I have been feeling impressed lately that I need to get my food storage in order. My impressions are less around a global or national emergency as they are around being prepared for whatever comes our way (earthquake, loss of job, etc.) and to be obedient to the suggestions of my church leaders. To try and reduce the cost of replenishment and to promote easy preparation we decided to go with Mountain House freeze dried food. I ordered from The Ready Store, as they appear to have some of the best prices that I could find online.

I prefer to have freeze dried food over dehydrated food as it retains nutrients, texture and tastes better that dehydrated food. Freeze dried food is also much easier/faster to reconstitute for consumption. The meals that we got from Mountain House are full entrées, so one does not have to worry about putting together a meal with different ingredients. Mountain House has been a leader in foods for backpackers and campers for many years.

Kacy and I plan to keep about 3 to 4 months of "regular" food in the house and make up the rest of the year with Mountain House foods, Wheat, Rice, Cereal (rotated) and powdered drinks (milk, juice, etc.). Most food storage that contains dairy is only good for ~ 5 to 8 years, so we will be rotating those items more frequently.

I can't fathom the idea of my children or wife going through long term hunger...man, thinking about the little ones going through that kind of pain makes my eyes well up. So, what did this all cost...well...about $3400...yeah...ouch. I just look at it like insurance investment. We are truly blessed and are so grateful that we have the means to make this purchase!!

Thank you to the government for wasting our tax dollars in the form of an "economic stimulus" check :) Sorry, I guess we actually borrowed the 160 Billion dollars, so it will be our future tax dollars (and our children's) that will pay for this debacle.

P.S. - There are several less expensive alternatives to food storage. By no means do I characterize our method as being the best or only way to go. However, we found this to be the most convenient and useful means for our family. I recommend that you go to REI or your local camping store and pick up a pouch containing a Mountain House freeze dried entrée . The actual long term food storage items come in #10 cans, but you can do some taste testing with the pouches.

Rev. James T. Meeks & Tony Rezko

One of Barack Obama's chosen delegates and reported "close advisor"



I have heard people (generally his supporters) say that Barack is a good guy. I'm not sure what to think. Now again, we have a reported close advisor and a confirmed delegate of Barack Obama making the comments above? Again, it isn't like this guy was sharing his opinion with friends in a conversation, he was preaching this from the pulpit at Salem Baptist Church in Chicago. I just don't understand "ministers" that preach hatred...not just against different races, but also against their own race. Is it wrong to judge others by the company that they keep?

He was interviewed in regards to his comments and he isn't apologetic at all??? He doesn't have a problem calling people of his own race/faith/etc. House Ni@@@@s???

The interview:


I know that I am influenced (to varying degrees) by the conversations I have with my friends. I am not saying that people should not associate with those who have differing viewpoints; however, you have to draw a line at some point, especially if you are vying for a position that is supposed to represent the majority of America.

I am just plain confused as to why Barack has so much support from the voting population. Maybe I am a minority in America...

Then there is the issue with Tony Rezko. I just don't know if this guy has Integrity...maybe it is the media making things seem worse than they are, but over 80% of the media (reportedly) are extremely liberal. Here is a write-up regarding the Tony Rezko situation:

"The indictment of Rezko on federal charges has drawn attention to his relationship with Illinois Senator Barack Obama, though Obama has not been charged with wrongdoing.[16][8] In 1990, after Obama was named head of the Harvard Law Review, Rezmar Corp. offered him a job should he decide to return to Chicago, and although Obama turned that offer down he later did take a job, which he held from 1993 to 2002, with Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland [17], a law firm representing Rezko, Rezmar, and community groups in partnership with Rezmar, that helped Rezmar get more than $43 million in government funding. The firm's then senior partner, Allison S. Davis, was a member of the Chicago Plan Commission and went into business with Rezko, developing homes.[8] On July 31, 1995 the first ever political contributions to Obama were $300 from a lawyer, a $5,000 loan from a car dealer, and $2,000 from two food companies owned by Rezko.[18] Starting in 2003 Rezko was on Obama's U.S. Senate campaign finance committee, which raised more than $14 million.[8] Obama has since identified over $250,000 in campaign contributions to various Obama campaigns as coming from Rezko or close associates, and has in consequence donated almost two thirds of that amount to charity. Also, in 2005 Obama purchased a new home in the Kenwood District of Chicago for $1.65M ($300,000 below the original price) on the same day that Tony Rezko's wife, Rita Rezko, purchased the adjoining empty lot from the same sellers for the full asking price.[19] Obama acknowledged bringing his interest in the property to Rezko's attention,[20][21] but denied any coordination of offers. According to Obama, while the properties had originally been a single property, the previous owners decided to sell the land as two separate lots, but made it a condition of the sales that they be closed on the same date. Obama's said that the properties had been on the market for months, that his offer was the best of two bids, and that Ms. Rezko's bid was matched by another offer, also of $625,000, so that she could not have purchased the property for less.[22] It had been reported that Rezko was under federal investigation for influence-peddling, before Obama bought a 10 foot (3.0 m) wide strip of Ms. Rezko's property for $104,500, $60,000 above the assessed value, in 2006.[19][8] According to Chicago Sun-Times columnist, Mark Brown, "Rezko definitely did Obama a favor by selling him the 10-foot strip of land, making his own parcel less attractive for development."[23] Obama acknowledges that the exchange may have created the appearance of impropriety, and stated "I consider this a mistake on my part and I regret it."[22] "

