Eugenics Shame Revealed In US History

Eugenics is something we generally associate with the Nazi regime, so when we read of America that, “Some reports estimate that 33 different states had eugenics laws that allowed for forced sterilization and that more than 60,000 American were sterilized in the process, ” we might well be surprised by that.

“How did our country get to this point?” asks Evan Lenow. He explains, “From an ethical standpoint, it involved the use of a consequentialist ethic. Consequentialism is the idea that ethical decisions are made based on projected outcomes. There are several different theories that implement this process, but the basic idea is that the ends justify the means. In the case of eugenics, the desired end was a society full of healthy, productive, intelligent people.” Did the US once share in Hitler’s concepts of a Master Arian Race?

Says Lenow, “From a political perspective, the value of the society over the individual spurred on the acceptance of eugenics. Social problems involving care for the poor and ill, immigration of those viewed as “undesirable,” and the desire for a progressive society led to the implementation of such laws.”

“From a political perspective, the value of the society over the individual spurred on the acceptance of eugenics. Social problems involving care for the poor and ill, immigration of those viewed as “undesirable,” and the desire for a progressive society led to the implementation of such laws.

“Thankfully, our society has moved past this ugly history. Or have we?” asks Evan Lenow.

We deplore the practice of forced abortions in China’s ‘one child’ policy with the serious consequences to the social life of China as well as the health problems it has created.
The UK has begun mooting the idea of child limitation due to our recent rapid population increase. But isn’t that down to EU/UK immigration policies rather than growth in UK families? Where does mooting such ideas end when we read that the disgraceful practice of eugenics was practiced in an advanced First World Nation like the USA?

Reminding Americans of their dark past ‘USToday‘ says, “”It surely is as much a caution to the UK that, “It shouldn’t be forgotten,” . . . “Since the social implications of a lot of current human genetics research are enormous it seems important that in judging what human genetics is doing now we maintain awareness of the history of this discipline.”"

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In Memoriam Of The Euro

That’s in anticipation! The Euro was introduced on 1 January 1999.  Much of the media has already written its demise - others keep resuscitating it to keep it alive. Will it survive? I will need to revisit this post in a year’s time, and who knows. It will be interesting to read the news articles of today at a later date to see if the gurus were right.

What we do see is how British we are and how different from us is the rest of the EU. It is galling to us who are British to have unelected Brussels in so much control and for Britain to go cap in hand to ask, please can we have some of our laws back! We want complete control to be handed back to our democratic elected Parliament - even if it is a coalition government!

When I wonder how we have got as far as we have along the road of integrating with the rest of the EU I am reminded of my reading Bryson ‘At Home’.

“In the same month that the Church of England conducted its attendance survey, Britain also had its ten-yearly national census, which put the national population at a confidently precise 20, 959, 477. This was 1.6 per cent of the world total, but it is safe to say that nowhere was there a more rich and productive fraction. The 1.6 per cent of people who were British produced half of the world’s coal and iron, controlled nearly two-thirds of its shipping and engaged in one-third of all trade. Virtually all the finished cotton in the world was produced in British mills on machines invented and built in Britain. London’s banks had more money on deposit than all the other financial centres of the world combined. London was at the heart of a huge and growing empire that would at its peak cover 11.5 million square miles and make ‘god save the queen’ the national anthem for a quarter of the world’s people. Britain led the world in every measurable category. It was the richest, the most innovative, most accomplished nation of the age - where even gardeners rose to greatness.”

Our poor UK. When I think about that I think of Gordon’s ‘no more boom and bust’!

Well, there’s a lot more in those 700 pages by Bryson, that’s just a glimpse; but relevant I thought to the current debate on the UK and Europe.

So here’s some of the debate I’ve been reading which I must look at again some time future to see what will have materialised over the Eurozone:

Apocalypse Not” Nothing to fear over the demise of the Euro for Dominic Sandbrook

Germany Woes Britain Over Eurozone Crisis

Now for a referendum, say sceptics: It’s time to redraw the rules on Europe, say Redwood and Co”

For Melanie Phillips the December EU Summit was the Battle just Begun!

To affim, The Fighting has already begun

But nothing to worry about - The Euro is already in a tailspin!

It Faces Oblivion’.

For Douglas Carswell, “Never, in the history of this island, has the fact that Belgium is 30 miles away mattered less”

And it seems that business bosses want the UK to Loosen Ties With The EU

For Patrick O’Flynn “Britain’s Future Lies Out Of The EU And Into The World

But in case it is thought Cameron is winning with the EU syndicate the more critical Peter Hitchens warns: “Don’t Forget They Cheered Chamberlain’s Victory Too

Cautions Hitchens: “How Long Before The Grey Dictators March On London?”

