THE CHICKENS FINALLY COME HOME TO ROOST IN VANCOUVER

Vancouver city council recently voted unanimously in favour of scratching out an old bylaw that prevented the rearing of chickens in residential neighbourhoods. This act reflects an urban trend that is currently in full flight in North American towns and cities. With varying conditions in all the many jurisdictions, it's legal to keep flocks in Victoria, Burnaby, New Westminster, New York, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Denver, Atlanta, Nashville, San Jose, Houston, San Francisco and countless other urban and suburban roosts. But until a couple of days ago, Vancouver chicken cops were ready to pluck any outlaw hens from residences.

So why have so many city councils been brooding over this issue recently? Is it because the downturn in the economy has led people to scratch a living from their formerly ornamental gardens? Is it because so many urbanites see commercial, battery chicken farms as inhumane? Therefore some people think that they can lay claim to part of the free run, free range, organic, healthy living, anti-big business, anti-food importing attitude that is popular in certain circles, just by practicing a little backyard animal husbandry? I think the answer to the latter question is yes.

Backyard chicken flocks are a staple part of family meals for countless millions the world over and not for trendy reasons as is the case in rich North America. Where ever land is available and money is scarce people don't stew about issues such as whether or not the chickens can run free in the sun. Chickens are simply kept for food.

Here in Vancouver, a dozen eggs from a commercial farm costs around three dollars. Free run/range eggs cost a dollar or two more. These prices are hardly high enough to ruffle the feathers of locals, all of which count their incomes in the thousands of dollars. I recently bought a whole, fresh, three pound, fryer chicken at No Frills, a local grocery store, for a dollar a pound! I regularly lay more than that on the bar at Dix for a beer!

Although the repealing of this local bylaw might egg on a few dozen city dwellers to try their hands at raising chickens, I hardly think that we'll see hens cooped up on thousands of apartment balconies in Yaletown nor will we be hearing many cock-a-doodle-doos in the gardens of Kerrisdale mansions. Having said that, people do love their pets and hens make engaging pets. There are countless thousands of dogs and cats living in Vancouver apartments and they are all defecating in boxes and city parks. Adding a few layers to the list of pets isn't going to turn the city into a barnyard. But if a couple of rich celebrity chicks are seen on Robson street with hens' heads peeking out of their purses, old and young alike may pick up the trend of keeping chickens as pet companions. The next thing of course will be pet accessories and services for urban chicks. Diamond leg bands, feather dusters and hen parties will be all the rage this season, I predict. Empty nesters who are missing their children will start keeping exotic breeds for their distinct personalities. We'll probably have to stop eating chicken wings in bars because it will be seen as cruelty toward animals. No doubt Petcetera and PetSmart will start selling fancy, canned and organic chicken feed that' s advertised on TV. And of course, vegetarians will raise vegetarian chickens while carnivores will feed their chickens slugs and bugs. Local veterinarians will flock to refresher courses on chickens. Some conscientious new pet chicken owners will accompany their hens to obedience schools and focus groups but many will just wing it.

Since the change in the by-law was announced, inevitably there has been some clucking from people in various interest groups. Perhaps some of the few locals who farm vegetables in their urban gardens will take a gander at adding chicken coops to their urban home steads. After all, is a chicken in a cockamamie back yard cage any different than a cockatoo or a cockatiel in a gilded cage?...Well chicken eggs are bigger and size does matter which breeds another question. What about getting some ostrich sized eggs hatching in our backyards? This isn't just a little chicken shit! Having a few seven foot tall, three hundred pound birds scratching under the fence could really get the neighbours squawking. An owner would likely have to deal with less foul play from resident coyotes and hawks however.

Some have voiced concerns that aging layers will end up as home grown cockaleekie in city cock pots. Slaughtering a guinea hen in the garage is one thing, but slaughtering ostriches would certainly get people running around the neighbourhoods like chickens with their heads cut off! But giant African chickens will likely never come home to roost and I don't see this change to Vancouver's pet by-law as much to crow about.

