Voodoo in the city

Avocado -- the fruit that would

make butter and meat obsolete

If you love fatty, creamy, hearty foods and want to avoid the cholesterol and toxicity of meat and dairy, anchor your diet with avocado!

Avocado is more than just a tasty treat to be enjoyed in guacamole--it makes a hearty satisfying meal when eaten alone, in salads, and in other dishes. Most people who transition from a standard American diet to a vegan diet with avocado, nuts and seeds don’t miss the animal foods because raw vegan plant fat is so satisfying as well as more nutritious than cooked fatty animal foods! In hundreds of thousands of cases, people who’ve adopted a vegan diet of predominantly raw foods with minimal or no cooked starches as part of a healthful lifestyle (including regular exercise and adequate sleep), have lost excess weight, overcome illness, gained new vitality, and avoided the killer diseases which now plague our meat, bread, dairy, and junk-food eating society. The fresh vitamins, active enzymes, organic minerals, soluble fiber, high water content, and easily digested fats and proteins in avocados and other fruit and plant foods can help transform any sluggish, overweight meat eater into a slimmer and more dynamic person. Some of the leanest people I know eat the most avocados! Cooked foods such as bread, pasta, meat, dairy and junk foods are the villains that can keep an avocado eater from losing excess fat.

If your goal is to reduce your consumption or transition completely off of meat and dairy, avocado may be the perfect way to satisfy your natural cravings for creamy nourishment.

“The avocado is one of the most valuable foods which nature has given man. For those concerned about eliminating meat from their diet, this offers not merely a “substitute,” but a food which is much superior in value for human maintenance. It is rich in protein and fat and comparatively higher than any other fruits in these elements. The fat is more digestible than animal fats.”

Avocado is also known as the “alligator pear” because of the rough skin on some varieties. In the 17th and 18th centuries the fruit was also commonly known as “butter pear.” In tropical Central America, avocado trees have been growing wild for thousands of years, providing natives with a rich food. The Aztecs called the tree Ahuacatl. Marauding Spanish armies changed this to abocado or avocado, the now common English name.

According to the Little Green Avocado Book, there is strong evidence that avocado trees flourished 50 million years ago in what is now California, and avocados might have provided food for dinosaurs.

Today’s avocados are derived from three natural races. The Mexican type (semi-tropical) produces small fruits, 6 to 10 ounces having glossy purple, paper-thin skin when ripe. The Guatemalan type (subtropical) yields medium pear-shaped fruits which are first green, turning purple-black or coppery-purple when ripe, with a typically tough shell. The West Indian type (tropical) produces enormous, smooth, round, glossy green fruits as up to 2 pounds in weight. In the United States, 95 percent of the commercially grown avocados come from California, with small percentages coming from Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Hawaii. The California Rare Fruit Growers Fruit Facts, Volume One, reports that avocados grow well in valley and coastal California, as far north as Cape Mendocino and Red Bluff. Hybrid forms of all types are grown.

Avocado growing is relatively new . They are available year round. The harvest time depends on the variety. The Hass, the best known commercial variety, is a hybrid of the Mexican and the Guatemalan types and is picked from January into fall depending on where it is grown.

The Little Green Avocado Book also reports that avocado trees are large evergreens of the laurel family, and there are about 400 commercial varieties of avocado. Some are: Bacon, Ettinger, Fuerte, Gwen, Hass, Nabal, Pinkerton, Reed and Zutano. Mexican types ripen in 6 to 8 months from bloom, Guatemalan types 12 to 18 months.

There are wide differences in the flavors of individual avocados, ranging from salty, to nutty, to sweet, with shades in between. If a fruit has been picked too early it may be watery and unpalatable. If picked too late, some varieties develop a rancid flavor. If a Bacon avocado tastes like bacon, it is rancid. If an avocado has dark flesh (rot), compost it and/or salvage the good parts.

At some farmers markets and produce stores, one can occasionally find “Cukes” (also known as "Cocktail" or "Finger" avocados), seedless, pickle-shaped avocado fruits which result from improperly pollinated flowers. One can also occasionally find miniature avocados which have thin, black edible skin and an anise flavor (the Mexicola is one variety)--these make a delightful treat!

