Print This Post
May
20
Local officer refuses to wear Taser, resigns
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
The Chagrin Valley Times, 5/17/07, detailed how part-time officer, Roger Wolf, in the South Russell Police Department chose to resign from the town’s police department because he did not want to wear a Taser on his body. “If they put the policy back to where we could carry it in the car, I’d go back, but I’m not wearing it.”
The item isn’t available online but it doesn’t offer any answers to why the officer doesn’t want to wear it on his person. I would love to know the answer to that. The article runs to a second page but again, there’s no specifics about the officer’s motivations. It’s impossible to know why.
As a local story, and me being a local reader, it’s that kind of information that I’m most interested in: why? Why does he find the requirement of wearing the Taser on his body as worth his resignation? What do other towns allow/require? Nationwide? How unusual is this man’s response to being told he must wear the Taser?
Anyone know, please comment.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:49 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
More reasons to reject Mandel/Jones bill for Iran divestment as currently drafted
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
[Note: the original post referred erroneously to SB 151, the correct bill is HB 151]
There’s been questioning of the need for and efficacy of a state bill to force Ohio’s pensions to divest of investment connected to companies that do business in Iran. But despite the bill’s sponsors’ description of such investments as immoral, they’ve still not divested from such companies themselves. That’s just one conundrum dragging down this otherwise admirable effort to deprive Iran of economic support.
Kathy Bracy, who maintains this excellent education-oriented blog, offers the following MUST read posts for those who want to understand, directly from the pension caretakers themselves, as to why the bill being promoted by State Reps. Josh Mandel and Shannon Jones needs to be re-drafted or rejected:
1. Here, which includes the following summary of reasons against HB 151:
The three primary concerns raised with legislators are: (1) the money in the trust fund belongs to the participants — this divestiture mandate puts a foreign policy objective above the board’s fiduciary duty to invest in the sole interest of the membership; (2) there will be significant costs of complying with this mandate, costs borne by the membership and not the public; and (3) the bill sets a dangerous precedent of using trust fund money to achieve political or social agendas.
2. Here, which includes testimony from the Exec. Dir. of STRS that urges the GA to reconsider how the bill is currently structured to achieve its admirable goals and work to change that structure.
and
3. Here, which includes a review of the legislation by the STRS Board.
As noted in those posts, no one argues with the ideological goal of stripping Iran of economic support so long as it continues to defy worldwide desires for it to de-escalate its nuclear program and extremist rhetoric against the West. But before making a bill law, it should be made to be the best possible vehicle the Ohio legislature can make it. And these two freshman seem to be participating more in grandstanding than goal accomplishment.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:34 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
Remains of the Day, 5-20-07
Filed Under Politics | 4 Comments
I can’t believe it, but I’ve cleared out all the items in my RSS feed reader and even added a few new feeds. I’m now at 160 feeds, broken into nine categories. Here’s the hitch: I’ve “checked” or saved 1252 items because, for whatever reason, I think I’m going to go back to them and read them or link them or send them or…do something with them.
Ironically, last Thursday, NPR had a segment (see here and here) on pack rats last week and storage space, both reality-based and virtual. The discussion mentioned how little difference there is between being a virtual versus being a corporeal-based saver. My boxes of piles of papers that I developed in order to clear out space for the bar mitzvah, and my 1200+ saved feed items are testimony to that theory.
Let’s go:
1. Court rules that high school senior’s discipline for saying “That’s so gay!” sticks I’m still trying to understand the circumstances, after reading the story three times, but it appears that the girl was teased for being Mormon, she jibed back, “That’s so gay!” and then she got disciplined for saying that phrase. I don’t know. I’m a big proponent of zero tolerance when it comes to bullying, but there’s some facts missing from this tale that would probably help. According to this version of the news story, the family is not appealing the court’s decision.
2. According to Plunderbund, the Creation Museum will be opening over Memorial Day weekend. Science educators, including CWRU’s Lawrence Krauss, are signing petitions to express their protest of the lack of science in the exhibits. The Cincinnati Enquirer has the full story here.
3. Okay – this story from the Youngstown Vindicator wasn’t easy for me to understand when I first read it twice this morning, and it’s not any easier now, but the gist is that the government is giving and taking away insurance coverage for the survivors of military personnel who die during duty. Tell me what it means after you read it, would you?
4. Rank and file reject rankings as rank. And that’s been a big topic around this blog lately so I’m happy to see that colleges feel similarly skeptical about the value and relevance of US News and World Reports college ranking.
