From the frontlines of the Bio-Wars, "bio" meaning all things natural and organic, we bring you this week's news round ups of jail sentences, smoking guns that weren't and flowers headed for extinction due to over-harvesting and just plain mishandling.

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Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to 90 days jail time in an L.A. courtroom this week. As this story indicates, her note-taking is clear-headed and threaded with logic, displaying that she is not the air-headed, substance addicted starlet that L.A. law enforcement, the courts, her entertainment handlers and the popular media would have you believe.

She is, in fact, a prime specimen of smarts, talent, beauty and youth. Ripe for harvesting. Harvesting that's easy to achieve in jails and rehab centers.

Lohan might have learned her note-taking skills in high school, where she was a straight-A student who reportedly excelled in science and math.

Her notes about Human Rights Abuses and Cruel and Unusual Punishment are ones that the world must take heed of if we are to maintain a world with some semblance of humanity, organic and natural humanity, still allowed to live and thrive within it.

And just when is the United States going to acknowledge the jurisdiction of and submit to the International Court of Justice?

Over 25% of flowers face extinction – many before they are even discovered

Scientists say human activity could spell end for a quarter of all flowering plants, with huge impact on food chain...

'Climategate' review clears scientists of dishonesty over data

'Rigour and honesty' of scientists not in doubt but Sir Muir Russell says UEA's Climatic Research Unit was not sufficiently open...

The climate scientists at the centre of a media storm were today cleared of accusations that they fudged their results and silenced critics to bolster the case for man-made global warming.

Sea Shepherd man sentenced for whaler assault

Peter Bethune given suspended jail term for boarding Japanese vessel Shonan Maru...Peter Bethune, who was a member of Sea Shepherd, a marine conservation group, was given two years in prison, suspended for five years, amid tight security at the Tokyo district court.

After the verdict, Bethune said he was relieved and thanked his legal team in Japan.

"I am truly sorry for all the trouble and worry this has caused my family and am desperate to get back home to see them," he said. "I also want to thank all the supporters worldwide who have been sending messages and signing petitions, and the media, who have been keeping this story in the public eye."

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The Los Angeles Water Efficiency Workforce Development Program has won Governor Schwarzenegger’s Green Innovation Challenge and will receive $2.5 million in funding over the next two years.

The Green Innovation Challenge is a highly competitive grant process that drew 34 applications from around the state of California. Six projects were awarded funding including two in Southern California. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "These Challenge grants will encourage innovative green companies to train and hire Californians to further our state’s leadership in the green economy.”

Victoria Bradshaw, Secretary of the state Labor and Workforce Development Agency, who presented the awards, said "This is an important opportunity to help put people back to work while giving industries in the green economy the ability to develop training programs that will address their specific workforce needs.”

The Los Angeles Water Efficiency Workforce Development program is a broad workforce collaborative led by Generation Power. Many of these projects will be in the public sector including the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), City of Los Angeles, and other public sector agencies, which have enormous irrigated acreage under management.

The two-year project will survey hundreds of sites across school campuses,
city parks facilities, and other public and private facilities to develop a
rich database of projects suitable for funding with projected returns on
investment. Dallana Acosta, a recent Fremont High School graduate, CSUN
student, and Generation Power team lead, said, “The Green Innovation
Challenge funding will help Generation Power expand our work in water
conservation and energy efficiency and allow us to hire more bright young
students.

Young people, ages 16-24, working for Generation Power found that over 62% of the toilets at LAUSD consume 3.5 gallons (or more) per flush (gpf) compared to LAUSD’s current specification for new toilets of 1.28 gpf. We estimated that the savings in water bills from toilet and urinal retrofits will re-coup the initial materials and labor investment in only four years. There is a lot of opportunity for both water conservation and job creation.”

In addition to project surveys and identification of fundable projects, crews from the Los Angeles Conservation Corps and incumbent workers of the City of Los Angeles will replace water-hungry invasive species with drought-tolerant landscaping. Other technologies and practices including smart irrigation, rainwater harvesting, greywater systems, and stormwater management will also be implemented. Crews will receive training in low impact development from Los Angeles Valley College, the Worker Education & Resource Center, the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council, the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, and other groups. Bo Savage of the Conservation Corps said, “Corpsmembers take pride in environmental stewardship. They are thrilled that they will be able to learn job skills that will make them more marketable for employment in the growing field of water conservation.”

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L.A. Continues Its Bio-Harvest...And More From The Guardian

Over 25% of flowers face extinction – many before they are even discovered

'Climategate' review clears scientists of dishonesty over data