.....You do for me also.

Back in May of 2007 it was reported that Jetsadophorn Chaladone, a 25 year old Thai mother of one, was granted a financial settlement for having been used as a child sex slave in an Australian brothel. Known as 'Ning', she was originally sold into slavery by her father, who apparently thought she was to be used as a nanny. (Yeah, I believe he thought that. He's never lied to me before....dick) When she reached Australia she was put to work in a brothel and told to work off a $35,000 debt on her back. There she suffered the abuse one thinks about when one thinks of child sex slave trafficking. Wait, you don't think about such things ? Its just another subject for made for tv movies on the Women's Channel and you're busy watching police chases on Spike TV ? Or, God forbid somebody believes this but, you don't believe it happens ?

Well lemme tell you, its real, it happens, and the above note in the annals of journalism mean absolutely NOTHING. Yes, there are some who would believe that this monetary award to a former slave is a step in the right direction. But I'm telling you, its not a step, its window dressing. Its toe movement when the world needs to move the whole damn foot. Read the article. The brothel where she was held captive, at the time of the writing, was never investigated. Mind you, on behalf of the Aussies, I can't say this is the norm. I did a Google and found several stories of slavery trials and investigations. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23335079-5001021,00.html

The criminals in question face up to 25 years. But why does this happen at all ?

Recently I came across a site called Love146.org. When you go to a site like this you have three initial reactions to choose from. Anger, dismay, or indifference. Anger at the parents who sell their children, anger at the slave operators, anger at the governments who by not prosecuting such things condone it. Dismay that in our time there are people who would do such things to children. Dismay that its happening 'over there' so there is nothing you can do about it. Or indifference, as you have your own problems which are more pressing. But unless anger and dismay lead to action, they become indifference. When I first riffled through the site I thought to myself that I didn't have any money (case in point, my 8 year old computer with a nonfunctional CD-ROM grumblegrumblegrumble) to give. Mind you if they were to foot the bill, I do have some skills that might be of service to them, myself and quite a few other prior military (wink). But that's not what they are about. You can kill every slave holder in sight and others will pop up out of the scum pile. They are about changing governmental indifference and helping the victims to live the rest of their lives in some semblance of normalcy. So rather than let my anger lead me to indifference, I felt a need to post and tell you all about it. Yeah, I'll send my obligatory conscience driven $25 when I can put it aside (should take me about two weeks), and if you can do the same it will make a difference, but if you're like me that's all you can do financially. So I think to myself: knowledge. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is a light shed upon dark corners where the demons hide. Here is my knowledge which I pass upon to you. Do the same, pass it on to others. Shed light. Maybe the guy that reads your blog isn't a low income type. Maybe he/she has some money they can spare. You do your part in allowing them to do theirs.

That which you do for the least of these.....

As you can see I've placed an Amber Alert ticker on the left there. Some of you with web sites and blogs might do the same. Having seen first hand in the course of my job how effective an Amber Alert can be, I cannot see an argument against giving up a little space. The whole premise of the Amber Alert is information distributed quickly and in as broad an area as humanly possible through every form of media available. David Brin wrote a sci-fi book called 'Startide Rising'. In it the genetically advanced dolphins act as the humans do. At times he addresses the 'mass beaching' instinct of the mammals and how they use a cry of child in trouble or child needs help as a cry to bring them back to sanity (its been a while since I read it, sorry David). Amber Alert works in much the same way, appealing to what I believe to be a human's base instinct to protect children. As inured as adult society has become to other adults undergoing tragedy, I'm sure there aren't many out there whose attention is not turned when there is mention of a child in danger. And with so many people looking, the chances of a child being recovered grows exponentially.
You can also get a desktop ticker, though I haven't tried it as I don't know what it might do to this archaic machine of mine. http://codeamber.org/desktop/CAT10.exe

So there you go. A little information goes a long way. Tag, you're it.
I'm thinking about doing a bit on several sites I've come across along this same vein, in case any of you have any input on the matter.

Officer involved shootings

Seems like things are getting a bit intense here in South Carolina. The number of officer involved shootings over the past month have me concerned that it is a societal trend. What scares me is not so much the gunfight itself, but what happens afterward. Most don't realize that if Hannibal Lechter were machine gunning an elementary school and I put a bullet through his head, I would still be open to criminal charges and, even worse, the family of the serial killer can (and will) sue me with a good chance of coming out the other side with a check. Unlike a criminal court, a civil court is open to alot more evidence that really shouldn't be considered such. Speculation, hypothesizing, "I heard from a friend..." and other such nonsense could actually be paraded in front of the jury. If they believe it, then Lechter's family gets paid.
I won't go into too much detail but a Deputy from another county recently was face to face with an armed man who had taken a hostage. The Deputy should be clear to shoot, right ? The criminal had a gun and was using it to threaten an innocent, all you need, right ? Seems there are some questions now about how many times the Deputy fired. Scary, isn't it. Because this kind of stuff can only lead to law enforcement officer's questioning their own actions prior to doing them. In a gunfight you don't have that time. Let me ask you. If a criminal is shooting at you, do you want the officer who is rescuing you to hesitate before firing ? Do you want him thinking about saving you or thinking about losing his house, car, and assets ? If he does, you can thank your local civil litigation lawyer. To be continued....