Ideal Conceal Smartphone Pistol Makes Accidental Child Death Easier.

Coming later in 2016 is the Ideal Conceal .380-caliber pistol. It is shaped like a standard smartphone, as to make concealment all the more easy. With a simple twist, the handle slides down revealing the trigger of the camouflaged gun. The pistol can fire two shots with a hammerless internal mechanism. When collapsed, the Ideal Conceal looks like any other smartphone device, belt clip and all.

Honestly, this gun scares the utter crap out of me.

Let me be more specific. It's not the gun itself that frightens me. It's the forthcoming accidental shootings with the Ideal Conceal involving children that frightens me. The Ideal Conceal website is emphatic about taking proper care and safety with a firearm -- they explicitly state that guns should be secured for the safety of children. I can't blame Ideal Conceal; they've done their due diligence.

Yet, there are parents out there that recklessly leave their firearms (including the forthcoming Ideal Conceal) within the range of a child. How long before we hear a report of a young child digging through their mom's purse to play with her phone, only to find the Ideal Conceal and accidentally kill themselves? What about a young child grabbing daddy's phone off the nightstand, only to accidentally shoot their sibling in the face?

You and I both know this can AND WILL happen.

In this day and age, I can't support the notion of making guns more invisible. As a tool with the power to give life or death, firearms are not a weapon to be cloaked in secrecy. I'd like to know who has a gun around me, much less around children. Sure, it would not be comfortable when a crowd stares at you for carrying a legal firearm. Is that not the price we pay for freedom, though? If you want to carry a firearm, you have to be comfortable with the strange glances that some uneducated citizens may take.

The Ideal Conceal will sell like hot cakes, but I'm counting down the days until the first kid has an accident with it. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Calm Down Jars Are Pathetic Excuses For Parenting.

One of the biggest current fads in modern parenting is something known as the calm down jar.

Folks, I can't make this crap up.

A calm down jar is a DIY project mothers all across America are totally hysterical over. It involves placing glitter, shiny objects, or some other odd substance inside an empty bottle or jar with a fluid mixture. The jar is then sealed and provided to a child when they're being overly playful, feeling restless, sitting in time-out, or “struggling with sensory overload” as one famous parenting blogger puts it.

Calm down jar? More like Shut the hell up and leave me alone jar.

I don't get it with parents like this. Instead of actually interacting and guiding their children to become reasonable, sane adults whom can be alone and able to tolerate stress, they want to shove all sorts of distractions into their tiny little faces and constantly comfort them. Why? Because their children are cutting into more important adult activities, likes watching Netflix, surfing the internet or using their cellphone.

These parents are raising attention-starved brats with detrimental mental focus problems.

Aren't children supposed to be a little restless? Kids want to play, whether running, throwing balls or chasing the family dog. That's not to say children should be allowed to misbehave; they absolutely should not. Yet, whatever happened to a little old-fashioned parenting? Talk to your child with a clear, calm voice and administer guidance. Tell them what they need to do and not do. Provide them with a proper example to follow.

"Little Johnny, you go to time-out and think about what you've down wrong...

and play with your calm down jar!"

Much less, why would you give a calm down jar to a child in time-out? Isn't the point of time-out to allow a child to consider their negative actions? If the child is distracted by a jar full of glitter, how in the hell are they going to correct their mistake?!

As to using the calm down jar to assist with sensory overload... this doesn't even make any sense. The calm down jar does nothing but divert your child's attention from one source of sensory input to another. Wouldn't the correct course of action be to remove all sources of sensory input (calm down jar included) and allow the child to relax naturally? Perhaps the best solution would be to remove the tablet or smart phone from their hands, turn off the television and send them outside.

Nope... give 'em a shiny bottle. That'll fix the problem!

The calm down jar is nothing more than a hypnotic trick to mesmerize a child into further depths of stupidity. Sheesh, it's no wonder most kids these days are utter morons.

I Have The Lungs Of A 51 Year Old Man.

My lungs are 51 years old.

I had a routine visit with my doctor today. Chiefly, I needed to renew some medications that I take daily for asthma; I was officially diagnosed with the condition in 2005. While there, I partook in a Spirometry test. A computer measures the functionality of my lungs while I blow multiple times into a special tube. This test measures how much air I can inhale and exhale, the force with which I can blow air out, and from which areas of my lungs I can store air. Essentially, the Spirometry test measures how capable my lungs are at respiration. After compiling the results, the test then determines an "age" for the patient's lungs. As I stated above -- I have the lungs of a healthy 51 year old man.

I'm only 32 years old.

So why are my lungs twenty years older than I am? I've never smoked cigarettes or any other substance ever. Nor have I ever worked around asbestos or some other lung-damaging air particulate. My doctor explained the results to me thoroughly, as well as provided a likely culprit.

You see, my mother smoked while pregnant with me. Smoking while pregnant has definitively been linked to the development of asthma in children -- I probably dealt with the condition for years before ever being properly diagnosed. Decades of research has also indicated that a fetus will almost certainly have improperly developed lungs with a smoking mother. Strike two for me -- my lungs have nowhere near the capacity of a normal adult my age. The trauma didn't end there, though. Here comes strike three...

