So lately I have been playing with my food. A lot. Drying things, preserving them, inventing marinades that will prolong shelf life, all sorts of things. As an ex-chef, it's ironic that I am learning more about food now that ever before. God gave me this weird gift; to be able to mix and pre-taste flavors in my head without actually doing it. So, when I think of 3 flavors, I can taste in my mouth how it will taste. It's weird, but very useful.

Lately I have been experimenting with a pressure cooker. Never used one before. It's a fairly bland way to cook, so I am working on making amazing tasting food from one. They use very little energy, and it's a very clean way to cook. Winter is fast approaching, not thanks to Global Warming. Pfff... And winter means thick heavy hot meals. My soups, again, made from scratch, are killer.

Yes, I am different to most guys :) After 15 years in high technology, I am discovering the finer things in life. I am on a mission to radically simplify my life. I still have my travel bug, and there's so many places I want to go, but funding such travel becomes a problem. Simplifying my life saves money, and enables me to travel more. It also enables me to actually SEE the world. If that makes sense? I mean, when there's so much on your radar, it's hard to see the really important things in life. That's why I am getting more and more involved in politics. Because there's this group of people that want to control our lives, and if let them, they will. And my younger friends could not care less about politics, and think I need to just get on about Kingdom work. But that's thing thing. I am. Politics is really important, because it touches everybody.

MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate.
FACT: Accurate satellite, balloon and mountain top observations made over the last three decades have not shown any significant change in the long term rate of increase in global temperatures. Average ground station readings do show a mild warming of 0.6 to 0.8C over the last 100 years, which is well within the natural variations recorded in the last millennium. The ground station network suffers from an uneven distribution across the globe; the stations are preferentially located in growing urban and industrial areas ("heat islands"), which show substantially higher readings than adjacent rural areas ("land use effects").
There has been no catastrophic warming recorded.


MYTH 2: The "hockey stick" graph proves that the earth has experienced a steady, very gradual temperature decrease for 1000 years, then recently began a sudden increase.
FACT: Significant changes in climate have continually occurred throughout geologic time. For instance, the Medieval Warm Period, from around 1000 to1200 AD (when the Vikings farmed on Greenland) was followed by a period known as the Little Ice Age. Since the end of the 17th Century the "average global temperature" has been rising at the low steady rate mentioned above; although from 1940 – 1970 temperatures actually dropped, leading to a Global Cooling scare.
The "hockey stick", a poster boy of both the UN's IPCC and Canada's Environment Department, ignores historical recorded climatic swings, and has now also been proven to be flawed and statistically unreliable as well. It is a computer construct and a faulty one at that.

MYTH 3: Human produced carbon dioxide has increased over the last 100 years, adding to the Greenhouse effect, thus warming the earth.
FACT: Carbon dioxide levels have indeed changed for various reasons, human and otherwise, just as they have throughout geologic time. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the CO2 content of the atmosphere has increased. The RATE of growth during this period has also increased from about 0.2% per year to the present rate of about 0.4% per year,which growth rate has now been constant for the past 25 years. However, there is no proof that CO2 is the main driver of global warming. As measured in ice cores dated over many thousands of years, CO2 levels move up and down AFTER the temperature has done so, and thus are the RESULT OF, NOT THE CAUSE of warming. Geological field work in recent sediments confirms this causal relationship. There is solid evidence that, as temperatures move up and down naturally and cyclically through solar radiation, orbital and galactic influences, the warming surface layers of the earth's oceans expel more CO2 as a result.

MYTH 4: CO2 is the most common greenhouse gas.
FACT: Greenhouse gases form about 3 % of the atmosphere by volume. They consist of varying amounts, (about 97%) of water vapour and clouds, with the remainder being gases like CO2, CH4, Ozone and N2O, of which carbon dioxide is the largest amount. Hence, CO2 constitutes about 0.037% of the atmosphere. While the minor gases are more effective as "greenhouse agents" than water vapour and clouds, the latter are overwhelming the effect by their sheer volume and – in the end – are thought to be responsible for 60% of the "Greenhouse effect".
Those attributing climate change to CO2 rarely mention this important fact.

