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Volume 7 Issue 45…Dedicated to the
Dialogue on Race…November 12, 2004
By John Burl Smith
A report issued by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in
October (Vol. 80, No 4, 1012-1018), shows that not only does olive oil have
beneficial effects on blood lipids, it may protect people from heart disease.
With coronary heart disease the number one killer of men and women in the US,
recent research on Mediterranean diets, which are high in the unsaturated fats contained
in vegetable oil, nuts and fish, such as salmon and tuna, this research
underscores another possible heart healthy benefit of olive oil.
According to research published in the September issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association, mortality rates dropped by more
than 50 percent among elderly Europeans who stuck to such diets and led healthy
lifestyles. There is considerable
evidence to indicate that the Mediterranean diet reduces cardiovascular
mortality.
The new study looks at hypertension, one of the major risk factors
of heart disease. About two thirds of
strokes and half the incidences of heart disease are attributable to raised
blood pressure, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Worldwide, high blood pressure is estimated
to annually cause 7.1 million deaths, about 13 per cent of the total and about
4.4 per cent of the total chronic disease burden. The food industry is coming under increasing pressure to tackle
the rising burden of heart disease by using heart healthy ingredients to target
at-risk consumers. Food and drinks for
heart health were worth œ100.7 million during 2002 in the UK alone, according
to statistics provided by Datamonitor, which predicts this figure will rise to œ145.1
million by 2007.
The United States government sees the cooking oil dilemma as a marketing
issue, rather than a food content and quality problem that food producers are
responsible for correcting. Presently, the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reluctant to go beyond food labels, such
as the one it authorized for olive oil last week (11-4-04). Despite evidence from a dozen scientific
studies about the benefits of mono-unsaturated fats, Lester M. Crawford, acting
FDA commissioner, in a carefully worded statement, gave only qualified support
for a reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease when people replaced
foods high in saturated fat with the mono-unsaturated fat found in olive
oil. Even though a change as simple as
sautéing food in two tablespoons of olive oil instead of butter may be
healthier for your heart, the FDA gave The North American Olive Oil
Association, which offered 88 publications to back up the heart-healthy
benefits of olive oil, only limited rights to claim that eating about two
tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart
disease due to its mono-unsaturated fat.
Unlike Europeans, US consumers are caught between a multibillion-dollar
advertising war with the diary industry and agribusinesses, like Conarga, ADM,
Monsanto, Cargill and Dow Chemical on one side and the upstart olive oil
producers on the other. The tip of this
iceberg is the fact that restaurants and consumers buy $450 million worth of
olive oil per year. Supermarket sales in 2003 accounted for 132 million pounds
of olive oil, up by nearly one-third over the past six years. This is the marketing versus
food-content-quality health issue the FDA is ducking.
According to the American Heart Association, coronary heart
disease caused 502,189 deaths or one in five deaths in 2001. Another 13.2 million
Americans survived heart attacks, chest pains and other ailments caused by
coronary heart disease that year.
Eating fried foods is the heart of the American cooking oil dilemma,
which begs the question, are you frying your heart in the cooking oil you use?
Edward Wadie Said (1935-2003)
Edward W. Said (pronounced sah-EED) was born on November 1, 1935
in Jerusalem. His father, a prosperous
Protestant businessman with US citizenship, moved the family to Cairo after the
United Nations' partition of Jerusalem (1948).
After attending the American school, Said went to Victoria College,
Cairo's British-style public school for its wealthy citizens.
In 1951, at his father's insistence, Said attended Mount Hermon, a
private school in Massachusetts. He
received a bachelor's degree from Princeton (1957) and his M.A. (1960) and Ph.D.
(1964) from Harvard.
Dr. Said served as an assistant instructor in Columbia
University's English Department before his 1977 appointment to the endowed
chair of Parr professor of English and comparative literature. He later held the position of Old Dominion
Foundation professor in humanities before being named a university professor,
the highest academic position at Columbia.
Author of more than a dozen books, his writings have been
translated into 26 languages. Beginning
with his doctoral thesis "Joseph Conrad and the Fiction of
Autobiography" (1966), Said expounded on the themes of culture and
imperialism. His "Beginnings"
(1975) won Columbia's Lionel Trilling Award (1976). Dr. Said's most famous book, "Orientalism" (1978) explored
Western colonial and imperial ambitions.
His other works include "The Question of Palestine" (1979),
Culture and Imperialism (1993), "The Politics of Dispossession"
(1994) and "Out Of Place" (1999).
In 1977, Dr. Said was elected to the Palestine National Council
(PNC). He helped draft a new Palestinian
constitution and the 1988 declaration leading to the Oslo peace process. In 1991, he resigned from the PNC. He believed the Oslo Accords (1993) sold
short the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in pre-1967
Israel. He became critical of PLO
chairman Yasser Arafat for signing the flawed document.
Dr. Said continued to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people
and against the Israeli occupation.