My mom also continued to smoke while I was a child. In fact, I can't think of a time when my mother didn't smoke while I was growing up. My father sporadically smoked off and on for many years in that same time. Being surrounded by all that second-hand smoke continued to harm my lung functionality. Imagine being trapped in a house with smokers, or being inside a sealed car with smokers. A vulnerable, developing child has little say in the matter. Spout what you will about your right to smoke, but harming your child in the process of slowly killing yourself is shortsighted and deplorable. If you learn anything from this article, it's this -- please don't smoke while pregnant, nor around your child after they are born. If you do so, you're doing irreparable harm that your child will have to deal with for the rest of their life.

So, how does all of this affect me? First, my lungs have a hard time bringing in a normal amount of air. Imagine what a balloon looks like when it's full of air -- robust, tight and ready to pop. Now, imagine what a balloon looks like when it's only half full with air -- limp, deflated and loose. That's what my lungs are like. Physically, my lungs are healthy looking (no black lung), but they're simple not able to fill up like a normal pair. Why? Because the alveoli in my lungs are either damaged or undeveloped.

Alveoli are the branching cavities in the lungs where the body's gas exchange takes place. They act as little portals that deliver oxygen into the blood stream and take out carbon dioxide. The Spirometry test determined that my alveoli, depending on their various locations and size, operate at 25-50% of their normal capacity for my age. To put it in the simplest of analogies -- for every one breath you will take, I have to take between two and four.

My long-term outlook isn't grim -- I just have to be careful. Continuing to lose weight is a big step in the right direction. The less I weigh, the easier a job my lungs have at delivering oxygen into my body. I also have to avoid allergens that cause me pulmonary distress. Watching my physical exertion is also key. When my body tells me I'm tired, I have to listen and take a break.

There is good news, though. Other than my asthma and decreased lung capability, I'm a very healthy man. I have no diseases to speak of, nor do I have heart or blood pressure problems. I'm probably the fittest overweight man you'll ever know. I plan on being around for a long, long time.

Mwahahahahahahahahahah!

The Breeders Must Be Stopped!

As of late, I've come to the fairly bleak realization that a large swathe of society is only capable of doing one rudimentary thing in life... and that's be a breeder. No matter how much education you offer them, or job opportunities, or chances to expand their horizons, they will always settle for the lowest common denominator of human existence.

They just make more humans. Over... and over... and over... and over.

Please, I'm begging you. Make it stop.

Here's a simple, step-by-step explanation of the breeder's guide to life.

1. Find a sexual partner.
2. Have intercourse.
3. Fail to use any form of birth control.
4. Have a baby.
5. Return to step #1

I want to shake these people and ask them...

Don't you want more out of life than to be a parent? Any loser with a functioning set of genitalia can do that. Don't you expect more from your own self, for that matter? You're a capable human being with the ability to think and transcend your starting point in life.

And yet... these folks just keep on breeding, spawning one little unnecessary hellion after another.

Ladies, I want to address you specifically for just a moment. Why? Because you're the gatekeepers to this whole dilemma. Of course, I realize that many of you have been forced to bear children because you've been raped -- this message is not for you. For the rest -- you are more than just a baby machine. Being a mother is not a life requirement. You can lead a full, healthy existence without any children whatsoever. At the very least, establish yourself in a secure career with a stable home before (not after) you start having babies. Being a mother is not a job -- it's a personal choice. I want to pull my hair out when women say that being a stay-at-home mother is a job. BZZZZZZZZZZZZ, WRONG! Instead of pushing yourself to achieve greater things, many of you settle for a ho-hum existence -- strapped to a gaggle of brats and unable to do anything for yourself. Don't fall into this trap! Refrain from dropping your panties for any schmuck that'll show you attention. Guess what -- if the only guys you can seem to attract are losers, thugs, delinquents, flunkies and deadbeats, then you're probably a piece of crap yourself. SHAPE UP! We don't need more humans on this planet -- especially those that are destined to be a breeder just like yourself.

Guys, listen to me... stop knocking women up, would you? I'm really tired of your low-quality kids making it tough on decent, responsible parents just trying to raise their own children in a better world. You and I both know that you're probably not fit to raise a child -- and that's even if you would bother to hang around. More often than not, you're absent from your child's life. So why bother? You're just adding to the problem of overpopulation, which tends to have this gnarly compounding effect. You spawn two new breeder kids, which spawn four breeder kids, which spawn eight breeder kids, which leads to sixteen breeder kids. See where I'm going with this? Buy yourself an entire case of condoms and use 'em, buddy. We don't need more of you, that's for damn sure.

This must be what breeder hell looks like.

Being a breeder isn't set in stone. It's no one's destiny to only ever make more humans. Being a breeder is a choice, which makes it all the more terrible. For the sake of my sanity and Earth itself, don't be a breeder!

Five Novels Every Child Should Read.

My love for books is something that occupies a very special corner of my heart. Every book is a window into a new world -- they are full of excitement, horror, mystery, romance, adventure. The gamut of human emotions can be experienced through the written word. Without books, our lives would be so much more bland and grey.

