Speaking of mythological references...

It struck me as an odd choice of words when The Senator in the cartoon explains, "You see, I come from a long line of grandiose narcissists..."

Now that I see that the president of PPGG apparently approved funding for a short film starring herself as a superhero...well, I can see why the word "narcissist" was on people's minds.
saintkansas | Homepage | 08.09.05 - 6:57 am | #

As one of the cast of millions who "contributed" to 53% of the production cost of "A Superhero for Choice," I'm thunderstruck.

As a rule, Planned Parenthood executives are handsomely compensated for their services. IRS form 990 is public record. Let's see what else we can find out about Dianysis' bankroll.
C.J. | 08.09.05 - 7:14 am | #

Oh come now, people. Surely you should know by now that it is only a conflict of interests if it is a Republican who is head of an organization that runs counter to PP.
J Rob | Homepage | 08.09.05 - 7:38 am | #

These kinds of situations are pretty common, which is why conflicts of interest rules are lax-to-nonexistent for board members. The only thing that would get her in trouble, legally speaking (I'm no expert, so correct me if I'm wrong), would be if the contract for the test is a bum deal for PP. Given that there are only 2 tests on the market, the odds that this transaction could meet the legal threshold are pretty slim.
jpe | Homepage | 08.09.05 - 7:42 am | #

And who said murder doesn't pay? But they will continue to tell us that abortions are there to help the less fortunate.
Peter - Australia | 08.09.05 - 7:46 am | #

I think people underestimate the truly revolutionary nature of groups like Planned Parenthood. Regardless of whether or not they engage in acts of physical violence against their pro-life opponents (and they do, and it will get worse), they are very definitely committed to the idea that man is little more than the sum of his carnal desires, and that death is the best alternative to the problems of life. If ever a worldview bore the mark of the cloven hoof, it's this one.
D. Carter | 08.09.05 - 7:49 am | #

A closer look at the ASE's history of Calypte (HIV) shows that a couple of interesting things happened to the stock during the time frame that Dianysis was a board member.

First, the stock had a brief uptick (February or March of '03) and then began to slide again. There was a stock split (and if I read it correctly, it was a 30 for one split) on May 28 of 2003, shortly after which our superhero resigned.

It sounds all very Hillary-esque to me; just as the latter dipped her toe into the futures market ever-so-briefly and recorded a $100,000 profit (while her account didn't even meet the industry minimum for equity), so too does it appear that Dian was rewarded for delivering the goods to Calypte with a 200,000 share option at a ridiculously low buy-in, and a subsequent 30-1 split, after which she got out of that employment.

If the SEC were interested (and/or the compliance experts at the ASE), this would be a tasty morsel. But because it's a pro-abortion honcho, my guess is it won't even get investigated.

The big question is: did Dian ever exercise that option to buy?
Fr. Jim Clark | 08.09.05 - 8:47 am | #

If she did buy, then that is ridiculous that she can get away with it. I am a somewhat low-level employee at within the NIH and I just started working here a little while ago, but I already have recieved like a trillion emails about reporting stuff. For instance if I have stock in a medical company through the Mutual fund that I had prior to coming here(and I am not even sure if I do, I don't handle that stuff my mutual fund guy does it all), I have to report it. Let me tell you, there is nothing I could to to affect any stock from my position, positive or otherwise, yet still, I have to report it. They are so picky here that they don't even want the appearance of conflicts. Granted, she is not a federal employee per-say, but since a good deal of her salary is paid by federal funds, she should be held to the same level of accountability.
sarah | Homepage | 08.09.05 - 9:04 am | #

As a reporting company, Calypte has obligations to disclose its directors' compensation, and ownership holdings. I'll find them on the SEC website and post them here.
Sydney Carton | 08.09.05 - 10:57 am | #

Whoops! silly me. I see that Dawn's links are the public documents. I wonder if there's anything else out there.
Sydney Carton | 08.09.05 - 10:59 am | #

Regarding the Form 990 C.J. mentioned above: You can find them on the GuideStar Web site -- in fact, you can find the 990 of any non-profit there.
Patrick | 08.09.05 - 1:59 pm | #

Dawn posted here today:

"Planned Parenthood Golden Gate has removed the link to "A Superhero for Choice" from its Web site, with no explanation."

I posted on my blog Sunday:

"I expect this cartoon to vanish from the Planned Parenthood Golden Gate website very soon. These things have a habit of disappearing once we evil, Snidley Whiplash-ish abstinence promoters find them."

