Survival Summit January 20-26 FREE FIVE DAYS ON LINE SUMMIT

http://thesurvivalsummit.com

The Survival Summit is a FREE online event. 

But the only way to get in is to pre-register, and today is the last day to pre-register. The event starts tomorrow! Even if you can't make it to the entire online event, register anyway and attend the ones that you can for free. There will be recordings available for purchase in case you miss some. But you have to get in now.

Repentance

I think most people don’t repent because they don’t really know what that word means. Well, here are 6 things that repentance does NOT mean. Too many people never experience the happiness that comes from repentance because they think THIS is what it DOES mean. With Inigo Montoya I say: “I do not think it means what you think it means.”

1. Unending Suffering

Repentance doesn’t mean that we will be suffering lashes forever. One of Satan’s big lies is that to repent of something, we will have to suffer and dig and gnash for an endless amount of time before we will finally be worthy.

This is NOT true!

How was Alma the older a wicked priest of Noah who spent his strength with harlots and taught that which was contrary to the law one day, and then 5 chapters later he was baptizing hundreds of people at the waters of Mormon? How was it that Ammon and the sons of Mosiah converted thousands of wicked Lamanites after being “the vilest of sinners” who were going about trying to destroy the church? Elder Jeffrey R. Holland clarifies this:

“You can change anything you want to change, and you can do it very fast. That’s another satanic suckerpunch—that it takes years and years and eons of eternity to repent. It takes exactly as long to repent as it takes you to say, “I’ll change”—and mean it.” 1

That’s it. If you want to change, you can do it as fast as you decide to (and truly mean it). And if you truly mean it, you WILL spend the rest of your life as a different person. No suffering for an eternity of pains-taken “repentance mess” but constantly experiencing the happiness of a new life, forever. Indeed, Ammon and the sons of Mosiah spent the rest of their lives proving that their moment of “I change” was really what they meant. And they also spent the rest of their lives experiencing TRUE JOY. Just read Alma chapter 26 for an example.

Repentance doesn’t mean guilt and suffering forever. Repentance means choosing joy.

2. Isolation

This is what Satan wants. What does he say after Adam and Eve realize their nakedness? “QUICK, HIDE!” Why would we want to hide from God? If our heavenly Father is truly all-loving (which He is), then we NEVER need to isolate ourselves from Him. We only lose power when we withdraw from God. But He is there for the woman caught in adultery as well as for the Nephi. For Moses as well as for the vilest of sinners. We must come boldly to him whether we are tromping deep in the mud or high upon the mountain top of holiness. As Paul says:

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” 2

We are not to shrink and isolate ourselves in a time of need, but to go BOLDLY to the throne of grace in our time of sin – our time of need. Grace is not earned. Grace exists for those who DO NOT deserve it.

When you feel like isolating yourself from God…Go boldly to His throne.

3. Self Loathing

We are NOT to do what these silly monks did. No self flagellation. No self loathing. This is NOT repentance.

President Uchtdorf teaches this masterfully:

“The Apostle Paul taught that ‘godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation … but the sorrow of the world worketh death.’ Godly sorrow inspires change and hope through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Worldly sorrow pulls us down, extinguishes hope, and persuades us to give in to further temptation.

“Godly sorrow leads to conversion and a change of heart. It causes us to hate sin and love goodness. It encourages us to stand up and walk in the light of Christ’s love. True repentance is about transformation, not torture or torment. Yes, heartfelt regret and true remorse for disobedience are often painful and very important steps in the sacred process of repentance. But when guilt leads to self-loathing or prevents us from rising up again, it is impeding rather than promoting our repentance.” 3

Remember who you really are. Remember where you came from. Love yourself first, then you will naturally change what you are doing.

4. Shame

Why is there so much shame in being honest about our imperfections? Why is it scary? Why can’t we be more open? Why is there shame in sharing about our eternal progress. If angels rejoice when we decide to repent, then why not everyone else?

In my elder’s quorum last week our lesson was on overcoming addiction. We were all given a copy of the 12 Step Addiction Recovery Program. We started reading it together as a quorum. At the end the teacher asked if anyone had ever used this program and would like to share an experience.

Silence…

Even more silence…

You know the feeling. No one wants to admit that they aren’t perfect or that they have ever had any problem with anything ever… Because everyone in every elder’s quorum and relief society is perfect. Especially returned missionaries. Right? Wrong.

Finally, a bold brother voluntarily shared his experience with this program. He wasn’t ashamed one bit. He had been addicted to pornography but had gone through the 12-step program to over come it. He powerfully testified how actually being honest with himself and going through the steps changed his life forever. It saved his marriage and it saved his life. The feeling in the room completely changed. The Spirit was so strong it was tangible. You could slice it with a knife. Then others started sharing and it became a brotherhood of love. It was a sacred experience that I will never forget. It was because one bold brother decided that it was not shameful to share the truth.

