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Mar
3
Is Beast of the East best of the rest?
Filed Under Politics | 2 Comments
No final answer yet but boy, what a blow-out by Georgetown’s mens basketball team of UConn today.
What I didn’t know until I read the game recap was that Patrick Ewing’s kid, Patrick Ewing, Jr., is old enough to be at Georgetown as a student – and has been for a while, duh. You cannot imagine how old that makes me feel.
NB: I really hate how the elder Ewing’s Wikipedia entry writes, “until Freddie Brown choked.” Poor Freddy. Let me tell you – he was and probably still is one of the nicest guys I ever knew at Georgetown. We were both sociology majors, and in a department with only eleven students in its major, you get to know each other. I didn’t know Freddy really well, but it’s hard to understand how that one moment – which, I agree, was and remains a pretty major moment in NCAA basketball history (and I was there to see it and cry and lose my voice over it) – can define a man for the rest of his life in some annals.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:36 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | 2 Comments
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Mar
3
Soon to be Grandpa Dick Cheney spoonfeeds pablum to CPAC audience
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The morning after I listened to U.S. Senator from TN, Lamar Alexander (R) speak to the National Governors Association, I watched Vice President Dick Cheney address CPAC. Here’s the text of what he said. Doesn’t read as though it was even tasty pablum, just dull beige congealed bottom of the jar stuff. To be fair, I was surprised to see him at all – given the explosive response Afghanistan had given him earlier in the week. So kudos to the logistics folks and, of course, his security forces who did keep him safe.
If this is a person who is supposed to inspire:
Very soon both Houses of Congress will have to vote on a piece of legislation that is binding — a bill to provide emergency funding for the troops. And I sincerely hope the discussion this time will be about winning in Iraq, not about posturing on Capitol Hill. Anyone can say they support the troops, and we should take them at their word. But the proof will come when it’s time to provide the money and the support. We expect the House and Senate to meet those needs on time, and in full.
“Not about posturing on Capitol Hill”? Talk about hypocrisy.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:18 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Mar
3
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
Filed Under Politics | 4 Comments
What do I know about Senator Lamar Alexander? Not a lot. I know his name. I know I’ve heard it for years and years. I have a recollection of the name being connected at some time in the past, in some way, with presidential elections, but I don’t remember how. I have a notion that he’s a moderate Republican, more of the real Reagan cloth than the revisionist one devised by people who weren’t even born when Reagan began to ascend in politics, let alone become president.
But who is Alexander and why should anyone care?
Trying to lose ten pounds in ten weeks means that I have to watch a lot of 6am newscasts, but I find myself on C-SPAN more than anything else. So it was that one morning this week I read (remember – I use the close-caption so I can listen to music while channel surfing) Alexander’s address to the National Governors Association on 2/27/07.
Here’s the entire text.
Does the man make sense, or what? I mean, at least 90% of what he says. Sure, go fire up your Jill’s a neo-con machine. What. EHver. Except for the reference to John Ashcroft, the man makes sense. After he tells three stories to explain the three points he wants to make to the audience, he summarizes:
So those are my stories. And in summary:
1. Call your senator and read him or her the 10th amendment and stop unfunded mandates. That will help competitiveness.
2. Have your own “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” report in your own state. That will help competitiveness.
3. Go to work in your state to find one fair way to pay outstanding teachers and principals more for being good teachers and principals. That may be the single most important thing we do.
These aren’t the only steps I want my state to take to become healthier fiscally or to improve education or to cherish more meaningfully those who enter the field of education. That would be oversimplifying complicated, systemic ills. But they certainly are solid starters.
I don’t know who wrote what he read. But, as a speech, it succeeded as well. It was the right length with the right amount of narrative and the right amount of “now go do this.”
He’s no senior senator for nothing.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:18 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | 4 Comments
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Mar
3
How Conservatives Do It
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
Danny Glover of the Beltway Blogroll posted about the Conservative Political Action Conference’s embrace of blogs and bloggers here.
