Seasons in the Soil » Life in general

More lessons in how not to do things

Annette — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:30:37 +0000

The Susan G Komen Foundaton continues its Hindenburg-esque disaster campaign.

Today, they’ve issued this press release. I’ve inserted some translations.

“We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.”

Translation: We’re sorry we didn’t realize that the vast majority of people are not beholden to far right wing ideology.

“The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.”

Translation: We hoped that no one would notice that our changes to our funding criteria initially only affected a single organization out of all of those who receive monies. The additional of the prohibition against distributing monies to researchers who use stem cells was just a bonus we tossed in later to appease our most shrill ideologues. And now we’re scared shitless that the money we usually get from individuals and corporations will no longer be coming in.

“Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.”

Translation: We’re sorry we got caught trying to cut off funding to an organization undergoing a political witch hunt led by antiabortion people who think Planned Parenthood is some kind of baby killing factory instead of an organization that primarily provides other services. We’re still not defunding Penn State, who is under an actual criminal investigation, though.

“Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.”

Translation: Just like we said, the existing grants will be honored. Planned Parenthood is welcome to try and wring money from our greedy hands next time around, but we guarantee those requests will be denied for publicly stated reasons other than the real one: we’re cravenly desirous of the support from the right wing horde, and our VP Karen Handel has voiced her intent to defund Planned Parenthood.

“It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women. We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics – anyone’s politics.”

Translation: Our decision was wholly a political one, but if you say so, it’s you that has the problem.

“Starting this afternoon, we will have calls with our network and key supporters to refocus our attention on our mission and get back to doing our work. We ask for the public’s understanding and patience as we gather our Komen affiliates from around the country to determine how to move forward in the best interests of the women and people we serve.”

Translation: We’re hoping the upper echelon will continue to be able to collect their gigantic paychecks.

“We extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support we have received from so many in the past few days and we sincerely hope that these changes will be welcomed by those who have expressed their concern.”

Translation: We’re still deleting negative comments from our Facebook page as quickly as we possibly can.

Nothing has changed. This wishy-washy release doesn’t actually address anything that was not already in place: the existing grants will still be given. Future grants will be nonexistent. The SGKF will continue to play politics and cater to their far right wing. That’s the way of it, and the brand has been damaged beyond repair at this point, since the antiabortion people who have no reading comprehension skills are just as mad now as the people who lambasted SGKF for the decision in the first place. The latest release makes them look even more spineless than before.

I came across the financials for the SGKF and they are underwhelming in terms of the ratio of dollars spent on research, screening, and prevention versus overhead. It’s an abysmal ratio, in fact, and simply one more reason (among many, now that more and more is becoming known about them) to bypass the SGKF and donate to organizations who put the money to better use.

Some never learn

Annette — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:02:15 +0000

I posted previously about the asinine decision by the Susan G Komen (SGK) foundation to drop grants for Planned Parenthood. I’ve posted previously about the Dervaes and how they managed to destroy their goodwill and reputation in the span of about 24 hours. It seems that some people, so intent as they are of bending everyone else to their will – even when it’s clear that such moves are deeply unpopular and (to put it plainly) just damn stupid – cannot seem to learn a simple lesson: your business and brand are important things, and screwing around with them in a fashion that is destined to fail whatever core values you claim to hold can take the business or brand down so low that it likely will never recover. This is not the olden days when most things simply were not newsworthy enough on a national scale to warrant mention on Cronkite’s newscast. This is the Internet age. It’s difficult to keep anything a secret, and virtually impossible to not people talk about major actions you are taking. SGK, in a furtherance of its insane decision to lead where the whackjobs lead, under its new policy will no longer fund any cancer research that involves the use of embryonic stem cells.

So, just how is caving in to the rabid right wing working out for SGK? Not. Very. Well. At. All. Directors are resigning. The organization’s own top public health official resigned in protest. Various affiliates are ignoring this directive and will continue funding Planned Parenthood. The corporate partners are going to be figuring out just how much they want to be involved in this.

What is highly ironic about this is just days before SGK decided that the poor and uninsured shouldn’t be permitted to use Planned Parenthood to get cancer screenings and referrals for mammograms, they posted this to their Facebook page:

“The CDC released a new study today that marks improvement in some minority cancer screening rates, but big gaps remain for the poor and uninsured.”

So, obviously, the proper response to this sort of study is to pull grants a couple of days later from an organization that bridges the gap in cancer screening for the poor and uninsured.

