SMOKE BOMBS IN YOUR SURVIVAL PACK

Survival Smoke

There are times in an emergency where being very visible is good and other times when being invisible is a must. In both cases smoke bombs can be a real lifesaver. A few small colored (red, yellow) smoke bombs carried in your field (e.g. hunting, hiking, fishing, etc.) survival kit can bring help to you if you are lost or injured. In an urban situation a few smoke bombs set in cans (to prevent a real fire) can create the impression of a fire to discourage looters and even real arsonists from entering a building. Smoke screens have been used by the military for centuries. Two or three smoke bombs thrown out to screen an area you must cross or a person that must be rescued can keep you from being a target. Smoke bombs burn only a few (1 to 3) minutes and you must carefully consider the wind direction, wind velocity and timing. A wind shift that puts you in front of the smoke can silhouette you for a shooter. How many smoke bombs you have will be dependent on what kinds of situations you anticipate and what areas you may need to get through. The colored rescue signal smoke bombs are available in boating and sports stores. Around the Fourth of July smoke bombs can be purchased at any fireworks stand.   I always carry these in my survival pack.

General Conference Has Something for You

" If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you.” —Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Read, watch, or listen to Elder Holland’s full address, "An Ensign to the Nations."

" I promise that if you will listen, you will feel the Spirit well up within you. The Lord will tell you what He wants you to do with your life. In conferences we can receive the word of the Lord meant just for us." —Elder Robert D. Hales

Read, watch, or listen to Elder Hale's full address, "General Conference: Strengthening Faith and Testimony."

  

  

  

  

Venezuela In Turmoil For Lack Of Flour, Milk And Diapers

People line up to buy goods at a store in Caracas, Venezuela.

Alvaro Villarueda starts his morning the same way every day — putting in a call to his friend who has a friend who works at a Caracas, Venezuela, supermarket.Today, he's looking for sugar, and he's asking his friend if he knows if any shipments have arrived. As he talks on the phone, his wife Lisbeth Nello, is in the kitchen.There are 10 mouths to feed every day in this family — five of them children. The two youngest are still in diapers.

"The things that are the scarcest are actually what we need the most," Nello says. "Flour, cooking oil, butter, milk, diapers. I spent last week hunting for diapers everywhere. The situation is really tough for basic goods."

Student-led demonstrations have been roiling Venezuela for more than a month. At least 28 people have been killed and dozens wounded in confrontations between security forces and those who have taken to the streets.

The list of grievances — rising crime, inflation — is long, but the main one for many is the scarcity of basic foodstuffs.

As with everything in Venezuela, the reasons given for the food shortages depend on political affiliation. The government says it's the result of unscrupulous businessmen waging an economic war and hoarding by regular people afraid of shortages.

Those in the opposition blame a system that imposes price controls, the lack of money to buy imports and problems in the supply chain after the expropriation of farms and factories by the socialist government.

Whatever the reasons, the shortages have meant that Nello spends a lot of time in long lines. It's usually the women who have to go to the shops and her house is no exception.

"When we find out there is something we need in one of the supermarkets, we have to jump and get up very early to get down there," she says.

The family lives on a hillside with only makeshift stairs to get to their home. It's a long way to the market, and once there, the lines often take hours, with hundreds of people standing in them. She says she feels they have become like ants, always carrying supplies home.

An informal barter system has developed as well, Nello says. If she has extra coffee, she can trade it for cooking oil. It's a way of avoiding the long waits for staples.

"We are always helping each other," she says. "We are sending messages to other members of the family when we find out something is in the market."

All supermarkets these days have security to make sure that customers stay in line and obey government-imposed limits on what they can buy, and that no one causes a riot.

In the slum of Antimano, women are standing in line in front of a shop. They say they don't know what's on offer, but they are queuing anyway, a sign of how worried people are that they won't get what they need.

Inside the market, the manager, Roger Escorihuela, takes me around and points out that the shelves are not bare.

There are cereals, eggs and pastas and fancy jams, but the staples that are subject to price controls — black beans, butter, corn meal, the list goes on — are missing, he says.

He acknowledges he never knows what will be delivered each day by his trucks which is why people have to phone around to find out what's available. But he insists there is no shortage, and everyone gets what they need, eventually.

At least this day, he's proven right. A woman walks in looking for toilet paper, but the shelves are bare.

Then she spots the last roll, fallen behind the shelf. She gleefully grabs it and rushes to pay.

Here Are 34 Relatively Simple Things That Will Make Your Home Extremely Awesome.

If you want to make your home more efficient (and look better while you’re at it), you don’t necessarily have to break the bank. Sometimes, the simplest changes can make a world of difference. Take these 34 simple home improvement ideas, for example. You wouldn’t think that moving your outlets or adding an end table could change the flow and cool factor of your house, but it can.

And if you follow these tips, it will!

1.) Add outlets to drawers to keep clutter off of the table top.

2.) Add a half-table to your bathroom for extra storage space.

3.) Build a free library for your neighbors.

4.) Put heat-sensitive tile in your shower… just because.

5.) Make the space your fake drawers take up functional.

6.) Fake drawers are also a great spot for extra outlets.

7.) Add a shelf to a long hallway for extra storage space.

8.) Save space with collapsable drying racks.

9.) Install dutch doors so you can watch your kids/pets without baby gates.

10.) Add a sun tunnel to rooms you wish had more natural sunlight.

11.) Buy a toilet seat where everyone can have their own tab.

12.) If your garage is adjacent to your kitchen, add a little door to make unloading groceries easier.

13.) Use stainless steel contact paper to make your appliances look more expensive.

14.) Decorate the foundation of your home to make it pretty and functional.

15.) Use recessed outlets so you can put your furniture against the wall.

16.) Install your outlets underneath your cabinets so you don’t ruin your backsplash.

17.) Replace your current shower head with this unique one.

18.) Use slide-out drawers in the home for spices and pantry items.

19.) Open a small tunnel to connect two rooms.

20.) Instead of bunk beds, install classy murphy beds for your kids.

21.) Add a small cabinet to extra space in the kitchen for cleaning supply storage.

22.) Replace your old house numbers with modern fonts.

23.) Put a sign on your bathroom so guests know where it is.

24.) Add a simple window seat to the landing of your staircase.

25.) Make your porch lights fancy with a chandelier.

26.) Hide away appliances behind sliding doors.

27.) Use kitchen drawers as cutting boards you can hide.

28.) Use a slide-away step in your bathroom instead of a steps tool.

29.) Stools on hinges save room in the kitchen.

30.) Build drawers in the wasted space between studs in the wall.

31.) Add mirrored tiles to windowless rooms.

32.) Simple outdoor showers are perfect for beach houses and families who love going outdoors.

33.) Install a simple dog bath to a mud room or entry way.

34.) Turn your counter into storage space.