The Wowster on moves to force Germany to stop castrations

Germany’s policy of offering castration to sex offenders as part of rehabilitation has ran into problems with the Council of Europe.

The Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has asked Germany to stop castrations, describing the practice as degrading and recommends immediate action to outlaw it.

German law permits people at risk of committing sexual crimes to volunteer for castration so they can manage an “abnormal sex drive.”

According to the CPT, there has been fewer than five surgical castrations per year over the last decade.

Germany defends the practice by saying it is not used as a punishment, rather a treatment. According to one study, of 104 people castrated between 1970 and 1980 only 3 percent reoffended compared to 46 per cent who did.

The CPT is not moved. Unlike such treatments as hormone therapy castration is irreversible. Also it may have serious physical and mental consequences.

The report adds that people are in effect forced to do it, the option being indefinite confinement.

Also, and this is me speaking, it is barbaric and all too reminiscent of solutions that Germany should want to forget.

The Wowster is the pen name of Nathan Goldberg, wowdewow publisher and founder. His uncle was castrated in a concentration camp.

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The Wowster on two journalists who payed the ultimate price for living with danger

Without them the world would be less informed. Now two of the journalists living with danger to get their reports out there are dead.

Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times and Remi Ochkik, award winning French photo journalist, paid the ultimate price in the relentless bombing of Homs.

While the world stands by impotently and gapes at the slaughter, they lost their lives amid the city that is being reduced to rubble.

Only recently Colvin who lost an eye in Sri Lanka said this: “Our mission is to report those horrors of war with accuracy and without risk.”

Ochik, much younger but also a conflict veteran won first prize in the 2012 World Press Photo contest for a picture taken in Libya.

He also covered the war in the Congo and the Arab revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.

Last word to Colvin: “We always have to ask ourselves whether the level of risk is worth the story.”

She answered that with her life and for that we should be grateful. Also for the light she and Ochik shed on the most murderous of human endeavours.

Colvin’s last report, typical and courageous…

The Wowster is the pen name of Nathan Goldberg, wowdewow publisher and founder. He was the youngest ever editor of a national newspaper in the 1970s.

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The Wowster looks at the new pop trend of flipping the bird

Flipping the bird has now become a must have accessory of any pop star at an award ceremony.

Latest comer to the arena is top British songbird Adele who executed the bird with some élan and all the anger of an upset 4-year-old.

The six Emmy winner returned to her native shores to accept the award at The Brits for top album when she was told to get lost in the middle of a saccharine witter on how proud she was to get the award.

The show was running well over time when she was interrupted and let loose her bird which she later said was for the suits not the fans whatever that means.

The first widely reported flipping the bird by MIA went worldwide during Madonna’s Superbowl performance bringing on a spate of imitators.

A thought. How about a Flipping the Bird competition called Angry Childish Birds. Are you listening Simon Cowell?

Girl interrupted…

The Wowster is the pen name of Nathan Goldberg, wowdewow publisher and founder. He prefers the old fashioned two fingers.

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The Wowster on the white man’s burden…racism dressed up as being British.

Eric Pickles is a rotund white man who is fed up to the teeth with Britain’s multiculturalism. He is also the Communities Secretary of the almost all white, filthy rich ruling coalition party.

His is the white man’s burden and he wants it removed pronto. The majority must rule ok?

He has outlined his assault on services for other cultures as follows:

Translating leaflets into other languages when those immigrants should learn to speak English or, presumably, be chucked out.

And, er, that’s it.

He goes on to talk about the marginalisation of religion, Christianity, that is, with instances such as banning of prayers at a council meeting and the forbidding of Christian workers to wear crucifixes.

This has become a rallying call for the Conservative Party, that because of multi culturalism, Christianity has been relegated to just another religion.

And that is as it should be, those who want to be Christians have every opportunity to practice their faith at a church or at home.

The banning of prayers at a council meeting is quite right. If muslim councillors wanted prayers would that be granted?

Of course there are instances where multi culturalism has been counter productive but it is essential that Britain realises its a country of many faiths and cultures.

Finding a common bond, a sense of oneness does not come about by racist political sloganising dressed up as being British.

A robust discussion…

The Wowster is the pen name of Nathan Goldberg, wowdewow publisher and founder.

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Call for new ‘presumed dead’ law

The government should change the law to make it easier for families of missing people presumed dead to deal with their affairs, the Commons Justice Select Committee says.
Click here for full story

Strauss Khan ‘suspect’ in prostitution ring
Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn was held for questioning by French police as a suspect in a prostitution ring inquiry
Click here for full story

Ed Balls calls for tax cuts
Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls has called for “decisive action … to boost growth”, offering suggestions for tax cuts in next month’s Budget.
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Arsene Wenger: We must stay united
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says they must “stay united and fight” following their FA Cup exit at Sunderland.
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Murdoch takes charge of crisis
Rupert Murdoch, the chief executive of News Corporation, has arrived in London to take charge of the latest crisis involving one of his newspapers.
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The Wowster asks are we communicating so much we’ve stopped talking to each other

Chatting to my friend Marianne last night about a bio I read on Steve Jobs.

Despite the fact he could be a huge arsehole, he contributed greatly to the advance of humanity, I said.

She wasn’t impressed and said she didn’t think so.

Why, I asked?

Well he made it too easy for us to communicate which means we have stopped talking to each other.

That made me think. I know what she means and she does have a point. My own view is that the good that came from his work far outweighs the negatives but…

I try hard to make sure I do talk to people but I have found myself reaching for the email more and more

Partly that’s to do with business in that I like to put things in writing so I’m understood. But it doesn’t preclude me following up with a phone call.

However, I do concede that many people fall back on emails, texting, tweeting, facebooking instead of speaking to anyone. Their life seems to be lived out in their computers or iPads and so on.

To that extent, Marianne has a good point although I wouldn’t blame Jobs for that. We do have alternatives.

A thoughtful discussion on what happens when we stop talking to each other

The Wowster is the pen name of Nathan Goldberg, wowdewow publisher and founder.

Do you feel you rely too much on email etc?

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