LETTER FROM TOKYO
November 16, 2013
I decided to make another trip to Tokyo this year to show my friends there who had visited me in the hospital last year when I had my hip replacement that I'm not disabled. I stayed as usual at the elegant International House of Japan situated in a famous ancient garden, a serene oasis in the midst of Tokyo's frantic pace. The most exciting event at I House during my stay was the appearance of the Empress to attend a meeting. As I stood at the railing of the stairs up which she was scheduled to climb, I was moved back from the railing by one of the forty-man security detail, since no one is ever allowed to look down on a member of the Royal Family.
The day following my arrival, Caroline Kennedy, our new ambassador tro Japan, as well as the Dalai Lama arrived. And on November 16th Bill Clinton and Adam Powell both arrived to participate in an international conference. This confluence of world power and wealth is a daily feature of Tokyo. The choice of Caroline Kennedy for ambassador was greeted enthusiastically, people lining the streets to catch a glimpse of her as she rode in a horse-drawn carriage to present her credentials to the Emperor. Papers report that she has been studying the language, including the world's most difficult writing system. Japanese have a fondness for the last survivor of Camelot, and her choice as ambassador was propitious.
Beyond this confluence of wealth and power at the top, drastic cultural changes are ocurring at other levels of society, amounting to a social revolution. Many young women turn their backs on the traditional role of
wife and mother, and this extraordinary negative attitude toward marriage is shared also by men. While they may choose to live together, co-habiting does not include choosing to have children, as in the U.S. I pointed out to a successful career woman that this demographic shift would have drastic consequences for Japan as the government struggles to provide health cafre for the elderly. She replied, "Why should I care about the future of Japan?" This absolutely shocked me, such a shift in attitude toward one's nation. She, like many in her position, feels no sense of responsibility for the consequences of her choice.
The broader range of life choices for women today, accoding to economists, has not provided women with greater equality.. Wealth and powoer still gravitate to men in what remains an androcentric society. If women choose a university course in the arts rather than in sciences, this choice perpetuates a track leading either to clerical employment or to marriage and children.
There is general scepticism about what the government is telling citizens, something aggravated by the tsunami and nuclear disaster and fall-out, with the accompanying dissembling by Tepco. One friend said to me, "It's like World War II, when the government told us we were winning."
I had two opportunities to walk around on the sidewalks, one day in the Nippori kimono and fabric area in old Tokyo, and another on the Ginza on a Sunday, when the whole street is closed to traffic and the resulting surge of pedestrians offers arresting sights. The contrast between the two areas was stark: the Nippori district marked by rows of small shops, vestiges of old Edo, and then the Ginza with rows of up-scale stores selling designer goods from Paris, Milan, and other fashion centers.
Walking in Tokyo can be hazardous, since apart from the crowds, many pedestrians have their heads down, eyes glued to the phones in their hands. Collisons are inevitable, and the general response is just to keep walking rather than to apologize.
On the Ginza I spotted many men carrying babies in chest slings and not one woman carrying a baby on her back, the traditional method that allowed her to keep working. Several women had small dogs, each dog coated despite the warm weather. One young man had a baby carriage for his little dog. Chairs and tables dotted the center of the road, where people sat enjoying the weather and the passing scene. Another Ginza sight attested to the prosperous consumer economy: shoppers not only carrying large bags but also trundling suitcases to hold their many purchases.
Japan has long been known as a country whose people are so honest that if someone loses a wallet, not to worry. Some kind, honest soul will take it to the nearest koban, where it will be kept safely until the owner appears to claim it. The Japanese community police system, with a police box at every major intersection, has been cited as a model for other countries. This too is changing. The crime rate has risen dramatically,
in particular for cell phones and other high-tech products. I gained insight into this phenomenon when I could not find my new iPhone and reported it stolen. This necessitated international phone calls to my insurance company, to Apple, and to AT&T. I had to visit the ward police station to report it stolen. For two hours I sat in a grubby interrogation room while a young police officer spent the entire time re-writing the same page by hand on endless pieces of paper, jumping up and down to get more paper as he balled up many he had written with errors. When I asked why he didn't use a copy machine, he vigorously replied, "no copy." At the end of two hours all I gained was a case number. I was left wondering what had happened to the vaunted police efficiency in Japan, and whether this paper-pushing frenzy could ever result in solving a crime.
