A tribute to Diego Maradona (1960 - 2020)

RIP Legend | Old is Gold | Kuch Bhi Baba

Diego Maradona: reaction to his death

Former Real Madrid player and Agentina team mate to Maradona, Jorge Valdano, has written an moving and eloquent piece for the Guardian. Valdano was a member of the Argentina team that lifted the World Cup in 1986 thanks to the mesmorizing exploits of the number 10.

"Those who screw up their faces sneering as they contemplate the latest incarnation of Maradona, the one who had difficulties walking, struggled to talk, embraced [the Venezuela president Nicolás] Maduro and did whatever he felt like, would be better off abandoning this farewell which embraces the genius and absolves the man. They will not find a single reproach here because the footballer had no flaws and the man was a victim. Of whom? Of me or of you, for example, who at some moment must have eulogised him pitilessly.

"There is something perverse about a life that fulfils all your dreams and Diego suffered the generosity of fate like no other. The terrible, terminal journey from human to myth divided him in two: on the one side Diego; on the other Maradona. Fernando Signorini, his fitness coach, a sensitive, intelligent man who may well have known him better than anyone else, used to say: “I would follow Diego to the end of the earth; I wouldn’t follow Maradona to the corner.”

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Argentine soccer player Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona, in full Diego Armando Maradona, (born October 30, 1960, Lanus, Buenos Aires, Argentina—died November 25, 2020, Tigre, Buenos Aires), Argentine football (soccer) player who is generally regarded as the top footballer of the 1980s and one of the greatest of all time. Renowned for his ability to control the ball and create scoring opportunities for himself and others, he led club teams to championships in Argentina, Italy, and Spain, and he starred on the Argentine national team that won the 1986 World Cup.

Maradona displayed football talent early, and at age eight he joined Las Cebollitas (“The Little Onions”), a boys’ team that went on to win 136 consecutive games and a national championship. He signed with Argentinos Juniors at age 14 and made his first-division debut in 1976, 10 days before his 16th birthday. Only four months later he made his debut with the national team, becoming the youngest Argentine ever to do so. Although he was excluded from the 1978 World Cup-winning squad because it was felt that he was still too young, the next year he led the national under-20 team to a Junior World Cup championship.

Maradona moved to Boca Juniors in 1981 and immediately helped them gain the championship. He then moved to Europe, playing with FC Barcelona in 1982 (and winning the Spanish Cup in 1983) and then SSC Napoli (1984–91), where he enjoyed great success, raising the traditionally weak Naples side to the heights of Italian football. With Maradona the team won the league title and cup in 1987 and the league title again in 1990. Maradona’s stint with Napoli came to an end when he was arrested in Argentina for cocaine possession and received a 15-month suspension from playing football. Next he played for Sevilla in Spain and Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina. In 1995 he returned to Boca Juniors and played his last match on October 25, 1997.

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Madonna trends online after people thought she died instead of Maradona

A case of mistaken identity for the non-footballing world

Parts of the non-footballing world prematurely mourned the death of Madonna after mistaking news of Maradona's passing as the death of the queen of pop.

Madonna started trending on Twitter on Nov. 26, 2020, after news broke that the Argentine great Diego Armando Maradona had died at age 60. Social media users thought the Like A Prayer singer had died -- mistakenly or purposely, no one can tell in this day and age of epic trolling -- when in fact it was football superstar Maradona who had passed away.

Maradona died of a heart attack, having undergone brain surgery earlier this month. He will be accorded a state funeral after the Argentina president declared three days of official mourning. Twitter was filled with RIP messages for the singer, 62, before there was a surge of tweets pointing out it was the sports star who had died.

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The link between getting old and chilli

Can't eat too much spicy food these days?

t wasn’t so long ago when slurping up spicy ramyeon (the spicier, the better) on a weekly basis and digging into the cheeses of a charcuterie platter did not faze you – or your digestive system – even a little bit.

But as more candles appear on your ice cream birthday cake, well, you may even have to reconsider eating said cake if you don't want to make a beeline for the bathroom after a slice.

Eating is one of the greatest pleasures in life, and you might feel like your body has let you down when your gastrointestinal system starts to turn in a less-than-stellar performance as you age. So, what is happening to you?

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Outercourse Is The New Sex

Here Are Fun Ways To Try It

Getting it on with your guy doesn’t always mean getting it in

So you’ve been dating someone for some time now and a discussion about sex has come up. While you’re in love with your guy and feel like the time is right to take your relationship to the next level, you’re not sure if you’re ready to have sex with him just yet.

There’s nothing unusual about wanting to delay intercourse. In fact, an increasing number of men and women are putting sex on the backburner for a variety of reasons – some say they don’t feel comfortable having casual sex and would rather wait for the right partner to come along, while others believe that sex is a major commitment that’s best saved for marriage. Many young people also don’t want to deal with sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy – two of the many consequences of having sex with someone.

