Gabe and I want to be sure that our start up company, Izeni, has a cash runway that’s long enough to ensure that we can have a proper lift off. To that end we’ve been doing some consulting and contract work (mostly low-hanging fruit) to slow our burn rate, and it’s worked fairly well because we’re in bootstrapping mode and our expenses are relativity low. So, although we’ve never really sought contract work, we do like it; and I thought I’d do a quick post officially soliciting it.

So without further ado, Izeni will be accepting all kinds of technical consulting and contract work. Our specialities are Python coding; website development (particularly using the Django framework); Linux systems administration (Apache, *SQL, Postfix, Mailman, IPtables, Samba, Bash, etc.); and VoIP-based telephony (Asterisk and Freeswitch).

We can also do general computer and network support, online marketing, and a myriad of other technical and business odds and ends.  :)

Izeni is based out of Utah, but we can also telecommute.

Please let me know if you have any contracting and consulting opportunities or know of any companies looking for web guys, programmers, or other technical contractors. Otherwise, feel free to repost this (pass the word along), or just keep us in mind.

Well, it’s new New Year’s Day, and it’s also time again for some more cyclical search pattern fun. So here’s today’s search term:

And what region wins per capita searches for “hangover”? Why none other than Ireland. Really.

Other fun New Year’s searches: “Weightloss“, “Auld Lang Syne“, and “Taxi“.

My brother Aaron posted on Facebook about us making homemade cheeseballs for our Christmas vacation. I thought it was well written and had good pictures, so I’m ripping it of here, slightly edited. This is basically a recipe for soft, fresh farmer’s cheese with flavors mixed in (thus making them cheeseballs).

You didn’t know it was possible, did you?! Well, its true: you can make homemade cheeseballs for any occasion!

My brother, Jordan, is a bonified cheeseball making fool (expert). During our stay at the family cabin this past weekend, he taught me the simple, yet time-consuming process of making the wonderful balls of cheesy delight!

[Jordy adds: It's really only time consuming if you make a whole bunch of flavors. One flavor is easy, and making them with a food processor would have been even easier.]

Step One: Heat whole milk to 175 degrees. Slowly stir in any acidic liquid to make the curd separate from the whey (we used 1/2 cup [white] vinegar [for each gallon of milk]. [Mix very lightly. Be careful not to over stir so you don't break up the curds.])

Step Two: Let mixture sit for about 15-20 mins, then remove the curd [with a slotted spoon] and place it in a cheesecloth [over a colander]. Allow the moisture to drain out of the cheese, [but leave some in or add it back in if you want a softer cheese]. Cool cheese in the refrigerator for 30 mins or longer.

Step Three: Make up whatever combination of spices/ingredients to mix in! We made five different flavors: sun-dried tomato and basil, jalapeño, hot mustard, shrimp cocktail, and dried red pepper. Simply grab a chunk of the cheese and roll it into a ball with the spices and mix-ins. Sample throughout, assuring that a sufficient amount of flavor has been added. You will need to add quite a bit of salt to bring out the cheese flavor. Enjoy!

This type of cheese can also be eaten by itself before the flavors are added. Just mix in a little salt to the strained cheese, mold in a small pudding dishes, and try it drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil and freshly ground pepper.

I’ve also used it crumbled over lasagna, and tonight I melted it with a little milk to make a cheese sauce for fresh pasta. It can also be used for cheesecakes, stuffing for ravioli or stuffed shells –you name it. I’ve even tried it with reduced pineapple to make a delicious fruity cheese spread.

You can also make it with lower-fat milk as well but expect a different flavor and texture. Fat is a fairly good bonding agent, so if you cut it out you may way want to consider leaving in a little bit more of the whey or beating it a food processor to make it a little more sticky, depending on the texture you’re looking for.

This cheese lasts about 1 week if refrigerated properly.

