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Feb
7
RootsCamp Ohio 2009
Filed Under activism, Blogging, democracy, Government, Ohio, Politics, social media, Tech | 3 Comments
Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the now two-day event, RootsCampOH 2009. I attended its first gathering in 2007 and again last year and both times it was excellent. This year I think they’re in an even larger venue – it looks like they have at least eight sessions per block of time. And I love that there is a baby stroller in that first photo!! WTG.
I don’t see anyone twittering today’s sessions but maybe tomorrow when I believe both Eric Vessels an David Potts will be there – they both do use their Twitter accounts from time to time (so if you’re reading this, fellas, make a hashtag and tweet it!).
Here are session topics and here are the attendees.
Some posts at Progress Ohio about today’s events:
Total bummer who I missed! Anthony Fossaceca, Russ Childers, Cliff Schecter, Lorraine Beiber, David Detman, Tiff Wolf
Keynote Greg Moore of the NAACP National Voter Fund
Aw man, morning coffee w/Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher
Looks like they’re going to have a great 2009 edition – mazel tov ya’ll and I’ll keep an eye out for what happens tomorrow – maybe some twittering hint hint.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:57 pm February 7th, 2009 in activism, Blogging, democracy, Government, Ohio, Politics, social media, Tech | 3 Comments
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Feb
7
Kristof echoes, tackles lack of women in banks, Wall Street, Davos
Filed Under activism, Blogging, Business, Culture, Gender, leadership, Media, Sexism, Women | 4 Comments
Nicholas Kristof is feeling empowered, having had a hand in the creation of a new focus of a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee, global women’s issues. And I like what he’s doing with that feeling: tonight, he tells us in his blog that tomorrow, the New York Times will feature this column by him, “Mistresses of the Universe,” in which he discusses the following:
Banks around the world desperately want bailouts of billions of dollars, but they also have another need they’re unaware of: women, women and women.
I particularly love this elucidation he offers for skeptics:
One of the shortcomings of any system of men sitting in front of screens making financial bets was reported last year in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, in case you missed your copy. That study found that men are particularly likely to make high-risk bets when under financial pressure and surrounded by other males of similar status.
As for women, their risk-taking was unaffected by this kind of peer pressure.
The study’s authors point to an evolutionary hangover. Across cultures, women prefer high-status men, while a woman’s reproductive prospects depend much less on her social status. Thus, when men of similar status gather, they jockey for an edge and jostle for the alpha role — and try to get ahead with high-stakes gambles.
On the plus side, boasting about these financial bets might make a great pickup line. On the downside, the bank goes bust.
Please read his entire column though. I left a comment at the blog already.
I’ve written about this topic, including some of the items to which he turns (Davos, Barnard president Debora Spar, the need for critical mass of women and not just one or two) recently, and often. I’m glad he’s giving it attention, but, as I wrote in my comment to him on his blog:
I’m well aware that women could not have gotten the vote without men approving of it, but there is still something stinging about the fact that it’s a man’s voice, surrounded by that of so many women all saying the same thing, that ends up making the difference.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:13 pm February 7th, 2009 in activism, Blogging, Business, Culture, Gender, leadership, Media, Sexism, Women | 4 Comments
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Feb
7
Danger, Will Robinson! no more, actor Bob May, RIP
Filed Under Culture, Media, RIP | 3 Comments
I’m so upset that I missed the news that Bob May, the actor who wore the suit and acted the role of the robot in Lost in Space died a couple of weeks ago. You can read this nice tribute by Billy Mumy. The deets are here.
So often, my kids will ask me about something and I’ll say that it was before my time or I was too old for that. But Lost in Space was my time exactly, along with the Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch. This is a fun show by show synopsis (I didn’t remember that it was happening in the year 1997 – omg).
You can see how they looked a lot like the animated Jetsons series of the same time period:
Wikipedia totally gets this right:
Lost In Space is remembered, at least, from oft-repeated lines of the Robot, such as “Warning! Warning!”, “That does not compute”, and “Danger, Will Robinson!” Smith’s frequent put-downs of the Robot are also still popular (“You bubble-headed booby!”) as are his trademark lines: “Oh, the pain…the pain!” and “Never fear, Smith is here!”
Yup, we still use a few of those. Just a month ago, one of my siblings emailed me nothing but the line, “Drink gloog!” I was supposed to replay, “Eat slimoth!” but I forgot.
