What I read today

I read a lot, about a lot. This is a compilation of what I think might be worth other people reading, and why. Digressions likely, especially into music and cooking.

[rhiannongarthjones]

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[sci]

5 Facts: Intensive Agriculture

Intensive Agriculture - Revolutionising the way we grow crops. Image: Jussie D.Brito

A world with a rapidly increasing population needs a rapidly increasing food supply. However, with a limited amount of land to work with, farmers must maximise agricultural production on the land they have available.

Modern-day intensive agriculture techniques include mechanical ploughing, chemical fertilisers, plant growth regulators, pesticides, biotech, and genetic modification.

1. Crop production has rapidly expanded in the past few centuries

Farming has drastically changed since the time this picture was taken at the California Manzanar Relocation Centre in 1943. Image: Ansel Adams

Worldwide, the amount of cultivated land increased 466% between 1700 and 1980, with global food production doubling four times between 1820 and 1975. In 1940, the average farmworker supplied 11 consumers; in 2006, each supplied 144 customers. Two out of five American labourers were farmers in 1900, but now only one in 50 work in agriculture. In 1830, five acres of wheat took 250-300 hours of work to produce. By 1975, it only took 3¾ hours.

Keep reading

[rhiannongarthjones]

27 July, 2015

A roundup of sensible seeming stuff on UK politics, from 

Will Hutton on quarterly capitalism (there is also a nice piece on Vox about Hillary’s plans to improve the problem on the other side of the pond);

Ben Chu on privatisation; and

Michael Chessum on the Labour leadership election – how I wish I would read these things before I start drunkenly ranting!

[rhiannongarthjones]

7 July, 2015

Small talk is awful, but really interesting and important. I hate small talk. This is great, from Vox.

Journalistic hilarity, courtesy of my boss. Scoop, by Evelyn Waugh, is my current read.

[rhiannongarthjones]

sport = happiness?

I loved this piece on whether sport makes us happy (or sad), and whether that’s the important aspect. 

Having supported Burnley football team since I was 9, I fully agree with the notion that sport can be ‘a preparation for the more serious disappointments life will throw up, a source of empathy when others around us are also struggling emotionally’. And the low expectations that come with being a Burnley fan mean that I still haven’t got over Burnley beating Man City (Man City!) last week. To be quite honest, I’m not sure I’m over that goal from Robbie Blake against Man Utd in 2009...

[rhiannongarthjones]

Speeches & speech: Selma, ‘good’ conservatism, free speech

Obama’s remarks on the anniversary of Selma, and what America stands for. Great stuff. And a lovely quote about music: ‘all the sweet sorrow and reckless joy of freedom’.

Michael Gove’s speech on the Conservative’s as ‘the nasty party’, and a vision for one-nation conservatism. Much more interesting than Theresa May’s famous one on the same theme in 2002, if you ask me.

An argument for limits on free speech – one of the more thought-provoking ones I’ve read post-Charlie Hebdo, although I disagree with it.

[rhiannongarthjones]

hermits, Obamacare, free speech

2 March, 2015

This laconic interview  with my new idol, Don Roberto Place, a not-so-lonely man living in 'the badlands' of Argentina. Everything about this makes me wish I were badass enough to do this, if only for a year. A girl can (and will) dream.

This piece from Vox on the plausibility of a challenge to Obamacare before the Supreme Court, based on an accident in the language around subsidies. A case worth following.

A piece on the brutal death of Avijit Roy, a secular activist in Bangladesh, and a reminder that freedom of speech is attacked regularly outside of Paris and Copenhagen.

[rhiannongarthjones]

Commas, rules for writing, commas

All in one, lovely piece about finding your way, being exposed to great writers, learning to loving commas, and fighting (righteously) for the Oxford comma. See how I just used it? It's great. Here's another reason to use it:

JFK clearly made a better hooker. Just sayin'. All of this and more, in The Queen of Commas, from The New Yorker.

[rhiannongarthjones]

Maps, language, liberalism, more language, and letters.

Mid-afternoon map is one of my favourite sites, and this is a lovely piece by its author on the King-Crane proposals for the middle east (as opposed to the eventual Sykes-Picot).

The rest are from a while ago now, but I've been lazy about updating.

Jonathan Chait's piece on the illiberalism of political correctness, which I found fascinating, and a nice (and calm) review of its pros and cons.

This piece from Malcolm Gladwell on Atticus Finch and Southern liberalism is quite old now, but it's still a great read by a great writer – whether or not you agree (Atticus is something of a personal hero).

Interactive fun times on language used in state of the union speeches.

Lastly, two great ways to be inspired*:

The Public Domain Review and Letters of Note.

*procrastinate

[rhiannongarthjones]

#AdviceForYoungJournalists

An overview, from start:

Felix Salmon, Fusion, the old skool journo (I have to say, I don't think 'Capital has realized that it has an advantage over Labor, and that its advantage is here to stay' is much of a new development, Felix, but the final two paragraphs are a pretty neat summary);

To that hidden in a hotchpotch of Greek Mythology (always good) at the WP;

A more modern take from Ezra Klein, at Vox, with a brilliant sign-off. His references to the older generation of journalists just makes me imagine a grumpy Aaron Sorkin ranting about new media;

To some nice, concise commandments from Laurie Penny at the New Statesman – I have to say, I like the recurring advice of 'read', and 'learn';

And a rosier view from Slate, which also makes the obvious (but unsaid elsewhere) point that journalism has never been an easy way to make a living;

To, lastly, a roundup of advice starting from 1902.

[rhiannongarthjones]

The dog ate my homework – honest, miss.

