Links for Thursday, 2/2/2012 February 2, 2012

The Beast – The 50 Most Loathsome Americans:

18) Rick Scott

Crimes: A vampiric parasite, rivaled only by Creed for the loudest sucking sound to ever come out of Florida, Scott made his private health care fortune by bribing doctors, stealing billions from Medicare, closing hospitals, shilling homeopathic snake oil — and viciously attacking any reform that would cut into his mostly uninsured customer base. As the Tea Party-backed anti-stimulus candidate for governor, a company he partially owns collected $60 million in stimulus funds. He personally spent $73 million barely becoming governor, and then refused millions in federal health care money, so that many Floridians would still patronize his criminally awful Solantic walk-in clinics. Paid lip service to “small government” ideals while trying to mandate expensive Big Brother drug tests for welfare recipients and state employees. The consummate Koch fiend, Scott’s MO is to cry poverty, and sell off state prisons, schools, bridges, roads, etc. to the highest bidder. He’s so despised in Florida that his endorsement would’ve tarnished even the reputation of American Caligula Newt Gingrich.

Smoking Gun: “I’ve got a quote in my office: ‘First they came for the Jews, and I wasn’t a Jew so I didn’t say anything…’ We shouldn’t be allowing candidates to attack people in business, we should be saying… ‘That’s us.’”

Sentence: Scott experiences a dull ache in his leg while campaigning for reelection at a Kissimmee Wal-Mart in 2014. He visits the conveniently located in-store Solantic clinic which misdiagnoses his deep vein thrombosis as a sprain. Three days later, as he addresses a convention of gourmet mushroom growers, the blood clot reaches his lung mid-sentence and he collapses on the floor. His final words are: “I like the taste of shiit–”

Comment: I’m not usually on the bandwagon for being needlessly shitty, but I can’t help but respect the high degrees of snark being leveled at the chosen targets.

New York Times – Mayor to Give $250,000 to Planned Parenthood:

Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire with a long-term interest in public health, said he would give Planned Parenthood Federation of America a $250,000 matching gift — he will donate $1 for every new dollar Planned Parenthood raises up to $250,000. “Politics have no place in health care,” he said in a statement. “Breast cancer screening saves lives and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care. We should be helping women access that care, not placing barriers in their way.” Mr. Bloomberg then highlighted his contribution on Twitter, posting a series of messages asking his followers to contribute to Planned Parenthood.

Courthouse News Service – Ever Been That Drunk:

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (CN) - A college student claims he was injured when a fraternity member in a "drunken stupor" decided "that it would be a good idea to shoot bottle rockets out of his anus," and did so, "but instead of launching, the bottle rocket blew up in the defendant's rectum, and this startled the plaintiff and caused him to jump back," and fall off the fraternity's deck. Louis Helmburg III sued The Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity Inc., of Huntington, West Virginia, and Travis Hughes, a fraternity member, in Cabell County Court. Helmburg claims - in a statement it would be difficult to deny - that "firing bottle rockets out of one's own anus constitutes an 'ultra-hazardous' activity," which exposes both defendants to strict liability.

Comment: Who here has been drunk enough to fire EXPLOSIVE DEVICES OUT OF AN ORIFICE? Yeah, didn’t think so – there’s just not enough alcohol in the world. That wasn’t a drunken stupor, that was just a stupid stupor, enhanced slightly by booze.

xoJane – I Got Naked For Cancer:

In 2006, when these photos were first taken (hey, I still have that bra), I posted about the experience to the fatshionista livejournal community. I made it a public post and included a photo. And it was one of the most terrifying things I’d ever done on the Internet. This was back before I had my own blog, before I got really practiced at laughing at trolls. Now, posting here is still scary. Because there are always people looking to make fun of the fat lady. Especially the fat lady in her underwear. The intervening years have not seen a magical decrease in fat shaming. Far from it.

But what I’ve learned, since that photo was taken, is that, yes, it’s still revolutionary to be fat and visible. It’s still a radical act to walk around and be just fine with your body the way it is. You may not want to see me -- but I want you to look. I want you to see all kinds of bodies, presented in all kinds of ways. I want you to see bodies that look like your body, no matter what your body looks like, so you know your body is fine just the way it is.

This is my body. And it’s awesome.

Comment: At the risk of being repetitive, FUCK YEAH MARIANNE

VendettaV – What’s With All The Hate:

I follow quite a few ladies who land all over the scale. Big or small, these girls are constantly bashed for being proud of who they are and showing the world that they don’t give a fuck. Being beautiful isn’t so much visual as it is mental. Beauty is subjective in every case. Just because a girl decides to show the world that she thinks she’s beautiful isn’t and invitation for anyone to bash her, in any forum. If you don’t like it, don’t follow them. The world was spinning before you discovered them, and it’ll continue to spin once you realize you’re no better after trying to take them down.

Huffington Post - Susan G. Komen Top Officials Resign As Backlash Gains Steam:

"I’m a physician and my interest is women’s health, and I am disturbed by Komen’s decision because I am a very strong advocate for serving under-served women," Plesser told The Huffington Post. "Eliminating this funding will mean there’s no place for these women to go. Where are these women to go to have a mammography? Do they not deserve to have mammography?" With her decision, Plesser joins Komen's top public health official, Mollie Williams, and the executive director of Komen's Los Angeles County chapter, Deb Anthony, both of whom also resigned in protest.

New York Times – The Deep Comic Roots of ‘Self-Deportation’:

As the radio program “This American Life” reminded its audience on Tuesday, there is an argument to be made that the term self-deportation was invented in 1994 by two Mexican-American satirists, Lalo Alcaraz and Esteban Zul. That year, “sickened” by a ballot initiative known as Proposition 187, which aimed to prohibit illegal immigrants from using state-run hospitals and schools in California, the comedians began posing as conservative activists who backed the measure. The two men started a satirical media campaign to support the initiative, faxing radio and television stations a fake news release that touted the benefits of “self-deportation centers” and invited reporters seeking more information to call a Latino Republican and “militant self-deportationist” named Daniel D. Portado. Eventually the men founded “Hispanics Against Liberal Takeover,” or Halto, and produced a mock radio ad, in which Portado claimed to support “California Gov. Pete Wilson’s self-deportation message.”

Jezebel – How the Susan G. Komen Foundation Lost Its Way:

But in recent years, it seems that the organization has lost its way, becoming more about self-promotion and self-preservation than honoring Nancy's promise to Suzy. For example, the organization has refused to acknowledge the link between the chemical BPA and cancer even in the face of piles of science establishing a link, presumably because several of their large donors just so happen to manufacture products that rely BPA. In 2010, they spent more than $1 million suing smaller charities that used the phrase "for the Cure" in their names or in their events. The organization said that this was to prevent donor confusion. One fundraising program encouraged socially mobile cancer fighters to battle cancer themselves by mailing in Yoplait tops in order to prompt the company to make a 10-cent donation. Postage at the time was 37 cents; Yoplait prices varied.

Finally, Komen claims to be apolitical, but CEO Nancy Brinker identifies as Republican, donates large amounts of money to Republican political candidates, and served as ambassador to Hungary during the George W. Bush administration. The addition of pro-life Georgia politician Karen Handel to the executive suite wasn't an aberration, but rather a continuation of the gradual reddening of the foundation. It's hardly surprising that they exhibited so little courage in the face of right wing confrontation; the organization has grown from a sweet promise to a dying sister into a pink clad right-wing sorority of sanctimonious hypocrisy.