Saturday, February 4, 2012
5 Important Lessons from the Komen/Planned Parenthood Fiasco (Don't Mess With Women's Health)
5 Important Lessons from the Komen/Planned Parenthood Fiasco (Don't Mess With Women's Health): "The big win here is that an anti-choice power play failed in the court of public opinion.
What a week it's been for the pro-choice community.
On Tuesday, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the largest breast cancer charity in the country, announced that it planned to impose new funding criteria under which Planned Parenthood would no longer be an eligible grantee. Over the next several days, pro-choice activists and women's health supporters across the nation fought back against what all signs pointed to being a politically motivated attack on Planned Parenthood and the women it serves. Finally, on Friday, all the tweets, Facebook messages, blog posts, and articles pointing out Komen's hypocrisies and misdeeds paid off, and Komen backed down (sort of), announcing that it would tweak its new funding criteria and "continue to fund existing grants, including those to Planned Parenthood."..."
What a week it's been for the pro-choice community.
On Tuesday, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the largest breast cancer charity in the country, announced that it planned to impose new funding criteria under which Planned Parenthood would no longer be an eligible grantee. Over the next several days, pro-choice activists and women's health supporters across the nation fought back against what all signs pointed to being a politically motivated attack on Planned Parenthood and the women it serves. Finally, on Friday, all the tweets, Facebook messages, blog posts, and articles pointing out Komen's hypocrisies and misdeeds paid off, and Komen backed down (sort of), announcing that it would tweak its new funding criteria and "continue to fund existing grants, including those to Planned Parenthood."..."
Christian Pastor Calls For Starbucks Boycott Over Gay Marriage Support
Christian Pastor Calls For Starbucks Boycott Over Gay Marriage Support: "A Christian pastor is asking customers to boycott Starbucks due to the company's support of a bill to legalize gay marriage in Washington state, King 5 News reports.
"Christians are upset with Starbucks for turning against God...Starbucks can follow Satan if they want to," Steven Andrew, and evangelical pastor and president of the USA Christian Ministries in California, said in a statement. "However, pastors are to help Christians. Are you on the Lord's side? Will you help the USA be blessed by God?"
The call for the boycott was released Tuesday, a day prior to the bill's passage in Washington's State Senate Wednesday night, according to Reuters...."
I wonder if this means they're also going to boycott the other 100 companies also backing this bill?
"Christians are upset with Starbucks for turning against God...Starbucks can follow Satan if they want to," Steven Andrew, and evangelical pastor and president of the USA Christian Ministries in California, said in a statement. "However, pastors are to help Christians. Are you on the Lord's side? Will you help the USA be blessed by God?"
The call for the boycott was released Tuesday, a day prior to the bill's passage in Washington's State Senate Wednesday night, according to Reuters...."
I wonder if this means they're also going to boycott the other 100 companies also backing this bill?
Komen's $7.5 Million Grant to Penn State Appears to Violate New Policy
Komen's $7.5 Million Grant to Penn State Appears to Violate New Policy: "Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which recently announced that it is ending grants to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screening because of a controversial investigation launched by an anti-abortion Republican congressman, currently funds cancer research at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center to the tune of $7.5 million. Like Planned Parenthood, Penn State is currently the subject of a federal government investigation, and like the Planned Parenthood grant, the Penn State grant appears to violate a new internal rule at Komen that bans grants to organizations that are under investigation by federal, state, or local governments. But so far, only the Planned Parenthood grants appear to have been cancelled....."
Why Do Dangerous Financial Criminals Roam Free?
Why Do Dangerous Financial Criminals Roam Free?: "Prosecutors like Eric Schneiderman need cops on the beat to put financial crooks behind bars. But thanks to Bush, these cops are missing in action.
American Public Media's "Marketplace" had a recent segment focused on why it has taken so long to bring criminal prosecutions related to the financial crisis. Reporters observed that at the beginning of the crisis, the Obama administration wanted to calm the financial industry rather than impose accountability. They speculated, along with Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street participants, many of whom have been calling for prosecutions, that Obama’s creation of a new group to prosecute mortgage fraud led by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman was likely to be politically motivated. And they indicated that financial crimes are complex and prosecutors need time to develop their cases.
But here's what they didn't say: A major reason the prosecutions don’t exist is that President George W. Bush took the cops off the beat...."
American Public Media's "Marketplace" had a recent segment focused on why it has taken so long to bring criminal prosecutions related to the financial crisis. Reporters observed that at the beginning of the crisis, the Obama administration wanted to calm the financial industry rather than impose accountability. They speculated, along with Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street participants, many of whom have been calling for prosecutions, that Obama’s creation of a new group to prosecute mortgage fraud led by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman was likely to be politically motivated. And they indicated that financial crimes are complex and prosecutors need time to develop their cases.
