Eat Your Tomatoes!
I have a Kuwaiti friend who grows tomatoes, and was grousing because this year’s crop wasn’t as abundant as last year’s. Two short weeks later, he changed his tune.
“Come get tomatoes! We have all the tomatoes in the world!”
He had planted a large variety this year, partly because I wanted to see how some American “heirloom” seeds would do here. Either the climate is a little funny this year, or the heirloom seeds just take a little longer, but oh, what a crop there is! One of my friends said “it is like eating tomato candy!” Some of them are that sweet!
Just a little balsamic vinegar and a little of the best olive oil, a little fresh ground pepper and a little salt – oh, what heaven.
But there were so many, we cooked up a tomato sauce, just tomatoes, not even any onions. It was magnificent.
And then in today’s Health News, we learn that in addition to helping us have a healthy heart, eating tomatoes can also help protect our skin against the sun:
(photo courtesy BBC News)
From yesterday’s BBC Health News. (You can read the entire article by clicking on the blue type.)
Tomato dishes ‘may protect skin’
Pizza and spaghetti bolognese could become new tools in the fight against sunburn and wrinkles, a study suggests.
A team found adding five tablespoons of tomato paste to the daily diet of 10 volunteers improved the skin’s ability to protect against harmful UV rays.
Damage from these rays can lead to premature ageing and even skin cancer.
The study, presented at the British Society for Investigative Dermatology, suggested the antioxidant lycopene was behind the apparent benefit.
This component of tomatoes – found at its highest concentration when the fruit has been cooked – has already been linked to a reduction in the risk of prostate cancer.
Now researchers at the universities of Manchester and Newcastle have suggested it may also help ward off skin damage by providing some protection against the effects of UV rays.
Anti-ageing paste?
They gave 10 volunteers around 55g of standard tomato paste – which contains high levels of cooked tomatoes – and 10g of olive oil daily. A further 10 participants received just the olive oil.
After three months, skin samples from the tomato group showed they had 33% more protection against sunburn – the equivalent of a very low factor sun cream – and much higher levels of procollagen, a molecule which gives the skin its structure and keeps its firm.
Lemba, Arc of the Covenant and DNA
As I work in the Project Room, I often have the radio on, BBC. I get to hear all about the US elections from another point of view, I get exposure to music I might otherwise never hear, and I hear things that show up weeks, even months later in the news.
AdventureMan called and asked if I had heard the segment on the Lemba in Zimbabwe. I hadn’t, but I listened closely for the next couple days and it was repeated.
It is about a professor who discovered what he thinks is a replica of the Arc of the Covenant in a dusty museum in Zimbabwe. He explored further, and discovered the Lemba claim ancient connections with the Arc, and had priestly customs similar to old Jewish customs. When they underwent DNA testing, the priestly clan of the Lemba had the same genetic markers as the priestly clan of the Jews, the descendants of Aaron.
How fascinating is that? Legend has always claimed the Arc of the Covenant is or was hidden somewhere in Ethiopia . . . transport to Zimbabwe from Ethiopia would not be out of the question.
I went to BBC news online and did a search – no results. Maybe it takes a while for their newest stories to be documented in their search files.
Googling on the internet, I found Ethiomedia which says the following:
In a newly released book, University of London Professor Tudor Parfitt claims to have located the treasured artifact on a dusty shelf of an out-of-the-way museum in Harare, Zimbabwe.
“It was just by chance that I finally managed to track it down to a storeroom in Harare, was able to analyze it and discover that quite apart from anything else, it’s quite probably the oldest wooden object in sub-Sahara Africa,” said Parfitt, an expert in Oriental and African Studies.
“It’s massively important in terms of history, even apart from its status as the last surviving link to the original Ark of Moses.”
In his HarperCollins’ book, “The Lost Ark of the Covenant: Solving the 2,500 Year Old Mystery of the Fabled Biblical Ark,” Parfitt describes traipsing around the globe, decoding ancient texts and deciphering numerous clues to locate the enigmatic object.
Along the way, the man dubbed the “British Indiana Jones” by friends, colleagues and the Wall Street Journal uncovered genetic evidence confirming claims by the Lemba tribe that they
are descendants of ancient Israelite priests, the caretakers of the lost Ark.