Don’t be ashamed to do something that will bring you closer to God. Don’t be one of those poor souls who taste the fruit and then walk away because they are ashamed from the pointers in the great and spacious building. Coming closer to God is NEVER something to be ashamed of.

There is no fear in love. For perfect love casteth out all fear. 4

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 5

5. Giving Sin all the Attention

There will be no survivors amongst those who constantly focus on the sin to get rid of it.

Imagine yourself swimming in the ocean saying to yourself:

Don’t think about sharks.

Don’t think about sharks.

Don’t think about sharks.

What are you thinking about? SHARKS! And it is probably paralyzing you from actually focusing on swimming to safety. Even if the sharks are all around you, you still need to focus on the way out, not the sharks themselves.

Focus on the highest in you. Don’t focus on the sin. What has your attention, has you. True Repentance does NOT mean focusing on the sin.

Elder Packer said that instead of focusing our attention on the sin or the unwanted behavior, you focus the attention on doctrine and truth:

“The study of doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior. Preoccupation with unworthy behavior can lead to unworthy behavior.” 6

Let us follow Gordon B. Hinckley’s advice and “stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight.” 7

6. Lack of true Conversion

It’s like Mr. Lewis says. We can’t go on being eggs forever. In his words:

“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being an ordinary decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.” 8

Without true conversion, we stay at the egg level. We must be hatched. We must progress. We must learn to fly. We weren’t born to stay eggs. We were born to fly.

“Converted means to turn from one belief or course of action to another. Conversion is a spiritual and moral change. Converted implies not merely mental acceptance of Jesus and his teachings but also a motivating faith in him and his gospel. A faith which works a transformation, an actual change in one’s understanding of life’s meaning and in his allegiance to God in interest, in thought, and in conduct. In one who is really wholly converted, desire for things contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ has actually died. And substituted therefore is a love of God, with a fixed and controlling determination to keep his commandments.” 9

Desire for things contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ has actually DIED. Wow. You not only don’t want to discontinue any misdeeds you have been doing, but you desire to completely eradicate from your life all other things contrary to the gospel.

Take flight with true conversion. Take flight with true repentance.

1. Jeffrey R. Holland. BYU Devotionals, “For Times of Trouble.” March 18, 1980. ↩
2. Hebrews 4:16 ↩
3. Dieter F. Uchtdorf. “You Can Do It Now.” Click here for the full talk. ↩
4. 1 John 4:18 ↩
5. 2 Tim 1:7 ↩
6. CR Oct 1986, 20 ↩
7. Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled. BYU Devotional, Oct 1974. ↩
8. Mere Christianity p. 198 – 199. ↩
9. Marion G. Romney. Conference Report, Guatemala Area Conference 1977, 8–9. ↩

Read more http://www.thereturnedmissionary.com/6-things-repentance-does-not-mean/

Are “Bug Out Bags” Really Going to Help You in a Disaster?

From possible economic collapse to potential terrorist attacks and natural disasters, there’s been increasing interest in preparing for such events. Having a bug out bag is an essential item that survivalists as well as government agencies such as FEMA recommend an individual put together. What exactly to put in the bag, however, is an area of disagreement. The following information discusses what items FEMA advises to have and how that stacks up against other advice concerning bug out bags.

FEMA Bug Out Bag

The government agency FEMA suggests that families and individuals put together a survival kit to prepare for potential disasters. Things that FEMA recommends include enough food for three days, a gallon of water a day for each person, and a first aid kit. They suggest food that does not need to be prepared, heated, or refrigerated in any way. Water should be kept in a cool, dry place. Supplies such as trash bags for personal sanitation, batteries, and flashlights are also on the FEMA list. Whistles, local maps, and a cell phone with chargers, preferably a solar charger, are a few other items they suggest having.

Survivalist Bug Out Bag

Most people devoted to prepping and planning for disasters see FEMA recommendations as just the beginning. For starters, most survivalists will recommend having some sort of weapon. This doesn’t always mean a gun. Even something such as pepper spray or having self-defense skills are usually suggested. Warmth and shelter are two other areas that aren’t really addressed in the FEMA guidelines. Most people who advise on bug out bag preparation suggest carrying a tarp of some sort and tools to start a fire. Other items that are often included on lists are cash, dry bags for wet clothes, toothbrush, and toothpaste. A bug out bag probably needs to be adjusted seasonally to fit the weather.

When a Bug Out Bag May Not Help

There are certain situations and aspects of bug out bags that may be detrimental to an individual. If you have to travel long distances, carrying something that weighs 30, 40 or more pounds on your back may cause you to be susceptible to injury. Most of us aren’t physically fit enough or trained to properly carry a bag of that size for long distances. Carrying too large of a bag may also make an individual a target.
Since the primary purpose of a bug out bag is for getting you from point A to point B, in some situations, such as disasters that force you to stay where you are, having a bug out bag is going of be of little use. Possible scenarios include a biological or nuclear attack that comes without warning. In cases like this you would need to stay inside, possibly for weeks. Of course you can still use the items in the bag, but its main purpose is no longer necessary.