A prolific journalist, fluent in several languages, his writing
appeared in the Nation, the London Guardian, the London Review of Books, Le
Monde Diplomatique, Counterpunch, Al Ahram, and al-Hayat.
Music critic and accomplished concert pianist, he co-founded the
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with Argentine-Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim
in 1999. To the chagrin of Israel,
Barenboim gave classes for Palestinian students in the occupied West Bank. In recognition of this collaboration, Said
and Barenboim received the 2002 Prince of Asturias Awards for "improving understanding
between nations."
On September 24, 2003, Dr. Said succumb to his decade-long battle
with leukemia. His death came days
before the third anniversary of the Palestinian intifada or uprising. Dr. Said
was married to Mariam Cortas; the couple had two children, a son and a
daughter. (Sources: www.guardian.co.uk and www.columbia.edu)
No Olive Branch
Historically, the branch of an olive tree has symbolized
peace. When extended, it is an offer of
conciliation or goodwill. The Middle
East is renown for its ancient olive trees, but no branch is being extended
between Palestinians and the Israeli government. In fact, the escalating violence suggests just the opposite.
Calls for peace from various international organizations have gone
unheeded. The United Nations, which
should act as a referee in ending this conflict, is hamstrung by the veto power
exercised by the United States within the Security Council.
To underscore the deteriorating situation, a group of prominent
Jewish religious leaders sent an ominous letter to Israeli defense minister
Shaul Mofaz. It quoted a Talmudic or
religious ruling in urging that Israeli soldiers never hesitate to kill
civilians to save a Jew. Wrapping these
deaths, which the West calls collateral damage, in Jewish law does not assuage
their heinous nature. Indeed, there is
something particularly sinister when any people kill because "God wills it."
One wonders if the Israeli commander that emptied his weapon's
magazine into the body of 13-year old Iman al-Hams believed God ordered
it? Based on eyewitness accounts, he
did not behave as if he would be punished for murdering a little Palestinian
girl.
Without question, children and other innocent civilians have died
and continue to die on both sides of this conflict. But, it is the Israeli Defense Force with its superior weaponry
that has amassed a staggering list of human rights abuses in its oppression of
the Palestinian people. It is well past
time that the international community extends to Israel an olive branch with a
caveat much as it did with apartheid South Africa.
Come, All Ye Chosen Saints of God (Part I)
By Joseph Hart (1712-1768)
Come, all ye chosen saints of God
That long to feel the cleansing blood;
In pensive pleasure join with me
To sing of sad Gethsemane.
Gethsemane, the olive press!
And why so called, let Christians guess;
Fit name!
Fit place! where vengeance strove
And gripped and grappled hard with love.
'Twas here the Lord of life appeared
And sighed and groaned and prayed and
feared;
Bore all incarnate God could bear,
With strength enough and none to spare.
The powers of hell united pressed
And squeezed His heart and bruised His
breast;
What dreadful conflicts raged within
When sweat and blood forced thro' the
skin!
Dispatched from heaven, an angel stood
Amazed to find Him bathed with blood;
Adored by angels, and obeyed,
But lower now than angels made.
He stood to strengthen, not to fight;
Justice exacts its utmost mite;
This Victim vengeance will pursue;
He undertook and must go through.
Three favoured servants, left not far,
Were bid to wait and watch the war;
But Christ withdrawn, what watch we keep!
To shun the sight, they sank in sleep.
Backwards and forwards thrice He ran,
As if He sought some help from man,
Or wished, at least, they would console
('Twas all they could) His tortured soul.
Whate'er He sought for, there was none;
Our Captain fought the field alone;
Soon as the Chief to battle led,
That moment every soldier fled.
Mysterious conflict! Dark disguise!
Hid from all creatures' peering eyes;
Angels, astonished, viewed the scene
And wonder yet what all could mean.
O Mount of Olives, sacred grove!
O Garden, Scene of tragic love!
What bitter herbs thy beds produce!
How rank their scent, how harsh their juice!
Rare virtues now these herbs contain -
The Saviour sucked out all their bane;
My mouth with these if conscience cram,
I'll eat them with the Paschal Lamb.
O Kedron, gloomy brook, how foul
Thy black polluted waters roll!
No tongue can tell, but some can taste,
The filth that into thee was cast.
In Eden's garden there was food
Of every kind for man while good;
But banished thence, we fly to thee,
O Garden of Gethsemane.
Olives on Mount Olives
Gethsemane in the poem above refers to the olive grove, or garden,
on the western slope of the Mount of Olives, which is on the east side of
Jerusalem. The garden is where Jesus
underwent his "agony" and was visited by an angel shortly before
Judas betrays him.
Understandably, the area surrounding the Mount of Olives, adjacent
hilltops and valleys hold historic and religious significance for the
indigenous people of the region, as well as others that may or may not share
their religions beliefs and traditions.
