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Nov
24
Official Election Results for Pepper Pike City Council race
Filed Under Elections, Government, Ohio, Pepper Pike, Politics, Voting, democracy | 3 Comments
From the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections:
Pepper Pike Council CITY OF PEPPER PIKE
Vote For Not More Than 4
(WITH 5 OF 5 PRECINCTS COUNTED)
JORDAN LEVENTHAL . . . . . . . . 637 8.61
PAULETTE MORGANSTERN. . . . . . . 1,463 19.77
SCOTT NEWELL . . . . . . . . . 1,506 20.35
DAVID J. PORTMANN. . . . . . . . 1,043 14.09
FREDERICK I. TAFT. . . . . . . . 1,373 18.55
JILL MILLER ZIMON. . . . . . . . 1,379 18.63
Over Votes . . . . . . . . . 4
Under Votes . . . . . . . . . 3,123
The counting of provisional and absentee votes moved me from a fourth place finish (with just two votes between third and fourth), to a third place finish (with six votes between third and fourth).
Breaking it down, under Pepper Pike, you can see that I had the most votes on Election Day.
Finally, voter turnout in the city was well over 50%.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:20 pm November 24th, 2009 in Elections, Government, Ohio, Pepper Pike, Politics, Voting, democracy | 3 Comments
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Nov
24
American female rabbi – and colonel – serves in Iraq, Afghanistan
Filed Under Gender, Jewish, Judaism, Military, leadership, war | 1 Comment
From “Sisters in Battle: Maccabees of A Different Nature“:
Rabbi Bonnie Koppell is the first female rabbi commissioned to the U.S. Army, which she has served since she began at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1978. In 2005 she was promoted to the rank of colonel, again the first female rabbi to achieve that rank. Most recently, Rabbi Koppel was appointed Command Chaplain of the 63rd Regional Support Command.
In her three decades of service to the army Koppel has received many awards, including two Meritorious Service and two Army Commendation medals. In addition to her other life as a pulpit rabbi and mother, Koppel has served two tours of duty in Iraq and two more in Afghanistan. On the subject of the role of chaplains in war, Koppel wrote:
Chaplains are noncombatants – we do not carry weapons, we are not trained to fight. We are there to minister to the religious needs of the troops and, as such, we are an essential part of the military force. No one likes war, no one wants war. No one prays for peace with more fervor than the soldier who stands ready to lay down his or her life for our country.
Yet, I am not a pacifist; I believe that there are times when war is justified. War is always a horrible tragedy, but it is not necessarily immoral. I am proud to consider among my many identities as wife, as mother, as rabbi, as teacher, as friend, yet another – as an American soldier. God forbid the need should arise, our Jewish soldiers deserve to have rabbis who are trained and ready to deploy alongside them, to be there to offer all the support they will need. I am proud to be among those who stand ready to go with them.
With the start of Chanuka just a couple of weeks away, the entire article is worth reading.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:37 am November 24th, 2009 in Gender, Jewish, Judaism, Military, leadership, war | 1 Comment
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Nov
23
Former NIH Director, Cleveland Clinic doc Bernadine Healy rejects new mammo guidelines
Filed Under Culture, Economy, Gender, Government, Health Care, Illness, Media, Politics, Science, Sexism, Social Issues, Tech, Transparency, Women, leadership | Leave a Comment
[CHRIS WALLACE]: What would you tell a woman patient with no particular history of breast cancer what she should do about getting mammograms?
DR. BERNADINE HEALY, FORMER HEAD OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: I think she should stick with the existing guidelines that come out of the medical professional organizations and have been in place for a long time, which is start your screening at age 40; if you are concerned about a risk, maybe a baseline of 35; and then — and then have it done every year in your 40s. You might go to every other year in your 50s.
And you and your doctor will decide for how much longer it should go.
WALLACE: So basically you’re saying ignore the [U.S. Preventative Services Task Force] recommendations this week.
HEALY: Oh, I’m saying very powerfully ignore them, because unequivocally — and they agreed with this — this will increase the number of women dying of breast cancer. Women in their 40s have a very aggressive kind of breast cancer. They tend to progress fast. And to not screen women in that age group is astounding to me, and it goes against the bulk of individuals who are actually caring for patients. You may save some money, Chris, but you’re not going to save lives.
Her opinion on the role/goal/composition of the Task Force:
This particular task force has been in existence for about 25 years and its focus is on public health, modeling of health policy and economics.
