Syrian government forces used a barrage of mortar shells and heavy machine-gun fire in an assault that began Friday night in the central city of Homs, killing at least 200 people and wounding hundreds more, opposition activists reported on Saturday. The reports could not be independently confirmed, but it appeared to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising. As word spread via Twitter and YouTube, opposition protests broke out Saturday at Syrian embassies around the world, including in Egypt, Germany and Kuwait. A leading opposition group inside Syria, the Local Coordination Committees, called the bombardment of Homs, a major center of opposition during the uprising against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, “a massacre.” The group said in a statement that Homs was ... Continue reading →
When the nation’s pre-eminent breast cancer advocacy group, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, decided to stop most of its financing of Planned Parenthood in December, Komen’s leaders hoped to quietly distance the foundation from a politically controversial organization that they feared was costing them support and donations, a board member said. But when the move became public on Tuesday, Nancy G. Brinker, the polished Republican donor who founded Komen after her sister died of breast cancer, and other leaders of the organization were completely caught off guard by the deluge of outrage online, within the foundation’s own ranks and in Congress. On Friday, Ms. Brinker reversed course and restored Komen’s relationship with Planned Parenthood, which has used the Komen money to provide ... Continue reading →
This week we had a huge political fight about breast cancer. Clearly, we have now hit the point where there’s nothing that can’t be divided into red-state-blue-state. Nothing. The other day I saw a blog called “I Dig My Garden” that had a forum on whether Republicans could truly love gardening. And there was a little dust-up in Albany over politicization of a local pet blog, which had featured a discussion on Mitt Romney’s driving to Canada with the family dog strapped to the roof of the car. But breast cancer would seem like the last thing to go. Everybody hates cancer and everybody likes breasts — infants, adults, women, men. Really, it’s America’s most popular body part. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure ... Continue reading →
But when the move became public on Tuesday, Nancy G. Brinker, the polished Republican donor who founded Komen after her sister died of breast cancer, and other leaders of the organization were completely caught off guard by the deluge of outrage online, within the foundation’s own ranks and in Congress. On Friday, Ms. Brinker reversed course and restored Komen’s relationship with Planned Parenthood, which has used the Komen money to provide breast cancer screening and education to thousands of low-income women. “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,” Ms. Brinker said in a statement. The group’s leaders first sought to hold their ground. On Thursday, they tried to ... Continue reading →
We want to apologize for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.— Susan G. Komen (@komenforthecure) February 3, 2012The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation reversed its decision to cut funds for breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood affiliates and apologized to the American people for what it said was casting doubt on its “commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.”The announcement came after an avalanche of criticism online from people voicing their dismay on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr about the move. The decision led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to Planned Parenthood this week, including a $250,000 donation that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced on Thursday. In the statement issued this ... Continue reading →
All seven California affiliates of the organization, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, released a statement saying they opposed its decision. Twenty-six senators urged the foundation to reconsider its decision. And a pledge of $250,000 from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York helped Planned Parenthood, which provides family planning and abortion services in hundreds of clinics across the country, to more than make up the money it lost. “Politics have no place in health care,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement, an echo of the complaints voiced by many women elsewhere. “Breast cancer screening saves lives, and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care.” The deluge of criticism Komen faced on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr came ... Continue reading →
All seven California affiliates of the organization, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, released a statement saying they opposed its decision. Twenty-six senators urged the foundation to reconsider its decision. And a pledge of $250,000 from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York helped Planned Parenthood, which provides family planning and abortion services in hundreds of clinics across the country, to more than make up the money it lost. “Politics have no place in health care,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement, an echo of the complaints voiced by many women elsewhere. “Breast cancer screening saves lives, and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care.” The deluge of criticism Komen faced on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr came ... Continue reading →
All seven California affiliates of the organization, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, released a statement saying they opposed its decision. Twenty-six senators urged the foundation to reconsider its decision. And a pledge of $250,000 from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York helped Planned Parenthood, which provides family planning and abortion services in hundreds of clinics across the country, to more than make up the money it lost. “Politics have no place in health care,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement, an echo of the complaints voiced by many women elsewhere. “Breast cancer screening saves lives, and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care.” The deluge of criticism Komen faced on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr came ... Continue reading →