So, are bug out bags really going to help in a disaster? The answer is yes. But it does depend on what kind of disaster unfolds and each person’s circumstances in that disaster. Since a basic bug out bag is easy and relatively inexpensive to put together, it’s always a good idea to have one on hand.

Food: Preservation

Amassing a mountain of food isn’t going to do you any good, if most of it goes bad before you can eat it. Additionally, becoming ill from eating meat, vegetables or fruit contaminated with these pathogens is unpleasant enough when you’re in a civilization with easy access to medical care; put yourself in a post-breakdown world where there are no doctors or hospitals, where you need to be physically strong to survive, and it could get pretty scary. On the plus side, there are plenty of time-honored methods for preserving food and protecting yourself from food-borne illnesses in the process, from creating an old-fashioned root cellar, to canning meats or drying them to create jerky. But you’ll need to study the techniques carefully and accrue the right equipment to do the job. One great resource is the National Center for Food Preservation’s website. NCFP is a great one-stop location for information on methods of preserving and storing food.

Here are some tips:

• Keep Cans, Jars and Packages Cool and Dry: As Practical Preppers’ Scott Hunt notes, any sort of food—even if it’s packaged military-style Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) or canned vegetables—will remain edible longer in a cool environment. The National Center for Home Food Preparation advises storing food in a room where the constant temperature is between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and specifically warns against storing foods in temperatures above 95 degrees, or putting them near hot pipes, a range, a furnace, in an non-insulated attic (remember, heat rises through your house), or in direct sunlight. Additionally, you should avoid excessive humidity, because dampness can corrode metal lids, break seals, and allow recontamination and spoilage.. But the big bugaboo that you want to avoid, Hunt notes, is fluctuations in temperature, which seem to degrade food quality faster than a sustained temperature increase.

• Create a Root Cellar:  Fresh, non-canned fruit and vegetables obviously are even more perishable than the canned stuff. But an old-fashioned root cellar, the sort that every farmhouse used to have, can prolong their edible life. According to the National Gardening Association, fresh root crops ideally are stored in a temperature of 34 degrees Fahrenheit, with high humidity. Again, maintaining an even temperature is more important, because fluctuations of five degrees in either direction can cause rotting or new growth to sprout. Insulating a cellar can help to maintain the right climate.

• Learn the Art of Canning.  Canning is a complex art, far too complex for us to give a worthwhile explanation here. But you can teach yourself by diligently following the instructions in a good how-to tome, such as the Natural Canning Resource Book.  The most general key points: cook the food properly, quickly pour it while hot into freshly scrubbed and sterile containers, and then immediately seal it to establish a vacuum lock that will preserve the food. (If you let the food cool, the seal won’t hold.) In particular, Hunt advises paying meticulous attention to sanitary precautions, such as washing jars in hot water and soap, and keeping them in simmering water until you can put the cooked food into them. He also warns against using water-bath canning, a method intended for fruit preserves and pickles, to can veggies or meat. He also urges you to stock up on jars and other containers, because you may not be able to get them once civilization collapses.

• Don’t Build a Smokehouse (unless you are heavily armed!).  As Hunt warns, “They’re terrific for fine-flavored meats—but strategic nightmares, in terms of security.” The smoke is a dead giveaway to marauders that there’s a settlement up there in the woods, even if they can’t see the plume through the trees. Smoke from burning hardwoods, the only type that should be used in smoking meats, can be smelled up to a half-mile away. 

• Do Dehydrate Meat.  Dehydration is a great method for parts of the country where the humidity is moderate. You can turn meat into jerky, a lightweight food that needs no refrigeration and is ideal for taking with you on treks through the wilderness, since it will last for two weeks in a sealed container. According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s primer on jerky-making, jerky can be made from almost any lean meat, including beef, pork, venison or smoked turkey breast.  Be forewarned that the process is a bit involved, and energy-intensive; you have to marinade and cook the thinly-sliced meat before drying it in an oven.

• Freezing Food is an Option, if you Have an Off-Grid Refrigerator. Conventional refrigerators, of course, are energy hogs. But there actually are a new generation of energy-efficient refrigerators designed to run on electricity generated from solar energy. If you’re really handy, you might even try building your own refrigerator or ice plant that uses solar energy directly to power the cooling process, instead of a compressor. Here’s a 2008Scientific American article  which explains how that works.