(Expect more cheesemaking recipes as well as post about other homemade goods. Home cooking is a hobby of mine that will be nurtured further by a brand-new book I got myself for Christmas.) :)

Now we’re talking:

EXCLUSIVE: RNC draft rips Bush’s bailouts
Ralph Z. Hallow (Contact)

Republican Party officials say they will try next month to pass a resolution accusing President Bush and congressional Republican leaders of embracing “socialism,” underscoring deep dissension within the party at the end of Mr. Bush’s administration.

Those pushing the resolution, which will come before the Republican National Committee at its January meeting, say elected leaders need to be reminded of core principles. They said the RNC must take the dramatic step of wading into policy debates, which traditionally have been left to lawmakers.

“We can’t be a party of small government, free markets and low taxes while supporting bailouts and nationalizing industries, which lead to big government, socialism and high taxes at the expense of individual liberty and freedoms,” said Solomon Yue, an Oregon member and co-sponsor of a resolution that criticizes the U.S. government bailouts of the financial and auto industries. Republican National Committee Vice Chairman James Bopp Jr. wrote the resolution and asked the rest of the 168 voting members to sign it.

I hope this resolution passes. It would be a clear sign (to me) that the Republican party is worth saving.

Now we’re talking:

EXCLUSIVE: RNC draft rips Bush’s bailouts
Ralph Z. Hallow (Contact)

Republican Party officials say they will try next month to pass a resolution accusing President Bush and congressional Republican leaders of embracing “socialism,” underscoring deep dissension within the party at the end of Mr. Bush’s administration.

Those pushing the resolution, which will come before the Republican National Committee at its January meeting, say elected leaders need to be reminded of core principles. They said the RNC must take the dramatic step of wading into policy debates, which traditionally have been left to lawmakers.

“We can’t be a party of small government, free markets and low taxes while supporting bailouts and nationalizing industries, which lead to big government, socialism and high taxes at the expense of individual liberty and freedoms,” said Solomon Yue, an Oregon member and co-sponsor of a resolution that criticizes the U.S. government bailouts of the financial and auto industries. Republican National Committee Vice Chairman James Bopp Jr. wrote the resolution and asked the rest of the 168 voting members to sign it.

I hope this resolution passes. It would be a clear sign (to me) that the Republican party is worth saving.

I don’t do this very often; but this article by Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party’s presidential nominee, is so good that I decided to re-post it in its entirety:

Selective Constitutionalism
by Chuck Baldwin
December 9, 2008

Many conservatives are up in arms regarding the charge that President-elect Barack Obama may not have been born in the United States and is, therefore, not qualified under the U.S. Constitution to be President of the United States.

Article. II. Section. 1. of the U.S. Constitution states, “No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President . . . .” Some accuse Mr. Obama of not being born in the State of Hawaii as claimed, but in Kenya, Africa. Several people have filed various lawsuits challenging Mr. Obama’s U.S. citizenship.

Historically, “natural born Citizen” has always been understood to mean someone born in the United States of America. If Barack Obama was not born in the United States, he is absolutely unqualified to be President. Hawaii’s secretary of state says Obama was indeed born in that state. However, to date, Obama’s actual birth certificate has not been publicly released, which only serves to add fuel to the accusations that he was not born in Hawaii.

Many conservatives seem to be obsessed with this controversy, calling it a “constitutional crisis.” The fact is, however, we have been in a “constitutional crisis” for years! The problem is, most conservatives only get worked up over a potential abridgement of constitutional government when it serves their partisan political purposes. In other words, when a Democrat appears guilty of constitutional conflict, conservatives “go ballistic,” but when Republicans are equally culpable of constitutional conflict, they yawn with utter indifference.

For example, the one man who has the notoriety and political clout to actually bring about some meaningful investigation and resolution to the Obama citizenship brouhaha is none other than Senator John McCain. After all, he was Obama’s principal opponent in the race for the White House. Plus, as the standard-bearer for the only other major political party, he has the attention of the national media, as well as the national legislative and judicial branches of government. So, why is John McCain not at all interested in the Obama citizenship issue?

