Changing planet revealed in atlas



An atlas of environmental change compiled by the United Nations reveals some of the dramatic transformations that are occurring to our planet.

It compares and contrasts satellite images taken over the past few decades with contemporary ones.

These highlight in vivid detail the striking make-over wrought in some corners of the Earth by deforestation, urbanisation and climate change.

The atlas has been released to mark World Environment Day.
The United Nations Environmental Programme (Unep) produced One Planet Many People: Atlas of our Changing Environment in collaboration with other agencies such as the US Geological Survey and the US space agency (Nasa).

Bush, The Spoiled Man-Child 
What causes the fall of empires? Why, stubborn leaders who speak like toddlers and never admit mistakes
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist


Know what real men do? They admit their mistakes. Know what real people do in times of great stress and strife and economic downturn? They seek help, understand they don't know all the answers, realize they might not've been asking the right questions in the first place.

Know what great leaders, great nations, do at times of war and fracture and massive bludgeoning debt? All of the above, all the time, with great intelligence and humility and grace and awareness and shared humanity. Or they die.

But not BushCo. This is the hilarious thing. This is the appalling thing, still. How can this man remain so blindly, staggeringly resolute? How can he be so appallingly ignorant of fact, of truth, of evidence, of deep thought? In short, what the hell is wrong with George W. Bush?

You are Percy Bysshe Shelley! Famous for your
dreamy abstraction and your quirky verse,
you're the model "sensitive poet." A
vegetarian socialist with great personal charm
and a definite way with the love poem, you
remain an idol for female readers. There are
dozens of cute anecdotes about you, and I love
you.


Which Major Romantic Poet Would You Be (if You Were a Major Romantic Poet)?
brought to you by Quizilla

WARSAW PRIDE BANNED BY MAYOR
Let's show that there is no permission for lawlessness and injustice in Poland, a member of the European Union.


Concerned with the recent declarations made by the Mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczynski, that he would again ban a legal and peaceful Equality Parade in violation of the Polish Constitution, we wish to powerfully state that despite his decision the Parade will take place on June 11.

We can no longer tolerate the humiliation and discrimination of gays and lesbians, and other social groups, by an individual who is running for the highest post in the republic. We can no longer accept the fact that we are treated as second-class citizens only because we are of a different sexual orientation that the dominant one.

Woman who was male worker at college sues over firing
By ANDREW WOLFE, Telegraph Staff


CONCORD - computer programmer Robert Blanchette met with his supervisors at Saint Anselm College to tell them he’d be coming back from a two-week vacation as Sarah Blanchette.

Declaring With Clarity, When Gender Is Ambiguous
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS


Dr. William G. Reiner, a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma and Johns Hopkins, says he is just a "dull guy leading a dull life."

That seems unlikely. A 57-year-old psychiatrist and urologist, Dr. Reiner is a leading specialist in the treatment of children with the intersexual condition, boys and girls born with ambiguous genitaliA.

Trial by Ordeal: The Modern-Day Witch Hunt    


As government repression in general increases, so does the use of the federal grand jury to intimidate, incarcerate and render impotent activists across social movements. In recent years, pressure on the animal rights, environmental justice, anti-war and anarchist movements has increased exponentially. Government officials seem anxious to pin the label “terrorist” on anyone that is effectively campaigning against injustice. At a recent hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, John E. Lewis, Deputy Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division of the FBI, testified that, “Investigating and preventing animal rights extremism and eco-terrorism is one of the FBI’s highest domestic terrorism priorities.”

Photographs From Iraq: May 12 -25, 2005    
Wednesday, May 25 2005 @ 09:10 AM PDT
Contributed by: combat


Americans go on another pointless murderous rampage in western Iraq; Iraqis fight back; and a photographer visits a hospital in Baghdad and finds that U.S. solders still kill unlucky civilians throughout the country. Carbombs continue to wreak havoc on occupiers, collaborators, and random-sometimes not so random-civilians

The Crusaders
Christian evangelicals are plotting to remake America in their own image
By BOB MOSER


It's February, and 900 of America's staunchest Christian fundamentalists have gathered in Fort Lauderdale to look back on what they accomplished in last year's election -- and to plan what's next. As they assemble in the vast sanctuary of Coral Ridge Presbyterian, with all fifty state flags dangling from the rafters, three stadium-size video screens flash the name of the conference: RECLAIMING AMERICA FOR CHRIST. These are the evangelical activists behind the nation's most effective political machine -- one that brought more than 4 million new Christian voters to the polls last November, sending George W. Bush back to the White House and thirty-two new pro-lifers to Congress. But despite their unprecedented power, fundamentalists still see themselves as a persecuted minority, waging a holy war against the godless forces of secularism. To rouse themselves, they kick off the festivities with "Soldiers of the Cross, Arise," the bloodthirstiest tune in all of Christendom: "Seize your armor, gird it on/Now the battle will be won/Soon, your enemies all slain/Crowns of glory you shall gain."

Sudan arrests MSF Dutch chairman for not naming sources in rape report   
D. Wes Rist


[JURIST] The State Crimes Prosecutor for Sudan has ordered the arrest of Paul Foreman, the head of the Dutch wing of Medecins San Frontieres [advocacy website] who published a report in March entitled The Crushing Burden of Rape: Sexual Violence in Darfur which alleged mass rape on the part of the Janjaweed militias, which are reportedly controlled by the Sudanese government. Foreman was arrested and released on bail Monday, charged with the failure to turn over the names of those who gave him the information in the report. Foreman maintains that "medical privilege and patient confidentiality" prevented him from revealing his sources. The lack of reported sources has led the State Crimes Prosecutor to declare the report false and charge Foreman with falsifying the report as well. No date has been set for a trial; if convicted, Foreman could face up to three years imprisonment

AP: Gitmo prisoners told panel about abuse
PAISLEY DODDS
Associated Press


LONDON - One Guantanamo prisoner told a military panel that American troops beat him so badly he wets his pants now. Another detainee claimed U.S. troops stripped prisoners in Afghanistan and intimidated them with dogs so they would admit to militant activity.

Tales of alleged abuse and forced confessions are among some 1,000 pages of tribunal transcripts the U.S. government released to The Associated Press under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit - the second batch of documents the AP has received in 10 days.

Greenpeace row over un-PC prizes
Patrick Barkham
Monday May 30, 2005
The Guardian


Greenpeace's reputation for fighting climate change has been damaged by an embarrassing row over the charity's US arm offering exotic foreign holidays as prizes in a global warming competition.

Romanian gays come under attack
Keith McDonnell, Gay.com UK


The first ever gay parade through the streets of Romania’s capital, Bucharest, took place on Saturday, but was met by fierce opposition.

Approximately 500 Romanian gays and lesbians marched through the capital of this former Communist State but they attracted anger from passers-by who shouted abuse, and booed them.

Group Targets Ford for Promoting Homosexual Agenda
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor


(CNSNews.com) - The same conservative group that recently ended a nine-year boycott of the Walt Disney Company is now organizing a boycott of the Ford Motor Company -- because of Ford's support for the homosexual political agenda, it said.