Ancient Popcorn Discovered in Peru!!!

People living along the coast of Peru were eating popcorn 1,000 years earlier than previously reported and before ceramic pottery was used there, according to a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences co-authored by Dolores Piperno, curator of New World archaeology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and emeritus staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

Some of the oldest known corncobs, husks, stalks and tassels, dating from 6,700 to 3,000 years ago were found at Paredones and Huaca Prieta, two mound sites on Peru's arid northern coast. The research group, led by Tom Dillehay from Vanderbilt University and Duccio Bonavia from Peru's Academia Nacional de la Historia, also found corn microfossils: starch grains and phytoliths. Characteristics of the cobs—the earliest ever discovered in South America—indicate that the sites' ancient inhabitants ate corn several ways, including popcorn and flour corn. However, corn was still not an important part of their diet.

"Corn was first domesticated in Mexico nearly 9,000 years ago from a wild grass called teosinte," said Piperno. "Our results show that only a few thousand years later corn arrived in South America where its evolution into different varieties that are now common in the Andean region began. This evidence further indicates that in many areas corn arrived before pots did and that early experimentation with corn as a food was not dependent on the presence of pottery."

Understanding the subtle transformations in the characteristics of cobs and kernels that led to the hundreds of maize races known today, as well as where and when each of them developed, is a challenge. Corncobs and kernels were not well preserved in the humid tropical forests between Central and South America, including Panama—the primary dispersal routes for the crop after it first left Mexico about 8,000 years ago.
               
"These new and unique races of corn may have developed quickly in South America, where there was no chance that they would continue to be pollinated by wild teosinte," said Piperno. "Because there is so little data available from other places for this time period, the wealth of morphological information about the cobs and other corn remains at this early date is very important for understanding how corn became the crop we know today."

2012 Predictions Sees Battle Between 4th Reich And East Orthodox Church

Will 2012 be the year for the ultimate confrontation that will lead to the destruction of Turkey, the collapse of NATO and will we witness the rise of the Fourth Reich? Is Russia going to suffer a recession in 2012? Will the US become a police state and will Texas, Hawaii, Alaska, Maine and Vermont call for independence?Will Fidel Castro die? Will chaos brake out in the United Kingdom? These questions do indeed sound bizarre and far-fetched but given the circumstances who is to say that they could not be true? So will there be a war in the Eastern Mediterranean between the super powers and is China going to collapse? All these questions and more can be found in pravda's annual prediction calender which was just released.

Predicting this year's events pravda stated that Greece will exit the EU and the eurozone and reintroduce the Drachma and talks about alliances with and the appearance of Russian bases will occur. However, before these come to fruition, Greece's alliance with Cyprus and Israel will pull it directly into war with Turkey. On the other it says Turkey will face full dissolution as a nation, being divided into at least 3 or even four parta! It even says that the German elites will continue at the full clip moving their nation into the full Fourth Reich union, regardless of what the people proper feel or want. When the war against Russia and Greece begins, Germany will back it and send some planes, though no ships or ground troops will be supplied. When NATO is full invested, which will not take long, Germany will pull out, along with France, crashing the party. By the end of the year, the EU will be around in name only and NATO will be a crushed and discredited organization. The Germans will be running the whole thing, through their Belgian puppets.


The largest analysis were made for the countries of Russia, the UK and the US, as well as for our beloved Greece. It looks like Greece will once again make headline news this year folks.



Russia

• Russia will more than likely face a mild recession this year, as demand for exports (primarily oil, gas, steel and wood) falls, first due to the US/EU fall and then due to the Chinese hard landing. The Russian economy weathered the over all 2008 Crisis, the start of the Super Depression, quite well, regardless of statistics and returned to strong economic growth the following year. 2011 was characterized by strong growth with many European companies, especially the British and Germans, moving production into Russia, to avoid the insanity of the EU, meet minimum criteria for local production and be in position to survive the EU/US collapses. From Siemens to Microsoft, new facilities are popping up everywhere. However, the second half of 2011 was also marked by a major assault by the US/UK's Masonic elites upon Russia's stability. As I mention in my article ((article)), the West, knowing it is on the brink of an irreversible collapse, must make sure not to leave the stage for the decade or so it will take to recover, without knocking Russian down too, otherwise, they will face a new order they are not willing to face. This, in effect, has already plaid itself out and failed, though the US media may continue to hype it and push for a new Cold War, to get the attention of their destitute off of their pathetic plights. The coup failed, though it did, to some degree , rock the boat. On the bright side, the rocking will be used to further needed reforms, as a new excuse exists to move some of the blocks out of the way. In the longer term, it had the effect of bringing nationalist, and thus monarchist elements to a more central position and these seeds will continue to grow until some time, probably within the next 10 years, the monarchy will be reinstated. Of course, this will be even more detrimental to the US Masons, one of the most vile enemies of Christian Monarchy that Satan has even loosened upon the earth. But then again, that is what the term blow back is for. I also predict that two wars will erupt: more than likely another war with Georgia, early on in the year. The Americans will need something else to push on Russia, now that their pathetic purchased coup has so utterly fallen on its face and their hoax media "coverage" was exposed for the utter spliced rubbish that it is. More than likely, the US/Georgians will use another major occasion, such as a holiday (Pascha) or sporting event, to start their war, for which they have been hyper rearming, on the US dollar, since 2008. It will be another short and bloody failure, again sacrificing several thousand Georgian lives for US propaganda value. Since the Russian international information services have failed to come to western standards, over the past 3 years, it will lead to the same results: victory on the ground, defeat in the opinion/mass media. It will, however, be a major blow to the US bought politicos inside of Russia and will lead to major instability in Georgia. The main war of the year will come in the summer with Turkey, as I predicted previously. It will be a culmination of Edegan's mad scheming to return the hated and barbaric Ottoman Empire to life and will instead result in the utter destruction of Turkey and the final collapse of the NATO rouge regime.

