  known as “tombstone” because of the white tombstone-like appearance it has on the dead crops. It’s a toxin-infecting fungus that attacks the wheat flowers. The cooler and more moist the growing environment, the more the scabs flourish.  Unfortunately the cool, wet weather we’ve had in our crops the last two years have been an expensive weather pattern. The way to combat this problem is to develop wheat strains that are resistant to this disease. Obviously, discovering such requires more than one harvest, and historically requires 4 harvests to be sure.  With the present food crisis we have in the world, I’m not sure we have the luxury of waiting through four harvests to get back on our feet.

In addition to this, many parts of the country experienced a dearth of grasshoppers consuming their hay reserves for their livestock. (South Dakota and Wyoming, for example)   Considering that many farmers only yielded one-sixth of what they typically do, this was a traumatic setback for many.

 Again, the financial consequences of this affect the supply and demand in our food market.  Wheat, corn and soy are king in nearly everything we consume in one way or another. Meat needs the nutrition of quality feed and plenty of it. Without proper feed, every aspect of our meal get formidably expensive.

food recall photo c/o lunchbox.hospsrvc.ttu.edu

 

5)      The last two years have brought about the largest number of food recalls ever.  And merely 4 weeks ago, we experienced the largest food recall in American history with the salmonella discovered in the manufacturing plant in Las Vegas. This plant was the largest producer of hydrolyzed vegetable protein, which is found in nearly every processed food on the market. As a result, our market got hit with a massive food recall, which also impacts profits of grocers and cash flow for them to be able to provide additional food for their shelves.

 Can you see the financial consequences on this one?

 6)      Gas prices are on the rise again.  I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but fuel has risen over 30 cents per gallon in the last two weeks where I am.  When I see fuel rising I immediately think of food costs. It takes fuel to harvest, transport, clean, and process food, Folks.  With unemployment at record high numbers, accompanied by abysmal inflation, that’s a recipe for a lack of access for many folks to purchase food. If food can’t assuredly be sold off of the shelves before it spoils because folks are having to be more cautious in their spending, then grocery stores will pull back on how much they stock on their shelves so that they don’t have to take the financial hit for spoilage.

7)      The wheat and other food reserves have already been exhausted or are inaccessible.  China has long bragged that they hold an enormous wheat reserve of over 150 to 200 million tons (2009). But news articles over the last 5 years account for China reducing that reserve is far in excess of what they claimed to have stored.  No one can verify today that there is any wheat in reserve in China.

India, which has a burgeoning population growth long bragged about their wheat reserves. Unfortunately, such reserves have been completely exhausted due to stark poverty and agriculture problems and replaced with low quality, rotting wheat instead. Under India’s FCI act, the government is required to purchase all of the wheat, regardless of the quality. Thus, in an attempt to keep up with export contracts, India had to raid their stores of quality wheat and replace them with their poor quality, disease-ridden wheat instead for their own people.

As you know, the U.S. no longer has any wheat reserves. The fact that the dollar has been so soft, makes the importing of U.S. wheat by other countries very attractive as their own currencies remain strong against the U.S. dollar. (See, even they understand that “stuff” is more important than money.)

 Argentine dock workers going on strike has made worldwide access to the 3^rd largest supplier of soy useless as the soy harvests simply sit in the port until concessions can be made. (A particularly uncomfortable problem for Europe, which is already experiencing a soy shortage due to the South American crops yielding less than normal.)  Oh, and did I mention that Argentina is experiencing unusually heavy rains so far this year?

 And the financial consequences continue…

 Food shortages have many financial affects, including triple digit food inflation numbers.  But it’s an impact that very few persons can avoid because we all need to eat, right?  The evidence shows that not only will food cost substantially more in 2010, but there will plain and simple be the elimination of food in many aspects.

food harvesting photo c/o www.extension.iastate.edu

The production of food is cyclical. We rely on harvests. Much of our food has been destroyed and thus we cannot create more until the next harvest cycle.  Since the U.S. and most other nations have eliminated their “just in case” food supplies as a result of the previous year’s weather and economic related problems worldwide, we simply do not have a back-up plan. That’s why some food will simply not even exist, even if someone did have the money to pay a higher price for it. In fact, it’s in part attributed to the USDA’s false prediction of a bumper crop for the past two years that the U.S. chose to walk the edge of the cliff when they got rid of their excess food supplies and sold them or donated them to hurting countries.  The USDA told them that the food they were exporting would be easily replaced by the next two year’s harvests.  In fact, they even went so far are to claim that we would have the “largest ever soy crop and the second largest corn crop. Well, here we are, two harvests later, and Mother Nature pulled a fast one on the USDA. In direct contrast to the suspicious predictions by the USDA, we experienced some of the WORST harvests of 25 years!

 So, why did the USDA come out right and just plain LIE about the bumper crop predictions?  Well, our friends, the Chinese have a lot to do with this one. They are the most heavily invested in our debt and they rely heavily on the U.S. for the food supplies.  Remember, money is only as good as what it can purchase, right?  So if China relies heavily on our ability to export food to them, then it requires them to play nice with us, right?  So it’s important to the USDA anyway, that we keep up the pretense that our food supply is just fine and dandy and capable of keeping up with our own supply and demand as well as that of other nations which rely on us to feed them.  Oops. We’re about to be discovered real soon folks.  Not just by China (which latest numbers indicated that they own 25% of our foreign debt) but also by Japan, which is at 22% ownership of our foreign debt.

Zimbabwe inflation photo c/o stan.uio.no/

Here’s where the real crisis begins, folks. If China does not get their food needs met by their relationships with nations who are willing to export their foods, then China has no other choice but to DUMP their U.S. currency and debt back into the market so that they can reclaim their own currency (yuan or Renminbi) so that they can purchase “stuff” to feed their nation with instead of just having debt or currency sitting around.  What happens if China dumps their debt and currency back into the open market?  Our existing currency value will drop way, way down, due to an oversupply in our economic system.  What that then means is that the money which we rely on to purchase our own food, will simply not purchase as much as it used to.  (Think Zimbabwe—in which they had to brings BAGS of cash just to purchase a loaf of bread)

China drought photo c/o physorg.com

 To make matters worse, are you aware that China is experiencing the worst drought ever this year?  On March 19, 2010 one of the provinces worst hit by the drought , Guizhou Provice, released a statement claiming that the existing drought has affected 84 counties, cities and other areas within China, with a total affected population of 17.28 million persons.  Of that 17.28 million, the report claimed that over 3.1 million people are literally starving from a lack of food. This drought has affected the drinking water supply for over 18 million people as well, including the water necessary for about 12.5 million acres of crop and livestock farms.   They claim that over 2.9 million acres of land are already completely destroyed and unsalvageable.   So far, this drought has caused a loss of $2.85 billion (US).  The leader of the Yunnan Province, another province affected by the drought, told the Bejing News that local citizens in this area should “prepare for the worst.”  Does this put China in a vulnerable position in which they are likely to do something desperate in order to protect their greatest asset—their man-power? Of course it does.