MYTH 5: Computer models verify that CO2 increases will cause significant global warming.
FACT: The computer models assume that CO2 is the primary climate driver, and that the Sun has an insignificant effect on climate. You cannot use the output of a model to verify or prove its initial assumption - that is circular reasoning and is illogical. Computer models can be made to roughly match the 20th century temperature rise by adjusting many input parameters and using strong positive feedbacks. They do not "prove" anything. Also, computer models predicting global warming are incapable of properly including the effects of the sun, cosmic rays and the clouds. The sun is a major cause of temperature variation on the earth surface as its received radiation changes all the time, This happens largely in cyclical fashion. The number and the lengths in time of sunspots can be correlated very closely with average temperatures on earth, e.g. the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period. Varying intensity of solar heat radiation affects the surface temperature of the oceans and the currents. Warmer ocean water expels gases, some of which are CO2. Solar radiation interferes with the cosmic ray flux, thus influencing the amount ionized nuclei which control cloud cover.

MYTH 6: The UN proved that man–made CO2 causes global warming.
FACT: In a 1996 report by the UN on global warming, two statements were deleted from the final draft. Here they are:
1) “None of the studies cited above has shown clear evidence that we can attribute the observed climate changes to increases in greenhouse gases.”
2) “No study to date has positively attributed all or part of the climate change to man–made causes”
To the present day there is still no scientific proof that man-made CO2 causes significant global warming.

MYTH 7: CO2 is a pollutant.
FACT: This is absolutely not true. Nitrogen forms 80% of our atmosphere. We could not live in 100% nitrogen either. Carbon dioxide is no more a pollutant than nitrogen is. CO2 is essential to life on earth. It is necessary for plant growth since increased CO2 intake as a result of increased atmospheric concentration causes many trees and other plants to grow more vigorously. Unfortunately, the Canadian Government has included CO2 with a number of truly toxic and noxious substances listed by the Environmental Protection Act, only as their means to politically control it.

MYTH 8: Global warming will cause more storms and other weather extremes.
FACT: There is no scientific or statistical evidence whatsoever that supports such claims on a global scale. Regional variations may occur. Growing insurance and infrastructure repair costs, particularly in coastal areas, are sometimes claimed to be the result of increasing frequency and severity of storms, whereas in reality they are a function of increasing population density, escalating development value, and ever more media reporting.

MYTH 9: Receding glaciers and the calving of ice shelves are proof of global warming.
FACT: Glaciers have been receding and growing cyclically for hundreds of years. Recent glacier melting is a consequence of coming out of the very cool period of the Little Ice Age. Ice shelves have been breaking off for centuries. Scientists know of at least 33 periods of glaciers growing and then retreating. It’s normal. Besides, glacier's health is dependent as much on precipitation as on temperature.

MYTH 10: The earth’s poles are warming; polar ice caps are breaking up and melting and the sea level rising.
FACT: The earth is variable. The western Arctic may be getting somewhat warmer, due to unrelated cyclic events in the Pacific Ocean, but the Eastern Arctic and Greenland are getting colder. The small Palmer Peninsula of Antarctica is getting warmer, while the main Antarctic continent is actually cooling. Ice thicknesses are increasing both on Greenland and in Antarctica.
Sea level monitoring in the Pacific (Tuvalu) and Indian Oceans (Maldives) has shown no sign of any sea level rise.


More FACTS and MYTHS? See what Professor deFreitas has to say.

Source.

Been thinning the site down. Old stuff, not updating it, not much point. Want to try and focus.

Yesterday I tried my hand at making jam. Real jam from real blackberries in my garden. I ended up making 7 full jars. It is darn good stuff. I don't like to buy American jam because it has so much sugar in it, and often it's high-fructose-corn-syrup not sugar anyway. I made this semi-sweet. Gosh it's goooood. Ingredients, blackberries, sugar, pectin. Yum. Just like they make it down under. :)

I am also drying bananas too. I have been experimenting with making different sweets with pureed banana. Put them in a dehydrator, and living long-life snacks is the result. The last lot was banana, toasted coconut and toasted sesame seeds, and some apricot with maple syrup to sweeten them. So cheap to make, and you can't buy anything like it for any price.

