For many Americans, it's now possible to think of 9/11 as the past—a sad and unsettling memory. In New York, however, the tragedy is still part of everyday life, just like the rattle of subway trains and shouts of children in the schoolyards.

More and more of us are beginning to realize that we can't deny the effects of our financial decisions any more than we can live in this country and not share some responsibility for our government's dealings. Where we shop and bank, what products we buy, and how much money we need to feel secure—indeed, how we define security—all these choices directly influence the financial structures that shape our society.

"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world, and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." E.B. White, author

LATIN AMERICA is at a crossroads. Driven by a deepening economic crisis that many blame on the harsh policies of Western lending institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank—which increasingly call for governments to divest from industry and to privatize public services like water, electricity, telecommunications, transportation, and health care—populist movements are gaining ground throughout the region.

Santa Cruz, California, on April 23 became the first municipality to file a lawsuit against federal drug warriors enforcing the U.S. ban on medical marijuana.

Top 10 endangered places, according to Scenic America (www.scenic.org):

The Pentagon is funding research designed to create "super soldiers," reports The Ecologist (March 2003). The so-called "War Fighter Enhancement" project uses drugs, hormonal injections, DNA alteration, and microchip implantation to create soldiers who can operate with less sleep and little fear of death.

The mayor of London has instituted a £5 "congestion charge"—or about $8—for all commuters driving into town. The fee applies to cars entering an eight-square mile area in the central city between 7 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, notes Metropolis (April 2003). The plan is modeled on similar programs in Singapore and Norway, and is expected to curb congestion while generating some £130 million ($210 million) for the city's coffers.

The Slow Food movement has spread to South America, as the Brazilian government on April 29 signed an agreement with the Italian-based food organization to help promote the country's small-scale agriculture, including a revival of traditional cultivation and animal husbandry techniques.

Seattle grunge icons Pearl Jam have pledged that their first U.S. concert tour in three years this summer will be "climate neutral." The band has calculated the precise amount of energy it will use during its 30,000-mile tour (about 5,700 tons of CO2) and will purchase and protect a 1,400-square-mile section of rainforest in Madagascar that accounts for 5,700 tons of "conservation carbon."

While U.S. military personnel searched for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, an international team of weapons inspectors began touring the United States to draw attention to America's stockpile of WMDs. As Adbusters (March/April 2003) reports, the Rooting Out Evil coalition (www.rootingoutevil.org) says the U.S. satisfies all of President Bush's criteria for a dangerous state: It has a stockpile of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons; it has refused to sign and honor international treaties; it has ignored United Nations directives; and its leader was not elected by popular vote. The campaign hopes to highlight the hypocrisy of the Bush administration by confronting U.S. weapons manufacturers in the months ahead.

The town of Hammerfest, Norway, has become the first municipality in the world to generate electricity from the ocean tides, according to Yes! (Spring 2003). The Arctic coastal town has installed a 220-ton turbine on the ocean floor that will generate an estimated 300 kilowatts of electricity year-round, enough to power 1,000 homes.

The top 10 vegetarian-friendly cities in the United States, based on the numbers of vegetarian restaurants, natural foods markets, and sales of vegetarian and vegan products, according to a survey by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

A San Francisco appeals court on April 17 blocked the Drug Enforcement Agency from implementing a ban on hemp food products. The ban had been slated to go into effect April 21 and would have prohibited the sale of hemp foods and soaps containing hemp seed oil imported for manufacturing. The problem? These products may contain trace amounts of naturally occurring THC, the main psychoactive substance in marijuana. The court's stay gives a trade group for the small but growing hemp food and body care products industry several months to prepare a legal challenge to the DEA's proposed clampdown.

IN HIS FAMOUS novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley portrayed a failed 25th-century utopia blissed out on a single substance known as soma. That's nothing compared to a much nearer future envisioned by drug industry critic Pat Mooney. Alarmed by the growing effort to market pills for "making well people better," Mooney says we're about to be tempted by a wide array of "human performance drugs" that will do everything from boosting memory to letting people eat like pigs without getting fat.

Erin Currier's use of collage, portraiture, and political murals is nothing new to contemporary art, until you consider her medium: trash.

IF YOU SEE DIVINITY in a moonlit sky or a field full of daylilies; if a walk outdoors fills you with reverence more than stepping into a grand cathedral, synagogue, or mosque, chances are good that you are a pantheist.

THE LOKO KUAPA WAS a simple system. Ancient Hawaiians piled lava rocks in shallow seawater to form walled pools. The small fish that swam in at high tide got trapped and grew to harvest in a natural cage kept clean and balanced by the washing waves.

Two great CDs featuring Italian American pop hits are Eh, Paisano! 100% Italian-American Classics (Rhino) and the Big Night movie sound track (TVT Soundtrax).

In the contentious fight for edible oil superiority, I have long maintained that all oils—except olive—should drop out of the running. Do the others really stand a chance against a substance that is dubbed with the delightful hyperbole "extra virgin"?