JulianOnePlanet Publications Copyright 2009

BREWING WINDS BLOW COLD IN YALETOWN....DESPERATE TIMES CALL...

A decade or so after its birth, the off Yaletown,  much loved Dix BBQ & Brewery closed its doors seemingly forever without a peep of fanfare from the Mark James Group. That was not the reaction from the staff and regular patrons who took the rumours of the imminent demise of Dix to heart and celebrated the life of the little craft brewery throughout Vancouver Craft Beer Week and afterwards until the last day of business on May 22nd. 

Breweries rarely go broke but of course they have always been subject to the shifting sands of business.  With the projected opening of a new MJG craft brewery in the Olympic village and the longtime lack of upgrades at Dix along with property lease concerns the days of Dix have been numbered for a long time.

The 800 block of Beatty has never been an easy place to tap into the local food and beverage industry as has been seen by the changes in  virtually all of the adjacent business properties.  For Dix to survive ten plus years was unusual in the area.  The location, within minutes of stumbling distance from GM Place and BC Place Stadium, not to mention the ever growing residential Yaletown skyscrapers, makes the eight and nine hundred blocks of Beatty street a tempting location for a restaurant or bar. But for complex, local,  traffic flow reasons most businesses in these blocks are not able to generate enough cash flow to survive from event to event longterm.  But along with corporate support, Dix had something that no business in these two no man's land blocks has ever had and that is a custom made craft brewery.  Costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, the well designed, beer generating system inside 871 Beatty st. made it possible for one big man with a big heart to make thousands of liters of great beer a month.... all by himself!  All this points to a beautifully low cost of production of a very high quality product.

But all this is now a part of local history and for those of us who benefited from the constant flow of friends and brew at the now closed brewery the question is where will we meet to watch hockey, complain about the government and drink beer?  Well the Dix tradition of cask night has spread to other breweries and tap rooms around town so as long as we're willing to pay we can drink ...check the CAMRA  site  and subscribe to the newsletter to stay up to date.

Since we're on the cusp of summer we can use Facebook to organize outdoor gatherings which leads me to bring up the question of how to keep the cost down to a king's ransom.  The BCLDB will take all our money eventually, given the chance, just as surely as any government, casino, dealer or thief will...So what are we to do?  The answer of course is to home brew.  Even the coming HST tax grab won't raise the price of home brewing.  There's no free beer,  but with a little effort we can drink very cheap, good,  craft brewed ales....AND PAY NO TAX at all.   It's true that the equipment would attract the HST when purchased new, but craigslist is loaded with used equipment and most days of the week one could buy basic equipment from an online seller, stop at Dan's Homebrewing Supplies for malt and hops and have a 25 liter carboy bubbling away on the counter at the end of the day with change from a hundred dollar bill!  Yes! Including the cost of equipment which would be a one time purchase the cost per pint for the first batch would be LESS THAN 50 CENTS!   I dropped into Firefly on Cambie recently for a six pack of fine, craft brewed Dogfish Head IPA and $20.00 didn't cover it.  I had a pint of it at the Alibi Room on Wed. and it cost $7.50...These are great establishments and I love Dogfish Head IPA but we don't need to do the math to figure that if you like beer and funds are limited home brewing makes sense.  
Water is free and pure, add 4 or 5 kilos of malt extract @ $4.00 a kilo, some hops and yeast for a few dollars more up to thirty dollars or so and besides time and effort that's all it costs for at least sixty pints!  Classified as food products, brewing supplies are tax free.   All the information required to make beer is readily available free on the web.  Wine is similarly cheap to make at home from kits. 

So if the government milks the public for hundreds of millions a year through its monopoly on booze sales and brewing is not only very cheap but  tax free the obvious question is...why doesn't everyone do it?  It's a simple question but the answer isn't simple.  First of all making commercial quality beer at home isn't as easy as buying it.  And, in a busy world where conveniences like fast food, gas stations and demand hot water are the norm, adding a fairly time consuming cooking project to one's routine isn't going attract everyone.  Even using a U-Brew is too much trouble for most folks.  By the way, using a U-Brew will approximately double your cost of brewing...but you won't have to do the dishes, you'll have hands on instruction and it's one stop shopping.  Even using a U-Brew beats buying beer at the liquor store. 