He experienced a major breakthrough in 1999 when he took DNA samples from 136 male members of the Lemba tribe. In a finding that drew worldwide publicity, a genetic analysis confirmed they were descendants of Aaron, the brother of Moses.
So many discoveries have proven to be fraudulent that I hesitate to put too much faith in this discovery, but I have to admit that it appeals to the little girl in me, who still believes archaeologists have great adventures, and loves the Indiana Jones movies!
(I hear there is a new Indiana Jones movie coming out soon. I hope old Harrison Ford can recapture enough of his youth to make this as good as the first one.)
Sunrise 29 April 2008
I awoke rested this morning, and although the sunrise is getting earlier and earlier, I was up for it. Actual sunrise was a non-event – whatever is on the horizon, and I think it is a thick bank of clouds – the sun didn’t make it through for many minutes. When I first could see it, it was barely there. Looks to me like it will have to fight through a thick cloud of “haze” most of the day.
It’s that haze that worries me. Did we have so much haze last year at this time?
I guess summer is here. It is already 88°F / 31° C at 0600, with an expected high today of 100° F / 38°F.
Photo tools
Technical issue – Yousef – this is what I see in my “gallery” when I select a photo. Is this what you see? Where are the tools? How do you resize from here?
Hope in a Bottle
From BBC Health News comes this report on a face cream that really works.
The problem with creams that claim to prevent wrinkles, or to reverse aging, is that they make claims like “visible difference in 7 days.” I buy them, try them, and after seven days, I may not see a visible lessening of wrinkles, but on the other hand, neither do I know what I might have looked like if I didn’t use the cream. Few of these claims are ever tested scientifically.
You tend to think that the more you pay, the better the cream. It isn’t necessarily so.
Face creams under the microscope
An “unprecedented” clinical trial on a high street anti-ageing cream may change the face of the skin care market in this country, dermatologists say.
At present there is a lack of clinical data to prove which creams really do slow down the skin’s ageing process.
Industry is thought to have shied away from major trials in part for fear products, if effective, could then be deemed medicines and tightly regulated.
But the trial on a Boots moisturiser may prove if these fears are founded.
There was a run on the chain’s No. 7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum after the BBC’s Horizon programme last year suggested it might be one of the more effective creams on the market.
Chris Griffiths, professor of dermatology at the University of Manchester, has just concluded a clinical trial on the lotion, involving 60 volunteers over a period of six months.
The data is now being analysed before being submitted to a scientific journal for peer review – in what is thought to be an unprecedented process for a high street skin care product.
“If it is proven to work – and there is certainly no guarantee that’s what we’ll find – then the debate will start on whether there is a point at which a cream is so effective it becomes a medicine,” he says.
The active ingredients in the cream include white lupin – a flower extract – and retinyl palmitate, on top of a plain moisturising base. The trial will not establish which, if any, is effective, but how the combination works together.
You can read the entire article HERE.
Qatteri Cat’s Great Adventure
This morning, as AdventureMan left for work, I was busy reading incoming e-mails and didn’t jump up immediately to lock the door behind him. The Qatteri Cat, as usual, was crying – he hates it when “The Fun Guy” leaves, and he got his baby and cried by the door for a while. Then – I heard a dreaded sound.
We hear it sometimes during the night. The Qatteri Cat is one smart cat – he has learned how to jump up high enough to hit the door handle on his way down, and his weight is enough to open the door. He jumped. I’m up and running, but it is too late, the door is open and the Qatteri Cat is out.
Other people with long-haired cats will know what I am talking about here – you don’t get dressed until you are just ready to leave, and you keep your clothes in closets that stay shut, so you don’t have long cat hair clinging to you as you go about your daily errands. So as I run to the door, I am rapidly calculating whether I can run outside and round up the Qatteri Cat, or whether I have to get dressed first.
It is still early. My Kuwaiti neighbor probably isn’t up, and if his maid sees me, I can claim she was delusional, that I would never be outside in my nightgown. If I get dressed first, the Qatteri Cat could disappear! So out I run, chasing the Qatteri Cat who thinks this is one GREAT game, Mom chasing him. He is making that little “Eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh” sound that cats make when they see birds, or something else irresistable.
I chase him and cut him off, forcing him in a circle and back to the door. He resists, but he also knows when I am serious, I am SERIOUS (it has to do with cat “time-outs” in a room with just his food and litter box, and short term withdrawal of affection) so he reluctantly complies.