I later found my iPhone in an unobtrusive pocket in my carry-on, much to my chagrin.
As I prepared to leave Tokyo I told friends this was my last trip. I said the same thing last year, but this time it somehow felt different.
Aloha,
Joyce Lebra
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
BOULDER'S THOUSAND-YEAR RAIN
For many months, in fact over two years, Boulder had been suffering from, if not drought, at least insufficient
rain. Everyone hoped for rain. Then on Monday, September 9th, it began to rain, not a gentle rain but a genuine monsoon rain. This was not the formerly common gentle afternoon rain of Boulder summers, but a torrential rain. Tuesday all day and night the rain continued. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday it continued
and residents of much of northern Colorado were horrified.
The results of this monsoon were catastrophic, especially in areas of Boulder that sat in a flood plain.
And Boulder was not alone. Whole mountain towns were obliterated. Rushing rivers changed course, destroying over two hundred miles of highways. Houses were uprooted and people scrambled to
safety. The town Lyons was totally cut off from the outside. Mountain towns such as Jamestown
were a thing of the past. The Red Cross opened a shelter in the YMCA to accommodate evacuees,
and some churches also provided shelter for those who had lost their homes.
Boulder's most costly retirement residence, Frasier, had to evacuate all assisted living and total care
residents to other facilities, not only in Boulder but in Denver and environs. Some residents in independent living there had to evacuate apartments flooded with mud and grease. There is at this time no known plan to rebuild these destroyed facilities.
In the nearby Bramford, where I live, we were high and dry and feel very fortunate. We were totally
spared, just a block from the trashed Frasier, where the flooded garage also destroyed cars in the
mudslide.
It will be many years before Boulder and surrounding towns can be restored to normal and also
until Colorado residents can breathe more easily in this region so subject to flooding and also
to forest fires. It is in large part due to the warnings of internationally known geologist Gilbert
White that Boulder did what planning it did to avert even more serious consequences of this
disastrous flood.
rain. Everyone hoped for rain. Then on Monday, September 9th, it began to rain, not a gentle rain but a genuine monsoon rain. This was not the formerly common gentle afternoon rain of Boulder summers, but a torrential rain. Tuesday all day and night the rain continued. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday it continued
and residents of much of northern Colorado were horrified.
The results of this monsoon were catastrophic, especially in areas of Boulder that sat in a flood plain.
And Boulder was not alone. Whole mountain towns were obliterated. Rushing rivers changed course, destroying over two hundred miles of highways. Houses were uprooted and people scrambled to
safety. The town Lyons was totally cut off from the outside. Mountain towns such as Jamestown
were a thing of the past. The Red Cross opened a shelter in the YMCA to accommodate evacuees,
and some churches also provided shelter for those who had lost their homes.
Boulder's most costly retirement residence, Frasier, had to evacuate all assisted living and total care
residents to other facilities, not only in Boulder but in Denver and environs. Some residents in independent living there had to evacuate apartments flooded with mud and grease. There is at this time no known plan to rebuild these destroyed facilities.
In the nearby Bramford, where I live, we were high and dry and feel very fortunate. We were totally
spared, just a block from the trashed Frasier, where the flooded garage also destroyed cars in the
mudslide.
It will be many years before Boulder and surrounding towns can be restored to normal and also
until Colorado residents can breathe more easily in this region so subject to flooding and also
to forest fires. It is in large part due to the warnings of internationally known geologist Gilbert
White that Boulder did what planning it did to avert even more serious consequences of this
disastrous flood.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
THE ARROGANCE OF POWER
The United States has given the world numerous examples of the arrogance of power in the last few decades, refusing to heed President Eisenhower's prescient warning about "the military-industrial complex."
