Eugenics - the science of better breading...(my favorite blog post ever!)

Ok, so I am completely obsessed with researching the Eugenics Movement in America. The more I learn, the more amazed I am that this often ignored aspect of American history ever took place...Hitler set about to complete what American Scientists, policy makers and elites started..... Thought I'd share a little bit of my historical passion with you....

The rest of the board reads:

"America needs less of these..."

- Every 48 seconds a person is born in the US who will never grow up mentally beyond that of a normal 8 year old boy or girl."

-Every 50 seconds a person is committed to jail in the US. Very few normal persons ever go to jail.

"America needs more of these..."

- Every 7and 1/2 minutes a HIGH GRADE person is born in the US who will have the ability to do creative work and be fit for leadership. About 4 percent of Americans come within this class.

Notice the similarity between the Nazi poster and the American display board.....

These guys are protesting for marriage laws and sterilization....

One of many books on Eugenics published during this time... Other not-so-subtle titles include: The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Disease, Pauperism, and Heredity; The Tribe of Ishmael: A Study of Social Degeneration; The Passing of the Great Race; The Rising Tide of Color Against White World Supremicy; Constructive Eugenics, The Task of Social Hygiene; The Right to be Well Born; and Eugenics: A Journal of Race Betterment.

The family above won a "Fitter Family" Contest at the State Fair!....

While many were dubbed "feeble-minded" and placed in institutions or sterilized, there was never a real, scientific definition of or method for determining "feeble-mindedness." Interestingly, the IQ test was developed by Eugenicists...

Honorary degree given by a German University in 1936 to Harry Laughlin one of America's leading Eugenisits. He managed to get laws against "racial mixing," laws allowing forces sterilization of the "unfit," and laws restricting the immigration of non-nordics passed. The Germans applauded his efforts of behalf of Eugenics.....

More info on Eugenics and cool primary source documents like these can be found at:

http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/

The same thing we do every night, Pinky -Try and take over the world!!!!

(another entry from my old blog...)

Pinky: What are we gonna do tonight?
Brain: The same thing we do every night, Pinky - try and take over the world!!!

So last night I saw The Island, which is actually a pretty decent futuristic tale of Eugenics. I think the movie raises a few questions that, while a little different from real cloning dilemmas, are along the same ethical lines....

When I got home from the movie I began reading and ran across an article (apparently I'd missed this in the news) that said scientists are going to create a mouse that has a 100 percent human celled brain. While I may not be able to understand the scientific ins and outs of this, and have been told that the human brain is more complicated than its parts, it does lead me to wonder what makes something human. Is it our human form? Our brain? Our ability to love, feel compassion, and make decisions? What do we do that animals don’t that makes us superior to them? And when does a life become sacred?

If we answer love, compassion, and rational thought, then I feel this is all encompassed in the human mind. Love, after all, is mainly biological. Animals also feel love and devotion, just ask anyone who has ever had a beloved pet or who saw the Jane Goodall documentary that featured the pubescent chimp that died of a broken heart after its mother was killed. But humans would die for one another. This is solely human. Well, not really. Some birds, when the flock is under attack, will fly away from the fleeing flock and distract the predator, usually resulting in its death and the safety of the other birds. This, according to the sociobiological perspective is because biology compels all creatures to not only fight for our survival but for the survival of our species, our genes. All of these functions are a product of evolution and are controlled by the brain.

If then, it is the human brain that makes some one or thing human, then is a person, void of the human mind, nonhuman? If a person has an IQ below 70 does that make them less of a person? If a child is born with a mental handicap that leaves them with the brain function of a dog or chimp, is that child less than human?

If we say the human form makes us human, then would a person, void of legs or arms be considered less than human? When would a physical handicap or deformity be enough to render someone a creature and not a human being?

If an animal with a human brain was created, would it be human? At what point would such a hybrid become human, if ever? And if we cannot easily answer the question of what makes a human life sacred, then perhaps we should be a bit hesitant before turning other creatures into dinner or scientific experiments.