Julie Frink, Curator for the Avocado Variety Collection, University of California Research Station at Irvine, California, writes:

“I have nearly 20 varieties growing in my yard and the Hass variety is always one of the best. Some of the green varieties sold in stores have given a bad name to some really fine green skinned fruits. The most inferior tasting avocados have either been picked when too immature or they are poor quality pollinator varieties to begin with. One of our favorites is the round, green Reed. A perfect Reed on Labor Day is a most fantastic treat! So often these wonderful fall avocados are picked and sold in the spring when they are watery and tasteless. The green, elongated pear shaped Pinkerton can be fantastic if allowed to stay on the tree until full maturity but will be rubbery and tasteless if picked too soon.”

The Little Green Avocado Book also states that an acre of avocado trees can yield more food than an acre of any other tree crop. Imagine the ecological implications--a perfectly healthful “meaty” food which requires 1/200th or less of the acreage needed by the cattle industry for a comparable yield in pounds, posing no pollution problems--and no carnage! Worried about mad cow disease?--eat raw avocados, seeds and nuts and stay sane and mentally keen!.

Nutrients:

Avocados are bursting with nutrients--vitamins, A, B-complex, C, E, H, K, and folic acid, plus the minerals magnesium, copper, iron, calcium, potassium and many other trace elements. Avocados provide all of the essential amino acids (those that must be provided by our diet), with 18 amino acids in all, plus 7 fatty acids, including Omega 3 and 6. Avocados contain more protein than cow’s milk, about 2% per edible portion. Since rapidly growing nursing infants obtain no more than 2% protein from mother’s milk, we can safely assume that children and adults do not regularly require foods richer in protein than avocado. Our bodies recycle approximately 80% of our protein; cooked protein is denatured and largely unusable, thus our protein need is far lower than what is taught by

conventional dietetics. A small avocado will provide more usable protein then a huge steak because cooked protein in meat is deranged and mostly unavailable to our liver, the organ which makes all of our body’s protein. There is clear evidence from many sources that cooked fatty and high-protein foods are the prime culprit in our country’s high rate of cancer, as well as in colitis, Crohn’s disease and many other diseases. (I instantly healed up from a long illness, ulcerative colitis, seventeen years ago after I stopped eating meat and adopted a properly combined low-fat vegan diet of mostly raw fruits and vegetables, and I have since helped over 1,000 people recover from similar illnesses.) Ripe, raw organically grown avocados are naturally pure and furnish all of the elements we need to build the highest quality protein in our bodies.

The water content of avocado by weight averages 74%. Because avocado is a ripe, watery, enzymatically-alive fruit, it ranks as the most easily digested rich source of fats and proteins in whole food form. The ripening action of the sun “predigests” complex proteins into simple, easily digested amino acids. The fat content (by weight) varies from 7 to 26 % according to the variety, averaging 15%. Approximately 63% of the fat in avocados is monounsaturated, 20% is polyunsaturated and 17% is saturated. Avocados are the perfect source of dietary fat--appetizing in their raw state, digestible, and pure. Another plus is that avocados have no cholesterol.

Avocado is an alkalinizing food, i.e., the mineral end products of metabolism have an alkalinizing effect in the blood and other bodily fluids. Because the human body works to maintain a slightly alkaline pH, an alkalinizing diet is the most healthful way of eating. Meat, dairy and most raw nuts create acidity in the body--excess eating of these causes the leaching of alkalinizing calcium from our bones to buffer the acidity, leading to osteoporosis. Dr. Douglas Graham states:

“Current bone density testing has verified loss of calcium from the bones after the consumption of just one meat meal. A similar meal containing the same amount of protein from plants results in no calcium loss. Fruit and vegetable proteins, which supply the complete spectrum of human nutrients, must be considered superior to animal protein which are deficient or missing many of our essential nutrients such as fiber, vitamin C and a host of phytonutrients and antioxidants.”

Avocado eaters who eat a healthful vegan diet typically experience more lustrous hair, softer, smoother skin, more pliable nails, fewer joint problems, slimmer belly, less body odor, improved mental function and enhanced libido. Upon giving up animal meat and dairy, switching to a diet of 75% to 100% raw vegan foods with enzymatically-alive “plant meat,” and adopting a healthful lifestyle, a multitude of people have reaped amazing health benefits and joyous vitality.

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Some extraordinary avocado uses

* House plants. Stick toothpicks in the sides of avocado pits and set them on the top of a water-filled glass. A plant will sprout forth which can be transplanted into a pot after a few weeks. On the Avocado Information Web Site, University of California, Cooperative Extension, Dr. Mary Lu Arpaia and Dr. Ben Faber report:

“It is possible to grow an avocado from seed, just don't let it dry out. Be aware that the seed is the result of cross-pollination so the resulting tree will be different from the tree the fruit came from. For example, if you plant the seed from a Hass avocado, the resulting tree will be a cross between a Hass and something else... it will NOT be a Hass! Also, keep in mind that avocados planted from seed take anywhere from 5 to 13 years+ before they flower and produce fruit. When I start an avocado from seed I usually take it right from the fruit, I cut about 1/4" off the tip of the seed with a sharp knife, and place the seed in a pot with potting soil with just the flat/cut top of the seed showing above the soil. Keep it moist and wait...(time to germinate varies).”

