30 April 2010

leave it long...

Why men love long hair...

28 Apr 2010

I'll never forget it.

I was 10, and, upon meeting me for the first time, my sister's neighbor asked: "What's your cute little brother's name?"

Okay, sure, I was a bit of a tomboy, but I somehow knew immediately it was my new super short haircut that had confused her.

"I'm a girl!" I whined rather meekly, as my 10-year-old brain was forever etched with the message: Real girls have long hair.

And, an informal Twitter survey seems to back this up.

While most men and women agreed it really depends on the woman, when pressed, most men admit they prefer long hair.

There may be some evolutionary evidence to back them up.

According to the lab coats, the quality and length of a woman's hair serves as a marker of genetic strength and overall health, thus, her desirability as reproductive material.

Of course, by this reasoning, women should be all over men sporting long ponytails, and, well, let's not go there, shall we?

(In fact, for a hilarious and very practical guide to all things men say/do/wear are dating deal breakers, check out Undateable: 311 Things Guys Do That Guarantee They Won't be Dating or Having Sex. For info, visit undateable.com).

Still, in one study published in the research journal Human Nature, researchers found women who had originally been rated by a test group as being less attractive were rated far more highly when shown with a longer hairstyle.

Interestingly, as they get older, past their reproductive years, most women choose shorter haircuts because they are considered more "age appropriate".

Of course, men are not ruled entirely by their inner caveman, and some men told me they actually prefer short hair on women, of any age.

Of course, even from an evolutionary perspective, shiny, lustrous short hair would be a better sign of health than damaged, dull long hair.

But, the truth is, some women just look pretty darn sexy in short hair.

Still, culturally, we strongly associate long hair with sex appeal and femininity.

Short hair is associated with boyishness... and asexuality.

Obviously, we communicate a lot with our hair.

Unlike other parts of our body, it's one thing we can easily change and manipulate.

Which is why I actually admire women who can rock a short haircut and look sexy.

It's as if she's thumbing her nose at traditional notions of female sexuality and telling the world that she doesn't have to buy into it.

That she can be sexy on her own terms.

It almost makes me want to go out and get a sexy, short haircut.

If I could only get my inner 10-year-old on board with the idea.

Follow Josey at www.twitter.com/joseyvogels

http://www.ayushveda.com/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/ladylonghair.jpg

fat = security threat?

Fat Americans pose a threat to national security: generals...

58 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Increasing rates of obesity, among young Americans, could undermine the future of the US military, with potential recruits increasingly too fat to serve, two retired generals said today.

"Obesity rates threaten the overall health of America and the future strength of our military," generals John Shalikashvili and Hugh Shelton, both former chairs of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in a commentary.

Obesity disqualified more potential recruits for military service than any other medical factor, the two former commanders wrote in the Washington Post.

The two generals urged Congress to adopt legislation that would ensure better nutrition in schools, offering children more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, while cutting back on foods with high sugar, sodium, and fat content.

"We consider this problem so serious, from a national security perspective, we have joined more than 130 other retired generals, admirals, and senior military leaders, in calling on Congress to pass new child nutrition legislation," wrote the commanders, part of a non-profit group called "Mission: Readiness".

The warning came amid growing concern that childhood obesity has turned into an "epidemic", affecting a staggering one in three American youngsters.

A study released in March warned more American children are becoming extremely obese at a younger age, putting them at risk of dying decades younger than normal-weight children and of suffering old-age illnesses in their 20s.

The US military also faces a problem with troops already serving who are overweight, with some soldiers losing out on promotions because of their failure to meet fitness standards.

Although the military enjoyed record-breaking recruitment levels last year, officials say the growing problem of obesity could present a serious problem for recruitment efforts over time.

The two retired generals endorsed a plan by President Barack Obama's administration to increase funding by one billion dollars a year over ten years for child nutrition programs.

Investing in nutrition made sense as the country was already spending 75 billion dollars a year on medical costs associated with obesity, they said.

Citing figures from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, the commentary said the proportion of potential recruits who flunked their physical tests because they were overweight has jumped nearly 70 percent since 1995.

Shalikashvili, who led the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993 to 1997, and Shelton, who held the same post from 1997 to 2001, cited school lunch legislation passed in 1946 as a model.

Military leaders at the time recognized poor nutrition reduced the pool of qualified candidates for the armed forces, they said.

"We must act, as we did after World War II, to ensure that our children can one day defend our country, if need be."

Copyright © 2010 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved

US soldiers eat lunch on Christmas day at a military camp in ...

US soldiers eat lunch on Christmas day at a military camp in Nuristan Province, in 2009.

Increasing rates of obesity among young Americans could undermine the future of the US military, with potential recruits increasingly too fat to serve, two retired generals said today.

Photo:Tauseef Mustafa/AFP

language learning...

DIY language learning...

This handbook teaches you how to learn any language on your own, in the language's home turf, by teaching a native speaker to be your teacher.

The trick is to instruct your local agent to teach you something he/she is hardly aware of -- the structure of their language.

You will supply the plan, and so are teaching yourself, through them.

Comprende?

It's done slowly, naturally, and playfully - the way you learned English.

Your assistant doesn't even have to speak your language.

You begin using a few easy words, trying to make as many mistakes as you possibly can, entertaining the folks in the marketplace or anywhere else they'll put up with your blabberings.

Then you systematically add additional words in steady daily use, guiding your guide in what you want to learn next.

This well-tested method was devised by missionaries trying to learn languages lacking scripts, courses, or guidebooks, and works great for dialects, or indeed any language you want to learn.

