Although the minimum wage was created to ensure a better life for Americans, it’s not always the exemplary choice in some people’s views. A great deal of Americans struggle to make minimum wage and barely make ends meet.

As a college student I understand how difficult it is to work a minimum wage job, go to school, buy food, buy necessities, do homework, pay rent, buy books, and pay car payments.

Over the past couple years, college students have discovered that the adult industry has been a relief to their money issues. Students have found various ways in the adult industry to pay back loans for school or pay for any other basic need of a college student.  The “Sugar Daddy Solution,” is becoming a fad for college students across America.

It seems as though students looking to find a job in the adult industry most commonly end up escorting or seeking sugar daddy’s. Finding a job in the adult industry is not always on purpose. Chloe, a “pro girlfriend,” states that she found her arranged relationship on “accident.”

Chloe had been working at Buffalo Wild Wings in Las Vegas, when her car broke down and “needed a new alternator and starter which was going to cost about $1500.”

Chloe had found herself on craigslist looking for a more beneficial job. Unfortunately it’s hard to find a job that pays more without a degree. Chloe was embarrassed to say that she wandered off into the adult section of craigslist. She viewed ads for hookers, strippers, and porn stars. She realized she did not want to do any of those jobs.

Although she wasn’t interested in becoming Vegas’s next big strip show, she continued to view the adult section. Soon an ad for a “pro girlfriend,” appeared. Chloe wasn’t completely sure about what a “pro girlfriend,” was exactly, but was open to finding out about how it worked.

Chloe met up with the man who posted the ad on craigslist. While Chloe was 18 and still adapting to life on her own, he was 50. The first day Chloe and him met he immediately fixed her car, after a nice lunch of course.

According to Chloe there are many benefits to her arrangement. Not only is money a benefit, but Chloe has benefited in various ways. Chloe went from being as desperate as looking in the adult section on Craigslist, to earning a 3.8 GPA at the University of Las Vegas and establishing a stable life for herself.

Although her arranged boyfriend does receive sex, it is not the only way he benefits from the relationship. Chloe says she has helped him become a healthier person, supports his ideas, and his over all well-being.

Some might say that having an arranged relationship may be the same thing as becoming a prostitute. Prostitution is pretty straight forward; you have sex for money. Chloe does not consider herself only having sex for money. Chloe and her arranged boyfriend have established an actual relationship, and support each other’s wants and dreams, something most people in a relationship don’t even accomplish.

What’s not to love? Love and Money are things people search for the most and now it’s just a click away on craigslist. It seems simple, become a “pro girlfriend,” make good money, pay your bills, go to college, receive stability. It seems like the perfect fantasy. But is it all it’s cracked up to be?

According to Chloe she’s making over $100 grand a year just by being a “pro girlfriend.”Chloe receives “$1,000 in cash a week, rent for her townhouse, about $1,500 a month, about a thousand a month for a clothing expense, payment of her BMW and her insurance.”

Chloe has created a good savings account for herself,  established rental properties, has no student debt, and is financially stable.

I always hear people talking about how prostitutes make a lot of money. It seems as though it depends on the type of business you are in, within the adult industry. In my opinion being a prostitute or stripper is not the dream job I fantasize about. although Chloe’s relationship with her arranged boyfriend makes me reconsider the aspects of having an arranged relationship.

When I look at all the aspects of the adult industry, I see drugs, violence, and unstable people. When I look at escorts and arranged relationships compared to prostitution, stripping, webcam models, and porn stars, it’s easy to differentiate.

The stability and safety of having a “sugar daddy,” or “arranged relationship,” is far from the position a prostitute working in the middle of the night on dangerous streets would have.

Although I don’t personally agree with the Adult industry overall, Arranged relationships seem like the most logical way to have a job in the adult industry. People in arranged relationships are not prostitutes, strippers, or porn stars. “Pro girlfriends,” hardly consider themselves part of the adult industry. They are people striving to have a better life and perhaps create a lifelong relationship and promote stability within each other.

A huge variety of dating websites for wealthy men and women are sprouting across the internet, and creating a higher demand for wealthy people in the dating life.