It does not have people who are experts in hands-on patient care, for the most part, and on oncology or even in breast cancer or cervical cancer. It gets information from those groups, but it ultimately comes up with models.
You know, Chris, there’s really been no new information here. It is a different way of looking at the same problem. Their perspective is if you can cut in half the money we’re spending on screening for breast cancer and lose only, you know, maybe 10 percent, 20 percent of the benefit, that’s a good tradeoff.
A doctor who is responsible ethically for their individual patient would not make that tradeoff.
…
This is not the voice that medicine has used that focuses on the individual patient rather than the good of society. And even if they included the other groups, like the obstetricians and gynecologists, and the oncologists, and the cancer society, that would be fine, but they didn’t.
The issue here is that we are listening to one voice. And unlike what the secretary said and Senator Stabenow just said, this is not just a recommendation. This is codified in law that this is the group that will be providing information.
The bolded sentences highlight precisely what I’ve been saying in discussions about this topic – and why I think the tradeoff supported by the guidelines are completely unacceptable.
I appreciate that overall, she did not allow Wallace to drag her into a politicized conversation about the topic.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:02 pm November 23rd, 2009 in Culture, Economy, Gender, Government, Health Care, Illness, Media, Politics, Science, Sexism, Social Issues, Tech, Transparency, Women, leadership | Please comment
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Nov
23
Candidate options for Cuyahoga County County Executive
Filed Under Campaigning, Cleveland+, Elections, Government, Media, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting, leadership | 3 Comments
The media has been fairly quiet since this now-two week old story on possibly county executive candidates. And yet the primary is about 10 months away. I started in April for a November run. So it would seem that anyone interested in running in a primary and then a general election would need to get it together and soon in order to have a real shot.
Of the ones mentioned, I’ll just make a couple of comments:
Matt Dolan (R) I’m still not over how you messed up the wine tax law and this whole carpetbagging thing is really not endearing.
Nina Turner (D) I find Turner very intriguing, if only because anytime someone is described as not being supported by or “running against” the establishment around here – that makes me perk up. I hope I get a chance to hear her in person, if not meet her personally.
Parma Mayor Martin Zanotti’s assertion that people who opposed Issue 6 – such as County Treasurer Jim Rokakis – should drop all thoughts of running should be ignored as petty (that link contains references to multiple other possible candidates).
Finally, let’s get something straight: no one’s made it easy for the voters to affect the implementation of Issue 6 and the new county government. I still want a public advisory body to be created for monitoring its implementation. So the focus as I see it right now is to get as much sunshine as possibly on who is supporting the different candidates and what ideas they have for what they want to do with this clean slate.
What do YOU want them to do with a purported clean slate, other than not dirty it up with the same old same old?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:38 am November 23rd, 2009 in Campaigning, Cleveland+, Elections, Government, Media, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting, leadership | 3 Comments
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Nov
22
Must-read: “What Does Cleveland’s House of Horrors Reveal About Us?”
Filed Under BlogHer, Blogging, Cleveland+, Crime, Culture, Gender, Government, Ohio, Politics, RIP, Social Issues, Women | Leave a Comment
An excerpt from the same-named post by BlogHer’s Kim Pearson about the Anthony Sowell murders and his 11 women of color victims:
There will surely be investigations of whether and how the police and the health departments responded to information that they might have been given earlier in this case. I hope that there will also be more discussion about how we deal with the serious problems that led these women down the path that ended in the house of horrors on Imperial Street. There are many more women like these 11, no doubt with families in crisis, in neighborhoods that can’t provide the services they and their families desperately need. This is our challenge, and it won’t go away just by turning off the news.
Please read the original post which includes numerous references to others’ reactions, including Frank Lewis (Cleveland Scene), Connie Schultz (The Plain Dealer) and Zach Reed (Cleveland City Council Member).
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:32 pm November 22nd, 2009 in BlogHer, Blogging, Cleveland+, Crime, Culture, Gender, Government, Ohio, Politics, RIP, Social Issues, Women | Please comment
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Nov
22
Walters should’ve followed up, Palin should have boned up re: Jews “flocking” idea
Filed Under Foreign Affairs, Israel, Jewish, Politics, Religion, Sarah Palin, WH2012, leadership | 4 Comments
Somehow I missed Sarah Palin’s proclamation, in an interview with Barbara Walters last week, that Jews are flocking to Israel, right now. Here’s the transcript for the relevant section:
Barbara Walters: Governor, let’s talk about some issues. The Middle East. The Obama administration does not want Israel to build any more settlements on what they consider “Palestinian territory.” What is your view on this?
