Rebels seize habitat for endangered gorillas

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- Rebels have seized an area in eastern Congo that serves as a wildlife habitat for endangered mountain gorillas, threatening one of the last known populations of the animals, conservationists said Sunday.

Shelling and heavy gunfire could be heard from the headquarters of the Virunga National Park, and rangers were forced to flee over the weekend, said the international conservation group WildlifeDirect.

Only 700 mountain gorillas exist in the world, of which more than half live in the Virunga conservation area, a huge swath of territory at the intersection of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

Rebels loyal to warlord Laurent Nkunda have frequently battled over the park in their clashes with the army. Caught in the crossfire are the rare gorillas, 10 of which have been killed this year.

Is there any room left for anything but humans and their wars?

This is deplorable. Of course, the US government isn't interested UNLESS there's something below the ground in that region known as black gold.

All the 'nuts and dipsticks' are working on it. Greenpeace, NRDC, the likes of them.

Jane Goodell must be devastated.

And all we hear about is celebrity news.

I watched CSPAN's "Washington Journal" for awhile this morning. The question was "Where Do You Get Your News?" I was happily surprised that most of the callers during the short time I watched said they got their news from the net or the newspapers, mainly because the so-called news stations spent more time on celebrities and their own biases.

One truckdriver said he listened to AIR AMERICA.

Ooh I love that! People are actually catching on!

And a truckdriver listening to Air America? Pretty darn good, I would say.

Thank you for that tip.