10 Awesome Facts About Coffee

#1 Coffee Is Actually A Fruit!

That's right, coffee beans are actually the pits of berries. The coffee berries, sometimes called coffee cherries, are an edible fruit that have coffee beans inside. They are only called 'beans' because of their resemblance to beans.

Did you know you were actually drinking fruit when you were throwing back those lattes? It explains why the Brazilian acai berry shares so many properties with the coffee 'bean'.


#2 Hawaii is the Only U.S. State That Commercially Grows Coffee

Coffee tends to grow better at equatorial climates, so you can't really grow coffee in the contiguous United States. Hawaii, however, has an optimal climate for harvesting java beans.

Hawaii is known for their Kona coffee which is widely exported and popular around the world. As if people in Hawaii didn't have it good enough, they have some of the world's most beautiful beaches and some of the world's best coffee!

#3 It used to be custom in Turkey that if a husband did not provide his wife with coffee, it was grounds for divorce

"Until death or lack of quality coffee beans do you part?" This is an odd requirement, no doubt, but it sort of makes sense, and we bet the required coffee drinking makes for a much happier marriage, anyway!

Thankfully this custom isn't practiced anymore today. Now we live in a world of equality where husbands and wives alike should do the right thing and make coffee for their spouse. Ever made a single cup of coffee for yourself while your significant other was home? Then you've probably also suffered the consequences.

#4 Despite what most people think, an espresso has 1/3 the caffeine of a cup of coffee due to serving sizes

Consider throwing a double- or triple-shot into your favorite beverage, because just one might not cut it for the more hardcore caffeine addicts. Or you could make a Red Eye- a shot of espresso inside a cup of coffee, or as we like to call it, beanception.

Some people actually prefer drinking espresso to drip-coffee or French press for that very reason: you can actually control your own caffeine consumption. So if you're reaching for that late night cup of coffee, try an Americana with 1 shot instead of a whole cup of coffee, you'll sleep much sounder.

#5 Brazil is the world's biggest producer of coffee by a wide margin, followed by Vietnam and Colombia

In fact, in 2011 Brazil produced nearly twice as much as Vietnam and Colombia combined and a third of all of the coffee produced in the entire world. This statistic has remained fairly constant for the last 150 years!

Brazil is also one of the only countries on earth that grows both Arabica and Robusta beans. It should come as no surprise that Brazil is the number one exporter of coffee in the world, and coffee makes up a decent chunk of Brazil's whole economy.

#6 It would take around 100 cups of coffee for a lethal dose of caffeine

Unimaginable. We get the jitters after just two or three cups, so what would cup 90 feel like? Would we be able to fly and fight crime? Probably not, and we definitely don't recommend trying it out!

Most cases of coffee overdose do not come from conventional coffee drinking, but from more, erm, creative ways of consuming coffee, such as coffee enemas. Having that much caffeine in your system could lead to a heart attack or seizure.

#7 There Are Two Kinds of Beans

The two kinds of beans are Arabica and Robusta. The have different tastes and different caffeine content; Arabica beans are more popular around the world. In fact, 70% of coffee drank on earth is Arabica.

Robusta beans grow in different climates and are found largely in Africa and Indonesia. Although most people prefer the taste of Arabica, Robusta has it's fans, and Robusta beans have twice as much caffeine as Arabica!

#8 The drink "Americano"comes from when American GIs in WWII would order their espresso with water because it was too strong

Sort of funny when you think about how tough soldiers are supposed to be: Asking for your hosts to water down their coffee because it's too strong for you definitely isn't the most rugged of requests!

When preparing an Americano, you always pour the hot water on top of the espresso in the glass. If you are instead pouring espresso over hot water you are making a different drink, commonly referred to as a long black.

#9 New York drinks about 7 times as much coffee as the rest of the world

Well, they DO call it the city that never sleeps....maybe this is why? You know, New Yorkers, we've heard it helps if you don't drink any coffee after sunset. Just a tip.

There's some speculation as to why the Big Apple drinks so much coffee; a lot of it might have to do with population density. Since it is such a packed city, there are literally coffee shops everywhere. It also doesn't hurt that coffee is such a large part of the American culture.

#10 Legend has it that coffee was discovered by Ethiopian shepherds who discovered their goats dancing around after eating the beans

How exactly do goats dance? In any case, we're forever grateful for the contribution of these anonymous, possibly-fictional 9th century goat herders; without them, restless New Yorkers would have no way to wake up in the morning!

Bless you dancing goats, for giving us a discovery that's literally better than every other discovery in the history of the world. Every day when you drink your daily cup (or five) of coffee, make sure to get on your knees and thank the goat gods that brought us coffee.

Obama's Stunning Snub

GETTYSBURG – He almost was not asked to speak.

In October 1863, President Abraham Lincoln received the same plain envelope that was sent to hundreds of people, requesting attendance at a dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery here.

 

Col. Clark E. Carr, a confidante of several U.S. presidents and a member of the commission that organized the event, later admitted that commissioners scrambled to send a more personal invitation after Lincoln indicated he would attend.

