On the teaching of rules to hydras

[thanate]

Today had a bunch of Nature in it (a bat in the tree outside the bathroom window, giant toadstools in the neighbors' yard) but the pictures are still on grauwulf's camera, since it has the 10x optical zoom, and I have not yet applied myself to the mysteries of decanting pictures from it. However, an object lesson from a week or two ago:


This is the healthy (horribly invasive) Japanese Knotweed from down the road. It is a cheerful plant, taller than I am, full of bushy leaves and vigor, and would probably survive a nuclear holocaust and give the cockroaches something to eat. Why do I think that?


This is the knotweed on my property. I have been dosing it with roundup for two seasons now, consistently removing everything it puts up above ground and immediately dosing the stump with more herbicide, and it still refuses to Die!!! And since this is a plant that will cheerfully re-sprout a new plant from a bit of root the size of my smallest fingernail, it's getting a bit difficult to corral the tiny pieces.