A new Station ID for Party 934:
Winter Wonderland?
No white Christmas. Will a white MLK Day suit you? There was a bit of snow on the holiday and on Tuesday. Today we have 5-6 inches and it’s still snowing. May not be the full Snowmageddon they’ve been hyping, but I think I’m staying in for the day.
Comments Off
Okay, it’s been over a year since I’ve posted anything. I wish I could say that my life has been so busy with adventures that there was never time. Nope I’m just a procrastinator. Also, I always seem to think I need to wait til I have something Pulitzer worthy before I sit down to write. Hopefully I’ll be a little bit more consistent this year. Not going to promise a daily post, but at least I’ll check in
This past March I began working as a substitute Para-educator in the Kent school district
In may I began a weekly radio show at Party 934, an online independent station, run by the Freeform Radio Initiative. Yeah, I know, one more thing I do for free. Everyone needs a hobby though, and it helps keep my voice in shape for potential voice work. Right after high school, my major at Foothill College was broadcasting, so it feels like a full circle deal to me. I’m on the air twice a week. Friday/Saturday
A Face Made for Radio
Midnight to 2 am PT, and Sunday 4 am to 6 am. I play a mix of older music for burned out hippies, and contemporary independent artists. All shows are available as podcasts at: http://www.party934podcasts.com/ The podcasts are also available at iTunes. This weekends shows will feature Christmas music of all shapes and sizes. I’m trying, for the most part, to avoid the usual ones that you’ll hear everywhere else. So tune on in to the Robert J Program this weekend,either live, or by podcast, for some holiday cheer. Also, if you happen to be in the Hudson Valley area of New York, tune in at 94.9 FM.
Comments Off
From The Genesis Project
This is from the Genesis Project Website:
STATISTICS ON DOMESTIC MINOR SEX TRAFFICKING:
The numerous estimates of juveniles involved in prostitution in the United States range from 100,000 to 3 million. The U.S. Department for Health and Human Services cites 300,000 as the number in the U.S. based on estimates of runaways who become involved in prostitution.[2]Prostitution is illegal for all parties involved- unfortunately, it is the only crime in which you can be labeled as a criminal and a victim
Pimps target girls or women who seem naive, lonely, homeless, and rebellious. At first, the attention and feigned affection from the pimp convinces her to “be his woman.” Pimps ultimately keep prostituted women in virtual captivity by verbal abuse – making a woman feel that she is utterly worthless: a toilet, a piece of trash; and by physical coercion – beatings and the threat of torture. 80% to 95% of all prostitution is pimp-controlled.[3]
The average age of entry into prostitution is 13 years.[4]
In a study by Farley in 1998[5], 73% of DMST victims reported having experienced physical assault in prostitution; 72% were currently or formerly homeless, 62% reported having been raped in prostitution, and 92% stated that they wanted to escape prostitution immediately.
65% – 95% of sex-trafficking victims were sexually abused as a child.[6]
75% of sex-trafficking victims are frequent drug users and 26% are frequent users of alcohol.[7]
69% of sex trafficking victims in the United States suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.[8]
When asked if they had a safe place to go if they would leave the “prostitution business”, 87% said yes.[9]
48% of sex-trafficking victims stated that they needed individual counseling.[10]
28% of sex-trafficking victims stated that they needed protection from a pimp.[11]
PLEASE NOTE: Most DMST victims will not state that they need protection from a pimp, as they “believe” that they are in love with their pimp, and that their pimp loves them as well.
TRENDS AND PATTERNS IN LOCAL DOMESTIC MINOR SEX TRAFFICKING
In 2009 in the city of SeaTac alone, 81 DMST victims were arrested. Unfortunately, this is the only crime in which one can be labeled as both victim and offender.
In a 2008 study by Debra Boyer[12], service providers reported increased incidents of youth ages 13 and 14 involved in prostitution and reported an increase in gang-affiliated prostitution.
Service providers also reported an increase in prostitution-related violence including pimp kidnappings.[13]
It has been estimated that 300-500 youth are involved in DMST in the Seattle/King County area[14]; however, the number is more likely as high as 1,000.
