Comments on: "Put down" disabled children, says local councilor

By: peregrinus

peregrinus — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:40:00 +0000

My beef horsemeat is that presenting the slightest ray light on the issue to such an ass simply slips you beyond the event horizon in to the soul-crushing vortex of nonsense that as sure as eggs are eggs would look like this:

Me: Eugenics was taken seriously in the early 1900s, partially as an insufficiently informed hence flawed logical outcome of a branch of utilitarianist thinking

Ass: See! There you go! You agree! You agree! You agree! That’s all I wanted! You agree!

Me: That’s silly, I’m building the breadcrumb trail of how this appalling school of thought rose and fell. It’s a factual statement that we evaluate in the light of history and philosophy.

Ass: You agree! You’ve got a swastika tattoo, right? You agree! Swastikas aren’t even bad, they’re from ancient … ancient … the east somewhere

Me: Stop it. Shut up.

Ass: You’re one of us! Come out, admit it, you agree! All Boingboingers agree! We are the light, the future.

By: peregrinus

peregrinus — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:12:00 +0000

That link is a beautiful example of transparent democracy. I love it. All sorts of fun things to see about him.

Although his photo reminds me of nothing so much as an overheated gurning gentleman axe murderer fresh from the act. No offence.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 08:31:00 +0000

Me: So is that congenital?
My doctor: Is your brain turned off? It’s familial.

By: CH

CH — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 08:02:00 +0000

Yes, what Brainspore said. I love to debate more or less anything, and what’s more juicy than discussing controversial issues. (And believe it or not, eugenics is one thing I am interested in… but from the point of why… the history of it, and why some some, still today, see it as some kind of… well, as you stated it, “solution”. And my only answer so far has been… power.)
But I honestly have no idea what was the point of the post that started this thread… well, I can think of several, but they are all just different reasons for being an asshole (as I stated previously). The question was stated incredibly… stupidly, in so many ways, and it didn’t get any better at any point. I mean “stupid” as in the way of “I really don’t understand the concepts that I’m talking about, and I certainly don’t know how to start a discussion”.

By: CH

CH — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 07:47:00 +0000

To be fair, congenital means something that developed before, at, or very shortly after birth (“born with” in other words), which may or may not be due to genetics. But most genetic disorders don’t show up until later in life, so by definition they are not congenital (and most of us will, at some point, exhibit some kind of at-least-partly genetic disorder… I have already a long list). So, yeah, the original question made no sense.

(Pro tip: if you want to discuss an issue, at least make a question that can be discussed. And especially in controversial issues state your own side first, so we can have something to discuss. I’ll show mine if you show yours first).

By: CH

CH — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 07:27:00 +0000

That is… brilliant!!!!

By: Mark Goodfellow

Mark Goodfellow — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 06:26:00 +0000

Good news, he’s resigned.

By: C W

C W — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:18:00 +0000

“He explained a little more here and elsewhere”

I don’t think flailing around counts as “explaining”.

By: C W

C W — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:18:00 +0000

So, like the Ron Paul of his area?

By: C W

C W — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:13:00 +0000

What makes you think these things have anything to do with a “financial rough patch”?

They’d say this in the best of times.

By: C W

C W — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:12:00 +0000

It’s sad, usually one with more hope could imagine that knowing a person could humanize any problem, but the existence of racists, homophobes, and other horrid creatures seems unswayed by reality.

By: C W

C W — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:11:00 +0000

“I have sociopaths in my family who are *nice* some times”

I usually take Ash’s advice when dealing with sociopaths.

“It’s a trick, get an axe”, but I’m sure he has a ton of other quotes useful towards that class of “person”.

By: C W

C W — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:08:00 +0000

“They never meant me, of course, because I wasn’t ‘really disabled’. ”

I’m sure they also had a lot of black friends!

By: Dignan

Dignan — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:03:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQlpnWuVE7s

By: Pjay (Patti) Pender

Pjay (Patti) Pender — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 01:05:00 +0000

It’s just pretty distressing to think it would take retrospection to see that suggesting disabled people have no worth is insensitive.

By: That_Anonymous_Coward

That_Anonymous_Coward — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:12:00 +0000

I thought maybe he took back the comment after someone explained it would apply to him as well.

By: Snig

Snig — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:44:00 +0000

Interesting, thanks for the background.

