I talked to the guy behind the president

So, here I am looking at a photo of a guy I interviewed, and he's standing behind George W. Bush at a signing ceremony at the White House. I'm thinking "that's pretty cool". I know it's not as if I was the one standing behind the president, but still pretty cool.

For those who don't recognize the man I'm referring to, that's Gary Haugen - president and CEO of International Justice Mission. And he was there, with others from various human rights groups, for the signing of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (originally passed in 2000, this reauthorization will increase funding and institute several policy reforms). A pretty big occasion, if you ask me. Sure, laws are passed all the time, but they all mean something and we should all have an interest in them.

Oh, and speaking of IJM, I'm not the only one speaking of IJM. They've been in the news a lot lately. The New Yorker just ran an article on IJM and Gary Haugen, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Samantha Power. You can read the article here, which I recommend. In fact, I'm not the only one who recommends the article. You can read some comments about it from The Wall Street Journal Law blog, who were quite impressed both with the article and the subject.

Oh, and I've a new post up on Inspired to Action. It's about Nicholas Kristof, an editor at the New York Times, and some of his recent articles on modern slavery and the sex trade. Not about IJM, but closely related to their work. Check it out and tell me what you think, okay?

Tags: Modern Slavery, Gary Haugen, New Yorker Magazine, Nicholas Kristof