Love 146

Hi everyone. Last week I was on the website of one of my favorite bands Ten Shekel Shirt and saw they had a new album coming out on 8/19/08 but I also saw what Lamont Hiebert the lead singer has been up to the last few years. He co-founded an organization called Love146.org which fights the exploitation of children, specifically those held captive in child sex slavery rings around the world.

Following is text from the love146.org site and should be credited to them. This gives you more detail and I encourage you to get on the site and get more information. I read about this last week and it has been weighing on my heart ever since. I am figuring out how I want to get more involved with this important organization to fight this horrible injustice.

From the love146.org site:

Supply and Demand
The "demand" of the multi-billion dollar global sex industry puts children throughout the world at-risk of becoming the “supply.” Criminal gangs, pimps and pornographers seek to profit from this demand by enslaving and abusing children, preying on those made most vulnerable by poverty, lack of education, minority status, gender bias and homelessness. 

Often, captors will threaten, beat and starve new recruits to condition them for the fate that awaits: sex with multiple customers every day. Eventually this abuse “breaks” the children. They learn to force a smile for the pedophiles, sex tourists and others that frequent their establishments.

The Effects
Sexual exploitation and abuse have grave consequences on any person’s well being, especially a child’s. Unprotected sex, gang rapes, forced abortions and manipulation can cause severe psychological and physical damage, including HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases or conditions.

What is Child Trafficking? 
According to the UN ODCCP Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, child trafficking is: the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of deception, of the abuse of power or of position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

Most countries in the world are involved – they may be a source of vulnerable children, a place they pass through, or a destination for trafficked children. Unfortunately, even the United States plays it’s part when U.S. “sex tourists” visit countries like Thailand or Cambodia and have sex with children, including those trafficked into the sex industry. 

Children who are desperately poor are especially at risk of being trafficked. Trafficked children may be exploited by being used in prostitution or pornography, and labor in domestic, factory or agricultural work. In some countries, they are forced to risk their lives as soldiers. Some action is being taken to directly address trafficking by governments and non-profit organizations, but much more needs to be done. 

Where is the problem? 
Every year at least 1.2 million children are estimated to be trafficked around the world and that number is growing. Child trafficking is not limited to developing countries; the U.S. and Europe deal with domestic trafficking issues and also serve as destinations for trafficked children from abroad. Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa are also becoming hot spots for child trafficking. Today, the situation is dire in the Asian region, in countries such as: Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. 

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) 
ECPAT defines CSEC as the following: A Fundamental violation of children’s rights. It comprises sexual abuse by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third person or persons. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object. The commercial sexual exploitation of children constitutes a form of coercion and violence against children, and amounts to forced labor and a contemporary form of slavery. (ECPAT, Questions and Answers about CSEC) The primary factors of CSEC are prostitution, pornography, trafficking and sex tourism of persons under the age of 18. Under the age of 18 is an internationally recognized definition of child in numerous international treaties and conventions. 

There is an endless amount of books, videos, web sites, reports and opinions on the subject of forced child prostitution. Click on the following links to download recommended readings and films. 
Key Texts (PDF Download)
Sex Trafficking and CSEC Film list (PDF Download)

Check out the Love146 links page for additional resources to read articles or talk to people involved in social justice. 

What happened to Customer Service?

This is a blog I've been intending to write for about 2 years, and I'm not kidding. Some friends of ours from Kansas City came to visit during Spring Break in March 2006 and we got into a pretty spirited conversation about the deterioration of customer service as a whole. Well, it hasn't gotten any better and I'm fired up enough now to write about it. Someone give us a break. When did eye rolling, finger shaking, murmuring under the breath, and blowing off a customer become acceptable? It didn't and that's what I am so upset about. If you are reading this and do not know who I am you may wonder why I am qualified to write about such a thing. Well, my 24 years in this business working my way up from an hourly crew employee to a senior executive with a major company in the fast casual segment of the restaurant business qualifies me. I am tired of poor customer service as I'm sure that anyone who's reading this is. Just today I went to get my wife an Iced Tea from McDonald's in Cedar Park and they no longer carry fresh lemon. What? How can it be possible that the largest food service company on the planet no longer carries fresh lemons for Iced Tea in the middle of the hottest summer Central Texas has seen in 154 years? Really? Is it possible? Yep, it is possible and it's happening. And with no apologies or explanations by the way. The list goes on and on. Ever see Lethal Weapon 2 and Joe Pesci's theory on what happens when you go through a Drive Thru? He's right. Don't go through a Drive Thru under any circumstances. You will be missing something and if you catch it you will get an attitude from the person at the window before you get it.

