http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

Images of sharp objects that have been forced into somebody’s head always get people wincing sympathetically, certain that the person involved must be dead, because brain injuries are almost always fatal. The operative word here is almost, and what follows are incredible examples of people should, indeed, should be dead, but lived through their ordeals, somehow  surviving, against all the odds, and making full recoveries.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

Especially distressing when the victim is child, as young as 17 month-old Jessiah Jackson, some head injuries seem truly horrendous. Jessiah  fell into a pressure washer, when his chair tipped over, a large  metal hook within the machine  penetrating the skull, and lodged some way into the brain, close to  a large blood vessel. Despite the inherent danger of the surgical  procedure needing to be performed,  North Carolina Children’s Hospital surgeons removed the hook safely, and Jessiah is now fully recovered, a happy and healthy child.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

Another  17-month-old  toddler staged  a miraculous recovery after  falling face first into car keys, one piercing  his eyelid and penetrating his brain. Nicholas Holderman, of Kentucky, USA, appeared to have had  his eye had ruptured, at first, but later checks revealed noeye damage at all, and the resilience healthy child had, in just over two months, made a complete recovery, showing no visible signs of having been so horrifically injured.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

The young Emerson de Oliveira Abreu was out fishing in Rio de Janiero, using a compressed air powered fishing spear, he  aimed at a target fish, but his bad luck saw  the spear ricocheted back from a boulder and  spear him through head and brain, all 6in going into his skull, which required  needed five hours of very high-risk surgery  to remove  successfully, Emerson amazingly recovering completely and going back to his fishing as if nothing had happened. 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

One of the luckiest boys alive today, Liu Cheong came very close to death  when shot by a school friend whilst the pair were fooling about with bows and arrows, in Changchun, eastern China and 11-year-old Liu was horrified to feel an arrow pierce his eye socket, and travelling through his head, only stopped by the bony back of his skull, Liu only surviving because, by some miraculous freak of chance the arrow missed his brain completely, and he recovered completely.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

The image above, as shocking as it is, shows a 15-year-old boy’s skull, shortly  after a five inch knife stabbed him, as with two friends attempting to stop a mugging, he was set upon, the  knife stabbing one boy in the forehead, another boy  in the back and yet another in the shoulder. The  boy above only  survived because the knife was left sticking from his head, allowing doctors to operate in time. Had anyone tried to remove it before that, he would have died, yet ten months later he enrolled in college.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

As awful as these images would suggest the injuries might have been, the fact that these people recovered just goes to show how incerdibly resilient the human body can be in matters of survival.  There is bo doubt whatever that every one of these victimes turned out to be incredibly lucky in avoiding life threatening damage, but nature proves,through these amazing stories of survival, that she will always find a way to maintain life.

With Lonesome road being released on September 20th and Gun Runners Arsenal being released on the 27th many people are preparing for their last trudge through the wasteland and stocking up their money ready to pay for them. Gun Runners Arsenal will give us many new weapons across the wasteland and I will list them below.

Ammo

• 12 Ga. Dragon’s Breath

• Hive Missiles

• 40mm plasma grenade

• 25mm plasma grenade

Weapons

 Bozar (Fallout: New Vegas)

 Esther

 Katana (Fallout: New Vegas)

 MFC cluster mine

 Nuka Breaker

 Smitty Special

Here are the new achievements that are to be will be accompanied with them.

Name

Requirement

Achievement points

Trophy type

Image

With Lonesome road being released on the 20th of September and couriers stash and Gun

Runners Arsenal on the 27th its hard to believe we haven’t had ton of information but here is what we know about the contents of it being. This add-on will cost 2$ and will give people all advantages of the Pre-Order packs that give you more weapons.

Content includes.