* Hand cream. If you have chapped hands or want to prevent chapping in the winter, rub in some avocado.

* Shaving cream. Smear it on!

* Sunburn relief. It may not block any of the sun but it will help keep your skin moist.

* Foot and hand massage. With your partner, share the luxury of a relaxing massage. If you both have sex in mind, don’t stop at the hands and feet!

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Avocado **vs.** Animal Meat

watery and fiber-rich, non-consiptating ** low water, no fiber constipating

has all essential amino acids ** amino acids denatured by cooking

no cholesterol ** high in cholesterol

takes 2 to 4 hours to digest, normally will not putrefy ** takes 12 to 24 hours to digest, normally putrefies, poisoning our blood, tissues and brain

no parasites, pathogens or tumors ** incidences of parasites, pathogens and tumors range from rare to common

not inoculated with any chemicals ** typically inoculated with antibiotics, medicines and hormones

water-rich and non-allergenic ** bloody and laden with allergenic proteins

does not need cooking or any preparation other than peeling ** if eaten raw, the parasite-pathogen risk increases; when cooked the fats become carcinogenic, the proteins coagulate, and the heat-deaminated minerals become embedded as arterial and bowel plaque leading to atherosclerosis, heart disease, Alzeimer’s, etc.

100% healthful ** a major health hazard with links to cancer, colitis, diabetes, obesity and many other diseases

alkalinizing ** acidifying

the fuel required to digest avocado and other fruity fats is less than half of that required to digest meats, and digestion time is dramatically lower as well ** takes approximately 50% of body’s energy and as much as three days to digest and clean up the toxins from its decomposition in the gut and the immune system response to the toxic proteins and grease which enter the blood

100% ecologically sound ** ecologically destructive, requiring up to 200 times the acreage and over 10 times the quantity of water to produce one pound of food (approximately 220 gallons of water per pound of avocado vs. 2,400 gallons water per pound of beef); grazing causes soil erosion and in some countries deforestation; liquid, solid and gaseous animal wastes pollute the atmosphere, land and waterways.

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Some avocado myths & facts

1. It’s a vegetable.

Fact: It’s actually an oily berry--a fruit.

2. It’s high in cholesterol.

Fact: It has no cholesterol. Only animal foods have cholesterol.

3. It’s high in fat.

Fact: By weight, avocados average 30% easily digestible oily fatty acids and approximately 70% water.

4. Its saturated fat content is dangerous.

Fact: Only about 2.5% of the edible portion of avocado is saturated fat, and unheated saturated fat from live plant foods is non-toxic.

5. It’s fattening.

Fact: It is the cooked starches, meat, dairy and processed sugar in people’s diets that feed their fat cells. Most active people who consume avocados as part high raw food vegan diet have no problem losing excess fat and staying lean.

6. It is a tree ripened fruit.

Fact: The avocado doesn't soften on the tree. After dropping or picking it must be allowed to soften for 4 to 17 days depending on the variety and ambient temperature and humidity.

7. It is best to ripen it in a bag.

Fact: Not necessary. Keep your weekly supply of avocados on your kitchen table, counter or somewhere else in plain sight. Pinch the tops and bottoms each morning and when they yield to pressure on both ends they are ripe. Refrigerate the ones you are not ready to eat.

9. It can’t be refrigerated.

Fact: Yes it can. Wrap ripe avocado in plastic or keep it in a plastic bag or container. If it is refrigerated for too long some spoiling may result. Remove unripened avocado from the refrigerator 2 or 3 days before you intend to eat them.

10. Keep the seed in to keep the guacamole from turning black.

Fact: That is an old wives tale! Wrap it in plastic to keep oxidation at bay.

Scripture Text: 2 Chronicles 26:4-21

Years ago while I was on a business trip, I found myself talking with a leader of a large Christian organization. We were together for a short period of time, and after a few minutes, he smiled and said, "Charles, we're at the top of our game. No one is doing what we have done. We're the leader, and I don't think anyone can catch us." Immediately my heart sank — not because I wanted to be number one, but because I could sense God saying, "Don't ever let that idea cross your mind."