Perhaps one reason that John McCain is so uninterested in where Barack Obama was born is because he, John McCain, was not born in the United States. He was born in the country of Panama. So, let me ask readers a question: Does anyone believe if John McCain had been elected President instead of Barack Obama that any notable conservative would have been distressed about a “constitutional crisis”? Get real!

Yes, I know McCain was born to a naval officer serving in Panama at the time. That fact changes nothing. John McCain was still born in a foreign country, and under a strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, is not qualified to be President of the United States. Even our current State Department policy (7 FAM 1100) reads: “Despite widespread popular belief, U.S. military installations abroad and U.S. diplomatic or consular facilities are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. A child born on the premises of such a facility is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of birth.”

Does anyone not remember the controversy surrounding the potential Presidential campaign of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger? Born in Austria, Schwarzenegger is a naturalized citizen of the United States and is now Governor of California. However, since Schwarzenegger is a naturalized citizen, but not a natural born citizen, he is considered unqualified to run for President.

But, again, most conservatives care little about the Constitution’s requirement that a President be a “natural born Citizen.” Like liberals, most conservatives are afflicted with a very debilitating disease that I call Selective Constitutionalism. They only want to apply constitutional government when it helps Republicans or hurts Democrats. Most of them really could not care less about adherence to the Constitution. If they did, they would have been up in arms for the last eight years as President George W. Bush repeatedly ignored–and even trampled–the U.S. Constitution.

Where were these “constitutional” conservatives when George W. Bush was assuming dictatorial-style powers and contravening Fourth Amendment prohibitions against warrantless searches and seizures? Where were they when Bush was ordering our emails, letters, and phone calls to be intercepted by federal police agencies without court oversight? Where were they when Bush was obliterating the Fifth and Eighth Amendments? Where were they when Bush overturned Posse Comitatus by Executive Order? Where were they when Bush dismantled the constitutional right of Habeas Corpus? Where were they when Bush lied to the American people about the invasion of Iraq and took the United States to war without a Declaration of War from Congress? Where were conservatives when Bush turned nine U.S. military installations over to the United Arab Emirates? Where were they when Bush ordered his Department of Transportation to open up America’s airlines to foreign ownership? Where were they when President Bush nullified (using “signing statements”) over 1,100 statutes he did not like? Where were they as President Bush and his fellow Republicans reauthorized one of the most egregiously unconstitutional pieces of legislation in modern memory: the USA Patriot Act? Where were they when Bush signed the blatantly unconstitutional McCain/Feingold Act? I could go on and on.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Republican Party has been just as culpable in violating constitutional government as the Democrat Party has–maybe more so! If the Republican and Democrat parties had any allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, neither John McCain nor Barack Obama would have been chosen as their respective Presidential nominees.

While we are on the subject, if anyone cared about constitutional government, Hillary Clinton (or any other U.S. Senator or House Member) would obviously be determined as ineligible to be given any appointment in the Obama administration under Article. I. Section. 6. of the U.S. Constitution. Why? Because the Constitution prohibits House or Senate members taking Presidential posts if the salary of the job they would take was raised while they were in Congress.

However, several past Presidents have skirted this constitutional prohibition (including Presidents Taft, Nixon, and Carter) by lowering the salary of the job back to what it was so the nominee could accept the job without receiving the pay increase that was approved while the appointee was in Congress. In fact, this sleight of hand actually has a political name. It is called “the Saxbe fix,” after Nixon’s appointment of Senator William Saxbe to be attorney general.

Do we have a “constitutional crisis”? You bet we do; but it is not limited to Barack Obama or the Democrat Party. The real constitutional crisis is the manner in which the American people have, for years, allowed civil magistrates from both major parties to routinely violate their oaths to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. God help us!

*If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/donate.php

© Chuck Baldwin

This column is archived as http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2008/cbarchive_20081209.html

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A few months ago, I wrote that Governor Huntsman’s “monitoring” of gas prices was just political BS, and that purposely encouraging a misunderstanding of basic economics for political gain was a bad idea.

Well, it turns out I was wrong: just the threat of State oversight made Utah gas vendors stop being greedy, and now Utah enjoys some of the cheapest gas in the nation!

