unremarkable horrors

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A Chinese mother who could not pay the fine for having a second child was forced to have an abortion at seven months.

This is nothing new in China, but a photograph on the Internet brought a fresh focus to the common practice.

Sometimes I catch myself wishing that the grisly facts of life -- a truly mangled body in battle, the anguish of executing a prisoner, etc. -- could be photographically brought into widespread public view. Of course, if that happened, the mind would probably find a way of finding it unremarkable.

PS. A follow-up article suggests China was embarrassed to have been caught ... but not embarrassed enough to desist.
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