The Komen Kerfuffle

For those out of the loop, the Susan G. Komen Foundation has stopped supporting Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides various health care (including breast exams) to the uninsured here in the States. It's a move that is unsurprising given Komen VP Karen Handel's right-wing political leanings. I am a little late to this story, and other writers have tackled it so deftly that there is not much more I can do than highlight the best.

Here's FitC friend Matt Brunson's informative article, Susan G Komen For The Cure Foundation Turns Evil, highlighting the details and ways to help. A snippet:

SGK has decided to cut all ties to Planned Parenthood, announcing that it will no longer fund grants for breast exams. This maneuver, which hurts all women but most particularly poor ones (a favorite target of GOP politicians), was spearheaded by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), but Handel's fingerprints are also clearly all over this thing. This isn't the first time that SGK has stirred controversy. Some of its partnerships have raised eyebrows, specifically those with companies known for offering unhealthy products (Kentucky Fried Chicken, for one). Many have criticized its marketing hooks, such as the frivolous and, let's face it, sexist "Save the Ta-Tas" and "Save Second Base" campaigns.

Over at Savage Death Island, Twisty Faster gives a run-down with her usual wit and bite; the infantiziling and for-profit Komen has been a frequent subject, hence the title Komen Sucks, Part 47.
Ever on point:

Komen is the most visible brand in the whole cancer industrial complex. It disguises itself as some big altruistic community effort for women’s health, but it’s really just another conservative, honky organization with a misogynist political agenda. A marketing juggernaut instrumental in raking in piles of cash for and cleansing the tarnished images of its evil corporate sponsors, Komen has successfully brainwashed millions to believe that the “problem” of women’s health can be solved by licking yogurt lids.

And the sometimes-for-the-cause-of-good Internet is busy creating and hacking:

Things that can screen for breast cancer. Click to enlarge.

The official SGK site hacked to read: "Help us run over poor women on our way to the bank."