 So, what does all of this mean to you?  It means you need to mitigate your risk of exposure to soaring food costs by purchasing smart NOW. Purchase food that has a long shelf-life with plenty of nutrition. (i.e. freeze-dried produce, whole grains, and canned meats).   Utilize coupons as much as possible. While a coupon may only be 50 cents off of an item, the items add up to a sizeable savings—as much as 110%!  Even the 50 cents savings on a $3 item is a better return than most of Wall Street is experiencing presently. And forget about the couponing stigma! No one would accuse Warren Buffet of being a “hoarder of stocks” would they? Just because he kept buying stocks that he recognized as being valuable didn’t make him some kind of a crazy, right? Well, the same holds true to those of you who take the initiative in purchasing a commodity that will still have it’s value 5, 10, or even 30 years from now—food. Food prices will NOT be going down. They are only going to keep rising. So mitigate your vulnerable position by investing heavily in quality foods now.  There’s a big difference between being a crazy food hoarder and stabilizing your grocery budget over the long-term. At least you can ensure that your money works for you today and years from now in that capacity of your life.  Remember, that’s what preparedness is about—eliminating your vulnerabilities and establishing independence.

 May your dinner table be independent for decades to come in spite of what Mother Nature or foreign nations throw at you.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

By Kellene Bishop

Many people have lost their homes due to sub-prime mortgages photo c/o www.hpadesign.com/

Question for you. If you could have predicted the sub-prime mortgage crash and had been able to be better prepared for the consequences, would you have taken any action to do so?  The preparedness could have been in the form of buying stocks/insurance to hedge against the crisis, or it could have been paying off debts in a alternative strategy, etc.  The point is, being forewarned of any serious financial disaster is critical, right?  Well, at the risk of sounding a bit “gloom and doom” I’m sharing with you briefly that over the next two days I’m going to take you through, step by step, and show you what’s really taking place worldwide with our food supplies and our financial system in America. In doing so I will be making use of my extensive background in the market as well as the nearly 100 hours I’ve poured into USDA and government financial reports.  I’ll be converting this information into clear, layman’s terms—not to infer that readers are stupid, rather to blatantly accuse the USDA and other organizations of purposefully discombobulating their words so that folks DON’T understand and prepare accordingly. 

The bottom line is that this information, if properly understood, can be quite alarming. As you know, I don’t believe that alarm and panic marry well with preparedness. So as a part of this multi-part report, I’ll be sharing with you what to expect over the next several months in your banking and grocery experiences, and what you can easily do right now to prepare to be comfortable during such times.

Financial Education photo c/o teamsubmarine.wordpress.com

In previous articles which I’ve written addressing a potential financial collapse as well as food shortage issues, I’ve been inundated with additional questions as well as some not-so-kind accusations that it’s all a bunch of hooey.  To be frank, I really try not to take such accusations personally because I understand that they usually come from a position of a lack of knowledge or from their natural mental response to an unpleasant or somewhat threatening concept.  In other words, it’s just a natural defense mechanism. My goal over the course of this article is to lay out the facts of the food and financial dilemma that is bearing down on us at present, and then supplement that information with real, practical solutions. I will explain exactly what is happening, where, who the players are, what their actions are most likely to be in the next couple of months, and how such actions will immediately impact your household. Don’t get me wrong folks. I don’t mean to infer that this is an apocalyptic type of event, but if it is not prepared for, it will indeed have some serious effects—so serious in fact, it may very well make this most recent string of political events look like nothing more than a smoke screen.

So, be sure that you check in with us over the next couple of days so that you can be at peace by being prepared.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

by Kellene Bishop

Bribes Let Tomato Vendor Sell Tainted Food photo c/o nytimes.com

When I read articles like these, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/business/25tomatoes.html?em I am reminded exactly why it is that I believe in having a well-stocked pantry that has long shelf-life.  I am also reminded as to why I do not invest heavily in canned goods if I can get away with it. That doesn’t mean that I don’t indulge in canned goods. They certainly have their place, but I definitely have reliable, clean, and safe substitutes on hand specifically to guard myself from the corruption, greed, deviant ethics, and just plain incompetence that plagues our food industry.   It doesn’t take a famine or heavy rains to give us cause to be more independent in our own food supplies.  There is plenty of cause every single day.

A statistic recently caught my eye on a health food site claiming that in the last 2 years there have been more food recalls than in the last 15 years put together? After watching movies such as “King Corn”, “Super-Size Me” and “Food Inc.”, I feel sufficiently informed to the point that I know that there are ample reasons for me to take my food and nutrition matters into my own hands.  As I shared in a previous article, the USDA, FDA, and grocery store names (i.e. “Whole Foods”) simply can’t be trusted to sustain a healthy life for my family.

Don’t get me wrong. I have my Dr. Pepper/Krispy Kreme kind of days.  As indicated by my physique. I’m not the epitome of a health food junkie. (Oh how I wish it were true, though—working on it.) But I do definitely rely more heavily on alternatives to so-called fresh produce, “Grade A” meat, and questionable processed foods. What are they?  

Top of my list is WHEAT.  I use it in my breads, rolls, cookies, and I use it as a meat alternative. (See articles with “wheat meat” information by searching “wheat meat” in our search bar) Does anyone remember the scandal of when Home Pride Bread had used saw dust to sprinkle the top of their bread with to make it look more “whole grain?” Or how about the recall of pet food that was poisoned?  How about the shortage of rice? Remember when spinach, lettuce, tomatoes and beef were recalled as the result of e-coli poisoning?  Well, fortunately, wheat isn’t yet processed that questionably. I can replace a lot of vegetables with wheat by sprouting it. I can make a delicious meat substitute. And I can have safe and wholesome bread as well.  Even better, I get to store the wheat with diatomaceous earth that takes care of any weevil problem but is actually GOOD for me.  What a miraculous bargain there, eh?

Freeze-Dried produce ends up being cheaper than fresh!