The text of this workbook shows you how to construct your own exercises that fit the language you are after, and later how to discover its grammar by yourself.

The goal is multiculturalism, inseparable from multilingualism.

Like realizing you don't need a degree in anything to build your own house, learning you can become fluent in another language without a course or classroom is deliciously radical.

If you like this approach check out other online texts by missionary linguists which take the same approach of enabling an intermediate to become your language teacher.

This DIY process works best on location, rather than before you arrive.

-- KK

Language Acquisition Made Practical
E. Thomas Brewster and Elizabeth Brewster
1976 (1998 printing); 384 pp.

Available from Amazon

or $15 from Lingua House

Author's website:
Lingua House
P.O. Box 704
Pasadena, CA 91102 - 0704
626/ 500-6278
LinguaHouse@LAMP.Bizland.com

There's more of the same approach (different book) here at SIL, also a language site for missionaries.



Sample Excerpts:

To prepare for a Comprehension drill, you need to plan a list of related activities, and have Kino make up a 3 x 5 card with activities written in his language.

The activities for the first day might include sit, stand, squat down, clap your hands, scratch your leg, stretch your arms. In the drill, Kino will instruct you in his language to do an activity; for example, "stand up".

He will stand up and you observe and then mimic the action by standing yourself.

Do not say what he says.

Kino then introduces the second item, performing the activity while giving you the verbal instructions.

You mimic the activity - for example, "sit down".

Kino then again gives the first instruction, "stand up", and you respond by standing.

Then Kino can give the instructions without acting them out himself - "sit down", "stand up", and you respond to his verbal directions.

When doing comprehension drills, respond rapidly, without hesitation, and make a distinct robust response with your body.

*
lamp1-sm.jpg

*

Production of Modifiers

Kino says a sentence with modifiers.

You repeat the basic sentence, without modifiers.

Kino: "The blue jug with the pretty flowers is on the high wooden shelf."

You: "The jug is on the shelf."

Then reverse roles -- he says a simple sentence and you embellish it.

Kino: "This is a book."

You: "This is a good book about the people of this country."

Kino: "This is a candle."

You: "This is a red candle."

Look around you.

You can talk about virtually any object, then restate it with modifiers.

*
lamp3-sm.jpg
*

By using these sentence patterns you can get extra drill on new vocabulary while talking with people.

You can touch an object and ask, "What is this?"

They may answer, "This is Kefala."

You can then touch a similar object and ask, "Is this Kefala?" and they will answer positively or negatively.

If you are talking with children, this can become quite a game and give you lots of practice with new words.

Children will often catch on, and participate with you in the game.

First, you can ask the questions while they answer.

Then you can trade roles and let them ask the questions while you try to answer.

If you enter into the spirit of the game, everybody can have fun while you practice vocabulary.

*
lamp2-sm.jpg

stressed = desserts...



...

deny!


funny pictures of cats with captions

rim in top five...

RIM breaks into top 5 in surging phone market...

30 Apr '10

By Tarmo Virki

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Blackberry maker, Research in Motion, broke into the top five cellphone makers in January-March for the first time, helped by 50 percent growth in the global smartphone market.

The global handset market has been dominated by five major players -- Nokia , Samsung , LG Electronics , Motorola, and Sony Ericsson -- for the last five years.

But over the last two years, Sony Ericsson and Motorola have struggled with falling sales and market share, and despite fast market growth, both firms reported sharp drops in sales volumes for January-March.

Smartphone shipments surged 50 percent in the quarter from a year ago, to 54 million, with Apple and Nokia taking market share, researcher Strategy Analytics said.

Both Strategy Analytics and International Data Corporation (IDC) estimated Research in Motion shipped 10.6 million phones in January-March, just ahead of Sony Ericsson's 10.5 million.

"The entrance of RIM into the top 5 underscores the sustained smartphone growth trend driving the global mobile phone market recovery," said IDC analyst, Kevin Restivo.

IDC said all vendors in total made 295 million cellphones in the quarter, up 21.7 percent from a year ago, and stuck to its 11 percent market growth forecast for 2010.

Motorola, which was the second largest phone maker just six years ago, sold 8.5 million phones in the quarter, falling behind Apple , which sold 8.75 million iPhones.

Nokia shipped 107.8 million phones in the quarter, with Korean vendors Samsung and LG selling 64.3 million and 27.1 million respectively.

(Additional reporting by Brett Young; Editing by David Cowell)

Copyright © 2010 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

http://www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk/img/fckImages/news/2008/05/blackberry-bold.jpg

western zone...

Western provinces sign economic deal...

1 hour, 7 minutes ago

The premiers of B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan have signed a deal designed to help the three provinces remove barriers to economic development and function more as a single economic zone.

Under the New West Partnership agreement, signed today in Regina by B.C.'s Gordon Campbell, Alberta's Ed Stelmach, and Saskatchewan's Brad Wall, professional qualifications and business licences obtained in one province will be recognized by each of the partners.

"We signed an agreement today that creates an amazing economic force: the New West, an economic region of 9 million people strong and $555 billion in GDP," Wall said.

"It is an economic region home to a number of industries the world is very interested in right now."

The deal means, for example, a teacher who's certified in Saskatchewan, will also gain certification in the other two provinces.

The provinces also agree to promote the region together.

The three premiers will start doing that next month, when they travel together on a trade mission to Japan and China.

They also say they'll try to use the provinces' joint purchasing power to get better deals from suppliers for things like prescription drugs.

That should save all of them money, Campbell said.

