It just never seems to end: a student a H. L. Bourgeois High School has been accused of “using a mobile phone app to simulate shooting his classmates”. He was arrested, booked and jailed in Terrebonne Parish in Gray, LA last week. He’s now facing up to 20 years in prison for his.

The video the student made was with a perfectly legal app called “The Real Strike“. On the iTunes store description, it says: “Warning!!!: Do not use real guns in the real world!!! Let guns only exist in the apps!”

So what’s the problem? The 15-year-old who created the video with the app is charged with “terrorism”.

Local WGNO reports that “it simulates a first person shooter game, except the battleground is real life.”

“With all the school shooting we’ve had in the United States, it’s just not a very good game to be playing at this time,” Wolfe explained.

But the boy’s parents told investigators that their son took the video down when requested, and has never had any access to firearms.

http://politicalblindspot.com/teen-jailed-for-app/

I am a man. I could say this has nothing to do with me. Except I have two daughters and I have a mother who was forced to illegally have an abortion in her state where abortion was illegal when she was a very young woman. It cost $600 cash. It was a traumatizing thing for her. It was shameful and sleazy and demeaning. When I heard the story I was aghast by the lowliness of a society that would make a woman do that. I could not understand its lack of humanity; today is no different.

What happened to my mother was a relic of an America that was not free nor equal nor very kind. My mother’s illegal abortion marked a time in America that we have worked long and hard to leave behind. It was a time when women were seen as second rate citizens who were not smart enough, nor responsible enough, nor capable enough to make decisions about their lives. It was a time that deserved to be left behind, and leave it behind we did, or so it seemed. We made abortion and a woman’s ability to be her own master a Right. That Right was codified into law. That law was the law of the land for decades. My own mother fought to make herself more than a possession; she lived her life as a mother who chose when she would have children, and a wife who could earn a living if she so chose. I want my daughters to enjoy that same choice. I don’t want to turn back the hands of time to when women shuttled across state lines in the thick of night to resolve an unwanted pregnancy, in a cheap hotel room just south of the state line. Where a transaction of $600 cash becomes the worth of a young woman’s life. So that is why I am lending my voice to you and your movement today. Because I actually trust the women I know. I trust them with their choices, I trust them with their bodies and I trust them with their children. I trust that they are decent enough and wise enough and worthy enough to carry the right of Abortion and not be forced to criminally exercise that Right at the risk of death or jail time.

There was no mistake us making Abortion legal and available on demand. That was what we call progress. Just like it was no mistake that we abolished institutional racism in this country around the same time. The easy thing to do is lay low, but then are we who we say we are? Do we actually stand for anything, if what we do stand for is under attack and we say nothing? There is nothing to be ashamed of here except to allow a radical and recessive group of people to bully and intimidate our mothers and sisters and daughters for exercising their right of choice. Or use terrorism and fanaticism to block their legal rights or take the lives of their caregivers. Or design legislation that would chip away at those rights disguised as reinforcing a woman’s health. I invite you to find your voice and let it be known that you stand for abortion rights and the dignity of a woman to be the master of her own life and body. I invite you to search your soul and ask yourself if you actually stand for what you say you stand for. Thank you for being here today and thank you for standing up for the women in my life.

Sincerely and humbly,
Mark Ruffalo

http://stoppatriarchy.tumblr.com/post/58513899826/a-message-from-mark-ruffalo-to-the-abortion-rights

Almost unbelievably, another story is breaking on a national level about an African American in the state of Florida who is the victim of the racist “Stand Your Ground” laws. Just like Marissa Alexander, Michael Giles stood his ground against an unprovoked attacker, and today this military veteran is behind bars, sentenced to 25 years in prison!

Michael Giles’ mother writes the following, in his petition, which you are all encouraged to sign…

Three years ago my son Michael was attacked outside of a club in Tallahassee, FL. His attacker admitted in open court that he attacked Michael with no provocation.

Michael’s attacker admitted he was angry that someone had interrupted his dance, and wanted to hurt the next person he saw. That next person standing to the side, not partaking in the violence, was Michael. His attacker was not fighting alone, state witnesses testified that there were between 30-40 people involved in the brawl. The state’s own witnesses also testified that the aggressor instigated several other fights that night, and was acting erratically and violently. His attacker’s own friend testified she was worried the aggressor would kill or seriously injure someone. In comparison, state witnesses testified that Michael, was calmly standing to the side, and did nothing to provoke the attack.

My husband and I are proud military veterans, with a combined 40 years of service, and we were proud when our son also chose to serve his country. Michael completed a tour in Iraq and Kuwait and was looking forward to furthering his career in the military, but now all of that has changed. We believe that we have raised a good man. He had no prior criminal offenses, no history of violence, and was a outstanding father and Airman. So we do not understand how the state of Florida could sentence him to a mandatory 25 years for defending himself.

http://politicalblindspot.com/another-jailed-african-american-in-florida-is-told-stand-your-ground-doesnt-apply-to-him/