Two More Notes...

Here's an interesting article I found on CNN about how consumerism needs to be curbed in order to create an effective defense from further environmental degradation. Kind of obvious but a nice thing to cite when you're discussing anything environmental.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/13/consumerism.climate.change.report/index.html

Speaking of CNN, as I poured over the front page this morning and saw every article was about the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I couldn't help but feel some inkling of hope despite all the despair. Though Haiti has suffered from extreme poverty and gang violence for years now, perhaps this will be the event that serves as a wake-up call for the West. That even with all of our humanitarian efforts and democracy promotion, a mere 2000 miles away from us a country has been in dire need of help for years now. My hope is that the events in Haiti could perhaps serve as a catalyst for an increased funding/focus on the humanitarian movement in the US and abroad.

In other sad news, punk musician Jay Reatard was found dead today at 29. I never listened to much of his music but the death of any young creative artist is a tragedy.