Jill Miller Zimon's blog

Intersection of Technology & Politics: Personal Democracy Forum 2009 round-up

2009-07-01T23:12:57-05:00

What's at the intersection of politics and technology? More than a
thousand people at 60th and Broadway on June 29 and 30th, aka Personal Democracy Forum 2009.

I attended Day 2 of PdF and suggest that first, before anything else, you check out the new IT Dashboard
that lets you see how your taxpayer dollars are being spent by the
federal government in a way you've never seen before (the system is
said to have crashed just an hour after it was unveiled yesterday but
it's fine right now).

Then, browse the links and live-blogged sessions from yesterday (including Twitter streams during each session):

Innovation in Government, Obama-Style: Beth Noveck and Vivek Kundra, and Macon Phillips, introduced by Craig Newmark

Chairman Steele said, “Take the lid off”: The New GOP Web Presence: Todd Herman

Social Networks and Social Revolutions: Randi Zuckerberg

21st Century Statecraft: Fostering Citizen-Centered Diplomacy and Development: Alec Ross

The Machine is (Changing) Us: YouTube Culture and the Politics of Authenticity: Michael Wesch

The Dangerous Power of Sharing (Power): Mark Pesce

Accountability Journalism Online: Jay Rosen Interviews Dan Froomkin

How the Internet Ecosystem Can Improve Journalism: Frank Rich, Karen Tumulty, Dan Gillmor, Scott Simon, Andrew Rasiej (moderator)

State/Local Online Politicking: How Community Hubs Can Change the Scene: Blake Rutherford, Jason Barnett, Steven Clift, Cyrus Krohn (moderator)

PoliTech Demos: Andrew Hoppin of NYSenate.gov, David Moore of OpenCongress, Benjamin Stein of MobileCommons and Tristan Harris of Apture

Final Plenary: Can We.gov? How?: A Conversation With Rep. Steve Israel, Jack Dorsey, Ellen Miller, Andrew Rasiej and Joe Trippi

For a quick list of reviews:

Two from the Wall Street Journal:

Technology “Creating Remarkable Shift in Responsibility” in Washington

Twitter’s Role in Iranian Election Crisis Debated

And one from WIRED:

Anthropologist Wows Personal Democracy Forum. Whatever.

Then, courtesy of Nancy Scola with PdF, here's a link
to a view of the audience during Michael Wesch's amazing presentation
as well as the Flickr stream of photos that were taken at the event.

Finally, for a full recap of the event, read Nancy's posts, The Reviews Are In..., Launching in Beta...Day Two and The Future Is Being Written - Day One Recap.

Bonus: I was there blogging for my site,
The Moderate Voice and BlogHer.com and I'm proud to tell you that that look of
recognition came over folks when they saw "BlogHer" on my
press pass tag made me smile.

Obama's IT Dashboard unveiled by US CIO at PdF09 in NYC

2009-06-30T08:20:17-05:00

I'm liveblogging the Personal Democracy Forum all day today and you can follow the current session below. Vivek Kundra is the administration's Chief Information Officer and has demonstrated the beta version of the IT Dashboard which lets us access government data in an unprecedented way (whether that's good or bad, you decide).

If you'd like to follow all the live-blogs today from PdF, please go here. I will try to post as many as I can - there will be close to 13 so the fingerprints on my digits may be gone later today.

PdF09: Innovation in Government, Obama-Style

Live-blog Alert: Personal Democracy Forum 2009, Day 2 (6/30)

2009-06-29T22:17:41-05:00

Tomorrow, I'll be live-blogging the following presentations from Personal Democracy Forum 2009, Day 2. I use a program called CoverItLive and embed it in a post on Writes Like She Talks. When the session starts, I start typing as it happens and you can read and/or comment - it's a great way to be there without being there.

I'll make the blog posts live as the sessions get underway and will also be enabling the tool that allows tweets to come into the stream of discussion/commenting going on during the sessions so feel free to access the live-blog from this blog or twitter. If you have any questions, let me know via comments here or e-mail.

I will be working to make sure that the CoverItLive frames are posted here at BlogHer.com as well but if you're interested in following a session listed below and you don't see anything here yet, definitely check out WLST. Many thanks to BlogHer.com for letting me post about this.

