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Mar
4
State lawmaker seeks legalization of bloody sport while seeking a ban on Barbie dolls
Filed Under Culture, Gender, Law, Marketing, Media, Mental health, Ohio, Politics, Sexism, Social Issues, Sports, Statehouse, Women, Youth | 8 Comments
The Assistant Majority Whip for the West Virginia House of Delegates, Jeff Eldridge (D-Lincoln), is simultaneously seeking to legalize “the emerging full-contact – and often bloody – sport of mixed martial arts” while also pushing to make it “unlawful to sell Barbie and similar dolls ‘that promote or influence girls to place an undue importance on physical beauty to the detriment of their intellectual and emotional development.’”
The background:
From an article in The Charleston Daily Mail, which also describes in great detail Eldridge’s upbringing and history with fighting:
[Eldridge's] knack for and interest in competitive fighting has led Eldridge to introduce legislation that would allow mixed marital arts events in West Virginia.
In recent years, boxing has dropped in popularity, but the emerging full-contact – and often bloody – sport of mixed martial arts is gaining more fans.
…
Mixed martial arts is a one-on-one combat sport that allows various fighting techniques, from striking to grappling.
Kicking, punching, wrestling, kneeing, elbowing, slamming, twisting – it’s all allowed. Winners are determined by knockout, submission or referee’s decision.
…
The sport has come a long way since the 1990s, when U.S. Sen. John McCain dubbed it, “human cockfighting.”
“To my knowledge, no one has died in the UFC,” Eldridge said “There’s a referee and doctors on the scene. It’s professional.
“It’s aggressive, but I’ve seen bad fights in a game of marbles, too.”
Okay – take a deep breadth. Because, although Eldridge has seen bad fights in a game of marbles too, and still wants to legalize mixed martial arts? He’s got his rationale for banning Barbie all worked out:
House Bill 2918 [a bill "relating to banning the sale of "Barbie" dolls and other dolls that influence girls to be beautiful], introduced Tuesday, would make it unlawful to sell Barbie and similar dolls “that promote or influence girls to place an undue importance on physical beauty to the detriment of their intellectual and emotional development.”
“That’s the image out there that’s the most impressionable on our younger children, especially our little girls — ‘I want to be like Barbie,’” said the bill’s sponsor, Delegate Jeff Eldridge, D-Lincoln. “If we had that other image of Barbie being smart, and beautiful as well, I think that would be a great image to send to our young kids. ”
…
If the bill makes any headway in the Legislature, West Virginia’s government would not be the first to try to block Barbie from store shelves. Iran has tried to ban Barbie dolls in the past, in large part because of how they are dressed.
…
He is concerned about what could hurt girls’ self-images and said not all the blame should go to Barbie. There also is the image that parents and other family members or adults pass on to young girls that “You’re beautiful” or “You’re a princess,” instead of integrating images of both beauty and intelligence, he said.
The article says Mattel has yet to comment.
Did I mention that one of the committees to which he’s assigned is a Committee on Children, Juveniles and Other Issues?
Did I mention that the W.Va. House of Delegates has 100 members, 20 of whom are women?
Did I mention that Barbie’s official birthday, her 50th this year, is March 9? (Listen here to a great Diane Rehm show from Monday in which the panel debates the merits and demerits of Barbie.)
Did I mention that Barbie dolls and mixed martial arts are legal in Ohio? Read more
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:53 pm March 4th, 2009 in Culture, Gender, Law, Marketing, Media, Mental health, Ohio, Politics, Sexism, Social Issues, Sports, Statehouse, Women, Youth | 8 Comments
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Mar
4
Live-blog Event: The Value, or lack of, in Blogging and Social Media?
Filed Under Announcements, Blogging, Business, democracy, live-blog, Media, social media, Writing | Comments Off
Many thanks to Tami Winfrey Harris of What Tami Said for already posting about tomorrow night’s live-blog event, The Value, or lack of, in Blogging and Social Media? I’ll be posting the live-blog frame post tomorrow but here’s what you need to know if you’d like to join in:
Now that a number of prominent newspapers like the Philadelphia Inquirer and Rocky Mountain News have either declared bankruptcy or announced that they are shutting down, there has been a backlash in main stream media against the blogosphere, micro-blogging sites like Twitter and, other forms of social media.
A few interesting articles/posts that appeared over the weekend included:
Chicagoland’s “Come Back to Tell You All …”
and the New York Times’ What Are You Doing? Media Twitterers Can’t Stop Typing in which Meet the Press’ David Gregory referred to Twitter as a “marketing tool.”
