ASHTON KUTCHER SEEKS TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY

Getty Images

On Wednesday, Ashton Kutcher spoke in front of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee to seek funding for his anti-human trafficking organization, Thorn.  Thorn, which Kutcher co-founded, seeks to end the sexual exploitation, abuse and trafficking of children through technology.  Kutcher told the committee, “Technology can be used to enable slavery, but technology can also be used to disable slavery.  Can we build the tools that are better than their tools to fight what is happening?”

Kutcher explained how law enforcement agencies are understaffed and unequipped to deal with the sheer number of trafficking cases, but Thorn’s software, “Spotlight” can shorten the amount of time it takes ”from three years to three weeks.”  Spotlight, he said, was able to locate 6,000 victims in just six months.  Kutcher said, “The technology we're building is efficient, nimble, enduring, and it only gets smarter with time.”  He continued, “It's taking the internet, which is largely anonymous, and making it far less anonymous.”

One committee member, Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, brought up Trump’s travel ban and how it might affect human trafficking victims: “Could they have come in under that ban?  When we say we are going to protect these victims, we must look for every possible way to accomplish this goal.”

Kutcher agreed that refugees are the most exposed to traffickers: “When people are left out and not supported and not given love they need to grow, it becomes an incubator for trafficking.”

Kutcher shared a horrific example of human trafficking to hammer the point home: “I've seen video content of a child that's the same age as mine, being raped by an American man who was a sex tourist in Cambodia.  This child was so conditioned by her environment that she thought she was engaging in play.”

Kutcher spoke about his “other day job” of being a father to two children, whom he has with wife Mila Kunis.  Kutcher said, “It is my effort to defend their right to pursue happiness and to assure a society and government that defends it as well.”

Watch Kutcher’s full hearing below, and be sure to check out Thorn’s website as well.

Ya Know You Wanna!

WHAT IF THE POPULAR VOTE WAS MAJORITY? SENATOR BARBARA BOXER SEEKS TO END ELECTORAL COLLEGE

Associated Press

One week after Donald Trump’s Presidential victory over Hillary Clinton, retiring California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer filed Senate legislation that seeks to abolish the Electoral College.  Boxer took issue with Trump’s win since Clinton was shown to have won the popular vote by a margin of over one million votes.  Boxer said, “When all the ballots are counted, Hillary Clinton will have won the popular vote by a margin that could exceed two million votes, and she is on track to have received more votes than any other presidential candidate in history except Barack Obama…This is the only office in the land where you can get more votes and still lose the presidency.”

Twitter, @SenatorBoxer

Boxer called the Electoral College an “outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society.”  Boxer’s proposed bill would be an amendment to the Constitution, so it will be a long shot to pass in the heavily Republican Congress.  But that hasn’t stopped Senator Boxer from trying!

Boxer pulled out all the stops and called out Trump himself.  Boxer cited a couple of Trump’s tweets from 2012 where he called the Electoral College a “disaster.” Boxer used this to her advantage, saying, “I couldn't agree more. One person, one vote!”

Twitter, @realDonaldTrump

Boxer’s bill raises the question, what if the popular vote actually decided our President?

The WANNA wants to hear from you!

Do you think it’s time for the Electoral College to go?

Ya Know You Wanna!