If You Only Do Three Things…

• Find a cool, dry place to store your canned and preserved food. Hunt says the general rule of thumb is that for every 10 degrees that you lower the temperature, you double the shelf-life of your supplies.
• Buy an off-grid solar-powered refrigerator. If you’re going to spend tens of thousands of dollars on solar panels for your roof, it makes sense to spend a couple thousand dollars more for a refrigerator designed to run off that system.
• Stock up on jars and cans, a pressure cooker, and a good book on canning.  Maybe you’re too busy to learn canning now, but after civilization collapses, you won’t be wasting time re-watching old episodes of Lost anymore.

Top 5 Biofuels for Survival

After disaster, traditional gasoline and diesel fuel will likely be scarce for a few days, or it may be months, years, or forever, depending upon the circumstances.  If you’ve prepared your vehicle and educated yourself regarding biofuel production, you won’t have to worry about fuel in a survival situation.

Today we’ll discuss 5 top biofuel crops for survival that you can grow and convert into fuel on your own.

Before we get started, you need to know that in order to run your bug-out vehicle on biofuels, you will most likely need to convert the motors to make them compatible with your choice of fuel. This can be expensive if you pay to have it done, but fairly affordable if you do it yourself.

Either way, the cost will quickly be recouped when you don’t have to buy gasoline or diesel anymore.

There are two different types of motors and thus two different types of fuel. The spark motor runs on unleaded ethanol fuels. The diesel, or compression motor, runs on refined oil-based fuels. This is the motor that’s used when discussing cars that run on vegetable oils.

To make biofuel from any of these products, you’re going to need some type of natural oil, methanol, and lye. You’ll also need the proper equipment to make it so study up on it. You can make your own methanol, but that’s a different topic altogether!

Soybeans

The reason that we’re listing soybeans as the first biofuel crop to grow in a survival situation is because you can actually use the pressing process to extract an edible form of highly-nutritious protein.  That’s right – while making fuel, you’re also making a highly desirable survival product, as well.

One of the biggest problems with growing crops for biofuel in a survival situation is that you’re going to need the land to grow food.  That’s the obvious priority; you’re not going to need fuel if you starve to death.

Soybeans yield about 48 gallons of oil per acre though there is some new technology coming out that involves double pressing that may double the yield.

Algae

Yep, algae. There are a couple of reasons why algae is a good crop to grow for biofuel in a survivalist situation.

First, you don’t have to use land that’s good for growing food so your fuel crop isn’t competing with your food crops. You can use ponds, swampland, or set up your own tanks and grow it wherever you’d like.

Algae is also fairly easy to grow and process compared to seed crops and the actual process of growing it makes CO2, a component of methanol that you’ll need to produce in order to make your own biofuel for survival.

The final bonus? Algae yields 10,000 gallons of oil per acre if grown in an open pond! That’s a lot of oil from land that you wouldn’t be using from anything else!

Corn

We were a bit hesitant to include corn in this list because we don’t want to include direct food products that would require fuel to be made from food supplies.

But new research has found a way to use the stalks and leaves of the corn plant instead of the kernel to produce biofuel. This research also includes using other forms of biomass, or waste products such as wood chips, to use to make biofuel.

If using corn kernels, you only get about 18 gallons of oil per acre; another reason we were hesitant to include corn on the list. But if you’re growing it for food and using the leaves and stalks to make biofuel instead, then you’re growing a dual-purpose crop and eliminating waste, too.

Switchgrass

Switchgrass is the wave of the future in biofuel if you ask some researchers.

It can be grown on marginal land that you probably won’t use for farming so you’re not using crop space to grow fuel products. It can grow in a variety of soils and is a perennial, so you only have to plant it once. It will regrow during warm weather for 10-20 years.It grows best in well-drained soil with a pH of 5.0 and higher of medium fertility.

Switchgrass is a great crop for biofuel in a survivalist scenario because it has a high cellulosic content and yields about 500 gallons of ethanol per acre.

Sunflowers

Even though this is a food source, we’re going to include it because it yields a significant amount of oil per acre. Since the plant waste that is left over can also be turned into fuel pellets that can be used to fuel electric generators, sunflowers make our list of biofuel crops for survival in a SHTF situation.

Per acre, you can expect to yield 500 gallons of convertible oil, plus the biomass that’s left over after pressing the seeds.

Other crops that can be used to make biofuel include wheat, cottonseed, rapeseed (canola), palm oil, sugarcane and a variety of nut trees. Basically, if it produces an oil, it can be converted to biofuel, though yields vary drastically from one type to another.

Ideally, in a survival situation, you want to use a product that isn’t going to take up agricultural space that can be used for food, unless of course you have unlimited space!

Frustration grows as store shelves empty of food and water and businesses shut following West Virginia chemical spill

As hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia enter a fourth day without clean tap water following a chemical spill, frustrations are beginning to mount.

