Category Archives: Lists
Living with Aspergers Syndrome
I tend to browse through other blogs, I read a great blog the other night Titled My baby will make you uncomfortable and I might laugh. This blog brought back some memories for me. My middle son was exactly the same. he would give strangers and even family members a blank look. Taking his photo was a nightmare he would never smile. He was a chatty chap with family members but you could not get a word out of him around strangers. He would cling to me or hide behind me if strangers were around.Truth be known he rarely smiles even now. In his early years I often wondered what made him tick, as this behavior continued through to playgroup I decided it was time to get some professional advice
After talking to the Doctor he agreed there may be something going on he first sugested Autism. I was then refered to a child psychologist who gave me the following checklist and asked if my son showed any of the following behaviors.
- Social awkwardness / no friends
- Obsessions / focused on one subject
- Lack of eye contact
- Sensitivity to noise / touch / feel of clothing
- Slow to begin talking
- Odd speech / extreme logic / very proper speech
- Anger / aggression / hitting others
- Craves Routine
- Appears lost / in own world
- Flapping hands
- Communication problems or motor skills problems
- Stimming behavior
Well I went through this list and checked of the following behaviours, Social awkwardness, Slow to begin talking, very proper speech, Craves ROUTINE!, Appears lost / in own world, motor skills problems. There were also things not on the list Migraine headaches, unable to handle changes in routines, thought most people hated him, and clumsyness, some of which was put down to poor vision.
After passing all this information back to the therapist she spent a day with him and ran him through a few tests and came back to me with the diagnosis of Mild Aspergers Syndrome. I was stunned as all I knew of this was it was akin to Autism. Well I just had to know more, so after some serious research and chats with the psychologist we went to an occupational therapist who worked on refining his motor skills, now they were not off by much and after 6 months he was equal to his peers with his motor skills.
While all that was happening, at home we worked on a fairly strict routine and tried to make any changes known well in advance. Weeks before school started we had him up early and went through what would be his morning routine. This helped a lot when it was time for him to go to school. We discussed school at length and contacted the school prior to find out their routine and incorporated it into family life. This may seem extreme but I must say it made the transition to school a whole lot easier. Letting the school know of his problem made it easier on the school and by keeping them informed we were able to keep him in main stream schooling.
He was fixated on the military, anything to do with the Army, Navy or Airforce worked great, we got a lot of positive reinforcement from a packet of soldiers. When he completed tasks on his own we would reward him with a much wanted soldier, it was inexpensive and worked great. In no time he could be given a task and could go and do it.
As time went on he became more flexible. He could accept slight changes to his routine, the migraines lessened and he was doing well at school. He loved to play practical jokes on all of us this gave him great joy and he would laugh at our demise. We grew to expect the unexpected from him. He was extremely literal and locgical at times so returning the prank did not go down well. Most times he took it personally not as the joke it was intended.
He has grown a lot over the years, as kids do, but I’m not talking about his size. I’m talking about his self esteem and his ability to accept change in his routine. Mostly he takes it in his stride. Sometimes there is an issue but talking it out and explaining the situation usually solves that problem. He has grown into a wonderful young man who can tell a great joke but dont play a joke on him that still doesnt go down too well. In general he has a few close friends and is now dating. He still tends to take things personally but he can function on his own on a day to day basis. He can’t wait to get his first job and is a very responsible young man.
On his last visit to the child psychologist she spent some time with him and came back and said he has developed extremely well. She said there may be some issues along they way but over all he will cope really well in the adult world. I tend to agree.
Aspergers sounds scary but really its not that bad, its not all doom and gloom. Some simple changes that don’t really effect the family can make a world of difference to a child with this. Some things can be a challenge but with my son the need to get everything right was very powerful. We worked with that need, gave him the routine that he needed and went step by step from there.
Now dont get me wrong it did have challenges, take sport, now that could be called off for bad weather and of course came the end of the season. Both were trying times for him and us but with love and guidance and some modifications to his routine he got through it, as did the rest of us.
10 Things That May Become Extinct Within Our Lives
We list some of the things that might get extinct in our own lives. Our off springs would be told about them but hopefully they would not get to see them in real. Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come
1. Post office
A post office is the head quarter where all the postal services are dealt with. These services, given by the government for the citizens, include posting, receipt, transmission or delivery of mail. In olden days, post was the prime method of communication between two distant entities. Due to the advancement in electronic media and the advantages it gives, the usage of postage is already at a low. And since the mail is being discouraged (and emails making their way) soon it will be thought that post offices should be discontinued and the space and the man power should be used elsewhere.