And, my friends and I? We didn’t play house or school. We played Lost in Space and alway fought over who got to be Penny and who got to be Judy.
What was your favorite episode? Some of the most memorable ones for me include the one in which Dr. Smith turns into a big carrot and then the one where there was some groovy kind of Bread-like band. Reading through the descriptions, though? I remember pretty much all of them.
The giant carrot episode, I think, from 11/5/65 – I was three!? I must be remembering the repeats, though I do remember stuff from when I was about two:
Enduring another heat wave, the Robinson’s try to conserve their dwindling supply of drinking water, but Dr. Smith uses the last of it for a shower. In their desperate search for more water, they soon find some delicious-looking fruit growing in an oasis and take it back to the ship to be tested for edibility. Smith finds the fruit however and eats it before making sure it its safe. Fearing he’s been deliberately poisoned, Smith blames the Robinson’s for trying to eliminate him him and he runs away. Meanwhile, as the men search for Smith, Penny’s little pet Bloop, Debby, eats some of the fruit and grows to human size. Likewise, Smith is found to have grown to giant size and threatens to crush the Robinsons as revenge when they find him.
And Dr. Smith runs around saying, “Water! I need water!”
The Bread-like band episode from 1/24/68 – I can’t believe I was only five when I saw this:
The Robinsons finally arrive at their destination, the Alpha Centauri system, but they are surprised to find an Earth colony already established there. Another oddity is that it only seems to be populated by teenagers who try to brainwash Penny and Will into rebelling against the “olders”. When Dr. Smith snoops around, he discovers the teens are really aliens in human guise, but they give Smith his youth back and make him forget what he saw. The aliens, who never grow older-minded than adolescents, try to discover what makes the human children mature. Guest stars: Gil Rogers (Bartholomew), Keith Taylor (Edgar)
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:02 pm February 7th, 2009 in Culture, Media, RIP | 3 Comments
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Feb
7
[graphic] Valdis Krebs maps feeder funds, key brokers that funneled money to Madoff firms
Filed Under Business, Crime, Scandal, Tech | Leave a Comment
Valdis Krebs has created a fascinating network map from just the public information that was released this week, and other news and information that’s been published, about Bernie Madoff and his victims.
Spend some time on the interactive version here. What do you see?
Thank you, Valdis. I love this stuff.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:28 am February 7th, 2009 in Business, Crime, Scandal, Tech | Please comment
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Feb
7
Science funding cuts stayed, still in Senate version of recovery bill
Filed Under Economy, Politics, Science, Whitehouse09 | Leave a Comment
Science Debate 2008 continues to use the support and network it developed last year to keep attention on the related issues during the Obama administration. Here is the latest success, related to the recovery bill:
Well it’s been a long, long day with thousands of , but we are happy to report that your efforts, and those of the rest of the U.S. science and technology community, have paid off in a big way – for the time being.
Senators Nelson, Collins, Lieberman and Specter held a press conference earlier this evening, also crediting Senator Snowe, and followed up by Senate Majority Leader Reid, declaring a compromise bill has been reached on the stimulus package. You can read the exact line items of the bill here in an xls document, but the parts we focused on today are below:
| Agency | Original Senate bill budget amt |
Proposed cut this morning | % prop cut | Cut in final compromise | % final cut | Final compromise bill budget amt | Science funding you preserved |
| NASA | $1,502,000,000 | $750,000,000 | 50 | $200,000,000 | 13.31 | $1,302,000,000 | $550,000,000 |
| NSF | $1,402,000,000 | $1,402,000,000 | 100 | $200,000,000 | 14.26 | $1,202,000,000 | $1,202,000,000 |
| NOAA | $1,222,000,000 | $427,000,000 | 34.94 | $200,000,000 | 16.37 | $1,022,000,000 | $227,000,000 |
| NIST | $575,000,000 | $218,000,000 | 37.91 | $100,000,000 | 17.39 | $475,000,000 | $118,000,000 |
| DOE enrgy effy & renewbl energy | $2,648,000,000 | $1,000,000,000 | 38 | 0 | 0 | $2,648,000,000 | $1,000,000,000 |
| DOE offc of science | $100,000,000 | $100,000,000 | 100 | $100,000,000 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | $7,449,000,000 | $3,897,000,000 | 52.32 | $800,000,000 | 10.74 | $6,649,000,000 | $3,097,000,000 |
This is a terrific $3 billion victory for U.S. Science – thank you!
