Originally published on Mon October 15, 2012 10:02 am
In the backyard of an unassuming suburban home in Bethlehem, Pa., is a global cornucopia of botanical heritage. Almost 300 varieties of fig grow here, most of them with roots in Europe, Asia or Africa, and each one collected and propagated by Bassem Samaan, a 34-year-old Lebanese native with an unusually green thumb and an obsession with figs.
Samaan is one of a handful of eccentric gardeners around the world whose goal is to save and preserve rare or unusual fruit varieties — trees that may never have commercial value and which may barely cling to existence.
Originally published on Wed August 22, 2012 4:08 pm
There's word this morning of another wildfire, this time outside the community of Manton in Northern California, where "dozens of buildings, many of them likely homes, have been destroyed," as The Associated Press reports.
Wildfires out West have been a constant topic this summer, it seems, on The Two-Way and other news outlets.
Originally published on Wed August 22, 2012 11:55 am
GOP officials and the Mitt Romney campaign have cut a deal with Texas Rep. Ron Paul's campaign to allow some — though not all — of Paul's delegates from Louisiana and Massachusetts to be seated at the Republican National Convention. The status of Maine's delegates remains unsettled.
The compromise would appear to avert a potential public clash with Paul supporters during the convention's opening day Monday.
Originally published on Wed August 22, 2012 9:17 am
We absolutely, positively will not make a reference to the crown jewels.
Oops, we just did.
It seems that last Friday night in Las Vegas, Prince Harry — third in line to the throne over in England and one of the world's most eligible bachelors — did some "cavorting with two naked women in a Las Vegas hotel room," as the London Evening Standard puts it.
The evening apparently involved some "strip billiards."
The mystery surrounding the death of a rare white buffalo and the claim by some Lakota Sioux in Texas that it had been killed by other Native Americans deepened Tuesday. A local sheriff announced that investigators believe the animal died of a bacterial disease and said the case is now closed.
Police say a man had a knife, and confronted the woman behind the counter when he walked into Pop's Barbecue in New Iberia, La. Rather than just give up the money, she grabbed a pot that was on a counter, and whacked him again and again. The robber ran away.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, left, shakes hands with his choice for running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Monday in in Manchester, N.H.
Originally published on Thu September 20, 2012 10:42 am
When I moved to Philadelphia seven years ago, I was looking to take a ceramics class. Instead I found a wonderful community-minded program in which I've made lifelong friends, unleashed children's creativity and touched their hearts. They in turn have touched mine.