But, “Never has Cameron been in such a strong position” according to Simon Heffer

Says Heffer,

“What was wrong with the eurozone before yesterday still remains wrong: too many countries unable to pay their debts, too many continuing to live beyond their means, and the European Central Bank still refusing to become a lender of last resort to help keep members of the eurozone solvent.

“The fact is that so immense would be the consequences of fiscal union that some European national electorates may refuse to agree to them. For the citizens of the 26 nations will soon realise they will have to make huge sacrifices in terms of economic and political sovereignty.”
That’s what it’s down to. A breakup of the Eurozone or control by Brussels over the budgets of 27 sovereign states - which then would be no longer sovereign!
“Thus, with the Germans underwriting a federal economy, we shall witness the sacrificing of European democracies”

Will it happen and what will happen? we all ask. For now, let’s come out of the trenches and wish each other a Happy Christmas, if not a prosperous New Year!

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Windows Technical Department Phone Scam

Earlier this week my wife got a phone call from someone with an Indian accent saying he was calling from ‘Windows Service Station’. At first my she thought it was about our car, but he went on to tell her that her computer was sending out a lot of errors and hacking into other computers. He wanted to repair it. She was immediately suspicious as it seemed to her to be a bit far fetched, so after he began putting on the pressure she said she would have to speak to me when I got home for lunch. He immediately put the phone down. She tried to get as much info out of him before saying he would have to wait to speak to me first.

She looked up WSS on the Internet and discovered the scam by people who get you to go into your computer then take over control of it. After half an hour they say they fixed it, then try and charge a couple of hundred pounds for doing it.

In the afternoon I had a female phone caller, again with an Indian accent, claiming she was from the ‘Windows Technical Department’.  As soon as she got to her point about my computer I just said, ‘you are one of these scams aren’t you?’ The phone went dead. Looking up some of the websites and blogs on this scam it seems it goes back to at least 2008.

The first of the Guardian articles didn’t seem to see it doing anything illegal or damaging. Subsequent Guardian articles do but it is worth reading through the comments of readers’ who have had these calls, one has had ten and don’t seem to get rid of them. (Are our two calls the first of more to come?) Comments vary from being scared by them to having fun with them - that is, keeping them going for as long as they can on the phone without giving out details of their PC, which is what they are after. I found the blogs and Forums helpful in reading what others are experiencing and to recognise the scam ‘patter’ and what to do. Some seem to have allowed their PCs to be accessed thinking that the caller is legit, with serious consequences.

Back in March ‘Money Watch’  reported that the scam has become more sinister by possibly installing software on vulnerable computers.

It can be quite disturbing to read such comments that follow these articles such as:

“I think the important piece here is not what computer system you run, but about the easy accessibility to personal data, and the lack of control or interest by those who run remote call centres, which by their nature use personal information.”

From my reading, including forums dealing with the scam and the comments following articles on the scam the perpetrators, ‘Kolkata’ (Calcutta) seems a commonly named location for these cold callers. While some people seem to have ‘fun’ ‘winding up’ these cold callers by wasting their time others seemed to have had intimidating experiences.

One of our friends my wife informed, a widow who lives on her own, emailed back to say, she was almost caught by the same scam. She said, “An Indian guy gave me the same spiel. As I am not very clued up on computers I was on for nearly 1/2 hour going through various checks. I sounded a bit dim to him,( and I suppose I was) He knew everything about me, and my computer.

“Lastly, because of the ‘fault’ he wanted me to get a screw driver and take off the cover of the socket to see if there was a small component in there. Because I didn’t think it safe, I said I would have to consult my son about it. He got a bit shirty. In the end it seemed he wanted to renew my insurance cover. He could do it for me, just get your card and quote me the number! So I hung up. I think it is frightening that he knew my address and what computer I have.”

From what my wife has said and what I have read on the Internet they can be quite convincing. But everyone should know that ‘Windows’ will never phone any individual who owns a computer.
A few informative links on these phone scams:

Kolkata Police

A Guardian Article

Phone Call From The ‘Technical Department Of Windows” posted by Kim Harding

A Forum on ‘Windows Technical Dept. Scam - How To Recover’

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Mac On The EU

Mac says it all!

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EU Split? Will There Be An EU North & EU South?

