Cook with Garlic to Fight the Flu

by Michelle Schoffro Cook Nov 12, 2009

It’s flu season again. Every year those nasty little viruses take hold of our bodies (probably to get a bit of warmth) and rule just about everything we say, do, feel, or think–at least for a few days. This year’s swine flu has people particularly nervous. If you’re trying to survive flu season unscathed or to beat the flu you already have, make sure you eat plenty of garlic. Your friends won’t like you, but neither will the flu bugs and other viruses you want to keep at bay.

Not only does garlic beat off flu viruses, that small clove helps lower high blood pressure, prevents hardening of the arteries and lessens cholesterol buildup in the heart. Thanks to many studies on garlic’s medicinal properties, we also know it is antibacterial and antifungal. Research even implicates garlic in the prevention of stomach cancer and in giving the immune system an overall boost. Just what the doctor ordered at this time of year.

While garlic contains potassium and germanium, two minerals that are critical to health, it is best known for its sulfur compounds, particularly allicin. These are the main phytochemicals (natural plant chemicals) you’ll want in your diet.

Unfortunately, many manufacturers of garlic supplements haven’t captured enough of the active ingredient to make the pills worth popping. However, some of the aged garlic extracts are effective. Forget garlic powder you can purchase in most grocery stores. It is the lazy person’s garlic and doesn’t offer many rewards in exchange for the saved time. Pill or powder, neither compares to the real thing.

So, heat up your oven and start chopping. It’s time to throw some fresh garlic into your favorite soup, stew, chili, stir-fry, meat, or veggie dish. For those of you scared to offend the significant other in your life, try roasting garlic by cutting off the stem, exposing the top of each clove and drizzling a bit of olive oil over it. Wrap it in foil or place in a garlic roaster and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour. This greatly minimizes its powerful aroma but creates a spread that tastes fabulous and has the consistency of butter. For even more potent health benefits, add raw garlic to your meal after it has been cooked. Or, top your favorite toasted bread with minced garlic, some sea salt, chopped tomatoes and a dash of olive oil for a fast and delicious bruschetta.

There are three main types of garlic: Creole, Italian or Mexican, and Tahitian. Most of the garlic on our grocery store shelves comes from California and is likely of the Creole variety. Italian or Mexican garlic is a bit smaller than its Creole counterpart and has a slightly purplish-colored skin. Tahitian garlic is also known as elephant garlic largely because of its size. It is several times larger than its Creole, Italian or Mexican sisters. But, don’t let the size fool you. When it comes to garlic, good things come in small packages; the Italian or Mexican variety is the most potent.

Look for garlic that is firm and free of black mildew on the skin. Store it at room temperature in a well-ventilated spot such as a garlic keeper. Most experts suggest trying to get at least one clove a day to reap the maximum health benefits. But, if your taste buds shout for more, let them have it.

So, if your flu hasn’t already abandoned ship at all this talk of garlic, whip up a garlic-laden dinner and it will be running scared.

So will your friends, you say? Find some friendship among fellow garlic eaters. And consider that Roman centurions marched side-by-side into battle and across the European countryside sporting their finest military garb and cloves of garlic between their toes (to ward off fungal infections).

How’s that for friendship among the ranks?

Dark Chocolate Definitely Eases Emotional Stress

by Melissa Breyer Nov 14, 2009

OK, honestly? It doesn’t take a scientist to tell me that chocolate makes me feel better. But they’re saying it anyway–new evidence that dark chocolate helps ease emotional stress was just published in “Metabolic Effects of Dark Chocolate Consumption on Energy, Gut Microbiota, and Stress-Related Metabolism in Free-Living Subjects.” I don’t know how my gut microbiota feel about it, but it’s doing wonders for my mood.

The study found that eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day for two weeks reduced levels of stress hormones in the bodies of people feeling highly stressed.The daily dose also partially corrected other stress-related biochemical imbalances. And that’s not all…Sunil Kochhar and colleagues note growing scientific evidence that antioxidants and other beneficial substances in dark chocolate may reduce risk factors for heart disease and other physical conditions. Although studies in the past have suggested that chocolate may ease emotional stress, there was little evidence until now from research in humans on exactly how chocolate might have those stress-busting effects.

In the study, scientists identified reductions in stress hormones and other stress-related biochemical changes in volunteers who rated themselves as highly stressed and ate dark chocolate for two weeks. “The study provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 grams [1.4 ounces] during a period of 2 weeks is sufficient to modify the metabolism of healthy human volunteers,” the scientists say. Sign me up…

MIDEAST: U.S. Takes Aim Over Jordan's Shoulder

By Jon Elmer

MUWAQQAR, Jordan, Nov 17 (IPS) - In the bleak and seemingly endless desert expanse that unfolds east of Jordan's capital city, Amman, lies a crucial cog in the ambitious regional designs of the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East.

Commonly known by its acronym JIPTC, the Jordan International Police Training Centre is ground-zero for the transformation of U.S.-allied security forces not only for the Kingdom of Jordan, but also for Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories.