Innovation in Government, Obama-Style: Beth Noveck and Vivek Kundra, and Macon Phillips, introduced by Craig Newmark

Chairman Steele said, “Take the lid off”: The New GOP Web Presence: Todd Herman

Sunlight Foundation Press Conference: with Ellen Miller, Clay Johnson and David Moore

Social Networks and Social Revolutions: Randi Zuckerberg

21st Century Statecraft: Fostering Citizen-Centered Diplomacy and Development: Alec Ross

The Machine is (Changing) Us: YouTube Culture and the Politics of Authenticity: Michael Wesch

The Dangerous Power of Sharing (Power): Mark Pesce

Accountability Journalism Online: Jay Rosen Interviews Dan Froomkin

How the Internet Ecosystem Can Improve Journalism: Frank Rich, Karen Tumulty, Dan Gillmor, Scott Simon, Clay Shirky, Andrew Rasiej (moderator)

Press Conference by IVote4U: Joe Trippi, David Weinberger and Britt Blaser

State/Local Online Politicking: How Community Hubs Can Change the Scene: Blake Rutherford, Jason Barnett, Steven Clift, Cyrus Krohn (moderator)

PoliTech Demos: Andrew Hoppin of NYSenate.gov, David Moore of OpenCongress, Benjamin Stein of MobileCommons and Tristan Harris of Apture

Final Plenary: Can We.gov? How?: A Conversation With Rep. Steve Israel, Jack Dorsey, Clay Shirky, Ellen Miller, and Joe Trippi

On the Road to Election Day, Part II: The Ricochet Dance

2009-06-23T16:11:30-05:00

I am a total sucker for any book, story, article or exposé that shows us "how they do it all." Not because I think I will learn something, though I often do, but more because I want to see that my ricocheting lifestyle of careening from one duty to the next isn't so unique (it isn't, right?!). I take comfort in seeing other adults in action doing the ricochet, too. In fact, one of my favorite Mommy Matters columns that I've written, Dance of the Sugar Plum Mommies, was about this very topic. (Funny how that column was written four years ago, and here I am writing a variation on the same theme, again. Hmm, okay - maybe not that funny.)

Since I've added "running for local political office" to "freelance writing and blogging, parenting three kids, living through a home renovation, and..." probably a lot other things we wouldn't even enumerate but that I am managing as well (recovering from gum grafts, helping press Ohio legislators to not sink our statewide library system, etc.), I'm loving spreads like this one by EMILY's List called, "In Her Shoes: Spending Time with Senator (NY-D) Kirsten Gillibrand," about which EMILY's List says:

It's safe to say that the term "balancing act" takes on a whole new meaning when you look at the lives of our women in the Senate!

However, as cute, lovely and encouraging as the layout and content are, I do have a real problem with these peeks inside: they make the experience look too nice and uncomplicated by the reality that was John Lennon's philosophy: "life is what happens while you are making other plans."

Where's the photo where Gillibrand pokes her cheek with her mascara wand and has to start her makeup all over again and then starts running late because the faux pas will add on another crucial two minutes to her routine (I know you all know what I'm talking about!)?

Where's the narrative that describes how, upon arrival at her kids' school or daycare center, one of them realizes that they forgot [fill in the blank with the most needed and can't live without security object] and the battle ensues over whether someone will head home to retrieve the item while a child cries, or...the parent departs and the child still cries (only to stop moments after the child is in the classroom or playroom)?

Where's the depiction of what corners might be cut, the number of extra people it takes to get through the day or the list of what didn't get done and will have to wait until another day, if at all?

Because we know those things are there in every parent's day, even if not every single day.

And yet, there she is. And there are so many other challenges women lawmakers face - if it's not parenting, it might be caretaking other family members or friends, and if not caretaking, it may be any one (or more) of a number of other obstacles, be they systemic like discrimination or poverty, or related to a disability or other challenge to be overcome.

And when I start to think about the lifestyle of the elected and busy in this way, thanks to the exposés, what I come to realize is that working in an elected position is just like any other job, role or position that any of us take on in life: the more we realize that working as an elected lawmaker can be integrated into our lives just like any other job, role or position, the less we will treat it as this, "Oh, but I can't do that!" on a pedestal aspiration.

