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Diversify your portfolio with #Bitcoin . by CraigShipp.com Photos - Events / People / Places

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See www.craigshipp.com/Bitcoin

Diversified 5813 by Articulated Photos

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Diversified Transportation 5813, 5109 are Prevost X3-45 coaches.

Photo taken on 102 St at Macdonald Dr in Edmonton, AB.

India - Madhya Pradesh - Orchha - Indian Sweets - 2 by Manfred Sommer

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South Asian sweets are the confectionery and desserts of South Asia. Thousands of dedicated shops in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka sell nothing but sweets.

Sugarcane has been grown in India for thousands of years, and the art of refining sugar was invented there. The English word sugar comes from a Sanskrit word sharkara, while the word candy comes from Sanskrit word khanda (jaggery) - one of the simplest raw forms of sweet. Over its long history, cuisines of the Indian Subcontinent developed a diversified array of sweets. Some[3] claim there is no other region of the world where sweets are so varied, so numerous, or so invested with meaning as the Indian Subcontinent.

In India's diverse languages, sweets are called by numerous names, one common name being Mithai (मिठाई). They include sugar, and a vast array of ingredients such as different flours, milk, milk solids, fermented foods, root vegetables, raw and roasted seeds, seasonal fruits, fruit pastes and dry fruits. Some sweets such as kheer are cooked, some like burfi are baked, varieties like Mysore pak are roasted, some like jalebi are fried, others like kulfi are frozen, while still others involve a creative combination of preparation techniques. The composition and recipes of the sweets and other ingredients vary by region. Mithai are sometimes served with a meal, and often included as a form of greeting, celebration, religious offering, gift giving, parties, and hospitality in India. On Indian festivals - such as Holi, Diwali, Eid, or Raksha Bhandan - sweets are homemade or purchased, then shared. Many social gatherings, wedding ceremonies and religious festivals often include a social celebration of food, and the flavors of sweets are an essential element of such a celebration.

HISTORY

Ancient Sanskrit literature from India mention feasts and offerings of mithas (sweet). One of the more complete surviving texts, with extensive description of sweets and how to prepare them is the Mānasollāsa (Sanskrit: मानसोल्लास; meaning in Sanskrit, the delight of an idea, or delight of mind and senses). This ancient encyclopedia on food, music and other Indian arts is also known as the Abhilaṣitārtha Cintāmaṇi (the magical stone that fulfils desires). Mānasollāsa was composed about 1130 AD, by the Hindu King Somesvara III. The document describes meals that include a rice pudding which are called payasam (Sanskrit: पायसं) are in modern Indian languages is called kheer. The document mentions seven kinds of rice.

Mānasollāsa also describes recipes for golamu as a donut from wheat flour and scented with cardamom, gharikas as a fried cake from black gram flour and sugar syrup, chhana as a fresh cheese and rice flour fritter soaked in sugar syrup that the document suggests should be prepared from strained curdled milk mixed with buttermilk, and many others. Mānasollāsa mentions numerous milk-derived sweets, along with describing the 11th century art of producing milk solids, condensed milk and methods for souring milk to produce sweets.

The origin of sweets in Indian subcontinent has been traced to at least 500 BC, where records suggest both raw sugar (gur, vellam, jaggery) as well as refined sugar (sarkara) were being produced. By 300 BC, kingdom officials in India were including five kinds of sugar in official documents. By the Gupta dynasty era (300–500 AD), sugar was being made not only from sugar cane, but other plant sources such as palm. Sugar-based foods were also included in temple offerings, as bhoga for the deities, which after the prayers became Prasād for devotees, the poor or visitors to the temple.

VARIETIES

BARFANI TODA

Barfi is a sweet, made from milk solids (khoya) or condensed milk and other ingredients like ground cashews or pistachios. Some barfi use various flours such as besan (gram flour). Barfi may be flavored with pastes or pieces of fruits such as mango, banana, berries, coconut. They may include aromatic spices such as cardamom and rose water to enhance the sensual impact while they are consumed.

Sometimes a thin inert silver or gold layer of edible foil is placed on top face of burfi for an attractive presentation. Gold and silver are approved food foils in the European Union, as E175 and E174 additives respectively. The independent European food-safety certification agency, TÜV Rheinland, has deemed gold leaf safe for consumption. Gold and silver leaf are certified kosher. These inert metal foils are neither considered toxic to human beings nor the broader ecosystem.

CHAM-CHAM

Cham Chams are prepared from flattened paneer (a form of curdled milk solids, cheese) sweetened in syrup.

CHHENA MURKI

Chhena murki, or chenna murki, is a sweet made from an Indian version of cottage cheese, milk and sugar in many states such as Odisha. Milk and sugar are boiled to a thick consistency. Round, cubes, cuboid or other shapes of cottage cheese are soaked in the milky condensate It basically started from coastal areas in the district of Bhadrak and nowadays it is available in all parts of Odisha. Other flavors and aromatic spices are typically added. It is also known by Bangladeshi and Guyanese people as pera.

CHHENA PODA

Chhena Poda is a cheese dessert from the state of Odisha in eastern India. 'Chhena poda' literally means 'burnt cheese' in Odia. It is made of well-kneaded homemade cottage cheese or chhena, sugar, cashew nuts and raisins, and is baked for several hours until it browns. The best quality of Chhena Poda is found in the localities of Nayagarh District in Odisha.This sweet is best taste when it is consumed within two days of preparation

CHIKKI

Chikki is a ready-to-eat solid, brittle sweet generally made from casting a mix of dry nuts and hot jaggery syrup. Peanuts and jaggery mix are most common. Other than almonds, cashews, walnuts, sesame and other seeds, varieties of chikki are also prepared from puffed or roasted Bengal gram, puffed rice, beaten rice, puffed seasonal grains, and regional produce such as Khobara (desiccated coconut). Like many Indian sweets, Chikki is typically a high protein delicacy.[

GAJRELA

Gajrela, also called Gajar halwa, is a seasonal pudding-like sweet made from carrot. It is popular in Punjab regions of India, agricultural belt of North India, now common in many parts of South Asia. It is made by slowly cooking carrot with ghee, concentrated and caramelized milk, mawa (khoya) and sugar; often served with a garnish of aromatic spices, almonds, cashews or pistachios. The recipes vary by region, and Gajrela may be cooked without ghee, then include cheese or other milk solids for sophisticated mix of flavors. It is common in Indian restaurants and is a seasonal street and cafe food during post-monsoon through spring festive celebrations.

GULAB JAMUN

Gulab jamun is a common sweet found in India, and Nepal. It is made out of fried chenna (milk solids and cheese) balls soaked in sweet rose-water flavoured syrup.

JALEBI OR IMARTI

Jalebi is made by deep-frying a fermented batter of wheat flour with yoghurt, in a circular (coil-like) shape and then soaking it in sugar syrup. Imarti is a variant of Jalebi, with a different flour mixture and has tighter coils. Typically Jalebi is brown or yellow, while Imarti is reddish in colour. Often taken with milk, tea, yogurt or Lassi. In classical Sanskrit literature, jalebis have been referred to as kundalika or jalavallika.

KHAJA

Khaja is a sweet of India. Refined wheat flour, sugar and oils are the chief ingredients of khaja.

It is believed that, even 2000 years ago,[citation needed] Khajas were prepared in the southern side of the Gangetic Plains of Bihar. These areas which are home to khaja, once comprised the central part of Maurya and Gupta empires. Presently, Khajas are prepared and sold in the city of Patna, Gaya and several other places across the state of Bihar. Khajas of the Silao and Rajgir are known for their puffiness.

