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Oct
20
Stanford studies and reports on whether compulsive use of the Internet requires a medical diagnosis
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
Here’s the news release from the Stanford School of Medicine.
This excerpt sets up the additional information, but the full release is worth the read. The italics are mine.
“We often focus on how wonderful the Internet is—how simple and efficient it can make things,” elaborated lead author Elias Aboujaoude, MD. “But we need to consider the fact that it creates real problems for a subset of people.”
Aboujaoude, clinical assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of Stanford’s Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, said that a small but growing number of Internet users are starting to visit their doctors for help with unhealthy attachments to cyberspace. He said these patients’ strong drive to compulsively use the Internet to check e-mail, make blog entries or visit Web sites or chat rooms, is not unlike what sufferers of substance abuse or impulse-control disorders experience: a repetitive, intrusive and irresistible urge to perform an act that may be pleasurable in the moment but that can lead to significant problems on the personal and professional levels.
According to preliminary research, the typical affected individual is a single, college-educated, white male in his 30s, who spends approximately 30 hours a week on non-essential computer use. [PHEW!] While some may hear this profile and assume that a person’s Internet “addiction” might actually be an extreme fondness for pornography, Aboujaoude stressed that pornography sites are just one part of the problem.
“Not surprisingly, online pornography and, to some degree, online gambling, have received the most attention—but users are as likely to use other sites, including chat rooms, shopping venues and special-interest Web sites,” he said. “Our survey did not track what specific Internet venues were the most frequented by respondents, but other studies, and our clinical experience, indicate that pornography is just one area of excessive Internet use.”
Although studies show that more than 160 million Americans [now more than half the entire US population!] are regular Internet users, little research has been conducted on problematic Internet use. A 1999 Center for Internet Studies survey of 18,000 Internet users, however, did find that 5.7 percent of the sample met suggested criteria for “compulsive” Internet use. And a 2002 study in the journal CyberPsychology & Behavior found that 60 percent of companies surveyed had disciplined, and more than 30 percent had terminated, employees for inappropriate Internet use.
“The issue is starting to be recognized as a legitimate object of clinical attention, as well as an economic problem, given that a great deal of non-essential Internet use takes place at work,” said Aboujaoude. But he added that there is little consensus among clinicians on whether problematic Internet use is a distinct disorder or merely an expression of other psychopathologies, such as depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
…
In the Stanford study—which Aboujaoude said is the first large-scale, random-sample epidemiological one ever done—the researchers conducted a nationwide household survey and interviewed 2,513 adults. Because no generally accepted screening instrument exists for problematic Internet use, the researchers developed their questions by extrapolating from other compulsive and addictive conditions.
The researchers found that 68.9 percent were regular Internet users, which is consistent with previous studies, and that:
- 13.7 percent (more than one out of eight respondents) found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time
- 12.4 percent stayed online longer than intended very often or often
- 12.3 percent had seen a need to cut back on Internet use at some point
- 8.7 percent attempted to conceal non-essential Internet use from family, friends and employers
- 8.2 percent used the Internet as a way to escape problems or relieve negative mood
- 5.9 percent felt their relationships suffered as a result of excessive Internet use
Here’s the study in CNS Spectrums: The International Journal of Neuropsychiatric Medicine.
I’d editorialize more, but I have to make my house look like I wasn’t on the computer all day.
Shabbat Shalom.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:24 pm October 20th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
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Oct
20
Stupid* casino owners (with update)
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And really stupid.*
Now, a few questions:
1) Will Steve Wynn’s insurance cover the damage?
2) If not, can he write it off as a $139 million loss (or that amount less his original purchase price of 40 something million)?
3) If you were the one who purchased the artwork, would you still want it?
This account mentions how writer Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally…) witnessed the incident (and blogged about it here).
Btw, Wynn is keeping the art.
Gives you a real sense of confidence in how casino owners spend those profits to feed the economy, huh?
Update: I just finished reading Ephron’s account. Now that? It’s worth a few million easily. What a fantastic post. Also, here’s a link to The New Yorker’s account.
*What’s with the asterisk? Well, the judgement of stupid, coming from me, is pretty harsh. I counsel my kids never to use the word and although maybe when I’m alone and do something dumb, I say, “Ah! Stupid!”, after reading the accounts of the incident, and how Wynn’s wife Elaine feels that it was an act of divine intervention intended to tell them to keep the painting, well – I still feel that it was a horrifically stupid accident. But it was in fact an accident and, from what there is to read about it, Wynn acted very admirably – taking responsibility, not wallowing and trying to make the best of it.
Of course, when you have as much as he has, it probably takes a lot less time to get over something like this incident. And I still have to believe that he will, never again, be as docile with such a valuable work of art as he was with this one.
But, as I always like to say, the person isn’t stupid. What he did was stupid.
And so – Mr. Wynn, I apologize. I do not think you are a stupid casino owner. But what you did? Well, that was kind of a stupid accident, no matter how you elbow around it.
Best of luck getting it fixed. It is a beautiful painting, and Picasso has in fact always been just about my favorite artist and art personality since I was a kid.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:43 pm October 20th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Oct
20
Frightening crackdown on milblogs and milbloggers
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
Wow. This blog and this post in particular cover topics I’ve never really thought about before. Read the comments too.