This bill will be voted on by the full Senate on Monday. It could still fail then. But it reportedly has the strong support of President Obama, and if it passes it will form the (likely strongly prejudiced) basis for conference committee negotiations.
Let it be noted: Science Debate is made up of people of wide political diversity, and there are some of us who question whether research belongs in a stimulus package at all. Neither do we see Science Debate as a legislative advocacy initiative. However these are exceptional times with high stakes and there is no guarantee that the political appetite for new money will not be exhausted after this major package. Additionally, we believe scientific research is one of the best investments in stimulating economic growth in both the short and long term that this country can possibly make in a science-dominated global economy. Here are some ways these contemplated amounts are stimulative:
1. Literally ‘shovel ready’: the American Physical Society identified billions in ‘shovel ready’ science programs that include immediate construction items associated with science. So, much of what is being targeted as ‘research’ and therefore not stimulative, is in fact direct stimulus for construction and expenditures.
2. Stimulus money for federal science funding agencies will translate into support for thousands of graduate students and postdocs this year and next year, as faculty who get funded hire them. This is a good way to create high quality jobs right away and to invest in the future at the same time. NSF supports over 2,000 institutions and reaches nearly 200,000 researchers, postdoctoral fellows, trainees, teachers, and students every year.
3. Current economic conditions have hit the states particularly hard. Many are experiencing severe budget constraints and growing job losses. In many regions, universities and colleges are the main employer, and the source of economic growth in local and regional economies. Any additional funding targeted to NSF has an immediate and direct effect on high-quality jobs and economic growth across America.
4. A report, for example, from the Council for Chemical Research concludes that a federal investment of $1 billion in R&D funding in the chemical sciences can be leveraged into $40 billion in GNP and 600,000 jobs. NSF is the principal agency that supports research across all disciplines of science and engineering, including the chemical sciences.
Finally, as you may have heard Matthew announce today on Science Friday, after a year of delay, we finally received 501(c)(3) status today. Contributions made on or after January 7, 2008 are tax deductible.
Thanks! If you like our work and want us to continue, please Contribute Now.
The team at ScienceDebate2008.com
Also, if you’ve ever wanted to find good science blogs, they have a great list here.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:10 am February 7th, 2009 in Economy, Politics, Science, Whitehouse09 | Please comment
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Feb
6
‘Roots News: BuckeyeRINO on Kasich, Husted, Mandel & Latta in Tiffin
Filed Under Blogging, Campaigning, Elections, Government, OH17, Ohio, Politics, treasurer | 6 Comments
Nothing gets me going like primary source blogging and Daniel Jack Williamson offers some today:
Former Columbus-area Congressman John Kasich gave the keynote speech at the Seneca and Sandusky Counties’ Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner last night (Feb. 5, 2009) in Tiffin. I was in attendance to hear what he and others had to say. You can check out this related article from the Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune, if you like. Others who spoke from the podium included Dayton-area State Senator and former Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted, Cleveland-area State Representative Josh Mandel, and local Congressman Bob Latta. Local State Senator Karen Gillmor and local State Representatives Jeff Wagner and Terry Boose were also in attendance, but did not speak.
Please visit Daniel’s post for the deets but here’s his scoop on my state rep’s remarks:
Mandel charmed the crowd with some self-deprecating humor about his youthful appearance, while reminding everyone of the dedicated women and men who serve in the armed forces. He held up a pair of shoes with the soles and heels worn out from canvassing neighborhoods during his state rep campaigns, and promised he wouldn’t be outworked by his opponents if he officially undertakes the statewide campaign to become Ohio Treasurer.
The shoes story is a well-worn one that remains emblematic of his ambitious style.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:25 pm February 6th, 2009 in Blogging, Campaigning, Elections, Government, OH17, Ohio, Politics, treasurer | 6 Comments
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Feb
6
For-profit charter operators call Strickland cuts “crippling”
Filed Under Business, Economy, Education, Government, Law, Ohio, Politics, Statehouse, Ted Strickland | 4 Comments
Ya don’t think it’s the millions you’ve been spending on lobbying legislators and hiding from everyone, including State Auditor Mary Taylor that’s crippling you, huh?
The Columbus Dispatch reports:
Charter schools are getting $617 million this year, a number that would drop to about $497 million next year under Strickland’s proposal, before rising to $534 million in 2011.
