Child Labor-Not only an issue overseas.

Wal-Mart and Kroger supermarket chains have cut ties with one of the country’s biggest blueberry growers. This comes after an investigation conducted by ABC news and four graduate students with the Carnegie Corporation working as interns. The investigation turned up children working at the Adkin Blue Ribbon Packing Company, in South Haven, Michigan this summer. A five-year was reported seen lugging two heavy buckets that were picked by her parents and brothers. Her brothers are only seven and eight years old. There was also an 11-year old in the fields as well that stated he has been picking berries since the age of eight. The owner of the company, Randy Adkin, once was featured on a billboard for Wal-Mart stated his berries were “locally produced and locally sold.” A spokesperson for Wal-Mart stated they will not tolerate the use of child labor and will not be purchasing any additional product from the company in question pending the outcome of the investigation. Adkins was cited by the Department of Labor for violating federal child labor laws.

Michigan was not the only state that was investigated. New Jersey and North Carolina was also investigated. Pictures show children in Texas harvesting onions, as well as grape tomatoes in North Carolina. A graduate of the Columbia University, Joel Stonington, stated that it comes down to small fingers picking the smaller fruits and vegetables.

I read this story and I couldn't believe it. I honestly thought that child labor issues were more of a problem overseas. But I guess you learn something new every day. I personally do not like blueberries but I do like onions and tomatoes. I never really put any thought into where they come from or how exactly that from the vine to the store. I think now this will definitely make think the next time I am at the store about where everything comes from and the possibility that a child was the one responsible for my food getting to the store. My kids have chores but I would never think of making them do what these children were/are doing. Children should be out having fun; playing, riding bikes, playing with other kids, etc. Not in fields picking our food

The licenses of two very experienced air line pilots have been revoked after they reportedly missed their destination by about 150 miles on October 21, 2009. At first it was reported that the pilots fell asleep and missed the airport in Minneapolis. After speaking with the pilots they determined that they were not asleep instead they were looking at their laptops working on the new monthly crew flight scheduling system. The system changed after the Northwest-Delta merger.

Air traffic controllers in Denver and in Minneapolis tried repeatedly to contact the pilots with no success for about an hour. Other pilots as well tried to reach the plane on other radio frequencies but still no answer. Authorities became so concerned that the National Guard jets were readied for takeoff at two locations and the White House Situation Room alerted senior officials, who monitored the airliner as it flew across mid-continent out of contact with anyone on the ground.

After reading this story I believe I am even more terrified of flying than I was before. I am sure there are several other Americans that feel the same way. If the pilots can’t pay attention to flying the plane, then how are we suppose to feel safe flying. In a car at least if you have a passenger then they can kind of help watch out. But in a plane there is only the pilots in the cockpit and if they are both distracted, who is going to keep the plane from crashing? I have never flown in my life and am terrified to even think of it and this story certainly does not ease my fears.

What is this world coming to?

Police in Florida confirm that the child’s body that was found in a landfill in Georgia is the body of Somer Thompson, who went missing on Monday after school. Somer was walking the mile long home with friends and siblings when she decided to run ahead after an argument with one of the other kids. When her two other siblings got home and realized she wasn’t there, they immediately began searching, along with their mother’s boyfriend. When the boyfriend called the mother, she contacted authorities. Authorities as well as friends and family began searching and continued searching late into the night. On Wednesday authorities followed garbage trucks from Somer’s neighborhood to a landfill nearly 50 miles away from. They began searching through the garbage of each truck. They searched through 100 tons of garbage before finding the body. The cause of death has not yet been released but an autopsy was planned for Thursday but authorities won’t disclose their findings. The police started questioning sex offenders as soon as the girl went missing. They have questioned all 161 sex offenders residing in a 5-mile radius of Somer’s home and they all were in the clear on Friday. The police are collecting evidence from a vacant home along the road where she was last seen.

In another story, in Missouri, a 9-year old girl vanishes when she leaves a friend’s house. In central Missouri, Elizabeth Olten left her friend’s house around 6:15 pm on Wednesday to walk the quarter mile to her house in St. Martins, which is just west of Jefferson City. She normally would walk through neighbor’s yard instead of walking on the two-lane county highway that runs in front of their houses. When she did not return home at 7:00 pm, she was reported missing. Elizabeth was listed as an “endangered missing person.” The sheriff stated that it did not appear that she ran away but an amber alert was not issued because they had found any evidence to suspect abduction or foul play. Onna Adrian, the mother-in-law of Elizabeth’s oldest sister, stated that Elizabeth was shy, she was not the type to get in a vehicle with anybody she did not know and would have screamed and tried to run away if she was confronted by a stranger. Authorities started the search in a section of woods several hundred yards in diameter, which they had triangulated with the girl’s cell phone location, but the battery died Thursday morning. By 2:30 am that morning, all but one of the search teams had stopped searching.