Next, I’m a big fan of freeze-dried produce.  Notice I said PRODUCE, not entrees.  The produce HAS to be clean in order for it to vaporize properly. If it still has the pesticides, herbicides, etc. in it, then it won’t take the correct form during the freeze-drying process.  (This is yet another reason why I like to double check the color, shape, and integrity of my freeze-dried produce before I invest heavily in it.) The good news is though, when I find a good freeze-dried product, I’m in heaven. No slicing, dicing, cleaning, picking, wasting, or bruising. I just pick up the handful and throw it in my soup. Or sometimes I cover it with water to reconstitute it and then use the now flavored water in some kind of delicious dish in addition to the fruit or vegetable. In fact, the other night I reconstituted some pineapple for a Polynesian Chicken dish. Instead of reconstituting it in water, I did so in chicken broth because the regular recipe I was adapting called for chicken broth in addition to the pineapple. So hey, why not multipurpose that broth? I do the same when I’m reconstituting fruit for a fruit mousse or Jell-O salad. Instead of just using plain old water, I use the water from the reconstituted fruit.  It adds an additional depth of flavor that way. While you can’t label freeze-dried foods as “organic” per se, they certainly are clean and safe and MUCH less expensive than mysteriously labeled “organic” foods are today.

Heirloom seeds are critical to my well-being in my opinion as well.  I’m not a master gardener yet by any stretch of the imagination. But I am working on it simply so that I can have more independence from the mistakes of others.  I don’t want DNA manipulated, chemical treated seeds. I want the good old fashioned kind that yield great foods that I can grow again and again and again.

Shirley J products add variety to your preparedness pantry

If I can find a dry equivalent to a food product and have it taste great too, then I’m all over it. For example, it’s no secret that I’m in love with the Shirley J Universal Sauce? Why? Because I don’t have to use butter or milk to make a perfect roux or béchamel sauce. I also don’t have to expose myself to added MSG or hydrogenated oils that are so abundant in cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soups that I used to use regularly, and it’s absolutely idiot-proof to make. I even buck the instructions and use hot broths to mix it up and it thickens in seconds. None of this babysitting and stirring stuff for me.  Thanks to the lack of the oils, it won’t go rancid on me. It’s got a shelf-life of 20-30 years so long as I store it in a cool, dry place. I can make a large batch ahead of time, store it in the refrigerator and it still won’t separate or turn into anything other than perfect and creamy when I cook it.  Dry products usually cost MUCH less than the canned food and they store longer and take up less space. I love the tomato powder I get. I can make ketchup, tomato paste, and tomato sauce out of it, or use it to add just a hint of tomato flavor to a soup or sauce.  There are quite a few perfect dry products on the market that are great for everyday use AND have a long shelf-life. (Shirley J products in general, powdered lemon and lime juice, powdered milk, etc.)

Essential oils and other homeopathic remedies are a must photo c/o herbmentor.com

Next, I take wellness and sick care into my own hands as much as possible as well.  Even if it isn’t tainted, a great deal of acetaminophen or aspirin can kill a person or at least tax their liver substantially. So, in the spirit of independence from the manufacturing dead beats, I have pursued the learning of essential oils, herbs, vitamins, and other “good for you” concoctions. Rather than just have them for “emergencies” I use them now so that I can peacefully rely on them in a pinch. (This is yet another reason why I vehemently do not believe in “emergency” preparedness.)

Remember, to me preparedness is all about being independent of vulnerabilities. When stories like I’ve shared with you above make it into the mainstream media, I know that they are just the tip of the iceberg. So I stay vigilant in protecting myself and my loved ones and I sure hope you do too.

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If you would like to host a preparedness party for your business, community, or church group, please contact Vicky at vicky@preparednesspro.com 

For any questions or comments on this article, please leave a comment on the blog site so that everyone can benefit!

Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

by Kellene Bishop

Determining Fact from Fiction

A beautiful warm day in May, 1985. It was the day after my graduation ceremony and I was on my way up to a little town I had never heard of called Lakeside, Ohio. It nestled right along Lake Erie and attracted lots of tourists in the summer months. My best friend, MaryAnn had got me a job as a waitress with her at a little restaurant, The Patio. Funny thing. When I was little I actually wanted to grow up and be a waitress. So here I was, freshly graduated, 18 years old, and embarking on an adventure with my best friend for the summer at a little resort town. We were going to be roommates together for the whole summer. I was so excited to be living on my own, with a dear friend that I had known for years and had come to love and respect deeply.

Waitressing...those were the days photo c/o www.insidesocal.com

Summer days in Ohio near that large body of water were so hot and very humid.  Even an early morning walk at 6:30 a.m. would still leave you feeling hot and sticky. During these months, the air conditioning was our saving grace since we were renting an attic room in an old home. Though the electricity was included in our rent, our landlady was quite manipulative in controlling how much we used the air conditioning. She would simply flip a switch and not allow us to turn it on at all sometimes. Thus we appropriately called her the AC Nazi.  Most nights we slept in comfortable exhaustion as we ran around all day serving tables and then crashed into our beds at night in the midst of the cool lake air. But on our days off, it was nearly unbearable to stay in our rooms during the daylight hours.  In fact, it was so miserable; we’d try to avoid staying in our rooms as much as possible even if it meant working an extra shift at the restaurant.

After about 1 month of work my dear friend had developed a serious bronchial infection.  MaryAnn was actually quite sickly while we went to high school together and had had some “close calls” with her health.  I was particularly concerned because we both had been working some very long hours at the restaurant for almost the entire month we were there. This infection seemed to have zapped the color right out of her. She told me that the only relief she got as she rested was when the air conditioning was on. Otherwise she looked pitiful and helpless lying in her bed, sweating like she had just run a marathon.  We were told that she had to really rest and take her medications until she got over it. She didn’t want to go home; after all, how would that look to have to go home your first summer as an independent woman?  So, I worked to cover her shifts in addition to mine at the restaurant while she got better. Some days I would have enough time to walk home in-between shifts and check on her. But frankly, there was nothing I could do but get her some more water and maybe bring her some toast and soup from the restaurant. We explained to the landlady that MaryAnn was sick and would need to run the AC in the room while she was recovering. The landlady assured us that she would permit it. But when MaryAnn would attempt to run the air conditioner, the AC Nazi would trip the breaker whenever she felt it had been on long enough. Between seeing my friend miserable and knowing that we were paying for access to the AC, I was a bit angry.

To make matters worse, MaryAnn was one of the mildest mannered people I knew.  Yes this made this particular matter much worse. She would be as sweet as pie to the landlady whenever the landlady checked in on her. She never once uttered anything about her great discomfort. She never spoke a harsh word to anyone. I never heard her complain about her parents, other kids at school, or her brothers who would pick on her as brothers are want to do.  But she seemed to be at her wits end when it came to dealing with this landlady and the air conditioning issue.  I think it was the only time I ever heard her speak ill of someone—but she only shared her feelings with me. She even avoided calling home so that her parents wouldn’t know that she was ill. Needless to say, it would anger me a great deal when I would come home to check on her and see her so miserable, trying to rest in that high heat and humidity. I kept encouraging her—even begging her—to say something to the landlady. MaryAnn assured me that she would, but then nothing would get said.

