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Nov
10
[photo] JMZ of WLST at NPR
Filed Under Blogging, Elections, WH2008 | 4 Comments
We look so effing serious, don’t we?
All the guys around me are NPR social media dudes. Shireen Mitchell of Women Wired In is three down from me, on the same side as I am. Next to her is NPR’s Andy Carvin, social media dude extraordinaire. Next to him is Aldon Hynes of Orient Lodge, who lives down the street from where I grew up, back in CT. Across from Shireen is Jill Foster (light blonde) and next to her, closer to the foreground, is Laurie of Laurie Writes. Vivian Paige is two down from Jill Foster, on the other side, with a phone in one hand and a light-colored shirt on and Birdie Jaworski is in between them. Two people away from Laurie was Aaron aka Technosailor whom I didn’t realize was one and the same for, like, two hours. The whole list of who was there is here.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:03 pm November 10th, 2008 in Blogging, Elections, WH2008 | 4 Comments
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Nov
10
[transcript] Palin prays not to miss open doors, goodbye to breaking glass ceilings
Filed Under leadership, Sarah Palin, Women | 28 Comments
“I’m like, OK, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I’m like, don’t let me miss the open door,” Palin said in an interview with Fox News on Monday. “And if there is an open door in ’12 or four years later, and if it is something that is going to be good for my family, for my state, for my nation, an opportunity for me, then I’ll plow through that door.”
Alrighty then.
Update: here’s the entire transcript.
Updatex2: From Huffington Post:
“I’m going to serve Alaskans to the best of my ability. At this point it is as governor,” she said. “Now if something shifted dramatically and if it were, if it were acknowledged up there that I could be put to better use for my state in the U.S. Senate, I would certainly consider that but that would take a special election and everything else. I am not one to appoint myself or a member of my family to take the place of any vacancy.”
Before the election, Palin reportedly told James Dobson of Focus on the Family that she was confident that God would do the right thing for the country on Nov. 4.
“And I do believe that prayers were answered, others who prayed across this nation in the election that this nation would be protected, that we would be safe, that we would be prosperous and favored. I believe that prayer is answered,” she said.
The more any candidate speaks in this way (i.e., “if it were acknowledged up there”), the less likely it is that I would ever under any circumstances feel remotely capable of voting for them.
Pressed in a separate interview with CNN’s Larry King [on Weds., 11/12/08] about whether she would serve out her term as governor, Palin said, “I will do what the people of Alaska want me to do.”
She added, however, “if they call an audible on me, and if they say they want me in another position, I’m going to do it. … My life is in God’s hands. If he’s got doors open for me, that I believe are in our state’s best interest, the nation’s best interest, I’m going to go through those doors.”
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:56 pm November 10th, 2008 in leadership, Sarah Palin, Women | 28 Comments
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Nov
10
Congratulations to the BlogHer founders, featured by Fast Company as part of the Most Influential Women in Web 2.0. I’m proud to have been writing for them for election coverage and having presented for them at their 2008 conference. It’s a great community.
Elisa Camahort Page, Jory Des Jardins, and Lisa Stone
What they’ve done: Five years ago, most female bloggers didn’t view their dispatches as anything more than an avocation. There was no community, and the scope for interaction was limited. Then three women came along and changed things. Elisa Camahort Page, Jory Des Jardins and Lisa Stone set up BlogHer, initially a conference aiming to provide empowerment and create community by bringing women bloggers together offline. Now BlogHer is also a full-time community for women on the Web to come together online, regardless of subject matter.
How they got there: Page, who has a theatre degree from San Jose State University, held various jobs in commodities and high tech, before starting her own blog, Worker Bees, to help organizations use blogs as communications and marketing tools. Des Jardins, who has a BA in English Literature from the University of Illinois, worked in a variety of media jobs before BlogHer. Stone graduated from Wellesley with a degree in Political Science, worked at the Oakland Tribune, CNN and Women.com (later acquired by iVillage). In 2001, she became the first Internet journalist ever awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. She later went on to help launch, American Lawyer Media, Law.com’s legal blog network, Knight Ridder Digital’s Thatsracin.com, and Glam Media.
What to learn from them: If you have a company or brand the best catalyst for success is to start communicating. “There are no spectators, whether you’re a new start-up or a 100-plus year-old brand. Start writing, commenting and participating right now. Whether or not your company has a blog or participates in social media, your competitors and your consumers definitely do,” says Stone.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:18 pm November 10th, 2008 in Blogging, BlogHer, Tech, Women | Comments Off
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Nov
10
Bullies, brains and pain
Filed Under Mental health, Parenting, Research, Science, Youth | 2 Comments
I’m really unsure as to why National Geographic, or any peer-reviewed journal, would publish the results of a study that involved only 16 subjects, but I haven’t been in the bona fide research business for several years.
