Free Republic

The Burning Man festival removed a massive pro-Palestine sculpture from the list of art installations set to be on display at the massive gathering this summer. More than 1,000 people signed an online petition demanding the 8-foot-by-14-foot fiberglass watermelon titled “From the River to the Sea” previously listed on the event’s website be removed — but organizers said the listing was only submitted to cause a “stir” and likely won’t be part of the annual festival in the Nevada desert. “The phrase ‘From the River to the Sea’ is more than just words; it is a battle cry that legitimizes...

14% of American adults are affected by chronic kidney disease – and anyone in that category should be very careful about how much watermelon they eat. A new series of case studies examines how a favorite fruit can cause life-threatening issues. There’s nothing quite as refreshing as a slurpy bite of watermelon on a hot day. With the US watermelon season fast approaching, many are looking forward to eating the naturally sweet fruit. And because watermelon is made up of 92% water, nothing in it can cause health problems, right? Not quite. A collection of three case studies recently published...

If you've spent any time at all on social media of late, you've probably caught a glimpse of the food craze known as watermelon pizza. Round slices of watermelon act as the pizza "crust" on which you can add all kinds of toppings whether they be sweet or savory. Sliced into triangle portions, the "pizza" makes for a fun, sweet, and refreshing snack or dessert that the young and young at heart are delighted by. If watermelon pizza is a new but intriguing concept to you, there are certainly plenty of ideas out there on how to prepare it. Think...

There's no question that watermelon is both delicious and nutritious, but new research underscores this nutrient-rich fruit's contributions to overall diet quality and heart health. A study suggests watermelon can increase nutrient intake and overall diet quality in both children and adults. The study analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data and found that total diet quality was higher in watermelon consumers as compared to non-consumers. According to the study, children and adult watermelon consumers had higher intakes of dietary fiber, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C and vitamin A as well as lycopene and other carotenoids, while they had...

A teen eco-warrior is going viral for a live radio interview in which she ripped people flying to vacation hotspots like Fiji — before admitting she’d just got back from that exact trip with her family. Izzy Cook, 16, left NewstalkZB host Heather du Plessis-Allan laughing hysterically with her admission Friday while discussing the Greta Thunberg -inspired School Strike 4 Climate she is leading in Wellington, New Zealand. During the chat, the teen environmentalists pushed a plan for people to have to apply to take gas-guzzling flights and only for approved events. When her interviewer asked if people would be...

The oldest known seeds from a watermelon relative, dating back 6,000 years to the Neolithic period, were found during an archaeological dig in Libya. An investigation of these seeds led by biologist Susanne S. Renner at Washington University in St. Louis reveals some surprises about how our ancestors used a predecessor of today’s watermelon...Scientists generally agree that watermelons came from Africa, but exactly where and when watermelons with red, sweet flesh were first domesticated from their wild form is debatable. The most recent data point to watermelon getting its start in the Nile valley, which is consistent with archaeological evidence.However,...

Cherlisa Starks-Richardson was disappointed when she learned that the beloved children’s museum in her community was selling a “watermelon salad” in celebration of Juneteenth. Starks-Richardson, who often took her daughter to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum growing up, said she expected the museum would be more focused on educating the public about Juneteenth – which celebrates the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans – instead of serving themed foods. To make matters worse, she said, watermelon has historically been used as a racist trope against Black Americans. “People were very offended by it,” said Starks-Richardson, an educator in the Indianapolis area. “Everybody...

Just in time for picnic-table trivia, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences rewrites the origins of domesticated watermelons. Using DNA from greenhouse-grown plants representing all species and hundreds of varieties of watermelon, scientists discovered that watermelons most likely came from wild crop progenitors in northeast Africa. The study corrects a 90-year-old mistake that lumped watermelons into the same category as the South African citron melon. Instead, researchers, including a first author now at Washington University in St. Louis, found that a Sudanese form with non-bitter whitish pulp, known as the Kordofan melon (C....

Many of my friends have long referred to environmentalists as “watermelons” — green on the outside, red on the inside. The idea being, because communism and socialism (interchangeable political/economic systems in practice) have failed everywhere they’ve been imposed, doctrinaire socialist zealots have embraced environmental causes as a Trojan horse. Their goal is simple: use environmental policies as a backdoor way to implement socialist policies in the Western democracies. After all, who doesn’t care about the environment? A recent admission by Saikat Chakrabarti, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) chief of staff, about the much-hyped Green New Deal (GND) reinforces the view socialists...

FULL TITLE: Abortion activist uses watermelon to glorify 'easy' abortion procedure: 'Thank you for watching our abortion' In an act solely meant to glorify abortion, an abortion activist participating at the Netroots Nation conference on Friday used a watermelon to demonstrate how abortion clinicians abort unborn children 11 to 12 weeks old. Abortion clinic consultant Jen Moore Conrow provided attendees with the step-by-step early pregnancy abortion process, according to the Washington Times. Conrow claimed the procedure takes 3-5 minutes and leaves women feeling "OK afterward." Ironically, she did not perform the abortion process herself, but rather left that task to...