“In the Bundestag on October 27, Mrs Merkel said: ‘No one should take it for granted that there will be peace and affluence in Europe in the next half century . . . If the euro fails, Europe fails.’ However, events have revealed that the euro is not only pauperising Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, but alienating the northern Europeans, and all to no end because the euro in its present form cannot survive anyway.
“It is ripping up the very fabric of consent and co-operation, setting nations against each other, conjuring up dark memories of the Second World War. Resentment of German economic occupation bubbles over from Ireland to Greece. The euro is bringing on the very darkness of conflict that Mrs Merkel rightly fears” writes Gwyn Prins.

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The Indulgent Rich V The Starving Poor

 

‘£100,000 of handbags and £70,000 of shoes in poor little rich girl Tamara’s wardrobe’ said the Daily Mail, 26 October 2011.

27-year-old Tamara Ecclestone, daughter of the 4th richest person in Britain, admitted that as well “as a shoe collection to rival Imelda Marcos - she owns countless designer bags, dresses worth £1000 that she doesn’t even like and ‘usually wears clothes only once’”.

She says, “My mum is horrified by the amount I spend on clothes . . . she wants anything going spare to go to deserving homes.” She added, “People think I’m a spoilt rich girl, but I want to demonstrate that I am more than just a daughter of someone famous.” “Oh Tamara,” says Nicole Mowbray, editor of ‘Life&Style,’ “You may need to try harder than that one.”

Is Imelda Marcos someone to emulate? The BBC reports  that “During her time as first lady, Mrs Marcos was famed for travelling the world to buy new shoes at a time when millions of Filipinos were living in extreme poverty.”

When I read Tamara’s story my thoughts immediately went to the news reports of the 10 million affected in the ‘Horn of Africa’. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13944550 where tens of thousands of people have died in the worst drought in 60 years.

While there are the rich who are generous towards the poor and needy, with Bill and Melinda Gates in the lead among the world’s top philanthropists (I don’t know if Tamara’s dad is listed among the leading UK philanthropists), but a report on American giving says that it is ‘America’s poor who are its most generous givers’, including the church-going population. In stories like this it’s difficult not to see the indulgent rich contrasted with the world’s starving poor

Posted in Injustice, Social Issues | 2 Comments

Can Cheese Cost You Your Leg?

It nearly did for Paul Phillips. I love cheese, but after reading his story?

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UK Elderly Being Bullied Into Downsizing?

It has been on BBC radio and TV News - and one can find it being discussed elsewhere.  That’s the view of one charity, not being viewed charitably. If you are over 60 and the children have flown the nest then it is time for you to fly the nest too to make room for the overcrowding in the country. But are the elderly responsible for the overcrowding of our country? I hear of immigrant landlords renting out one room apartments to immigrant families sharing domestic facilities. But is the solution to put the elderly out of their homes into one bed flats with a lot of other elderly strangers?

It might suit some but for many downsizing to somewhere else can mean leaving established neighbours and friends who are your social network and support group built up over years to become a stranger in new surroundings where you are left to fend for yourself as you get older.

And for those wanting to downsize it can mean no more to spend and less inheritance for the kids as the cost of moving, solicitors fees, estate agents fees, removal fees, expenses in adjusting to new accommodation needs whether structurally or in furnishing can completely negate any profit from downsizing. That is apart from all the other concerns and considerations expressed by Stephen Glover.

See: Elderly Should Be Taxed Out Of Their Homes

See Also: ‘The Man Who Says Elderly Pensioners Should Leave Their ‘Empty Nests

Posted in Injustice, Political Issues, Social Issues | 1 Comment

Dawkins Ducks Debate With Leading Christian Apologist

Polly Toynbee, President of the British Humanist Association, and Vice Presidents, Richard Dawkins and A. C. Grayling, are said to have pulled out of debating William Craig on his October tour of the UK. William Craig is a world leading Christian apologist of whom Sam Harris is reported to have said, he is “the one Christian apologist who has put the fear of God into many of my fellow atheists.”

Dr. Daniel Came, a member of the Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford University, was quoted as writing to fellow atheist Richard Dawkins concerning his refusal to debate Dr. William Lane Craig: “The absence of a debate with the foremost apologist for Christian theism is a glaring omission on your CV and is of course apt to be interpreted as cowardice on your part.”

William Craig’s UK Tour is supported by ‘The Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship, Premier Christian Radio and Damaris. Craig’s tour information can be found here.

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5-Week-Old Brown Squirrels Rescued - A Great Story

This story of the rescue of 4 5-week-old squirrels appealed to me!

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