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The Shameful Legacy of America Keeps Raising It's Ugly Head Not sure how many of you recall the Tuskegee Experiment using human beings as laboratory animals for forty years between 1932 and 1972. The U.S. Public Health Service conducted a syphilis experiment on 399 black, mostly illiterate share croppers, the retarded, and mentally ill, ensuring their compliance under the guise of free healthcare. These men were never told what disease they were suffering from or of its seriousness. Informed that they were being treated for “bad blood,” their doctors had no intention of curing them. The data for the experiment was to be collected from autopsies of the men, and they were thus deliberately left to degenerate under the ravages of tertiary syphilis—which can include tumors, heart disease, paralysis, blindness, insanity, and death. “As I see it,” one of the doctors involved explained, “we have no further interest in these patients until they die.” I continue to be suspect of anything free because of this shameful American history. Because of the government's legacy, I will not be surprised that Social Security, Medicare, Education will be scrapped in favor of tax breaks for the rich. Being poor is a curse in America. ____________________ Just Sharing: Forced sterilization victims testify in North Carolina By Regina Wang | Raleigh News & Observer 6/23/2011 RALEIGH, N.C. — For more than 40 years, Charles Holt swallowed the shame and anger of being sterilized by the state of North Carolina. He thought he was the only one. On Wednesday, Holt, 61, heard story after story of people who also know the pain of being denied the ability to bear . "It's there and will be there with me for a lifetime," said Holt of Kernersville. From the 1920s to the 1970s, the N.C. Board of Eugenics oversaw the sterilization of nearly 7,600 people. The stories of about a dozen of them, including Holt, were told Wednesday to a state task force that will recommend ways to compensate them. Most of the victims are no longer alive; some of their stories were shared by family members in a packed room at a Department of Agriculture office building. Karen Beck of Winston-Salem spoke of her great-aunt, Dottie Virginia Bates, who was 13 when she was told that she needed to have her appendix removed. Years later, Bates went to the hospital with appendicitis and discovered that her Fallopian tubes, not her appendix, had been cut. The state-funded Eugenics Board determined that certain groups of people - those who were poor, undereducated, mentally unstable - were unfit to carry on the responsibility of parenthood. The phrase it used to described them was "feeble-minded." Social workers were employed to coerce people into sterilization. Former Gov. Mike Easley apologized to the state's eugenics victims in 2002, but no form of compensation has taken place. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine |
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how does this stuff happen and it takes so long for us to find out about it? is it because of the certain immediate outcry deploring the inhumanityif we knew of it as it is happening? compensation to those living is certainly warranted in my opinion...atrocities and bioterrorist acts by our government in the past is hopefully just that...past... Any Fool Can Criticize and Complain...and Most Do...
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The 1970's were not that long ago!!! 
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Gyl, the African women would have contracted HIV/AIDS with or without the drug/s provided for them. Trying to help them avoid contracting AID/HIV or preventing their babies from being born HIV positive is a FAR cry from deliberately infecting them with AIDS. The "crime against humanity" is sitting back and not doing anything to help. In your blog you made it sound like Bill Gates was attempting to keep the population down, how do you figure that? Providing these meds to african woman actually help keep their babies from being born with the infection?
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6/23/2011 6:28 pm |
Gylizer wrote: "Personally, I think getting rid of Medicare, Medicaid, First Start, Social Security, Public Education, Public Health and all other government-run programs would be a good start in bettering our country and people whose lives are being controlled as a result of depending on government handouts to "survive." Guylizer, I agree with you that it is a crime against humanity. As for getting rid of Social Security & Medicare, since I have paid thousands and thousands of dollars purchasing Medicare and Social Security Insurance over the 50 years I have worked since age 16, no congress has the right to get rid of Insurance I purchased without reimbursing me in full. I get a lot more income from far less investment than I have made into Social Security over 50 years. Medicare and Social Security are not entitlements. Some people don't seem to understand this. While I am well educated, have invested well for my senior years, there are people, like the illiterate share croppers, retarded, mentally ill, as in the Tuskegee Experiments, who never had educational opportunity as I or you, thus little means for providing adequate income and healthcare for themselves or their families. You may recall, if you wish to, that people of color were not only denied adequate education, if any at all, especially in the south, but also denied the opportunity to vote. The fact they were poorly educated, if at all, were used to deny voting rights. People of color died as in war simply for the right to be treated human, and that has not been too long ago. The U.S. is the only developed nation that does not provide universal healthcare for it's citizens....and we dare to claim we are the greatest nation. As I said in the opening blog, Being poor in America is a curse. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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6/23/2011 6:37 pm |
YaYa, thanks, I'll check the book out of the library. I love to read. Hobbs & Destiny, I'm not familiar with the HIV African experiment that involves Bill Gates. Tell me more. There have been many theories that the U.S. invented Aids in the lab as biological warfare to spread elsewhere but in our global society, it came home to roost. These theories however have not yet been irrefutably proven. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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6/23/2011 6:59 pm |
Wow!!! You are absolutely strange in your interpretations. You are one of a few people that I have encountered that think that your opinion trumps fact. You are the one that needs to broaden your awareness of facts. I say this with all respect due you.