Perhaps we are special because we are more highly evolved. We have thumbs, after all. We are strong and fast and can dominate the world. Therefore everything is here for us to conquer and exploit, simply because we can. Might makes right, doesn’t it? If something is defenseless or less intelligent then you have the right to decide if it should live or die, and what quality of life it deserves. Right? I mean, just ask Hitler….

Note: For my religious viewers, who likely feel that this is an easy question because humans have souls which differentiate them from other animals, I’m gonna have to roll my eyes… What is a soul exactly? Where is it located? Who decided who/what gets a soul anyway? Wasn’t there a time when the Southern church decided that slaves didn’t have souls? Would a half mouse half human hybrid have a soul? How about a clone? Why or why not? There has to be something that all humanity can agree upon that does not bring one group’s specific religious beliefs into play when determining what makes a living thing human, and that human life sacred

Further reading on the real 'Brain' and how scientists are causing me to ask all these silly questions....

Pat Robertson - biggest dick ever. period.

(Pictured above: Pat takes a dump on American democracy)

And while I'm thinking about right-winged fundamentalists, here is a shout-out to the biggest dick of them all - Pat Robertson. Most recently, Pat has been in the spotlight for saying that God smote Ariel Sharon for "dividing his land" and pulling Isreal out of Gaza. You see, in addition to hating communists and muslims, Pat LOVES the nation of Isreal, even though they don't believe in Jesus either. And, he'd rather see Isrealis and Palistinians killing each other than trying to establish peace. What's more, Pat loves to attribute everything that goes wrong in life to god's punishment. Just curious, Mr. Robertson, but when you got cancer in 2003 and had to have your prostate removed, what was God punishing you for?

My favorite little "god's punishment" theory is Pat's assertion that Hurricaine Katrina was god's punishment for Ellen Degenerates hosting the Emmys. Therfore, becasue she is openly gay, god decided to destroy her hometown and kill lots of poor black people who probly don't even watch the emmys, let alone have anything to do with who is selected to host the damn thing. However, other fundamentalists are taking credit for Katrina too, so were not real sure why god smote New Orleans. It appears that AL- Zarqawi is claiming that god sent Katrina to smite the US for its unholy occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Hmmm.... maybe god was running a two-for one special on hurricane smitings.... You know, now that I think about it, Zarqawi and Robertson have a lot in common. They are both crazed fundamentalists who advocate violence agasint god's enemies (Recall when Robertson advocated the assasination of Venezuela's


President) and they both like to indoctrinate the ignorant masses through television. Maybe they should do a show together!!! I bet they could make a shit-load... Sure, they have some theological differences of opinion, but they could just focus on the things they have in common - like total hate and loathing for women, gays, infidels and the seperation of church and state.

In addition, Pat and his buddy Falwell blame gays, the removal of prayer from schools, and immorality in general for 911.

More irony from Pat - he says that Islam is a religion of hatred and that the Koran incites its followers to kill people of other faiths.... Ummm... have you ever read the fucking Bible, jackass???!!??? If you want to talk about a book that advocates hatred, intolorance and killing people who don't believe like you do, then the Bible is your best bet.


Ok, I am done bitching about Pat Robertson.

ramblings of an insomniac...

1.) So last night while watching the first half of the FSU v. Penn State game, I was deeply amuzed by the commentators. Maybe I just have a dirty mind, but I found it extremely funny when they said that Penn State was "having its way with" the FSU defense, and then later that Penn State was "working up a good rythem." heh, good times...

2.) VW has is now marketing the most expensive sports car which can go up to like 290 mph and goes from 0 to 62 in 2.5 seconds. Here is the ultimate toy for the man in your life with an itty-bitty, teeny-tiny penis. Honestly, I can't think of any other reason why someone would need a car like that....

