Over the past few days, a story coming out of Woonsocket has received national attention because of its utter brutality.  Four girls, all around 12 years of age, were caught on tape attacking another 12 year old girl...

The victim's mother reported that her daughter was lured to a friend's home on Saturday and was beaten... the motive... her daughter thought a particular boy was cute.  The suspects in the case are also accused of stealing the victim's cell phone and sending messages to her mother posing as the victim.

Two of the girls are being charged with assault with a deadly weapon (using their feet in the attack)... the other girls will be charged with simple assault, and all four will be charged with conspiracy to commit a felony.  In addition, the girls themselves filmed the attack and posted it online.

A second video was taken by a man who lives across the street from where the attack took place... he may face charges due fact that he did nothing to stop the assault... he claims that he could not tell if the girls were really fighting or if they were just playing around. 

There is something very disturbing about the level of violence and aggression which is on display in this video.

In the south of France, just north of the boarder with Spain, sits a small commune near the foot of the Pic de Bugarach... the famous "upside down" mountain.  The mountain, normally a great tourist attraction because of its uniqueness, has become a site to which "esoterics" have begun to flock as they feel it is the site at which people will be saved during End of the World to take place on December 21, 2012.

Believers feel that the mountain is home to aliens who will save those gathered there and take them to a new, safer civilization.  An estimated 20,000 people are currently camped out awaiting the impending apocalypse.  French officials are in fear of a mass suicide...

The mountain, aside from being an "upside down" mountain has the unique feature of having the rocks at its peak being older than those at its base... scientists say that at one point when the mountain erupted its peak flipped upside down before crashing down in its current position. 

Seven years after adopting the "Stand Your Ground" law, the state of Florida is now dealing with the implementation of that law.  The sweeping self-defense law has received national attention after the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager named Trayvon Martin.

The law itself allows a person who claims self-defense the right to use deadly force, however what is different about this particular law, is that it states that a person does not have to retreat even if it would be reasonable to do so.  Most self-defense laws allow deadly force only as a last resort, the Florida law allows a person to use deadly force even if there is another option.

When Trayvon was gunned down by 28 year old George Zimmerman, he was carrying Skittles and a can of iced tea.  Zimmerman called 911 to complain about a "hooded, suspicious looking" person checking out the houses.  Zimmerman, who is part of the neighborhood watch, has put in 46 calls to 911 in the past 10 months.  Zimmerman claims that Trayvon threatened his life and he shot him in self-defense.  Because of his claims of self-defense and the way the law is written, Police say they have no cause to arrest Zimmerman.

Trayvon however was on his phone with his girlfriend, and she reports that Trayvon said that a strange man was following him and he was walking fast to "get out of there."... His girlfriend reports that far from being in danger, Zimmerman confronted Trayvon... the 911 call records someone pleading for his life... Trayvon's family claims it's Trayvon... Zimmerman says it is him...

In total, there are 21 states with laws similar to the Florida law...

True, in the late 1980's Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army started a brutal campaign to overthrow Uganda's government.  In so doing he turned to using abducted children, turning them into an army of child soldiers.  (Not the only or even the first to do so)  Kony created a cult of fear throughout the region which in many ways has gone unchecked for decades.

Last month Joseph Kony was immortalized when the short film "Kony 2012" went viral on the internet... and while it has sparked outrage, the fact remains that Kony is hardly the first leader to exploit peaceful populations (King Leopold of Belgium and Indi Amin just to name a few)...  and when the greater situation is studied, he is far from the real problem in the region.  

Kony was supported by the government of Northern Sudan during the Sudanese War, and is now recieving assistance from factions within the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  

So... will finding Kony and killing him really change anything?  Unfortunately no.  "Kony 2012" has reminded the people in the Sudan about an era they seek to forget, and it reminds them that while men like Joseph Kony perpetrate such atrocities the world at large often stands by and watches.  The problem will not go away with the death of Kony so long as there are governments in the region supporting these types of people... how do you stop the governments?  Military intervention.