Because goodness knows, after all, how awful the fall looks when we do put politicians on a pedestal. Nothing like watching a mother try to get it all done to make us realize, it's all in a day's work.

For more about women in politics:

ElectWomen where you can find resources and articles; it started up at the beginning of this year.

Republican National Committee's Women's Group; the RNC Women's Program is scheduled to have its first Women's Summit this Thursday

Gloria Feldt on Sotomayor's Leadership Inspirations

On the Road to Election Day, Part I: Reframing the concept of "activism"

2009-06-09T13:34:34-05:00

Forget everything you know about or have heard about the word "activist" and just think about any time you've taken any step whatsoever to procure a desired outcome. Any single thing at all - a customer service issue, an environmental issue, a parent-teacher situation, a job negotiation, a roommate problem, maybe when you were a child, it was convincing someone to let you stay up late or have another cookie.

The truth is, it's nearly impossible to have never done a single act that isn't some kind of advocacy or activism. You can constrain the concept all you want, but it really starts and ends with deciding that you believe in something and then pursuing that something, no matter how big or how small, how earth-shattering, controversial or insignificant.

Of course, there are professional levels of activism that, as adults, we think of far more often: large, well-known groups lobby for or against Sonia Sotomayor, likewise, for or against the Employee Free Choice Act.

And then there's another route to being an activist: working to convince your fellow Americans that you are worthy of their trust and...their vote so that you can be elected or appointed to some political office. You can spin this to say that you want to be elected to keep others from being activists, but then the fact remains that you are an activist against activists. Really - it's all just using your voice to get a desired outcome. That's activism, to me anyway (definitely use the comments to further the discussion of what you define as activism).

After years and years of reading, studying, working, raising kids and raising eyebrows - mine and others, through letters, phone calls, speeches and attending meetings (where I'd also speak up), I've decided to run for a seat on my city's council. The decision is also the culmination of closely following womens' trajectories in and out of politics for the last three or four years and deciding that it's time for me to walk the walk, win or lose.

With many thanks to the powers that be at BlogHer, I'll be blogging about women and their involvement in a political life every other week through my city's election, November 3, 2009. I won't be writing much about the specifics of my race but instead, will provide a narrative that we hope will encourage more women to run for office - from everywhere along the political ideological spectrum.

The primary goal being: If I can do it, any woman can do it! And should.

Additional resources:

South Carolina state legislator, Republican Nikki Haley, runs for governor

The Women's Campaign School at Yale University

And where it starts as, yes, activism (hattip to Suzanne's BlogHer post): Don't Question This Girl's Right

SC State Rep. Nikki Haley - Republican, 37 years old & mother of two - enters Governor's race

2009-05-15T15:50:00-05:00

On the heels of this post of mine at The Moderate Voice and its very lengthy discussion about why there are far fewer conservative or Republican women in elected office than there are liberal or Democratic women comes yesterday's announcement by South Carolina State Representative Nikki Haley - a 37 year old third-term Republican from Lexington County - that she is entering SC's gubernatorial primary race (here is her campaign website).

From The State:

Haley, an accountant and mother of two, said she wants to make government more open and give residents a reason to feel more positive about it.

"I know what good government can look like," Haley said. "I'm running for governor so the people of the state will know what it feels like."

Haley is in her third term in the S.C. House, having unseated long-serving veteran Larry Koon in 2004. Haley has been a contrarian voice in the House, often standing against the GOP majority. She frequently has supported Sanford's positions, but has also introduced her own issues.

The article strongly suggests that Haley could be someone current Governor, Mark Sanford, who is term-limited, might support:

The Republican governor has said he plans to get involved in his successor's election and has $1.7 million remaining in his campaign fund, which could be used on issue ads.

"It's too early to endorse anyone," Sanford said Thursday. "But I would say Nikki Haley would make a terrific and inspiring choice as governor, and she's a great addition to the field of candidates."

However, the ghost of Lee Atwater has been resurrected by SC commentators already:

To become governor, Haley will have to overcome questions about her Indian heritage and whether S.C. voters will accept a woman chief executive.

During her first State House run, anonymous ads in Lexington County questioned Haley's faith. Haley was raised a Sikh but is now a Methodist.

...

