Category Archives: Eugenics

In the first of a new two-part documentary on BBC Four, science journalist Angela Saini and disability rights activist Adam Pearson take a walk around Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia to discover the people and the institutions behind the controversial idea that the human race can be improved by selective breeding.

They reveal that eugenics, a driving force behind the Nazi death camps, originated in the British scientific community.

We tend to associate eugenics with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, but it was in fact developed in London. Its founder was Francis Galton, who established a laboratory at UCL in 1904, says Saini.

The presenters uncover how eugenics shaped immigration law, education policy and even town planning. The documentary uncovers disturbing links between British universities and German race scientists in the first half of the 20th century, and investigates how eugenics fed into the racist ideologies of Nazi Germany.

In part two, they ask if eugenic-style attitudes towards the poor and disabled continue to shape todays society.

BBC iplayer, Eugenics: Sciences Greatest Scandal.

Angela Saini. In the twisted story of eugenics, the bad guy is all of us.

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Bloomsbury, Fitzrovia and the origins of eugenics - Fitzrovia News

American Museum of Natural History statue 2, B.D.s World

September 24, 2019; Hyperallergic

New Yorks American Museum of Natural History, like many other revered nonprofit organizations, has been pushed to confront its racist roots. With an exhibit recently opened about the sculpture that greets visitors entering its building, the museum has chosen to keep the artwork in place, but is providing a more complete picture of its subject, including an explicit critique of the sculptures celebration of imperialism.

At the museums entrance, President Teddy Roosevelt, astride a horse, towers over a Native American and an African. The work has been described by critics as embodying the message of white supremacy. In 2017, protesters from a group calling itself the Monument Removal Brigade (MRB) splattered it with red dye to make this point. According to a statement from the group published by Hyperallergic, they wished to call attention to Roosevelt not as a former president but as a white supremacist and imperialist.

As opposed to Roosevelt as defined by inscriptions on his statues base and along the terraces parapet wall: explorer, scientist, conservationist, naturalist, ranchman, scholar, statesman, author, historian, humanitarian, soldier, patriot. MRB specifically calls out his role in the Spanish-American War, which led to the USs annexation of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines as well as his staunch endorsement of eugenics.

Faced with growing protests over this and other pieces of offensive public art, the City of New York assembled the Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers to provide guidance. When it completed its work, the Commission recommended keeping the offending sculptures in place but adding contextual information for visitors to learn from and commissioning new pieces depicting prominent personalities of color. The leadership of the AMNH took this guidance and, rather than remove Roosevelt, created a temporary exhibit, located in a hallway leading to the Museum gift shop, that examines Roosevelt both as a naturalist and a eugenicist.

The exhibit, Addressing the Statue, examines various aspects of the monument and the president it memorializes. It explores the history of the statues design and installation, who the men at the bottom of the statue may represent, and Roosevelts own racism. The museum examines its own complicity at points, too, with references in the video to its exhibitions on eugenics in the early 20th century.

Curator David Hurst Thomas from the AMNH Division of Anthropology, speaking to Hyperallergic, explained the museums vision: Some today view the statue as heroic. Others see the statue as a blatant symbol of racial hierarchy. Addressing the Statue sidesteps such simplistic binary thinking in favor of multiple perspectives and multiple voices.

Is that enough to turn the negatives into a positive? According to the New York Times:

Mabel O. Wilson, a professor of architecture and African American and African diaspora studies at Columbia University who served on the city commission to reconsider the statue and was consulted on the exhibition, still wants to see the statue moved elsewhere. I think its a starting point, both for the institution and its visitors, said Dr. Wilson. I hope it prompts visitors to pursue their understanding of history in a way that really starts to wrestle with history and these truths that we see being told.

Nick Mirzoeff, writing in Hyperallergic, finds the temporary exhibit does little to overcome the harm that was done, nor does it demonstrate the museum has recognized its true history:

The exhibition balances Roosevelt as both a racist and the host of African American leader Booker T. Washington at the White House. Does this in fact constitute a balance; that is, are these conflicting worldviews of equal validity or weight? A recent New York Times op-ed noted that racism was central to Roosevelts vision for America, and not just an artifact of his time and place. Indeed, he gets an entire chapter in Princeton professor Nell Irvin Painters History of White People. Theres no mention at AMNH of his support for eugenics or his 1905 speech that popularized the supposed threat of race suicide.

This debate captures the challenge to every institution that must reconcile with its history. Removing honors, names on buildings, artwork, and exhibits because they mask the evils of the past may offend some to whom they remain important and carry positive meaning. Does adding a broader contextand the learning that may occur by doing soproduce a satisfactory resolution? For the American Museum of Natural History, does keeping Roosevelt standing tall, but surrounded by a fuller explanation, truly fulfill its mission and meet its values, or is it just a compromise to reduce the cost of change? Not easy questions to answer, but important ones.Martin Levine

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The Teddy Roosevelt Statue: A Monument to What? - Nonprofit Quarterly

Human gene research has proven that racism is a falsehood. This conclusion comes from the research of hundreds of genetic scientists working in laboratories around the globe.

It is important that scientific evidence and this conclusion be stated clearly to anyone who bothers to read about this topic. My reference is a book by Daniel J. Fairbanks, a research geneticist published by Prometheus Books in 2015.

The gene variation that most people regard as racial represents a tiny part of genetic variation among humans. There are no discrete genetic boundaries separating the so-called "human" races. Some of the genetic variation is geographical, but much more genetic variation can be traced to the time when all humans lived in Africa more than 100,000 years ago.

The notion of discrete racial categories among humans arose from immigration history. Scientific methods using the large scale analysis of human DNA have resulted in a flood of genetic information, allowing for the detailed analysis of geographical data of any individual. Science doesnt show definite genetic boundaries along traditional racial lines.

Race in English has two distinct meanings. Race, meaning competitive running comes from the old Norse word "ras." Race, indicating a group of people comes from the old Italian word "razza," which has spread across languages with Latin roots such as race in English and French, razza in Italian, raca in Portuguese and rasa in Romanian.

This words earliest meaning dates back to about 1500 CE. Centuries ago, most people made their living growing crops, tending gardens and raising animals. Farmers then referred to animals as belonging to different races.

Darwin in "The Origin of Species" uses race numerous times in referring to a genetically distinct group of animals or plants. Onlythree times in The Origin of Species does Darwin refer to humans in regard to race.