(OK, you’re onto me: that was BS too. But Utah really does have some remarkable gas prices right now.)

Anyway, my friend and former neighbor Kerk (who is also an Econonmics professor at BYU) has an excellent post that could serve very well as a follow up to my aforementioned rant:

Current Gas Prices (December 2008)

Look at the above map from GasBuddy.com. The price of gasoline in northern Utah these days is about as low as any place in the US. If you live in Utah you know the press here goes into fits of apoplexy whenever gas prices in Utah are higher than the rest of the country. Last Spring all we heard about was how the greedy gas station owners were profiteering and charging unfair prices to Utah drivers. In 2006, KSL radio host, Doug Wright, tried to organize a one-day boycott of gas stations because Utah gas prices were the 4th most expensive in the nation. Now that prices are down no one is talking about who is being unfair to who. Using the same arguments, one could argue that motorists are now colluding to drive down the price of gas and harming gas station owners. Of course this is silly, but it makes as much sense and is just as logical. Inevitably, in the future some time the price of gas in Utah will rise above the national average and our local press will go nuts again. Remember this picture when that happens.

Brilliant!

I think we’d all be better served with an understanding of basic economics. That way we can let our news media go back to talking about family-pet hit-and-runs, celebrity lookalikes, local American Idol runners up, and the like. That’s right, Doug Wright: we should be boycotting you.

Seriously though. Whenever you hear some news anchor or some politician spouting out things that are blatantly stupid, you should ask yourself: “Are they stupid, or do they just think I’m stupid.” Then ask yourself which is better. Do you want news by dumb people, or news for dumb people?

Interestingly, I heard it reported that because of relatively lower wholesale gasoline prices, station owners are actually making more money right now with low retail prices than they were making with high retail prices. Go figure.

Yes, we are being (relatively) gouged on super cheap fuel.

Outrage, anyone?

This Christmas our family gift is a years’ supply of food storage –and I’m thrilled to have it.

I decided I’ll also be giving the gift of food storage to my family and friends. No I’m not buying it (although I think a box or a bucket of wheat makes a tremendous gift idea), but I do offer my time as a resource in food planning and food packing. (For anyone who has canned their own food, you know this has potential to be a major time commitment.) The offer is good until next Christmas, but please give me a call right away so we can get you started today.

For those of you who are not my family and friends, I’d still like to help you with your food storage planning; basically determining what food items you’ll need and where you can buy them. I’ll point to a few resources in case you want to do it yourself, but please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or just need help getting started. I was relieved to have a great friend who talked me through it, and I’d like to pass the favor along.

For anyone who wants to get started on there own emergency food storage, you should check out he following resources:

StockUpFood.com is a free food storage calculator that helps you determine your emergency food planning needs based on family size and how much food storage you would like, whether you want enough for just 1-month or 2 years. StockUpFood.com also helps you track what food storage items you buy (and use) so you can keep a running total of what you need to purchase –plus it gives you a “percentage completed” to help you track progress toward your goal. Very cool –especially for people that want to ease their way into emergency food storage.

The LDS church also has some great resources their provident living website. By far the most useful resource there (for me) was an order form for the dry-packed food products, which are purchasable in bulk sized bags or by the can. It’s easy to fill out out (using the food storage calculator I linked to above), and you can just bring it along to at any Family Home Food Storage location. There you can buy the vast majority of your food storage in large bags, and you can get them at a pretty great price. And if you want your emergency food canned (for longer storage and easy rotation) you can dry-pack can it right on location and just take home the items you need. This is a lot of work, but if you’re doing canned food (instead of bags or buckets) it’s by far the most convenient way to go. You can also buy it pre-canned, (which is even more convenient) but you’ll end up paying more.

The Lindon LDS Family Home Food Storage is only open on Tuesdays and Thursday, but you’ll want to call to check availability in your location. They also lend dry-pack canning equipment out, in case you’ve already purchased food in bags but want it canned.