Sarah Palin: I disagree with the Obama administration on that. I believe that, um, the Jewish, uh, settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And, um, I don’t think that the Obama administration has any right to tell, um, Israel that, that, uh, the Jewish settlements cannot expand.
Barbara Walters: Even if it’s Palestinian areas?
Sarah Palin:I believe that the Jewish settlement should be allowed to expand.
Why Walters didn’t do her journalistic best and follow up on Palin’s assertion (in bold above) about the flocking, if only to hear whether theories like this one are behind Palin’s ability to ignore the immigration statistics and trends in Israel, including the fact that immigration has hit all-time lows there, including a 3,000 person drop from 2007 to 2008, is beyond me.
In getting advice about serving on city council, I recently was advised that the response, “I don’t know,” is acceptable at times. Like, when, for example, you don’t actually know something. Palin’s response to Walters would have been completely adequate (regardless of whether one agrees with it or not), if she’d left out the section I’ve bolded.
It is this adding in of assertions that lack any basis in reality that sink Palin’s credibility as a person with the potential to lead a major super power. It’s one thing to swap Iraq for Iran and Iran for Iraq, like she did with Sean Hannity the other night (a forum topic on Hannity’s website on that very mix-up has been deleted). I recently wrote a column where I asserted something about abortion rights advocates when I meant abortion rights opponents (it’s since been corrected).
But in the case of Israel’s settlement policy, there was no need for Palin to fabricate, unless she’s truly pushing the theological notion of the Second Coming. I’m honestly not sure which upsets me more, as something being promoted by a person being taken this seriously by so many Americans – making stuff up to give a false sense that you know a few things, or believing, as supposedly 50-60 million Americans do, that Jews will indeed flock to Israel and be converted as part of the Second Coming of Jesus.
It’s also an indication that she hasn’t listened to Charles Krauthammer or anyone else who has said for more than a year that if she wants to be a contender (and maybe this is our answer – she doesn’t) for the U.S. presidency, she better bone up on some knowledge.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:42 pm November 22nd, 2009 in Foreign Affairs, Israel, Jewish, Politics, Religion, Sarah Palin, WH2012, leadership | 4 Comments
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Nov
20
Help send first female poli blogger to get elected on Air America Cruise
Filed Under Blogging, Gender, Humor, Jill Miller Zimon, Media, Pepper Pike, Politics, Women, leadership, social media | 7 Comments
I tweeted and posted an update to my Facebook account several hours ago about this, but I know a few WLST readers don’t do either Twitter or Facebook so let me put it here:
Today, I received an email from Air America that said I’ve garnered enough support in their win a cruise with Air America Contest to place me in the Top 5 most nominated contestants in the event. I have until Thursday, December 3rd to stay in the Top 5 before the second voting round begins.
The contest winner gets a free seven day cruise through the Mexican Riviera from March 6 – 13, 2010 with Gov. Howard Dean, Rachel Maddow, Robert Kennedy Jr, Ron Reagan, and other leading progressives. Given how often we read other pundits lament, “Where are all the lady political bloggers,” I’m thinking it’s high time we raise the profile of the only female political blogger to run for and get elected to office, in the country (or so Alan Rosenblatt and I have calculated so far.)
It only takes a minute to submit a nomination for me to help stay in the top 5 for the final vote.
What you need to do:
- Click Here to get to the page on Air America’s site.
- Scroll down, enter your name, your email address, my name “Jill Miller Zimon” and then cut and past in this website address for WLST: http://writeslikeshetalks.com
- Then press submit! That’s it!
I promise to send you a postcard – and bring you back some sand?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:24 pm November 20th, 2009 in Blogging, Gender, Humor, Jill Miller Zimon, Media, Pepper Pike, Politics, Women, leadership, social media | 7 Comments
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Nov
19
RIP Stephanie Spielman, wife of Chris (of OSU/NFL), mother of four, SBE diagnoser at 30 years old
Filed Under Culture, Ethics, Gender, Health Care, Illness, Mental health, Politics, Research, Science, Sexism, Social Issues, Women, leadership | 5 Comments
See – these are the stories that I dread, that other women who are unhappy with the new guideline recommendation about breast cancer screening dread. That, under the new recommendations, a 30 year old woman will either not perform self-breast examinations and therefore have something with which they can go to a doctor and ask for more screening, or that if they ignore the new guidelines (which argue against self-examination) and go ahead and do self exams, that when they then go to their doctors and ask for the screening, the doctor will require some ridiculous threshold before he or she will approve or recommend the screening. And that even then, the woman’s insurance won’t cover it since the guidelines say that it’s imperfect and not recommended for women under 50.