United States

• This year, more then likely, America will transfer fully into a police state dictatorship. Sure, they will still have an "election" but the Republican candidate will be handpicked by the party's elites, to make sure he loses to Obama and that Obama remains in power. By midyear the government will have the right to arrest without warrant or accusation "terrorists" and their "enablers". This will be just in time, as inflation will continue to sky rocket and nations will continue moving away from the dollar. An example of this was the recent announcement from China and Japan that they will no longer use the USD in inter-nation trade, just another blow against the only real export the US has, outside of scrap metal and corn. Several major standoffs and shootouts with groups of sovereignty seekers will occur.Black and Mexican on White and Asian violence will also escalate, but the partisan federal police will look the other way on the "oppressors" getting theirs. As the economy continues to fall, as real unemployment, vs the fictional figures, continues to creep towards thirty percent, the public will grow ever more disenchanted and angry. More radical elements in Texas, the old Confederacy, Hawaii, Alaska, Maine and Vermont will call for independence and will be crushed. This will work out as all repressive measures work out, drawing instability underground but it will remain so.Especially problematic for the US will be returning military, who will face little real employment outside the military.Equally problematic, will be the collapse of Mexico and the full wash over of the violence into the US. Mid summer, when the Turkish war begins, the US, leading NATO will charge in. However, strong initial losses coupled with internal unrest, will cause it to pull back, to deal with the internal fractures. Passports out of the US will also become much harder to get, as brain drain will become a serious issue. 2012 will be the year that many of the brightest will finally throw in the towel and head out, especially after the Nov elections. Of course, than there's the God factor. God punished the US with the many plagues, but the US elites have continued to practice greater and greater evil while the mindless masses screaming its not our fault (but we're a Republic damn it!) continue to holler and yelp in glee at every new warfootage to entertain them. God gave America 1. Heavy winters, 2. Flooding, 3. Fires, 4. Drought, 5. Hurricane Flooding in the NE, 6. Crop Failures, 7. Earthquakes, 8. Early and heavy blizzards in Oct....eight plagues that have all been ignored. As is the way of God, things will only get worse as His rage grows.

Greece

• Greece will over throw its government within the first half of the year, by a military coup. They will be the first EU puppet regime running for the roof top helicopters. Greece will equally exit out of the EU and will restart printing of the Drachma. There will be talks about alliances with and the appearance of Russian bases. However, before these come to fruition, Greece's alliance with Cyprus and Israel will pull it directly into war with Turkey. The Turks will be fighting a three front war, but a large enough force will drive into Greece. The Greeks will fight as hard as they can but will be overcome. The Turkish assault will stall in Thessaloniki amidst massive street to street fighting and also in the mountains to the north. The northern Greeks will be bolstered by Serbia, Macedonian and Bulgarian volunteers, which will further stall the Turkish drive. NATO and the EU will stay out of the fighting, at this point, calling weakly for all sides to come to terms. The Turks will enter central Greece, though much slower than expected, as their forces will be drawn off by a general Kurdish uprising and continued heavy fighting in northern Israel. Russia will at first stay neutral, also calling for peace, however, it will cut the Turks off from gas and oil. Russian humanitarian aid will fly into Greece, over Bulgarian airspace, even as the Bulgarian government falls to its own military. After that point, active Russian aid will be drawn in. Images of dead Orthodox Greeks, from Turkish atrocities, will drive the masses into the streets demanding direct intervention. The UN will be blocked by US/UK/French vetos, even as Russian volunteers start to flood into the Balkans. Russia will start to threaten Turkey and this will quickly escalate into air skirmishes. NATO will come alive, directly threatening Russia to stay out. Russia will, by this point be drawn deeply into the fighting, with Ukraine close at the hip. The Russian military will attack directly through Georgia, who after four days of resistance, will collapse. Tbilisi will not be besieged by major forces, surrounded and forced into submission, as the bulk of the military will drive into Turkey proper. At this point Armenia will enter the war on Russia's side and Azerbaijan on Turkey's. NATO will confront Russia in the Black Sea and will suffer a full defeat, cut off from Bulgarian support bases, with only Romania's bases left. These will be degraded by Russian missiles and bombers. NATO ships will be sunk, most being American. NATO fighters will also be confronted at the edge of their operations in the Balkans and the Black Sea. This defeat, and Ukraine's entry into the war on Russia's side, will be used by the Germans as a reason to pull out and thus crush NATO from within. By the end of the year, the Turks will have been checked in northern Israel, will be facing continual Syrian partisan warfare. They will have lost the eastern half of their country to Armenian, Kurdish forces, while Russia will be driving on them, sitting at the outskirts of Ankara. They will still hold Thessaloniki, but will have withdrawn from central Greece and will be under constant attack from the north by Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian forces. They will also have lost Cyprus by this point to S.Cypriot forces, unable to resupply it due to the other fronts. The final destruction of Turkey, a Russian landing in Constantinople, as well as the capture of Ankara, will come in the first half of 2013. At this point, Turkey will face full dissolution as a nation, being divided into at least 3 maybe four parts: Greek (Byzantine), Armenian (Trebzon) and Kurdish south and southeast and maybe a smaller Bulgarian zone in the north of Turkey proper as well as a slice of northern Thrace.

