Neighborhood Watch: Thursday, Jan. 8

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Slate's Alex Chadwick interviews Hakim, a young man from Algeria who walked from New York City's Union Square to Los Angeles's Venice Beach with only $217 in his pocket.A group of Japanese whalers has refused the help of Sea Shepherd in retrieving a man who fell overboard.ReadyMade commissions five artists to re-imagine depression-era propaganda for our modern recession. Introduction by Steven Heller.Limited-edition gold-suited inaugural Obama action figures, on sale soon. (Thanks Josh Spear.)Excellent WWF PSA reminds us that compact fluorescent light bulbs don't grow on trees, and just because we're doing our part to save the environment doesn't mean we can let governments and business off the hook for not doing theirs.From the GOOD Community: RD3JD reports on the loss of a huge urban garden in the area formerly known as "South Central Los Angeles." That's a stunning aerial picture.(Image: "You Never Know..." by Cody Hoyt. Courtesy of the artist.)