Here’s a list of the credentialed blogs (though it sounds as though it’s not complete because it’s before the event began) and here’s the conference’s official blog. There’s more here on Robert Bluey’s blog.
I haven’t been around long enough to know – what’s the Democratic/Liberal/Progressive equivalent of CPAC? How has it or should it work with blogs and bloggers?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:08 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Mar
3
Is Beast of the East best of the rest?
Filed Under Politics | 2 Comments
No final answer yet but boy, what a blow-out by Georgetown’s mens basketball team of UConn today.
What I didn’t know until I read the game recap was that Patrick Ewing’s kid, Patrick Ewing, Jr., is old enough to be at Georgetown as a student – and has been for a while, duh. You cannot imagine how old that makes me feel.
NB: I really hate how the elder Ewing’s Wikipedia entry writes, “until Freddie Brown choked.” Poor Freddy. Let me tell you – he was and probably still is one of the nicest guys I ever knew at Georgetown. We were both sociology majors, and in a department with only eleven students in its major, you get to know each other. I didn’t know Freddy really well, but it’s hard to understand how that one moment – which, I agree, was and remains a pretty major moment in NCAA basketball history (and I was there to see it and cry and lose my voice over it) – can define a man for the rest of his life in some annals.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 4:36 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | 2 Comments
Print This Post
Mar
3
Soon to be Grandpa Dick Cheney spoonfeeds pablum to CPAC audience
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
The morning after I listened to U.S. Senator from TN, Lamar Alexander (R) speak to the National Governors Association, I watched Vice President Dick Cheney address CPAC. Here’s the text of what he said. Doesn’t read as though it was even tasty pablum, just dull beige congealed bottom of the jar stuff. To be fair, I was surprised to see him at all – given the explosive response Afghanistan had given him earlier in the week. So kudos to the logistics folks and, of course, his security forces who did keep him safe.
If this is a person who is supposed to inspire:
Very soon both Houses of Congress will have to vote on a piece of legislation that is binding — a bill to provide emergency funding for the troops. And I sincerely hope the discussion this time will be about winning in Iraq, not about posturing on Capitol Hill. Anyone can say they support the troops, and we should take them at their word. But the proof will come when it’s time to provide the money and the support. We expect the House and Senate to meet those needs on time, and in full.
“Not about posturing on Capitol Hill”? Talk about hypocrisy.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 4:18 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Mar
3
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
Filed Under Politics | 4 Comments
What do I know about Senator Lamar Alexander? Not a lot. I know his name. I know I’ve heard it for years and years. I have a recollection of the name being connected at some time in the past, in some way, with presidential elections, but I don’t remember how. I have a notion that he’s a moderate Republican, more of the real Reagan cloth than the revisionist one devised by people who weren’t even born when Reagan began to ascend in politics, let alone become president.
But who is Alexander and why should anyone care?
Trying to lose ten pounds in ten weeks means that I have to watch a lot of 6am newscasts, but I find myself on C-SPAN more than anything else. So it was that one morning this week I read (remember – I use the close-caption so I can listen to music while channel surfing) Alexander’s address to the National Governors Association on 2/27/07.
Here’s the entire text.
Does the man make sense, or what? I mean, at least 90% of what he says. Sure, go fire up your Jill’s a neo-con machine. What. EHver. Except for the reference to John Ashcroft, the man makes sense. After he tells three stories to explain the three points he wants to make to the audience, he summarizes:
So those are my stories. And in summary:
1. Call your senator and read him or her the 10th amendment and stop unfunded mandates. That will help competitiveness.
2. Have your own “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” report in your own state. That will help competitiveness.
3. Go to work in your state to find one fair way to pay outstanding teachers and principals more for being good teachers and principals. That may be the single most important thing we do.
These aren’t the only steps I want my state to take to become healthier fiscally or to improve education or to cherish more meaningfully those who enter the field of education. That would be oversimplifying complicated, systemic ills. But they certainly are solid starters.