In my experience, there are certain remarkable books which transcend time. Their ageless nature can convey wisdom, altruism, love, compassion and honor -- no matter the age of the reader or from which generation they're from. Though, such distinctive novels are best read when a child is growing and developing into a young adult. Their minds are open to a world of possibilities. These special stories can help mold them into more complete human beings.

Here are five books that I believe every youth should read. The impact that they can have on a person's life is profound. The examples I've cited have certainly made a difference in my personal journey.

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943) - This enduring novel from Betty Smith recounts the story of the Nolan Family. The live in the Brooklyn tenement of Williamsburg, surrounded by poverty and despair. Lead protagonist Francie, whom grows from age 11 to 17 throughout the course of the novel, gives the reader a glimpse into a world where there's no hope for success. Through it all, Francie's indomitable spirit pushes her to work harder and learn faster. She never gives up on herself, even when the world around her does. Addressing many of the factors that shaped early Nineteenth Century life in America (poverty, the lives of immigrants, alcoholism, abuse), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a novel for the ages. You can survive -- you just have to want it bad enough.
2. Silas Marner (1861) - Written by George Eliot (pen name of Mary Ann Evans), Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe exemplifies the value of charity, compassion and sacrifice. Silas Marner, an unhappy and altogether bitter man, comes to let go of his personal demons and hatred through young Eppie, a toddler he finds wandering at night in the snow. Taking the orphan in as his own daughter, he develops into a selfless and loving person. Eliot's work is a testament to the power of love -- what was once broken can be made whole again if you just give it enough time and care. It also conveys the notion that doing the right thing is rarely easy.
3. Brave New World (1932) - Set in the future London of the year 2540, Brave New World paints an altogether bleak portrait for the reader to process. This might be a novel filled with elements of science fiction, but it's not wholly of the genre. Instead, it functions much like a cautionary tale. What happens when the people of the world are content with their lot in life? What happens when no one wants to improve or become better? The global population is strictly regulated in number and ability; they exist in five different castes. Those at the top revel in lives of shallow luxury, with little thought for their fellow man. Those at the bottom exist merely for labor and industrialization, with no desire to become smarter or more independent. Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel is eerily similar to the climate which we now live in -- it is a future we desperately do not want to experience.
4. Fahrenheit 451 (1953) - Ray Bradbury's magnum opus warns of a society where individual thought has been criminalized. State-sponsored censorship has led to the abolishment of books; owning one is a punishable offense. Firemen no longer serve to extinguish fires, but to set books ablaze if found. The vast majority of human beings exist in a state of illiteracy; citizens are now completely obsessed with pop culture and hollow entertainment. Sound familiar? It's chilling how much Bradbury got right about the future. Ironically, Fahrenheit 451 has been frequently banned by school districts since its publication. A book about the dangers of censorship being banned... go figure.
5. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass (1865 / 1871) - In reality two books published six years apart by author Lewis Carrol (pen name for Charles Dodgson), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass can be considered as one larger narrative. The young Alice ventures through a fantastical world filled with nonsense and wonder -- nothing seems to quite makes sense. Yet, the illogical nature of the world painted by Carrol serves to spark the imagination and tempt the reader. What is the nature of reality? What is real? What is imaginary? The tale doesn't merely exist to entertain for a short while; it makes the reader ponder the nature of the universe. Mathematics and logic problems are regularly lobbed at the reader by the vivid cast of characters. You don't just read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland... you experience it. On a much broader scale, the two parts can be viewed as mirror images of each other. Whereas the first part is wrapped in a theme of playing cards and takes place outdoors, the second part is enveloped by chess in a mysterious interior. Inherently, Carrol suggests that life is but one large game; it's completely up to you how you play it. The same holds true when reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass -- how the story plays out is ultimately left up to the reader and the manner they interpret it!

And there you have it -- five monumental novels that deserve to be read by every child, from all walks of life. Though, let me be clear. These books aren't just for the young. I still re-read these books on a regular basis. No matter how old you are, head to your local library (you know, those places where people go to surf the internet) and check one out. You can thank me later.

Living In Hell: The Life Of A Feral Child.

What's more sad, pitiful, depressing and frightening than a feral child?

Throughout recorded history, cases of genuine feral children do turn up. What is a feral child? It's a condition linked to a child being left alone in the wild by unwanting parents, often because of a mental or physical disability. Once alone, they'll often find themselves raised by another wild animal, eventually becoming a member of some another species' community. Feral children can also erupt from severe abuse as a direct result of isolation from human contact. Kids whom are locked in single rooms, attics or basements with no outside interaction often become feral.

The only known photo of Ramachandra.

One of the strangest and most well-documented cases is that of a boy known only as Ramachandra. He was found in the early 1970's in the Uttar Pradesh region of India. Eyewitnesses stated that he acted like an amphibian and ate raw meat. He could walk, but with a very awkward gait and typically preferred to crawl. More often than not, Ramachandra would be found spending his time in the local river, much like a frog. By 1979, he'd been forced into living a modern life by villagers, with poor results. In 1982, a woman killed him with a pot of boiling water. Claims state that the woman was frightened by his approach and she acted in self defense.