What do you think about the crackdown? Necessary, necessary evil, or violative of rights, not to mention how they provide otherwise impossible to know anecdotes on a life few of us know firsthand?
Hattip to (it’s been a long time since I’ve done this): Michelle Malkin.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:30 pm October 20th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Oct
20
Stanford studies and reports on whether compulsive use of the Internet requires a medical diagnosis
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
Here’s the news release from the Stanford School of Medicine.
This excerpt sets up the additional information, but the full release is worth the read. The italics are mine.
“We often focus on how wonderful the Internet is—how simple and efficient it can make things,” elaborated lead author Elias Aboujaoude, MD. “But we need to consider the fact that it creates real problems for a subset of people.”
Aboujaoude, clinical assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of Stanford’s Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, said that a small but growing number of Internet users are starting to visit their doctors for help with unhealthy attachments to cyberspace. He said these patients’ strong drive to compulsively use the Internet to check e-mail, make blog entries or visit Web sites or chat rooms, is not unlike what sufferers of substance abuse or impulse-control disorders experience: a repetitive, intrusive and irresistible urge to perform an act that may be pleasurable in the moment but that can lead to significant problems on the personal and professional levels.
According to preliminary research, the typical affected individual is a single, college-educated, white male in his 30s, who spends approximately 30 hours a week on non-essential computer use. [PHEW!] While some may hear this profile and assume that a person’s Internet “addiction” might actually be an extreme fondness for pornography, Aboujaoude stressed that pornography sites are just one part of the problem.
“Not surprisingly, online pornography and, to some degree, online gambling, have received the most attention—but users are as likely to use other sites, including chat rooms, shopping venues and special-interest Web sites,” he said. “Our survey did not track what specific Internet venues were the most frequented by respondents, but other studies, and our clinical experience, indicate that pornography is just one area of excessive Internet use.”
Although studies show that more than 160 million Americans [now more than half the entire US population!] are regular Internet users, little research has been conducted on problematic Internet use. A 1999 Center for Internet Studies survey of 18,000 Internet users, however, did find that 5.7 percent of the sample met suggested criteria for “compulsive” Internet use. And a 2002 study in the journal CyberPsychology & Behavior found that 60 percent of companies surveyed had disciplined, and more than 30 percent had terminated, employees for inappropriate Internet use.
“The issue is starting to be recognized as a legitimate object of clinical attention, as well as an economic problem, given that a great deal of non-essential Internet use takes place at work,” said Aboujaoude. But he added that there is little consensus among clinicians on whether problematic Internet use is a distinct disorder or merely an expression of other psychopathologies, such as depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
…
In the Stanford study—which Aboujaoude said is the first large-scale, random-sample epidemiological one ever done—the researchers conducted a nationwide household survey and interviewed 2,513 adults. Because no generally accepted screening instrument exists for problematic Internet use, the researchers developed their questions by extrapolating from other compulsive and addictive conditions.
The researchers found that 68.9 percent were regular Internet users, which is consistent with previous studies, and that:
- 13.7 percent (more than one out of eight respondents) found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time
- 12.4 percent stayed online longer than intended very often or often
- 12.3 percent had seen a need to cut back on Internet use at some point
- 8.7 percent attempted to conceal non-essential Internet use from family, friends and employers
- 8.2 percent used the Internet as a way to escape problems or relieve negative mood
- 5.9 percent felt their relationships suffered as a result of excessive Internet use
Here’s the study in CNS Spectrums: The International Journal of Neuropsychiatric Medicine.
I’d editorialize more, but I have to make my house look like I wasn’t on the computer all day.
Shabbat Shalom.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 4:24 pm October 20th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Oct
20
Stupid* casino owners (with update)
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
And really stupid.*
Now, a few questions:
1) Will Steve Wynn’s insurance cover the damage?
2) If not, can he write it off as a $139 million loss (or that amount less his original purchase price of 40 something million)?
3) If you were the one who purchased the artwork, would you still want it?
This account mentions how writer Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally…) witnessed the incident (and blogged about it here).
Btw, Wynn is keeping the art.
Gives you a real sense of confidence in how casino owners spend those profits to feed the economy, huh?
Update: I just finished reading Ephron’s account. Now that? It’s worth a few million easily. What a fantastic post. Also, here’s a link to The New Yorker’s account.
*What’s with the asterisk? Well, the judgement of stupid, coming from me, is pretty harsh. I counsel my kids never to use the word and although maybe when I’m alone and do something dumb, I say, “Ah! Stupid!”, after reading the accounts of the incident, and how Wynn’s wife Elaine feels that it was an act of divine intervention intended to tell them to keep the painting, well – I still feel that it was a horrifically stupid accident. But it was in fact an accident and, from what there is to read about it, Wynn acted very admirably – taking responsibility, not wallowing and trying to make the best of it.
Of course, when you have as much as he has, it probably takes a lot less time to get over something like this incident. And I still have to believe that he will, never again, be as docile with such a valuable work of art as he was with this one.