3.) The administration sounds like a big, spoiled baby when it comes to its sorry-ass excuses for not going along with International efforts to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. Excuse number 1 – “It might hurt the US economy.” Well cry me a fuckin’ river. Just because something may be a little bit painful doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done. Is getting a flue shot uncomfortable? Yes. Would I rather have the flu? NO. Suck it up and do what needs to be done before we get ourselves into a mess that cannot be fixed…. Excuse 2 – When Bush rejected Kyoto, he complained that China, India and other major industrializing countries were not bound by its emission controls.” God, I bet George was a whinny brat of a kid…. Just because others do not do what they should doesn’t mean you shouldn’t step up and do the right thing. Lead by example, George. I bet he employs this same rationale when dealing with US torture policy… “Well everyone else is torturing their victims… why can’t we??.... Billy’s mom doesn’t make him eat his broccoli…” All I have to say is – pathetic, George.

4.) Along the same lines, Don't tell the Bush Administration, but polar bears may become a thing of the past, thanks to global warming. Accorording to scientists, Polar Bears are drowning due to melting ice caps. Wow, for a hoax, global warming seems to be causing some real problems...

5.) I am growing sick and tired of the "choose life" bumper stickers and license plates. Dude, no one is suggesting anyone "choose death." I DO, however, have a suggestion for making the entire abortion debate almost completly moot - "CHOOSE BIRTH CONTROL!!!!" It's simple. Oh wait, I forgot the crazy fundies don't like birth control. I think they would rather continue pushing their shitty abstinence-only education which results in uneducated, knocked-up teenage girls who go get abortions. You see, this gives the fundies something to bitch about, helps the republicans get their religious fan-base to the polls on election day, and allows the ultra-pious, bible-beaters to feel like they are better than everyone else.

6.) The "Happy Holidays" debate has really made me think about what bothers me about fundamentalists - an extreme lack of EMPATHY (Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives). I really and truly believe this world would be a better place if we all just thought about what it would be like if we were in the others' shoes. Unfortunately, some people so completly surround themselves with people who are exactly like them and vilify everyone else that they are incapable of empathy. I'm not saying I am an expert at empathy. Often, my tyrades agasint conservative christians sound a bit harsh and I know that in my day to day life I do not always consider the feelings of those around me. All I'm saying is that a little empathy and a lot of the golden rule would make this world a much better place. Sure, it sounds corney and I can see you now, reader, rolling your eyes at my naivety. But if everyone seriously and honestly treated others as they would want to be treated, this world would be remarkably different. Maybe that's why every religion and/or philosophy includes a "golden rule" or a teaching about the ethics of reciprocity. Unfortunately, it seems that people only like to apply the golden rule to fellow believers and not to all peoples.... But, I choose to believe it is possible and a global ethics of reciprocity can be achieved....

7.) The other day I had a profound revelation about the nature of man. First of all, no matter what you learned in sunday school or what you were shamed into believing by the caring adults in your life, there are no GOOD or BAD decisions when it comes to sex, drugs, and other SINS one commits agasint him/herself. You are not a bad person if you use drugs or screw the entire football team in one night. Instead, there are physical and emotional consequences that you must be prepared to deal with as a result of your actions. The action itself is neutral - now, are you prepared to deal with the consequences of your behavior?

Maybe it's easier for parents, teachers, and religions to tell kids that sex is bad and abstinence is good. However, I think we cheat them, insult their intelligences, and leave them with psychological baggage. In addition, I feel like we are shifting the locus of control. If sex is "bad" because my dad or god says so, then I have no control; that decision is already made for me. All I can do is violate that decision and do the "bad" thing or not violate it and be "good." But if sex is neutral, then I have the power to determine if, based on the possible physical and emotional consequences, the decision is going to be worth it and if I am prepared to deal with the possible results of my actions. Here, I have complete control over the decision and the decision-making process. And, there is no guilt or shame when I make a decision. Instead, there are only the resulting consequences.