Nuclear Safety Left Hanging As Crane Dangled Fuel Rods: Michigan Incident Got Warning But No Fine

A 110-ton load of nuclear waste dangled for 55 hours above a cooling pool last October as two workers at a southwest Michigan nuclear power plant improperly manipulated a crane that had frozen, federal regulators concluded in a recent review of the incident.

Hugh McDiarmid Jr, “Nuclear Safety Left Hanging As Crane Dangled Fuel Rods: Michigan Incident Got Warning But No Fine,” Detroit Free Press, March 15, 2006, News Section, Metro Final edition.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

Why Do So Few Women Reach the Top of Big Law Firms

Law schools now graduate as many women as men but the number of women who are partners at major law firms nationwide has remained stagnant.

Timothy O’Brien, “Why Do So Few Women Reach the Top of Big Law Firms?” New York Times, March 19, 2006, Business Section, Midwest edition.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

Male Spanker

SWM, 43, 5’8”, 150lbs, seeks single female who needs regular bare bottom spankings. Discipline or role play. Single female only.

Metro Times, April, 2006, Personals Section.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

Review Aims to Weed out Drug Dens: U.S. Urges Detroit Agencies to Bond in wake of Killings

A day after four people were gunned down in one of its vacant properties that had been converted into a drug den, the Detroit Housing Commission set out Thursday to inspect the approxiamately 130 empty houses it owns throughout the city.

Amber Hunt and Ben Schmitt, “Review Aims to Weed out Drug Dens: U.S. Urges Detroit Agencies to Bond in wake of Killings,” Detroit Free Press, March 17, 2006, News Section, Metro Final edition.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

In Secret Unit’s ‘Black Room,’ a Grim Portrait of U.S. Abuse

The Black Room was part of a temporary detention site at Camp Nama, the secret headquarters of a shadowy military unit known as Task Force 6-26. Located at Baghdad International Airport, the camp was the first stop for many insurgents on their way to the Abu Ghraib prison a few miles away. In the windowless, jet-black garage-size room, some soldiers beat prisoners with rifle butts, yelled and spit in their faces and, in a nearby area, used detainees for target practice in a game of jailer paintball. Placards posted by soldiers at the detention area advised, “NO BLOOD, NO FOUL.” The slogan, as one Defense Department official explained, reflected an adage adopted by task force 6-26: “If you don’t make them bleed, they can’t prosecute for it.”

Eric Schmitt and Carolyn Marshall, “In Secret Unit’s ‘Black Room,’ a Grim Portrait of U.S. Abuse,” The New York Times, March 19, 2006, International Section, Metro Final edition.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

Goes Well With Black

Meg Wendy, who runs antiques fairs, keeps an eye out for memorial jewelry. The art of memorial jewelry had a heyday in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when artists created miniature vignettes of souls bursting out of coffins and women weeping over graves.

David Colman, “Goes Well With Black,” The New York Times, March 12, 2006, Fashion Section, Sunday Styles, Metro Final edition.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

Playing on Ice: Mother Puts Herself and Kids at Risk by Playing on Ice.

At 1:32PM, police were called to Quarton Lake in Birmingham as a mother and several children were skating on ice deemed unsafe.

“Playing on Ice: Mother Puts Herself and Kids at Risk by Playing on Ice,” Detroit Free Press, February 21, 2006, Metro Department, Local News.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

On Anniversary, Bush and Cheney See Iraq Success

On the third anniversary of the war in Iraq, the war has taken more than 2,300 American lives, and those of 33,000 to 37,000 Iraqis, according to the estimates of the Iraq Body Count Project, an independent group that monitors the news media. When the war was launched, the Pentagon expected a short conflict. Its classified plans called for the withdrawal of the majority of American troops by the fall of 2003. “Fortunately, history is not made up of daily headlines, blogs on Web sites or the latest sensational attack,” Rumsfeld wrote. “History is a bigger picture, and it takes some time and perspective to measure accurately.”

David E. Sanger and Thom Shanker, “On Anniversary, Bush and Cheney See Iraq Success,” The New York Times, March 20, 2006, Politics Section, Metro Final edition.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

Official Resists Extradition on Charge Involving Internet and Sex

The Department of Homeland Security’s deputy press secretary appeared in a Maryland state court on Wednesday, where he faces charges of using the Internet to seduce someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. The press official, Brian J. Doyle, was arrested Tuesday night in his home in Silver Spring, Md., after nearly a month of computer contact with a Polk County detective who was posing as a teenager.

Michael Janofsky, “Official Resists Extradition on Charge Involving Internet and Sex,” The New York Times, April 6, 2006, Washington Section, Metro Final edition.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

Girl Testifies Against Former Teacher in Sex Case

A former varsity swim coach and teacher at Seaholm High School was charged with seven counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly having sex with one of his students in 2003.

Mary Beth Almond, “Girl Testifies Against Former Teacher in Sex Case,” Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle, June 7, 2006.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

Slim & Smooth

WM, tall, slim, very good-looking, seeks male CD, or someone who wears short skirts, nylons, and heels, with whom to get together for the evening and share a good time.

Metrotimes, August, 2006, Personals Section.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

In Serbian Capital, Rites for Milosevic Draw Throng

After four years of trial on charges of genocide, Slobadan Milosevic died last Saturday, several months before its end- sparing him, and by extension Serbia itself, the stain of a guilty verdict. Well over 50,000 Serbs massed on the central square here on Saturday in a public wake for him.

