Spotlight on disability hate crime

It has been suggested the case of Fiona Pilkington, who killed herself and her 18-year-old disabled daughter Francecca after being hounded by local youths, could mark a turning point in society's reaction to disability hate crime. The Guardian newspaper asks if this is a "Stephen Lawrence moment" - referring to how the murder of the London teenager in 1993 precipitated a root-and-branch review of the police's response to racial attacks. And where the Lawrence investigation coined the term "institutional racism" some disability rights campaigners now talk of "institutional disablism" - which, according to the charity Scope, "creates the conditions where disability hate crime can flourish". 'Horrifying incidents' But - appalling though the Pilkington case is - it is by no means exceptional, being only the latest in a number of truly horrific incidents. When I investigated disability hate crime for the BBC last year, I looked in detail at three of the worst cases. In 2007, Christine Lakinski, a woman in her 50s with learning and physical disabilities, was taunted, urinated upon and sprayed with shaving foam as she lay dying in the street. Her brother told me that because of disabilities, she had been picked on for most of her life. The police could find no evidence to pursue the case as a hate crime against a disabled person. The same year, Brent Martin, a young man with learning disabilities, was kicked and beaten to death by a gang on the estate where he lived in north-east England. The senior investigating officer in the case told me that this was a crime committed against a vulnerable person. But it, too, was not investigated as a hate crime. In her home in the Forest of Dean, Elizabeth James told me about her son, Kevin Davies, who had been preyed upon by three people, confined to a shed and systematically tortured until he died in 2006. Again, specific provisions in the 2003 Criminal Justice Act - which allow for harsher sentences when a crime is motivated by hatred based upon a person's disability - were not used. 'Lacklustre response' In January of this year, three young men were jailed for gang-raping a 16 year-old girl with learning disabilities. The filmed their attack on mobile phones. In order to destroy any forensic evidence, she was doused with caustic soda which left her in a coma and permanently disfigured. Those sentences are now under review to decide if they were unduly lenient. Disability rights campaigners say such cases amount to a collective refusal by the authorities to name these offences for what they really are - crimes of hatred motivated by a loathing of someone because of a disability or perceived difference. Home Secretary Alan Johnson has criticised the lacklustre response by police and local councils to Fiona Pilkington's repeated calls for help. But it will take some time for his assertion - that consistent standards be applied across the UK - to trickle down to every police station in the land. It will also take time for prosecutors to insist upon using section 146 of the 2003 Criminal Justice Act so that crimes like these - crimes that it seems contributed to driving a woman to burn herself and her daughter to death - are identified as hate crimes in open court. When I went to see the then director of public prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, I half expected hand-wringing and platitudes. The man I encountered was contrite and determined to do something before his term of office came to an end. Indeed, just three months after our conversation, he addressed the issue in a speech to the Bar Council of England and Wales. He said the problem was widespread and urged police and prosecutors to make sure that sentences reflected the seriousness of the crime. He described these offences as "a scar on the conscience of criminal justice". Crucially, Sir Ken said that it was not always necessary for hostility to be expressed in clear language. "Each apparently minor incident of name-calling and harassment on the street may seem relatively unimportant but, taken together, a pattern of hostility could be traced." Sir Ken concluded by telling his audience: "It is our duty to give effect to the law which supports the struggle for disabled people to live as full and valued members of society - these offences represent a crude assault on their human rights." All of these cases shock all but the most uncivilised elements in society. But already there seems to be an insistence upon tackling anti-social behaviour. Once again, disability hate crime does not seem to be the focus for public and official outrage. -my view)-This is the must spiteful,disgraceful and HAVE-NO-EXCUSE to use or otherwise do either in comedy shows or other,racism and others are ok(as racism"should be not of colour but of actions of that person/s is/has done/doing at that time" ie: the word"NIGGER/NIGGA"to me is NOT about colour of skin...but the loud mouths,crimes and the way they act around people,alcoholics,drug users,gays,smokers,religious people-ect.....bring this on themselves and CAN help their actions but REFUSE to and that my friends CAN be made fun or used(in shows)of,DISABLED people should NOT be made fun of but if you do......you should go to jail....and should be given a 3 strikes and your out method ie: the 3rd time means your not going to stop and should go to jail without parole.......FOR LIFE! this crime should be treated like pedophilia cases!THIS SHOULD NOT BE EXCUSED BECAUSE YOU ARE A POLICEMAN/WOMAN......THE SAME LAW SHOULD BE APPLIED TO YOU TO!