That passivity will be approved and routine. That women will not trust themselves to know their body, that they will not bother because the system does not want to bother – because the system is so concerned about the harm of anxiety and over-biopsying.
I’ve read the guidelines, the reports and the very carefully worded explanations written by women I trust and admire.
But I am trusting my instinct on this and I am telling you – disapproving of self breast-examination and suggesting that women will have to walk in with such a threshold of concern for what they’re feeling about their body absolutely makes me irate at the thought of what a set back this is for women – for humans, for patients – to be in control of their health.
And the utter disregard for the human toll these illnesses take on everyone around the one diagnosed with the breast cancer.
Anxiety sucks. I’ve been there done that for years with shadows on films and MRIs that required additional testing. And while I have a “family history” we don’t have the gene. My Gale score isn’t high enough to get me into most clinical trials.
From the New York Times:
While many women do not think a screening test can be harmful, medical experts say the risks are real. A test can trigger unnecessary further tests, like biopsies, that can create extreme anxiety. And mammograms can find cancers that grow so slowly that they never would be noticed in a woman’s lifetime, resulting in unnecessary treatment.
Over all, the report says, the modest benefit of mammograms — reducing the breast cancer death rate by 15 percent — must be weighed against the harms.
Screening in the 40-49 decade results in a 15% reduction in fatalities? I’ll take that over reducing the harm of anxiety and overbiopsying anyday.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:52 pm November 19th, 2009 in Culture, Ethics, Gender, Health Care, Illness, Mental health, Politics, Research, Science, Sexism, Social Issues, Women, leadership | 5 Comments
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Nov
18
What can we do to impact affect implementation of county reform via Issue 6
Filed Under Campaigning, Cleveland+, Elections, Government, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting, democracy, leadership, med mart | 7 Comments
There’s a lot of agreement that nothing will change in our county government if we don’t change the people. But if the people behind the people who are the people we as voters are going to get to choose from just pick the same people or same kind of people, or the money behind the people who are the people we as voters are going to get to choose from just pick (and give money to) the same people or same kind of people whom they always pick or give financial support to, then the lame-o blame-o that gets placed on The Voters for making bad choices will continue to be as much a red herring as it always is.
So what can The Voter do to change that?
From someone I believe knows what he’s talking about, voters need to demand ideas.
And I will add: We need to demand that the candidates, from the moment we suspect that they’re considering being a candidate for either one of the ward/district positions or the county executive, must give us his or her very specific, detailed and operationalized ideas of what our county can become and will become if we elect them. And we must not stop pressing them. Read more
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:49 pm November 18th, 2009 in Campaigning, Cleveland+, Elections, Government, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting, democracy, leadership, med mart | 7 Comments
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Nov
16
Quotes reflecting on rogues, celebrity and presidential substance
Filed Under Campaigning, Elections, Media, Politics, Sarah Palin, Writing | 1 Comment
In an NPR story this morning, David Gergen, professor of public service at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and director of its Center for Public Leadership, comments on Sarah Palin’s book tour and whether it has anything to do with her possible candidacy for the GOP nomination to the White House in 2012:
I don’t think this looks like a presidential campaign…[it has] more the sense of a campaign that is creating a large national personality who’s also going to make a lot of money.
Matthew Continetti, conservative journalist and associate editor at The Weekly Standard and author of, The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Elite Media Tried to Bring Down a Rising Star, had this to say regarding 2012:
She’s an impulsive politician. She reaches decisions very quickly, very suddenly. I think when the time comes, you know, if she’s faced with a choice, that’s when she’ll decide.
I give that quote from Continetti an “A” for honesty.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:54 am November 16th, 2009 in Campaigning, Elections, Media, Politics, Sarah Palin, Writing | 1 Comment
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Nov
15
“Talking is as casual as blogging…writing can be as casual as talking”
Filed Under Gender, Media, Politics, Women, Writing, activism | 1 Comment
From today’s New York Times Magazine Questions for Jessica Valenti (mazel tov, Jessica, btw!):
Why is your site called Feministing.com?