"If we jointly procure equipment for our schools or we jointly procure textbooks or pharmaceuticals, there are substantial savings for British Columbians, Albertans, and people from Saskatchewan," Campbell said.

The deal includes an innovation agreement, which the provinces say will better co-ordinate efforts to attract investment and talent.

The deal has been the subject of intense Opposition scrutiny in the Saskatchewan legislature in recent days, with NDP leader, Dwain Lingenfelter, asking how the government can sign a deal without telling the public what's in it.

Labour groups have also raised concerns that the deal will lead to a lowest common denominator of health, safety and environmental regulations.

However, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business hailed the agreement, saying it will reduce the red tape its members face and could help solve labour shortage problems.

barbara budd bows out... :(

As It Happens' Barbara Budd to leave CBC...

Last Updated:

29 March 2010

10:46 PM ET Comments149 Recommend156

Barbara Budd, co-host of CBC Radio One's As it Happens, announced  Monday that she will end her run on CBC next month.
Barbara Budd, co-host of CBC Radio One's, As it Happens, announced she will end her run on CBC at the end of April, 2010.
(CBC)

Barbara Budd, co-host of CBC Radio One's As It Happens, announced she will leave the CBC, after more than 26 years with the public broadcaster.

Budd, who has been co-host of the current affairs radio program for 17 years, will hang up her headphones on 30 April, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said in a news release.

"You may not necessarily be able to own the podium, but I gotta tell you, from the bottom of my heart, it sure is thrilling to be given the use of one for 17 years," Budd told her listeners on the show.

Over the years, complete strangers have stopped her wherever she was because they recognized her voice and say, "'Well, I'm so glad to finally put a face to the voice.'"

And Budd always replied, "Well, I'm so glad to put a face to the ears."

After she made her announcement on the show, she asked her listeners to send her pictures of themselves so she can continue to put a face to their ears.

CBC Radio's general manager, Denise Donlon, said, "Barbara has made a significant contribution to a legendary CBC program, and, along with thanks, we offer her our very best wishes as she embarks on her next great adventures," Donlon said.

A formal search for a replacement is to begin shortly.

  • This story is now closed to commenting.

melting...


funny pictures of dogs with captions

dorothy provine, rip :(

Actress Dorothy Provine, best known for 'Roaring 20s', 'Mad, Mad World', dies at 75...

30 Apr '10

By The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Actress Dorothy Provine, best known for her roles as Milton Berle's wife and Ethel Merman's daughter in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and the high-kicking flapper in the 1960s TV series "The Roaring 20s," has died.

She was 75.

Her husband of 43 years, Robert Day, said Friday Provine died from emphysema on 25 April at Silverdale's Hospice of Kitsap County, about 10 miles (16 kilometres) northwest of Bremerton.

He said there won't be a funeral.

"She was so beautiful," Day said from his Bainbridge Island home in Washington

Provine's movie credits also include "Bonnie Parker Story" and "Live Fast, Die Young" in 1958, "The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock" and "Riot in Juvenile Prison" in 1959, "Good Neighbor Sam" in 1964, "That Darn Cat!" and "The Great Race" in 1965 and "Never a Dull Moment" in 1968.

Provine played leggy flapper, Pinky Pinkham, on ABC-TV's "The Roaring 20s", from 1960 to 1962, and she appeared on such shows as "77 Sunset Strip", ''Hawaiian Eye", ''Sugarfoot", ''Wagon Train", and "Mike Hammer".

Besides her husband, Provine is survived by her son, Robert Day, and her sisters, Susan Cameron and Patricia Coldiron.

Actress Dorothy Provine poses with Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher  ...

Actress Dorothy Provine poses with Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, Sandy Koufax, after costume fitting for a television western series 'Colt .45' in Hollywood, Calif., 11 Nov. 1959.

Provine, best-known for her roles as Milton Berle's wife and Ethel Merman's daughter in 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World', and the high-kicking flapper in the 1960s TV series 'The Roaring 20s', has died.

She was 75.

Provine's husband, Robert Day, says she died on 25 April 2010, at Silverdale's Hospice of Kitsap County in Washington. (AP Photo/File)

strike two! :(

Second drilling rig overturns in Louisiana...

1 hour, 11 minutes ago

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Coast Guard said Friday it was responding to another oil drilling rig accident near Morgan City, Louisiana.

A "mobile inland drilling unit" overturned in the Charenton navigational channel south of U.S. Highway 90 near Morgan City, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

There were no reports of injuries, the Coast Guard said.

The floating shallow-water rig was not immediately identified and the importance of the channel was not clear.

The vessel has a 20,000-gallon diesel fuel capacity, but the Coast Guard, citing officials on the scene, said there was no fuel leaking.

As a precaution, 500 feet of oil spill containment boom was deployed around the rig and an additional 500 feet were being brought in, the Coast Guard said in its statement.

(Reporting by Bruce Nichols)

Copyright © 2010 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

too little, too late?

Battle on to protect shore from massive oil spill...

30 Apr '10

By Matthew Bigg

VENICE, Louisiana (Reuters) - The United States scrambled today to ward off an environmental disaster, that could cost billions of dollars, as a huge oil spill reached coastal Louisiana, imperiling wildlife, shellfish beds, and beaches.

With oil still gushing unchecked from a ruptured undersea well off Louisiana, the accident forced President Barack Obama to put on hold politically sensitive plans to expand offshore U.S. oil drilling.

In March, he unveiled plans for a limited expansion, in part to try to win Republican support for climate change legislation.

It could take weeks to stem the flow of oil and would require either trapping it and channeling it to a tanker, or drilling a relief well.