2. Cheques
Ever used a cheque? Majority of us have had. But what for those who have never used a cheque ever? They are surviving good as well. The question is how they are surviving when cheques were an integral part of our payment structures. The answer is they are shifting to ATM cards and online backing. Most of the banks today have already shifted to the online system and people can use the internet and the web portal provided by the bank to make payments. Needless to mention that the online system does not make us wait until the cheque gets cleared from the bank.
3. Land line phones
‘Land line phones’ or ‘land line phone connections’ are phone connections that are given by the local telecommunication authorities. There was a time when only a few of the citizens were using this facility. Then came a time when almost every home had a phone line. But due to the introduction of mobile phones, the usage of the land line phones has decreased significantly. Also the demand of every one for being online always and the privacy required by every individual, mobile phones are replacing landline at a rapid speed.
4. CDs and Tapes
Tapes replaced the old records, CDs replaced the tapes and then DVDs replaced the CDS. Putting CDs and DVDs in one category, this medium of data storage ruled for almost 2 decades. Be it audio or video, CDs and DVDs replaced the magnetic tapes almost everywhere. Now at present day, already CDs and DVDs are being discouraged and flash memory is on the rise. How long would it take before CDs go extinct? Just a matter of years now!
5. Wrist watches/Diaries
Mobile phones affected the land line phones, talked on that topic already. What other things we DO NOT need to carry once we are carrying our cell phone? The facilities a normal cell phone has include a clock for sure. Why carry a watch then? Most of the people around have already stopped wearing a watch, especially the ones who used a watch just for checking the time (not as a symbol). The same goes with diaries as well. Most of us save out contacts and address in the cell phones. Who needs a separate book for that now?
6. Newspaper
It is said that a perfect breakfast has to include the daily news with whatever you are eating. But do we really need a paper print of the news for that? If we are good enough to use the computer for all the other activities, why do we need a print out version of news? By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a day. Calculate the amount of paper and ink wastage. Till when the world would bare all that? Newspapers will soon be replaced with websites that offer daily news for free.
7. Books
Like news papers, books also would be replaced with the e-versions. There were people who used to say that no one would let go a physical book, that one can hold in his hand. But then, when we compare the price of the two, it is not far away in time that people start going for the much more cheaper e-books then spending almost 10 times more to get a hard copy. Especially with so many gadgets being introduced like the iPad and Tabs, reading from an e-book does not seem so difficult.
8. Television
Televisions might not totally get extinct any time soon but how much long would it take for a human being to realize the amount of time we actually waste while watching the television. With cable rates being sky rocketing and a commercial break after every 4 to 5 minutes, it is not very far away that people start looking for online streaming options.
9. Music
This is undoubtedly the saddest part of the story, Like a slow poisoned victim, the music industry is dying at a slow rate. Not just because of the privacy and the illegal downloading, also the fact that 40% of the downloads these days are traditional music. This is because the lack of chances for the innovative new music.
10. Human Privacy
When was the last time, that you did something was cool and did not tweet about it? Or went to an amusement place and did not write some details on Facebook or Myspace. We are totally addicted to tell our e-social meet up websites to tell/write each and every detail about us. We put in pictures and we share videos as well. We even put our GPS coordinates on the web whenever we use Google Latitude or Foursquare. Ever thought we are killing our own privacy with such acts? Obviously there is no stopping to that now.
http://www.smashinglists.com/10-things-that-may-get-extinct-within-our-lives/
10 Lies Parents Tell Their Children
Parents are the most awesome people we know since the day we born till the day we die. Because they know every single bit about us and know what’s best for us at all times. According to a survey, parents tell their children white (harmless) lies to protect them from harm, or to make their kids happy or to protect their child’s innocence. But some lies are just told to get themselves (parents) from getting into certain difficulties. SmashingLists provides a list of top 10 lies which are told to the kids by their parents, and some of them might be very familiar to almost all the readers.
10. Eat Your Vegetables
Eat your vegetables, if you want to be big and strong like a hulk. This lie has been told to almost every kid. Parents tell all sorts of stories and mumbo jumbos to get their kids to eat vegetables, fruits and nutritious stuff that kids do not want to eat due to their taste. The most common and classic statement was and still is about eating spinach (or other vegetable), if you don’t eat it you are never going to be strong and big. Whereas in reality vegetables can only go so far, however genetics play a huge role in how big or strong a kid is really going to be. Luckily the kids don’t know this, or nobody might be able to get them to eat any healthy foods.