One day I had come home in-between shifts to check on her. As I climbed the narrow old stairs up to our room I could hear MaryAnn hacking her lungs out. It sounded so awful.  I found her in tears and miserable. She told me that she hadn’t been permitted to have the AC on at all that day.  The landlady had left to go into town earlier and had left strict instructions with her nephew that the AC was not to be allowed on.  I was furious—and probably really worried too (that always seems to be the real fuel behind my anger). Just then the landlady walked into our room without even so much as a knock.  I looked at MaryAnn expecting her to say something, but she didn’t. She just looked at me as if she was helpless to stand up for herself. So, I found myself emphatically communicating with the landlady about how I insisted that she allow the air conditioning to be turned on without any obstruction until MaryAnn regained her health. Well, this old lady was clearly not used to someone speaking to her this way.  And frankly, I was raised to be very respectful of adults. I’m not the swearing kind usually. And I didn’t holler. But as the daughter of an attorney I was very specific in my demands for what I believed were my rights under our rental agreement.  When I was through, the landlady was aghast that I would say such things to her. She immediately informed me that under the confines of our rental agreement she had the right to evict me immediately. Which she did. MaryAnn was welcome to stay, but the AC Nazi did not want a “horrible person like me living under her roof.”  I looked at MaryAnn in disbelief. She was absolutely silent and averted my gaze.   In my mind I was confident that MaryAnn wouldn’t stand for this kind of treatment and move out with me—after all, I was getting evicted because I had stuck up for her.  But she didn’t. She only said one thing that night as I packed my things that night and left—“I was fine without the AC.”

I’ll never forget the day that I had to face the music and admit that my best friend wasn’t truly my best friend.  I tried to deny it. I tried to understand.  But instead, I just hurt inside, and felt very much alone and betrayed. I knew nobody else up in this little resort.  I was able to find another room for the summer, but it cost 4 times as much as I was paying for the room I shared with MaryAnn. I didn’t know how I was going to make it financially. I didn’t have any other friends there except for MaryAnn.  I wouldn’t even have known that this little resort of a town existed if it hadn’t been for her. Yup. I felt some kind of alone, that’s for sure.  In a couple of weeks, MaryAnn returned to work and never said a word to me. In fact, I don’t recall her saying anything to me since then.

Hurt and pain can lead to dispair, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. photo c/o aaahomebuyers.com

It hurt so badly to discover that she would betray my love, my trust, my belief in her goodness, and so much else. My mind whirled through our history of love and friendship together as I looked at every memorable conversation we had in a new light.  Feeling alone, far from home, and stressed with my new reality, I was pretty emotional. “When did she ‘go bad’? What did I do to deserve this? What more could I have done to avoid this? How could I have been so naïve and gullible?” 

I’m sure that most of us can relate on some level or another to this instance of betrayal mixed with disbelief and pain.  It may be delivered at the hands of a friend, a trusted medical advisor, our attorney who’s supposed to protect us from horrific financial exposures, our parents or guardians who are supposed to protect us from abuse, our teachers who are supposed to teach us truths, or our community leaders who we trust to make decisions in our best interests. Yet everywhere we turn we are disappointed in these areas of trust. At such a time we may find ourselves resolving that we will never trust again, never be hurt again, and never open ourselves to such vulnerabilities again. We’ll never do something good for someone else and we’ll never trust someone else with any part of our lives again. Some may decide that they want to completely “get off of the grid” and not be a part of society whatsoever. There’s only one problem with this resolve though. It’s simply not how we’re made up. It goes against everything good inside of us. If we build up a wall so that love, trust and friendship don’t get in, then we can’t let any of those needs get out either.  No one is really happy being a Scrooge, right? We are social, community beings.  Our hard-drives mysteriously push even the most committed hermit to reach out to someone for interaction and relationships—even if it’s a soccer ball. (Just ask my husband who swore he’d never get married again) But those interdependent relationships will always be accompanied by disappointment at some level so long as imperfect men and women are given any position of trust in our lives.  When it comes to creating an environment of independence, aka preparedness, how can we remain true to our good natures without constantly exposing ourselves to potentially deadly mistakes of misplaced trust? How can we interact and still be protected and peaceful? Is there a way to have both without compromising the good inside of us or our emotional and spiritual strength?

Yes. There is.

photo c/o x6f.xanga.com

First strategy: The best foundation for a healthy interdependence is an acceptance that it isn’t perfect.  I tell myself that the number one rule about friendship is that I will get hurt. But I have to decide if I’m willing to love them in spite of that.  The same goes for the other things that we rely on—the everyday things: i.e. our government, our banking system, the weather man, our education system, etc.  All of these aspects that we rely on so heavily and yet unconsciously, in many cases, are imperfect. The biggest danger we can put ourselves in is to deny that such is the case. Did the Great Depression last longer than it needed to as a result of the desires of the rich and powerful? Yes, yes, it did.  Is our public education system a contrived maneuver for tax collection? Yup. Sorry. It is.  Can we trust the Federal Reserve to act in our own best interested morally and ethically? Nope. Sorry.  You can’t expect men/women who are surrounded by unlimited amounts of cash and unchecked power to be virtuous any more than you can expect a room full of men not to look at a naked woman (if only for a second).  But you will be far better off to deal with these systems, ideas, and people in general if you do so with the understanding that it is susceptible to flaws—even catastrophic ones. If you understand that, then you eliminate the power that any of these things have to break you down and catch you by surprise.  Even terrorists know that their true power lies not in the wielding of the knife or the gun or the bomb. It lies in the fear of the unknown. I assure you that those who helped take down the terrorists on plane on 9/11 (knowing it still meant death to them) vs. those who let it be thrust upon them, went out of this world with much greater peace and joy.   So instead of making the world around you an unknown set of disappointments and breaches of trust, simply presume that flaws exist and you will find yourself much better prepared mentally and otherwise. This doesn’t require a pessimistic view on life and the world around you. It simply requires a healthy, matter of fact acceptance that things around us aren’t perfect.  In a final attempt at making my point clearer, allow me to share this.  I have a sister-in-law who is the mother of 6 boys, ranging in ages from 5 to 13. They are indeed a handful. But she accepts that as a part of who they are and doesn’t freak out when dead animals are brought into the house. This doesn’t make her a pessimist. This doesn’t require her to surrender any sort of order, decorum, or obedience in her home.  But it sure does help her sanity. Trying to change these growing boys into pictures of perfection would be just about as easy as my trying to get the jeepnies in the Philippines to forsake all of their counterintuitive behaviors.