In the interim, the Coast Guard deployed booms along parts of the coast to protect the shore.

The Coast Guard received reports from the public saying edges of the 120-mile (193-km) oil slick had reached Louisiana's outlying Pass-a-Loutre wildlife reserve on the fringes of the Mississippi Delta.

Obama, no doubt mindful of public criticism of President George W. Bush's handling of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster, sent senior officials to check on what estimates say could be a $3 billion cleanup effort.

Oil is pouring out at a rate of up to 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons or 955,000 liters) a day. Forecasters say the spill could affect Mississippi, Alabama, and northwest Florida, in coming days.

Louisiana and Florida have declared states of emergency.

Fitch's Energy Team estimated containment and cleanup costs could reach $2 billion to $3 billion "once the leak reaches land, and potentially more, the longer it takes to arrest the flow of oil into the Gulf".

The cost to the fishing industry in Louisiana could be $2.5 billion, while the impact on tourism along Florida's Gulf coast could be $3 billion, Neil McMahon, analyst at investment firm Bernstein, said on Friday.

"We continue to bring every asset to bear to fight this spill," Coast Guard Rear Admiral, Sally Brice-O'Hara, told CNN.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Lisa Jackson, were due to fly over the affected area on Friday to assess the situation.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sent a team of lawyers to monitor the oil spill and said the Obama administration would vigorously enforce environmental laws.

The White House said no new offshore oil drilling would be allowed until a review was conducted of the spill, which happened after a rig exploded and sank last week.

BP TAKES "FULL RESPONSIBILITY"

Obama said domestic oil drilling remained an important part of the U.S. energy policy and important to U.S. security, but he insisted it must be done responsibly.

The president has pledged to use every resource, including the U.S. military, to contain the huge oil slick, while making clear London-based British Petroleum, the owner of the ruptured well, was responsible for the cost of the cleanup.

BP's Chief Executive, Tony Hayward, said the company would clean up the oil spill and compensate those affected.

"We are taking full responsibility for the spill...

"We are going to be very, very aggressive in all of that," he told Reuters in an interview today.

The disaster comes as BP was working to repair its reputation in the United States after a 2005 blast at a Texas refinery, which killed 15 workers, and a major oil spill in Alaska in 2006, which was blamed on corroded pipelines.

The two incidents cost BP billions of dollars, and drew considerable scrutiny from U.S. politicians and regulators.

Shares of companies that provided services or operated the sunken Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, including Halliburton Co, and Transocean Ltd, fell sharply as worry mounted about liability from the spill.

The Air Force said two C-130 aircraft were on standby in Mississippi to spray an oil inhibitor over the slick, if needed.

"We're looking at all kinds of options in our capability portfolio," spokesman Maj. David Faggard said.

So far, efforts to stop the flow of oil have failed. If unchecked, it will take about 50 days for the leak to eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, the worst U.S. oil spill on record that sent 10.8 million gallons (49 million liters) of crude oil into Prince William Sound.

The Gulf Coast and its marshlands are home to hundreds of species of wildlife, including manatees, sea turtles, dolphins, porpoises, whales, otters, pelicans and other birds.

The Gulf teems with shrimp, oysters, crabs and fish and supports a $1.8 billion fishing industry second only to Alaska.

LAWSUITS UNDERWAY

Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, whose state is still recovering from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, declared a state of emergency and asked the Defense Department for funds to deploy up to 6,000 National Guard troops to help.

Napolitano declared it "a spill of national significance", meaning federal resources could be used to fight it.

Shrimp fishermen in Louisiana have filed a class-action lawsuit against BP, Swiss-based rig company, Transocean Ltd, Halliburton, and Cameron, accusing them of negligence.

The Navy said it was supplying the Coast Guard with inflatable booms and seven skimming systems.

BP and the Coast Guard have mounted what the company called the largest oil spill containment operation in history, involving dozens of ships and aircraft.

BP admitted struggling to control the spill, which is 5,000 feet under the sea.

Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after the rig exploded 11 days ago.

RACE AGAINST TIME

There are signs the spill may be worse than one in 1969 off Santa Barbara, California, which prompted a moratorium on oil and gas drilling off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts -- a ban Obama has said he wants to modify.

Underwater robots failed to activate a cutoff valve on the ocean floor to stop the leak. BP is hoping to cover the well with a giant inverted funnel that would capture the oil at the sea floor and channel it directly to a tanker ship.

But that will take four weeks to put in place, by which stage over 150,000 barrels could have been spilled.

If the funnel does not work, BP will have to rely on stemming the flow by drilling a relief well, which would take two to three months.

(Additional reporting by Tom Bergin in London, Phil Stewart in Washington, Joshua Schnyer and Rebekah Kebede in New York and Kelli Dugan in Mobile, Alabama; Writing by Christopher Wilson and Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Stacey Joyce)

Copyright © 2010 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

A pelican flies over the Gulf of Mexico where oil leaking from  ...

A pelican flies over the Gulf of Mexico where oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead continues to spread south of Venice, Louisiana 30 April 2010.

The United States scrambled on Friday to ward off an ecological disaster that could cost billions of dollars as a huge, spreading oil spill reached coastal Louisiana, imperiling wildlife and seafood areas. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (UNITED STATES - Tags: DISASTER ENERGY ENVIRONMENT ANIMALS)

9-11 skeptics...

U.S. skeptics to speak of 9-11 cover-up at three Canadian universities...

2 hours, 31 minutes ago

By The Canadian Press

MONTREAL - Three Canadian universities will be used as a venue for a speaking tour by prominent 9-11 skeptics.

