Randi Rhodes Newsletter for Wednesday May 19th 2010

Establishment candidates go down in flames in Pennsylvania and Kentucky ; Arlen Specter loses and Rand Paul wins. And in what could be viewed as a victory for progressives and labor, Sen. Blanche Lincoln has been forced into a June 8 runoff in Arkansas .

In the PA race that actually pitted a Democrat and against a Republican, and was considered a bellwether for the November midterms, Dem. Mark Critz wins easily, keeping John Murtha’s district blue despite it voting for McCain in 2008.Republican Rep. Mark Souder of Indiana ’s affair with a staffer ( resignation video) is just the latest in a long list of scandals involving the 1994 “Contract for America ” class of Republicans. And in a bitter twist of irony, Souder is seen here being “interviewed” by his mistress/staffer on abstinence-only education.

A scandal of a different stripe has emerged for Democrat Richard Blumenthal in Connecticut . While the conventional wisdom is that Blumenthal will survive the fallout over misleading people into believing that he fought in Vietnam, the question is should he?>>> MORE
Unbelievable!An Alabama teacher has been investigated by the Secret Service after using the hypothetical shooting of President Obama to "teach" geometry.
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Randi Rhodes Newsletter for Tuesday May 18th 2010

Today’s a big day for testing the appetite of voters for incumbents in 2010.

Meanwhile, a couple of scandals are brewing: a Dem who didn’t serve in Vietnam gets popped, and a Repub who was sleeping with a staffer resigns.

Paul Krugman: Rightwing extremists controlling the GOP is nothing new; the media just hasn’t bothered telling you about it until now.

Photo Gallery: Oil Spill in the Gulf

Tar balls have been found off of Key West – lab tests will determine the origin. While lobbying to cap their spill liability, Transocean announces that they will payout $1 billion in shareholder dividends. Obama will establish an independent commission to investigate the Gulf spill like the ones used to examine the Space Shuttle Challenger and Three Mile Island disasters. And the AP reports on how the Gulf oil spill is just one more Big Oil kick in the gut for Native Americans.

Conservatives continue to go nuts over the new Miss USA Rima Fakih. On top of the racist rants, Fakin is also at the center of stripper controversy – which was just a non-nude poll dancing radio station contest (see the photos). Apparently, digging up dirt on beauty queens has become quite the pastime.

Also, ThinkProgress interviewed NRA members at their annual conference in North Carolina… some things just never change (video below). A California state senator wants to be sure that the Texas Board of Education’s revised take on history doesn’t make it into his state’s schools. And the spawn of Sarah, Bristol Palin inks a deal to receive $15-30K per speech.These stories, your calls, and much more on today’s Randi Rhodes Show!

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Randi Rhodes Newsletter Monday May 17th 2010

new first: a Muslim of Lebanese descent has won the Miss USA pageant, prompting immediate outrage from nutjob conservative bloggers.While voter turnout thus far hasn’t mirrored the Tea Party-fueled media hype over the 2010 elections, all eyes are still on tomorrow’s primaries in Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Kentucky.The AZ Trifecta: anti-immigration, no ethnic studies, fire teachers with accents. Sarah Palin was in Arizona over the weekend to exclaim “we’re all Arizonans now”, but the half-term former governor of Alaska may not have the juice she once did. Ms. Palin’s mob has begun to turn on her in recent days over matters of mismatched group-think.Scientists say there could be at least five times more oil than BP admits gushing into the Gulf each day – much of it in large plumes underwater. Fox News’ Brit Hume shrugs it off (video below). And look out Florida , the oil may already be in the Loop Current.>>> MORE

Live Like Limbaugh It will now only cost you $12.95 million to call Rush's NYC pad your own - the price has been cut $1 million since coming onto the market in March.

Randi Rhodes Newsletter for Thursday May 13th 2010

As dead dolphins begin washing ashore, it now looks like BP knew the blowout preventer in the Gulf had a critical hydraulic leak. After 23 days, we finally get a few seconds of video (see below) of the crude volcano on the sea floor. A BP whistleblower details how the company routinely cheated on blowout preventer tests.Also, criminal charges are likely for at least one of the companies involved. But don’t cry for BP – remember, this is a corporation that generates 93 million dollars a day in pure profit. Also, Chris Matthews calls for Dick Cheney to testify on Halliburton.Meanwhile, Arizona bans ethnic studies in public schools, California boycotts Arizona , and Americans are once again divided down racial lines.>>> MORE



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Thom Hartmann`s Daily Blog - New one posted Everyday @ Bottom of Page