But, as I always like to say, the person isn’t stupid. What he did was stupid.
And so – Mr. Wynn, I apologize. I do not think you are a stupid casino owner. But what you did? Well, that was kind of a stupid accident, no matter how you elbow around it.
Best of luck getting it fixed. It is a beautiful painting, and Picasso has in fact always been just about my favorite artist and art personality since I was a kid.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:43 pm October 20th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Oct
20
From a blog with a not particularly objective name. So you have to wonder – I’d like to know what others think. Whose story do you believe? And, with three weeks left before election day, does it even matter? And is that the point in the first place re: whether or not he was set up?
Honestly? I just don’t know. Not yet anyway.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:34 pm October 20th, 2006 in Politics | 1 Comment
Print This Post
Oct
20
Frightening crackdown on milblogs and milbloggers
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
Wow. This blog and this post in particular cover topics I’ve never really thought about before. Read the comments too.
What do you think about the crackdown? Necessary, necessary evil, or violative of rights, not to mention how they provide otherwise impossible to know anecdotes on a life few of us know firsthand?
Hattip to (it’s been a long time since I’ve done this): Michelle Malkin.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:30 pm October 20th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Oct
20
Stanford studies and reports on whether compulsive use of the Internet requires a medical diagnosis
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
Here’s the news release from the Stanford School of Medicine.
This excerpt sets up the additional information, but the full release is worth the read. The italics are mine.
“We often focus on how wonderful the Internet is—how simple and efficient it can make things,” elaborated lead author Elias Aboujaoude, MD. “But we need to consider the fact that it creates real problems for a subset of people.”
Aboujaoude, clinical assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of Stanford’s Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, said that a small but growing number of Internet users are starting to visit their doctors for help with unhealthy attachments to cyberspace. He said these patients’ strong drive to compulsively use the Internet to check e-mail, make blog entries or visit Web sites or chat rooms, is not unlike what sufferers of substance abuse or impulse-control disorders experience: a repetitive, intrusive and irresistible urge to perform an act that may be pleasurable in the moment but that can lead to significant problems on the personal and professional levels.
According to preliminary research, the typical affected individual is a single, college-educated, white male in his 30s, who spends approximately 30 hours a week on non-essential computer use. [PHEW!] While some may hear this profile and assume that a person’s Internet “addiction” might actually be an extreme fondness for pornography, Aboujaoude stressed that pornography sites are just one part of the problem.
“Not surprisingly, online pornography and, to some degree, online gambling, have received the most attention—but users are as likely to use other sites, including chat rooms, shopping venues and special-interest Web sites,” he said. “Our survey did not track what specific Internet venues were the most frequented by respondents, but other studies, and our clinical experience, indicate that pornography is just one area of excessive Internet use.”
Although studies show that more than 160 million Americans [now more than half the entire US population!] are regular Internet users, little research has been conducted on problematic Internet use. A 1999 Center for Internet Studies survey of 18,000 Internet users, however, did find that 5.7 percent of the sample met suggested criteria for “compulsive” Internet use. And a 2002 study in the journal CyberPsychology & Behavior found that 60 percent of companies surveyed had disciplined, and more than 30 percent had terminated, employees for inappropriate Internet use.
“The issue is starting to be recognized as a legitimate object of clinical attention, as well as an economic problem, given that a great deal of non-essential Internet use takes place at work,” said Aboujaoude. But he added that there is little consensus among clinicians on whether problematic Internet use is a distinct disorder or merely an expression of other psychopathologies, such as depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
…
In the Stanford study—which Aboujaoude said is the first large-scale, random-sample epidemiological one ever done—the researchers conducted a nationwide household survey and interviewed 2,513 adults. Because no generally accepted screening instrument exists for problematic Internet use, the researchers developed their questions by extrapolating from other compulsive and addictive conditions.
The researchers found that 68.9 percent were regular Internet users, which is consistent with previous studies, and that:
- 13.7 percent (more than one out of eight respondents) found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time
- 12.4 percent stayed online longer than intended very often or often
- 12.3 percent had seen a need to cut back on Internet use at some point
- 8.7 percent attempted to conceal non-essential Internet use from family, friends and employers
- 8.2 percent used the Internet as a way to escape problems or relieve negative mood
- 5.9 percent felt their relationships suffered as a result of excessive Internet use
Here’s the study in CNS Spectrums: The International Journal of Neuropsychiatric Medicine.
I’d editorialize more, but I have to make my house look like I wasn’t on the computer all day.
Shabbat Shalom.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:24 pm October 20th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
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Oct
20
Reason #19 to VOTE NO on ISSUE 3
Filed Under Politics | 2 Comments
Because the threshold of acceptable behavior in Ohio doesn’t need to sink any lower than it already has (see this post on Cleveland City Councilman Zach Reed and his alleged drinking that wasn’t alleged drinking while he was on the job in his district at nude dance clubs). Bringing a slots and casino culture here will sink it lower – and who thought that that was possible?