Americans, Richard Gage and David Ray Griffin, dispute the conventional wisdom foreign terrorists linked to al-Qaida brought down the Twin Towers on 11 Sept. 2001.

They will give lectures at the University of Toronto, Carleton University, and the University of Quebec, in Montreal, over the coming days.

Faculty members at the Montreal university told a city newspaper they are upset the institution is being used for the event.

One says it harms the school's credibility.

This tour comes right on the heels of a free-speech controversy that erupted when U.S. pundit, Ann Coulter, had an appearance canceled at the University of Ottawa.

One speaker believes the World Trade Centre buildings were destroyed by explosives, not the impact of jet aircraft.

He wants the U.S. Congress to launch an independent investigation into the 11 Sept. terrorist attacks.

The other speaker is a retired theology professor and author of several books on an alleged 9-11 cover up.

His discussion will focus on the legal and moral aspects of the war in Afghanistan, which was a response to the 11 Sept. attacks.

best food?

The Number One Food You Should Eat...

By Hilary Meyer

Zoya (Flare)My dad’s family is from Norway, and for as long as I can remember we’ve been eating fish balls, fish puddings, pickled fish, fish in a tube, and fish in a can.

Most people thought it was a little weird.

These days, I’m feeling less like an outcast when I bust open a can of fish, especially sardines.

I know a lot of you have strong feelings about sardines, but want to know why I love them?

Sardines (Pacific, wild-caught) are one of the healthiest foods we can consume, according to the health and environmental experts we interviewed for “Sea Change” in our latest issue of EatingWell magazine.

These days so many of us are trying to get more omega-3 fats in our diet, because they benefit your heart and your brain.

Click here for delicious recipes to help you eat more of these super-healthy omega-3 fats.

These nutritional powerhouses are one of the best sources of omega-3 fats, with a whopping 1,950 mg/per 3 oz. (that’s more per serving than salmon, tuna, or just about any other food) and they’re packed with vitamin D.

Because sardines are small and low on the food chain, they don’t harbor lots of toxins like bigger fish can.

Find out why leading scientist, Carl Safina, thinks eating smaller fish can benefit your health and our oceans.

Plus, they’re also one of the most sustainable fish around.

Quick to reproduce, Pacific sardines have rebounded from both overfishing and a natural collapse in the 1940s, so much so they are one of Seafood Watch’s “Super Green” sustainable choices.

(Click here to find out which 6 super-healthy fish and shellfish you should eat and which 6 to avoid.)

If you’re trying sardines for the first time, or you just really want to learn to like them, here are a few tips and a few recipes to stoke your sardine love:

- For the uninitiated, a good place to start is with a boneless, skinless variety.

They come packed in water or olive oil.

They’re mild, and can be used in recipes in place of canned tuna fish.

- If you’re lucky enough to have fresh sardines available in your supermarket, try them in place of the canned sardines.

Lightly dredge them in salt-and-pepper-seasoned flour and sauté them in a little olive oil.

- Sardines also come smoked, and come packed in sauces like tomato and mustard—give one of these a try.

Smear them on a cracker or piece of toast for a snack or light lunch.

- For veteran sardine eaters, the sky’s the limit! Sardines with bones and skin are delicious, too, and they look awesome on top of a salad or platter.

P.S. The bones and skin are both edible.

Those tiny bones deliver calcium too!

For more healthy and delicious tips check out:

The secret to baking healthier cupcakes


4 must-serve Mexican dips with a healthy twist


Could you quit meat once a week?

Now try sardines in these delicious recipes:

Greek Salad With Sardines

The fresh, tangy elements of a Greek salad—tomato, cucumber, feta, olives and
lemony vinaigrette—pair well with rich-tasting sardines.

Look for sardines with skin and bones (which are edible) as they have more than four times the amount of calcium as skinless, boneless sardines.

Spring Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette

A bold, layered salad that showcases sardines and asparagus, this beautiful dish adds variety to your weekday dining.

If you prefer tuna to sardines or have fish from the night before, go ahead and use that instead.

Sardines on Crackers

A protein-packed and portable snack.

Makes: 4 servings

Active time: 5 minutes | Total: 5 minutes

4 whole-grain Scandinavian-style cracker, such as

8-12 canned sardines, preferably packed in olive oil

4 lemon wedges

Top each cracker with 2 to 3 sardines each.

Finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Per cracker: 64 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 20 mg cholesterol; 8 g carbohydrates; 4 g protein; 1 g fiber; 94 mg sodium; 102 mg potassium.

Tomato Toast with Sardines & Mint (pictured above)

Canned sardines make an elegant, yet inexpensive appetizer when served with fresh mint, tomato and onion on toast.

Makes: 12 toasts

Active time: 15 minutes | Total: 30 minutes | To make ahead: Cover and refrigerate the sardine mixture (Step 2) for up to 2 days.

1 4-ounce can boneless, skinless sardines packed in olive oil,

preferably smoked

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 slices multigrain bread or 12 slices baguette, preferably whole-grain

1/2 medium ripe tomato

1 tablespoon very thinly sliced yellow onion

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Flake sardines with a fork into a mixing bowl.

(The pieces should not be mashed, but should be no bigger than a dime.)

Add mint, oil and salt; toss gently to combine.

3. If using whole slices of bread, cut off the crusts and cut each into four triangles.

Place the triangles or baguette slices on a baking sheet and bake until crispy and golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes.

As soon as you remove them from the oven, rub each slice with the cut side of the tomato.