I write now about the most recent example of such arrogance, a proposal by President Obama, Secretary of State Kerry, and Defense Secretary Hagel, to launch a military strike against the Syrian regime to protest the use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.
I also note the relevant fact that, as described in Mark Leibovich's book This Town, Washington is a place where an elite political class operates in isolation from the rest of the country and operates primarily to ensure its own self-preservation rather than to promote policies beneficial to the populace of the country.
Apparently the trio, Obama, Kerry and Hagel, have forgotten that the U,S. is the only world power to use nuclear weapons of mass destruction against civilians. What basis does the U.S. have for claiming to have the moral high ground in the face of what the U.S. has itself done?
Though I do not often quote Republican House Speaker Boehner, in fact there is no legal basis for launching such an attack, as he has noted in a communication to the White Hosue.
Is the trio willing to ignore the fact that the Security Council will not support such a venture, given the opposition of Russia and China?
Have none of the trio learned any lessons from wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, wars which have been extremely costly in American lives and treasure and have failed to result in anything that could be claimed as "victory" for the U.S.?
What, if anything, does the trio see as a danger by the Syrian regime to the security interests of the US?
We have seen repeatedly that there is no way to predict what the blowback will be from other powers once the U.S. launches a military action somewhere in the world. There is simply no way to predict what the response of other powers in the Middle East and elsewhere would be to such a military action.
Has the trio forgotten that a "limited military action with limited objectives" generally leads to an expanded are of operations and a much larger war? There is no way to predict or control what other powers in the world would do in response to a U.S. action, whether accompanied by Britain and France or not.
Has the trio forgotten that taking action against the Syrian regime would put the U.S. on the side of
the Al Queda opposition?
To show the world yet another example of the arrogance of power of the U.S. would also be an example of the height of irresponsibility and failure to take account of the opposition of much of the population of this country to such a policy.
I write now about the most recent example of such arrogance, a proposal by President Obama, Secretary of State Kerry, and Defense Secretary Hagel, to launch a military strike against the Syrian regime to protest the use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.
I also note the relevant fact that, as described in Mark Leibovich's book This Town, Washington is a place where an elite political class operates in isolation from the rest of the country and operates primarily to ensure its own self-preservation rather than to promote policies beneficial to the populace of the country.
Apparently the trio, Obama, Kerry and Hagel, have forgotten that the U,S. is the only world power to use nuclear weapons of mass destruction against civilians. What basis does the U.S. have for claiming to have the moral high ground in the face of what the U.S. has itself done?
Though I do not often quote Republican House Speaker Boehner, in fact there is no legal basis for launching such an attack, as he has noted in a communication to the White Hosue.
Is the trio willing to ignore the fact that the Security Council will not support such a venture, given the opposition of Russia and China?
Have none of the trio learned any lessons from wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, wars which have been extremely costly in American lives and treasure and have failed to result in anything that could be claimed as "victory" for the U.S.?
What, if anything, does the trio see as a danger by the Syrian regime to the security interests of the US?
We have seen repeatedly that there is no way to predict what the blowback will be from other powers once the U.S. launches a military action somewhere in the world. There is simply no way to predict what the response of other powers in the Middle East and elsewhere would be to such a military action.
Has the trio forgotten that a "limited military action with limited objectives" generally leads to an expanded are of operations and a much larger war? There is no way to predict or control what other powers in the world would do in response to a U.S. action, whether accompanied by Britain and France or not.
Has the trio forgotten that taking action against the Syrian regime would put the U.S. on the side of
the Al Queda opposition?
To show the world yet another example of the arrogance of power of the U.S. would also be an example of the height of irresponsibility and failure to take account of the opposition of much of the population of this country to such a policy.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
OUR INJUSTICE SYSTEM
I have for most of my life held the believe that our justice system would provide justice under the law.
I myself have in some of my writings given voice to the voiceless or the underdog, often those who
are subjected to suppresion by the structures of power. This I did in my firm conviction that justice must prevail in the world. This is apparent in my two novels set in Hawai'i, where plantation workers are exploited by sugar and pineapple barons. The novels are: Sugar and Smoke, under the pen name Napua Chapman,
and Cane Fires, under my name, Joyce Lebra.
