Elizabeth Warren

Usually, I don't have the patience to watch long videos. About six-seven minutes is my limit.

So, last night, as I told my sweetie about Elizabeth Warren, I showed him this (short) video.



Then, from the same YouTube page, he clicked on this. It's nearly an hour long, but it's rivetting and provides the facts and figures for the long decline of the middle class in the US. And, no doubt, things are much the same -- except for the healthcare issue, thank the goddess -- here in Canada.

The lecture was given in 2008, but it explains everything you need to know about the Occupy movement.

Elizabeth Warren has had an interesting and very impressive life. At the moment, she's running for the Senate seat in Massachusetts currently held by this tool.

She's smart, attractive, and a great speaker. A down-to-earth Harvard law professor.

I hope we're looking at the first female president of the US.

OH NO! What now for SUZY ALLCAPS?

Blob Blogging Wingnut's favourite form of expression - ALLCAPSLOCK - is being phased out.

Caps Lock had its uses back in the olden days. [...]

By the 21st century, Caps Lock had become an outdated scourge. Modern-day personal computing—surfing the Web, writing school papers, chatting online—doesn't require nearly as much capitalization. As of 2010, the most-common Caps Lock users are enraged Internet commenters and the computer-illiterate elderly. The key's location makes it a frequent target for an aCCIDENTAL STRIKE when your pinky reaches for the "a." Worst of all, Caps Lock occupies prime real estate that could be deeded to a more useful key, like Control or even a second Enter button. In 2006, Belgian computer programmer Pieter Hintjen launched the "Caps Off" campaign to persuade hardware manufacturers to abandon the key. Their slogan: "STOP SHOUTING!" Many online publications ban comments that are typed in all caps. Some people pry the offending key right off their keyboards in protest.

So why has Caps Lock stuck around so long? The simplest explanation is technological inertia.

From here.

Now if only the rest of the tactics that Fetus Lobby members deploy could also become extinct. As expressed by that now-viral photo:

You have the right to hold a religious belief. Just don't shove it down our throats.

What do you call a Catholic Bishop indicted

on a charge of failing to protect children after he and and other clergy in his diocese did not report - for five months - to police that hundreds of images of child pornography were found on one of their priests' computer - a priest who worked in a parochial school?

A beginning.

From here.

I am not moving.

From The Galloping Beaver.

Watch it.

Yo! Penis People!

Read this and try to plumb the depth of Theo-Neo-Con loathing and disgust for women.

Today the GOP-led House of Representatives, with the blessings and encouragement of the United States Council of Catholic Bishops and extremist religious groups such as the Family Research Council, passed a bill in a vote of 251 to 172 that would, among other things, allow doctors and hospitals to "exercise their conscience" by letting pregnant women facing emergency medical conditions die.

Yes. Die.

This is what the Republicans called the "Protect Life Act." And no, I am not kidding.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called it what it is... "a savage assault on women's health."

Here's the representative of that hate.





Abortion is always an issue.

And here we thought SunTV would be

a pipeline for Stevie's PMO aka the Politburo, feeding English-speaking Canada non-stop ReformaTory propaganda.

Who knew that it would become the CONmedy Channel, with enough Poe's Law ambiguity to Confuse its intended audience? John Doyle describes an ersatz mash-up of Red Green and Stephen Colbert.

In its short but feisty life, Sun News Network has emerged as the finest of comedy sources. I’ve said that before. But now it’s even funnier.

I thought few instances of rip-roaring satire in the history of Canadian comedy could match the time Sun News host Ezra Levant marked Earth Day by assaulting a potted plant with a chainsaw. Levant, wearing a lumberjack shirt and a hard hat, began by making a lengthy speech at a pulpit. [...]

Then an assistant fired up the chainsaw and, after some small difficulty getting a grip on the instrument, Levant committed an assault on the unfortunate plant.

Sheer genius. Earth Day, Soviet communism and a chainsaw wielded by a guy not too familiar with the instrument.

And of course, there's Krista Erickson's totally hysterical impersonation of a journalist, replete with moves evoking Ann Coulter on crystal meth.

Meanwhile, the *real* Coulter's career as the official stand-up comic of Right-Wing Batshit Crazies has taken a queer turn.

