This week, and in light of the Israeli/Hezbollah war, we'll discuss war.  Is war ever just?  Are there rules of war?  If so, what are they?  What happens if they are violated?  Are there ever any beneficial outcomes from war?  These questions and more, including these items:

• In environmental news, Yao Ming swears off shark fin soup, and Lebanon's environment is another casualty of war
• In politics, a conservative pastor breaks ranks with the Republican Party - and watches his congregation shrink, Republicans put the Green Party in business in Pennsylvania, and Iraqi kidnappers reach out and touch some Americans
• In science, intelligent design goes down to defeat in - of all places - Kansas
• And in energy, some hungry big money flows into alternative energy, Vail Resorts goes wind power, Detroit repeats its sorry history, and California hits speed bumps trying to kick oil

My thanks also to Brandt Mannchen of the Sierra Club for taking me Tuesday on my first ever tour of The Big Thicket an hour northeast of Houston.  Little remains of the original forest that greeted settlers in the 1800's, but what does made me "pine" for what was lost: ancient, towering trees of an astonishing variety rarely seen in one place - beech, native magnolia, cypress, cedar, oak, sycamore and of course, pine, all commingling in a quasi-rain forest we should be proud to protect in Houston's backyard.  I encourage you to get involved with not only saving, but expanding the Thicket.  Contact Brandt to find out how you can help.