Children are called the future of an adult world
They are born with spirits so innocent
Til we teach them how to hate
Add to the world’s confusion
We teach our kids rules
That we don’t adhere to ourselves
Right or wrong
What example can they take
The people we learn from
Forge the ideas we become

Living in a world they didn’t make
Living in a world that’s filled with hate
Living in a world where grown-ups break the rules
Living in a world they didn’t make
Paying for a lot of adult mistakes
How much of this madness can they take
Our children

Janet Jackson - Livin’ in a world (they didn’t make)

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The story below is not surprising. It’s a brave new hate-filled world out there. America’s rightwing must be smiling.

From The Detroit News - DetNews.com:

Family: Elderly Detroit man dying after hate crime

DETROIT – A 72-year-old Detroit man attacked outside his apartment building 10 days ago and left paralyzed from the neck down is clinging to life at an area hospital in what his family has called a hate crime.

Andrew Anthos was on a city bus on his way home to the Windsor Tower apartments on Antietam in Detroit around 7 p.m. Feb. 13 when a man approached him and asked him if he was gay, Anthos’ family said he told police before he slipped into a coma. The man, who continued to harass Anthos and called him derogatory names, followed Anthos off the bus at the stop in front of his building and attacked him with a metal pipe, striking him from behind, police said. The attacker left him on the snowy sidewalk.

Anthos was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where doctors performed emergency spinal surgery but were unable to reverse the paralysis. He is now in a coma and not expected to live past the weekend, his family said.

“There’s nothing else they can do but keep him comfortable,” said his niece, Athena Fedenis, 45. “He wasn’t robbed. It strictly was a hate crime. This monster gave Andrew a slow, painful death.”

Detroit Police Sgt. Ryan Lovier said police are investigating whether the attack was a hate crime. His family said Anthos, who turned 72 on Monday, is gay.

So far no witnesses have come forward, and police have only a vague description of the attacker Anthos was able to give before falling into the coma. Lovier said he hopes someone from the bus saw something and will notify police.

“We’re trying to figure out what bus he was on and if the bus driver or anyone else saw anything,” he said.

Fedenis said the family believes somebody must have seen something — either on the bus or in front of the apartment building — and hopes they step forward.

“Our family is just sick. We can’t understand why someone would do something like this,” she said.

Police are asking anyone with information on the attack to call investigators at (313) 596-1140

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