Raisins as a preservative - alternative to sodium nitrite

During digestion, sodium nitrite can break down into cancer-causing chemicals but there is a study that shows raisins can be used as a health-safe alternative for preserving foods:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/05/31/raisins.aspx

All the more reason for me to like raisins! :-P

repeal of homestead property tax

A proposal from a couple of years ago to repeal the property tax for homesteads in Indiana:
http://www.munciefreepress.com/node/17712
I wonder where this is now...
Need this in Texas, too!

God's perfect balance

In my homesteading class today, we looked at the importance of soil and how to care for the soil. It is the foundation of all life. A pound of soil has over 900 billion living things in it. The health of the soil determines the health of the plants, which determines our health and the health of the animals which then continues to impact us when we eat the animals as well. It is amazing to see the synergistic, symbiotic cycle of life. A farm must be seen as a whole system of life on many levels, from the interconnectedness of the physical life systems but also on the level of the earth is a stewardship which God has given to us and how we relate to the life systems which God has designed in the earth is connected to our relationship with God. When we are out of order with how God has designed the earth to operate then it has serious consequences for life. Truly, the earth is groaning for the manifestation of the sons of God, those who are living and governing in the earth according to the design of Father God.

Raising Goats

Here is an interesting article about a man raising goats.
It is encouraging to me right now, as I am having a hard time finding about 10 acres I can afford to buy to start my place. I might need to start a little smaller.

Here is an article about using goats to control brush. It has information about fencing, predator control, and goats per acre which I might find useful. "The percentage of brush cover and the number of acres need to be considered when determining stocking rate. One goat per acre per percent brush cover is a good minimum beginning rate." Of course, this is not completely accurate, since if the acreage has no brush, it could still support some level of goat grazing on the grass.
In their study, "Stock density ranged from a high of 3 to a low of 1.5 goats per acre." But yet they also say, "Stocking rate dropped to 0.5 goats per acre."

Global Cooling?

There is a lot of evidence to support global COOLING, NOT warming. Do the research, don't get caught in the political propaganda machine. Some theorize that the increase in temperature in the past 150 years is just part of the earth's normal cyclical warming and cooling trends. We don't even have exact temperature data except for about the past 100 years and even the quality of that data has issues.
Here's my link to some info I have found.

new streaming setup

The new XH-A1 HiDef Video Camera has been nice. We have also refined the whole setup, so here is a brief outline of it now.


Macintosh computer – current configuration:
Mac Mini (1.83GHz, 4GB RAM), monitor, keyboard, mouse
CamTwist
for video streaming - must be in mpeg-4 or Windows Media Player format
Soundflower (to stream audio from a video)
network card for Internet connection
web browser with Adobe Flash (Firefox and Safari work)

Streaming Setup
Connect camera
start CamTwist
- highlight Video Source

• Webcam for live video

• Movie for video

• Desktop for PP presentation

• Slide Show for pictures (can be exported from PP presentation)

- click Select or to add a second source, select PIP

• to use PIP - can adjust the secondary picture in the main picture with the advanced window on the right – move it around with the black square, change size, etc
  

• or just switch between the two sources

log in to ustream.tv
Click My Shows
Click Broadcast Now, under the My Shows menu, not the one above

• Video Source – select CamTwist

• Audio Source – normally is Built-in Input, for movies select Soundflower (2ch) and set the audio output in the Mac System Preferences to Soundflower (2ch), as well. Soundflower configuration info
  

Click Start Broadcast
Should see at least some green in the VU meter and avoid red
Can adjust quality with bars on right
Select Server Monitor to see what is being broadcast
To put text on the video screen, I.e. instead of streaming pp
Select Text & Videos
New Text Layer
Type in the text and click Add
Click Preview or Push on air
can move it around, change colors, fonts, etc
just type over to update what is on screen

dangers of artificial sweeteners

There are way too many chemicals in our processed foods today. One example is artificial sugar substitutes. One is aspartame. Here is a site talking about the dangers of it, I like the domain name:
http://www.sweetpoison.com/
Do a search on whatever artificial sweetener and you should come of with plenty of sites exposing the dangers and probably extolling its virtues. Consumers beware, be informed.
There are plenty of natural alternatives to sugar, such as stevia, honey, agave, and others. Even sugar in moderation is better than the artificial sweetener chemicals.