5. I love this article that compares and contrasts speeches from Hillary RC and Barack. It’s probably a geeky writer thing, but I’ve also started to really like the idea of speech-writing. Also, I watche Frank Luntz for a few minutes while on the treadmill a couple of morning’s ago and let me tell you – he splices and dices what people say, but there is no magic to it. He’s just got his thinking cap on, and if we all did, then the spin would be far from in.
6. Firefox stalled on me and I lost the link for something about foster care rules but it had to do with what I’ve know about for years and I guess it’s really just an evergreen article about how large a portion of foster care review and selection is outsourced by the county DCFs to private nonprofits. Trust me, if the reviews were all done by the counties, nothing much would necessarily change, so I’m not sure why there’s an article about it, except to remind people about the system
Sweet dreams.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:47 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | 4 Comments
Print This Post
May
20
Gauge your mental health
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. The Columbus Dispatch ran this column today and it includes a list of attributes to help you determine how mentally healthy you are. Here are a few traits of people with good mental health that I think some folks in politics might have problems with:
*They are able to give love, consider the interests of others and accept love.
• They expect to like and trust others, and think that others will like and trust them.
• They respect the differences they find in people.
• They do not bully nor do they allow themselves to be bullied.
• They feel a sense of responsibility to their neighbors and fellow human beings.
• They accept responsibility for who they are and what they do.
• They learn from the past, live in the present and look to the future with hope.
• They are objective enough about life to find humor even in difficult situations.
• They welcome new experiences and new ideas.
So…are you? Mentally healthy? Check the full list at the link above, not just the traits listed in this post.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:09 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
Local officer refuses to wear Taser, resigns
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
The Chagrin Valley Times, 5/17/07, detailed how part-time officer, Roger Wolf, in the South Russell Police Department chose to resign from the town’s police department because he did not want to wear a Taser on his body. “If they put the policy back to where we could carry it in the car, I’d go back, but I’m not wearing it.”
The item isn’t available online but it doesn’t offer any answers to why the officer doesn’t want to wear it on his person. I would love to know the answer to that. The article runs to a second page but again, there’s no specifics about the officer’s motivations. It’s impossible to know why.
As a local story, and me being a local reader, it’s that kind of information that I’m most interested in: why? Why does he find the requirement of wearing the Taser on his body as worth his resignation? What do other towns allow/require? Nationwide? How unusual is this man’s response to being told he must wear the Taser?
Anyone know, please comment.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:49 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
More reasons to reject Mandel/Jones bill for Iran divestment as currently drafted
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
[Note: the original post referred erroneously to SB 151, the correct bill is HB 151]
There’s been questioning of the need for and efficacy of a state bill to force Ohio’s pensions to divest of investment connected to companies that do business in Iran. But despite the bill’s sponsors’ description of such investments as immoral, they’ve still not divested from such companies themselves. That’s just one conundrum dragging down this otherwise admirable effort to deprive Iran of economic support.
Kathy Bracy, who maintains this excellent education-oriented blog, offers the following MUST read posts for those who want to understand, directly from the pension caretakers themselves, as to why the bill being promoted by State Reps. Josh Mandel and Shannon Jones needs to be re-drafted or rejected:
1. Here, which includes the following summary of reasons against HB 151:
The three primary concerns raised with legislators are: (1) the money in the trust fund belongs to the participants — this divestiture mandate puts a foreign policy objective above the board’s fiduciary duty to invest in the sole interest of the membership; (2) there will be significant costs of complying with this mandate, costs borne by the membership and not the public; and (3) the bill sets a dangerous precedent of using trust fund money to achieve political or social agendas.
2. Here, which includes testimony from the Exec. Dir. of STRS that urges the GA to reconsider how the bill is currently structured to achieve its admirable goals and work to change that structure.
and
3. Here, which includes a review of the legislation by the STRS Board.
As noted in those posts, no one argues with the ideological goal of stripping Iran of economic support so long as it continues to defy worldwide desires for it to de-escalate its nuclear program and extremist rhetoric against the West. But before making a bill law, it should be made to be the best possible vehicle the Ohio legislature can make it. And these two freshman seem to be participating more in grandstanding than goal accomplishment.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:34 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
Sen. Goodman installs mezuzah; Rabbi Miller on opening session prayers
Filed Under Politics | 2 Comments
A few weeks ago, State Senator David Goodman (R-New Albany) told me about how he had a mezuzah hanging ceremony in his statehouse office. As a result of scouring for more information about experiences of those present for and reactions to Pastor Keith Hamblen’s opening prayer in the Ohio House last week, I found that Rabbi Jason Miller‘s really nice blog not only had this insightful entry on the topic of opening the sessions with prayer (including a video of him opening a Senate session, for his first time), but that he also has this brief but really lovely video tribute of the mezuzah ceremony. AG Marc Dann, State House Rep. Armond Budish (D, 8th) and former State Sen. Eric Fingerhut were among the attendees. State Rep. Josh Mandel was not in attendance.