Now, before critics of Issue 3 or this reason click the “Comment” button, read this news story out of Vegas. Because I want to be clear so that there are no misunderstandings: I am not calling every person who walks into or wants to have slots parlors or casinos a low-life, a threat to society or any other such thing. I’m talking about how, providing opportunities that maximize the likelihood that the worst in people will be exposed leads to the deterioration of everything around those people – in tangible and intangible ways.
[And a sidebar note: people who know me most likely get where I'm coming from in formulating these reasons to vote no on Issue 3. But for those who might be mystified, maybe it would help you to know that in addition to the law/social work combo I have in my background, I majored in sociology and government in college. And I've had a keen interest in how we develop - what influences us and the choices we make - since I was in high school. I am beyond passionate in canvassing issues like the effects of gambling because so few people take the time to tell others and so few people take the time to care because it just doesn't rise to the level of caring in today's world. I understand that. But it's because I understand that that I'm taking the time - because I have the good fortune to be able to take the time - to say look, it is NOT so simple. It is NOT going to help improve the affordability of a higher education for most Ohioans. It is NOT going to have a positive impact on Ohio. Of course, these are my opinions. I love the vigor of a number of commenters. But I wanted to be clear: this crusade of mine, such as it is, isn't driven by some puritanical, anti-business, anti-Capitalism, anti-personal rights drive of mine. It's driven by my love for living where I do and wanting to make it better. Not even one percent of me thinks that Issue 3 will do anything to make Ohio better.]
A casino cocktail waitress told police a drunken U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons grabbed her, shoved her against a wall and threatened her in a Las Vegas parking garage after she rebuffed his advances at a restaurant Friday night.
…
“It’s a distraction even if it’s not true,” creating damaging headlines and overshadowing other news about the race, said David Damore, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “If there’s any truth to it, it brings his judgment into question in a very big way. It could be really bad for him.”
Damore said that for any candidate to have a drink with an unknown member of the opposite sex three weeks before an election was an error in judgment.
“Maybe she was setting him up or whatever, but he made himself vulnerable,” he said.
The incident began Friday at McCormick & Schmick’s restaurant near Paradise and Flamingo roads, where Gibbons and his political campaign adviser, Sig Rogich, had dinner with six campaign donors. After the donors left, the two men planned to leave about 8 p.m. but went back inside because of the heavy rains that were soaking the parking lot. Inside they sat down with a lawyer and legal secretary whom Rogich knew because they work in his building.
At some point, Mazzeo and her friend, Pennie Puhek, approached the table. Puhek knew one of the women, and she and Mazzeo pulled up chairs and “basically invited themselves” to the booth, Rogich said.
But Mazzeo told police that Rogich and Gibbons invited them over after Puhek bought them a round of drinks.
Mazzeo, a cocktail waitress at Wynn Las Vegas, sat next to Gibbons. She told police that he flirted with her throughout the evening, put his hand on her thigh and played footsie with her, according to a police report.
“He just, just started talking about how his, his marriage wasn’t successful and how he had two children,” Mazzeo told police. “He was married for 20 years and that, uh, marriage wasn’t everything that it was cracked up to be, and then that’s when he gave me his card.”
Gibbons told her she could campaign for him, she said. Mazzeo said she tried to change the subject and move away from Gibbons when he touched her.
“He put his hand on my leg,” she said. “And then I just scooted closer to Pennie.”
Mazzeo told police that when she moved away, Gibbons said, “I wish I could have that kind of affection from her.”
At some point, patrons at a nearby table started taking pictures of Gibbons with their camera phones.
“So I presume they knew who I was,” he told police. “They were, you know, gonna sell it to, uh, you know, the, the trade magazines and say, ‘Here’s Jim Gibbons out cavorting with the women.’ You know? And I just laughed at it. I said, ‘Well, you know, I’m 60, close to 62 years old, married, this isn’t gonna fly very far.’ But I didn’t think much about it. But they said something about it. And I looked over and I didn’t see ‘em taking any pictures, so I didn’t think much about it.”
Shortly after the picture taking, Rogich suggested he and Gibbons leave, Mazzeo said.
Gibbons then said he was staying at the nearby Residence Inn by Marriott, and “we could basically crawl back to his hotel room,” Mazzeo said, explaining to police that she was not sure whether Gibbons was asking her to go to his room.
Rogich and Gibbons went outside, but Rogich went back in to pay the bill, which totaled $302.12. Gibbons waited outside. Mazzeo said she stayed at the table with Puhek for 15 or 20 minutes before walking outside, where she ran into Gibbons.
“Are you looking for me?” she said he told her.
“No,” she replied.
Gibbons offered to help her find her truck, which was parked in the parking garage behind the restaurant. A witness told police he saw Gibbons walking toward the garage with Mazzeo following several feet behind him.
Mazzeo told police they walked in silence to the garage, but when they got to the garage elevator, Gibbons grabbed her arms and pushed her against a wall.
“I thought he was joking at first,” she told police. “That’s when he said, um, he, he said, ‘You have two choices.’”
Gibbons told her she could try to leave or do what he said, she told police.
“Are you really, you know, rape me at this time?” Mazzeo said she told Gibbons. “That was the time, and I said, ‘Are you serious?’ I said, ‘I, I just survived cancer for 11 years, and you’re really going to do this right now?” she told police. “And he said, ‘Lucky you. You survived cancer.’”