I don’t know who wrote what he read. But, as a speech, it succeeded as well. It was the right length with the right amount of narrative and the right amount of “now go do this.”
He’s no senior senator for nothing.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:18 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | 4 Comments
Print This Post
Mar
3
How Conservatives Do It
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
Danny Glover of the Beltway Blogroll posted about the Conservative Political Action Conference’s embrace of blogs and bloggers here.
Here’s a list of the credentialed blogs (though it sounds as though it’s not complete because it’s before the event began) and here’s the conference’s official blog. There’s more here on Robert Bluey’s blog.
I haven’t been around long enough to know – what’s the Democratic/Liberal/Progressive equivalent of CPAC? How has it or should it work with blogs and bloggers?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:08 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Mar
3
What do Jews do, Purim 2007 (5767) & National Women’s History Month
Filed Under Politics | 7 Comments
My post about Purim 2006 is here.
It’s interesting that Purim falls during National Women’s History Month since the Book of Esther celebrates the strength and persuasive abilities of Queen Esther yet King Ahasuerus only marries Esther after he dumps his first wife, Queen Vashti because she refuses to do as he asks (she declined to dance naked in front of drunken men – can you imagine?).
As you might suspect, when learning about Purim as a child, I didn’t hear much about Vashti – I heard mostly about Esther and her brother, Mordechai and the king’s second in command, Haman. For my kids, I would say it’s basically the same.
And yet, this is odd to me, since I came of age during the late 60s and early 70s in a rather hippie-ish Reform synagogue. I would have thought, looking back, that for sure my synagogue would have made a lot of attempts to draw out the subtext of what the King did. It’s great that Mordechai used Haman’s own evilness against him and no Jews were killed as a result of Haman’s hatred of Jews.
Of course, there was the little matter of the only two rabbis that synagogue has ever known getting divorced and re-married during their tenures (though I don’t remember the details of either one’s marriage, divorce and re-marrieage). Might have been some casting out for refusing husbands and wanting a better looking mate – I’ll have to ask my parents one day.
But, on the other hand, the whole Megillah was set in motion by Vashti’s personality. And refusal to do as asked by her husband. Frankly, that he even asked her to dance naked in front of drunk men – that would have had me out the door before “no.”
So, again, it’s ironic that National Women’s History Month and Purim coincide in time. I wonder if that was on purpose? Nah.
What do Jews do on Purim?
Tonight we’ll have a family dinner, then go to the synagogue. There will be two or three different formats for listening to the megillah and wearing costumes and shaking groggers and making a lot of noise with all the other families. It’s fun – but it’s loud! Afterwards, this year, my synagogue has a whole bunch of events planned including a coffeehouse for adults. My husband will be reading part of the Megillah tomorrow at the most formal service for it so we can’t party too much tonight. Then, we’ll go to the sacrosanct Purim Carnival with our kids and another family (non-Jews who’ve never been) where there’s all kinds of activites. Very kitchsy usually, but a rite of passage – as is eating Hamantaschen.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:01 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | 7 Comments
Print This Post
Mar
3
Is Beast of the East best of the rest?
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
No final answer yet but boy, what a blow-out by Georgetown’s mens basketball team of UConn today.
What I didn’t know until I read the game recap was that Patrick Ewing’s kid, Patrick Ewing, Jr., is old enough to be at Georgetown as a student – and has been for a while, duh. You cannot imagine how old that makes me feel.