Under the regime of King Abdullah II, this country of six million strategically located at the heart of the Middle East and bordered by Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the West Bank, has developed itself as something of a "Green Zone" in a tumultuous region.

As Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau in the U.S. said during a joint training mission and tour of Jordan late last month, the country has become "the lynchpin" in the efforts to create a "peaceful central command region."

JIPTC is staffed mostly by Jordanians, but the trainers are military and police officers from more than a dozen countries - primarily Canada, the United Kingdom and the U.S. - as well as private contractors, such as DynCorp.

The relatively unassuming base, surrounded by blast walls and concertina wire, is comprised predominantly of temporary portable buildings spread out across a five square kilometre facility. The sprawling desert environment is well suited for its multiple shooting ranges for a programme that planners say is three-quarters hands-on training, and only one-quarter classroom instruction.

Since graduating its first class in November 2003, JIPTC has trained more than 50,000 police officers bound for Iraq. More recently, the academy has trained four battalions of the Palestinian security forces, deployed under the auspices of United States security coordinator, Gen. Keith Dayton, to back the "caretaker" government of Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad in the West Bank.

With little fanfare, JIPTC has Jordan's regime playing a frontline role in the U.S. project to transform the Middle East.

"Jordan continues to be a key partner and to play a positive role in the region," Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander responsible for the region told a Senate Armed Service Committee meeting in April. "Jordan participates in many regional security initiatives and has placed itself at the forefront of police and military training for regional security forces."

Mouin Rabbani, an Amman-based analyst told IPS that such a link is also problematic. "Jordan is one of the leading U.S. allies in the region, and it suffers the consequences of U.S. policy, perhaps more than others, because it's situated literally between the two biggest American failures in the region: Iraq and Palestine."

Gen. Petraeus has explicitly linked JITPC to attempts to legitimize the failed peace process in the Israel-Palestine conflict. "These efforts will likely prove critical in the continued development of legitimate security forces in Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories and, as a consequence, in the long-term viability of the peace process," he told the Senate committee.

According to Rabbani, Jordan's support for U.S. efforts in the failed peace process "raises questions about a strategy which is, for all intents and purposes, wholly and exclusively aligned with one external would-be mediator that's seen increasingly as irretrievably hostile to Palestinian and more general Arab national aspirations, and completely wedded to Israeli interests."

In Gen. Dayton's first substantial interview with an Israeli newspaper regarding his role in training the Palestinian forces, he was clear about his objectives. "I'm here to advance America's interests, but I'm also here because of the relationship between your country (Israel) and mine," he told Ha'aretz.

The Palestinian forces have an open agenda to target Hamas and other Palestinian factions. In May, six people were killed when Dayton's forces attacked Hamas activists in the West Bank town of Qalqilya, sparking a gun battle that lasted several hours and took place without Israel's interference. Hamas characterized the attack as "an awful crime" committed by "collaborators"; while Abbas declared that his forces would continue to strike opposition groups "with an iron fist."

Gen. Dayton, in his only major policy speech to date, told the stridently pro- Israel think tank, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), that JIPTC-trained Palestinian security forces had engaged in a series of violent raids that were "surprisingly well coordinated" with Israel. Dayton characterized the results as "electric."

"They have caught the attention of the Israeli defense establishment for their dedication, discipline, motivation, and results." Dayton added, "the Jordanian-trained guys are the key."

Staging security training in Jordan cuts to the heart of the problem with the credibility of these indigenous forces among their people. It is presumed that they cannot be trained in their local milieu because they lack political legitimacy.

To this end, Dayton told the WINEP audience: "You might ask, why Jordan? The answer is pretty simple. The Palestinians wanted to train in the region, but they wanted to be away from clan, family and political influences. The Israelis trust the Jordanians, and the Jordanians were anxious to help."

The JIPTC-trained forces find themselves at the centre of a bitter factional divide. Hamas won a decisive electoral victory in 2006, but has been forced underground in the West Bank since sweeping Israeli arrests of many of its elected members, and the subsequent takeover by Fayyad's regime in Ramallah.

The West Bank elected 52 of Hamas' 74 members of the 132-seat Palestinian Legislative Council, while Fayyad's party, The Third Way, received less than three per cent of the popular vote, which translated into two seats. Abbas' Fatah party tallied 45 seats. However, since assuming power, Abbas and Fayyad's West Bank regime has been the beneficiary of more than 1.8-billion dollars in U.S.-encouraged international aid for a population of 2.5 million, while Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza have been subjected to a crippling boycott.

Upwards of 1,000 Palestinians have been arrested by Dayton's security forces, mostly Hamas members. Many of those arrested face dubious charges, if any, and the judicial process has been the source of significant criticism by Palestinian human rights groups.

All this has served to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Dayton's security project, while the Hamas-Fatah division has all but stricken the feasibility of holding presidential elections in the Palestinian Territories, now a year overdue.

Meanwhile, U.S President Barack Obama announced in June a 150 million dollar military aid increase to Jordan, bringing the annual total to more than 513 million dollars. The increase came on top of the Bush Administration's 2007, ten-year, 50 billion dollar military aid package to the region's allied regimes, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the pliant Gulf states. The deal included a 30 billion dollars weapons package to Israel through 2017.

