------
Friday, February 26th
Lisa welcomed listeners on Friday by admitting that she was "in a mood" because of a news story that has fairly significant implications for the president. Lisa talked about the successful fundraising campaign led by Barack Obama and David Plouffe, which utilized the Internet as a medium for both marketing and outreach. The team was able to raise more than has ever been raised, in small increments. After the campaign was over, Obama continued his campaign under the name "Organizing for America." Lisa signed up for the campaign to stay informed of the messages being sent to supporters, and she says that the messages have always been disturbing to her because they have been in the nature of lobbying for specific reforms. Lisa says that, "when you're president, you're supposed to be president for all of the people."
Lisa said that while although Obama played moderator on the health care reform debate, trying to listen to the opinions of both parties, she is upset because it came out last night that one of the messages that he is sending is that conservative talk radio hosts need to be targeted by people in favor of health care reform on the "Obama side of the equation." She calls the targeting of conservative talk radio hosts extremely insidious. She calls this a move where Obama is being sneaky and an underhanded display of power, in that he is acting only as the president of some people in this situation. She called it a "huge double standard."
As a reminder, Lisa told her audience about a "Meet the Press" event that she would be at for Rudy Marconi, who is running for governor. The free event was held on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Lisa returned from a news break playing a clip from the health care debate, asking viewers their opinions on the forum. Lisa called the discussion educated and informed. She pointed out pros and cons from both the Democratic and Republican sides of the argument. While she found the Democratic argument ideal, she called the Republicans more realistic because of the current financial bind that our country is in. Lisa explained the financial side of the medical industry and how hospitals and those who cannot afford health care are becoming bankrupt, also pointing out the conglomeration of insurance companies.
As an example, Lisa told a story of a friend of hers who went to Norwalk hospital after a board fell on him while he was working as a contractor. He wasn't covered under workman's compensation, and didn't have the appropriate insurance, but Norwalk Hospital treated him, discharging him after one night. The bill was $43,000 for one night's stay in the hospital and several tests. Lisa questions what that bill was about. Her friend first went into panic mode, and then called the hospital to inform them that he did not have insurance. Lisa explained the two-tier system of those with insurance, and those without. After that explanation, he was able to negotiate a deal for hundreds of dollars as opposed to the thousands that he originally owed.
Lisa used this example to show that there is already so much wrong with the health system, saying that she is cynical in thinking that the federal government's plan would be any better. She expressed her opposition of being forced to purchase health insurance under penalty of jail. Health care, Lisa says, will no longer be private. She admits to lying about things that identify her when she does not believe that they're essential to the particular application/situation. If the health care bill is passed, Lisa says, the health care provider will be required to fill out a form similar to the 1099 form with the IRS, who will be the major enforcement agency to cross-check for health insurance. She thinks they should follow a public option like is seen abroad in France or the United Kingdom, especially because tax money is paying for it, but not to fine or imprison those who wish not to participate.
Lisa welcomed Friday's guest, Suzanne Riss, editor-in-chief of Working Mother Magazine. Suzanne was calling from New Jersey, commenting on how snowy the weather was in the area, no different from the weather in Connecticut and New York.
Lisa segued into a story about Obama's policy initiative that is receiving a lot of flack, where he wants to make sure that the people doing business with the federal government are paying their workers a living wage, which in many cases is higher than the wages that they're making now. He is receiving flack because people believe this is his way of helping big businesses at the expense of small businesses and a gift to unions at the expense of small, non-unionized businesses.
Suzanne said that at Working Mother they are very concerned with benefits and wages that women, and really all employees, earn. So, if there's a policy that's being considered to improve wages and benefits, that's something that the magazine is interested in hearing more about, especially because they published a "100 Best Companies" article, where they specifically look at company policies involving wages, benefits, maternity leave, etc. Benefits like this, she says, makes business sense and creates loyal employees.
Lisa calls this a "no-brainer." Suzanne says that the government is not doing all that it can do to protect workers. She says this can be seen in big business where women have to fight for things like lactation rooms. Working moms have a hard time getting benefits in the United States, especially in terms of maternity benefits compared to the rest of the developed world. The United States and Australia, as was discussed on Wednesday, are the only two industrialized countries to not provide mandatory paid maternity leave. Harvard conducted a study of 168 countries, 163 of which provide paid leave.