Mazzeo said she then saw three people walking by and ran away. She made the first of three 911 calls that night at 10:23 p.m.
Read the rest of the story.
Having slots and more legalized gambling will create a myriad of opportunities for political candidates to get potentially damaging and career ending footage and stories about their opponents (and vice versa of course). Not because they’ve done anything wrong, but imagine – with all the anti-gambling folks in Ohio (and not just churchgoers), a person’s meer presence in a slots parlor or casino will become an issue in every single race.
It’s bad enough that we have disgusting fantasy attacks that end up like this. And that Zach Reed says that, as councilman for Cleveland, he is required to be in men’s clubs because they’re part of his district.
Just imagine how many politicians will get to use that line, among other purported justifications in front of a judge, and get off without a hitch, if Issue 3 passes. Woohoo. They’ll all be asking for Judge Joan Synenberg. (I’m still voting for her though.)
You can’t turn on the radio or the television (well, I never turn that on anyway – but I hear it when my husband has it on) or even go to a news website without being assaulted by Ohio and political corruption stories. Don’t enable more of those stories and further decrease the reputation of Ohio outside of the state. Vote no on Issue 3.
Previous reasons to vote no on Issue 3 (I’m going to think over the weekend how to re-do this list by the way – any suggestions are welcome):
Reason 20
Reason 21
Reason 22
Reason 23
Reason 24
Reason 25
Reason 26
Reason 27
Reason 28
Reason 29
Reason 30
Reason 31
Reason 32
Reason 33
Reason 34
Reason 35
Reason 36
Reason 37
Reason 38
Reason 39
Reason 40
Reason 41
Reason 42
Reason 43
Reason 44
Reason 45
Reason 46
Reason 47
Reason 48
Reason 49
Reason 50
Reason 51
Reason 52
Reason 53
Reason 54
Reason 55
Reason 56
Reason 57
Vote no on Issue 3.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:53 pm October 20th, 2006 in Politics | 2 Comments
Print This Post
Oct
20
Stupid* casino owners (with update)
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
And really stupid.*
Now, a few questions:
1) Will Steve Wynn’s insurance cover the damage?
2) If not, can he write it off as a $139 million loss (or that amount less his original purchase price of 40 something million)?
3) If you were the one who purchased the artwork, would you still want it?
This account mentions how writer Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally…) witnessed the incident (and blogged about it here).
Btw, Wynn is keeping the art.
Gives you a real sense of confidence in how casino owners spend those profits to feed the economy, huh?
Update: I just finished reading Ephron’s account. Now that? It’s worth a few million easily. What a fantastic post. Also, here’s a link to The New Yorker’s account.
*What’s with the asterisk? Well, the judgement of stupid, coming from me, is pretty harsh. I counsel my kids never to use the word and although maybe when I’m alone and do something dumb, I say, “Ah! Stupid!”, after reading the accounts of the incident, and how Wynn’s wife Elaine feels that it was an act of divine intervention intended to tell them to keep the painting, well – I still feel that it was a horrifically stupid accident. But it was in fact an accident and, from what there is to read about it, Wynn acted very admirably – taking responsibility, not wallowing and trying to make the best of it.
Of course, when you have as much as he has, it probably takes a lot less time to get over something like this incident. And I still have to believe that he will, never again, be as docile with such a valuable work of art as he was with this one.
But, as I always like to say, the person isn’t stupid. What he did was stupid.
And so – Mr. Wynn, I apologize. I do not think you are a stupid casino owner. But what you did? Well, that was kind of a stupid accident, no matter how you elbow around it.
Best of luck getting it fixed. It is a beautiful painting, and Picasso has in fact always been just about my favorite artist and art personality since I was a kid.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:43 am October 20th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Oct
20
Frightening crackdown on milblogs and milbloggers
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
Wow. This blog and this post in particular cover topics I’ve never really thought about before. Read the comments too.
What do you think about the crackdown? Necessary, necessary evil, or violative of rights, not to mention how they provide otherwise impossible to know anecdotes on a life few of us know firsthand?
Hattip to (it’s been a long time since I’ve done this): Michelle Malkin.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:30 am October 20th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Oct
20
Additional info on NV GOP gubernatorial candidate, Jim Gibbons and assault charges
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
From a blog with a not particularly objective name. So you have to wonder – I’d like to know what others think. Whose story do you believe? And, with three weeks left before election day, does it even matter? And is that the point in the first place re: whether or not he was set up?
Honestly? I just don’t know. Not yet anyway.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:34 am October 20th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Oct
20
Reason #19 to VOTE NO on ISSUE 3
Filed Under Politics | 2 Comments
Because the threshold of acceptable behavior in Ohio doesn’t need to sink any lower than it already has (see this post on Cleveland City Councilman Zach Reed and his alleged drinking that wasn’t alleged drinking while he was on the job in his district at nude dance clubs). Bringing a slots and casino culture here will sink it lower – and who thought that that was possible?