I wanted to verb the noun.Verb the noun? Why would you use such ungainly language, especially as a veteran writer whose third book, “The Purity Myth,” is about to come out in paperback?
I think talking is as casual as blogging, and sometimes writing can be as casual as talking. My informal writing style is a political choice, because I want feminism to be more accessible.
I think she means she sometimes…writes (and blogs) like she talks.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:06 pm November 15th, 2009 in Gender, Media, Politics, Women, Writing, activism | 1 Comment
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Nov
14
Akron mayor Plusquellic “orders data to be available always”
Filed Under Elections, Government, Ohio, Pepper Pike, Pepper Pike 2.0, Politics, Resources, Tech, Transparency, Voting, democracy | 2 Comments
I’m hoping Pho or Redhorse will gallop in and provide some inside Akron backstory on how this move by Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic came to be. From Ohio.com:
Plusquellic said Wednesday the city is launching a new financial information section labeled — Open Books Online — on its Web site.
Plusquellic said much of the financial data had been available on various sections of the city’s http://www.ci.akron.oh.usWeb site.
The new feature puts the information in one place and also allows computer users to access annual, quarterly and monthly data on what the city government spends and what it takes in.
…
Plusquellic said the new data will include daily posting of tax payments, historical tax information going back five years, local government funds provided by the state of Ohio and property tax reports provided by Summit County.
Now, if you go to that article and read some of the comments, you can see that the commenters – most of whom are anonymous – still don’t think this is adequate transparency, disclosure and accountability. I’m not prepared to make a judgement on their judgements, but I will say that few people take the time to understand what they’re looking at, and that’s part of what causes cities (and corporations and universities etc.) to clam up and roll their eyes at making information available – because it’s just data. To wit, journalists can train for years in an area called computer-assisted research, an area focused solely on understanding what they’re looking at when they get records and data and need to decipher what they’re seeing. It’s not reasonable to expect that we can all browse data and understand it – we’re going to have more questions.
Expectations of what you will and won’t find and what you can and cannot know from looking only at numbers must be absolutely clear and agreed upon. If the person looking at the numbers refuses to accept the limitations of what it means to just be looking at numbers, then the commenters will never be satisfied.
It goes back to trust and the representative form of government. If you don’t trust the very people you’ve elected, then no amount of transparency will make up for that.
Which is why getting out and voting is so critical to making the system work.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:38 am November 14th, 2009 in Elections, Government, Ohio, Pepper Pike, Pepper Pike 2.0, Politics, Resources, Tech, Transparency, Voting, democracy | 2 Comments
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Nov
10
Port Authority, Wasserman & the WLST Way-Back Machine
Filed Under Cleveland+, Government, Ohio, Politics | 8 Comments
Okay – so – I know I have decent brains, but I absolutely positively don’t think I’m that much smarter than a whole bunch of other people around here, or anywhere for that matter.
But does anyone, ANYONE think that the county government structure described in Issue 6 is going to necessarily do any better, at all? It’s all the same PEOPLE, people.
Ugh. Read these and weep, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.
From 8/21/07: City-County Port Authority funding: Now you see it, now you don’t
From 8/31/07: In Case You Didn’t Know
We have got to do better and start listening to those thinkers like Bill Callahan and Ed Morrison or else we are just pathetic.
My contribution? I’ve suggested that a public advisory board or commission be formed to be the watchdog of Issue 6’s implementation – with or without sanctioning by the Issue 6 architects (though if they want real credibility, I’d urge them to form this board and do so asap).
[For those curious about the inside baseball of this, Adam Wasserman quit/resigned/was fired - we have no idea - as head of the Port Authority after less than three years. He made $280K a year and got a huge payout for leaving. What he accomplished between now and when he started has yet to be itemized, at least that I've seen.]
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:26 pm November 10th, 2009 in Cleveland+, Government, Ohio, Politics | 8 Comments
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Nov
10
On anniversary of Kristallnacht, this is how some Americans feel about Jews
Filed Under Barack Obama, Campaigning, Civil Rights, Jewish, Judaism, Pepper Pike, Politics, Religion, Social Issues, anti-semitism, democracy, middle east | 9 Comments
From AmericaBlog (via The Nookular Option):
Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel criticized a Teabagger protester in Washington, DC this week who held up a sign showing dead bodies from the Dachau concentration camp stacked in a pile, and compared this to the Democrats’ health care reform plan. Here are a few of the Teabaggers’ responses to Weisel, posted on Politico:
Rothschilds nothing! Everyone knows that Obama is George Soros sock puppet. Wasn’t Soros Jewish once upon a time? May the Schwartz be with you.