Lisa suggested to Suzanne that she interview Helen Benedict about the way the American women in the military are being treated. Suzanne called the treatment of women in this country shocking and disturbing, especially as more women are working than ever before, even in the case of being the primary breadwinner.
In terms of statistics, the recession has made a big difference. Men have been much harder hit than women in layoffs, 75 percent of the jobs loss in the recession have been held by men. Fifty-one percent of workers are women, which Suzanne calls historic. Lisa added that women also outnumber men on college campuses. Standard household gender roles, as Suzanne explained, are being renegotiated.
Lisa brings up actress Goldie Hawn and why her first marriage broke up, which she said was because Goldie made more money than her first husband, which ended up causing a great deal of tension in the marriage. Suzanne says that the male ego is delicate and has been bruised badly by the job loss. She suggests that women acknowledge that, because society expects men to be the primary breadwinner, and it's hard for them to identify other positions as worthwhile in the workforce and in the home.
Lisa returned from a news break to continue the conversation about the reversal of traditional gender roles. Thirty-one percent of households have wives earning at least as much as their husbands. Lisa asks Suzanne about why the recession was harder on men, and Suzanne said it was because men were earning more money than their female counterparts. Unfortunately, she said, women still earn seventy-five cents on every dollar that men earn. Lisa asked if this was because negotiations aren't forceful enough. Suzanne says that there are more female CEOs, and that they are getting better at these negotiations, taking the spots as breadwinners for their families. Lisa asked if Working Mother is concerned with the number of men attending college being less than the number of women. Lisa mentioned her concern as a mother to both a son and a daughter. She explained with the number of job losses for men, coupled with the decrease in enrollment in higher education, men fall into a deep depression because of their historical tendency to define themselves by what they do for a living. Suzanne agreed, saying that this is why this time in our economy and society is particularly difficult.
Lisa commented on her own relationship with her husband Bill, who she's been married to for 28 years, saying that he expresses on how he longs for the day when she'll make as much as he does, relieving some of the financial stress placed on men.
Suzanne said for more information, listeners can go to www.workingmother.com to feel a sense of community and really support one another.
Transitioning to news, Lisa mentioned the SeaWorld story about the killer whale. She says that people who train with animals, should operate under the doctrine that they assume the risk. She commented that despite the intelligence that an animal might have, we do things at our own risk. SeaWorld resumed shows on Saturday, but trainers stayed out of the water. The whale was not punished, and remains an active member of the team. Lisa talked about how despite the fact that the animal world is complicated, we are involved with it. She believes that animals and human counterparts can grow rather close, and that animals have emotions and can feel love. Lisa was appalled by the idea that anyone would have even entertained the idea of punishing or killing the whale. She says that the SeaWorld shows are enormous revenue producers, and that money is the only barrier from setting the whales free, relating it to elephants in the circus.
Speaking of the animal world, Lisa mentioned something that was published in the Stamford Advocate, that announced that animal control officers and veterinarians around the region are scrambling to contain one of the worst outbreaks of a deadly virus that can quickly kill dogs by destroying their digestive tracts. It's called called Canine Parvo Virus. Officials say that shelters are are particularly at high risk because of their stray dogs and that the dogs are kept in such close quarters. Puppies are particularly susceptible, because the vaccine doesn't really kick-in until the puppies are 16-weeks old. The vaccine, $20, is given in three doses, and can help prevent the spread of the Parvo Virus.
For 2 tickets to the March 7 showing of The Vagina Monologues, Lisa asked listeners, "Which first lady started a clinic that is very famous for alcohol and drug abuse problems?"
After a news break, Lisa asked listeners to call in about any weather or traffic related news.
A caller named Susan correctly answered Lisa's trivia question with, "Betty Ford." Lisa and Alan proceeded to have a quick lesson on vocabulary, stemming from the word "eponymous."
In news, Lisa talks about Governor Paterson and his issues with David Johnson, who rose from driver to a person with a real name and title. In addition to his work life, his personal life reveals a lot of issues with women, including violent acts. A woman who was recently considering pressing criminal charges was called by the State Police, who Lisa points out have no jurisdiction in domestic disputes. Lisa says it's too noisy for the governor to be around. She then talked about the comparison of baggage between Gov. Paterson and Andrew Cuomo, not to mention Spitzer's media frenzy with prostitution.