9. Ice cream van
Remember when the ice-cream man used to visit your area and had put on a rather “permanently stuck in head” kind of song, what did your mom use to say to you? You know when he puts on that song it means he doesn’t have any ice cream left. And some parents tell their children that the ice cream man is really a “Kidnapper”, who will kidnap the children and take them away. Now I don’t know why parents tell this specific lie to their children, I mean what harm can an ice-cream do? You may have to spend a few extra bucks but it’s going to bring smile to your kid’s face.
8. Stop making faces or…
Many children have the urge of making faces to other kids or people just to annoy them, but this gives so much pleasure to the kid who is making faces. Such children are then told a white lie that if they keep on making faces like that, God will make their faces permanently like that. This eventually stops majority of the kids from doing so. This lie however is a generally accepted one since manners are the basic principles to teach your child and making faces, even though is fun for the kid, isn’t so much fun for anybody else.
7.”I know everything”
After a parent says the above mentioned line to their kids, it results in two of the possible ways. One is that the kid would think of his/her parent as a “Super Hero”, who knows and can do everything more precisely anything, which would eventually make him/her proud. Whereas the other reaction which can take place is that he will start to think of his parent as a weirdo or something because he will have the image that his parent is a sore loser because a single person can’t know everything. Well the child cannot be blamed if his maturity is limited. A parent should consult some other means in those matters of which they don’t know anything about.
6. How was I born?
The type of the children generally known as “The Curious Kids” always ask questions and mostly really silly and stupid ones, but they can’t handle it because of their young/pre-mature age. Their questions start with Who, What, Why, When but never really end. Mostly I have seen kids asking their parents, “Mommy/Daddy, where do babies come from?” or, even more difficult question, “Where did I come from?”, now parents choose to answer these types of questions in a variety of ways. The straightforward, honest answers would probably be the best but one might not be mature enough to understand what it really is, that is why many parents rely on lies and legends to explain this phenomenon to their child. The most common answers given are according to the age of the child, some parents tell them that “you were brought to us by a stork” or “your mommy went to the hospital and brought you home”. If the age of the child is more than a toddler he/she might not buy the idea of a stork, but I’m sure that there are other ways to answer these kinds of questions before the kids learn the reality.
5. Legendary characters
When we were kids, we had often been told of various characters at various occasions in our lives. Those characters were introduced to us by our parents as a fun fact may be or to make our childhood a bit dreamy or something. The most common characters were Santa Clause, Tooth fairy, Sand Man etc. which came along with their own “Legends”, such as Santa clause brings gifts to the children on Christmas, tooth fairy takes your 1st baby teeth and leave some money, and sandman puts sand in the eyes of children so they could sleep. These stories were really fascinating at the appropriate age. But when one comes to know about the reality it kind of sucks. But there are good memories worth remembering. So this lie cannot be considered as a lie.
4. The runaways
This heart-breaking lie is told to the kids who love their pets too much, or do not know the meaning of death. When the parents tell their children that their cat/dog ran away it literally doesn’t mean that it ran away from home, unless they mean that they ran away to heaven. This is a straightforward lie which in my opinion should not be told to a child because the loss of loved ones is the experience every person gains, it is best to know about it from the beginning, so in the future the person can embrace himself/herself.
3. This is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you
This is the most stupid statement I have ever heard yet I kept on hearing this from my parents (when I was a kid) and still do when other people tell this to their children. I mean how stupid do they think we are? Whenever I had to take an injection, or had gotten all upset over a thing, or got punished, or had something taken away from me, my mother used to say this to me all the time, “This is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you”. But as a kid we could never have understood it. We knew that obviously it won’t hurt her, but we were wrong. Maybe it won’t hurt her physically, but emotionally it does. It does to every mother who sees her child in pain. So my advice to the parents will be that please don’t say that to your child, because already we are so aching in pain that after hearing this it is totally un-bearable.
2. The Trap
The following line is considered as the deadliest trap a parent could ever set for their child, to spill the truth from their mouth, “if you tell me the truth, you won’t get in trouble”. Little do the innocent kids know about not getting into trouble, but they do, and the punishment depends upon how much trouble the child has caused. Almost every parent has told this lie to their child. And yes, may be telling the truth will get them in less trouble than they already are in. But they are still getting in trouble, no matter what. When kids get old enough to realize this lie / figure this whole trap out, they become pretty good liars themselves.