Nicholas Wood and Ian Fisher, “In Serbian Capital, Rites for Milosevic Draw Throng,” The New York Times, March 19, 2006, International Section, Metro Final edition.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

Donor Egg: Immediate Availability

The internationally renowned donor egg program at Genetics & IVF Institute (GIVF), based in suburban Washington, DC, has long met the high expectations of sophisticated patients and medical specialists from around the world. GIVF offers approximately 100 fully prescreened donors immediately available, including many Doctoral Donors in advanced degree programs, and numerous other egg donors with special accomplishments, talents or ethnicity. Current and childhood photos are available.

Advertisement, The New York Times, May, 2006, Sunday Styles, Metro Final edition.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

Before Spring Break, the Anorexic Challenge

Dr. Margo Maine, a clinical psychologist in West Hartford, Conn., who specializes in eating disorders, said she observes a spike in weight anxiety every year among her younger patients before spring break. The fantasy of achieving a ‘bikini-ready’ body on a deadline is an intoxicating incentive. In a school setting, in which tightly knit groups of young women are all vacationing together, diets easily become competitive, or, as Dr. Maine puts it, contagious.

Alex Williams, “Before Spring Break, the Anorexic Challenge” The New York Times, April 2, 2006, Fashion Section, Sunday Styles, Metro Final edition.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

The View of Nothing Special Will Cost Extra

Starting this week, Northwest Airlines will ask passengers on most domestic flights if they’re interested in paying $15 extra for certain prime seats in coach- exit-row seats or aisle seats near the front of the cabin.

Brian Dickerson, “The View of Nothing Special Will Cost Extra,” Detroit Free Press, March 15, 2006, News Section, Metro Final edition.

Paint on canvas

16 x 16 inches

2006

Nurses in Skirts in Cadiz

Nurses in Cadiz in Spain have been told that they have to wear a skirt if they want to earn a full wage. Those at the San Rafael Clinic who choose to wear nurses’ trousers instead will lose a 30 Euro productivity bonus every month.

“Nurses in Skirts in Cadiz,” Typicallyspanish.com, March 26, 2008.

Paint on canvas

36 x 36 inches

2006

Beijing: Mine Deaths Down After Safety Push

Accidents in China’s notoriously dangerous coal mines killed 3,786 people last year, government media reported Saturday. The 2007 toll was 20% lower than in 2006, indicating the effectiveness of a safety push to shut illegal mines and reduce gas explosions, the Xinhua News Agency quoted the head of China’s safety watchdog as saying.

“Beijing: Mine Deaths Down After Safety Push,” Detroit Free Press, January 13, 2008.

Paint on canvas

36 x 36 inches

2006

He, Dressed as She, Hits Lingerie Store

Saying he was angry that a lingerie store refused to hire him, a man dressed in woman’s clothing drove his vehicle into the building- causing $3000 in damages and resulting in felony charges, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said. He was being held in the Oakland County Jail. He told deputies he was homeless and wanted to go to jail.

“He, Dressed as She, Hits Lingerie Store,” Detroit Free Press, April 16, 2008.

Paint on canvas

36 x 36 inches

2006

Economist Examines the City’s Sex Trade

“A two year study of the economics of prostitution in Chicago found….. prices increased 30 percent in Washington Park over the July 4th week, and brought more women into the market, ...according to a preliminary paper presented by the researchers.”

Steve Schmadeke, “Economist Examines the City’s Sex Trade” Chicago Tribune, January 11, 2008

Paint on canvas

36 x 36 inches

2006

Marines Begin to Recruit Women

The Marines are looking for a few good women. Actually, they will take as many as they can get. Faced with the difficulty of recruiting during a long and unpopular war, the United States Marine Corps has started marketing itself to women in a concerted way for the first time.

Douglas Quenqua, “Sending in the Marines (to Recruit Women),” The New York Times, April 21, 2008.

Paint on canvas

36 x 36 inches

2006

At Risk: Pot Belly in Midlife Is Linked to Dementia

People with a large pot belly in midlife are at increased risk for dementia in their later years, according to a new study, and the bigger the belly, the higher the risk. The study measured the sagittal abdominal diameter, or S.A.D. (in laymen’s terms, how far the pot belly sticks out), of 6,583 men and women in their 40s from 1964-1973, then looked at their records an average of 36 years later, when they found 1,049 dementia cases. Compared with those in the lowest one-fifth in S.A.D., those in the highest one-fifth were almost three times as likely to have dementia. The association held after controlling for high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and other variables.

Nicholas Bakalar, “At Risk: Pot Belly in Midlife Is Linked to Dementia” New York Times, April 1, 2008

Paint on canvas

36 x 36 inches

2006

$4.38 weekly fee an Italian company charges to send

three images of saints to a customer’s cell phone.

Harper’s Index, Harper’s Magazine, January 2008

Paint on canvas

36 x 36 inches

2006

Elderly Woman Found Living With Dead Sister

Detroit authorities made a gruesome discovery Wednesday north of Hamtramck. The partially mummified body of a woman was found lying on the kitchen floor about 9:30 PM in the 18000 block of Buffalo Street, Detroit, police said.

The woman’s sister was in the home and police believe she has been living in the house with the body for one to three years, the approximate time it takes for a body to decompose to that extent.

Eric D. Lawrence, “Elderly Woman Found Living with Dead Sister,” Detroit Free Press, April 24, 2008.

Paint on canvas

36 x 36 inches

2006

Two Teenagers Accused of Attack on Bus

Two teenagers accused of attacking a 36 year old man who can neither speak nor hear were arrested by Wayne County Sheriff’s deputies.

“Two Teenagers Accused of Attack on Bus,” The Detroit Free Press, January 7, 2008

Paint on canvas

36 x 36 inches

2006