For centuries, farmers and dog breeders practiced artificial selection in reproducing animals and plants that had the desired characteristics.

In the late 1880s, the idea of selective breeding or eugenics being applied to humans arose. This led to involuntary sterilization of prisoners and those in mental institutions.

It was about this time that race began to be used to humans of different skin colors, leading to anti-miscegenation laws prohibiting marriage between people of different skin colors.Both eugenics and miscegenation were based on the assumption of the superiority of the white race.

Theres evidence in our DNA that human migrations have dispersed humans very widely. This explains the genetic diversity of our species.

The most convincing evidence that the concept of human races is untenable comes from the research of Harvard professor and geneticist Richard Lewonton. Before the 1960s and 1970s, scientists had few methods to accurately examine genetic differences among humans.

They based their measurements mainly on appearances such as noses, lips, eye shapes, skin color and hair. They picked these characteristics because they are easily recognized.

Adult body height is genetic to a large extent and varies considerably among people from different regions of the world. For example, the tallest people on average are the Dutch, but close behind are the Masai of East Africa.

Many people who live in tropical regions are substantially shorter than other tribes in Africa, and inhabitants of southern Asia and southeast Asia. These differences can be explained in terms of natural selection (smaller humans can hide in jungle foliage while taller humans have an advantage in seeing predators from a distance in savannah regions).

Pattern baldness is also a characteristic that varies among people from different regions.

Lewonton examined data from 17 different genes in several different groups of people, ranging fromNative Americans, Australian Aborigines, black Africans, Caucasians, Mongoloids, Polynesians, to South African Aborigines.

Lewonton found that the genetic variation within each of these groups exceeded that of different groups. Basically the groups overlapped each other in genetic characteristics. 85% of genetic diversity fell within each group while only 13% was due to differences between groups.

This was also true for blood types (A, B, AB and O). Blood banks identify blood types based solely on thesefour letters with no distinction for skin color.

It is just as likely that a Caucasian will receive a transfusion of a compatible blood type from a black African (Afro-American) as a back African would receive from a Caucasian. In 2004, geneticists from the Utah University School of Medicine showed that humans as a species are much less diverse than many other species.

Their conclusion was that humans worldwide differ on the average differ by only 0.1% genetically. Considering humans fromthree different continents (Africa, Asia and Europe), 85% of genetic variation was found in each continents people and only 10 to 15% of genetic variation was found between the three continental groups.

SKY CONDITIONS FOR THE COMING WEEK:In the first week of October, dawn begins about 6:15 a.m., sunset is about 7:10 p.m., midday is 1:05 p.m., sunset is about 6:58 and dusk ends at 7:56 p.m. There is now about 11 hoursand 46 minutesof sunlight, Each day there is aboutthree minutes less of sunlight. Jupiter continues low in the southwest dusk.

Bob Doyle, professor emeritus at Frostburg State University, invites any readers comments and questions. E-mail him at rdoyle@frostburg.edu. He is available as a speaker on his column topics.

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The so-called 'human' races are a myth - Cumberland Times-News

Every day,in every way, Im getting better and better. French psychologist and pharmacist mile Cou proposed this bit of optimistic autosuggestion to his patients in 19th-century France. He suggested they repeat it to themselves at least 20 times a day, especially first and last thing. The notion of betterment took root and flourished particularly, as you might imagine, in the US, where unfortunately it became tangled up with eugenics.

Its a butterfingered choice for a restaurant name but perhaps less so when you hear that the chef behind the food offering at the re-branded Biltmore Mayfair hotel is Jason Atherton, who is on to his 18th, or it could be 19th, venture since 2005 when the stint with Gordon Ramsay at Maze on the opposite side of Grosvenor Square highlighted his talents.

Moving with the times is not necessarily comparable with betterment certainly not at the moment but Atherton and his chef Paul Walsh, who was previously at Athertons City Social, have taken careful note, it would seem, of what is currently thriving in restaurants outside hotels. Despite a glitzy makeover of the dining area complete with plant walls this property is in the Hilton LXR collection the relatively short menu is presented on A4-size grey card and its sub-heads include Fish and Meat Roasted Over Embers and more or less equal airtime given for vegetables and salads.

Staff are expensively suited and booted, some of the men with high-maintenance facial hair spookily resembling JA himself. In the evening receptionists model black off-the-shoulder dresses. Thumping music, louder and more thudding at dinner, contributes to a nightclub crossed with boardroom atmosphere.

Unbidden, a whole rotund, bonny loaf of sourdough accompanied by salted butter arrives. Of the first courses tried over two meals, perhaps the best dish is steak tartare oddly presented in a cut-glass bowl with beef dripping croutons. It is the Parmesan-dusted croutons that are the betterment here, a demonstration of the possible upward social mobility of cheesy chips. To its 16 cost, Rossini Baerii caviar can be added for a further 28. We resist.

Curry velout, with smoked chalk stream trout on a potato cake, is a captivating notion and the flavours do chime but the textures of the fish and its potato bed are unappealingly flabby. A layer of tart apple pure on top is the best part of pork cheek terrine, which falls apart into nuggets of meat and hard cones of carrot rather than conveying the wholesome hand knitting suggested by terrine.

The main course of roast chicken, trompettes, Albufera sauce at 45 for two to share is irresistible despite hindering more thorough menu coverage. Dark mushrooms stuffed under the skin of the breast make the whole bird resemble guinea fowl, which only adds to the disappointment of dense texture and a lack of innate flavour. Practically a bush of fresh rosemary stuffed into the cavity at the time of sending out serves no purpose. But Albufera sauce, a creamy velout, tinted ivory with demi-glace, pretty much saves the day and, to some extent, the chicken.

Jason Atherton: I can't stand 'concepts' we just serve good food

Horseradish velout promised with ox-cheek tortellini presents as detumescent white foam on green pasta shells that are way too resilient, as if they know theyll be hammered by the thin salty jus below. Best of everything tried including hazelnut praline choux, coffee ganache and lemon sorbet is a side dish of onion flower with chive emulsion.The onion, opened out through soaking like a blooming dahlia, is roasted to the edge of caramelisation to deliver crunchy edginess as well as a plump sweet core.

A chum of mine who has a meal here later says the restaurant should be called Onion by Jason. But Jason is into betterment and so am I. Every day, in every way, Im getting better and better. Im saying it. Im trying. Speaking of which, sommelier Stefan Kobald proves a skilled guide through the large, leather-bound wine list.