The Times-Picayune reported last week that an oil worker who survived the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, that killed 11 people and started a disastrous oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, said a key safety measure was not being implented on the rig. Lawyer Scott Bickford said his client claims a column of mud was being removed from an exploratory well before it was sealed with a top cement cap -- a move he described as "human error" that may have in turn failed to prevent the deadly explosion. A statement from cement contractor Halliburton, reported by the New Orleans newspaper, confirmed the top cap was not installed. The column of heavy mud is one of the core defenses relied upon by drillers to prevent explosions. So they cut corners to get the job done quickly. Here's a question. Have you ever worked in a place where the bigwhigs were coming to town and you had to quickly get everything ready for them? Remember that there were six senior British Petroleum executives on the oil rig at the time of the explosion, celebrating a recent safety award the company had gotten. Getting senior executives out to an oil rig all at the same time is something that requires some coordinating and planning. What if the drillers and Halliburton were told that the executives were going to be there on April 20th for the party, and therefore they had to hurry to get the job done? And therefore they skipped the time-consuming step of putting the mud plug in and went straight to the cementing process, apparently the fatal mistake that let the giant methane bubble rush up and explode the rig? Was this entire disaster the result of a hurry-hurry-up because the big shots were flying out by helicopter and the riggers had to get things done "stat"? Who were these six executives? How far out was their visit planned? Did Halliburton and Transocean cut corners because they were either explicitly told to by BP or implicitly pressured to by BP because the executives were on their way out for the party?And why is nobody talking about who these executives were, and nobody is telling the life and family stories of the eleven workers who died in the rig explosion? Inquiring minds want to know.Listen to the
Thom Hartman Program Monday - Friday, Noon to 3pm Eastern

Randi Rhodes Newsletter for Wednesday May 12th 2010

Frustration and anger is in the air – no one is immune and no incumbent seems to be safe.As primary season revs up, already Utah has blown out a 3-term Republican senator and West Virginia just hosed 14-term Democratic Congressman Alan Mollohan.But will changing the faces in DC change the game or just the players?Coverage of Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick Elena Kagan just keeps getting stranger. Case in point, Kagan’s friends are now being asked about her sexual orientation (if you’re keeping score, they say she’s not a lesbian). See the White House-released video of Kagan below.Meanwhile, as expected, execs from BP, Transocean and Halliburton were questioned by two senate committees yesterday and did little more than blame each other for the uncontrollable gusher of oil in the Gulf.Also, the Tea Party succeeds in taking over the Maine Republican platform, the grandkids of both Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter get into politics, Larry King calls off his eighth divorce, and Playboy goes 3-D.

a Message from Tom Leykis - He`s Back NOW!

http://newnormalnetwork.com/

The countdown has begun.

As you may know, I have created an audio content and radio syndication company called The New Normal.

Wednesday morning May 12th at 10 AM Pacific Time, The New Normal website goes live for the first time with the premiere of our first original production, and we would love for you to be a part of it.

Many listeners have been clamoring for me to make a return to hosting daily shows. That day will come.

In the meantime, we are proud to announce that our first daily podcast will be coming from two voices you know from our radio show.

Longtime producer and wingman, Gary Zabransky, and that tool of ignorance Dino DeMilio have reunited with me to bring you “The Gary & Dino Show”. These guys for years have been an integral part of “The Tom Leykis Show” and this daily podcast will be reflective of the sensibilities of our show from Gary & Dino’s own points of view.

“The Gary & Dino Show” launches with several episodes to get you started. Add it to your RSS feeds if you like. And be sure to give us your feedback!

The New Normal website is a perfect central location to learn about what we are doing next, to find ways to get and keep in touch, to let you know where we are on Facebook, Twitter, and our websites. You can go there beginning Wednesday morning at 10 AM Pacific time by clicking right here. When I come back, this is where you will hear about it first.

But that’s not all. The New Normal will be presenting all kinds of audio content. If what we currently present isn’t floating your boat, bookmark our site and keep checking back. Some content will be heard on radio as well as from our site. Some will be internet-only. Some of this stuff you will NEVER hear on radio (OR anywhere ELSE!).

If you own a small or medium size business, find out how to get in with us on the ground floor of this revolution. Details are on the http://newnormalnetwork.com website as well.

We are counting on you to help spread the word that we are open for business. Tell your friends to sign up for the mailing list. We are going to be breaking every rule of radio. We will do things you have always wanted us to do. There is no radio station or company in the way. You will communicate directly with us.

So are you ready? The old normal just isn’t working anymore. This is The New Normal!


