Anti-feminist relay team.

Good grief. First it was La Mère Kay who had a full metal, shrieeeking melt-down in public view, by way of her hen scratchings and pecking in the Postal Nation and her surrogates' blogsites.

Now we learn from JJ in her blogpost about diversionary tactics that Naomi Lakritz has caught the baton and that she's merrily twirling it to the drumbeat of the approaching ReformaTory budget.

WTF? Oh right, the Special Olympics are still unfolding. (Correction - the Paralympics begin in mid-March.) I've just never realize there was a women's anti-feminist shotput throw and relay broad-jump event for strident screechy rightwing columnists way past their "best before" date.

NewsFlash: ReformaTories' Key New©™ Speaking Points.

Since the beginning of the reign of Stevie the Spiteful, the ReformaTories have observed the same standard operating mode when dealing with communications.

1. Hammer out the fundamental lie untruth premise.
2. Spin it out in small words that the sycophants can understand and deploy.
3. Include some version of "But ... but ... but ... the Liberuls!!!!" or "But ... but ... but ... the evul Opposition!!!!"
4. Send out a trial balloon in the francophone media.
5. Crank up the fax machines.

The "trial balloon" of the day is the dishonourable member for Jonquières-Alma, Jean-Pierre Blackburn.

Just minutes ago, he was speaking in forked tongues on Radio-Canada, churning and frothing away, as he bloviated le sapin du jour.

Shorter Blackburn and PMO propaganda: The Opposition is preventing Harper's Government from "progressing".

Listen for it. That's the basic message the ReformaTory orcs will be spewing in defense of the budget, to deflect criticism from the loyal Opposition.

DJ! Supports the Throne Speech

Well, one bit of it. Changing the lyrics of O Canada.

I've always balked at 'all thy sons' and thought: 'What am I, chopped liver?'

Of course, considering the source, Motherhood Steve, it's complete bullshit as any kind of progressive or woman-friendly move.

And, oh, look. Iggy agrees.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said the initiative to change the lyrics is the kind of "symbolic gesture" the Conservative government makes when it doesn't want to do anything real.

"Anything that makes a national anthem more gender-sensitive is a good thing," he told CBC News.

"But, I mean, no disrespect to those who feel strongly on this issue, but, for heaven's sake, we have some very important challenges and every time the government is asked to do something real, it does something symbolic.

"There's lots of things to do for women that are more important than changing the words of the national anthem, just as there are lots of things to do for pensioners and seniors that are more important than having a Seniors Day."

But the best part?

It's pissing off their base base. Viz, the Freaks.

A sample comment:

Another example of bowing to the demands of the 'Socialist Republic of Quebecistan.' Its bad enough that some francophones embarrsed the country inter-nationally about the so called lack of french spoken at the Olympic opening ceremonies.

Who do the Tories think they are, LIEberals Shame on you

Which yet again demonstrates the reading comprehension skills of the knuckle-draggers. The ReformaTories' proposed change applies to the English lyrics only.

Karma Runs Over Dogma. News at 11.

Update with linky goodness.


As many literate people in Canada know (the rightwing crackpot illiterates, not so much) Yann Martel started a generous personal project a few years ago to expand the cultural horizons of Stephen Harper. Some called it a fool's errand, given that the churlish narcissist (who will soon be a former PM) does not believe in Canadian culture.

Well today la presse francophone is abuzz with the note of admiration that Martel received from Barack Obama.

It appears the US president and one of his daughters read The Life of Pi. President Obama in his note said "It is a lovely book - an elegant proof of God and the power of storytelling. Thank you."

Correction: Martel has received occasional aknowledgement from the PMO for the numerous works of Canadian fiction, non-fiction and poetry that he has sent him over the years; they are boiler-plate form letters.

Clearly Harper's god is not Obama's god.

Michigan 'Pro-Abort' Trial Begins

The trial of Harlan Drake, the man who confessed to the murder of two men in Michigan, one of them a proposed anti-abortion martyr/saint, has begun.

The deatils in the testimony so far are pretty sad. Drake apparently considered suicide by cop but decided against it. Police have testified that Drake was totally cooperative during the arrest and questioning.

Remember that these events happened fairly soon after the assassination of Dr George Tiller and the fetus fetishists were thrilled to declare this a totally equivalent instance of 'pro-abort' violence.