The Twitter bashing became particularly intense last Friday when MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer and Carlos Watson spent most of their afternoon segment making jokes about “tweeting” and Bill Maher devoted his closing monologue to blaming Twitter and the blogosphere for the demise of “real journalism.”
After conducting a quick poll of a few fellow bloggers and Twitter contacts, Pam at Pam’s Coffee Conversation detected a healthy interest in holding a live blog discussion on the journalistic merits of blogging and social media.
The discussion is being sponsored by The Political Voices of Women Blog
Confirmed Panelists include:
Jill Miller Zimon of Writes Like She Talks (I’m co-producing the event)
Marcia G. Yerman of The Huffington Post
Joanne Bamberger of PunditMom
Tami Winfrey Harris of What Tami Said
Deb Della Plana of Turn Left on Hypocrisy.com
Cynthia Samuels of Cobblestone Associates and Don’t Gel Too Soon
Sarah Granger of SairyTopics will include:
- Is there Journalistic Value in Blogging and Social Media?
- Was it the Blogosphere or Media Consolidation that lead to the decline of print media?
- Which serves as a better upholder of “the Fourth Estate”, the blogosphere or the main stream media?
- Why is the main stream media attempting to demean the role of the blogosphere and social media?
Plan to add your voice to the discussion.
Also good to know:
We’ll be using CoverItLive live and the event will be broadcast live on here as well as at Pamela’s home on Hypocrisy.com, Coffee, Tea & Hypocrisy.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:23 pm March 4th, 2009 in Announcements, Blogging, Business, democracy, live-blog, Media, social media, Writing | Comments Off
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Mar
4
About.com has a great starter list of the Top 100 Women in History. It includes names an biographies of each individual included. They are from many different segments of life (arts, politics, medicine, civil rights etc.) but even at 100, it’s not possible to include everyone who we can think of.
However…it just so happens that I’m part of a few women-centered listservs with members who have a few ideas of their own. So I give you a supplemental list of favorite women in history (some may be on the About.com list but that list appears only in groups of 10 and I didn’t cross-check and verify them all) from future historically significant women I have the good fortune to know in the present:
Ella Grasso (my contribution)
The invisible women who fought for justice whose names we will never know because there was a man getting the credit
And by the way, the #1 woman on the About.com list – it’s actually a very cute selection – even if I’m not sure how much I agree with it.
UPDATE: Not My Gal makes a some observations about the About.com #1 Woman in History as well as about who didn’t make the list.
UPDATEx2:
Some other blogs have invited their readers to add more names too and the suggestions are great. They also demonstrate the kind of women the women I connect with and communicate with think of when asked this question. Yes, there can always be a story about the status-, fame-, fortune- and SEO-ready women. But women named by the women I know form a list of individuals who represent the qualities that we most admire and possibly aspire to.
Feministe: Who’s On Your List?
Jezebel: Listicles – Lady Lists
Hattip to Not My Gal
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:09 pm March 4th, 2009 in Politics, Women | 6 Comments
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Mar
4
Next on his knees: Boehner calls Limbaugh’s role in GOP “nothing more than a distraction”
Filed Under Politics | 6 Comments
They are going to be just lining up, aren’t they, like early voters in Cuyahoga County – the people who are saying that the emperor has no clothes (God forbid). From the Columbus Dispatch‘s The Daily Briefing:
At a news conference today, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, wanted to talk about President Barack Obama and his new budget. But when it came down to the first question from reporters, it wasn’t about taxes and spending. Instead, it was about conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.
“What’s your response to the White House now saying that Rush Limbaugh has become the basic voice of the Republican Party?’’ one reporter asked.
Boehner quickly replied that the White House “has created this big distraction so that nobody will pay attention to what they’re doing in their budget. We shouldn’t be distracted. This budget calls for higher taxes and more spending.’’
Not willing to give up, a reporter asked Boehner about Limbaugh’s role in the Republican Party. And unwilling to budge, Boehner said once again it was “nothing more than a distraction created by the administration to take people’s attention away from the fact that they’re trying to raise taxes and grow the size of the government.’’
He’s a distraction alright – I can agree with that. But I also agree with consevative Richard A. Vigurie on the need for the GOP to stop blaming anyone else and instead recognize that they and no one else created this problem:
Broadcasters and commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck and Michael Savage are seen as the de facto leaders of the Republican Party for a simple reason, Richard A. Viguerie said today: “It’s because no one else is acting like a Republican leader.”