"It will be a factor because this is South Carolina, the land of the lingering fog of Lee Atwater," agreed [Winthrop University political scientist Scott] Huffmon, referring to the late S.C. political consultant who raised issues of race and religion in campaigns.

And, directly on point about the discussion in my previous post that sought to elicit ideas as to why there's a dearth of female GOP politicians:

Women also have not fared well in S.C. politics. The percentage of women in the S.C. Legislature is among the lowest in the nation.

But recent Republican politics, observers say, prove those issues may not be as important as they once were.

...

State Rep. Joan Brady, R-Richland, said GOP women sometimes lack the confidence to run and have more trouble raising money. She also said she has met women who say they will not vote for another woman. But Brady said Palin proved women will rally around the right candidate, one with a strong voice on women's and family issues.

"They do bring something different" to a campaign, Brady said of female candidates.

Additionally, this CNN story's headline about Haley entering the race calls her "top Sanford ally." It doesn't specifically indicate her position on Sanford's stimulus fund rejection policies but it does say this:

In the state house, she has been a loyal backer of Sanford's small-government initiatives, proposals which have often irked other Republican lawmakers. Haley also plans to hire Sanford's Washington-based political consultant, Jon Lerner, to run her campaign.

Haley became the first Indian-American Republican state legislator in the country in 2004 after winning a nasty primary runoff that featured an anonymous mail attack calling attention to her non-white heritage.

She would become South Carolina's first female governor - if she can survive a crowded Republican primary already loaded with South Carolina GOP heavyweights who are backed by some of the state's best political strategists.

Although Haley is regarded as a rising star among South Carolina Republicans, several GOP operatives in the state not affiliated with rival campaigns told CNN they were surprised she is choosing to jump into a five-way primary now rather than wait for a clearer opportunity at a later date.

As you might expect from me, I want to know who those SC operatives are and if any of them are women because usually, when we here that, "why is she running now rather than waiting for a clearer opportunity" - that's total code for "wait your turn." True - true - true - that's said to newcomers of both genders. But it's particularly suspect when a female candidate is involved, IMO.

My opinion? It's great - the only thing that would be better is if
she'd run for the SC state senate, since it currently does not have
even one woman period. Oh - and if there's a good female SC Democratic
woman (aw, I had to add that). Would lurv to see two women
gubernatorial candidates in South Carolina - now that would be change.

Btw, Haley is tweeting now - twitter.com/nikkihaley.

Hattip to a comment by Jenn Q Public.

Female Force Comics: Michelle Obama out in April; Clinton, Palin sold out

2009-03-14T10:39:12-05:00

From the Chicago Tribune:

The Obama comic, which will be officially released April 25 and will sell for $3.99, shows the first lady growing up in her middle-class South Shore home, attending Princeton and helping her husband become president. In keeping with the upbeat tone of the "Female Force" series, the Obama edition does not mention any controversial speeches or fist bumps.

Obama does not possess any superpowers in the comic, but the cover depicts her in a sleeveless top that highlights the most famous arms in Washington.

The 22-page comic also avoids any illustrations of Malia or Sasha Obama, a decision the publisher made to steer clear of the controversy surrounding the Ty Girlz dolls created in the sisters' image earlier this year.

"We wanted to be respectful to all the women in the series," [Bluewater Productions President Darren] Davis said. "They've really done amazing things in their lives."

I wasn't aware of the series until I found the Trib article while researching how the relationship between Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton has been going (well from what we can see and read). You can see the Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin covers below. Although they're sold out, I saw a reference that said they're in a second printing. An issue featuring Caroline Kennedy is scheduled for a June release.

Here's the site of Bluewater which is putting out these comics. The company has been in the news quite a bit lately. They've got a special page about the Obama issue.

See also Michelle Obama Watch's post on the new comic.

Has anyone seen these around? Would you buy/are you buying them for yourself, daughter or other girls/women in your life? Which other women should be profiled? Who else is a "female force"?

If Palin's office says daughter is off-limits, you don't have SarahPAC respond

2009-03-12T09:07:24-05:00

This was my same gripe when Alaska Governor and then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin asked the media to respect their privacy regarding her daughter's pregnancy and engagement, but then she brought them both in for the RNC convention and made a public showing of both her daughter and her daughter's fiancé and father of her grandchild.