As you progress, the tomato will break down until only the skin remains; discard any remaining tomato.

4. Top each toast with about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the sardine mixture.

Top the sardine mixture with a couple of onion slices and serve immediately.

Per toast: 41 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 5 mg cholesterol; 3 g carbohydrate; 0 g added sugars; 3 g protein; 1 g fiber; 113 mg sodium; 63 mg potassium.


More from EatingWell:


Click Here to Find 3 More Ways to Boost
Calcium.

5 “Bad” Foods You Should Be Eating.

A 4-week Plan to Slim Down.

***


Sardine...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Sardine
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Clupeiformes
Family: Clupeidae
Subfamily: Clupeinae
Genus: Sardina
Species: S. pilchardus
Binomial name
Sardina pilchardus
Walbaum, 1792

Sardines, or pilchards, are several types of small, oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae.[1]

Sardines were named after the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, where they once lived in abundance.[2]

The terms sardine and pilchard are not precise, and the usual meanings vary by region.

Britain's Sea Fish Industry Authority for example classifies sardines as young pilchards.[3]

One criterion suggests fish shorter in length than 6 inches (15 cm) are sardines, and larger ones pilchards.[4]

The FAO/WHO Codex standard for canned sardines cites 21 species that may be classed as sardines;[5] FishBase, a comprehensive database of information about fish, calls at least six species pilchard, over a dozen just sardine, and many more with the two basic names qualified by various adjectives.

Contents

Taxonomy

Sardines as food

Sardines are rich in nutrients.

They are commonly sold canned, but fresh sardines are often grilled, pickled or smoked.

Nutrition

Sardines are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular disease.[6]

Recent studies suggest regular consumption of omega-3 fatty acids reduces the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease.[7]

These fatty acids may also help lower blood sugar levels a small amount.[8]

They are also a good source of vitamin D, calcium, B12, and protein.[9]

Sardines are extremely low in contaminants such as mercury.[10]

However, sardines that are canned in oil are very high in cholesterol, which is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease. [11]

Canned sardines

An open sardine can

Canned sardines in supermarkets may actually be "sprat" (such as the “brisling sardine”) or round herrings.

Fish sizes vary by species.

Good quality sardines should have the head and gills removed before packing.[5]

They may also be eviscerated before packing (typically the larger varieties).

If not they should be purged of undigested or partially digested food or feces by holding the live fish in a tank long enough for them to empty their digestive systems.[5]

They may be packed in oil, water, or different kinds of prepared sauce.

Sardines in popular culture

Sardines are typically tightly packed in a small can which is scored for easy opening either with a pull tab (similar to how a can is opened), or a key, attached to the side of the can.

Thus, it has the virtues of being an easily portable, non-perishable, self-contained food.

After the sardines are gone, the can often holds sewing kits or survival kits.[12]

The close packing of sardines in the can has led to their metaphorical use for any situation where people or objects are crowded together; for instance, in a bus or subway car.

It has also been used as the name of a children's game where one child hides and each successive child who finds the hidden one packs into the space until there is only one left out, who becomes the next one to hide.

Sardines are a prominent prop in Michael Frayn's farce Noises Off.

Balkans

Fishing for sardela or sardina (Sardina pilchardus) on the coasts of Dalmatia and Istria began thousands of years ago.

The region was part of the Roman Empire, then largely a Venetian dominion, and has always been sustained through fishing mainly sardines.

All along the coast there are many towns that promote the age-old practice of fishing by lateen sail boats for tourism and on festival occasions.

Today industrial producers continue this tradition.

Currently, there are four factories of canned sardines: in Rovinj, Zadar, Postira and in Sali, on the island Dugi otok ("Mardesic" factory, founded in 1905).

Although currently a landlocked country, Serbia has a tradition of consuming sardines, and used to have access to the Adriatic coast as part of Yugoslavia.

The first factory producing canned sardines opened in 2007 in the village of Belotinac (near the southern city of Niš), mostly using fish from Croatia.

France

Sardine fishing and canning is a traditional industry in Brittany, where most French canneries remain.

The area is known as the place where sardine canning was invented.

Douarnenez was the world's leading sardine exporter in the 19th century, and the best canned sardines are still to be found there.

The sardines are fried, dried, and then canned (this traditional process is labelled "préparées à l'ancienne"), whereas in most other countries processing consists of steam cooking after canning.

Norway

Until the discovery of oil fields in the fishing areas, sardine canning was the main activity of the city of Stavanger.

Sardine and oil (of a different sort) have always made a good partnership, but now only a sardine museum remains among the refineries in Stavanger.

Portugal

Sardines play an important role in Portuguese culture.

Historically a people who depend heavily on the sea for food and commerce, the Portuguese have a predilection for fish in their popular festivities.

The most important is Saint Anthony's day, 13 June, when Portugal's biggest popular festival takes place in Lisbon, where grilled sardines are the snack of choice.

Almost every place in Portugal, from Figueira da Foz to Portalegre, from Póvoa de Varzim to Olhão, has the summertime tradition of eating grilled sardines (sardinhas assadas).

Spain

In the Timanfaya Volcanic National Park on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, a popular tourist snack is freshly caught sardines grilled over the heat from a volcanic vent.

On the Atlantic coast, fried sardines are commonly served as tapas with drinks or as the first course of a meal.

On the Mediterranean coast, grilling is more common.

United Kingdom

See also Fishing in Cornwall

Pilchard fishing and processing was a thriving industry in Cornwall from around 1750 to around 1880, after which it went into an almost terminal decline.

However, as of 2007, stocks are improving[13].