Khajas have travelled to some other parts of India, including Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Khaja of Kakinada, a coastal town of Andhra Pradesh is very much famous in South India and Orissa. This Khaja is dry from outside and full of sugar syrup from inside and is juicy. Khaja of Puri is also very famous. At first, the batter is of wheat flour, mawa and oil. It is then deep fried until crisp. Then a sugar syrup is made which is known as "pak". The crisp croissants are then soaked in the sugar syrup until they absorb the sugar syrup.

KULFI

Kulfis are traditional South Asian ice-cream, where flavored milk is first condensed and caramelized by slow cooking in presence of a small quantity of rice or seasonal grain flour; once condensed, dry nut pastes and aromatic spices are added, the mix frozen in small earthen or metal cans. This creates one of the densest known form of frozen sweets; it is typically served between -10 to -15 C when they are easier to spoon and eat. It comes in a variety of flavours such as mango, kesar, pistachios, badam (almond), coconut and plain. It is also a street side urban as well as rural India summer time snack and festive sweet, where food hawkers carry around frozen mounds of kulfi in a big earthen pot and play a particular horn music to attract customers. These vendors are known as "kulfiwalla" (one who sells kulfi).

KHEER OR PAYAS

Kheer is a pudding, usually made from milk, sugar and one of these ingredients - vermicelli, rice, Bulgar wheat, semolina, tapioca, dried dates, and shredded white gourd. It is also known as "Payas".

As sweet rice pudding, payas has been a cultural dish throughout the history of India, being usually found at ceremonies, feasts and celebrations. In many parts of India, ancient traditions maintain that a wedding is not fully blessed if payas (or payasam as known in South India) is not served at the feast during traditional ceremonies like marriage, child birth, annaprasan (first solid feed to child), and other occasions. Other than sweet yoghurt, some families include kheer in the last meal, as hospitality and auspicious food, before a family member or guest departs on a long journey away from the home.

LADDU

Laddu (sometimes transliterated as laddoo or laadu) is made of varieties of flour, grains, pulses, semolina, regional or seasonal fruits, dry fruits, and other ingredients cooked with sugar, then shaped into bite-size or larger spheres. Laddu is mentioned in ancient Sanskrit documents as temple offerings, and is referred to as Ladduka. They are popular all over India, easy to prepare, and come in dozens of varieties. Laddu is often made to celebrate festivals, religious ceremonies, or household events such as weddings.

One example of laddu is Motichoor Ka Ladoo. It is a sweet food in states like Bihar, made from roasted gram flour flakes which are sweetened, mixed with almonds, rolled into a batter which is then cast into mini balls and fried in ghee. Every mini ball called 'boondi' has enough sugar that melts like a fresh sweet. The mini balls are then combined with aromatic spices and then formed into bite-size spheres, which are called Motichoor Ka Ladoo. When bit, the mini balls distribute over the tongue for a burst of flavors throughout the mouth. Other examples include Tirupati Laddu so popular that over a million Laddu are distributed every week from a single temple of Lord Venkateswara.

MALPOA

Malpoa is the most ancient homemade sweets of India.[citation needed] It is a form of pancake (made of wheat or rice flour) deep fried and sugar syrup.

NARIKOL LARU

Narikol Laru is a dessert from Assam. They are ball-shaped and made from khoa/condensed milk and coconut, a traditional food during bihu and pujas

PARWAL KI MIHAI

Parwal Ki Mithai is a dry sweet made of the vegetable parwal, a kind of gourd. The shell of parwal is filled with milk solids, then cooked. It is rather popular in Bihar, but also found in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

PATHISHAPTA

Pathishapta is a Bengali dessert. The final dish is a rolled pancake that is stuffed with a filling often made of coconut, milk, cream, and jaggery from the date palm. These desserts are consumed in Thailand as well.

RASGULLA

Rasgulla is a popular sweet in South Asia. They come in many forms, such as Kamalabhog (Orange Rasgulla), Rajbhog (Giant Rasgulla), Kadamba often served with kheer, Rasamundi, Raskadamba, and others. Some are white, others cream, brown, gold or orange colored. They are called Rasbari in Nepal. This dish is made by boiling small dumplings of chhenna and semolina mixture in sugar syrup. Once cooked, these are stored in the syrup making them spongy. Increasing the semolina content reduces the sponginess and hardens them, creating variety of textures. Some Rasgulla are stuffed inside with treats, such as dry fruits, raisins, candied peel and other delicacies to create a series of flavors experienced as they are consumed. Some versions, called danedhar, are removed from syrup and sugar coated into shapes of fruits and other creative designs. These are festive foods found year round, in many parts of India.

RAS MALAI

Ras malai or rosh malai is a dessert eaten in India and Bangladesh. The name ras malai comes from two words in Hindi: ras, meaning "juice", and malai, meaning "cream". It has been described as "a rich cheesecake without a crust. Ras malai consists of sugary white, cream or yellow-coloured (or flattened) balls of paneer soaked in malai (clotted cream) flavoured with cardamom.

SANDESH

Sandesh is a sweet made from fine cheese made from cow's milk kneaded with fine ground sugar or molasses. This is a sweet from West Bengal and Odisha. Revered for its delicate making, and appreciated by the connoiseur, this represents sweet making at its finest. Sandesh comes in two varieties, "Norom Pak" (the softer version) and "Koda Pak" (the harder version). The softer version although more gentle and considered better, is fragile. The harder version is robust and often easier for storage. Molasses made from dates can be used to make a special variation of Sandesh called "Noleen Gurher Sandesh" (a Sandesh made from "Noleen Gurh" or molases from dates) or simply "Noleen Sandesh".

SEL ROTI

Sel roti is a Nepali home-made circular-shaped bread or rice donut, prepared during Tihar, a widely celebrated Hindu festival in Nepal. It is made of rice flour with adding customized flavors. A semi liquid rice flour dough is usually prepared by adding milk, water, sugar, butter, cardamom, cloves and other flavors of personal choice.

SHRIKHAND

Shrikhand is a creamy dessert made out of strained yogurt, from which water is drained off completely. Dry fruits, mango puree, saffron or cardamom and sugar are added to the thick yoghurt to get the desired flavour and taste. It is served chilled. It is a West Indian traditional dish.

OTHER SWEETS

Other traditional Indian sweets and desserts famous throughout the history of Indian food include:

- Mysore pak (a dessert made out of ghee, sugar and chick pea flour),

- Halwa (or Halva in modern English spelling); made out of flour, butter and sugar

- Jangiri

- Jhajariya

- Dharwad pedha

- Karadantu

WIKIPEDIA

Costa Rica - Beach - 1 by Manfred Sommer

Costa Rica (/ˌkɒstə ˈriːkə/ (About this sound listen); Spanish: [ˈkosta ˈrika]; "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica (Spanish: República de Costa Rica), is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around 4.9 million, in a land area of 51,060 square kilometers; over 300,000 live in the capital and largest city, San José, which had a population of an estimated 333,980 in 2015.

Costa Rica has been known for its stable democracy, in a region that has had some instability, and for its highly educated workforce, most of whom speak English. The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%. Its economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include sectors such as finance, corporate services for foreign companies, pharmaceuticals, and ecotourism. Many foreign companies (manufacturing and services) operate in Costa Rica's free trade zones (FTZ) where they benefit from investment and tax incentives.