"Hold on to your cowboy hats kids because there is a big surprise coming up on The A-List Dallas — an appearance from none other than Ms. Ann Coulter. While Ms. Coulter’s political viewpoints are a frequent source of debate, she has always been somewhat supportive of the gay community."

How can someone always be somewhat something? And Coulter supportive of the gays? Like when she endorsed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell? Or when she spoke in support of reparative therapy?

From here.

Grand merci to Jymm at Let Freedom Rain.

Yet Another Abortion Defunding Gambit

Gearing up for their Defund Abortion Bunfest on October 22 at Queen's Park, the fetus fetishists have released another *yawn* poll.

The majority of Ontarians oppose taxpayer funding of abortion according to a poll commissioned by Campaign Life Coalition, LifeSiteNews.com, and The Interim. More than six in ten Ontarians oppose the status quo of paying for all abortions in the province while just three in ten support subsidizing this unnecessary, elective surgery.

According to an Abacus Data poll, 40 per cent of respondents think abortion should be available but only funded in medical emergencies, while 11 per cent think abortion should be available but never funded, and 10 per cent do not think abortion should be available at all. In contrast, 30% think abortion should be available and always funded. Another 8 per cent said none of those positions match their view.

I downloaded the PDF and got this:

While overall a significant majority (81%) of Ontarians feel that abortions should be available to those who choose to have one, a majority (61%) also oppose government funding of all abortions, including many of those who support access to abortion.

Now unless Ontarians are significantly stingier about funding medical care than Canadians overall, this doesn't square with consistent numbers from Angus Reid.

In three polls from January 2009 to Jan 2010 (I couldn't find any more recent), about 43% of Canadians are cool with funding all and 41% are in favour of funding only in emergencies.

In fact, the number saying 'fund only in emergencies' is down by 5 points over the period. But 'not fund at all' is up by 6 points (from 4% in July 2009 to 10% in July 2010). So I'd call that a wash.

The poll included another of those idiotic 'gotcha' questions fetus fetishists love. Like this one going all SHRIEEEKY over the fact that Canadians didn't know that there is no time limit on abortion under law. (There are of course medical guidelines on limits.)

This time they're going all SHRIEEKY over the fact that 91% of Ontarians don't know that abortion costs the government 'at least $30 million' a year.

Well, duh. Under our system of single-payer medicare, I betcha 91% of Ontarians haven't the foggiest what is spent on appendectomies, cancer care, childbirth, or any other medical procedure.

And that's a good thing.

I did find out how they came up with that figure spent on abortion in Ontario.

Statistical Evidence:

Abortions in Ontario per year: 32,000 (Canadian Institute for Health Information) to 51,000 (Source: Project for an Ontario Women’s Health Evidence-Based Report (POWER)
Average cost of an abortion: $1000 (Joyce Arthur, Pro-Choice Action Network)
Annual cost of abortions (excluding complications): 32,000 x 1,000 = <$32 M to $51M

(Isn't that sweet? Citing pro-choice Joyce Arthur as an expert.)

I have no reason to quibble with that number, but wouldn't it be more responsible to put it in some kinda context? Like, what do we collectively spend on childbirth, vasectomies and other 'lifestyle choices' (as the CLC spokesthingy styles abortion)?

I tried to find out what a vasectomy -- 99.5% covered by OHIP -- costs and this is the best I could find. It looks dodgy, but the figure of $500 to $1000 seems reasonable.

(Reversing vasectomies has been defunded and the 'unsnipping' will run you nearly $2000.)

This next quote is also sweet, considering that the fetus fetishists probably expected Tim 'Defund Abortion' Hudak to be premier at this point (emphasis mine).

“The poll results show that a clear majority opposes the status quo of taxpayer funding for all abortions, proving that politicians should not be afraid to address abortion defunding.” said Jim Hughes, President of Campaign Life Coalition. “What politician or political party will have the guts to stand up for taxpayers and accountability to resist paying for the personal choice to destroy an unborn human being?” asked Hughes.

Quick answer, Jim: Nooooobody.

Slightly longer answer: Because with the vast majority of Ontarians staunchly pro-choice, to do otherwise would be political suicide.

