Dr George Tiller

"Dr. Tiller's slaying is the most recent in a string of murders in the service of the anti-abortion cause, and hundreds of people have been injured or threatened because they provide legal abortion services. Bringing the killers to justice is not enough - the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security must root out and prosecute as domestic terrorists and violent racketeers the criminal enterprise that has organized and funded criminal acts for decades. We call on the new attorney general Eric Holder and head of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to treat these murders in the same way they would treat politically-motivated domestic terrorism of any other kind and put the full resources of their two departments behind that effort."
- NOW press release, 1 June 2009 (my emphasis)

(no subject)

Our contributors' copies of DWM's 200 Golden Moments special just arrived. Just under 150 rather beautifully presented pages of sheer love. Not mindless praise, because there's mockery and criticism too, but it's the affectionate, forgiving kind shared by siblings or lovers. I came across a fan the other day who was pondering whether to get the boxed sets, because then they'd have to look at the bits of the new show they disliked. And I thought, if you have to ask, then the answer is no. Don't get the DVDs. Because you're not, in fact, a fan. And I feel so sorry for you.

ETA: Hmmm, that needs clarification. I don't mean just losing interest in a text which no longer excites you, as I have with BSG, for example. What I'm talking about is the Great Fan Paradox: people deeply engaged with texts which they clearly loathe, insisting on continuing to watch or read and bitterly complain. The most common manifestation of this is personal hostility towards the makers of the current version, as opposed to the "original" they fell in love with. As a wise man once said, it's a case of possession obsession. Or possibly Capgras syndrome.

Dr. George Tiller

Why Clinic Violence is Obama's Problem

Op-ed calls for the federal US government to revive the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and revive the National Task Force on Violence against Health Care Providers.

"Even if no national anti-choice group directly ordered [Dr Tiller's murderer] to fire that gun, he is a product of a culture that thrives on systematically threatening reproductive health care providers and women who seek abortions."

ETA: Info on Anti‐Choice Violence and Intimidation in the US, including attacks with firearms, bombs, arson, and chemicals, as well as stalking and hundreds and hundreds of threats. It's clear it would be a huge mistake to regard Tiller's murder as an isolated incident.

Plus! Here's a handy refresher on relevant scripture.

(no subject)

"Andrew Jackson not only discovered the Higgs Boson, but also soundly thrashed it with his cane. Three stout clerks were required to restrain the then-Senator in order to preserve the Standard Model of particle physics."
- Apocryphacts

(no subject)

Have posted a few links over at seeingred about the attacks on Indian overseas students here in Australia, which have included a petrol bomb and a stabbing that has left a student in critical condition. (I'd love to think the violence was just a Melbourne thing, but I'm very worried it's affecting more than one group of visible OS students and more than one city.) Anywho, for me, the most hopeful was The Age's report that the Victorian A-G is pushing for hate crime laws, which would increase sentences for crimes motivated by homophobia, sexism, and religious prejudice, as well as racism.