Spain will not 'force' new EU relation with Cuba

Madrid - Spain will upgrade the European Union's relations with Cuba only if such a "consensus" is reached during Madrid's EU presidency in the first half of 2010, a senior official said Tuesday. Some EU countries are critical of Spain's plans to modify the union's 1996 common position on Cuba, which links relations to human rights and freedoms on the Caribbean island.

"Nothing will be done without the consensus of the 27" EU member countries, Spain's Ibero-America Secretary of State Juan Pablo de Laiglesia told a senate Ibero-American affairs committee.

However, he attributed the reservations of some countries partly to their lack of knowledge about the changes that had occurred in Cuba since 1996.

Cuba could not be an exception to Spain's plans of improving EU relations with all of Latin America, the secretary of state said.

Kurdish, Sunni threats put Iraqi elections in peril

Baghdad - Threats from Kurdish and Sunni Arab politicians to withdraw support for the country's new election law have once again thrown into question whether a vote will take place on time. After weeks of tense debate on voting in the disputed northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, lawmakers last week reached an 11th-hour compromise to allow voting to take place on January 18, ahead of the constitutionally mandated deadline of the end of January.

But Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Muslim, on Tuesday again threatened to veto the law if more seats are not reserved for expatriate Iraqis, most of whom are believed to be Sunnis.

The Kurdish Regional Government on Tuesday also said it would boycott the polls if the number of seats from its two provinces was not increased.

"The presidency of the Kurdish Regional Government has decided to boycott the coming parliamentary elections because of the mechanism for distributing the number of seats in the parliament across the country's provinces," Kamal Kirkuki, speaker of the parliament for the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, told reporters Tuesday.

"It is impossible to accept a seat-allocation mechanism based on data from (food) ration cards," he said.

Absent a census, which has been stalled out of fears it would bring to a head an old dispute over areas claimed by Kurdish and Arab Iraqis, population data was taken from food-ration cards all Iraqis hold under a system started by former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

Kurdish politicians have objected to an overall reduction in the number of seats at stake from the two provinces that make up the semi-autonomous region based on that data.

The Kurdish threats to boycott the polls came as al-Hashemi gave parliament until Tuesday night to raise the number of seats reserved for refugees and expatriate Iraqis.

He has asked that 15 per cent, not 5 per cent, of seats in parliament be reserved as compensatory seats to insure a higher representation for refugees.

If parliament did not respond to his requests by Tuesday night, al-Hashemi said, he would oppose the law and try to prevent its passage.

"There are several gaps in the elections law. To avoid opening many political files, I focused only on the main issue that concerns Iraqis inside and outside Iraq, (the one) ... concerned with the displaced and refugees outside Iraq," he said in a statement on the Iraqi presidency's website.

Under the Iraqi constitution, there should be a member of parliament for every 100,000 Iraqi citizens. With at least 4 million Iraqi refugees, al-Hashemi argued, parliament should raise the number of seats allocated for them.

Iraqi politicians greeted parliament's last-minute passage of an elections law on November 8 with relief, after debate over the sensitive issue of voting in the disputed city of Kirkuk and surrounding al-Tamim province threatened a political and constitutional crisis.

US President Barack Obama likewise praised the compromise. The US military has said it would begin decreasing the number of its troops in Iraq roughly two months after the polls, provided the country appeared stable.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/295134,kurdish-sunni-threats-put-iraqi-elections-in-peril.html.

San Diego panda named Yun Zi - Son of Cloud

Los Angeles dpa) - A baby panda born at the San Diego Zoo will be named Yun Zi, Chinese for Son of Cloud, the zoo announced Tuesday. The name was selected from over 6,300 recommendations from the public. Zoo officials whittled them down to five, with the name Yun Zi eventually chosen in an online poll.

The male cub was born at the zoo on August 5 and in accordance with Chinese tradition was named only when he became 100 days old.

Syria Calls for Preserving Food Resources and Securing Food for the Coming Generations

Rome, (SANA)-Syria called for preserving food resources for curbing famines and securing food for the coming generations.

In a speech delivered before the Second International Summit for Food Security on Tuesday, Syrian Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Adel Safa called upon the international community to work on protecting and developing food resources through establishing an international system supervised by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through which the rich countries help the poor to overcome food crisis and develop their economy.

Safar condemned the comprehensive siege imposed on the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip and the Israeli savagery practices in the occupied lands such as razing the agricultural lands to deprive the Palestinians of their most important right of getting food.

He also called for consolidating cooperation with the FAO, hailing the role of the organizations, commissions and funds in achieving agricultural development in Syria.

He pointed out to the qualitative leaps achieved by Syria in the agricultural field where it used advanced techniques to reach self –sufficiency and depended on many programs for achieving sustainable agricultural development through supporting scientific research.

The Summit was held at FAO headquarter in Rome.

Ruaa AL-Jazaeri/ Kh.Aridi