COUNTERCOLUMN: All Your Bias Are Belong to Us

In case you missed it, the there was a great big blowup recently in the women’s health charity world. The big breast cancer and fundraising organization, Susan G. Komen for the Cure – the marketing geniuses who came up with the pink ribbon idea for breast cancer awareness, and who engage in a lot of marketing and fundraising for causes related to breast cancer. Whatever they don’t need for operations and overhead, they dispense to hundreds of different breast-cancer related organizations, funding education and awareness activities, screenings, mammograms, and research toward preventing and curing the terrible disease.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure sparked a controversy when they announced they were pulling their $600,000 annual grant to Planned Parenthood, claiming that a new internal rule adopted by the Komen board stated they can’t fund organizations that are currently under a congressional investigation. Planned Parenthood was the only charity currently receiving funds that fell into that category, so they felt singled out and objected – claiming that the Komen foundation’s decision was politically motivated and that the real issue was – que’lle surprise! – abortion.

Hilarity ensued.

Planned Parenthood supporters furiously accused Susan G. Komen for the Cure of making a principled stand. Meanwhile, fueled by Facebook, Twitter, blogs, other social media, Komen’s fundraising more than doubled in the days following the announcement, in what the media described as a severe anti-Komen backlash.
At stake, of course, was more than 0.6 percent of Planned Parenthood’s budget for the year. Planned Parenthood executives announced that without this funding, either they would have to collect another $1.75 for every abortion performed, or women would be denied mammograms.
Naturally, they were leaning towards getting out of the mammogram business. Which – of course, it turned out they already were: A pro-life activist recently called up 30 different Planned Parenthood facilities around the country, recording the results. All 30 facilities informed her that Planned Parenthood didn’t do mammograms.

Not to worry: Planned Parenthood supporters rode to the rescue – led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. As a billionaire himself, and founder of the Bloomberg media empire, Mayor Bloomberg – a ferocious 2nd amendment opponent and the man who thinks government should be free to dictate your choice in French fries, pledged to donate $250,000 to demonstrate his commitment to a woman’s right to choose.

For its part, Susan G. Komen for the Cure was stung by the allegation that its decision to withdraw funding from Planned Parenthood may have secretly been rooted in principle. So about 48 hours after making the announcement that they would no longer provide funding to Planned Parenthood, the female-dominated leadership at Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced that they had changed their mind.

The decision was reversed, and Komen announced its commitment to continuing their “treasured relationship” with Planned Parenthood. So Susan G. Komen donors, regardless of their feelings on abortion, will still send $600,000 per year to an organization that doesn’t even do mammograms.

Labels: Abortion, cancer, charities, finance, health care, Politics, women

The LA Times looks at the decline of the porn business in the San Fernando Valley.

I was particularly impressed with this gem: "I'm happy for the production, but I feel bad for exploiting the girls' situation."

Honorable mentions for Best Lies from the porn industry:

"You can make 100,000 per year camming from your living room" and "Fuck me with that big white cock."

Labels: Humor, Los Angeles Times, Porn, women

"If it is, that's not neccessarily a bad thing."

At the same time, opting not to have a child you can't afford to raise can be a realistic and responsible-if painful-choice, one often based on taking good care of the kids you already have.

Why would it be a "painful" choice?

Oh, no reason. No reason at all.

Labels: Abortion, doublex.com, The Left, women

That's not funny, dammit!

Here's Dee Dee Myers, former press secretary for Bill Clinton (and one of my great secret crushes in politics) on Jon Favreau's shenanegans with a cardboard cutout of Hillary Clinton:

I can’t stop thinking about this picture, and I confess I find it really upsetting. And, no, it’s not because I don’t have a sense of humor. I like to think I have a well-earned reputation for often irreverent, sometimes ill-advised humor. But I’m not laughing now.

That's not funny, dammit!

And it’s not that I was never young. My friends from college and in the years just beyond can testify that I did some things then that I wouldn’t want to see on the Internet now. But I had a big job in the White House at a young age too; at 31—just a few years older than Favreau is now—I became White House press secretary.

Shorter Dee Dee: "I was never young."

If he’s old enough and wise enough and mature enough to write for the president of the United States—and not just any president but one who seems poised to take words more seriously than any since Abraham Lincoln—

HUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!

HURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!

HUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

(spit spit, retch retch)

Geez, what a twit.

than he’s clearly old enough and wise enough and mature enough to avoid getting his picture taken behaving in a way that is embarrassing to him, his boss, the secretary of state–designate, his family, and, one hopes, a majority of 27-year-old males (though that may be too optimistic.) It’s indefensible. But that’s still not what’s bugging me.

What's bugging me right now is that when Bill Clinton cheated on his wife and used a 21-year-old intern as his personal sperm receptacle in the Oval Office, Myers was considerably more circumspect about calling for accountability.

Update: The next issue of Vanity Fair has nude photos of Kate Winslet.

Jus' sayin, y'all.

Update II: Read this, too, though, from Dee Dee Myers back in 1998: "The President's relationship with Monica Lewinsky was so reckless as to seem pathological."No call for accountability in sight, though. Indeed, she takes the opportunity to criticize Ken Starr.

