No discussion of the War in Iraq can be complete without a mention of the gravest foe our troops face over there: camel spiders. Compared to them, the jihadists and assorted evildoer loonies are a minor inconvenience. Camel spiders are the demons directing the show. More →

The Tnr wastelands of northeastern Niger were once populated by a forest of trees. By the 20th century, desertification had wiped out all but one solitary acacia. The Tree of Tnr, as it came to be called, had no companions for 400 km in every direction. Its roots reached nearly 40 m deep into the sand. In 1973, the tree was knocked over by a drunken Libyan truck driver. It has been replaced by a simple metal sculpture. More →