This morning, while looking for something totally different, I found a report about a murder in a Kent town, involving a family from the Baltic area. There were comments. A lot of them were thoroughly poisonous, ignoring the tragedy in order to express opinions about immigrants. One used the username BNP. Some tried to counter this.

Years ago on a site supposed to be about re-uniting school friends, there were message boards dripping with xenophobia.

Even more years ago, as a teenager, I wrote to my local paper on an issue about a particular ethnic group, and was sent obnoxious mail in response. My mother intercepted some (I don't know how she knew what it was like) but I did read one before it was burned.

I don't know what the solution is about these people. By now, one would hope that there would have been some effect from education, but it obviously cannot counter the home background.

Breivik, I now hear, had had plastic surgery to make himself look more Aryan. That and testosterone suggest serious self image problems, as well as the racist delusions.

Penny