The jade of Khotan, in western China, has been among the most sought-after, prized above all for its white colour that is famed as sheep fat jade. Jane Macartney in Khotan Smeared with mud and dust, men and women crouch in hollows they have dug on the banks of the river, scratching among the boulders for a stone to make their fortune. And so the wide alluvial banks of the Yarlungkax River are dotted far into the distance with the figures of treasure hunters who have joined a jade rush at...

The students select, feed and groom steers, lambs, broilers, goats or hogs for a year to be judged, graded and sold at the State Fair. She has grown up showing livestock, from goats and lambs to beef. Wednesday and allowed 4-H and FFA students to present their stock and receive a premium for their hard work. In order to earn money at these auctions, they have to go out in the community and get sponsors. She never thought "in a million years" that she would be showing and selling livestock,...

I am an enthusiastic supporter of Chicago's Water Street facility that recycles batteries and other toxic materials that cannot be recycled in blue bags. Until sitting on bamboo mats becomes mainstream, we all need furniture, but it's still possible to furnish & decorate our homes with stuff with zero impact on our physical world. In the fall, we fill with dry leaves from our yard and then start mixing in the raw compost material all fall, winter and through the next spring and summer. Not...

Perhaps it's the horror-movie association of tentacles with all things alien, or classic images of wooden sailing ships or sperm whales locked in combat with a giant squid. Few dyed-in-the-wool carnivores have any issue with the drumsticks, shanks or legs derived from poultry, cattle, pigs and sheep, despite all the skin, fat and connective tissue that send vegetarians screaming to nice, uniform bowls of tofu. But in this part of the planet, far from any ocean, there's something about a...

Tom Bawden in New York Meredith Whitney, the analyst who prompted a $369 billion ( 177 billion) plunge in the value of US shares on Thursday by issuing a negative note on Citigroup, hit out at Wall Street s culture of intimidation yesterday after receiving several death threats from investors in the bank. Tom Bawden in New York Meredith Whitney, the analyst who prompted a $369 billion ( 177 billion) plunge in the value of US shares on Thursday by issuing a negative note on Citigroup, hit...