In breaking news, a 6.9 earthquake hit off of Japan's southern coast. A tsunami warning was issued as a result of the quake. It occurred off of the coast of Okinawa. The depth of the quake was 6.2 miles. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Lisa makes reference to the Jewish proverb, "We make plans and G-d laughs," saying it's one of the truer phrases, because people cannot control their destiny.
Lisa mentioned weather news talking about the giant iceberg the Mertz Glacier Tongue, at 985 sq. miles, breaking off, that threatens to slow the production of cold, salty water. This could eventually lead to harsher winters, and endanger penguin populations.
Lisa mentioned a discovery about a new device called a "micro ear" or optical tweezer where scientists can listen in to cells, as closely as they look at them. She comments on the brilliance of the idea of utilizing a different sense to learn about the human body. Lisa jokes about her experience with science while mentioning the technical specifics of this device, saying that she graduated from Johns Hopkins, but knows very little about science, playfully calling herself a scientific ignoramus. This device is being called truly exploratory, in that scientists are not sure exactly what they will find. Lisa compares this technology to the idea of a sonogram.
In the last ten minutes of her show, Lisa talked about the organization Jane Doe No More, mentioning that the organization has an event on March 12, 2010 at the Trumbull Marriott. On that note, Lisa mentioned the statute of limitations in child abuse, cutting off a victim at age 48, or 30 years since the alleged victimization. This would mean that people who are victims of these crimes can sue at any time. The argument is that so much time may have elapsed where it may no longer be fair to the accused, especially because of the way evidence changes as a result of unreliable memories, to be prosecuted.
Desiree Rogers resigned from the White House on Friday after receiving a lot of bad press revolving around the reality TV-seeking couple who crashed the white house party in an attempt to be a part of the Bravo series. Desiree said she is parting ways to pursue jobs in the corporate world.
Other interesting news involving comic book sales, an original edition Batman was sold for $1,000,075. Lisa prefers Superman over Batman because of truth and justice. She said the only Batman she ever enjoyed was the Adam West version. She ends her show by once again declaring her enjoyment of Superman by saying, "Clark Kent can turn around in my phone booth anytime, as far as I'm concerned."
Tune into the Lisa Wexler Show to hear the news and schmooze, Monday-Friday, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Written by: Alexandra Kirsch (kirscha2@msu.edu)
3/1/10
2/27/10
Thursday February 25
Lisa started the show today announcing that the focus would be on the Health Care Summit currently under way in Washington. President Obama decided he would bring together leaders and choice representatives from the Senate and the House to a roundtable discussion and talk about what can be agreed upon and and what will have to be changed. Lisa said that she is going to be playing some clips from the summit and she invited listeners to call in and give their opinion. She feels it is important for the people to give their opinions right along with the opinions of our leaders.
Some of the things discussed during the summit have been malpractice insurance and what Texas has done to sort of bring back doctors to that state, and also the deficit.
Lisa then began to play some audio clips from the summit.
Audio Clip #1
President Obama: "The federal budget and state budgets, business budgets and family budgets are all going to be gobbled up by this thing, so I hope that in fact that we have the courage to make some of these changes".
Lisa then played a couple more clips from the summit, stating that Obama's point was that the bottom line is that while we complain and carry on that our federal deficit is bankrupting our children and our children's children with generations of debt, the argument is that if we do not get control over our entitlement programs that we can never in fact get control of our debt. Lisa thinks that one of the main things that we the people need to grapple with is: What is it that we are willing to give up in order to get?
Lisa then plays a couple of audio clips from Tom Coburn congressman from Oklahoma and one of the only former practicing physicians in the house or senate.
Audio Clip #2
Congressman Tom Coburn: "..And that is we get stuck in the idea of treating the symptom instead of the disease",
"If we got together and fixed fraud we could cut health care by 7.5% tomorrow"
"So what we ought to do is do the Willy Sutton plan, we ought to go to where the money is".
Lisa agrees that a lot of the way Medicare, Medicaid, and other government programs are administered are full of inefficiencies and red tape, and the time and money spent to unravel that is something that none of us look forward to. But Lisa believes that most people would agree that it is far better to deal with private enterprise than some government program, with the exception maybe of our health insurance companies. And therein lies the rub.
