Linux-Misc Digest #237, Volume #21 Sat, 31 Jul 99 20:13:17 EDT
Contents:
Re: LOST ROOT PASSWORD (Gergo Barany)
Re: What I think of linux. (Tim Hanson)
Re: CD-ROM not playing audio CDs (Justin B Willoughby)
Linux Counter: 109930 registered Linux users ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: LILO -- on a machine without Linux??? (Justin B Willoughby)
Re: What I think of linux. (Tim Hanson)
Perl Help ("Scott Galloway")
NFS problems ("R. Jackson")
fdformat > 1.44 ?? ("Alex Abreu")
Re: dselect/dpkg corrupting /var/lib/dpkg/* (Otavio Exel)
Re: Unix2dos ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: Netscape Navigator - what platform for Red Hat 6.0? ("R.K.Aa")
Re: Marx vs. Nozick (Jerry Lynn Kreps)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Gergo Barany)
Subject: Re: LOST ROOT PASSWORD
Date: 31 Jul 1999 22:35:24 GMT
On Fri, 30 Jul 1999 20:21:18 GMT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I use RH.
>I tried the procedure in the LDP installation and getting started
>guide for a lost password as an exercise.
>i booted using the boot/rescue disk combination and mounted the /
>using mount -t ext2 /dev/sda5 /mnt
>this enabled me to edit the /etc/passwd file using vi.
>the instructions said setting the password field to blank for root
>would result in a blank password.
>guess what - it didnt.
>now i am locked out of my system.
>i can easily trash it but i would like to know how to recover if it
>happened in the real world.
Well, what is the entry in /etc/passwd now, and what was it before you
edited it? Do you maybe use shadow passwords?
Gergo
--
I knew her before she was a virgin.
-- Oscar Levant, on Doris Day
GU d- s:+ a--- C++>$ UL+++ P>++ L+++ E>++ W+ N++ o? K- w--- !O !M !V
PS+ PE+ Y+ PGP+ t* 5+ X- R>+ tv++ b+>+++ DI+ D+ G>++ e* h! !r !y+
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Tim Hanson)
Crossposted-To: alt.linux,alt.linux.sux,alt.os.linux,comp.os.linux.advocacy
Subject: Re: What I think of linux.
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 22:39:29 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
John Hasler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>alann writes:
>> I would be curious as to the average age of Linux users. I'm 34.
>
>Be patient. You'll grow up some day.
>
Maybe in other places you can get away with such pedantic arrogance, but not
here. BTW I'm 51, so these personal attacks won't work on me, either.
>> First computer I ever had my hands on was a Commodore PET. That was a
>> LONG time ago.
>
>I guess it might seem that way to a 34 year old.
>
This is a typical reaction from who has nothing else going for him except his
age.
>> How many are over 40...
>
>I'm 52.
>
<snip> the continuing stream of almost unreadable arrogance.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Justin B Willoughby)
Subject: Re: CD-ROM not playing audio CDs
Date: 31 Jul 1999 22:50:23 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Justin B Willoughby)
Matt Garman ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) writes:
> The CD-ROM in my computer recently refuses to play audio CDs through
> the soundcard. This CD-ROM reads data CDs correctly, i.e. it is
> completely fine with regards to data CDs. When I try to play an audio
> CD, though, it doesn't come through the soundcard. I can plug
> headphones into the CD-ROM itself and hear the audio CD being played.
> I have a cable that I bought a while back that connects the CD-ROM to
> the soundcard. Playing audio CDs through the CD-ROM used to work
> fine, but now just doesn't. It doesn't work under Windows, either, so
> I'm pretty sure it's not a software problem.
>
Can you play other audio files through your sound card, like wav files for
example.
It could be your audio cable || sound card || cdrom.
In my experience I would say it is either the audio cable that connects
the cdrom to the sound card or the sound card itself.
It would help to know if you can play any sounds through your sound card.
- Justin
--
_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ RULES!! * LINUX RULES *
_/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ Justin Willoughby
_/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ http://justinw.net
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ ---- Jesus Is Lord ----
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Linux Counter: 109930 registered Linux users
Date: 31 Jul 1999 23:00:07 GMT
This is the monthly report from the Linux Usage Counter.
It is posted on the 1st of every month on the newsgroup
comp.os.linux.misc
Registration and information is available via the World
Wide Web; connect to URL http://counter.li.org/
This is the preferred interface to the counter.