Caravan Pack

• Lightweight leather armor

• Sturdy caravan shotgun

• 40x 20 gauge shotgun shell

• 4x weapon repair kit

• Binoculars

Classic Pack

• Armored Vault 13 jumpsuit

• Weathered 10mm pistol

• 50x 10mm rounds

• Vault 13 canteen

• 5x stimpak

Mercenary Pack

• Lightweight metal armor

• Mercenary’s grenade rifle

• 20x 40mm grenade

• 2x super stimpak

• 3x doctor’s bag

Tribal Pack

• Tribal raiding armor

• Broad machete

• 5x bleak venom

• 10x throwing spear

Feel free to comment, here are some pictures.

So, we all say stupid stuff every now and then, it’s funny, yes? SO much funnier when someone famous does something seriously stupid on video. Here are some quotes by famous people reflecting their….. Um, mental prowess (?!).

To start with, well of course, George Bush! The biggest moron of our times, POTUS and all. What could be funnier?

“Our enemies are smart and resourceful…..so are we. They never stop trying to find new ways and means to harm our nation and our people ……and neither do we”

Dumass.

He also spawns random trash. Trying making sense of this next one in any context.

“I know for a fact that human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully”

-.- . Yeah, white trash…..

So next up, there’s Paris Hilton, may sound very dumb blonde….

“What’s wall Mart? Do they sell like, wall stuff? “

….. But there’s no way one earth that someone who tags themselves a socialite could possibly be so ignorant. About anything. (Ok, so that’s obvious, what’s also obvious is why she acts blonde -. – , anyways…..)

“Is this chicken what I have, or is this fish? I know it’s tuna but it says Chicken, by the Sea”

Jessica Simpson

: D ya, we’ve all been there…. Wait, that’s just me!? (0.o)

“I think that gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman.”

Arnold Schwartznegger

I guess he figured it like “hmm…. this ‘gay’ idea must be some new fangled thing these kids dreamed up ….can’t possibly be what I’ve been doing all these years …hmm…”

The next ones, well…. self explanatory ….I mean come on!!

“I get to go overseas places, like Canada.”

Britney Spears

“Smoking kills, and if you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.”

Brooke Shields

Maybe in some parallel universe nut…. -.-

*sigh*, the idiots we idolize…..

The toxic fat cow’s 29-year-old body guard Fernando Flores, claims he has quit his job as her bodyguard after his master had allegedly approached him for intimate services in her bedroom.

Perhaps if she were still 18, a virgin and not the mother of two, the bodyguard would not have thought twice, but the years of scandalous living, parties and alcohol abuse have damaged Flores’ sensitive eyes as he ‘accidently’ saw his master roaming naked. This caused his sensitive soul to object, giving him prudent reason to shy away and bail out of his lucrative employment and file suit for millions instead. The former police officer said he had never been so humiliated in his life, according to friends, who claim that Britney had also made direct suggestion that the two had nothing to talk about unless horizontally. The one-time teenage pop idol is now also acussed of shouting at staff, running around naked and perhaps even loosing it, no not her innocence – she lost that in kindergarten when she  sat on a popsicle, it was suggested as a joke.

Friends said that all Flores wanted was to be good to his employer, well he certainly was good enough to make her short of at least a million dollars, it seems.

      The child inherited it from her mother, her mother inherited it from her mother, and so the cycle continues. What is it that they have inherited? Is it an object of great value? Is it an extraordinary physical trait? No, it is a belief that they have inherited, a belief so strong it overpowers willpower, and causes generational poverty. In the United States “12.6 million children lived in households whose income fell below the poverty line (set in 2003)” (Conley 1543). Children born into poverty live life a different way. They see, feel and experience events that many of those above poverty never experience. Living in a crowded apartment it is hard to find a place to quietly study. It is hard not to feel unwanted and unnoticed. The causes of poverty vary greatly, but the effects are repetitive in nature. Although, some believe the effects are little and inconsequential, generational poverty is affecting all those in society; from the children to the adults and to  the average citizens.  Before exploring the effects, it is important to differentiate between the types of poverty.