The average age of a traffic victim in the US is 11-14.[15]
A minor involved in trafficking has a lifespan of 7-10 years.[16]
“Youth under the age of 18 involved in prostitution should be considered victims. Arrest and conviction of youth under the age of 18 for prostitution or loitering contradicts the status extended to minors under the United Nations protocols on human trafficking, the United States’ Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and the Washington State laws on trafficking and commercial sexual abuse of minors.”[17]
___________________________________________________________________________________________
[1] D. Boyer. (2008) “Who Pays the Price? Assessment of Prostitution in Seattle”; 1-44; pg. 9
[2] Boyer, 2008
[3] M. Farley, Isin Baral, Merab Kiremire, Ufuk Sezgin, “Prostitution in Five Countries: Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder” (1998) Feminism & Psychology 8 (4): 405-426
[4] M.H. Silbert and A.M. Pines, 1982, “Victimization of street prostitutes, Victimology: An International Journal, 7: 122-133
[5] Farley, 1998
[6] Farley, 1998
[7] Farley, 1998
[8] Farley, 1998
[9] Farley, 1998
[10] Farley, 1998
[11] Farley, 1998
[12] Boyer, 2008
[13] Boyer, 2008
[14] Boyer, 2008
[15] Federal Bureau of Investigation. Congressional Testimony by Chris Swecker, Criminal Investigative Division. (7 June 2005).
[16] Information adapted from www.freedom5krun.org
[17] Boyer, 2008, pg. 33
Does this piss you off like it pisses me off? Visit The Genesis Project to find out how you can help.
Dynasty Cleaners
While in New York we took two bus tours. They are double deckers with an open top. You can get on and off at any of their many stops. On the up town tour, we were entertained by a New York Native. He was humorous, and like most New York Natives, you could tell that he loved his city. He was engaging, and funny. As he checked everyones tickets he’d ask where we were from. For the rest of the tour he reffered to us all by our city or Country, for example, “Hey Sweden, whddya thinka that?” or “Yeah, that’s right. Seattle’s got the answer.”
This video clip was a short segment that made me laugh.
For some dumb reason, I never got his name, so all I can say is: This one’s for you New York
New York
Jeannie and I just got back from three days as New York tourists. We are exhausted and exhilarated from the trip. From John’s Pizzeria near Times Square, to Caffe Reggio in Greenwich Village, to the “street meat” from the ubiquitous carts, we ate ourselves silly. We saw sights from tour buses and on foot. We saw clubs in the Village where Bob Dylan, and 
Jimi Hendrix saw their careers take off, and we saw the apartment building where John Lennon’s life came to an end. We saw the Broadway show, “In The Heights”, which was a Latin music delight, followed by Irish music at the Pig ‘n’ Whistle, Times Square.
Everywhere we went was the cacophony of just about every language on earth along with a couple that might well have been extra terrestrial. It’s a strange and wonderful music.
On the New Jersey Transit #190 bus back to our hotel, we were pelted by an Old Testament style hail storm. It sounded like the bus was being struck by a million rocks. Minutes away from our hotel, Monday Night Football was delayed by 45 minutes due to the storm.
I was struck by the police presence in the city. Everywhere in Manhattan, there were pairs of NYPD officers keeping a watchful eye, while at the same time acting as walking information centers for tourists like us, looking for an address, or the nearest subway entrance. They all showed remarkable patience in what has to be a job that’s as stressful as you could have.
I confess to having had a long term antipathy toward New Yorkers, mostly the Yankees and denizens of their stadium. It’s easy to hate the teams that always beat your team, (along with their gloating fans.) The Yankees had just swept the Twins (again) so there were no home play-off games while we were there, sparing me from having to endure Yankee Mania up close. Having said that, I must cleanse my soul with another confession: The people I encountered were warmer than their reputation. Most of them seemed to go out of their way to show their city in a good light. They are generally not as laid back as us West Coasters, and seem to have a higher baseline stress level than most Americans. They may not suffer fools gladly, and boy do the drivers love their horns. Obviously, I didn’t encounter every New Yorker. There are criminals, and those who just aren’t nice people. I didn’t meet any of them. Those I met truly love their city. I didn’t buy an I heart NY shirt, but I came away with a new found respect for the City and it’s people. Still don’t like the Yankees though.
