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Phnom
Penh (Ah!)
- CNN
FAILS TO SEE THE (RED) LIGHT
D. J. Ken - National Radio Text Service
The beat goes on from CNN on how they intend to change the world by putting an end to human slavery and trafficking with their Freedom Project. Yea, yea, sure, sure… If its' BS you're looking for tune in to CNN. Is it a legitimate cause or simply greed to raise those sponsorship dollars? From an assignment perspective CNN should know that you don't send a candy stripe nurse to do a surgeons job. From the reality perspective you don't put a Band-Aid on an injury that requires an amputation
Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tuesday June 21, 2011 SOS (Same Old $#!t) With CNN beating their chest about their Freedom Project of how they're going to put an end to human trafficking and slavery is indicative how they waver back and forth on their position and their purpose. When they began their program promotion a few months ago they were going to STOP it as if they are going to change the world. Any sensible person with a bit of knowledge and experience can recognize this is nothing but another sensationalized attempt by CNN to attract viewers AND to fatten their wallet with sponsorship DOLLARS. It also indicates how ignorant or selfish they are. CNN sensational promotions appear as if they think many of their viewers parents RAISED A FOOL. Let's assume they're educated and experienced when they cover a story or topic of this nature. The first thing they do is rally together Hollywood types to speak on behalf of the network on how they're going to join in on CNN's fight against human trafficking. When the promotion began they boldly stated that they were going to STOP human trafficking and slavery. Now they've toned it down and are going to fight the problem. Here we have a supposedly news network that is going to do what the FBI, Interpol and other law enforcement agencies haven't been able to do for years if not centuries. As the Bowery Boys would say... yea, yea, sure, sure. If you buy into their sales pitch then I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I own I'd like to sell you. Actress Demi Moore and her husband Ashton Kutcher were on the Piers Morgan talk show on CNN talking about the problem. Moore said the first thing we have to identify the problem and then address it. Wake up and smell the coffee. The problem has been identified over and over again. What is the problem and root? Pat yourself on the back for that is a good question. The answer is POVERTY with the underlying cause being a lack of education. We first identified with the problem a decade ago via a play in Phnom Penh about the subject titled A Wounded Life. It depicted a poor family from a province in Cambodia being tricked into having their daughter trafficked into prostitution with the expectation of permitting her marry to a well to do old man. A relative arranged the meeting knowing what would eventually happen. The play was sponsored by the Asia Foundation and funded by USAID. At that time in 2001 UNESCO's Fred Frumberg was Production Management for the Performing Arts. But that was then and this is now a decade later… SOS… Same Old $#!t. The beat goes on and very little has been done to alleviate the problem despite NGO'S raising millions of dollars to do so and filmmakers producing films for awareness of the child trafficking situation. One problem is the films are largely not available to the general public thus a waste of money for what appears to be a carefully hidden secret or scam. Is that by design or simply stems from ignorance of how to market their productions? Now CNN is on the rampage as being the saving grace to get the job done. For those who are interested in the subject the Meta House in Phnom Penh which is supported by the Goethe-Institute a non-profit German cultural institution frequently screens films about the topic. Next Tuesday June 28th they will screen one of the most revealing documentaries on the subject RED LIGHT. Since we first reviewed the film it has ranked number 1, 2 & 4 on our NR Top 10 ratings charts as being one of the most read subjects on our NR site. It reveals how organized crime posing as employment agents or family members use trickery to take advantage of the ignorance of poor uneducated parents in Cambodia's provinces. The parents are deceived into selling their daughters under the pretext that they are going to Phnom Penh to work in a factory or as a waitress. Once gone they are enslaved as sex workers. A vivid scene in the documentary is a mother telling the filmmakers that she received a total of $10 a month from the traffickers for her TWO daughters under the age of 15. The doc also points out how enslaved girls are tortured and police are involved in the sex trade. This film explores the victims predicament and is a must see. There are other films that the Meta house screens on the subject pretty much on a bi-monthly basis. Also recommended are the films Holly and Sam Same But Different. Must see documentaries are the Girls of Phnom Penh and Cambodia The Virginity Trade. All of these productions address the sex trade business each from a different point of view. The point is that CNN and NGO's should do something about the problem and stop talking about it for the purpose of the all mighty DOLLARS. Money largely goes into NGO employee's pockets while they engage in a colonialist lifestyle. Some of these NGO types can be seen on what is described as a society page in an English language Phnom Penh newspaper. The root cause of POVERTY is not being addressed drinking alcohol is. In their promotion of the Freedom Project CNN keeps using a sound bite of an individual who we refer to as the Rhinestone Rambo who came to Cambodia to change things and shoot undercover video with his Dick Tracy type watch camera. The sound-bite from his supposedly heroic experience is… "They were girls 8, 9, 10 years old who were being sold for sex." For those in the know he didn't do his undercover investigation properly and his statement proves he doesn't really know what's going on. The sound bite CNN doesn't use is when the Rhinestone Rambo was informed that the traffickers were aware of what he was up to. Rambo squealed that the (gangs) knew who he was. He and his pretty girlfriend then fled the country. They couldn't get on the plane quick enough. After the CNN special Rhinestone Rambo report we tried to trace his movements but all that we could only come up with was him making an appearance in Beverly Hills, California USA where many of the movie stars live to raise money. CNN should know that you don't send a candy stripe nurse to do a surgeons job. From the reality perspective you don't put a Band-Aid on an injury that requires an amputation. The Meta House is located a Sothearos Boulevard # 37 Sangkat Tonle Bassic, Khan Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh Tel: 923-224-140 & 023 218-987 Meta House is opposite the Phnom Penh Center and Build Bright University. For more information go to: www.meta-house.com Films begin at 7 PM. NATIONAL RADIO PUBLISHED IN 5 LANGUAGES We are published in five languages, English, Thai, French, Russian and Khmer (Cambodian language). Any of our foreign language material and our Roman Wanderaugh columns are legally available ONLY on our National Radio © Copyright: National Radio. Any use of these materials, whole or in part, is prohibited unless authorized in writing by National Radio. Contact: nationalradio@yahoo.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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