Making 25 liters of good quality beer at home using liquid malt extract and hop pellets takes several hours and there aren't any short cuts.  It's basically a cooking project like making bread or a dinner where part of the meal is prepared days in advance.  Another discouraging factor to consider is that the results, while predictable, are not guaranteed....yeast is a living organism, conditions in the home are not 100% controllable...some batches turn out better than others especially for beginners.  Nevertheless, I'm convinced that mainly because of the crushingly high taxes on store bought beer, spending a little time, effort and money to homebrew makes sense.  Once the equipment is aquired and some of the supplies are bought in bulk it's more convenient for me to brew at home than it is to go to a U-Brew.   I can have the beer on the counter beginning to ferment within two hours from start to finish.   Bottling takes about the same two hours a few days later....one hour if I hurry and use big two liter bottles!  A two liter bottle is about a six pack and it can be made at home for two or three dollars.

I consider home brewing a minor form of protesting..and while I'm "protesting"...I get to drink fifty cent IPA with about 65IBU.......that's bitter...but I'm not...Now that Dix is closed it seems even more worthwhile!

Notes to consider: 

-Making generic yellow lager at home that is exactly the same as industrial lager ie Molson Canadian is not easy....in fact, it's the most difficult style of beer to make at home ....but it's the cheapest beer to buy of all.

-Guiness style stout is among the most expensive beer to buy and it's easy and cheap to make at home 

-Industrial yellow lager is brewed to have LESS taste whereas craft brewed ale is brewed to have more taste.

-Homebrewers can easily make ancient, traditional and obscure beverages like ale, mead, braggot and metheglin that are generally not available in stores because in the old days folks used simple household equipment to make beer....just like homebrewers today.

-Making beer is about as difficult as making bread.

-The cost savings found in homebrewing are realized because of high taxes on store bought beer not because the supplies and labour are cheap.

-Most people find that overindulging in home and unfiltered craft brewed ales doesn't cause a hangover because of the vitamin B component of suspended yeast.

Compared to a similar quantity of store bought beer, you'll save money on your very first batch of beer....especially if you buy cheap used gear...the price goes down every time you brew thereafter. 

-Like most hobbies things can be as simple or as complex as one wishes....I've been writing on the subject of brewing with malt extract....more money can be saved along with the potential for better tasting beer realized, by brewing all grain beer, but it takes more time and skill.

-If you have a batch of beer that doesn't turn out well you can always distill it to make whiskey....but that's a subject for another blog.