1. Mommy and Daddy are taking a nap
This is my personal favourite lie told to the kids. It might have been told to me as well but that’s for me to know and you to figure out. But I’m pretty sure it has been told to you as well. At that age no kid can understand it and it is best not to try making them understand. Yes Mommy and daddy are in the bedroom, but no, they might not be sleeping. Remember when you were told not to enter the room without knocking/getting permission while the door is closed? What goes on behind closed doors doesn’t have to be shared with young ones, right? Obviously as kids get older and mature they usually figure out why the bedroom door is closed.
http://www.smashinglists.com/10-lies-parents-tell-their-children/
Top 10 Nostradamus Predictions that Have Come True
Michel de Nostredame (14 or 21 December 1503 – 2 July 1566), usually Latinised to Nostradamus, was a French apothecary and reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become famous worldwide. He is best known for his book Les Propheties (The Prophecies), the first edition of which appeared in 1555. Since the publication of this book, which has rarely been out of print since his death, Nostradamus has attracted a following that, along with the popular press, credits him with predicting many major world events.
10. The Great Fire of London
“The blood of the just will be demanded of London,
Burnt by the fire in the year 66″
“The blood of the just will commit a fault at London,
burnt through lighting of twenty threes the six:
The ancient lady will fall from her high place,
several of the same sect will be killed.”
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall. It threatened, but did not reach, the aristocratic district of Westminster, Charles II’s Palace of Whitehall, and most of the suburban slums. It consumed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and most of the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated that it destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the City’s 80,000 inhabitants.
9. French Revolution
“From the enslaved people, songs, chants and demands,
The princes and lords are held captive in prisons:
In the future by such headless idiots
These will be taken as divine utterances.”
“Before the war comes,
The great wall will fall,
The King will be executed, his death coming too soon will be lamented.
(The guards) will swim in blood,
Near the River Seine the soil will be bloodied.”
The French Revolution (789–1799) was a period of radical social and political upheaval in French and European history. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years. French society underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from liberal political groups and the masses on the streets. Old ideas about hierarchy and tradition succumbed to new Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights.
8. Rise Of Napolean
“PAU, NAY, LORON will be more of fire than of the blood,
To swim in praise,
the great one to flee to the confluence.
He will refuse entry to the Piuses,
The depraved ones and the Durance will keep them imprisoned.”
This One Is Again One Of the famous prophecy of nostradamus in which he directly mentioned the name of person. If The letters PAU, NAY, LORON are re-arranged it becomes “Napaulon Roy”,or napoleon bonaparte, one of the most famous emperor of france.In this quatrain Nostradamus mentions about the rise of napoleon and describe napoleon as “more of fire than of blood”.The ‘Piuses’ of the third line are the Popes Pius VI and Pius VII, who were both imprisoned by Napoleon as is implied by the last line.
7. Louis Pasteur
“Lost, found, hidden for so long a time,
the pastor will be honored as a demigod:
Before the Moon finishes its full period
he will be dishonored by other winds.”
Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments supported the germ theory of disease. He was best known to the general public for inventing a method to stop milk and wine from causing sickness, a process that came to be called pasteurization. He is regarded as one of the three main founders of microbiology.
6. Adolf Hitler
“From the depths of the West of Europe,
A young child will be born of poor people,
He who by his tongue will seduce a great troop;
His fame will increase towards the realm of the East.”
“Beasts ferocious from hunger will swim across rivers:
The greater one will cause it to be dragged in an iron cage
When the Germany child will observe nothing.”
The ‘beast’ is interpreted as Adolf Hitler and the German army, crossing over to capture France, he was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party, commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and served as head of state as Führer und Reichskanzler from 1934 to 1945. Hitler is most remembered for his central leadership role in the rise of fascism in Europe, World War II and The Holocaust.
5. Second World War
“The two greatest ones of Asia and of Africa,
From the Rhine and Lower Danube they will be said to have come,
Cries, tears at Malta and the Ligurian side.”
The prediction of the Second World War and the rise of Hitler, is one of his greatest predictions of all time. World War II was a global military conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, which involved most of the world’s nations, including all of the great powers: eventually forming two opposing military alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million military personnel mobilised. In a state of “total war,” the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by significant events involving the mass death of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it was the deadliest conflict in human history, resulting in 50 million to over 70 million fatalities.
4. Atomic Bombings
“Near the gates and within the cities
there will be two scourges the like of which was never seen,
famine within plague, people put out by steel,
crying to the great immortal God for relief.”