            According to Bradley Sherman, vice president of the City Gospel Mission, there are two types of poverty: generational poverty and situational poverty. Generational poverty occurs when “two or more” generations live in poverty (Bradley par. 2). It is a case in which parents never experience a life outside of poverty, their children grow up and follow the parent’s footprints. A woman recalls her experience in generational poverty. “I was born into a family where no one was educated beyond the eighth grade. For generations, my family subsisted on menial-wage employment and migrant work” (Beegle par.1). On the other hand, situational poverty is a series of “unexpected circumstances” that lead into poverty (Bradley par. 3). Sherman Bradley defines the seven D’s of situational poverty: “downsized, divorce, death, disease, disasters and debt. These individuals [those in situational poverty] have never experienced poverty prior to their situation and have their experiences in the middle class (or higher) to draw upon” (Bradley par. 3). It can be a single mother with two children who is diagnosed with breast cancer. She loses her job, and is no longer able to pay for medical bills, house payments, and car payments. She plunges into poverty. It can be a college graduate who is unable to find a job, unable to receive aid from family, unable to pay the massive college loans. Slowly, the unpaid bills fog up the students hope. He slips into poverty. The two types of poverty vary greatly, but the effects are similar.

 Those living in poverty have many materialist possessions. Statistics show that 85% of the poor have air conditioning, 30% of the poor own two or more cars, 62% have cable or satellite television (Rector par.13). These statistics can portrait a luxurious live, but poverty is physically devastating for the men and women living in it. Single mothers are under constant stress to bring in money to support the family. In fact, “individuals in lower in socioeconomic groups are more likely to experience both acute and chronic stressful events (Alemida et al. par.1). A mother opens the mail box, dreading the thick pile of red stamped bills. She has been pushing this off week after week. With each week her stress builds, her anxiety leaves her restless. All she can do is patiently wait for the alimony; the alimony she knows will never arrive. Not only do those living in poverty experience stress, but also, some analysts speculate that “substance is more common among the remaining recipients [of welfare] and that substance abuse poses a greater problem today than it did prior to the [welfare] reform” (Jayadoky et al. par. 9). This argument may suggest that those in poverty indeed do use substances, and substance abuse is a cause of poverty. Yet, why is substance abuse more common in those who receive welfare? Those living in generational poverty have accepted the fact that they are in poverty. They no longer seek a way out, they inherit that belief from their parents, and they continue that belief in their children. This feeling of self apathy may cause substance abuse among welfare recipients. According to PhD. Phil Bartle, “apathy is when people do not care, or when they feel so powerless that they do not try to change things to right a wrong, to fix a mistake, or to improve condition” (Bartle par.18).Once apathy controls the mind welfare money will have no use. One of the worst effects of apathy is “apathy breeds apathy;” therefore, it is one of the biggest contributors to generational poverty (Bartle par.19).

Children are affected by poverty. In fact, women with income below the poverty line were found to be 80% more likely to bear an infant at a low birth weight (Brady-Smith, Brooks-Gunn and Fauth par.5). Not only will the infants have a low birth weight, but also 2.6% of poor children experience hunger at some point during the year (Rector and Johnson par.5). A child comes to school. They have not eaten for almost twelve hours. They cannot focus on the teachers’ explanation of the assignment, their mind revolves around the thought of eating; yet others have so much. In America tons of food is thrown away. So many things are taken for granted by the privileged. While the needs of children who grow up in the streets, in the ghettos, in the rundown city apartments are  often forgotten by the more fortunate; their needs become a heavy burden for society, for the average tax paying citizen.

            The amount spent on welfare is growing each year. In 2008, welfare alone cost the United States $ 477.25 billion (Chanrill chart). Welfare is the third most expensive government function; it costs less than Social Security and Medicare, but more money is spent on welfare than on nation defense (Rector, Bradley, and Sheffield par.2). Today, the average household contributes $560 per month for welfare (Rector, Bradley, and Sheffield par.14). In 2009, an estimated $562.67 billion was put into welfare (Chanrill chart). Taxpayers above the poverty line often feel their hard earned money is sponsoring cable T.V., air conditioning, and appliances they themselves may be lacking. Often that is the case, but maybe, the money is going to a family that is desperately in need of financial aid; that due to “unexpected circumstances,” they facing a financial crisis (Bradley par.3). Whatever that crisis is, we have a choice. We can choose to help those in need or, we can turn our backs and walk away. Poverty has been around for centuries. We see examples of people fighting to overcome poverty all throughout history. Today, the fight is not only a physical one, but also ,a fight to change the social behavior of individuals.