NOTE: You can UPDATE your record in the counter if you have
your registration key, which was sent to you when you registered.
EMAIL:
To enter your registration into the statistics, send an E-mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED], with the SUBJECT line being one of
I use Linux at home
I use Linux at work
I use Linux at school
The reply will contain information about how to register more
information about yourself, your machine and your friends, if you
want to.
If you can't do Web, you can get the reports by sending the counter
an E-mail containing in the BODY one of the lines
//REPORT short
//REPORT persons
//REPORT machines
//HELP
Any questions should be adressed to the maintainer of the counter,
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Good luck!
=================================================================
This is the Linux Counter summary as of Sat Jul 31 17:45:25 1999
There are 109930 persons registerd.
3058 users have been registered by friends.
There are 59390 machines registered.
I guesstimate that between 0.2% and 5% of all Linux users have
registered with the Linux Counter.
So the total number of Linux users is probably between
2,198,600 and 54,965,000 people.
WHERE LINUX USERS LIVE
The table is sorted by number of Linux users divided by population
No Country Pers Fri Mach P/Mpop Mpop
======================================================================
1 AQ Antarctica 4 0 0 972.1 0.0
2 NO Norway 2535 51 1077 578.3 4.4
3 FI Finland 2789 57 1353 546.3 5.1
4 DK Denmark 2378 17 849 453.0 5.2
5 IS Iceland 121 4 67 447.7 0.3
6 SE Sweden 3784 62 1795 425.1 8.9
7 GI Gibraltar 8 1 11 278.1 0.0
8 SI Slovenia 510 8 130 261.3 2.0
9 EE Estonia 326 17 214 223.4 1.5
10 NL Netherlands 3060 52 1411 196.6 15.6
11 AT Austria 1328 31 670 165.5 8.0
12 CA Canada 4745 84 2230 164.6 28.8
13 AU Australia 2648 49 1397 145.0 18.3
14 US USA 36583 17 17422 137.3 266.5
15 NZ New Zealand 484 3 307 136.4 3.5
16 CH Switzerland 944 17 516 131.0 7.2
17 LU Luxembourg 50 0 12 120.2 0.4
18 HU Hungary 1201 47 674 120.1 10.0
19 BE Belgium 1176 525 554 115.6 10.2
20 FO Faroe Islands 5 0 2 114.0 0.0
21 IE Ireland 372 5 180 104.3 3.6
22 DE Germany 8573 189 4248 102.6 83.5
23 MC Monaco 3 1 3 94.6 0.0
24 SG Singapore 305 7 117 89.8 3.4
25 GL Greenland 5 0 1 85.9 0.1
26 AD Andorra 6 0 4 82.5 0.1
27 IL Israel 441 14 178 81.3 5.4
28 CY Cyprus 60 0 5 80.6 0.7
29 GB Great Britain 4698 111 2260 80.3 58.5
30 FR France 4504 114 1604 77.2 58.3
31 VG Virgin Islands (British) 1 0 0 75.8 0.0
32 ES Spain 2958 33 772 75.5 39.2
33 PT Portugal 649 10 259 65.8 9.9
34 KR Korea (South) 2551 17 329 56.1 45.5
35 HR Croatia 244 6 60 48.8 5.0
36 LT Lithuania 166 3 84 45.5 3.6
37 GR Greece 477 16 178 45.3 10.5
38 CZ Czech Republic 409 16 247 39.6 10.3
39 UY Uruguay 126 0 25 38.9 3.2
40 MT Malta 14 0 6 37.3 0.4
41 IT Italy 2137 67 816 37.2 57.5
42 CR Costa Rica 127 0 58 36.7 3.5
43 PL Poland 1335 55 826 34.5 38.6
44 BM Bermuda 2 0 4 32.2 0.1
45 LI Liechtenstein 1 0 3 32.1 0.0
46 GU Guam 5 0 0 31.9 0.2
47 KY Cayman Islands 1 0 2 28.9 0.0
48 BB Barbados 7 0 2 27.2 0.3