This is clearly a description of plague and famine causing much death – not nuclear attack. In order to make this fit, people often translate it abominably. One example is line three which can be found to be rendered thus: “Intense in torment, an incredible proportion of human lives ended”. The only possible connection could be “steel” – but in the time of Nostradamus this would most likely have meant weaponry of some sort.
3. Death of the Kennedy Brothers
“The great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt,
An evil deed foretold by the bearer of a petition.
Another falls at night time.
Conflict at Reins, London and a pestilence in Tuscany.”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was fatally shot while traveling with his wife Jacqueline, Texas governor John Connally, and the latter’s wife, Nellie, in a Presidential motorcade. 5 years later, The assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, took place shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles, California. In the same year of 1963, students rioted in the cities of London and Paris and also there was a huge flood in Florence in 1968, which led to fear of plague or pestilence in the city.
2. Death of Princess Diana
“The penultimate of the surname of Prophet
Will take Diana [Thursday] for his day and rest:
He will wander because of a frantic head,
And delivering a great people from subjection.”
On 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died as a result of injuries sustained in a car collision in the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel in Paris, France. Her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, Princess Diana’s boyfriend, Dodi Al- Fayed – the son of a person named ‘Mohammad’ and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz W140, Henri Paul, were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Fayed’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, was the only survivor. Although at first the media pinned the blame on the paparazzi, the crash was ultimately found to be caused by the reckless actions of the chauffeur, who was the head of security at the Ritz and had earlier goaded the paparazzi waiting outside the hotel. An eighteen-month French judicial investigation concluded in 1999 that the crash was caused by Henri Paul, who lost control of the car at high speed while under the influence of alcohol, which may have been made worse by the simultaneous presence of an antidepressant and traces of a tranquilizer in his body.
1.Nine Eleven
“Volcanic fire from the center of the earth
will cause trembling around the new city:
Two great rocks will make war for a long time.
Then Arethusa will redden a new river.”
“In the year 1999, in the seventh month,
from the sky will come the great King of Terror,
bringing back to life the great King of the Mongols.
Before and after, Mars to reign by good fortune. “
The mention of “New City” ,”Center of earth”(world trade center) and “Towers”(Twin Towers) is somewhat believed to be related with 9/11 Attacks.Arethusa is believed to be another anagram used by nostradamus,which many connect to “Laden”. On that morning, the plane hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both towers collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. There were no survivors from any of the flights.
http://www.smashinglists.com/top-10-nostradamus-predictions-that-have-come-true/
Top 10 Poisonous Fruits
Almost every single day we eat fruit produced from plants that carry lethal poisons. Most of us think that eating fruit can be nothing but healthy but there are hidden dangers in many common foods. Poisons that make you sick, paralyze and even kill you lurk behind some of our favorites. Most of the time we don’t need to be concerned, but occasionally people accidentally kill themselves by unwittingly eating the wrong part of a plant or a wrong fruit altogether. In order to ensure that this never happens to you, I have put together a list of the 10 poisonous fruit you have to be careful dealing with!
10. Almonds
Almonds a dry fruit (it is not a nut as many people would have you believe). It has a unique taste and its excellent suitability for use in cooking have made it one of the most popular ingredients in pastry kitchens for centuries. The most flavorsome almonds are bitter almonds (as opposed to “sweet” almonds). They have the strongest scent and are the most popular in many countries. But there is one problem: they are full of cyanide. Before consumption, bitter almonds must be processed to remove the poison. Despite this requirement, some countries make the sale of bitter almonds illegal (New Zealand regretfully is one of them). As an alternative, you can use the pip from an apricot stone which has a similar flavor and poison content. Heating destroys the poison. In fact, you may not know that it is now illegal in the USA to sell raw almonds – all almonds sold are now heat-treated to remove traces of poison and bacteria.
9. Cashews
Though really seeds and not nuts, cashews grow inside of a shell-like structure that grows on a fruit. When buying “raw cashews” in the store, take note that these nuts have actually been steamed and are not entirely raw. This is because raw cashews contain urushiol, which is the same chemical that you’d find in poison ivy. It can cause the body to have a very similar reaction to one experienced from poison oak or ivy. If a high level of urushiol is ingested, it can be deadly. Cashew poisoning is rare, but those who handle them in order to manufacture them to get the shell off sometimes experience the side-effects.