But here's what they didn't say: A major reason the prosecutions don’t exist is that President George W. Bush took the cops off the beat...."
Walmart Whistleblowers Stand Up to Retaliation
Walmart Whistleblowers Stand Up to Retaliation: "Unseen but ever present, behind the well-stocked shelves of Walmarts around the country are warehouse workers. This labor force is primarily employed by contracting firms that underpay workers and fire them summarily, according to advocates, but a group of 60 former employees at a Walmart warehouse in the Chicago suburbs are holding these contractors accountable for what they say are numerous labor violations.
The workers allege that, after they filed a complaint in November 2011 calling for lost wages from their temp employer, Eclipse, they were dismissed without notice when Schnieder Logistics, the company that operates the Walmart warehouse in Elmwood, Illinois, canceled their temp agency's contract...."
The workers allege that, after they filed a complaint in November 2011 calling for lost wages from their temp employer, Eclipse, they were dismissed without notice when Schnieder Logistics, the company that operates the Walmart warehouse in Elmwood, Illinois, canceled their temp agency's contract...."
Friday, February 3, 2012
Auction 2012: Greedy Bastards and Student Debt
Auction 2012: Greedy Bastards and Student Debt: "Imagine a product so irresistible that most Americans thought they couldn't live without it. Every President talked of its importance, and it was perceived of as the key to you or your child's future. There was a limited supply, and prices kept going up. The best business to be in would be lending to people so they can buy it.
I'm talking about higher education, and student loans..."
I'm talking about higher education, and student loans..."
6 Things You Need To Know About the Komen Foundation/Planned Parenthood Controversy (Updated: Komen Reverses Decision)
6 Things You Need To Know About the Komen Foundation/Planned Parenthood Controversy (Updated: Komen Reverses Decision): "Whether Americans were suspicious of Komen to begin with or just fed up with the politicization of women's health, this feels like the last straw.
By now, unless you're living on Mars, your newspaper reports, radio waves, Facebook and Twitter streams are being swamped with stories, images and chattering about the shocking decision of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the nation's most ubiquitous breast cancer awareness foundation, to essentially sever financial ties with Planned Parenthood...."
By now, unless you're living on Mars, your newspaper reports, radio waves, Facebook and Twitter streams are being swamped with stories, images and chattering about the shocking decision of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the nation's most ubiquitous breast cancer awareness foundation, to essentially sever financial ties with Planned Parenthood...."
How the Susan G. Komen Foundation Lost Its Way
How the Susan G. Komen Foundation Lost Its Way: "Before Susan G. Komen died of breast cancer in 1980, she asked her sister Nancy to promise to work towards finding a cure. Now, more than 30 years later, the organization that bears Suzy's name is still fighting — but instead of fighting for a cure, it seems to be fighting for an agenda. Who was Susan Komen, and what would she think of the foundation's downward spiral? Would she even want her name on it anymore?
Susan G. Komen was diagnosed with cancer at age 33, and succumbed to the illness three years later, at age 36. Susan G. Komen For the Cure was established shortly thereafter in 1982 by her older sister, Nancy Brinker. Since the foundation's inception, over $1.9 billion has been raised for breast cancer research and prevention. All well and good, right?..."
Susan G. Komen was diagnosed with cancer at age 33, and succumbed to the illness three years later, at age 36. Susan G. Komen For the Cure was established shortly thereafter in 1982 by her older sister, Nancy Brinker. Since the foundation's inception, over $1.9 billion has been raised for breast cancer research and prevention. All well and good, right?..."
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Military and the Church: Bedfellows in Sexual Assault
The Military and the Church: Bedfellows in Sexual Assault: ""When victims come forward, they are ostracized and isolated from their communities. Many of the perpetrators are officers who use their ranks to coerce women to sleep with them. It's a closely interwoven community, so they [perpetrators] are safe and move fearlessly amongst their victims."
The US military's response to reports of sexual abuse echoes that of another closed, rigidly hierarchal male institution, the Catholic Church: first silence and cover-up; then blame the victim and reassign the perpetrator; and, finally, lay the fault on a "few bad apples." Like the church's historic, internal handling of sexual abuse by priests, military commanders determine whether or not their soldiers face criminal proceedings....."
The US military's response to reports of sexual abuse echoes that of another closed, rigidly hierarchal male institution, the Catholic Church: first silence and cover-up; then blame the victim and reassign the perpetrator; and, finally, lay the fault on a "few bad apples." Like the church's historic, internal handling of sexual abuse by priests, military commanders determine whether or not their soldiers face criminal proceedings....."