Dating is now considered a sub category for the adult industry all thanks to the idea of pro girlfriends/boyfriends, arranged relationships, and escorts. Seekingarrangements.com and sugardaddyforme.com are only a few out of the many growing sugar daddy websites.

To be quite honest, it’s difficult for me to distinguish the difference between having a sugar daddy and an arranged relationship. I would much rather be honest as to why I’m with someone and have them support my decisions, then fake love with someone for their money.

It would be nice to extinguish both options and the sex industry overall, but unfortunately desperate times call for desperate measures, and someone has to keep the porn business going for all those demanding late night viewers.

Perhaps there were other routes a person in an arranged relationship could have taken, but if working in the adult industry is someone’s “only option,” becoming a pro girlfriend seems like the best choice.

The people who we solely rely on to protect our freedoms can barely be honest with us? Shameful, in my opinion.

To be quite honest it makes me not even want to vote. The right that Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for with great effort, is meaningless if no canidates can even be honest as to whom they are.

Every day I hear politicians and their administrations promote themselves. I don’t care who they claim to be; I care about how everyone else feels about their experiences with the politician.

Various citizens feel as though the Obama Administration is perhaps as curropt as the Nixon Administration was. Times have changed, technology is at its peak and entrepeneurs are crowding indutries.

However, Politicians have stepped in places we never imagined. Political Curroption is destroying America. We are destroying ourselves!

“Obama for America,” or Obama against America?  Obama’s recent $447 Billion plan to create new jobs seems brilliant from the outside perspective. However, I am not as easily convinced.

Obama claims the benefits, money, and effort put into this plan will outweigh the extreme amount of money required to follow through with the plan.

Obama is sadly mistaken and could possibly cause America even more debt and a lovely increase in taxes. After all, American’s love taxes! I mean we only fought for taxation without representation in our Declaration of Independence, but what does Independence matter anymore? Were just a forming colony for China.

The only plan Obama needs to create in regards to jobs, is a plan that disallows American companies from hiring overseas operators and engineers. He needs to help preserve American jobs. I’m not sure if Obama has noticed, but people are still losing jobs. America needs to focus on bringing back jobs taken overseas and preserving jobs still existent.

That in itself will help rebuild America, not spending more money. Besides wanting to put America in to a larger pit hole, “This proposal is really not credible,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Although Republicans are not my most favored party, but neither are liars, criminals, and Presidents heading America towards a whirl wind of debt. It seems they have became a Political party all their own.

I guess when you think about the words themselves, an escort implies that maybe this person will escort you out for the evening, where as a call girl certainly implies more of a sexual favors for money type thing, like a prostitute or hooker.

We have already talked about why men in Phoenix and Scottsdale get so many call girls and escorts, and it seems very possible that since Arizona State University (ASU) is so filled with hot young women, this is why there are so many Scottsdale call girls.  I can’t help but wonder what the local Phoenix wives must think when they find their credit card receipt and see some suspicious activity that ends up being payment for a Scottsdale call girl.  Are they surprised, or do they suspect this behavior?

Phoenix strip clubs are known for having extremely hot women, so I can’t help but wonder how many of these call girls and escorts come from the strip club world.  I mean, eventually I’m sure someone makes an offer for cash and they consider it.  It’s not like they are working a pole for their love of see-through high heels.

And I wonder if there are independent Scottsdale escorts, or if they all work for agencies?  It seems like it should be no different than independent escorts in Scottsdale.

I of course made sure to include Phoenix escorts into the mix, as girl working as a Scottsdale escort is likely to be working as a Phoenix escort.  I even got some feedback from someone with a suggestion as to why it’s such a hub for prostitution.  

The commenter confirmed what we might already suspect.  We are seeing such activity in the area due to the draw of travel and retirement of men with disposable income.  They come to Phoenix and Scottsdale to golf and relax.  Maybe their wives hang out at the spa while their husbands go out for a while.  Of course where their husbands go might surprise them.  Maybe they visit the Phoenix strip clubs, like the famous Hilighter.