In spite of impressive growth in the Gross domestic product (GDP), low inflation, moderate interest rates and an acceptable unemployment level, Costa Rica in 2017 was facing a liquidity crisis due to a growing debt and budget deficit. By August 2017, the Treasury was having difficulty paying its obligations. Other challenges facing the country in its attempts to improve the economy by increasing foreign investment include a poor infrastructure and a need to improve public sector efficiency.

Costa Rica was sparsely inhabited by indigenous peoples before coming under Spanish rule in the 16th century. It remained a peripheral colony of the empire until independence as part of the short-lived First Mexican Empire, followed by membership in the United Provinces of Central America, from which it formally declared independence in 1847. Since then, Costa Rica has remained among the most stable, prosperous, and progressive nations in Latin America. Following the brief Costa Rican Civil War, it permanently abolished its army in 1949, becoming one of only a few sovereign nations without a standing army.

The country has consistently performed favourably in the Human Development Index (HDI), placing 69th in the world as of 2015, among the highest of any Latin American nation. It has also been cited by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as having attained much higher human development than other countries at the same income levels, with a better record on human development and inequality than the median of the region.

Costa Rica also has progressive environmental policies. It is the only country to meet all five UNDP criteria established to measure environmental sustainability. It was ranked 42nd in the world, and third in the Americas, in the 2016 Environmental Performance Index, and was twice ranked the best performing country in the New Economics Foundation's (NEF) Happy Planet Index, which measures environmental sustainability, and was identified by the NEF as the greenest country in the world in 2009. Costa Rica plans to become a carbon-neutral country by 2021. By 2016, 98.1% of its electricity was generated from green sources particularly hydro, solar, geothermal and biomass.

HISTORY

PRE-COLUMBIAN PERIOD

Historians have classified the indigenous people of Costa Rica as belonging to the Intermediate Area, where the peripheries of the Mesoamerican and Andean native cultures overlapped. More recently, pre-Columbian Costa Rica has also been described as part of the Isthmo-Colombian Area.

Stone tools, the oldest evidence of human occupation in Costa Rica, are associated with the arrival of various groups of hunter-gatherers about 10,000 to 7,000 years BCE in the Turrialba Valley. The presence of Clovis culture type spearheads and arrows from South America opens the possibility that, in this area, two different cultures coexisted.

Agriculture became evident in the populations that lived in Costa Rica about 5,000 years ago. They mainly grew tubers and roots. For the first and second millennia BCE there were already settled farming communities. These were small and scattered, although the timing of the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture as the main livelihood in the territory is still unknown.

The earliest use of pottery appears around 2,000 to 3,000 BCE. Shards of pots, cylindrical vases, platters, gourds and other forms of vases decorated with grooves, prints, and some modelled after animals have been found.

The impact of indigenous peoples on modern Costa Rican culture has been relatively small compared to other nations, since the country lacked a strong native civilization to begin with. Most of the native population was absorbed into the Spanish-speaking colonial society through inter-marriage, except for some small remnants, the most significant of which are the Bribri and Boruca tribes who still inhabit the mountains of the Cordillera de Talamanca, in the southeastern part of Costa Rica, near the frontier with Panama.

SPANISH COLONIZATION

The name la costa rica, meaning "rich coast" in the Spanish language, was in some accounts first applied by Christopher Columbus, who sailed to the eastern shores of Costa Rica during his final voyage in 1502, and reported vast quantities of gold jewelry worn by natives. The name may also have come from conquistador Gil González Dávila, who landed on the west coast in 1522, encountered natives, and appropriated some of their gold.

During most of the colonial period, Costa Rica was the southernmost province of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, nominally part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. In practice, the captaincy general was a largely autonomous entity within the Spanish Empire. Costa Rica's distance from the capital of the captaincy in Guatemala, its legal prohibition under Spanish law from trade with its southern neighbor Panama, then part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (i.e. Colombia), and lack of resources such as gold and silver, made Costa Rica into a poor, isolated, and sparsely-inhabited region within the Spanish Empire. Costa Rica was described as "the poorest and most miserable Spanish colony in all America" by a Spanish governor in 1719.

Another important factor behind Costa Rica's poverty was the lack of a significant indigenous population available for encomienda (forced labor), which meant most of the Costa Rican settlers had to work on their own land, preventing the establishment of large haciendas (plantations). For all these reasons, Costa Rica was, by and large, unappreciated and overlooked by the Spanish Crown and left to develop on its own. The circumstances during this period are believed to have led to many of the idiosyncrasies for which Costa Rica has become known, while concomitantly setting the stage for Costa Rica's development as a more egalitarian society than the rest of its neighbors. Costa Rica became a "rural democracy" with no oppressed mestizo or indigenous class. It was not long before Spanish settlers turned to the hills, where they found rich volcanic soil and a milder climate than that of the lowlands.

INDEPENDENCE

Like the rest of Central America, Costa Rica never fought for independence from Spain. On September 15, 1821, after the final Spanish defeat in the Mexican War of Independence (1810–21), the authorities in Guatemala declared the independence of all of Central America. That date is still celebrated as Independence Day in Costa Rica even though, technically, under the Spanish Constitution of 1812 that had been readopted in 1820, Nicaragua and Costa Rica had become an autonomous province with its capital in León.

Upon independence, Costa Rican authorities faced the issue of officially deciding the future of the country. Two bands formed, the Imperialists, defended by Cartago and Heredia cities which were in favor of joining the Mexican Empire, and the Republicans, represented by the cities of San José and Alajuela who defended full independence. Because of the lack of agreement on these two possible outcomes, the first civil war of Costa Rica occurred. The battle of Ochomogo (es) took place on the Hill of Ochomogo, located in the Central Valley in 1823. The conflict was won by the Republicans and, as a consequence, the city of Cartago lost its status as the capital, which moved to San José.

In 1838, long after the Federal Republic of Central America ceased to function in practice, Costa Rica formally withdrew and proclaimed itself sovereign. The considerable distance and poor communication routes between Guatemala City and the Central Plateau, where most of the Costa Rican population lived then and still lives now, meant the local population had little allegiance to the federal government in Guatemala. From colonial times to now, Costa Rica's reluctance to become economically tied with the rest of Central America has been a major obstacle to efforts for greater regional integration.

ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE 19TH CENTURY

Coffee was first planted in Costa Rica in 1808, and by the 1820s, it surpassed tobacco, sugar, and cacao as a primary export. Coffee production remained Costa Rica's principal source of wealth well into the 20th century, creating a wealthy class of growers, the so-called Coffee Barons. The revenue helped to modernize the country.

Most of the coffee exported was grown around the main centers of population in the Central Plateau and then transported by oxcart to the Pacific port of Puntarenas after the main road was built in 1846. By the mid-1850s the main market for coffee was Britain. It soon became a high priority to develop an effective transportation route from the Central Plateau to the Atlantic Ocean. For this purpose, in the 1870s, the Costa Rican government contracted with U.S. businessman Minor C. Keith to build a railroad from San José to the Caribbean port of Limón. Despite enormous difficulties with construction, disease, and financing, the railroad was completed in 1890.

Most Afro-Costa Ricans descend from Jamaican immigrants who worked in the construction of that railway and now make up about 3% of Costa Rica's population. U.S. convicts, Italians and Chinese immigrants also participated in the construction project. In exchange for completing the railroad, the Costa Rican government granted Keith large tracts of land and a lease on the train route, which he used to produce bananas and export them to the United States. As a result, bananas came to rival coffee as the principal Costa Rican export, while foreign-owned corporations (including the United Fruit Company later) began to hold a major role in the national economy and eventually became a symbol of the exploitative export economy. The major labor dispute between the peasants and the United Fruit Company (The Great Banana Strike) was a major event in the country's history and was an important step that would eventually lead to the formation of effective trade unions in Costa Rica, as the company was required to sign a collective agreement with its workers in 1938.

