This guy here is a prime example. This story has disturbed me to no end today. This made my blood boil. And then the news had to go and show their pictures, and that made it even worse. They were beautiful children. I hate to think of what their last moments were like.

Dad Threw 4 Kids Off Bridge, Police Say
By GARRY MITCHELL,AP
Posted: 2008-01-09 18:14:30
Filed Under: Crime News, Nation News
BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. (Jan. 9) - A day after reporting his four young children were missing, a shrimp fisherman broke down and confessed that he threw them off an 80-foot-high bridge to their deaths, authorities said Wednesday.

Lam Luong, 37, was charged with four counts of capital murder, and divers searched the murky waters for the bodies of the youngsters, who ranged in age from a few months to 3 years.

Luong had a drug habit and had argued with his wife, Ngoc Phan, before taking the children, said Phan's brother-in-law, Kam Phengsisomboun.

Luong's girlfriend, who was living in a hotel in nearby Gulfport, Miss., was a factor in the couple's argument on Sunday and Monday morning, family members and police said.

Authorities said they believe Luong then drove on Monday to the two-lane Dauphin Island bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway, stopped at the highest part of the span and threw the youngsters over the side.

Luong reported the children missing Monday, initially telling police that he had given the kids to his girlfriend, who was living in a hotel in Gulfport, Miss., and that she failed to return them.

But authorities said they found holes in his account, and he later changed his story.

Missing and presumed dead were 4-month-old Danny Luong; 1-year-old Lindsey Luong; 2-year-old Hannah Luong; and 3-year-old Ryan Phan. Phan is not the man's biological child, but Luong raised him from infancy, authorities said.

About 70 people in boats and helicopters searched water as deep as 55 feet. The search area covered 100 square miles because the current might have swept the children away, Sheriff Sam Cochran said.

The search was called off late Wednesday afternoon when dense fog rolled in, completely obscuring the bridge.

Luong was scheduled to appear in court Thursday. District Attorney John Tyson said he did not believe Luong had a lawyer.

Luong came to Alabama from Vietnam in 1984 and worked as a shrimper, Phengsisomboun said. The couple lived with Phan's mother at Bayou La Batre, a fishing village 20 miles southwest of Mobile with a large Southeast Asian community.

Phengsisomboun said the couple had recently moved back to the area from Hinesville, Ga.

The family initially feared he had traded the children to support his drug habit, Phengsisomboun said. Luong had a crack habit and had run through an insurance settlement from an auto accident, he said. Authorities in Mobile confirmed Luong had a history of drug abuse but had no details.

He was arrested in October in Hinesville on a crack-possession charge. The case has not been acted on by a grand jury.

Phengsisomboun said he was later told by investigators that a witness had seen someone throw a bundle from the bridge and then saw three children in a nearby car.

Phan, 23, was in seclusion Wednesday morning at her mother's brick home, the front porch cluttered with children's shoes.

Some family members and friends held out hope that the children weren't dead.

"I just pray for the kids, that they are still alive," said Van Lam, a family friend who was at a market with Phan's mother Wednesday afternoon.

I thought adults were supposed to protect children? I thought we were supposed to try to steer them from harm? I thought they were supposed to be a society's most valuable asset? I thought the prime instinct of a parent is to fight to the death for the life of their offspring, not initiate their death!!!!!

There are people in the world who are incapable of having their own biological children that could have loved these kids. This jerk selfishly took his children's lives to spite their mother, no other reason. He obviously did not love them and did not value their lives. He obviously did not think of them as people. He threw them away like garbage.

Usually I am no supporter of the death penalty. I have said before it is not up to humans who gets to live and who gets to die. But then something like this happens and I always have to question that belief. If someone can toss their four babies to their deaths, he or she cannot be rehabilitated. I firmly believe that their capacity to reason and feel is virtually nonexistent. Anyone that can harm any child, not just their own, to me is a lost cause.

Society is decaying morally very rapidly and I wish I knew why. All I know is I get tired of watching the news and hearing about children meeting their demise at the hands of adults. It is probably the sickest thing in the world, to commit a crime against an innocent, helpless, defenseless child. That to me is the epitome of cowardice.

On to other topics:

I need to organize myself for this semester. I need to get As in every last one of these classes, and although it's going to take a lot of work and organization and a major loss of personal time, I surmise it will pay off in the end, one way or another. This weekend I am going to get all the supplies I need--an organizer, a filing system for my papers, notes, and tests for each class, etc. I'm already kind of behind because I don't have all my books yet, so I'll have to make up for lost time this weekend. I definitely don't want to have any major obligations the weekend of Mom and Dad's retirement party.

