Abandoned psychiatric center

These haunting images show the interior of a facility once called a lunatic asylum. Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey was built to house hundreds of mentally ill patients, but it eventually housed more than 7,500. Since it closed in 2003, it has become a hotly contested property among preservationist.
Demolition work recently began on the building, but preservationists say it should be turned into a mental health museum and housing. Opened in 1876, Greystone built a notorious reputation because of the number of patients who committed suicide, were raped or became pregnant. The center was also used as a prominent filming location, it housed singer Woodie Guthrie, and it was frequently visited by Bob Dylan.

 These are the haunting images inside a psychiatric hospital that has become a hotly contested property among preservationist.

 Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey was built to house hundreds of mentally ill patients, but it eventually housed more than 7,500.

 Demolition work recently began on the building, but preservationists say it should be turned into a mental health museum and housing.

 Opened in 1876, Greystone would build a notorious reputation due to the number of patients who committed suicide, were raped or became pregnant.

 The center was also used as a prominent filming location, housed singer Woodie Guthrie, and was frequently visited by Bob Dylan.

 Greystone closed in 2003 and was later photographed by Matthew Christopher, who captures abandoned buildings across America.

 The state of New Jersey awarded a $34 million demolition contract to tear down the 675,000-square-foot building, while other, privately-funded options were available, it was reported.

 Preservationist are still working to save the French Renaissance-style building, whose interior was deemed to have decayed so much that restoration would be too expensive.

 Photographer Matthew Christopher said: "While many people see state hospitals as a sort of 'house of horrors,' they are an important part of our past -- architecturally, socially and economically."

 "They were built at tremendous cost to the states they were in, with quite a bit of optimism and hope about the treatment of those suffering from mental illnesses."

 "As these buildings vanish -- and so many are gone as it is -- so too does our ability to connect with our past, to understand and discuss the realities of treatment there, and to return them to positive use."

 "I think they're beautiful buildings and tremendous assets, and that it is shameful and wasteful to destroy them and pretend they were never there."

 "Greystone could have been saved, and it still can."

 

Farah - Citiy of Afghanistan - Todays WorldTour

Farah (Pashto/Persian: فراه) is the capital of Farah Province, located in western Afghanistan. It has a population of about 108,400, and is mainly ethnic Pashtun people. It is about the 16th largest city of the country in terms of population. The Farah Airport is located in the area.

 An Afghan boy and his father walk their cattle along a street in Farah City, May 12, 2012.

Following the collapse of the Soviet-backed government of Najibullah in 1992, Ismail Khan returned to power in Herat, and came to control Farah, as well as the other surrounding provinces of Ghor and Badghis, until Herat fell to the Taliban in 1995.
The roads in Farah province have seen massive improvement since May 2005. The education system has been greatly improved and a great number of illegal weapons have been collected and destroyed in the province by the Provincial Reconstruction Team. The United States built a base at Farah Airport, which also houses the Afghan National Security Forces (ANFS).
On May 7, 2009, thousands of Afghan villagers shouting "Death to America" and "Death to the Government" protested in Farah City over American bomber air strikes on May 4 that killed 147 civilians. Clashes with police started when people from the three villages struck by US B1-bombers brought 15 newly discovered bodies in a truck to the house of the provincial governor. Four protesters were wounded when police opened fire. Going by the account of survivors, the air raid was not a brief attack by several aircraft acting on mistaken intelligence, but a sustained bombardment in which three villages were pounded to pieces. An Afghan government investigation concluded on May 16, 2009 with the Afghan Defense Ministry announcing an official death toll of 140 villagers. A copy of the government's list of the names and ages of each of the 140 dead showed that 93 of those killed were children, and only 22 were adult males.
On 20 November 2009 it was reported that a suicide bomber on a motocycle detonated near a market in Farah Naz city, killing 17 people and wounding 29. Mullah Hayatullah was the Taliban commander for Farah province and was reported to be known to run suicide training camps.

 Afghan girls sing songs to U.S. service members during a visit to the orphanage in Farah City June 19, 2012.