20TH CENTURY

Historically, Costa Rica has generally enjoyed greater peace and more consistent political stability than many of its fellow Latin American nations. Since the late 19th century, however, Costa Rica has experienced two significant periods of violence. In 1917–19, General Federico Tinoco Granados ruled as a military dictator until he was overthrown and forced into exile. The unpopularity of Tinoco's regime led, after he was overthrown, to a considerable decline in the size, wealth, and political influence of the Costa Rican military. In 1948, José Figueres Ferrer led an armed uprising in the wake of a disputed presidential election between Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia (who had been president between 1940 and 1944) and Otilio Ulate Blanco. With more than 2,000 dead, the resulting 44-day Costa Rican Civil War was the bloodiest event in Costa Rica during the 20th century.

The victorious rebels formed a government junta that abolished the military altogether, and oversaw the drafting of a new constitution by a democratically elected assembly. Having enacted these reforms, the junta transferred power to Ulate on November 8, 1949. After the coup d'état, Figueres became a national hero, winning the country's first democratic election under the new constitution in 1953. Since then, Costa Rica has held 14 presidential elections, the latest in 2014. With uninterrupted democracy dating back to at least 1948, the country is the region's most stable.

GEOGRAPHY

Costa Rica is located on the Central American isthmus, lying between latitudes 8° and 12°N, and longitudes 82° and 86°W. It borders the Caribbean Sea (to the east) and the Pacific Ocean (to the west), with a total of 1,290 kilometres of coastline, 212 km on the Caribbean coast and 1,016 km on the Pacific. Costa Rica also borders Nicaragua to the north (309 km of border) and Panama to the south-southeast (330 km of border). In total, Costa Rica comprises 51,100 square kilometres plus 589 square kilometres of territorial waters.

The highest point in the country is Cerro Chirripó, at 3,819 metres; it is the fifth highest peak in Central America. The highest volcano in the country is the Irazú Volcano (3,431 m) and the largest lake is Lake Arenal. There are 14 known volcanoes in Costa Rica, and six of them have been active in the last 75 years. The country has also experienced at least ten earthquakes of magnitude 5.7 or higher (3 of magnitude 7.0 or higher) in the last century.

Costa Rica also comprises several islands. Cocos Island (24 square kilometres) stands out because of its distance from the continental landmass, 480 kilometres from Puntarenas, but Isla Calero is the largest island of the country (151.6 square kilometres). Over 25% of Costa Rica's national territory is protected by SINAC (the National System of Conservation Areas), which oversees all of the country's protected areas. Costa Rica also possesses the greatest density of species in the world.

CLIMATE

Because Costa Rica is located between 8 and 12 degrees north of the Equator, the climate is tropical year round. However, the country has many microclimates depending on elevation, rainfall, topography, and by the geography of each particular region.

Costa Rica's seasons are defined by how much rain falls during a particular period. The year can be split into two periods, the dry season known to the residents as summer (verano), and the rainy season, known locally as winter (invierno). The "summer" or dry season goes from December to April, and "winter" or rainy season goes from May to November, which almost coincides with the Atlantic hurricane season, and during this time, it rains constantly in some regions.

The location receiving the most rain is the Caribbean slopes of the Cordillera Central mountains, with an annual rainfall of over 5,000 mm. Humidity is also higher on the Caribbean side than on the Pacific side. The mean annual temperature on the coastal lowlands is around 27 °C, 20 °C in the main populated areas of the Cordillera Central, and below 10 °C on the summits of the highest mountains.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of plants and animals. While the country has only about 0.03% of the world's landmass, it contains 5% of the world's biodiversity. Around 25% of the country's land area is in protected national parks and protected areas, the largest percentage of protected areas in the world (developing world average 13%, developed world average 8%). Costa Rica has successfully managed to diminish deforestation from some of the worst rates in the world from 1973 to 1989, to almost zero by 2005.

One national park, the Corcovado National Park, is internationally renowned among ecologists for its biodiversity (including big cats and tapirs) and is where visitors can expect to see an abundance of wildlife. Corcovado is the one park in Costa Rica where all four Costa Rican monkey species can be found. These include the white-headed capuchin, the mantled howler, the endangered Geoffroy's spider monkey, and the Central American squirrel monkey, found only on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and a small part of Panama, and considered endangered until 2008, when its status was upgraded to vulnerable. Deforestation, illegal pet-trading, and hunting are the main reasons for its threatened status.

Tortuguero National Park – the name Tortuguero can be translated as "Full of Turtles" – is home to spider, howler, and white-throated capuchin monkeys; the three-toed sloth and two-toed sloth; 320 species of birds; and a variety of reptiles. The park is recognized for the annual nesting of the endangered green turtle, and is the most important nesting site for the species. Giant leatherback, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles also nest there. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is home to about 2,000 plant species, including numerous orchids. Over 400 types of birds and more than 100 species of mammals can be found there.

Over 840 species of birds have been identified in Costa Rica. As is the case in much of Central America, the avian species in Costa Rica are a mix of North and South American species. The country's abundant fruit trees, many of which bear fruit year round, are hugely important to the birds, some of whom survive on diets that consist only of one or two types of fruit. Some of the country's most notable avian species include the resplendent quetzal, scarlet macaw, three-wattled bellbird, bare-necked umbrellabird, and the keel-billed toucan. The Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad is allowed to collect royalties on any biological discoveries of medical importance. Costa Rica is a center of biological diversity for reptiles and amphibians, including the world's fastest running lizard, the spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura similis).

WIKIPEDIA

RENSHAW STREET LIVERPOOL by Terry Kearney

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Quiggins was home to many small 'alternative' stores that were housed within three linked adjacent warehouse buildings on a site between School Lane, Peters Lane and College Lane in the city centre of Liverpool, UK. Originally established as an antiques business, with parts of the building rented out to other antique traders, it later diversified into providing space for specialist and alternative stores where many of the stall holders were local artists and craftsmen. It was also the home of "Fraggle Radio", an internet based station streaming rock and punk music, which was founded by Lex and Davey Carter, and the popular Brook Café provided a late night venue for live alternative music.

The business's first location was on Renshaw Street which opened in 1986, where it adopted the name of the long established (1911 Kelly's Directory at that location!) Quiggins architectural supplies & ironmongers which had formerly owned the premises and whose sign still adorned the shop front. The business outgrew the building and in 1988 moved to a larger location on School Lane where Quiggins soon became a significant part of Liverpool's cultural scene. Next to the Bluecoat Centre and only two blocks from the busiest pedestrian traffic on Merseyside, it was seen as an ideal place to trade and congregate.

As part of its Capital of Culture bid, Liverpool City Council drew up the Bluecoat Triangle plan, later to become the Paradise Street Development Scheme, to boost the retail and cultural areas in the city centre, one aspect of which was the proposed acquisition of the building containing Quiggins Centre. Many local residents and businesses lodged objections to these proposals and a well-publicised four-year public relations and political campaign was launched against the plans spearheaded by Peter Tierney, (co-owner & founder) and his supporters. These included a protest march, a petition with over a hundred and fifty thousand signatures presented to Parliament, letter writing and media events, etc.