Obama's Minister Problem

Lanny Davis of the Wall Street Journal wrote the following column:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120770107738700007.html

Let it be known that Lanny is a Clinton supporter and more than likely is stating this in order to promote Clinton. Let it also be known that I typically disagree with about 99.9% of what Lanny has to say. All that said, Lanny has it right on when it comes to this issue. Take a read of the article...

UPDATE: Lanny Davis is a Washington, D.C. attorney and did this column as an op-ed. I also take some exception to his last comment regarding the Republican "Attach Machine"...there you have it

Obama...

I have had several conversations lately about Senator Obama's affiliation and possible belief in Black Liberation Theology. From my reading, it appears that James Hal Cone is the "father" of Black Liberation Theology in America; although, this theology has been used throughout many nations in history to promote Marxism.

I have see the following quote by Cone spread like wildfire across the Internet:

"Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community ... Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love."

For more information on his philosophies, I recommend looking at his books, "Black Theology and Black Power" and "A Black Theology of Liberation".

Being a Mormon, I am used to people paraphrasing leaders of the LDS church, twisting the inspiring and spiritual sermons given by leaders into derogatory or oppressing dictates. Consequently, I am hesitant to condemn a Man or a Theology based on quotes found on the Internet. With that said, Jeremiah Wright, former Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, has a history of making inflammatory comments from the pulpit. I won't go into detail as these comments and full sermons can be found on youtube and other areas throughout the Internet.

My conversations with friends has been around Barack Obama's acceptance and support of James Cone and Jeremiah Wright's teachings of Black Liberation Theology. It is clear that Obama has publicly denounced the recent comments made by Jeremiah Wright; however, this does not explain why he has attended and raised his children in a Church supporting this doctrine. Obama claimed to not have heard Wright's sermon in regards to Sept. 11th (and other inflammatory speeches given before the presidential race), but has stated that he has disagreed with some of the things that Wright has said throughout the years.

Obama made the following comment in regards to Wright's recent publicized comments, "But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam."

I have a hard time believing Obama's statement. From what I understand of Black Liberation Theology, seeing "white racism as endemic" is a founding principal. Why would someone attend a church that preaches these ideas for 20 years and donate (outside of tithing) 20k + to the cause if they did not support what is being preached??

So now it comes down to what would you do?

We just had our semi annual general conference for the LDS church. This is a time when leaders of our church give talks/sermons to the general population of the Church (and the public). I have been a member of the LDS church for ~9 years, give or take some months. At no time during my church attendance or study of "current" doctrine have a come across ideas that I feel are oppressive towards a race, gender or my non-LDS neighbors. Some members of the church and non-members alike have expressed issues with Patriarchy/Priesthood or the church's views on homosexuality (obvioulsy there is a much broader list than these two items); however, both the Priesthood and Sexual Sins are sufficiently spelled out to me in the Bible and Book of Mormon as are answer to other questions posed.

Have there been things stated during the History of the LDS Church that are embarrassing and clearly not the doctrine of the Lord's church? Sure, there have been some things stated by leaders of the LDS church that I can not agree with; however, there is no doubt that these issues are dealt with and corrected by the Lord over time. As a son of God, I am always progressing in this life; the Church is also always progressing. That is the beauty of the religion, we believe in an open scriptural canon, which is inline with our belief in modern day Prophecy.

There have been racist comments made by several of the LDS leaders. These comments, even though widely accepted in the time in which they were spoken, are clearly not of a loving Heavenly Father. However, these comments are not church doctrine and racism is not practiced in the LDS Church. I am partly a member of the LDS faith because the true doctrine is that of inclusion, not exclusion. Does that mean that there are not racists in my church? No. Does that mean that there are not men that believe that women are second class citizens? No.

With that said, I would not suffer my family to be part of an organization that teaches hatred or justifies sin. I do not care if the leader of that organization was my Father, Mother or any other relation. I feel that part of persona Integrity is understanding and holding myself accountable for the beliefs and teachings of those organizations to which I associate. Therefore, I hold Obama accountable and question his Integrity in regards to this topic.

What do I want him to do? Based on a conversation with a co-worker, I don't feel that it is necessary or God-like to disown a person because of their beliefs; hence, I don't require Obam to disown his preacher and friend because of his statements. However, I would like Obama to explain (not justify) his view of Black Liberation Theology and where he stands on its basic teachnings. I don't want a blanket statement...

Based on what I have seen, can I say that Obama has integrity?

in·teg·ri·ty - adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

No, not right now...