At that moment, it felt as though the Lord had sent an arrow straight into my heart. I knew exactly what He was saying to me. Pride brings destruction, and it does not belong in the life of a believer. At least, not the kind of pride that lifts self up and fails to glorify and honor God. Perhaps this man did not recognize what he had said. Or it may have been that God wanted to send a word of cau tion to me. Regardless, pride can and does explode God's plan for our lives.

Many times, we begin our Christian walk well. Our focus is set on God, and our hearts are fully committed to Him. Then without warning, pride begins to rise up, pre venting us from being all God wants us to be by blinding us to His ways. It tempts us to believe that we know better than He does. If left unchecked, pride will alter our attitude toward God and the route He has chosen for us to take.

As believers, we need to be aware of Satan's goal, which is to deeply wound and destroy the lives of God's children. He never gives up on his quest to reach this goal and will wreak as much havoc as possible in the life of a believer.

Of all the struggles we face, pride is the one that has the most devastating results. Many of our problems result from pride's work in our lives, but too many people fail to realize this. They become prideful over the good things God has given them — jobs, children, churches, pastors, education, neighborhoods and much more.

God is very specific. He hates pride. In fact, it is at the top of His list of sins that He despises: "Pride and arrogance and the evil way…And the perverted mouth, I hate" (Prov. 8:13). The New International Version translates this bluntly: "I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech."

Each morning, the enemy lays out his landmines in our lives. If we are not dis cerning, we will fall prey to his tactics. The landmine of pride can tear a gaping hole in the life of the person who yields to its folly. It is one of Satan's chief modes of operation and favorite weapons of warfare because it tempts us to take our eyes off God and place them on ourselves..

In his book Power through Prayer E. M. Bounds writes, "[Today] somehow, self, not God, rules in the holy of holies…Self ability in some wicked form has defamed and violated the temple which should be held sacred for God." No matter how hard we try to cover it up, excuse it or justify it, pride produces the same result — arrogance and rebellion against God..

“‘You were the model of perfection,

full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

13You were in Eden,

the garden of God;

every precious stone adorned you:

ruby, topaz and emerald,

chrysolite, onyx and jasper,

sapphire,^b turquoise and beryl.^c

You were blameless in your ways

from the day you were created

till wickedness was found in you.

Your heart became proud

on account of your beauty,

and you corrupted your wisdom

because of your splendor.

So I threw you to the earth;

I made a spectacle of you before kings.

Sixty-eight firms comprising foreign and local investors with interest in diverse sectors of the economy, as at last week, were said to have so far shown strong intention to do business at the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ). They cover textile, oil and gas, tourism, real estate, cottage industries, construction, car assembling among others.

Although some listed above will come on stream later as the project develops and expands, however, how soon others will roll into action will depend on the magic that the Lagos State government and its development partners — a consortium of Chinese investors can perform between now and November 2010 when the first phase, according to the management will be opened for business operations.

The first phase of the multi-billion dollars project sits on over 3000 hectares with a huge infrastructural challenge. It is being developed by a group of Chinese firms in partnership with Lagos State. And so far, work on the development of critical infrastructure such as power plant, sewage systems, water treatment plants though ongoing is still a challenge.

Although the Chinese are the first partners in the development of the trade zone, the state government is still keeping its doors open for more investors especially in view of the huge financial outlay. It is estimated that the overall project will cost over five billion US dollars.

“The Chinese are the first set of developers we have in the zone to jump-start things. And we are currently developing the launch area (phase 1),” Olusola Oworu, special adviser to Lagos State government on commerce and industry, whose office supervises the developments told BusinessDay.

As a way of attracting investors, the government is offering a number of incentives including tax exemption. Also, companies to operate within the zone could be 100 percent foreign owned and would be allowed the option of repatriating their capital and profits overseas if they so chose. In terms of meeting up the requirements for setting up a business in the zone, the state government plans to put in place a one-stop-shop where all necessary procedures and processes leading to business registration as well as issues bordering on immigration, customs, safety and security of investments and personnel will be addressed in one fell swoop so as to facilitate smooth operations.

In the view of Oworu, the LFTZ has been conceptualized not just a trade zone but a model city. So apart from its industrial component, the trade zone is designed to embrace urban developments, which include residential accommodation, business centre, a financial hub and tourism activities. The zone therefore is incorporating light industries such as textiles, electronics, household equipment as well as foods and beverages.

Upon full development, the zone will have three modern ports which will accommodate heavy industries like petro-chemicals and oil refineries. It is also going to have five kilometers of coastline a deep seaport that will be able to accommodate huge vessels expected from around the world.