ONCE SILVER NOW PLASTIC! WHAT IS REAL MONEY IN UNREAL TIMES

Recently, spokeswoman for the Bank of Canada Julie Girad said that the bank would most likely introduce plastic money in 18 months. A continuing need for forgery prevention, longevity that reduces manufacturing costs and other practical reasons have been given for the plan to replace paper bank notes.  Other jurisdictions such as Australia and India use or have plans to use plastic notes as well.
Well as for my opinion, I say the bank can make its notes out of recycled garbage bags if it wants...wait...isn't that the plan?  Because the garbage is where all these notes are headed eventually no matter what the composition may be. Not just the actual notes themselves but the buying power of them as well.
Continuing to issue credit notes that  are not backed by hard assets (meaning gold) and notes that blow around with the winds of political fortunes is what got us to the disastrous financial situation in which so many countries and governments are now hopelessly trapped.
I know that the world isn't going to form a new  international gold standard to back its currencies any time soon.
I know that if this occurred, the world's cash flow and debt problems wouldn't be alleviated.  So why then am I on my soap box chirping about plastic bank notes and the lack of asset backed currency.  The reason my faithful readers is that the world is still on a gold standard.  It's just that most people and virtually all governments either don't realize it or simply can't afford it.  This lack of gold in the pockets of governments and citizens alike makes everyone vulnerable to financial desperation. Even the biggest and richest corporation in the world...the United States government...yes the Fed....is on its business knees and drowning in a 11+ trillion dollar quicksand of debt and going from bad to worse.
We can mitigate the risk of exposure to debt because we can still buy and hold hard assets in the form of gold and silver with government issued "plastic" and it's tax free!...Yes!  Nothing has changed except the price of gold and silver and the change in recent times is up.
Worldwide, even with globalization, improved travel and rising prosperity in developing countries most people either cannot afford to buy gold and silver or they live so far from the supply houses that the cost and risk of acquiring these precious metals adds considerably to the price.
But in Canada and the USA, and the UK for examples, the government still issues gold and silver in the form of coin of the realm and in Canada there are no taxes on gold.   You and I can cash in our empties, walk into J&M Coin and Stamp here in Vancouver and buy one ounce silver maple leaf coins for around twenty Canadian dollars ($CAN20.00).
You've likely seen ads on TV that offer cash for scrap gold.  These companies extract the fine gold (.995) from carat gold jewelry and offer the customer cash for the gold by weight.   Many folks have gold jewelry in their homes that has been unworn for years.  This jewelry has residual cash value.  My advice, if no reputable location exists for you locally, is to take advantage of those unused gifts by converting the residual value into gold and silver coins.   Sell unused household items on Craigslist or Ebay and start amassing or to adding  your gold and silver holdings.   This ancient, tax free, and liquid form of family assets has protected ordinary citizens and kings alike from calamitous events that occur in an uncertain world and provide ongoing financial security when the constant ravages of inflation erode the purchasing power of paper money.
Gold protects its owner from every thing.  Gold can fix your roof or your broken leg.  It can rebuild the engine in your car.  Gold can make people do what you want them to do in all countries of the world!  The great thing about precious metal is that unlike real estate for example we don't have to save up money to buy it.  Twenty dollars will get you started.   The key to amassing a fortune in gold and silver is to buy it regularly.  If you're a service worker who receives  tip money you are in a position to convert that stream of base metal coins and paper notes into a hoard of gold and silver.  One that will get you the financial security you need for you and your family and the tools and toys that we all need and want so that life is less grinding.  Its a system that is simple but not easy and here's how it works.  Once a month go shopping at your local coin dealer and buy an ounce or two or a quarter of an ounce of gold and/or silver.  If you're having a tight month, buy silver or a little less gold.   After a year or two of this you'll begin to get excited about your stash.  It's a stash because there's no paper trail...no account is required, no declaration, you own the metal.
After the initial period of collecting, your gold can begin to work for you.  When the price is high you could sell a little and take a profit.  When the price is low you can buy a little more.   When you have a need you can draw on your hoard.  Gold holds its value.  During times of uncertainty and periods of high inflation, gold protects capital and out paces other investments.  But don't take my advice.  Buying gold is safe but you should understand your investments, read the links and exercise due diligence.  It's a rare investor who regrets owning some gold.
Don't tell people what you're doing.  Buy coin of the realm (Maple Leaf Coins) rather than bars.  Hide your gold in a fire resistant box in a safe but accessible place.  Don't keep it in a safety deposit box because when you need it most the bank will likely be closed.
Gold endures,  gold crosses boundaries.  Gold doesn't set off metal detectors, gold opens doors.  Gold is beautiful.  
For those who understand, no explanation is necessary, for those cannot understand, no explanation is possible.

VANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPIC RECIPES FOR THE PRESSURE COOKER, THE TABLE AND THE THERMOS

Was it Napoleon who said "an army marches on its stomach"?.....Well anyway, it was Pogo who said "We have met the enemy and he is us!"