Mexico

• The collapse will finally come this year.The Mexican government has been able to hold on, but with even the most prestigious resort areas of Acapulco and Cancun war zones and violence flooding into the capital of Mexico City, the end is neigh. This year alone, over 300 gangland murderers occurred in the capital.With America pumping weapons, keeping the borders open and thus the drug trade going and allowing a safe place for the cartels to hide and re coop, the collapse of the state, that already holds less then half the country within its grasp, is inevitable.This violence will spill over into the Gulf, further into Arizona, creating absolute chaos

Brazil

• The Brazil carry trade will finally collapse, along with the iron ore trade with China, as China suffers a hard landing. Coupled with a much lower demand for oil and gas, the main economies crash down, Brazil's tens of millions of poor will bring the country and government to a standstill, bringing about civil strife and marshal law. The country will survive, but will exit 2012 in much worse financial shape then it entered.

Argentina

• Argentina, having passed an insane "terrorism" bill that labels everyone and anyone who opposes the elected government as terrorists, open for indefinite detention, will face ever growing civil strife and the possibility of civil war. To that end, the government, as every government of its type and as Argentina has done in the past, will seek an external enemy, in this case, the traditional Falkland Islands. That there is great deposits of oil and gas already being exploited will just add to the bonus.Argentina will launch another invasion and Britain will respond. However, the English navy is a shadow of its former self and it will not have US intelligence on its back. The Obama will be backing the Argentines and will give them vast intelligence which will cause the British to lose a carrier and several other ships. The Falklands will be occupied and the British will be unable to land reinforcements on it. To make sure it controls the islands, there will be a whole scale cleansing of the British population, placed on transports and sent to the UK. No resolutions will pass in the UN, with the US blocking and calling for "cool" heads, while aiding the Argentines.

Cuba

• Fidel will finally meet his maker this year and a nationalist government will seize power. This is not the good news that it would seem to the US, as those very same nationalists will start agitating for the Florida Keys and Miami, both effectively Cuban territories due to the mass migrations over the past 40 years.

Iceland

• Iceland will continue to go its own way and will be blocked from European trade, as limited as that will become this year. For that reason, there will be major moves from the Kremlin to align the Icelanders into a Russian alliance. The Icelandic economy will be kept afloat, in large part, by Russian trade and monies, not the first time. While there will be realistic discussions about setting up Russian bases on Iceland, as long as NATO stands, which will be through most of this year, this will only be talk.

Ireland 

• Ireland, with the final collapse of the present EU system and the reformation and rise of the Fourth Reich, will be forced, by its people, to follow the Icelandic route, casting out the last vestiges of the EU. Economic turmoil will wrap the nation, but its low taxes will remain and several major US corporations, fleeing the Fascist regime in the US, will transfer and re register in Ireland.

United Kingdom 

• Chaos, war, collapse and the signs of the return of the British. The whole cycle is in wake for the British, with large doses of pain and equal doses of hope. As reported two days ago, over 40,000 businesses look at shut downs in January alone, after another disastrous Christmas season. The British will not follow the EU into the Fourth Reich formation, outright, but will hang around on the outskirts for the first half of the year, as the decent begins, unlike Ireland, Greece, Spain and Portugal, the first four that will leave outright. Then the British are defeated in Argentina, there will be massive unrest in the streets. David Cameron's government will be able to hang on, however only by slim margins.The Islamics, never missing a chance to make enemies, will be out in force mocking the defeated British. This will of course feed into the various right wing nationalists groups. When the Turkish war explodes, the British will ever willingly to join in behind the Americans, as part of the NATO force. However, after losing several combat ships, they will back out quickly, as internal decent will bring down the government. Right wing Nationalists will grab for power, rallying around the monarchy, specifically the crown princes. The rest of the year will see street riots and battles with various Islamic groups and mass deportations by the new government.

France

• France's elections will go as planned, that is, Mary Le Pan will come no where near power, even though she has the majority of popular opinion behind her. The fellow Fourth Reich architect Sarkozy will remain in power, through every dirty trick, which may include the assassination of Mary. France will be a main figure in the Fourth Reich. She will support the war against Russia, Greece and the Orthodox initially, but at the signal from Germany will pull out, allowing NATO to collapse and driving the last of the US vestiges out of Europe proper. The German elites will continue at the full clip moving their nation into the full Fourth Reich union, regardless of what the people proper feel or want. When the war against Russia and Greece begins, Germany will back it and send some planes, though no ships or ground troops will be supplied. When NATO is full invested, which will not take long, Germany will pull out, along with France, crashing the party. By the end of the year, the EU will be around in name only and NATO will be a crushed and discredited organization. The Germans will be running the whole thing, through their Belgian puppets.

Spain & Portugal

• Spain's economy will continue to implode and so will that of Portugal, neither nation able to control its currency. The war against the Orthodox and the collapse of NATO will cause major governmental turmoil and will crush the present right of center government. By the end of the year, they will eject themselves from the EU, as nationalists come to power. The two will form a free trade zone of their own, as well as continuing to make out reaches to Latin America and North Africa.

Italy

• Italy's downward spiral will continue and the NATO war will be a major embarrassment. However, as much as people want to leave the EU, it will not work, as the Brussels controlled government will not leave and Italy will become a second tier state, its finances controlled by Brussels but still not part of the EU "Core" aka Fourth Reich. There will be many civil disturbances throughout the country, especially in the south, which will continue to be flooded by North and Central Africans.