Natasha, a five year old girl from Chita, Siberia, was found in 2009 by local Russian police. She'd been locked in a room with cats and dogs since before the age of two. Her behavior was not human-like at all. She would bark and jump at caretakers upon them leaving her room. Natasha ate food from a dish like a dog and never used her hands. She crawled on all fours. Given that the news is from one of the most remote locations on the planet, any further news about her survival has not been released.

Another troubling case from Russia involves a nameless boy. After the story of his horrible existence broke in 2008, he was referred to in local newspapers as the Russian Bird Boy. The boy's mother had locked him naked in a two-room apartment filled with a variety of birds. She never spoke to him and treated him completely like any other pet. Upon discovery, law enforcement were shocked to find that the boy would chirp to communicate with the birds living around him. He would also flap his arms to communicate, much like the birds.

This photo of Genie was taken a few weeks after her rescue. She was being cared for at the Los Angeles Children's Hospital. Genie had what was known as a "bunny walk".

One of the most famous cases of a feral child is that of Genie, which is a pseudonym as to protect her real name. She was discovered by child protective services in Los Angeles, California on November 4, 1970. Genie's father, for reasons unknown, decided that she was mentally handicapped while still a baby. By the age of twenty months, he'd locked her in a room alone. Genie remained in that room until she was approximately thirteen years old (her birth date is not known). Her father indicated after his arrest that he left Genie strapped to a child's training toilet or tied to a crib for most of her existence. Genie could not speak, nor did she understand any of the typical social constructs that most children gain in their early years. Genie is still alive and resides as a ward of the state of California. In her time, she has learned a few words, but usually communicates through rudimentary sign language.

I find it amazing how children can be such a clean slate from which to grow and change. Given the right tools, care and social interaction, a human child can grow into a responsible adult. Yet, if children are isolated and abused, they can grow to never be human at all. I believe this says a great deal about how important love and compassion are when raising a child.

Knowledge Is The Shield.

While standing in line at the post office today, I happened to overhear a woman, whom couldn't have been much older than me, speaking on her telephone. The fact that she was talking loudly on her mobile device in a closed public space didn't perturb me too terribly. What did bother me was the content of her call.

To paraphrase, she was speaking to someone about the status of her daughter's scholastic shortcomings. Apparently, her child was failing English class miserably, but barely getting by in her other classes. Appallingly, the mother didn't seem to be too concerned. She asserted that this was to be expected. Her daughter would fail at least one class a year, but always squeaked by in summer school. Everything was going to be alright.

No... that child's future is in the toilet, and it's all the mother's fault.

It's one thing to have a child that struggles with their studies. Not all children are born with the same mental aptitude. Yet, this isn't to say that all children don't have the ability to learn and apply themselves. For the most part, the largest portion of scholastic achievement is just showing up and trying your best. Even a mediocre student who tries hard can maintain decent, acceptable grades. Why? Because they probably have a parent, parents or figure of authority behind them, encouraging their success every step of the way.

When you have a parent that accepts failure, and in fact justifies it, their child is on the path to a lifelong deficiency. That child will earn less money, not go to college, never break free from the lower or middle class and probably have more children than they're capable of caring for. Hence, the cycle of poor scholastic achievement continues.

Even in the face of severe poverty, education is the one tool every parent and child can grasp as a way out. Knowledge is the shield against destitution and unanswered dreams.

And yet, here we are in the year 2015... and many parents still don't know any better.

The Insidious Disparity of the Royal Baby Name.

News spread across the internet like wildfire earlier today that the latest child born into the British Royal Family has been named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. Via television news, social media and the multitude of pop culture outlets, it seems to be all anyone wants to talk about.

What in the living hell is wrong with you people?

This particular child is no more or less important than any other child. According to current global statistics from UNICEF, approximately 353,000 babies are born each day. Will various media outlets report on the names of those other 352,999 children that were born on the same day as Charlotte?

Clearly, they will not. Who am I kidding?

Who will speak the names of these children?

By feeding into this lunacy of idol worship, we've elevated a child to celebrity status before she has ever said her first word. Even worse, why are we celebrating someone as royalty at all? What makes one human being more royal than another? Do we not stand for democracy? For the rights of the individual? For equality under the eyes of the law?

There is no such thing as royalty. There are only those that we willfully elevate to the precipice of supremacy in the shadow of ignorance. This child is no more important than a child born in Yemen, Estonia or Ecuador. Who will speak the names of those children?

Oh, that's right... they're not royalty, so they aren't important.

You might be assuming that I've gone mad. Who would think such nonsense? Cretinous Americans, that's who. Here's an exchange that took place earlier today via Facebook. It has not been altered in any way. I made a comment summarizing the content of this blog on a local television news station's frivolous status update concerning the child.

This is the kind of venomous idiocy I deal with on a day to day basis, whether in person or in cyberspace. When I've said in the past that I'm surrounded by idiots, I literally meant it.

So, the next time you want to harp on about a royal child, please remember what I've conveyed to you in this article. When you elevate one child to such a lofty position, you're essentially asserting that not every child, no matter how innocent, really matters.

Is one child more important than another?

The Startling Facts on Child Abuse.

Before I begin with today's article, I'd like to give a warm welcome to all of my new readers. I've spoken with many of you directly over the past few days. Your readership is very much appreciated. I hope you'll stick around!