NB: I really hate how the elder Ewing’s Wikipedia entry writes, “until Freddie Brown choked.” Poor Freddy. Let me tell you – he was and probably still is one of the nicest guys I ever knew at Georgetown. We were both sociology majors, and in a department with only eleven students in its major, you get to know each other. I didn’t know Freddy really well, but it’s hard to understand how that one moment – which, I agree, was and remains a pretty major moment in NCAA basketball history (and I was there to see it and cry and lose my voice over it) – can define a man for the rest of his life in some annals.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:36 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Mar
3
Soon to be Grandpa Dick Cheney spoonfeeds pablum to CPAC audience
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
The morning after I listened to U.S. Senator from TN, Lamar Alexander (R) speak to the National Governors Association, I watched Vice President Dick Cheney address CPAC. Here’s the text of what he said. Doesn’t read as though it was even tasty pablum, just dull beige congealed bottom of the jar stuff. To be fair, I was surprised to see him at all – given the explosive response Afghanistan had given him earlier in the week. So kudos to the logistics folks and, of course, his security forces who did keep him safe.
If this is a person who is supposed to inspire:
Very soon both Houses of Congress will have to vote on a piece of legislation that is binding — a bill to provide emergency funding for the troops. And I sincerely hope the discussion this time will be about winning in Iraq, not about posturing on Capitol Hill. Anyone can say they support the troops, and we should take them at their word. But the proof will come when it’s time to provide the money and the support. We expect the House and Senate to meet those needs on time, and in full.
“Not about posturing on Capitol Hill”? Talk about hypocrisy.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:18 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Mar
3
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
What do I know about Senator Lamar Alexander? Not a lot. I know his name. I know I’ve heard it for years and years. I have a recollection of the name being connected at some time in the past, in some way, with presidential elections, but I don’t remember how. I have a notion that he’s a moderate Republican, more of the real Reagan cloth than the revisionist one devised by people who weren’t even born when Reagan began to ascend in politics, let alone become president.
But who is Alexander and why should anyone care?
Trying to lose ten pounds in ten weeks means that I have to watch a lot of 6am newscasts, but I find myself on C-SPAN more than anything else. So it was that one morning this week I read (remember – I use the close-caption so I can listen to music while channel surfing) Alexander’s address to the National Governors Association on 2/27/07.
Here’s the entire text.
Does the man make sense, or what? I mean, at least 90% of what he says. Sure, go fire up your Jill’s a neo-con machine. What. EHver. Except for the reference to John Ashcroft, the man makes sense. After he tells three stories to explain the three points he wants to make to the audience, he summarizes:
So those are my stories. And in summary:
1. Call your senator and read him or her the 10th amendment and stop unfunded mandates. That will help competitiveness.
2. Have your own “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” report in your own state. That will help competitiveness.
3. Go to work in your state to find one fair way to pay outstanding teachers and principals more for being good teachers and principals. That may be the single most important thing we do.
These aren’t the only steps I want my state to take to become healthier fiscally or to improve education or to cherish more meaningfully those who enter the field of education. That would be oversimplifying complicated, systemic ills. But they certainly are solid starters.
I don’t know who wrote what he read. But, as a speech, it succeeded as well. It was the right length with the right amount of narrative and the right amount of “now go do this.”
He’s no senior senator for nothing.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:18 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Mar
3
How Conservatives Do It
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
Danny Glover of the Beltway Blogroll posted about the Conservative Political Action Conference’s embrace of blogs and bloggers here.
Here’s a list of the credentialed blogs (though it sounds as though it’s not complete because it’s before the event began) and here’s the conference’s official blog. There’s more here on Robert Bluey’s blog.
I haven’t been around long enough to know – what’s the Democratic/Liberal/Progressive equivalent of CPAC? How has it or should it work with blogs and bloggers?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:08 pm March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Mar
3
What do Jews do, Purim 2007 (5767) & National Women’s History Month
Filed Under Politics | 4 Comments
My post about Purim 2006 is here.
It’s interesting that Purim falls during National Women’s History Month since the Book of Esther celebrates the strength and persuasive abilities of Queen Esther yet King Ahasuerus only marries Esther after he dumps his first wife, Queen Vashti because she refuses to do as he asks (she declined to dance naked in front of drunken men – can you imagine?).
As you might suspect, when learning about Purim as a child, I didn’t hear much about Vashti – I heard mostly about Esther and her brother, Mordechai and the king’s second in command, Haman. For my kids, I would say it’s basically the same.