Poland

• Poland's alliance with the collapsing US empire will become fanatical. Caught between a resurgent and pissed off Russia and the rebirth of the Fourth Reich. Poland will remain in the EU but will continue to distance itself further and further.

Serbia

• By the time the war with Turkey erupts, the Serbian Judases in power will be doing the famous helicopter on the roof run. When the Turkish tanks roll into Greece, the Serbian Radical party will rally the people to them, over throwing the puppet regime. Serbian fighters will already be heading down to fight the Turks, even as the government reorganizes and mobilizes the military. Only part of the military will head to aid Greece, with the rest heading into Kosovo, over running and destroying the NATO forces in the area, and driving out the Albanian invaders in mass. NATO will pull out to a hostile Croatia, whose own nationalists will be rallying to the threat of the hated Turk.

Bulgaria

• Bulgaria's leadership will face a similar problem as Serbia's. When the military is ordered to stay out of the war, as the Turks drive in, there will be a military coup as Orthodox Bulgarians take to the streets in defiance of their bankrupt puppet regime. Bulgaria will also enter the war. American bases in Bulgaria will be besieged by the locals and the Bulgarian military will place the Americans under arrest, for the duration of the conflict.

Romania

• Romania will stay out of the war with Turkey but its leadership will barely hold on to power, as it too is rocked by internal decent. They will then become an ever more fringe player in the "new" EU structure.

The Fourth Reich

• The new and revised EU, one of close close and even closer cooperation, that is, one where all the fiscal power and thus all the power of the individual states is controlled by Brussels and thus by Berlin, will finally come into reality. The weaker states on the periphery will either be rejected, ejected or will self eject. The core states will be: Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Austria, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia (the last 3 for strategic reasons). The dictatorial union of the unified elites will of course be weak, at first. They will effectively gut NATO and fully back their EuroForce. Not all states will leave the EU but those not part of the FR will be a second tier at best and will have strong secessionist views in place. The ultimate strategy of the FR will be no different than that of the Third Reich, but they will require several years to rebuild their economies and put themselves back on their collective feet, as well as create a real war machine. Of course the FR will still be part of the EU and will use that cover name, adding something to the tune of core states or some such.

Cyprus

• Cyprus will ride out the war relatively easily compared to the rest in the area. Cyprus will suffer initial missile and bomber strikes by the Turks, directly on their infrastructure, including civilian zones, and on their gas drilling, shutting it down. However, the Greeks and Israelis will be involved and the Turks will suffer losses of planes needed in Greece and Israel. South Cyprus will instantly launch an assault on N.Cyprus and through hard fighting will drive out the Turks within several months.

Turkey

• This year will bring Turkey its last war. Turkey's government will continue to be run by the Islamic demagogue Erdogan. He will form a close alliance with Egypt and will back the Syrian Islamic Sunni revolutionaries, including an invasion of Syria, which will fall. Thus surrounding Israel. Erdogan will seek the mantle of the new Sulman and will launch an assault on the Israelis and thus their Greek and Cypriot allies, pulling Turkey into a war it will not win.By mid 2013, Turkey will be on the dust bin of history, a dead nation.

Syria

• Syria will fall to the Islamic Sunni jihadists, driving out the Alluwate and Christians, as well as suppressing the Shiites. Syria will also become a major battle ground in the war with Israel that Turkey will launch. Syrian patriots will attack and bog down Turkish forces, fighting them throughout much of Syria, especially in the cities.

Jordan

• Jordan will ride out this year as a neutral nation, keeping down their own Sunni fanatics with brutal force. However, Jordan will have to deal with a mass influx of driven out West Bank Palestinians.

Egypt

• With its tourist economy dead, the fanatic ran Egypt will face economic ruin. Much of the manufacturing will also flee, along with much of the intellectual capital. In a desperate bid to stave off a military led coup, the Islamics will help launch the war on Israel. While the Israeli army will be busy fighting with the Turks on the north, the air force will carve up much of the Egyptian army as it drives through the Sinai. Egyptian forces will reach the Israeli borders and will drive into southern Israel but will not get far, their supply lines over stretched and heavily damaged. Once Russia enters the war, Turkey's main forces will be pulled back to the Russian front and Israel will counter attack, driving the Egyptians out of the Sinai and closing the Suez Canal. Israeli missiles will destroy the dams along the Nile causing massive destruction downstream. Egypt will pull out of the war within 3 months of entry, its economy destroyed, its key cities devastated, having lost the Sinai and with a military civil war between the moderate and Islamic forces.

Israel

• Israel will suffer heavily in the war, its cities will be under heavy fire by missiles and aircraft bombs. Israel will survive, loosing over 20% of its population. It will take this opportunity to drive out the Muslim Palestinians from both Gaza and the West Bank.

Saudi Arabia and Iran

• While at first supporting the Turkish drive, both with limited military assets and money, SA will soon be faced with a stark reality. With NATO's collapse and the US retreat, Saudi Arabia will have lost its main military protector and will watch helplessly as Turkey is dismembered, like a Christmas bird. Across the border, Iran will waste little time securing its positions in Iraq and will cause a major standoff over the Straights. Along the Persian Gulf, Iranian backed Shiites will become a major problem for the Sunni Arabs. The area will remain tense but mostly peaceful.