“The ‘Rushification’ of the GOP is the natural and inevitable result of the fact that those who are supposed to provide leadership – Republican elected officials and party officers – are doing little to bring the party back,” said Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com.
“Nature abhors a vacuum, and there is no vacuum in nature as empty as the leadership of the Republican Party today.”
Someone please give Boehner a mirror.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:35 pm March 4th, 2009 in Politics | 6 Comments
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Mar
4
For Dad: Obama to change federal procurement system, McCain gives support
Filed Under Barack Obama, Business, Government | 1 Comment
My dad spent decades bidding on and fulfilling contracts for stuff (yes, stuff) put out to bid by the State of Connecticut. Three years ago, during a visit to Cleveland, he came with me to a Meet the Bloggers session – it was with John Corlett, formerly of the Center for Community Solutions and now the state director of Medicaid.
During the MTB session, my dad raised the problem of procurement systems at least once or twice to illustrate where he believes the real play to pay and overpayment schemes lurk. It’s his opinion – and has been for many, many years, that nothing will change if we don’t change procurement systems.
Lo and behold, the AP reports today on President Obama’s desire to do just that.
President Barack Obama approved an order Wednesday to overhaul the way the U.S. government awards contracts for work to be done by the private sector, reversing a Bush administration policy.
Obama joined Republican Sen. John McCain, his presidential campaign rival, and other congressional figures to announce an executive memorandum that commits his administration to a new set of marching orders for awarding contracts. Obama said “the days of giving government contractors a blank check are over” and said changes could save up to $40 billion a year.
…
Obama’s presidential memo…directs Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, to work with Cabinet and agency officials to draft new contracting rules by the end of September. Those new rules, White House aides say, will make it more difficult for contractors to bilk taxpayers and make some half-trillion dollars in federal contracts each year more accessible to independent contractors.
Obama said the package of reforms could save up to $40 billion each year.
I grew up in a household filled with the paperwork and voices of figuring out and negotiating cost and price of things like 250,000 plastic forks and 10,000 black-toothed combs for state prisons. And, oh, so much more. The stories, the stories I could tell.
Might have to start another blog, Dad. (Just kidding – promise) But my father would be as good a consultant as anyone. Now there’s an idea…Miller and Zimon – or would it be…Zimon and Miller?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:43 am March 4th, 2009 in Barack Obama, Business, Government | 1 Comment
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Mar
4
Looks like the state is right on mark to hit that state-wide 10% unemployment rate people have been predicting for the end of 2009.
On statewide unemployment information, from Columbus NBC4i:
Numbers released Friday by the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services showed the state unemployment rate rose to 8.8 percent in January, a 1.4 percent increase from last month’s revised unemployment rate of 7.4 percent.
The total number of unemployed Ohioans jumped to 524,000 in January, an increase of 79,000 people.
“You have to go all the way back to 1980 to see that type of increase from one month to another,“ ODJFS spokesperson Brian Hartner said.
From April 1980 to May 1980, unemployment rose 2.1 percent. Eventually, unemployment peaked in winter 1982 at 13.8 percent.
Ohio’s unemployment rate is now 1.2 percent above the national unemployment rate of 7.6 percent.
And in NW Ohio, from 13ABC in Toledo:
Here’s a look at unemployment rates for the area:
Lucas 13.3
Wood 11.6
Sandusky 13.2
Syneca 13.4
Wyandot 13.9
Erie 14.1
Hancock 9.9
Defiance 14.4The highest area rates included:
Williams 15.4
Fulton 15.3
Henry 15
Ottawa County 17
Though noting that the rate increased in every single one of Ohio’s 88 counties, the cities experienced sharp increases too. From Columbus Business First:
Unemployment rates in Ohio’s three largest cities last month:
• Columbus – 7.3 percent, up from 6.2 percent in December.
• Cincinnati – 8 percent, up from 6.5 percent in December.
• Cleveland – 9.4 percent, up from 8.9 percent in December.
According to Business First, “The department plans to release statewide unemployment data for February on March 20. Metro-area and county-level statistics will follow March 24.”
So, you know, while the GOP candidates for 2010 are careening around the state talking about abortion and the Iraq war, or the legislators in the nearly all-male GOP contingent of the state senate introduce resolutions to combat non-existent Congressional bills, maybe they should be thinking about the issues that are actually impacting Ohioans’ life every, single, hour of every single day.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:58 am March 4th, 2009 in Politics | 1 Comment
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Mar
4
One mouth, two sides: GOP genuflects to Limbaugh yet nicknames Obama “The Messiah”
Filed Under Barack Obama, conservatives, Politics, Republicans | 1 Comment
If that doesn’t express the internal and external conflicts with which conservatives and Republicans are struggling, I don’t know what does.