SGK, you may be in full damage control mode now, but you have irrevocably damaged your brand. Trying out a new line, like this one

“Our Board of Directors approved new grants standards to improve direct services to women, says Komen Founder and CEO Amb. Nancy G. Brinker. Money is not being “withdrawn” from Planned Parenthood – will be invested in programs to serve low-income, uninsured and underinsured women.”

is disingenuous at best, and at worst, is completely dishonest. Planned Parenthood already has the infrastructure in place to service the poor and uninsured. It is WHY THEY ARE FUNDED. In fact, it’s why someone at SGK presumably approved this text as recently as last year.

‎”And while Komen Affiliates provide funds to pay for screening, education and treatment programs in dozens of communities, in some areas, the only place that poor, uninsured or under-insured women can receive these services are through programs run by Planned Parenthood.”

Because of your craven need to adhere to strict right wing ideology, where it will never be enough until everything about a woman’s control over her own body is restricted, you are now finding out just how misguided that vision is. People in general are much more moderate than that. They, unlike the people supporting this decision, do not quote discredited “studies” like those linking abortion to breast cancer, or the “not intended to be a factual statement” that what Planned Parenthood does is “97% abortions”. The fact that your most shrill supporters are using these sorts of things to applaud your actions speaks volumes to those of us with more brain cells than that and more compassion for those less fortunate.

I’ve been through cancer. Twice. Once without insurance. Once with. It’s much, much better with insurance, but I’d be dead today if I hadn’t been able to afford the initial steps that caught the first cancer – only to be tossed out on my own with a “Yep, you’ve got cancer.” by the doctor who did the original biopsy, because I had no insurance. I was fortunate enough to find other medical professionals who worried less about how I was going to pay for something, what I looked like, what I did for a living, or anything else, and more about how to get me to the other side. That is exactly how I view Planned Parenthood and their cancer screenings, and why, no matter what SGK does from here out, I will never contribute in any way to that organization. I will encourage anyone I know who donates to likewise give to an organization less concerned with the appeasing the right wing and more concerned with actual caring.

You’ve burned your bridges with me and a lot of other people. Maybe now someone will look at why your actual outlay of funds for research (low) to your overhead (high) is as it is. That would be something: maybe your corporate sponsors will decide not to fund you because you’re under investigation.

NWF and Scott’s call it quits

Annette — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:10:32 +0000

A very, very brief joint statement from NWF and Scott’s terminating their previously announced agreement. Apparently they’ve been working together for two years already anyway, so it’s hard to say what will change, really. They will probably continue to work together under the radar, without any formal expansion in place, just as they have been. . . . → Read More: NWF and Scott’s call it quits

Not another dime

Annette — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:48:06 +0000

Disgusting. There is simply no other word for it.

My letter to the Susan G Komen Foundation.

“I am disgusted by your craven act of defunding Planned Parenthood under the guise of the organization being “under investigation” when it is clear you have caved in to those who think womens’ bodies should be under the control of someone other than themselves. Breast cancer runs on my mother’s side: my grandmother died of breast cancer that spread to other parts of her body. Several of my aunts have battled the disease.

I have always supported the Komen foundation, either through direct donations, support for those doing the Race (and don’t get me started on your nonsensical watchdog tactics on “for the cure”), or through my company’s sponsorship of a site dedicated to generating donations to your organization (I am the owner).

No more.

Since you have decided that some of the most vulnerable members of our society are no longer worth the screenings and services that comprise more than 90% of Planned Parenthood’s services, I have decided that you are no longer worth one cent of my time or money.”

From now on, I’ll be donating directly to Planned Parenthood. I will not give to SGK, nor will I sponsor any walks for anyone (sorry).

More bad PR lessons

Annette — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:26:56 +0000

Much like the Dervaes clan and their ill-advised foray into attempting to trademark common phrases, The National Wildlife Federation decided it would be a grand idea to partner with Scott’s. The fallout has been rather spectacular and outrage is spreading – if you’ll pardon the term – like wildfire. Scott’s make a variety of chemicals for gardens and lawns, and is also the distributor for Monsanto’s RoundUp. To top things off, Scott’s was just assessed fines totaling $4.5 million (US) for knowingly selling tainted birdseed and for falsifying EPA pesticide registration numbers. The very rich irony here is the statement from NWF about how part of their reasoning behind the partnership with Scott’s is to address the “alarming decline” in songbird populations.