And yet, this is odd to me, since I came of age during the late 60s and early 70s in a rather hippie-ish Reform synagogue. I would have thought, looking back, that for sure my synagogue would have made a lot of attempts to draw out the subtext of what the King did. It’s great that Mordechai used Haman’s own evilness against him and no Jews were killed as a result of Haman’s hatred of Jews.
Of course, there was the little matter of the only two rabbis that synagogue has ever known getting divorced and re-married during their tenures (though I don’t remember the details of either one’s marriage, divorce and re-marrieage). Might have been some casting out for refusing husbands and wanting a better looking mate – I’ll have to ask my parents one day.
But, on the other hand, the whole Megillah was set in motion by Vashti’s personality. And refusal to do as asked by her husband. Frankly, that he even asked her to dance naked in front of drunk men – that would have had me out the door before “no.”
So, again, it’s ironic that National Women’s History Month and Purim coincide in time. I wonder if that was on purpose? Nah.
What do Jews do on Purim?
Tonight we’ll have a family dinner, then go to the synagogue. There will be two or three different formats for listening to the megillah and wearing costumes and shaking groggers and making a lot of noise with all the other families. It’s fun – but it’s loud! Afterwards, this year, my synagogue has a whole bunch of events planned including a coffeehouse for adults. My husband will be reading part of the Megillah tomorrow at the most formal service for it so we can’t party too much tonight. Then, we’ll go to the sacrosanct Purim Carnival with our kids and another family (non-Jews who’ve never been) where there’s all kinds of activites. Very kitchsy usually, but a rite of passage – as is eating Hamantaschen.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:01 am March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | 4 Comments
Print This Post
Mar
3
What do Jews do, Purim 2007 (5767) & National Women’s History Month
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
My post about Purim 2006 is here.
It’s interesting that Purim falls during National Women’s History Month since the Book of Esther celebrates the strength and persuasive abilities of Queen Esther yet King Ahasuerus only marries Esther after he dumps his first wife, Queen Vashti because she refuses to do as he asks (she declined to dance naked in front of drunken men – can you imagine?).
As you might suspect, when learning about Purim as a child, I didn’t hear much about Vashti – I heard mostly about Esther and her brother, Mordechai and the king’s second in command, Haman. For my kids, I would say it’s basically the same.
And yet, this is odd to me, since I came of age during the late 60s and early 70s in a rather hippie-ish Reform synagogue. I would have thought, looking back, that for sure my synagogue would have made a lot of attempts to draw out the subtext of what the King did. It’s great that Mordechai used Haman’s own evilness against him and no Jews were killed as a result of Haman’s hatred of Jews.
Of course, there was the little matter of the only two rabbis that synagogue has ever known getting divorced and re-married during their tenures (though I don’t remember the details of either one’s marriage, divorce and re-marrieage). Might have been some casting out for refusing husbands and wanting a better looking mate – I’ll have to ask my parents one day.
But, on the other hand, the whole Megillah was set in motion by Vashti’s personality. And refusal to do as asked by her husband. Frankly, that he even asked her to dance naked in front of drunk men – that would have had me out the door before “no.”
So, again, it’s ironic that National Women’s History Month and Purim coincide in time. I wonder if that was on purpose? Nah.
What do Jews do on Purim?
Tonight we’ll have a family dinner, then go to the synagogue. There will be two or three different formats for listening to the megillah and wearing costumes and shaking groggers and making a lot of noise with all the other families. It’s fun – but it’s loud! Afterwards, this year, my synagogue has a whole bunch of events planned including a coffeehouse for adults. My husband will be reading part of the Megillah tomorrow at the most formal service for it so we can’t party too much tonight. Then, we’ll go to the sacrosanct Purim Carnival with our kids and another family (non-Jews who’ve never been) where there’s all kinds of activites. Very kitchsy usually, but a rite of passage – as is eating Hamantaschen.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:01 am March 3rd, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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