Bao Borough

Excellent steamed buns with added late-night noodles, whiskey cocktails and karaoke.

13 Stoney Street, SE1, baolondon.com

Bright

The original gifted team from P Franco now with a big kitchen.

1 Westgate Street, E8,brightrestaurant.co.uk

The Sea The Sea

Chef Leandro Carreira from Londrino (RIP) gleams brightly here.

174 Pavilion Road, SW1, theseathesea.net

Neither restaurants or dishes get more iconic than this. Fergus Hendersons best-known creation has been much emulated over the years, but never bettered.

Theres a high chance that theres more butter in this than polenta, along with plenty of mushrooms, truffle and parmesan. This is the highlight dish on a menu of highlights.

When the original Barrafina launched in Soho in 2007 modelled on Barcelona tapas bar Cal Pep it helped introduce the city to both Spanish food and counter dining. Croquetas are among the most popular items on the menu at all three Barrafina restaurants, with different signature serves at each. They might just be the best in town.

Sabor, the Spanish powerhouse from former Barrafina chef Nieves Barragn Mohacho, has lots to offer across its tapas bar, restaurant and upstairs asador. This simple plate of salty, oil-rich anchovies laid on bright white sheets of shaved lardo is as simple as it comes, but all the better for it. Best eaten counterside with a sherry in hand and southern Spain in mind.

Prepare to wait in line for this Borough Market classic: a ciabatta roll stuffed to bursting with smoky chorizo fresh from the grill, roasted red peppers and rocket. Its a good to start the day as it is to soak up a few pints later on.

These soft corn tortillas filled with cured pork thats been cooked doner kebab-style are the salty, saliva-inducing highlight at this Borough Market taco joint.

This canny creation from Heston Blumenthal takes inspiration from c1500. It combines mandarin, chicken liver and foie gras in a pt, and resembles a mandarin.

For pizza traditionalists, Santa Maria do it like in old Napoli. The San Daniele doesnt have any tomato sauce, but is topped instead with cherry tomatoes, rocket, parmesan shavings and generous amounts of excellent quality San Daniele Parma ham. See more of the best pizzas in London.

People have been known to fall out arguing which of Brick Lanes two neighbouring all-night bagel shops is best, but we have no definitive answer. Both offer superbly moist salt beef and sweet, chewy bagel perfection. Have one of each.

Getty Images

Leave your airs and graces at the door at Lahore, where its all about you and the amazing things they do with that grill. Lamb chops is the star dish at the worthy cult favourite.

Once you get over the fact that the pizzas are a whopping 20 inches, Homeslices exciting toppings get their own gawping rights. This middle eastern creation is fresh, crunchy and served on their wonderful garlic base. Purists need not apply.

Theres plenty of cheeseburgers in London, but theres also the Ari Gold: a 35 day aged Aberdeen Angus patty dripping with gooey American cheese and smokey P&B mayo, topped with salad and home-pickled red onion rings.

The British beauty that is the scotch egg has to be the ultimate pub snack. And this well seasoned, gamey, reliably runny-yolked version served at Londons only Michelin-starred gastropub is the leader of its kind.

When it comes to steak, Hawksmoor is the daddy. It doesnt matter what cut you go for or which accompaniments you choose, its almost impossible to go wrong. Oh, but do get some bone marrow.

A bacon sarnie, Indian style. A London breakfast classic, especially well-received when a hangover lurks.

The fat strips of tender, slow-cooked beef are a highlight among many high points at the smoke-filled Shoreditch base of David Carters Smokestak. They come either straight-up, with a punchy homemade ketchup, or crammed into a bun.

Seafood supremos Wright Brothers are all about the oysters. Think this snack is only for the fanciest of folks? Head there between 3pm and 6pm, Monday to Friday to pick them up for just 1 a go.

Yes, vegan food can be high end. Jason Atherton proves this with gusto at his flagship Mayfair restaurant, where this autumnal dish is the star of his Michelin-starred all-vegan tasting menu.

Vegan food can, however, get down and dirty with the best of them. This punchy, spicy jackfruit taco from Club Mexicana gives pulled pork a serious run for its money.

Vegetable dishes dont come much more thrilling than this smoky, richly-spiced whole cauliflower charred on the grill and adorned with tahini, pomegranate seeds and pine nuts. A match for any meat dish.

Spicy, rich and intense, the lamb offal flatbread created by Lee Tiernan at haute kebab spot Black Axe Mangal in Islington is as fabulously full-on as the heavy metal-playing restaurant itself.

You can take your pick from Calum Franklins pies at Holborn Dining Room, because they are all outstanding. The chef is pastry wizard, who works his magic across a range that includes an anything but humble pork pie, and seasonal specials such as curried mutton pie with mango chutney.

These picture-perfect deep-fried courgette flowers stuffed with goats cheese and drizzled in honey are full of Mediterranean splendour.

When pub food comes from the team behind The Palomar and The Barbary, then you know youre going to order more than a bag of nuts. This roll is robustly meaty, with fabulously flakey pastry served with a dollop of Colmans, naturally.

Tarshish recently won a particularly well-coveted gong. The reigning champion of the British Kebab Awards fine dining accolade serves up marinated lamb shish, available with a side of mac and cheese.

Delicious fatty juices add unctuous backbone to a richly spiced mutton keema which can barely be contained within a toasted brioche bun in this clever take on British-meets-Indian-meets-wherever from Ravinder Bhogal.

Theres a translucent glisten to these indulgent tacos at Neil Rankins Temper, where a zero-waste policy means that its tortillas are made with leftover beef fat from the grill - a move which isnt just good for the environment, but for flavour too.

The pressed duck at this Clerkenwell institution isnt for the faint-hearted. The multi-course canard fest involves the duck first being brought to the table for inspection complete with its head, while the bones are later crushed to produce an epic-tasting jus. Breast meat, chopped liver and grilled legs all feature in what is a delicious if deathly dish.

This grand Piccadilly Brasserie from Chris Corbin and Jeremy King not only does the best breakfast in town, it pretty much invented the notion of breakfasting out. The English features a choice of fried, poached or scrambled eggs with bacon, sausage, baked beans, tomato, black pudding and mushroom. Its the quality of ingredients - plus the atmosphere - which makes it really special.

A bright, North African breakfast staple mastered and popularised by Yotam Ottolenghi.

Few dishes are as splendidly simple as this one from the London Bridge pasta gurus. It is simply spaghetti with parmesan and black pepper. But oh boy, is it good. Find more of the best Italian restaurants in London.