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The Book of Cletis: Ten Suggestions by Appaljoel
The Book of Cletis: Ten Suggestions by Appaljoel: I have no idea who Appaljoel is but I know I like his thoughts and appreciate his insights. Each of us struggles and each of us searches for...
Apple Tries Damage Control after Horrific Working Conditions at its Factories Exposed
Apple Tries Damage Control after Horrific Working Conditions at its Factories Exposed: "Apple's attempts at cleaning up its image after recent scrutiny of its labor practices are more about reputation than actual change.
President Barack Obama blew a kiss to Apple in last week’s State of the Union speech, praising the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder, the late Steve Jobs, as the cameras panned to his widow in the audience.
Obama’s timing couldn’t be weirder. In the last month, Apple has released a damning audit that found almost 100 of its supplier factories force more than half their workers to exceed a 60-hour week. The company announced responsibility for aluminum dust explosions in Chinese supplier factories that killed four workers and injured 77. Hundreds more in China have been injured cleaning iPad screens with a chemical that causes nerve damage....."
President Barack Obama blew a kiss to Apple in last week’s State of the Union speech, praising the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder, the late Steve Jobs, as the cameras panned to his widow in the audience.
Obama’s timing couldn’t be weirder. In the last month, Apple has released a damning audit that found almost 100 of its supplier factories force more than half their workers to exceed a 60-hour week. The company announced responsibility for aluminum dust explosions in Chinese supplier factories that killed four workers and injured 77. Hundreds more in China have been injured cleaning iPad screens with a chemical that causes nerve damage....."
Military Sexual Abuse: A Greater Menace Than Combat
Military Sexual Abuse: A Greater Menace Than Combat: ""A woman who signs up to protect her country is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire," stated former California Democratic Rep. Jane Harman in testimony before a July 2008 House panel investigating the military's handling of sexual assault reports. The Congresswoman added that her "jaw dropped" when she learned from military doctors that four of ten women in a local veterans hospital had been raped by fellow soldiers. What's equally startling, though, is that Harman - a reputed national security insider and a strong supporter of women in the military - was in the dark about rampant military sexual assault...."
Romney: ‘I’m Not Concerned With The Very Poor’
Romney: ‘I’m Not Concerned With The Very Poor’: pComing off his big win in Florida last night, GOP front-runner Mitt Romney told CNN this morning that helping the poor is not his priority, suggesting that Democrats worry enough about the “plight of the poor” already: ROMNEY: I’m not concerned with the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, [...]/p
Cancer charity halts grants to Planned Parenthood
Cancer charity halts grants to Planned Parenthood: "NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation's leading breast-cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, is halting its partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates - creating a bitter rift, linked to the abortion debate, between two iconic organizations that have assisted millions of women.
The change will mean a cutoff of hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, mainly for breast exams.
Planned Parenthood says the move results from Komen bowing to pressure from anti-abortion activists. Komen says the key reason is that Planned Parenthood is under investigation in Congress - a probe launched by a conservative Republican who was urged to act by anti-abortion groups...."
Apparently it's more important to listen to the crazies in the right wing than it is to save Womens lives!
The change will mean a cutoff of hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, mainly for breast exams.
Planned Parenthood says the move results from Komen bowing to pressure from anti-abortion activists. Komen says the key reason is that Planned Parenthood is under investigation in Congress - a probe launched by a conservative Republican who was urged to act by anti-abortion groups...."
Apparently it's more important to listen to the crazies in the right wing than it is to save Womens lives!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Why Do Soldiers Rape?
Why Do Soldiers Rape?: "Why do some men assume they are entitled to sex in any way they can get it - incest, date rape, marriage trafficking, buying it in prostitution, extorting it in exchange for food in refugee camps or sexually assaulting their fellow soldiers? For more than 100 years, activists worldwide have fought against the victimization of women through sexual violence.
More recently, advocates have turned a floodlight on the perpetrators through programs and public policy focused on exposing, prosecuting and challenging the male demand for sex....."
More recently, advocates have turned a floodlight on the perpetrators through programs and public policy focused on exposing, prosecuting and challenging the male demand for sex....."
Monday, January 30, 2012
Restaurant Owner Kicks Out Anti-Gay TN Senator Over Offensive Comments About Homosexuals (VIDEO)
Restaurant Owner Kicks Out Anti-Gay TN Senator Over Offensive Comments About Homosexuals (VIDEO): "Last week, Republican Tennessee state senator Stacey Campfield told LGBT journalist Michelangelo Signorile that it was “virtually impossible” to get HIV/AIDS through heterosexual sex, and that only gay people get the disease. He also claimed that HIV began after a gay man had sex with a monkey. Of course, we all know that Campfield’s claims are wrong because heterosexuals contract HIV as well. Take former NBA legend Magic Johnson for instance. He’s a heterosexual male who contracted the disease because he had sexual intercourse with multiple women over the course of his career. Countless other heterosexual men and women have contracted HIV over the decades. This is part of the alternative knowledge system that David Frum was referring to in December of last year. In it, homosexuality is the root cause of AIDS and should be demonized. Conservatives get away with such blatant lies because they live in a bubble safe from criticism. This time, though, Campfield’s outrageous comments have landed him in hot water and one local restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee is teaching him a lesson...."