Spring weather has delayed the Texas watermelon harvest, casting doubt on the supply ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. Fields across the state are behind schedule due to weather, meaning peak sales for the summer holiday are in jeopardy statewide, growers say. Gary Collins first started growing watermelons 66 years ago. This season, he said, has been “pretty rough.” “Ground was cold, ground was real cold,” Collins said.

Van Jones – CNN Political Commentator, Social Justice Activist, Author, Former Obama Administration Official Date: Tuesday, April 23, 8:00 PM Location: Mountain View, California Center for the Performing Arts Tickets: $40 General Admission; $20 Students Van Jones began his career as an activist in the Bay Area pushing for criminal justice reform. He then moved to focus more on the environment, promoting green jobs as a solution for including disenfranchised communities in the economy while addressing environmental problems. His work in the area, through the nonprofit organization he founded Green for All and his book "The Green Collar Economy," earned...

**SNIP** Now the Sunrise Movement, likely the nation’s fastest-growing climate advocacy group, is planning a 14-stop tour meant to drum up grassroots support for a Green New Deal across multiple states, HuffPost has learned. It’s the first leg of the group’s effort to make the policy the defining issue of the 2020 election. “We’re launching the Road to a Green New Deal Tour to activate the millions of Americans who are ready to fight for a Green New Deal but haven’t heard of it yet,” Varshini Prakash, co-founder of Sunrise Movement, said by email. “When you come out to a...

He was buying a watermelon at Walmart when he fell. Now a jury in Alabama has awarded him more than $7 million. Henry Walker, a retired Army sergeant, got his foot caught in a wooden pallet as he was getting the watermelon at the Walmart store in Phenix City in July 2015, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported. Walker fell and broke his foot and hip. The jury awarded him $2.5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. “It was a fair verdict because Walmart just didn’t care,” said Charlie Gower, the lead attorney for Walker. “They should have...

A group of black firefighters from Detroit are backing their white colleague after he was fired on his first day for bringing a “racially insensitive” watermelon to work. Robert Pattinson, 41, was fired after introducing himself to his fellow firefighters by bringing in a watermelon with a pink bow on top as part of workplace tradition of new recruits bringing in a gift for fellow employees on their first day on the job. *snip* However, a number of black firefighters from the same department reacted to the incident with a big show of support for Pattinson, describing him as an...

A Detroit firefighter was fired before he officially began his first day on the job for bringing a watermelon to work. Robert Pattison, 41, introduced himself to his fellow firefighters at Engine 55 at the corner of Joy and Southfield in Detroit by bringing a welcome gift, WJBK reported. Second Battalion Chief Shawn McCarty calls this welcome gift “a tradition” for Engine 55’s firefighters. “It’s not mandatory, it’s voluntary,” he said. “You come in bearing gifts. The usual gift is doughnuts, but you are allowed to bring whatever you want to bring in.” Pattison, who was a probationary firefighter, decided...

What do households on food stamps buy at the grocery store? The answer was largely a mystery until now. The United States Department of Agriculture, which oversees the $74 billion food stamp program called SNAP, has published a detailed report that provides a glimpse into the shopping cart of the typical household that receives food stamps. The findings show that the No. 1 purchases by SNAP households are soft drinks, which accounted for 5 percent of the dollars they spent on food. The category of ‘sweetened beverages,’ which includes fruit juices, energy drinks and sweetened teas, accounted for almost 10...

Paintings can be a window to more than the outmoded dress and strange customs of the past — sometimes, they have modern-day science lessons to impart, too. That's the case with Giovanni Stanchi’s 17th century still life of fruit, as Phil Edwards points out for Vox — just look for the watermelons. Stanchi’s work, painted between 1645 and 1672 (and now up for auction at Christie’s), includes strange watermelons that look so foreign they could be from outer space in the bottom right corner. If watermelons looked like that in the Renaissance, then why do they look so different today?...

The most luscious watermelon the Deep South has ever produced was once so coveted, 19th-century growers used poison or electrocuting wires to thwart potential thieves, or simply stood guard with guns in the thick of night. The legendary Bradford was delectable — but the melon didn't ship well, and it all but disappeared by the 1920s. Now, eight generations later, a great-great-great-grandson of its creator is bringing it back. The story of the Bradford begins on a prison ship during the American Revolutionary War. It was 1783, and the British had captured an American soldier named John Franklin Lawson and...

For the 45th annual Earth Day on Wednesday, President Obama will elevate global warming to the top of the list of environmental threats currently facing Americans, in a speech at the Everglades National Park. The trip, his first to the fragile but vital "river of grass" that, following decades of human interference now occupies a fraction of its former sprawling range in southern Florida, also comes with a heavy dose of politics. Winning the state will be key for any presidential candidate in the 2016 race, and two leading contenders for the Republican nomination, former governor Jeb Bush Senator Marco...