But one things for certain, the professional escort, a Scottsdale Independent escort who works outside an agency, and advertises through websites, is possibly doing very well.  A Scottsdale independent escort will charge an average of $300 – $500 per hour, and possibly see a few clients per day.  They often meet these clients at hotels, although some of the Scottsdale independent escorts do offer in call service, which means they provide a (hopefully) safe and clean location to conduct their business.

A Scottsdale independent escort does not usually have a pimp, or handler, they usually handle their own business.  I do know if it’s any safer, but I do think it’s better in than at least there isn’t some guy making money off the girl.

Even innocuous over-the-counter medications, such as ibuprofen or aspirin, are not recommended for use during pregnancy.  If you have a health condition that requires regular medication, your doctor can evaluate whether it’s safe for you to remain on the drug.  Before you take any medication – prescription or over the counter – talk to your doctor first.

As a general rule, it’s best to use caution and avoid use of any medications during pregnancy.  Exposure to pharmaceuticals is accounts for 2-3 percent of birth defects.  Some of the most dangerous drugs include the acne drug Accutane, the sleep aid/morning-sickness drug Thalidomide, and the psoriasis treatment Soriatane.

In addition, the anti-convulsant, Topamax, has recently been shown to cause severe congenital birth defects, such as cleft lip and cleft palate.  Earlier this year, the Food & Drug Administration strengthened warnings regarding Topamax during pregnancy.  If you took Topamax prenatally, and have a child with a birth defect, contact an attorney today to see if you qualify for a Topamax lawsuit.

FDA Topamax Warnings

The development and approval process for drugs is the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), a division of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.  CDER evaluates all new drugs before they are sold, evaluating their efficacy, as well as ensure that their health benefits outweigh their known risks.

Drugs are first tested in laboratories and on animals to evaluate safety.  Next, clinical trials are performed on people to determine whether the drug is safe, and to document any potential side effects.  The pharmaceutical company will send the results of these tests to CDER for evaluation.  If the drug is proven to be safe and effective, it will be approved.

Due to the dangers of clinical trials on pregnant women, many drugs lack information regarding the effects of taking the drug prenatally.  For example, the anti-seizure and migraine drug, Topamax, was recently shown to cause serious birth defects in infants whose mothers took the drug while pregnant.  In fact, women taking Topamax had an 11 times higher rate of congenital birth defects.

Due to this new data, the Food & Drug Administration recently increased the pregnancy warning of Topamax to Category D, meaning there is positive evidence of fetal risk.  Though the warning has been updated, many children suffer Topamax birth defects due to this FDA-approved drug.

Thankfully, many parents are filing Topamax lawsuits to ensure that they obtain compensation for the defects caused by the drug.  If you or someone you know took Topamax prenatally, and has a child with a cleft lip or cleft palate, you should contact an experienced Topamax attorney today to assist you with your claim.

Studies show that 64 percent of pregnant women use at least one prescription drug during pregnancy.  However, with all prenatal drugs, doctors must weigh the potential benefits against the risk of possible fetal harm.  Unfortunately, little information exists because of the ethical issues surrounding clinical trials on pregnant women.

Topamax Birth Defects

Many women may have taken the anti-convulsant, Topamax, for the prevention of seizures or migraine headaches.  On March 4, 2011, the Food & Drug Administration increased the pregnancy warning of Topamax to Category D, meaning there is positive evidence of fetal risk.  The previous designation was Category C because of lack of human data.

The new label states, “there may be an association between the use of Topamax during pregnancy and congenital malformations.”  A 2008 study published in Neurology found that women who took Topamax prenatally had a higher rate of babies born with cleft lips, cleft palates, or other congenital defects.  In fact, the rate of birth defects in women taking Topamax was 11 times higher than the normal rate.

Cleft lip and cleft palate are variations of a type of congenital deformity caused by abnormal facial development during gestation.  A cleft is a fissure or opening—a gap.  An older term for cleft lip is harelip.

Cleft lip and palate birth defects can increase the risk of ear infections and cause problems eating and communicating.  A cleft lip or palate can be successfully treated with surgery, especially if conducted soon after birth or in early childhood.