“A double-digit reduction in the funding of charter schools is crippling,” said Bill Sims, president and chief executive officer of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “It’s a separate but unequal strategy for starving charter schools and their students to a slow death.”
About 82,000 Ohio students attend the state’s 332 charter schools.
The average per-pupil receipt for all Ohio public school children will be decreasing. Likewise, as for-profits, they can see like the rest of us what’s happening in every other industry – for-profit and non.
So let me just make sure I understand: Before these kinds of cuts, the free market was justification for their profit-taking and making in education. But now:
“The funding disparity is grossly disproportional to charter schools that serve high proportions of disadvantaged students,” Sims said.
Hmm – the distinctions about the kids never mattered before – it was always about the business model and a product – the education for the human child.
Of course, this is precisely why I’ve argued repeatedly against for-profit charters – because a kid’s education is not a commodity like other commodities produced in the for-profit world and shouldn’t be treated as such. But the for-profits charters don’t all of a sudden get to press that.
Speaking of which, it will be interesting to see if my own state rep, Josh Mandel (R-Lyndhurst, 17th), pleads anyone’s case in the statehouse as it relates to education. In particular, will he plead the case of the numerous public schools in the district which will be flatlined and then have their funds decreased by 2% in 2011 (mine being just one) or that of the for-profit charters? From his campaign website:
Josh Mandel is committed to protecting our local schools from unfair schemes that send our property taxes to other parts of the state. Josh recognizes that strong schools are critical to revitalizing our area and giving our children a bright future. As our State Representative, Josh is working to protect our hard-earned dollars and improve the way schools are funded.
Why might this be a conundrum for him? Because he has taken $50,000 from David Brennan, the operator of the for-profit charter school management company, White Hat Management, over the last four years.
FYI – here’s a list compiled of the different ways in which charters are funded across the states that have them.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:27 am February 6th, 2009 in Business, Economy, Education, Government, Law, Ohio, Politics, Statehouse, Ted Strickland | 4 Comments
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Feb
6
U.S. Senate global women’s issues subcommittee members
Filed Under Congress, Gender, Government, leadership, Media, Politics, senate, Sexism, Women | Leave a Comment
There continues to be a blackout on information about the new charge given to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy and Global Women’s Issues (that last phrase is the charge added this session), but PunditMom has a good post about it at BlogHer and I’ve found a list in the Daily Digest for February 5, 2009 under “Commitee Meetings,” then “Business Meetings” of the committee’s members. Interestingly, even though Wikipedia is usually all over changes, neither it nor Congresspedia has noted the change in their listings of subcommittee’s name or subcommitee member list.
Members of the Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women’s Issues:
Ted Kaufman (D-DE) (he is the placeholder, presumably, for US VP Joe Biden’s son who is currently overseas serving in the military)
Republican Leader designee.
Now, recall:
In the U.S. Senate, there are a total of 17 women – 13 Democrats and four Republicans. But the Dems control the Senate and the committee assignments. Of the eight available seats for the Republicans as the minority party, not one currently is held by any of the four women GOP senators (Olympia Snow and Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas). Given the subcommittee’s additional focus, if I were a woman in the GOP (although I know, hard to imagine), I’d be voicing off about making sure that one of those women is appointed.
But even in general – how can there not be even one GOP woman on the Senate’s standing committee on Foreign Relations? That just totally confounds me.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:38 am February 6th, 2009 in Congress, Gender, Government, leadership, Media, Politics, senate, Sexism, Women | Please comment
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Feb
5
In honor of not needing a root canal
Filed Under Sarah Palin | 7 Comments
My favorite quotes from the Esquire interview with Sarah Palin:
1. “You have to let it go. Even hard news sources, credible news sources — the comment about, you can see Russia from Alaska. You can! You can see Russia from Alaska. Something like that — a factual statement that was taken out of context and mocked — what you have to do is let that go.”
2. “If I were giving advice to myself back on the day my candidacy was announced, I’d say, Tell the campaign that you’ll be callin’ some of the shots. Don’t just assume that they know you well enough to make all your decisions for ya. Let them know that you’re the CEO of a state, you’re forty-four years old, you’ve got a lot of great life experience that can be put to good use as a candidate.”