Bulletin Board Material
Welcome to this weeks edition of Christians Behaving Badly. Our special guest this week is Reverend Terry Jones, of Gainesville Florida. Reverend Jones and his mega church of about 30 or so loving followers of Jesus have announced that they will be burning the Koran on September 11. This is to further demonstrate their belief that “Islam is the devil’s religion”. He cites constitutional protection for this event. It’s the same protection claimed by flag burners.
Jihadist Recruiting Poster
Those who’ve ever been involved in a sport that receives press coverage, have probably heard the term “Bulletin Board Material” This refers to negative remarks by a member of one team about an upcoming opponent. Invariably, the coach of the team that has been so dissed, will put the clipping containing said negative remarks on a bulletin board for his team to read, in the hopes of stirring anger and hopefully increasing the motivation of his own team. Coaches hate it when their players give bulletin board material to the press.
Reverend Jones is giving some prime bulletin board material. In fact, I’m willing to wager that a picture of him holding a flaming copy of the Koran will become the Jihad’s best recruiting Poster. (As if 72 virgins in Heaven weren’t enough)
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
I hope the government doesn’t try to prevent the good reverend, because he does have a constitutional right to do this. I hope he decides not to because it isn’t Christ-like. He should abide by the words of the one he claims to follow.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’
44 But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you,
45 so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they?
47 And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do? Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they?
48 So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Just sayin’…
Fathers Day Memories
On Father’s Day, I reflect on how much easier a time I had growing up than my dad did. In general, people of our generation had it easier than our parent’s generation did. There are certainly individual stories along the way that don’t fit that pattern. My dad’s early life fit the pattern and then some.
Joe Hal Harris was born in 1930 to an unwed young woman in Houston, Texas. The last name given on his birth certificate was after Harris County where they resided. The name Lee came a few years later when he was adopted by a step father. He never met his biological father, and never knew his name until much later in life.
My dad didn’t talk a lot about his early days, at least not the negative aspects. He didn’t clam up and pretend none of it happened, he just didn’t dwell on it. I knew that he lived in a few different foster homes while quite young due to health issues my grandmother was dealing with. He would go home to her on weekends sometimes. What he didn’t talk about was the time that he came home with strap marks across his back and legs. He’d been beaten with a thick belt by the foster father. He was three years old! What could a three year old possibly do to merit that?
He was cooking for his little brother at age 4-5. Fortunately, he was taken in by a godly couple for many years. They remained a part of his life and Dan and Vivian were a third set of grandparents for me. They were the main positive influence in his life.
The 1947 Texas City Disaster April 16 & 17, 1947
Six months before his 17th birthday, he was serving as a Red Cross volunteer, when the Texas City Disaster occurred. This again was never talked about much. My dad wasn’t one to speak much about his feelings. All he said was that he had to pick up some body parts. It wasn’t until recently that I saw some television footage of what happened. Between 500 – 600 people died that day, not counting foreign seamen and undocumented workers. Hundreds of those didn’t just die, they were blown to pieces. I can’t imagine myself doing that when I was that age. My biggest concern, was whether or not my car would impress the girls. I can’t imagine walking through the aftermath of those explosions and fires without being permanently scarred.
My dad served in the US Army during the Korean War. He was a medic, so I don’t imagine he was on the USO Bob Hope show duty. He never talked much about Korea; just that the winters were unbearably cold.
There are prisons and mental facilities filled with people who had lives similar to his. He never learned to be a victim. His early life was the re-bar that kept him going.
After he came back from Korea, he was stationed in New York City, where he met and married my mom. The Army sent them to Germany, where I was born. This was a paradise time for my dad. Europe was something that he always talked about. There was none of the trauma that formed him in his earlier years.
