Stripping and adult films are doing well in this economy.

Women who were struggling to make around $2,000 dollars a week are making that much in a good night dancing at a strip club.  Many of these are educated women who are qualified to do other jobs – so much for saying they are working the pole to pay for college.

With the job market what it is, many women are looking at dancing as a way get by in tough times; many dancers are making $100,000-$300,000 dollars per year.  When you think about the fact that many of these women were “forced” to the industry as a way to make ends meet I would say their mission is complete: those ends are meeting nicely.

As can be expected, nerves probably play a part in dancing for the first time.  Some women use alcohol as a way to calm their nerves while others use techniques often applied to other nervous situations.  “It is like giving a speech, but instead of imagining everyone naked, you’re the one who’s naked,” said one woman new to the industry.  Yeah, whatever.

On one hand you (may) have morals concerning the industry while on the other hand you have 5 times more income.  I could see where that could be a tough decision, but once a woman is on the pole there is no turning back.  But stripping still isn’t the worst thing they could be doing.

Once a woman dances, those who saw her naked will have that image in their minds forever, but adult films is another story.  Once a film is made, that tape, disc or file can be played over and over again.  Years from now, that decision to have sex on film will still exist for anyone to see.  It is a serious decision to make with immediate rewards.  But what is the real price these women (and men) pay?

These industries have been called recession-proof and maybe it is true.  However, while there is nothing illegal about stripping or working in the adult film industry, those decisions stick similarly to a criminal’s record.  Is it really worth it?

Sunday evening my husband and I returned from Biloxi, MS. We were there to celebrate my brother retiring from the Air Force. Even after arriving in Biloxi, MS early Friday morning; I nor my husband, my sister, my cousin, her husband and my other young cousin, realized the ceremony we were about to witness, was just for Master Sergeant Sawyer. We thought it was an event similar to a graduating ceremony where many would be honored. Imagine our surprise and unsurpassed pride when we realized 600 airmen, the Air Force band and a host of other officials were all there just for my brother!

Master Sergeant Thomas E. Sawyer retired with 20 years of service to the United States Air Force. Master Sergeant Sawyer began his illustrious career serving at Eielson AFB in Fairbanks, AL and continued on to Luke AFB in Phoenix, AR; Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, NV; Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, DC and ending at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS.

Never attending a military retirement ceremony, I really didn’t know what to expect. It was beautiful! I had to send him a text to ask how many awards he received. Even he lost count. I assure you, it was many! The professionalism and militant fashion combined with the obvious love, respect and admiration by colleague after colleague was phenomenal! The rituals that go along with these types of formal celebrations were impressive. And the icing on the cake was hearing Master Sergeant Sawyer giving his departing speech filled with thanksgiving to those who held him up along the way, appreciation for those he worked with side by side his last years at Keesler and finally, guidance and encouragement for the young airmen he was leaving behind. There were several times I became emotional myself. I don’t know how he made it through it without a complete breakdown, but he made it! He made it through the speech and he made it through 20 years of selfless service for our United States of America!

With his wife by his side, new baby in his arms, a few college degrees and a lot of experience under his belt, Master Sergeant Sawyer will shed the military titles and move to the next phase of life as just Thomas. It’s been a journey, the kind only Uncle Sam can take you on… but now it’s over!  God bless you on your new journey! We know part two will be just as successful as part one!  We love you and we are so very proud of you!  Help me in saying congratulations to the newly retired Master Sergeant Thomas E. Sawyer! 

This is always a sticky subject to talk about because there are strong feelings about affirmative action from the people who are for it and from the people who are against it. We all know that affirmative action was implemented to try to level the playing field for minorities here in the United States. I mean, we can’t deny that in the past, minorities were denied housing, jobs, medical care, schooling, etc. due to their race and affirmative action was enacted to prevent this from happening. But has affirmative action been succesful? Personally, I think so, but there are many who disagree with me.

I remember when Clarence Thomas said he was opposed to affirmative action. The Black community was up in arms! They were like, what?!! A Black man, who, if it weren’t for affirmative action, would not be sitting on the Supreme Court, is opposed to the policy that helped get him there?!!! Oh, the travesty! And now, we have a newly-elected Black President. Now the opponents of affirmative action really say America no longer needs affirmative action because we now have a minority running the country. But is that necessarily true?

There are those who have been victims of what is called reverse affirmative action wherein a White person or non-minority, who may be more qualified, is denied a job because the company needs to hire a minority to fill their affirmative action quota. In instances such as these, I disagree. I think the company should hire the best person qualified for the job, but that’s not how the real world works, right?

So, tell me 7DayBuzz readers, do you think affirmative action is still relevant? Especially since we now have a Black President? I’m really curious to hear your thoughts.