As it melts, the dripping is collected in the candle holders base ready to dip your bread in. Its been on the menu since the restaurant opened in 2013 and is still one of Londons cleverest dishes.

A warm, chewy waffle topped with crisp-skinned confit duck and a runny egg, drizzled in maple syrup. Convinced yet? Naturally there are some pretty impressive views, too...

This Shepherds Pie has been a favourite at The Ivy since virtually the beginning, and thanks to the continued roll-out of Ivy brasseries just about everywhere across town, its now more accessible than ever.

This fiery, aromatic dish became a favourite at Som Saas early residencies and pop-ups, and is now a highlight of the menu at its Spitalfields restaurant.

For steamed buns, you cant beat Bao. Their classic sees a pillowy-soft bun filled with slow-braised pork belly, coarse peanut powder and shredded coriander. Worth queuing for.

On the addiction scale, these crispy strands of fried courgette are class A. They come overflowing in a large bowl at Sartoria as well as Francesco Mazzeis other two restaurants Radici in Islington and Fiume in Battersea. When at any, they should be ordered on the side of absolutely anything.

This fried chicken dusted with pine salt is a well-deserved classic, and not just because of its interesting, pine-flanked presentation.

This well-known burger is the signature serve across Yianni Papoutsis burger empire. Its dirty and drippy, featuring two beef patties fried in mustard and slathered in melted American-style cheese adorned with pickles and minced raw onions. The creamy, mustardy secret-recipe Dead Hippie Sauce seals the deal.

This Sri Lankan sensation which made its name in Soho and has since expanded to Marylebone isnt just named after the hopper, it does them very well indeed. Pair an egg hopper with the restaurants intricately spiced curries.

London has gone loco for ceviche in recent years, but what about its sashimi-like cousin. Coya serves up silky slithers of kingfish come swimming in dashi, chives and an elegant dollop of truffle.

Now settled in Soho after outgrowing the Brixton shipping container they started out in, Kricket offers more dishes than ever to please spice fans. This light and bright exemplary version of bhel puri is still top of the pile.

Chops, glorious chops. Thats what Blacklock does and it does them very well indeed. Dont choose between them, opt for the All In option and enjoy a mixed grill of varying beef, lamb and pork chops.

This is as close to a pudding that a vegetable gets. Aubergines lathered in miso sauce and topped with sweet, crunchy pecans. Sweet and savoury, youll want to order it again for dessert.

A legend of the sandwich scene, Crouch Hills lunchtime lot are in luck with Maxs Ham Egg and Chips. Slow cooked ham hock is topped with oozing fried egg, matchstick fries, piccalilli and malt vinegar mayonnaise. Our own Fay Maschler cant resist this place.

Matt Writtle

For somewhere so high up, Hutong is pretty warm. Looking down from the 33rd floor of the Shard, this dish of fried soft shell crab is left warm in a bowlful of dried Sichuan chillies, soaking up their smokey spice.

When New York master baker Dominique Ansel opened his first European site in Victoria, this hybrid Franken Pastry that merges a croissant and a doughnut led to queues of several hours. Bite into its fluffy, buttery, flaky goodness and youll instantly understand the appeal.

Anna Hansens Asian-influenced signature dish, served at The Modern Pantry restaurant in Clerkenwell.

Flaky buttery pastry encasing tender venison, a highlight of the dim sum at Alan Yaus Soho restaurant.

These plump green olives stuffed with chilli and deep fried might just be Londons most noshable nibble. They are juicy, spicy, slightly salty and endlessly addictive. Wash them down with some of Mele e Peres homemade vermouth.

The beef at this Marylebone Basque restaurant is something special. It comes from cows which live until they are at least eight, often 10 and sometimes 14. These cows are fatter, which leads to more marbling in the meat and a lot more flavour.

Playful takes on British classics are a signature of this restaurant set in Mayfairs The Stafford hotel. Top of the pile is this retro Kiev of tender chicken that oozes with ultra-garlicky, truffle-laced butter. The accompanying mash is dreamily creamy, too.

More a ham cave than a bar, Maltby Streets Bar Tozino is so full of hanging hams that youll likely smell the ageing meat even before walking through the door. Settle in and gorge your way through slice after slice of the varying options, washing it all down with sherry ideally.

A deep, smoky mince curry served with bread rolls an example of less is more at this Mayfair Michelin-starred Indian.

Iconic in its defiant simplicity, this signature dish is ultimate comfort food. Comfort food made with A-listers in mind, naturally.

Neither restaurants or dishes get more iconic than this. Fergus Hendersons best-known creation has been much emulated over the years, but never bettered.

Theres a high chance that theres more butter in this than polenta, along with plenty of mushrooms, truffle and parmesan. This is the highlight dish on a menu of highlights.

When the original Barrafina launched in Soho in 2007 modelled on Barcelona tapas bar Cal Pep it helped introduce the city to both Spanish food and counter dining. Croquetas are among the most popular items on the menu at all three Barrafina restaurants, with different signature serves at each. They might just be the best in town.

Sabor, the Spanish powerhouse from former Barrafina chef Nieves Barragn Mohacho, has lots to offer across its tapas bar, restaurant and upstairs asador. This simple plate of salty, oil-rich anchovies laid on bright white sheets of shaved lardo is as simple as it comes, but all the better for it. Best eaten counterside with a sherry in hand and southern Spain in mind.

Prepare to wait in line for this Borough Market classic: a ciabatta roll stuffed to bursting with smoky chorizo fresh from the grill, roasted red peppers and rocket. Its a good to start the day as it is to soak up a few pints later on.

These soft corn tortillas filled with cured pork thats been cooked doner kebab-style are the salty, saliva-inducing highlight at this Borough Market taco joint.

This canny creation from Heston Blumenthal takes inspiration from c1500. It combines mandarin, chicken liver and foie gras in a pt, and resembles a mandarin.

For pizza traditionalists, Santa Maria do it like in old Napoli. The San Daniele doesnt have any tomato sauce, but is topped instead with cherry tomatoes, rocket, parmesan shavings and generous amounts of excellent quality San Daniele Parma ham. See more of the best pizzas in London.

People have been known to fall out arguing which of Brick Lanes two neighbouring all-night bagel shops is best, but we have no definitive answer. Both offer superbly moist salt beef and sweet, chewy bagel perfection. Have one of each.

