"The Affected" is a new documentary that chronicles the lives of banana and sugar plantation workers in modern-day Latin America - and has uncovered a startling, ongoing nightmare: an epidemic of kidney failure among sugar workers, possibly related to pesticide exposure. The work the filmmakers have been doing has led to the killing of one crew member, and threats on the lives of others. You can read more about "The Affected" - and learn how you can help - 
Everybody knows what "going bananas" means: you've just turned plain cuckoo. But what are the origins of the phrase? Strangely, even the most authoritative source on Anglo etymology, The Oxford English Dictionary, isn't sure. The first known usage of the term has been credited to a 1968 academic publication, which noted that Kentucky college students were saying it.
It seems difficult to believe that such a common phrase could be less than four decades old. But there's some sense to the notion: it was during the late 1960s that rumors spread across university campuses that roasted banana peels had psychedelic properties, and that ingesting them could lead to hallucinations similar to ones brought on by LSD or psilocybin ("magic") mushrooms. (It isn't true, folks.) The reference to students in the OED entry - at least to me - gives weight to the argument that the phrase may only date back to the era of freak-outs, flower children, and free love.
Oxford suspects that the term is older.
Earlier this year, placed "going bananas" on its official "Balderdash and Piiffle Wordhunt" list, a compilation of lexicographical items whose provenance is still mostly unknown. The dictionary's editors, along with the BBC, which cosponsors the "hunt," ask the public if they can trace the beginnings of the terms further back in time. In the case of "going bananas," the request seeks "verifiable evidence before 1968" or "information on the origins of the phrase." The reference source goes on to ask:
"Did you go bananas before 1968? It's one of many fruity terms associated with mental incapacity, like fruitcake and crazy as a coconut. But what's so mad about a bunch of bananas? The OED would like you to set their minds at rest by providing them with earlier datable evidence."
Other words on the list include "regime change," which currently dates back to 1990; and "kinky" (1959.) When it comes to bananas, the clock may already have been pushed back. The hunt has revealed that in 1957, a newspaper in Ohio used the term "bananas" - without the verb - to describe a crazed lawbreaker. Not quite the same, but close.
LSD is one of the best ways to get an hallucination, of course mushrooms as well, but the easiest way I believe is by LSD, a friend of my try it and he told me that it is an incredible ride, but in order for a good trip the mood plays a key role.
Posted by: buy viagra | August 13, 2010 at 08:46 AM
Your weblog brings me a whole lot of fun. Very glad to have the possibility to meet you. Take ralax and give your self a surprise, and we will live far more delighted.
Posted by: Rakeback Poker | January 02, 2011 at 04:03 AM