A fifth-grader from Pennsylvania allegedly killed his father’s pregnant girlfriend recently.  The murder weapon was believed to be a shotgun designed for children.  I actually didn’t know they made youth shotguns, but I guess hunting is big enough in some parts of the country to drive the need for this.

Sad to say, incidents like this are becoming so common that we are numb to the enormity of where our society is and the direction it is going.

Ironically, the boy’s last name is Brown and there is another young man with the same last name who recently made news for laying his hands on a young woman – I’m talking about R&B singer Chris Brown.

Who is to say discipline would have made a difference in either one of these situations, but is discipline or lack of discipline part of the problem?  There are many people who take discipline, namely spanking, too far, but does that necessarily make it a bad thing?  Let’s look at what the Bible has to say:

• He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him  betimes (diligently).
• Chasen thy son while there is hope, and let no thy soul spare for his crying.
• Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it from him.
• Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
• Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
• The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

I’m fully aware that many don’t feel like they should become physical with their children.  However, after dealing with many young adults on a daily basis, I can say for certain that these kids are willing to do whatever they please.  They have no fear and are willing to do anything legal or illegal as long as it jives with what they want at the time.

I’m of the opinion that we partially owe this to educators who replaced the village concept of raising a child with a degree program.  By the way, some of the “experts” probably don’t have children meaning their recommendations and methods are based purely on theory and case studies.

Do you think we should go back to the old way of parenting, with a watchful eye on abusers, or keep on doing what we are doing?  It seems as though we are moving towards a transition where some parents were abusive and barbaric to a day and age where the children are barbaric.  The answer has to be somewhere in the middle.

And some people wonder why there is so much distrust in the criminal justice system.  Here’s a story about two judges in Pennsylvania who pleaded guilty to accepting more than $2.6 million from a private youth detention center in Pennsylvania in return for giving hundreds of youths and teenagers long sentences.

Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan of the Court of Common Pleas in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, entered plea agreements in federal court in Scranton admitting that they took payoffs from PA Childcare and a sister company, Western PA Childcare, between 2003 and 2006.  Both judges are facing up to seven years in prison.

When someone is sent to a detention center, the company running the facility receives money from the county government to defray the cost of incarceration.  So as more children were sentenced to the detention center, PA Childcare and Western PA Childcare received more money from the government, prosecutors said.  Teenagers who came before Ciavarella in juvenile court often were sentenced to detention centers for minor offenses that would typically have been classified as misdemeanors, according to the Juvenile Law Center, a Philadelphia nonprofit group.

The Constitution guarantees the right to legal representation in U.S. courts.  But many of the juveniles appeared before Ciavarella without an attorney because they were told by the probation service that their minor offenses didn’t require one.  Marsha Levick, chief counsel for the Juvenile Law Center, estimated that of approximately 5,000 juveniles who came before Ciavarella from 2003 and 2006, between 1,000 and 2,000 received excessively harsh detention sentences.  She said the center will sue the judges, PA Childcare and Western PA Childcare for financial compensation for their victims.

“That judges would allow their greed to trump the rights of defendants is just obscene,” Levick said.  The judges attempted to hide their income from the scheme by creating false records and routing payments through intermediaries, prosecutors said.  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court removed Ciavarella and Conahan from their duties after federal prosecutors filed charges on January 26, 2009.

Love makes kids smarter.  Yesterday, I read an article that states the more love given to kids as they mature, the smarter they will be.  According to a Yahoo News Story, “In the 1950s, Harry Harlow conducted a series of experiments with baby rhesus monkeys that showed, without a doubt, that lack of love and comfort makes for a crazy monkey. “  In addition, ” Harlow and pals put little monkeys into contraptions that isolated them from others, visually, physically, and even out of hearing, and the babies became despondent. “  Wow.  Isn’t this how, back in the day, some people raised their kids?  Think about it.  Haven’t you heard advice on raising kids such as, let babies cry for a while – it doesn’t hurt them, let babies sleep alone to grow independent, or for God’s sake, put that kid down – you’ll spoil him/her by holding them too much.

Current research is building on Harlow’s work by showing that a mother love doesn’t just make for a psychologically well-adjusted child, it also makes for a smart kid.  In the research, it shows that the highly nurtured chimps do better than the ones without a history of attachment.  It also shows that the well-nurtured chimps do even better than human kids on this pint-sized IQ test.

We all know that we need to love and to be loved . We need to be held and talked to and made to feel that at least one person wants to be with us all the time.  And what is, in my opinion,  indisputable is that if we get that kind of love and give that kind of love to our children, we all will be fine – even better than fine. 

Now, I like this research (surprised?).   Just to build on the love factor, I also think studying has something to do with kids getting smarter.  So, if balance is applied, between love and studying, can you imagine the smarts a child can have?

