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Jun
2
Remains of the Day, 6/2/08
Filed Under Blogging, Politics, Remains of the Day | 3 Comments
UPDATE: Late additional link that I’m putting at the top because it’s so well-done. Shannon is an awesome writer among many other things but you must read this post where she takes political supporters to task and asks them to just get real.
2. Geraldine Ferraro – I wouldn’t have read this if it wasn’t for this post at Feministing.com but I feel the way commenter “JessicaNOW” feels. There’s a few graphs in that column that I’m just skipping over but the part about the research – folks, that’s already been done for the past and will be done and now and in the future. The Caucus has a good piece on exactly that. Move along.
3. Wired takes on the DNC blogger credentialing issue.
4. Ad Age – you don’t get it. You just do not get it. None of that ever was and still is not where the bloggers really are. But go ahead, keep cooking up the images while we keep blogging and learning and being active. What. Ever.
5. Honey, news fatigue does not discriminate:
A key finding was that participants yearned for quality and in-depth reporting but had difficulty immediately accessing such content because they were bombarded by facts and updates in headlines and snippets of news.
The study also found that participants were unable to give full attention to the news because they were almost always simultaneously engaged in other activities, such as reading e-mail. That represents a shift from previous consumption models in which people sat down to watch the evening news or read the morning paper.
“Our observations and analysis identified that consumers’ news diets are out of balance due to the over-consumption of facts and headlines,” said Robbie Blinkoff, co-founder and head anthropologist at Baltimore, Md.-based Context-Based Research Group.
To combat that, the authors recommended that news producers develop easier ways for readers to discover in-depth content and to avoid repetitious updates of breaking news.
Well gee – who might those news producers be now? Hmmm. Who who who? Could they be…Satan?
Oy. Sigh. How many times will the MSM have to hear this stuff before it really, truly, totally tips and changes?
6. I absolutely cheered when Howard Dean was ranting about the sexism in the campaigns when he was on This Week yesterday. Whether he’s rehearsed it or not, I don’t really care.
7. Taking on the Big Boys wins a Gold Medal. Congrats to Ellen Bravo.
Oh – and I am a bad JAP. I had to finish taking care of my kids and didn’t arrive at the event for the ladies until after they’d all left the eating locale and decided to see an early movie time, that was sold out when I got there. So no dinner, no movie, no nothing. I’m telling you – I have always been terrible at being a JAP.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:43 pm June 2nd, 2008 in Blogging, Politics, Remains of the Day | 3 Comments
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Jun
2
AIPAC Conference: Perfect place to show unity on 6/4 w/Pelosi, Reid, Clinton, Obama together
Filed Under Barack Obama, Campaigning, Congress, Democrats, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Israel, Jewish, John McCain, Politics, Predictions, WH2008 | 3 Comments
Read about the conference here.
Read about GOP presidential candidate and US Senator John McCain’s speech here. View it here or listen or get the transcript here.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are set to speak on Wednesday as well as part of the plenary:
June 04, 2008
8:45 AM – 10:45 AM
Wednesday Morning Plenary
Featuring
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Speaker of the House, United States House of Representatives
The Honorable Harry Reid (D-NV)
Majority Leader, United States Senate
The Honorable Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
Democratic Presidential Candidate
The Honorable Barack Obama (D-IL)
Democratic Presidential Candidate
The Honorable John Boehner (R-OH)
Republican Leader, United States House of Representatives
Wouldn’t you love to be a microphone on their conference table. After tomorrow night, it will be fascinating to hear them speak. According to reports, even with the New York gathering mentioned for Clinton Tuesday evening, she is still expected to be in D.C. for this event.
