Hello, "Progressive Bloggers?" Open asses. Remove heads.

So apparently the administrators at the so-called "Progressive Bloggers" aggregator are prepared to continue indulging members who think it's worthwhile to have a "debate" about Stephen Woodworth's crusade for "the rights of the unborn."

Well, fuck that, and fuck them, sez I. While we're at it, maybe we can have a "debate" about whether black people should have the same rights as white people?

Have you noticed what's going on to the south, ProgBlog mods? Have you been off the planet for the last couple of years? There's a wholesale war on women, in case you hadn't noticed. Republicans are working to roll back abortion rights and control women's sexuality in almost every state. And you want to crack open the door for that up here? We're supposed to keep the Sewer of Stupid from oozing over the border, not let it roll over us.

News flash, folks: you don't get to entertain a fucking "debate" over whether women control their own bodies and still call yourselves progressive. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, things aren't black and white, there's room for nuance and shades of meaning, and you can't reduce everything to ideological litmus tests ...

No. This time, you can. Either you believe in reproductive freedom and personal autonomy for everyone or you don't. There's no fucking middle ground on this.

So with all due respect to the mods at Progressive Bloggers:

Now it may be, as some commenter suggested over at the National Putz, that this is just

the Harpublicans chumming social conservative waters with a disposable Theo-con MP destined to join Stockwell Day counting angels dancing on the head of a pin

but really, that's neither here nor there. They want to have their little wanker debates and socon circle jerks, they can get a room somewhere. In progressive company, that question was settled a long fucking time ago.

Which means that there's a dirty but unavoidable task in front of us. Words and labels are vital, and it's obvious that we need to be vigilant about their meanings so that they, and the conversation, aren't co-opted and colonized. We cannot allow people who think this way to strip words of their meanings and repurpose them. The admins at the so-called "Progressive Bloggers" need to be put on notice.

Related posts:

• On reproductive freedom, there is nothing to fucking 'debate'
• U.S. doctor urges colleagues not to perform transvaginal ultrasounds
• One Town's War on Gay Teens | #uspoli #lgbt

On reproductive freedom, there is nothing to fucking 'debate'

The folks at Dammit Janet, the Dawgmeister and Dave over at TGB have already pointed it out, so I'm not going to go through it again. (You can stop the applause, smart-asses.)

I am not going to "debate" about the notion of fetal rights or when life begins or whether or not women have the right to control their own bodies. That's done. Anything that purports to "reopen" such a question needs to be seen for exactly what it is: a transparent attempt to reassert patriarchal control over women's sexuality and reproductive autonomy.

Anyone who wants to have that "conversation" can go fuck themselves. The idea that it could even be entertained in a forum billing itself as "progressive" just strips the word of its meaning.

Once again, let's hear from a few Sun readers

Breathless smear merchants on King Street manufacture another "scandal." Hilarity ensues.

And then Sue Ann's readers show their class ...

U.S. doctor urges colleagues not to perform transvaginal ultrasounds

Guest Post: A Doctor on Transvaginal Ultrasounds – Whatever:

'via Blog this'

It is our responsibility, as always, to protect our patients from things that would harm them. Therefore, as physicians, it is our duty to refuse to perform a medical procedure that is not medically indicated. Any medical procedure. Whatever the pseudo-justification.
It’s time for a little old-fashioned civil disobedience.

Not quite absolution for the medical profession, and not a decisive battle in the War on Women, but every little bit helps.

Just so we know the whole Excited States hasn't gone utterly bugfuck.

Related posts:

• One Town's War on Gay Teens | #uspoli #lgbt
• Lt. John Pike, UC Davis Police: Little Eichmann of the Day
• America overheats: The Sewer of Stupid is about to overflow | #USpoli

The Ethical Oil Spokespuppet Smear

A little bauble I ran across today ...



I can't say for sure whether Ezra and Kathryn are faithfully represented, as I've never met them in person, but ... snerk.

(h/t Jymn)

Related posts:

• Let Freedom Rain: "National Necrophilia Week": Ezra Levant wears orange wig, drinks Orange Crush. Mocks Layton's passing
• A little kosher wine with that crow, Ezra?
• Could someone please change Ezra's diaper?

Sure. Private-sector involvement in police work. | #areyououtofyourfuckingminds

Via a helpful reader, one of the most disturbing things I've seen this week:

I don't know Joe Couto, and I'm sure he's a perfectly decent guy in real life, but this is on behalf of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police.

How many ways do you want this to be a bad idea? Policing priorities determined, not by public need or democratic process, but by shareholders' demands for profit? Policing decisions made in accordance with the desires of the folks holding the purse strings? Policing operations influenced by (horrors!) ... class biases?

If you filled a trial balloon with swamp gas instead of helium, this is what it would smell like.

Related posts:

• Police accountability in Toronto | #G20
• Fiscal demonization of @OccupyTO continues on CTV | #classwarfare
• SIU Concludes Reopened #G20 Nobody Investigation | #policebrutality
• The Sean Salvati #G20 video: Abu Ghraib comes to Toronto
• Toronto Police: Unaccountable, uncaring, unbelievable

Saskboy and Jymn rub The Globe's nose in #RoboCon | #cdnpoli

RoboCon: Journalism Failure at the Globe – UPDATED | Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff:

"And what’s the reason that John Ibbitson, a professional journalist for a national newspaper, treats Giorno with so much respect and kid-gloves that he talks him up as some sort of non-lying politician, while a nobody blogger in Regina has quickly demonstrated the exact opposite, using evidence?

And in closing:

They should know by now that breaking the rules can land a party in a world of hurt, no matter who did it, or why.

Yes, they might get another $52,000 fine for overspending by $1.3M on a campaign that wins them the Prime Minister’s Office. Ouuuch."

'via Blog this'

See also: John Ibbitson shames himself in the Conservative daily Globe & Mail, but if you've got delicate digestion, you might not want to look directly at the screen.

It bears repeating: sometimes the blogosphere, for all its tripwires and potholes, shows up the corporate media despite the imbalance in reach and resources. Antonia Zerbisias, bless her, is way out in front in acknowledging that.

Update: At PAID, Lorne weighs in as well.

Related posts: 

• Harper and the electoral fraud scandal | #cdnpoli
• Meme for the week: Harper – too dangerous to govern
• Liberals, NDP, whoever. I don't care what we call them | #cdnpoli
• Lawrence Martin on Harper's proto-fascism | #cdnpoli