I should mention that many grocery stores (at least in Utah) have foods like dry wheat and beans by the bucket and the bag. Selection is fairly sparse, and buying a full years’ worth of food would take up several grocery carts; but it can be done. I bought a lot of bulk food stuff at Macey’s, a local grocery chain which has pretty good prices. I wish I’d held off on some of the bagged food I got there since I still want to dry-pack can most of it anyway, but the buckets are a great way to get a little at a time if you need to stretch out your food storage purchases over several paychecks. You can also get large water basins, wheat grinders, empty buckets, and other equipment there as well.

Lastly, if you live in Utah and are (or would like to become) an emergency preparedness junkie, check out UtahPreppers. It’s new, but judging by the people who run it, I think it will probably be a pretty great resource.

My brother Luke sent me a link to a cool online favicon maker he used to make a favicon for my new company, Izeni. It’s pretty easy to use, so I made one for my blog as well. (Yes, it’s that same ugly pic, just smaller). Anyway, it’s kind of fun. If I’d known it would be that easy to do, I would have made a favicon forever ago. :)

It’s End-the-Fed day today. I thought I’d commemorate it by posting a video featuring Peter Schiff (Ron Paul’s campaign finance advisor), who accurately predicted the sub-prime meltdown and the ensuing recession.

Some great quotes (emphasis added):

Our markets are going lower. This is not just a financial crisis; this is an economic collapse. Our entire phony economy is collapsing around us. There’s nothing the government can do to stop it; they should get out of the way and let it happen.

—-

Look, you have to understand: for the past several years everybody thought we had a real economy. We didn’t. We had a bubble. All we did was borrow trillions of dollars from the rest of the world, and we blew all the money on consumption. We can’t pay the bills. The asset bubbles that were inflated by reckless monetary policy are deflating around us, and we’re going to have to rebuild a viable economy; and it’s not going to be easy. A lot of companies are going to go bankrupt during the process. A lot of people are going to lose their jobs, but this has to happen: we have to go back to a sane economy where we save our money and actually make stuff.

—-

I’d be … getting out of the dollar because it’s a bottomless pit. When this dollar stops rallying, it’s going to fall like a stone. That is the next major economic crisis we are a setting up, a major major run on the dollar, and that’s going to have tremendous repercussions for our economy and our markets.

—-

We manufactured our way into becoming the wealthiest economy country in the world, and now we’ve consumed our way into bankruptcy.

—-

It’s time Americans take a long, hard look at the flawed monetary policy that’s behind all of this funny business; and that means understanding the history, operations, and goals of the Federal Reserve. If we don’t figure this out and get back to system of sound money, we may well “wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered“.

It’s frustrating that the only major party presidential candidate that was talking about these issues in any substantial way was written off from the very beginning. But you wanted empty platitudes? Well, you got ‘em.

I missed another Liberty Book Club meeting this week, but I have been reading the books. This month’s book was Murray Rothbard’s The Case Against the Fed, which you can buy from Amazon, The Ludwig von Mises Institute, or download for free (MP3s).

Anyone who wants to really understand the underlying causes of our dangerous boom and bust cycles really needs to read the The Case Against the Fed to understand how the Federal Reserve (and other similar central banks) manipulate our money supply. The Case Against the Fed does an excellent job of explaining how fractional reserve banking, “legalized counterfeiting”, and other other inflationary policies really do rob the poor to feed the rich. The book explains how our monetary policy, controlled exclusively by the Federal Reserve with almost no congressional oversight, is a direct cause of economic bubbles and ensuing recessions (or depressions). It even addresses how and why credit crunches occur.

I wish this book weren’t so painfully relevant, but it is. The Federal Reserve’s manipulation of our money supply has been an underlying cause of so much evil in our time –so much so that most of us have never known anything different. It’s like America suffers from battered-wife syndrome, and we’ve lived with it so long that we really don’t know anything else. The problem is hard to identify (our schools teach almost nothing about economics, let alone monetary policy), and possibly harder to admit. It’s like the whole world groans and doesn’t know why.

