Brownie Points for hate?

Some people are so fucking heartless that they can take your breath away. From today's Times.

"A drunk-driver who killed a cyclist has been sentenced to ten years in prison in the US, after the judge heard a recorded jail conversation in which she laughed about "taking out a tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman and a gay guy all in one shot."

Melissa Arrington, 27, a barmaid and exotic dancer from Tucson, Arizona, could have received as few as four years behind bars after she killed cyclist Paul L'Ecuyer while driving under the influence on the night of December 1, 2006.

Instead, she was sentenced to 10 years - one year shy of the maximum prison term for negligent homicide - after the judge heard a telephone conversation between her and a male friend one week after L'Ecuyer was killed.

During the conversation, the man told Arrington that an acquaintance believed she should get a medal and a parade because she had “taken out a tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman and a gay guy all in one shot.”

Arrington laughed. When the man said he knew it was a terrible thing to say, she responded, “No, it’s not.”

Superior Court Judge Michael Cruikshank said the conversation was "breathtaking in its inhumanity."

Mr L’Ecuyer, 45, a Tucson-born counsellor and human rights worker.

A keen athlete, Mr L'Ecuyer had been riding his bike on a five-foot wide bicycle lane, when Arrington swerved off the road, hit him and continued another 800ft before stopping."

It's truly amazing how cockroaches always manage to survive disasters.