Asking Lincoln to deliver a “few appropriate thoughts,” Carr said, was “an afterthought.”

You see, the dedication’s real headliner was Edward Everett. A former secretary of state, U.S. senator, Massachusetts governor and Harvard president whose nationwide tour helped to save Mount Vernon as a national shrine, Everett was considered the great orator of his time.

When Lincoln arrived, Gettysburg remained raw from the horrific battle that raged here for three days just five months earlier. More than 70,000 Confederate troops engaged 83,000 Federal troops around this crossroads town; the battle claimed more than 50,000 souls and 3,000 horses, and it changed the course of the war in the Union’s favor.

The bones of dead horses still were strewn over surrounding farmlands; vultures hovered over the landscape, and unburied coffins stood stacked in town.

Lincoln had plenty of justifiable, honorable reasons to beg off from the ceremony: His ten-year-old son, Tad, lay sick with a fever in the White House; the war was going poorly out West; he was locked in a budget showdown with Congress, and his re-election bid looked grim against a general he fired for incompetence a year earlier.

Yet he came to a place underscored with death, tasked with making sense of it all with “a few appropriate thoughts” that gave meaning to the losses and the unbearable sacrifices.

On a brisk, cloudless November day, he stood on the temporary wooden stage after a two-hour speech by Everett who, by all accounts, enthralled the crowd with his pontificating skills.

“Four score and seven years ago,” he began in a squeaky, hard-to-hear voice before a crowd that had gathered from Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and elsewhere.

Three minutes and 270 words later, he sat down, convinced that he missed his mark.

He was wrong.

In nine days, this town will commemorate the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s speech with a ceremony at the same Soldiers' National Cemetery featuring the U.S. Marine Band, Governor Tom Corbett, and a reading of the Gettysburg Address.

One person who will not be among those honoring Lincoln is President Barack Obama.

The White House gave no reason why the president would not attend.

According to the National Park Service, Obama has never visited the battlefield as president.

In 2008, Barack Obama rolled out his presidential campaign in Springfield, Ill., where Lincoln announced his own presidential candidacy. Throughout that year’s campaign, Obama’s staff embraced similarities between the two men as part of his persona; he allowed them to encourage lofty comparisons – and, after he won the election, he recreated Lincoln’s 1861 train trip to Washington as part of his own inaugural spectacle.

He even took the oath of office on Lincoln’s Bible – twice.

Lincoln brought the country to a revival at an unlikely time with his address. He gave new meaning to the definition of sacrifice in service to the country, for the purpose of the preserving the country.

Lincoln was asked to speak here only as an afterthought. The request for Obama to speak has been sought for more than a year.

It would be an occasion for him to honor a crucial time in our past, to create a historical bridge to today.

His dismissal of the request shows a man so detached from the duty of history, from the men who served in the White House before him, that it is unspeakable in its audacity.

Ask almost any person in this historic town; even his most ardent supporters here are stunned.

Obama long ago veered away from any affinity he may have believed he had with Lincoln, which gives credibility to the criticism that his connection to Lincoln was always a political calculation rather than a true bond.

What do I believe in?

"What do I believe in?"

I Believe

I believe that most people are inherently good.
I believe, when given a chance, most people will do the right thing.
I believe that most Americans will do anything for their families.
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I believe in God the Father Almighty, the maker of the Heavens and Earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.
I believe that he died and on the third day of his death he became alive again so he could wash away the sins with his blood for all who trust and believe in him.
I believe you can have eternal life in Heaven.

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I believe that opportunity is usually disguised as hard work. 
I believe that the free enterprise system is a gift from God. 
I believe that the ability to forgive and forget will set you free. 
I believe that the harder you work, the luckier you get.
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I believe in Liberty.

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I believe in choosing to be happy. 
I believe in accepting responsibility for everything that happens to me. 
I believe that every challenge or obstacle is an opportunity to become a better person. 
I believe that life can be tough, but at the end of the day, life is what you make of it.
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I believe in my Family.

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I believe that evil exists.
I believe in demons and the devil. That they are the reason that evil and sin exist. 
I believe it is my responsibility to protect all that is good from all that is bad. 
I believe in preparing for the worst while expecting the best. 
I believe in the natural-born and inalienable right to self protection. 

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I believe in myself.
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I believe that a gun cannot be good or bad. It is simply a thing. A tool.
I believe that some people cannot be trusted with any type of instrument that can cause harm to anyone or themselves. 
I believe that the founders of our Country used these tools we call guns to liberate themselves from tyranny.

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I believe in being peaceful and avoiding conflicts at all costs.
I believe in fighting as if the lives of my family depend on it...because they do!
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I believe in the power of prayer.
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This is what I believe.

E.S. Ray

Roy’s Folks: Bird Carver

Old Story but great Roy's Folks

Camp Carefree in need of volunteers

STOKESDALE, N.C. — Camp Carefree, which provides a one week camping experience for children suffering from chronic illness, is looking for volunteers.

The organization is in need of male volunteers who are interested in serving as camp counselors. Volunteers must be 18 and provide their own transportation. Previous camp experience is not required.