We have had numerous examples in recent years, however, of how our "justice system" operates to subvert justice and provide the opposite.. Most blatant was the O.J. Simpson trial a few decades ago, and we have the more recent example of the Zimmerman trial. What we see in many, if not most trials, is a game between lawyers, both prosecution and defense attorneys doying their best to win the game.
One example is in the novel, The Fifth Witness, by Michael Connelly,wherein the aggressive defense attorney is asked by his team assistant, "Do you believe she's guilty?" He replies, "That's beside the point," and in this trial the defense attorney's aggressive tactics succeed in getting his client off from a charge of murder. Later he realizes that in fact she was guilty and has gone free as a result of his efforts.
Or take the example of an actual case related in The Injustice System, by Clive Stafford Smith, again from the viewpoint of a defense attorney. An ethnic Indian was accused of a double murder in Miami in 1986.
This defense attorney employed every tactic available in the legal system to try to free the defendant,
whom he is convinced is innocent, but this man languished for over forty years in prison, part of the time
on death row. Here we see another example of manipulation of the law by a conviction-hungry prosecutor who witholds evidence and a judge who solicited bribes from the defendant. The victims in this case, depicted in court as respectable businessmen, had been laundering money for a drug cartel. After over forty years, the defense attorney saw no remedy for this hapless Indian defendant, who continued to be held in prison.
More recently we have the case of the Zimmerman trial, much in public view on the media for several weeks. In this case, the murder of an unarmed teen-age African American, the prosecution's pallid efforts were overcome by the effective tactics of the aggressive defense attorneys. Jurors were instructed by the judge not to use the phrase "racial profiling," though this was obviously what happened when Zimmerman, acting as an over-zealous neigthborhood watchman, followed the victim, accosted and shot him, even though police instructed him not to get out of his car. Zimmerman was quoted as saying, "These people always get away with everything." Strict instructions by the judge led jurors to believe that they had only one option::to free Zimmdfmzn.. Had I been on the jury I would have hung it, necessitating a further trial in the hope that justice might prevail in the end.
In general the system does not operate equally for prosecuting and defense attorneys. Prosecuting attorneys cannot be sued, whereas defense attorneys can be. Prosecutors are often over-eager to get a conviction,
which will advance political careers. It would seem that defense attorneys are at a distinct disadvantage in this situation. The attorney's game then proceeds under this unequal paradigm, in which defense attorneys attempt to prevail with this disadvantage.
For an African American, the only hope of success in a trial is generally if he or she has unlimited financial resources, as with O.J.Simpson. In fact, this is true with most individuals who become involved in a trial--the advantage goes to the person with the most money to hire the best, or most aggressive attorney.
I myself have in some of my writings given voice to the voiceless or the underdog, often those who
are subjected to suppresion by the structures of power. This I did in my firm conviction that justice must prevail in the world. This is apparent in my two novels set in Hawai'i, where plantation workers are exploited by sugar and pineapple barons. The novels are: Sugar and Smoke, under the pen name Napua Chapman,
and Cane Fires, under my name, Joyce Lebra.
We have had numerous examples in recent years, however, of how our "justice system" operates to subvert justice and provide the opposite.. Most blatant was the O.J. Simpson trial a few decades ago, and we have the more recent example of the Zimmerman trial. What we see in many, if not most trials, is a game between lawyers, both prosecution and defense attorneys doying their best to win the game.
One example is in the novel, The Fifth Witness, by Michael Connelly,wherein the aggressive defense attorney is asked by his team assistant, "Do you believe she's guilty?" He replies, "That's beside the point," and in this trial the defense attorney's aggressive tactics succeed in getting his client off from a charge of murder. Later he realizes that in fact she was guilty and has gone free as a result of his efforts.
Or take the example of an actual case related in The Injustice System, by Clive Stafford Smith, again from the viewpoint of a defense attorney. An ethnic Indian was accused of a double murder in Miami in 1986.