49 BN Brunei 8 0 3 26.7 0.3
50 BG Bulgaria 227 6 99 26.4 8.6
51 SC Seychelles 2 0 0 25.8 0.1
52 SK Slovakia 128 1 90 23.8 5.4
53 BR Brazil 3853 53 813 23.7 162.7
54 RO Romania 508 36 240 23.5 21.7
55 BZ Belize 5 0 5 22.8 0.2
56 MV Maldives 6 0 1 22.2 0.3
57 VI Virgin Islands (U.S.) 2 0 1 20.6 0.1
58 TW Taiwan 431 4 161 20.1 21.5
59 MP Northern Mariana Islands 1 0 1 19.1 0.1
60 LV Latvia 45 0 37 18.2 2.5
61 AR Argentina 626 7 171 18.1 34.7
62 MY Malaysia 348 7 79 17.4 20.0
63 MH Marshall Islands 1 0 0 17.1 0.1
64 CL Chile 233 6 99 16.3 14.3
65 ZA South Africa 677 12 303 16.2 41.7
66 NC New Caledonia 3 0 8 16.0 0.2
67 BS Bahamas 4 0 2 15.4 0.3
68 AW Aruba 1 0 0 14.8 0.1
69 TT Trinidad and Tobago 17 1 5 13.4 1.3
70 PF French Polynesia 3 0 4 13.3 0.2
71 VE Venezuela 268 1 87 12.2 22.0
72 TR Turkey 715 9 140 11.4 62.5
73 KW Kuwait 21 0 4 10.8 2.0
74 BH Bahrain 6 0 3 10.2 0.6
75 MO Macau 5 0 0 10.1 0.5
76 MQ Martinique 4 0 1 10.0 0.4
77 PA Panama 26 0 12 9.8 2.7
78 PR Puerto Rico 37 0 13 9.7 3.8
79 AN Netherlands Antilles 2 0 1 9.6 0.2
80 YU Yugoslavia (Serbia and Monte 102 6 57 9.5 10.8
81 RU Russia 1393 35 558 9.4 148.2
82 TN Tunisia 83 0 11 9.2 9.0
83 NA Namibia 15 0 10 8.9 1.7
84 FM Micronesia, Federated States 1 0 0 8.0 0.1
85 MU Mauritius 9 0 2 7.9 1.1
86 MX Mexico 745 17 247 7.8 95.8
87 RE Reunion 5 0 1 7.4 0.7
88 JP Japan 851 7 247 6.8 125.4
89 MK Macedonia 14 2 4 6.7 2.1
90 LC Saint Lucia 1 0 0 6.3 0.2
91 AE United Arab Emirates 19 1 13 6.2 3.1
92 UA Ukraine 312 10 138 6.1 50.9
93 CO Colombia 209 2 76 5.7 36.8
94 BA Bosnia and Herzegovina 15 0 1 5.6 2.7
95 VU Vanuatu 1 0 3 5.6 0.2
96 PY Paraguay 31 0 9 5.6 5.5
97 QA Qatar 3 1 1 5.5 0.5
98 BY Belarus 50 5 20 4.8 10.4
99 BW Botswana 7 0 3 4.7 1.5
100 AM Armenia 16 0 6 4.6 3.5
101 SR Suriname 2 0 2 4.6 0.4
102 JM Jamaica 10 0 2 3.9 2.6
103 PH Philippines 266 4 45 3.6 74.5
104 MD Moldova 15 0 7 3.4 4.5
105 BO Bolivia 24 0 4 3.3 7.2
106 CU Cuba 36 6 18 3.3 11.0
107 TH Thailand 187 3 62 3.2 58.9
108 EC Ecuador 34 0 10 3.0 11.5
109 PE Peru 62 0 15 2.5 24.5
110 HN Honduras 14 0 5 2.5 5.6
111 LB Lebanon 9 1 5 2.4 3.8
112 OM Oman 5 0 0 2.3 2.2
113 MN Mongolia 5 0 3 2.0 2.5
114 DO Dominican Republic 15 0 4 1.9 8.1
115 SV El Salvador 10 0 17 1.7 5.8
116 GA Gabon 2 0 2 1.7 1.2
117 GT Guatemala 17 0 5 1.5 11.3
118 KZ Kazakhstan 25 0 11 1.5 16.9
119 GY Guyana 1 0 0 1.4 0.7
120 AL Albania 4 2 4 1.2 3.2
121 SA Saudi Arabia 19 0 9 1.0 19.4
122 ZW Zimbabwe 11 0 6 1.0 11.3
123 JO Jordan 4 0 1 0.9 4.2
124 PG Papua New Guinea 4 0 1 0.9 4.4
125 GM Gambia 1 0 0 0.8 1.2
126 ID Indonesia 162 34 58 0.8 206.6
127 ZM Zambia 7 0 4 0.8 9.2
128 LK Sri Lanka 14 1 2 0.8 18.6
129 UZ Uzbekistan 17 0 4 0.7 23.4
130 CN China 856 3 168 0.7 1210.0
131 NI Nicaragua 3 0 2 0.7 4.3
132 KG Kyrgyzstan 3 0 1 0.7 4.5
133 IN India 627 16 206 0.7 952.1
134 MA Morocco 19 0 9 0.6 29.8
135 EG Egypt 40 1 6 0.6 63.6
136 AZ Azerbaijan 4 0 2 0.5 7.7
137 CI Cote d'Ivoire 7 0 4 0.5 14.8
138 MR Mauritania 1 0 0 0.4 2.3
139 GE Georgia 2 0 19 0.4 5.2
140 MG Madagascar 5 0 1 0.4 13.7
141 PK Pakistan 46 5 8 0.4 129.3
142 VN Vietnam 24 0 4 0.3 74.0
143 CF Central African Republic 1 0 0 0.3 3.3
