If you want to pretend that Global Warming is a fabrication, tell that to the inhabitants of the island of Lohachara in India's part of the Sunderbans whose home is now under water. Read more about it at http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122606P.shtml

France has agreed to debt forgiveness (in the amount of the US equivalent of $25 million) in exchange for environmental protection of the Congo River Basin that lies in the Republic of Cameroon. Cameroon is the only country that was part of the Yaounde Summit to actually implement an action plan to protect the area.

More can be found at http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2006/2006-06-23-03.asp

So get this. The EPA has put forth a proposal that would allow factory farms to decide for themselves if the animal waste coming from their farms is a hazard to lakes, rivers, and streams.

On June 15, 2006, President Bush signed a proclamation that would designate the Northwestern Hawaiin Islands a national monument. That gives the area immediate and permanent protection, a goal long sought after by environmentalists and Native Hawaiins of the region. No offense, but I'm used to Bush flapping his gums about the environment but really using it to help his cronies. I nearly spit out my drink when I read this. I even looked for the catch. None found yet! Even Ed Case, a Democrat Congressman whose district is in this area, was ecstatic. More information can be found here http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2006/2006-06-15-03.asp

I hate reading things like this...

Tribal Travels

5/19/2006

The Nukak-Makú have left the Garden. A group of 80 of them recently emerged naked from the Amazon jungle, where they and their ancestors have lived in primitive splendor for thousands of years, and announced they were ready to join the civilized world. Marxist guerillas and cocaine growers apparently were giving them trouble, and besides, the Nukak have tired of spending all day searching for food—hunting monkeys with curare-tipped blow darts and foraging for nuts and berries. “We do not want to go back,” a Nukak named Ma-be tells Juan Forero of The New York Times. “We want to stay near town.” Near town, they’ve discovered, kindly aid workers from the Colombian government will bestow upon them such modern wonders as shoes and pants, refined sugar and white flour, and cooking oil. “The Nukak don’t know what they’ve gotten themselves into,” said Javier Maldonado, a doctor who’s been helping them.

They sure don’t. In short order, I predict, the Nukak will lose their taste for boiled monkey heads, and surrender to the seduction of fried foods, cheeseburgers, and pie. Nukak women who’ve been unselfconsciously naked all their lives will start wondering if they’re fat. Instead of hunting, Nukak men will spend their days shouting at sports events on TV. Nukak teens will begin dressing like hip-hop artists from Los Angeles, refuse to speak Nukak, and lock themselves indoors with a cell phone or an iPod jammed in their ears. Soon, the Nukak will wonder how they ever lived without e-mail, sleeping pills, and Wonder Bras. At the moment, the Nukak have no word for “future.” But unless they quickly return to the jungle, we all know what lies ahead.

William Falk
Editor-in-chief
The Week Magazine

If you need a little help figuring out this new site will all the bells and whistles and buttons and stuff, read on...

It's been a long time since this fun little group had any action! Some of you have either forgotten about us during our down period, or you just weren't vocal enough to send a "Yo, when y'all doin' stuff again?" message our way. However, I'm sure some of you have been waiting at the edge of your seat, gnawing away at what little is left of your fingernails in anticipation of even a little activity within the group. Well, for any one of you, or anyone I forgot, welcome back to Earth's Pillars!