Sudan/South Sudan

• This year will see a continuation of the war between these two states. Neither side will get to far, before Sudan collapses from its own civil war, between the black Arabs and the African tribes. Ethiopia will finally step in, crushing the last vestiges of the Sudanese military. South Sudan will become a protectorate of Ethiopia.

Ethiopia

• Ethiopia will become the full power house of East Africa. It will crush the remains of the Sudanese military and its own will be on the borders of South Sudan. It will reenter the Somalia mess, beating down the Islamics and will form an active alliance with the Kenyan Christians driving out the Somali Islamic from northern Kenya, back into war torn Somalia.

South Africa

• Taking advantage of the total global chaos, the Marxist fanatics of the black South African government will launch a final solution on the white population. The Boers will retreat into their own well armed enclaves, recreating the Boer republics and will fight it out with the SA forces, which themselves will lose their white components. There may be an alliance with the Zulus. Many non Boer whites will either join the Boers or flee the massacres.

Afghanistan

• NATO forces in Afghanistan will face total catastrophe and the majority will be cut off and destroyed, unable to be evacuated out of Afghanistan. Iran will allow German, French and Italian forces out through its borders, as a show of good faith to the FR. US, UK and other forces will face disaster. Some will make it and be allowed into Uzbekistan, most will perish, along with the Karazai government.

Pakistan

• Pakistan will collapse, as a full-fledged civil war gets under way. The Pakistani missile forces will secure the nuclear weapons and disarm them, so that the Islamic fanatics will not be able to use them, except as dirty bombs. Many will be smuggled out of the country to either India or Iran for safe keeping.

India

• India will sit back and enjoy this year, working on its economy whose export markets will have collapsed. With China in the middle of a hard landing and Pakistan collapsing, there will be minimum security threats to India. Have fun this year.

China

• China will have a full economic meltdown, or in today's jargon, a Hard Landing. What started with the property crash in October 2011, will only pick up steam. With the continued economic collapse of the EU and US, demand for exports will all but dry up. Internally, China will have hundreds of thousands of protests (last year it was measured at 180,000 protests alone). It will have a full insurgency again in East Turkmenistan (Xingjian) and in Tibet. These will be put down eventually, but the Chinese giant will be on its knees for years to come, dealing with the super Keynesian economic collapse and various street battles. What will arise in a half decade to a decade will be a much stronger and far more dangerous China.

Japan

• Japan will spend the year rebuilding and reshaping Asia. With China temporarily out of the way, Japan will move quickly to first help S.Korea re-conquer N.Korea and two, to form a close alliance of the South China Sea, that is, with Taiwan, which Japan will recognize as an independent state, the Philippines and Vietnam. Japan will also work hard to entrench alliance with Russia, based on economics, while working for secession of Hawaii from a flailing and failing US. US forces will be asked to leave by the end of the year.

Koreas

• This could finally be the year of reunification. With a weak new ruler and its master China on its knees, the N.Koreans will face heavy unrest and a military coup, which will lead to an "invitation" for S.Korea to enter the nation. Backed by Japan, S.Korea will reunify the nation, with little real fighting.

Stanislav Mishin
english.pravda.ru

The 7 Year Itch Turns Out To Be The 77 Year Itch!

photo by epikaira magazine

Some couples get divorced when they get struck with the "seven year itch", but what about the 77 year itch? In our quest to uncover some offbeat news, hellasfrappe discovered that an Italian couple decided to get divorced after 77 years of marriage! The couple married in 1934 in Naples and has been living in Rome since 1955. The report which was featured in several Italian newspapers said that the 99 year-old husband decided to apply for a divorce because he just couldn't stand his wife any longer. This crazy story which was also featured on the epikaira website in Greece said that the grandpa found some romantic letters back in 2002 and this left him with the impression that his wife of almost 80 years was having "extramarital adventures" !!! Following the incident the couple apparently has been living separately.  Despite efforts by their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to reconcile the couple discovered after 77 years that the gap between them was unbearable!

French Man Fined 10,000 Euros For Not Pleasing Wife In Bed!

Gentlemen please your wives... or else! A court in France apparently ordered a man to pay a whopping 10,000 euros ($13,500) in damages to his sexually frustrated ex-wife after he failed in his marriage “duties” by withholding lovemaking from her for years. The ruling, which was published in France's Gazette du Palais judicial review said an appeals court in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence upheld an earlier decision to award the damages for “absence of sexual relations”.

The couple, said a report in the Herald Sun, who are both 51, married in 1986 and have two children. They divorced in January 2009 in Nice. In its ruling, the court said the man’s wife deserved the damages due to the suffering she endured because of her sexless marriage. It dismissed the husband’s argument that health problems and long working hours had simply reduced the opportunities for the couple to have sex.

Read more - Herald Sun

New School Of Lovemaking (VIDEO)

As societies we have academic schools, technical schools, even cooking schools... but we never had a lovemaking school. Well our German speaking friends do not only produce great cars, do not only manufacture hard working machines, they also now offer intensive courses in love making! The world’s first school of practical sex is set to open its doors in January. The Austrian School of Sex (AISOS  www.aisos.at ) is offering courses in both history (?) and modern sexual theory (??), and the emphasis will always be on how to be a better lover (duh..).

Master sexual positions, caressing techniques, anatomical features- as well as other disciplines. And what's more... you get "hands-on" training! In fact AISOS’ first semester will feature five different full term courses and three special intensive courses. The school will also arrange four special weekend courses for couples. The courses are not in English, but rather in German, but then again... sex is a universal language. (hello!!!)

