Change.org

On my primary Hotmail account, I am signed up for very few subscription lists. Dominos's coupon list, because I do love Dominos pizza. Gary Johnson's news list, because I'm following his campaign. And finally, Change.org's mailing list.

Change.org is a website where people can start petitions, for or against something they've noticed. The idea being that most problems are local ones that the greater community doesn't know about. It's a way to spread the message.

Now, I rarely end up signing them. There are a lot of wishy washy liberal petitions, as well as the occasional theocratic ban evolution sort of thing. But I do find ones that I think are worth signing, such as a petition against stores opening at midnight on Black Friday. Granted, my reasons for signing that one didn't have anything to do with the reasons of the man who started it. He was an employee of Target who didn't want to have to go into work at midnight. And that's understandable, but not something which really impacted me. My reason for signing was that by opening at midnight, more people would be out shopping, which means longer lines. To get something I'd have to give up my entire Thanksgiving, instead of just getting up super early the next day.

Well today I got another one that I decided was worth signing. It reminded me of an episode Law and Order, in which a child was put in a tight bag and then pushed around and beaten, to simulate childbirth. They ended up killing the child and got charged with murder. The defense said that it was a normal therapeutic procedure. Everyone else said, you put the kid in a bag and kicked him to death .. you're going to jail. Seemed to me to be a silly episode because of how black and white it was, who would really do that? Well I owe the show an apology, because I guess it's not that unrealistic.

Basically in Kentucky a mom found out that her 9 year old autistic son has been put in a tight bag and left in a hallway alone as punishment, for talking in class and the like. Hasn't been kicked and beaten the way it was in the Law and Order episode, but being placed in a tight bag and left alone is still pretty terrible. See the full story at the link below.

Change.org Petition