Getty Images

Leave your airs and graces at the door at Lahore, where its all about you and the amazing things they do with that grill. Lamb chops is the star dish at the worthy cult favourite.

Once you get over the fact that the pizzas are a whopping 20 inches, Homeslices exciting toppings get their own gawping rights. This middle eastern creation is fresh, crunchy and served on their wonderful garlic base. Purists need not apply.

Theres plenty of cheeseburgers in London, but theres also the Ari Gold: a 35 day aged Aberdeen Angus patty dripping with gooey American cheese and smokey P&B mayo, topped with salad and home-pickled red onion rings.

The British beauty that is the scotch egg has to be the ultimate pub snack. And this well seasoned, gamey, reliably runny-yolked version served at Londons only Michelin-starred gastropub is the leader of its kind.

When it comes to steak, Hawksmoor is the daddy. It doesnt matter what cut you go for or which accompaniments you choose, its almost impossible to go wrong. Oh, but do get some bone marrow.

A bacon sarnie, Indian style. A London breakfast classic, especially well-received when a hangover lurks.

The fat strips of tender, slow-cooked beef are a highlight among many high points at the smoke-filled Shoreditch base of David Carters Smokestak. They come either straight-up, with a punchy homemade ketchup, or crammed into a bun.

Seafood supremos Wright Brothers are all about the oysters. Think this snack is only for the fanciest of folks? Head there between 3pm and 6pm, Monday to Friday to pick them up for just 1 a go.

Yes, vegan food can be high end. Jason Atherton proves this with gusto at his flagship Mayfair restaurant, where this autumnal dish is the star of his Michelin-starred all-vegan tasting menu.

Vegan food can, however, get down and dirty with the best of them. This punchy, spicy jackfruit taco from Club Mexicana gives pulled pork a serious run for its money.

Vegetable dishes dont come much more thrilling than this smoky, richly-spiced whole cauliflower charred on the grill and adorned with tahini, pomegranate seeds and pine nuts. A match for any meat dish.

Spicy, rich and intense, the lamb offal flatbread created by Lee Tiernan at haute kebab spot Black Axe Mangal in Islington is as fabulously full-on as the heavy metal-playing restaurant itself.

You can take your pick from Calum Franklins pies at Holborn Dining Room, because they are all outstanding. The chef is pastry wizard, who works his magic across a range that includes an anything but humble pork pie, and seasonal specials such as curried mutton pie with mango chutney.

These picture-perfect deep-fried courgette flowers stuffed with goats cheese and drizzled in honey are full of Mediterranean splendour.

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Fay Maschler on The Betterment: Atmosphere of a nightclub crossed with a board room, but it may pick up - Evening Standard

Toby Young has apologised to Philip Hammond after he said the former chancellors suggestion that Boris Johnson was backed by speculators who have bet billions on a no-deal Brexit was antisemitic.

Hammond, following on from similar comments made by Johnsons sister, Rachel, made no mention of the religion or ethnicity of the speculators supporting the prime minister in his warning in the Times on Saturday that there is only one outcome that works for them: a crash-out no-deal Brexit that sends the currency tumbling and inflation soaring.

However, on Twitter Young accused Hammond of propagating a disgusting antisemitic controversy that Boris is being manipulated by a secret cabal of city financiers who stand to profit from economic ruin.

Youngs comments prompted a furious response from Hammond, one of 21 MPs who lost the Tory whip for backing legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit, who said on Sunday that they were absurd and defamatory. He also said he was considering taking legal action.

Following the threat to sue, Young deleted the tweet shortly before midnight on Sunday, and issued an apology while maintaining that speculators is sometimes used as a euphemism for Jewish financiers.

Hedge fund managers who have backed Johnson include Crispin Odey, a fund manager who has also previously endorsed Vote Leave and Ukip. Over the summer it was reported that his fund had made a 300m bet against British businesses and stood to profit from an economic slump in the UK. However, the fund also backed other British companies. Odey has denied backing a no-deal Brexit as a shorting opportunity.

The Financial Times quoted a senior No 10 official responding to Hammond by saying certain MPs are sounding like conspiracy theorists rather than former cabinet ministers with this kind of absurd and undignified mudslinging.

Young is close to the prime minister, having been a columnist at the Spectator when Johnson was its editor. Johnson opened Youngs West London free school in 2011 and defended his ex-colleague when his appointment last year to the executive board of the Office for Students, the newly created higher education regulator, was criticised.

Youngs selection was called into question over his lack of qualifications for the role, exaggerated CV and long track record of offensive remarks. But Johnson, then foreign secretary, described the journalist as the ideal man for the job and condemned the ridiculous outcry surrounding his appointment.

Young eventually stepped down from the role following criticism by then prime minister, Theresa May, and amid further controversy over his espousal of what he called progressive eugenics.

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Toby Young apologises for accusing Hammond of antisemitism - The Guardian

The Von KleinSmid Center for International Relations stands tall with its distinct globed tower high above campus. Under the structures grand arches, more than 100 international flags drape over its walkways, representing the home countries of international students at the University.

The image of the building emblematic of the University itself is one of diversity and inclusion, but the Von KleinSmid Center is named after a president who carries a highly acclaimed, yet controversial legacy regarding just that. During his term as a University administrator, Von KleinSmid involved himself in the field of eugenics, a growing social science movement popularized in the early 20th century that encouraged reproduction of desirable traits, generally among whites, while discouraging reproduction in people with negative traits, particularly the poor, ethnic minorities and those deemed intellectually inferior.

Von KleinSmid accomplished much that is familiar to the Trojan legacy, such as creating significant scholarship programs, expanding campus land and increasing the Universitys population.

His presidency, which spanned from 1921 to 1947, occurred during a period of great political, social and technological change throughout the Great Depression and World War II.

When the eugenics movement began taking root in the 1920s, USC was not exempt from the elite educational institutions that supported it.

[The field] was mainstream enough to be embraced by a wide array of scientists and experts and reformers who saw it as a way to solve social problems, like immigration and industrialization, that was shaping modern America, said Alexandra Stern, a professor at the University of Michigan whose research specializes in the history of eugenics, society and justice.

Von KleinSmids scholarship went hand-in-hand with those of other senior-level administrators from schools like the California Institute of Technology, Stanford University, UC Berkeley and UCLA, according to Stern. Von KleinSmid published Eugenics and the State, and the publication was presented to the Cincinnati Academy of Medicine in 1913 eight years before the start of his term as USCs president. It called for states to preserve their society through segregation of inferior groups and forced sterilization.