Most visitors have cleared out of Charleston while locals are either staying home or driving out of the area to find somewhere they can get a hot meal or a shower. Meanwhile, business owners with empty dining rooms and quiet aisles of merchandise around West Virginia's capital were left to wonder how much of an economic hit they'll take from the chemical spill.

The emergency began Thursday following complaints to West Virginia American Water about a licorice-type odor in the tap water. The source: the chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, which had leaked out of a 40,000-gallon tank at a Freedom Industries facility along the Elk River.

It could take days for clean tap water to flow again. First, water sample test results must consistently show that the chemical's presence in the public water system is at or below 1 parts per million, the level recommended by federal agencies, West Virginia American Water President Jeff McIntyre said Saturday at a news conference.

Officials said that water samples were "trending in that direction," and most were below that level, but flushing would not begin until readings were under the 1 part per million level for a 24-hour period. More than 100 more samples were due to be tested overnight.

State officials said Saturday they believe about 7,500 gallons leaked from the Freedom Industries plant in Charleston. Some of the chemical, a foaming agent used in coal processing, was contained before flowing into the Elk River; it's not clear exactly how much entered the water supply.

Meanwhile, 800,000 liters of fresh water were scheduled to be shipped into the affected area Saturday and Sunday night.

Residents in nine counties were told to not drink, bathe in, or wash their dishes or clothes with their water, which could only be used for flushing toilets. The order applies to about 300,000 people.

Virtually every restaurant was closed Saturday, unable to use water to prepare food, wash dishes or clean employees' hands. Meanwhile, hotels had emptied and foot traffic was down at many retail stores.

"I haven't been able to cook anything at home and was hoping they were open," Bill Rogers, 52, told the Associated Press outside a closed Tudor's Biscuit World in Marmet, just east of Charleston. "It seems like every place is closed. It's frustrating. Really frustrating."

There's no question businesses have been hurt — particularly restaurants and hotels, said Matt Ballard, president of the Charleston Area Alliance, the state's largest regional chamber of commerce.

"I don't know that it can be quantified at this point because we don't know how long it will last," Ballard said. "I'm hoping a solution by early next week so business can get back to normal."

The Alliance is urging business owners to check their insurance policies to see if they can make claims over lost sales. It plans to hold workshops to assist businesses with those issues, Ballard said.

In downtown Charleston, the Capitol Street row of restaurants and bars were locked up. Amid them, The Consignment Company was open, but business was miserable. The second-hand shop's owner said she relies on customers who come downtown to eat and drink.

"It's like a ghost town," Tammy Krepshaw said. "I feel really bad for all my neighbors. It's sad."

State officials were working over the weekend on alternative sources of water that may allow restaurants to reopen. Several businesses that had arranged other sources of water were inspected Saturday.

"We will work around the clock, 24-7, and try to open ... as many businesses as possible in the next couple of days," said Dr. Rahul Gupta, health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston and Putnam County boards of health.

At Charleston's Yeager Airport, a combined 7 inbound and outbound flights were canceled. The reason for the cancellations was an agreement between the airlines and unions for flight crews and pilots that hotels meet a certain threshold of service, and the lack of water violates the agreement, said airport spokesman Brian Belcher. Arrangements were being made to house flight personnel in hotels about 40 miles away.

On Saturday, blame was placed squarely at Freedom Industries for the spill, with West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Director Mike Dorsey saying that the company "is responsible, therefore they are responsible for cleanup."

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said he will work with his environmental agency head to look into tighter regulation of chemical storage facilities in the ongoing legislative session.

"There are certain reporting things that companies have to do," Tomblin said. "And I do think we have to look at them to make sure this kind of incident does not happen again."

Federal authorities, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, began investigating how the foaming agent escaped from the Freedom Industries plant and seeped into the Elk River. On Saturday, an investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) deployed to the scene of the spill.

But according to Department of Environmental Protection officials, Freedom Industries is exempt from DEP inspections and permitting since it stores chemicals, and doesn't produce them.

Gary Southern, president of Freedom Industries, apologized Friday for disrupting so many lives in southern West Virginia and said the company still does not know how much of the chemical spilled from its operation into the river.  

"We'd like to start by sincerely apologizing to the people in the affected counties of West Virginia," Southern said. "Our friends and our neighbors, this incident is extremely unfortunate, unanticipated and we are very, very sorry for the disruptions to everybody's daily life this incident has caused."

At least four people have been hospitalized and hundreds of residents called the West Virginia Poison Center to report concerns or symptoms related to the spill, including nausea, vomiting, dizziness, diarrhea, rashes and reddened skin, state health officials told Reuters.

The leak was discovered Thursday morning from the bottom of a storage tank. Southern said Freedom Industries worked all day and through the night to remove the chemical from the site and take it elsewhere. Vacuum trucks were used to remove the chemical from the ground at the site.

"We have mitigated the risk, we believe, in terms of further material leaving this facility," Southern said. He said the company didn't know how much had leaked.