The fee for one semester according to their website is 1.400 euros and provides students with a bed in a double room, three meals a day Monday-Friday. And are you ready for the real news... Contraception will be available at no extra cost.

The following video is an advertisement of this new school which was banned in Austria. Viewer discretion is advised

USDA Says Pizza Is A Vegetable (VIDEO)

We here at hellasfrappe often search the web for interesting and offbeat news and today's little story is a gem. The US Congress is getting ready to pass a law in its Dietary Guidelines for Americans terming pizza as a vegetable. Yes you heard correctly, pizza is now a vegetable!

According to the reports, our American friends concluded that by using special pizza math, two tablespoons of tomato paste on a slice of pizza count as a half a cup serving of vegetables.

(Editor scratching head...)

Let us run by this pizza math again. Two tablespoons of tomato paste contains 26 calories, 10 percent of which account for the daily value of vitamin A, and 12 percent of the daily value of vitamin C. A half cup serving of raw tomatoes contains 16 calories (indeed less calories than paste), 15 percent of the daily value of vitamin A and 19 percent of the daily value of vitamin C.

(Editor still scratching head....)


The reasons given for these absurd changes in the USDA’s attempt at improving school lunches is “…to prevent overly burdensome and costly regulations and to provide greater flexibility for local school districts to improve the nutritional quality of meals…” in schools. This sounds all well and good, but come on guys... pizza is NOT A VEGETABLE!!!!

 It does not take a rocket scientist to realize that healthy school lunches are not about companies that make frozen pizza.  Some Congressman probably cut a deal with a large pizza company and is probably receiving a kickback for proposing this. This by far is ridiculous.

Pizza is a Vegetable? What the HECK?!?! from Good Food Factory on Vimeo.

Dutch Tourist Invents New Way to Travel

If you thought that fast track cars and luxury yachts were the only way to travel then you are totally mistaken. An interesting article was featured on the katoci blog today claiming that a man from Holland is traveling from one corner of Greece to the other with none other than his horse and room buggy. Yes you heard correctly, a room buggy, in other words, the horse is dragging a room! The blog apparently met up with this eccentric traveler outside of Igoumenitsa in Epirus and astonished discovered that he has been roaming across the Greek countryside for weeks enjoying the great outdoors without ever sacrificing his warm bed and other amenities. Why worry about the price of gas, costly hotels or even settling on a tent when you can take your room and go and enjoy the countryside. Now that is an original way to travel!

If You Commit The Crime And Have To Do The Time, Then Why Not Norway?

If you are planning to commit a crime, then why not Norway? No walls, no barbed wire and no guards. The prison island of Bastoy in the fjord of Olso is more like a holiday camp than a prison. When the weather is nice the inmates go for a walk by the sea or swim in it. Inmates are housed in cozy wooden cottages, complete with all modern comforts, and work the prison farm. During their free time, inmates have access to horseback riding, fishing, tennis and even cross-country skiing. The facility is apparently located on a 2.6 square kilometer island and hosts 115 inmates. The director here says the emphasis is based on trust and humanity, and adds that this system gives the prisoners the chance to "find themselves". We here at hellasfrappe say "WHAT ARE THEY SMOKING UP THERE?
Oh Brother!

Gov't plans to implement tax on pets!

It is obvious that the Greek government has lost all sense of reality... either that or some of those think-tank Golden Boys at the Ministry of Economy are missing some marbles. Surfing the Greek blogs for interesting stories today, we discovered this offbeat bit of news. Officials at the Greek Ministry of Agriculture are considering imposing a tax on pet owners.Yes you heard correctly... PET OWNERS! So if you have a dog named Spike or a cat named Fifi you might just be slapped with a hefty tax! The idea is nothing new. Already this tax has been proposed and/or implemented in many states in the US. There are laws that clearly state that an average at least $250 tax will apply to all dogs and cats throughout the US, but as we lightly researched the subject we only found that several states have adopted it. While farm animals are still undetermined, the US tax law is imposed on any animal that can be considered a domestic pet. Evidently the tax for smaller pets such as hamsters, rats, snakes, ferrets, guinea pigs, etc. is probably at a reduced rate, depending on size. It is obvious that the people that are run our governments have totally lost their senses. In their desperation to raise revenues they are planning to tax anything that moves. Why not try snipping a little of their salaries? Now there is an idea!!! It would not surprise us if we found out sooner or later that they are going to tax the air we breath! 

Skateboard throughout Athens Dudes - VIDEO

Athens is indeed a beautiful city and the easiest way to see it is by commuting by bus, metro and tram. You can always rent a car, bike and even hire a driver. Are there any other ways? Well, hellasfrappe found this video on Youtube which gives visitors and extreme game lovers an alternative on how they can really get a feel of the city. Adidas Skateboarding just dropped a banger of a video from their latest campaign shoot over in Greece, featuring Dennis Busenitz, Silas Baxter-Neal, Lucas Puig, Tim O’Connor, Pete Eldridge, Benny Fairfax, Nestor Judkins, Lem Villemin and Jake Donnelly hitting up plenty of Greek street, with a brief visit to Mykonos. 

Dude... if these names don’t get you hyped to watch, then you and me my friend are from different planets!

Word.....

adidas Skateboarding Greece Feature

Greater Albanian Thong - Wear what facists wear or just be square!

Make way Victoria Secret... Ladies if you thought the must have item of the autumn season was the latest ensemble at Victoria Secret... hellasfrappe is here to inform you that its not!