144 KE Kenya 8 0 2 0.3 28.2
145 MZ Mozambique 5 0 2 0.3 17.9
146 KH Cambodia 3 0 1 0.3 10.9
147 NP Nepal 5 0 0 0.2 22.1
148 SN Senegal 2 0 0 0.2 9.1
149 TG Togo 1 0 0 0.2 4.6
150 CM Cameroon 3 0 2 0.2 14.3
151 SL Sierra Leone 1 0 0 0.2 4.8
152 LA Laos 1 0 1 0.2 5.0
153 LY Libya 1 0 1 0.2 5.4
154 IR Iran 11 0 10 0.2 66.1
155 RW Rwanda 1 0 0 0.1 6.9
156 TZ Tanzania 4 0 0 0.1 29.1
157 BD Bangladesh 16 0 7 0.1 123.1
158 DZ Algeria 3 0 1 0.1 29.2
159 ET Ethiopia 3 0 0 0.1 57.2
160 UG Uganda 1 0 0 0.0 20.2
161 XW The World (Somewhere in it) 284 216 1 0.0 5771.9
162 AF Afghanistan 1 0 0 0.0 22.7
163 NG Nigeria 3 0 1 0.0 103.9
164 WF Wallis and Futuna Islands 1 0 1 0.0 0.0
WHERE PEOPLE USE LINUX
Place Users Percent
==============================
school 20134 18.58%
home 95737 88.35%
not used 18 0.02%
work 42890 39.58%
somewhere 2846 2.63%
==============================
TOTAL 108357 100.00%
NOTE: The total is the 108357 users who answered this question.
Some gave more than one answer, so the number of answers is 161625
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Justin B Willoughby)
Subject: Re: LILO -- on a machine without Linux???
Date: 31 Jul 1999 22:05:47 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Justin B Willoughby)
Eric Wyles ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) writes:
> Hi! I would like to be able to use the Lilo boot loader on
> a machine that does not have linux.
>
> Can someone please tell me how to go about doing this?
>
I have never done this but it would seem like you could. Perhaps all you
need is a lilo.conf and the program lilo on a root/util disk & and Linux
boot disk, I am so most if not all boot/root disk for Linux probably have
this already. In which case you just have to boot up off the floppy and
modify lilo.conf (if necessary) and run lilo.
Like I said I have never done it but I can't see what it would not work.
- Justin
--
_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ RULES!! * LINUX RULES *
_/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ Justin Willoughby
_/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ http://justinw.net
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ ---- Jesus Is Lord ----
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Tim Hanson)
Crossposted-To: alt.linux,alt.linux.sux,alt.os.linux,comp.os.linux.advocacy
Subject: Re: What I think of linux.
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 22:32:48 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (John Burg) wrote:
>On Fri, 30 Jul 1999 09:09:25 -0700, Arthur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>
>>I punched my first deck of cards for an IBM 1602 (1620??) in 1968.
>>That's not a PC - it was a mainframe with lots of blinking lights
>>and a typewriter console. I miss those blinking lights.
>
>How quaint! ;)
>
>John
>
>>
>>Arthur
>
>
>--
Hey, those blinking lights served a valuable function! They made the computer
spokesperson standing in front of them giving an interview look really
important. Almost as good as standing in front of those banks of tape drives.