Splash, out

Jason

Labels: Democrats, Feminism, women

The U.S. Army promotes the first woman to 4-star rank.

Looks like she was a loggie coming up. Outstanding. War is simply a logistical shoving match, sporadically interrupted by gunfire.

She was also the 82nd Airborne's first female battalion commander, some years ago.

Hooah-tov!

Splash, out

Jason

Labels: Army, generals, soldiers' issues, women

Libtards are still at each others' throats. Instapundit links to the pro-Hillary blog No Quarter, who compares Obama -- I shit thee not -- to a wife beater and a rapist.

And now seeing these articles and photographs of Senator Clinton and Senator Obama together, him with his hand on her back, just makes me cringe. Frankly, it makes me almost physically ill. See, I have done a lot of work in the Domestic Violence movement. And I have seen this cycle before: the man abuses, attacks, and lashes out at the woman. The woman makes excuses for, and accepts blame from, the man for his attacks. Not unlike Senator Clinton saying now that they are friends, respect each other, and support each other. I know what respect looks and feels like - Senator Obama has shown NONE for Senator Clinton. Senator McCain has, but Obama? No. Seeing these photos of her with him now reminds me of battered women wearing sunglasses to hide the bruises, and saying, “Oh, he didn’t really mean it. It was my fault, really, I shouldn’t have made him mad. He really does love me, in his own way, really! Don’t be mad at him!” Not only did Obama make sexist remarks about Senator Clinton, INCLUDING at the fundraiser the other night, but he reaped the benefit of the sexist and misogynistic remarks made by others, the veiled death threats (talking to YOU, Keith), the threats of violence, the degradation, not on her record, or on her speeches, but because she was a woman.

Dunno who Keith is. But here I was thinking all the unhinged morons in the Democratic party were OBAMA supporters!

Splash, out

Jason

Labels: Democrats, Hillary, Obama, The Left, women

Does the popular show affect consumer behavior among young women?

But really, how much influence do such shows actually have on young women? Ask Julia Allison, a 27-year-old relationship columnist and Sex and the City fan profiled last weekend by the New York Times. The article says that her devotion to the show was in part why she moved to New York City after college. She also keeps up with habits of Carrie Bradshaw, dancing at celebrity-rich clubs, throwing parties and collecting trendy shoes. The problem is that the lifestyle portrayed in the show is difficult to afford; for example, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side — where Carrie lived as a single professional on the show - - is $2,448 per month. (Indeed, Ms. Allison says even with a six-figure income, she lives in a tiny studio.)

Number one, what in the world does a 27 year old know about relationships, to add enough value to write a column.

Number two, while I hate to begrudge someone what they're making on the open market, in what universe is this young woman so much better at her job than an army of dogface reporters and editors and writers with decades more experience and insight into her beat to warrant a six-figure income?

My guess is she parlays a base salary into a few tens of thousands per year in freelance writing fees. Fair game. But what kind of person moves to New York (and becomes a relationship columnist!) to model herself after Carrie Bradshaw? Did she win some sort of drawing, or something?

I'm going to write a story on consumer debt among 20-somethings. And she's going to be my first call. I'd love to know what her credit card balance is. And show my 22 year old sister.

Splash, out

Jason

UPDATE: Upon reading the Times article profiling Allison, it's worse than I thought. Worse than I could have imagined.

Labels: culture, economy, women

... and bullshit at worst.

Do you?

Labels: Crime, Iraq, Media, women

The usual journo suspects continue to jump on military-women-as-victims stories. All the rage these days. From the Ass Press:

The key quote here is this one:

Army spokeswoman Maj. Cheryl Phillips said, "There is no evidence that the actual number of assaults is increasing in the Army, but there are definite indicators that the Army has created more willingness among Soldier victims to report incidents."

Get that? No evidence that the actual number of assaults is increasing. The Ass Press does not attempt to subvert or question that assertion in the text. The entire article, indeed, is a regurgitation of Army-provided data.

So what's the headline these lying runts choose to run?

Sexual Assaults in Military Increase.

Dipshits.

What's really happening is that senior commanders are putting a full court press on right now to stop what sexual harrassment there is in the ranks - and requiring company commanders and first sergeants to be extremely proactive in educating soldiers not only about what the standards are, but how to file a report.

Just last November, I received a requirement to show a half-hour video presentation and hand out some literature, and explain the ways you could file a complaint in detail. Similar orders have been going out around the Army for months and months and months.

Lo and behold, reports of sexual harrassment and sexual assaults are increasing!

Who would have thunk?

Well, a lot of people. Except dumbass reporters who can't tell the difference between reporting an act and the act itself.

Sexual harrassment has no place in the Army. Sexual assault is a crime. I will ruthlessly confront it where it exists and I will not tolerate either in my command.

But I'm tired of these halfwits in the drive-by media, these instant experts dragging my Army's name through the dirt.

A correction is in order.

Splash, out

Jason

Labels: Army, soldiers' issues, women