The New Trend In Bulletproof School Supplies

It’s the newest way to give parents peace of mind when they’re sending their children off to school post-Sandy Hook: bulletproof school supplies and some people are even giving them as gifts.

Is bulletproof the new normal in school accessories? The company Mighty Mojo thinks so. At the urging of a family member who was traumatized by a school lockdown, the firm developed a bullet-proof insert for backpacks or even binders. Students and parents loved the idea.

“They were excited about being able to defend themselves in situations they might not be able to otherwise,” says Steve Jurak who helped invent the almost $150 LifePlate Shield, which he says underwent rigorous testing.

“Panels are quite effective, it actually catches the bullet, it doesn’t ricochet.”

The San Diego company is getting orders from all over the U.S. including Philadelphia, and something it didn’t expect. Read more >>

California man faces 13 years in jail for scribbling anti-bank messages in chalk

Jeff Olson, the 40-year-old man who is being prosecuted for scrawling anti-megabank messages on sidewalks in water-soluble chalk last year now faces a 13-year jail sentence. A judge has barred his attorney from mentioning freedom of speech during trial.

According to the San Diego Reader, which reported on Tuesday that a judge had opted to prevent Olson’s attorney from "mentioning the First Amendment, free speech, free expression, public forum, expressive conduct, or political speech during the trial,” Olson must now stand trial for on 13 counts of vandalism.

In addition to possibly spending years in jail, Olson will also be held liable for fines of up to $13,000 over the anti-big-bank slogans that were left using washable children's chalk on a sidewalk outside of three San Diego, California branches of Bank of America, the massive conglomerate that received $45 billion in interest-free loans from the US government in 2008-2009 in a bid to keep it solvent after bad bets went south.

The Reader reports that Olson’s hearing had gone as poorly as his attorney might have expected, with Judge Howard Shore, who is presiding over the case, granting Deputy City Attorney Paige Hazard's motion to prohibit attorney Tom Tosdal from mentioning the United States' fundamental First Amendment rights. Read more >>

Cities Criminalize Being Homeless Across Country

Philadelphia recently banned outdoor feeding of people in city parks. Denver has begun enforcing a ban on eating and sleeping on property without permission. And this month, lawmakers in Ashland, Ore., will consider strengthening the town's ban on camping and making noise in public.

And the list goes on: Atlanta, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami, Oklahoma City and more than 50 other cities have previously adopted some kind of anti-camping or anti-food-sharing laws, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

The ordinances are pitting city officials against homeless advocates. City leaders say they want to improve the lives of homeless people and ensure public safety, while supporters of the homeless argue that such regulations criminalize homelessness and make it harder to live on the nation's streets. Read more >>

Raw Video: Calif. Cops Remove Occupy Protesters

San Diego police on Friday began removing about a half-dozen tents after warning demonstrators their personal belongings couldn't stay in the Occupy San Diego camp at a downtown plaza where they've camped for a week.