------------------------------
From: "Scott Galloway" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Perl Help
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 15:59:25 -0700
I'm trying to replace every newline in a linux file by a ctrl-M
(change it to a dos text file). I've tried:
perl -n -e 'print; print "\r";' <file> > <newfile>
but the the first print prints each whole line, including the \n
which I would like to remove from each line. Does anyone
know of an easy way to do this? Thanks kindly,
Scott
------------------------------
From: "R. Jackson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: NFS problems
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 17:12:37 -0600
I'm trying to share a cdrom between two RH5.2 boxes using NFS. I've set
everything up right according to the NFS HOWTO, but when I try to mount
the cdrom on the machine I'm sharing it with I get the message 'mount:
RPC: program not registered'. I've exported the shares on the machine
with the CD-ROM, so that's not it. There appears to be nothing wrong on
the box with the cd-rom, so I think it is a problem with the other box.
Anyone out there who knows what's going on?
--
What a misfortune to be a woman! And yet, the worst misfortune is not
to
understand what a misfortune it is.
-- Kierkegaard, 1813-1855.
------------------------------
From: "Alex Abreu" <simonet at bhnet dot com dot br>
Crossposted-To: linux.redhat.misc
Subject: fdformat > 1.44 ??
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 19:30:49 -0500
I have been trying to format a floppy disk with 1.68, 1.72 or even 1.83 Mb.
I was under the impression that I could easily do it using fdformat, but I
haven't been able to do so.
I also haven't been able to use setfdprm to create the new parameters.
There's this tool, superformat, which was supposed to be installed on my
system, but it isnt, and I can't find it anywhere.
So, here're my questions:
how do I format a disk w/ more than 1.44 Mb ?
Where do I get superformat?
Thanks a lot.
Alex
--
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Alex Simonetti Abreu - Belo Horizonte - MG - Brazil
http://www.bhnet.com.br/~simonet
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"If a train station is a place where a train stops, what is a workstation?"
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Otavio Exel)
Subject: Re: dselect/dpkg corrupting /var/lib/dpkg/*
Date: 31 Jul 1999 23:25:33 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
John Hasler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Otavio Exel writes:
> > ...90% of the errors were "J"s instead of "\n"s and "`" instead of "
> > "s; anyone seen something like this? I'm now telnet'ing from home so
> > I can't go into maintenance mode to do some e2fsck'ing but I don't
> > think it has to do with disk errors: the pattern s/\n/J/ and s/ /`/
> > leads me to think that probably dpkg and/or dselect are the ones to
> > blame..
> "\n" = 0000 1010, "J" = 0100 1010
> " " = 0010 0000, "`" = 0110 0000
> Do you see the pattern?
sure! there was also a ":" changed to "z"; I wont waste my time but I'm
sure it is the same bit..
> IMHO you have a disk problem.
I'm phisically near the box now; indeed the screen was full of ext2
error messages; so I did 'e2fsck -fc /dev/hda*' and answered Y to a lot
of messages; now I'm getting some segfaults :-(
some of the errors were in /usr but none in /; so I gather the
filesystem is ok now but some of my files in /usr are corrupted
(needless to say I don't have backups);
followups to: linux.debian.user
is there a way to re-install all the packages without reinstalling the
system itself?
--
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Unix2dos
Date: 31 Jul 1999 23:27:59 GMT
The solution suggested might give you a "\n\r\n" at the end of
each line.
Try:
perl -i.bak -ne 'chomp; print "$_\r\n";' *
replace '*' with a suitable wild card. Your old files will
end up with a '.bak' suffix. The new ones will retain the
original name.
William Burrow wrote:
>
> On Sat, 31 Jul 1999 13:45:36 -0700,
> Scott Galloway <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >Does anyone out there know of an easy way to convert
> >linux text files to dos text files?...that is, replace the newlines
> >with ctrl-M followed by newlines (I think that is the correct format).
> >I've tried tr but that doesn't seem to work for unix2dos...it works
> >fine for dos2unix. Much thanks in advance,
>
> There used to be utilities of exactly those names at one time. You
> might also check if todos is installed. If not, the following Perl
> script might work if you have Perl installed:
>
> perl -n -e 'print; print "\r\n";' <file>
>
> If you want to put it into a file, maybe it would look something like
> this:
>
> ----- todos ---------%<--------------------
> #!/usr/bin/perl -n
>
> print; print "\r\n";
> ----- todos ---------%<--------------------
>
> --
> William Burrow -- New Brunswick, Canada o
> Copyright 1999 William Burrow ~ /\
> ~ ()>()
------------------------------
From: "R.K.Aa" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Netscape Navigator - what platform for Red Hat 6.0?