Dad, and Mom and Me with My mom's family
After his discharge from the army, we lived for a year or so in Houston. This is where my father’s character changed our lives forever, for the better. The time in Houston was not what he’d probably hoped. This was his home after all. There was friction generated by his former townfolk. It seems that there were people there who didn’t take kindly to my white, Anglo-Saxon dad being married to my Hispanic mom.
He worked for the local Boys Club (Now known as Boys and Girls Club). What I never knew until we were planning his memorial service, was that one week, he was trying to put a baseball team together. He told the kids to go home and bring some friends back so that they’d have enough for a team.
The next day, they returned with enough for a team. One of the new boys was black. The boss called my dad aside and said, “You need to tell that boy he can’t play.”
To make it short, my dad refused, and quit the job. Two weeks later we had a U-Haul trailer packed and headed for California. That’s remarkable to me for a white man of his generation, raised in the part of the country that he was.
My uncle, in San Francisco was arranging an apartment for us. Ironically, in San Francisco, so many miles away from the bigotry of the south, the landlord wouldn’t rent to us until he could see that my dad wasn’t Chinese with the name Lee.
During my childhood, he worked full time grave yard, and went to school full time, as well as serving as the football teams athletic trainer. Sleep? I guess that was for wimps. It wasn’t easy time for any of us, but we got through it.
When he was rewarded for his work with the job he’d have ’til he retired, he had his choice of neighborhoods. He chose the neighborhood that fed the high school with the most diverse ethnic diversity. He wanted us to have the advantage of being in a multicultural environment. For that, I could never thank him enough.
Was he the perfect father? Far from it. Did we have the perfect father-son relationship? No we didn’t. He taught me some things. Don’t whine, don’t quit, and don’t make excuses. That’s how he lived.
On December 6th 2003, I was holding his hand as his spirit passed from his body to be with the Lord. This being Father’s Day, I’m remembering things. I’m wishing he’d had a few more years so that I might pry some more history out of him. He was stubborn though, so I may never have succeeded.
Happy Fathers Day, in Honor of Joe Hal Lee.
Hope for a New Life
The Genesis Project is about to get rolling. The Genesis Project’s mission is to offer hope for a new life to young women between the ages of 11 to 24 involved in domestic minor sex trafficking in South King County.
As a non-profit outreach of The Corridor, The Genesis Project exists to offer hope for a new life to young women and girls involved in Domestic Minor Sex-Trafficking (DMST) in the South King County area.
Consider becoming a Founder by committing to donate $100.00 a month to The Genesis Project.
If 365 individuals/groups/organizations commit to donating $100.00 a month, The Genesis Project will have reached it’s funding needs for the year!
From the “You Gotta be Kidding” Dept.
This was on ESPN.com:
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine a national champion, over the objections of some lawmakers who said Congress had more pressing matters on its plate.
The bill, which faces long odds of becoming law, would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I football game as a national championship unless that title contest is the result of a playoff. The measure passed by voice vote in a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee, with one audible “no,” from Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga.
“With all due respect, I really think we have more important things to spend our time on,” Barrow said before the vote, although he stressed he didn’t like the current Bowl Championship Series, either.
The bill’s sponsor, GOP Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, said the BCS system is unfair and won’t change unless prompted by Congress.
Thank you Rep. John Barrow, Democrat from Georgia for being the voice of sanity in a congress gone wacky. We’ve got double digit unemployment, banks still giving bonuses with tax money, and borders that we cannot seem to afford to secure. We now have congressmen in a sub committee trying to pass a law meddling in college sports? College sports is part of the entertainment industry. I sincerely believe that they have better things to do on our dime.
The bill’s sponsor is Joe Barton of Texas. This is a republican; you know, the party of small government. Wait, did I say Texas? Well I guess that explains things. Football is the state religion of Texas. Hmmm… Does this mean they’re venturing into the realm of “Church and State?
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Congress: Please stay out of College Football. I know Their championship system is lame, and perhaps for some, unfair. Maybe there should be a tournament. (but for Pete’s sake, they’ll be playing til March) Let them work it out. Let the consumers put the pressure on them to make changes. You guys have more important things to do.
