James Pruitt 🟠
31.1K posts

James Pruitt 🟠
@jamesdeantx
Hillbilly temperament. Texan attitude.

Children living near Driscoll's strawberry farms have a 38% higher childhood cancer rate than average. But Driscoll's can't be sued for any of it. They don't own a single farm, grow a single berry or apply an ounce of pesticides themselves They are a genetics and marketing company making $3 billion a year, licensing plant patents to over 700 farms and taking a cut. Their president said it himself: "Driscoll's is not involved in the fruit farming" Researchers identified 13 pesticides linked to childhood cancer when sprayed within 2.5 miles of a home. 98.5% of those leukemia-linked pesticides were applied in Watsonville, California (Driscoll's main strawberry operation). - Schools sit just yards from the fields - 41,000 lbs of pesticides applied within 1 sq mi of an elementary school - Pesticides linger in the air for up to 72 hours Driscoll's is currently #1 strawberry in the U.S. Check for pesticide testing on the Oasis app




One of the Odyssey's most important lessons comes when Odysseus and his men encounter the Cyclops Polyphemus. At first the situation does not seem dangerous. They land on an island, discover a large cave filled with food and livestock, and begin helping themselves. Odysseus says they should stay and wait for the owner of the cave, because he expects the man to follow the Greek custom of hospitality. In the ancient world a traveler could rely on that custom almost anywhere. Instead, something very different happens. When Polyphemus returns, he blocks the entrance to the cave with a massive stone and begins asking questions. Odysseus explains that they are travellers and reminds him of the sacred duty to treat guests well. Polyphemus laughs at the idea, and tells Odysseus that Cyclopes care not for the gods or their laws. Then he reaches down, grabs two of Odysseus's men, smashes them against the ground, and eats them. The true horror of the scene is the calm way in which Homer describes it. Polyphemus eats the men as casually as someone might eat bread and cheese. Odysseus has wandered into a world where the rules of civilization no longer apply. Now Odysseus faces a serious problem. He cannot simply kill the Cyclops, because the stone blocking the entrance is so large that only Polyphemus himself can move it. If the giant dies, everyone in the cave will remain trapped there forever. The next evening Polyphemus returns again and devours two more men. This time, Odysseus offers him wine that he brought from the ship. The Cyclops has never tasted wine before and drinks it greedily. When Polyphemus asks for Odysseus' name, Odysseus gives one of the cleverest answers in all of literature: he tells the giant that his name is "Nobody." The wine soon takes effect. Polyphemus collapses into a drunken sleep, and Odysseus and his men put their plan into motion. They sharpen a massive wooden stake, heat it in the fire until it glows, and then drive it straight into the Cyclops' single eye. Homer describes the sound of the burning wood hissing inside the eye like iron plunged into cold water. Polyphemus screams so loudly that the other Cyclopes come running to the cave and ask what is wrong. The giant shouts that "Nobody" is attacking him. Hearing this, the other Cyclopes assume he must be sick or mad, and they leave him alone. In the morning, Polyphemus rolls the stone away from the entrance so his sheep can leave the cave. He runs his hands over their backs to make sure the men are not escaping. What he does not realize is that Odysseus has tied each man underneath the sheep, hanging beneath their woolly bellies. The animals walk out of the cave and carry the Greeks with them. It is a brilliant escape, but Odysseus makes one mistake. Once the ship has sailed safely away, he cannot resist shouting back at the Cyclops. He reveals his real name and boasts about what he has done. Polyphemus then prays to his father, the sea god Poseidon, asking him to punish Odysseus for the injury. That single moment of pride ends up shaping the rest of the Odyssey. Poseidon hears the prayer, and from that point on the sea itself seems determined to keep Odysseus from ever reaching home. His intelligence saves him and his men from certain death, but his pride creates new dangers that follow him for years. Even the cleverest man can ruin his own victory if he cannot resist the temptation to pride... --- Join our online book club and study the classics with us! We are working through the great texts of the Western canon, including the Homeric epics: athenaeumbooks.com/welcome To preserve a culture, you must continually study the books and ideas that created it. If the schools and universities won't teach the great books of the West, we will do it ourselves... We are an independent group funded ENTIRELY by the members of this community. If you'd like to support us, please consider a paid membership. You'll get: - Live book club discussions (biweekly) - Essays to guide you through the books we're reading - The full archive of discussions and essays - Access to the community chat room See you inside!



Physicist Michio Kaku suggests dark matter isn’t matter at all. It is gravity leaking from a parallel dimension.

Tucker’s heated debate with Kevin O’Leary


Disturbing video shows young White child distraught over being White. Child: “This is White people hair.” Mother: “What does that mean? You are a White person.” Child: “I'm not supposed to be White. We're supposed to be black.”

Chinese green manufacturers are abandoning ambitions in the US as Trump's policies sour investments bloomberg.com/news/articles/…




