Gawfer

"We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." James Madison

Monday, March 12, 2007

With a Voice like Thunder

From Stitches, Co Author of the blog AbsoluteZero has asked me to post this:

Our regular readers (of AbsoluteZero) may recall that we talked of S. 519: Stop the Online Exploitation of Our Children Act introduced by Senator John McCain back in December. For the full background please read the post here: Nowhere to Run Some highlights to consider:

Millions of commercial Web sites and personal blogs would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000, if a new proposal in the U.S. Senate came into law.

After child pornography or some forms of "obscenity" are found and reported, the Web site must retain any "information relating to the facts or circumstances" of the incident for at least six months. Webmasters would be immune from civil and criminal liability if they followed the specified procedures exactly.

In addition to the provisions relating to child pornography, the bill also would ensure that sex offenders will register information relevant to their online activities on sex offender registries. Specifically, it would require sex offenders to register their email addresses, as well as their instant messaging and chat room handles and any other online identifiers they use. If a sex offender failed to do so, he could be prosecuted, convicted, and thrown into jail for up to 10 years. The bill would also make the use of the Internet in the commission of a crime of child exploitation an aggravating factor that would add 10 years to the offender's sentence.

It is imperative that this legislation is enacted. It is now before the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is an easy way for you to let your voice be heard, that you are saying NO to internet predators and child sexual exploitation. Read the PDF of this act linked above and if you agree, please send emails to the committee members. Let them know how seriously you stand on this issue and that we expect them to act in our children's best interest. Shout LOUDLY if you must, shout repeatedly if you must, but don't let this opportunity get by you. Let us show those men who seek to destroy our children that we can and will empower ourselves and we will not allow these behaviors to continue!

Senate Judiciary Committee:
Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT] EMAIL
Sen. Edward Kennedy [D-MA] Contact HERE
Sen. Joseph Biden [D-DE] EMAIL
Sen. Herbert Kohl [D-WI] EMAIL
Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA] Contact HERE
Sen. Russell Feingold [D-WI] EMAIL
Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY] Contact HERE
Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL] Contact HERE
Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D-MD] Contact HERE
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI] Contact HERE
Sen. Arlen Specter [R-PA] Contact HERE
Sen. Orrin Hatch [R-UT] Contact HERE
Sen. Charles Grassley [R-IA] Contact HERE
Sen. Jon Kyl [R-AZ] Contact HERE
Sen. Jefferson Sessions [R-AL] EMAIL
Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC] Contact HERE
Sen. John Cornyn [R-TX] Contact HERE
Sen. Samuel Brownback [R-KS] Contact HERE
Sen. Thomas Coburn [R-OK] Contact HERE

One is the loneliest number. I'm sure that many of you may feel that your voice alone won't make a dent in this problem. Yet together, we are not one.... but one of many. The only time we are powerless is when we do nothing. You don't have to maintain a blog, or interact with these perverts, or read their garbage or try to hunt them down, but acting together our voices alone will make a difference.

Let's make some waves! Pass this information on to your family, friends and neighbors. Many people are not aware that this legislation is being considered. So let's act together to achieve our goals by letting our lawmakers know that we support this legislation. Let's make a small step towards stopping those who use the internet to find their victims, those who offer encouragement and solace to fellow child predators, those who use the internet as a tool for pedophile activism. Let us please do our part to try and make the internet and the world a safer place for children...the way it should be, and together our one voice will become like thunder.

We were a silent, hidden thought in the folds of oblivion,and we have become a voice that causes the heavens to tremble. ~ Gibran