Lisa then played a couple of clips featuring Lamar Alexander regarding the increasing and current astronomical cost of malpractice insurance in this country for OB GYN doctors. Lisa stated that she personally knows doctors who no longer practice obstetrics and gynecology because they cannot afford the $300,000 per year insurance premiums. Mr. Alexander also said that he believed that the approach to the Health Care Crisis is to sit down and start with a blank piece of paper. Obama put the nix on that idea pretty definitively. Also the process of reconciliation was brought up numerous times.
Going to break, Lisa announces that she will lighten up the conversation a bit with a report from the Olympics in Vancouver later and then further discussion on the Health care summit from Washington. She will also have tickets to give away.
Back from break, Lisa switched gears and welcomed her Olympic correspondent Mr. Crai Bower. Mr. Bower said that the weather has not been great, and there have been some visibility issues for the spectators and cloud issues. Lisa wanted to know what the big stories were in Vancouver, what everybody was talking about, and who the heros and the villians are? Mr. Bower said that the real story is how after the games Canada will be pulling back their support going forward. Lisa wanted to know why that is and Mr. Bower thought that it had to do with economic realities and the fact that in the mind of Canada the Olympics is their showcase this year because it was in Canada.
Lisa asked for Mr. Bower to clear up for her audience exactly what happened with the speed skater who was told by his coach to take the wrong lane and ended up disqualified from the event, costing him a gold medal. He explained that for 3 of the 4 laps around the stadium the skater takes the lane marked "Lap" and that on the 4th time around they are supposed to take the lane called "finish". The Dutch coach made an error and didn't send the skater to the finish lap and he was disqualified.
Commercial Break
When Lisa came back she reported that the Wall Street Journal was reporting that the final medal count might come down to the event known as "Curling". Mr. Bower talked about how captivating and popular the sport has become. He said it is sweeping the U.S. right now.
Lisa asked Mr. Bower about figure skating and he said that the big story in Canada right now in the figure skating realm is the commentator who had made fun of Johnny Weir and his sexual orientation. In Canada any kind of disparaging remark about one's sexual orientation is taken very seriously. Canada is considered the most tolerant country in the world with regard to ones sexual orientation, offering its people complete marital rights to gays and lesbians.
Mr. Bower then said that the match-up this evening with the USA and Canada women's hockey teams is something he hopes that NBC will cover. He believes they are the best two teams out there due to Canada and the US's University system and title 9.
Lisa asked if he knew Tammy Dryden and he thought the name sounded familiar, so Lisa explained that she had met Tammy at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting several years back. Tammy had been part of the Gold Medal women's hockey team in Salt Lake City. She decided she wanted to become a sports broadcaster and so she and Lisa ended up in class together.
For more information and to read Crai Bower's blog you can go to www.skiresorts.com.
Commercial Break
Coming from break Lisa mentioned that although the temperature is near 40, there is some talk of very treacherous weather to come. Stay tuned to WSTC/WNLK for updates.
Lisa also wanted listener "Joy" who had called in and won tickets last week, to call back in so they can get her last name. There will be a problem at will call without it.
Then Lisa gave today's trivia question: "What was the name of the woman credited with bringing birth control and birth control rights to America?"
She asked listeners to call in and answer the trivia question to win a pair of tickets to the local production of "The Vagina Monologues". These tickets are worth $70.00!
Jane Green will be there as well as Dani Shapiro, and other well known names from the area.
Lisa then went into her part of the show known as "News stories you may have missed". The first story came from the middle section of The New York Times. The story was about the police officer who shot and killed Travis the Chimp in Stamford. The policeman gave his own news conference on Tuesday and talked about how traumatic it was for him to have to kill Travis. He had known the chimp personally for 15 years. The city of Stamford paid for all of his mental health bills. Lisa then said that there is actually a bill in Hartford right now that would make it mandatory for mental health bills to be paid for any officer having to kill an animal in the line of duty. Lisa can't believe we actually need to have legislation for this. Lisa believes that we need no more statutes to deal with things like this, but that we can follow common law in cases.
Commercial Break
When Lisa returned from break, she announced that President Obama was making closing remarks at the Health Care Summit, ending a very candid, intense and thoughtful discussion today. She believes that Democrats and Republicans both had a chance to give their point of view. Some of the more important points of the summit were, do we have a commitment to insuring all Americans? Should we as Congressman offer the rest of the country what we get as Congressman? If we should, we should do it now and not wait. And if we shouldn't then why? Why aren't all Americans entitled to what we have?