The current recession was caused by Federal Reserve. Sure, there were lots of other factors, but the Fed was the great enabler of them all. And now they come on their white horses to save us all. How? By consolidating even more wealth into even fewer hands, meanwhile continuing to destroy our currency.

And what do we get out of it? All we get is more debts and more taxes, “known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few…” This whole thing bailout thing is a complete farce.

How much has it cost America to be “rich”? It may well cost us everything.

We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth… Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not…? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth. —Patrick Henry

Please read The Case Against the Fed so you can begin to understand the real truth, and what to do about it. (Yes, the book actually recommends a sane remedy that doesn’t involve guns and pitchforks.) And if you’re interested in joining the Liberty Book Club, contact me and I can put you in touch with the folks that run it.

Also of note, Tomorrow (November 22nd) is End the Fed day. There will be rallies outside 39 Federal Reserve banks around the country, including Salt Lake City. What a great way to raise awareness about a terrible evil! Too long have private bankers manipulated and abused America!

Many of my readers will already know that Gabe and I have been busy launching a business for the last few months.

Well, we’ve finally got Izeni officially incorporated, and since we hope to launch our first product soon, we decided we’d better get something of a corporate website thrown together.

It’s really not much content-wise, but it is live; and it’s just in time for us to start pumping the engines of hype and hearsay. Check it out.

Our other (product) website, which is where the majority of our development has been, will be launched shortly.

So, how do you know you’re a developer in a bootstrapping high-tech startup? You have neither business cards nor a corporate website until your product is nearly ready to hit the market. This is pretty much opposite the spend-all-your-money-making-yourself-look-cool approach that many companies take. I hope our product-first approach is vindicated, but we’ll see. :)

Anyway, sign up for Izeni news updates, and we’ll let you know how it goes.

Until then, anyone know where we can get some great business cards?

From yesterday’s excellent Campaign for Liberty mailer:

After the Paulson $700 billion bailout package passed in early October, we knew it was only a matter of time before Congress moved to use your money yet again to bail out a struggling industry.

Now, a vote to give funds to the “Big 3″ auto manufactures, GM, Ford, and Chrysler, is likely to come up in the Senate tomorrow [today].

Call your Senators today and ask them to oppose bailing out the auto industry, whether with funds from TARP, revisions of previous loans, or any new grants. To find the information for your Senators, click on our “States” page and look for your state. Phone numbers and links to contact forms can be found near the bottom of each state’s page. We have included recommended letters at the end of this email to send your Senator.

Who knew when we started giving out “free money” with no strings attached that other people might want some as well? This whole thing is absolutely scandalous and inexcusable. Bailouts are nothing more than legalized theft.

Please sign up for Campaign for Liberty if you haven’t yet. Hopefully enough people will rally to the cause of liberty that we can put a stop to this kind of crap.

I’m pleased with how much opportunity for personal development and professional networking there is in Utah. Yes, I do want to see it grow even more, but it’s nice have more good options than I could possibly attend.

Tonight for example, the Utah Tech Events and Utah Business Events calendars show four events in which I have genuine interested, all occurring at the same time.  At 7:30 tonight I would be perfectly content to be at any of these four events:

1. Twelve Horses: Brand Evolution
2. Ignite Salt Lake
3. BYU Web Startup Group
4. Utah Python Users Group

Incidentally, I’d also enjoy being at home with my family, but this abundance of events centered around professional networking and personal development shows that Utah really does have a great (albeit budding) tech and business ecosystem. These mostly non-profit knowledge-sharing groups constitute, I believe, some crucial intangibles that are important underpinnings to a vibrant economy. I’m glad to see them, and I’d love to see them grow.

Anyway, there’s no excuse to not be developing your personal and professional skills at some of these events. Just don’t try to substitute them for hard and diligent work. :)

If you’d like to be a contributor to out local tech and business calendars, please ping me or any of the other calendar admins. Especially if you’ve got a utah-based business or tech group and would like a channel to attract more people, we’d love to hear from you.