maples trees of Canada

Here's a good to link to the maple trees of Canada.

http://www.lino.com/~marcelg/erabl_an.htm

Rona Ambrose

Hmm, so she does reply to emails. In july I wrote a letter to Rona Ambrose and I assumed there would be no reply. Apparently I was wrong. I do still have this criticism though. 2010 is a while away and it is too late to take action on the greenhouse gases.

Then again you can't blame the government. People here in Alberta leave there cars running for several minutes at a time. They're probably the same people who complain about high gas prices. The rule is 10 seconds: if you stop you car for more than ten seconds then it uses more gas than starting it.

And if you give a shit about the enviroment fill up at husky mohawk with the mid grade. It contains ethanol which burns cleaner than gas. Ethanol is also made from plant materials, the plants use Carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. When it is burnt it uses up oxygen and produces carbon dioxide. The CO2 used up to create the ethanol is equal to CO2 produces from burning it. Therefore it does not increase the amount of greenhouse gases on the earth.

rosemary and tarragon beef and potatoes

I came up with a nice dish the other day and I though I should share it with you. It's quite simple. You take a steak and cut it up into strips. Put it on a plate and cover it with a lot soy sauce. Next sprinkle a healthy amount of rosemary over it. Let it sit.

Then grab a few potatoes and slice them as thin as you can (just like potato chips). The put them in olive oil and fry them in a pan with some tarragon (fresh if possible) until close to golden brown. Next add the beef. Cook it until browned on all sides. Not to much though because you want the beef to be tender. You should have some liquid in the pan still. When everything is more or less cooked you want to add about a 1/2 cup of red wine (125 ml). Simmer for a couple more minutes and add a little corn starch to thicken the liquid into a sauce. Voila.

theobromine

I've been fishing and driking Chimarrao (yerba mate, erva mate, ka'a...) Many names it just depends on the language. Anyways I am very interested in psychoactive plants (coffee, chocolate, marijuana, san pedro, coca plants, yerba mate). I think plants have a special relationship with humans. Some people consider psychoactive plants drugs. I take offence to that. Because in my system of mental reasoning there is a distinct difference between drugs and plants. I see a plant as a plant until it has undergone chemical processes other than boiling or freezing.

An example of a plant that is no longer a plant is cocaine. The coca plant put into 14 complex chemical processes such as hydrochloric acid and kerosene baths to alter the plant into a drug.

There is an exceptional low rate of cardiovascular disease among Peruvian and Bolivian coca chewers, where as users of cocaine suffer from heart problems and run an elevated risk of heart attacks. There is absolutely no correlation between the coca plant and the drug cocaine. Read More

Well now back to yerba mate. I have never really liked coffee. When I was younger I didn't like the taste and now that I'm older and don't mind the taste I don't like the buzz. I find it is harsh, a 45 minute up followed by a sad feeling. With Yerba mate and chocolate I get a more sustained mood brightening buzz. Why? because coffee contains only caffeine whereas yerba mate and chocolate contain caffeine, theobromine and other similar chemicals. It is a boquet of alkaloids. Which is very important.

So what is the point that I am trying to drive home??? That the whole is not just a some of its parts. It is something else. Yes yerba mate, chocolate, coffee and wake-up pills all have caffeine in them but they do not produce the same buzz.

In addition yerba mate and coca leaves contains pottasium and other minerals which lower blood pressure and regular heart funtion. Stimulants only= unhealthy. Stimulants in combination with minerals and other heart regulating alkaloids= healthy.