Date: Sun, 01 Aug 1999 00:49:25 +0200
Steven wrote:
>
> I was planning on downloading the latest version of Netscape Communicator
> for Red Hat Linux 6.0. The only Linux platforms listed are:
>
> Linux 2.0 (glibc) and Linux 2.0.
>
> Which platform do I download?
Looks like an odd "alternative"..some typo. But if v. 4.61 is still the
latest, why not install the rpm's? If you want to compile from source,
src files are also available as rpm. The quicker approach is to download
from RedHat ftp site or a mirror. The following files is what you'd want
for an i386 based puter:
netscape-common-4.6-1.i386.rpm
netscape-communicator-4.6-1.i386.rpm
Download both and install with rpm -Uvh, for the full communicator
suite. Found at:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/6.0/i386/
Also..bookmark this page:
http://www.redhat.com/corp/support/errata/rh60-errata-general.html
--
-- To E-mail, delete "spam" --
------------------------------
From: Jerry Lynn Kreps <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.linux.advocacy,gnu.misc.discuss
Subject: Re: Marx vs. Nozick
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 17:42:11 -0500
Phillip Lord wrote:
>
> >>>>> "Ashley" == Ashley Penney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> Ashley> I'm not saying that to be horrible, I'm trying to be as
> Ashley> clinical as I can, and it's a proven fact that
> Ashley> illness/weaknesses can be passed down via the genes. The
> Ashley> more a genetically weak person reproduces, the worse the
> Ashley> human population becomes.
>
> I would have to say here that this argument is total rubbish.
> There are many reasons why its rubbish, from the difficulties in
> defining fitness, to the length to time individual breeding has to
> happend to affect the population. There are many points, which I could
> talk about, but I really cant be bothered. These ideas are just as
> specious and just as wrong as they were when they were first suggested
> early in this century.
>
> The early history of genetics was blighted with the pseudo
> science of eugenics and hasnt recovered yet in my estimation. Its
> distressing to people working in the field that this stuff is still
> going round. The results of the ideas are hideous from forcible
> sterilisations, (the UK and the US both did these), and eventually
> the concentration camps and the final solution.
>
> Please before you let stuff like this come out of your mouth
> again, think what you are doing, do some research into the field, find
> out why you are wrong. Its very very important.
>
> Phil
So is passing Politically Correct opinions as scientific fact, Phil.
Forget the Marxist theology and do a little research yourself...
http://www.hhmi.org/GeneticTrail/
Many folks inherit, or acquire through mutation, genetic diseases, or
pass the trait to offspring who then suffer the consequences. Many
couples now choose abortion when faced with the possibility of birthing
a malformed child. This has nothing to do with eugenics or politics.
However, there are many people with birth defects, like myself, who are
able to live comfortable, although frequently painful, lives. My son
has inherited one of my defects and it is worse in him than it is in
me. There are many folks, like myself, who would not be alive today
without the benifit of modern medicine. I don't think that Ashley
should be concerned, however. While I may not have been able to make a
living, or even survive, in a society where functional feet are a
requirement, I do ok in padded shoes and with appropriate
transportation. My son has inherited another problem which causes an
ugly blemish to cover half of his face. He is currently undergoing
laser treatment to eradicate the disfigurement. Ashley, neither me nor
my son used government welfare to treat our problems.
FYI, many of the eugenics arguments of the early part of this century
were by Socialists wanting to move man toward the "Superman" that
socialism promises. Margret Meade, a socialist and a bigot, pushed
birth control to limit populations of "inferior" races.
Ashley probably doesn't want socialist to feel their "pain" and push for
more taxes to pay for the medical treatment an increasing number of
gene-defective folks.
With the problems of decreasing resources and exploding populations on
this "Life-Boat Earth" he needn't worry. Even socialists will start
throwing people out of the boat when their own air, water, food and
livelyhood are threatened. We only have their track record for the last
seventy years, and their current war against the elderly, who must wear
"don't euthanize me!" signs when they go to a hospital, to demonstrate
that fact.
JLK
--
JLK
Linux, because it's STABLE, the source code is included, the price is
right.
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