Hmm. Some on behalf of certain constituency-type promises in the works, maybe? It certainly would be quite a signal to have Pelosi, Reid, Obama and Clinton together, at AIPAC of all places, to show unity against a candidate like John McCain, wouldn’t it?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:35 pm June 2nd, 2008 in Barack Obama, Campaigning, Congress, Democrats, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Israel, Jewish, John McCain, Politics, Predictions, WH2008 | 3 Comments
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Jun
2
[audio] JMZ on the BBC: Obama, Clinton closure of Democratic primary
Filed Under Barack Obama, Democrats, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Media, Politics, Primary, WH2008 | Comments Off
All the signs are pointing to closure, and that’s much of what we talked about on the BBC yesterday.
You can listen here to BBC’s World News Five Live from late yesterday afternoon (almost 10pm in Britain).
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:00 pm June 2nd, 2008 in Barack Obama, Democrats, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Media, Politics, Primary, WH2008 | Comments Off
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Jun
2
What’s Your Point, Honey?
Filed Under Announcements, Gender, Government, leadership, Marketing, Media, Ohio, Parenting, Politics, Women | 3 Comments
I mentioned What’s Your Point, Honey? two weeks ago, but the New York Times published an article about it last Friday.
Play the personal empowerment card regardless of impersonal societal stereotyping. Play the field, professionally speaking. And never forget to be as playful as a hutch-load of Playboy bunnies.
“What’s Your Point, Honey?” which persuasively posits the notion of grooming an entire generation of female candidates in time for the 2024 presidential election, chronicles the lives of seven college women who have won internships to CosmoGIRL! magazine via essays submitted to a contest it co-sponsors with the White House Project.
“At first I thought, ‘Whew, a CosmoGIRL in the Oval Office?’ ” she admits. “And then I thought, ‘Hey, any way we can get there!’ The fantasy aspect is that there are young women walking around out there right now who could be president in 15 years or so,” she speculates. “The seven women in the film may or may not end up wanting to run, but what it’s really about is diversity and the reality that, guess what, our first woman president may not be white and blonde.”
Ms. Sewell, in partnership with Susan Toffler, knew she wanted feminism or, more specifically, the political clout or lack thereof experienced by young women, to be the topic of her second film. Getting Hollywood to bankroll it proved impossible, so she and Ms. Toffler, a producer of the 1997 film, “The Cost of Living,” are schlepping it around the country themselves, with screenings benefiting nonprofit women’s leadership groups, including Girls Incorporated of New York City. Paramount Classics bought “Mad Hot Ballroom” after its premiere at the Slamdance Festival, a renegade spawn of the Sundance Festival.
Like I wrote before, we need to get this here. How do people do that??
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:00 pm June 2nd, 2008 in Announcements, Gender, Government, leadership, Marketing, Media, Ohio, Parenting, Politics, Women | 3 Comments
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Jun
2
Barack Obama’s Speech on Gender
Filed Under Barack Obama, Gender | Comments Off
“Tonight, I want to talk directly with the women of America.
“First, let me repeat what I said in Iowa about my deep respect for Senator Clinton. She has indeed ‘shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and yours will come of age.’ There is no one in this country who better understands Senator Clinton’s tenacity, resilience, and commitment to public service than I.
“So I want to thank the millions of women who voted for me without ever believing they were betraying the dream of full opportunity for women. But I also want to recognize those millions of women who voted for Hillary Clinton – women who invested their passionate hope to break the glass ceiling, to complete a symbolic journey to equality.
“In any hard-fought campaign, disappointments are real and there are lingering wounds. But I know those women didn’t just support Senator Clinton because they share her gender. They believed that she shares their life experience, and understands their needs. They believe that she hears them.
“Well, I stand before you today as the son of a woman who traveled the astonishing arc of an entire generation. The American dream transformed this young mother into an accomplished international worker with deep ties to her own children and profound empathy for the poor families of the world. My mother knew that women’s rights were human rights.
“I also stand before you as a partner in a two-worker marriage. Michelle and I have lived the struggles of balancing work and family, paying for child care and the mortgage, finding time for our jobs and our children. We too, even now, juggle our own ambitions and our family time.
“I stand beside you as well, as a father, fully invested in my daughters. I share a commitment that their lives will not be limited by an unfinished revolution.
