Emma the Embryo: The Formative Years (Days?)

I was looking for early uses of 'massive' as MASSIVE. (Saw a tweet about the #millionhoodies protest with 'MASSIVE'.) I thought 'we' (being Canadian feminazis) initiated the use over the MASSIVE push-poll that tried to discredit the award of the Order of Canada to Dr Morgentaler.

Can't verify that yet, but look what I found.

Rightwing Investment Info Broker Claims Doctors Are in the Health Biz for the Money.

US physicians work in the health care business for the money? That would seem to be the premise of a *MASSIVE* poll done by Investors' Business Daily.

45% Of Doctors Would Consider Quitting If Congress Passes Health Care Overhaul

Two of every three practicing physicians oppose the medical overhaul plan under consideration in Washington, and hundreds of thousands would think about shutting down their practices or retiring early if it were adopted, a new IBD/TIPP Poll has found. The poll contradicts the claims of not only the White House, but also doctors' own lobby — the powerful American Medical Association — both of which suggest the medical profession is behind the proposed overhaul.

So this purported 'scientific' sampling of doctors who read IBD and share its views are *MASSIVELY* out of step with their colleagues in the AMA. What a shock.

And the response to this *MASSIVE* poll is predictably rightwingbatshit teabagger frothing-at-the mouth lunatic:

Doctors Threaten to Go Galt if ObamaCare Passes

It would be a miracle of biblical proportions if Big Government's minions could decrease costs while increasing coverage, as Democrats have been promising to do when they seize control of the healthcare industry.

Miracle of "biblical proportions" is the US religious rightwing zealot term for *MASSIVE* I'd guess.

Who are these so-called investors business experts anyway? Oh wait. Gotcha!

Read about the original *MASSIVE* poll here.

Hard(ly) News

Leaders of Canada's largest political parties pledged yesterday to increase the number of women in the House of Commons as a public opinion poll found Canadians want to see more women in Parliament.

The Environics poll, conducted for the group Equal Voice, found that 85% of respondents support efforts to increase the number of women elected to public office, compared to 11% who opposed those efforts. The poll also found 63% believe women are under-represented in the House of Commons.

Did this make the front page of any newspaper in Canada? Uh-uh. Didn't think so.

Update: Website for Equal Voice.

Dear Signal Hill/BC Pro-Life*: Is this the best you can do?

I'm laughing my ass off. In the comments to this post, an Anonymous commenter (as deBeauxOs sleuthed out, probably a Signal Hiller checking out what kind of bang they're getting for their news-wire buck) directs us to its polls page. (Last night, there was also a link to a PowerPoint slide show. I downloaded it, but it was corrupted and would not open. Now, it's gone.)

I hit the link called 'Polling Tables' and downloaded a legit-looking spreadsheet from Angus Reid.

It is dated August 22/24, 2008.

Here's what I think: It took the geniuses at Signal Hill four and a half months to figure out how to spin it.

And here's why I'm laughing. The best they could do was shrieeeeek about how few people know that there is shrieeeeek! NO TIME LIMIT ON ABORTION!!!

Q: As far as you know, when can an abortion be performed in Canada?

61% replied 'only in the first 3 months'. 11% went for 'only in the first 6 months' and a measly 8% knew that an abortion can be performed any time up to 9 months gestation. (What I find fascinating is that 19% answered 'not sure'.)

But look at the responses to other agree/disagree statements:

Abortion is a private matter between a woman and her doctor: 81% agree

I would never personally choose abortion, but I do not want to force my moral views on others: 63% agree

Abortion takes a human life and should therefore never be sanctioned except if the pregnancy threatens the mother’s life: 67% disagree

I personally believe having an abortion is wrong: 64% disagree

And what were they thinking with these two?

The government should dictate how many children a woman can have: 93% disagree

The government should limit the number of abortions a woman can have in her lifetime: 56% disagree

The closest they got to a 'right' answer was on the matter of funding, and even here, a majority disagreed.

I consider abortion an elective medical procedure —- taxpayers should not pay for abortions: 47% agree, 49% disagree

So, here's how it went: The Signal Hill commissioned and paid for a poll. They got results they did not like. (Results, in fact, that demonstrate yet again that Canada is a pro-choice country.) They worry at the numbers for FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS and the best they can do is try to spin it like this: A previous poll showed a majority of Canadians are OK with the status quo. Our poll shows that a MASSIVE majority of Canadians don't know what the status quo actually is. Therefore. . . um, er, shrieeeeeek!!!

Then they write a press release and pay again to have it run at CNW Group.

The plain and simple fact is Canadians are cool with the status quo because they know that women are mostly sensible and make important decisions about continuing a pregnancy in a careful and timely way. Canadians know that late-term abortions are performed only if there is a serious risk to the woman's health or if the fetus is a no-hoper.

But does anyone think the fetus fetishists will get the message and STFU?

Nah, me either.

UPPITY-DATE: In the comments here JJ suggests we refer to this gang of sneaky liars as The Signal Hill/BC Pro-life.

Fetus Fetishists: 'Canucks MASSIVELY Stoopid'

The fetus fetishists are getting 2009 off to a roaring start. Remember the MASSIVE poll of last year? Now they're shrieeeeking that a 'vast majority' of Canadians are pig-stupid.

This outfit, which appears to be rather new, seems to have commissioned a poll and put out a press release on it via CNW Group, which used to be Canada News Wire, you know, a wire agency that one pays to run one's press releases. (Of course, LifeShite went for it and, a little more surprisingly, the stenographers at the Glob did too.)

An Angus Reid poll has found that a vast majority of Canadians do not know, under the country's current legal situation that abortion is permitted at any time from conception up to the moment of birth.

The poll results have been made public on the heels of a late-December declaration by Dimitri Soudas, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, that the Conservative government has no intention of reopening the abortion debate in Canada.

The Angus Reid poll found that 92 percent of the respondents did not know abortion was available to a woman throughout the full nine months of gestation.

It goes on to refer to this Angus Reid poll from last summer that found a majority of Canadians are fine with the status quo.

Well, shrieeeeek! Dumb-fuck Canadians don't know what the status quo is!!!

The press release gives no links, no wording for the question(s), no dates, no number of respondents, no statistical error. We are really looking forward to seeing all that facty stuff.

Meanwhile, what the heck is The Signal Hill?

From the first link up there:

Welcome to Signal Hill - a vibrant new voice advocating for women, children and the family. Signal Hill's mission is to deliver clear and supportive education on life issues to all people, helping them make informed and life-affirming decisions. Our resources reflect the best and latest academic research, and are non-judgmental, compassionate and understanding. We welcome people of all backgrounds and convictions.

Doesn't that sound nice?

Again, their links give them away. Yup, links to all those known lying liars about abortion and breast cancer and abortion and instant insanity.

Then I googled the two names given as contacts in the press release. Oh, look: Natalie Hudson is the director of education for Pro-Life BC and Yvonne Douma, Executive Director of The Signal Hill, seems to moonlight as a personal chef.

A new year, a new set of lying liars, a new poll. *sigh*

They'll never stop, will they?

Shocking News?!?!?

Not so much. From LuLu at Canadian Cynic, we learn about a secretive Con caucus dedicated to re-opening the abortion debate.

"I think the debate is ongoing," Bruinooge says. "We need to have a starting point of debating whether or not abortion should be legal right up until the moment of birth."Bruinooge wouldn't say how many MPs are formally part of the pro-life caucus, but said there are supporters from every party. It's up to individual members to "present their personal philosophy on this issue," he says.

Bruinooge was in the spotlight last July because of his association with the MASSIVE poll.