Is the world a little more crazy or is it just me?

Looking at some of the recent news items I find myself wondering, what the heck is going on?

The above shot is by Mark Horvath who is currently walking the Los Angeles River.  Mark recently completed a trip all around the USA working for and with the homeless.  A lot of this is documented at http://www.hardlynormal.com/ and http://www.invisiblepeople.tv/