The jews need to clam up and accept the fact that they are in a Chritian country.
This hollowcost thing is totally overblown by the jewish.
Eli Wiesel should just go back to Indonesia. I don’t see him condemnig the terrorist shooter at Fort Hood.
Elie is a whiner. She should stop her whining. You didn’t not complane when the libs were calling Bush Hitler.
You know what? The fact is that at a time in history, The Rosthchild family controlled practically everything.This is a fact. Not anti semitic. I resent the Jewish outrage at everything. I am a tea partier. obama is a Marxist and takes his orders from George Soros… it is similar and these people need to get a life., Why any Jew would support the Obama administation is a mystery anyway. He is a Muslim sympathizer and the greatest threat to Israel ever to sit in the White House. Wake up Jewish community. Take off the blinders.
Rothschild sign? Well its factually true. They were one of the primary families involved in founding the Federal Reserve and are still in it up to their necks. Obama, Bush, and every president since Wilson have done as the Fed told them. Since it a valid historical fact that this family was involved in creating and still has ownership of a substantial piece of the Federal Reserve (but nobody seems to know how much), I guess its now Anti- Semitic to discuss anything a Jew does critically? This guy is a Hebrew Al Sharpton.
Elie, how did that whole Madoff thing work out for you?
Elie Wiesel: Newest, most current tool of the sick, perverted, racist, anti-semetic Democrap party. Have you no shame Democraps?
“most American jews are not very religious and many are outright unbelievers, Jews in name only.” Many older Jews in America feel shame for BEING in America, rather than emigrating to Israel in the late 1940s. Many sent money to help the colonization, and a few sent Army-surplus rifles, but the majority came up with the most interesting excuses for not answering the call to gather together and forge their homeland.
Elie Weisel is disgusting PR-seeking profiteering demagogue who has made a fortune off playing on the world’s guilt trips about the what happened to the Jews during WW2. Most objective WW2 researchers agree now that the beastial Nazi’’s, who happened to be anti-capitalist Socialists, killed even more Slavs and Gypsies in their concentration camps than Jews, but you don’t see the Slavs and Gypsies trying to profit off the “Holocaust” like some of the shameless powerful Jews in the media.
I sometimes wonder what has happened to the Jewish people?. The Bible says that they are GODs’ people and Israel is their home land. I see so many Jews seem to have abandoned their faith and I think this has to sadden our Father in Heaven. I see many Jews that are homosexual-actively promoting it as a “normal” lifestyle. I see many Jews involved in the ACLU- which I call the “Anti Christian Liberal Union”, this bothers me as how can one be against their Father and Son in Heaven who are for Life??. I see many Jews in Hollywood making filthy ,sinful movies-what happened to the good, Family movies??. I see many Jews full of Greed in Hollywood, Wall Street,etc. I see many Jews involved in abortion groups- how can one support the killing of human fetuses??, especially people who have suffered through the Holocaust??. I am not anti-semitic, I know many will come on here and attack me. I am simply stating what I see and I believe our Father in Heaven is wondering what is happening to his “chosen” people?. He sent his only son to Earth to die for our sins and I think He is wondering the direction our Country is taking??. I am praying for our Country and all the Jews in our Country and pray that our Father will forgive us all for our sins. I hope I have stated what GOD would have wanted me to say?. GOD Bless and Pray for our Country.
Old man should go away.
During my time campaigning, I was told by a now-former Pepper Pike resident that there are too many Jews in the city and I will get no help.
Comments like that and the ones above make one’s choices very, very simple. To wit, this post is? It’s posted.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:44 am November 10th, 2009 in Barack Obama, Campaigning, Civil Rights, Jewish, Judaism, Pepper Pike, Politics, Religion, Social Issues, anti-semitism, democracy, middle east | 9 Comments
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Nov
8
On SCOTUS Cases and Juveniles in Jail for Life
Filed Under Civil Rights, Courts, Crime, Law, Social Issues, Youth | 2 Comments
My social work field placement was in the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court in 1989-1990. A large chunk of my work was conducting a part of the process performed that leads to the clinicians providing information to the jurists so that they can decide whether or not a minor is “amenable” to treatment or other juvenile court options if the minor is “found delinquint” or should be “bound over” to adult court.