According to a scientific study published by the American Academy of Neurology in April 2008, taking Topamax significantly increases the risk of cleft lip and palate birth defects.  The published study reviewed 203 pregnancies.  Overall, the rate of oral clefts observed was 11 times more prevalent than the normal rate.

Approximately 1 in 700 infants are born with a cleft lip and/or a cleft palate.  Therefore, the normal rate of cleft palates is 0.0014 percent.  However, according to this study, persons taking Topamax during pregnancy had a cleft palate rate of 0.0157 percent – 11 times the normal rate of congenital malformations.

Due to these and other serious side effects, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued additional warnings for Topamax.  The warning was raised to Pregnancy Category D, which means there is positive evidence of human fetal risk.

Topamax has serious side effects.  Taken prenatally, it can significantly increase the risk of congenital birth defects.  If you or someone you know took Topamax while pregnant and has a child with a birth defect, contact an experienced products liability attorney today to discuss your possible Topamax lawsuit.

Due to the insufficient pregnancy warnings, many women are filing Topamax lawsuits to seek compensation for their infant’s birth defects.  If you took Topamax prenatally, you should contact an experienced Topamax attorney today to assist you in evaluating your claim.

PPH Symptoms

PPH is generally diagnosed by physical examination.  Typical signs of persistent pulmonary hypertension include altered heart sounds, parasternal heave, pulmonary regurgitation, elevated jugular venous pressure, peripheral edema (swelling of the feet/ankles), ascites (abdominal swelling due to fluid), hepatojugular reflux, and clubbing.

Further testing can include pulmonary function tests, electrocardiograph (ECG), arterial blood gas measurements, chest x-rays, CT scans, and ventilation or perfusion.  Normal pulmonary pressure is 12-16 mm Hg – pulmonary hypertension is present when the pressure exceeds 25 mm Hg.

There are five different types of PPH:

1. Arterial PPH;
2. Venous PPH;
3. Hypoxic PPH;
4. Thromboembolic PPH; and
5. Miscellaneous PPH.

PPH is often difficult to diagnose because the symptoms begin very gradually.  Symptoms of persistent pulmonary hypertension include shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting – all of which are exacerbated by physical exertion.  Other symptoms include non-productive cough, angina pectoris, fainting or syncope, lips and skin that turn blue, peripheral edema (swelling around the feet and ankles), and hemotysis (coughing up blood).  Finally, PPH can result in a significant decrease in exercise tolerance, and even lead to heart failure.

PPH Treatment

Treatment is determined based on the typed of PPH.  Arterial PPH can be treated with lifestyle changes, oxygen therapy, oral anti-coagulants, diuretics, and digoxin.

Pulmonary venous hypertension is synonymous with congestive heart failure, meaning treatment options center on optimizing left ventricular function.  This can be achieved though the use of diuretics, ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, or to simply repair/replace the valve.

Left untreated, PPH patients have a survival rate of 2-3 years.  However, with proper treatment, expected survival rates can exceed 10 years.

Fen-Phen and PPH

The drug combination fenfluramine/phentermine, usually called Fen-Phen, is an anti-obesity treatment that utilizes two anorectics.  Fen-Phen was sold under two trade names: fenfluramine (Pondimin) and dexfenfluramine (Redux).

A three-year study, published in 1992 showed that Fen-Phen was extremely effective in maintaining a significant weight loss.  However, when the patients stopped taking Fen-Phen, most regained their weight.

In 1996, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine showed a statistically significant rise in persistent pulmonary hypertension in patients taking Fen-Phen.  Due to these and other side effects, in late 1997, the FDA recommended that Fen-Phen no longer be prescribed.

The FDA ordered fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine off the market in September 1997 after those drugs were linked to heart valve problems.  Fenfluramine is one of the ingredients in Fen-Phen, and dexfenfluramine is closely related to fenfluramine.  These drugs are manufactured by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and American Home Products.

