Would you like to have a Broccoli or a Brownie?

Recently I visited Al-Noor Hospital to seek some medical attention for my elder brother’s wife when I happen to read through a poster on the wall comparing a Cup of hot steamy, green, cauliflower-ish Broccoli to a square piece of soft, creamy, chocolate dripping Brownie for their nutritive contents and advantages. As evident as it could be, 1 cup chopped Broccoli had minimum amount of calories and fat per serving when compared to a square piece of Chocolate brownie, with chocolate sauce dripping from its side. I have managed to gather some nutritive data from http://www.nutritiondata.com/ and duplicate the bar-graph depicting the calorie vs. fat.

The very end of the poster read in big red fonts “... HEALTH MATTERS MOST, YOU DECIDE?” Well looking at that poster it really did not leave much of a choice for anyone to decide over a Brownie or a Broccoli. After going through the poster i was set aback onto why anyone would chose Broccoli over Brownie. Yet, I feel that I should bring about justice to this dilemma and present analysis on Health and Taste for you to decide.

Health Wise:

One could find enormous data on the internet and even contemplate themselves the nutritive advantages and disadvantages of Broccoli over Brownie. Since out of my experience, it is relatively easy to comprehend graphical data rather than tabulated valves, I have opted to use graphical notation to help you better understand and make sound judgment. From one of the sources over the internet (http://www.nutritiondata.com/) detailing the nutrient content is as follows:

Brownie:

A brownie of the Nutritional Target Map is located on the lower left hand-side indicating less nutrients and less filling, that is one would need to eat more brownies to have their stomachs filled and even more to fulfill their daily nutrient intake.

A brownie on the Caloric Ratio Pyramid is located on the Top right side indicating High content of Fat, Carbohydrates and Less content of Proteins, that is small serving shall fulfill more than your requirements of carbs and Fats.

Broccoli:

Contrastingly, a broccoli on the Nutritional Target Map is located on the Top Left Corner indicating More Nutrients and More Filling that is small servings can make up a complete diet and fill your stomachs too.

On the Caloric Ratio Pyramid it is located on the lower right corner indicating More Carbohydrates and Less Fats and Proteins, you can have as much broccoli as you want without being worried of getting fat.

Well this analysis is self-conclusive that a Broccoli out weights the Brownie is all aspects of complete nutrition, diet and fullness!

Taste Wise

This definitely is the least talked about yet highly imperative criteria that governs the dietary habits of anyone. The Taste effect has not been analyzed in any circumstances yet! I have made an effort to take it out to survey the ‘Taste Effect’ and developed a few statistics based on that.

The survey is conducted on different groups of people based on ethnicity and ages (the number of people from each ethnicity and age group were kept constant as a control) were quizzed a simple Question “Broccoli or Brownie?” and the results charted below:

Ethnicity Test
Out of the lot that was surveyed (Pakistanis, Europeans and Indians) by far almost everyone opted for having a brownie instead of a Broccoli. And surprisingly, the percentage of Indians that wanted a brownie over Broccoli was more than any other ethnicity.

Age Test

The results were then sorted with respect to age and even though the likeness for Brownie was less as the age was higher the percentage ratio was still high for Brownie rather than a Broccoli.

Final Verdict:

It definitely is ones free will; or rather right, to chose a Broccoli over a Brownie, however as statistics reveal most people would prefer to have better tasting food than a more healthier one. Thus, a brownie submerged in dripping chocolate sauce would be more preferred than a soft boiled steamy vegetable like Broccoli.

Oh! Thank you for sorting out the Problem

Today as I read the newspaper I was stunned to notice that there is actually a report released by the emirate of Abu Dhabi that confirmed that the sky-rocketing house rents have been associated to the ever-rising inflation. (Rising rents main cause of inflation)

The humor in this news does get to me that ‘Experts’ have finally deduced that it is actually INFLATION, the root cause to the single most perilous challenge facing the emirate, besides car-parking issues. The other thing that made me pondering was that it seemed incomplete to me as I was done reading it; I was searching for references at the end of it to look in other pages / sections where the rest of the news would be covered. Well I was certainly jolted with hysteria that the experts are actually blaming the increasing house rents for the rising Inflation and secondly, they have not even pointed towards any remedial exercises, let alone proposing a technical and more practical solution.

I, as an abiding citizen, am completely obliged to the extended efforts put together by the ‘Experts’ who have diligently worked towards this report, however, I do believe that there work has not finished, it has just begun. They should come up with practical and proven strategies to fight and overcome these challenges

No(n)-Sense Long March

Almost 1,000 lawyers have set-off hand-in-hand in retaliation against the affrighted President Musharraf in order to have their 49 sacked Judges reinstated through all legal routes, enjoined in a 'Long-March' across the country. The architect of this 'Long-March' has been the most inspiring lawyer who has stood head and shoulders against the regime to have his stance embossed; is Aitezaz Ahsan.