The tank that leaked holds at least 40,000 gallons, said state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Tom Aluise.

Freedom Industries was already cited for causing air pollution stemming from the odor first reported Thursday, Aluise said.

God's Greatest Creation

'For Every One Job Added, Nearly 5 People Left the Workforce'

Today’s jobs report underscores a deeper problem facing our economy: a large and growing block of people who are chronically jobless and completely outside the workforce. In December, the economy added only 74,000 jobs – not nearly enough to keep up with population growth –and 347,000 left the workforce. That means for every one job added, nearly 5 people left the workforce entirely. There are now nearly 92 million Americans outside the workforce, resulting in the lowest participation rate in 36 years. The President’s immigration plan will only make things dramatically worse – and no amount of ‘promise zones’ will be a sufficient remedy for the millions of displaced workers.

Aluminum Downspout Hot Air Solar Collector Construction

Food: Storage

Practical Preppers’ Scott Hunt advises having enough stored food to feed each person in a community for an entire year, based upon an average consumption of 2,200 calories per day. 

That number, Hunt cautions, is a minimum threshold. According the U.S. Air Force Survival Handbook, caloric needs in survival situations actually may be much higher, because of increased physical activity and other stresses; it recommends consumption of 3,000 to 5,000 calories per day in warm weather, and 4,000 to 6,000 calories in winter.

For that reason, amassing a large supply of food in a secure location is critical. Preppers have numerous options for doing that. Here are some considerations.

• Should You Buy a Pre-Prepared Supply? Perhaps the simplest way to amass an emergency supply of food is to buy a pre-prepared one from one of the numerous survival supply vendors on the Web. A search using Google’s Shopping search engine reveals that complete 12-month food supplies are available prices ranging from around $1,000 to around $4,700 for a single person. High-end packages offer pre-cooked gourmet entrees such as pasta Alfredo or Beef Stroganoff, sealed in airtight nitrogen-filled pouches, while economy-minded food supplies tend toward dried beans, oatmeal, powdered eggs, canned fruit and vegetables, and bouillon cubes. Hunt cautions that if you buy a pre-prepared food supply, you must make sure that it provides ample calories. Though a brand may be touted as a one-year supply, a look at the fine print may reveal that it provides only 800 calories a day. Emergency Food Storage and Survival Handbook author Peggy Layton suggests a lower-cost alternative method: Convert your own pantry in an emergency supply. She suggests stocking a large supply food that you’ve either purchased in grocery stores or grown and canned or free-dried yourself, and then rotating in new food to replace what your family consumes.

• Know the Quantities You Will Need—and Where You’ll Store Them. According to Hunt, providing a 2,200 calorie-per-day diet for an entire year requires about 700 pounds of food, or about 25 ounces per day. Precisely how much storage space that will require depends upon the items you choose and their packaging. Survivalist Howard Ruff, author of the 2008 bookHow to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years of the 21st Century, says that dehydrated foods may only require a quarter to a seventh of the space of an equivalent amount of fresh food, and that the bottom two or three feet of a normal closet is sufficient to store a year’s supply for a person. 

• Know your staples. If you’re amassing your own supply rather than buying it, Hunt recommends these proportions. 

Grains (oats, rice, whole wheat): 400 pounds.
Beans/legumes: 90 pounds.
Fruit and vegetables: 90 pounds.
Dairy (dried milk): 75 pounds.
Meat or vegetable protein substitute: 20 pounds.
Fats and oils: 20 pounds.
Sugar: 60 pounds.

• Know What You Like. Both Hunt advises that preppers try as much as possible to replicate the sort of diets they consume in non-crisis situations. If you’re accustomed to eating a lot of meat, as most Americans are, suddenly switching to beans and rice is going to add to your stress, and eat away at your morale. And it’s important to maintain variety, which we’re used to in a society where supermarket aisles are brimming with foodstuffs. Hunt warns that people who are forced to eat the same foods continually can experience a phenomenon called appetite fatigue, in which they eventually will prefer hunger to eating another bite of a food that they’ve grown tired of.

• Know How Long Various Foods Will Last. It’s important to become familiar with the shelf lives of various foods. Nonfat dried milk, for example, can last about a year in a cool, dry storage area. According to Ruff, nitrogen-packed dehydrated food can last from four to seven years, and wheat—if kept dry and protected from rodents—can last almost indefinitely. “Some that was found in the tomb of King Tut is still edible,” he claims.

• Know What is Likely to Become Scarce. In a crisis that causes transportation breakdowns and food shortages, it eventually may become difficult to obtain items that preppers can’t produce themselves.  In particular, they should stock up on items such as coffee, which has a global supply chain that easily could be disrupted by disaster or conflict.

