Free Republic

Some vegetables are currently being “rationed” by major United Kingdom supermarkets. Aldi, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s have all put limits on customer purchases of peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers. So far, the mainstream media has blamed Brexit (which makes little sense considering the bulk of the UK’s vegetables come from Morocco) or the weather. Both of these are advantageous for the public to believe regarding the plans to install a “New World Order” totalitarian slave system using “climate change” as the scapegoat. The cost of producing, harvesting, and transporting all crops has spiked because the cost of oil and gas was...

This is a video of a family of reindeer herders setting up their lodging for a short stay before they have to head out again. They are on the move every four days or so, and by now they got this down to a science, and everyone works together. These families are so far off the grid they live in Siberia. I'm offer 17 screen shots from the video for those who would rather not spend the 32 minutes watching the whole video, however, your missing a treat if you don't. I often read about preppers who are doing their...

Apparently the world’s supply of a favorite hot dog condiment doesn’t cut the … err … mustard. And, as a result, we may be looking at an international mustard shortage sooner than we think. According to Business Insider, a year of poor mustard seed production is the cause of what may result in a lack of mustard on American grocery store shelves in the near future. Experts say you can thank climate change for the large drop in mustard seed production, with Canada (the world’s second largest producer) and France watching the most recent growing season’s yields fall 28 percent...

Greg Foster creates a world record for eating three Carolina Reaper peppers in record 8.72 seconds. According to Guinness World Records, Carolina Reaper averages 1,641,183 Scoville Heat Units (SHU) - the hottest chillies in the world.A video of a man chewing down Carolina Reaper chillies has created a buzz on the Internet and left netizens both shocked and amused. While many couldn’t help but mention the aftermath of setting this rather insane record, others underscored how easily they could break it. Shared on Instagram, the video shows a man from the USA setting the world record title for the 'fastest...

When I really got “into” hot sauce I was in college. As students back then we would eat whatever was cheap and soaked it with whatever hot sauce we could find to make it taste good, and since then I have never stopped. Tabasco, Minnie's hot peri-peri sauce, and Nando's peri-peri sauce are always in my fridge. Despite its widespread use, many people may wonder how this spicy staple affects your health. Besides giving foods a spicy kick, hot sauce has a number of qualities – ranging from improving your mood, to help you lose weight, to long-term medical benefits.

How's this for weird? If you like to cook, somehow you can't go to the store to get a spice container of paprika anymore. That's because there isn't any, the shelves are bare. Lot of people are noticing these days. Tim Carney of the Washington Examiner pointed it out here and others chimed in:

A look at chillies from across India and the world, the hot and the not-so-hot One of the distinctive qualities of Indian food is its “hotness”. From Manipur to Bijapur to Bilaspur, across India, you’ll find foods that are spicy in varying degrees. Several culinary dishes have chilli in them in some form or the other. In a number of Indian homes and restaurants, it is customary to serve raw or semi-fried green chillies as an accompaniment to the main course. Steaming hot curries, thick sambars with a variety of vegetables, different kinds of bhaaths (rice dishes), mutton rassas, onion...

Growing up on the Mississippi Delta After a just-right, late May rain gave my father’s young cotton crop a much-needed soaking, halting fieldwork on his Mississippi Delta farm, my boyhood best friend and mentor, Jaybird, offered to take my cousin Hunter and me fishing. The night before, we boys pitched a tent in Jaybird’s yard, knowing the old black man, a master storyteller, would entertain us with breathtaking tales as we sat around the campfire.

Chillies could help fight breast cancer after scientists revealed the spicy ingredient causes diseased cells to self destruct. Capsaicin, the active component that gives chillies their trademark kick, can switch on specialised channels surrounding cancer cells causing them to die. Other cancers including colon, bone and pancreatic could also be killed off by the compound. However, capsaicin isn't effective if it's eaten, inhaled or injected, and researchers think it will only be effective as a pill attached to another drug that targets cancer cells. Scientists from Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany, treated human samples of breast cancer cells with the hot...

Capsaicin, a compound found in peppers of the genus Capsicum, inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a team of researchers in Germany.The team’s experiments were carried out with the SUM149PT cell culture, a model system for a particularly aggressive type of breast cancer, i.e. the triple-negative type. In the cultivated cells, the researchers detected a number of typical olfactory receptors. “One receptor occurred very frequently; it is usually found in the fifth cranial nerve. It belongs to the so-called transient receptor potential channels and is named TRPV1 (transient receptor potential vanilloid receptor),” they explained. “That receptor is...