In the first AP report about the break-up between the daughter and fiancé, we read that Palin's office says the matter is not state business and refuses to comment on it:

Gov. Sarah Palin's office on Wednesday refused to comment on a report that Palin's daughter Bristol Palin had broken off her engagement with fiancé Levi Johnston.

...

"That's not state business," Abbey Bulawa, an aide to Gov. Palin, told the Huffington Post. "We don't comment on the governor's children."

That's cool and appropriate.

But it isn't the end.

In this AP wire story, SarahPAC decides that they can issue a comment:

"Unfortunately, my family has seen many people say and do many things to `cash in' on the Palin name," said the statement, which was issued through the governor's political action committee. "Sometimes that greed clouds good judgment and the truth."

SarahPAC spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton did not immediately respond to calls seeking further information. The governor's spokesman, Bill McAllister, declined comment.

We don't know who the "my" is in the graph - Sarah Palin or Bristol Palin? My assumption is since it's Palin's PAC, it's Sarah not Bristol.

And don't try the "well, it's not state business, so the governor's office shouldn't talk about it, but the PAC is about Sarah Palin as a political candidate" or some other explanation. Either Palin approves that the topic be discussed in whatever cursory or complete form she - or Bristol - wants, or it is in fact always off-limits. The same statements can come from both outlets, none of this good cop/bad cop stuff.

Frankly, I think the only one who should be asked questions and be allowed to say, "no comment" is Bristol herself. She is 18, she is a single mother and it's her life. Questions to Palin should go only to her existence as Bristol's mother and either she is going to comment on that or not. I'm not even happy that she's being asked about the subject at all - leave them all alone as far as I'm concerned. True, she kicked the door wide open during the campaign, but the Bristol-Greta interview demonstrated that Bristol is at least making some decisions, it seems.

Sigh.

I'd love to have an epistemological conversation with Sarah Palin about the word, "choice," even knowing her whole thing about God opening doors, or not.

Cross-posted from Writes Like She Talks.

Live-blog tonight, 9pm: Blogging, Journalism and Social Media

2009-03-05T19:24:31-06:00

Please consider joining me and a talented panel of women who blog as we discuss the crossroads of blogging, journalism and social media. You will find the live-blog here, starting at 9pm.

Many thanks to Tami Winfrey Harris of What Tami Said for already posting about tonight'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 Sairy

Topics 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.

State lawmaker seeks to legalize bloody sport but ban Barbie dolls

2009-03-05T07:24:49-06:00

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?

Okay.

So, here are how some other folks are responding to Eldridge's bills and/or react to the idea of Barbie:

Feminist Peace Network:

And I suppose he wants to ban Hello Kitty too? And what about GI Joe, that guy has been giving young boys the wrong idea for a really long time. There really is no end to where this concept might lead us. And seriously, in the state of West Virginia don’t the legislators have other stuff to worry about like mountaintop removal and rampant poverty? Or not.

I sat down with one of my old Barbies and asked her what she thought. Turns out growing up in the 60s as she did, she kinda liked the idea of going underground, SDS Barbie perhaps. But she really likes the idea of becoming Crone Barbie and tells me she has lots of exciting ideas for future personas–I reminded her about the purple hair episode and she laughed and thought maybe she’d surprise us with a roots need a touchup model. And absolutely it is time for Arthritic Barbie and Hot Flash Barbie. As for Ken, he recently retired and sadly has developed a pot belly, gone bald and don’t ask about his prostate problems.

From a post in the Feministing.com community section:

While I appreciate the effort, I'm not for censorship, and I don't think this bill will actually solve any problems. As a West Virginian, I wish my representatives would focus more on WV's domestic violence issues , unfriendly LGBT policies , and poverty issues . Just sayin'.

Salon.com's Broadsheet tackled the issue in January in a item titled, "Should parents ban Barbie?" Here's an excerpt:

Both "sides" conclude that banning Barbie would make the toy far more appealing. Sagera writes that "by not making it a big deal, we've managed to make Barbie no more special than her collection of Hess trucks or her art easel." Adamick agrees: "Do I want to make such a big deal out of it that an issue heretofore unknown to her suddenly becomes a cause for serious familial discussion?"