I read both of these stories and I got goose bumps just thinking of my kids. My kids walk 4 blocks everyday from school to get to their grandma’s house. I call everyday around 3:00 pm to make sure they made it. They get out of school at 2:45 and there should be no reason why they shouldn’t be at the granny’s by 3:00. I have also told both my kids that they are not to walk by themselves, what so ever. If one has an after school meeting than I have grandma pick them up. My kids think that I am over reacting but I would rather “over react” and still have my kids, than have something happen and I not know about it. I would not know what I would do if something happened to my kids. I tear up just thinking about it.

******UPDATE*****
Elizabeth Olten was found in a heavily wooded area on Friday. They have an older juvenile as a person of interest.

A mother in Oklahoma locked her son in apartment closets for over four years. On Thursday, LaRhonda McCall, age 37, and her friend, Steve Vern Hamilton, age 38, were charged with child abuse. The boys’ mom was charged with 29 counts and the friend was charged with 24 counts. The couple allegedly beat the boy with “fists, bike chains, cables, extension cords, and/or boards,” which left the boy with permanent scars. She also allegedly, tied him up, naked, to a ladder and poured sugar water all over him to attract insects, as well as pouring alcohol all over him and lighting it on fire, burning her son. In another instance she made him stand outside, barefoot, in the snow, for more than 45 minutes.

The boy was malnourished and covered in bruises when he contacted a security guard at a National Guard armory on the 25th of September. The boy told authorities that he had spent the most of the last 4 ½ years locked in closets and he never attended school or seen a doctor. The boys sister, who is 18, stated that she would bring her brother food but never had the courage to help get out. The boy has six younger siblings that are also in the Department of Human Services custody along with him. Even managers of two apartment complexes they lived at stated they never saw the boy but they did see the seven other children.

In 1996, in New York, the mother was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in the death of her 2-year-old daughter. She only served six months in jail. The toddler died of starvation in 1995. She and her friend are being held in the Oklahoma County jail on a $40,000 bond, each.

I read this story and I was appalled. Not only was the woman charged for manslaughter in the death of her two year old daughter but she was released and allowed to keep the rest of her children. Why would they do that? If the authorities would have taken her kids away from her then, maybe this boy would not have been tortured the way he was. Plus, the 18 year old sister could have said something to someone to help him. This story was just awful and really made me feel sick. I can’t believe someone would do this. I mean I can, because you hear about it all the time. I would really like to know what goes through people’s heads that do these sorts of things. She had to know that she would get caught, eventually. Plus, why bring children into this world just to be mean to them? They did not ask to be brought into this world. Kids are a blessing and a miracle. There are so many families that cannot have kids and would love to adopt kids, especially babies. Also, I truly believe that if the parents cannot take care of their kids, there should be a limit to the number of kids they can have. I know that sounds like a foreign country where you can only have one or two kids because of the population. I know a few families that keep popping out kids and live off the state. They can’t keep or even want a job as long as they keep having kids and get free money. The families like that should have to be ordered to be on some sort of birth control or face consequences.

Man asks daughter for sex....really?

In Pennsylvania, state officials arrest a man who asked his daughter for sex on facebook. The Attorney General Tom Corbett stated that on Friday John Forehand allegedly used Facebook to locate and sexually proposition his biological daughter, using the name “Bad Daddy.” Forehand planned to meet the girl for sex and explained in very graphic detail what he wanted to do, telling her that “not many other fathers and daughters are this brave, not many of them are so lucky to experience these pleasures.”

Corbett stated the girl alerted her mother, who then contacted the Ephrata Borough Police Department. The authorities and the state Child Predator Unit arrested Forehand at a predetermined meeting spot on Wednesday, October 7th. There were 4 other men arrested at the same time as Forehand.

Since weather is colder now and the days are shorter that means that kids spend more time in front of the computer. Some children are even home alone, without any one to monitor their internet usage, making them more vulnerable. Predators are starting to reach out to real families and the tips from these families are leading to the arrests.

Forehand is facing several chargers and is currently being held on $400,000 bail.

I truly felt disgusted when I read this story. I mean it is disgusting to act on innocent children, but when it is your own daughter, I mean seriously. That is beyond disgusting. I can’t begin to imagine what was going through this girls mind, or the mind of the father. Why would he even think of doing anything to his daughter that would hurt her in any way? I truly hope he gets a nice, long sentence so he can not hurt other children or his own any more.

