M.A. Peel, over at her blog, has a big deal post explaining to the world the significance of the scene with the horses that ends the first segment, before the flashback, of Michael Clayton. She does a good job of it too. My point is, why was it needed? I mean, who did not realize what was going on...

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Parakeet hanging upside down and feeding on white berries

I stepped off the bus a couple of days ago and heard the unmistakeable screech of the invisible parakeet. In the Villa Pamphilij and elsewhere I’ve caught glimpses of them flitting high overhead through the umbrella pines. One memorable evening, just after we had moved in here, I happened to be lo...

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I’ve been devoting my morning and evening commutes to catching up with TEDTalks, which had been languishing since last autumn. Yesterday and today I was simply blown away by three in succession.

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... I told you so.

Well, well, well. First documented case of pest resistance to biotech cotton.1

The researchers write in their report that Bt cotton and Bt corn have been grown on more than 162 million hectares (400 million acres) worldwide since 1996, “generating one of the largest sel...

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A succulent plant with red glitter

Perhaps you remember the abomination of the blue(ish) Poinsettia? Well, here’s another, actually foretold in that post, though it talked of gold rather than red.

Hard to credit, isn’t it? Spotted this last week at the local nursery. Left over from Christmas I expect. Why would anyone buy such...

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