Since 1997 sardines from Cornwall have been sold as Cornish sardines.

The industry has featured in numerous works of art, particularly by Stanhope Forbes and other Newlyn School artists.

A traditional Cornish pilchard dish is stargazy pie or starry gazy pie.

India

The sardine is a favorite food of the Keralites and the people of Tamil Nadu and coastal Karnataka.

The fish is typically eaten fresh, and canned sardines are not popular.

Fried sardines are a much sought-after delicacy.

They are called mathi or chalai in Tamil Nadu, near Sri Lanka, and Kerala.

People from coastal Karnataka call them pedvo or bhootai. Sardines are cheaper in India than larger fish like the seer or pomfret, making them a low cost delicacy.

The sardine is a pelagic fish, caught in fairly large quantities using a purse seine or a ring seine.

They are consumed in various forms, including deep fried and pan fried, or made into curries of various types.

Commercial use of sardines

Sardines are commercially fished for a variety of uses: for bait; for immediate consumption; for drying, salting, or smoking; and for reduction into fish meal or oil.

The chief use of sardines is for human consumption, but fish meal is used as animal feed, while sardine oil has many uses, including the manufacture of paint, varnish and linoleum.

Fishing of sardines

The most important gear is an encircling net, particularly the purse seine.

Many modifications of encircling nets are used, including traps or weirs.

The latter are stationary enclosures composed of stakes into which schools of sardines are diverted as they swim along the coast.

The fish are caught mainly at night, when they approach the surface to feed on plankton.

After harvesting, the fish are submerged in brine while they are transported to shore.

Canning of sardines

Sardines are canned in many different ways.

At the cannery the fish are washed, their heads are removed, and the fish are cooked, either by deep-frying or by steam-cooking, after which they are dried.

They are then packed in either olive or soybean oil, water, or in a tomato or mustard sauce.


United States

In the United States, the sardine canning industry peaked in the 1950s.

Since then, the industry has been on the decline.

The last sardine cannery in the United States, the Stinson Seafood plant in Prospect Harbor, Maine, closed its doors on 15 April 2010 after 135 years in operation.[14]

Morocco

Morocco is the sardine capital of the world.

Sardines represent more than 62% of the Moroccan fish catch and account for 91% of raw material usage in the domestic canning industry.

Some 600,000 tonnes of fresh sardines are processed each year by the industry.

Morocco is the largest canned sardine exporter in the world, and the leading supplier of sardines to the European market.

Famous Moroccan recipes include Moroccan Fried Stuffed Sardines, and Moroccan Sardine Balls in Spicy Tomato Sauce.

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ "What's an oily fish?". Food Standards Agency. 2004-06-24. http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2004/jun/oilyfishdefinition.
  2. ^ "Sardine". The Good Food Glossary. BBC Worldwide. 2009. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/knowhow/glossary/sardine/. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  3. ^ "FAQs". Seafish. http://www.seafish.org/resources/details.asp?id=238&i=13. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  4. ^ Robin Stummer (17 August 2003). "Who are you calling pilchard? It's 'Cornish sardine' to you...". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/who-are-you-calling-pilchard-its-cornish-sardine-to-you-536136.html. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  5. ^ a b c "Codex standard for canned sardines and sardine-type products codex stan 94 –1981 REV. 1-1995". Codex Alimentarius. FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission. pp. 1–7. http://www.codexalimentarius.net/download/standards/108/CXS_094e.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
  6. ^ Kris-Etherton et al (November 2002). "Fish Consumption, Fish Oil, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and Cardiovascular Disease". Circulation 106 (21): 2747–2757. PMID 12438303.
  7. ^ Sharon Johnson (6 November 2007). "Oily brain food ... Yum". The Mail Tribune. http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071106/LIFE/711060318/-1/LIFE0203. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  8. ^ "Omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil, alpha-linolenic acid: MedlinePlus Supplements". http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-fishoil.html. Retrieved 1/22/2010. ""Fish oil supplements may lower blood sugar levels a small amount. Caution is advised when using herbs or supplements that may also lower blood sugar. Blood glucose levels may require monitoring, and doses may need adjustment.""
  9. ^ "Vitamin D and Healthy Bones". New York State Health Department. November 2003. http://www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/conditions/osteoporosis/vitd.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  10. ^ "Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish". U S Food and Drug Administration. 5 July 2009. http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/Seafood/FoodbornePathogensContaminants/Methylmercury/ucm115644.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  11. ^ "Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Fish, sardine, Atlantic, canned in oil, drained solids with bone". http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4114/2. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  12. ^ "Survival Kit in a Sardine Can". This Next. 11 December 2009. http://www.thisnext.com/item/5FF56C72/25DE94DC/Survival-Kit-in-a-Sardine-Can. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  13. ^ River Cottage: Gone Fishing 22/11/08
  14. ^ Clarke Canfield (15 April 2010). "Last sardine plant in U.S. shuts its doors". Associated Press. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36503650/ns/business-us_business/. Retrieved 2010-04-15.

***


Anchovy...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anchovies
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Clupeiformes
Family: Engraulidae
Genera

Amazonsprattus
Anchoa
Anchovia
Anchoviella
Cetengraulis
Coilia
Encrasicholina
Engraulis
Jurengraulis
Lycengraulis
Lycothrissa
Papuengraulis
Pterengraulis
Setipinna
Stolephorus
Thryssa

Anchovies are a family (Engraulidae) of small, common salt-water forage fish.

There are about 140 species in 16 genera, found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.