PPH Lawsuits

Clearly, this drug combination used for rapid weight loss was extremely unsafe.  The manufacturers of Fen-Phen promoted this drug as safe and effective.  As shown in the study referenced above, the drug is not safe – thousands of patients taking Fen-Phen now have various cardiovascular and lung problems, such as persistent pulmonary hypertension.  In addition, the drug is not effective – studies show that patients who stop taking Fen-Phen almost always regain the weight they originally lost.

Upon the release of the information regarding the pulmonary and cardiac risks of Fen-Phen, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America formed a group to seek damages from American Home Products, the distributor of fenfluramine (Pondimin) and dexfenfluramine (Redux).

Estimates of total liability ran as high as $14 billion.  As of February 2005, Wyeth was still in negotiations with injured parties, offering settlements of $5,000 to $200,000 to some of those who had sued, and stating they might offer more to those who were most seriously injured.

According to a 1999 article in The New York Times, a Texas woman was awarded $23.3 million for heart damage she suffered after taking the diet drug combination known as Fen-Phen.  The final settlement amount is undisclosed.

If you or someone you know has primary pulmonary hypertension, you should contact a Fen-Phen lawyer today to discuss your case.  If you have been diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), please contact a PPH lawyer today for a free consultation.

If you are suffering from dizziness, chest pains, skin turning blue, or difficulty breathing, you may have persistent pulmonary hypertension – a difficult disease to diagnose.  The best step you can take is to contact your medical provider for further testing.  If you believe you have PPH, you should contact an experienced PPH lawyer today to assist you with your Fen-Phen claim.

A small town in South Dakota has been put up for sale. Why buy just a piece of land if you can buy an entire town with it right? The town comes with 46 acres, a dance hall, museum, general store, post office, jail and a saloon. It looks like something right out of an old western. I could see it being used as a backdrop in photos or movies. The town is Scenic, South Dakota and it is located about 40 miles South East of Rapid City, South Dakota.

The town’s current owner, Twila Merrill, is battling cancer and has decided to sell the town. The population is less than 10. Most of the occupants of the town are related to Miss Merrill. The town is down a couple hundred people since the last Census report. The decline started many decades ago and hasn’t been able to recover.

For just $799,000 you can own a ghost town. Not to shabby of a deal if you ask me. I think I might put in on this one and make all of my child hood dreams come true. For more information on Scenic, South Dakota visit BuyScenicSD.com.

Politics is the art of the possible.

-Otto von Bismarck, 1867

The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.

-Mitch McConnell, after the midterm elections of November 2010

In the wake of the 2008 electoral victory by Barack Obama and the Democrats, there was much discussion about what this meant for the Republican party. Was it inevitable they would have to become more liberal to keep in touch with changing demographics? Even the Conservative commentator Fred Barnes suggested post-election that it may be time to “elevate moderates to positions of leadership.”

Subsequent to the election, moderates have been largely rejected by the base of the Republican party. Michael Steele was chased out of his seat as head of the RNC, even as Republicans rode to victory in the midterm elections. House and Senate leaders John Boehner and Mitch McConnell have often been derided as too lenient to Obama by right-wing bloggers and talk radio.

Instead of trending to capture Hispanics and young voters, the GOP decided to embrace their Ayn Rand-loving ideological roots. The Tea Party evolved as a protest movement against spending, taxes, healthcare, and, most of all, Barack Obama. While it’s obvious that the genesis of this movement is riddled with a healthy layer of corporate-financed Astroturf, it cannot be denied that it does represent the purest distillation of popular Conservative political thought that we’ve seen in our lifetimes. The economic realism of Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon has been purged from their history books to the disappointment of some Conservatives. But to today’s most prominent voices, it is Conservatism uncensored–and the message led to their sacking of the House of Representatives.

The Tea Party itself is not a bad thing. It is very good for Republicans to have this debate within their party and with moderates and Liberals. Ron Paul’s small-government anti-war Libertarianism is an intellectual movement that deserves to be considered and should be welcomed within the political arena.

But sober, reasoned voices of the Tea Party that genuinely want to have a back-and-forth debate about the future of this country have been drowned out. They’ve been drowned out by the likes of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh, who have hijacked the movement and turned it into a personality-driven article of faith that is both rigidly uncompromising and emotionally charged.