During the summit Rep. Eric Cantor (R), was chastised by President Obama for bringing the entire 2000 page health care bill into the meeting.
Lisa then said that she wanted to play more audio clips from the summit and began with John McCain audio in which he says that both he and Obama during the campaign had promised change in Washington, but that unfortunately this health care bill was not done in that fashion. To which President Obama stated that the election is over. Mr. McCain said he is reminded of that everyday.
Lisa said that although they had received calls from listeners during the break that no one had given the right answer yet, so she is going to let it ride through the next break. She also said that her listeners are very smart people, and that someone will call with the correct answer.
Next Lisa played audio clips featuring speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi. Her audio clip was summed up by Lisa as being along the same line as Charlie Rangle, which is Americans are not so much interested in the process as they are in the result.
Other audio was played by Rep. Hoyer talking about the lack of transparency. Not until today has the American people had a view into the discussions.
Lisa wanted to ask a question to her listeners "What is wrong with your status quo right now? Because all we keep hearing about is how unhappy everyone is with their health insurance. She asked listeners to call in and tell her about their own "war story". She then told her own personal story of dealing with her health care. She was happy with the way she was able to in 10 minutes secure an appointment with one of the most prestigious surgeons at Yale. She also said that the way you find the "best" doctor is to ask your own doctors. Ask your internist, your dermatologist, you general practioner and when you start getting the same name over and over you'll know. Don't forget about asking about a surgeon's hands.
Commercial Break
When Lisa returned she had a caller named Anita who was able to answer the trivia question correctly. The answer was Margaret Sanger. Lisa shared some interesting facts about Mrs. Sanger, including the fact that her mother had had 18 pregnancies and 11 births in her life. Ultimately she died of cervical cancer and tuberculosis. She was an activist who risked a lot, including violating the Comstock law regarding obscenity of that time, to get information to women about avoiding pregnancy.
Lisa then shared that she at times like everyone else gets sick and tired of the health care debate. Sometimes we all want to turn our heads and cover our ears to it, but it's not going away and we are going to have to face that and deal with it. It affects every one of us. We are going to play more audio when we return and she invited listerners to call in.
Coming back from break Lisa said that she had seen Harry Reid outside the capital talking to the press and saying that President Obama was the most patient man ever, and that the Republicans simply went off of their talking points but that it didn't matter because he and the rest of the Democrats were going to get something done regardless.
Lisa explained that there is some other news going on right now including Bernie Madoff's son and wife have changed their last name for their children to avoid the stigma that is attached to Madoff. They will now be known as Morgan. From Jews to Wasps in one fell swoop! Lisa agrees that this is a good idea. The children are innocent victims.
Another story that comes from the Washington Post, is that although the Obama administration said they were going to create a consumer protection agency to oversea and regulate Wall Street, that instead of creating a whole new agency they would be fine with having a regulator inside another agency like the treasury dept.
Next Lisa talked about the Governor Paterson scandal. She gave some background about his aide David Johnson who started out as Gov. Patersons driver but then was promoted to the upper echelon of Gov. Patersons office. Mr. Johnson's girlfriend is said to have tried to file domestic battery and assault charges against Mr. Johnson, but that after phone calls from the state police and the Governor himself, no charges materialized. The atty general is going to investigate. Lisa said that she had met Governor Paterson and she found him to be a charming and engaging man, but that it's becoming obvious that he is not up to the job.
The next news story that Lisa talked about was Goldman Sachs. She said that while helping Greece, Goldman Sachs invested in Credit swap defaults. They are now being investigated.
Lisa then went back to the Health Care discussion today and asked listeners who caught any of it to call in and give their views. Lisa shared that she does not like a lot of things in the current 2000 page health reform bill, including making insurance mandatory and having the IRS police and fine and possibly jail Americans for not having it.
News, weather and Traffic Break
Coming from break Lisa said she is now hearing some Republicans talking to the press and saying that what needs to be done is a blank piece of paper needs to brought to the table and start over. Lisa agrees that really this sounds like a good idea, and isn't this what negotiating is? You start with what you can agree on and go from there. It just seems to her that Democrats have the attitude our way or no way! Then Lisa wanted to end the show playing a couple more audio cuts from Jay Rockefeller, Eric Cantor and others.
