What fresh Con hell is this?

Quotes from Dorothy Parker and Goebbels (via Karl Bélanger) seem appropriate today.

Radio-Canada and other news gathering organizations that, unlike Pierre Karl Péladeau and his Quebecor media conglomerate, are dedicated to producing credible journalistic information that contains actual facts are reporting that:

The Harper government has served notice that thousands of same-sex couples who flocked to Canada from abroad since 2004 to get married are not legally wed.

From here.

So. Recently members of PMSHithead's reformaTory caucus, notorious for the control he maintains over his MPs, have been prodding and poking at the *abortion debate*.

Here's an overview of recent forays, fuelled by the fetus lobby elements in the Contempt Party and provided with speaking points from Stevie's 1000 staffers-strong Politburo/PMO.

And now, this may be the first inkling of the Cons' intention to allow erosion of hard-earned rights to same-sex marriage. Nothing that happens under PMSHithead's reign escapes his purview.

"It is the absolute right of the State to supervise the formation of public opinion." Joseph Goebbels.

More at Dawg's Blawg, here, with the pic of Stevie camped up in a Village People outfit, one of the many camouflage opportunities the Calgary Stampede provides.

It's time - marriage equality in Australia

Found this on Twitter. Sweet.

Added by fern hill: I'll see your ad with one from Ireland. I was sure I posted this before. It's from 2009.

The MTV Effect

USian pendants are all over the 'largest national public opinion survey ever conducted on abortion and the influence of religion and moral values on the issue'.

To say that it is a tad schizophrenic would be an understatement.

Two-thirds of the country said the term “pro-life” describes them well, while 70 percent of the country said the term “pro-choice” describes them well. Researchers said people think they’re both. Those who are opposed to abortion think it is among the most critical issues for the country—those who support abortion don’t think it’s a critical issue.

Biiig surprise there. For fetus fetishists, abortion is the ONLY issue.

The study also looks at attitudes towards equal marriage. Millennials (aged 18-29) are way more accepting of same-sex relationships than their elders, but view abortion about as insanely as their parents and grandparents.

HuffPo speculates:

But, why are Millennials so much more supportive of equal marriage for gays and lesbians when compared to the general public than they are of abortion?

My view is that the sheer volume of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) people who have come out over the last 25 years has helped to transform public perceptions of same sex relationships. Millennial youth have known GLBT people as family, friends, fellow students, and work colleagues for decades. They know their stories and have glimpsed the reality of their lives. The thought that these individuals should somehow be denied the same rights as straight folks strikes Millennial youth as a social and moral non sequitur. It just doesn't make sense.

When it comes to abortion on the other hand, millennial youth do not have a comparable experience of knowing the stories of women who have had abortions -- whether pre- or post-Roe v. Wade. Plus, the anti-choice movement has successfully stigmatized abortion with its tactics of clinic intimidation, restrictive legislation, and conservative religious opposition.

But see? This is where the The MTV Effect comes into play.

MTV has two teen pregnancy shows: 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom.

About 17% of Americans have seen one or both teen pregnancy shows on MTV and they're more likely (65% to 56% of people who haven't watched the shows) to say abortion should be legal and to say it's morally acceptable (48% to 40%). PRRI [Public Religion Research Institute] calls this 'The MTV effect."

People are more inclined to have a positive view of the legality of abortion if they consider it in the context of an individual situation, if they know someone who had had an abortion, or if they've watched MTV's reality show on unmarried pregnant teens.

Simple. You know gay people; you accept that they have rights. You know or know of young women with unplanned pregnancies; you accept they should have options.

Now here's a genius remark:

“At the end of the day, Americans are committed to the availability of abortion, and conflicted about its morality,’’ Jones said. “I would call it a stable tension.’’

Yeah. Or USian batshittery.

In any event, the challenge for sane, pro-choice Merkins is huge but clear: normalize abortion.

In stark contrast, Canadians have moved on. A recent poll in the Sudbury Star showed that 85% of participants do not want abortion 'debate' reopened vs. only 13% who do.

Canada -- despite our imaginary supposed ginormous shift to 'Conservatard' values -- remains stoutly pro-choice.
(March 2010, EKOS poll).

More on same-sex marriage.

Legal arguments smoothly follow one another, punctuated by emotional testimony of how Proposition 8 humiliates gay men and lesbians who wish to wed, inside the courtroom where the constitutionality of the ban on same-sex marriage is on trial. Outside, banners and hand-held posters reduce them to statements that are as pithy as a tweet on twitter.

Vanity Fair's Open Bar Blog offers 5 requirements for those who wish to debate the legitimacy of same-sex marriages. Here's one that would eliminate a considerable number of rightwing religious conservative zealots - and not only those in politics.

No. 2: Any person who has or who is at this very moment committing adultery, or any other action which directly undermines the “traditions” associated with marriage, also hereby forfeits the right to tell same-sex couples that they can’t try to stay loyal and honest in their relationship. These liars, cheats and scoundrels (of both sexes) have done more to undermine marriage over the centuries than any two men kissing could ever dream of doing.

Indeed.

US States that allow same-sex marriages have lower divorce rates.

Statistical data analysis should not be attempted by amateurs. Maurice Vellacott, for example. The Fetus©™ fetishists insist on claiming that there is a cause & effect relationship between abortion and mental health for women who have terminated pregnancies, as well as between abortion & breast cancer.

Now we hear that 'Murrican states who have banned same-sex legal marriages seemingly have higher divorce rates, here. * Apparently those couples haven't heard the claims shrieeeked over and over again by conservative religious organizations such as Focus on the Family and R.E.A.L. (anti-feminist) women to the effect that heterosexual marriages are under attack!

Here's an excerpt from this pollster/poll compilator:

The differences are highly statistically significant. Nevertheless, they do not necessarily imply causation. The decision to ban same-sex marriage does not occur randomly throughout the states, but instead is strongly correlated with other factors, such as religiosity and political ideology, which we have made no attempt to account for. Nor do we know in which way the causal arrow might point. It could be that voters who have more marital problems of their own are more inclined to deny the right of marriage to same-sex couples. [...]

At the very least, I would be surprised if there were any statistical evidence that interpreting the right of marriage to apply to same-sex couples would be injurious to heterosexual couples in any material way.

*Don't forget to read the batshitcrazy comments by the usual US rightwingnuts, teabaggers, homophobes and religiously disordered zealots.