This defense attorney employed every tactic available in the legal system to try to free the defendant,
whom he is convinced is innocent, but this man languished for over forty years in prison, part of the time
on death row. Here we see another example of manipulation of the law by a conviction-hungry prosecutor who witholds evidence and a judge who solicited bribes from the defendant. The victims in this case, depicted in court as respectable businessmen, had been laundering money for a drug cartel. After over forty years, the defense attorney saw no remedy for this hapless Indian defendant, who continued to be held in prison.
More recently we have the case of the Zimmerman trial, much in public view on the media for several weeks. In this case, the murder of an unarmed teen-age African American, the prosecution's pallid efforts were overcome by the effective tactics of the aggressive defense attorneys. Jurors were instructed by the judge not to use the phrase "racial profiling," though this was obviously what happened when Zimmerman, acting as an over-zealous neigthborhood watchman, followed the victim, accosted and shot him, even though police instructed him not to get out of his car. Zimmerman was quoted as saying, "These people always get away with everything." Strict instructions by the judge led jurors to believe that they had only one option::to free Zimmdfmzn.. Had I been on the jury I would have hung it, necessitating a further trial in the hope that justice might prevail in the end.
In general the system does not operate equally for prosecuting and defense attorneys. Prosecuting attorneys cannot be sued, whereas defense attorneys can be. Prosecutors are often over-eager to get a conviction,
which will advance political careers. It would seem that defense attorneys are at a distinct disadvantage in this situation. The attorney's game then proceeds under this unequal paradigm, in which defense attorneys attempt to prevail with this disadvantage.
For an African American, the only hope of success in a trial is generally if he or she has unlimited financial resources, as with O.J.Simpson. In fact, this is true with most individuals who become involved in a trial--the advantage goes to the person with the most money to hire the best, or most aggressive attorney.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
HARA-KIRI IN TOKYO, 1970
Wednesday, November 25th began like any other day at the Headquarters of the Ground Self-Defense Forces at Ichigaya, Tokyo. This is where I went each Wednesday for research in Japanese military history during World War II. What happened that Wednesday, however, was far from ordinary, and created a sensation that is still discussed in Japan.
As I sat in the War History Library just before noon, I heard helicopters flying overhead and a commotion in the compound in front of the administration building. As the noise grew louder, I decided to go out and see what was happening. Soldiers were milling around in front of the building, and I asked one of them what was going on, why people were crowding the compound. He told me that the well-known novelist Yukio Mishima was inside the building. Soon an officer with a megaphone asked the soldiers to gather around in front of the building. Soon I saw why.
Out on the balcony of the building appeared Mishima and four of his followers dressed in Meiji-era uniforms, hachimaki around their foreheads. They stepped forward and hung a huge banner over the balcony. Mishima began his harangue, saying that Japan needed a real army and a new constitution (since the US occupation had imposed a no-war clause in the new constituion). He exhorted the assembled soldiers to rise up and act as he directed. His tirade lasted exactly seven minutes, with Mishima glancing at his watch from time to time.
I felt uneasy as a tall foreign woman directly in his line of vision, and I moved to one side.
As I listened, I was incredulous as the military words from the 1930's echoed through the throng. The soldiers, similarly astonished, made remarks like, "Go take a cold shower." After seven minutes Mishima raised his arms and shouted, "Tenno heika, banzai," "Hail to the Emperor." A few faint voices replied in kind, but most stood dumbfounded. Mishima and his followers then retreated into the office of the Commanding General behind the balcony doors. Without knowing what was to come, I was nevertheless incredulous that I stood there hearing a historic speech. It was as if five soldiers went into the Pentagon and held the General and his staff hostage as they staged the act.
I went back into the library, and it wasn't long before we heard police cars leaving the area. What I heard a few minutes later was incredible: Mishima and one of his soldiers had committed hara-kiri, or seppuku, before General Mashita, whom they had tied in his chair. Mishima's second was to lop off his head as soon as he d isemboweled himself, as tradition dictated, but he missed and hit Mishima's back. A third soldier
then performed this duty, whereupon the second's head was lopped off by another of the men. Police cars took away the surviving soldiers, one in each car.
