You've Got Mail...Again

Q: Dear e-Filer of Knowledge,

From old people jokes to pictures of Obama not pledging allegiance to the flag...where do forward e-mails originate from? Who sits down and decides, "I'm going to create this e-mail that will be forwarded across the world"?

From,

Over-stuffed inbox

A: Dear overwhelmed, oversold, overpitched and overemailed patron of the 100 Hour Board,

There are three main theories attributed to the source of most email forwards, and it is up to the reader (or the 100 HB's bottomless well of knowledge) to find the answer.

1. The emails all originate from sham companies in Nigeria. If you've ever received an email addressed to "Dear most honorable sir" regarding hidden funds, inherited wealth and a need to wire money you know what we're talking about. Given the shear volume of these emails, it is quite possible all email forwards come from Dr Klement Okon III esquire.
2. Emails may or may not be true, but are generated by the Syndicate (the secret government ala X-Files) as an elaborate mass-information / disinformation campaign to generate public interest, concern or to drive policies. This leads to a lot of unclear political and corporate information. Although it may be hard to imagine why a shadow government hiding the arrival of extra-terrestrials are interested in the size of any one's...umm.."endowment".
3. Irma Walton of Ft Lauderdale, Florida. Although that is her alias. But if you happen to be on a certain Aunt's email list - you know what I'm talking about.

On a more serious (ok factual note), your question depends on the content. Of course a lot of scams originate from specific countries (and yes Nigeria tops that list), but scams actually share a lot in common with other emails. They are nothing new. the 419 Nigerian scams began as letters, telexes and faxes long before email became ubiquitous. And a lot of forwards describing laws, companies, politicians, sick people, photos, are old (really old) urban legends or hoaxes that have found new life in the internet age. A quick look at snopes.com will lead the reader to a good number of histories and authentications of these emails.

Even a lot of the political junk we hear about politicians are just recycled, yesterday's news. Some reach back to the muckraker's days. Of course a lot of things are new, and the majority is fake - or at least largely taken out of context. So who writes that? People with agendas. People with little else to do with their time. Probably the same people who think it's funny that scissors come in plastic packages you cannot open without a laser - or at least the scissors you were buying.

But if you ask us at the 100 Hour Board. We'll go with Irma Walton. Although, she may also be the originator of the Nigerian scams too. And now you'll wonder if she's checking for your credit cards the next time she pinches your cheeks.

100HB

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Yes...We Have No Bananas

Q: Dear 100hrb

You've shown time and time again that you truly know all the answers. so i will turn to you for another solution... where do seeds from lettuce, radishes, and carrots come from?

Regards,

a green thumb...

A: Dear Vermilion Opposable Digit,

Ah, we at the 100 Hour Board love when our readers begin thinking more about their food (we also love the unabashed ego-stroking). There is so much wonder to be found in what we eat. Amazing things really. For example, that broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli rabe, cauliflower, etc. are all really just slightly differently developed plants. Man has been at it for quite a while.

So before we get too far, lettuce take a look at your question. A little anatomy is needed first. Plants have roots, stems, leaves and flowers - usually. A vegetable is really the part of a plant we eat that is not either fruit or seed (like wheat or rice). Fruits come from the plants ovary and surrounds the seeds. And then we use herbs (green parts) and spices (non-green parts). Vegetables are leaves, stems, pods, roots, storage vessels, bulbs, etc. Fruits are unique in that they are specifically grown to be yummy, in order to spread seeds. Veggies are things we have either become used to eating (bitterness), or we alter in some way to make them safe (soak, cook, beat, pound, etc.)

So in the case of all vegetables, there is another part of the plant that is an ovary and produces seeds. These then grow into other vegetables. We usually eat around these fruits, or eat the veggie before the flowers/seeds develop. There are few plants to we eat almost everything on it, usually we develop a breed for a specific part. Like beets and chard are the same plants, but we develop them differently to get good, big beets, or large leaves.

Take lettuce then. If left to grow it sprouts flowers - lots of them - this is called bolting. Of course we eat lettuce before it gets to this point, usually. Dandelion greens are delicious, and you are quite familiar with the flower.

Radishes are not roots - although some will dangle off. They are mostly a swollen stem, like a turnip, that isn't starchy like potatoes. But radishes are relatives of the cabbage family (even mustards too - which you may be more familiar with the seeds and flowers). They get flowers too - nice white ones with four leaves.

What does this mean for veggies then? You usually harvest - and kill - the ones you eat, and then dedicate another crop for developing seeds. There are a few perennials - like rhubarb, asparagus (grow from underground rhizomes) and Good King Henry. But many of these are not grown now because it is easier to harvest plants completely than parts of them.

Fruits are perennial, essential to the plants reproduction. So things we think of as having seeds (or eating them) are fruits: peas, beans, tomatoes, squash, artichoke - ok really a flower, etc. Fruits come from the plants ovary - usually in a flower - that has 4 steps: is fertilized (male pollen + female ovule - thank you bees!), fruit development, storage growth and ripening. There are exceptions. And thus are born "seedless" fruits.

Seedless plants are either 1) bred to be sterile - chromosomes prevent seed growth, like melons (though the sterile triploid plant must grow next to the unsterile diploid plant to get pollen) or 2)they are created without fertilization - like bananas, pineapples, grapes and naval oranges.

The issue with seedless fruits is they are a target for parasites or diseases b/c they are usually clones of each other.

Plant cultivation for food is a fascinating topic. We take for granted the years of cultivation, technology, breeding and science in what we eat. The 100 Hour Board for one is very interested in getting their own garden growing. But Community Supported Agriculture is also a good idea.

So - happy eating. Olive you to your food.

100 Hour Board

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