DOES THE U.S WANT GREENLAND?
Cruciferous Veg, Lines, & Khaled Hosseini
BOC#010
3 MINUTE MUNCH
DONALD TRUMP’S DESIRE TO ACQUIRE GREENLAND IS NOTHING NEW…
…with U.S ambitions to control the landmass dating back 150 years. In 1868 U.S secretary of state William Seward attempted to purchase both Greenland and Iceland from Denmark for $5.5 million. The U.S had already purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million the previous year, but negotiations for the mineral rich Arctic island remained unsuccessful as late as 1910. In 1917, however, the matter was thought settled with the U.S recognizing Denmark’s ownership in exchange for the purchase of the Danish West Indies, (present day U.S Virgin Islands). But it still didn’t end there. In 1941 Greenland became a U.S protectorate with Danish agreement, and in 1946 President Truman offered an unsuccessful bid of $100m for the island. The saga continues!
CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLES LIKE BROCCOLI, CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER AREN’T ONLY RICH IN VITAMIN C…
…but contain phytonutrients that act as precursors to compounds that prevent cells from becoming cancerous. According to research, three to five servings of cruciferous vegetables a week are thought to reduce the risk of developing cancer by 30-40%. These precursory phytonutrients are activated by an enzyme called myrosinase, producing sulforaphane, one of the more potent anti-cancer molecules, in the process. The catch is, myrosinase is deactivated during cooking, eliminating the production of the all important sulforaphane compound. There are however a few ways to unlock sulforaphane.
1. Consume broccoli and cauliflower raw, smoothies are a good way of achieving this.
2. Chop and leave to rest for forty minutes before cooking. This allows time for myrosinase to respond to the plant’s damage. (Myrosinase is an enzyme used by plants to protect themselves against herbivores).
3. Broccoli sprouts: Gram for gram, these sprouts contain twenty to fifty times the amount of sulforaphane as broccoli. A small handful of sprouts contains the same amount as an entire head, and can be further intensified by freezing. I personally use these sprouts in smoothies. 1
THREE LINES YOU SHOULD KNOW…
Armstrong’s Line: Also known as the Armstrong Limit, the altitude at which water boils at body temperature (37°C). When air pressure drops below 6.3 kilopascals, blood begins to boil; a process known as ‘ebullism’. The ‘line’ sits 11.4 miles, or 60,000 ft above sea level, that’s roughly twice an airliners cruising altitude.
‘A Line in the Sand’: A reference to the line drawn by British and French diplomats Sir Mark Sykes and Francois Georges-Picot in 1917, also known as the Sykes-Picot agreement. The line was drawn up to divide former Ottoman territories of the Middle East between the British and French following WW1. Picot, when asked about the line, said: “I should like to draw a line from the ‘e’ in Acre to the last ‘k’ in Kirkuk”.
The Brandt Line: Proposed in the 1980’s by former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, which sought to divide the world into a ‘richer’ northern hemisphere, and a ‘poorer’ southern hemisphere. Australia and New Zealand were both north of the line, but in today’s complex economic climate, the rise of China, and the rapid economic growth of countries like Mexico, Brazil and India, the line is considered outdated.
BOOK PASSAGE: A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS BY KHALED HOSSEINI:
“Tell your secret to the wind, but don’t blame it for telling the trees.”
“THERE IS A CHOICE YOU HAVE TO MAKE…
…in everything you do. So keep in mind that in the end, the choice you make, makes you.” - On Leadership by John Wooden.
“THE WORLD WAS MY OYSTER…
…but I used the wrong fork” - Oscar Wilde
WORD OF THE WEEK: SANGFROID
French for ‘cold blood’ but not cold blooded in the english sense. Rather, carrying off with style, coolness, composure, and self possession. ‘She kept her sangfroid as the car began to skid’ because ‘she didn’t easily lose her sangfroid under pressure’.
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