Author Archives: Harvey50Gffjqmb

Pumpkins’ biggest threat isn’t Mischief Night or Billy Corgan

by Harvey50Gffjqmb Posted on October 22, 2014

Out of our Gourds

Pumpkins’ biggest threat isn’t Mischief Night or Billy Corgan

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22 Oct 2014 1:53 PM

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Pumpkins’ biggest threat isn’t Mischief Night or Billy Corgan

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California’s neverending drought spares no plant, animal, or holiday tradition. The record-setting dry spell threatens organic dairy, craft beer, grass-fed beef, almonds, lawns, hay, greens, rice, and people who depend on water sources appropriated by bottled water companies. To that list you can now add pumpkins.

Less water has meant smaller pumpkins for some farmers, and heat waves ripened many potential jack-o’-lanterns earlier than usual this year. NBC News’ coverage indicates that our yellow-orange carving gourds aren’t super resilient:

Most pumpkins are grown on smaller farms. And they don’t go far from the fields. Despite their tough exterior, pumpkins bruise easily and are rarely shipped across state lines. Most are sold locally.

Sounds like those early-ripening crops might end up as canned pie filling.

Also, pumping more groundwater to quench parched pumpkins means higher costs for growers. And we know pricier produce isn’t the only problem caused by slurping more aqua from aquifers.

So parents, you may want a stiff beverage on hand while helping your kids carve jack-o-lanterns from red kuri squash this year. Enjoy the ornamental gourd ale.

Source:
California Drought’s Newest Target: The Great Pumpkins

, NBC News.

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Pumpkins’ biggest threat isn’t Mischief Night or Billy Corgan

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Why Can’t We Teach Shakespeare Better?

by Harvey50Gffjqmb Posted on July 16, 2014

Mother Jones

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After writing about a common misconception regarding a particular scene in Julius Caesar, Mark Kleiman offers a footnote:

Like many Boomers, I had to read Julius Caesar in the 10th grade; not really one of the Bard’s better efforts, but full of quotable passages and reasonably easy to follow. (As You Like It, by contrast, if read rather than watched, makes absolutely no sense to a sixt Shakespeare wrote great musicals.) This would have been a perfect scene to use as an example of dramatic irony. But I doubt my teacher had any actual idea what the passage was about, and the lit-crit we read as “secondary sources” disdained anything as straightforward as explaining what the play was supposed to mean or how the poet used dramatic techniques to express that meaning.

This was my experience too, but in college. I remember enrolling in a Shakespeare class and looking forward to it. In my case, I actually had a fairly good high school English teacher, but still, Shakespeare is tough for high schoolers. This would be my chance to really learn and appreciate what Shakespeare was doing.

Alas, no. I got an A in the class, but learned barely anything. It was a huge disappointment. To this day, I don’t understand why Shakespeare seems to be so difficult to teach. Was I just unlucky?

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Why Can’t We Teach Shakespeare Better?

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Michigan GOP: Don’t Say We Don’t Understand Women—We Read Fashion Rags!

by Harvey50Gffjqmb Posted on June 5, 2014

Mother Jones

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Michigan Republicans have been accused of fighting a “war on women” ever since they passed a law requiring women to buy extra abortion insurance if they think they might get raped. Go figure.

On Thursday, three state House Republicans offered this rebuttal, in a tweet posted by Jake Neher of Michigan Public Radio Network:

That’s Rep. Peter Pettalia, Rep. Roger Victory, and Rep. Ben Glardon reading Glamour and Harper’s Bazaar—indisputable proof that they’re in touch with the concerns of today’s modern woman. Eat your hearts out, ladies.

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Michigan GOP: Don’t Say We Don’t Understand Women—We Read Fashion Rags!

Posted in Anchor, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Michigan GOP: Don’t Say We Don’t Understand Women—We Read Fashion Rags!