XtremeCollections of the day - April 25 2015

A view of the sculptures in the backdrop of sunset creating a dramatic view of the sky over Lahore, Pakistan, an Egyptian youth carries a lit flare as supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood gather in the El-Mataria neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt and an Egyptian youth carries a lit flare as supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood gather in the El-Mataria neighborhood of Cairo are some of the photos of the day.

 

 A masked Palestinian Protester watches Israeli soldiers (not seen), during clashes following a protest against Israeli settlements in Qadomem, Kofr Qadom village, near the the West Bank city of Nablus, April 24, 2015. According to reports, seven Palestinians were injured during the clashes.

 World Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao look-alike Johnny Dagami, popularly known as "Manny Paksiw" in the Philippines, practises with his "trainer" before photographers at their neighbourhood in Las Pinas, Metro Manila April 24, 2015. With Pacquiao's biggest match coming in a few days, Dagami said he was also preparing for a big performance at a luxury hotel in Manila where he will be singing and rooting for the Filipino boxer. The fight on May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas between Mayweather and Pacquiao is expected to be the highest grossing bout in history.

 A seagull flys over a sea of poppies blanketing Federation Square as part of the 5,000 Poppies project to commemorate the centenary of ANZAC, in Melbourne, Australia, April 24, 2015. Upcoming April 25, 2015 marks the centenary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) troops at Gallipoli during World War I.

 A fellow garment worker stands at the site of the Rana Plaza building to mark the second anniversary of the buildings collapse, at Savar, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 24, 2015. Relatives of victims, and members of different garment organizations attended the commemoration ceremony in front of the Rana Plaza building site, where two years ago, according to ActionAid, 1,135 workers died and about 2,500 were injured in the collapse, which highlighted the unsafe labor conditions for many of the four million workers in Bangladesh's garment industry.

 Customer Tomoyoshi Fujimura sets up his Apple Watch, which is to be paired with his iPhone, after buying it at an electronics store in Tokyo April 24, 2015. The Apple Watch goes on sale around the world on Friday, the final stage of a protracted launch of Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook's first new product, capping months of publicity and a frenetic two weeks of pre-orders.

 Defendant Sanel M. covers his face as he arrives in the courtroom for the start of his trial, at the high court in Darmstadt, Germany, April 24, 2015.

 Mohammed Ali Malek is seen at Catania's tribunal, April 24, 2015. Italian prosecutors blamed the captain of a grossly overloaded fishing boat for a collision which capsized and sank his vessel off Libya, drowning hundreds of migrants including many women and children locked below deck. Italian police arrested the 27-year-old Tunisian, named as Mohammed Ali Malek, who is believed to have been the captain of the ship.

 An elderly protester yells as she is blocked by a barricade of policemen while marching down the street during a rally in central Seoul, South Korea, April 24, 2015.

 A damaged sign of National Bank of Greece, is seen at the entrance of the bank's head office in Athens, April 24, 2015. Euro zone finance ministers delivered a stark warning to Greece on Friday that its leftist government will get no more aid until it agrees a complete economic reform plan, as Athens lurches closer to bankruptcy.

 People gather around the chariot of Rato Machhindranath as devotees pull the chariot during the chariot festival at Bungamati in Lalitpur, Nepal April 24, 2015.

 British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks during a campaign visit in Frinton-on-Sea, Britain April 24, 2015. Cameron, courted English voters on Friday ahead of a tight UK-wide election, promising to create a separate rate of income tax for England and to give English lawmakers greater powers if re-elected.

 A police armoured vehicle arrives with Philippine death row prisoner Mary Jane Fiesta Velos at Wijaya Pura port before crossing to the prison island of Nusakambangan , in Cilicap, Central Java April 24, 2015 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Indonesia has asked foreign embassies to send representatives to a maximum security prison for the expected execution of 10 drug convicts, although an official 72-hour notice of execution has not been given yet, diplomats said on Friday.