If You Only Do Three Things:

• Buy a good, pre-prepared one-year food supply.  This is no-muss, no-fuss method of making sure you’ll have enough food. Just be sure to read the labeling to make sure it provides enough calories and nutrients.
• Load up on grains.  According to the American Millers Association, grains such whole wheat flour are excellent sources of a wide range of nutrients, from B vitamins and potassium. And some grains, such as oats, can provide both carbohydrates and protein.
• Make sure it’s going to last.  If you stock up on a lot of food but it spoils before you can use it, you’ve wasted your time. Look for items with long shelf lives.

Noahs Ark Has Been Found. Why Are They Keeping Us In The Dark?

Ordinary people are hungry for this information, yet the organizations responsible to disseminate these facts seem to have an agenda to keep us in the dark. This is especially true when it comes to our ancient human history.

The Ark of Noah has been found. It's real. I'll describe the evidence in some detail and end with the historical and religious implications.

How It Was Discovered

In 1959, Turkish army captain Llhan Durupinar discovered an unusual shape while examining aerial photographs of his country. The smooth shape, larger than a football field, stood out from the rough and rocky terrain at an altitude of 6,300 feet near the Turkish border with Iran.

Capt. Durupinar was familiar with the biblical accounts of the Ark and its association with Mount Ararat in Turkey, but he was reluctant to jump to any conclusions. The region was very remote, yet it was inhabited with small villages. No previous reports of an object this odd had been made before. So he forwarded the photographic negative to a famous aerial photography expert named Dr. Brandenburger, at Ohio State University.

Brandenburger was responsible for discovering the Cuban missile bases during the Kennedy era from reconnaissance photos, and after carefully studying the photo, he concluded: "I have no doubt at all, that this object is a ship. In my entire career, I have never seen an object like this on a stereo photo."

In 1960 the picture [above] was published in LIFE magazine under the heading of Noahs Ark? That same year a group of Americans accompanied Capt. Durupinar to the site for a day and a half. They were expecting to find artifacts on the surface or something that would be unquestionably related to a ship of some kind. They did some digging in the area but found nothing conclusive and announced to the anxiously waiting world that it appeared to be a natural formation.

Most of the global media turned away from the find and it became a non-story.

In 1977 Ron Wyatt visited the site. Obtaining official permission, Ron and others conducted more thorough research over a period of several years. They used metal detection surveys, subsurface radar scans, and chemical analysis -- real science -- and their findings were startling. The evidence was undeniable. This was the Ark of Noah.

The Visual Evidence

The first part of the survey was to examine the object and take its measurements. The shape looked like hull of a ship. One end was pointed as you would expect from bow [below: D] and the opposite end was blunt like a stern. The distance from bow to stern was 515 feet, or exactly 300 Egyptian cubits. The average width was 50 cubits. These were the exact measurements mentioned in the Bible.

a

On the starboard side (right) near the stern there were four vertical bulges protruding from the mud [B], at regular intervals, that were determined to be the "ribs" of the hull [see below]. Opposite to these, on the port side, a single rib [A] protrudes from the mud. You can see its curved shape very clearly. Surrounding it are more ribs, still largely buried in the mud, but visible upon close examination.

Remember that this object, if it is the Ark, is extremely old. The wood has been petrified. Organic matter has been replaced by minerals from the earth. Only the shapes and traces of the original wood remain. Perhaps this is why the expedition in 1960 was disappointed. They anticipated finding and retrieving chucks of wood, long since eroded.

From the position of the object in the middle of an obvious mud flow, it is obvious that the object slid down more than a mile from its original location. Geologists believe it was originally over 1000 feet higher in the mountain and encased in a shell of hardened mud. They think that an earthquake in 1948 cracked the mud shell and revealed the structure. This is confirmed by stories from the surrounding villagers who tell of its "sudden appearance" around that time.

Biblical accounts of the Ark describe it as having as many as six levels. The assumed shape of the Ark seems consistent with the bulge [C] in the middle of the object. In fact, as we will soon learn, radar scans of the structure suggest that this bulge is the collapsed debris of these levels.

Although most people think of the Ark as being rectangular, that only applies to the top decks. The sleek shape of the hull is necessary to enable the huge ship to remain stable in the water and survive tremendous waves.

Ground Penetrating Radar

The human eye needs to see reflected light to recognize an object. To visualize what remains below the earth, scientists use microwaves which can penetrate the ground and bounce back when they hit something solid. This technique is commonly used to locate oil and other minerals. Called Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), the apparatus us made from an antenna that transmits, then listens to receive the "echo" and prints the result on a piece of paper. The delay and strength of this echo tell the geologists how solid and at what depth the objects are under the earth.

The team of geologists didn't scan the entire object. Instead, they marked out lines that crossed the object with yellow tape. Then they dragged the antenna (about the size of a lawnmower) over the lines and watched the output on the paper recorder. When they got a strong "hit" -- meaning there was something solid underneath -- they would record the position on the tape [above]. Later, when they made a map of the object, the tape and the location of the "hits" they realized that there was indeed a structure underneath the mud.