            Welfare is not eliminating poverty. Every year the government is increasing the welfare budget, but the number of people receiving welfare keeps rising. Reducing out-of-wedlock birth by marriage will decrease poverty. For instance, “if poor single mothers married the fathers of their children almost three-quarters would immediately be lifted out of poverty (Rector and Johnson par. 58).” Marriage will decrease poverty because often a combined income of a father and mother will be more than that of a single parent.

 Education increases knowledge, and it increases a paycheck. Receiving an education reduces the chances of poverty. “The average head of a poor family with children is a high school dropout, while the average head of a non poor family has completed some college (Haskins and Sawhill par. 7). Education is the best “escape route” from poverty (Beegle par.5). Education will give a person a career, not just a minimum wage job. Increasing knowledge is a lifetime investment.  Work, gives a person fulfillment, which, in turn, diminishes the feeling of apathy. Unfortunately, many of the low skilled jobs are minimum wage, a dead end type of job. Often, people working these jobs do not feel fulfilled. They would rather sit at home and collect welfare. In fact, research shows that “the heads of poor families with children worked only one half as many hours, on average, as the heads of non-poor families with children (Haskins and Sawhill par.4).” The solution to lessen poverty is receiving an education, that in turn, would give a person the fulfillment, and self worth that a job provides .And, once a person obtains a job that is fulfilling, poverty can be reduced.

            The causes of poverty vary greatly, but the effects show a similar pattern. Those outside of poverty feel the effects of it. Poverty is a growing problem in America. It is not a problem that can be easily swept under a rug, it is not a problem that can be overlooked and forgotten. Poverty is a problem that needs to be overcome through a change in social behavior.

A normal enough kid, by all appearances.  But thenn came pop stardom. and we as a society told this young girl that she needed to be as sexy as possible.  Being young and ignorant (who among us wasn’t) and obviously a bit star struck, she did just that.  It wasn’t as bad as it could have been at first, although I wouldn’t let my daughter look like this for all the money in the world…

But then the floodgates opened.  There was, as all to often seems to be the case, drinking.  There were drugs.  The bottom lone is that we give these kids their celebrity status, ridiculous amounts of money, and we forget that virtually no one is responsible at that age.

The girl has now become a woman, and a woman with issues.  She has been through everythibg from a bad relationship to losing her kids to having her private parts plastered all over the internet.  She made something of a comeback, apparently figuring the best way to climb out of her hole was to dance on a stripper pole for the world to see.

Hopefully, she will wake up.  Society may have sucked her dry, but she isn’t unique.  What she is is a mother.  Time to start acting like it.

The point I’m getting to is, take a child star like Britney Spears. At the age of 8, after being said ‘no’ from The New Mickey Mouse Club, she went on to do a lot of Broadway performances and finally, at 11, ending up in The New Mickey Mouse Club. Ever since she was a child, Britney has tasted every corner of success, drenching herself in the success she’s received. Her success is determined by the fact that ever since she was a child, she was destined to be a popular name. Now, at 28, Britney isn’t quite as cutesy as everyone used to imagine her as. Now, we associate Britney as someone who struggles to keep on track in terms of where her pop star career is concerned. Even though at the end of the day, Britney is still one of the world’s most popular people, bad blotches in her past don’t always make her everyone’s favourite. You could blame this on multiple things, but I think the starting step to her steady downfall was the success she first acquired.