A third method of handling the problem is suggested, namely, sterilization, Von KleinSmid wrote. We must all agree that those who, in the nature of the case, can do little else than pass on to their offsprings the defects which make themselves burdens to society, have no ethical right to parenthood.

Von KleinSmid was a proponent of sterilization as an aspect of the eugenics movement since its inception.

Clearly, [Von KleinSmid] was [involved] since the emergence of the eugenics movement, specifically with the push for sterilization, Stern said.

While serving as president, Von KleinSmid, alongside other USC administrators and professors, donated to or were members of regional and national eugenic groups. These groups invested in research and education to influence sterilization policies in California, since the states first law which allowed sterilization in 1909.

Its safe to say that USC leaders played an active role in the eugenics movement, Stern said of the period during Von KleinSmids presidency.

Stern also acknowledged that eugenics was especially popular among upper intellectual circles, as it transitioned from a fringe scientific movement to a mainstream field.

During his presidency, Von KleinSmid co-founded the Human Betterment Foundation in 1928, a Pasadena-based think thank that promoted compulsory sterilization internationally as a mechanism for improving civilization. According to Kirsten Spicer in A Nation of Imbeciles, a 2015 paper published in the Chapman Historical Review, members of the HBF influenced Nazi Germanys eugenics-based ideology through connections with top German intellectuals and officials.

However, Von KleinSmids ties to the HBF were not the only USC-related connection to eugenics. According to documents from the Human Betterment Foundation, two USC sociology professors, Emory Bogardus and Kingsley Davis, were registered members, while other staff members and administrators were linked to the American Eugenics Society, a national eugenics group.

According to Stern, some sociology and social work students at USC were also trained with a eugenics-inspired framework in their curriculum, which was popularized in the 1920s to 1940s as the national movement grew.

USC trained people in social work programs to conduct studies thatoperated in the eugenics framework with inferior and superior demographics, Stern said. She also said the faculty who supported this curriculum were interested in social issues of the time, like immigration and the creation of a healthier, fitter society.

When asked for comment, USC Provost Michael Quick responded by emphasizing the Universitys need to continually press on toward a more inclusive environment and to engage in thoughtful discussion on these issues.

However, the movement and the HBFs popularity among intellectuals declined in the 1930s with increased opposition to Germanys racist and religious policies, according to Spicer.

Still president during this tumultuous, historical time, Von KleinSmid denounced Germanys policies upon returning from a trip to Europe.

The edicts against the Jews in Germany are as terrible as they can be, Von KleinSmid said in a memo sent from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. This non-Aryan persecution affects even the higher institutions of learning and the program is rigorous almost beyond expression. The memo noted that his statement was surprising, due to the HBFs ties with German officials.

However, the eugenicist agenda lingered until 1979, when California repealed its sterilization law. From 1909 until 1979, California performed approximately 20,000 forced sterilizations on its citizens. Madrigal v. Quilligan, a controversial lawsuit, arose out of 10 sterilizations of Latina women at the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Hospital in the early 1970s.

Although administrative officials did not play a part in the doctoral decisions that unwillfully sterilized the Latina women represented, these events harken back to the ideologies of the time. The Madrigal case ruled in favor of the doctors at the hospital.

Von KleinSmids contributions to the Universitys history is multifaceted and complex: It is one full of accomplishments, but also of controversial ideologies that conflict with USCs present message of diversity and inclusion.

Under Von KleinSmid, there was a lot of growth, which included the establishment of additional professional schools and colleges and the expansion of the student body and the physical campus that is USC today, said Claude Zachary, the University Archivist.

According to documents from the University archives, during Von KleinSmids administration, USC expanded from eight colleges to 26, with the creation of a school for international relations and development of the first cinematic arts school in the U.S.

The University became nationally accredited and expanded its international outreach, with international students comprising 10 percent of the student body. Von KleinSmid also developed a scholarship program for foreign students who were to return to their homes after their studies and implement their skills to better their countries.

Despite his accomplishments as an internationalist, there was historical evidence of Von KleinSmids hostility toward Japanese Americans. In a book titled From Concentration Camp to Campus: Japanese American Students and World War II, Von KleinSmid was described as openly hostile to Japanese American students and denied their requested transcripts in the aftermath of the war.

In 1946, Von KleinSmid stepped down as president to become chancellor of USC, a role that he would take on until his death in 1955. Two decades later, the Von KleinSmid Center for International and Public Affairs was constructed and dedicated to the former president.

Von KleinSmid was a prominent intellectual figure who held a variety of viewpoints across his lifetime. Von KleinSmids leadership helped shape USCs present-day image through various educational and structural developments, and while he is remembered as an internationalist and an influential educator, his history as a eugenicist and a co-founder of the Human Betterment Foundation still exists to reflect contentious ideologies.

With every generation, there is a need to recommit to the ideals of what it means to live in a democracy, what it means to enact equality and what it means to be an engaged citizen, Quick said in an email to the Daily Trojan. Such actions bring us a little closer to the ideals we all envision, as the standards for what is acceptable and what is no longer tolerable evolve USC must grapple with these issues as well, but we should do so in a way that all universities should with an examination of the facts, with thoughtful reflection and with rigorous debate. And, most importantly, with a commitment to fundamental values we stand against hate and racism; we stand for inclusion, respect and the appreciation of differences.

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Untold history: How Rufus von KleinSmid supported the eugenics movement at USC - Daily Trojan Online

Recently, a CBS news crew traveled to Iceland, producing a report titled Inside the country where Down syndrome is disappearing. As much as it sounds like it, the headline is not clickbait or hyperbole: In Iceland, nearly every women who undergoes prenatal testing and whose fetus receives a diagnosis of Down syndrome decides to end her pregnancy. Each year, according to their sources, only a child or two is born with Down syndrome in Iceland.

Up to 85% of pregnant women in Iceland choose to take prenatal testing. The specific test in question, which CBS calls the combination test, takes into account ultrasound images, a blood draw, and a mothers age to determine the likelihood that a fetus has Down syndrome. (Older mothers are more likely to have babies with Down syndrome because chromosomal errors are more likely as women age.)

In essence, pregnant women in Icelandand presumably their partnersare saying that life with disability is not worth living. It is one thing to decide that a child who will never walk, talk, feed herself, or engage with caregivers may not have a good quality of life. But children with Down syndrome do not fit this description. If a woman doesnt want to have a child with Down syndrome, their bar for what qualifies as a life worth living is set quite high. Are babies who are born deaf destined to lead a worthwhile life? What about babies with cleft palates, which can be corrected but leave a visible scar?