 Customer Hajime Shimada, wearing his newly purchased Apple Watch, reacts as he tries to use it in front of Dover Street Market Ginza in Tokyo April 24, 2015. The Apple Watch goes on sale around the world on Friday, the final stage of a protracted launch of Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook's first new product, capping months of publicity and a frenetic two weeks of pre-orders. Buyers can take the smart watch home from a handful of upscale boutiques and department stores, such as The Corner in Berlin, Maxfield in Los Angeles and Dover Street Market in Tokyo and London, which Apple courted to help position the watch as a fashion item.

 

Chaghcharan - Citiy of Afghanistan - Todays WorldTour

Chaghcharān (/tʃæɡtʃæˈrɑːn/; Persian: چغچران‎), also called Chakhcheran, and formerly known as Āhangarān Pashto: آهنګران‎), (Persian: آهنگران‎, is a town and district in central Afghanistan, which serves as the capital of Ghor Province. It is located on the southern side of the Hari River, at an altitude of 2,230 m above sea level.
Chaghcharan is linked by a 380-kilometre-long highway with Herat to the west and is about the same distance from Kabul to the east and is also served by Chaghcharan Airport.
It has a population of about 15,000 who are mostly Dari (Persian) speakers.

 The Minaret of Jam built by the Ghurid Dynasty

 A Lithuanian medic visits a patient in Chaghcharan hospital.

 A bridge in Chaghcharan

 Medieval

Prior to the arrival of Islam the region's inhabitants practiced various different religions including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Judaism. The Islamic conquest of Afghanistan by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni took place in the 10th century. After the defeat of the Ghaznavids in the 12th century the area came under the control of the local Ghurid dynasty of Ghor. The Ghurid Dynasty had its summer capital, Firozkoh nearby and they constructed the Minaret of Jam there. Today the Minaret of Jam is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In the 13th century, the region was invaded by Genghis Khan and his Mongols barbarians who destroyed Firozkoh but left the Minaret of Jam intact. The region was then ruled by the Ilkhanate until Timur conquest in the 14th century.
Chakhcherān is mentioned by name in the 16th century Baburnama, describing Babur's visit in early 1507 while on his journey to Kabul. It was a town located in the Gharjistan region, between Herat, Ghor, and Ghazni.
Modern Era

 In 2004, an independent FM radio station (Dari: راديو صداي صلح or Voice of Peace Radio) came on air in the town, the first independent media in this part of Afghanistan.[citation needed]
In June 2005, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) established a Lithuanian led Provincial Reconstruction Team in which Croatian, Danish, American, Ukrainian, Icelandic, and Georgian troops also served.In February of 2013 residents of Chaghcharan protested for five days against the lack of development that has occurred in the province. The cited the lack of paved roads and electricity as their major concerns.
In April 2014 protests against the Ghor Province's governor turned violent and Afghan police attacked protesters and journalists in Chaghcharan. The protesters had been calling for the resignation of the governor who they alleged "wants to divide the land [in Chaghcharan] among warlords.

XtremeCollections of the day - April 22 2015

 A surfer waits for a break in crashing waves before diving in for a surf off Sydney's Collaroy Beach, April 22, 2015. A cyclonic storm lashed Australia's east coast for a third day on Wednesday, causing millions of dollars of damage to property and infrastructure in Sydney and other cities.

 A visitor examines portraits of famous Armenian people during the opening ceremony of the Museum of National Culture of Armenia on the territory of the temple complex of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Moscow, Russia, April 22, 2015. Armenians will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire in 1915 on April 24.

 A member of the Barrio 18 gang waits to be admitted upon their arrival to the San Francisco Gotera penitentiary April 21, 2015. Salvadoran goverment transfered 1,177 inmates, members of the Barrio 18 gang from Izalco jail to San francisco Gotera in a effort to curb gang violence activity, according to local media.

 The lighting object 'SpielRaum' (lit. PlayRoom) by artist Rita Kriege is on display at the Lorenzkirche (Lorenz Church) in Nuremberg, Germany, April 22, 2015.

 Visitors and cars are seen reflected on ceiling mirrors at the Buick booth at the 16th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in Shanghai, China, April 22, 2015.

 A Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) national marches with foreign nationals and members of various South African civil society groups taking part in an anti-xenophobia march through Cape Town, South Africa, April 22, 2015.