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Thanks to some recent discussions about my own experiences as a youth dealing with child abuse, I started doing some digging. I was curious as to the raw numbers relating to the prevalence of child abuse in modern America. What I found was troubling, to say the least. After compiling this data set over the past few days, I'd like to share with you what I determined. Unfortunately, it's not good news.

As the statistics currently show, approximately one out of every ten children in the United States is a documented victim of some form of child abuse -- whether that be physical, emotional or sexual in nature. The reported numbers between boys and girls is relatively even. More than 1600 children were killed by a perpetrator of child abuse in 2012, of which one of the parents was responsible nearly 80% of the time. That translates to roughly five children dying a day at the hands of their abusers.

When it relates to how child abuse affects a person as they grow into adulthood, the numbers continue to be horrific. Females whom suffered abuse as a child are 25% more likely to experience pregnancy as a teenager. 46% of all teenage runaways are victims of physical abuse; 17% are victims of sexual abuse. You're 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile and 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult. Overall, no matter the age, incarcerated individuals whom experienced child abuse correlate to over 30% of all violent crime. Across the board, those whom are locked up reflect child abuse rates that are twice the national average.

The use of illicit drugs and the abuse of prescription medication and alcohol is clearly linked to child neglect, accounting for nearly 65% of all individuals in drug treatment programs. In terms of health, child abuse doesn't end there. As adults, victims are alarmingly more prone to asthma, high blood pressure, respiratory diseases, eating disorders, allergies, post traumatic stress disorder, dissociative disorder, depression and periods of extreme anger. More than 80% of all documented child abuse victims meet the criteria for one or more psychiatric disorders by age 21.

Scholastic performance is traumatically affected by child abuse as well. When a child is abused, they are 50% more likely to do poorly in school. 30% of abused students develop a cognitive or language impairment. Of students whom are diagnosed with a learning disorder, child abuse increases your chances by 22%.

The numbers don't lie -- child abuse creates adults whom are less healthy, less scholastically capable, less able to function as a productive individual of society. If you calculate the impact of child abuse in pure dollars and cents, it reveals that the long term effects are quite bleak. If you were to compile the combined lifetime cost of health care, legal services, criminal justice expenditures, lost worker productivity and welfare directly linked to newly reported incidents in only one year, child abuse costs our nation annually over $125 billion.

Just when you think you've got a grasp on these statistics, you have to consider one more piece of monumental information. Most incidents of child abuse never go reported -- current estimates suggest that for every one documented case, three incidents occur without ever being known about. If you take this fact into consideration, it becomes blatantly obvious that more children are being abused than you can possibly imagine.

The most damning statistic is this -- nearly forty percent of all victims of child abuse will themselves becomes perpetrators of it in adulthood. They will continue the cycle of abuse that's seemingly never-ending.

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I have to be honest with you. When I read all of these statistics, it made me realize just how darn lucky I am. The odds were stacked heavily against me. Thankfully, the only psychiatric problems I've encountered as an adult were depression and anger. I also used food as a coping mechanism. All of those issues are under control, though. I can't change the fact that I have asthma or severe allergies; they're something I just have to contend with.

If you know of a child that is experiencing neglect and abuse, make a stand and speak up. If you're a child that's reading this article, please know that you are not alone. Child abuse only continues when victims and those whom witness it remain silent.

Call the National Child Abuse Hotline toll-free at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453). Counselors are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your call will be totally confidential. It could save a life -- perhaps your own.

And remember -- share this information with your friends and family. The more people that know, the less children that suffer.

Data Sources:

• Safe Horizon - http://www.safehorizon.org/page/child-abuse-facts-56.html
• Centers for Disease Control - http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/prevalence.html
• Childhelp - https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse-statistics//
• Education.com - http://www.education.com/reference/article/abuse-and-neglect/

Irresponsible Idiot Accidentally Kills Entire Family, But He's a Hero?

A troubling bit of news broke today about a family that died in their sleep over the weekend. Their bodies were found Monday. Rodney Todd (36) of Princess Anne, Maryland was found dead with his seven children in their home. They apparently were all victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. A few days previous, Mr. Todd's local utility company (Delmarva Power) had disconnected an illegal power meter that was stealing electricity from their grid. Todd had never established a legal utility connection in the six months he lived in the home.

In perhaps one of the dumbest moves ever on record, Todd installed a gas-powered generator inside his home kitchen. The carbon monoxide fumes from the generator essentially suffocated his entire family, including himself.

A typical warning label found on all gas generators. Had Mr. Todd heeded the label on his generator, his seven children wouldn't be dead.

I certainly hope that the seven children, whom ranged between ages 6 and 15, all passed away peacefully and without pain.

That being said, their father is an irresponsible idiot.

As the news disseminated all over the internet today, details about Todd and his children started to emerge. He was apparently granted custody of his children after a divorce from his wife and mother of the children, Tyisha Chambers. Shockingly, he was awarded this custody after stabbing Tyisha in the face and serving sixteen months in prison! What court in America would do such a thing? But, the absurdity does not end there. After their divorce, Chambers claimed she "lost track" of where Todd moved to with her children and was unable to provide child support. When asked about the death of her children, she was quoted as saying that...

