A homeless woman in her 60s was set on fire as she slept on a street bench outside of a Walgreens Drug Store in Van Nuys, California early Thursday morning. Witnesses reported seeing a man pour something on the woman, then lighting a match before he fled the scene.

NBC:

"It was like when you pour gasoline on something -- like an explosion," said witness Erickson Ipina, who added that he often saw the homeless woman in the neighborhood.

The man purchased the bottle containing alcohol in the Walgreens store, then poured the contents on the woman, Ipina told a Newsreel photographer. Ipina said he called 911 and followed the attacker, who brandished a knife.

"He told me, 'Stop following me, or I will cut you,'" Ipina said. "I kept following him and then the police came."

The homeless woman, whose identity is not known at this time, has been hospitalized in critical condition. Police have one person in custody at this time.

Attacks such as this on the homeless are not uncommon, sadly. In the past week alone, a 55-year-old man was also set on fire as he slept outside a donut shop in southern Los Angeles County.

2010 was the “deadliest in a decade,” according to the National Coalition for the Homeless in its latest report on hate crimes against homeless people.

Forty-three homeless people died from acts of violence committed against them by housed individuals who were biased against them and/or found them a conveniently vulnerable target for aggression.

Two teenage lesbians were shot in the head in a Portland, Texas park on Saturday, with one of them dying from the bullet wound and the other in critical condition. Police are still investigating the shootings of 19-year-old Mollie Olgin, who died, and 18-year-old Mary Chapa, and have claimed all evidence indicates that there were “third parties” involved in the crime. Friends say the girls had been a couple for five months, but police have yet to determine whether or not their sexuality played a role in the assault.

The girls were found by two persons visiting the park. There have been no arrests made in the case.

[Via]

[Credit: Caroline Richmond Caring Family and Friends Facebook Group]

In late November, Caroline Richmond was rushed to the hospital after collapsing on the way home from school. Doctors quickly determined she'd had a stroke and required immediate surgery. The bad news just kept coming. The stroke had been caused by leukemia.

In the weeks following brain surgery, Caroline had to undergo chemotherapy. She later became so ill that she was put on a ventilator and had to be fed through tubes. Although she is still listed in critical condition and faces a bone marrow transplant, Caroline has made progress. She was taken off the ventilator and tubes last week, and is now eating solid food for the first time since the stroke.

As it turns out, Caroline is one of more than 50 million men, women and children who do not have health insurance in the United States, which is why her family is in the same predicament as Sarah Burke's. Caroline's father, Dallas, is self-employed and, like millions of other Americans who do not work for a company that offers health benefits, has not been able to find affordable coverage for his family.

Click here to read the entire article by Wendell Potter. Hat tip to Michael Moore.