“And so I, too, hear you.
“I hear the older women of America who, like Lilly Ledbetter, worked a lifetime without getting equal pay for equal work. Women who went into retirement with unequal pensions. I say enough of that.
“I hear women who spent decades taking care of others to find that this work diminished their security and opportunities. I hear women who work for modest wages and spend evenings with their husbands – or without any husband – trying to decide whether to pay for health insurance or keep the car running. I say we can do better than that.
“I hear the mothers who look at their growing children and wonder if they will have to fight in Iraq. They want someone who has the strength to combat terrorism but also the strength to avoid the next military misadventure. I say there is a different path.
“I know that poverty most often wears a female face. I hear women of all races speak the same language when they worry about educating their children, or a media culture that undermines their own values. I say we can stand together.
“But I don’t just hear you. I will promise you. I will promise that in an Obama administration, helping to bail out families will be more important than bailing out Bear Stearns. Child care will be not be an afterthought, but as basic as school. Family medical leave will be, at long last, expanded to every worker.
“An Obama administration will trust American women to make their own moral and medical decisions about child-bearing. We will not say that the government knows best. An Obama administration will restore our belief in government as an aid, not a hindrance. And we will have women as decision-makers at every table, at every level.
“I don’t make these promises because they fit on the platter of ‘women’s issues.’ This I know, from the dreams of my mother and the dreams for my daughters: Most men share these concerns. And I am one of them.
“There’s a long way between now and November, and I need your help. You want a president who hears you and shares your hopes. I will be that president. I will be your president.
“Thank you for listening.”
PS I have corresponded with Ellen Goodman from time to time, but I haven’t recently. Still, sounds familiar, huh? Nice job, Ms. Goodman.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:18 pm June 2nd, 2008 in Barack Obama, Gender | Comments Off
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Jun
2
The Best Blog Post Ever!
Filed Under Blogging | Comments Off
Not really, at all, but I just felt like writing that.
I need to stop having so much fun, don’t I?
Here’s what started it (h/t Feministing.com) but let’s not forget the last several and the next upcoming days:
Friday night, my daughter came home from a trip exhausted and still not healthy but my youngest child walked into the house to tell me, “Today! Was! The! Best! Day! Ever!” in true Richard Scarry style (though his What Do People Do All Day is probably my favorite).
Saturday night we went to a viola and violin recital and my oldest hopes we can buy like a Stradivarius-league viola. I think I’d been forgetting to feed him for a few hours before that was intimated.
Last night, we went to see this sexy Israeli dude who does kind of weird things with a guitar but women (and maybe men too) absolutely love him (he even does his own rendition of a Pina Colada kind of song). I assured someone who will remain unnamed that yes, many Israeli men are like that. Why do you think I lament not going back there in 24 years? I almost married a soldier, for real. Sigh – okay – another life.
Tonight, I’m giving in to my inner JAP and going to see Sex and the City – which I never watched when it was on TV but I need a break.
Tomorrow is the second grade’s performance of The Rats of NIMH at school (how dumb do you think I felt when I realized that yeah, it’s pronounced “nimm” but hello? it really does stand for the National Institute of Mental Health?).
Wednesday night is the Pepper Pike Democratic Club meeting and Thursday – the last day of the school year.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
Oh – then Friday? I leave town for three days.
See Jill Smile. Smile Jill, Smile.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:55 pm June 2nd, 2008 in Blogging | Comments Off
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Jun
2
From the Some People Pay Me To Write Department
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
It’s not a big department, but hey.
From this month’s Cleveland Family, my Mommy Matters column, “From ‘Great’ to Much Better.”
I take risks with the students in one of my kids’ class. I try to turn gut feelings into learning opportunities. You see, I have had the sincere pleasure of editing news stories for a class of 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds for the last two years.
The process of turning the children’s stories into a classroom newspaper involves several steps. First, they brainstorm story ideas with their teacher. Then, they choose pictures (or their teacher selects pictures) to accompany the stories. When they were younger, the students would meet with me, usually two at a time, and dictate to me what they thought might interest their parents about the picture or topic.
