Print This Post Print This Post

Feb

14

Happy Valentine’s Day Bloggers

Filed Under Parenting | 5 Comments

 

(a poem by the most absolutest bestest 2nd grader in my house, title and verse, which was given to me as a Valentine today)

TEACHING MOM SUDUKO

When I am teaching Mom Suduko
I watch her yes indeed
She’s a very excellent student
While I teach her in her bed

She gets almost all of them right
But not almost every time

 

Bookmark and Share

By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:59 pm February 14th, 2008 in Parenting | 5 Comments 

Print This Post Print This Post

Feb

14

Video of Hillary Clinton at Lordstown GM plant, Ohio

Filed Under Campaigning, Hillary Clinton, Ohio, Politics, Primary, WH2008 | 4 Comments

If it’s possible for her to look diminutive, Hillary Clinton looked diminutive in this video from the Plain Dealer.

Hillary Clinton launches her Ohio campaign

I’m still trying to get over the use of Tom Petty’s American Girl – did the PD add that or was it playing in the plant during her visit? I simply cannot ever hear that song, not ever, without thinking about its use in Silence of the Lambs just before the abduction of the victim who was, gulp, a senator’s daughter.

As for the speech itself, I liked it. But I kept thinking about the audience. I kept thinking, that is one tough audience. She is going right into the middle of what has got to be one of her toughest audiences, as though there are any audiences left for her that won’t be tough.

There’s something to be said about the person who refuses to walk away. I’m just not sure what exactly that is in Clinton’s case right now.

Bookmark and Share

By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:45 pm February 14th, 2008 in Campaigning, Hillary Clinton, Ohio, Politics, Primary, WH2008 | 4 Comments 

Print This Post Print This Post

Feb

14

Forget about Clinton, McCain or Obama stance on Israel, Jew or not, when you vote

Filed Under Barack Obama, Foreign Affairs, Hillary Clinton, Jewish, John McCain, Judaism, Military, Politics, Primary, Religion, WH2008 | 8 Comments

Gary Rosenblatt, editor and publisher of The Jewish Week, tells us why in this editorial.

For starters (Eric, does this sound familiar?!):

What am I to say when people ask me, as they frequently do these days, which presidential candidate is best for Israel?

When I sometimes ask, in response, what they mean by “best for Israel,” they may think I’m being facetious or evasive, but I’m not.

I know exactly what he means.

Rosenblatt goes on to give a review of presidential machinations with the Middle East since 1992 through to now. Rosenblatt believes that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain differ little from each other and that only Rudy Giuliani had any appreciable difference in approach:

Only Rudy Giuliani among the leading ‘08 presidential candidates opposed that basic premise, writing in Foreign Affairs last fall that the Palestinians need good governance and an end to violence before negotiations could begin. But he’s no longer running.

His point, in the end, with which I completely agree:

My point is that it all depends on how much you want to convince yourself that the person you oppose for president would be a disaster for Israel. But the reality is that each of the three remaining frontrunners would approach the Mideast conflict with essentially the same outlook and intention, and with the premise that Israel-Palestinian negotiations should be encouraged and supported, much along the lines of the Clinton and now Bush efforts.

Upsetting? Comforting? That’s your call, but don’t come away believing one or the other will be dramatically different when it comes to Israel any more than you believe the long line of empty pledges to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

So base your choice on a host of other very real factors from personality to integrity to domestic issues to Iraq to a variety of foreign policy concerns, including acknowledging and identifying the very real threat of Islamic militancy.

But if you tell me you’re voting for one or the other based primarily on what he or she would do or not do for Israel, I’d say you’re only fooling yourself.

Exactly.

Bookmark and Share

By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:25 pm February 14th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Foreign Affairs, Hillary Clinton, Jewish, John McCain, Judaism, Military, Politics, Primary, Religion, WH2008 | 8 Comments 

Print This Post Print This Post

Feb

14

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) to speak in Cleveland, 2/16 for Obama

Filed Under Announcements, Barack Obama, Campaigning, Education, Ohio, Politics, Primary, WH2008 | 2 Comments

Here are the details:

Please join Senator Ted Kennedy at a Community Gathering in Cleveland, where he’ll talk about why Barack is the one candidate in this election who can bring about change we can believe in.

Community Gathering with Senator Ted Kennedy

Fairhill Center
Auditorium
12200 Fairhill Rd.
Cleveland, OH

Saturday, February 16, 2008
Doors Open: 10:15 a.m.

The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is encouraged.

RSVP now.

If you are unfamiliar with the Fairhill complex of organizations, this page has a good map of where it’s located. It’s kind of northwest of Shaker Square, but just slightly. Here’s a bit more information about it. Now, the info at the site says that the auditorium only holds about 200 people so I’m not exactly sure what they have planned, but if you want to get there, definitely be checking out how early people might be going to line up for when the doors open.