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African women are getting AIDS from their infected partners NOT from Bill or Melinda Gates. They continue to practice unsafe sex and they continue to contract HIV. Would it be better to leave them be and let them die off? One problem though, too many orphaned children...
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6/23/2011 10:01 pm |
I heard this on the radio today...and vaguely recall it's practice being called to question in the early 70s. There are actually courses in some medical schools that deal with "Bio-ethics"....or the right of the mass to "cull" the weak and feeble. It is truly frightening stuff...and sadly, not an urban legend at all. Just because you have silenced a man does not mean you have changed his mind.
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6/23/2011 10:07 pm |
Gyl, the African women would have contracted HIV/AIDS with or without the drug/s provided for them. Trying to help them avoid contracting AID/HIV or preventing their babies from being born HIV positive is a FAR cry from deliberately infecting them with AIDS. The "crime against humanity" is sitting back and not doing anything to help. In your blog you made it sound like Bill Gates was attempting to keep the population down, how do you figure that? Providing these meds to african woman actually help keep their babies from being born with the infection? Just because you have silenced a man does not mean you have changed his mind.
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6/23/2011 10:12 pm |
YaYa, thanks, I'll check the book out of the library. I love to read. Hobbs & Destiny, I'm not familiar with the HIV African experiment that involves Bill Gates. Tell me more. There have been many theories that the U.S. invented Aids in the lab as biological warfare to spread elsewhere but in our global society, it came home to roost. These theories however have not yet been irrefutably proven. Just because you have silenced a man does not mean you have changed his mind.
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I was wondering that too - this space ship called Earth isn't getting any larger.
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6/24/2011 2:41 am |
Bobbie, Time to take your meds again...and don't blame me for your lousy self image.
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6/24/2011 6:21 am |
Well guys, I have an open mind, I'm always open to learning, which is why I wanted to know more about the Bill Gates foundation supposedly spreading aids. Normally, "valid information" does not mind quoting it's source. It sounded far fetched in that Bill Gates is a man that gives billions to educate the underprivileged. Education is a weapon to fight oppression for the poor in this world (which is why it was against the law during slavery to teach a slave to read & write). The theory was, educate a man and you have to kill him to keep him down, and of course since slaves were property, slave owners were "somewhat" reluctant to destroy their property as it was much like you buying a motorized lawnmower, in their eyes, then destroying it. Because of the Bill Gates foundation children can go on-line and get tutoring for free in the form of games that teach math, science, etc. I don't know of another person who has done that, and given so much to aid the underprivileged education, however just because "I" don't know it, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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6/24/2011 6:30 am |
Many of you seem in favor of population control, however most do not wish it to be practiced on them, thus the screaming and ranting of the uninformed seniors when the Republicans spread the lies about Senior death panels to try to sabotage the passing of the universal health care act. Population control can be practiced responsibly without genocide. It is genocide that you were implying Bill Gates might be involved in. Most uninformed Americans criticize the Chinese responsible methods of population control where there are laws that allow only 1 child per couple. China, being the most populous nation on earth, with a land mass about the size of 1 of our states, is acting caring and responsible in order to be able to provide for their population. Americans however choose to claim this as a lack of freedom of the Chinese people. We do have a talent for twisting things to suit our needs in this country. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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sunshine...for your consideraton regarding your statement, "China, being the most populous nation on earth, with a land mass about the size of 1 of our states, is acting caring and responsible in order to be able to provide for their population" I would like for you to read and respond, if you like, the following... "Zhu Hong Ying and her husband, Xia Jian Dong, who are farmers in Zhai Tian Zhuang village near Linyi, and who already have one son, said they first heard of the forced abortions in March, when Zhu was five months pregnant. “We panicked and ran into (Linyi) to hide,” Zhu said in an interview that had to be conducted on the telephone as local police had sealed off her area in the wake of Chen’s detention. “But to get to us, about a month after we left they arrested three of my sisters-in-law. So we felt very guilty and went home.” Zhu said what happened next went beyond her deepest fears. Officials from the local family planning department took her to a clinic where a doctor injected her in the stomach. A day later Zhu said she delivered a still-born baby boy. Gazing at the corpse was “the most heartbreaking moment of my life”, she said. But there was no time to dwell on emotions. Xia said a nurse came into the room and dumped the dead baby in a black plastic bag and asked him to throw it into the back of a truck parked nearby. “It had a large container kind of thing at the back,” said Xia, his voice quavering over the line. “When I opened the door and looked in it was full of black bags and blood.” Such reports have been filtering out of various provinces in China for the last few months, said Gao Zhi Zheng, an activist lawyer in Beijing" ...it may be off topic and please forgive me if you see it as that, but I had a little trouble with your statement of the way Chinese handle their population control issues... Any Fool Can Criticize and Complain...and Most Do...
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6/26/2011 2:49 pm |
There is researching fact, and there is researching rumor. Facts I found was Gates and Hillary Clinton proposing population control by giving women control over their own reproductive rights, and vaccination of newborns to limit deaths in childhood. Gates feeling people in third world countries have more babies because of the high infant mortality rate. Vaccinations would alleviate the high infant mortality, people would have less children. I also saw several "doctored" videos that were choosing certain sentences of a speech, and trying hard to take this message out of context. Since I have been around a long time and seen this tactic used numerous times, I do not buy into it. Anyone can say anything on the Internet, but we best be careful about all the rumors and falsehoods circulating out there. If you recall, the Whitehouse fired a career employee because of just such a trick...and was left red faced when the tape was heard in it's entirity. Taking 1 or 2 sentences and making a claim out of context is one of the oldest tricks around. There is certainly nothing wrong with population control, even animals abort when there is a drought and not enough food to feed the herd that already exists...which is why I wonder what the right to lifers are all screaming about. People know if they can afford another mouth to feed. "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." -- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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6/26/2011 3:26 pm |
Willy, you are not off topic, and certainly mature adults can exchange ideas and opinions...I hope. I think the way the more than 1 child situation was handled in the situation you cite, was certainly callous, looking at it from the point of view of someone living in American culture. I still say the law of 1 child per couple in a country that has to produce food for a population 22 times that of the U.S, population, with a population density of 138.6 per sq. kilometer vs the 31.6 population density per sq. kilometer of the U.S., certainly has to do things differently than the U.S. How would you think the Chinese govt. should control their population? Do you think forced sterilizations, as was done here in the U.S. would be more humane? We, "supposedly" the greatest nation, still have millions of homeless, people going to sleep hungry, a man robbing a bank, sitting & waiting for police,so he could get medical care.....and we have only 1/22 of China's population. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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sunshine I'm not sure I think forced sterilizations anywhere is humane...it is current practice in China...I also think their current practice of convicting young, minor offending people and sentencing them to prison for the purpose of execution to sell their organs is not humane either...even with the "checkered" past of our country their is NO place I would rather call home...your scrutiny, as well as that of others, will continue to improve our society so maybe it will be considered to be humane by all that choose to call this country home...I hope... ...I'm really not picking here...you stated China has a land mass of about one of our states...so not true...it is the 3rd largest country in the world...our country vies for that position by including Alaska in calculating the land mass... Any Fool Can Criticize and Complain...and Most Do...
