Jesus take the wheel: Man faces charges after he tattoos 3 year old son

Egregious because the man permanently modified his son’s body, or because he was drunk when he did it? If you picked the former, how is this different than piercing your daughter’s ears or circumcising your son for cosmetic reasons? Do you think the mother should have the tattoo removed?

Discuss.

Behar bumps Dobbs

Sources say…

Wisecracking ‘View’ co-host Joy Behar is getting her own talk show on HLN, a CNN offshoot, and will be bumping Lou Dobbs from his 9 p.m. time slot in the process.

The cable news network, once the home of Glen Beck, is hoping to boost its primetime ratings with ‘The Joy Behar Show.’ The 65-year-old star told the New York Times that the show will be “topical and fun” and that she’ll continue her work on ABC’s ‘The View.’ 

To make way for the new program, a repeat of ‘Lou Dobbs Tonight’ will be nixed from the airwaves. According to the Times, HLN will announce the hiring on Thursday. [Original source]

The news is that Joy Behar is apparently 65 years old. Who knew?

Recent grads ditch Wall Street for DC

It could be fear of the financial industry, a sense of social responsibility ignited by Obama’s campaign and election or both, but recent college graduates are opting for careers that will make a difference over ones that will make a dollar.

The shift in attitudes is also apparent in graduate school enrollment. At Morehouse College, more graduates are opting to study public policy, said Douglas Cooper, director of career services at the college’s division of business and economics.

That is a big change for Morehouse, which has a long history of sending its students on to Wall Street, thanks in part to a relationship solidified by former college president and current Bank of America Chairman Walter Massey.

“Clearly, students who have historically planned on making a beeline to Wall Street have rethought that or are rethinking that,” Cooper said.

The share of Morehouse business students going into finance has decreased to 37.5 percent this year from 44 percent a year earlier, while the number of students going on to graduate school has almost doubled.

Most students who continue to graduate school this year are planning to go into government-related fields, Cooper said.

Some think the shift will have longer-term consequences in employment trends as the baby boomer generation approaches retirement, opening up career paths in government and service.

“You may see a whole generation of some of the very best students that decide to do public service rather than business,” Challenger said. Read the full story…

Since we’re on the subject, the Hopeologist offers a few tips and reminders to recent grads:

1. The job you start with won’t be the one you end with. The Department of Labor released a study examining the number of jobs that people born in the years 1957 to 1964 held from age 18 to age 42. They found that the average was 10.8 jobs over the course of 24 years. So if the job offer you received right out of college wasn’t exactly what you had in mind, relax. It won’t be your last. Every position you accept is one that will contribute to your overall professional development. Learn from the opportunities you’re given, then begin to create your own.
2. Communicate your objectives.  Keep the higher ups informed of your long term goals. If you’re clear about where you’d like to be, your supervisors will be more willing to help you get there. Career planning with your boss can keep you from wasting years in a position that won’t increase your marketability. 
3. Think outside the box. Don’t wait for someone to open the position you’re looking to occupy. Put together a description of your ideal job, then list the reasons why you’re the perfect person to do it. What is your experience? What skills do you have that would enable you to do the job with little-to-no training? Why are you qualified? Research companies who you’d like to work for and who could benefit from your services. Set up informational interviews with the Director of Human Resources and market yourself as the missing link. Know the company’s objectives like you know your own, and discuss how you can specifically, in this position you’ve created, help them meet their goals.

Knock ’em dead, tiger.

Reuters: Fresh data offers hope for economy

Waiting to see evidence of consumer confidence has been like waiting for your number to be called at the DMV; it doesn’t mean the wait is over, but at least there’s activity.

In Washington, researchers have seen activity. Reuters reports:

The Commerce Department said on Thursday that sales at U.S. retailers rose 0.5 percent last month, lifted by strong gasoline and building material receipts.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless aid fell 24,000 to 601,000 in the week ended June 6, the lowest since the week of January 24.

“It looks like we are turning the corner. There is pretty clear evidence that the worst of the labor downturn has passed, but we still expect more job losses,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities International in New York.

U.S. stocks were modestly higher, while the value of the dollar edged up against the Japanese yen.

The data bolstered the argument that the economy’s severe recession was close to hitting a bottom, with the sales report raising optimism that consumer spending would probably be flat to only modestly lower in the second quarter. Read the full story…

Sweet. Now all we have to do is stand in 13 more lines, fail one driver’s license renewal test, pass the second, and take a hideously unflattering picture and this recession will be over!