God's Secret Weapon: Attack of the Christian Tomatoes

As if things couldn't get sadder and scarier in Egypt, now agriculture has been demonized.  The Popular Egyptian Islamic Association has condemned eating tomatoes because they are supposedly Christian.

The group posted a photo on its page of a tomato - which appears to reveal the shape of a cross after being cut in half – along with the message: “Eating tomatoes is forbidden because they are Christian. [The tomato] praises the cross instead of Allah and says that Allah is three (a reference to the Trinity). [God help us]. I implore you to spread this photo because there is a sister from Palestine who saw the prophet of Allah [Mohammad] in a vision and he was crying, warning his nation against eating them [tomatoes]. If you don’t spread this [message], know that it is the devil who stopped you.”

After posting their diatribe on Facebook and receiving uproar over the insane directive, the group was forced to clarify that "We didn’t say you can’t eat tomatoes. We said don’t cut it in [such a way that reveals] the cross shape.”

I hope no one tells the Salafist organization about Jerusalem artichokes.

The Good Ol' Days? Farming With Dynamite

Farming quicker, easier, and cheaper.  That's what is good for the environment, or so we thought. This booklet published in 1910 by the Delaware E. I. du Pont Demours Powder company gives some insights into an alternative to tractors in agriculture practices.  Imagine not having to dig up huge stumps or using those huge horses to till acres of property when you can just blow it up?

Obviously we learned this wasn't best management practices at its best. 

Download a copy of Farming With Dynamite with photos.