Quiggins' attached warehouses with 'No Surrender' banner, protesting the CPO (compulsory purchase order) and imminent demolition. The banner is an adapted version of the famous image of Che Guevara to feature owner and founder Pete Tierney's face

A Public Inquiry was held in September to November 2003, at which fifty objectors to the scheme were heard, Quiggins being prominent among them. Noted barrister specialising in planning issues, Mr. Robert McCracken QC led for Quiggins; Mr. David Elvin QC for Liverpool Council and Grosvenor Estates. On the Quiggins' team were Joe Kenny, 'Save Quiggins' campaign manager, Prof. Iain Taylor, urban renewal consultant, Mike Franks, planning consultant and other experts and supporters.

Following the hearing, the Planning Inspector, Derek Mumford upheld the proposed CPOs and on 18 May 2004, the development scheme was approved by John Prescott, the British Deputy Prime Minister. This resulted in the issuance of CPOs against several businesses in the development area, including that of Quiggins. A further vigorous campaign was launched in the Spring of 2006 by the owners of Quiggins and its supporter. However last-ditch negotiations between the partners and with the developer, Grosvenor Estates in June 2006, apparently led to an undisclosed agreement and a withdrawal of the Quiggins' challenge.

The CPO was then executed, which reputedly granted Quiggins a compensation claim of £1.2M before legal costs and tax. On 1 July 2006 Quiggins closed its doors for the last time at the School Lane site. By early 2007 the buildings had been demolished except for the retained ornate facade at the corner of School Lane (Palatine Building) which has been re-used by the Liverpool One development as part of a street of boutiques between Church Street and Paradise Street which opened in late 2008.

In late 2006 Peter Tierney opened 'Quiggins AttiQue' in Aigburth, South Liverpool, and continues trading from there while planning a return to Liverpool City Centre retailing. Continuing its ethos of helping small independent businesses gain a strong foothold under the "Quiggins" banner, it had long been Quiggins' intention to acquire the lease to the John Lewis Store (formerly George Henry-Lee) on Church Street, and lengthy negotiations took place with Grosvenor and City Council in an attempt to achieve this. However an announcement on 1 October 2007 declared that Rapid Hardware would take over the premises in 2011.

The name Quiggins is now also associated with a shopping centre on Renshaw Street, Liverpool (the old Central Hall) as it came to accommodate some of the tenants who left Quiggins on Peters Lane after closure, but there is no business connection or ownership link between the two.

LIVERPOOL JUNE 2012

See where this picture was taken. [?]

ICI: Imperial Chemical Industries c1930s by Argy58

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ICI, was a very well known British company synonymous with the production and development of chemicals, fertilisers, insecticides, dyestuffs, metals, paints, and explosives. During the 1930s, ICI diversified into pharmaceuticals and developed drugs to control bacterial and parasitic infection. The Company was also credited with the development of the first effective synthetic malaria drug (1940s), and invented beta blockers for heart problems in the 1960s.

I came across this very early ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries) lapel badge in 2000, eight years before ICI ceased trading as a company. I bought the badge from an antique/collectables/bric-a-brac shop and was immediately intrigued by the lion trademark as it differed greatly from the familiar ICI roundel logo. Its size is also impressive, measuring approximately 2 x 2 inches.

In order to glean background information about the design, I wrote to ICI at its Millbank, London HQ in 2000 and received the following detailed information (via letter) from their public relations department.

'We can confirm that it has been associated (the design) with the company for the best part of its history and probably, the use of the lion as a symbol, predates the formation of ICI in 1926.

My research indicates that it probably made its first appearance as a design competition winner for the cover of the new house journal called 'ICI Magazine' which was published for all ICI staff throughout the world. The first edition published in 1928 carried the results of a competition with 421 entries and the designs of five of the winners were illustrated, including the lion device designed by W E Anderson of the British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd., Sales Department, Blackley, Manchester.

British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd (BDC), was one of the four major chemical companies (the others being Nobel Industries Ltd., Brunner Mond & Co Ltd and the Alkali Co Ltd) which were amalgamated to form ICI late in 1926 to combat foreign competition, particularly from the German chemical industry at that time. Incidentally, the present ICI roundel logo originated through an adaptation of one of the Nobel Industries logos which we felt to be the most easily adapted.

There may have been some use of a lion in BDC's product promotion prior to Mr Anderson's competition entry, but this would appear to be the first use of a lion combined with the ICI initials. It symbolises ICI and British Imperialism striding across the industrial world, a popular sentiment of the time.

Subsequently the device in various forms was used by the ICI Dyestuffs Division and their agents in certain product promotion overseas, particularly China and the Far East, Africa and the Near East, in the 30s and 40s. It was registered with adaptations as a trademark in some territories and was also used by ICI Paints Division later in the 1940s and 1950s. Indeed a large version of the ICI lion device was still affixed to the end of one of the buildings at our Paints site at Slough in the early 1990s and may still be there.

The Lion device gained popularity with the internal workforce and adopted as a symbol for factory recreation and social clubs, including some of the inter-site personnel activities which required a strong identification with the workforce.

Health and Safety has always been a prime consideration of the Company, who ran competitions to promote good practice and employees were encouraged to qualify as 'First Aid' staff. The badge is therefore an example of an award given to an employee of one of our sites.....'

This badge was purchased near Merthyr, South Wales and a calculated guess would suggest that the piece is linked to the former ICI Landore plant near Swansea, thirty miles west of Merthyr.

Photography, layout and design: Argy58

(This image also exists as a high resolution jpeg and tiff - ideal for a variety of print sizes

e.g. A4, A3, A2 and A1. The current uploaded format is for screen based viewing only: 72pi)

India - Rajasthan - Chittorgarh - Indian Sweets by Manfred Sommer

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South Asian sweets are the confectionery and desserts of South Asia. Thousands of dedicated shops in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka sell nothing but sweets.

Sugarcane has been grown in India for thousands of years, and the art of refining sugar was invented there. The English word sugar comes from a Sanskrit word sharkara, while the word candy comes from Sanskrit word khanda (jaggery) - one of the simplest raw forms of sweet. Over its long history, cuisines of the Indian Subcontinent developed a diversified array of sweets. Some[3] claim there is no other region of the world where sweets are so varied, so numerous, or so invested with meaning as the Indian Subcontinent.

In India's diverse languages, sweets are called by numerous names, one common name being Mithai (मिठाई). They include sugar, and a vast array of ingredients such as different flours, milk, milk solids, fermented foods, root vegetables, raw and roasted seeds, seasonal fruits, fruit pastes and dry fruits. Some sweets such as kheer are cooked, some like burfi are baked, varieties like Mysore pak are roasted, some like jalebi are fried, others like kulfi are frozen, while still others involve a creative combination of preparation techniques. The composition and recipes of the sweets and other ingredients vary by region. Mithai are sometimes served with a meal, and often included as a form of greeting, celebration, religious offering, gift giving, parties, and hospitality in India. On Indian festivals - such as Holi, Diwali, Eid, or Raksha Bhandan - sweets are homemade or purchased, then shared. Many social gatherings, wedding ceremonies and religious festivals often include a social celebration of food, and the flavors of sweets are an essential element of such a celebration.