Fast forward to the debt ceiling debate. Under previous presidents, Bush and Reagan included, the debt ceiling has been raised with a moderate amount of consternation.

This country now possesses the strongest credit in the world. The full consequence of a default–or even the serious prospect of default–by the United States are impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate….The risks, the costs, the disruptions, and the incalculable damage lead me to but one conclusion: the Senate must pass this legislation before the Congress adjourns.

-Ronald Reagan, 1983

Republicans today argue that times have changed. Reagan’s “principles” would support their agenda, even if his actions didn’t. George W. Bush and the Republicans who ran both branches of Congress weren’t to blame because “9/11 changed everything.” Indeed, the debt has reached dizzying levels and it needs to be addressed. But why now? Why pick this battle when the economy is “cratering,” as John McCain might say? Why put a gun to the head of the United States’ AAA bond rating when higher interest rates could result (even the S&P favors the Reid plan over Boehner’s)? Why remain so intransigent on tax hikes for the wealthy when their share of America’s riches has risen so dramatically in the last 30 years?

There is no seriousness in the way Republicans are approaching this issue. There is, as Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks noted, “no sense of moral decency” on the part of Republicans in Congress. The offers made by President Obama and Democrats in Congress average about 3 to 1 in the ratio of spending cuts to revenues. It is the deal of the century, and by any classic definition of “Conservative,” it is a gigantic victory for the Tea Party and for Republicans.

But Republicans are less interested in getting a good deal than they are at breaking the will of Barack Obama, and they are willing to take the American economy hostage to do just that. Mitch McConnell himself, as well and scores of other Republicans, have stated that the most important thing for them to accomplish is the ruination of President Obama. Being elected to office brings with it a responsibility to govern, and the act of governing necessarily includes the need to compromise, especially when your party only holds one branch of Congress. It is as if there were three people negotiating over how to divide a cake and one of them insisted on taking it all as a matter or principle.

McConnell floated the idea recently of allowing Obama to raise the debt ceiling himself while Congress passed an opposition bill that Obama would inevitably veto. Rather than take a great deal for his party, lowering the debt by trillions, he believed it more important to save political face and have the debt limit raised without any Republican support behind it so he and his cohorts could shirk any responsibility. It is one of the most craven, cynical acts in the history of politics, and tells us all we need to know about what the Republicans in Congress are about.

What is it in the heart of today’s Republican that drives them to such a level of inflexibility? Is it merely rigid idealism or is it a deep-seated political urge to destroy Obama at all costs? In fact, the two are one in the same, and it is especially accentuated by the fact that Obama ran as a uniter and an admirer of Ronald Reagan. By their definition, ANY act of compromise with Obama is a concession to him and is by definition an expansion of government–another step toward Socialism. If they are completely unwilling to compromise, why not go all-out? If every statement or offer is just an act of Kabuki theatre designed for political expediency, why show restraint? Restraint is suicide in the current Conservative echo-chamber, and these people want to keep their jobs and get re-elected.

For all of the criticism the mainstream media receives from the Right, no political group is more heavily influenced by their cadre of media elites than the Republicans.

It’s worth noting that for all the conservative obsession with the dreaded Mainstream Media, it is really the Republican party that is far more in thrall to its pet media organizations. A Democratic plan proposal can survive the disapproval of the New York Times. But Rush Limbaugh has veto power over the GOP as now constituted.

It’s incredible, it’s self-defeating, it’s absurd … but it’s the way it is.

-David Frum, Frum Forum

In a remarkably titled blog post by Erick Erickson of Redstate.com, he states:

In the past 48 hours I have had call after call after call from members of the United States Congress. They’ve read what I’ve written. They agree. But they feel the hour is short and the end is nigh.

So some are calling looking for alternatives. Some are calling looking for energy. Many are calling looking for absolution.

And so I address them and put it here so you can see my advice.