What does  all this mean?,  you ask.  What it means is that we've invited the world and so now we must feed them.  Here are Julian's Winter Olympic  recipes.
Of all the greatest kitchen gadgets that have been invented over time, with the exception of the microwave oven, the pressure cooker must be at the top of the list.  Recipes that take over night steps can be done in an hour in the  pressure cooker.  No need to soak beans.  Cuts of meat that are the most flavourful like lamb shanks and chuck roasts can be cooked in a fraction of the time.  The pressure cooker is portable,  versatile, inexpensive, lasts a lifetime and is almost maintenance free.  Use the link to Miss Vickie's to learn everything you need to know about pressure cookers.
Feed everyone in your household with beautiful looking, great tasting, nutritious, high fiber, easy to prepare, re-heatable, economical dishes that will keep the group walking, biking and riding mass transit all day long in the pouring rain.....yes my friends, I know it sounds too good to be true...so therefore by default, it probably is.   The food's good though.

#1) Biathlon Beanie Weenies

Here's one to propel yourselves to Olympic events.

INGREDIENTS

500 gms  dry small white (navy) beans

500 gms hotdogs (one package) any type. I recommend ball park franks.

1.2L water.

1 big spoonful of the following or to taste, ketchup and  molasses or brown sugar or black treacle.

METHOD

Place dry beans, hotdogs (frozen ok) and water in the pressure cooker and cook at low pressure for 1 hour.

De pressurize and make sure your beans are tender. 

Stir in ketchup, sugar product and season to taste over low heat. reduce over low heat until sauce is thick.  Grab the  hotdogs one at a time and slice them with scissors into traditional weenie slices.

#2) Short Track Chowder

A smoky, warming fish soup that'll bring the Scandies sniffing around.

INGREDIENTS

400GM BONELESS FILLET SMOKED COD

1/2 HEAD OF CABBAGE

1 ONION

1 POTATO

1 CARROT

1 BUNCH OF  PARSLEY

1.5L WATER OR FISH STOCK

METHOD

Coarsely dice all the vegetables and the cod.  Finely chop the parsley.  Place all the ingredients in the pressure cooker  for 15 minutes or until everything is tender.  Season to taste.

#3) BOBSLED BEEF STEW  

A great, richly flavoured stew that's great for the table and the thermos!

INGREDIENTS

1 KG Beef brisket, blade steak, cross rib or other stewing beef

15-20 mushrooms

750 ml red wine

1L water or beef stock

garlic

6 tomatoes

200ml each of chopped celery,onion, carrots, potato and parsley

2 bay leaves

METHOD

Put the beef and the wine and mushrooms in the pressure cooker and cook for 45 minutes.  De pressurize and add the rest of the ingredients.  Re-pressurize and cook for 15 minutes.  De pressurize.  Remove the beef and dice it.  Return it to the  pot and season to taste  with salt and  pepper and a spoonful of sugar.

5 EASY WAYS TO CUT YOUR MOBILE / CELL PHONE BILL BY 75%!

1.  Use VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol).  Skype, MagicJack and other companies provide reliable software to make it easy to talk via the web.   Computer to computer talk,  even video chat, is free.  But most importantly,  computer to mobile phone or land line is very cheap.  This by the far the best way to cut down the phone bill and not have to be watching your phone plan minutes drain away!  Most people don't realize that VOIP companies offer personalized phone numbers, voice mail and all the other services that mobile and landline phone companies offer and that you can telephone any phone in the world for about 2 cents per minute.  If your computer doesn't have a built in microphone and webcam you'll need to buy these.  But they are very inexpensive, last indefinitely and  are plug 'n play devices.  Try to get into the habit of using VOIP whenever you are at your computer.  This doesn't just mean when you are at your desk.  If your mobile phone has built in WiFi,  or if you have a tablet, laptop or netbook, you can use VOIP wherever and whenever you can access the web.

2.  Use a discount mobile phone provider   Get rid of your big corporation, gold plated, mobile phone contract/plan.  The big companies like Rogers and Telus,  and no doubt the big ones in the USA as well,  have become fabulously rich in the last decade by tapping into the exploding mobile phone market.   They  have long contracts, expensive phones and insidious add ons that pad your bill.  Like the $8.00 per month system access fee and $1.75 911 auto dialing.   These things can be avoided largely by using a small company like Koodo or Solo Mobile. When you don't pay for these services you avoid paying the taxes on them as well.  These things add up to thousands of dollars over the years and it is absolutely money down the drain. 