This story really scared me. My children are not allowed on the computer right now, but I know there will be a time that they will need one for school. I will have to buy one for them to use, but I know that it will be placed in a common area in the house where I can keep an eye on them. I also know there is a lot of software out there that can track what websites are visited and I can block ones that I do not want them on. Also, explain that stuff like this is what can happen on these types of sites. I have a facebook account, myspace account, tagged account, and yearbook account, but I only talk to people I know. I mainly use it to talk to family out of state. When the computer time comes, I definitely plan to set rules and if the rules are not followed then there will be consequences. I still worry though. I am afraid my kids will resent me if I set too many rules or if I do not set enough then they will get hurt. But I guess this is the way most parents are.

Woman found dead under trash in own home.

After family could not contact Carina E. DeOcampo, they contacted authorities to check on her. When authorities arrived they encountered a horrible stench. After getting into the house they noticed it was full of garbage, in some areas up to eight feet. The police had to call in the missing-persons units who had to put on hazardous-materials suits to enter the home. Police and rescuers along with a K-9 search initially searched the home on Tuesday and they did not find the woman. It was on Wednesday when they returned with cadaver dogs that they finally found the 72-year old, dead. Family members say that DeOcampo had a heart condition and they had to call 911 once but she would not let them in her home. DeOcampo was a retired psychiatrist from the Florida Department of Corrections. After retiring, her cousin, Manny Manjon, states she became a recluse. She became a hoarder at an early age but it got worse after a family member died. She kept everything, even trash. Hoarders do this because everything reminds them of something, so they do not get rid of it. Manjon states that she was a very good woman, helpful and religious, and helped everyone; she just could not help herself. Homicide detectives have taken over the case, even though foul play is not being suspected and an autopsy is being conducted.

I read this story and I was astounded. I could not imagine living in that much trash. I like everything to be neat and clean. I could not imagine alienating myself from everyone. I know that there are people out there just like this lady. There is even a show about hoarders on cable. It is amazing how the mind works. This lady was a psychiatrist and not even she could help herself. I am at a loss for words. This is just crazy that someone could live in all that trash and not think it’s wrong. It had to smell terrible in her house, which is why she never let anyone in her home. The article stated that family would bring her food and leave it outside the door or on her car.

I truly hope that I never become a hoarder.

School officials try to stop a mother from riding bikes to school with her son.

In a recent story on foxnews.com, New York school officials are trying to make a mother quit riding to school with her son on her bike. Every day, Janette Kaddo Marino rides her bike the 3 miles from their home to her son, Adam’s school, Maple Avenue Middle School. The school states that it is school policy that non-high school students either ride the bus or ride in the family car. The school policy also reads "The riding of bicycles by elementary pupils to and from school is prohibited." The school is stating that it is unsafe and illegal for him to travel on his own pair of wheels, even with his mother. There is a school board meeting on October 3rd to reconsider the policy. All questions are being referred to the superintendent who refuses to divulge what the committee has recommended. She did praise the “collaborative process” and “positive change of perspective” that the meetings have occasioned.

The boy’s mother is challenging the policy stating that she rides with her son every morning and that he is safe. The school responds that the ride to school is unsafe because they travel along the busy Rt. 9 highway. The mother states that the shoulder is plenty wide enough for her and her son to ride their bikes to and from school. The mother doesn’t understand why the school would have this kind of authority to tell her how to get her kids to school as long as she is with him. She accompanies him and is “very safety-oriented.” The school has asked the students not to walk to school for their safety but the mother argues that her son isn’t “walking” to school, he is riding his bike and she is with him all the time.

I take my kids to school every morning now because of the distance we live from their school and the walk to the grandma’s after school. Before we moved, however, they walked to school and home. It did take a lot for me to let them walk but I eventually allowed them to because they are getting older and I can’t keep them sheltered forever. I have to let them “live”, a little.
I understand the school’s concerns with his safety. I would understand if the boy was riding by himself, but the mother is riding with him and she is watching out for him. So I honestly do not see the big deal with them riding their bikes to school. I would be a little worried about the highway but other than that I would feel safer if I rode with my kids. I was always a little nervous and worried that something would happen but history has shown that my kids get there and back OK. I always make sure that they both walk together and try to get a group of kids to walk with them from the neighborhood. I have also told them that if a stranger stops and asked to give them ride, they are to scream and start running either to school or home, whichever is closer.