50 Years Ago Today. . .

Fifty years ago on August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream Speech" in Washington, D.C.  Check out the Winnipeg Free Press article Fifty years later, Martin Luther King's dream is a glass half-full:

www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/the-day-the-tide-turned-220914211.html

Change Happens Best From Within

MEDA - Change Happens Best From Within from MEDA on Vimeo.

Walk Free

If you believe in a world where everyone can walk free,

click on the link below to get more information:

e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1786&ea.campaign.id=19144

Child labour can't be carpeted over by a logo, but it's a step in the right direction

I think my blog should be dedicated to my friend Teresa. . .she sends me so many great articles and information!  Thanks Teresa!  Check out another The Guardian article, this time by Oliver Balch:

www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/aug/15/child-labour-product-certification

CNN: Slave Maids Cost the Price of a Smart Phone

"If you ask young people what they could get for U.S. $200 or less, their answers would probably include a tablet, a smart phone, or a designer bag. Not on the list, a foreign maid - unless you live in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, or any country in the Middle East."

If you want to continue reading what Susan V. Ople has to say about Slave Maids Cost the Price of  a Smart Phone, click on the link:

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/09/slave-maids-cost-the-price-of-a-smart-phone

CNN: Rescued Children Shouldn't be in Handcuffs

Please read the CNN article Rescued Children Shouldn't be in Handcuffs:

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/08/rescued-children-shouldnt-be-in-handcuffs

Hunger & Climate Change

www.foodgrainsbank.ca

Loved ~ JJ Heller

Do you dream of a home you never had?
An innocence that you cannot get back
The pain is real, you can’t erase it
Sooner or later you have to face it down, down
You have to face it down

You are loved

Do you keep your thoughts inside your head?
Will you regret the things you never said
You have a voice, you have to use it
You have a choice, don’t let them shut you down, down
Don’t let them shut you down

You are loved
You are loved

Do you feel the ache inside your soul?
You know you’ll never make it on your own
Sorrow is too great for you to hold it
You’re gonna break, why don’t you lay it down?

Freedom comes in letting go
Open up the window to your heart
Freedom comes in letting go
Open up your heart

You are loved
You are loved

www.jjheller.com

CNN: Sex Ring Sting Doesn't Go Far Enough

. . .continuing discussion and dialogue on the FBI's sting operation from last week.  Check out this great article and the videos included:

edition.cnn.com/2013/07/31/opinion/finkelhor-child-prostitution/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

How Poverty Wages for Tea Pickers Fuel India's Trade in Child Slavery

Gethin Chamberlain wrote the article that I last posted so I thought I would check out some of his other articles.  Please check out:

www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/20/poverty-tea-pickers-india-child-slavery

Admit it. You love cheap clothes. And you don't care about child slave labour

My friend Teresa comes through again - check out this article:  Admit it. You love cheap clothes. And you don't care about child slave labour

www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/28/india-sweated-labour

continuing from yesterday's post ~ CNN coverage

 

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com

FBI Rescues 105 Kids Forced into Sex Trade After Raids in 76 Cities

Please check out the article and video on CTV about the FBI rescuing 105 kids forced into the sex trade after raids in 76 cities:

www.ctvnews.ca/world/fbi-rescues-105-kids-forced-into-sex-trade-after-raids-in-76-cities-1.1388990

and from the Winnipeg Free Press:

www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/fbi-kids-rescued-alleged-pimps-arrested--in-sweeping-child-prostitution-raids-across-the-us-217461921.html

Protecting Children from Exposure to Adult Content Online

Press Release

7/23/2013

On Monday, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced new measures that their government was taking to protect children. Prime Minister Cameron emphasized the two primary aims of these measures: to protect children from exposure to adult pornography through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) based filter and to tackle the magnitude of child sex abuse images online.

I applaud Prime Minister Cameron for his bold approach to work with Internet Service Providers to develop solutions to protect children. In this massive fight against child exploitation and the sexualisation of our children, every step we take makes a difference.

Harmful impact of pornography on children

Eliminating the easy access to pornography by children should be a common sense approach. There is much research that reveals the harmful implications of youth who are exposed to pornography. (It is shocking that the average age of first exposure to pornography is 12 years old.) For example, viewing of pornography is seen as a causative factor in child on child sexual abuse. Additionally, recent studies reveal that regular viewing of pornography can actually rewire the brain. For children, who are in a critical stage of physical development, this is alarming and can carry long term negative consequences.

Addressing Censorship

However, since expressing my support for Britain’s plan, I have been astounded at the immediate, uniformed accusations of censorship, anti-freedom, government surveillance made by people who have not taken time to actually understand the issues being addressed and the solutions being proposed.

The purpose of the ISP based filter on adult pornography is not to block or censor pornography from adults, but to block it from children. Accusations of censorship are as ludicrous as suggesting that prohibiting the sale of adult videos to children is censorship.

Anyone over 18 in the UK would still have full control or their access to legal pornography. British ISPs have developed a filter to block legal adult pornography and this will be applied to all customers unless they choose to turn it off. And turning it off will be as simple as logging into your ISP account and unchecking a box.

Some have also pointed out that home based filters are available. Indeed they are, but the software is only effective on the computers they are installed on. In an age of wireless home networks, when many children have smartphones, and friends with smartphones, having an anti-pornography filter installed on your home computer is useless.

Government Partnership - Not Regulation

The UK’s plan has also been characterized as an example of big government intruding on industry. Rather than imposing regulations on the ISP’s, the filter was a product of consultation and partnership between the government and UK’s biggest ISPs to develop a means of protecting children from being exposed to adult content on line. That is what I would like to see in Canada: partnership and consultation between the federal government, internet service providers, and stakeholders. It is a conversation truly worth having.

I firmly believe in protecting rights and freedoms, democracy and open internet. As Prime Minister David Cameron rightly pointed out, “A free and open internet is vital …But when it comes to the internet in the balance between freedom and responsibility, we have neglected our responsibility to our children.”

Surely, unchecking a box cannot be too much of a price to pay when it comes to protecting and nurturing our children.

Joy Smith, B.Ed., M.Ed.

Member of Parliament

Kildonan - St. Paul