-Erick Erickson, The Absolution I Cannot Give, RedState.com

Why are members of Congress calling a Republican blogger on the phone to seek “absolution?” Could you ever imagine a Democrat doing this with Markos Moulitsas? Or Moulitsas having the balls to actually publish this fact? It is absolutely incredible, and the “lamestream media” would have a field day if a site like Daily Kos displayed even a fraction of the obvious influence that right-wing bloggers have.

So here we are. Obama and Boehner have made their speeches to America on this evening, the 25th of July, and the thought cannot be ignored: the best way to reduce the size of government is to run it like a crackhead and then point to the carnage as evidence. The small-government movement prospered under Bush thanks largely to his failure of leadership. For many, moments like Katrina only confirmed the Conservative view that government was useless. And to drill this idea even further into the heads of the American people, their behavior regarding the debt ceiling is appeasing their zookeepers like Limbaugh and Erickson while significantly eroding the foundations of America’s trust in their government.

I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.

-Grover Norquist

The role today’s Republicans play in government is akin to letting Casey Anthony teach Kindergarten. If the American people speak loud enough, the Tea Party will ultimately fail. But if Republicans continue to work unfettered from the inside to sow the seeds of our government’s destruction, the consequences may be difficult to undo.

After working with that client I made the false assumption that I understood that industry pretty well.  Young, pretty girls from Eastern European countries like Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan, along with women from some Asian countries like China, Philippines and Vietnam list themselves in hoping to land an American husband.  But when you think of South Korea and mail order brides, you shouldn’t necessarily think about women trying to come to the United States, but more about the South Korean men bringing girls from countries like Vietnam to them.

I just found a great video at the Al Jazeera website about South Korean men, and Vietnamese mail order brides.  One of the more interesting stats is that nearly 1/3 of men in rural areas of South Korea actually have foreign wives.

The video focuses on several women and men seeking “love” through the match makers who pair up young girls in poor countries with guys in less poor countries like South Korea.  The interview of the Vietnamese girl crying when she has to admit that she would rather go to a University than marry some stranger in a foreign land was especially heart breaking.  I’m guessing the kind of guy doing this isn’t going to allow her to better herself through education.  Most of these guys being interviewed were already complaining that South Korean women are not subservient enough.

But on the other side of things, there was a guy I understood a bit more.  He’s 45 and admitted that after focussing on work for so long, and not leaving time to start a family, he now wants one.  As someone who had a child very early in life, I can understand what he’s saying.  I’m much more ready for a child at my current age than I was at 20.  But of course if a guy wants a family at 45, he is going to have to look for someone younger.  So he ended up with a 24-year-old woman from Vietnam, and they now have a child.

There are of course the other concerns, including these women paying the ultimate price for marrying the wrong man.  It’s defiantly worth checking out the video.  One side note, I love the fact they have a “Men’s Rights Activist” in Korea.  I have never seen that here.  I don’t think we are represented, besides of course Congress, the Senate and the White House.  Other than that, who will speak for us?

In many cases, it seems death tends to make people more famous than before. Take Van Gogh for example a man whose talent was only truly appreciated after his death. Van Gogh only sold one painting before his death. Unlike Van Gogh, Amy Winehouse’s death fame will soon fade away.

I never believed she had very much talent in the first place. A death is always unfortunate, but considering the claim that she died due to an apparent drug overdose, it was pretty much brought on by herself.

With all due respect and condolences to the Winehouse family for their loss, Amy Winehouse had various issues and incidents with drugs. Most of her inspiration for her songs came from her drug use, and hey that’s what makes a great artist nowadays, right?

There have been recent occurrences where Winehouse was under the influence at some of her tour shows. Whether it is that Winehouse did hard drugs because she was struggling in life or she was attempting to fit in to the music industry, drugs can’t stabilize your life, and obviously, eventually kill you.

Supposedly, Winehouse’s “fame,” was built up during her album Back to Black, which, put nicely, made my ears bleed. I ask myself, “what fame?” What made Winehouse so special in everyone’s eyes; her drug addiction?

My heart sinks when I see how the music industry is becoming more about who you know and what kind of drugs you do, instead of the true talent someone has.