3. Don't sign a contract.  Try as best you can to avoid signing a long contract in order to get a new phone.  Buy a phone privately, better still ask around your friends and family to find a good used phone.  Many people get new phones for fun or when they change providers and have perfectly good phones in their drawers that can be activated.  Get one unlocked or use a company that offers hardware without a contract.  Mobile phone contracts are expensive...in the $20.00 per month range.....to cancel if your circumstances change.   Contracts make it difficult to change your rate plan from time to time.   Without a contract, you can minimize your plan to save money if necessary or if your phone needs change suddenly.  Contracts can sometimes be a good deal if you sign during a promo and maintain a low monthly bill for a long time.  But since government legislation has made phone number portability law, there's really no need to sign a long contract to protect your phone number or control rising prices.  Check a website like Wireless Wave to help compare mobile phone plans

4. Keep your business time chat to a minimum and use text.    Text messaging and off peak call times are usually flat rate with mobile phone companies.   Sending a text message instead of a voice message will allow you to sign up for a mobile phone plan with less business time minutes included.  Using a plan with minimal business time minutes, flat rate text messaging and evenings and weekends will cut the price of your mobile phone by up to HALF!

5. Use a program to track your minute usage to make sure you don't exceed your monthly flat rate minutes during business hours.  Okay, the first four ways are where the big savings are realized.  Now it's time count the small change.  If you exceed the flate rate minutes in your mobile phone plan you incur $0.25 per minute charges at least.  This adds up to dollars in just a few minutes and hundreds of dollars over the year.  Some phones and phone companies track this usage for you and notify you if you exceed your limit.  So tweak your mobile phone habits and plan and save thousands of dollars over a full service, big company service provider and feel all warm and fuzzy knowing that you're not paying for that multi million dollar hippopotamus commercial anymore!

WINDOWS 7 IS HERE, ARE YOU BUYING? NOT ME!

When I got my Toshiba Tecra laptop in the 90's it was a used one that came with Windows 95.  I didn't know  an operating system from a penalty shot.  I was happily buying and selling stuff on Ebay when a virus crashed my OS and ruined my hard drive.  Then I got lucky.   I was at a dinner party at a neighbour's house and  when I told him my tale of woe he said. "I don't use Microsoft, I use Linux".  I found out that viruses really only affect Windows operating systems which got me pissed off at Microsoft.  So I bought a new hard drive and Dan helped me install Linux RedHat on it.  Since that fortunate meeting with Starfish Systems I've never bought any Microsoft software as my little punishment for failing to fix the critical security issues that every subsequent OS sold by Microsoft has.  My latest computer is an IBM Thinkpad on which I'm running Linux SuSe 11.1. 
There are some simple and some complex reasons why I think it makes sense to stay away from Microsoft products not only for an individual with basic computer needs but also for business people who want to be practical with the technology budget. 
The first 3 reasons are 1) security 2)security 3)security. Microsoft OS's are vulnerable to security breaches and MS Office has them too I think.

The next one is  4)cost saving.  Windows is expensive and so is MS Office.  Also, the software is so massively memory hungry that hardware upgrades are often required.  Linux is free and much, much leaner so older computers with smaller hard drives and less RAM are fine.
Finally, reason 5) is more philosophical.  Linux is a community resource that grew up on the internet by contributions from users.  It's shareware.  The source code is open.  So when one needs technical assistance, it can be found free on the net.  But when someone needs a techie guy for hands on help, the money goes to a local independent technician rather than to a Microsoft pro and shareholders.  The nature of open source is for the technology to remain in the community and on the net rather than waiting for the next big corporate sales event.   There will never be a next big Linux sales event because it's always in the public domain and there's no advertising.  Yet Linux is bleeding edge technology that holds its own or beats the Windows software for virtually every application because so many developers worldwide are working on Linux without corporate control.  Try OpenOffice for example.
It's not actually my aim here to just bash Microsoft. Besides it doesn't matter anyway.  Microsoft has a strangle hold on the OS market and I think on office software as well.  But what this blog might do is to provide just a little more exposure for the open source community.
Microsoft is the empire and Linux is the resistance.  It can't win the war and never will.  Even Mac, isn't making any serious inroads into the Microsoft marketshare.  Ironically,  I no longer want Linux to be mainstream.  I like being in a local club.
I know that the latest versions of Windows are better...aren't they....Microsoft says they're great....but haven't they always said that?
Uh maybe I'll get a Mac when I get my inheritance.