So how do we fix this? What are we going to do in order to feel like when we hand over our hard earned money for services that it is appreciated? I would say loud and clear in this blog that it starts with hiring the right people first and removing low performers. This cannot be overstated. Mediocrity in any service field is unacceptable yet people hire mediocre (or worse) people everyday and put them in positions where they will interact face to face with paying customers. The worst part of it is that many of these "employees" could care less about the company they work for which is why it is up to us as employers of great companies to make sure we hire only the best people for any positions. Even more importantly than that it is incumbent on us to develop the great people that are already working in an organization and help them further their career goals. There are so many outstanding people working in companies today that largely go ignored and undeveloped. Instead companies will allow people to stay in position based on seniority, politics, etc. who are uninspiring, unenlightened, and unwilling to change with the times.

Until other companies in every area of the service industry make changes in the way they hire, train, and develop people Customer Service will continue to decline and customers who care will begin to care much less. Thankfully the company I work for has figured this out and they are a leader in developing great people and foster an environment where top performers can excel. Hopefully other companies will do a gut check and get on this bandwagon.

The Dark Knight

July 18th can't come soon enough. There have been few movies I have been so excited to see as the new Batman movie. I keep hearing how amazing Heath Ledger is in the movie so I'm sure his performance won't disappoint but I am equally looking forward to the fleshing out of the other characters, including Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.

I may have to see this one several times to fully digest it all but that shouldn't be a problem.

Hanging out with Jordan

One of my goals this year is to take my girls out for a date as often as I can. So for I've taken Jamisyn and Jordan out for some special time. Today's was Jordan's and we went to see Kit Kittredge, American Girl. It was actually a great movie and we got to enjoy it together. On the way we listened to some music and had a great time just being together. Jordan is 11 years old and at that awkward age which I think runs from around 10 to 35! She is a beautiful girl with all kinds of promise. That is one smart girl! I love her very much and we have our struggles but I can't imagine things without her. She is my American Girl! 

I am looking forward to doing more of this with my kids. Nothing is more important than ensuring I meet the needs of my family and I am not always the best at doing that and balancing work, but I am making it more of a priority.

What Does It All Mean?

So I started this blog back in February and did exactly absolutely nothing with it. I'm not sure why because I love to write. I guess I didn't know how to start. Well yesterday I posted two entries and since that is 100% more than I had done I figured I better keep it going. You may be wondering what in the world the name of this blog means. Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts? Absolutely. I was somewhat disappointed to find someone had actually registered that domain. I really didn't know that there were any other hardcore Magnum, P.I. fans in the world. Actually that's not true. There is a killer Magnum, P.I. fan site that I'll put in the Favorite Links section of the blog later. Anyway, why the name? Something about this really resonates with me and it might be the fact that time really doesn't have anything to do with anything, especially infinity. We all have a certain amount of time on this rock and it is important to do the right things for the right reasons and make the most of it. I think it speaks to the innate human desire to want to do more, be more and live more. It might have to do with the feeling that we can do anything we set our minds to and nothing can stop us. It's a dangerous attitude but one that keeps us living our life to the fullest so it is also a necessary attitude.  Once time is up, it has nothing to do with Infinity or Jelly Doughnuts. Why the name? Right...okay in the first episode of Season 8 of Magnum, P.I. there is a seen between Lt. McReynolds (already dead from Season 3) and Magnum while he's in coma during an out of body experience. There is a great line in there where Mac has been trying to get Magnum to let go and move on and keeps talking about "time" moving on and Magnum throws down the line "time has little do with Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts" which for the time being silences Mac. A little later Magnum bribes him with a tray of Napoleons. Classic 80's TV, you gotta love it.

So remember, no matter what is going on in your life, live your life to the fullest, be balanced, live well, love well and time won't have this thing hanging over your head. Because, well time has little to do with Infinity or Jelly Doughnuts.

Peace.

iPhone 3G

This phone is going to be the coolest phone on the planet. I wonder how many people are camped out right now ready to get it...I will be buying one for me and one for my wife. Apple technology is just too darn good and it's addicting like crack or Chipotle food.

July 4th

Well, it's July 3rd. Tomorrow is the 4th and this year I am feeling more patriotic than usual, and usually I feel pretty patriotic. Maybe it's the election year and everyone's attention is focused on what is happening in this country more than ever; maybe it's because gas is over $4.00 a gallon for the first time in my lifetime; maybe it's because people are looking for more hope than ever before, or maybe it's just because I turned 40 this year and I am starting to think about the back half of my life and am having a mini mid-life crisis. I don't think so though...anyway tomorrow is Independence Day and it is really important. Being a country is a big deal for sure. We do it pretty well too. We have our problems (the aforementioned gas prices, dishonesty in government, a justice system out of wack, etc.) but we have some good things going too. Freedom of Speech, the right to worship, and good public education systems in most places, just to name a few. Maybe tomorrow for just a minute we can all be thankful for what we've got, where we are, and what the future holds. Maybe, just maybe if we can do that then July 5th will be a good day too.