From Don Dale to Sagamihara (reader discretion is advised).

This morning I woke, as I hope of Australia woke, to be sickened and outraged over two reprehensible stories. I'd planned to make this entry about another current issue but my feelings from this morning have compelled me to put that entry on the backburner temporarily.

First, the uncovering of widespread, brutal abuse of juvenile prisoners at the Don Dale Youth Correctional Facility in the Northern Territory, on the ABC's Four Corners last night. It has reportedly been happening since at least 2010, and it has included boys (from various backgrounds) being thrown across rooms, teargassed, stripped naked and then beaten, and literally tied down into tight contraptions so they can't self-harm (a problem for which I can think of one pretty simple solution: treat them humanely). I don't care what these kids may have done to land in there; that is child abuse and corruption at their most extreme. Plus, corrections staff and their bigwigs are meant to help prisoners achieve rehabilitation and particularly when dealing with juvenile offenders, they are there to set a mature, ethical example for them. But when you subject them to treatment like – which, were they animals, would rightfully also have people up in arms – how the fuck can you possibly achieve either of those outcomes?

I heard during ABC News last night about this Four Corners report, but due to a scheduling conflict last night I had to watch the encore this morning. It legitimately left me feeling physically sick, and I hope the whole Four Corners win the Logie AND Walkley Awards for it. And I'm pleased the Northern Territory Corrections Minister John Elferink has just been sacked for the cover-up, but Malcolm Turnbull launching a royal commission into the whole mess? Well, not to be ungrateful but for me that is a classic case of too little, too late.

Second, the stabbing massacre at a disability centre in Sagamihara, Japan overnight. This of course follows the shooting in the US of Charles Kinsey, a Black disability worker as he tried to protect his autistic patient (and I'm not ignoring the racial element in that tragedy either). Having Asperger's syndrome, how could this one not hit home for me? At this writing there are 19 dead and 45 injured, and the perpretrator was a former employee who reportedly stated a desire to murder disabled people, and he perhaps had an axe to grind with some of his former colleagues also. Now, my heart fully goes out to all the victims and injured and their loved ones, but (and I know this statement may alienate some) many of the disabled physically cannot protect themselves. I'm really not saying being merely neurologically disabled makes me better or stronger (it doesn't); I'm just emphasizing this point because I feel I can't be subtle here. I'm proud to have a disability, but even with the geographical distance et cetera, this massacre has proven very sobering and anger-inducing for me. May all the victims rest in peace, or in the case of the Don Dale scandal find happiness and closure, and in both cases may the perpretrators rot in prison for life.

I realise how disparate these two stories are, and I should stress whenever I write about such topics I am not doing it for personal gain. But as I'm sure you can tell, both have filled me with such rage and fear that I struggle to find the words. Let us all hope we can unite to find even more: the answers.