According to www.oliveoilsource.com, which provides an interesting historical
overview of olives, the olive trees on the Mount of Olives are reputed to be
over 2000 years old, some of the oldest in the world. The olive and its oil are
important to Middle East culture. Not
only are the oil and fruit consumed, they are important sources of income in
the region.
Olive Trees for Peace
Rabbis for Human Rights is a non-profit organization that provides
a number of projects to assist Palestinians and others. It specifically recognizes the symbolic and
economic importance of olive trees to Palestinian families in its Olive Trees
for Peace Campaign, which raises funds to replant trees uprooted by Jewish
settlers and Israeli soldiers.
Rabbis accompany farmers to their olive groves during the harvest
to discourage violence from Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers. In addition, they assist farmers in
marketing their olive oil. For more
about these projects, log on to www.rhr.israel.net.
On Said in Retrospect
By Dot
Dr. Edward W. Said's contributions to the advancement of the cause
of oppressed people worldwide, particularly Palestinians, are
immeasurable. Starting with his magnum
opus, "Orientalism" (1978), Dr. Said debunked the notion that Western
society is superior to Asian and Middle East cultures. He showed how the West employed false
stereotypes of "oriental" people to justify taking their land and
natural resources.
Dr. Said refused to excuse Israel's brutal occupation. In The Politics Of Dispossession (1994), he
wondered, "How long can the history of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust be
used as a fence to exempt Israel from arguments and sanctions against it for
its behavior towards the Palestinians, arguments and sanctions that were used
against other repressive governments, such as South Africa? How long are we going to deny that the cries
of the people of Gaza... are directly connected to the policies of the Israeli
government and not to the cries of the victims of Nazism?"
Furthermore, in loudly declaring his abhorrence of violence, he
refused to lend any moral equivalence to Palestinian and Israeli violence. In "The Question of Palestine
(1979)," Dr. Said wrote, "In sheer numerical terms, in brute numbers
of bodies and property destroyed, there is absolutely nothing to compare
between what Zionism has done to Palestinians and what, in retaliation,
Palestinians have done to Zionists."
A decade later, he reiterated this point in a New York Magazine
article published in 1989. He declared,
"The situation of the Palestinian is that of a victim. They're the dispossessed, and what they do
by way of violence and terrorism is understandable. But what the Israelis do,
in killing Palestinians on a much larger scale, is a continuation of the
horrific and unjust dispossession of the Palestinian people."
Clearly, Dr. Said equated Zionism with imperialism and
colonialism. His writing has shown that
Israel's brutal treatment of Palestinians mimics other Western imperialists in
oppressing indigenous populations. For
example, in early USA history, under the guise of manifest destiny, the
westward movement of white settlers pushed Native Americans to the brink of
extinction. Thousands were massacred
and even more starved with the deliberate eradication of the buffalo, the
foundation of the Native American economy.
The few native people that remained were rounded up and placed on
desolate reservations.
Today, using its US-supplied superior ground and air power, Israel
indiscriminately kills Palestinians.
Jewish settlers claim Palestinian land and systematically destroy their
livelihood with the wanton destruction of ancient olive groves. The government confiscates more land on which
to erect its security fence, which confines Palestinians in crowded refugee
camps, separating them from lands they have cultivated for centuries.
Dr. Said opposed the Oslo peace accord; he believed it was too
heavily weighed in Israel's favor and was tantamount to a Palestinian
surrender. In retrospect, Dr. Said was
right. Moreover, his criticism of PLO
leader Yasser Arafat has proven prophetic.
Not only has it been corrupt and inept in its failures, particularly in
not declaring a Palestinian state, Arafat's leadership has placed Palestinians
in an untenable position. Instead of a
two-state solution, which Dr. Said opposed in favor of the dissolution of
Israel and the establishment of a single state with equal rights for all of its
citizens, Israel has grabbed more land and pushed the remaining Palestinians
into ever shrinking refugee camps, making a two-state solution moot.
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes & Telephone
Calls
Email DigThis@yahoogroups.com:
Subject: Heart Failure Pill for Blacks - First Drug For A Specific Race
??!! A new pill just for Blacks??? I am skeptical about any experiments or medical
procedures performed just on Blacks. I find it very odd that they did not test
any other groups. Remember the Tuskegee experiments? It is better to have knowledge than live in the dark and be taken
advantage of. Too many people just accept whatever they are told without further
investigations.
Email undone2@hotmail.com I
have pretty much suspended disbelief.
The US media are not looking into the 2004 election debacle. Any convoluted analysis of why it turned out
as reported will do. Someone of
questionable intelligence sent me an email about the "End Times." Fundamental Christians and Jews have teamed
up to assist Israel in its quest to control certain portions of the Middle East
beyond its current borders in order to satisfy preconditions for Armageddon. They think the person re-elected -- I can't
say his name-- shares their views and will work toward these end times. If true, is the White House resident the anti-Christ?
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