HISTORY

Ancient Sanskrit literature from India mention feasts and offerings of mithas (sweet). One of the more complete surviving texts, with extensive description of sweets and how to prepare them is the Mānasollāsa (Sanskrit: मानसोल्लास; meaning in Sanskrit, the delight of an idea, or delight of mind and senses). This ancient encyclopedia on food, music and other Indian arts is also known as the Abhilaṣitārtha Cintāmaṇi (the magical stone that fulfils desires). Mānasollāsa was composed about 1130 AD, by the Hindu King Somesvara III. The document describes meals that include a rice pudding which are called payasam (Sanskrit: पायसं) are in modern Indian languages is called kheer. The document mentions seven kinds of rice.

Mānasollāsa also describes recipes for golamu as a donut from wheat flour and scented with cardamom, gharikas as a fried cake from black gram flour and sugar syrup, chhana as a fresh cheese and rice flour fritter soaked in sugar syrup that the document suggests should be prepared from strained curdled milk mixed with buttermilk, and many others. Mānasollāsa mentions numerous milk-derived sweets, along with describing the 11th century art of producing milk solids, condensed milk and methods for souring milk to produce sweets.

The origin of sweets in Indian subcontinent has been traced to at least 500 BC, where records suggest both raw sugar (gur, vellam, jaggery) as well as refined sugar (sarkara) were being produced. By 300 BC, kingdom officials in India were including five kinds of sugar in official documents. By the Gupta dynasty era (300–500 AD), sugar was being made not only from sugar cane, but other plant sources such as palm. Sugar-based foods were also included in temple offerings, as bhoga for the deities, which after the prayers became Prasād for devotees, the poor or visitors to the temple.

VARIETIES

BARFANI TODA

Barfi is a sweet, made from milk solids (khoya) or condensed milk and other ingredients like ground cashews or pistachios. Some barfi use various flours such as besan (gram flour). Barfi may be flavored with pastes or pieces of fruits such as mango, banana, berries, coconut. They may include aromatic spices such as cardamom and rose water to enhance the sensual impact while they are consumed.

Sometimes a thin inert silver or gold layer of edible foil is placed on top face of burfi for an attractive presentation. Gold and silver are approved food foils in the European Union, as E175 and E174 additives respectively. The independent European food-safety certification agency, TÜV Rheinland, has deemed gold leaf safe for consumption. Gold and silver leaf are certified kosher. These inert metal foils are neither considered toxic to human beings nor the broader ecosystem.

CHAM-CHAM

Cham Chams are prepared from flattened paneer (a form of curdled milk solids, cheese) sweetened in syrup.

CHHENA MURKI

Chhena murki, or chenna murki, is a sweet made from an Indian version of cottage cheese, milk and sugar in many states such as Odisha. Milk and sugar are boiled to a thick consistency. Round, cubes, cuboid or other shapes of cottage cheese are soaked in the milky condensate It basically started from coastal areas in the district of Bhadrak and nowadays it is available in all parts of Odisha. Other flavors and aromatic spices are typically added. It is also known by Bangladeshi and Guyanese people as pera.

CHHENA PODA

Chhena Poda is a cheese dessert from the state of Odisha in eastern India. 'Chhena poda' literally means 'burnt cheese' in Odia. It is made of well-kneaded homemade cottage cheese or chhena, sugar, cashew nuts and raisins, and is baked for several hours until it browns. The best quality of Chhena Poda is found in the localities of Nayagarh District in Odisha.This sweet is best taste when it is consumed within two days of preparation

CHIKKI

Chikki is a ready-to-eat solid, brittle sweet generally made from casting a mix of dry nuts and hot jaggery syrup. Peanuts and jaggery mix are most common. Other than almonds, cashews, walnuts, sesame and other seeds, varieties of chikki are also prepared from puffed or roasted Bengal gram, puffed rice, beaten rice, puffed seasonal grains, and regional produce such as Khobara (desiccated coconut). Like many Indian sweets, Chikki is typically a high protein delicacy.[

GAJRELA

Gajrela, also called Gajar halwa, is a seasonal pudding-like sweet made from carrot. It is popular in Punjab regions of India, agricultural belt of North India, now common in many parts of South Asia. It is made by slowly cooking carrot with ghee, concentrated and caramelized milk, mawa (khoya) and sugar; often served with a garnish of aromatic spices, almonds, cashews or pistachios. The recipes vary by region, and Gajrela may be cooked without ghee, then include cheese or other milk solids for sophisticated mix of flavors. It is common in Indian restaurants and is a seasonal street and cafe food during post-monsoon through spring festive celebrations.

GULAB JAMUN

Gulab jamun is a common sweet found in India, and Nepal. It is made out of fried chenna (milk solids and cheese) balls soaked in sweet rose-water flavoured syrup.

JALEBI OR IMARTI

Jalebi is made by deep-frying a fermented batter of wheat flour with yoghurt, in a circular (coil-like) shape and then soaking it in sugar syrup. Imarti is a variant of Jalebi, with a different flour mixture and has tighter coils. Typically Jalebi is brown or yellow, while Imarti is reddish in colour. Often taken with milk, tea, yogurt or Lassi. In classical Sanskrit literature, jalebis have been referred to as kundalika or jalavallika.

KHAJA

Khaja is a sweet of India. Refined wheat flour, sugar and oils are the chief ingredients of khaja.

It is believed that, even 2000 years ago,[citation needed] Khajas were prepared in the southern side of the Gangetic Plains of Bihar. These areas which are home to khaja, once comprised the central part of Maurya and Gupta empires. Presently, Khajas are prepared and sold in the city of Patna, Gaya and several other places across the state of Bihar. Khajas of the Silao and Rajgir are known for their puffiness.

Khajas have travelled to some other parts of India, including Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Khaja of Kakinada, a coastal town of Andhra Pradesh is very much famous in South India and Orissa. This Khaja is dry from outside and full of sugar syrup from inside and is juicy. Khaja of Puri is also very famous. At first, the batter is of wheat flour, mawa and oil. It is then deep fried until crisp. Then a sugar syrup is made which is known as "pak". The crisp croissants are then soaked in the sugar syrup until they absorb the sugar syrup.

KULFI

Kulfis are traditional South Asian ice-cream, where flavored milk is first condensed and caramelized by slow cooking in presence of a small quantity of rice or seasonal grain flour; once condensed, dry nut pastes and aromatic spices are added, the mix frozen in small earthen or metal cans. This creates one of the densest known form of frozen sweets; it is typically served between -10 to -15 C when they are easier to spoon and eat. It comes in a variety of flavours such as mango, kesar, pistachios, badam (almond), coconut and plain. It is also a street side urban as well as rural India summer time snack and festive sweet, where food hawkers carry around frozen mounds of kulfi in a big earthen pot and play a particular horn music to attract customers. These vendors are known as "kulfiwalla" (one who sells kulfi).

KHEER OR PAYAS

Kheer is a pudding, usually made from milk, sugar and one of these ingredients - vermicelli, rice, Bulgar wheat, semolina, tapioca, dried dates, and shredded white gourd. It is also known as "Payas".

As sweet rice pudding, payas has been a cultural dish throughout the history of India, being usually found at ceremonies, feasts and celebrations. In many parts of India, ancient traditions maintain that a wedding is not fully blessed if payas (or payasam as known in South India) is not served at the feast during traditional ceremonies like marriage, child birth, annaprasan (first solid feed to child), and other occasions. Other than sweet yoghurt, some families include kheer in the last meal, as hospitality and auspicious food, before a family member or guest departs on a long journey away from the home.

LADDU

Laddu (sometimes transliterated as laddoo or laadu) is made of varieties of flour, grains, pulses, semolina, regional or seasonal fruits, dry fruits, and other ingredients cooked with sugar, then shaped into bite-size or larger spheres. Laddu is mentioned in ancient Sanskrit documents as temple offerings, and is referred to as Ladduka. They are popular all over India, easy to prepare, and come in dozens of varieties. Laddu is often made to celebrate festivals, religious ceremonies, or household events such as weddings.