Marginally less convincing (if funnier) than 'I've been sick, miss'. I really have, though, and that's the only excuse I can offer for having done no French homework for the past two weeks. I was doing really well, up to level 8 on the Duolingo app but then my brain went all floofy and I could not for the life of me remember how to say 'I am a whale' in French (I'm not joking, that is one of the first things the app teaches you).

However, despite this lack of commitment to my professed target, I have finished Benny's book. And I have to say, despite my difference in attitudes towards language learning, I really enjoyed it. Surprisingly, and gratifyingly, he even accommodates people like me, who really do just to want to look at some verb tables and conjugate them (I can't help myself, I can't feel confident in a language without being able to reel off verbs, amo, amas, amat-style). 

Basically, Benny seems to say that you can learn a language pretty much whatever way you want, as long as your approach doesn't make you lose your passion for the task in hand. Which is great, because it allows me to justify my little break (as long as I pick it back up again. Which I will. Honest, miss). 

On a practical level, it is a book full of handy tips. In addition to the foundation stuff of his approach (talking, as much as possible, even if you're wrong, to a native), there is some great advice on apps, courses, phrasebooks, laddering, and cognates (an area I particularly enjoyed, being a word nerd). 

Most interestingly, his advice on using apps, and setting targets to motivate yourself have – perhaps accidentally – pushed me into a little gentle competition with a friend who is also learning French via Duolingo, from the same level. I'm not normally competitive at all, but having company as you progress is quite nice, and dangles the prospect of practising together at some (hopefully not alarmingly soon) stage. 

All in all, it's been a pretty positive experience, despite my inability to focus over the last fortnight. I've kickstarted my desire to re-learn French, forced myself into a position where it would be embarrassing to quietly drop it, and picked up a lot of useful suggestions. 

Merci beaucoup pour l'aide, Benny Lewis, et au revoir. (See, I did learn something slightly more useful than 'je suis une baleine'!) A fairly successful #31days2015 for me, I think.

[rhiannongarthjones]

As I watch the West Wing...

15 January, 2015

...I am reading this piece saying that Congress is much more powerful than the Presidency, and Paul Ryan knows it.

[rhiannongarthjones]

Fluent in 3 months

After reading the first 120 pages of Benny Lewis's Fluent in 3 Months, I feel I should start with a confession: this book isn't really aimed at me. I was one of those annoying kids who was good at languages at school. I picked up Latin at university (didn't like it, and wasn't great at it, but I did learn it). I have a good memory (or I used to). I'm not intimidated by languages. I hate speaking nothing but English when I travel, and do my best to learn at least enough to show willing, however short the stay.

That said, I can't remember any of the French I learned at school, or the German (and the less said about Latin, the better). I haven't done more than learn 'enough to show willing' for some time now. I keep saying that I want to relearn French, without making any attempts to do so. 

And anyway, Benny's two key tenets seem to be enthusiasm and immersion. And I'm all for that. So, armed with his enthusiastic advice (plenty more to go) and some of his recommended apps (Duolingo and AnkiDroid flashcards), I'm kicking off my attempt to relearn French. And, as he demands, I've picked a target: CEF level A2/B1 by the end of January (Benny says I should be more specific, but I'm not sure how quickly – if at all – it will come back to me, so I'm going to adjust my target when I have a clearer idea).

Now let's just hope I don't end up like this:

#31days2015 here I come!

Rhiannon Garth Jones

[rhiannongarthjones]

The Hobbit, Cuba, US Presidential race, oil

18 December, 2014 (The Atlantic and fivethirtyeight – a lazy day's reading):

Two pieces on The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, which make me even more certain that I don't want to see it: it's finally over and nobody has ever stretched so few words into so many (pointless, battle-filled) minutes.

This brilliant interview with Tolkien from 1968.

American and Cuban-American attitudes towards the embargo have changed.

Dynastic politics in the US, and why a Jeb Bush candidacy could end badly for Hillary Clinton.

The conventional wisdom on oil is always wrong (the same could be said about an awful lot of 'conventional wisdom', I suppose).

[rhiannongarthjones]

16 December, 2014

Not the finest piece of writing from the New York Times, but pretty interesting stuff about the decline in divorce rates.

A lovely piece on the simplicity and beauty of #illridewithyou as a reaction to the Sydney siege, as well as a piece on why it isn't enough.

The Newsroom is over. This summarises my feelings better than anything else I've read on it – it was trashy, but I loved it because I love the idea of smart people trying to make things better, however badly it was (often) done.

[rhiannongarthjones]

Musical digression, 11 December, 2014

Fairytale of New York, the best Christmas song ever.

Which, frankly, does the song a disservice. It's just one of the best songs ever. That it managed that while being a song for Christmas is less commented on than its other virtues: the hilarious-then-heartbreaking-then-uplifting lyrics, the rousing tune, the everyman quality, the fun of drunkenly singing so many insults arm-in-arm with your parents, that deceptive simplicity that took two years to perfect.

Perfect.

Watch it here.

[rhiannongarthjones]

10 December, 2014

More proof that political satire is a lost cause – poll suggesting Conservatives would actually do better under AV at the next election.

A nice roundup from fivethirtyeight.

Most and least effective forms of birth control. Cheery reading from the NYT; but great graphs.

Amongst others, Margaret Hodge asks Ursula Brennan, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, about the £300m cut in legal aid. Queue: awkward responses from poor Ursula, as she faces Labour's most popular and, currently, ferocious, politician and tries to explain that the evidence for the cuts was that, well, the Government wanted them... (Transcript of the Public Accounts Committee session last Thursday. Not always the most fascinating reading, but this is worth a go).

Rhiannon Garth Jones