Where Children Sleep: A Diverse World of Homes

 

When photographer James Mollison was asked to do a project on children’s rights, he found himself thinking back to his childhood bedroom and the deep importance it played in his upbringing. Taking that idea with him around the world, he photographed a diverse cross section of children and the bedrooms they call home. His moving images remove the children from their home environment, showing them before a neutral background that mostly hides their economic status as if to say “kids are just kids.” Only when their bedroom is observed, however, does the full scope of their living situation become poiniently clear. Where Children Sleep, a beautiful hardcover book featuring 112 color photographs is now available from chrisboot.com.

Go here to see more examples of Mollison’s photo essay.

TV networks washed up with soaps - gritty gameshows & cooks in

The demise of the soaps is inevitable. They just aren’t dirty enough to compete with reality TV!

People have shorter attention spans when scanning the boob tube these days, and are looking for a quick entertainment fix. Food is really hot with our obese society and the ratings are cooking the competition in mainstream markets.

“The cancellation of “AMC” and “One Life to Live” on April 14 sent shock waves through an already-reeling soap-opera industry. Last year, CBS killed off two of the longest-running daytime serials — “As the World Turns” and “Guiding Light” — which was already a major blow for an industry that was losing viewers. But ABC’s surprise twofer announcement seemed to confirm that one by one, broadcast networks are giving up on the idea of original scripted drama in the daytime.”

Story here

Doctors literally gave woman a hand…surgery a success

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The California single mother lost her right hand in a car crash in 2006

I won’t call this a miracle because it took a lot of hard work on behalf of the scientists and surgeons doing it. Medical science is making breakthroughs every day.

Still, I never would have imagined that we would someday have the ability to replace hands, feet, and limbs…

“But now Fennell has a transplant, a donated “new” hand attached to her own skin, bones, nerves and  tendons by a surgical team from the University of California, Los Angeles.

“It has been surreal to see that I have a hand again, and to be able to wiggle my fingers,” says the 26-year-old single mom from Yuba City, Calif. “My 6-year-old daughter has never seen me with a [right] hand. She looked at it, touched it and said it was ‘cool.’”  Story Here

Not again! What the hell is going on with air traffic controllers?

So what’s next? Falling asleep and watching movies may only be the tip of the iceberg.

UPDATE BELOW

“An air traffic controller has been suspended for watching a movie when he was supposed to be monitoring aircraft, deepening the Federal Aviation Administration's embarrassment following at least five cases of controllers sleeping on the job.

In the latest incident, the controller was watching a movie on a DVD player early Sunday morning while on duty at a regional radar center in Oberlin, Ohio, near Cleveland that handles high-altitude air traffic, the FAA said in a statement Monday.”  Story here.

Error caused first lady's plane to abort landing -

Today Air controllers blamed as White House jet comes too close to massive military plane!

Sheriff accused of dealing meth in drug-ravaged state

One county on the edge of the Missouri Ozarks seemed oddly immune to the scourge of methamphetamine ravaging the state, boasting few meth raids or arrests in recent years. Some residents now think they know why, after a meth bust landed the Carter County sheriff himself in jail.

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As It Stands recently looked at this problem:

Speed Kills -- so why is meth still scourging our society?

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No state has been hit harder by the meth epidemic than Missouri, which led the nation in meth lab busts every year for a decade before Tennessee took over the top spot in 2010, dropping Missouri to second. Missouri has reported more than 13,000 meth lab incidents in the past seven years. The highly-addictive drug, made by cooking common chemicals, has caused countless fires and explosions, along with severe health problems among users. Story Here

Sometimes money doesn’t buy everything…but

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Certainly there are things in life that money can't buy, but it's very funny - Did you ever try buying them without money?                                                               Ogden Nash
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I remember when my 1970 Dodge Charger got me in trouble in 1971

My 1970 Dodge Charger had a 440ci motor (425-HP), 727 Torque Flight Transmission, heavy duty Hurst Shifter and clutch. It looked just like this one, but was Midnight Blue metal flake instead of this Turquoise color.

I’d been out of the Army for six months in the fall of 1971 and bought the beast and got into some street races.

The race that got me in trouble was against a red corvette in Orange County. The cop clocked me at 110 mph and I was pulling away! His siren came on behind me. I pulled over, and the corvette didn’t.

I won’t even go into how ugly that little situation got. It earned me a visit to a judge who made me pay a lot of money for exhibition of speed and several other citatations. That was one hell of a car!  image source

Concerns grow as more Americans get caught in brutal gang violence of Mexican cartels

I wrote about this subject last year and things have just got worse since then.

“While U.S. officials have long been concerned about the mindless violence bred by Mexico’s bloody and brutal drug wars, they have a new reason to worry: Americans are increasingly getting caught in the deadly crossfire.

Some who have died were themselves working for the drug cartels. But more and more often, experts say, the casualties are U.S. law enforcement officers and innocent victims who died simply because they ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time. "These cartels will stop at nothing," said Tiffany Hartley, who became an anti-cartel crusader after her husband, David, apparently was gunned down on Sept. 30 by Mexican drug gang members on Falcon Lake, a dammed section of the Rio Grande straddling the Texas-Mexico border. "The violence is not going to stop and more will die at the unforgiving hands of cartels."

Photo -Tiffany Hartley, speaking at a rally at the Colorado state Capitol in Denver on March 30,  demanded that the U.S. government find the body of her slain husband, David.  Story Here

1. More stories on The War Next Door

   1. Top cop quits after 145 found in Mexico grave
   2. Countless Juarez residents flee 'dying city'
   3. Violence, scandal mar governor's race in Mexico
   4. Gang's terror felt far from drug war on border
   5. 31 dead in 4 days in Mexico's Acapulco
   6. Images from Mexico's drug war
   7. NBC News: ‘War next door’ linked directly to U.S.

Say What? Bidder snags William and Kate PEZ for $13,000!

I can’t friggin believe it!

Someone paid over $13,000 for a PEZ dispenser.

Every time I hear something about that stupid Royal Wedding overseas, it gets more ridiculous. The American media (not just the entertainment part) is desperately trying to pump this matrimonial ceremony up into a money maker.

Their pathetic attempts to recreate the monster cash cow Diane and Prince Charles’ Wedding became, aren’t resonating with most Americans. Over 65% said they were ignoring the wedding in a recent Gallup Poll.

By the way, PEZ is an Austrian business, but someone from America (Connecticut) ponied up the bucks for this (I would hope) one-of-kind PEZ product.

Story here

Did you know that US taxes are among the lowest in the world?

By many measures, Americans pay less than most other developed nations

“Think you pay too much in taxes? It could be worse. You could be living in Denmark.

As you send your hard-earned cash off to the good folks at the Internal Revenue Service, a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development may help take some of the sting out of writing that check.

The Paris-based group that tracks the economies of 34 nations found that the burden on U.S. taxpayers is just about the lowest in the developed world.”  Story Here

Photo - Several dozen protesters using a "mad hatter" theme counter-demonstrate against a tax day Tea Party rally of about a hundred protesters nearby Friday in Bellevue, Wash