The garden is coming along well. Got it going very late in the year, and with global cooling coming upon us, the temperature is far colder than it should be for this time of year. Unfortunately, as the world cools off so rapidly, we're seeing these massive storms. Hopefully soon the global warming liars will admit their errors fraud and tell people how to prepare for this new radically colder earth we'll soon have. I doubt it though, they'll find some way to blame the cold on global warming too. Meanwhile our spring was 2 1/2 weeks late and it's looking like this winter is going to be early. Not good.

The massive Ron Paul sponsored Rally for the Republic is being held this week in Minneapolis, 9 miles up the road from the Republican convention. 10,000 tickets have already been sold to this massive event designed to stoke the fires of constitutional rule in America and a return to the values of freedom and liberty.

Oh and what about Sarah Palin hey. It's slowly coming out that Trig is actually her then-16-year-old daughter's son, not her own as she has been telling people. Seems like a good woman on many fronts, not so much on others, but much better than McCain. I wonder if they could swap positions? The tokenism of her selection is a little insulting though and I expect it to backfire. Obama is likely to win by a landslide. Roll on Communism.... It's sad so many Americans are just so angry at Bush that they choose something so un-American as Socialism. Obama may be the lesser of two evils, but when it is the lesser of two very very evils, it's STILL evil. Anyway, more talk about the Communization of America on the ia report in weeks to come.

I met someone in Whole Foods tonight and told them about my old Butter Chicken cooking video. So here's a flashback from about a year ago.

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The studio is pretty much done. The camera I have is sub-standard for what I want to do, but it will have to do for now. The website is live and ready for the first video. The requests for syndication have been coming in. All in all, the ia report is shaping up real well, even if it has taken longer than I would have hoped. I hope to be filming tonight or tomorrow. The first video will be online soon after. I have so much to put into the first episode. I hope to keep them to 3 or 4 minutes, but the first one is going to be about 10 I think. This is going to be fun!

Here's the site: the ia report

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Today I thought I'd share some random stuff from my last few days. Why? Why not!

Return #1
So bought this tan sports coat in California a few weeks ago from Gap. I decided to return it at Flatiron Mall, Broomfield. I did not have the receipt, but they were able to look up the transaction using my credit card. Hmm... Anyway, the guy asked why I was returning it. The reason was the fabric they used. It was terrible. It was only a $99 jacket, but even for the price, the material was very sub par. I said to the guy that I wore it just once and yet it looks like it's a year old already. He looks at me and tells me I can't return it if I've already worn it. This surprised and amused me. The item, in my opinion was faulty. How could I know it was faulty unless I had already worn it? So you say your car's engine is blowing smoke? Oh, so you drove it already then? You get my point. So I quipped back, well in that case I never wore it. The guy then huffs and calls his manager and has her refund my money. Um, ok.

Return #2
I also bought a pair of cargo shorts in California. My first purchase ever from American Eagle Outfitters. Likely my last. The pocket on one side just came apart at the stitching, and the zipper had no auto-lock on it, so it would be down every time I checked. Not good. AEO was just next to GAP. I walked in, and it was busy. Sale. No receipt for this one ether, and they could not look up my sale on my credit card. They said I could exchange it, and I looked, but the place was full of 14 year old girls shopping on daddy's credit cards and I gave up. I asked for a refund instead. No receipt, no refund. Ok, but they offered a gift card. OK, so I was asked to step back to the end of the line. Um... ok, line was 20 people long, only 2 people on checkouts. I just left. Came back an hour later, didn't remember me, but finally got my gift card. I guess now I have to go back. Sad.

The notable part of this is that the people in these stores were so rude you'd think they were working in high fashion not commodity level clothing stores. Of course, the mall junkies, kids with credit cards, have no idea about the economy and so have not stopped buying. Crunch time coming. Then what will you wear? Oh no, you might just have to wear something from last years collection. OH MY GOD!! :O

Garden
I am planting a garden. I am renting a room from a delightful empty-nester. We have a timed irrigation system which is handy. I am planting spinach, coriander/cilantro, chinese cabbage and some lettuce varieties. It's a bit late for Basil, but I am going to try from some mature seedlings. I am part of a community farm and they blessed me with the seeds and seedlings. We have a few other things in the garden already and I'll be tidying them up too. We also have many fruit trees and a massive blackberry bush. I just have such a passion for growing my own food now.