The camp is also in need of donations including paper plates, cups, plastic utensils, sunscreen, toilet paper, individually wrapped snacks and chips, bottled waters, juice boxes, large and extra-large latex-free gloves, household bug repellent, all-purpose cleaning products, wet wipes, garbage bags, pool toys and life jackets.

To find out more visit the Camp Carefree website or call (336) 856-1591.

CAROLINA SCIQUARIUM VIDEO

Watch Tuesday, July 9, 2013 on PBS. See more from NC Now.

More People Federal Government Food Aid Than Number of Private Sector Workers

The number of Americans receiving subsidized food assistance from the federal government has risen to 101 million, representing roughly a third of the U.S. population.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that a total of 101,000,000 people currently participate in at least one of the 15 food programs offered by the agency, at a cost of $114 billion in fiscal year 2012.
That means the number of Americans receiving food assistance has surpassed the number of full-time private sector workers in the U.S.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 97,180,000 full-time private sector workers in 2012.

The population of the U.S. is 316.2 million people, meaning nearly a third of Americans receive food aid from the government.

Of the 101 million receiving food benefits, a record 47 million Americans participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. The USDA describes SNAP as the “largest program in the domestic hunger safety net.”
The USDA says the number of Americans on food stamps is a “historically high figure that has risen with the economic downturn.”

SNAP has a monthly average of 46.7 million participants, or 22.5 million households. Food stamps alone had a budget of $88.6 billion in FY 2012.

The USDA also offers nutrition assistance for pregnant women, school children and seniors.
The National School Lunch program provides 32 million students with low-cost or no-cost meals daily; 10.6 million participate in the School Breakfast Program; and 8.9 million receive benefits from the Woman, Infants and Children (WIC) program each month, the latter designed for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, as well as children younger than 5 years old.

In addition, 3.3 million children at day care centers receive snacks through the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

There’s also a Special Milk Program for schools and a Summer Food Service Program, through which 2.3 million children received aid in July 2011 during summer vacation.
At farmer’s markets, 864,000 seniors receive benefits to purchase food and 1.9 million women and children use coupons from the program.

A “potential for overlap” exists with the many food programs offered by the USDA, allowing participants to have more than their daily food needs subsidized completely by the federal government.
According to a July 3 audit by the Inspector General, the USDA’s Food Nutrition Service (FNS) “may be duplicating its efforts by providing participants total benefits in excess of 100 percent of daily nutritional needs when households and/or individuals participate in more than one FNS program simultaneously.”

Food assistance programs are designed to be a “safety net,” the IG said.
“With the growing rate of food insecurity among U.S. households and significant pressures on the Federal budget, it is important to understand how food assistance programs complement one another as a safety net, and how services from these 15 individual programs may be inefficient, due to overlap and duplication,” the audit said.

The number of Americans receiving subsidized food assistance from the federal government has risen to 101 million, representing roughly a third of the U.S. population.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that a total of 101,000,000 people currently participate in at least one of the 15 food programs offered by the agency, at a cost of $114 billion in fiscal year 2012.
That means the number of Americans receiving food assistance has surpassed the number of full-time private sector workers in the U.S.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 97,180,000 full-time private sector workers in 2012.

The population of the U.S. is 316.2 million people, meaning nearly a third of Americans receive food aid from the government.


Of the 101 million receiving food benefits, a record 47 million Americans participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. The USDA describes SNAP as the “largest program in the domestic hunger safety net.”
The USDA says the number of Americans on food stamps is a “historically high figure that has risen with the economic downturn.”

SNAP has a monthly average of 46.7 million participants, or 22.5 million households. Food stamps alone had a budget of $88.6 billion in FY 2012.

The USDA also offers nutrition assistance for pregnant women, school children and seniors.

The National School Lunch program provides 32 million students with low-cost or no-cost meals daily; 10.6 million participate in the School Breakfast Program; and 8.9 million receive benefits from the Woman, Infants and Children (WIC) program each month, the latter designed for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, as well as children younger than 5 years old.

In addition, 3.3 million children at day care centers receive snacks through the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

There’s also a Special Milk Program for schools and a Summer Food Service Program, through which 2.3 million children received aid in July 2011 during summer vacation.

At farmer’s markets, 864,000 seniors receive benefits to purchase food and 1.9 million women and children use coupons from the program.

A “potential for overlap” exists with the many food programs offered by the USDA, allowing participants to have more than their daily food needs subsidized completely by the federal government.
According to a July 3 audit by the Inspector General, the USDA’s Food Nutrition Service (FNS) “may be duplicating its efforts by providing participants total benefits in excess of 100 percent of daily nutritional needs when households and/or individuals participate in more than one FNS program simultaneously.”

Food assistance programs are designed to be a “safety net,” the IG said.
“With the growing rate of food insecurity among U.S. households and significant pressures on the Federal budget, it is important to understand how food assistance programs complement one another as a safety net, and how services from these 15 individual programs may be inefficient, due to overlap and duplication,” the audit said.

Snapshots

Snapshots, a set on Flickr.

Around the house!