3. “This is what I’ve been telling Bristol, before she gets married, is, Bristol, there are definitely gonna be tough parts in marriage. You have to look at those tough times and remember that you have essentially a business contract with this person. You’ve signed an agreement: You’re going to be together. And you look at it that way as you work through the tough times, because I guarantee the better time is there on the other side. That’s how we’ve looked at it.”
4. “Two meanings in Bristol’s name: I worked at the Bristol Inn, and Todd grew up in Bristol Bay. But also, Bristol, Connecticut, is the home of ESPN. And when I was in high school, my desire was to be a sportscaster. ESPN was just kicking off, just getting off the ground, and I thought that’s what I was going to do in life, is be one of the first woman sportscasters. Until I learned that you’d have to move to Bristol, Connecticut. It was far away. So instead, I had a daughter and named her Bristol.”
5. “Hot? If only people could see me as I come in from a run early in the morning without a trough full of makeup on, I think that they’d have a different opinion.”
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:04 pm February 5th, 2009 in Sarah Palin | 7 Comments
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Feb
5
SCOTUS Justice Ginsberg undergoes pancreatic cancer surgery, lists of names being compiled
Filed Under Courts, Illness, Law, Politics, Whitehouse09, Women | 1 Comment
So far, NPR has the most detailed coverage here. An excerpt:
She was treated for colon cancer 10 years ago.
Ginsburg’s pancreatic cancer was discovered early, in the course of a routine annual screening, but medical literature says even in this circumstance, a patient’s five-year survival chances range from 10 to 30 percent.
…
The five-year survival rate is 5 percent, with most patients living less than a year. Doctors say this poor survival rate is due in significant part to the fact that cancers of the pancreas are discovered late, when the cancer is very advanced.
Because Ginsburg previously underwent radiation treatment after her colon surgery, she likely will not be able to have radiation treatment a second time. Chemotherapy has not proved to be curative for pancreatic cancer.
The article states that Ginsberg has told others that she will be there on opening day of the court, but
White House sources say that the president’s top legal aides have already begun compiling lists of potential replacements in the event that any of the justices retire this year. And even before the news broke about Ginsburg, speculation focused heavily on potential female candidates. Now, it’s likely the list will be all female.
Sending good thoughts.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:49 pm February 5th, 2009 in Courts, Illness, Law, Politics, Whitehouse09, Women | 1 Comment
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Feb
5
If US Senate can discover women w/new subcomm, why can’t ORP, ODP?
Filed Under Blogging, Civil Rights, Congress, Hillary Clinton, Politics, Social Issues, Women | 2 Comments
I had to work that in re: Jennifer Brunner and Mary Taylor for Ohio’s soon to be open U.S. Senate race in 2010.
Here’s the actual news, in a blog post by Nicholas Kristof at the NYT, no less:
The U.S. Senate is taking a welcome step: empowering a subcommittee specifically charged with global women’s issues. It’s the first time a subcommittee has had that mandate, and it will be led by Barbara Boxer of California, who will surely use her voice and spotlight to do some good on these issues.
…
Issues like trafficking and maternal mortality and sexual violence finally seem to be getting some traction. Eve Ensler has helped put a relentless spotlight on mass rape in the Congo, aid groups like CARE, Women for Women International and Vital Voices have been doing an outstanding job emphasizing the role that women can play in economic development, the “Elders” group is talking about taking on some of these issues, and there’s discussion of a major international initiative against obstetric fistula. My own hope is that Michelle Obama grabs that issue. The new Senate subcommittee reflects all this progress and presumably under Senator Boxer will accelerate it.
And from Boxer’s announcement, included in Kristof’s post:
During Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearing, Boxer referred to a series of stories by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof that detailed violent attacks against women in Afghanistan and Asia. Boxer raised the need for a new commitment by the United States to ending violence and discrimination against women around the world, telling Clinton, “No woman or girl should ever have to live in fear or face persecution for being born female.”
Clinton pledged that, “as Secretary of State, I view these issues as central to our foreign policy. Not as adjunct or auxiliary, or in any way lesser than all of the other issues we have to confront… And it will be my hope to persuade more governments… that we cannot have a free, prosperous, peaceful, progressive world if women aretreated in such a discriminatory and violent way.”
…
Boxer continued, “This new subcommittee assignment offers a tremendous opportunity to shine the light of day on a very overlooked issue. Too often, we turn our eyes away as women are persecuted, abused and treated as second-class citizens. But even the most conservative historians have noted that when women are given the freedom to live up to their full potential, society as a whole flourishes. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Congress and with Secretary Clinton to stamp out violence against women in the world.”
