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  • /Color China Photo via AP

    Firefighters try to put out a fire at the unfinished Mandarin Hotel in the CCTV headquarters complex in Beijing, China, Monday, Feb. 9, 2009. China's state-run television broadcaster apologized Tuesday for an unlicensed fireworks display that sparked the blaze.

    It's hard to be shocked any more about safety scandals in China. But I had to wonder how officials allowed a showpiece building like this hotel to be built with so much flammable material. They got a much bigger fireworks show than they expected.

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  • Koji Sasahara/AP

    College students from vocational schools in Tokyo and Osaka, western Japan, give a shout during a joint pep ceremony to launch their job-hunting in Tokyo on Feb. 5, 2009. About 3,000 job seekers gathered for the annual event amid the global economic slump.

    How bout a little pep talk for all the job-seekers out there?

  • Scott Barbour/Getty Images

    Melted metal from the alloy wheels of burnt out vehicles lies on the ground after a bushfire swept through properties on February 9, 2009 in Bendigo, 160 km north of Melbourne, Australia.

    This "puddle" of metal used to be the wheel of a car. It's remarkable to see something beautiful come out of something so tragic.

  • Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

    Exhibitors are seen beside a goat at the Stock Show in Fort Worth, Texas January 31, 2009.

    What a cool use of light and great seeing.

  • Don Emmert/AFP - Getty Images

    Pianist Colin Huggins plays for subway riders at the Union Square station January 31, in New York. Huggins wheels his piano onto the elevator and down to the platforms to perform. Scores, perhaps hundreds, of freelance musicians serenade the grimy metro system day and night. But they're finding it harder to get commuters to take notice and donate.

    I love the subway musicians in New York, as I think they can really make the wait for the train more pleasant. I'd tip this guy just for the effort he made to get his instrument to the platform.

  • Julie Jacobson/AP

    Micah, a 2-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel, relieves himself on a plastic fire hydrant in a temporary dog park set up at the Hotel Pennsylvania Friday, Feb. 6, 2009 in New York. Micah will be competing in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, which begins on Monday at Madison Square Garden.

    I wouldn't mind being tasked with setting up this temporary dog park, but although I adore dogs, I don't think I'd be too thrilled about taking it down.

  • Alexandre Meneghini/AP

    Joana Nunes, 14, center, is prepared for a photo session in celebration of her 15th anniversary in Havana, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009.

    This image was considered for, but didn't make the final edit for this week's The Week in Pictures. I love the story that this colorful image tells, right down to the man in the flannel cut-off shirt who's fixing her hair.

  • Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin talks with reporters after a series of amendment votes on the economic stimulus legislation in the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 6, in Washington, DC.

    Does it all come down to branding? Would this bill be more difficult to vote against if it was called a "jobs bill"?

  • Seth Wenig/AP

    A man dressed as The Flash is interviewed at the Comic Convention in New York City on Friday, Feb. 6.

    I've never understood comic book culture.

  • Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

    First lady Michelle Obama, right, throws her arms up before she and her husband, President Barack Obama, read to second graders at Capital City Public Charter School in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009.

    Clearly someone didn't have their Wheaties this morning.

  • Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP - Getty Images

    Maasai warriors pepper a battle field as they clash with bows and arrows with members of the Kalenjin tribe in the Kapune hill overlooking the Olmelil valley located in the Transmara District in Western Kenya on March 01, 2008. The Maasai, the Kalenjin and the Kisii tribes clashed over ongoing land disputes that erupted after botched local elections.

    I didn't know until I saw this picture that large groups of people still fight with bows and arrows.

  • Sukree Sukplang/Reuters

    Thailand's 'Scorpion Queen' Kanchana Kaetkaew, 38, poses with scorpions inside a glass room at the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Pattaya, January 24, 2009. Kanchana set a new 33 day record for the longest stay with 5,000 live adult scorpions from December 22, 2008 to January 24, 2009.

    I wonder what leads a person into this realm of work. Curiously, she married a man who is famous for similar stunts with centipedes: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11062676/

  • Bob Wojcieszak/The Daily Mail via AP

    West Virginia Departmet of Highways workers, workers from Abbott's Wrecker Service, Pinch Volunteer Fire Department and Firefighters from the 130th Airlift Wing of the WV Air National Gaurd all work together to contain a smoldering spill of cocoa powder after a tractor trailer overturned on Interstate 79 near Elkview, W.V., during the early morning hours of Feb. 2, 2009.

    As we considered this image for The Week in Pictures, we wondered what this scene smells like. See the spots where the cocoa is burning? Check out the pictures in this week's edition: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3842331

  • Mark J. Terrill/AP

    Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom (7) puts up a shot as Washington Wizards center JaVale McGee (34) defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, in Los Angeles. The Lakers won 117-97.

    This basketball shot struck me because the perspective makes the players look like they could be standing on the ground. And then I realized that it's unusual to see an image taken by a camera mounted at the level of the basket, instead of above the basket. Cool thinking by photographer Mark Terrill.

  • Eddie Keogh/Reuters

    Young boys roll a giant snowball in a park after a heavy snowfall in Oxford, southern England February 5, 2009. Heavy snow caused chaos across a swathe of Britain as councils said they were running out of grit to keep roads open and forecasters predicted fresh flurries for southern England during the Friday morning rush hour.

    How many times have you set out to build the biggest snowball EVER only to fizzle out when it's hardly taller than your knees? These folks made it happen!

  • Michaela Rehle/Reuters

    Models pose with the worlds most popular 'Barbie' doll, which turns 50 during the press preview of the 60th International Toy Fair in Nuremberg February 4, 2009.

    How about that? Barbie is 50 years old and she doesn't look a day older than . . . twelve. Do you think the doll promotes an unrealtic body image for young girls, or is this much ado about nothing?

  • Jeff Haynes/Reuters file

    Then President-elect Barack Obama introduced former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services during a news conference in Chicago on Dec. 11. Daschle withdrew his nomination as Obama's health secretary on Feb. 3, saying he did not want to be a distraction after paying $140,000 in back taxes.

    "Our Constitution is in actual operation; everything appears to promise that it will last; but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes," - Benjamin Franklin.

  • Sergei Grits/AP

    A swan is shrouded in mist as he floats in a river in Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009.

    Swans are a favorite subject for photographers for obvious reasons. The mist and the backlight give this silhouette shot extra drama.

  • Rick Stevens/AP

    Switzerland's Roger Federer reacts during the awarding ceremony after he lost to Spain's Rafael Nadal in the Men's singles final match at the Australian Open Tennis Championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009.

    Tom Hanks uttered the famous movie line "There's no crying in baseball!" Apparently there is in tennis. Do you like this display of emotion, or should Roger Federer suck it up and be a macho athlete?

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