Take another instance, Bill Gates. At 13, he coded his first software program. Tic-tac-toe. Later on, he continued to show his IT prowess by joining a company dealing with traffic counters. At 18, he became a congressional page at the U.S. House of Representatives, the year when he graduated from his school with a 1590 out of 1600 in his SATs. From the very start, Bill hasn’t been bathed in eternal success but he has had his success and that has only made him stronger. Despite the glitches he’s had in his past which included being banned from using computers due to violation through the exploitation of bugs in the system, he still made himself a pretty successful future and is today, one of the worlds well known IT and business brains. Today, we associate him as a powerful man, rich and one of the most deserving individuals. You could say this is to do with multiple things, but I think the starting step to his steady financial power is due to the success he first acquired.

Success makes you who you are. When success hits you young, you make it and you build it. You turn it into the way you want it to be. No one is going to enjoy the aftermath of success as much as you are. As a young individual myself, I know that there have been times when I have been successful. For example, ever had that experience when you did exceptionally well in an exam, and you just because so over-confident with the success you achieved that the next exam you had, you did considerably worse? Well, that happened to me. And there hasn’t been a better kick in the backside than that. For me, success is earning a lot more on Triond the next month than I did the last month. For me, success is being able to get into a good university and do the degree I want to. For me, success is me being able to slowly build the Jenga that will construct the aftermath of the success if I achieve passing my A Levels. Success can make or break you. What you pick to do, is completely up to you. We waste so much time in trying to achieve success that we don’t prepare ourselves for when we actually do achieve it and the time after that. So, what is success for you?

Think about trying new things. Maybe you hate ice skating but your partner LOVES it. Well, don’t be a Scrooge! Give it a try and at least attempt to enjoy ice skating so that your partner can see that you can have fun, even if it’s not something you really like to do in the first place. Just make sure you are comfortable. If an activity makes you extremely uncomfortable, don’t feel like you HAVE to try it.

Dress to please yourself (no, not in THAT way). Make sure the clothes you like to wear make you feel comfortable. If you don’t like what you wear and you can’t do too much in them, what’s the point of wearing them and feeling good? It’s really hard to look satisfied and happy with what you got if you wear clothes that look good, but don’t make you feel good.

Be polite and stay calm in public. Partners don’t like to be embarrassed in public. People staring at you makes you uneasy. Unless you’re Britney Spears, try not to attract too much attention all the time. Don’t scream and shout and lose your temper in public. It’s not pretty, and it doesn’t look pretty to everyone else around you. Save that for the bedroom! >_-

Image via Wikipedia

What is going on here? How can 16 and 17 year old girls even fathom the huge responsibility, expense and time that it takes to successfully raise a child?

Where is the glamour in teenage single parenting?

Where on earth are the parents of these girls? Where have they been for the first 16 years of their lives? Haven’t they informed their daughters that having a baby is tough under the best of circumstances?

I had my first child after I graduated from college, had a career and owned a home. It still was not easy and I was not a single parent.

I was fully prepared for the trials of parenting and yet I was totally surprised at how time-consuming at all hours of the day taking care of a cranky or sick baby could be. There are nights in the life of every parent when you just don’t sleep and you can forget having a social life. After a baby you don’t have a social life at all for a while.

As a twenty-something mom I did not miss the social life that I would have missed at sixteen.

We have to teach our teenagers that they cannot believe Hollywood’s version of teen pregnancy as in the movie “Juno.” The movie “Juno” glamorizes something that never will be glamorous and that is teen pregnancy. The story that is told in this movie is one big fat lie.

Jaime Lynn Spears, as I write this article is just about to embark on the biggest realization of her young life. The realization is that having a baby at sixteen is not glamorous, no matter how rich you may be. Real life teenage pregnancy does not mimic the movies and it never will.

It is appalling to think that parents are not talking to their teens about the unlimited

negatives of being a teenage parent. Statistics show that teenage parents more than likely

will drop out of school and never achieve all that their childless teenage peers achieve.

What about birth control? “Just say no” died a long time ago. We have to educate our teenagers on the importance of using birth control, we are not cavemen.

Teens are having sex and will continue to do so. Let’s educate them about ways to prevent pregnancy, STD and the other challenges of a sexual relationship.

Most of all, we need to quit walking around like ostriches with our heads buried in the sand. Teen pregnancy is out there and we need to talk about it.