The Ohio House on Tuesday unanimously passed legislation that would
toughen the penalties for people convicted of human trafficking and
provide more protections and services to victims to shield them from
prosecution and aid their recovery from the traumatic experiences.
“It’s basically written with a victim-centered approach,” said State Rep. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, sponsor of House Bill 262.
The
bill, which is expected to reach the Senate floor later this week,
creates a diversion program that upon completion erases criminal charges
facing young trafficking victims and allows adult victims to expunge
their criminal records if the crimes resulted from their enslavement.
The
bill increases trafficking to a first-degree felony that requires a
prison term of 10 to 15 years. It also requires that people who pay to
have sex with minors face felony charges, and convicted pimps and
traffickers must register as sex offenders.
The legislation allows
victims to sue traffickers in civil court, and it permits assets
belonging to traffickers that are seized by law enforcement to be used
to pay for services needed by victims.
“It has three prongs to it: prevention, protection and prosecution,” Fedor said.
The
bill has a provision that says traffickers who intimidate or threaten
victims in an attempt to keep them from testifying in court will face
second-degree felony charges of obstruction of justice.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
More Americans "Pro-Life" 50% to 41%
PRINCETON, NJ -- The 41% of Americans who now identify themselves as "pro-choice" is down from 47% last July and is one percentage point below the previous record low in Gallup trends, recorded in May 2009. Fifty percent now call themselves "pro-life," one point shy of the record high, also from May 2009.
‘Barcode Everyone at Birth’ BBC 60 Seconds with SCIFI Writer Elizabeth Moon
This week science fiction writer Elizabeth Moon argues that everyone should be given a barcode at birth.
“If I were empress of the Universe I would insist on every individual having a unique ID permanently attached - a barcode if you will; an implanted chip to provide an easy, fast inexpensive way to identify individuals.
It would be imprinted on everyone at birth. Point the scanner at someone and there it is.
Having such a unique barcode would have many advantages. In war soldiers could easily differentiate legitimate targets in a population from non combatants.
This could prevent mistakes in identity, mistakes that result in the deaths of innocent bystanders. Weapons systems would record the code of the use, identifying how fired which shot and leading to more accountability in the field.
Anonymity would be impossible as would mistaken identity making it easier to place responsibility accurately, not only in war but also in non-combat situations far from the war.”
READ MORE & LISTEN TO THE AUDIO CLIP
“If I were empress of the Universe I would insist on every individual having a unique ID permanently attached - a barcode if you will; an implanted chip to provide an easy, fast inexpensive way to identify individuals.
It would be imprinted on everyone at birth. Point the scanner at someone and there it is.
Having such a unique barcode would have many advantages. In war soldiers could easily differentiate legitimate targets in a population from non combatants.
This could prevent mistakes in identity, mistakes that result in the deaths of innocent bystanders. Weapons systems would record the code of the use, identifying how fired which shot and leading to more accountability in the field.
Anonymity would be impossible as would mistaken identity making it easier to place responsibility accurately, not only in war but also in non-combat situations far from the war.”
READ MORE & LISTEN TO THE AUDIO CLIP
Emanuela Orlandi Was 'Kidnapped For Vatican Sex Parties,' Claims Father Gabriele Amorth
The Holy See was directly involved in the disappearance of 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi in 1983, according to a contentious accusation by the Catholic Church's leading exorcist. The Rev. Gabriele Amorth claimed that the girl's kidnapping was a "crime of a sexual nature."
"Parties were organized, with a Vatican gendarme acting as the 'recruiter' of the girls," Amorth told La Stampa, according to a translation by The Telegraph. "The network involved diplomatic personnel from a foreign embassy to the Holy See. I believe Emanuela ended up a victim of this circle."
Amorth, who was appointed by Pope John Paul II and has carried out more than 70,000 exorcisms, is no stranger to controversial public statements; according to The Sun, the exorcist has called Harry Potter the "work of the devil," and has claimed "the devil was at work in the Vatican" when discussing the Catholic Church's sex scandals.
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Paul Crouch Talks About Attacks Against TBN
This conversation was about one week after TBN was hit by a lawsuit from Paul's granddaughter Brittany Koper, who blew the whistle on what she called "illegal financial schemes," as reported by Opposing Views.
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