Perhaps if we saw signs like these we’d have less of chance to ignore a rampant problem…

Today has been declared National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.  Were you aware?

President Obama proclaimed last week that January 2010 to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, calling for greater public awareness of the problem.

An estimated 27 million people worldwide are trapped as victims of human trafficking.  The black market slave trade is lucrative, worth an estimated $9 billion a year, according to the FBI.  One million children are new victims of forced prostitution, and 200,000 American women and children are at high risk for being forced into the sex industry. Human trafficking has become the fastest growing criminal activity in the world.

We must do something… (more…)

“Are you about ready for Christmas?,” they’ve all asked.  This phrase has replaced (for the time being) the typical “how are you today?” or “how ’bout them Cowboys?” etc.  Of course, I’ve joined right in and have asked the very same question to most everyone I’ve run across these days.  The standard answer would be “not hardly” or “are you kidding me?!?”.

As most of us in the United States ponder over and over what we have left to buy or how many gifts are enough for our loved ones, millions of people wonder if tomorrow will be the last day they take a breath.  Global poverty is on a level so freaking huge overwhelming that it will kill thousands of people long before we are settled in to watch Lebron vs. Kobe.

More after the jump… (more…)

I’ve grown weary of all of the negative media. I know you’re thinking, “hey man, where have you been?”  I know, I know.  But you see, my wife and I just got cable for the first time in our marriage (6 yrs) about six months ago.  So, we’re all sorts of exposed to things we had no idea about.  It seems like every channel is chocked full of negativity, death, infidelity, horror, injustice and manipulation.

It reminds me of two truths:  (1) Food Network is quite possibly from Jesus, and (2) this world is messed up, y’all.  It seems as if there’s a better chance of Paula Dean not using butter in a dish over something good actually happening in the world these days.
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Today is World AIDS Day, and I’ll have to be honest with you… I don’t think about the issue of HIV/AIDS near as much nowadays than before.  I think it has a lot to do with my age.  I was still young when Magic Johnson’s diagnosis was revealed (remember that?), and most of the media chatter either blamed needle sharing or promiscuity as causes.  I’ve long thought of it as an American safe sex issue, and not an issue of it being the worst killer we have ever seen in this world.  I had no idea of a world in which some 33+ million people have died from it.  How do we mourn the loss of that many people?  How can we make a difference?  (more…)

The brainchild of celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart, Help-Portrait is a movement of photographers, coming together in every major city, to use their photography skills to give back to the community.

On December 12th, photographers around the world will be grabbing their cameras, finding people in need, and taking their picture.  When the prints are ready, the photographs get delivered.

more after the jump… (more…)