I hesitated to leave the area, as I knew the whole compound would be surrounded by right-wing Mishima sympathizers. I finally left after 4:00 and returned via subway to International House, where I was staying.
That night I was unable to sleep. I had gone into the I House library and taken out Mishima's book Sun and Steel, which contained his ideas about an ideal death, combining art and life in a final act. The word 'death' appeared on nearly every page.When I finished the book I still was unable to sleep, so I wrote down my impressions of the extraordinary events of the day.
The next day my Australian friend Perpetua stopped by my room, and I told her that I had been at Ichigaya the day before and showed her what I had written. She said that we should go and offer my words to the press. As it happened, the New York Times published my eyewitness acount, as also did the Maichichi Shimbun. In fact it was the main topic of conversation in Tokyo for weeks, and each monthly magazine and weekly issued special editions on the subject.
Mishima had planned his last act for over two years, during which he recruited and trained his volunteer force in the training areas used by the Ground Self-Defense Forces, which had given him permission.
On the fatal day he and his soldiers had permission to carry their samurai swords into military headquarters, where he had an appointment with General Mashita. The general resingned his office, taking responsibility for failing to prevent this catastrophe. Mishima was demonstrably extremely eccentric, having held an exhibit in a major department store of nude photos of himself in various poses featuring swords and other macabre props. He hated the thought of growing old, with a sagging body, and wanted to die with the results of his body-building on full display for the world. Mishima's last act electrified Japan and was featured in headlines around the world.
As I sat in the War History Library just before noon, I heard helicopters flying overhead and a commotion in the compound in front of the administration building. As the noise grew louder, I decided to go out and see what was happening. Soldiers were milling around in front of the building, and I asked one of them what was going on, why people were crowding the compound. He told me that the well-known novelist Yukio Mishima was inside the building. Soon an officer with a megaphone asked the soldiers to gather around in front of the building. Soon I saw why.
Out on the balcony of the building appeared Mishima and four of his followers dressed in Meiji-era uniforms, hachimaki around their foreheads. They stepped forward and hung a huge banner over the balcony. Mishima began his harangue, saying that Japan needed a real army and a new constitution (since the US occupation had imposed a no-war clause in the new constituion). He exhorted the assembled soldiers to rise up and act as he directed. His tirade lasted exactly seven minutes, with Mishima glancing at his watch from time to time.
I felt uneasy as a tall foreign woman directly in his line of vision, and I moved to one side.
As I listened, I was incredulous as the military words from the 1930's echoed through the throng. The soldiers, similarly astonished, made remarks like, "Go take a cold shower." After seven minutes Mishima raised his arms and shouted, "Tenno heika, banzai," "Hail to the Emperor." A few faint voices replied in kind, but most stood dumbfounded. Mishima and his followers then retreated into the office of the Commanding General behind the balcony doors. Without knowing what was to come, I was nevertheless incredulous that I stood there hearing a historic speech. It was as if five soldiers went into the Pentagon and held the General and his staff hostage as they staged the act.
I went back into the library, and it wasn't long before we heard police cars leaving the area. What I heard a few minutes later was incredible: Mishima and one of his soldiers had committed hara-kiri, or seppuku, before General Mashita, whom they had tied in his chair. Mishima's second was to lop off his head as soon as he d isemboweled himself, as tradition dictated, but he missed and hit Mishima's back. A third soldier
then performed this duty, whereupon the second's head was lopped off by another of the men. Police cars took away the surviving soldiers, one in each car.
I hesitated to leave the area, as I knew the whole compound would be surrounded by right-wing Mishima sympathizers. I finally left after 4:00 and returned via subway to International House, where I was staying.
That night I was unable to sleep. I had gone into the I House library and taken out Mishima's book Sun and Steel, which contained his ideas about an ideal death, combining art and life in a final act. The word 'death' appeared on nearly every page.When I finished the book I still was unable to sleep, so I wrote down my impressions of the extraordinary events of the day.