The idea is to make the ports the shipping hub of West Africa. Also being planned to further boost LFTZ’s operations is an international airport that will be sited not too far. The airport will not ferry people but also service the logistical needs of corporate bodies in and around the Lekki corridor.

The Lekki trade zone’s key advantages are its accessibility, location and the market. Lagos State remains the commercial hub of Nigeria and plays host to about 65 percent of the country’s commercial activities. The state has the largest population in the country estimated at about 18 million people which is a good market for products and services.

Oworu says the effort at ongoing infrastructural development at the trade zone is show of government’s determination to create the enable environment and prepare investors to start off with ease. 68 prospective investors have so far shown interest. But the biggest of the challenge I think are logistics problems. But we have investors who have shown strong interests in oil and gas, manufacturing, hotels and entertainment, car assembling plant, construction materials and real estate development.

“Currently our emphasis is on development of infrastructure to encourage investors to come in. And when I say infrastructure, I am talking about road network and power. To start with, we have installed 1000 KVA generating set to power the area in the interim. A permanent power installation will come later and we are working towards this.

“In terms of road, we have constructed about several kilometres of roads and a standard factory so that investors can start making use of it without having to necessarily build theirs before starting operations,” says the special adviser.

Adeyomo Thompson, deputy managing director of the LFTZ is optimistic that business operations will commence by October or before the end of this year. His optimism is hinged on the completion of some road networks creating access to various parts of the zone, provision of 1000 KVA standby electric generating set as well as the completion of a standard factory from where some manufacturing activities can begin. According to the deputy managing director, the long delay in take-off has been due to problems of logistics. Specifically, he says the absence of infrastructure at the site, a major challenge, is being addressed with over 70 companies now waiting to commence operations.

The companies are those with interest in agro-processing, clothing and textiles, food and beverages, forestry, mining, pharmaceuticals, housing and tourism. He said that the establishment of the free trade zone was in line with the desire of the Lagos State Government to harness investment and business potentials in the state. “Although the project is currently not ready for use as a result of inadequate infrastructure, there are indications that some industries from China may begin operation here soon,’’ he said.

Thompson said that the first phase of the project would cost about 1.5 billion dollars while the entire project would gulp over five billion dollars. He said that the zone would have its own independent power plant, adding that the first phase, made up of 350 hectares, would be powered by 10,000 KVA generators. But it is not only foreign companies that are in the forefront at the zone, as Oando Nig. Plc, according to Thompson, is planning to build a refinery with capacity to refine 360,000 barrels of crude per day. The company has since 2009 carried out feasibility studies on the project.

“We believe that a refinery that targets approximately half of the deficit for 2017 will be viable against local production and against substitute input. Such a refinery will benefit from the closest sources of crude oil. We are going to put in place a complex refinery which will take advantage of the light crude we see in the area and maximise PMS production,” Thompson said, adding that the company upon commencement of operations would be targeting about 360,000 barrels per day as the first phase will do 340,000 barrels which will give an approximate of 15,000 tons per day of PMS.

However, Femi Deru, President of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has applauded the adoption of Public- Private Partnership to attract investments, describing as a popular and viable option. He believes the zone will attract investments when infrastructure such as good network of roads, power, sewage and water treatment plants are completed and put to use.

Although government has paid compensa

Starcomms Plc has become the first Code Division Multiple Access operator in the world to provide its customers the opportunity of enjoying international roaming.

This, according to the telecoms company on Friday, became possible as a result of the agreement signed with two roaming service providers, Mach and Accuris networks in March, 2010.

With the agreement, pre-paid inter-standard roaming calls can be made to a GSM network by Starcomms CDMA customer.

According to the Chief Executive Officer, Starcomms, Mr. Maher Qubain, the over 3.2 million customers of the company now have the rare opportunity of a seamless access to international mobile roaming on all wireless technology networks.

He said this would greatly expand Starcomms network coverage outside Nigeria and simplify the roaming experience of such customers, who might have reasons to travel outside the country..

He said, ”The commitment of Starcomms to providing innovative products and services that simplify lives and enhance living for our customers is a tradition we hold dear. We know that many customers yearn for the high quality services of Starcomms everywhere they go. So, the pioneering step of adding inter-standard roaming capabilities to our portfolio as a CDMA network in this country is just an added evidence of our practice of always being the first to give customers the best.”

The solution, which can be implemented by using existing connections, offers end-users all of the services that are available on their home network, eve