Heres the interesting thing: Down syndrome, or Trisomy 21 as it is also called, is actually one of the less severe chromosomal conditions. Unlike many other trisomies (genetic conditions in which a person has three copies of a chromosome instead of the standard two), its compatible with life.

People with Down syndrome have an extra copy of their 21st chromosome, which causes intellectual delays and readily identifiable facial features such as almond-shaped eyes. But the way that Down syndrome expresses itself in an individual can be highly variable. About half of babies born with Down syndrome have heart defects that require surgical correction. Some children with Down syndrome grow up to be adults who go to college and get married; others never live independently.

Can she live a full life without without ever solving a quadratic equation? Without reading Dostoyevsky? Im pretty sure she can.I have interviewed Amy Julia Becker many times over the years. Becker wrote a book about her daughter, Penny, who has Down syndrome. In A Good and Perfect Gift, Becker, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Princeton, chronicles her shift in thinking about intelligence. Pre-Penny, she had assumed that being smart is a prerequisite for being happy and fulfilled. Post-Penny, she changed her mind. Can she live a full life without without ever solving a quadratic equation? Without reading Dostoyevsky? Im pretty sure she can. Can I live a full life without learning to cherish and welcome those in this world who are different from me? Im pretty sure I cant.

Deciding what sorts of lives are worth living brings us disturbingly close to the bygone era of eugenics, when only the right sorts of people were supposed to procreate.

In 1927, a US Supreme Court decision upheld the right of the state of Virginia to sterilize Carrie Buck, whose daughter, Vivian, was deemed to be feeble-minded. Paul Lombardo, a professor of law at Georgia State University who is an expert on eugenics, believes that Vivian was in fact of normal intelligence. Eventuallyand fortunatelyeugenics fell out of favor, and several US states have issued apologies to people who were forcibly sterilized over the years. Yet the bias against people with disabilities is still very much evident.

When I interviewed Lombardo for my book, The Gene Machine: How Genetic Technologies Are Changing the Way We Have KidsAnd the Kids We Have, he noted that theres a long list of physical and mental disabilities that people find discomfiting. At the top of that list? Intellectual disabilities.In other words, Down syndrome and other similar conditions that result in people not being able to pursue a PhD or do quantum physics are often seen as bigger impediments to a life worth living than physical impairments. But is that our choice to make for them?

Deciding that people with Down syndrome dont live worthwhile lives can snowball into a groupthink situation. It will become less and less acceptable to raise a child with Down syndrome, and that will translate into fewer support services available to parents who decide to buck the trend. The lack of support will further encourage women to terminate their pregnancies, leading to even fewer babies born with the condition in the future. If we continue to follow this path, the disappearance of Down syndrome will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. And to what end?

You can follow Bonnie on Twitter. Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

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Down syndrome in Iceland: The disturbing, eugenics-like reality that ... - Quartz

Brian Mark Weber Aug. 18, 2017

In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, readers are presented with a dystopian vision of the future in which the whole process of conception and birth is delegated to the scientific community. Parents have no emotional connection to their children, and motherhood itself is considered embarrassing and obscene.

The novel, written in 1931, seemed far-fetched at the time. Yet it wasnt long after Huxley penned his dark and frightening tale that science and politics began to consider the implications, and the possibilities, of playing God with human reproduction in order to bring about desired results.

Columnist David Harsanyi writes, [Negative selection eugenics] was the rationalization behind the coerced sterilization of thousands of mentally ill, poor, and minorities here in America. It is why real-life Nazis required doctors to register all newborns born with Down syndrome. And the first humans they gassed were children under three years old with serious hereditary diseases like Down syndrome.

But why wait? Aborting unborn children with Down syndrome is gaining acceptance once again, and the latest wave of news is from Iceland. Yet the childs suffering or the elimination of a human life doesnt seem to be part of the conversation, nor does the post-abortion health of the mother.

Whats interesting is that, according to Kevin Burke in the Washington Examiner, About 80 percent of parents facing the same diagnosis, who were provided with the option of perinatal hospice care for the child and family, chose to carry their disabled child to term. Apparently, most parents planning to abort their children dont receive this advice.

Burke adds, Those who advocate for routine screening to detect fetal disabilities also fail to advise parents of the potential for serious post-abortion reactions. The fallout from this loss can place a tremendous strain on couples as they struggle with the shock and pain that can follow the abortion. Some abortion advocates may concede that some women suffer symptoms of depression and grief immediately after termination of disabled babies, but they see this as a short-term condition. Research, however, confirms that women often suffer symptoms of emotional trauma and complicated grief years after such procedures.

Sadly, and just like the people in Brave New World, Icelanders no longer seem to value human life. Parents who fail to think of their unborn child as human are less likely to keep their child when the options are presented to them.

As Helga Sol Olafsdottir, a counselor at Landspitali University Hospital, helpfully explains, We dont look at abortion as a murder. We look at it as a thing that we ended. We ended a possible life that may have had a huge complication preventing suffering for the child and for the family.

A thing? If children are considered things, then it cant be long before countries like Iceland start passing their own version of Nazi Germanys Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring.

How far away is it when people like Princeton University professor Elizabeth Harman say, Some early fetuses will die in early pregnancy due to abortion or miscarriage. And in my view that is a very different kind of entity. Thats something that doesnt have a future as a person and it doesnt have moral status.

While those on the Left may rush to defend a program that frees parents from the burden of raising a disabled child, they should seriously think about the implications of going down this path.

The situation is not much better in the United States, where nearly two-thirds of American women whose prenatal screening tests reveal Down syndrome choose to have an abortion. Fortunately, theres still some resistance at the political level.

Harsanyi notes, A number of U.S. states have passed or want to pass laws that would ban abortions sought due to fetal genetic abnormalities, such as Down syndrome, or because of the race, sex, or ethnicity of a fetus. Such a U.S. House bill failed in 2012. Most Democrats involved claimed to be against sex-selective abortion, but not one gave a reason why. Probably because once you admit that these theoretical choices equate to real-life consequences, like eugenics, you are conceding that these are lives were talking about, not blobs.

