Check out this article by BBC News.  It is a compilation of maps that show which countries have certain policies that benefit children.  For example, the image below shows that Canada and Australia do not guarantee mothers to  have breastfeeding breaks at work.  The map I found most interesting is the one addressing which countries provide paid maternity leave -- America is one of approximately 2 or 3 countries that do not.  

"This optical illusion was painted on a road to make sure drivers slowed down after several accidents happened." - DoSomething.org

Chapter 1 Excerpt from Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

"My legal name is Alexander Perchov. But all of my many friends dub me Alex, because that is a more flaccid-to-utter version of my legal name. Mother dubs me Alexi-stop-spleening-me!, because I am always spleening her. If you want to know why I am always spleening her, it is because I am always elsewhere with friends, and disseminating so much currency, and performing so many things that can spleen a mother. Father used to dub me Shapka, for the fur hat I would don even in the summer month. He ceased dubbing me that because I ordered him to cease dubbing me that. It sounded boyish to me, and I have always thought of myself as very potent and generative. I have many many girls, believe me, and they all have a different name for me. One dubs me Baby, not because I am a baby, but because she attends to me. Another dubs me All Night. Do you want to know why? I have a girl who dubs me Currency, because I disseminate so much currency around her. She licks my chops for it. I have a miniature brother who dubs me Alli. I do not dig this name very much, but I dig him very much, so OK, I permit him to dub me Alli. As for his name, it is Little Igor, but Father dubs him Clumsy One, because he is always promenading into things. It was only four days previous that he made his eye blue from a mismanagement with a brick wall. If you’re wondering what my bitch’s name is, it is Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior. She has this name because Sammy Davis, Junior was Grandfather’s beloved singer, and the bitch is his, not mine, because I am not the one who thinks he is blind."

Read the rest of the chapter here:

I've had difficulty starting to read again after I graduated.   When I read the first page of this novel, I got that feeling I get with every book that I ended up loving, including Emma, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Quiet: The Power of Introverts.

"Alleviating Poverty with a Washing Machine Powered By Your Feet" - Fast Company

Two people from the Art Center College of Design program,"Design Matters" created this $40 washing machine that is modelled based on a...SALAD SPINNER. I don't even really know what a salad spinner but I assume it mixes stuff together.  Designers made it for the city, Cerro Verde, which is outside of Lima, Peru.  This community lacks water access and takes hours for them to find any water.  Read the article/watch the video.

Anyways, I went to go find the article to post it here and after re-reading it, I realized I never watched the related documentary, "Hands in the Mist".  This video makes me wish I did engineering just so I too could think of ways to contribute to ending global poverty by designing innovative devices like the GiraDora.  I'm not artistic/creative enough to actually come up with any ideas, but I think it would be awesome to collaborate with artists and designers.  What I like most about the video is that the designers talked about how important it is to understand the customers (in this case Cerro Verde families) and their background.  Without understanding their culture, their needs, and everyday lives, designers can't know what's best for them. So giving them a standard washing machine is not only expensive but also useless in an area like Cerro Verde.  This related directly to my view on health disparities...but I'm sure I'll rant about that in another post.

Since the Newtown incident, Slate magazine has been tracking the number of civilian deaths caused by gun shootings.  I first found this earlier in  January and haven't really checked up on it in the past couple of weeks.  I did earlier tonight and what I found was shocking: 

4,894 people or more have died from gun shootings since December 14, 2012 aka the Newtown incident.

There is also a twitter feed called @GunDeaths that helps collect data about gun violence. It doesn't account for every single death but gives a pretty good picture of how gun usage in America is out of control.  Just something to think about and send along to your family and friends. 

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2012/12/gun_death_tally_every_american_gun_death_since_newtown_sandy_hook_shooting.html