The name of the subcommittee is the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women’s Issues.
So – what do you want them to do? Do first? Not do at all? While it’s shocking that it’s never been created before, it’s even more depressing that we need one at all. I would say this is another example of how having women in leadership positions makes a positdifference.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:58 pm February 5th, 2009 in Blogging, Civil Rights, Congress, Hillary Clinton, Politics, Social Issues, Women | 2 Comments
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Feb
5
“Womb is a tomb”: Just how many kids, how much sex is okay?
Filed Under Abortion, Civil Rights, Ethics, Government, Media, Politics, Sexism, Social Issues, Women | 4 Comments
I don’t know much about Bill Cunningham, but any human who would say that a woman’s womb is a tomb is not going to be someone I’m going to like.
And no, former congressman and Republican Dick my first name says it all Armey still hasn’t apologized to Joan Walsh.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:19 am February 5th, 2009 in Abortion, Civil Rights, Ethics, Government, Media, Politics, Sexism, Social Issues, Women | 4 Comments
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Feb
5
Carnival of Ohio Politics #153: The Light at the End of the Tunnel now posted
Filed Under Blogging, Carnivals, Ohio, Politics, Writing | Leave a Comment
We’re getting creative here, and when you read this week’s edition of the Carnival of Ohio Politics #153, you’ll recognize just how hard at work Lisa Renee of Glass City Jungle was editing the round-up. Many thanks.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:08 am February 5th, 2009 in Blogging, Carnivals, Ohio, Politics, Writing | Please comment
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Feb
4
[poll] OH US Senate race: The win, the women & the apportionment board
Filed Under Congress, Democrats, Elections, Government, Jennifer Brunner, lee fisher, Mary Taylor, Media, Ohio, Politics, Primary, Republicans, Sherrod Brown, Statehouse, Ted Strickland, Tim Ryan, Women | Leave a Comment
Other than my extreme distaste for Mark Naymik’s use of the word “delicious” in this Plain Dealer column about Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and the Democratic options for filling retiring U.S. Senator and Republican George Voinovich’s seat, it does a decent job outlining the reality that, when you say yes to one thing, you are pretty much saying no to something else – implicitly. That’s a tactic Strickland often uses: to say “yes” and “no” in such a way that you don’t really think about how that’s actually happened – his position on casinos and gambling is probably the best example of this.
In this instance, Strickland gives a “yes” to Fisher’s candidacy, as noted in the Dayton Daily News last night:
Gov. Ted Strickland said Tuesday afternoon that Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher is the “best qualified” Democrat among those considering a run for U.S. Senate in 2010.
Although Strickland says he’s been upfront about this with Brunner, this statement is still a “no” to Brunner, no matter how you slice it. It should be noted, however, that it’s also a “no” from Strickland to everyone else in the Dem field, until and unless Fisher chooses not to run.
The strength of Naymik’s column is in its fleshing out of at least two deeper battles: first, the one that has to do with whose word is stronger, whose name, whose endorsement? Strickland for Fisher, or, if Brunner were to procure an endorsement from current junior Ohio U.S. Senator and fellow Democrat Sherrod Brown, would it hold more sway statewide?
This is where Naymik uses “delicious” regarding how he feels when contemplating this duel for the voters’ confidence vis a vis the power of an endorsement:
Brunner won’t publicly discuss her thinking just yet and didn’t respond to a call Monday. She is seeking the support of her close friend and political mentor, Sen. Sherrod Brown. Their relationship makes the whole scenario more delicious because Brown is also a close friend of Strickland’s. Strickland said he had talked only briefly to Brown about the upcoming Senate opening.
I do not have an answer as to whose endorsement would do more, for either candidate. I think it’s a real toss up. Much depends on who, if either, are able to do better for their constituents: Brown in Congress or Strickland in running the state. Read more
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:10 pm February 4th, 2009 in Congress, Democrats, Elections, Government, Jennifer Brunner, lee fisher, Mary Taylor, Media, Ohio, Politics, Primary, Republicans, Sherrod Brown, Statehouse, Ted Strickland, Tim Ryan, Women | Please comment
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Feb
4
Update: Vatican demands Society of St. Pius X bishop to recant Holocaust denial
Filed Under Judaism, Religion | 4 Comments
This post updates this prior post I wrote about four bishops whom the Vatican was reinstating, one of whom is a Holocaust denier.