Just check out BlogNetNews.com Rightysphere results for “The Messiah”
versus
A Google search on “apologize Limbaugh.”
Complete, total, utter, abject absence of looking in the mirror. (I know – so many opportunities to make jokes about what they’d see re: Limbaugh’s image at CPAC.)
Note: I changed the title of the post because “hypocrisy” isn’t quite the right word, even if it feels as though that’s part of what’s going on.
Update: Joan Walsh (the person former congressman Dick Armey said on “Hardball” he’d never want to marry?) has a great column today at Salon, Delay: Limbaugh’s a GOP role model,” that intersects with this post. An excerpt:
It’s Tom DeLay, not President Obama, who is now designating Limbaugh as his party’s “role model.” It’s irresistible to respond: Really? Limbaugh’s the “role model” for the party of family values? A thrice-divorced, drug-abusing, Parkinson’s-mocking, cigar-sucking egomaniac, a poster boy for meanness, overindulgence and excess? Some folks in my letters lately have objected to my discussing some of Limbaugh’s personal traits, particularly his physical appearance at CPAC, where he I said he looked “sweaty and hopped-up.” Facts are facts: He was sweaty and hopped-up. And with Tom DeLay saying he’s a Republican role model, I think we have to take in Limbaugh — all of him –to fully appreciate his outsize impact on the shrinking Republican Party.
And again, one of the oldest writer’s and debater’s ploys in the book – put the shoe on the other foot and imagine how it might feel:
Imagine if the Democrats had an unelected leader of Limbaugh’s stature, who in the wake of 9/11 wished for President Bush to fail — and who got other Democrats to join him. (I say “him” because it’s simply impossible to imagine a female Limbaugh, of similar unlovely temperament and appearance — a big, pasty, sweaty, nasty Ruth Limbaugh, let’s call her, railing against Bush — getting any kind of national podium, let alone the kind Limbaugh has. Just try that thought experiment for a minute, and then try telling me sexism is history.) Imagine him ranting and raving and sweating and hopping up and down at, say, a MoveOn conference. Imagine that when a few Democrats had the temerity to suggest that this unelected leader might be wrong, might be hurting the party, might even be hurting the country, they had to rush to apologize to said leader within minutes or hours.
Then imagine those same Democrats trying to insist that said leader is a “role model” but not, actually, in fact, technically, their party leader. If Democrats had done anything like any of this in 2001 and 2002, the mainstream media wouldn’t be debating whether Republicans were actually to blame for exaggerating said leader’s importance — as MSNBC has done all day Tuesday — they’d be denouncing Democrats as the party of treason. To be honest, imagining a Democratic Limbaugh getting away with his brand of demagoguery and treachery is about as impossible as imagining a female Limbaugh.
I continue to recall how well Byron York of NRO’s The Corner used this convention to make people realize the incredibly different way they were treating Bristol Palin’s teen, unmarried pregnancy versus how they might if it was an Obama daughter who was involved.
I actually just keep thinking about our kids. Limbaugh? Obama?
Go ahead and not choose Obama, whatever. But it’s the fact that people say that they see Limbaugh as an option that freaks me out the most.
Hattip to this tweet from John Hummel.
Updatex2: I should have also included a link to Belief.net’s Crunchy Con conservative columnist Rod Dreher’s “White Kids on Dope” – an excerpt of his scathing fisking of Limbaugh’s CPAC ramblings:
Any attempt to grapple in a public way with the sins and failings of America, the errors that got us into this ditch, is to be seen as unpatriotic. We must ever keep before us the America Idol, and the power of positive thinking.
…
Anybody who challenges Limbavian orthodoxy is, ipso facto, the Enemy. If you suggest reform, even from the Right, you are a useful idiot for the Media, which are the Enemy, and can never be anything but the Enemy. Limbaughism sounds a lot like Leninism.
…
I should say that there’s something to like in the Limbaugh speech; I share a degree of his skepticism over the expanding role of the state in American life under Obama, and his confidence that the greater responsibility for our own condition lies in individual and private-sector initiative. But good grief, is this what constitutes popular conservatism in 2009? This ideologically-driven right-wing Rousseauism, with Leninist overtones about the Enemies of the People? If so, then count me as an Enemy, because I want nothing to do with it, as I recognize it as simply a crudely politicized form of philosophical liberalism.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:24 am March 4th, 2009 in Barack Obama, conservatives, Politics, Republicans | 1 Comment
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