"I'm just numb. Like it's a nightmare but it's not... If I had known he was without electricity, I would have helped."

So let me see if I can understand Chambers' statement here. She claims to not have known where her kids were, but suddenly she would have helped Todd if she'd known he was without power? Did she or did she not know about the conditions her children were living in? Much less, it took her children to be missing and living without power for her to want to help? What kind of mother does that?

This is enough to make my head spin. We clearly have yet another example of two thoughtless nimrods who couldn't seem to stop having unprotected sex, then completely and utterly failed to take care of their unplanned offspring. Seven children dead, all in one fell swoop -- Tyjuziana (15), Cameron (13), Tykeria (12), Tynijuzia (10), TyNiah (9), ZhiHeem (7) and Tybreyia (6). These poor kids are the victims here. They were haplessly slaughtered in a moment of stupidity by a man that had no business having children.

In various interviews done by local news media outlets, co-workers and friends of Mr. Todd have praised him as a hard-working man that did everything he could for his children. The media has begun to spin Todd as a hero, saying that he did all possible to provide a good life for his family. Yes, everything he could... except not install a generator in his house, not stab his wife and the mother of his children in the face, not steal electricity, not recklessly reproduce and not kill his kids. Yep... he sounds like a really fantastic father. Give me a break! If only he'd killed himself and not his kids, at least the kids could have entered into the foster system and potentially been adopted by someone who would actually give a crap about them.

Close your legs. Zip up your pants. Wear a condom. Do whatever you have to do to keep incidents like this from happening. The only people I feel sorry for are the innocent children who had no say in their creation... or their death.

We're Coddling Our Children To Death.

I was flipping through my local Target sales paper yesterday evening and came upon the following ad.

After pondering the intent of the items described for sale, I found myself asking...

Do parents really need to watch their baby via a constantly streaming video feed twenty-four hours a day?

After laughing at the Big Brother like nature of the video baby monitor, I couldn't help but be concerned. Is this sort of Orwellian surveillance necessary for the survival of our children? Humanity (Homo sapiens) has been on Earth for over two-hundred thousand years. Our most ancient ancestors have been here for nearly six million years. In all that time, no matter by which method you choose to measure, did children not survive without being constantly monitored? Were children not able to sleep in a cradle without being video recorded non-stop? Are we so pathetic as to require perpetual inspection and control of our offspring?

Let's think about it from another perspective. Consider the situation from the child's point of view. With constant spying, they'll never experience a world where their every action isn't being recorded. They'll never know what it is to enjoy actual privacy. They'll never comprehend the need for personal space and solitude. They'll never be able to make their own decisions. Most importantly, your own child will never know if they can trust you (or anyone else really).

What sort of life is that? Do we really want this for our children?

I realize this is just a single ad in a department store circular, but it reflects a much deeper societal problem that hardly anyone is considering.

We're coddling our children to absolute death.

You can let your child...

• sleep at night without watching their every breath
• play outside and get dirty
• defend against a bully, even if it means throwing a punch
• fail at their classwork, sports or any other personal endeavor
• do their own homework
• spend time alone without constant interaction

Believe it or not, little Johnny can go on the swing without you watching them.

You see, the more we hover over our children and watch their every move, the more we make them less independent. Spying on your child while they're an infant is the first step in a long journey of forming a defective human being -- one that's prone to dependency and needing constant approval from others. This type of helicopter parenting is ridiculous and detrimental to your child's health. And for goodness sake... the last thing this world needs is a populace comprised of attention-starved brats with no sense of independence.

Now cut the camera off and go to sleep.

Your Advertising Makes Me Want To NOT Buy From You!

There's just something about really terrible advertising campaigns and commercials that riles me up. Here's an example.

Click for full-size to see how much it sucks.

I received the above local ad in the mail today. It's one of your typical coupon fliers that try to grab your attention with silly antics. Haha... look at that fat cheerleader. Teehee... that so makes me want to buy tires from you.

Unfortunately, I'm one of those people that are completely deterred by this sort of nonsense. Such advertising speaks to a lower caliber of individual. If you feel the need to look like a fool in your advertisement, how can I feel comfortable knowing that you'll provide me with a quality product and/or professional service?

I can't.

Another trend in advertising (especially in rural areas and smaller cities), is to use children in television commercials. I HATE THESE TYPES OF COMMERCIALS MORE THAN ANY OTHER. If I see a child in your commercial attempting to sell me a car, sing me a jingle or generally just try to be cute, I will NEVER... and I mean N-E-V-E-R buy anything from you. Trying to sell your business with children is just, well... for lack of a better word, childish! This method gives me ZERO confidence in your business. Instead of showing me what you do or what you sell, you just assume shoving some cute little kids in front of me will garner my trust. Nope - it makes me assume that you're pathetic. It's also insulting. Expect better of yourself and your potential customers. Look at it this way...

Would you buy a car from a little kid? Of course not. Then why would you use a little kid in your commercial to sell me a car? YOU SHOULDN'T!

Hell no I'm not buying something from you. Get off my television screen!

Toys Don't Have a Gender.

Have you ever been in a department store near the selection of toys and heard something similar to the following?