Placing mezuzot on a doorpost is something even I, as a Reform Jew growing up, learned about and learned the prayer that commands us to do it. I’m not sure how public places of employment choose to accommodate such commandments, should a person want to follow it at work, but it’s very warming to see David have his installed.
As for the opening sessions with prayer, I’ve spoken with some Ohio Statehouse folks and they tell me that the rules in the Senate do vary from those in the House re: opening sessions with prayer. I tend to agree with former ACLU of Ohio legal director, Ray Vasvari’s (another law school classmate of mine) assessment that any attempt to screen what the clergy might say is an impermissible prior restraint.
I really don’t know how I feel about the whole scenario, though. I would hope that clergy of all faiths would be mindful of the fact that the Ohio Statehouse includes elected officials who represent people of many faiths, and represent some people who are atheists. I confess that I’m not even sure why a prayer session is necessary for openings. Tradition is an okay reason. But what would these elected officials do if they were starting their work’s duties in some other public place? What do they do when they work from home, or their district offices?
[I watched Pastor Hamblen's opening prayer and I've watched Rabbi Miller's. Without having watched any others, from either chamber, I'm not prepared to pass judgement on either one. I can guess how they might have made me feel, but that's not relevant to whether they're appropriate. One quick note, I did catch, during the intro of Pastor Hamblen, that the school with which he is affiliated is an 08 school - that's a category that I had thought was usually reserved for the Amish but apparently includes numerous other denominations. Pho and Eric wrote about these schools just two weeks ago.]
On a different note, I wrote here that I wondered what Rabbi Miller’s position would be on the inclusion of gays and lesbians as Jewish clergy in the Conservative movement. It sounds as though he is in favor of such inclusion.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:24 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | 2 Comments
Print This Post
May
20
Remains of the Day, 5-20-07
Filed Under Politics | 4 Comments
I can’t believe it, but I’ve cleared out all the items in my RSS feed reader and even added a few new feeds. I’m now at 160 feeds, broken into nine categories. Here’s the hitch: I’ve “checked” or saved 1252 items because, for whatever reason, I think I’m going to go back to them and read them or link them or send them or…do something with them.
Ironically, last Thursday, NPR had a segment (see here and here) on pack rats last week and storage space, both reality-based and virtual. The discussion mentioned how little difference there is between being a virtual versus being a corporeal-based saver. My boxes of piles of papers that I developed in order to clear out space for the bar mitzvah, and my 1200+ saved feed items are testimony to that theory.
Let’s go:
1. Court rules that high school senior’s discipline for saying “That’s so gay!” sticks I’m still trying to understand the circumstances, after reading the story three times, but it appears that the girl was teased for being Mormon, she jibed back, “That’s so gay!” and then she got disciplined for saying that phrase. I don’t know. I’m a big proponent of zero tolerance when it comes to bullying, but there’s some facts missing from this tale that would probably help. According to this version of the news story, the family is not appealing the court’s decision.
2. According to Plunderbund, the Creation Museum will be opening over Memorial Day weekend. Science educators, including CWRU’s Lawrence Krauss, are signing petitions to express their protest of the lack of science in the exhibits. The Cincinnati Enquirer has the full story here.
3. Okay – this story from the Youngstown Vindicator wasn’t easy for me to understand when I first read it twice this morning, and it’s not any easier now, but the gist is that the government is giving and taking away insurance coverage for the survivors of military personnel who die during duty. Tell me what it means after you read it, would you?
4. Rank and file reject rankings as rank. And that’s been a big topic around this blog lately so I’m happy to see that colleges feel similarly skeptical about the value and relevance of US News and World Reports college ranking.
5. I love this article that compares and contrasts speeches from Hillary RC and Barack. It’s probably a geeky writer thing, but I’ve also started to really like the idea of speech-writing. Also, I watche Frank Luntz for a few minutes while on the treadmill a couple of morning’s ago and let me tell you – he splices and dices what people say, but there is no magic to it. He’s just got his thinking cap on, and if we all did, then the spin would be far from in.