Now, before critics of Issue 3 or this reason click the “Comment” button, read this news story out of Vegas. Because I want to be clear so that there are no misunderstandings: I am not calling every person who walks into or wants to have slots parlors or casinos a low-life, a threat to society or any other such thing. I’m talking about how, providing opportunities that maximize the likelihood that the worst in people will be exposed leads to the deterioration of everything around those people – in tangible and intangible ways.
[And a sidebar note: people who know me most likely get where I'm coming from in formulating these reasons to vote no on Issue 3. But for those who might be mystified, maybe it would help you to know that in addition to the law/social work combo I have in my background, I majored in sociology and government in college. And I've had a keen interest in how we develop - what influences us and the choices we make - since I was in high school. I am beyond passionate in canvassing issues like the effects of gambling because so few people take the time to tell others and so few people take the time to care because it just doesn't rise to the level of caring in today's world. I understand that. But it's because I understand that that I'm taking the time - because I have the good fortune to be able to take the time - to say look, it is NOT so simple. It is NOT going to help improve the affordability of a higher education for most Ohioans. It is NOT going to have a positive impact on Ohio. Of course, these are my opinions. I love the vigor of a number of commenters. But I wanted to be clear: this crusade of mine, such as it is, isn't driven by some puritanical, anti-business, anti-Capitalism, anti-personal rights drive of mine. It's driven by my love for living where I do and wanting to make it better. Not even one percent of me thinks that Issue 3 will do anything to make Ohio better.]
A casino cocktail waitress told police a drunken U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons grabbed her, shoved her against a wall and threatened her in a Las Vegas parking garage after she rebuffed his advances at a restaurant Friday night.
…
“It’s a distraction even if it’s not true,” creating damaging headlines and overshadowing other news about the race, said David Damore, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “If there’s any truth to it, it brings his judgment into question in a very big way. It could be really bad for him.”
Damore said that for any candidate to have a drink with an unknown member of the opposite sex three weeks before an election was an error in judgment.
“Maybe she was setting him up or whatever, but he made himself vulnerable,” he said.
The incident began Friday at McCormick & Schmick’s restaurant near Paradise and Flamingo roads, where Gibbons and his political campaign adviser, Sig Rogich, had dinner with six campaign donors. After the donors left, the two men planned to leave about 8 p.m. but went back inside because of the heavy rains that were soaking the parking lot. Inside they sat down with a lawyer and legal secretary whom Rogich knew because they work in his building.
At some point, Mazzeo and her friend, Pennie Puhek, approached the table. Puhek knew one of the women, and she and Mazzeo pulled up chairs and “basically invited themselves” to the booth, Rogich said.
But Mazzeo told police that Rogich and Gibbons invited them over after Puhek bought them a round of drinks.
Mazzeo, a cocktail waitress at Wynn Las Vegas, sat next to Gibbons. She told police that he flirted with her throughout the evening, put his hand on her thigh and played footsie with her, according to a police report.
“He just, just started talking about how his, his marriage wasn’t successful and how he had two children,” Mazzeo told police. “He was married for 20 years and that, uh, marriage wasn’t everything that it was cracked up to be, and then that’s when he gave me his card.”
Gibbons told her she could campaign for him, she said. Mazzeo said she tried to change the subject and move away from Gibbons when he touched her.
“He put his hand on my leg,” she said. “And then I just scooted closer to Pennie.”
Mazzeo told police that when she moved away, Gibbons said, “I wish I could have that kind of affection from her.”
At some point, patrons at a nearby table started taking pictures of Gibbons with their camera phones.
“So I presume they knew who I was,” he told police. “They were, you know, gonna sell it to, uh, you know, the, the trade magazines and say, ‘Here’s Jim Gibbons out cavorting with the women.’ You know? And I just laughed at it. I said, ‘Well, you know, I’m 60, close to 62 years old, married, this isn’t gonna fly very far.’ But I didn’t think much about it. But they said something about it. And I looked over and I didn’t see ‘em taking any pictures, so I didn’t think much about it.”
Shortly after the picture taking, Rogich suggested he and Gibbons leave, Mazzeo said.
Gibbons then said he was staying at the nearby Residence Inn by Marriott, and “we could basically crawl back to his hotel room,” Mazzeo said, explaining to police that she was not sure whether Gibbons was asking her to go to his room.
Rogich and Gibbons went outside, but Rogich went back in to pay the bill, which totaled $302.12. Gibbons waited outside. Mazzeo said she stayed at the table with Puhek for 15 or 20 minutes before walking outside, where she ran into Gibbons.
“Are you looking for me?” she said he told her.
“No,” she replied.
Gibbons offered to help her find her truck, which was parked in the parking garage behind the restaurant. A witness told police he saw Gibbons walking toward the garage with Mazzeo following several feet behind him.
Mazzeo told police they walked in silence to the garage, but when they got to the garage elevator, Gibbons grabbed her arms and pushed her against a wall.
“I thought he was joking at first,” she told police. “That’s when he said, um, he, he said, ‘You have two choices.’”
Gibbons told her she could try to leave or do what he said, she told police.
