Children | Ain't Complicated

100K+ in Zambia

For when you think your life isn’t fair:

The government of Zambia says over 100,000 children die every year before reaching their fifth birthday. Poverty, starvation, abuse, and AIDS are the most likely culprits to steal their lives.

Kids Alive International began a project in Zambia in 1999, with a visit by members of the Kids Alive Canada Board who were aware of the devastating impact of the AIDS crisis on the children of the country.

Today, Kids Alive Vice President of Operations Matt Parker says their ministry is helping to provide hope and a future for these kids. They have six children’s homes, three community schools, and care center programs in other parts of Zambia. There's always room for more. “We were recently given land in Mongu, in western Zambia, by the government. We’ve just opened our first children’s home on this piece of land.”

The dedication of the home took place just six weeks ago, and it provides a safe refuge for 18 children who were on the streets before being rescued.

Source: The light of God’s Word changes community

And here am I, having had over ten times that much life.

With well over ten times fewer problems.

God bless those who serve these little ones!

What’s an Inspector to Do?

It’s hardly unusual to hear small-business owners gripe about licensing requirements or complain that heavy-handed regulations are driving them into the red.

So when Multnomah County shut down an enterprise last week for operating without a license, you might just sigh and say, there they go again.

Except this entrepreneur was a 7-year-old named Julie Murphy. Her business was a lemonade stand at the Last Thursday monthly art fair in Northeast Portland. The government regulation she violated? Failing to get a $120 temporary restaurant license.

Turns out that kids’ lemonade stands — those constants of summertime — are supposed to get a permit in Oregon, particularly at big events that happen to be patrolled regularly by county health inspectors.

Alas, the Wild West is no more. We’ve been conquered by the fear of bugs. 😯

Franklin is also organizing a “Lemonade Revolt” for Last Thursday in August. He’s calling on anarchists, neighbors and others to come early for the event and grab space for lemonade stands on Alberta between Northeast 25th and Northeast 26th.

Yup. Tea parties have become too common, too passé. But surely they can come up with something more poetic and exotic than Lemonade Revolt. Puh-leaze! How about Lemonade Lulu, for instance? (Yeah, I know this is Oregon, but why not go Hawaiian?)

As for Julie, the 7-year-old still tells her mother “it was a bad day.” When she complains about the health inspector, Fife reminds her that the woman was just doing her job.

Way to go, Maria (aka Mrs. Fife). I commend you very sincerely for reminding Julie (aka Miss Murphy?) of this.

Like I ask in the post title, what’s an inspector to do…when laws and regulations collide with…uh…horse sense? 😆

Julie Murphy, unlicensed business woman in Oregon

But what’s with this headline?!

Portland lemonade stand runs into health inspectors,
needs $120 license to operate

Maybe Julie was illegally operating a mobile lemonade stand…and ran down the inspectors…and now she must get a $120 license…before she can operate on the inspectors. Hey, you gotta hand it to the little gal — she tries to clean up her messes.

🙄

Go get ’em, Julie!

PS: A closing warning to non-Oregonians: When life gives you lemons, don’t bring your lemonade stand to our fair state. (Thank you.)

Empty Cups at the World Cup

I know this is far away. And about people we don’t know. And we have enough cares and woes and responsibilities close by.

But still….

With an increase in people comes an increase in demands. South Africa has discovered this firsthand as they’ve upped the ante on transportation, hotel space, and shopping for the World Cup. In an attempt to meet every need, however, there has been one disturbing consequence.

Human trafficking has increased immensely in South Africa in preparation for the international tournament, mostly but not exclusively for the purport of prostitution. There have been several reports of an influx in human trafficking since the games began, but business moves swelled long before the June 11 kick off. Many of these dealings have been in the works for years.

“[Traffickers] started the trafficking of people in 2004 as soon as they found out the World Cup would be in South Africa,” says Martha Richards, a missionary for International Mission Board in South Africa. “That’s when the traffickers started organizing official trafficking for this event.”

There is a common misconception–even by South African police, who turn their heads from prostitution because it brings revenue into the country–that women prostituting themselves at these sorts of events are earning money and have chosen their profession on their own. But these lies are not reality. Many men, women and children as young as 10 have been enticed into this lifestyle having no idea they would soon be enslaved, and they don’t keep a penny of the money they make.

I excerpted less than half of The lesser-known sport of the World Cup. You really should read the whole thing.