I have recently learned that the Long-March idea has been conceived from the great struggle by a Chinese revolutionist, military and political leader; Mao Zedong who led the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against the Kuomintang (KMF) during the Chinese Civil War. Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai (successor to Mao Zedong) also set out on a 'Long-March' from south to the north for safety of its party and eventually to achieve their liberation against the tyrant Kuomintang, and only one fifth survived the hardships of battle, weather and terrain, thus the name 'Long-March'. as reflected best in an article by Dr. Maoeed Pirzada "Making sense of the long march of lawyers" "...Pakistani lawyers are advancing from the south, in air-conditioned sport utility vehicles, enjoying the hospitality of Pakistan's largest provincial government- Punjab- in full glare of 24/7 electronic media against a besieged President Musharraf and the PPP-led federal government in the north that is hiding itself behind red, blue and yellow shipping containers and barricades."

It becomes so evident that Long-March is more or less a side-activity initiated by the prevailing government (PPP) in order to blind the poor, hungry and frustrated people of its nation from the challenges the country is presently going through. It is a mere cowardly act portrayed to hindsight a common man of the issues he should actually be worried about: rising inflation, insecurity among people, sky rocketing food prices, not to mention the shortage and the list is endless.

The Power of Faith and Oil

The article ‘The Muslim World and the invaluable use of Oil’ by Debbie Menon (23^rd May, 2008) has very comprehensively enlightened a common man of the ‘Invaluable’ yet much undermined strength the Arab world possesses and how its collective force can drive its non-well-wishers on their back foot. However, the answer to the question she posed forward; ‘When will the Arab Leaders wake up to the power of big Oil...?’ still lingers in the mind of every man who has thoroughly thought through the scenario.

As I thought of a rational explanation for such an inquisitive thought, the article ‘Reverence for the Holy Quran’ by Sumayyah Meehan (23^rd May, 2008) presented an answer that if acted upon is the remedy for the entire Muslim nation. She spoke of the great stature the Holy Quran hold for a Muslim and great reverence Muslims’ reserve for the Invaluable words from the Almighty. Yet knowingly, they have opted to just have the sacred book wrapped in an expensive silk cloth and placed on the highest level in their homes. The adherence to its laws, submission towards its commandments and observance to its regulations of life has all been forgotten, let alone being followed.

The present condition that haunts, not only the Arab nations, but the entire Muslim world is their detachment from their Faith. The power of Big-Oil can only become an aggressive adversary to its foes if Muslims adopt and absorb the teachings of the Quran in their daily lives. As Willaim Thackarey once said, “Its not the dying for faith thats so hard, its the living up to that’s difficult.

The Muscle Brain

“...Nine, ... Ten, ...Ellllevn” , with short bursts of energy and composed commitment, I had completed my final set, working out my shoulders with sweat drizzling down my forehead and dripping down my nose. I could feel the pain and cramps in my muscles, which not-so-obviously felt good and assured that I was in some serious body-building routine.

As I stood up from my chair and glazed across the room I noticed people from all over the globe, in all sizes and shapes, some with their T-shirt sleeves folded up; either showing off their bulging biceps or making ease for pumping iron, some with no sleeve at all, and other fixing their T-shirts and trousers, tucking them back in and setting them straight, tightening their back support belts, screaming in agony, shouting out numbers; “SEVEN...EIGHT”, working out to their best; completely drenched in sweat and filled with rushing adrenaline. No matter what they work out, how they work out a common psyche that everyone attains while in that brightly lit room with mechanical machines loaded with iron and steel weights placed sequentially in-line, next to one another; is looking BIG and GOOD! Whether they are big or small, hulk or bulk, white or brown, they all have an image in the back of their heads portraying themselves with board shoulders, bulk chest, curvy biceps, stout arms with protruding veins and a six-pack abs. Occasionally, each one of them would fold up their sleeves over till their shoulders, flex their arms and tighten their lips and twist them and nod their heads in acknowledgement and self-appreciation. Some of them look unto their gym-mates and inquisitively question themselves: “what in the world is he doing here?” or sometimes in comparison: “I can definitely lift more weights than him?” or in disgust: “He must be on steroids!” This psyche lingers around the Gym atmosphere and contagious as it is, I found myself dipped into the same pool of thoughts. I guess that is what Muscle does to your brains!

By the end of day, as everyone exist the facility tired and quenching on energy drinks and cold water, they all seem refreshed and stress free and convince themselves that they have indeed worked out the difference.