“Are you really, you know, rape me at this time?” Mazzeo said she told Gibbons. “That was the time, and I said, ‘Are you serious?’ I said, ‘I, I just survived cancer for 11 years, and you’re really going to do this right now?” she told police. “And he said, ‘Lucky you. You survived cancer.’”
Mazzeo said she then saw three people walking by and ran away. She made the first of three 911 calls that night at 10:23 p.m.
Read the rest of the story.
Having slots and more legalized gambling will create a myriad of opportunities for political candidates to get potentially damaging and career ending footage and stories about their opponents (and vice versa of course). Not because they’ve done anything wrong, but imagine – with all the anti-gambling folks in Ohio (and not just churchgoers), a person’s meer presence in a slots parlor or casino will become an issue in every single race.
It’s bad enough that we have disgusting fantasy attacks that end up like this. And that Zach Reed says that, as councilman for Cleveland, he is required to be in men’s clubs because they’re part of his district.
Just imagine how many politicians will get to use that line, among other purported justifications in front of a judge, and get off without a hitch, if Issue 3 passes. Woohoo. They’ll all be asking for Judge Joan Synenberg. (I’m still voting for her though.)
You can’t turn on the radio or the television (well, I never turn that on anyway – but I hear it when my husband has it on) or even go to a news website without being assaulted by Ohio and political corruption stories. Don’t enable more of those stories and further decrease the reputation of Ohio outside of the state. Vote no on Issue 3.
Previous reasons to vote no on Issue 3 (I’m going to think over the weekend how to re-do this list by the way – any suggestions are welcome):
Reason 20
Reason 21
Reason 22
Reason 23
Reason 24
Reason 25
Reason 26
Reason 27
Reason 28
Reason 29
Reason 30
Reason 31
Reason 32
Reason 33
Reason 34
Reason 35
Reason 36
Reason 37
Reason 38
Reason 39
Reason 40
Reason 41
Reason 42
Reason 43
Reason 44
Reason 45
Reason 46
Reason 47
Reason 48
Reason 49
Reason 50
Reason 51
Reason 52
Reason 53
Reason 54
Reason 55
Reason 56
Reason 57
Vote no on Issue 3.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:53 am October 20th, 2006 in Politics | 2 Comments
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Oct
20
Additional info on NV GOP gubernatorial candidate, Jim Gibbons and assault charges
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From a blog with a not particularly objective name. So you have to wonder – I’d like to know what others think. Whose story do you believe? And, with three weeks left before election day, does it even matter? And is that the point in the first place re: whether or not he was set up?
Honestly? I just don’t know. Not yet anyway.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:34 am October 20th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
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Oct
20
Reason #19 to VOTE NO on ISSUE 3
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Because the threshold of acceptable behavior in Ohio doesn’t need to sink any lower than it already has (see this post on Cleveland City Councilman Zach Reed and his alleged drinking that wasn’t alleged drinking while he was on the job in his district at nude dance clubs). Bringing a slots and casino culture here will sink it lower – and who thought that that was possible?
Now, before critics of Issue 3 or this reason click the “Comment” button, read this news story out of Vegas. Because I want to be clear so that there are no misunderstandings: I am not calling every person who walks into or wants to have slots parlors or casinos a low-life, a threat to society or any other such thing. I’m talking about how, providing opportunities that maximize the likelihood that the worst in people will be exposed leads to the deterioration of everything around those people – in tangible and intangible ways.
[And a sidebar note: people who know me most likely get where I'm coming from in formulating these reasons to vote no on Issue 3. But for those who might be mystified, maybe it would help you to know that in addition to the law/social work combo I have in my background, I majored in sociology and government in college. And I've had a keen interest in how we develop - what influences us and the choices we make - since I was in high school. I am beyond passionate in canvassing issues like the effects of gambling because so few people take the time to tell others and so few people take the time to care because it just doesn't rise to the level of caring in today's world. I understand that. But it's because I understand that that I'm taking the time - because I have the good fortune to be able to take the time - to say look, it is NOT so simple. It is NOT going to help improve the affordability of a higher education for most Ohioans. It is NOT going to have a positive impact on Ohio. Of course, these are my opinions. I love the vigor of a number of commenters. But I wanted to be clear: this crusade of mine, such as it is, isn't driven by some puritanical, anti-business, anti-Capitalism, anti-personal rights drive of mine. It's driven by my love for living where I do and wanting to make it better. Not even one percent of me thinks that Issue 3 will do anything to make Ohio better.]
A casino cocktail waitress told police a drunken U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons grabbed her, shoved her against a wall and threatened her in a Las Vegas parking garage after she rebuffed his advances at a restaurant Friday night.
…
“It’s a distraction even if it’s not true,” creating damaging headlines and overshadowing other news about the race, said David Damore, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “If there’s any truth to it, it brings his judgment into question in a very big way. It could be really bad for him.”
Damore said that for any candidate to have a drink with an unknown member of the opposite sex three weeks before an election was an error in judgment.
“Maybe she was setting him up or whatever, but he made himself vulnerable,” he said.