From the article, “Bullies’ Brains Light Up With Pleasure as People Squirm”:
In the study, Lahey and his colleagues looked at brain activity of eight 16- to 18-year-old boys with histories of lying, stealing, committing vandalism, and bullying.
These eight boys, who suffer what’s clinically known as aggressive conduct disorder, were compared to a group of adolescent boys with no such histories.
The bullying group was shown a series of brief videos that depict painful situations—some accidental, such as a hammer dropped on a toe; others intentional, such as a piano lid closed on a player’s fingers.
In addition to revealing activity in pleasure- and pain-related areas of the brain, the scans also showed that a portion of the brain that helps regulate emotion is inactive in bullies.
In other words, bullies lack a mechanism to keep themselves in check when, for example, a kid accidentally bumps them in the lunch line.
The results are somewhat sensational and, I would argue, not surprising, if you are at all familiar with having to deal with bullies, yourself or via your kids or others you know. Having performed mental health assessments and amenability reviews on juveniles alledged to have committed acts of delinquincy or crime, I’ve met kids who absolutely do get pleasure from other people’s pain and have shown no emotion.
Still, I would be extremely cautious about drawing any kind of conclusions from a study of just 16 teen boys. I’m very curious to understand how the journal justifies publishing the findings at this point.
This ABC News item has more details of the study.
Hattip Blogesque tweet.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:05 pm November 10th, 2008 in Mental health, Parenting, Research, Science, Youth | 2 Comments
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Nov
10
The news doesn’t mention political party thing
Filed Under Barack Obama, Civil Rights, intolerance, Politics, PostWH2008, Race | Comments Off
Whether or not a news outlet mentions a person’s political party isn’t something I watch that closely, though I’m pretty sure I have at least once or twice.
But here’s a case flagged by Pam’s House Blend: This Midland Daily News article, which is really pretty lengthy and full of many other small details, seems to forget to mention that a voter who utilized his First Amendment rights to protest the election of Barack Obama on behalf of white people is also…oh – well – I’ll let you read.
From an article last month in the Michigan Messenger:
A self-avowed member of the Klu Klux Klan, Randy Gray of Midland, is the second newly elected Republican precinct delegate in Michigan who has ties to white supremacist organizations.
Gray was elected by Midland County Republican voters to serve the party in Midland County.
Now, from today’s Midland Daily News:
Randy Gray, 30, of Midland, marched up and down the sidewalk in front of Garber Chevrolet for about 15 to 20 minutes [in his KKK robes]. Garber employees, speaking anonymously, said his demonstration was peaceful.
“He wasn’t raising a ruckus,” one man said.
The Midland Police Department and Michigan State Police responded sometime after noon. Acting Police Chief Bob Lane said Gray had a handgun and that he had a concealed weapons permit to carry it. Gray was questioned briefly and released after police found he had not violated any laws.
…
Gray said he is a member of the KKK, but would give no further information about the organization or the number of members in Midland County. He has been connected with the KKK previously, submitting several shows titled “This is the Klan,” to Midland Community Television in 2005.
He said he wasn’t walking the sidewalk just because Sen. Barack Obama won Tuesday’s presidential election.
“I feel white people feel more oppressed,” he said. “We’re basically told as white people we can’t have any organizations. We’re ruled by communists.
“It’s not just about Barack Obama. It goes deeper than that.”
Gray then admitted he did pick Wednesday — the day after the first African-American was elected president — to go on his walk.
Okay then. We are ruled by communists. Does that include the last eight years and the next ten weeks since, you know, George W. Bush has been president all this time and up until January of 2007, we had a Republican-governed Congress?
Maybe he’s just talking about Michigan? Given the auto industry’s interest in bailouts?
Well – we have the First Amendment, so there’s at least that – for him and for everyone else.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:27 pm November 10th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Civil Rights, intolerance, Politics, PostWH2008, Race | Comments Off
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Nov
10
[update] Rahm puts the screws to his dad
Filed Under Barack Obama, Democrats, Israel, Jewish, Judaism, Politics, PostWH2008, Religion, Social Issues | 4 Comments
This is priceless, especially if you know Israelis:
The Arab and pro-Arab media have made much of the fact that [Barack Obama's chief of staff pick, Congressman from Illinois, Rahm] Emanuel’s father is Israeli, and Benjamin Emanuel didn’t improve matters in an interview with Ma’ariv.
“Obviously,” the senior Emanuel told the Israeli daily, “he’ll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to be mopping floors at the White House.”
