Disabled adults found chained in Philadelphia basement

[Contrary1]

:grr: I hope these people spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

"PHILADELPHIA — Four malnourished mentally disabled adults were found chained to a boiler in a locked basement room that was too small for an adult to stand up straight and also reeked of waste from the buckets they used to relieve themselves, police said Sunday. Three people were arrested.

Officers were investigating a report of squatters in a building Saturday when they found three men and a woman in a 15-by-15-foot room behind a steel door that was chained shut. The subbasement room they were in called to mind a Cold War-era bomb shelter and contained a makeshift bed, mattress and sheets.

The three men and one woman were likely victims of Social Security fraud, Philadelphia Police Sergeant Joseph Green said late on Saturday.

"They were abused physically and emotionally," he said. "This is just a horror story."

A Texas man and two Philadelphia residents were arrested and police spokesman Lt. Raymond Evers told The Philadelphia Inquirer that charges including kidnapping, conspiracy, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment were pending..."

More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44920652/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

[MannyGoldstein]

1. This is what we have become?

We have become so dehumanized over the past 30 years; when screwing each other over is celebrated in our culture, this is the result.

We must change.

[zazen]

3. I'm afraid abuse of the handicapped was more the historical norm

I like to think that on average Americans are more sensitive today than less, but the dehumanization of which you speak probably just mutates to serve the times. We certainly dehumanize the Iraqi children upon whom we drop bombs and phosphorus.

[MannyGoldstein]

7. I believe that it runs in cycles

Things were better during the New Deal era, from 1931-1981, when we worked to help everyone. When Reagan took office, we started dumping the mentally challenged into the streets to fend for themselves.

I believe that there have been previous ups and downs in this regard. It's so sad, so awful.

"whatever you did to the least of these, you did to Me"

[bayareamike]

9. Except that

even during that period the US had no qualms with screwing the poor and weak abroad. Let's not forget, for example, US policies in Latin America during the Cold War from the 1950s to 1980s.

[jwirr]

10. I think you are correct but the GREED that we are protesting is not

just found in corporations and government. I wonder how they got by with this. Usually someone who is on Social Security with a disability has social workers who are supposed to be watching out for them, programs that they are involved in everyday. Why was no one wondering where they were?

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. Making money from the weak and not giving a shit about them. Yep, sounds familiar.

[Scuba]

4. Just another Rick Scott scheme to bilk the government. n/t

[pbrower2a]

6. Rick Scott?

No, even that Governor isn't that depraved.

It sounds much like the return of the late and unlamented (executed murderer) Gary Heidnick, the infamous Pennsylvania sadist who 'kept' mentally-disabled women as his harem... except this time there is no murder and it is for money.

[Odin2005]

5. OMG! There are no words!

:grr:

[Poll_Blind]

8. Imagine living such a wonderful, full, life only to wind up chained to a boiler.

What a nightmare.

Hey, you reading this out there! Ever feel depressed? Ever feel like there's no use for you in this world? At a certain point in my life, I sure did. And one of the things that helped me out of that depression was the realization that there was a war going on, a war that needed me to help fight it. A real war that's waged every day between good and evil. If you're feeling low, if you're feeling like there isn't a place for you- just remember: The world can be a depressing, horrible place and seeing the path it's going down can be really disheartening. But it can go the other way, too. You just have to fight for it. Don't focus on the war, focus on the individual battles. Sometimes those battles are as small as just making a sad person smile. But, collectively, we can make a difference. Every one of us is needed to make the world a better place. It won't get better on it's own.

Consider yourself drafted.

:)

PB

[thecrow]

11. I love your post. You are so right.

It is easy to get overwhelmed at times.

[zazen]

13. +1,000 n/t

[BlueIris]

12. Horrifying. Here's hoping their captors enjoy THEIR stay behind bars.

Forever.