And pray?

They Were Taught That?!

Check out these two excerpts from the 1691 New England Primer:

In Adam’s Fall
We Sinned all.

Thy Life to Mend
This Book Attend.

Where were the protesters and objectors and suers?

And the parents — didn’t they care?!

Where were the legislatures and the courts and the governors and the city counselors and the district attorneys and the meter maids?

What about equality and equal time and fairness doctrines for other religions and non-religions?

Didn’t they care separation of church and state?

And the poor children with such dreadful thoughts poked in their heads!

🙄

Ah, those were the days. No wonder the country then was in such poor shape. 😯

(And I suppose next we’ll hear parents spanked their children and made them be quiet at the table and didn’t let them play all rowdy-like on Sundays.)

Georgia: Peachy for Life

A poll shows Georgia is the most pro-life state in the union, indicating that 57% of voters favor the overthrow of Roe vs. Wade.

This is roughly ___ points above the next nearest state polled.

How many percentage points do you think Georgia is ahead of the next nearest state? (I was surprised.)

Here’s the opening paragraph of the source story:

On July 20th of this year, the voters in over forty-five Georgia counties, representing all thirteen Congressional Districts, will have an opportunity to answer the pressing question of when life begins. Appearing on the July 20th Primary ballot is the following poll, “Do you support an amendment to the Georgia state constitution so as to provide that the paramount right to life is vested in each human being from the earliest biological beginning until natural death?”

Source: Coming to a Ballot Near You: When Does Life Begin?

Whether or not you vote in Georgia, pray for God-honoring, life-supporting results.

(Isn’t Georgia the peach state?)

Harmony in the World

Well, Harmony on World, anyway.

Or maybe this should be titled “Headings for World”?

Her name is Harmony

I know that girl! She’s the daughter of one of my babyhood friends and good buddies, Darrell. (We grew up in Mexico together.)

Many WORLD readers nominated compassionate ministries for this year’s Hope Award for Effective Compassion contest. Charity expert Jill Lacey and I researched and assessed the entries and then sent a reporter and a photographer out on the road to see firsthand what groups are doing.

The first fruits of this exploration are on the pages that follow. We chose three finalists—Christ Clinic in Spokane, Youth Horizons in Wichita, and New Horizons in Colorado—and in San Diego late last month announced the champion: New Horizons.

Source: Effective compassion

Wow! Congratulations to New Horizons. God bless them in their service. And Harmony and other nannies also.

Read it all

Buzzed a la Google

I know this is long. And I know it’s about three favorite services on the Web: Google, Gmail, and Buzz.

But it really is an essential read. Even if you think privacy and security are passé in a pleasantly quaint and/or outright irritating sort of way.

On February 9, 2010, many Gmail users woke up to find a slightly different look to their inbox, along with some never-before-seen features. They were told that this was Google’s latest attempt at creating a social networking and messaging tool; it would be called Google Buzz. The company designed the service to seamlessly integrate with the company’s web-based email program, allowing its users to share links, photos, videos, status messages, and comments that would be organized in a “conversations” section of their inbox.

It seemed cool enough, but what many users didn’t know is that they were now sharing what was thought to be private information with other Gmail users.

Google executive Sergey Brin recently said that it was Google’s intention to “help bridge the gap between work and leisure,” but many parents feared for their children’s safety and strongly criticized Google for taking little to no account of privacy concerns for Gmail users who are underage.

[…]

Similar concerns have come up as a result of another Google feature that has yet to be disabled. Apparently by default, the mobile version of Google Buzz publishes a person’s exact location when they post any type of message to the service. This particular feature could be disastrous for many reasons, but especially if a user is in a situation similar to the woman discussed previously, i.e. has an abusive ex who can now track her down at a moment’s notice.

Not only that, but there are a thousand scenarios in which this could be dangerous for children. What if a young student updates Google Buzz using their mobile phone while walking home from school alone, unaware of the fact that complete strangers can be “following” them on the service? These are the types of concerns many believe Google isn’t taking into account or taking seriously enough.

[…]

“If your child has a Gmail account, talk to them about what Google Buzz is and how they should be properly using it,” Li said. “Please take action, which may be as dramatic as completely disabling Buzz on your child’s account. Do this as soon as possible, as I’m concerned that unsavory characters are already exploiting this parental control loophole.”

Now please read the full article: The Trials and Tribulations of Google Buzz.