Second Strategy: Do your homework.  If the issue is important enough for you to argue, then it should be important enough for you to research. Before I began using Shirley J, I went and interviewed the owners of the company. Before I began shooting primarily with a Glock I shot countless other handguns. Before I settled on particular brands of freeze-dried foods, I tested and used over 15 different kinds and even went to work temporarily with two of the companies as a consultant. I’m not talking about a PhD level of homework here. But I am talking about making informed decisions.  I don’t mind it if someone disagrees with me, even on issues that I consider to be vital to morality and ethics. But I do take exception if they make such decisions without any more than a bar room discussion drowned in liquor as their

Study before making any decision or relying on anyone else's say so. photo c/o i.ehow.com

classroom. We have far too much freedom for us to settle for ignorance.  Who to vote for, where to live, where to shop, how to take care of our children, how to get our dogs to stop barking, etc. etc. Our classroom learning simply can’t stop at the borders of brick and mortar. So long as we have decisions to make, we must take responsibility for backing up our opinions about those decisions. This isn’t about winning a debate. This is about the peace of mind that comes when you have thoroughly studied a topic and can take comfort in the foundation of your actions even in the midst of scorn or ridicule.  We are responsible in forming the courage of our convictions. Such courage comes only when our convictions have a clearly defined backbone.

May I also suggest when doing this homework that you apply the first strategy to your homework.  We simply cannot afford to sanction one person or entity as the source of all truth—with one exception which I’ll discuss in a moment.  The USDA, FDA, CIA, FBI, and all of those initial entities will not be right in everything. The only power they have is the power we give to them; literally and with our minds accepting their information.  They are not the almighty wizard. They are comprised of flawed human beings—most of which I like to believe are trying to do the right thing.  But perfectly executed actions based on faulty information never result in the perfect ending.  So research, yes, but with the first strategy in mind. Computers for example are a great tool. But only as great as the information they are fed.

Last Strategy: Debunk the debunkers.  Somebody has to do it.  We’ve given far too much credit and faith in Snopes, Wikipedia, CNN, Fox News, and The New York Times. As much as I may enjoy a dose of Glenn Beck here and there, I simply cannot afford to buy into everything that he says. He’s simply not a perfectly informed man.  So, if your favorite news source can’t be relied upon to debunk the debunkers, then who can?  How can we know the truth from the well-crafted lies without having a PhD ourselves in international finance, political science, medicine, world history, security, and social studies? It’s got to feel a bit overwhelming to those of us who are trying to find peace and security.  The good news—no, the great news is that there is a reliable source to assuage our minds from the stress of all of the uncertainties.

The Spirit bears witness of the truth of all things.  According to the scriptures, we have all been

Christ is the ultimate debunker. He is the one you should turn to whenever you have a question. photo c/o myspace.com

given the gift of the Light of Christ. (John 1:9) So ultimately, when you’re in doubt on something, listen to the inside.  Does it feel right? Does it sound true? Does it bring peace to your mind?  Pray about it. Listen. Pray about it some more if need be. If there is fear, trepidation, doubt, then it’s not right. If there is joy, peace, a clear mind, then it is right. This is yet another reason why I teach that Spiritual Preparedness is the most important part of preparedness. Sometimes it may be the only way you can sift through the truth and the lies until you’ve had the time to do more research or even get access to the truth. In fact, you may find out the truth of something long before science or government entities join you. But at least you won’t have wasted time wallowing in falsehoods in the meantime, right?

In closing, I also want to assure you that there is nothing too trivial.  If you’re deliberating over which solar oven is the best, do your homework and then listen. Listen for the Spirit to affirm your answer. The Lord doesn’t take our peace and security as a trivial matter. (James 1:5)  A wise man once told me “Information is the source of inspiration in many cases.” I have to agree with him on this as I’ve experienced it many times. 

Isn’t it great that we don’t have to stop trusting people just to be safe and secure? The reality and existence of evil should not be able to hold our hope and belief in our fellowmen hostage. I refuse to give that up and I hope you do too. I’m convinced that we can have both hope and security and thus be peacefully prepared.

In light of the length of this article, I’ll be giving you all a break on Wednesday. Tune in on Thursday for some more great information on Diatomaceous Earth!

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by Kellene Bishop

For the last year as I’ve been writing and teaching preparedness full-time, I have received on a rather regular basis, e-mail messages or blog comments questioning the veracity of my information because the reader has found somewhere else where such information was frowned upon, “debunked”, or disputed in some way. I don’t claim to perfect in my knowledge, but I do claim to be perfect in my intention to always provide my readers with information that I have researched, tried, and believed in.  Today’s article is for all of those who have already (or who may in the future) come across “debunkings” of my statements.

Philippines Jeppnies--what a wild ride! photo c/o www.pcreusere.com

For those of you don’t know, I lived in the Philippines for nearly a year and a half. In spite of all of my mental preparedness, it was definitely a culture shock for me. I didn’t get to dwell in the more “city-fide” areas.  I lived, traveled, ate, and communicated out in the boonies. While I was there I was constantly running into counterintuitive “policies.”  For example, when the jeepnies, which are the primary source of public transportation, would travel at night, they would leave their bright lights off until they came upon an oncoming jeepnie. Then they would turn their brights on until the other vehicle had passed them.  Another “tradition” was that it was considered a poor health decision for a woman to take a shower or bathe during her menses each month. These ridiculous notions come from somewhere. Someone in a position of authority started them. Needless to say, I bathed every day of every month and I probably rolled my eyes and chuckled a bit every time I saw the brights go on towards oncoming cars—and then said a silent prayer for safety.

I suspect that most of you are familiar with the tale of the emperor who is convinced that he’s wearing beautiful clothes which only wise men can see. He bought into this story, in part, because of his pride and the fact that he paid an exorbitant amount of money for these “new clothes.”  Not wanting to admit that he couldn’t see the clothes, the emperor paraded around butt naked in his imaginary attire. Only upon hearing a great deal of laughter and scorn from the villagers was he brought to his senses.

Today, we are surrounded with a great many counterintuitive and “emperor’s new clothes” scenarios. For the purpose of today’s article I want to explore the dangers of drinking the Kool-aid and how we can soundly determine fact from fiction.

So, for the first part of this article, today, I’m simply going to point out the dangers that we’re exposed to when we simply follow along as sheep. Tomorrow I’ll address how we can prepare and protect ourselves from being deceived.

While the lucky ones were escaping the death trap of The World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks, the NY Port Authority (a state agency) was broadcasting over their loudspeakers for everyone to simply stay put! This is just a small example as to why I firmly believe that the existence of our freedom and safety are seriously vulnerable to what authoritative presentations we buy in to.  Call it drinking the Kool-aid, questioning reality; or whatever you will.  We must take the time to research for ourselves. And then we must condition our brain to respond to THAT input rather than the input which may come from the masses.