6. Firefox stalled on me and I lost the link for something about foster care rules but it had to do with what I’ve know about for years and I guess it’s really just an evergreen article about how large a portion of foster care review and selection is outsourced by the county DCFs to private nonprofits. Trust me, if the reviews were all done by the counties, nothing much would necessarily change, so I’m not sure why there’s an article about it, except to remind people about the system
Sweet dreams.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:47 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | 4 Comments
Print This Post
May
20
Exciting news from Ohio Daily Blog
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
See here. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way. YDS groupies live everywhere.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:31 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
Gauge your mental health
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. The Columbus Dispatch ran this column today and it includes a list of attributes to help you determine how mentally healthy you are. Here are a few traits of people with good mental health that I think some folks in politics might have problems with:
*They are able to give love, consider the interests of others and accept love.
• They expect to like and trust others, and think that others will like and trust them.
• They respect the differences they find in people.
• They do not bully nor do they allow themselves to be bullied.
• They feel a sense of responsibility to their neighbors and fellow human beings.
• They accept responsibility for who they are and what they do.
• They learn from the past, live in the present and look to the future with hope.
• They are objective enough about life to find humor even in difficult situations.
• They welcome new experiences and new ideas.
So…are you? Mentally healthy? Check the full list at the link above, not just the traits listed in this post.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:09 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
Local officer refuses to wear Taser, resigns
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
The Chagrin Valley Times, 5/17/07, detailed how part-time officer, Roger Wolf, in the South Russell Police Department chose to resign from the town’s police department because he did not want to wear a Taser on his body. “If they put the policy back to where we could carry it in the car, I’d go back, but I’m not wearing it.”
The item isn’t available online but it doesn’t offer any answers to why the officer doesn’t want to wear it on his person. I would love to know the answer to that. The article runs to a second page but again, there’s no specifics about the officer’s motivations. It’s impossible to know why.
As a local story, and me being a local reader, it’s that kind of information that I’m most interested in: why? Why does he find the requirement of wearing the Taser on his body as worth his resignation? What do other towns allow/require? Nationwide? How unusual is this man’s response to being told he must wear the Taser?
Anyone know, please comment.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 4:49 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
A few weeks ago, State Senator David Goodman (R-New Albany) told me about how he had a mezuzah hanging ceremony in his statehouse office. As a result of scouring for more information about experiences of those present for and reactions to Pastor Keith Hamblen’s opening prayer in the Ohio House last week, I found that Rabbi Jason Miller‘s really nice blog not only had this insightful entry on the topic of opening the sessions with prayer (including a video of him opening a Senate session, for his first time), but that he also has this brief but really lovely video tribute of the mezuzah ceremony. AG Marc Dann, State House Rep. Armond Budish (D, 8th) and former State Sen. Eric Fingerhut were among the attendees. State Rep. Josh Mandel was not in attendance.
Placing mezuzot on a doorpost is something even I, as a Reform Jew growing up, learned about and learned the prayer that commands us to do it. I’m not sure how public places of employment choose to accommodate such commandments, should a person want to follow it at work, but it’s very warming to see David have his installed.
As for the opening sessions with prayer, I’ve spoken with some Ohio Statehouse folks and they tell me that the rules in the Senate do vary from those in the House re: opening sessions with prayer. I tend to agree with former ACLU of Ohio legal director, Ray Vasvari’s (another law school classmate of mine) assessment that any attempt to screen what the clergy might say is an impermissible prior restraint.
I really don’t know how I feel about the whole scenario, though. I would hope that clergy of all faiths would be mindful of the fact that the Ohio Statehouse includes elected officials who represent people of many faiths, and represent some people who are atheists. I confess that I’m not even sure why a prayer session is necessary for openings. Tradition is an okay reason. But what would these elected officials do if they were starting their work’s duties in some other public place? What do they do when they work from home, or their district offices?
[I watched Pastor Hamblen's opening prayer and I've watched Rabbi Miller's. Without having watched any others, from either chamber, I'm not prepared to pass judgement on either one. I can guess how they might have made me feel, but that's not relevant to whether they're appropriate. One quick note, I did catch, during the intro of Pastor Hamblen, that the school with which he is affiliated is an 08 school - that's a category that I had thought was usually reserved for the Amish but apparently includes numerous other denominations. Pho and Eric wrote about these schools just two weeks ago.]
On a different note, I wrote here that I wondered what Rabbi Miller’s position would be on the inclusion of gays and lesbians as Jewish clergy in the Conservative movement. It sounds as though he is in favor of such inclusion.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:24 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | 1 Comment
Print This Post
May
20
Is there a Rabbi in the (State)house?
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
This blog post by Rabbi Jason Miller of a Bexley, OH Conservative synagogue is worth the read. I’m still not exactly sure of the Rabbi’s position, but I appreciate what I believe is his thoughtfulness around a very provocative issue.
Appreciated enough that I hope to find time to learn more about his views, including the new path of the Jewish Theological Seminary and Conservative canons on gays in the clergy (the movement now supports it, with caveats of course but in general, it is permitted now).
