Sapere Aude!

Karen Handel, Susan G. Komen's Anti-Abortion VP, Drove Decision To Defund Planned Parenthood

WASHINGTON -- Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the nation's leading anti-breast-cancer charity, has insisted that its since-reversed decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood arose from a routine change in criteria for grant eligibility that had nothing to do with abortion politics.

But a Komen insider told HuffPost on Sunday that Karen Handel, Komen's staunchly anti-abortion vice president for public policy, was the main force behind the decision to defund Planned Parenthood and the attempt to make that decision look nonpolitical.

"Karen Handel was the prime instigator of this effort, and she herself personally came up with investigation criteria," the source, who requested anonymity out of concern that speaking publicly would do irreparable harm to the source's career, told HuffPost. "She said, 'If we just say it's about investigations, we can defund Planned Parenthood and no one can blame us for being political.'"

Emails between Komen leadership on the day the Planned Parenthood decision was announced, which were reviewed by HuffPost under the condition they not be published, confirm the source's description of Handel's sole "authority" in crafting and implementing the Planned Parenthood policy.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Not shocked at all.

Roosevelt High School Under Fire For Communism v. Capitalism Worksheet

Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa is receiving criticism for one class assignment on the Cold War. Based on a worksheet handed out in a social studies class last week, many are questioning whether the lesson is promoting communism over capitalism and calling it "communist indoctrination."

The assignment's first page features an editorial cartoon: One side depicts capitalism, with two poorly dressed factory workers with balls and chains on their ankles and a well dressed businessman smoking a cigar, reaping the profits. The other side depicts communism, with two decently dressed, smiling factory workers and the profits from work returning to them.

Critics are finding some of the lesson's assertions objectively questionable.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Louis C.K. on Personal Responsibility for Social Problems

 

(Hat tip Andrew Sullivan.)

Vulture vs. Crony Capitalism in 2012: Right-Wing vs. Right-Wing; Right-Wing vs. Slightly-Right-of-Center

Here's Rick Perry defending his "vulture capitalism" of Romney.

Newt did the same thing and folks on the right criticized him for it too.  Apparently, all business practices are beyond reproach.  Here's Romney defending himself against the vulture charge. Now, here's Romney criticizing Obama for "crony capitalism."

Is Romney's charge gonna stick with people on the Right?  It presumes Obama is a capitalist, and they've been calling him a socialist for what seems like forever.

Google Joins Online SOPA Protest

WASHINGTON -- Google will join thousands of tech activists, entrepreneurs and corporations on Wednesday in protesting the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act, a controversial bill that has generated national outrage among Internet experts.

On Wednesday, more than 7,000 websites are expected to voluntarily "go dark," by blocking access to their content to protest the bill, according to organizers of SOPAStrike.com. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to bring the measure to a vote next week. Some of the biggest names on the Internet plan to participate in the blackout, including Wikipedia, Mozilla, Reddit and WordPress. On Tuesday, Google stopped short of vowing to take down its popular search engine, but said it would change its home page to show solidarity with protesters.

"Like many businesses, entrepreneurs and web users, we oppose these bills because there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue websites without asking American companies to censor the Internet," said a Google spokeswoman in a written statement provided to HuffPost. "So tomorrow we will be joining many other tech companies to highlight this issue on our U.S. home page."

While Hollywood movie studios and major record labels have lauded the bill as a robust effort to crack down on online copyright violations, Internet experts maintain that the tools proposed for the legislation would hamper efforts to improve online security and threaten the basic functioning of the Internet.

Tech companies have been raising objections to the bill since the Senate version, Protect IP, was introduced last spring. Free speech experts also argue that the measure's basic anti-piracy tool would risk seriously violating the First Amendment in allowing the government and private companies to shut down entire websites accused of piracy without a trial or even a traditional court hearing.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

GOP Crowd Boos The Golden Rule

Colbert Super Pac's Romney Attack Ad

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The Government Take Over of Health Care, Anti-Abortion Style?

A Texas law requiring abortion providers to show or describe an ultrasound image to a pregnant woman and to play sounds of the fetal heartbeat does not violate the U.S. Constitution, according to a federal appeals court.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Tuesday overturned a federal judge's decision to block the law, ruling that the ultrasound requirements do not infringe on abortion providers' free speech rights.

"The required disclosures of a sonogram, the fetal heartbeat, and their medical descriptions are the epitome of truthful, non-misleading information," Chief Judge Edith Jones wrote for the three-judge panel.

The Texas law, enacted in 2011, requires abortion providers to display the ultrasound images and describe them in detail. Women cannot decline to hear the physician's description of the image unless they qualify for an exception under the statute. Exceptions include if the woman suffered rape or incest or if the fetus has abnormalities.

A coalition of medical providers sued to block the law in June 2011, arguing that the law made doctors a "mouthpiece" for the state's ideological message. The First Amendment includes protections against compelled speech.

via www.chicagotribune.com

Does that count as a government take over of health care?  What if somebody doesn't want a sonogram?

At LSU, the tail wags the dog | Opinion | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

These cuts contrast jarringly with the compensation package football coach Les Miles re-negotiated for himself in August. The coach’s new contract provides an increase in his take-home pay of $6.5 million over the life of his contract, should his team win the championship.

Another feature of the coach’s newly-negotiated contract is a $200,000 bonus payable to him alone, if certain academic benchmarks — a player graduation rate of 75 percent, for example — are reached. This perquisite rewards the head football coach for work done totally by the students and the academic staff. This type of razzle-dazzle belongs on the playing field, not in a coach’s contract. No LSU professor or instructor receives a bonus if a certain percentage of students graduates.

Since 2006, Miles’ annual compensation has increased more than 250 percent. By contrast, the annual compensation of LSU professors and instructors — the people who carry out the university’s mission — has increased a whopping 0 percent over the past four years.

via theadvocate.com

A Legitimate Use of Police Power?