For every Mother Theresa through the ages, there are countless Hitlers photo c/o chuckwarnockblog.wordpress.com

Our country, and even our world, is ultimately run by individuals. Yes, humans come with amazing talents, wisdom, mental fortitude, and compassion.  Unfortunately though, for every Mother Theresa through the ages, there are countless Hitlers. Now lest you think I’m pessimistic, understand that I am confident in how things turn out. I’ve read the book. I know how it ends. The good guys win, but not without a great deal of trial and travail brought about by the Hitlers of the world.  I believe firmly that in order to ensure your safety and true freedom, I can’t afford to simply take some “authority’s” word that something IS, simply because they say it IS.  Throughout history there have been far too many mistakes which have affected countless lives which prevent me from believing otherwise.

The USDA, which strongly advises against bottling butter, waxing your own cheese, or preserving your eggs in mineral oil And yet this same agency refuses to consider how such products were preserved BEFORE we entered the days of refrigeration.  This is the same government entity that refuses to shut down beef manufacturing plants which repeatedly offend safety guidelines.  The USDA also allows the beef manufacturing industry to label the ammonia which is put in the beef as an e-coli inhibitor as a “processing agent.”  The USDA is also the one that puts out the “food pyramid” as a guide to how much a person should be eating daily and of what types of food. It hasn’t been updated for decades. And yet there are numerous doctors who believe that if you were to stick to eating according to the food pyramid then more disease and sickness would be prevalent in our society because our foods no longer have the same base of nutrients that they did when the food pyramid was first created. Our soil has been sorely depleted in nutrients. The rampant use of pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, and other chemicals have a direct affect on our bodies.  One doctor has written three bestselling books on the theory that regardless of what you eat, you won’t receive any nutrients if your body isn’t properly hydrated, and yet the USDA doesn’t say any such thing. (See books by Dr. F. Batmanghelidj) The USDA also has no quantified regulations as to what qualifies as “organic” and thus many products are mislabeled as such. Were you aware that Whole Foods purchases a great deal of their fruits and vegetables from China? China doesn’t have ANY organic checks and balances. (see http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2008/06/inside-scoop-organics-from-china/)

Let’s look at our U.S. military authorities. They should be trusted and believed to be protecting the lives of every soldier, right?   There is a high quality body armor available that the U.S military, as a whole, refuses to purchase for their soldiers, in spite of a greater value and evidence of a greater protection of life and vital organs. From what I’ve researched, it’s the very best body armor available to the masses and it’s the only body armor that’s available for civilians. It’s also the only body armor that’s customized to fit a woman and all of her curves.  Yet Dragon Skin has received nothing but criticism from the National Institute of Justice and many military leaders. Why? The truth is that there is a serious financial consequence to retired military officials if they endorse Dragon Skin, as they have accepted cushy retirement jobs from the existing body armor manufactures.  As such, with as much cut throat maneuvers as you would expect from a government conspiracy movie, the NIJ has managed to “debunk” the benefit of Dragon Skin. Well, the NIJ  “debunking” was counter-debunked by a special episode presented by The Discovery Channel’s hit show, Future Weapons. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYaSRIbPWkM  and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_HRQNd84ZA&feature=related) NIJ had so little to go on that they actually refused in court “for reasons of national security” to not reveal what they felt was wrong with Dragon Skin.  Well, in my opinion, a multi-million dollar television show isn’t going to put their neck out “debunking” the NIJ unless they had the legal and physical strength to do so. The videos don’t lie in my opinion.  Neither do the testimonies of countless professionals who have had their life or physical functions saved as a result of Dragon Skin Body Armor. Fortunately, in spite of this brouhaha about the veracity of Dragon Skin, US Presidents and Vice Presidents, Secret Service Agents, Navy Seals, Blackwater contractors, celebrities, Middle East Contractors, members of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Marine Corps as well as diplomatic visitors have all benefitted from the use of Dragon Skin. But hey, the NIJ has “debunked” it—so it must be garbage, right?  Last, but not least, Dragon Skin puts their money where their mouth is by offering a $15,000,000 liability coverage on their product for each owner. (yes, that’s 15 million!) 

Smoking used to be hailed as healthy for you--DEBUNKED! photo c/o healthyliving.freedomblogging.com

In the early 1950’s Dr. Ian MacDonald and Dr. Henry Garland were contracted by the FDA to conduct a study on the effects of cigarette smoking. These two doctors came to the conclusion that smoking was a “harmless pastime” which was “unrelated to lung cancer.” Dr. MacDonald was later quoted as saying “A pack a day keeps the doctor away.”  Over a million people have died as a result of that lie.  So, I ask you, were their conclusions accurate “debunking” of the concerns medical researchers had with cigarettes, or was it just plain genocide?

Now, let’s follow these same two doctors on another matter.  The FDA contracted with these same two “professionals” to debunk an alternative treatment for cancer in 1953.  The two doctors paired up to call the treatment of Laetrile as “unconvincing” and “wasteful.”  Thus the FDA has refused to conduct any additional research on this topic and the American Cancer Society treats the topic with scorn. Both entities have refused any further investigation in spite of the obvious scientific errors these two doctors have committed in the past. Well apparently the standings of the FDA, the National Cancer Institute, and the American Cancer Society have been demoted by hundreds of American cancer patients per year. Instead of having cancer patients flee to our shores for the best treatments for cancer, we have hundreds fleeing from our shores to other nations in order to receive effective cancer treatments and even cures. Yet somehow these authorities stick with their commitment to our cancer treatment as it is now, even though the effectiveness of cancer treated through radiation and chemotherapy yields only a 5-10% effectiveness after 30 years of application. The bottom line for this butt-naked charade is all about money. The American Cancer Society MUST claim that their current methods are effective otherwise billions of dollars of funding would dry up.

I could go on and on here with several other examples.  But suffice it to say, “debunking” is usually motivated by money and power in one way or another.  Government and powerful corporate entities have repeatedly shown themselves to be more interested in cover-ups than they are in good ole’ honest coming clean.  So, without becoming hardened pessimists who don’t believe in mankind anymore, what can we do? I’ll address that tomorrow. Till then…don’t drink the Kool-aid just yet.

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Copyright 2010 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to www.PreparednessPro.com & Kellene Bishop

Conspiracies--Fact or Fiction? photo c/o www.corrupt.org/

I’ve probably said this before, but one of my favorite bumper stickers of all time says “Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after me.”