Motivated In Ohio: The SEC Mulls An Investigation Calls Grow For John...
Motivated In Ohio: The SEC Mulls An Investigation Calls Grow For John...: The SEC Mulls An Investigation Calls Grow For John Boehner To Resign : It is an ethics violation for elected officials to use their polit...
Women in the Battlefield and the Barracks: A Five-Part Series on Two War Fronts for Women Soldiers
Women in the Battlefield and the Barracks: A Five-Part Series on Two War Fronts for Women Soldiers: "The first decade of the 21st century was a record one for women serving in the US military: Women constituted 14 percent of all active duty military (over 200,000), with one in ten serving in the Middle East and 17 percent in the National Guard. Women soldiers in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, though barred from ground combat, have worked in as dangerous situations as men. These same women have found themselves, concurrently, the target of sexual assault by “brothers in arms” at nearly twice the rate of US society. Military sexual trauma is so severe that it is more likely to cause post-traumatic stress disorder in women than combat trauma and civilian sexual trauma - because of military culture....."
Sunday, January 29, 2012
The Book of Cletis: SOPA Blackout by Educated to Death
The Book of Cletis: SOPA Blackout by Educated to Death: Thanks to Educated to Death for allowing us to reprint his/her work. It is an honor to post such insightful and well-crafted writing. htt...
Grover Norquist To Obama: Extend Bush Tax Cuts Or Be Impeached
Grover Norquist To Obama: Extend Bush Tax Cuts Or Be Impeached: "You almost have to admire the chutzpah of Grover Norquist. For a man with no elected office and lacking the billions of the Koch brothers, Norquist exerts a phenomenal amount of influence on American politics. From his ability to force the entire GOP to pledge not to raise taxes under any circumstances (except on the Middle Class and poor, of course) to his latest act of arrogance in essentially threatening the President of the United States, Norquist is quite sure of himself...."
Apple Driving Workers to Threaten Mass Suicide? The Pathologies of the Modern Corporation
Apple Driving Workers to Threaten Mass Suicide? The Pathologies of the Modern Corporation: "Better technology is not sufficient to build a better society. To really change lives, corporations must use their work force to improve democracy and equality.
Here in my household, we are swimming in Apple products. We have four iPhones, although only three of them are currently in use. We have an iPod and an iPad. We have a MacBook and a MacBook Air (on which this post is currently being composed). We have two iBooks in storage, along with my iMac, which dates to the summer of 2000. It still boots up and works just fine.
I’m not an Apple fanboy. I just prefer products that work well, rarely ever crash, and help me create value. Apple products meet those needs perfectly, whereas most PCs I’ve used simply don't....."
Here in my household, we are swimming in Apple products. We have four iPhones, although only three of them are currently in use. We have an iPod and an iPad. We have a MacBook and a MacBook Air (on which this post is currently being composed). We have two iBooks in storage, along with my iMac, which dates to the summer of 2000. It still boots up and works just fine.
I’m not an Apple fanboy. I just prefer products that work well, rarely ever crash, and help me create value. Apple products meet those needs perfectly, whereas most PCs I’ve used simply don't....."
The Battlefield and the Barracks: Two War Fronts for Women Soldiers
The Battlefield and the Barracks: Two War Fronts for Women Soldiers: ""The crisis is so severe that I'm telling women to simply not join the military because it's completely unsafe and puts them at risk. Until something changes at the top, no woman should join the military."
~Veteran April Fitzsimmons, victim of sexual assault
The distinction between military support and combat roles vanished in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars of occupation. With this blurring of boundaries, military women serving in these wars, though barred from ground combat, have worked in situations as dangerous as those faced by men.
They have patrolled streets with machine guns, served as gunners on vehicles, dismantled explosives, driven trucks down bomb-ridden streets, and rescued the dead and injured in battle zones....."
~Veteran April Fitzsimmons, victim of sexual assault
The distinction between military support and combat roles vanished in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars of occupation. With this blurring of boundaries, military women serving in these wars, though barred from ground combat, have worked in situations as dangerous as those faced by men.
They have patrolled streets with machine guns, served as gunners on vehicles, dismantled explosives, driven trucks down bomb-ridden streets, and rescued the dead and injured in battle zones....."
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