In the wake of a horrifying story, some hope...

High School Students Wear Skirts to Honor "Agender" Teen, Sasha Fleischman, Burned on Bus

Students at a high school in Berkeley showed up wearing skirts to campus on Friday to honor an "agender" 18-year-old whose own skirt was set on fire during an AC Transit bus ride earlier this week in an attack that's now been charged as a hate crime.

"It's just remarkable that somebody would think it would be a good idea to light them (sic) on fire while they're sleeping on a bus," said classmate Ian Gonzer, referring to Sasha Fleischman as "they," the preferable term for many "agender" people. "Not just Sasha. Any person, no matter what they're wearing. It's just not cool."

Gonzer and the rest of Fleischman's friends at Maybeck High School wanted to show support for their peer, who identifies as agender, and does not like to go by either "he" or "she." Other terms for this identification can be "nonbinary" gender or non-conforming gender. The students planned to send the photo to St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco, where two classmates said Fleischman is in "remarkably good spirits" after one of several anticipated surgeries to repair the teen's burned thighs that were set on fire Monday evening on an AC Transit bus. In addition, people hung rainbow flags along the Oakland bus route where Fleischman was burned as a tribute they called "Rainbows for Sasha."

So it does, indeed, look like a hate crime

Sikh temple shooting suspect Wade Michael Page was white supremacist

I didn't want to jump to that conclusion, but of course it was my first thought when I heard that a Sikh temple had been targeting for a mass shooting, innocent people going about their activities in preparation for worship and a meal, attacked for being different. Whether the shooter did this because he hated those he perceived as 'other' or if he mistakenly, like many, believed Sikhism to be some off-shoot of Islam (which it isn't at all), I don't know. As he is dead, we may never really know. On the other hand, he will not harm anyone else again. Sadly, though, there are plenty of people like him out there. Fortunately the greater number of people are tolerant and supportive or diversity.

Thinking of those killed or injured, their families and friends, and the Sikh community itself, in this time of sorrow.

UPDATE: On the subject of hate crimes, I saw this while looking at other news:

‘Suspicious’ fire leads to destruction of Joplin mosque

About a month after the Joplin Islamic Society’s roof was damaged in a suspected arson, the entire building burned down in a suspicious early morning fire on Monday, leaving little but charred remains.

People sometimes stay there during Ramadan, which is going on right now. To lose a house of worship during a holy month must be even more bitter, but at least no one was hurt.

Sometimes you shouldn't check your news

The following story appeared on my phone news stream widget and I was curious, so I tapped it. On the surface, it was notable because it is the biggest lawsuit damage award given in this country, albeit largely symbolic, as there is no way to collect the money. But I wondered what had prompted it, and I found myself questioning a person's humanity, and what I found there made me wonder at how any person could do such a horrible thing to another.

Jury awards record $150 billion to family of burned boy

In 1998, Robbie Middleton was turning 8 years old. Two weeks before his birthday, he was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 13-year-old who then, on his birthday, allegedly set the 8-year-old on fire. The attacker threw a cup of gasoline in his face, tied him to a tree with fishing line, and then ignited him. The boy endured many surgeries and was unable to communicate fully about the case. He died at the age of 20 from skin cancer.

The 13-year-old was detained, but later released, and was never officially pursued further in the case, although he is now 26 and is in prison on charges of molesting another 8-year-old in 2001. He is due to be released next year. The family and the lawyers in the case brought a civil suit in hopes of getting the criminal case against his alleged attacker reopened.

I can't imagine what this young boy went through, what he endured, at the hands of a young teenager who had no regard for his life or dignity. That anyone--particularly another child, could do this, sickens me. I certainly hope they get justice in this case.

What a loss

A black day for heritage: burning the Egyptian Scientific Institute

Founded in 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte, the Egyptian Scientific Institute was the oldest institution of its type in the Middle East. It's collection includes the original of Description de l'Egypte. The building burned when a Molotov cocktail which was thrown during protests missed it mark and hit the institute instead.

Updated: Egypt Institute Burns; Scholars Scramble to Rescue Manuscripts

Egypt's oldest research institute caught fire during demonstrations in central Cairo on 18 December, destroying an unknown number of precious books and manuscripts. Shocked Egyptologists call the destruction a "tragedy," and are now trying to locate and salvage the research treasures.

The Institut d'Égypte was founded as a scientific research academy by Napoleon Bonaparte during his 1798 Egyptian campaign, an invasion which brought the country's ancient history to the attention of Western scholars. The collection includes at least 20,000 documents and books, many of which are irreplaceable. Among the books is a rare original copy of the Description de l'Egypt, the first extensive illustrated text on Egyptian antiquities, temples, and monuments.

According to that news story, 35,000 items had been rescued, although their condition was not given.

Words fail me. Thank you to Mahmoud Khalifa for posting to the IFLA list and Soraya Assar for passing it on to MEDLIB-L, alerting us to what had happened.

Weird news of the day: old fashioned way to cut out the competition

Police: Florida pizza workers burned down rival store: One allegedly said that with Papa John's gone, there'd be more customers for Domino's

It happened in Lake City, Florida, and police are still looking for an ignition device the arsonists say they built but did not use scattered along I-75.

Okay, good night for real. And for goodness' sake, if you're in Florida, don't touch anything weird you might find along the interstate.

A deadly English mystery

Third body found at millionaire's mansion

Fire broke out at Osbaston House in Shropshire on Tuesday with such force that it wasn't until Friday that investigators found the wife shot to death, the husband's .22 nearby. The body of a man has also been found, and a third body, but they have not be indentified. Formally the husband and the couple's 15-year-old daughter are considered missing, but it is possible that the bodies belong to them. Prior to the arson, all the horses and dogs were shot. Murder-suicide is my intuition, mainly because of the animals, but of course they have to rule out some sort of home invasion or that sort of thing as well; the family were well-off and someone could have attacked them for money or some other motive. They'll know more once those other bodies have been identified.

WIth all due respect to Indian culture

This is insanity in this day and age...

Father Says He Set Fire That Killed Three

In Chicago, a man has admitted setting a fire that killed his daughter (five months' pregnant), son-in-law, and three-year-old grandson because she married without his consent to a man of a lower caste than their family. He says he brought a can of gasoline over for a relative, then became angry, lit it with a lighter, and calmly went home across the street without calling anyone or alerting anyone to the fire. The gas can was found in the trash outside of his building--the same can a gas station clerk says he sold to him two hours before.

Caste issues may be an excuse that counts for something in India. In this country, we pretty much just call it multiple murder and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.

And as it happened in an apartment building, it's good that the other residents weren't killed, too.