You've Been Warned | Ain't Complicated

Slavery USA?

I’ll admit it. That this goes on in the USA boggles my mind.

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “sex trafficking?” Brothels in Cambodia? Abducted women in South Africa? The 2008 film “Taken”? Whatever your thoughts may be, they are likely focused in impoverished countries filled with women who have no other options.

Yet, this heinous crime and organized trade goes daily unnoticed when it occurs in the United States. That is: unnoticed or unrecognized for what it is.

[…]

The United States is no virgin when it comes to the exploitation of its own children. Modern-day abolitionist York Moore with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship says, “We’re all seeing the evolution here in the United States. Ten years ago, when we talked about human trafficking, we were primarily talking about a phenomena that existed outside of the United States. Back in 2001, there was an estimated only 45,000 – 50,000 slaves in the United States.”

As shocking as those numbers were ten years ago, they are not nearly as disturbing as the rate at which the crime has grown. Pat McCalla of a ministry to sexually enslaved minors known as “Streetlight” in Phoenix, Arizona says the problem in the U.S. has grown to “anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 underage women being trafficked every year.”

Human trafficking is now the second-largest criminal industry in the world after drug trafficking, and it has become the fastest-growing criminal movement. The United States is no exception.

Not only is the degradation climbing higher in sheer numbers, but the ages of victims seem to be getting lower by the year. “We’re definitely seeing an evolution in the United States not only in terms of the raw numbers, but also in terms of the appetite for young flesh,” says Moore. “It’s very disturbing.”

[…]

Whether minors are used by family members, abducted by clever traffickers, taken from their suburban beds on a nightly basis, or blackmailed into a life of unending agony, the problem exists all over. “In the last three years, I’ve visited Boston, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, St. Paul, San Diego, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Denver. Every one of those cities has a problem,” explains McCalla.

Source: The U.S. sex trade flourishes: number of enslaved minors increasing

New Virus Spam: ‘Here You Have’

I just learned about this, thanks to Drudge.

A global e-mail virus spammed inboxes this afternoon, slowing — and in some cases halting — work at offices around the world as employees watched their inboxes inexplicably fill with e-mails under the subject line “Here you have.” Some workers were forced to go without e-mail altogether, as the flood of spam put their services out of commission.

Organizations including NASA, Comcast, AIG, Disney, Proctor & Gamble, Florida Department of Transportation and Wells Fargo are just a few of the organizations apparently affected by the worm, which appears to have sent out hundreds of thousands, if not millions of e-mails.

When contacted by ABCNews.com, security firm McAfee said it was investigating the attack but confirmed that it had affected corporations around the world. Although McAfee did not disclose how widespread the attack was, around 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon, the subject of the spam e-mail, “Here you have,” was the second hottest search on Google trends.

[…]

On its blog, McAfee said that because multiple variants of the worm are spreading, it “may take some time to work through them all to paint a clearer picture.”

And with those multiple variants come other subject lines. So maybe you should read more of the story: ‘Here You Have’ Virus E-Mail Spreads Online.

I Used to Be Twenty-Six

a lesson learned in the second batch of twenty-six years

I look back twenty-six years to when I was twenty-six years old. I was mature for my age then. As I close in on the end of my second batch of twenty-six, I think I’m now less mature for my age. But now I got sidetracked from the purpose of this post.

When I reached my twenty-sixth birthday…

I had been a husband for five years.
We had two children — LaVay (3) and Russell (close to 1).
I was just into my fifth year of teaching high school at our church school.
I had just begun my second year as principal at that school.
It had been about 2.5 years since we had temporarily “retired” as Mexico missionaries.
I didn’t own a house, because I was trying to lay up treasures in heaven.

Over the next eight years, I added more to My Accomplishments.

Alas, I also added to My Pride, at least on the inside.

But inside or out, that affliction portends bad things to come. Always.

“…God resisteth the proud…” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

“When pride cometh, then cometh shame…” (Proverbs 11:2).

Since the bad harvest of pride often doesn’t come right away, we get careless and carefree with pride.

Then we pay the price.

Now, twenty-six years later and having tasted its bitter fruit, do I still struggle with pride?

Sure. But now I recognize the struggle (most of the time). And I engage the battle (more of the time).

I loathe pride. And in a healthy way (I think), I fear pride.

When I find myself embracing it, I try to come to my senses and push it away in repentance.

I have experienced pride’s wrecking ball.

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty…” (Proverbs 18:12).

“A man’s pride shall bring him low…” (Proverbs 29:23).

The proud He knoweth afar off (Psalm 138:6)

So many of My Accomplishments have gone to nothing. And so many of My Opportunities have evaporated.

What a waste!

Yup, I have paid dearly, though not yet fully.

Would I like a do-over? In a sense, my answer really doesn’t matter. The stark reality is that I don’t get to try again. That part of my life is gone, gone, gone.

Maybe God will give me an opportunity to do better tomorrow.

I hope so.

If He does, may I allow His Spirit to continue to craft in me in the mind of Christ so that the Father may see in me at least a faint image of His Son.

Has a Tracking Device Been Planted on Your Car?

No, very likely not.

But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled the government may do so. All sneaky-like. Legally.

Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn’t violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn’t tracking your movements.

That is the bizarre — and scary — rule that now applies in California and eight other Western states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers this vast jurisdiction, recently decided the government can monitor you in this way virtually anytime it wants — with no need for a search warrant.

It is a dangerous decision — one that, as the dissenting judges warned, could turn America into the sort of totalitarian state imagined by George Orwell.

[…]

Fortunately, other courts are coming to a different conclusion from the Ninth Circuit’s — including the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. That court ruled, also this month, that tracking for an extended period of time with GPS is an invasion of privacy that requires a warrant. The issue is likely to end up in the Supreme Court.

[…]

Plenty of liberals have objected to this kind of spying, but it is the conservative Chief Judge Kozinski who has done so most passionately. “1984 may have come a bit later than predicted, but it’s here at last,” he lamented in his dissent. And invoking Orwell’s totalitarian dystopia where privacy is essentially nonexistent, he warned: “Some day, soon, we may wake up and find we’re living in Oceania.”

Source: The Government’s New Right to Track Your Every Move With GPS

Now don’t go getting paranoid, OK?

Just live as though somebody were tracking you all the time.

Because Somebody is.

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3).

“Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:24).

I am blessed and thankful to realize again that God wants to watch over me for good. I needn’t fear His omniscience; rather, I can be comforted and encouraged by it.

Personal Security: Situational Awareness

Situational awareness is extremely important, even if you live in a part of the world that seems far removed from “huge” threats to personal security.

As an example of “situational awareness is extremely important,” consider that going down the road in an automobile is a far “huger” threat to personal safety than most people realize.

But this article is about much more than being a safe driver.

The world is a wonderful place, but it can also be a dangerous one. […]

Regardless of the threat, it is very important to recognize that criminal and terrorist attacks do not materialize out of thin air. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Criminals and terrorists follow a process when planning their actions, and this process has several distinct steps. […]

People who practice situational awareness can often spot this planning process as it unfolds and then take appropriate steps to avoid the dangerous situation or prevent it from happening altogether. Because of this, situational awareness is one of the key building blocks of effective personal security — and when exercised by large numbers of people, it can also be an important facet of national security. Since situational awareness is so important, and because we discuss situational awareness so frequently in our analyses, we thought it would be helpful to discuss the subject in detail and provide a primer that can be used by people in all sorts of situations.

[…]

It is critical to stress here that situational awareness does not mean being paranoid or obsessively concerned about your security. It does not mean living with the irrational expectation that there is a dangerous criminal lurking behind every bush. In fact, people simply cannot operate in a state of focused awareness for extended periods, and high alert can be maintained only for very brief periods before exhaustion sets in. The “flight or fight” response can be very helpful if it can be controlled. When it gets out of control, however, a constant stream of adrenaline and stress is simply not healthy for the body or the mind.

[…]

Clearly, few of us are living in the type of intense threat environment currently found in places like Mogadishu, Juarez or Kandahar. Nonetheless, average citizens all over the world face many different kinds of threats on a daily basis — from common thieves and assailants to criminals and mentally disturbed individuals aiming to conduct violent acts to militants wanting to carry out large-scale attacks against subways and aircraft.

Many of the steps required to conduct these attacks must be accomplished in a manner that makes the actions visible to the potential victim and outside observers. It is at these junctures that people practicing situational awareness can detect these attack steps, avoid the danger and alert the authorities.

I think you should read the full article by Scott Stewart over at STRATFOR: A Primer on Situational Awareness. He also has a follow-up article titled Watching for Watchers.

As a former missionary in northwest Mexico and as current chairman of a mission board with personnel in that same region, I find the article an essential, compelling read.

And as a Christian, I’m thankful to be able to rest securely in the knowledge of “divine resources and assets” being “deployed” for my protection and the protection of those in my care.

So in closing I offer you just three verses:

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3).

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7).

“The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them” (Psalm 34:7).

There are more; feel free to post them as comments below.

Whose Will?

Stories (and developments) of this ilk weary me:

Hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has the security credentials and the political strength to pull off a peace deal with Palestinians now that the U.S. has brokered a new start to direct talks.The big question is: Does he have the will?

[…]

Though Netanyahu has built his political career in part as an outspoken critic of peace moves by past Israeli leaders, he has shown surprising pragmatism in dealing with the moderate Palestinian leadership of the West Bank.

Hawkish Natanyahu goes to talk with moderate Abbas — how about that. (That’s an observation, not a question.)

The Associated Press titles this particular piece thus: Talks to test Netanyahu’s will for peace.

No “will for peace” test for Abbas.

Fair and balanced.

Wait. That’s a different news outfit.

Here’s a bit more from the story/analysis:

The international community backs the Palestinian demand.

[…]

The Palestinians joined the talks only after the international Quartet of Mideast mediators issued an accompanying statement Friday calling for an agreement “that ends the occupation which began in 1967.”

A senior Palestinian official said the Palestinians had received assurances from the U.S. that it will remain heavily involved and push for a solution based on the 1967 borders.

What does the international community “back” for Israel?

Nothing good, apparently.

And that, too, is a sign of the end times.

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.)