Now, he is sulking. He has his baby. He isn’t crying, he has ME in time-out, he has withdrawn his affection, I spoiled his fun. Even though the door is now locked, he tries every now and then, remembering there was a time when it opened.
That’s Very Different!
A grin today from the FAIL Blog. This one had me helpless with the giggles.
Even some English speakers have problems with why this is funny – the word they meant to use on the news captioning was “evacuating.” The word they used has a very different meaning.
Need Some Encouragement
I just got sick of myself, not exercising, and decided to start exercising again, and so I did. I have a little running trampoline, I can run, watch the news, watch the ships go by out in the Gulf, and, of course, I count.
Why am I counting? I heard about this program, 1000 Steps, that if you walk 10,000 steps a day, you should be on your way to fitness. I figure if I can knock out a good part of that on the trampoline, also getting my heart rate up, it should be all good – right? Wouldn’t you think so?
I’ve done fairly well. Counting helps me get through the exercise – I’m sort of accomplishment driven, and I need to have goals to achieve. I started out at 2200 and I am now up to 3200 – it’s not that hard, and one day I am hoping to be able to knock out 10,000 steps and then all my other steps all day are gravy.
Except for one thing. Since I’ve started, which was only a week ago, I have actually GAINED weight. It is SO discouraging. I am feeling better, I think I can already see positive changes in the mirror, I am feeling more fit. I love the feeling of burning calories I get when I have finished. I don’t believe I have changed my eating habits – so why would the scales move up???
Army Audits: Official Sites, Not Blogs, Breach Security
This report came out in August of 2007, on WIRED so it is not new news.
What it IS, is something for those who are considering monitoring blogs in Kuwait, to think about.
It isn’t bloggers complaining about roads, or complaining about a do-nothing-but-hold-a-grill-party Parliament, or about laws not being enforced. If bloggers are blogging and comlaining, people are grumbling. Bloggers might be considered a weather-vane, but bloggers are not creating the weather, if you catch my drift.
The US Army was blaming bloggers – until a study showed that it was their own OFFICIAL websites that gave away important information.
I used to ask AdventureMan about things and he would snap “Where did you hear that? It’s classified!” and I would tell him I read it in the New York Times – or in the Stars and Stripes.
We bloggers aren’t your problem. We bloggers are mostly geeks and nerds who love our computers, love thinking about things, and we are not out there rabble raising . . . we are sharing ideas. We don’t all agree. We are not your problem.
For years, members of the military brass have been warning that soldiers’ blogs could pose a security threat by leaking sensitive wartime information. But a series of online audits, conducted by the Army, suggests that official Defense Department websites post far more potentially-harmful than blogs do.
The audits, performed by the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell between January 2006 and January 2007, found at least 1,813 violations of operational security policy on 878 official military websites. In contrast, the 10-man, Manassas, Virginia, unit discovered 28 breaches, at most, on 594 individual blogs during the same period.
The results were obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, after the digital rights group filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act.
“It’s clear that official Army websites are the real security problem, not blogs,” said EFF staff attorney Marcia Hofmann. “Bloggers, on the whole, have been very careful and conscientious. It’s a pretty major disparity.” The findings stand in stark contrast to Army statements about the risks that blogs pose.
Penny Carrot Salad
So easy and so good, this salad is also very sweet, so I am sharing it with my Kuwaiti friends. (Is it possible to be Kuwaiti and not have a sweet tooth?)
It is called Penny Carrot Salad because you cut the carrots into round pieces about 1/4 inch thick, so that they look like coins. Do not over cook, or you will have carrot mush! Especially good on hot summer nights.
2 lbs (4 cups) sliced, cooked carrots
1 large onion
1 large green pepper
1 can tomato soup
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon mustard
Mix liquid and seasonings together and pour over drained carrots as soon as they are finished cooking. Refrigerate overnight. Keeps well.
Recent Comments
Kitchen on Isiais: Winding Down intlxpatr on Shampoo Ginger tigerbutterya0c5ff1d… on Shampoo Ginger intlxpatr on British Soldier Kidnapped, Esc… John on British Soldier Kidnapped, Esc… Wikipedia Donate Button
Amazina
Early Voting in Florida