If you’ve been keeping up it is no secret that a new stimulus plan is about to be voted on and probably passed.  The new plan calls for $825 billion in spending and one things is unclear: does this new plan ditch the old $750 billion bailout plan?  If so, I guess that $350 billion dollars really is gone.  Anyway, here is how the money will be spent on the new package:

The case for it: By investing in renewable energy, health care, education and modern construction projects, the Obama administration expects to create between 3 million and 4 million jobs and address key sustainability issues.

The case against it: Opponents argue the spending will lead to a rapidly increasing and unsustainable deficit. They also say that a majority of infrastructure projects will take too long to implement.

Construction projects: $90 billion. Fund the rebuilding of crumbling roads and bridges, build clean water and flood-control mechanisms and provide funding for mass-transit systems.

Education: $142 billion. Rebuild thousands of schools by modernizing classrooms, labs and libraries.

Renewable energy: $54 billion. Double production of alternative energy in the next three years. Weatherize low-income homes, modernize 75% of federal buildings and update the nation’s electrical grid with a new, cost-efficient “smart” grid.

Health-care records: $20 billion. Modernize the health care system by computerizing all of the nations’ medical records in the next five years.

Science, research and technology: $16 billion. Invest in science facilities, research and instrumentation to create new industries, new jobs and medical breakthroughs. Expand broadband Internet access in rural and underserved areas.

The case for it: As states face budget shortfalls, Obama’s plan seeks to help states pay for Medicaid and unemployment benefits. State fiscal relief will be allocated to prevent increases in state and local taxes, or cuts in government services.

The case against it: Opponents say the bill should focus on job creation that will make an immediate impact the economy.

Medicaid: $87 billion. Increase Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage so states do not have to cut eligibility for Medicaid due to budget shortfalls.

Law enforcement: $4 billion for states and municipalities for law enforcement.

The case for it: Obama proposed temporary programs to protect those most vulnerable to the effects of the recession.

The case against it: As with state budget relief, opponents say the bill is too big and should simply aim to create new jobs. Some lawmakers have said some of the “safety net” spending provisions are wasteful, and many have called the bill unfocused.

Unemployment benefits: $43 billion. Extend through December 2009 emergency unemployment insurance assistance to states. Increase weekly unemployment benefits by $25, and provide incentives for states to expand unemployment coverage.

Cobra: $39 billion. Tax credit for recently laid-off employees to help pay for discounted health care. Obama estimates the plan will help 8.5 million people who recently lost their jobs.

Feeding the hungry: $20 billion. Increase food stamp benefits by 13%, and provide support for food banks, school lunch programs and WIC.

The case for it: Throughout his campaign, the president pushed for tax cuts for low- and middle-income families. As a form of stimulus, it has the added advantage of being paid out faster than other provisions in the bill, and economists say those income groups are most likely to spend rather than save the money.

The case against it: Opponents say the size of tax cuts for both individuals and businesses do not go far enough and don’t make up a big enough portion of the entire package. Furthermore, they oppose giving tax breaks to people who get back more money from the government than they pay in income and payroll taxes.

Middle-class tax cut: $145 billion. Tax cut amounting to $500 a year for individuals and $1,000 for couples. The full credit would be limited to those making $75,000 or less ($150,000 or less for workers filing joint returns).

Low-income tax cut: $5 billion. Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is a refundable credit for low-income workers. Furthermore, the Make Work Pay Credit would be refundable, meaning that even tax filers without any tax liability – typically very low-income workers – would receive one.

Child tax credit: Up to $18 billion. Temporary increase in the amount of the child tax-credit that would be refundable.

The case for it: Obama’s plan seeks to help ease the tax burden for small businesses, as well as allow companies suffering losses because of the downturn to get some tax relief by applying losses to more years in which they booked a profit.

The case against it: Opponents say too small of a percentage of the total package – 2.7% – goes to small businesses, and to businesses in general.

Small business write-offs: Obama would increase the amount of expenses small businesses can write off to $250,000 in 2009 and 2010 from the current $125,000 level.

Tax cuts for companies suffering losses: Up to $17 billion over 10 years. Obama would temporarily broaden the “net-operating loss carryback” to five years, up from two years currently. The provision would let companies apply their 2008 and 2009 losses to past and future tax bills so they can get money back on taxes they’ve already paid or would otherwise have to pay.

I have been observing our current economic situation and as a result, haven’t been updating the site as I normally would. Thank you to Kim for holding it down – she proves over and over again why she is a keeper!

Stimulus Check Part 2?

How do we go about stimulating the economy when the experts are saying things are going to get (much) worse before they get better? If President Obama makes way for us to get another stimulus check, will that really be enough? I don’t think so.