The Vatican demanded Wednesday that a bishop who denied the Holocaust recant his positions before being fully admitted into the Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican also said in a statement that Pope Benedict XVI didn’t know about Bishop Richard Williamson’s views when he agreed to lift his excommunication and that of three other ultraconservative bishops on January 21.
The statement was issued by the Vatican’s Secretariat of State a day after German Chacellor Angela Merkel urged the pope to make a clearer rejection of Holocaust denials, saying there hadn’t been adequate clarification from the Vatican.
As I noted in my first post about the reinstatement, this sect may be most familiar to secular folks as connected to Traditionalist Catholicism, with which actor and director Mel Gibson is affiliated.
Based on other information in the JPost article, I don’t really understand how the reinstatement can really be honored since the basis of the group’s existence is the opposition to Vatican II. Here’s part of the demands:
“Bishop Williamson, in order to be admitted to episcopal functions within the church, will have to take his distance, in an absolutely unequivocal and public fashion, from his position on the Shoah, which the Holy Father was not aware of when the excommunication was lifted,” the statement said.
In addition, the Vatican said that the society as a whole must fully recognize the teachings of Vatican II and the teachings of all the popes who came during and after it in order to have a legitimate canonical function in the church.
Discuss.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:00 am February 4th, 2009 in Judaism, Religion | 4 Comments
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Feb
3
Mandel’s committee assignments for 128th General Assembly
Filed Under Announcements, Energy, Government, OH17, Ohio, Politics, Utilities | 1 Comment
You can review the announcement document here.
Assuming that document is accurate (could be a big assumption but I don’t think BSB would post it otherwise), my state rep, Josh Mandel (R-Lyndhurst, 17th district) has been assigned to the following:
Financial Institutions, Real Estate and Securities – Ranking Minority Member
Alternative Energy – Member
Public Utilities – Member (he was Vice Chair during the 127th General Assembly when not overseas for military service)
Veterans Affairs – Member
Major hattip to Buckeye State Blog for posting.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:26 pm February 3rd, 2009 in Announcements, Energy, Government, OH17, Ohio, Politics, Utilities | 1 Comment
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Feb
3
My Fem2pt0 session on working women, as seen by a graphic recorder
Filed Under activism, Culture, employment, Women | Leave a Comment
Graphic recording of my Fem2pt0 session (a panel discussion on feminism and working women), courtesy of Diane Cline. Read more here about her work – it is amazing. The slogan is, “Murals Make Meetings Memorable.”
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:01 pm February 3rd, 2009 in activism, Culture, employment, Women | Please comment
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Feb
3
[update] Feminism in the Blogosphere & The Top 30 Feminist Blogs
Filed Under activism, BlogHer, Gender, leadership, Media, Politics, social media, Tech, Women, Writing | 3 Comments
What do you think this image means?
Yesterday, at Fem2pt0, I got to listen to Stanislaus Magniant from Linkfluence describe precisely what that image, and numerous network maps that can be derived from the information that created that image, means – by itself, in relation to the progressive blogosphere, the conservative blogosphere, the entire political blogosphere and conversation around specific issues like the family planning component that was dropped from the house stimulus bill.
The text of Magniant comments are not yet available online or in written format and if they become available, I will update this post. But in the meantime, here are some pieces of information he offered about what he found after being asked to do this work by the organizers of Fem2pt0, courtesy of Twitter tweets by attendees (they are in reverse chrono order of how the presentation was given):
sairy: Stan says even though @huffingtonpost is run by a woman, there’s not enough content by women, so we need more women there.
Jillfoster: Linkfluence underscores the larger your network, the larger your influence on web 2.0
jenmyronuk: Looking at data representation of issues on the political map — volume of discussions between liberal + conservative.
NPerpetuite: Stan Magniant from linkfluence “has mapped” the feminist blogosphere. http://twitpic.com/1asi6 [great photo of Magniant and the large projected network map]
sairy: Reproductive rights in terms of discussion on the feminist blogosphere – much larger of an issue – but often conservatives are louder
csamuels: Feminist blogers still tier 2 or 3 though tight community
nerdette: But the analysis in the visualization we’re looking at shows the feminist blogs are not closely linked to the Conservative blogs
nerdette: Linkage analysis – women/fem blogs are not ghettoized in the blogosphere – Prog blogs link to us, we link back
nerdette: Linkfluence: Feminist blogosphere is closest to the Progressive b’sphere (shocker!
sairy: “feminist web… very close to the progressive community” when data mashed up with political blogosphere
csamuels: Stanislaus Magniant maps the social web of Feminism/Fem 2.0. “A dense and connected, vibrant and reactive community.”
