There are moments when I wake up and I'm not sure where I am or what time it is. I guess it's the jet lag, but our schedule doesn't help.
To broadcast "360" live from Bangkok, Thailand, we have to be on location by about 7 a.m. local time. We are on the air from 9 to 11 a.m. and then head into the Bangkok traffic to shoot more stories for the next day's broadcast. We usually finish shooting around 9 p.m., which means we spend much of the night writing and editing pieces. Most of the crew is getting very little sleep, which certainly doesn't help fight the jet lag.
We are focusing this week on trafficking, the trafficking of both humans and animals. I interviewed someone from the United Nations earlier today who made the point that when we speak of the trafficking of humans, we should call it what it is: slavery.
I think it's a good point. The word trafficking is kind of antiseptic, clinical. I still find it hard to believe so many men, women and children are slaves in this day and age. Here in Southeast Asia, they work in brothels and sweat shops, on fishing boats and in back alley factories. We'll focus on their plight in the coming days, even as we continue to track the illegal trade in endangered and threatened species.
There are a number of other stories we'll cover tonight, of course. Dan Rivers has a disturbing piece on elephants maimed by landmines, a story he also blogged about. Tom Foreman will take a look at one of the new U.S. attorneys who replaced those who were pushed-out. And Brent Sadler and Randi Kaye will examine the plight of Iraqi and Afghan refugees.
It's almost 10 p.m. here now, which means it's almost 11 a.m. in New York, time for our morning conference call. Or is that now an evening conference call? As I mentioned, it's easy to get confused.