Lisa concluded the show sharing a story she has told before about how the press exaggerates so much. She has seen it first hand. She went to Yale as a member of the press to cover Hillary Clinton's speech while she was campaigning for President. A few days earlier in New Hampshire she had cried, and some credited the crying for her win there. During this speech at Yale, she was given a wonderful and beautiful introduction by an old friend and teacher at Yale about how far she had come and how proud they were of her. When she stood up she said "I'm not going to cry", and then went on with her speech. However, right next to Lisa she was able to watch another reporter on his laptop file a story entitled "Hillary cries again". It was such a biased, gross distortion. And she is reminded of this event because already there is a headline out that says "Obama and McCain Feud at summit".
Written By: Michael Schweitzer
Lisa started the show today announcing that the focus would be on the Health Care Summit currently under way in Washington. President Obama decided he would bring together leaders and choice representatives from the Senate and the House to a roundtable discussion and talk about what can be agreed upon and and what will have to be changed. Lisa said that she is going to be playing some clips from the summit and she invited listeners to call in and give their opinion. She feels it is important for the people to give their opinions right along with the opinions of our leaders.
Some of the things discussed during the summit have been malpractice insurance and what Texas has done to sort of bring back doctors to that state, and also the deficit.
Lisa then began to play some audio clips from the summit.
Audio Clip #1
President Obama: "The federal budget and state budgets, business budgets and family budgets are all going to be gobbled up by this thing, so I hope that in fact that we have the courage to make some of these changes".
Lisa then played a couple more clips from the summit, stating that Obama's point was that the bottom line is that while we complain and carry on that our federal deficit is bankrupting our children and our children's children with generations of debt, the argument is that if we do not get control over our entitlement programs that we can never in fact get control of our debt. Lisa thinks that one of the main things that we the people need to grapple with is: What is it that we are willing to give up in order to get?
Lisa then plays a couple of audio clips from Tom Coburn congressman from Oklahoma and one of the only former practicing physicians in the house or senate.
Audio Clip #2
Congressman Tom Coburn: "..And that is we get stuck in the idea of treating the symptom instead of the disease",
"If we got together and fixed fraud we could cut health care by 7.5% tomorrow"
"So what we ought to do is do the Willy Sutton plan, we ought to go to where the money is".
Lisa agrees that a lot of the way Medicare, Medicaid, and other government programs are administered are full of inefficiencies and red tape, and the time and money spent to unravel that is something that none of us look forward to. But Lisa believes that most people would agree that it is far better to deal with private enterprise than some government program, with the exception maybe of our health insurance companies. And therein lies the rub.
Lisa then played a couple of clips featuring Lamar Alexander regarding the increasing and current astronomical cost of malpractice insurance in this country for OB GYN doctors. Lisa stated that she personally knows doctors who no longer practice obstetrics and gynecology because they cannot afford the $300,000 per year insurance premiums. Mr. Alexander also said that he believed that the approach to the Health Care Crisis is to sit down and start with a blank piece of paper. Obama put the nix on that idea pretty definitively. Also the process of reconciliation was brought up numerous times.
Going to break, Lisa announces that she will lighten up the conversation a bit with a report from the Olympics in Vancouver later and then further discussion on the Health care summit from Washington. She will also have tickets to give away.
Back from break, Lisa switched gears and welcomed her Olympic correspondent Mr. Crai Bower. Mr. Bower said that the weather has not been great, and there have been some visibility issues for the spectators and cloud issues. Lisa wanted to know what the big stories were in Vancouver, what everybody was talking about, and who the heros and the villians are? Mr. Bower said that the real story is how after the games Canada will be pulling back their support going forward. Lisa wanted to know why that is and Mr. Bower thought that it had to do with economic realities and the fact that in the mind of Canada the Olympics is their showcase this year because it was in Canada.
Lisa asked for Mr. Bower to clear up for her audience exactly what happened with the speed skater who was told by his coach to take the wrong lane and ended up disqualified from the event, costing him a gold medal. He explained that for 3 of the 4 laps around the stadium the skater takes the lane marked "Lap" and that on the 4th time around they are supposed to take the lane called "finish". The Dutch coach made an error and didn't send the skater to the finish lap and he was disqualified.
