Tell China: Free Tibetan Filmmaker - The Petition Site

clipped from www.thepetitionsite.com 20,800+ petition signatures: Tell China to release Dhondup Wangchen, who gave a voice to Tibetans under China's rule.

personally the chinese fascists make me want to puke. i try and avoid chinese made stuff even at thrift stores.

Peeps in Places

clipped from blogs.nationalgeographic.com Calling all sugar-crazed globetrotters! It's that time of year again, time to bust your little marshmallow bunnies and chicks out of their cellophane cages to let them explore the world. Yes, it's the return of Peeps in Places, and we're asking our readers to submit their far-flung photos to National Geographic this year in an attempt to create the ultimate global Peeps photo gallery. Our photo editors will be scanning your images and selecting their favorites each week, and we'll be showcasing the best images on the Web. So how do you to get your Peep photo noticed? We'll be looking for creativity and photos that do the most with their sense of place (take a peek at last year's gallery to get an idea of what we're looking for). A sense of humor helps as well. "We want to know what it felt like to be there," says Dan Westergren, Senior Photo Editor at National Geographic Traveler. "And we want to be able to tell by looking at the photograph that the Peep had a good time." clipped from blogs.nationalgeographic.com All Hail Peeps

Get your cameras out and photograph those peeps!

japanese knotweed in uk

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk Insect that fights Japanese knotweed to be released A tiny Japanese insect that could help the fight against an aggressive superweed has been given the go-ahead for a trial release in England. Since Japanese knotweed was introduced to the UK it has rapidly spread, and the plant currently costs over £150m a year to control and clear. This is the first time that biocontrol - the use of a "natural predator" to control a pest - has been used in the EU to fight a weed. Japanese knotweed was introduced to the UK by the Victorians as an ornamental plant, but it soon escaped from gardens and began its rampant spread throughout the UK. It grows incredibly quickly - more than one metre a month - and rapidly swamps any other vegetation in its path. It is so hardy that it can burst through tarmac and concrete, causing costly damage to pavements, roads and buildings. The little insect feeds on the sap of the superweed, stunting its growth.

i'm fascinated by invading alien species, they always find an unoccupied or weak niche.