America's Best Places to Find a Job 2009

America's Best Places to Find a Job 2009

By Liz Wolgemuth
On Tuesday August 25, 2009, 9:53 am EDT

Take a look -

Shreveport, La.

It's quite possible that sometime in the future when you're watching Columbia Pictures' film Battle: Los Angeles, you'll be spying the scenery of Shreveport, rather than Southern California. Thanks to a thick package of tax incentives, Louisiana boasts one of the nation's most thriving film production industries. After Hurricane Katrina, Shreveport embraced filmmakers who had been forced out of New Orleans but still wanted to capture state tax incentives, and launched a new industry for its workers. "We've easily had 60 film projects in the last three years," says Kurt Foreman, president of North Louisiana Economic Partnership, a regional economic development group.

Entertainment, such as gaming, is no small industry in this city, which has worked hard to recover from harder times. Leisure and hospitality employment has actually grown in the past 12 months. Shreveport also has a new $100 million convention center, the stabilizing force of Barksdale Air Force Base, and Louisiana State University-Shreveport.

Economists at IHS Global Insight expect Louisiana will have lost just 2 percent of its jobs by the end of the recession and will have returned to its prerecession peak by 2012. The state will be in the top four for fewest jobs lost, according to IHS. One significant development is Haynesville Shale, a Jurassic-age rock settlement that may be the largest deposit of natural gas in the continental United States. More than $3 billion has already been paid out in land leases and royalties. "We're sort of blessed with a lot of things at once," Foreman says.

(end story).

WE NEED TO CAPATILIZE ON THIS PUBLICITY,

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO STOP US FROM BEING

AMERICA'S BEST "ALL AROUND" CITY.

We only need to be committed to the goal

Two things Major and One thing within a matter of Process, and one thing which is a must do.

We can Achieve it !!!! if we Believe it.

Major: "We have to reduce crime" ! - There is no other choice, and no need to ignore the reality, that we need to push for the mass reduction in crime. We need a city wide campaign, to take all the young people in their 20-30's who have just languished to become hanging out and doing nothing, to set up programs, at both the local colleges and local tech schools, which provide "certificate courses", that accept the Pell Grant, as fully payment for course, and we need to make that quick and simply qualifying and approval process. We can get these young adults back in school. We need to task some of the film makers in the city, to do a short film, on showing these kids in images of hanging out in neighborhoods doing nothing, and caption what it leads to and contrast that to show them how to get and develop skills that will give them dignity.

• We need to modify our system to look at "Felonies", and make change in our system where non violent felonies, can be removed, with the completion of an educational course in a tech or vocation, and work on a job for at least 3 years. To promote and support the program, "What the student gets, is a letter from their school, which supports them being hired, and being in a program to remove the felonies, and this makes people eligible for employment in areas they would otherwise be denied, and this provides hope for people truly having a "second chance that is real, and not just fictional. They have a chance to work their way back to society, without having a deterrent of a felony following them and impeding their options.

THIS IS A MUCH NEEDED PROGRAM" and we have enough smart people in our city to make it work -

• It would be a great program for the Council Members and the Mayor to push for it as a

“Re-Connect in Society Second Chance".

This can be a tremendous success. I've seen an old school building on Laurel Street, which would be Ideal as a "Second Chance Head Start Program"- this facility would be excellent for it, They can have both Day classes and Night Classes.

• We have far too many black neighborhoods,and surely this has a parallel in poor white communities as well, both are ravaged with drugs and drop outs. and we see this impacting and straying young women as well in these same economically challenged areas of the city, where too many of the young people, get hung up into things which have a "dead end" result.
• We have far too many young men, who are thinking of being hip and cool, and lost on what matters in the world, and result to be caught in a cycle of "thuggin to prison" - Wasting their lives away, languishing behind bars, when they could be in a classroom learning how to function in society as a decent human being who is trying to develop a means to be a contributor to society.

• Sadly, may of these young men, who ride the railway of "thug to prison" - are talented in ways if they learn to develop it, and stop looking for fast money, and flash bang material stuff, that gets old once it leaves the store shelf - yet too many throw their lives away on this non-sense.

Major: "We need Parents to Step up" !!!, from pre-school to graduation from High school, and on to a career track - PARENTS, have to take a vested interest in insuring the work is done by their child in the classrooms. ( We have in Shreveport, some of the best schools in the nation, we may not know it, and some may not pay attention to that fact, but Our Schools are truly exceptional in their provisions to groom and promote world class citizens who can compete in any place in the world market. ) People need to believe it and acknowledge it as being a true and real fact.