I'll leave you with one more little warm and fuzzy note.
Virtually all new computers in the world come with Windows installed as a native operating system.  So Microsoft sells a version everytime a computer is sold unless it's a Mac, pretty much.   So there's a Windows "tax" built into every computer.  One has to pay for this even if one will never use it.  This $200 or whatever it is makes computers too expensive for most third world people.....Even a cheap computer with a $200 OS is out of reach for most.  But there's a better way!  Because Linux is free by nature of its GNU license, it can make computers affordable for poor people worldwide.   It's free on the net.  This makes it possible for someone earning $200 a month in Africa to own a new $99 computer because he doesn't have to buy Windows.  Any old computer will do....just add Linux and boom you're on the net and you're in business!  A whole village in Africa can share one computer and each person can have his own private user account.  And it's legitimate...no software piracy temptations.
One laptop for every child or destitute senior or small business person is a reality.

Migrating to a new computer environment is not easy and most never do it.  But it's pretty nice in here. 
Julian.

CLIMATE CHANGE ISN'T KILLING CANADA BUT WE STILL FEEL YOU KNOW....GUILTY

Those who say global warming is a long term trend caused by burnt fossil fuel emissions are saying collectively that the science is complete, that we know the facts, and now it's up to humans to stop burning fossil fuels so the planet can be saved....is that all there is to it?

Not so fast my fair weather, bicycle riding friend.

Most of us in my post WWII generations remember our childhood summers as warmer and the winters colder. Virtually all of the winters in southern Canada in the late twentieth century seemed warmer to me than in decades gone by. But is that impression or an indication of actual climate change in the form of global warming?

We'll get into the science here because it is important. But the main thrust of this writing is to expose and rant about the lemming mentality of the global warming, fear mongers who have an apocalyptic view about something they predict will occur several decades or centuries into the future.

Confucius say “forecasting can be difficult....especially the future”.

Scientific facts exist as we all know but many so called facts fall into the category of statistical data and we all what that means....lies , damned lies and statistics!

Dr Timothy Ball Phd. on anthropomorphic global warming.

"Believe it or not, Global Warming is not due to human contribution of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). This in fact is the greatest deception in the history of science. We are wasting time, energy and trillions of dollars while creating unnecessary fear and consternation over an issue with no scientific justification."[6]

Of course no one knows exactly what the future will hold for us and our little green planet. Predicting what kind of cataclysmic events will occur several decades into the future makes for entertaining and harmless rhetoric.

The New York Times has reported that 4 major warming or cooling trends were occurring at different times in the last 100 years.

Several recent reports on global climate state that the world has been cooling for the past 8 years.

I think that overfishing the oceans is probably more dangerous to human health than the the risk of acidification of the seas from co2 in the atmosphere.
But even if the global warming fear mongers are right, what can we do about it as Canadians? Those of you who are wringing your hands, gnashing your teeth and crying in your beer about the Hummer driving, air conditioner buying, suburban dwelling commuter types should remember that if Canadians were to stop burning fossil fuel right now, virtually everyone in the country would freeze to death by springtime, and the rest would be be dead the next winter or when all the wood runs out.  A sobering thought isn't it?  Yes my friends, most Canadians don't live in Vancouver!...Most Canadians live in places where exposed skin freezes in 10 minutes.  We'd be burning the furniture in oil drums the first night without oil.