Move over leather and lace

Ta ta ta ta... We present the "Great Albanian" thong! 

In my quest to find more and more offbeat news, I came across a gem. Taking well advantage of the marketing world, a North American company is now apparently offering strings/thongs with the map of the "Great Albania" printed on them. 

Just imagine, with prices that start from $12.50 CAD  you too can begin your "nationalistic" style and rebel your way all day. 

Come on girls... wear what facists wear... or just be square! 

Not into thongs? That is ok, the same company also offers an array of T-shirts, mugs, bags and other such items for any rebel heart! Click here to make your order right now... from what the site says... they even ship to Greece!

Kounia pou sas kounage!

Languagesel>en YahooCE

fanatics

Athenian Rhapsody (The Ballad of Papandreou) VIDEO

photo by FT

Alan Beattie, FT International Economy Editor and FT Alphaville’s new A&R man, sent a rock opera by two parodists whom wish to remain anonymous. Read the parody song/lyrics to the tune of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody that was dedicated to Prime Minister George Papandreou from the FinancialTimes  (and why not... sing along!)

Athenian Rhapsody (The Ballad of Papandreou)

Is this our real debt?
Is this just fantasy?
Won in a landslide
Now I’m facing austerity
I opened the books
And said “are you kidding me?”
Did what we did to get into the Eurozone
So there was never a need to grow
Euro’s high, rates stayed low
Anything to enter, didn’t really matter to Greece, to Greece
Papa, just told the truth
No one’s paying any tax
And my colleagues here are hacks
Papa, Greece had everything
But the bankers came and took it all away
Papa, ooh ooh ooh ooh
Goldman told us it would work
and now I sit here like a jerk
They were wrong, they were wrong, that swap illusion’s shattered
Too late, the market crashed
My country’s on the brink
And my bond spreads really stink
Goodbye to the good life – it’s got to go
I never thought our bonds could trade so low
Papa, ooh ooh ooh ooh – (anyway my yields go)
No one wants to buy
And some folks wish they never had bought at all…
We need some euros need some euros very fast
Mykonos, Skiathos, you can sell them to China
DSK and Regling – say our debt is frightening – Hey,
Papandreou, Papandreou,
Papandreou, Papandreou,
Papandreou runs the show – he’s out of dough oh oh oh
He’s a professor from Minnesota
He’s a professor leading his country
Found that the Greeks had been cooking the books
Bail in – bail out – will you bail us out?
ECB. Nein! We will not bail you out
Bail us out
IMF. We will not bail you out
Bail us out PSI. We will not bail you out
Bail us out
Will not bail you out
Bail us out (never)
Never bail you out
Bail us out
Never bail you out – ooh ooh ooh
Nein, nein nein nein nein nein nein!
Oh mama Merkel, mama Merkel, mama Merkel we’ll default
The Bundestag has no package set aside for Greece
For Greece
For Greece
China: So you think you can stiff me and just say goodbye?
So you think I’ll just hold and continue to buy?
You’ll pay us – we’ll want more than Piraeus Ships, airports and banks, as for your unions, no thanks!
Ooh yeah, ooh yeah
Once we had an empire
That is history How did this transpire? – back to Minnesota for me.
Goodbye to the Euro…

 

Source: FT

Copper Bandits ransack Larissa.

These are indeed difficult times for all citizens across Greece, so much so that many robberies have been reported lately. You hear of laptops being stolen, ipods, mobiles, TV’s, cars… but what about a “kolimbythra”? In my quest to expand my Off beat news category, I had the fortune of uncovering one such story today. According to local reports, a priest said that as he began to prepare for a baptism at the weekend, he discovered that the holy submersion basin, otherwise know as the “kolimbythra” was missing!

Obviously without the proper tools, the priest was unable to perform the ritual and the poor little baby never received his or her name (this was not mentioned in the reports - check article ref at bottom).

When the police officials finished with their investigation they discovered that the case had the mark of the “Copper Bandits”. Apparently these outlaws steal anything that is made out of copper - so why not a Holy Basin? I hear they go for some 1,200 on the market nowadays! These bad boys have stripped Larissa of all its copper, favoring mostly sewer lids, bridge parts, power utility lines and even cables from the Hellenic Railways Organisation.

This got me thinking… do they have a tip from a stock broker on Wall Street that the price of copper will increase? After all copper has risen and surpassed the $8,500 per tonne mark.

Maybe I should start reading the financial dailies instead… or better yet, maybe I should think about investing in copper!

Hmmm……..
Source: taxalia.blogspot.com

Can sex strikes change the world? (VIDEO)

Colombian authorities have agreed to comply with demands for road improvements - after hundreds of women went on a sex strike. ­For 38 days, they denied their husbands sexual favors until a road that connects their small town to the rest of the country was paved. I guess they took a lesson from Aristophanes' play Lysistrata which is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War by convincing the women of Greece to withhold sexual gratification from their husbands as a means of forcing the men to negotiate peace — a strategy that, consequently, inflames the battle between the sexes. The play is notable for being an early exposé of sexual politics in a male-dominated society. RT's Lori Harfenist, also known as The Resident, asks people in New York how sex strikes could change the world.

Source: rt.com

Economic crises lowers rate of divorice in Athens

The economic crises in Greece is not only affecting day to day life of average citizens, but it has apparently hit the divorce "market", which has marked a large decline due to the financial cost of a legal separation.

According to figures from the City of Athens registry service, divorces have declined by 25 percent in recent years.  More specifically, from a total of 1,579 divorces registered in Athens in 2006, the number started to decline in 2009 after the outbreak of the economic crisis, falling to 1,149 in 2010.