"No! That toy is for boys. Go find a doll."

I have overheard such nonsense more times than I'm comfortable with.

Being a collectibles and toy retailer, I spend a great deal of time around toy departments. I'm always on the hunt for new merchandise, deals, evaluating trends and such. This means I often encounter families with children. Whether these kids are with their father, mother or a grandparent, the same pattern of ignorance rears its ugly head again and again. Parents regularly chide their children for their choice of toys. Mothers will yell at their daughters for wanting Captain America action figures. Fathers will yell at their sons for wanting doll houses.

This senseless conforment to an antiquated gender binary system must stop.

Every child is different. They are essentially little adults, for all intents and purposes. Their personal interests, tastes and aspirations are as varied as life itself. Your son may want to grow up and be a homemaker. Your daughter may strive to be forester.

No matter what your child wants to do in life, you must do two things as a parent...

• Love them unconditionally
• Be a positive source of support

This begins when a child is very young and holds especially true when they're selecting a toy to role play with. How you treat your child when they're little will dictate who they grow into as an adult. Echoes of the past most certainly influence the future.

Parents whom strictly enforce classical gender roles do it less for the benefit of the child and more for their own ego. A parent may be afraid of what others might think if their child plays with a toy deemed "not for their gender". The motivations are quite obvious. Fear is at the heart of this dilemma. Parents are afraid the toys their child plays with could alter their sexual orientation, masculinity or femininity. In actuality, this paradigm is reversed. The toy a child desires to play with is a reflection of their inner selves at that given moment. What catches little Suzie's attention today may not tomorrow. Today might be all about radio controlled cars. Tomorrow might be all about modeling clay. No matter the toy selected, the child will grow to become an adult of complex construction. The toys they play with won't change that.

There's an even darker side to making your child conform to a specific gender of toy (as if toys even had a gender). When you implant such foolishness into their heads at a young age, you're reinforcing age-old sexist stereotypes. Parents aren't the only guilty party here -- retailers and manufacturers have just as much blood on their hands.

I ask any and all parents to step back and reconsider the toys their child wants to play with. Let them play with whatever their little heart yearns for. Give your daughter that Optimus Prime she really wants. Let your son drive Barbie's dream car. Your continued compassion and understanding will do them a favor in the long run. I promise you...

Your child will grow into a well-rounded adult. They will thank you for it.

Misplaced Hysteria and Lena Dunham.

(The following blog contains mature language. Viewer discretion is advised.)

Let me get one point out of the way before I begin this article.

In my opinion, I find the twenty-eight year old writer and actress Lena Dunham to be wholly unpleasant. She oozes a persona wrought with selfishness. I liken her to an egotistical nitwit. Her immaturity is only surpassed by her narcissism. This is purely my own opinion and in no way a statement of actual fact. My opinion is based upon watching her in interviews, reading a handful of her essays and seeing a few episodes of her program "Girls". I'll never get back the time I wasted watching her show about utter nonsense, to which I regret. Being that I've never met her in person, I could be completely wrong in my assessment. Lena could actually be a heavenly joy.

Photo Credit - Parade

But I doubt it...

As you can plainly see, I have zero reasons to defend Dunham in spite of her recent turmoil. As the old saying goes, I have no dog in this fight.

The entirety of the internet is in an uproar over information contained in her recently published book  "Not That Kind of Girl". Within the book, Dunham recounts a humorous story where, at age seven, she became curious about her own female anatomy and asked her mother for more information. Soon after, while playing with her younger toddler sister, Lena looked at her sister's genitalia. Hilariously, Lena found that her sister had been putting rocks in her vagina while playing on the ground. The whole story is told with a humorous, over the top perspective that includes obvious comedic embellishment.

Leap forward to this week...

A right-wing conservative website, which I won't link to because they don't deserve even the paltry traffic I may provide them, has labeled Dunham a sexual predator. They published a scathing article, which claims Dunham molested her younger sister by looking at her anatomy. The hysteria prone peons of cyberspace ran wild with this story, in so much as totally damning Dunham to hell for her crimes against the flesh. Dunham has been forced to cancel book tour appearances and even wrote a tirade of anger and frustration in response. Yet, these vehement armchair activists seem to have completely forgotten the context of the situation.

Let's step back and think about this for a moment.

- Lena was a seven year old child curious about genitalia and her own body, just as all children are at that age.
- She did not force intercourse or any form of sexual activity on her sister.
- The entire situation (if you can call it that) was prefaced with a conversation between Lena and her mother.
- The now grown sister has made no allegations that Lena molested her.

When is the last time you heard of a child molester asking their mom or dad about genitalia before molesting someone? Go ahead, I'll let you search the internet for an answer. You won't find one... BECAUSE IT DOESN'T HAPPEN!

For you parents out there, surely you know how difficult it can be when your child finally becomes curious about their sexuality. How old was your child (or children) when they first asked about their private parts? Five? Six? SEVEN? All children wonder about their anatomy at a young age. Some are more shy than others, but all ponder the differences between the anatomies of males and females. While one child may be reserved and not explore the matter any further than their own mind, another child may seek out answers in the real world. Such behavior reflects the diversity present in humanity; we are all born with different personalities and levels of social exploration.