By: Maximilian Paul Zadow

Maximilian Paul Zadow — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:38:00 +0000

US was first with the Americans with Disabilities Act, but we weren’t far behind with the DDA and the Equality Act 2010 has a little more teeth still. General access and attitudes have improved massively in the last 20 years in both countries.
That said, the UK has two advantages.First, the marvellous NHS that every disabled person and their families I know loves with a passion. For crises and expensive long-term conditions it more than shows its worth. I would have bankrupted my family in the US, and I continue to benefit from top surgeons for free in adulthood.Second, we have the Social Model of Disability and all the ideological goodies it brings. Which is why we tend not to use the term ‘disabilities’ in the UK for reasons too geeky to go into here. Honestly, it is a theory that takes forever and a load of graphs to explain. Still, it does help culture shift.Reason the Conservatives and their Lib Dem allies had to mount such a propaganda campaign to portray Disabled People in a more negative light.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:37:00 +0000

Any God worth worshiping would populate the Earth with nothing but Bandolier & Budgie Smuggler Sean Connerys.

By: Maximilian Paul Zadow

Maximilian Paul Zadow — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:26:00 +0000

He explained a little more here and elsewhere. Apparently, he was angry about how much the council was spending on some disabled children, and was saying it to get a Disability Charity to explain their services. I’m afraid it wasn’t because he wanted to defend them, but because he wanted to cut them and use the money to prop up more general services. In this interview with local radio version he sounds broken and annoyed anyone would take his words to mean he had anything against disabled children and never really grasps how bad it was, and so is bewildered at all the fuss. http://audioboo.fm/boos/1236499-laurence-reed-speaks-with-councillor-collin-brewer#t=0m0shttp://audioboo.fm/boos/1236499-laurence-reed-speaks-with-councillor-collin-brewer#t=0m0s

Also, when a Tory said something similar in a council meeting he got sacked immediately. I’m not exactly happy with the Conservative and Lib Dem demonisation of disabled people, but they don’t tolerate falling this low.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 22:53:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbRFDcl2GIA

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:39:00 +0000

Wow, I don’t believe I’ve seen a more straightforward example of the the humanity of even supposed villains.

Or the villainy of even supposed humans?

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:38:00 +0000

The UKIP tends to be self-Godwining. It’s the party for people who think that the BNP has A Lot Of Good Ideas, but don’t want to rub elbows with the chavs.

By: espritdecorpse

espritdecorpse — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:31:00 +0000

I think the US had a head start in the race to the bottom, but we’re coming up on your shoulder and carrying a lot of speed into the home straight.

Look on YT for George Osborne at the Paralympics (it’s worth it!). The paralympics sponsored by ATOS (of whom I will say no more).

By: Aaron Gilliland

Aaron Gilliland — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:53:00 +0000

But why did he make Connery wear that kneeboot swimsuit thing?

By: Snig

Snig — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:51:00 +0000

She’s been here for a number of years, but travels there regularly and knows things have gotten worse in the UK. She has family with special needs over there, and friends with family members with special needs over here, from her second hand vantage it still seems mildly better in the UK. Unfortunately, that’s damned by faint praise.

By: Aaron Gilliland

Aaron Gilliland — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:49:00 +0000

They’re breeding. I suggest that they be put down in utero.

So what we need is a UKIP-member-sized uterus and some brawny men to shove the lil’ UKIPper in. Only then will euthanasia be acceptable.

By: espritdecorpse

espritdecorpse — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:21:00 +0000

I will hazard a guess that your GF hasn’t been living in the UK for the past few years? Things have become VERY bad VERY quickly. The country should be ashamed of what has happened and the repellent idealogues responsible should be on trial (instead they are still in government and in the media). Meanwhile, those who are not directly affected are putting their hands over their ears and going ‘la, la, la, can’t hear you!’. Truly shameful times.

Not having a go at you (or your partner), but people need to know what’s going on.

By: Mark Goodfellow

Mark Goodfellow — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:19:00 +0000

He ‘represents’ the area that borders where I live. He’s always been considered a classic County and District councillor – in it for their own benefit – comfortably well off, have a look at his declared interests https://democracy.cornwall.gov.uk/mgDeclarationSubmission.aspx?UID=2060&HID=2829&FID=0&HPID=3520888

He’s actually not a representative of any official party, quite a lot of the councillors down here are ‘independents’ although they group together and currently support the conservatives in a sort of coalition.

Never trusted him, don’t think he can appreciate normal people when you realise that you drive past at least four of his houses to get to the next town.

By: timquinn

timquinn — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:22:00 +0000

This was meant for [comment removed] a quote from the wiki page on “unintended consequences.”

“Possible causes of unintended consequences include . . . perverse incentives, human stupidity, self-deception, failure to account for human nature or other cognitive or emotional biases.”

If you are still out there; you should read this over and over until it makes sense, then tell your friends about it.

(Edited for cogency)