Friends of the Cons

Yet another installment in the ongoing saga of which moneyed interests are bankrolling, lobbying and cozying up to Stevie Spiteful's Contempt Party.

*Gold Card* Baird recently flew to Libya. Did Rusty commandeer luxury travel arrangements for himself and the ConservaTories cronies in his entourage?

John Baird brought Canadian funding for efforts to build democracy and control weapons in Libya, but it was the guest list for his trip to Tripoli that pointed to another priority: Executives from big Canadian companies travelled with him.

The foreign minister flew to the Libyan capital with heavy security and secrecy, but also executives from Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin, Alberta oil giant Suncor and Calgary-based pipeline-technology firm Pure Technologies.

From here.

SNC-Lavalin ... oh yes. The Cons recently sold the commercial operations of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to the Montreal-based engineering giant for $15 million.

As well, the RCMP raided their Ontario office, in the course of investigating whether bribes were involved in the award of a large construction project in Bangladesh.

More here (in French so use Google translation to get the goods).

SNC-Lavalin has a MASSIVE Public Works contract to maintain government buildings across Canada; accounting forensic probes led by Price-Waterhouse indicate that the current government has approved irregular and over-priced invoices from the engineering firm.

Not surprisingly, the CEO of SNC-Lavalin dismisses public demands for an official inquiry regarding corruption in the construction industry in Québec. One does wonder if he has received *coaching* from Dimitri Soudas in how to handle inconvenient media queries.

Anyone taking bets on whether SNC-Lavalin might have an inside track on building those mega-prisons that PMSHithead's *Hard-On Crime* Omnibus bill will foster?

Poland Just Got Interesting

Over the years, DJ! has kept an eye on priest-ridden, misogynist Poland. Mostly, we've been appalled, but this week there's some very interesting and hopeful news.

In Sunday's election, ten per cent of Polish voters went nuts and voted for the Palikot Movement.

There is a picture, drawn by Polish cartoonist Marek Raczkowski: a crowd of people demonstrating in the street, carrying aloft a big banner that simply reads "FUUUCK!''. This is exactly how many young, well-educated, open-minded people felt on their way to the polling booth last Sunday. And these Poles voted for Janusz Palikot, whose recently created Movement party ended up coming third, with 10% of votes. His success is without a doubt the most thrilling story to come out of these elections. So who is this man, and why did 10% of Polish voters back him?

Palikot's Movement is the first political party in our country that has not been afraid to open up a debate about such sensitive subjects as a secular state, civil unions for heterosexual and homosexual couples, in-vitro fertilisation reimbursed by national health insurance, or a modern drug policy.

Thanks to Palikot's Movement, we now have the first openly homosexual politician in our parliament, Robert Biedron, and the first transsexual woman, Anna Grodzka. It almost feels like the day when the first black president of the United States was elected. One of the first things Biedron said after hearing the election results was: "A few years ago neighbours from my town used to throw rocks at me when I went jogging, because I was gay. And now Poles have chosen me to be their deputy. This is unbelievable. Our country is changing!"

Palikot wants to decriminalize marijuana, liberalize Poland's idiotic abortion laws, institute civil partnerships, and get the fricking Catlick Church out of politics.

He's a bit of a character.

The eccentric Palikot first conquered our hearts when he was Civic Platform's deputy a couple of years ago: during a now infamous press conference, he waved a plastic vibrator and a toy pistol around in order to call attention to a cover-up about a young woman who had been raped at a police station. Another time, he brought the bleeding stump of a bull's head onto a popular TV show, as a "mafia gift". Palikot has imagination and courage, and has earned enough from his previous career so that him and his family do not depend on the deputy's salary.

In my opinion, there is one conclusion we can draw from Palikot's victory: 10% of Poland's voters are willing to wave their metaphorical pink vibrators at the political establishment. Their vote was Poland's equivalent of camping on Madrid's Puerta del Sol or occupying Wall Street. Next, they want to hear some serious political solutions.

I dunno about that last bit, but Prime Minister Donald Tusk's party was re-elected with only a plurality. He needs votes in parliament. Will he continue to go with the misogynist pro-Catlick gang he has been working with? Or ally himself with the dildo-wavers?

Stay tuned. Poland just got interesting.

Image source.