toweringflat

dead stars may spew

exotic dead matter.

A sonnet written unconsciously to me in the contents page of the New Scientist. This is what I do regularly; look for signs of love, the faintest indication of affection, because it calms me. Just the slightest hint gives me a warm buzz and softens the edges around me. And I don't think I'm alone. There are others out there. You just don't notice them in the morning panic to get to work. You are too focused on where you have to get to that you don't notice where you are. But I see them. We all have that love sick expression on our faces as we scan our environments for any sign of love.

What better way to gaige how the American public perceives Obama's election than through the photography platform and social media sharing tool <a href="http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/multimedia/2009/01/gallery_flickr_inauguration">Flickr.</a> Wired pulled together some of their favorite Creative Commons photos posted by Flickr users attending Tuesday's Inauguration Day celebrations in Washington D.C.
Worldchanging published <a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009326.html">the letter</a> they sent to Obama on the verge of his presidency encouraging him to put 'green' on his presidential agenda and to include it in his inauguration speech.

I just saw the Jeff Skolls produced movie Fast Food Nation and it struck me as very illustrative of how we have landed ourselves in the current credit crisis and global economic meltdown. Somewhere on our path towards industrialized modernity, we have forgotten what matters and what is important.Our attention has fixed itself on materialism and consumption. Consumption requires very little of us. I can't think of a more lazy activity to pass the time and Western culture has become synonymous with this laziest of endeavors. But what is even more disturbing is how this seemingly innocuous activity is in fact harming our economic stability and social infrastructure with the boomerang effect of unemployment; every day a different company announces more layoffs.
One of my favorite lines from the movie is when rancher Kris Kristofferson points out to hamburger fast foodchain marketing executive Greg Kinnear that the dirty state of the meat packing industry and presumably our society isn't about being good or evil, it is the story of a machine that doesn't care if it destroys animals, people or anything that stands in its way and all for more pennies on the pound.
And all I want to know is how did we get here? And isn't this current shakedown an opportunity for us to readust our lifestyles and our unsustainable expectations?
This doesn't even begin to touch one of the major storylines of the film which follows the journey of Mexicans into the promised land of the US. The machine depends on the abundant availability of vulnerable and needy humans to feed its insatiable appetite and greed. In this unregulated mechanism of capitalism, no one is safe. I can't help but feel that as human beings we need to work with each other more and stop seeing each other as floating dollar signs and competitors for resources. It appears that we have not strayed very far from the cave; however, now is our chance to stop and reflect on where we have landed and where we aspire to head next. We do not need to be a machine. It is our choice and our responsibility to do better for ourselves and for others and the planet.

Am I having a crisis of conscience? Yes. I want to believe that we are capable of better, although right now much of the evidence says otherwise.

Having just returned to London from snow groomed Montreal, I find myself looking for visible cues of global recession. The news shows seem to be a little more serious in London than they were in North America. Call me crazy, but beyond George W's announcement of the car industry bail-out, I didn't hear or read as much distress in the headlines or programming as I do back here in London. Yes, there were tips on how to reduce your chances of having your head on the employment chopping block, and suggestions on how to make gifts from North American friends on Facebook, but the tone is not as gloomy as it is here in the UK.

Naturally it could be the weather playing a vital part in this observation, but the job cuts being announced here on a daily basis, including where I work, are hardly encouraging. The financial industry was among the first to head to the guillotine; Merryl Lynch has just announced 1,900 cuts in its London workforce, but the construction industry also expects to see record drops with housing starts 'tumbling to the lowest level since 1924'. Retail sales fell 1.4% in total in 2008, and we can only expect sales to drop even more because of a lack of consumer confidence.

So have we hit rock bottom yet? Some economists say yes, others are less inclined to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel any time soon. A programme on the effect of the massive layouts in the car industry showed many African Americans heading to Church for some sign of salvation. They are among the worst to be affected by the car industry meltdown. And while things don't seem very cheery from where I'm standing, they must seem more grim for those who have always worked on the assembly line.

In the face of this economic turbulence, one question the global stage is asking: Obama, you ready?