Visit my YouTube page at Lonely_UN_13...

Just a quick follow-up from the conference post yesterday...
The UN must be feeling a little emo because they now have a blog. Actually, it's a fairly interesting space that updates far more than I do, giving a daily rundown all the UN activities your heart desires. Chris Crocker even submitted a compelling video exclaiming, "Leave Darfur Alone!"

Check out the UN blog HERE.

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In other news: Bah Humbug.

I'm going to put on a helmet and lock myself in my house until January 2nd. I'm done with the holidays...

If I see on more inflatable-PVC-snow-blown-Santa-in-a-snow-globe tied down like an S&M submissive in Stepford, I'm going to buy an inflatable knife and go MSNBC Lockdown on it.

The trend astounds me! It started with plastic crap, grew to inflatable crap, and has degenerated in to a Walmartpalooza of inflatable crap FILLED with inflatable crap. It's a plastic Turducken.

Luckily, there's a website that feels my pain...

Tacky Christmas Yards!

Kat from The Burb Blog --like my wife-- emigrated from Orange County to the Midwest. As she states on her About page, she is now affectionately stuck here with her husband and dog. I myself, a replant to the Midwest, understand all too well what the word stuck means. The situation may vary, but the term of endearment (I swear) inevitably explains the sentiment.

Stuck is my wife yearning for Santa Ana winds on the 43rd day of Ohio snowfall/rain mush mix....Stuck is commuting to and from work in a state without carpool lanes or concepts of fast lanes/slow lanes....Stuck is seeing a very, very large Sam's club shopper load a pallet of Mountain Dew (diet) in to the back of their Nascar-inspired Monte Carlo....Stuck is having your cousin go to Cancun for Spring Break and exclaim that she's been "overseas."

And most importantly, Stuck is trying to figure out why more and more people are blowing (literally) umpteen bazillion-thousand dollars on tacky yard decorations.

Honestly, while I admit that I saw my fair share of plastic fantastic last week in Huntington and Laguna (in the bars AND in the yards), I'll bet a size XXXXL Member's Mark sweater that the Midwest has more Christmas kitsch per capita than any other region in the United States. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned trip to Southern California, Rachel and I won't be able to afford travel for the next decade or two, so my hypothesis will have to wait. However, thanks to Kat, I can now take in the best of the best user-submitted blech.

And although she doesn't give locations, I think I used to live next to 65% of these people.

International Politico...

In honor of October 24th's United Nation's Day (and my busy schedule last week), I'm paying homage to all things baby blue.

Yikes!
UN independent rights expert calls for five-year freeze on biofuel production. HERE

Viva!
The Cuban capital Havana has won a United Nations prize for restoring its architecture to its former colonial glory. HERE

Evolution!
The creation of a new economy. HERE

Tasty!
UNEP Community Cooker in Nairobi, converting garbage and waste into an heating element for cooking. HERE

Fertilized!
UNEP Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign. HERE

驚奇!
2008 Beijing Olympic Games are environmentally impressive, says UN Environment Programme Report. HERE

Passive!
UN even takes a slightly neutral stance on smoking in their press room. HERE

Scary!
UN's Latest Global Environment Outlook report, in pictures. HERE

Crowded!
UNFPA State of World Population Report 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth. HERE.

Pious!
Is a religious version of the UN really such a bad idea? HERE

Intervention Necessary!
Photo slide show of Burma from 1989, date of the last uprising. HERE

It's go time...

Seeing as my son's first birthday party kicks-off at dawn (Oktoberfiesta), I'm still slacking on posts. So here's an article to tide you over till Monday.

UN issues 'final wake-up call' on population and environment

By James Kanter
Published: October 25, 2007

PARIS: The human population is living far beyond its means and inflicting damage on the environment that could pass points of no return, according to a major report issued Thursday by the United Nations.

Climate change, the rate of extinction of species and the challenge of feeding a growing population are among the threats putting humanity at risk, the UN Environment Program said in its fourth Global Environmental Outlook since 1997.

"The human population is now so large that the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available at current consumption patterns," Achim Steiner, the executive director of the program, said in a telephone interview. Efficient use of resources and reducing waste now are "among the greatest challenges at the beginning of 21st century," he said.

The program described its report, which is prepared by 388 experts and scientists, as the broadest and deepest of those that the UN issues on the environment and called it "the final wake-up call to the international community."

Over the past two decades the world population has increased by almost 34 percent to 6.7 billion from 5 billion; similarly, the financial wealth of the planet has soared by about a third. But the land available to each person on earth had shrunk by 2005 to 2.02 hectares, or 5 acres, from 7.91 hectares in 1900 and was projected to drop to 1.63 hectares for each person by 2050, the report said.

Read more HERE.