Mexico Works to Protect Monarch Migration

Every year like clockwork, monarch butterflies in Canada pack their bags in September and head to Mexico for their winter break. The annual migration is a huge tourist attraction, and Mexico is working to further support it by expanding their nesting areas and curbing illegal logging in the region. The AP reported:

President Felipe Calderón pledged 4.6 million U.S. dollars toward advertising and equipment for the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, which covers a 124,000-acre (50,000-hectare) swathe of trees and mountains that for thousands of years has served as the winter nesting ground to millions of orange-and-black-winged monarch butterflies.

Calderón said the plan would encourage tourism to an impoverished area where illegal logging has been rampant.

The logging has depleted the foliage where insects – a.k.a. butterfly food – reside. Fortunately, a staff of rangers "equipped with assault rifles and body armor," have been searching for gangs of lumber thieves, and their work has helped decrease logging in the area by 48 percent.

We at IT are glad to hear that tourism was the trigger that inspired Calderón to protect the forests - and the butterflies as a result.

Strange Planet: International Pillow Fight Day

Sea of Pillows - Great San Francisco Pillow Fight 2008

If you ever worried that your childhood is over, fear not: Saturday, March 22, is International Pillow Fight Day. From Boston to Budapest, New York to Hungary, pillow fights are taking over the planet.

Some cities have their own pillow fight tradition. San Franciscans gathered at Justin Herman Plaza near the Ferry Building on Valentine's Day for the annual Great San Francisco Pillow Fight. Photographer Romel Jacinto was there, and has the scoop on this annual San Fran event.

"It was everything I expected to be and more," says Jacinto. "Insanely crowded with several thousand in attendance, a diverse crowd from teens to those in business attire, goose feathers floating like snow, and the sound of pillows being pummeled. The pummeling was all in good fun though and it was heartening to see strangers shake hands after a well-fought exchange of pillow blows."

Check out the International Pillow Fight Day website to see if there's a pillow fight going on in your neighborhood. IT staffers are especially excited about the Washington, D.C., fight in Dupont Circle, just a couple blocks from our office.