Anchovies are usually classified as an oily fish.[1]

Contents

Description

Anchovies are small salty green fish with blue reflections due to a silver longitudinal stripe that runs from the base of the caudal fin.

They range from 2 centimetres (0.79 in) to 40 centimetres (16 in) in adult length,[2] and the body shape is variable with more slender fish in northern populations.

The snout is blunt with tiny, sharp teeth in both jaws.

The snout contains a unique rostral organ, believed to be sensory in nature, although its exact function is unknown.[3]

The mouth is larger than that of herrings and silversides, two fish anchovies closely resemble in other respects.

The anchovy eats plankton and fry (recently-hatched fish).

Distribution

They are found in scattered areas throughout the world's oceans, but are concentrated in temperate waters, and are rare or absent in very cold or very warm seas.

They are generally very accepting of a wide range of temperatures and salinity.

Large schools can be found in shallow, brackish areas with muddy bottoms, as in estuaries and bays.

Anchovies are abundant in the Mediterranean, and are regularly caught on the coasts of Sicily, Italy, France, and Spain.

They are also found on the coast of northern Africa.

The range of the species also extends along the Atlantic coast of Europe to the south of Norway.

Spawning occurs between October and March, but not in water colder than 12° C (53.6° F).

The anchovy appears to spawn at least 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the shore, near the surface of the water.

Predation

The anchovy is a significant food source for almost every predatory fish in its environment, including the California halibut, rock fish, yellowtail, sharks, chinook, and coho salmon.

It is also extremely important to marine mammals and birds; for example, breeding success of California brown pelicans and elegant terns is strongly connected to anchovy abundance.

As anchovy populations drop, the population of the predatory species is also expected to decline[citation needed].

Overfishing of anchovies has been a problem.

Since the 1980s, large mechanized anchovy fishing vessels based in France have caught the fish in fine-mesh dragnets[citation needed].

Consumption


Anchovies at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Anchovies are also eaten by humans.

When preserved by being gutted and salted in brine, matured, then packed in oil or salt, they acquire a characteristic strong flavor.

In Roman times, they were the base for the fermented fish sauce called garum, a staple of cuisine and an item of long-distance commerce produced in industrial quantities, and were also consumed raw as an aphrodisiac.[4]

Today they are used in small quantities to flavour many dishes.

Because of the strong flavor, they are also an ingredient in several sauces, including Worcestershire sauce, remoulade, many fish sauces, and in some versions of Café de Paris butter.

For domestic use, anchovy fillets are packed in oil or salt in small tins or jars, sometimes rolled around capers.

Anchovy paste is also available.

Fishermen also use anchovies as bait for larger fish, such as tuna and sea bass.

The strong taste that people associate with anchovies is due to the curing process.

Fresh anchovies, known in Italy as alici, have a much milder flavor.

The European anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus, is the main commercial anchovy, with Morocco being the largest supplier of canned anchovies.

The anchovy industry along the coast of Cantabria, initiated in Cantabria by Sicilian salters in the mid 19th century, now dwarfs the traditional Catalan salters.

Fresh and dried anchovies are a popular part of the cuisine in Kerala and other south Indian states, where they are referred to as "Kozhuva" (and "Nethili" in Tamil Nadu) and provide a cheap source of protein in the diet.

Fresh anchovies are eaten fried or as in a spicy curry.

In English-speaking countries, alici are sometimes called "white anchovies", and are often served in a weak vinegar marinade, a preservation method associated with the coastal town of Collioure in southeast France.

The white fillets (a little like marinated herrings) are sold in heavy salt, or the more popular garlic or tomato oil and vinegar marinade packs.

Workers cleaning dried anchovies at a market in Mae Sot, Thailand

In Southeast Asian countries, dried anchovies are known as "ikan bilis", "setipinna taty", or in Indonesia "ikan teri", with "ikan" being the Malay word for fish, or "dilis" in the Philippines.

In Indonesia, Malaysia, and to a certain extent Singapore, anchovies are used to make fish stock, Javanese sambal, or are deep fried.

Ikan bilis is normally used in a similar way to dried shrimp in Malaysian cuisine.

Anchovy is also used to produce budu, by a fermentation process.

In Vietnam, anchovy is the main ingredient in the fish sauce- nước mắm- the unofficial national sauce of Vietnam.

In other parts of Asia, such as Korea and Japan, sun-dried anchovies are used to produce a rich soup similar to "setipinna taty".

These anchovy stocks are usually used as a base for noodle soups or traditional Korean soups.

There are many other variations on how anchovy is used, especially in Korea.

In North America, anchovies are most commonly known as a pizza topping, as an optional ingredient in Caesar salad, and as a component of Worcestershire Sauce.

Anchovy is known as "Hamsi",which was derived from "Hamsin", an Arabic term for winter periods, and is eaten between November-March in Turkey.

It is generally consumed as fried, grilled, steamed and at form of meatball and also is consumed as Döner, Baklava and Pilav.[5]

Anchovies can concentrate domoic acid, which causes amnesic shellfish poisoning in humans, sea mammals, and birds.

If suspected, medical attention should be sought.

Anchovies also contain a high level of uric acid, a build-up of which can cause the inflammatory condition known as gout.

Notes

  1. ^ "What's an oily fish?". Food Standards Agency. 2004-06-24. http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2004/jun/oilyfishdefinition.
  2. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2008). "Engraulidae" in FishBase. December 2008 version.
  3. ^ Nelson, Gareth (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
  4. ^ Tacitus: Germania
  5. ^ http://www.biriz.biz/rize/hamsi/index.htm

References

External links

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.