In the beginning, the conversations would go like this:
Me: So, can you tell me what is going on in this picture?
Student #1: We’re having fun!
Student #2: Yeah, it was GREAT!
Me: Awesome. Can you use more words to describe what was so great?
Student #2: It was great because…it was fun!
I hope you’ll read the rest – especially the part about describing winning and losing without calling your classmates cheaters.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:20 pm June 2nd, 2008 in Politics | Comments Off
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Jun
2
Clinton is being given the proverbial “Sweetie,” rumor of letting staff go
Filed Under Barack Obama, Campaigning, Democrats, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Media, WH2008, Women | 13 Comments
Pundits and editorial writers see Hillary Clinton’s success in Puerto Rico as another example of a strong finish to the campaign, which nevertheless does nothing to increase her chances of victory….
The Boston Globe
Senator Hillary Clinton scored a lopsided victory in the Puerto Rico primary today, boosting both her spirits and her popular vote count, but offering little hope that she can catch rival Senator Barack Obama by the end of the Democratic presidential primary season on Tuesday.
Los Angeles TimesClinton’s Puerto Rico triumph continues the string of lopsided victories that she and Obama have traded in recent weeks in states that played to their different strengths among Democratic demographics.
Clinton has proved popular among Latinos around the country, but in Puerto Rico the bond was especially strong, thanks to her home state’s deep ties to the island commonwealth.
Associated PressHillary Rodham Clinton has won a largely symbolic victory in Puerto Rico’s presidential primary, the final act in a weekend of tumult that brought Barack Obama tantalizingly close to the Democratic presidential nomination.
Hattip The Moderate Voice, an interesting post about Clinton staff being let go.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:31 am June 2nd, 2008 in Barack Obama, Campaigning, Democrats, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Media, WH2008, Women | 13 Comments
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Jun
2
It’s Unity Day
Filed Under Barack Obama, Education, Hillary Clinton | 8 Comments
No, really.
At my kids’ school. Here’s the description for this year from a note I received:
This year’s games are based on the television show “Survivor.” Embrace the theme, be creative, and most of all, have fun with it! When explaining the games to the students, please emphasize teamwork and sportsmanship.
I’ll try to not recall how I used to be involved in theater and can remember being told to pretend I’m a piece of bacon sizzling in a frying pan and that I needed to “embrace the frying pan.”
From the note home from the school:
Dear Parents,
Your child will be participating in “Unity Games,” an experience planned by the physical education department. These games will provide students with an opportunity to participate in a fun atmosphere on an even playing field. most of the activities require students to work together to solve a problem and don’t depend on the student’s ability to be the strongest or the fastest to be successful.
Maybe they should have invited supporters from the Clinton and Obama campaigns and the DNC.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:06 am June 2nd, 2008 in Barack Obama, Education, Hillary Clinton | 8 Comments
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Jun
2
Strickland “making a lot of the right moves” per GOP politician
Filed Under Government, Jim Trakas, Politics, Ted Strickland | 9 Comments
One of whom happens to be Jim Trakas, who, I can just imagine, finds those right moves frustrating.
From the Akron Beacon Journal:
One thing Ohioans of both political stripes have to concede is Gov. Ted Strickland has a sure eye for the smart move.
Smart for the state, maybe, but just as smart for Strickland.
…
It’s headache material for Republicans trying to find a chink in the governor’s armor ahead of the 2010 election.
“From a Republican perspective he’s frustrating because he’s doing a lot of the right things, and making a lot of the right moves and positioning himself well politically,” said Jim Trakas, a former Republican state lawmaker from suburban Cleveland who’s now running for Congress.
Mark McNally and Matt Hurley: this is what I’m talking about. But I think you’ve known that all along.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:34 am June 2nd, 2008 in Government, Jim Trakas, Politics, Ted Strickland | 9 Comments
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