Thanks SO MUCH for validating my statement that some people really should be forcibly sterilized! *EXPLICIT LANGUAGE*

Okay, this next post is going to be about a story that I came across on Huffington Post. It's a fairly new event, but one that is disgusting at that. It pains me on the inside that in 2012 that we still have parents who are so deluded to think that anything short of killing a child is "discipline". Whatever happened to being treated with dignity? These sick fucks that I am about to talk about are a couple in Minnesota who forced the woman's daughter to sprint down the street in a diaper and a tank, plus they shaved the girls head. The mom, Stephanie Ann Broten (38) and her live in penis (boyfriend), Darnell Alan Landrum (34), allegedely warned her daughter that if she had not improved her grades that they would shave her head and put her on diaper duty, (translation: "if you don't get good grades, we are going to publicly humiliate you to satisfying our own fetish").

While this was going on, there were 50-100 onlookers, who were very disturbed by this incident. A friend takes a picture to show the police (pretty risky considering that he could have been accused of possessing child pornography). Thank God, he's deleted, he said the reminder is just too painful.

That's not the end of the story, during the arrest these fucks were laughing about it and continued laughing about it on the way to jail. In their minds it was proper discipline and the police were simply meddling in their personal choice. The girl is currently in foster care. The girls friend stated that he hopes that they never get out of jail. Unfortunately he did not get his wish, the mom is released on bail under the condition that she have no contact w/ her daughter and the boyfriend (whom I might add has a criminal history, mild, but criminal nonetheless) also has a bond set for him.

This is the kind of shit that people kill themselves over, not only was this psychological abuse, but doing this to a minor who is old enough to dress themselves is even considered sexual assault. I don't know how this crazy bitch got released, IMO, she should have stayed in jail plus have the same thing done to her that she did to hear daughter and see just how much she likes it. I do not have children, and really not sure that I want to, but I would never do anything like this to my child. If anything this would make their grades even worse or they would be kicked out of school for bullying after this sort of public abuse. Think about it, kids are cruel. I'm glad these kids were disturbed and neighbors did report the abuse, but others are not so sympathetic and just live to bully. It wouldn't come as a surprise to me if this girl went on a rampage and just beat someone to the point of borderline death as a release for this. Not that I condone it, but shit like this really can fuck someone up. Parents, please think about the long term damage you are doing to a child before pulling a stunt like this. I could understand spanking or grounding if you must get the point across, but leave the diaper punishment to sex play between consenting adults! Don't violate your offspring like this! Please people!

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7194873

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/05/08/police-couple-laughed-over-forcing-girl-to-run-in-diaper/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/stephanie-broten-darnell-landrum-diaper-daughter_n_1503322.html

Recession Frustrations!

The economy sucks! Yes, it does. Okay I know this is cliche and this story has probably been told 1000's of times already if not more by others, however I want to share my particular situation on the whole job blues. I'm a graduate student finishing up my graduate work in Instructional Technology. I love the program, however, I'm really frustrated. Why you might ask? Because, it's been over two years since I got  my bachelors degree. I got a degree in sociology back in the fall of 2009 and my initial plans were to work for a year to earn some income and then I was going to head to grad school at SUNO (Southern University at New Orleans) and get my MSW. Let's just say, the reality was nothing like the vision that I had in my head. I busted my ass during my undergrad years of college and after 4.5 years of school non-stop (I went to summer school every summer from the time I graduated from high school), I was looking forward to being free of school and just being able to focus on working and my health. Don't get me wrong, I knew I would have to get a masters degree eventually, however I thought that I would be able to put it off for at least a little bit. I tried to ignore the "you won't find a job, get your masters and get it over with" statements, but it seems that I either bombed each interview really badly or I interviewed well but ultimately someone else did better, or (and often the case), they already knew who they would hire for the job but just had to go through the entire process just for the sake of putting on the facade of being "equal opportunity". Job fairs weren't much help either, unless you were in engineering or business. The social sciences opportunities were an absolute joke unless you wanted an unpaid internship for as long as you wanted (yes, someone actually told me this at a career fair. They only had one position available but I was not able to do that b/c I was fresh out of college at the time or an unpaid internship for as long as I wanted). Then you would go to another table, they would explain a bit of what they do, but "oh we aren't hiring" (yet you are at a job fair where people are looking for JOBS and you have no JOBS available!). This was in 2010 and this went on for seven months before I just said, "back to school" to get the masters degree, and I decided to switch fields totally. I continued to look for work even then, while I had picked up a work study job, I was tired of working jobs that required me to be in school to keep but it always seemed that when I was about to walk into something, a piece of glass would begin to come at me and BAM, knock me out.

