Media Slice, 3/11/09

A 3/11 New York Times front page article, "As Jobs Vanish, Motel Rooms Become Home," notes that increasing numbers of newly-homeless California families have become "motel families." Doubtless, that phenomenon has national representation.

As the recession has deepened," the article says, "longtime workers who lost their jobs are facing the terror and stigma of homelessness for the first time, including those who have owned or rented for years. Some show up in shelters and on the streets, but others, like the Hayworths, are the hidden homeless -- living doubled up in apartments, in garages or in motels, uncounted in federal homeless data and often receiving little public aid." http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/us/11motel.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

In the same 3/11 edition, a full-page, color ad for the high-end Lord and Taylor store chain (pg A7) portrays an ultra-thin and scowling model, adorned with several strands of faux pearls, towering above New York's cityscape.

"If spending money is a crime today," declares the ad, "meet your new accessory." It offers RJ Graziano faux pearls for "only $75." The store's website wishes visitors, "Happy Shopping!"

The Times article ends by citing a homeless family that has for "six dispiriting months" lived at the Costa Mesa Inn, in California. A teenage daughter "was attacked at school by classmates who mocked her for living in a motel."