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6/26/2011 6:56 pm |
OOPS bob!! I rechecked my source and I mistakenly looked at the line above China, which is the world population. China is the first country listed. As of November 1,2011 Wikipedia.org, list of countries by population, lists China's population as 1,339,724,852, 19.34% of the world's population vs. the U.S. population at 311,637,000 at 4.5% of the world's population. China has 4.29 times the U.S. population. It appears we both stand corrected, however I appreciate your calling this to my attention as I would never wish to spread untruths. It appears China's population has grown at a much faster rate than the U.S. since 2009, all the more reason they cannot approach problem solving in the manner of the U.S. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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6/26/2011 7:11 pm |
Willy, Since I was born here, and this is the culture in which I was raised, of course I would prefer to live in the culture I know, as imperfect as it is. I have been confronted with culture shock in traveling and working around the world many times because the foreign culture and their way of doing things was foreign and uncomfortable to me. I have also experienced culture shock right here in the U.S. I try not to judge another culture until I understand their reasons for behaving as they do in their culture. As Americans, we all too often criticize what we don't understand, and we do so from our cultural perspective with the belief that our ways are best. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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ok...I hear what you are saying as far as cultural differences...even in our own country...but inhumane is inhumane...the only reason I mentioned any of what I have is because it seemed as though you were comparing past inhumane treatment of our own people by our own people to those of another country...in doing so..apples=apples or there can be no comparison...I think  Any Fool Can Criticize and Complain...and Most Do...
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6/27/2011 8:12 am |
Willy, I agree inhumane is humane, no matter where it happensnes but who defines what is inhumane? In some countries, a 30 year old needing a kidney transplant to live is sent home to die, because of the standard medical practices in that country, (and they are not all 3rd world countries either). In America that person is given dialysis until a kidney is found for transplant. People in those countries that send the 30 year old home to die don't consider it inhumane. That's just the standard medical practice there. Because of our medical practices here in America, we most likely would consider this inhumane. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and opinions are based a lot on culture and personal experiences. Your opinion is as valid as mine, and vice versa. Just because you feel strongly one way, does not make your feelings and opinions any more valid than mine, and vice versa. This discussion has gone along fairly intelligent and civilized until the latest post by Gylizer. Just because one feels strongly one way does not make it right....and right is in the eyes of the beholder. Intelligent people discuss ideas and opinions and agree to disagree. Thank you for continuing to express your opinions without needing to resort to anger at someone else for having a different opinion. You may recall during the Dark Ages, books that expressed any opinion not shared by the majority, were burned, thus progress during the Dark Ages was limited. Believe it or not, a lot more of that is happening here in America 'now' than should be in an age of supposed enlightenment. For example, In Miami, and Orlando where I live, City Commissioners wanted to have all books in the library that spoke of Castro in a positive light, be removed and banned. Thank God, there were more enlightened minds on the commissions that prevailed. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." -- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AMEN...
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6/28/2011 5:16 pm |
The Tuskegee experiment to me is a lot larger stain on Alabama than the race riots of the 60's. I love my state, but it is still so many years behind the times... "If you're afraid of the dark, Remember the Night Rainbow"
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6/29/2011 6:22 am |
Nightrainbow, As humans, we are mostly afraid of change. We become comfortable in our skins with what we are used to and fight any change regardless of how wrong it might be. Because we feel comfortable with what we think we know, we cling to our opinion that it is right and simply refuse any information to the contrary. Our limited exposure, refusal to entertain any other information except our own limited information supports our feelings of right. An example: The Trouble with the Elephant In the children's book, The Blind Men and the Elephant, the ancient fable of six blind men who visit the palace of the Rajah and encounter an elephant for the first time. The first blind man put out his hand and touched the side of the elephant. "How smooth! An elephant is like a wall." The second blind man put out his hand and touched the trunk of the elephant. "How round! An elephant is like a snake." The third blind man put out his hand and touched the tusk of the elephant. "How sharp! An elephant is like a spear." The fourth blind man put out his hand and touched the leg of the elephant. "How tall! An elephant is like a tree." The fifth blind man reached out his hand and touched the ear of the elephant. "How wide! An elephant is like a fan." The sixth blind man put out his hand and touched the tail of the elephant. "How thin! An elephant is like a rope." An argument ensued, each blind man thinking his own perception of the elephant was correct. The Rajah, awakened by the commotion, called out from the balcony. "The elephant is big," he said. "Each man touched only one part. You must put all parts together to find out what an elephant is like." The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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