Hybrid Humans

Analysis of the skeletal remains of a four-year-old child buried some 25,000 years ago in a Portuguese rock-shelter suggests early modern humans and Neandertals may have interbred. The prominent chin, tooth size, and pelvic measurements mark the boy as a Cro-Magnon, or fully modern human, but his stocky body and short legs indicate Neandertal heritage, says paleoanthropologist Erik Trinkaus of Washington University in St. Louis. Interbreeding could explain the fate of the Neandertals, who disappeared from Iberia 28,000 years ago. Trinkaus went to Portugal after archaeologists found the burial at Lagar Velho in the Lapedo Valley north of Lisbon (see "Early Portuguese Burial," March/April 1999). "The first thing I noticed was his chin," says Trinkaus, who initially assumed the remains were of an early modern human. When he examined his measurements of the boy's limbs, the proportions were "a dead-ringer" for Neandertal skeletons. While Neandertals are thought to have been extinct for 3,000 years before the boy was born, he appears to be a descendant of Neandertal-Cro-Magnon hybrids. Interbreeding would suggest that Neandertals belonged to our species and contributed genes to European ancestry. Trinkaus says he is "completely confident" that the remains are the first evidence of a Neandertal-early human mix. "Neandertals and Cro-Magnons were two different groups of people with contrasting technologies," he surmises, "yet they recognized each other as people and treated each other as such.-(my view)-at last you guys are edging closer....BUT if you found one...how would you treat them? as one of you? above you(intellectual wise and with respect)? experiment on them?be at war with them? or turn them into slaves like humans are already?

B

I LOVE YOU BABY XXXX

Police quash nude pumpkin run

A "zany" annual Halloween tradition has failed to materialise in Boulder, Colorado, with the threat of police action quashing the Nude Pumpkin Run. Each year, dozens have run down the city's streets wearing only shoes and a hollowed-out pumpkin on their heads. Police said "full" participants this year faced indecent exposure charges. Up to 100 officers were deployed around Boulder this Halloween. As of early Sunday, local media reports said only one Halloween-related arrest was made. "I have heard people say, 'It's just not worth it. Let's not go down [to the city's mall]'," Boulder's Police Chief Mark Beckner told local newspaper the Daily Camera. 'Legal threat' Local reports say with up to 4,000 people taking part in Halloween revelry, a handful of individuals did take part in the run, but that when police caught up with them they were sufficiently clothed as to be "within the law". A Boulder police spokesperson said as of early morning Sunday only one Halloween-related arrest had been made, which was not connected to the Naked Pumpkin Run. A charge of indecent exposure could have led to participants being registered as sexual offenders. Last year, some 150 people turned out naked for the 10th event of its kind. Similar runs have also taken place in other US cities including Seattle, Portland and Arcata. On its website, the group had warned potential runners that "the violation of the Western societal more, enforced by law, of unclothed public exposure can indeed land you legal consequences. "Furthermore, the decision to participate is yours and yours alone," it added.-(my view)-Yet just another slavey charge to put us on! prude bastard douche bags

Plans for new banks to be created

Alistair Darling has announced that the state-controlled banks would be broken up for sale in a bid to improve competition and recoup taxpayers' cash from the bail-out of the sector. The Chancellor said he wanted to see three new high street banks created within the next few years as Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group are sold off. The "viable" part of the completely nationalised Northern Rock could be sold off by the end of this year, he said. Private investment was also being sought to reduce the taxpayers' exposure to RBS and Lloyds, which are both majority-owned by the state. He indicated that different parts of both banks would be sold separately to newcomers to the sector as part of its "reconstruction". Speaking on BBC1's The Politics Show, Mr Darling said: "What you really want to do is have quite a substantial divestment - perhaps branches or perhaps particular institutions that they own - made available to other people. "Because unless we get competition we are going to end up with half a dozen big providers which would be a big reduction in choice and that would not be acceptable." The new-look banking sector would take shape over a matter of three or four years, he said, indicating that the plans could be at the mercy of an incoming Tory administration. Mr Darling said he would not countenance "fire sales" of any of the taxpayer's banking assets, although it would soon be in a position to dispose of part of Northern Rock.-(my view) For fuck sake.........they NEVER learn do they,they want to create more of what down turn the economy in the first place ALL at our expense,more more more thats all they want.aaaaaaaa makes me so mad

Toddler has twin removed from own stomach

An 18-month old Chinese girl has undergone an operation to remove her dead twin from her own stomach. Kang Mengru was suffering from a condition that affects one in 500,000 births, where one twin in the womb grows larger than the other, enveloping its sibling in the process. The second foetus never fully develops, but continues to grow inside the first baby, feeding off it like a parasite. The condition had left Kang with a swollen stomach and unable to eat solid food. Neighbours had branded her "a monster". But help arrived in the shape of the Red Cross, who launched an appeal to raise the funds to pay for the girl's life-saving treatment. The 10-hour operation was a success and she is now recovering. The Daily Telegraph reported Kang's mother as thanking the Red Cross, saying: "We're very grateful. We were so worried she would die. Before she used to cry in pain and hold her bump like a pregnant woman. Now we can hope she can have a normal life." Kang returned to her village in Henan province in September. She has also started eating solid food. Her mother added: "She doesn't understand what has happened to her. But she is happy. She still has her womb and ovaries, so one day she will be able to have children of her own."