One example of laddu is Motichoor Ka Ladoo. It is a sweet food in states like Bihar, made from roasted gram flour flakes which are sweetened, mixed with almonds, rolled into a batter which is then cast into mini balls and fried in ghee. Every mini ball called 'boondi' has enough sugar that melts like a fresh sweet. The mini balls are then combined with aromatic spices and then formed into bite-size spheres, which are called Motichoor Ka Ladoo. When bit, the mini balls distribute over the tongue for a burst of flavors throughout the mouth. Other examples include Tirupati Laddu so popular that over a million Laddu are distributed every week from a single temple of Lord Venkateswara.

MALPOA

Malpoa is the most ancient homemade sweets of India.[citation needed] It is a form of pancake (made of wheat or rice flour) deep fried and sugar syrup.

NARIKOL LARU

Narikol Laru is a dessert from Assam. They are ball-shaped and made from khoa/condensed milk and coconut, a traditional food during bihu and pujas

PARWAL KI MIHAI

Parwal Ki Mithai is a dry sweet made of the vegetable parwal, a kind of gourd. The shell of parwal is filled with milk solids, then cooked. It is rather popular in Bihar, but also found in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

PATHISHAPTA

Pathishapta is a Bengali dessert. The final dish is a rolled pancake that is stuffed with a filling often made of coconut, milk, cream, and jaggery from the date palm. These desserts are consumed in Thailand as well.

RASGULLA

Rasgulla is a popular sweet in South Asia. They come in many forms, such as Kamalabhog (Orange Rasgulla), Rajbhog (Giant Rasgulla), Kadamba often served with kheer, Rasamundi, Raskadamba, and others. Some are white, others cream, brown, gold or orange colored. They are called Rasbari in Nepal. This dish is made by boiling small dumplings of chhenna and semolina mixture in sugar syrup. Once cooked, these are stored in the syrup making them spongy. Increasing the semolina content reduces the sponginess and hardens them, creating variety of textures. Some Rasgulla are stuffed inside with treats, such as dry fruits, raisins, candied peel and other delicacies to create a series of flavors experienced as they are consumed. Some versions, called danedhar, are removed from syrup and sugar coated into shapes of fruits and other creative designs. These are festive foods found year round, in many parts of India.

RAS MALAI

Ras malai or rosh malai is a dessert eaten in India and Bangladesh. The name ras malai comes from two words in Hindi: ras, meaning "juice", and malai, meaning "cream". It has been described as "a rich cheesecake without a crust. Ras malai consists of sugary white, cream or yellow-coloured (or flattened) balls of paneer soaked in malai (clotted cream) flavoured with cardamom.

SANDESH

Sandesh is a sweet made from fine cheese made from cow's milk kneaded with fine ground sugar or molasses. This is a sweet from West Bengal and Odisha. Revered for its delicate making, and appreciated by the connoiseur, this represents sweet making at its finest. Sandesh comes in two varieties, "Norom Pak" (the softer version) and "Koda Pak" (the harder version). The softer version although more gentle and considered better, is fragile. The harder version is robust and often easier for storage. Molasses made from dates can be used to make a special variation of Sandesh called "Noleen Gurher Sandesh" (a Sandesh made from "Noleen Gurh" or molases from dates) or simply "Noleen Sandesh".

SEL ROTI

Sel roti is a Nepali home-made circular-shaped bread or rice donut, prepared during Tihar, a widely celebrated Hindu festival in Nepal. It is made of rice flour with adding customized flavors. A semi liquid rice flour dough is usually prepared by adding milk, water, sugar, butter, cardamom, cloves and other flavors of personal choice.

SHRIKHAND

Shrikhand is a creamy dessert made out of strained yogurt, from which water is drained off completely. Dry fruits, mango puree, saffron or cardamom and sugar are added to the thick yoghurt to get the desired flavour and taste. It is served chilled. It is a West Indian traditional dish.

OTHER SWEETS

Other traditional Indian sweets and desserts famous throughout the history of Indian food include:

- Mysore pak (a dessert made out of ghee, sugar and chick pea flour),

- Halwa (or Halva in modern English spelling); made out of flour, butter and sugar

- Jangiri

- Jhajariya

- Dharwad pedha

- Karadantu

WIKIPEDIA

Minto Island Growers Organic Farm by NRCS Oregon

SALEM, Ore. – Husband and wife duo Chris and Elizabeth Miller believe that diversifying their farm is the key to success. That’s why their certified organic farm, Minto Island Growers, includes a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) component, in addition to a farm stand, food truck, and service at the Salem Saturday Market. The farm has been in the family since the 1970s. Since 2010, Chris and Elizabeth have worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to obtain financial incentives and conservation assistance to help them maximize the potential of their organic operation. With funding from the NRCS organic initiative, the Miller’s have upgraded their irrigation equipment to save energy and labor costs; installed a seasonal high tunnel to expand the crop production season; planted cover crops, and more. Pictured: Chris Miller and Jarod Seaman, NRCS District Conservationist. NRCS photos by Tracy Robillard.

Ansett-ANA (Australian National Airways) Lockheed L-1011 Tristar by Benjamin Donnelly

Reginald Ansett had made his first fortune building a small ground shuttle business in southern Australia, proving so successful he threatened a government monopoly on rail travel. Fearing the Australian government would shut his ground service down, Ansett diversified into air travel, then in its infancy in Australia. Revenue service with a Fokker Universal began in 1936 and was just as successful as his ground service; he expanded his routes during World War II by taking charters from US Army Air Forces units operating from Australia. This allowed him to acquire several Douglas C-47s from war surplus, putting them into service in 1946.

Ansett’s small service was able to survive in a niche market; postwar, the real competition was between state-owned Trans-Australian Airlines (TAA) and Australian National Airways (ANA), owned by a British consortium. TAA gradually drove ANA out of business by 1957, but the Australian government feared the backlash from a government-owned monopoly. Ansett offered to buy out ANA, an offer accepted in October 1957, and the two airlines became known as Ansett-ANA, until 1968, when it became Ansett of Australia. Both Reginald Ansett and the Australian government ensured that only two airlines would be allowed to operate domestically in Australia—the former by buying up several smaller Australian airlines, and the latter by forbidding the import of any new aircraft into Australia. Ansett was also able to temporarily halt the introduction of jet aircraft to domestic operations, preferring to fly turboprop Vickers Viscounts and Lockheed L-188 Electras.

Reginald Ansett retired in the late 1970s, and Ansett itself was acquired by Australian freight magnate Peter Abeles and British news media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Ansett changed its livery from its previous red-tail-and-delta motif to a stylized Australian flag on an all-white fuselage. The 1970s had seen the airline gradually modernize, finally acquiring jet Boeing 727s. The 1980s proved a time of expansion for Ansett, gradually moving into international operations with the acquisition of Boeing 767s, as well as opening a new subsidiary, Ansett New Zealand, for operations in that nation. This ended in 1995 when Air New Zealand acquired a 50% share of Ansett Australia.

By 2000 Ansett was in direct competition with Qantas both domestically and internationally. Air New Zealand bought out Abeles and Murdoch and owned Ansett directly, fighting off Singapore Airlines’ attempt to buy the airline. Ansett, however, was in trouble: the Australian government had considerably loosened Australia’s air corridors, allowing foreign airlines to fly domestic routes within the country. Facing competition from other airlines, low-cost startups like Virgin Blue, aging aircraft, and maintenance problems (the latter of which grounded Ansett’s 767 fleet in 2001, permanently), Ansett faced bankruptcy.