By the time JTA reached the elder Emanuel, a physician, it was clear his son had asked him to keep away from reporters. Picking up the phone, he said, “This is Benjamin Emanuel, the plumber,” and asked a reporter to call back in a week, after he’d spoken in person to Rahm – “if I’m still alive then.”
I’m still laughing out loud every time I read his father’s last line. So so real. Love it.
For readers who’ve ever struggled to understand how I can say both, I love Israel and Israel is and can be wrong, read that article. The way in which it describes Emanuel’s affection for being Jewish and for Israel, and how it translates into his political work is identical to that of many Jews who consider themselves Democrats or at least left of center.
Hattip Holly in Cincinnati.
UPDATE: Rahm Emanuel has issued an apology to Ohio’s own Mary Rose Oakar because of the statement of his father:
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee sent a letter to Emanuel calling on him to distance himself from remarks made by the elder Emanuel in an interview with an Israeli newspaper following his son’s appointment last week.
…
“Today, Rep. Emanuel called Mary Rose Oakar, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, apologized on behalf of his family and offered to meet with representatives of the Arab-American community at an appropriate time in the future,” a statement from his office said.
The committee, in a statement on its website, said Emanuel told Oakar it was unacceptable to make such remarks against any ethnic or religious group.
“From the fullness of my heart, I personally apologize on behalf of my family and me. These are not the values upon which I was raised or those of my family,” the group quoted him as saying.
Oakar welcomed the apology, saying: “We cannot allow Arabs and Muslims to be portrayed in these unacceptable terms.”
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:43 pm November 10th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Democrats, Israel, Jewish, Judaism, Politics, PostWH2008, Religion, Social Issues | 4 Comments
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Nov
10
Obama appoints blogger to transition team
Filed Under PostWH2008 | Comments Off
Veteran Democratic official Mike Lux has been tapped by Barack Obama to serve as an adviser and progressive liaison during the transition period, the Huffington Post has learned.
…
The staffing move provides the Obama team with an important outlet to the progressive community — a constituency from which the president-elect currently enjoys great support but one that has a wide range of priorities and will be holding Obama most firmly to his campaign promises once he takes office.
Hattip Talk Left.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:33 pm November 10th, 2008 in PostWH2008 | Comments Off
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Nov
10
Miriam Makeba, RIP
Filed Under Music, Politics, RIP, Women | 5 Comments
The truth is, I loved hearing her name being spoken as much as I enjoyed hearing the music of Miriam Makeba, which was a staple in my home in the 1960s and 70s when I was a child. Along with Pete Seger, The Mamas and The Papas, Melanie, The Weavers, Joan Baez, Donovan, Herb Alpert and Bob Dylan, Miriam Makeba was in serious vinyl rotation.
She was just a joy to see and listen to.
From Bloomberg:
Miriam Makeba, a South African Grammy-winning recording artist, died of a heart attack last night at the age of 76 after giving a concert in Italy.
Makeba “collapsed as she was leaving the stage,” South African Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said in an e-mailed statement today. Makeba had been performing at the Vastel Volturno in the province of Caserta, 35 kilometers (22 miles) northwest of the city of Naples.
…
Makeba, known as Mama Afrika, lived in exile for more than thirty years after her passport was revoked when she tried to return to South Africa in 1960 to attend her mother’s funeral after touring. She was outspoken in her criticism of apartheid during her exile.
She won a Grammy in 1966 for a folk-music album she recorded with Harry Belafonte. Her marriage to Stokely Carmichael, a Trinidadian black power activist, stirred controversy. She and Carmichael moved to Guinea. Makeba later represented the country at the United Nations.
I was born in 1962, so Makeba is mostly a figure I remember on album covers and a voice that wafted through our house. But Carmichael and Belafonte and all these names were clues to me then as they are now that my parents were very interested in the civil rights movement and the political events of those years. Read more
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:43 am November 10th, 2008 in Music, Politics, RIP, Women | 5 Comments
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Nov
10
Kristallnacht: “the lack of public outcry” led the Nazis to press on
Filed Under intolerance, Jewish | 1 Comment
Historians say the Nazis tested the German public’s reaction to the spasm of anti-Semitic violence and the lack of public outcry led them to press on, culminating in the extermination campaign launched three years later.
Pope Benedict XVI recalled the agony he felt as a boy growing up in Nazi Germany and urged younger generations to shun all forms of discrimination.
“Even today, I feel pain for what happened in these tragic circumstances, of which the memory must serve to ensure that such horrors never occur again,” he said at the Vatican.
“It is our duty as citizens of this world to keep up our guard against anti-Semitism and all forms of racism infiltrating our societies,” Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband added in a statement from London.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:09 am November 10th, 2008 in intolerance, Jewish | 1 Comment
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