Today we saw a large turkey having some lunch in someone's farm, and a deer running through someone else's farm. We also came across a vulture in the middle of the road feasting on a number of poor raccoons that were dead in the road. I'm sorry to report that we have seen a number of dead animals in the road, and it really breaks my heart. So when I saw the vulture in the road I told Thomas I'd get ten points if I could hit it. I know I should love all of God's creations, but it was eating other things! Unfortunately it saw me long before some birds we saw yesterday did (which I accidentally did almost hit), and I lost out on my ten points.
I've also been chased by three dogs in the past two days. I keep thinking about Monty Python's Holy Grail, when the terrible rabbit comes after them and they all yell, "Run away!!!!!." I knew that dogs would be a problem on this trip but yesterday was the first real dog chase. Usually the dogs have been barking and just pretending to start running toward me. But yesterday as I was climbing a little hill on a dirt road, so I was riding slowly to begin with, here comes this small chubby dog chasing me. At first he came up close to my right foot but didn't take the appropriate angle, then came up on the other side and held pace with me. That's when I realized this thing meant business so I started speeding up, but then he crossed my path and I didn't want to hit him. Eventually I guess he ran out of steam because he stopped running and went home.
Today I was more prepared. When the first dog came out to chase me I had better reaction time and instantly geared up and pedaled harder and he gave up pretty easily. Thankfully I was on road at that point because it made speeding up much easier. Then I was on dirt again and out comes a little brown thing again, and again as I was getting to the top of a little hill. It's a lot harder to speed up on a mountain bike, especially on dirt and sand. My first reaction, then, was, "Ah frick!!!" Absolutely ridiculous. Even if you live in rural areas, dogs should be leashed if you leave the house. Unbelievable.
With dogs chasing on me and, I hesitate to say this because my parents are reading, losing a lot of feeling in my right-hand fingers, and the weather getting much warmer, this ride is becoming seriously trying. As soon as I thought that it was getting trying, though, I saw a Presbyterian's church sign saying, "A trying time is no time to quit trying." How appropriate. God has really been with me on this trip. I think of the news this morning when Thomas and I saw some serious storms coming through the Cleveland area. We've missed a lot of bad weather by just a few days all over the place, and whenever I feel like I can't go anymore something happens that gives me more motivation. Thank God.
A trying time is no time to quit trying indeed. And so, here is the article about the new Massachusetts bill passed on human trafficking in its House of Representatives. Read the article carefully, especially Rep. Eugene L. O'Flaherty's comments. We think that human trafficking isn't a problem where we live, but it is. The sooner every state, every community cracks down on it the better.
House approves bill on human trafficking
Teen prostitutes would be shifted into treatment
By Noah Bierman Globe Staff / June 2, 2011
The arrest of a Dorchester man last month on charges that he kidnapped a 15-year-old girl and forced her into prostitution highlights a problem that has been addressed more aggressively in all but a handful of other states: human trafficking.
Yesterday, the Massachusetts House unanimously approved a bill that would have the state join 46 others in banning human trafficking.
The bill calls for treating some minors who are arrested for prostitution as victims instead of criminals. It would also authorize judges to enhance sentencing for pimps and others who coerce people into prostitution, and it would also enhance penalties for johns, from a maximum of one year in jail to 2 1/2 years.
The Senate, which has passed a similar bill twice before, is expected to do so again this year.
Attorney General Martha Coakley, who has pushed for changes in the law, said it represents a shift in how police and prosecutors approach prostitution.
“The person who’s being sold — that’s where our focus has been,’’ she said. “The system’s focus was on [treating] them as defendants.’’
The new bill would instead put the spotlight on a network of people who coerce and transport girls, women — and occasionally boys — into that life. Those convicted twice of sex trafficking would face a mandatory sentence of at least 10 years in prison.
Coakley has testified that human trafficking is the second largest and the fastest growing, criminal enterprise in the world. But she and others say they do not have reliable statistics showing how widespread the problem is in Massachusetts. The bill approved yesterday would allow prosecutors to do a better job of documenting its extent, requiring more coordinated enforcement efforts and sharing of information.
The attorney general said prostitutes often enter the sex trade between the ages of 12 and 14 and are often prevented from leaving through violence, rape, abuse, drug addiction, or threat.
In an attempt to help more prostitutes escape and rehabilitate, the bill would divert many girls under the age of 18 into child service programs, instead of delinquency court, after they are arrested.
Senator Mark C. Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat, said he plans to push for more services for victims of trafficking when the bill is debated in the Senate.
“The victims are destroyed; their sprits are destroyed,’’ said Montigny, who has been trying to get a bill passed for six years. “If you don’t do a significant victim support piece, then you haven’t solved the problem.’’
The trafficking problem, officials say, largely takes place without much public attention.
“I was a little suspicious of the extent of it that was actually taking place here in the Commonwealth,’’ said Representative Eugene L. O’Flaherty, a Chelsea Democrat who sponsored the House bill. “But I was persuaded by facts how commonplace this activity actually is.’’
Those who advocate changing the law say the human trafficking problem in Massachusetts is more likely to involve smaller bands of domestic groups than larger international slave trading. But the law would apply to that practice, as well. The federal government has laws against human trafficking, but often lacks resources to go after smaller offenders. Prosecutors say a state law would make it easier to build cases that would fill in those enforcement gaps.
“Here we have in the 21st century in Massachusetts practices that any one of us would say should be outlawed,’’ O’Flaherty said.
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