Apple
So I am now on my 5th iPhone. It goes something like this. #1 went right back after buying it because there was dust under the screen. #2 went back because the speaker volume was 1/3rd the volume of other iPhones. #3 went back because the proximity sensor was failing and the screen was not turning off during a call which meant my cheek kept activating the mute button on the screen. #4 went back because the sleep/wake button was intermittently not working and after the 2.0 update I could not connect to WiFi. So now I am on my 5th iPhone. All replaced under warranty of course, but still, the quality of these devices is poor at best. Someone offered to buy my current iPhone if I was upgrading to the new 3G iPhone, but they have even greater issues, so no, I'll be holding onto this one for quite a while.

I have had some other problems too. My MacBook Pro that is now getting a bit long in the tooth, had a failing battery, even though I have not really used the computer on battery except the 2 months when I was traveling. The computer would shut down with 70% charge left. Not good. And it happened while I was in the Apple store backing my iPhone up before they replaced it. A girl there saw me utter some grief at the computer and asked me what was wrong. I explained my battery issue. She got my serial number and told me my machine was out of warranty. That I knew. But I'm going to replace your battery for you anyway. Wait... Well, I guess Apple is making more money than any other tech company on the planet right now, and my meagre 7, yes, seven, shares did very well this week, but was very surprised at this and very grateful. I am sure this battery is special, because I have been using it now in Starbucks for 2 hours and I still have 74% charge. Apple has much better battery life than those smelly PeeCees though :)

Random: I hate Subway. Everything tastes the same no matter what you order. And Jared, you can NOT lose weight eating so many carbs. Gosh. People believe anything.

Oh, and more on Apple. My iPhone headphones were deteriorating. So now a week later and in a different Apple store, I show the manager the rubber coming away from the ear buds and ask if there's anything they can do, fully expecting him to apologize and maybe give me 10% off a new pair. Instead, he told me that they are not actually covered under the warranty, but I'll just replace them for you anyway, and explains that I should not leave them in tight pockets. Go Apple...! Yes I had problems I should never have had. Every flaw was the result of sub standard manufacturing, and yet they stood behind their product and took care of me.

The ia report
I am setting up my lights. A switch burnt out on one and I can't run without it, so that set me back, but I will fix that tonight. The first episode will be really simple. I am going to explain why a New Zealander is so involved in this cause of freedom, and I'll be reading the first part of the Declaration of Independence. Because people need to hear it.

OK, I think this is enough for today :)

Smelly PeeCees... yech...

In the Bible there is a character called Joseph. He had a very colorful childhood full of really bad circumstances. One day, Joseph explained what he saw, a terrible famine that would sweep to every corner of the land. Joseph had the people store food over the next few years to prepare for this famine. Those that prepared by storing food survived the famine and it made those people the wealthy ones. Those that didn't, became slaves to those that had, or died.

OK, so I'm trying to tell you all that I am the reincarnation of Joseph. Ha ha ha... ok not really. I tell the story though, because the prevailing attitude of my Christian friends is to smile and say with such arrogance faith, "God will look after me". God looked after the people above by sending someone to warn them of impending danger and how to prevent becoming a victim to it. The people listened and prepared as Joseph said to. Today, believers don't seem so smart. God usually works in the most practical of ways.

Though I am no Joseph, I do have a similar message. America and most of the world will soon, 2-3 years I hope, though some speculate in October, enter what I call the Grand Depression. This depression will make the 1930's Great Depression feel like a lottery win. It will be met with hyper-inflation. Hyper-inflation is when people steal your wheelbarrow and leave behind the millions of dollars you were carrying in it. It's when a loaf of bread will cost you a hundred thousand dollars.