Kids and School ( Part I) " Don't Embarrass Your Child" - Think about what you are doing and how you do it"
Frustrated, Irritated and Anguished

What makes our school become even greater is "parental involvement with their children".... If that improves, there is nothing to stop us from having "THE BEST", school system in the nation. When Parents push their children to excel.. and produce higher scores, then what that brings back to schools will be a great benefit to the children, which will include, "foreign language classes, of multiple world used languages, each schools can expand their sporting programs, in all levels of school, We can include drama in every level of school, because all our schools are equipped with a stage for performance. The attributes we can add can be without limits of what is needed to compete in today’s world. It is the "young minds of today, who will build the future of tomorrow".. If you as a parent have true regard for that and what that means, you will seek and pursue a means to stand behind your child being educated.

Process: "Learning what matters" , many of the young men, have been deluded by many means to not know what matters.

1. What matters is you, developing a means to give back to society, it's not about how much fast money you can make, or what kind of swindle you can do, but it matter, how much you apply yourself to learning, and making education a life long process. It will help you become a better contributor to society, year after year and you contribute to a legacy that makes the world better.
2. GET OFF THE "DUMB DOWN, IGNORAGE OF SAGGING PANTS... IT MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE THE MOST STUPID PERSON ON THE PLANET. Your whole image shows that you do not want to join society, which you want to go against it, and disrespect yourself and others who have no interest in seeing your underwear or your butt. The only thing your image does is make people want to get as far away from you as possible. YOU INSULT YOURSELF WITH YOUR BITT HANING OUT, WITH YOUR UNDERWARE SHOWING, THAT IS A TRUE SIGN THAT YOU ARE NOT ONLY BEING IGNORANCE, YOU ARE DELIGHTING IN BEING IGNORANCE, AND THAT MAKES YOU CHOOSE TO BE "STUPID".. AND THEN YOU PURSUE THE NEGATIVE THINGS THAT GO ALONG WITH YOUR BUTT HANGING OUT. No one wants you in their business, not their establishment, because you insult the environment of the business, and run away the customers who choose to dress decent and put their pants up and wear them like 95% of the rest of the world. !!

Process: "Get up, on Sunday Morning and *GO* TO CHURCH" if you can lay on your butt !! All week doing nothing but hanging out here and there, and walking down the street looking lost, or driving around wasting gasoline. Then you can thank God enough to go and give an hour of your time, to learn something about how truth matters in the world, and what the value of life is. If you think you know everything, then that is the first sign to tell you, that you are a fool, and if you truly think you know everything, then that is the second sign to tell you, you are a damn fool... There's a Church in Walking distance from where ever you live in this city. so don't lie and say you don't have a way, or you don't have anything to wear or some silly excuse that shows, you won't even respect the God which gives you life, day after day. ANY Church in the city will be "GLAD", to have you... They will give you a welcome if you can stand to accept it, and get off your high horse of thinking you rule something, and realize, that you need to learn something to help get you on the pathway to living your life as a "productive and considerate and engaging human being, who has a will and want to do so good in society"
If you feel like you are a leader, the church will help you organize a group within the church, you can lead as long as you are leading a cause to promote good and do some good in the community.

If that's too much of a challenge for you.. Then Life probably is too much of a challenge for you, which is why you always try to take a short cut, and end up on a dead end trail. You probably will end up trying to drown it with drink, or make it null and void with drugs, or create violence that functions like a dog chasing its own tail, and you will go out an attack or hurt someone, because you frustrasted yourself, because you failed to apply yourself to doing something which keeps your mind and hands busy with something, that contributes to the betterment of life.

Must Do !!
We Must ... work to rebuild our neighborhoods.. If you see something wrong, then try and fix it, if you see people doing things that bring down the neighborhood, if you can't face the challenge to address it, call your council person, and talk with them, they can help you find a way to address it.
If you don't know who your council person is: SHREVEPORT CITY COUNCIL

"YOUR LIFE BECOME BETTER, WHEN YOU MAKE THE DECISION TO MAKE IT BETTER"

Until you make that decision, you will be spinning in a circle

If you
Fail to Plan,
then
You have certainly
Planned to Fail

Don't give people the satisfaction of a laugh when you see them doing something stupid, it only wrongfully encourage them to continue with the stupidity. Don't sit around and edge others on, when you see a situation is leadning to conflict. Don't patronize people who are doing things, which bring down your community and the general enviornment. and don't solicit people to support things you know are wrong.