Let me start by thanking you for your condolences, good wishes, kind words, and prayers regarding the shocking loss of our family member to Covid. They meant so much to all of us that so many of you that I've never met would send such a wonderful outpouring of love. I said, "That's just who my readers are - they're genuinely good, kind people."

~~~~

A lot happened in the US over the year I was gone. People have changed dramatically. Not everyone, and not all for the worst, but things are so different now.

It's hard for me to fathom how complete strangers bring up Trump at the grocery store in a scathing tone, irritating another stranger who retorts with a comeback about Biden. I was at the Harris Teeter the other day and could hardly believe my ears as people argued over why cantaloupes were expensive. Neither argument was really sensible but the hostility was tangible. I felt sorry for the young woman at the checkout stand and wondered how many of these altercations she had witnessed over the past year.

Then there's the mask vs. no mask debate, which I wrote ages ago (May 2020) was a sign of tribalism just as certainly as a specific color of bandana in a specific neighborhood. It saddens me to see people skittering around, fearfully avoiding much-needed human interaction.

At the same time, I see the beauty of Americans pulling together to make connections with one another that have nothing to do with politics, presidents, and pandemics. That's the America I remember and love passionately.

Now more than ever, we have to be strong and stand up to this fear-based brainwashing, the silencing of dissent, and the persecution based on political beliefs. I don't care if it's a person you don't like being persecuted. If you stand by silently and do nothing, or worse, cheer it on, the tides will turn one day and the precedent will be set. Then you could be the one being persecuted.

This being said, I'm fighting the political defunding of my website tooth and toenail. I guess I found the hill I'm willing to die on and it's the First Amendment.

Your support, your kind letters, your funny cards - I cannot tell you how much they brighten my days. It's you who give me the resilience to keep up the fight.

If we don't dissent now, it could be too late to dissent later. Be brave. Be strong. Stand up for what you believe in and focus on reason and justice.

Don't stoop to the level of the people persecuting the dissenters. Remember, we are better than that.

I'll be honest - I had waaay less time to read this week because I've been trying to get organized and unpacked. I have trouble concentrating in chaos and I have a new book in my head that I want to write. But a few articles in particular caught my eye.

Pegasus: A cyber-scientist explains how the zero-click spyware can hack phones with a single unanswered call (Mildly terrifying)
Mudslides force more than 100 to spend night on highway (This happened in Colorado - would you be prepared for this situation?)
Countdown To The Next Lockdown: Biden Says "In All Probability" US Will See More Restrictions (Surprise, surprise.)
Have The Social Media Companies Become Way Too Powerful? (Um, YEAH. It seems like antitrust out the wazoo to me.)
The Battle of the Censors ( The censors and now fighting with the other censors)
The Lost Art of Paying Close Attention to Your Situation (A great reminder for preppers)
10 Ways to Combat Inflation at the Grocery Store ( Erica always has awesome, frugal advice)

Have you wanted to take one of Selco's courses but weren't sure which one to choose? Now you don't have to pick. This week only, Buy One Course, Get One FREE.

These are Selco's cornerstone offerings.

In One Year in Hell< Selco shares what he learned during his time living in a city under siege. He lived with no power, no running water, and no supplies under horrific conditions. Selco survived snipers and mortar fire for a year and this is the first course he created to bring those conditions to life in order to help us survive.

In SHTF Survival Bootcamp, Selco teaches the basics of both urban and wilderness survival. He tells you the things he wishes he knew before the SHTF for him, as well as how you can best prepare for a life-altering scenario like the one he endured. Learn about survival from someone who actually lived it, not from those who just know about it in theory.

THIS WEEK ONLY, GET BOTH COURSES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE.

This sale ends on Saturday, August 7th.

LINK: https://learn.theorganicprepper.com/product/selcos-courses-bogo-free/

Don't let this deal pass you by. Things are getting crazier than ever, so now is the time to learn these vital skills and figure out what signs to watch for. We timed this sale for the first of the month for our friends who are on a fixed income and truly hope you can take advantage if it.

After eating farm-fresh, healthfully grown food for the past year and feeling great, I didn't want to slip into bad habits when I returned to the US. But the price of organic produce, meat, and staples is simply out of control.

I started shopping online with Misfit Market and I absolutely love it. If you tried it in the past and it didn't work out, there are some changes you should know about. No longer do they just ship you a parcel of whatever happens to be in season. You go onto their website and select exactly what you want. You can skip a week any time you want and you are not locked into anything. Go check it out using this link and save $10 off the price of your order.

I get produce, meat, and a variety of pantry supplies on a weekly basis delivered to my door. Their minimum order is only $30 and the prices are comparable to Aldi's (but in many cases the quality appears to me to be superior.)

If you use this link to sign up, you'll get $10 bucks off your first order. Try it out and let me know what you think!

LINK: https://www.misfitsmarket.com/?promo=COOKWME-PM2EHZIBJYK

If the discount doesn't populate automatically, put this code in at checkout: COOKWME-PM2EHZIBJYK

After several years of being on the move, it's been pretty cool to pull my old belongings out of the storage unit and use them again. I'm slowly but surely getting my beloved books on shelves, filling the walls with art, and settling in.

My apartment is small so there's not room for everything but I'm finding comfort and happiness in things like family photos and mementos from my travels. And of course, my favorite books.

As far as stocking up on food is concerned, I decided to hit The Bunker - ahem - the climate and humidity-controlled storage unit - and bring over the food from there. My daughter has used some of it this year to supplement her grocery budget, but after opening a box of crackers and finding them slightly stale, I decided we need to eat that food now and our purchases should go to replenishing the storage unit.

Nearly everything seems to still good aside from that ill-fated box of crackers, so I brought a load of food over this past week and will finish stuffing my pantries during the week ahead. When combined with my Misfit Market fresh foods, I feel pretty good about my stockpile. By the end of the week, I'll easily have enough food for six months and can focus my energy on water storage for my apartment, as well as a catchment system I can put on my patio in the event of an emergency. Once water is sorted, grocery money will go toward refilling the shelves of The Bunker the storage unit.