And what if science develops to the point where we can identify other traits in humanity that parents may find undesirable: a genetic heart condition or a low IQ or, where it would really hit home for leftists, homosexuality? Gender-based abortions of girls are already the norm in Communist China. When society reaches the point where only desirable children are allowed to enter this world, are we still a civilization? And if a free society lacks the moral compass to speak out against this practice, how can we oppose another government that one day might decide that Jews, Africans or Christians are a problem?

These are the questions that should be asked before science allows us to discover even more undesirable traits in unborn children, and before the political class yields to social and cultural decay. Lets face it: Were living in a Brave New World today. But unlike the society in Huxleys novel, we must summon the courage and decency to end the ghastly practice of eugenics.

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Brian Mark Weber: The 'Brave New World' of Down Syndrome ... - Patriot Post

REYKJAVIK A new report by CBS is raising concern as it highlights the fact that nearly all women in the Nordic nation of Iceland who receive a Down syndrome diagnosis obtain an abortionto the point that children with Down syndrome have been nearly eradicated.

We dont look at abortion as a murder, Helga Sol Olafsdottir of Landspitali University Hospital in Ryekjavik told the outlet. We look at it as a thing that we ended. We ended a possible life that may have had a huge complication preventing suffering for the child and for the family.

And I think that is more right than seeing it as a murder. Thats so black and white. Life isnt black and white. Life is grey, she asserted.

In Iceland, an estimated 80 to 85 percent of pregnant women choose to take theCombination Test, which is able todetermine whether or not a child in the womb has an extra chromosome or similar abnormality. The number of Down syndrome babies born each year has therefore decreased to only two or three,since the vast majority of preborn children with the conditionare aborted.

When asked if some women experience guilt for killing their child,Olafsdottir replied, Of course, but advised that she tells the mothers, This is your life. You have the right to choose how your life will look like.

While Iceland has a nearly 100 percent abortion rate surrounding Downs diagnoses, other nations are not far behind. In Denmark, the rate is 98 percent, and in France, 77 percent of Down syndrome babies never get to have birthday. Areported 67 percent of American women also choose an abortion due to a Down syndrome diagnosis.

View the full report below.

The CBS report has been startling for a number of viewers, includingKurt Kondrich ofHuman Coalition Pittsburgh, whose 14-year-old daughter Chloe has Down syndrome.

This represents the ultimate, extreme form of eugenics, he told Christian News Network, and there should be an international outcry to end this genocide against beautiful people who fill the world with unconditional love and genuine purity.

As previously reported, Chloewas the inspiration behind a Pennsylvania bill, signed into law in 2014, thataims to help save the lives of Down syndrome babies who would otherwise be aborted. She also visited the UN this past year to speak against the murder of children like herself, and met with Vice President Mike Pence as well to be a voice forlife.

In 1928, capital punishment was abolished in Iceland, Kondrich noted, but now this country is systematically executing a group of citizens prenatally who have committed no crimes, hurt and offended no one, and who do not deserve prenatal capital punishment when they are completely innocent.

The culture of Iceland and many other countries are truly disabled by allowing this prenatal slaughter of diverse, beautiful people who have many abilities and commit no horrific acts of hate, violence, prejudice or racism in a world filled with evil, helamented.

Kondrich said that he believes that prenatal testing, such as the Combination Test, is a slippery slope that can result in other forms of eugenics in order to weed out those society finds to be imperfect or undesirable.

As science rapidly increases and genetic codes are unlocked, we should ask who will be targeted next prenatally, he explained. What if the genetic codes for depression, autism, ADHD, baldness, shortness, brown eyes, etc. are unlocked and then used to prenatally eliminate more people our society labels defective? In some cultures, prenatal testing is used to identify and terminate females because women are viewed as inferior; where is the outcry from womens rights groups?

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Report: Nearly All Women in Iceland Who Receive Down Syndrome Diagnosis Obtain Abortion - Christian News Network

Summary: A Middle Tennessee jail was offering birth control services to male and female inmates for 30 days off their sentence.

A federal lawsuit alleges that a Tennessee jail traded birth control procedures for 30 days off an inmates sentence. The controversial practice is referred to as a modern day eugenics scheme in the lawsuit filed by advocacy lawyers of a pro bono legal group of a national GPS monitoring company.

President and CEO Mike Donovan of Nexus Services Inc. said, This case is nothing more than a modern day eugenics scheme. Donovan claims that Judge Sam Benningfield, White County Sheriff Oddie Shoupe, and his staff were playing God.

The lawsuit alleges that Shoupe was trying to sterilize as many inmates as possible by offering up a deal. Inmates could get 30 days taken off their sentence if they went in for a birth control procedure that was in violation of their constitutional rights. A Nexus lawyer explains that 42 men received vasectomies and 35 women got birth control implants.

One inmate, Christel Ward, agreed to get the implant but she never received time off her sentence. Now that she is out of jail, it will cost $250 to have the implant removed. The lawsuit wants the county program declared unconstitutional and Wards implant to be removed at no cost to her.

White County in middle Tennessee is south of Cookeville with a population of 26,000 people. The most common crimes involve theft and drugs with 1,500 cases filed each year. Residents of the area say there isnt a family in town that hasnt been affected by opiates.

Benningfield says he was approached by state health department to present a two-day class on the effects of drugs on fetuses. He started off by giving two days off a sentence for those that agreed to attend the class. To get more inmates interested in the class, he announced a standing offer in May for inmates to get out of jail faster in order to save the judicial economy and the administration of justice. This meant female inmates would get the birth control arm implant Nexplanon for free and men would get a vasectomy for free. He told reporters, Hopefully while theyre staying here we rehabilitate them so they never come back. No male ended up receiving a vasectomy.

The ACLU of Tennessee calls the practice a coercive and unconstitutional program. They said, Offering a so-called choice between jail time and coerced contraception or sterilization is unconstitutional. The judge in this program imposed an intrusive medical procedure on individuals who are not in a position to reject it.

The program ran for two months before Judge Benningfield rescinded the order, claiming the Tennessee Department of Health would not offer free birth control services any longer.

The lawsuit lists Benningfield, Shoupe, White County, and Donna Daniels, a sheriffs deputy, as defendants. Judge Benningfield only handles misdemeanor crimes with a maximum sentence of just under one year. He justified his order by stating, It occurred to me that many of the same women I had incarcerated were the very same from whom I was having to remove their children in my role as the juvenile judge because they were born addicted to drugs.

Do you think the program is unconstitutional? Tell us in the comments below.

To learn more about jail sentence deals, read these articles:

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Tennessee Jail Practiced Modern Eugenics on Inmates - JDJournal.com