 A squirrel sits on a branch of a cherry tree in a garden in London, April 22, 2015.

 The Yasukuni Shrine's Shinto priests prepare for its Annual Spring Festival in Tokyo April 22, 2015. Japanese ruling and opposition lawmakers visited a Tokyo shrine on Wednesday to honour the country's war dead, shortly before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was due to make an important speech on Japan's war-time past at an international summit.

 Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard (top) waves to staff from the cockpit of Solar Impulse 2 plane as they celebrate after the plane landed at Nanjing Lukou International Airport, Jiangsu province April 22, 2015. Pilots Piccard and Borschberg will take turns at the controls of Solar Impulse 2, which began its journey in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on March 9, as it makes its way in the first round-the-world solar-powered flight in about 25 flight days at speeds of between 50 kph and 100 kph

 Police and security officers investigate an unidentified drone (L, under blue cover) which was found on the rooftop of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's official residence in Tokyo, in this photo taken by Kyodo April 22, 2015. An unidentfied drone found on the rooftop of Abe's official residence on Tuesday, about 50cm in diameter, carried small camera and a small plastic bottle, local media reporting.

 Zhu Roumeng walks with her pet pig, Wuhua, near her house in Beijing April 22, 2015. Zhu has raised the female pig, which weighs around 85 kilogram, for the last three-and-half years and they've recently become an internet sensation after she posted her selfies with her pet pig on China's microblogging sites. Her surname 'Zhu' sounds exactly like the Mandarin word for 'pig', as such it became the reason for her love of pigs since she was a child, Zhu said.

 Migrants walk after they arrived at the Sicilian harbor of Augusta April 22, 2015.

 An injured boy waits inside a field hospital after what activists said were airstrikes and shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus April 22, 2015.

 A woman places a rose on a memorial wall, engraved with names of fallen soldiers from the armoured corps, before a Memorial Day ceremony in Latrun near Jerusalem April 22, 2015. Israel on Wednesday marks Memorial Day to commemorate its fallen soldiers.

Policemen confront pro-democracy protesters (L) as they try to approach Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's vehicle during his public visit to appeal support on the government's political reform proposal in Hong Kong April 22, 2015. The Hong Kong government gave lawmakers their first look on Wednesday at a long-awaited electoral blueprint for selecting the city's next leader, a plan that reflects China's desire for a tightly controlled poll despite calls for more democracy.

Khost - Citiy of Afghanistan - Todays WorldTour

Khost or Khowst (Pashto/Persian: خوست) is a city in eastern Afghanistan. The capital of Khost Province is Matoon. Khost is a mountainous region near Pakistan's border with neighboring North Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Bannu in Pakistan. The population of Khost City is about 160,000 people and the whole province has around a million. There are various tribes living in Khost. Some main tribes are Zadran, Mangal, Zazi, Tani, Gurbaz, Muqbal, Sabari etc.
During the nine-year Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, the town was besieged from July 1983 to November 1987. Khost Airfield, with its 9,000-foot (2,700 m) runway, served as a base for helicopter operations for the Soviet military.
American forces have used the Khost Airfield since as early as at least January 2007[citation needed] during the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) that commenced in October 2001.
Khost is the home of Khost University. The inhabitants of area are Pashto-speaking ethnic Pashtuns. Khost Mosque serves as the main mosque in the city.

 View in Khost, Afghanistan

Khost is located about 150 kilometres south of Kabul and 100 kilometres southeast of Gardēz, in Khost Province in eastern Afghanistan. The town of Khost is located on a plateau of minimally 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) altitude that extends to the East for about 40 kilometres (25 mi) until the Bannu Pakistan border. 30 km to the North the peaks start up to 2,500 to 3,000 metres (8,200 to 9,800 ft) right next to the frontier, while 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the South, near the border, the average is around 1,800 m. The valley of Khost is closed to the west with a long mountain chain with peaks that go over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). Through this runs for about 90 kilometres (56 mi) the road to Gardez, which is considered extremely dangerous due to the risk of ambush. So Taliban invaded Khost in 1995.

 A business centre in the town centre under construction in 2007

Khost Mosque, which is the largest mosque in the city.