Tom Leykis

The New Normal

Randi Rhodes Newsletter for Tuesday May 11th 2010

There is a lot of disappointment out there about what kind of president people thought Barack Obama would be and/or how fast he would be able to move Congress.

While many of his campaign pledges have yet to be realized or have been compromised, so far, for better or for worse, he is largely the guy he said he was. Is that good enough for you? Should we expect/demand more? Do you think Hillary would have done better by now?

Click here to View Obama’s top 25 campaign promises

Randi Rhodes Newsletter for Monday May 10th 2010

(Reminder: Do not forget to scroll ALL the way down to bottom of page to read Thom Hartmann`s Newsletter for Monday 10th 2010)

President Obama has nominated Elena Kagan for the US Supreme Court.When she went through the conformation process to become Solicitor General, Kagan was widely considered fairly moderate. As Solicitor General, Kagan lost her first Supreme Case – Citizens’ United – raising questions of her inexperience… questions that will surely be raised again and again in the coming weeks.Until recently, Elena Kagan’s most public fight was banning military recruiters from the campus of Harvard Law on the grounds that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was discriminatory. Kagan also has some former ties to Goldman Sachs that you can bet we’ll hear about – likely in a very exaggerated manner.Bill Clinton nominated Kagan back in 1999 to the US Court of Appeals, but Republicans blocked her nomination from making it to a confirmation vote. In 2003, now Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Roberts got that very seat instead.Why liberals should be concerned about Kagan’s nomination. MoreWhy liberals should give her a chance. More

That Didn't Take LongElena Kagan has never publicly commented on her sexuality. For some, that's not only as good as admitting that's she a lesbian, but by being lesbian she's also not qualified to sit on the bench. Geez...

Golden Girl DeliversBetty White gave SNL their highest ratings in 18 months – watch a just released un-aired “Debbie Downer” sketch featuring Ms. White here.


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Randi Rhodes Newsletter for Friday May 7th 2010

April marks four straight months of job creation – 290,000 jobs were added last month (231,000 private sector adds). February and March also were revised upwards. The unemployment rate ticked up to 9.9% as 805,000 people started looking for work again as hope begins to creep back.

While the bleeding has slowed or even stopped for much of Main Street , there have been 3 million small business jobs cut since the start of the recession and that hole still needs refilling.

Productivity also continues to rise partially on the backs of workers fearing for their jobs. And Thursday’s DOW plunge leaves behind a lot of questions.

Freaky Florida
Big day for weird news out of the Sunshine State... RentBoy speaks out, full body scanner jokes lead to assault, and once again anti-animal sex legislation fails.

For more Randi content, be sure to check out her Daily Homework @ http://RandiRhodes.com

Please give a Warm Welcome to Thom Hartmann....

Welcome a NEW Daily Blogger that I will be posting up here on Stacy`s Words 'Thom Hartman' -infact From now on -at the Bottom of this Page I will post a NEW Thom Hartmann Blog Everyday -as well as Daily Thom Hartmann Audio Blog to the right of this page -I will also post Blogs written by Myself frequently -so be sure to check back EVERYDAY -Enjoy!!
oxox Stacy

Thom's blog for Thursday May 6th 2010:
Dear Leader...Who is and Who isn't a Citizen?
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) is proposing a new law to strip Americans of their citizenship if they're involved with foreign terrorist organizations. Lieberman will introduce the bill, along with Rep. Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has expressed support as well. This bill would empower the State Department to decide -- on its own -- that Americans are conspiring with terror groups and should be stripped of their citizenship. Serving in the army of a foreign state or pledging allegiance to a foreign state would be considered so disloyalty could merit loss of citizen status. Lieberman's law would add involvement with a foreign terror organization -- as opposed to a foreign state -- to this list. Who would determine whether you're involved with a foreign terror group? The State Department would, and they would be "the Decider." Can you imagine the Bush State Department - or the Palin State Department - deciding that you are officially stripped of your citizenship, without a trial before a jury of your peers, in fact with no legal process whatsoever that conforms with the fifth through the eighth amendments of the constitution? Senators Lieberman and Schumer, if they are serious about this, are suggesting we should bring the battlefield of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the United States and destroy the Constitution. If they're so gung-ho to change America from a nation of laws to a dictatorship run by whoever is president, maybe they should renounce their own citizenship and move to Libya or North Korea or some other country where the "dear leader" can decide who is and who isn't a citizen?
-Thom

The first third party to nominate a Presidential candidate. Christian-right politics began in 1826. They accused opponents of being anti-Christian and anti-government. Sound familiar?