So, was Harlan Drake a pro-abort? (What is it with rightwingnutz and multisyllabic words?)

Drake told police he's "not against anti-abortion" but didn't like that Pouillon showed graphic signs to children in front of Owosso High School. The evening of Sept. 10, 2009, Drake said he intended to kill Pouillon if he saw him at the school the next day.

"I figured if he was there, I'd make sure he wasn't there (again)," he said in the taped recording.

It was after the shooting of Pouillon that Drake decided to kill Fuoss, who formerly employed Drake, his mother and brother, he told police. He said since he was "in for one" by killing Pouillon, he might as well be in for three.

Drake's lawyers are planning a temporary insanity defence.

Yeah.

CAPP's New Purpose

CAPP, Canadians Against Parliamentary Proroguing, is repurposing. With prorogation just about over, the group has become Canadians Advocating Political Participation, which keeps the original acronym, but I learned today, shares it with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Oh well.

Here's the launch video.



Christopher White, founder of the original CAPP Facebook page, appeared at the Liberal roundtable today on parliamentary democracy, which was live-blogged by Kady.

One more thing. I won't repeat myself about what a fascinating experiment in new media organizing and activism this is, yadayada. But, if you're in the mood to play, it's time for the Money Test, aka, The Will This Be Taken Seriously? Test.

Too Young to Invade Italy

It seems the UK has a teensy problem with teen pregnancy, like, it's right behind the Excited States in knocked-up kids among developed countries. And Canucks shouldn't be too smug in this department. We're in the top six, five of which are the UK and its former colonies, US, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and, oddly, Hungary. (All -- except Hungary -- repressed Anglo cultures unable to talk birds and bees with our children?)

So, the Brits decided to tackle the problem by making sex ed mandatory in schools -- all schools, including the 'faith' schools.

Well, you know what happened next, right?

The Catlicks went berserk, demanding an opt-out.

But the government held firm . . .

Oh. Wait. There's an election coming up.

The bill was passed but with an amendment allowing misogynist Christoids faith schools to teach that birth control is wrong but still requiring them to teach it.

Commenter Mark Steel rants:

How can there be so many lunatics opposed to sex education? And apart from anything else, what makes them think a lesson about sex is going to make kids go out and immediately have sex? It's education about it, not an instruction to get it done before dinner break. Maybe they should demand an end to history lessons as well on the grounds that "I don't want my fourteen-year-old learning about Napoleon as he's too young to invade Italy."

It continues to astonish me that weaselly pols bend over and grab their ankles for this crap.

Men impregnating women against their will?

According to a recent report, 25% in a group of female patients surveyed said they had experienced "reproductive coercion". This percentage may be higher or lower in other communities.

The research report, “Pregnancy coercion, intimate partner violence and unintended pregnancy,” highlights a phenomenon we labeled reproductive coercion to describe explicit male behaviors to promote pregnancy. Particularly for women with a history of partner violence, these behaviors are significantly linked with unintended pregnancy.

Such reproductive coercion takes many forms, but frequently involves a male partner’s direct interference with a woman’s use of contraception (‘birth control sabotage’). It includes removing condoms during sex to get her pregnant, intentional breaking of condoms, and preventing her from taking birth control pills.

SUZY ALL-CAPS would probably justify their actions in a number of ways.

1. It's for women's own good. If God gave them wombs, He wants them to breed.


2. The Pill Kills!!! It's heroic to replace oral contraceptives with fakes or to flush them.


3. Condoms Kill!!! Won't someone think about the sperm Holocaust?


4. Women Lie!!! They say their husbands or lovers sabotaged their birth control but can we really trust what they say? After all, those murderous sluts enjoy having abortions.


5. A whole bunch of religious celibate men (also known as the Vatican Taliban) don't believe in contraception. Get with the program.

That's probably how Blob Blogging Wingnut - The Queen of The Fetus©™ Fetishists - would defend their behaviour.

OMFG! There were inflatable beavers???11!1???

Apparently so.

I had the telly on but left the room after the embarrassment of the rekindling of the flame. (Have I ever mentioned how much I loathe mimes?)

When I heard 'O Canada' for what seemed like the fifteenth time, I came back and turned it off.

And missed the inflatable beavers.

Thank the goddess for small mercies.