Odds and ends

Christians detained and beaten in Muslim Indian Ocean nations

This year's gruesome Eid al Adha photos from Gaza. Let's play in the blood!

Desertification conference - Israel saving the world again:

This is a crisis that has actually been defined by the United Nations and World Bank "Millennium Assessment" as the environmental problem which affects more people than any other worldwide.

Israel's climate is of course largely a desiccated one. Indeed 93 percent of its lands are defined as drylands. In 1948, the country's soils showed dramatic deterioration, and conditions were growing worse quickly. The causes involved overgrazing, deforestation and agriculture that was not sustainable. The notion of a 'desolate,' 'neglected' homeland - was not just Zionist propaganda. It was born out by aerial photographs and reports by international soil scientists.

Since that time, however, a combination of grazing regulations, agricultural innovations, ambitious water management projects, aggressive afforestation efforts and a national commitment to making the Negev a productive region produced impressive results. Entire regions have been transformed and for the better.