Al Gore and his “An Inconvenient Truth” scenario, as entertaining as it is, isn't truth either.

The future is uncertain and predicting it is fun and sometimes useful, but it is, at best, an inexact science. Doom and gloom sells but I'm not buyin' … I'm not drinking the Koolaid. Nothing is what it seems. Things are complex.

It's all part of the green shaft and this is a fun area of R&D as well

This doesn't mean that I'm not “green” my faithful reader. Yes I drive a diesel car, yes I ride a bicycle to work, yes I recycle my beer cans.....hey I'm so damn green I'm glowing green and it's not a recent fad, this is how I live. Of course we should all conserve fossil fuel. Not just to “save the planet", but to save money. In beautiful British Columbia we need to conserve electricity because it's crushingly expensive to build new dams.

Are we headed for hot desert conditions or is the next ice age nearly upon us. As a freezing Canadian, I'd welcome a little warming...it would certainly make life easier in many ways in this country. Maybe our red wines would improve! Perhaps we won't all look south for our winter vacations. Perhaps we'd burn less oil. But wait. Is that a good thing? We sell oil as a nation and we need the money. So now my friends, we are going to find out just how green we are in Canada. I say that oil gets cleaner as the need grows. The oil that one buys and burns gets cleaner depending how short the supply becomes! Seeing as how there's a reaction for every reaction, it's likely that warmer countries wouldn't welcome any increase in temperature. But I'm not nearly as concerned about other countries, although I wish them well, as I am about Canada. When tar sands synthetic crude is the only oil available, it'll be the cleanest oil in the world.

And since Canada is the new Saudi Arabia, and I feel as though I've won the lottery just being a Canadian, I'm definitely not going to ruin the moment by feeling guilty about burning and selling and investing in Canadian oil!

“Saudi Arabia!” you scoff.

That's right folks. Which country has the worlds 2^nd largest oil reserves? Which country is the world's largest supplier of fossil fuel to to the world's biggest customer, the USA? Yes my incredulous friends, the answer to these questions is us...Canada.

Despite the fact that it comes naturally...I'm not going to feel guilty about being oil rich.

Climate change isn't what's killing this planet. Back in the 70's I heard this expression. What's killing earth are the 3 c's cars, cows and chainsaws. Cars because of air pollution, cows because the rain forest is being cleared to raise them and chainsaws because that's the tool being used to clear the rain forest. It's catchy, and sort of true but more complicated than it needs to be. What's killing this planet can be summed up much more succinctly by a phrase that is the title of a forty something book, The Population Explosion.

Written in 1968, the same issues we're discussing now were on the table then.

Dr David Suzuki and my high school biology teacher were talking about the greenhouse effect in the 1970's!

Hey everyone needs money. A scientist first has to create or identify a problem and then lobby for money to research the solution...nice work if you can get it.

If the seas rise then many millions of people, tragically, will lose their homes. But since we're quoting, what about this. “The wise man builds his house upon the rock” Take this literally.

In Richmond, a city/suburb, neighbour to the south of Vancouver, there are no basements.

“Why? You ask.

Because the entire city is built on a peat bog/ delta/floodplain that is below sea level and therefore surrounded by a system of dikes. Its a mini Netherlands.

It used to be all great farmland but real estate demand has placed millions on land that would fill up like a giant bathtub just like New Orleans if the dikes couldn't hold back a rising sea.

In Bangladesh, if the sea rises one meter, 32 million people will be displaced....that's nearly the entire population of Canada.

Too many people living in too small a place is nothing new. But now the planet is really filling up. In order to make room for all those people more and more people are living on land that is less and less stable, and more and more money is being spent to create infrastructure to service these areas, all over the world, that are more or less vulnerable to flooding, over heating....or over cooling as maybe the case. To provide all this, more and more oil is being consumed.

I still say this is good for Canada, a place with lot's of oil, lot's of space and by world standards, almost no people!