If I were to have a daughter, I can't imagine buying her a Barbie -- but if someone gave her one as a present, I'd probably do just as these parents have. As a coworker with a young daughter told me, friends and family members give your child all sorts of gifts that you might find questionable. You let some of them pass ... and hide the others.

But I wonder whether the criteria for whether a toy, particularly Barbie, ends up in the garbage bin might have more to do with its familiarity than its actual offensiveness. Both of us agreed that we would probably let Barbie stay -- we both grew up playing with her and we turned out OK, right? Bratz dolls, however? Nu-uh, they would be thrown in with the coffee grounds and egg shells.

Finally, there are thousands more results to choose from if you google, "Barbie ban" in blogsearch or in news results.

Here are my issues:

1. Eldridge's attempt to get Barbie consumption regulated by the government indicates his lack of trust in West Virginia parents to parent appropriately. Now, if that's the case, wouldn't it make sense if, as a state legislator, he looked at what the state can do with the laws and powers it already has to help parents help themselves to be parents who can regulate Barbie usage?

2. On the other hand, he tries to make a dig at retailers: "Even if the bill fails, Eldridge believes it will send a message to retailers to "step it up to another level," he is quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.

Um, no, not really, it doesn't send them a message - not one other than that their marketing ploys are working so well at getting parents to succumb to what they sell that a state legislator feels a need to ban the item completely from his state.

3. Finally, he repeats a few times his desire that Barbie help foster education. He wants the impression that Barbie gives not to be one that says, "be beautiful" but rather one that says, "be smart." And he believes that the state of West Virginia can achieve that by banning Barbie dolls and similar items.

So - as I understand this, girls should not come to believe that they can be beautiful and smart, because Eldridge just does not want girls to place a value on beautiful at all. Seems to me this would result in pushing the impression that anyone who is beautiful, should not be trusted to also be smart. Would that then be legally enforceable discrimination against the beautiful?

Did I mention that this is a man who wants to legalize the bloody contact sport of mixed martial arts but thinks that any doll that could lead to the impression that a girl might want to be beautiful should be banned?

Did I mention it's past my bedtime?

I'm going to grab my 41 year old Barbie and tuck her under my pillow - I'm a little worried about her tonight.

What do you think? Legalize the bloody sport? Ban Barbie? Do nothing? What?

It's a quiz for Women's History Month

2009-03-03T12:35:30-06:00

No really good excuse for not being more on the ball with blogging about Women's History Month,
but I've got lots of resources piling up and I'm trying to figure out
some new ways to cover everything I want to on this blog in the ever
shrinking amount of time it feels as though I don't have for writing.

First up, from Gloria Feldt's Heartfeldt blog (where she is writing a post a day throughout March just for Women's History Month - you can read Post #1 and Post #3).

I'm modifying part of her Post #2 for my post (please read her original here) but here is the intro:

(Note: This quiz was created by NCJW's (National
Council of Jewish Women) Washington Office Director, Sammie
Moshenberg—thanks. Sammie! I added a couple of categories so it's already up to sweet 18.)

Sick of "must read" book lists with only token female authors -- tired of women being left out?
See if you can come up with a famous woman (living or not) for each
category and send it back (copy and paste it into the comment section
below). Send it along to your friends too. Add a category (with
response) if you are so inclined. Feel free to do some research --
that's how we all learn after all -- and say a few words (if you want)
to clue us all in.

And here are the categories to fill in - I haven't done them yet for
myself (but if you want to get ideas of who you might name, see
Gloria's original). If you want to compare and contrast, please fill
this out in the comments below or if you put it on your blog, please
link back to this blog post so we can trace and go see what you thought
up.

Have fun!

1. Female Head of State
2. Female Sports Champion
3. Musician
4. Artist
5. Federal Lawmaker
6. US Cabinet Member
7. Author
8. Nobel Laureate
9. Scientist
10. Journalist
11. Philantropist
12. Inventor
13. Philosopher
14. Pundit
15. Explorer
16. Educator
17. Movement Founder
18. Entertainment entrepeneur

Cross-posted from Writes Like She Talks but idea completely from Gloria Feldt's Heartfeldt blog (and she got it from NCJW) - so please visit both! ;)

Live-blog alert: Political Voices of Women liveblogs tonight's address by President Obama

2009-02-24T18:01:34-06:00

At 9pm EST, Tuesday, February 24th, US President Barack Obama will
be delivering what political observers are referring to as his first
State of the Union Address.