But you can't have it both ways... on previous blog postings concerning the violence in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Iran it was stated over and over again that the United States should stay out of things and mind its own business - yet when someone made a short film and uploaded it to YouTube, people on Facebook and Twitter were up in arms wanting someone to take action... again, you can't have it both ways.

Yesterday 300 French police surrounded a home in Toulouse, a city in the south of France. The police were trying to get a man whom they believe killed seven people in the last ten days... including a rabbi and three children at a Jewish school on Monday... two of the children, ages four and five were the rabbi's sons.

According to authorities, the gunman, while French, has claimed he has ties to al Qaeda and to be a Jihadist... furthermore he says his actions are acts of revenge for the killing of Palestinian children. While police are not sure about his al Qaeda claims, they do know he belongs to a little-known group called Forzane Alizza (Knights of Glory) - the group was banned in January for trying to recruit people to fight against coalition forces in Afghanistan.

In addition to the killings at the Jewish school, the suspect is also linked to the murder of three soldiers returning from combat in Afghanistan.

During the standoff, the suspect threw a hand-gun out of the house, but at last report he still has several automatic weapons inside the house.

This past Friday a New Jersey court found Dharun Ravi guilty of hate crimes for using his webcam to spy on a sexual encounter of his homosexual roommate.  Ravi set up the webcam feed, then invited others to join by sending them the link.

That roommate, Tyler Clementi, committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge three days after learning his encounter was seen online.  Ravi was not charged with Clementi's death, and the jury was not told that he had killed himself; they were sequestered so as not to be prejudiced by the formation.

The case has put the issue of cyber-bullying into the national spotlight.  Ravi faces a possible 10 years in prison in relation to his hate crime conviction... it is unclear at this point if the State will now seek a further conviction on charges related to Clementi's death.  

Sports can bring about the very best in people... it can build confidence, begin the healing process after tragedy, and teach valuable life lessons... however, as we are constantly being reminded, sometimes athletes and fans can take a sports rivalry a little too far.

Life after death... some of you out there may have a deep religious belief in some form of afterlife, while others may believe that when we die, that's it... and still others may be a little unsure as to what they believe.  Whatever your stance on the issue, there are some things that are difficult to explain... 

Jack Froese was 32 years old when he died of a heart arrhythmia in June 2011.  His family and friends were understandably devastated; however a few months later some of those people began receiving emails from Jack...emails apparently from beyond the grave...

Tim Hart, Jack's best friend, explains that in November he was sitting on his couch checking his email on his cell phone when an email from Jack popped up.... in the subject heading it read, "I'm Watching."  Tim opened the email and he found a short, to the point message:

"Did you hear me?  I'm at your house.  Clean your f***ing attic!!!"  Tim explains that shortly before Jack's death, they were in his attic and jack was teasing him over the mess; "Just he and I up there.  That's it."

Other friends have gotten similar, short messages from Jack's email... all with personal touches which they claim only Jack would know...

"At what point is a text message or an email more important than life itself?"  This is the question being asked by Mathieu Fortin, a man from Victoriaville, Quebec... Fortin's girlfriend, Emy Brochu was killed on January 18 when the car she was driving slammed into the back of a tractor-trailer truck.  After investigation the police concluded that Brochu was distracted while driving; the distraction was her cell phone.

In an attempt to warn people of the dangers of texting while driving Frotin has created a Facebook page on which he has released the final texts he sent to his girlfriend... the texts she was probably reading right before the accident.  The texts themselves are heart-wrenching when put into the context of accident...

"want to hear your beautiful voice"
"Is everything going well, my love?"

And when he didn't hear back from her...

"I'm a bit worried..."

As Fortin writes on his Facebook page, "an accident can happen quickly, I hope every time you look at your cell phone while driving you think of Emy and those who loved her."