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:02 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
Exciting news from Ohio Daily Blog
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
See here. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way. YDS groupies live everywhere.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:31 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
Gauge your mental health
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. The Columbus Dispatch ran this column today and it includes a list of attributes to help you determine how mentally healthy you are. Here are a few traits of people with good mental health that I think some folks in politics might have problems with:
*They are able to give love, consider the interests of others and accept love.
• They expect to like and trust others, and think that others will like and trust them.
• They respect the differences they find in people.
• They do not bully nor do they allow themselves to be bullied.
• They feel a sense of responsibility to their neighbors and fellow human beings.
• They accept responsibility for who they are and what they do.
• They learn from the past, live in the present and look to the future with hope.
• They are objective enough about life to find humor even in difficult situations.
• They welcome new experiences and new ideas.
So…are you? Mentally healthy? Check the full list at the link above, not just the traits listed in this post.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:09 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
Must be all that writing about the new system. View the Blog Net News Ohio list here.
Do you think it’s a balanced list? What if anything do you think it represents?
Again, I’m really not sure, in the existential sense, even though I know more or less what it represents on a metrics level.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:37 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | 5 Comments
Print This Post
May
20
A few weeks ago, State Senator David Goodman (R-New Albany) told me about how he had a mezuzah hanging ceremony in his statehouse office. As a result of scouring for more information about experiences of those present for and reactions to Pastor Keith Hamblen’s opening prayer in the Ohio House last week, I found that Rabbi Jason Miller‘s really nice blog not only had this insightful entry on the topic of opening the sessions with prayer (including a video of him opening a Senate session, for his first time), but that he also has this brief but really lovely video tribute of the mezuzah ceremony. AG Marc Dann, State House Rep. Armond Budish (D, 8th) and former State Sen. Eric Fingerhut were among the attendees. State Rep. Josh Mandel was not in attendance.
Placing mezuzot on a doorpost is something even I, as a Reform Jew growing up, learned about and learned the prayer that commands us to do it. I’m not sure how public places of employment choose to accommodate such commandments, should a person want to follow it at work, but it’s very warming to see David have his installed.
As for the opening sessions with prayer, I’ve spoken with some Ohio Statehouse folks and they tell me that the rules in the Senate do vary from those in the House re: opening sessions with prayer. I tend to agree with former ACLU of Ohio legal director, Ray Vasvari’s (another law school classmate of mine) assessment that any attempt to screen what the clergy might say is an impermissible prior restraint.
I really don’t know how I feel about the whole scenario, though. I would hope that clergy of all faiths would be mindful of the fact that the Ohio Statehouse includes elected officials who represent people of many faiths, and represent some people who are atheists. I confess that I’m not even sure why a prayer session is necessary for openings. Tradition is an okay reason. But what would these elected officials do if they were starting their work’s duties in some other public place? What do they do when they work from home, or their district offices?
[I watched Pastor Hamblen's opening prayer and I've watched Rabbi Miller's. Without having watched any others, from either chamber, I'm not prepared to pass judgement on either one. I can guess how they might have made me feel, but that's not relevant to whether they're appropriate. One quick note, I did catch, during the intro of Pastor Hamblen, that the school with which he is affiliated is an 08 school - that's a category that I had thought was usually reserved for the Amish but apparently includes numerous other denominations. Pho and Eric wrote about these schools just two weeks ago.]
On a different note, I wrote here that I wondered what Rabbi Miller’s position would be on the inclusion of gays and lesbians as Jewish clergy in the Conservative movement. It sounds as though he is in favor of such inclusion.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:24 pm May 20th, 2007 in Politics | 1 Comment
Print This Post
May
20
Exciting news from Ohio Daily Blog
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
See here. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way. YDS groupies live everywhere.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:31 am May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
Is there a Rabbi in the (State)house?
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
This blog post by Rabbi Jason Miller of a Bexley, OH Conservative synagogue is worth the read. I’m still not exactly sure of the Rabbi’s position, but I appreciate what I believe is his thoughtfulness around a very provocative issue.
Appreciated enough that I hope to find time to learn more about his views, including the new path of the Jewish Theological Seminary and Conservative canons on gays in the clergy (the movement now supports it, with caveats of course but in general, it is permitted now).
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:02 am May 20th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
May
20
Must be all that writing about the new system. View the Blog Net News Ohio list here.
Do you think it’s a balanced list? What if anything do you think it represents?
Again, I’m really not sure, in the existential sense, even though I know more or less what it represents on a metrics level.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:37 am May 20th, 2007 in Politics | 5 Comments