Stan offered up more specific information today regarding how a site fell into their radar for this particular project, including this:
As briefly mentioned during the introduction, it is not easy to pinpoint a “feminist site”. There’s no technical criteria that says “this is a feminist site” (and even in real life, the exact definition of “feminist” is not always clear-cut). We basically used a triple filter:
1-using the good list of sites, blogs and organizations linking to and associated with the fem2pt0 conference, we used a “crawler” program to identify sites in the immediate vicinity ie. in direct connections with this core set of sites.
2- second filter was based on semantic criteria to detect “telltale” expressions in sites’ content (several dozens) related to a number of top-level feminist issues (such as economic equality, reproductive rights, women in politics, home/life balance, etc.)
3- last but not least, specialized web analysts validated/corrected the data prior to inclusion in final data set.
You can also find more information about our methodology and approach at http://linkfluence.net/?p=company#title2
You can see a list of the top 30 feminist blogs, according to this research, after the jump. If you aren’t sure what the sites are, just ask in the comments and I’ll give you more info based on my experience with pretty much all if not most of these blogs and bloggers.
More about the conference itself tomorrow, but for those who can’t wait, you can read this excellent liveblog of the opening plenary with Eleanor Smeal, Kim Gandy and other luminaries in womens’ rights activism for more than five decades.
UPDATE: TechPresident and others are writing about this mapping of the feminist web. I’ll continue to update this post with references/interpretations of the Linkfluence info as I find them.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:50 pm February 3rd, 2009 in activism, BlogHer, Gender, leadership, Media, Politics, social media, Tech, Women, Writing | 3 Comments
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Feb
3
[photos] Scenes from Fem2pt0 including network map of feminism in the ‘sphere
Filed Under activism, Blogging, BlogHer, Culture, democracy, Government, leadership, Media, Sexism, Social Issues, social media, Tech, Women | 2 Comments
I’m in Washington, D.C., returning tomorrow, after attending and speaking at Fem2pt0. You can read the tweeting of the conference by going to Tweetchat.com and entering the room “fem2″. The site for the conference also carries other info about what went on.
Let me just say that when I met people like Eleanor Smeal, Kim Gandy and Heather Booth, among several others, the first thing I said was, “Thank you!” What else do you say to these women who have tirelessly fought for women’s rights and equality for nearly five decades?
Linkfluence presented an incredibly cool network mapping of feminists and feminism in the blogosphere, as part of the progressive blogosphere, the entire blogosphere and in connection to issue conversation. FYI Valdis Krebs: Stanislaus Magniant from France is a big admirer of yours (but he was pretty great, too I must say – you two should…connect).
I’m too exhausted to link to all the great people I met today but wrote down most of them or write about the sessions and chatter, but will do all that tomorrow and give link love – especially to my incredibly gracious host and friend, Cynthia Samuels. In the meantime, here are some photos:
From the morning plenary, from left to right: Eleanor Smeal, Kim Gandy, Veronica Arreola, Elisa Camahort Page, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner:
The screen behind them is a projection of the live tweetchat going on while the audience was watching/listening.
This is a closer look as Veronica spoke:
And this photo is of the incredibly motivational Heather Booth, who was on my panel, along with Laura Clawson and Neneki Lee – Suzanne Turner moderated:
Finally, posts about the event are starting to pop up – I’ll try to link to them tomorrow. Here’s one by BlogHer’s Suzanne Reisman.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:23 am February 3rd, 2009 in activism, Blogging, BlogHer, Culture, democracy, Government, leadership, Media, Sexism, Social Issues, social media, Tech, Women | 2 Comments
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Feb
2
Qaddafi to lead the African Union – hell froze while I was out
Filed Under Foreign Affairs, leadership | Leave a Comment
Okay – some days? I’m really glad I missed the news cycle.
And this selection is supposed to help Zimbabwe, Sudan, Somalia et al…how exactly?
Oh well – there’s change for ya.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:12 pm February 2nd, 2009 in Foreign Affairs, leadership | Please comment
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