Meanwhile, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) has recorded a drop in marriages as well, which fell from 63,997 in 1995 nationwide to 59,512 in 2009. The ration of marriages per 1,000 residents fell to 5.3 in 2009 from 7.3 in 1980 and from 9.0 in 1960.  Also, 41.9 percent of couples prefer civil weddings from just 10.5 percent in 1995.

ANA

Couple reaches Greece by electric bike from Beijing ! (VIDEO)

A couple of young adventurers from Spain and Vietnam who began a journey around the world on electric bicycles in Beijing two years ago reached Athens on Wednesday, making a plea to Greeks and citizens of the world to support their campaign to protect the environment.

Guim Valls Teruel launched the "Electric Bicycle World Tour" in June 2009 in Beijing. He was introduced to commuting daily by electric bicycle right on the first day of his stay in Beijing where he worked as a manager.

The young adventurer from Barcelona set out on the electric bicycle tour to promote the eco-friendly means of transport across the world. Ever since, he experienced warm hospitality in China, met his wife in Vietnam and, after 18,000 kilometers on his hybrid solar bike, has made more friends in Greece.

"Despite difficulties in communication due to the language, I remember in a village in south China all the farmers collecting money to offer me air-conditioned accommodation," he told Xinhua, recalling his most memorable experience during his journey so far.

In Hanoi he met Thuy Anh Nguyen, a journalist who became his wife and joined him on his global escapade a few months later. They claim to be the first couple to perform such a journey across the world on hybrid solar electric bicycles.

Nguyen spoke about the challenges of pedalling in temperatures of up to 50 degrees celcius for 100 kilometers a day in India and the adventure of cycling in a city without bicycle lanes, such as Athens.

"Athens hopes to harness the power of the sun and bicycles. We are optimistic about the future and hope to increase awareness of environmentally-friendly transportation," said George Amiras, Athens municipal council member and an avid cyclist, welcoming the couple in Greece.

Teruel and Nguyen will join their Greek friends late Friday evening for a mini marathon from the center of Athens to the seaside by bike, before setting out for a tour around Peloponnesus in southern Greece. The next destinations include Italy, Spain and Portugal followed by Latin America.

The couple can not yet estimate when they will complete their journey. They aim to be in London before the 2012 Olympic Games, as long as they do not run out of money. They depend on a few sponsors and the articles, pictures and videos they make at the end of the day.

The bicycles they use on their world tour are an offer from sponsors. They cost some 2,300 euros (3,300 U.S. dollars) and reach speeds of 25 kilometers per hour, covering 90 kilometers before requiring a battery recharge.

Nguyen hopes people of all ages and levels of physical fitness will try riding an electric bicycle. She told Xinhua that regular bicycles can easily and inexpensively be converted into an electric one using a conversion kit. "The advantages of going electric are numerous, ranging from a reduced carbon footprint to enjoying low-cost, speedy travel without much hassle," she added.

Source: Xinhua

This is one stop on their incredible tour in India More at Electric Bicycle World Tour on Vimeo.

Light from cell phones help mother give birth on Samos

The cell phones of friends and relatives of a pregnant woman were recruited on Friday night at a hospital on the island of Samos and litarelly helped the woman to give birth during a unwanted and uncalled for power blackout. Press reports in Athens said that the woman was in the process of giving birth when a general power blackout occurred and the hospital's generator also stopped working 20 minutes later.

The woman's friends and relatives, who were waiting outside the delivery room, suddenly heard the obstetrician calling them to light up the room with whatever they could find, so they opened their cell phones and the delivery of the infant was completed under the mobile lights..

The local prosecutor was informed of the incident immediately afterwards, no other details were given.

The world is ending on May 21st, be afraid... be very afraid! (VIDEO)

By Martha Plousos

URL: plowingthroughlife.blogspot.com

In case you haven’t heard, and most of you must have by now, the world is ending on May 21st; just a few short days from now.

Be afraid. Be very afraid...

According to 89-year-old Harold Camping, Christian preacher and founder of the California-based religious broadcasting network, Family Radio, Jesus is returning this coming weekend. Judgment day will begin on May 21, 2011, and on October 21, 2011, the world will end for good.

Therefore, whatever you’re doing on May 21, make sure you wrap it up before 6 PM; that’s when it all begins. A massive earthquake will trigger enormous destruction and the world will cease to exist as we know it. In the midst of all the devastation, the Rapture will happen and Christians - yup, only Christians - will be snatched up and transported to heaven. But not all Christians; just the really good ones. And what, you ask, will happen if you’re a bad Christian or a non-Christian? Well, you’re pretty much doomed because those who remain behind will have no hope of salvation.

But don’t fret. You still have a few days to clean up your soul and get in good with God. Like Charlton Heston said in the movie ‘The Greatest Story Every Told’ where he played the role of John the Baptist: “Repent! And thou shall be saved”

Personally, I prefer the way Jim Carrey mimics Heston in the film “When Nature Calls”:

In any case, make sure you get to a local church this week to convert to Christianity. And don’t forget to add “spend some time repenting” to this week’s agenda. Just in case.

Related articles

• The Rapture This Saturday? (mgpcpastor.wordpress.com)
• Atheists counter prediction of doom with 'Rapture party' (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Time of the end (fellowshiproom.org)
• END DAZE: Harold Camping says Doomsday's on Saturday. Around 6. Guaranteed. (philly.com)