Bookmark and Share

By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:53 pm February 14th, 2008 in Announcements, Barack Obama, Campaigning, Education, Ohio, Politics, Primary, WH2008 | 2 Comments 

Print This Post Print This Post

Feb

14

‘Roots News round-up and meta on campaign coverage

Filed Under 'Roots News, Barack Obama, Blogging, Campaigning, Hillary Clinton, Ohio, Politics, Primary, WH2008 | Comments Off

The e-mails, the phone calls, the blog posts – it’s all adding up to pandemonium. And there are still nearly three weeks before the Ohio primary, March 4.

Okay – this is just a selection. If you go to Lefty Blogs, you can probably glean more, or even Blog Net News. But Ohio bloggers are out there catching the waves – big and small.

Pho reviews Chelsea at University of Akron, 2/14 (with photos)

Annie at The Chief Source on the same event (with photos)

Eric gives his account of the Obama organizational meeting in Columbus last night (2/13) (with photos)

Jen at Democratic Underground describes the Obama organizational event in Cincinnati, 2/13

Man with the Muck-rake was at Obama HQ opening event in Toledo also 2/13

If you do original reporting as the campaigns continue to crowd our schedules (I received a bunch of e-mails from Obama people and a live-person call from a Hillary supporter just within the last two hours), I will try to find it but feel free to forward a link too and I’ll be sure it gets rounded up.

Bookmark and Share

By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:42 pm February 14th, 2008 in 'Roots News, Barack Obama, Blogging, Campaigning, Hillary Clinton, Ohio, Politics, Primary, WH2008 | Comments Off 

Print This Post Print This Post

Feb

14

TSA’s daily dose of contraband: two guns, 2800 blades & knives

Filed Under Government | Comments Off

The Transportation Security Administration’s blog Evolution of Security has been a great read so far, seriously. This post describes how people get selected to be TSA officers and includes this information:

Seven times every day, every checkpoint in the U.S. is tested with ‘fake’ threats to ensure that our officers are on alert. Most of these fake items are very difficult to identify on the computer screen, and most of these items are detected. Unfortunately, we’re all most likely to hear about the few prohibited items that pass through undetected rather than the thousands of items that are identified at the checkpoint.

On a typical day in the U.S., security officers find two guns and around 2,800 knives and blades (of varying sizes) on passengers and in carry-on bags. Those are the most commonly discovered prohibited items, but it’s hard to imagine how many other potential threats are identified on a daily basis.

Now, if they employ so many TSA officers, are those the folks who also are doing the “every checkpoint” “seven times every day” checks? Maybe EOS will write a post about how many employees they have – it has got to be one big employer.

Bookmark and Share

By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:58 pm February 14th, 2008 in Government | Comments Off 

Print This Post Print This Post

Feb

14

Howard the Duck creator, Steve Gerber, RIP

Filed Under Politics | Comments Off

Here’s a story about Steve Gerber who died last weekend.

And, for all those who were too young to witness the first time around:


Rick Dees - Disco Duck - Music Video via Noolmusic.com

Get Video Code For Rick Dees - Disco Duck - Music Video

Bookmark and Share

By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:31 pm February 14th, 2008 in Politics | Comments Off 

Print This Post Print This Post

Feb

14

Boston Globe ledes w/Jeff Coryell on Obama NAFTA lit

Filed Under Barack Obama, Blogging, Business, Campaigning, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Hillary Clinton, Media, Politics, Tech, WH2008 | 3 Comments

Pays to have those Google Alerts set up. From the Boston Globe (hiding as Boston.com):

Ohio blogger Jeff Coryell has posted images of a flier he received in the mail from Barack Obama slamming Hillary Clinton over NAFTA, a direct appeal to Democratic voters who blame globalization for the state’s economic woes. But is the mailer a fair shot or a cheap shot?

The flier says, “Hillary Clinton believed NAFTA was ‘a boon’ to our economy.” But as The Politico’s Ben Smith and others have noted, Clinton never used the word “boon” to describe the trade deal. The word comes from a paraphrase of her position in a 2006 Newsday piece laying out policy differences between Clinton and her 2006 Senate challenger, Jonathan Tasini.

Here’s all the Newsday piece says:

FREE TRADEJONATHAN TASINI: Tasini favors scrapping the Bill Clinton-backed North American Free Trade Agreement, saying it drives down domestic wages.

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Clinton thinks NAFTA has been a boon to the economy, but voted against the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, saying it would drive jobs offshore.

So while Clinton may well have expressed support for NAFTA, the word “boon” is not hers, at least not in this context. The Obama campaign is clearly trying to suggest otherwise to Ohio voters. See the Obama campaign’s take on the issue here, and the Clinton campaign’s take here.

Okay – now – I know – “Modern Esquire” also wrote about this issue. It’s tough being a blogger when these kinds of stories end up involving a variety of us who might be working ‘em.

Anyway – kudos to the Boston outfits for actually naming a blogger.

Bookmark and Share

By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:54 am February 14th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Blogging, Business, Campaigning, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Hillary Clinton, Media, Politics, Tech, WH2008 | 3 Comments 

"));