So, “Molon Lave Me,” and, “Rock and Goad,” and all that, hooraw, yeehaw, and etc., but, if ever—-well…a better way, would be to find a better way Hi there, Prepper. Ready for the Zombie Apocalypse? Got your off-the-grid, bugout bag and property and shelter all tricked out with the latest in alarms, freeze-dried food, barbed wire, and see-in-the-dark scopes? Got the camo, ballistic vest with the water bladder, 300 rounds of 7.62 or 5.56 ammo inside 10 magazines? Is that the vest with the built in holster for the Glock 21 with 13 rounds in the grip, plus two extra...

The incident happened during the lunch period, and the district was still working to determine how many students were involved and where the hot peppers came from, said Superintendent Brad Ritchey of Milton-Union Exempted Village Schools. Police and emergency crews were called to the school on Milton-Potsdam Road. The investigation revealed all involved students “took these peppers voluntarily,” according to police. In total, five students were taken to local hospitals and approximately 40 students — ages 11 to 14 — had ingested the peppers. “The response of emergency services was amazing; deputies and help from surrounding paramedics … we really...

Researchers today announced in the journal Nature Plants the discovery of the first-ever fossil specimens of an "asterid" - a family of flowering plants that gave us everything from the potato to tomatoes, tobacco, petunias and our morning cup of coffee. But these two 20-30 million-year-old fossil flowers, found perfectly preserved in a piece of amber, came from the dark side of the asterid family - they belong to the genus Strychnos, which ultimately gave rise to some of the world's most famous poisons, including strychnine and curare. Poisons that would later find their way into blow-gun weapons, rat control,...

If the zombie apocalypse happens, scientists say you should head for the hills If - or when - the zombie apocalypse comes, those of us in big cities are in trouble, according to research presented at the American Physical Society March meeting on March 5, 2015. Starting in a big city like New York or Atlanta would mean you are basically screwed from the start if the epidemic had already hit there, according to Alex Alemi, a graduate student at Cornell University and part of the research team. You are much better off starting further away from people, they say,...

A couple of years ago I was out to lunch in Bangkok at a cafeteria-style restaurant with communal tables. I had ordered one of my favorite dishes, larb moo, minced pork with peppers and spices. A few bites in I started to feel the heat. About a minute later my mouth was in full emergency mode. Bright red and with sweat pouring from my forehead, I began chugging down one bottled water after another. My Thai tablemates watched in obvious amusement. Several were also eating the larb moo, yet clearly weren’t feeling the heat to the degree that I was....

If you don't eat chili peppers or hot curry much you may want to reassess that given new research that claims the peppers and curry can play a role in reducing the risk of colorectal and bowel tumors, as well as extend a person's lifespan by 30 percent. The study claims the active ingredient in chili peppers, called dietary capsaicin, decreases the cancer risk as it triggers chronic activation of an ion channel called TRPV1, which is a sensory neuron that protects the intestine against acidity and spicy chemicals. In essence adding chili peppers and hot curries to the diet...

Seemed like a good idea at the time. Last week in Copenhagen, 1,000 people gathered in a public square to participate in a collective act that some might call idiotic and others brave. Together, bound in solidarity, they each ate one ghost chili pepper — one of the spiciest chili peppers on Earth. Also called the "bhut jolokia," the ghost pepper grows in the Indian states of Assam and Nagland and, from 2007 till it was dethroned in 2012 by the Trinidad moruga scorpion, it was certified as the hottest pepper in the world by Guinness World Records. It measures...

IRWINDALE>> Sriracha maker David Tran was succinct when it came to his requirements for any place where he might expand his popular hot sauce business. “(We) must have chilies,” Tran said at a news conference where he announced he was considering an expansion to the Lone Star State. Last week, a delegation of Texas politicians, who have actively courted Tran via social media and open letters, toured the Azusa Canyon Road factory. Texas is known as a pepper-growing region, however, Craig Underwood, who grows all of the jalapeños that are crushed into the iconic roster sauce, said it would take...

The free ride is over for North Carolina. It was good while it lasted -- but why it lasted so long, I can't say. It's astounding, how this academic scandal could go on for so many years and help so many UNC athletes without being stopped. ....How many athletes were given free grades from the Department of African and Afro-American Studies? We don't know.

Good morning and happy June to my gardening FRiends and fellow gardeners!You may have noticed that I titled last week's thread "Keywords", and then totally forgot to write the first word about the topic. That illustrates perfectly how frazzled my mind is these days. As I was getting ready to hit the post button, I kept thinking there was something I was forgetting, but finally convinced myself that it probably wasn't *that* important, and I posted the thread. I apologize.There has been more than once that great information has been posted by one of our members, but I can't...