My four classes, Anatomy and Phys, Mathematical Reasoning, Psychology, and Organic and Biochem are all passable. Anatomy and Phys will mostly require a lot of reading and rehearsal. After enduring my first Psych lecture, I'm not sure what to expect, but that is the class in which we don't have tests, only weekly quizzes and a cumulative final. The first lecture bored me to tears, disappointingly enough, and I got restless. As part as our discussion about the beginnings of psychology and terminology, the professor attempted to drive home the point that certain terms are undefinable, for example we discuss the concept of a mind but it is not physical. It cannot be seen or measured. Now that was enough for me, but we continued on with a discussion that got absolutely nowhere--talking about spirits, souls, prayer, etc. That was when I got exceptionally bored. It was okay for a few minutes, but people wanted to keep bringing up stuff no one else but them cared about. One girl brought up a dream she had been having. To me that was a waste of class time and the professor is not teaching a class on dream analysis. But once she did it, several other people had personal shit they brought up and it annoyed me.

As for ZOOL 202, I already know what to expect. I know to pass the tests, I should read and know the chapter material. We had a bonus point exam today, I know I did pretty good. There were a few questions that stumped me, because it covered a broad amount of material and there was no way, unless I had seen every test format, for me to have known what to narrow my study down to.

Mathematical Reasoning--I'm gonna have to reserve judgment on that one. We went over some problems today that were okay enough, but like I said I stink at math and I despise it. However, I am trying to think positively. I know I tend to get down on myself about my math skills--or lack thereof--before giving myself a fair shake. Sometimes I just tell myself before a math test that I know I'm going to do bad, so why bother stress about it, don't study enough, then don't do so well. I'm not going to do that this time around. For once in my life I want to conquer math, not have math conquer me!

I'll also have to reserve judgment about Organic and Biochem. The professor, like my mom, also worked for Pfizer at one point. She seems nice enough, but one thing I noticed about her was that she says "okay" a lot during her lecture, and for some reason that kind of distracted me. I found myself counting the number of times she said okay. I also didn't think we got a good enough introduction into the material, but I'm going to give it my best.

I'm very disappointed that now that I'm finally seeing some weight loss results, I won't be able to attend Jazzercise as much. I am definitely going to have to watch my weight. I've been doing good so far. I drink at least one mug of green tea a day. It seems to curb my appetite. I've also began drinking more water, and think that maybe I was mistaking thirst for hunger. But I still want to figure out a way to get in Jazzercise class at least three times a week.

And as far as my writing goes.... I haven't had time to complete one chapter or decide upon a title. I am kind of frustrated. I have such good ideas but I don't have time or energy to get them down. When I do have a minute when I might be able to do something, something always comes up. Either I have to tend to Jayden or there's something else I need to do. I need to get my laptop back up and working so maybe I can carry it around with me so I can write WHENEVER the mood hits and WHENEVER I have even one second of absolutely free time.

I got some ideas on places to go in Chicago. I am hellbent on planning this trip and at this point I will accept any job (except Target) to get the money so Matt and I can go. I really don't think that guy has any idea how much I really love him. He makes me happy. Even the thought of him makes me happy. I honestly think he's the cutest, sexiest guy on the planet, and that is the truth. Are there some things I don't like about him? Of course. But I love everything, if that makes sense. I wouldn't change him if I had the power. If he decides ever that he wants to work on something for himself, I'd be one hundred percent behind him. He has been behind me even if that means giving up his own time. I am waiting on the day the tables can turn and he can do something meaningful for Matt, if that is what he wants to do.

It probably doesn't make much sense that I was working at Target getting a paycheck and decided not to go, but now may be faced with taking a job that pays the same or less. More than anything, it was the double, or should I say triple, slap in the face disrespect that makes me now despise Target. I busted my ass at that place for over three years and they #1> take forever giving me my maternity pay, #2> take it upon themselves to decide Matt and I can't work together, although we did up until my last day of work with absolutely NO incidents, and then #3> say that even though you worked diligently for us for three years, we're not going to pay you anything close to what you were making before...we're going to start you off like a new team member, who cares if you graduated college at one point take this pay that a high school student can get and shut up, but still do everything we ask...BULLSHIT.

At this point, the only money I need is enough to save up for this trip and pay for the car, the heat, hopefully some cable, etc. Not saying I expect to take on all the financial burden of course. But it would be nice to be able to help Matt out.