Septembre

Basic information on the use of jatropha plant for biodiesel production.

Additional information from Wikipedia and in a recent NY-Times article.

Good articlem, giving an update on how much the situation in Darfur is out of control. I've got no idea how this nightmare of this AK47 fueled machismo can be stopped...

"If you are about to visit Paris and want to try a new experience, a Paris Greeter will help you enjoy Paris as Parisians do.
The Paris Greeters are local Parisians who volunteer their time to share with visitors the districts of Paris they know and love so well. They will introduce places and insights into Parisian life that are not always found in the published tourist guides.

All our volunteer Greeters have a love of Paris and willingness to share with visitors it's art, tradition and culture. We want visitors to feel they have not only seen Paris but have been given a true taste of Parisian life.
Our Greeters are not professional tour guides but enthusiastic, friendly individuals with knowledge of Paris who will accompany you on a visit of the city, without charge, as a friend would."

There's been an article in today#s Le Monde about this non-profit association of volunteer tourist guides ( lemonde.fr/web/article/0 [lemonde.fr/web/article/0] ,1-0@2-3238,36-948436@51-940768,0.html ) .

From the page: "Une nation-Etat construite sur la base d'une identité religieuse - qui, par définition, sème l'exclusion, la division et l'intolérance parce qu'elle introduit une différence entre "nous" et "eux" - est plus encline à des crises de violence qu'un Etat-nation démocratique, laïc et pluraliste.
Au Pakistan, la question de la nation-Etat et de l'Etat-nation est rendue plus difficile par une grande contradiction contenue dans l'identité religieuse du pays. L'islam transcende l'Etat-nation, car il exige d'être loyal à une communauté transnationale de croyants, ce qui mine le sentiment de loyauté envers un Etat national délimité par des frontières géographiques et doté d'une souveraineté politique restreinte. La tentative du Pakistan pour se forger un "nationalisme islamique" est donc un contresens."

From the page: "SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 9: "At least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets here in southern China and will soon be guided by sophisticated computer software from an American-financed company to recognize automatically the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity."

American companies help China build a surveillance system that comes very close to what George Orwell envisioned.

From the page: "The government was last night accused of turning the clock back 25 years by introducing a law that will allow courts to imprison prostitutes who are arrested for soliciting. The move has provoked the fury of women's support groups, who say the move will do nothing to address the root causes of the illicit trade in sex."

I don't think that UK is just 25 years behind... In Sweden the customers would be prosecuted.