Of course, many will deny this is soon to happen, and we have the mainstream media like CoNN and Faux to thank for that. You can put lipstick on a pig, but, it's still a pig. You can talk up the economy all you like, you can say it's all going to be fine, but the real numbers tell the real story. The dollar is collapsing, and the small boost it's receiving this week that is dropping the price of oil is not a sign that things are getting better. It's called the quiet before the storm. There is a saying you have heard before. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. That's happening. Now. The trends we see now have occurred before. The dollar is not going to recover, it's going to get worse. Oh my, MUCH worse. Many people even believe the system has been purposefully designed to fail, and when you look into the history of the Federal Reserve Bank, it's not to difficult to believe.

This is one reason among many why I have decided to create the ia report. The ia report is video. In each brief video, I'll be raising an important issue. I will be talking primarily about the Founding of America and non-revisionist history. You'll hear about economics, politics, and common sense ways to prepare for the coming crash. Current news from a non-propaganda perspective. The video will be syndicated across several news websites and will also be found on a new website I am working on now simply called the ia report. I'll link to it once it's ready.

Citizen journalism folks. It's one thing the world really needs right now. I have a friend about to start a journalism degree, and he'll be providing reports as well. If we want our freedoms, they must be taken back. We can no longer sit back and expect someone else to look after us. God gave us a brain and He expects us to use it.

Is this all doom and gloom? No. I plan to make a lot of money in this depression. You can too if you know how. Watch the ia report and you'll see how.

Oh, if you can't cook and live off of McDonalds. OK, well then I guess it will be pretty gloomy.

God Bless America, with people that are serious about freedom.

I know many people that I have met in life continue to watch my site and read my blog. I have the ability to see a great deal of info in my webserver stats. It's funny how you never leave me any messages though. Perhaps you think you're anonymous. Anyhow. In a few of the emails I have received, some have expressed concern for the direction I have taken the last year, and a few have been outright hostile that I am using my "God given gifts", their language, for so-called "secular" interests, politics in particular. I understand why some think that. I am ashamed to admit that up until about 3 years ago I was pro-Bush, pro-war, and pro a lot of other things I regret too. I was an apologist for the war. It sort of went like this. Winkie Pratney > Heidi Baker > Rob Bell > Ron Paul > Eyes Opened. It should be noted that Ron Paul is not just a Congressman, he's a incredible man of God. One that I believe is living out his calling from God, through gifts given from God.

Now, it is true that God has given me a mouth to speak. Some don't like that because my character has at times not matched my abilities. The last 3 years in particular I have worked on my character so very much, and I hope some have noticed improvement. So an interesting thing has happened. While my shortcomings have prevented me from being invited to speak in Churches much, people outside the 4 walls of the Church have recognized this gift. In fact I just opened a Freedom Rally in Washington, D.C to 12,000 people.

So I'm selling out! Wait. No. I am not selling out. Was Dietrich Bonhoeffer selling out his giftings when he spoke out against fascism and Hitler in Germany? I've never met anyone who thought so. Nor am I. Politics can not be separated from our lives. When you fill up your car or do the weekly shopping and see the crazy prices, THAT is politics. Oh I could give example after example, yet there's no need, because politics is linked to every area of our lives. My focus is freedom. Jeffersonian Freedom. Not a party, not a man, but an ideology that I, and yes, even Winkie Pratney believes is part of the Gospel message. The message of Freedom.

It is rumored that when John Adams was first given the draft of the Declaration of Independence, he looked up at Jefferson in awe and said, "this is not only a declaration of OUR independence, but of the rights of all men". This is why a New Zealander placed in America by God, has been so drawn to bring forth this message. America is fast approaching both Communism and fascism and a mighty great monetary depression that will change the direction of the world. People here have forgotten the price the Founders and their kin paid to gain the freedoms we see being systematically stripped away today. I honestly believe God has brought me to this land to remind people. It is not the first time a foreigner has come to the aid of America. Ouch that sounds arrogant I know, but understand that this is a passion burning so bright within me that I am constantly, even this very evening, asked by people, "why do you care so much?". I care, because I was once entrapped in apathy, and had bought the lie about the wars and so many other things. I see the systematic purposeful destruction of a nation. I can not sit idly by and wallow in apathy any longer. Things do not have to go this way.

God wants us to be free men. Do you?