Sunday News: This week’s recap

This week I didn’t get to watch so much of the news just because of how busy I was getting settled with my new job and trying to figure out how to manage my time.  But there is one thing that I saw that really stuck out to me that I have a strong feeling about.

Ashley Judd’s Act Against Twitter Trolls

I’m going to be honest.  I didn’t even know who Ashley Judd was before this news came out the other day, but that doesn’t mean it should’ve happened to her, let alone anyone else.  A few days ago, Ashley Judd was at a college basketball game watching her favorite team play.  She’s a fan who likes to live-tweet the games (I’m guilty as well, if you just check my twitter feed to the left) and probably does so because it’s in the heat of the moment and she’s either really excited or really angry and has to let it out.

With that being said, she tweeted about how the other team was playing dirty.  What happened next is incredible to me.  Immediately, people began tweeting awful things to her, basically harassing her and then threatening rape and sexual violence.

All. Because. Of. A. Basketball. Tweet.

This blows my mind.  Why should she have to put up with this?  She was a survivor of rape and incest.  I can’t even imagine how she felt after these insulting tweets came flying in her mentions.  No one should have to relive a traumatic experience in their life, yet she was forced to because of the ignorant and vile people who tweeted those things to her.

What I want to know is why those people think it’s okay to threaten someone with violence.  Even if it is over social media, that doesn’t make it okay.  Who knows, those people who threatened with sexual violence could be one of those people who were never caught raping or physically hurting other women.

I really hope she gets justice and that everyone who threatened her is at least fined.  If law enforcement lets this slide, it’s just one more thing that people know that they can get away with.  Sure, it may be over the Internet, but it’s no different if someone made a raunchy or threatening comment in public, especially if it was about rape.

Basically, women (and men) should be able to Tweet, post, or say anything they want and not receive such backlash because of it, especially in the form of violence.  Violence never was and never will be okay, so why should it be supported over the Internet?

Share your thoughts on this!  Have you ever been threatened online?  What do you think law enforcement should do in this case?  Should those people who threatened Ashley Judd be fined?  How far is too far in terms of what you can post online?

Sunday News: This week’s recap

Throughout this past week, I found three really interesting stories that I wanted to blog about.

1. Judge being put down: This past week, a police dog by the name Judge was put down after being found terminally ill.  The German Shepherd was starting to have trouble walking and had to be helped in and out of vehicles.  Judge was saluted by a line of police officers as he was walked into the clinic to be put down.  This was such a heartbreaking story to hear about and it broke my heart because I hate seeing animals in so much pain, let alone seeing them put down.  I’ve luckily never had to put any animals down, but I have seen a few of my pets get really sick and it’s hard to watch.  It was so sweet of the officers to give him full honors too.  I’m sure he deserved it!  RIP, Judge!  Check out the story here.
2. Kim K.-Malfoy: I’m not completely sure why, but Kim K. decided to cut and dye her hair, which led to Tom Felton, aka Draco Malfoy, to hilariously tweet this: which then linked to this wonderful photo: God bless the Internet, and those creative and patient enough to create something so fantastic with Photoshop.  I applaud you.
3. Black and Blue: Salvation Army located in South Africa released an amazing new billboard illustrating the effects of domestic violence using the famous black and blue/gold and white dress.  The ad reads: “Why is it so hard to see black and blue? The only illusion is if you think it was her choice. One in 6 women are victims of abuse. Stop abuse against women.”  If that’s not powerful, I don’t know what is.  Huge props to Salvation Army using this dress to spread awareness to an important issue in today’s society.  This ad has received mostly positive results, so one can only hope that it’ll make a difference and we as a society will point out abuse and not ignore it.

Needless to say, it was an interesting week in the news and I can’t wait to see what happens throughout this next week!