The next day my Australian friend Perpetua stopped by my room, and I told her that I had been at Ichigaya the day before and showed her what I had written. She said that we should go and offer my words to the press. As it happened, the New York Times published my eyewitness acount, as also did the Maichichi Shimbun. In fact it was the main topic of conversation in Tokyo for weeks, and each monthly magazine and weekly issued special editions on the subject.
Mishima had planned his last act for over two years, during which he recruited and trained his volunteer force in the training areas used by the Ground Self-Defense Forces, which had given him permission.
On the fatal day he and his soldiers had permission to carry their samurai swords into military headquarters, where he had an appointment with General Mashita. The general resingned his office, taking responsibility for failing to prevent this catastrophe. Mishima was demonstrably extremely eccentric, having held an exhibit in a major department store of nude photos of himself in various poses featuring swords and other macabre props. He hated the thought of growing old, with a sagging body, and wanted to die with the results of his body-building on full display for the world. Mishima's last act electrified Japan and was featured in headlines around the world.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
BLUEBERRIES THE SECOND MOST HEALTHFUL FOOD
Again according to the Harvard Women's Health Watch, the second most important food to include in our diet is blueberries. The pigments that impart the bright purple color to the berries also are powerful anti-oxidants that rid the body of molecules that can damage DNA and contribute to cancer. When mixed with other berries--blackberries, raspberries, acai berries--the healthful benefits are enhanced even further.
Blueberries are versatile and can be used in an unusually large range of ways. Put them on your cereal with a dollop of Bulgarian or Greek yogurt. Add some to your favorite muffin or pancake recipe. Top a dish of vanilla ice cream with a sprinkling of blueberries. Make a blueberry/raspberry pie.
Blueberries are also versatile in that they have many flavor affinities--other foods that intensify their flavor and accompany them well. Apples, blackberries, almonds, apricots, cinnamon, cream cheese, ginger, honey, lemon curd and zest, maple syrup, molasses, mint, nutmeg, peaches and pears, all fall in this category.
A blueberry/lemon curd tart is one of my favorite blueberry desserts. Take a graham cracker crust, either normal size or mini tart size, depending on how many people are to be served. Warm it in the oven about
five minutes to give it extra crispness. When it cools, put a layer of lemon curd on the bottom. Top this with
a layer of soft cream cheese. Then add blueberries, and top it off with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. This is a simple and easy way to prepare a tasty dessert without a lot of baking or preparation time.
Again, the benefits of including blueberries as a regular part of your diet offer manifold health benefits, including fighting cancer..
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
NUMBER ONE HEALTHIEST FOOD
According to the Harvard Women's Health Watch which lists the twelve healthiest foods, salmon wins as the
number one healthiest food. It is not surprising that salmon tops the list, since it is bountifully supplied with omega-3 fatty acids, not only a natural blood thinner but also slowing formation of artery-clogging plaques and slightly lowering blood pressure. We are advised additionally by the Monterey Bay Fish List that Pacific salmon are preferable to Atlantic salmon and that wild Alaskan salmon is best of all.. Many doctors advise eating salmon more than once a week. As with selecting any fish today, a word of caution is in order because of the level of pollution of our oceans. I personally consume salmon at least once a week, often more than once. If you live near a Whole Foods store, they sell smoked salmon and smoked salmon salad, delicious
ways to enjoy this healthful food.
Salmon is very versatile--good in chowder, salad with celery and canned pineapple (if you use fresh
pineapple it will turn your salmon to mush)., moose served with a dollop of sour cream with cucumber/dill sauce. I personally avoid using tomatoes with salmon, though some do enjoy it that way. My favorite method of cooking salmon is borrowed from Japanese cuisine. For a single serving marinate the salmon for half an hourin a mixture of two tablespoons of sake, two teaspoons of soy sauce, and one teaspoon of miring. Then in a non-stick frying pan poach the fish in the marinade on low/medium heat until it is cooked through and no longer pink inside. Serve it with rice or quinoa and a green vegetable.
In subsequent articles I will discuss some of the other eleven healthiest foods.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)