8. Cherries
Cherries are definitely one of the most versatile fruits. You can eat them raw, cook them, bake them, and get them tart or sweet. Cherries can even be used in certain types of liquor. Despite their overall red goodness, cherries are toxic. If you’ve ever eaten a cherry and without thought chewed on the pip or left it in your mouth, you more than likely introduced hydrogen cyanide into your body. If a cherry pip is chewed, crushed, or somehow damaged, it automatically produces hydrogen cyanide. Symptoms of mild poisoning include headache, dizziness, confusion, anxiety, and vomiting. Larger doses can lead to difficulty breathing, increased blood pressure and heart rate, and kidney failure. Reactions can include coma, convulsions, and death from respiratory arrest.
7. Asparagus
Asparagus is a vegetable that gives fruit! Yes, a vegetable that gives fruit, a poisonous one, didn’t get it? Well, because by definition vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant. So the vege part is not poisonous and is eaten, but the fruit is. Asparagus has been used from early times as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its delicate flavour and diuretic properties. The fruit is a small red berry 6–10 mm diameter, which is poisonous to humans.
6. Tomatoes
First off, a little interesting trivia: in the US, thanks to a US Supreme Court decision in 1893, tomatoes are vegetables. In the rest of the world they are considered to be fruit (or more accurately, a berry). The reason for this decision was a tax on vegetables but not fruit. You may also be interested to know that technically, a tomato is an ovary. The leaves and stems of the tomato plant contain a chemical called “Glycoalkaloid” which causes extreme nervousness and stomach upsets. Despite this, they can be used in cooking to enhance flavor, but they must be removed before eating. Cooking in this way does not allow enough poison to seep out but can make a huge difference in taste. Finally, to enhance the flavor of tomatoes, sprinkle a little sugar on them. Now we just need to work out whether they are “toe-mah-toes” or “toe-may-toes”.
5. Apricot
Apricots might not be toxic themselves but if you ingest the seeds along (in larger doses), they are. Seeds or kernels of the apricot grown in central Asia and around the Mediterranean are so sweet that they may be substituted for almonds. The Italian liqueur amaretto and amaretti biscotti are flavored with extract of apricot kernels as well as almonds. Oil pressed from these cultivars has been used as cooking oil. Apricot kernels can sometimes be strong-tasting and bitter. They feature in recipes for apricot jam, and Italian amaretto cookies and liqueur. Taken in excess, they may produce symptoms of cyanide poisoning, including nausea, fever, rash, headaches, insomnia, increased thirst, weakness, lethargy, nervousness, various aches and pains in joints and muscles, a drop in blood pressure. It is known for containing amygdalin, a toxic cyanogenic glycoside.
4. Jatropha Fruit
Jatropha is a drought resistant perennial shrub or small tree that produces seeds up to 35 years but can live up to 50 years. Jatropha grows fast with little or no maintenance and reaches the average height of about 3 meters but it can grow up to 8 meters. Since the Jatropha plant’s average height is about three meters, harvesting is easy and the plant can be grown practically anywhere (ordinary soil, sandy, gravely or rocky soil) and adapts easily to different climates. Jatropha is resistant to droughts -it can stand up to two years without rainfall. The tree also has a short gestation period, it will bear a several fruits starting at about 6 months old and be fully fruit bearing between one to two years. The sufferers will be mostly then in areas affected by drought. The seeds of this genus are also a source of the highly poisonous toxalbumin curcin. Despite this, the seeds are occasionally eaten after roasting, which reduces some of the toxicity. Its sap is a skin irritant, and ingesting as few as three untreated seeds can be fatal to humans.
3. Daphne
It is a deciduous shrub growing to 1.5 m tall, it is very poisonous for people, though fruit-eating birds like thrushes are immune and eat them, dispersing the seeds in their droppings. Daphne mezereum is very toxic because of the daphnetoxin present especially in the berries and twigs. If poisoned, victims experience a choking sensation. Handling the fresh twigs can cause rashes and eczema in sensitive individuals. Despite this, it is commonly grown as an ornamental plant in gardens for its attractive flowers.
2. European Spindle
The fruit is poisonous, containing amongst other substances, the alkaloids theobromine and caffeine, as well as an extremely bitter terpene. Poisonings are more common in young children, who are enticed by the brightly-coloured fruits. Ingestion can result in liver and kidney damage and even death. There are many other species of Euonymus, many (if not all) of which are also poisonous.
1. Apple
An apple a day will keep the doctor away. Unless you eat the seeds. Like cherries and other fruits, they contain cyanogenic glycosides causing cyanide. Seeds from one apple will not likely cause an effect but people have eaten enough to die from it.
Spot of fun with a Dash of Serious 