Am I prescient or what?
Jinx | Homepage | 08.09.05 - 4:23 pm | #

"Repeat after me, Winston: there is no Superhero for Choice. There has never been a Superhero for Choice."
Nightfly | Homepage | 08.09.05 - 4:59 pm | #

According to this document: http://www.secinfo.com/d14D5a.2Xs.htm Harrison owned 200,000 shares as of 4/14/03.
Tom | Homepage | 08.09.05 - 5:18 pm | #

Tom, are you certain Harrison owned those shares—is that what "beneficially owned" means? Or did she have an option to buy them at a set price, as per the documents to which I linked in my post?
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 08.09.05 - 5:21 pm | #

Benefically owned (a technical term under Securities Exchange Act) means that they were hers, either through direct ownership, or through a vehicle like a Trust, and that she wasn't holding them in her name for someone else's benefit (like a Broker or a Trustee would). My bet is that she owned them directly.
Sydney Carton | 08.09.05 - 5:34 pm | #

Could a trust mean that the shares were set aside for her to buy at the set rate of 5 cents a share—and that she had yet to exercise her option?
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 08.09.05 - 5:36 pm | #

Dawn: no. Ownership of options and shares (whether personal or through a trust) is separate.
jeb bush | 08.09.05 - 9:01 pm | #

So you're saying that "beneficial ownership" must mean that Harrison had actually bought the 200,000 shares, and not that she was still retaining the option she'd been given to buy them?
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 08.09.05 - 9:15 pm | #

Here's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. If there was a 30-1 split after she exercised her option (presuming, yes, is dangerous) and the 200,000 shares she bought at a nickel per suddenly became 6 million shares ... hey, I'd sell 'em for 17 cents each, take my million dollar profit and buy a nice little house on the Redneck Riviera (Florida/Alabama Gulf Coast for the uninitiated).

Taxpayers could drop in for the weekend at no extra charge, right?

Even if this isn't illegal ... isn't it wrong? Or is it, as the previous post noted, that the appearance of conflict of interest only exists if the conflicted one is Republican and/or Christian and/or white?
C.J. | 08.09.05 - 9:29 pm | #

C.J., I believe it was a reverse split. Not sure what that means as far as how much Harrison might have made. You can find details in the company's financials, via the links I posted.

I agree that such a conflict of interest, if it did exist, is very wrong.
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 08.09.05 - 9:38 pm | #

These people make me sick. *shudder*
valerie | Homepage | 08.09.05 - 10:20 pm | #

I just downloaded the video of the cartoon, Dawn. Several things:

In the VERY beginning, when discussing choice, the woman says: "I choose to stop at a red light." Um... isn't it the LAW to stop at a red light? Why would they put this in, except to undermine the fact that laws we don't think are right can be disobeyed?

After she kills the abortion protestors, she says "Open for Business." Exactly. This isn't politics, or philosophy to them - it's all about cold, hard, CASH.

When talking with the Senator, who says his recipe is "I can do whatever I want to do Stew." The Superhero responds saying NO ONE is above the law (ignoring that earlier, obeying the law - like stopping at red lights - was expressed as merely a preference). But essentially, the Senator's position is unfetered, unlimited, CHOICE. Which is what Planned Parenthood says they stand for, right?

These people are SICK.
Sydney Carton | 08.09.05 - 11:30 pm | #

Sydney Carton: Exactly....

I say that it's good for their cause that they took it down because it was proving the point of the prolife movement...we all have choices. Whether or not they are legally condoned is another story entirely, but prolife isn't antichoice until they start pushing for the government to implant mind control devices in the minds of all women that keep them from choosing anything for themselves.

So....maybe it's a good thing to keep that around and use it as an arguing point. After all, they themselves made the point :-D
disenchanted | 08.10.05 - 12:08 am | #

I've still got a live link (as of 5 AM 08/10/05) to the cartoon (and still on the ppgg server site ) on my blog at http://www.lifeethics.org/www.li....org/ index.html
Beverly | Homepage | 08.10.05 - 5:54 am | #

Hi Dawn,

I misspoke (or rather miswrote) last night. As Beverly pointed out, the cartoon is still on the PPGG server (not website, as I wrote). I just clicked the direct link to the file on their server and it's still there. Who knows how long that will be, though...
Susan B. | Homepage | 08.10.05 - 9:23 am | #

You can also get an idea what the people at this PP group think about parents by clicking on the "teens" link at the top of the page. Not much!
rightri | Homepage | 08.10.05 - 9:27 am | #

I finally got to see the video. (I couldn't get the sound to work when I linked yesterday.) It doesn't seem possible but the animation is even more vile than the stills and quotes convey. I just can't believe my eyes and ears.
Colleen | 08.10.05 - 9:30 am | #

Michelle Malkin has given you a link... http://michellemalkin.com/archiv...ives/ 003216.htm

Maybe she will mention you to Sean Hannity. ;-)
Tom | Homepage | 08.10.05 - 12:00 pm | #

I'm interested in knowing if anyone has heard anything on the News Media about this? Or even on talk radio? I haven't heard it discussed anywhere else except for the web. It's NEWS, after all!
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