A young child being inquisitive about the human body and looking at it with curiosity is no more guilty of being a sexual predator than a mother nourishing her child by breast feeding. The original author of the scathing article against Lena failed to see the distinction between the curiosity of a child and sexual molestation. Did they have a personal motivation to slander Lena? Are they secretly fascinated by her? Do they just not like her television program? Who knows! The point is this...

Lena might be a pompous, self-absorbed narcissist... but she's not a child molester. This debacle is nothing more than misplaced internet hysteria. We've seen such nonsense time and time again. Had Lena repeatedly forced inappropriate touching and such upon her sister, then maybe these internet jabberjaws would have a point. At the very worst, I'd say she was a young child whom needed therapy (should that be the case, which it isn't). As it stands, though, Lena was just being a normal seven year old.

Internet... get over yourself.

It ends with me.

I've come to two important conclusions recently.

1. I can't make my father be the man I want him to be.
2. I was powerless to change my deceased mother into the woman I wanted her to be.

For too long, I've carried this expectation that they'd change and become the people I want them to be. Too many years of cutting them slack. Too many years of making excuses. How illogical of me! I can no more expect my parents to change than I can the stars not to shine. People are who they want to be; nothing more, nothing less.

Many years on, even through all of his faults and transgressions, I idolized my father. I thought he was impervious to the darker side of human nature. Even when he was physically and emotionally abusive, I made excuses for his behavior. Oh, his father abused him... and his father before him. He can't help it. Perhaps that was my own fault. How can a man reach such lofty expectations?

At this stage in my life, I can look back and understand the scope of my situation. I'm a little bit wiser and a little more jaded. My father is going to be who he wants to be -- a civil servant trying to be a part of the 'in-crowd'. The problem? The 'in-crowd' despises him and laughs behind his back. He's stuck in a podunk community that neither likes nor appreciates him. He's also a devoted subject to a "god" that bestows no blessings. A man without a family, either by force or by choice - what kind of "god" does that to a man? To explain away the death of your own wife as a possession of evil spirits and the devil? That's absurd and foolish. Yes - you said this father. Dare not you try to say otherwise.

Father, remember that conversation we had many years ago about the Book of Job? The story of Job is a core element of my atheism. That's why I don't believe in your "god", or any other. Any "god" that would destroy a man, all for the sake of winning a bet, is no "god" at all. Children make bets over games at recess. Gamblers make bets on sporting events. Such a being is petty and foolish. Even if your "god" were real, I'd curse his name to the ends of the Earth. I'd rather die faithless as a decent, compassionate man than blindly support a god of pettiness and cruelty. A man that ventures to the grave with honor needs no shepherd to light his path into the darkness. What does that say about you? A man of logic and reason... I think not.

Understand this - Mother didn't die because the devil performed some bit of trickery. Mother died because she smoked cigarettes for more years than I care to count. She valued her smoking habit more than her own health. That was her choice - not the result of some absent "god" or even an attentive "devil".

And here we are... Mother has been gone for almost two years. Her being gone is mostly irrelevant - she took no more of an interest in my life than a rock. I actually feel more guilt for not being upset that she's dead than any real sadness for her truly being gone. I find myself unable to sleep at night; I toss and turn battering my brain. I ask of myself "What kind of monstrosity must I be for not being upset? Am I really this cold and detached?" Father has moved on to someone new, though I suspect my mother wasn't even dead yet before those new "waters" were being tested. Ahem. He has his "god" and his new partner. Good riddance.

But he doesn't have me. He doesn't have two of my siblings. Our family as we once knew it is no more. The unit is dissolved. Mother's passing destroyed the last unexplainable linchpin that held this shambling laughing-stock of a family together. Without her, we are free of any due responsibility to each other. In that, I probably find the most sorrow of all.

I just wanted a normal family. We could have lived on a normal street with normal neighbors. Our friends could have been normal. We could have taken normal vacations without yelling and fighting. The holidays could have been normal and free from guilt. My first date could have been normal. I could have actually hung out with school mates and done normal things - parties, movies, weekend adventures. I could have had a normal self-image with a normal degree of self-esteem. We could have just been normal people in a normal world.

I realize normal is a subjective term. Some would even say there is no such thing as normal. For a child, there is a sense of normalcy, though.

Normal is loving your child and not treating him or her like a possession. Normal is not employing your child like hired help. Normal is not hitting your child. Normal is not making your child feel helpless and pitiful.

All I ever wanted was for us to be normal. I wanted my father to be normal. I wanted my mother to be normal. I see now that I expected too much. Moving on with my life is my only choice.

On one of the last occasions my father, mother and I spoke, they chastised me for not wanting children. "When are you going to make us grandparents?" they would say. For that matter, I can recall many moments in even my early and mid-twenties when they heckled me for not having kids yet. There's no way I'd ever be responsible for bringing a new human life into this horrible world. More importantly, I'd never allow even a glimmer of a possibility that I'd treat a child as poorly as my parents treated me. That beast is in me, no matter how much I diminish it. I couldn't live with myself if I ever yelled at a child... if I ever hit a child. Yet, they could not understand why.

The sins of the father will not be repeated... not on my watch.

It ends with me.