The oil slick caused Arnold Schwarzenegger to withdraw support for a plan to expand oil exploration off California's coast. How many more people will wake up to the perils of our dependency on ancient sunlight, including oil? Leonardo DiCaprio was inspired by Thom's book "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" first to make a short web movie, then to make his film, "The 11th Hour". Get the DVD and be inspired too.

The Daily Stack Quote: "Americanism is a question of principles, of idealism, of character: it is not a matter of birthplace or creed or line of descent." -- Theodore Roosevelt.

Hour One: The chemical dispersants being used against the oil spill in the Gulf.
Article: "In Gulf of Mexico, Chemicals Under Scrutiny" by Elisabeth Rosenthal.
Article: "Chemicals Meant To Break Up BP Oil Spill Present New Environmental Concerns" by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica.
Article: "ToxFAQs™ for 2-Butoxyethanol and 2-Butoxyethanol Acetate" by Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Division of Toxicology.

Why do conservatives want to turn America into Pakistan?
Article: "Bill of Rights".

Full Monty alert: "Bad Sex Prompts Scissors Attack".
Article: "McCain: 'Serious mistake' if car bombing suspect was Mirandized" by Michael O'Brien.
Article: "World needs 'bailout plan' for species loss: IUCN" by AFP.
Book: "The Sixth Extinction: Patterns of Life and the Future of Humankind" by Richard E. Leakey.
Site: "Matter of Trust" asking for donations of hair.
Article: "Interior Department Exempted BP Drilling From Environmental Review: In Rush to Expand Offshore Oil Drilling, Interior Secretary Salazar Abandoned Pledge to Reform Industry-dominated Mineral Management Service" by Kierán Suckling.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hour Two: Should all terrorists on the "terrorist watch list" be able to buy a gun? Thom disagrees with Dan Gainor, of the Business and Media Institute.
Article: "N.Y. mayor decries 'terror gap' in U.S. gun laws" by William Branigin.
Pigeon alert: "A Pigeon Riding the Subway".

Geeky Science Rocks! - can you improve your eyesight with mind over matter?
Geeky Science alert: "Vision gets better with the right mind-set: Eyesight improves when people expect to have especially keen vision" by Bruce Bower.
Geeky Science alert: "'Profound' decline in fish stocks shown in UK records" by Richard Black.

Article: "Dispersant 'may make Deepwater Horizon oil spill more toxic'" by Suzanne Goldenberg.
Book: "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" by Nicholas D. Kristof.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hour Three: Is a government sanctioned "Day of Reason" proof that atheism can be a religion? - with David Niose, President, American Humanist Association.
The good: "Phoenix Fans Turn Out For 'Los Suns'" by Amanda Terkel.
The bad: "Limbaugh: "Los Suns" protest from Phoenix Suns is "sad," "shortsighted," "cowardice disguised as I'm better than you"".
The very, very ugly: "Dan Fanelli, Florida Congressional Candidate, Wants To Fight Terror With Racial Profiling (VIDEO)" by Jason Linkins.


Coming up Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program

If it's Friday, it's "Brunch With Bernie"... the honorable Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will be here with all the news from our nation's capitol and as always he'll be spending the hour taking your calls and answering your questions too...

And it's Anything Goes on Townhall Friday...along with the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program... your media support group for we the people.
Thank you for being part of our ever growing community for News, Debate and Opinion on the Thom Hartmann Program.

Sincerely,
The Thom Hartmann Program

Randi Rhodes Newsletter for Wednesday May 5th 2010

One of three leaks in the Gulf has been capped, but the flow remains unchanged. In a closed-door Senate briefing, BP execs admit that the spill could increase to 60,000 barrels (2.52 million gallons) a day. Chemical dispersants being used in record quantities are, for now, considered the lesser of two evils. And is Shell’s “sister rig” in the Gulf a disaster just waiting to happen?Meanwhile, FEMA failure Brownie’s psycho comments on Fox News, earned him and Fox both a White House (video below) and a Chris Matthews smackdown. Hell, when even Bill O’Reilly thinks you’re nuts…And Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu proves that being in the pocket of Big Oil is not a distinction exclusively reserved for Republicans.>>> MORE

Greg Palast - Slick Operator: The BP I've Known Too Well I've seen this movie before. In 1989, I was a fraud investigator hired to dig into the cause of the Exxon Valdez disaster. Despite Exxon's name on that boat, I found the party most to blame for the destruction was ... British Petroleum (BP). More

For more Randi content, be sure to check out her Daily Homework Click to listen to today's audio comedy bit!