I find that there is a dangerous and debilitating stigma in our international society.  If a proposed theory has anything to do with the fact that a person or group of persons has actually conspired, plotted, and planned to bring about the demise of another person, then the proposal is discounted as audacious and mentally deficient. “Conspiracy!” they cry—as if calling something a conspiracy eliminates the validity of any proposed belief of supposition.  Can I just ask a perfectly blunt question?  Why is that?  Why, when we have such an abundance of proven conspiracies is it considered a social and mental faux pas to propose that something is a conspiracy to do harm to others? I firmly believe that in doing so we are discounting the reality of danger. We are exposing ourselves as vulnerable as a fresh animal wound at night in the land of South Africa.  We are playing into the designs of bloodthirsty predators as their willing prey. To be naïve of the scope and determination of conspiracies, we make ourselves far too vulnerable and dependent, thus negating the maximum effects of our preparedness efforts.  Let me share with you why such a negative stigma against the reality of conspiracy is so illogical.

Al Qaida is an admitted conspiracy group.  I doubt that most of us would dispute that. But can I just say that the reason why we don’t dispute it is because it’s socially and politically acceptable for us to view them as crafty conspirators? Whether you look into their conspiratorial designs on the surface or in depth, they make no secret of the fact that they have truly conspired to do irreparable harm to all Christian nations.  Fortunately for us, the mainstream media feels that painting them as the bad guy is beneficial for their own designs of conspiracy and as such we are able to easily see them as “the bad guys.” As such, we are better able to swallow that they regularly engage in “conspiracy.”  But what if the conspirators are those who we otherwise rely on or trust?

USDA--can we trust what they say? photo c/o www.fns.usda.gov

Now, let’s talk about the USDA.  No upstanding American would portray them as conspirators, right? Oh, how I hope that we’re not really that naïve.  The USDA told us for months and months that we could expect a bumper crop this year. (Bumper crop, as in at least a 20% excess of what we need.) The USDA continued to post such information on their official website even well after the abysmal destruction of crops such as corn and soy beans commenced.  If you look hard for it, you will also find a report which concurs (finally) with the fact that as early as November of last year, the USDA granted special emergency fund approvals to various Midwestern and Eastern states due to “widespread crop damage.”  Just so you know, “widespread crop damage” is defined by the USDA as at LEAST 30 percent damage to a particular group of crops. 30 percent damage to our corn, soybean, and even wheat crops.  This, when we already have exported ALL of our wheat reserves from our nation.  In spite of this, the “bumper crop prediction” still stands front and center on the USDA website.

So the question is, WHY would the USDA and the mainstream media not be forthright in bringing this information to its proper light? Let’s continue to explore this.

Are you aware of all of the food items which rely on corn, soy and wheat?  If you ever eat out or if you ever purchase something prepackaged, then you have most likely ingested ALL of the above.  Every cake mix, loaf of bread, syrup, peanut butter, pasta mix, etc. is affected by these ingredients in some way or another. As such, we can expect the kind of financial increase in such goods as we shortly experienced in wheat and rice in 2007. The problem is also that since wheat, corn and soybeans are affected, we can also expect the price of rice to go up, as demand for it as a substitution will rise as well. We are currently looking at rising fuel prices, a diminishing dollar, tanking residential and commercial markets and oh, by the way, your food bill is about to double or quadruple.  Yup. We’re not hearing that.  Why?

Impact on Wall Street--HUGE photo c/o www.diversityjobs.com

Well, to put it plainly, it’s because the Wall Street markets can’t handle a hit like that right now and if there is a run on the grocery stores of only a 20% increase, then such a run and panic would trigger a domino effect that would impact Wall Street. Regardless of what end Wall Street is at on such a panic, they would crash.  Our administration can’t take the heat of such a crash right now.  The USDA is a government run entity. Our wheat, rice, corn, and soy commodities are some of the main backbones of the Market right now.

Let’s put the 20% run on the grocery stores in perspective for a moment. When a coupon comes out for a particular product, that product is cleared off of the shelves within the first day by eager couponers, in spite of the store attempting to anticipate higher demand for the product. Just so you know, couponing accounts for only 14% of all sales in a grocery store.  Whereas if you perpetuated the idea that there would  be an astronomical increase in wheat, soy, or corn based products, that could also trigger a demand…not a coupon euphoria either. A bona fide panic demand.  Even at only 14%, it would clear off of the shelves, and the panic would lead to a domino effect of most other products carried by the grocers as well.  The domino effect of a panic on food would be just as fast to disrupt and destroy your way of life as a police car simply pulled over to the side of the highway—complete stand still.

The bottom line is that the prevalent antagonistic programming that so successfully skewers anyone who has the audacity to claim “conspiracy” is effective. Many normal persons have hung their head in shame and embarrassment simply for asking a simple question. But keep in mind that it’s counter-intuitive to believe that conspiracies aren’t rampant and real in our everyday world.  Where there is virtue, there is selfishness. Where there is charity, there is thievery.  We simply can’t believe in people who have beautiful motivations and not believe that there are also people who are motivated strictly by greed and control.  Yes, I agree that conspiracy theories can be taken to the extreme. I’m just not sure we are fully aware of what that “extreme” is. After all, the private banking industry taking over our nation’s entire currency flow was pretty extreme if you ask me. Yet nearly a hundred years later, many still are in the dark about it, ashamed of being labeled as a crazy conspiracy theorist.

A smart move is to start paying attention to what goes on around you photo c/o www.usfirst.org

The point of me writing my article is to attempt to have more people shed the stigma of questioning what is going on around us so that they can see the real state of things–so they can be properly prepared.  The use of the word “conspiracy” has been, by design, altered to portray a stigma of the mentally deranged, paranoid, or irresponsible.  When in fact, the reality of those who would conspire to harm or destroy is truly abundant.  I think that questioning and researching and verifying the research is one of the smartest things one can do to properly protect their family.  I think newly discovering such conspirators is alarming, whereas understanding their presence and motives and planning on how I’m going to counter such plans gives me a great deal of peace.

As a parting, but somewhat disjointed comment, I just wanted to express the following. Forgive my somewhat ornery rant. What I don’t understand is this: why is it ok for the mainstream media to pummel us with a litany of meaningless murder, rape and robbery statistics, 95% incorrect weather predictions, the “five year anniversary of the floods in St. George”, Islamic New Year celebrations, and the latest string of lies and insincerity from political officials and yet they can’t share with us the kind of critical information that would actually HELP us to wake up and better prepare?  I don’t really like being manipulated.  And I loathe selfish panic control.  Et tu?

Copyright 2010 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to www.PreparednessPro.com & Kellene Bishop.