It's like the Bachelors degree is the new high school diploma. Forty years ago, a college degree was the best thing you could do, but now it's not worth anything. Now employers want internships and/or master's degrees and in some cases, you have to have a Doctorate.Internships are another problem because:

a. There are only so many internships available and they usually go to the top 10-15% of the class
b. Most of them want you to work a 9-5 shift w/ no compensation

Moving on from internships, I was talking w/ a colleague of mine who I met my sophomore year of college, he was telling me that he remembers the days that he could walk into McDonald's and get a job on the spot, now he can't even do that. My personal experience is more like, I did not work in high school, it was not until I began college and began to work on campus that I was able to get my foot in the door and develop a work ethic. Now that I'm about to get my masters degree, people have asked me if I have been applying at the plants, but now plants are very specific about who they are looking for, they won't just take anybody and train them like they did forty or even twenty years ago; they want a particular degree and they want somebody w/ experience/proficiency in a particular field. Nobody wants to train anybody anymore, but how does one get the experience if they are never given the opportunity to do so?

Unless you are in health care, transportation or manufacturing you may be out of luck for a bit. Construction jobs have declined and it was once a very "high in demand" if we must say type of job. The underemployment rate has gone up as well (this was part time workers like me who are looking for full time work and those who have just given up on their job searches all together). The Department of Labor's current statistics show that the amount of long-term unemployed (4 months or more) has increased as well to over 40%. Even with the health care factor, w/ the exception of nursing, you are going to have to go to medical school.

My advice? Don't be in a rush to graduate at this time, b/c there really is not much out there for you unless you are a nurse. Oh and please, if you can look outside of the social sciences, I strongly advise you to do so, maybe go for plant processing technology or something else. Avoid the social sciences at all cost unless you plan on getting an MBA or MPA.

http://business.time.com/2012/06/01/the-bleak-unemployment-report-is-europe-to-blame/

http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/Unemployment.Final.pdf

3 yr old gets put off plane for refusing to wear a seatbelt

Okay, this is I guess the first post on this particular blog where I will be talking about an event. This entry is about a news story that I actually came across on YouTube from ELAWshea (check him out!). Anyway, basically, this three year old did not want to wear his seat belt, after his father was told that the boy would have to wear the seatbelt before take off. Apparently the little boy said "NO, I'M NOT PUTTING ON THE SEATBELT! THAT'S FINAL!" and then he and the boy were asked to leave.  It was said that the boy had cut up because he did not want to put the seat belt on. According to this article, a pacifier and some water had done the trick, however, the pilot had already turned the plane around. So did the Alaska airline do the right thing? Ready for my point of view?

I have to side with the airline because, if they had taken off prior to this and something were to have happened to the three year old, the airline would have been sued; the family would have sued the hell out of the company [for alot of money at that]. If something had happened the pilot would have lost his job, and had he not stopped the plane, the toddler could have lost his life so I understand the actions. Bravo to the airline. The way that I interpret the turn around is, that the pilot was not aware that the parents had ultimately gotten their kid to put his seat belt on so he stopped the plane, landed at the gate, gave them the boot, and then continued on. I did not get this information in the video blog from ELAWshea, though his video was quite funny.  There are some arguing that there should be child-free sections on airplanes, however, that's another entry, I'll give my point of view after really doing some thinking on it. In the meantime, what do you think? Do you agree w/ the airline? Do you think their should be some child-free sections on airplanes?

Blog One, Intro

Hey guys, my name is Joel and I live in Louisiana. I'm a graduate student about to complete my work for my masters degree. Unfortunately I will not be able to march until the fall of this year so I will be doing a whole lot of nothing in between then unless a job comes up. What can I say to describe me? I am not an avid sports follower, though basketball is fun to watch, football does not really interest me, however, I am in love with music (though I can't sing a lick lol) and movies are almost always fun to watch (depending on the genre and actors). I am a court researcher by trade currently, and I'm in the process of trying to build up my clients, and see where that takes me. Anymore questions? Ask me!