Hawaiian

Mystery solved.

Not a good analogy. Why? One word. Alcohol!

That's right. The sanctions have frozen one half to two thirds of their foreign currency reserves, which will be drained faster than expected.

China has it's own financial problems and cannot carry Russia for any length of time. If sanctions are not very effective, why was Putin so upset that he mentioned them as one of the reasons for his veiled nuclear threat. The SWIFT sanctions are only partial. Cutting Russia off completely from SWIFT will have a devastating effect and Putin knows this. Russia's foreign exchange reserves can last only so long and then what? The rouble's fall is not over and it may take Putin down with it.

Saw this just now. Oregon Coast Wasabi, the largest wasabi farm in the U.S. By the way, my neighbor buys wasabi tissue cultures from a Vancouver company every 2 to three years.

Wasabi may be grown commercially exclusively in Japan, but is also grown on a small scale in Hawaii. I live in the Volcano area on the island of Hawaii at 4,000 ft. elevation where winter time temperatures can drop into the 40s F. The guy raising the wasabia japonica is also a commercial vegetable farmer. His wasabi plants are watered 4 times a day and he has harvested mature plants. He got the original plants from another Japanese farmer who imported them from Japan. The first ingredient listed on a tube of PREMIUM S&B Wasabi Paste is wasabi. It sells for 3 to four times the price of the colored horseradish. As for preference, it depends on how much you want to spend.