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Surprised? Probably not. photo c/o polyvore.com

Hey folks. This article from Info Wars echoes what I’ve been saying in previous articles regarding a food shortage. It also gets into specifics as to what might be the USDA’s motivation for not declaring the shortage earlier–instead they claimed that we were going to have a bumper crop. (coughing, choking, gasping)

I hope that you all are ready for this. Don’t panic. Get organized. Make an accounting of what you really have. And fill in your gaps. But please stop delaying it.

http://www.infowars.com/2010-food-crisis-means-financial-armageddon/

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

By Kellene Bishop

While I was teaching classes in Vegas this weekend, I had a gal come up to me and share some of her personal stories. One of which was about her daughter who lives in “tornado territory.” The woman shared with me that she was happy her daughter had finally started being mindful about being better prepared. She says that her daughter realized how often they hear tornado warnings and decided to “get on the stick.” The thought that came to my mind after hearing her story was how we ALL have tornado warnings going off all of the time. It’s my hope that we’ll learn to pay attention to them. Keep in mind that a tornado warning isn’t an indicator of death and destruction. It is a warning that now is the time for you to put your preparedness into practice. Thus the fact that we’re hearing the tornado warnings all around us in virtually every aspect of our environment, we are essentially being provided with “dress rehearsals” to help us be ready for the “live performance.” 

Throughout the weekend I was also surprised to have been asked by several people “how much longer” I thought we really had. Let’s be clear, I am not a prophet. I have no more access to information regarding what’s taking place on our world stage than you do. We all have access to the scriptures. The real question is, are we paying attention to all of the indicators that we have available to us? Here are the tornado warnings I see looming in the wings at present.

Unemployment photo c/o homelessness.change.org

Unemployment rate has finally been admitted by the Obama administration to be over 10%. In actuality it’s over 22%.  But hey, at least they were willing to admit their dreaded number of over 10%. Just to give you a frame of reference, unemployment was at 33% during the Great Depression during which time the standard of living was less, the dollar was worth more, etc.

Our nation is at the most horrific sized national deficit than all of our history put together.

Our enemies are becoming more bold in their hatred of us.

Our U.S. Constitution barely remains intact.

I expect there to be a great war between Iraq and Israel by the end of the year.

We have an unprecedented excess of money in circulation with no accounting thereof, and no gold or silver to back it up. It’s all just paper.

We are being primed for a medical challenge. Whether it be a factual pandemic, or a contrived one, it will still have a serious effect if any portion of our population is put under a quarantine order.

We are looking at a genuine food shortage throughout the world. The bumper crop that USDA predicted this year will NOT happening, thus not only will our own flour, soy, corn, and sugar goods rise in price dramatically, but the United States will be unable to aid foreign nations since our own surplus supplies have been exhausted.

The work ethic of the young generation is seriously compromised today. This means that there is a lack of innovation, problem solving, and initiative which is critical to aiding in any in long term financial or political problems.

The value of our dollar has dropped sharply, by 50%, just in the last week.

Fort Hood Shooting Memorial photo c/o nydailynews.com

A terrorist act has recently been carried out on our own soil against our servicemen, indicating that we are sorely unaware of the hatred and conspiracies which lurk among us.

Take all these tornado warnings along with the scriptures that will be fulfilled quite literally, and you can decide for yourself whether or not you think you’re going to get many more “dress rehearsals.”

Now, clearly I could go on, but sharing with you the gloom and doom of the day is not my goal. My point is that none of this is news to any of you. And yet it should all act as tornado warnings to all of us. We’d be foolish to wait until we actually saw the tornado itself prior to being better prepared, when the smell is clearly in the air that something is amiss.

May we be aware and be prepared that this country—in all of its greatness—may continue to be carried on the backs of solid, sound, and resolved citizens. Remember that only a prepared and sober people can accomplish such a task.

Copyright 2009 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.

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By Kellene Bishop

2007 and 2008 were the two biggest years in history for food recalls. Meat, peanut butter, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach and even dog food were among the few that were deemed dangerous or downright deadly for consumption. In my view, this is just another reason for the case in favor of having a year’s supply of food and water provisions.

When our country was made up largely of farmers, it was not unheard of for farmers to have one to two years of grain and other food stuffs stored for the future. They knew from experience that one never could rely on the goodness of Mother Nature, the economy, or world peace to guarantee a profitable harvest each year. Thus having a year’s supply of provisions and surviving on an annual paycheck was a necessary way of life. In this same vein of wisdom, our own government stored several year’s worth of grains, fuel, and other reserves to shore up against a “rainy day.” 

Today there our government granaries are completely empty. There are simply NO government owned stores of grains or seeds left. All that remains is false claims by the USDA that this year’s farms will yield “bumper crops” in direct contrast to everything reported from the farmers themselves. As such, the cost of items with sugar, corn, soybeans, or wheat is expected to skyrocket in price this year. Ironically we will have to pay for such items with currency that is no longer backed by anything more than a man behind a curtain saying “all is well.” (Even Fort Knox is empty of its “rainy day” gold stores, folks.)  

In addition to prudent planning that our government used to engage in, the safety of our foods was reliable, the ingredients were easily read, and the process used to bring them to the masses was simply a commercialized version of what a housewife could do for herself on a smaller scale. Today, however, we have meat that’s sold by the pound, infused with water (making it heavier) and coloring chemicals; vegetables that are coated in chemicals that require a PhD just to pronounce, and packaged meals and beverages which brag that they contain a whopping “10% of real” food ingredients which are actually recognizable. Environmental groups have more say about your supply than does does any seasoned medical professional. What gets put on our children’s plate in school is influenced by revenues instead of nutrition. While there is one soda pop machine available for every 97 persons in the U.S., fresh, unadulterated food stands are becoming as rare as an honest politician.

Hopefully, by realizing the veracity of this scene I’ve painted for you, you realize that having stores of food on hand in your home isn’t just about being ready for an Armageddon-like scenario. It’s not about being some kind of a paranoid survivalist. It has everything to do with being self-reliant and taking responsibility for the preservation, health, and survival of you and your family.  As such, we need to be more aware and vigilant in being self-reliant in the storing of our most vital everyday needs.

I’ve provided “food for thought” when it comes to reasons for food stores. But please do not dismiss the need for safe drinking water. Only a few days without water will bring catastrophic consequences. During the Great Hungarian War, the soldiers would have literally given their right arm for water. They had food. They had clothing. They had safety in their shelters. They had fuel to keep them warm and dry. But when they had to venture out to get water—that is when the Hungarian soldiers were shot and killed. And yet the water was vital to the health of their organs, sanitation, and thirst. Remember, to be safe, have at least ONE gallon of water per person per day. That may sound like a ridiculous amount of water to you right now, but it will go far too quickly if you find yourself without it.

Ask yourself what you can do to have more self-reliant stores on hand to better protect and provide you with safety and survival.

Tomorrow I’ll be writing about how you can better guarantee the quality, safety and nutrition of your foods through sprouting—No, it’s not just for hippies. So tune in.

Copyright 2009 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.

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