"This data does not represent natural geology. These are man made structures. These reflections are appearing too periodic... too periodic to be random in that type of natural pace." - Ron Wyatt of SIR Imaging team

The radar cans revealed this structure [above] under the mud. The symmetry and logical placement of these objects shows that this is unmistakably a man made structure, most likely the Ark of Noah.

Artifacts Retrieved From The Ark

Using the GPR, Ron Wyatt discovered an open cavity on the starboard side. He used an improvised drill to make core sample inside this cavity and retrieved several very interesting objects. Below you can see the artifacts which were sent for laboratory analysis. On the left is the bore hole [see below], followed by what turned out to be petrified animal dung, then a petrified antler and lastly a piece of cat hair.

Perhaps the most significant find from the Ark itself is a piece of petrified wood. When this was first found it appeared to be a large beam. But upon closer examination it is actually three pieces of plank that have been laminated together with some kind of organic glue! This is the same technology used in modern plywood. Lamination makes the total strength of the wood much greater than the combined strength of the pieces. This suggests a knowledge of construction far beyond anything we knew existed in the ancient world.

Tests by Galbraith Labs in Knoxville, Tennessee, showed the sample to contain over 0.7% organic carbon, consistent with fossilized wood. The specimen was once living matter.

Examination reveals the glue oozed from the layers. The outside of the wood appears to have been coated with bitumen.

Even more surprising were laboratory analyses which not only revealed that the petrified wood contained carbon (proving it was once wood) but there were iron nails [above right] embedded in the wood!

We like to imagine that humanity evolved in a neat sequence of eras, each named after the technology that was discovered. We have the Stone Age (where man developed arrows and stone tools), the Bronze Age (where metals were combined and heated to make tools and household items) and lastly the Iron Age (where iron and steel objects were made by heating iron ore and adding other material -- like charcoal -- to strengthen it). The Iron Age is usually placed at 1200-1000 BC, yet we have iron nails being used in this extremely old construction

But Wait... There's More!

The most surprising find was discovered with sensitive metal detectors. The team located several strong "hits" that, when dug up, revealed large disc shaped rivets. From simple observation of the metal it was possible to see where the rivet had been hammered after being inserted through a hole [below].

If rivets being used in ancient construction doesn't impress you, this surely will.

An analysis of the metal used to make the rivets revealed that they were a combination of iron (8.38%), aluminum (8.35%) and titanium (1.59%). Remember these trace metals have survived petrification and so do not indicate the exact content in the original material. (see Report from Galbraith Labs)

We know the aluminum was incorporated in the metallic mixture because it does not exist in metallic form in nature. This implies an extremely advanced knowledge of metallurgy and engineering. Characteristics of an iron-aluminum alloy have been investigated in The Russian Chemical Bulletin (2005) and reveal that this alloy forms a thin film of aluminum oxide which protects the material from rust and corrosion. The addition of titanium would provide added strength. This seems to have worked. The rivets have survived from antiquity!

The Surrounding Areas

Several miles from the location of the Ark, huge stones were discovered, some standing upright while others lying on the ground. These stones, weighing many tons, have holes carved in them. Scientists have determined that they were anchors and the holes would have been their attachment to a ship with hemp rope.

Often these stones will have crosses carved in them, from centuries ago when pilgrims made the journey to visit the Ark. Yes, the Ark was well known in the Middle Ages and even before. And its location was recorded in many historical documents.

"And the Ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen." - Genesis 8:4-5

The Gilgamesh Epic (650 BC) gives Mt. Nisir as the landing place of the Ark. The local name for the town where the Ark was found is Nasar.

The annals of Ashurnasurpal II of Assyria (833-859 BC) places it south of the Zab river (correct).

Theophilus of Antioch (115-185 AD) said the Ark could be seen in his day in the Arabian mountains. Later Church Fathers also mention the Ark as late as the mid 7th century.

In the 13th century, Willam, a traveler, stated for the first time that Mt. Masis was the Ark location (present-day Mt. Ararat).

Ptolemy's Geographia (1548) mentions the mountains of Armenia as the place of landing. So does the traveler Nicolas de Nicolay (1558).

Pilgrims to the site would gather bits and pieces of the petrified wood which would be used as charms to ward off evil. When they encountered the anchors, they had no doubt about their association with the Ark. They often carved one big cross to represent Noah and smaller crosses representing his family.

The huge anchors would have been suspended from the keel of the ship. This was a common practice among ancient mariners to stabilize a heavy ship and ensure that the bow is always facing the on-coming waves. A "top heavy" ship, such as the Ark, could easily be capsized by a wave approaching from the side. This is yet further proof that Noah's Ark was a reality and that it has indeed been found in Turkey.