Tuesday 2 March 2010

Looking Back - Appeal For Mozambique Flood Victims


On this day in 2000, International aid agencies in Mozambique said they needed extra helicopters to rescue thousands stranded in floods.
Floodwater in southern Mozambique continued to rise engulfing everything in its path.
The United Nations World Food Programme estimated up to 300,000 people needed immediate aid.
"We need more helicopters, we need more humanitarian aid. What we have now is not enough. If this humanitarian aid is not increased, hundreds of thousands of people may die," said Christiane Berthiaume, spokesperson for the WFP.
Correspondents say the coastal town of Xai Xai had almost disappeared, and the exodus from the town of Chokwe - which was engulfed in floods over the weekend - was continuing unabated.
Relief agencies were trying to set up clean-water stations and shelter, but the sheer number of people was overwhelming.
Panic among those fleeing the rising waters has separated children from their parents, and relief agencies were having to set up programmes to try to reunite families.
At one camp in the south for people who had lost their homes, the number of people rose from 2,000 to 15,000 in less than 48 hours.
More helicopters and light aircraft were deployed in Mozambique, with missions flying out of the capital, Maputo, moving up a gear.
But the BBC's Greg Barrow, reporting from Mozambique, says helicopter pilots flying over the flood plain were being forced to make stark choices about whom to save.
Those trapped in the water come first, while anybody who had managed to clamber to safety in trees or on the roofs of houses were considered relatively safe.
The United Nations said donor governments have pledged $13.5m to UN agencies responding to the floods.
But after a meeting in Geneva, a UN spokesman said only about $4.5m had so far been received.
The following day came news of a baby born in a tree above rising flood waters.
Sofia Pedro was filmed being rescued by a South African military helicopter minutes after giving birth to baby Rositha. The resulting media coverage galvanised governments around the world into action and aid came pouring in.
The floods - the worst in living memory - lasted three weeks and killed some 700 people and displaced half a million more.
In May, international donors meeting in Rome promised Mozambique nearly $453m to help rebuild the economy and infrastructure - $3m more than the Mozambique Government had requested.
The country was hit by more flooding in 2001, and in 2002 a severe drought hit many central and southern parts of the country, including previously flood-stricken areas.

Animal Crackers

Two little pigs went for a swim,
He led her and she followed him.

Cocktails (Pina Colada)


The piña colada (Spanish, strained pineapple: piña, pineapple + colada, strained) is a sweet, rum-based cocktail made with hard rum, coconut cream, and pineapple juice, usually served either blended or shaken with ice. It may be garnished with a pineapple wedge or a maraschino cherry. The piña colada has been the official beverage of Peurto Rico since 1978.
Origin
The Piña Colada was introduced on August 16, 1954 at the Caribe Hilton's Beachcomber Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico by its alleged creator, Ramon “Monchito” Marrero. Apparently, the hotel management had expressly requested Monchito to mix a new signature drink that would delight the demanding palates of its star studded clientele. Monchito accepted the challenge, and after 3 intense months of blending, shaking and experimenting, the first Piña Colada was born. This story is more credible because the Piña Colada contains cream of coconut as one of the primary ingredients, and the cream of coconut "Coco López" (which is the pioneer) was invented in 1954 in the University of Puerto Rico by Ramón López Irizarry.
Other Stories
The earliest known story states that in the 1800s, Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresi (a.k.a. "El Pirata Cofresí"), to boost his crew's morale he gave them a beverage or cocktail that contained coconut, pineapple and white rum. This was what would be later known as the famous piña colada. With his death in 1825, the recipe for the piña colada was lost.
Barrachina, a restaurant in Puerto Rico, also claims to be the birth place of the piña colada:
In 1963, on a trip to South America Mr Barrachina met another popular Spaniard and bartender Mr. Ramon Portas Mingot. Don Ramon has worked with the best places in Buenos Aires and associated with 'Papillon' the most luxurious bar in Carcao and was also recognized for his cocktail recipe books. Pepe Barrachina and Don Ramon developed a great relationship. While working as the main bartender at Barrachina (a restaurant in Puerto Rico), Ramon mixed pineapple juice, coconut cream, condensed milk and ice in a blender, creating a delicious and refreshing drink, known today as the Piña Colada.
The earliest reference in the New York Times to a drink called a piña colada containing rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice, occurred in the April 16, 1950, edition of the New York Times: Drinks in the West Indies range from Martinique's famous rum punch to Cuba's pina colada (dark rum, pineapple chunks and coconut milk). Key West has a variety of lime swizzles and punches, and Grenadians use nutmeg in their rum drinks.
The earliest known reference to a drink specifically called a piña colada is from TRAVEL magazine, December 1922: But best of all is a piña colada, the juice of a perfectly ripe pineapple—a delicious drink in itself—rapidly shaken up with ice, sugar, lime and Bacardi rum in delicate proportions. What could be more luscious, more mellow and more fragrant?
The above quote describes a drink without coconut, as the piña colada was originally just the juice of a fresh pineapple served either strained (colada) or unstrained (sin colar). This evolved into a rum drink, and finally it changed into the drink we know today.
Barcelona-born and Hilton employee, Ricardo Gracia, who claims to have invented the contended drink in 1954 under a series of fortuitous circumstances. Rumor has it that while Gracia worked at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan de Puerto Rico, the coconut cutters’ union decided to strike. Until that moment, the Puerto Rican drink of choice had been the popular Coco-Loco, a mix of coconut milk, rum and coconut cream served inside a fresh macheted coconut. When the coconut supply was halted by the strike, resourceful Ricardo Gracia made the executive decision to relocate the ingredients of the Coco-Loco inside hollowed out pineapples(evidently the pineapple cutters’ union had not followed suit with a strike of their own). Once the coconut flavor and rum came into contact with the sweet acidity of the pineapple pulp, the Piña Colada was inevitably born.

British Post Cards


Bet You Can't Do This!

This is hysterical. You have to try this..
It is absolutely true. I guess there are some things that the brain cannot handle.
HOW SMART IS YOUR RIGHT FOOT?

You have to try this please, it takes 2 seconds. I could not believe this!!! It is from an orthopaedic surgeon................This will boggle your mind and it will keep you trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't.. It's pre-programmed in your brain!

1). Without anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY....) and while sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.
2). Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand.

Your foot will change direction.
I told you so!!!
And there's nothing you can do about it!
You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you've not already done so.