I’ve read a lot on the Internet about what people would do with a stimulus check and the majority seemed to say they would use it to pay bills (i.e.  credit card debt, etc.).  It’s unfortunate that paying off credit card debt would only help credit card companies and banks.  Didn’t the financial institutions already get $350 billion? I know I’m over simplifying things – done on purpose – but it seems like the end result would be putting the money in the hands of the same people who have already received bailout money.  Other people said they would go out and spend the money because that is what would really jump-start the economy and that is what the money was meant for. This seems to make more sense to me, but there could be a wrinkle to this. What if people purchased items made outside of the U.S. (i.e. Japan, China, India, etc.)?  What type of effect would that have on our economy?   Finally, some people said they would save the money. I really don’t see how this could help the economy since the money would just sit and probably not gain very much interest.   Just so you know, this topic is not my area of expertise, so I welcome any and all corrections.

I wonder if fear is a major role in our current economic situation?  I read that layoffs in Alabama caused others to essentially shut down purchasing because they were fearful of being laid off themselves. If individuals stop spending because they are afraid, the situation may actually get worse.

Finding the Perfect Balance

There is a fine line between spending less due to the economy and spending enough to help the economy rebound. This would apply to everything from candy bars to houses. If we spend on only the necessities, we may allow businesses to do more with less or less with less. Yes, we should be smarter about how we spend our money, but the bottom line is — we need to spend if we expect the economy to come back.

Our government could help by forcing some industries to reasonably price their products. For instance, how about if the oil companies made profits ($ billions), but not record profits? What if places like Washington, DC didn’t have townhouses starting in the “Low $1 millions?” Do you know any construction workers or mid-level employees who are making a lot more money as a result of the high prices we paid over the last five years or so?

Relief, or an end to price gauging, in some key areas would allow us to start spending in areas that need it more. I know we live in a society where there’s no limit as to how much a person can earn, but maybe striking a balance between reasonable prices and profit make more sense for the long haul. Maybe some of those people should play SimCity to realize the benefits of making less money over the long haul instead of draining the well dry right now.

On a side note, when one of the oil company CEOs retired a while ago, part of his retirement package – worth $400 million – was a security detail.  Hmm, now why would he need security?

I have never been a fan of ER, in fact I’ve never watched a whole episode – Gray’s Anatomy is another story though.  I don’t know why I’ve never got into it, but I know there are millions of people who have been fans from day one and they may get a special treat soon.  Dr. Ross is in the building!  Maybe.

Word on the street has George Clooney coming back for a couple of episodes.  This being the final season, it would probably be great for ratings to have the show’s most famous alumni back to close things out.  Clooney hasn’t been on the show since a quick cameo in 2000 – his character apparently left his baby’s mamma on the show a little while longer.  Nighttime drama is still drama I guess.

I couldn’t begin to tell you all the details, but I’m sure Clooney isn’t doing this for free.  I would imagine with ER’s success Clooney could come in and ask for $1 million per episode and probably get it.  It will probably be enough to buy another house abroad for the Oscar-winning actor.

I’m just wondering if there is an Ocean’s 14 coming out.  Bernie Mac would obviously be missing from the cast, but those are some pretty entertaining movies.

Today I’m thinking our society just keeps coming up with new examples to show that morally we are on a downhill course.  What are we going to do – what can we do to instill some values in the generations to come?  If we could return to some common courtesies that would be great, but that seems far too difficult for some to grasp.

Have you ever heard of someone stepping on another person’s shoe and it causing a dispute?  I’ve heard of people losing their life for something as small as this.  Back in the good old days a simple “Excuse me” would be good enough to forget/forgive about something like this, but now it seems as if stepping on someone’s toe is a capital offense.  The whole thing is stupid because who would do this on purpose?

I used to live in a popular west coast city and one night I was out at a club when an incident similar to this occurred.  A young lady I was talking too was bumped into by a guy.  Notice I said he bumped into her.  Anyway, the guy got very upset and was blaming the young lady for this.  Well, I came to find out this guy was a pimp and he thought he was above this happening to him.  I’m not saying he was a guy who was a lady’s man or anything like this – he was a pimp for real.  Can you believe he caused the action but thought it was her fault?  This guy must have had some serious juice because they told the young lady it would be best if she left the club instead of telling him to leave.

Remember when a simple punch would solve most problems?  I’m not advocating violence, but some people quickly take things to the next level.  Forget about normal fist fights because that seems to be a thing of the past and I can kind of understand why.  Why fight someone and possibly win when their next move will likely be to go get a gun?  That is exactly was a 4-year-old in Jackson Ohio did when his baby sitter stepped on his toe.  Did I mention the child was 4 and the baby sitter stepped on his toe accidentally?  Amazing.

I don’t know about you, but I would rather not be involved in any gun play for accidentally stepping on someone’s toe.  That just doesn’t seem like a way I possibly want to leave this earth and besides, it is downright stupid.