Massive fail.

Learning to fly

Annette — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 04:09:47 +0000

We have four monarch butterfly chrysalides hanging in the front planting area near the walkway. We had not actually seen the various caterpillars that were munching on the butterfly bush form their cozy little homes, but one day, there they were. Had four, that is: two butterflies emerged from theirs, and two remain, no doubt hibernating against the cold weather.

One of the newly emerged butterflies we found on the driveway on Thursday while Getting Things Done here at the ranch. It was still damp from its chrysalis, and I plucked it off the driveway to keep it from getting stomped by a wayward foot. It is a thing of beauty to hold such a creature, truly.

Girl (and a little man) power

Annette — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:23:56 +0000

My sister and mom cleaned more stuff out of the garage today, toting it to the barn and arranging it. They also moved a bunch of dirt, a handful of pallets, and moved a triple stack of large stone pavers from one place to another. I was very impressed by their industry.

What was I doing? My “helper” (my nephew) and I were reconfiguring some of the 4×4 frames up in the front garden into 4×20 frames. Well, mostly, I was doing this, and my nephew was playing with the drill, or playing with the dog, or escaping to ride his tractor around the yard while yelling questions or commentary to me. Three – almost four – year olds do have short attention spans, much like the dogs, so it isn’t anything out of the ordinary, and he’s cute so there’s that. Having his “help” tends to slow down whatever is going on, but it’s good to have him around at this age, and enjoy him before he turns into a sullen teenager who would rather die than be caught hanging out with family.

In the end, the other team got much more done than we (I) did, but I did finish off that reconfiguration. One more down, and that’s good.

A check on the flats showed that the oregano has germinated quite nicely, and at least one of the stevia seeds has as well. Progress.

Why I don’t watch the local news

Annette — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:52:31 +0000

Watching NCIS (and NCIS:LA), I always get some exposure to the local news and whatever they’re breathlessly hawking as something I should be interested in/terrified of enough to keep the channel tuned after these shows are over (hint: it will never be enough). Tonight’s poutrage involves some pedestrian crosswalk that apparently cost the city of Jacksonville a cool $200K. The news folks – whom of course I trust implicitly to design pedestrian walkways, or bridges, or multilevel structures that may need to hold hundreds of people at one time – want to tell me about the cheaper options. I’m tempted to watch to see if they offer up a solution of buying a couple of cans of spray paint from Home Depot and enlisting the services of some random homeless dude for ten bucks to lay down the lines. But I’m not going to.

When you think you’ve seen it all

Annette — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:41:25 +0000

And by “all” I mean the incredible stupidity some people possess, someone comes along and says something even dumber. It’s astonishing – especially given the blogger’s own obvious heritage – that they could possibly say such racist, bigoted things, but I suppose it’s a case of “MY multiculturalism being better than YOURS” (click on the About link to see why this is so ironic). It’s also richly ironic that she’s whining about the works of classical composer, who by far are foreign. How fortunate for her that the composers or their governments didn’t decree that non-natives were forbidden to perform their works. Or, in the case of Handel specifically, that the British government did not deem him too “ethnic” and deny him citizenship. That someone took the time to count – and calculate – the percentage of “asians” in an orchestra, and then posit that perhaps certain instruments are “too physically demanding” for them is just astonishing says great number of things indeed. About the person doing so.

(Not false) alarm

Annette — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:36:18 +0000

Last night was supposed to be the onset of several nights of hard freezes around here. With that in mind, I did some harvesting late in the day, thinking this morning would see the pepper plants dead and black.

Not so. It only got down to just below freezing, and not for very long, and the peppers were all bright and healthy when I walked around this morning turning off the remote taps. Ah, I thought, another misfire by the forecasters, and another testament to the oddball happenings here in the Bermuda triangle of weather.

Tonight, Mother Nature has decided she’ll show us: it is currently very near freezing already, just past real sunset, and the temperature is dropping like a rock in a well. As one of our clients did something incredibly stupid which requires me to go to the NOC, and since I am not a fan of this type of weather, I am not looking forward to wherever this may bottom out – the forecasters say in the upper teens by dawn.

I suppose I should have known that the request the user submitted was not quite right, but then again, despite what people think, we do not actually have ESP around here, nor do we claim that we do. Once again, trying to out-user the user has just resulted in the user doing something even dumber than normal.