The situation worsened still when Air New Zealand, also facing bankruptcy, was bailed out by the New Zealand government; New Zealand could bail out its flag carrier or Ansett, but not both. With no money, Ansett collapsed on 13 September 2001, throwing 16,000 people out of work without warning. The Australian government allowed the airline to relaunch on a limited basis in October 2001, with a no-frills Airbus A320 service, in the hopes that it would attract a buyer. This was unsuccessful, and Ansett finally closed down for good in 2002.

From 1957 to 1968, Ansett operated in a dual livery with Australian National Airways, at the insistence of the Australian government, until Ansett was allowed to drop the ANA name. Towards the end of this arrangement, Ansett expressed interest in ordering wide-bodied airliners. In the end, the airline would instead order more Boeing 727s instead, and would not get their first wide-bodies until the late 1980s. The airline never flew the L-1011 Tristar, but it expressed interest in the design, as Ansett had flown L-188 Electras. Had the Ansett-ANA livery remained a few years and the airline operated the L-1011, this is what it would have looked like. As such, this is something of a "what-if."

VH-RME was an Ansett aircraft, but this time, it was a 727. This aircraft shows the hybrid Ansett-ANA livery of the late 1960s.

GP500.Org Part # 41600 windshield fits Kawasaki: ZXR 750 1991 - 1992 by SportBike windshields

GP500.Org Part # 41600 windshield fits Kawasaki: ZXR 750 1991 - 1992

gp500.org

Kawasaki Motorcycle History

Kawasaki emerged out of the ashes of the second World War to become one of the big players from Japan. In the late ’60s and early ’70s, Kawasaki built a reputation for some of the most powerful engines on two wheels, spawning legendary sportbikes like the Ninja series and a line of championship-winning off-road bikes.

1896 The company is founded by Shozo Kawasaki. His firm will come to be known as Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Over time, the company’s principal areas of activity will be shipbuilding, railroad rolling stock, and electrical generating plants. Motorcycles will become a small part of this diversified industrial conglomerate.

1960 Kawasaki signs agreement to take over Meguro motorcycles, a major player in the nascent Japanese motorcycle manufacturing business. Meguro is one of the only Japanese companies making a 500cc bike. In England and the UK, Meguro’s 500 – which bears a strong resemblance to the BSA A7 – is derided as a cheap copy. But in fact, it is a pretty high-quality bike.

1961 Kawasaki produces its first complete motorcycle – the B8 125cc two-stroke.

1962 A series of the two-stroke models from 50-250cc is released. The 250cc disc-valve ‘Samurai’ attracts notice in the U.S.

1966 The 650W1 is released and is the biggest bike made in Japan at the time. It’s inspired by the BSA A10. Over the next few years it will get twin carbs, and high pipes for a ‘scrambler’ version.

1969 Dave Simmonds gives Kawasaki its first World Championship, in the 125cc class

The striking Kawasaki H1 (aka Mach III) a 500cc three-cylinder two-stroke is released. Although its handling leaves something to be desired, the motor is very powerful for the day. It’s one of the quickest production bikes in the quarter-mile. The Mach III establishes Kawasaki’s reputation in the U.S. (In particular, it establishes a reputation for powerful and somewhat antisocial motorcycles!) A wonderful H1R production racer is also released – a 500cc racing bike.

Over the next few years, larger and smaller versions of the H1, including the S1 (250cc) S2 (350cc) and H2 (750cc) will be released. They’re successful in the marketplace, and the H2R 750cc production racer is also successful on the race track, but Kawasaki knows that the days of the two-stroke streetbike are coming to an end.

The company plans to release a four-stroke, but is shocked by the arrival of the Honda 750-Four. Kawasaki goes back to the drawing board.

1973 The first new four-stroke since the W1 is released. It’s worth the wait. The 900cc Z1 goes one up on the Honda 750 with more power and double overhead cams. Over the next few years, its capacity will increase slightly and it will be rebadged the Z-1000.

1978 Kork Ballington wins the 250cc and 350cc World Championships with fore-and-aft parallel-Twin racers (Rotax also built racing motors in this configuration. Ballington will repeat the feat in ’79. In 1980 he will finish second in the premier 500cc class. Anton Mang takes over racing duties in the 250 and 350 classes, and he will win four more titles over the next three years. This is the most successful period for Kawasaki in the World Championship.

Kawasaki’s big-bore KZ1300 is released. Honda and Benelli have already released six-cylinder bikes by this time, but Kawasaki’s specification includes water cooling and shaft drive. To underline the efficiency of the cooling system, its launch is held in Death Valley. Despite its substantial weight, journalists are impressed.

Over the next few years, the KZ1300 will get digital fuel injection and a full-dress touring version will be sold as the ‘Voyager.’ This model is marketed as “a car without doors”!

1981 Eddie Lawson wins the AMA Superbike championship for Kawasaki after an epic battle with Honda’s Freddie Spencer. He will repeat as champion the following year.

Kawasaki releases the GPz550. It’s air-cooled and has only two valves per cylinder, but its performance threatens the 750cc machines of rival manufacturers. This is the bike that launches the 600 class.

1983 The liquid-cooled four-valve GPz900R ‘Ninja’ is shown to the motorcycle press for the first time at Laguna Seca. They’re stunned.

1985 James “Bubba” Stewart, Jr. is born. Kawasaki supplies his family with Team Green diapers.

1989 The first ‘ZXR’-designated bikes reach the market. They are 750cc and 400cc race replicas.

1990 The ZX-11 is launched and features a 1052cc engine. It is the first production motorcycle with ram-air induction and the fastest production bike on the market.

1991 The ZXR750R begins a four year run as the top bike in the FIM Endurance World Championship.

1993 Scott Russell wins the World Superbike Championship, much to Carl Fogarty’s dismay.

2000 The ZX-12R is released – the new flagship of the ZX series.

2002 Bubba Stewart wins AMA 125 MX championship.

2003 Stewart is AMA 125 West SX champ. “What the heck is he doing on the jumps?” people wonder. It’s the “Bubba Scrub.”

In a daring move that acknowledges that only a small percentage of supersports motorcycles are ever actually raced, Kawasaki ups the capacity of the ZX-6R to 636cc. Ordinary riders welcome a noticeable increase in mid-range power, and the bike is the king of the ‘real world’ middleweights.

2004 Stewart wins the AMA 125 East SX title, and the 125cc outdoor championship. There are only one or two riders on 250s who lap any faster than he does on the little bikes.

Just when we thought motorcycles couldn’t get any crazier, the ZX-10R is released. OMG, the power!

2007 Although his transition to the big bikes hasn’t been as smooth as many expected it to be, Stewart wins the 2007 AMA SX championship.

2008 Kawasaki gives the Concours a much-needed revamp in the Concours 14. Sharing the 1352cc engine from the ZX-14, it’s touted as the ultimate sport touring motorcycle.

While they’re at it, Kawasaki also decides to give the Ninja 250 and KLR 650 major updates, after years of inactivity.

www.kawasaki.com/Home/Home.aspx

GP500.Org Part # 42500 windshield fits Bimota: ZX 12 R 2000 – 2001 by SportBike windshields

GP500.Org Part # 42500 windshield fits Kawasai: ZX 12 R 2000 – 2001