The incident began Friday at McCormick & Schmick’s restaurant near Paradise and Flamingo roads, where Gibbons and his political campaign adviser, Sig Rogich, had dinner with six campaign donors. After the donors left, the two men planned to leave about 8 p.m. but went back inside because of the heavy rains that were soaking the parking lot. Inside they sat down with a lawyer and legal secretary whom Rogich knew because they work in his building.
At some point, Mazzeo and her friend, Pennie Puhek, approached the table. Puhek knew one of the women, and she and Mazzeo pulled up chairs and “basically invited themselves” to the booth, Rogich said.
But Mazzeo told police that Rogich and Gibbons invited them over after Puhek bought them a round of drinks.
Mazzeo, a cocktail waitress at Wynn Las Vegas, sat next to Gibbons. She told police that he flirted with her throughout the evening, put his hand on her thigh and played footsie with her, according to a police report.
“He just, just started talking about how his, his marriage wasn’t successful and how he had two children,” Mazzeo told police. “He was married for 20 years and that, uh, marriage wasn’t everything that it was cracked up to be, and then that’s when he gave me his card.”
Gibbons told her she could campaign for him, she said. Mazzeo said she tried to change the subject and move away from Gibbons when he touched her.
“He put his hand on my leg,” she said. “And then I just scooted closer to Pennie.”
Mazzeo told police that when she moved away, Gibbons said, “I wish I could have that kind of affection from her.”
At some point, patrons at a nearby table started taking pictures of Gibbons with their camera phones.
“So I presume they knew who I was,” he told police. “They were, you know, gonna sell it to, uh, you know, the, the trade magazines and say, ‘Here’s Jim Gibbons out cavorting with the women.’ You know? And I just laughed at it. I said, ‘Well, you know, I’m 60, close to 62 years old, married, this isn’t gonna fly very far.’ But I didn’t think much about it. But they said something about it. And I looked over and I didn’t see ‘em taking any pictures, so I didn’t think much about it.”
Shortly after the picture taking, Rogich suggested he and Gibbons leave, Mazzeo said.
Gibbons then said he was staying at the nearby Residence Inn by Marriott, and “we could basically crawl back to his hotel room,” Mazzeo said, explaining to police that she was not sure whether Gibbons was asking her to go to his room.
Rogich and Gibbons went outside, but Rogich went back in to pay the bill, which totaled $302.12. Gibbons waited outside. Mazzeo said she stayed at the table with Puhek for 15 or 20 minutes before walking outside, where she ran into Gibbons.
“Are you looking for me?” she said he told her.
“No,” she replied.
Gibbons offered to help her find her truck, which was parked in the parking garage behind the restaurant. A witness told police he saw Gibbons walking toward the garage with Mazzeo following several feet behind him.
Mazzeo told police they walked in silence to the garage, but when they got to the garage elevator, Gibbons grabbed her arms and pushed her against a wall.
“I thought he was joking at first,” she told police. “That’s when he said, um, he, he said, ‘You have two choices.’”
Gibbons told her she could try to leave or do what he said, she told police.
“Are you really, you know, rape me at this time?” Mazzeo said she told Gibbons. “That was the time, and I said, ‘Are you serious?’ I said, ‘I, I just survived cancer for 11 years, and you’re really going to do this right now?” she told police. “And he said, ‘Lucky you. You survived cancer.’”
Mazzeo said she then saw three people walking by and ran away. She made the first of three 911 calls that night at 10:23 p.m.
Read the rest of the story.
Having slots and more legalized gambling will create a myriad of opportunities for political candidates to get potentially damaging and career ending footage and stories about their opponents (and vice versa of course). Not because they’ve done anything wrong, but imagine – with all the anti-gambling folks in Ohio (and not just churchgoers), a person’s meer presence in a slots parlor or casino will become an issue in every single race.
It’s bad enough that we have disgusting fantasy attacks that end up like this. And that Zach Reed says that, as councilman for Cleveland, he is required to be in men’s clubs because they’re part of his district.
Just imagine how many politicians will get to use that line, among other purported justifications in front of a judge, and get off without a hitch, if Issue 3 passes. Woohoo. They’ll all be asking for Judge Joan Synenberg. (I’m still voting for her though.)
You can’t turn on the radio or the television (well, I never turn that on anyway – but I hear it when my husband has it on) or even go to a news website without being assaulted by Ohio and political corruption stories. Don’t enable more of those stories and further decrease the reputation of Ohio outside of the state. Vote no on Issue 3.
Previous reasons to vote no on Issue 3 (I’m going to think over the weekend how to re-do this list by the way – any suggestions are welcome):
Reason 20
Reason 21
Reason 22
Reason 23
Reason 24
Reason 25
Reason 26
Reason 27
Reason 28
Reason 29
Reason 30
Reason 31
Reason 32
Reason 33
Reason 34
Reason 35
Reason 36
Reason 37
Reason 38
Reason 39
Reason 40
Reason 41
Reason 42
Reason 43
Reason 44
Reason 45
Reason 46
Reason 47
Reason 48
Reason 49
Reason 50
Reason 51
Reason 52
Reason 53
Reason 54
Reason 55
Reason 56
Reason 57
Vote no on Issue 3.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:53 am October 20th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
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