Soothing the Savage Breasts

We've been derelict in our duties: Only now are we telling you that the largest known environmental striptease in the history of the world took place last Friday. Nine bare-breasted women briefly halted logging near Northern California's Headwaters Forest, at a stand of second-growth redwood trees that didn't make it into the 1999 forest protection deal between the Pacific Lumber Co. and state and federal governments. The protest's organizer, Dona Nieto, said, "These gorgeous young women were belly dancing. One logger actually got down on his knees and kissed the ground." A company spokesperson said the protest didn't actually cause much of a disruption. Nieto has organized several other "Strip Tease for the Trees" protests, which include performances of what she calls "Goddess-based, nude Buddhist guerilla poetry."