I’ve used a lot of quotation marks because these are all terms of art.
I’m not familiar with the two cases to be heard tomorrow in the Supreme Court of the United States (aka SCOTUS), but here is an excellent post at the always excellent SCOTUSblog about the cases.
Like any risk management assessment, it’s almost impossible to be 100% certain that someone won’t ever do something “like that” or that they will absolutely continue to be that dangerous for the rest of their natural life. Just think about some of the most heinous events of the past 12 months – the Holocaust museum shooter, the Fort Hood event, the shooting of Army recruiters, the killing of George Tiller. From the clinical side, we have laws to protect the professionals who make the assessments about whether someone will or will not injure or do worse to others specifically because it is known that they cannot predict with 100% certainty and must be allowed to carry out their professional duties without constant fear of being sued when their assessments prove wrong. (Don’t worry – there is still plenty of room to sue – always, for better or worse.)
But juvenile recidivism is a topic I’ve researched since 1979, when I was in high school, literally (it was my first-ever independent study for a social sciences class). And the fact that 30 years later, this kind of case is coming before the Supreme Court just demonstrates how conflicted we remain and the evidence remains about what to do when juveniles commit crimes.
If anything, that fact alone indicates to me that we leave discretion intact for the jurists with the option to always review a case and so no cases where a sentence of life without parole is handed down to a minor, just as former Republican Senator Alan Simpson has said, he of the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration law that I worked on in the Reagan administration while working at the USDOJ. From Simpson’s WaPo op-ed:
When I was a teen, we rode aimlessly around town, shot things up, started fires and generally raised hell. It was only dumb luck that we never really hurt anyone. At 17, I was caught destroying federal property and was put on probation. For two years, my probation officer visited me and my friends at home, in the pool hall, at school and on the basketball court. He was a wonderful guy who listened and really cared. I did pretty well on probation. At 21, though, I got into a fight in a tough part of town and ended up in jail for hitting a police officer.
I spent only one night in jail, but that was enough. I remember thinking, “I don’t need too much more of this.”
I had a chance to turn my life around, and I took it. This term, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether other young people get that same chance.
…
When a young person is sent “up the river,” we need to remember that all rivers can change course.
I’d like to see studies about whether the possibility of the life without the possibility of parole sentence has worked as a deterrent. That’s usually the place I start when analyzing this kind of issue – does it actually do what it’s supposed to.
What do you think? Should the option to send a minor to prison without a possibility of parole be eliminated?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:45 am November 8th, 2009 in Civil Rights, Courts, Crime, Law, Social Issues, Youth | 2 Comments
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Nov
6
Election Day in Photos
Filed Under Elections, Jill Miller Zimon, Ohio, Politics, social media | 1 Comment
The Best Supporters Ever.
Moon over Garfield Memorial Church polling location in Pepper Pike – about 6:50am.
Sunrise over Garfield Memorial Church polling location in Pepper Pike. That’s Lander Road in front of me and the sunrise. It was about 7:20ish.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:57 am November 6th, 2009 in Elections, Jill Miller Zimon, Ohio, Politics, social media | 1 Comment
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Nov
4
BOE results for Pepper Pike City Council
Filed Under Jill Miller Zimon, Ohio, Pepper Pike, Politics | 20 Comments
As of 12:12am 11/4/09 (could still be some provisional ballots and absentees postmarked yesterday to count):
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:13 am November 4th, 2009 in Jill Miller Zimon, Ohio, Pepper Pike, Politics | 20 Comments
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Nov
2
Top Ten Things I Learned or Re-affirmed by Running for Pepper Pike City Council
Filed Under Jill Miller Zimon, Pepper Pike, Politics, Voting, Women | 1 Comment
10. Everyone who writes about politics should have to run for office at least once.
9. Pepper Pike residents are our best resource.
8. Your “big tent” is defined by the entire population in the community whose government you hope to serve.
7. Stick to your campaign plan. NO MATTER WHAT.
6. Yard signs don’t vote but people still get very excited when they see a lot of them around town.
5. Ask questions, get answers and THANK every “old hand” you know.
4. If you’re excited, other people will get excited.
3. I still love Pepper Pike – probably even more.
2. When given a quality choice, people want to vote and want to believe in voting and in our system.
1. I love my family.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:15 am November 2nd, 2009 in Jill Miller Zimon, Pepper Pike, Politics, Voting, Women | 1 Comment
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