As Jeff Zeleny of The New York Times wrote:

Starting at 8pm EST tonight, I'll be liveblogging for Political Voices of Women here via CoverItLive.com.

Other panelists will be Janet Shan of Black Political Thought, Marcia G. Yerman of The Huffington Post, a recent BlogHer of the Week, Tami Winfrey Harris of What Tami Said (who gets a hattip because I took some of this info from her post about the liveblog!) and Pamela Lyn of Pam's Coffee Conversation.

Please consider joining us to discuss the
President's Address and the response of the political pundits.

As PamelaLyn has said:

We want to know:

What do you want to hear from the President?
Do you think that his plans will improve your life, or your neighbors?
Do you think that Congress will work with him?
Can the President rescue the economy and cut the budget?
Do you think that Washington will overcome its old partisan habits?
Can the American people really change its ways? Can Wall Street?
...and more.

And here's how she's arranged for as much participation as possible:

Join
in the conversation on Twitter. The hashtag for the event is #pvow. You
can also go to TweetChat log on with your Twitter ID and when prompted
to enter a room type "#pvow"
If you don't already have a Twitter ID go to: http://www.twitter.com/ today and sign up. It's fun.

OR

Click here to participate in the Live Blog on CoverItLive

I hope you'll join us!

Live-blog alert: Call w/Chief Economist for VP re: Recovery & Reinvestment Act (aka stimulus bill)

2009-02-11T12:16:48-06:00

Here's the description:

On Wednesday, February 11, at 4:00 p.m. ET Jared Bernstein, Chief Economist for the Vice President, will discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan on a press conference call with progressive media and bloggers. Bernstein will discuss the impacts of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan and answer questions.

I'll be on the call and live-blogging it here with permission (it's an on the record call). Come on back at 4pm if you're interested and you can also feed me a question to ask on the call, since you know I never can think of anything to ask. Ahem.

Blogging for Choice on 36th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

2009-01-22T09:07:17-06:00

And I mean that in terms of whether you support or oppose the results of Roe.

You can read the decision itself here or read a nice breakdown at About.com.

For the record, I support the constitutional rights recognized in the U.S. Supreme Court decision which made a woman's medical decision regarding her reproductive rights legal and I am against the erosion of those rights.

I do, however, support efforts to curtail unwanted pregnancy through means that do not impinge on a girl or woman's reproductive rights. I absolutely support laws such as this one, just passed in Ohio, that provide assistance to girls and women who carry children to term but choose to give up permanent custody through adoption:

Now comes word that Guv Ted has signed Sub. HB 7, the Adoption Reform Act. The new law allows birth mothers to receive up to $3,000 from adoptive parents for living expenses incurred during the pregnancy and 60 days post-birth.

Great idea and it costs taxpayers nothing. Providing practical incentives for young women to continue their pregnancies is the way to go.

Sponsor of this bill, outgoing state Rep. Tom Brinkman of the 34th district, is one of those aforementioned pro-life legislators. In 2005, he proposed banning nearly all abortions in Ohio and was met with a snearing, hissing overflow crowd in the Statehouse Atrium.

Other good readings on what's happening around the country today related to this anniversary:

Blog for Choice Day 2009

Planned Parenthood's Commemorating 36 Years of Roe v. Wade

On Roe v. Wade's Anniversary, Obama to Begin Mopping Up Bush's Misogynistic Mess

Join a live-blog from 3-4pm today about Roe that will be hosted by former President of the national Planned Parenthood organization, Gloria Feldt, and current President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Sarah Stoesz.

You can read two recent posts by Feldt about the importance and impact of reproductive rights here:

Beyond Roe: Toward Human Rights for Women

Trading in Barefoor and Pregnant for Economic and Reproductive Justice

I don't monitor anti-choice efforts, but here is the National Right to Life website and here is a link to information for today's March for Life.

The Austerity of Hope aka The Inauguration of Barack Obama

2009-01-21T00:06:20-06:00

This morning, I spoke at a wonderful gathering for public information officers (PIOs) who work in settings that involve children and families (DR court, juvie court, hospitals). The entire day focused on the media. My session ran to 11:50am and then the hosts wired up the room so we could watch the inauguration - it came on just in time to hear Joe Biden take the oath for Vice President and we watched through the benediction. I followed many friends who are in D.C. through Twitter and also people I know around the world who were following the inauguration but from their homes or offices etc. It was a great way to get a sense of what things were like on the ground in D.C.