There are no statistics for Singapore, but in the US, experts have found that sexual activity among young Americans is on the decline. One study, out of Indiana University and Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, and published this June in the medical journal JAMA Network Open, found that the percentage of sexually inactive 18- to 24 year-old men increased, from 18.9% between 2000 and 2002 to 30.9% between 2016 and 2018. Women were affected too, with the percentage of sexual inactivity most pronounced among those aged 25 to 34.

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The Ultimate Arthritis Diet

Mediterranean Diet Benefits

One of the most common questions people with arthritis ask is, “Is there a special arthritis diet?” While there’s no miracle diet for arthritis, fortunately, many foods can help fight inflammation and improve joint symptoms.

For starters, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts and beans but low processed foods and saturated fat, is not only great for overall health, but can also help manage disease activity. If this advice sounds familiar, it’s because these are the principles of the Mediterranean diet, which is frequently touted for its anti-aging and disease-fighting powers.

Studies confirm that eating foods commonly part of the Mediterranean diet can do the following:

Lower blood pressure
Protect against chronic conditions, ranging from cancer to stroke
Help arthritis by curbing inflammation
Benefit your joints as well as your heart
Lead to weight loss, which can lessen joint pain

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Wax On Apples & Fruit waxing

The Myths And Facts About Wax On Apples

We've all heard that saying, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away."

Apples are supposed to be one of the healthiest fruits on the market but are they also dangerous for you?

Certain videos popping up online would have you believing they are not only dangerous, they could cause cancer.

All you have to do is type "apple" and "wax" into the YouTube search bar and hundreds of search results will load.

The people in the video pour boiling hot water on apples, wait a few minutes and you'll see the apple appears covered in wax. The narrators then go on to make claims about the dangers of eating the wax-covered apples.

What’s true is that apples are in fact covered in wax.

But there isn’t enough research to conclude the wax on the fruit is dangerous.

“There’s a natural wax that apples produce, really to protect the apple itself from moisture-loss,” said Ben Chapman, an associate professor and food safety specialist at North Carolina State University.

According to Chapman and agriculture experts at the Food and Drug Administration, the wax is the apple's natural way of protecting itself from mold, germs and bruises.

The natural wax also makes the apple shiny and keeps germs from getting inside.

“If you're seeing some wax on many fruits and vegetables, it may be naturally occurring or it may be something that's added,” Chapman said.

It’s no secret Apple growers might even add more wax to the apple’s natural wax depending on the variety of the apples, how old the apple is before harvest and storage conditions.

“It’s a fully regulated food additive,” Chapman explains.

And it’s also perfectly safe according to the Food and Drug administration.

The food-grade wax is made from several products including vegetable-, petroleum-, beeswax-, or shellac wax or resin.

And it usually takes a drop or two on the apple to do the job.

“Like with anything, too much of something can become a problem that's why we have regulations in place,” Chapman said.

And part of that FDA regulation means produce shippers and supermarkets are required by law to let you know if your apple has been coated in food-grade wax.

If you're concerned, you can watch for the labels, or just stop by a local farm and pick one right from the tree without the added wax.

Again, food specialists, researchers, as well as the FDA all say the added wax on apples is perfectly safe.

Many other fruits like plums and pears produce a natural wax, too.

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Fruit waxing

Fruit waxing is the process of covering fruits (and, in some cases, vegetables) with artificial waxing material. Natural wax is removed first, usually by washing, followed by a coating of a biological or petroleum derived wax. Potentially allergenic proteins (peanut, soy, dairy, wheat) may be combined with shellac.

The primary reasons for waxing are to prevent water loss (making up for the removal in washing of the natural waxes in fruits that have them, particularly citrus but also, for example, apples) and thus retard shrinkage and spoilage, and to improve appearance. Dyes may be added to further enhance appearance, and sometimes fungicides. Fruits were waxed to cause fermentation as early as the 12th or the 13th century; commercial producers began waxing citrus to extend shelf life in the 1920s and 1930s. Aesthetics (consumer preference for shiny fruit) has since become the main reason. In addition to fruit, some vegetables can usefully be waxed, such as cassava. A distinction may be made between storage wax, pack-out wax (for immediate sale), and high-shine wax

A number of sources list the following as produce which may be waxed before shipping to stores:

• apples
• avocados
• bell and hot peppers
• cantaloupes
• cucumbers
• eggplant
• grapefruit
• lemons
• limes
• mangoes
• melons
• nectarines
• oranges
• papayas
• parsnips
• passion fruit
• peaches
• pears
• pineapple
• plums
• pumpkins
• rutabaga
• squash
• sweet potatoes
• tangarines
• tomatoes
• turnips
• yucca

The materials used to wax produce depend to some extent on regulations in the country of production and/or export. Both natural waxes (carnauba, shellac, or resin) and petroleum-based waxes (usually proprietary formulae) are used, and often more than one wax is combined to create the desired properties for the fruit or vegetable being treated. Wax may be applied in a volatile petroleum-based solvent but is now more commonly applied via a water-based emulsion. Blended paraffin waxes applied as an oil or paste are often used on vegetables

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