This is an Ein Shemer apple being grown at the Great Park Farm + Food Lab. I’m not sure what makes it a lab, nor why they call it an Ein Sheimer apple, but they do. In reality, the apple is named after the Ein Shemer kibbutz, midway between Tel Aviv and Haifa, where it was originally developed in the 1950s. According to their website, the kibbutz is so named because of the settlers’ hope of finding a spring (Ein) at the site, and because it’s situated within the area of the Biblical kingdom of Shemer, king of the Shomron, aka Samarians.

June 22, 2018 — Irvine, California

WE CAME UP SHORT.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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