As I drove to Akron today for my presentation, I listened to NPR's coverage and enjoyed it very much - I thought they did a very nice job mixing information with commentary and reflections and a real sense of how this inauguration differed from those that came before it.

As I watched Biden, I was thinking about what Hillary Clinton has said if anything about Jill Biden's gaffe about which of two jobs Joe might take (Secretary of State going to Hillary Clinton eventually), but I haven't found anything that addresses that. I couldn't figure out what the hell Chief Justice Roberts and Obama were doing and then others started saying that Roberts flubbed it. Oy.

George Bush looked positively in post-partum depression - separation from the White House anxiety or something. He'll get over it. It must be like having had a big event with everyone visiting - for eight years - and now everyone's vacated, expect he's the one vacating. And he looked rather vacant. Anyway - it was a bit of downer having him there only in contrast to the faces of everyone else.

Obama's speech: I actually really, really liked it. I've heard some commentators say that they thought it was "ascetic" and while I do think that's accurate, I would say that was austere in the sense of "markedly simple or unadorned austere office> austere style of writing>" - and these are austere times. I think that was appropriate. I will, however, note, that as much as I do not want to rain on anyone's parade, in his third sentence, he made a mistake. Yes, a mistake. And, as readers of WLST may recall, I kind of have it out for Jon Favreau the speech writer - but I don't know who is accountable for the error - here it is:

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.

Immediately, I thought, no - no. That can't be correct. Maybe we have had 44 presidents, but there have not been 44 different Americans who have taken the presidential oath. I tweeted this thought and several people came to Obama's defense immediately saying yes yes he is #44. Well, yes - that's right. But that sentence is not right. Tonight, I received a tweet from a friend who linked to this:

A Political Wire reader notes that President Obama actually made a factual mistake in his inaugural address when he said, "Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath."

It's actually 43. Although Obama is the 44th president, President Grover Cleveland served two terms which were not consecutive, making him both the 22nd and 24th president.

Now - I'm still not convinced that corrects it either - because we know that FDR and Clinton and Reagan - they served multiple terms too. So - how many Americans have taken the oath? According to this chart, it's 43. But, I would say, that it is in fact, 42 - because Grover Cleveland is not two different people - even though he took the oath twice. For that sentence to be true, it should have been, "Forty-two Americans have now taken the presidential oath."

Anyhoo, about that speech. I liked it a lot. My favorite line was about how foreign leaders should realize that their people will judge them not by what they destroy but what they build ("To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.")

And my least favorite phrase was probably "our patchwork heritage." I'm not liking the patchwork imagery - I think maybe they were shooting for rural voter appeal or something, homey, Christian - I don't know. But I don't think it quite matches the intent of who we come together for a variety of reasons to make our lives here and commit to living by the order of this society. But that's a quibble - because in the next sentence, I really liked that he mentioned "non-believers." I thought that was very cool.

Hope should be spare in times like these, lest our expectations lead to disappointment and failure. While those results are inevitable given the length of service and the enormity of what a president must accomplish, and the fact that he cannot accomplish it alone but must in fact work with Congress and to a lesser extent the U.S. Supreme Court via the laws of our land, nevertheless, I'm keeping a long list of what I hope will be accomplished, but expectations that if a certain number of them get attention, and an even smaller number see progress, that might be enough to say job well done.

But the guy's not been in office even 24 hours yet and already I saw an ad on CNN from an energy company that used footage of Obama hawking clean coal - something I desperately want Obama to reconsider as worthy of any significant investment (other than to clean up what we've got, if not shut that down and replace it). I understand that some regulations have been stopped in their tracks - do they include the conscience rules? I don't know.

And what about the Middle East?

Tonight - there are balls. Tomorrow, Obama will be feeling the weight of the balls and chains that Bush left behind. Hopefully, he's got an administration and a Congress willing to lift a load.

For links galore, visit this cross-post at my blog, Writes Like She Talks, including video and text of several portions of the inauguration.