Jun 24
Ending the vicious cycle of prostitution and sex trafficking is no easy task. For years, the focus has been on criminalizing the “suppliers” of sex, most of whom are women and children that have been lured into ‘the life,’ or ‘the game,’ by exploiters who control and manipulate them. With radical feminist and religious activists …
Jun 23
Pulling out from Afghanistan without leaving behind a native security force capable of handling the job would be a mistake Towards the end of my second deployment to Iraq, I was offered a rather unique opportunity. Through a hookup from a fellow Arabic linguist, my coworkers and I were allowed to join a police training …
Jun 23
When someone thinks of an “underdeveloped” or “developing” country, it’s all too easy to envision an area that is lagging behind (both technologically and economically) the Western world. It’s common to think of these places as needing our help to catch up to the standards we set and to follow the trends that we start. …
Jun 23
Shark Fin Soup When my sister recently got married, my parents and I traveled to Taiwan to throw a wedding banquet so our entire family could be together. My parents splurged on one of the fancy menus at the banquet hall so that my sister would have “nothing but the best”. As we ate course …
Jun 22
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community has experienced discrimination, threat, and violence around the globe. Violations of human rights are heavily affecting LGBT individuals in many regions of the world, forcing them to flee persecution and seek refuge in other nations—one being the United States. The resettlement network in the U.S. has limited …
Jun 20
Some would scoff at the idea of living with an alternate identity in a virtual world, as in the popular Sims games, or the widely-played “massively-multiplayer online role-playing games” (MMORPG). However, since it was introduced in 2003, the online virtual world called Second Life has completely transformed self-expression. Because of its user-friendliness and a multitude …
Jun 17
“Every generation of Americans has brought our Nation closer to fulfilling its promise of equality. While progress has taken time, our achievements in advancing the rights of LGBT Americans remind us that history is on our side, and that the American people will never stop striving toward liberty and justice for all.” -President Barack Obama …
Jun 16
Ever since I was 13 and went on a family vacation to Phuket, Thailand, I have been obsessed with making plans to one day return. As I grew older and read more about Thailand, however, I was starting to learn that not everything about this country was beautiful. Human trafficking has been a huge problem …
Jun 16
The Palestinians seem to be right back where they started 2 months ago Early last month, Fatah and Hamas, the two major Palestinian political parties, signaled that they were working towards forming a unity government. In my commentary on the talks, I assumed that the deal was, well, a done deal. Reporting at the time …
Jun 15
For part one of my photo-essay, click here. When doing my research for my trip to California, as you may recall, I found a very short list of organic vineyards in Napa Valley; however, once we arrived, signs such as this one were discretely posted at the majority of the vineyards we visited. I was …