Commercial Break
When Lisa came back she reported that the Wall Street Journal was reporting that the final medal count might come down to the event known as "Curling". Mr. Bower talked about how captivating and popular the sport has become. He said it is sweeping the U.S. right now.
Lisa asked Mr. Bower about figure skating and he said that the big story in Canada right now in the figure skating realm is the commentator who had made fun of Johnny Weir and his sexual orientation. In Canada any kind of disparaging remark about one's sexual orientation is taken very seriously. Canada is considered the most tolerant country in the world with regard to ones sexual orientation, offering its people complete marital rights to gays and lesbians.
Mr. Bower then said that the match-up this evening with the USA and Canada women's hockey teams is something he hopes that NBC will cover. He believes they are the best two teams out there due to Canada and the US's University system and title 9.
Lisa asked if he knew Tammy Dryden and he thought the name sounded familiar, so Lisa explained that she had met Tammy at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting several years back. Tammy had been part of the Gold Medal women's hockey team in Salt Lake City. She decided she wanted to become a sports broadcaster and so she and Lisa ended up in class together.
For more information and to read Crai Bower's blog you can go to www.skiresorts.com.
Commercial Break
Coming from break Lisa mentioned that although the temperature is near 40, there is some talk of very treacherous weather to come. Stay tuned to WSTC/WNLK for updates.
Lisa also wanted listener "Joy" who had called in and won tickets last week, to call back in so they can get her last name. There will be a problem at will call without it.
Then Lisa gave today's trivia question: "What was the name of the woman credited with bringing birth control and birth control rights to America?"
She asked listeners to call in and answer the trivia question to win a pair of tickets to the local production of "The Vagina Monologues". These tickets are worth $70.00!
Jane Green will be there as well as Dani Shapiro, and other well known names from the area.
Lisa then went into her part of the show known as "News stories you may have missed". The first story came from the middle section of The New York Times. The story was about the police officer who shot and killed Travis the Chimp in Stamford. The policeman gave his own news conference on Tuesday and talked about how traumatic it was for him to have to kill Travis. He had known the chimp personally for 15 years. The city of Stamford paid for all of his mental health bills. Lisa then said that there is actually a bill in Hartford right now that would make it mandatory for mental health bills to be paid for any officer having to kill an animal in the line of duty. Lisa can't believe we actually need to have legislation for this. Lisa believes that we need no more statutes to deal with things like this, but that we can follow common law in cases.
Commercial Break
When Lisa returned from break, she announced that President Obama was making closing remarks at the Health Care Summit, ending a very candid, intense and thoughtful discussion today. She believes that Democrats and Republicans both had a chance to give their point of view. Some of the more important points of the summit were, do we have a commitment to insuring all Americans? Should we as Congressman offer the rest of the country what we get as Congressman? If we should, we should do it now and not wait. And if we shouldn't then why? Why aren't all Americans entitled to what we have?
During the summit Rep. Eric Cantor (R), was chastised by President Obama for bringing the entire 2000 page health care bill into the meeting.
Lisa then said that she wanted to play more audio clips from the summit and began with John McCain audio in which he says that both he and Obama during the campaign had promised change in Washington, but that unfortunately this health care bill was not done in that fashion. To which President Obama stated that the election is over. Mr. McCain said he is reminded of that everyday.
Lisa said that although they had received calls from listeners during the break that no one had given the right answer yet, so she is going to let it ride through the next break. She also said that her listeners are very smart people, and that someone will call with the correct answer.
Next Lisa played audio clips featuring speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi. Her audio clip was summed up by Lisa as being along the same line as Charlie Rangle, which is Americans are not so much interested in the process as they are in the result.
Other audio was played by Rep. Hoyer talking about the lack of transparency. Not until today has the American people had a view into the discussions.
Lisa wanted to ask a question to her listeners "What is wrong with your status quo right now? Because all we keep hearing about is how unhappy everyone is with their health insurance. She asked listeners to call in and tell her about their own "war story". She then told her own personal story of dealing with her health care. She was happy with the way she was able to in 10 minutes secure an appointment with one of the most prestigious surgeons at Yale. She also said that the way you find the "best" doctor is to ask your own doctors. Ask your internist, your dermatologist, you general practioner and when you start getting the same name over and over you'll know. Don't forget about asking about a surgeon's hands.
Commercial Break
When Lisa returned she had a caller named Anita who was able to answer the trivia question correctly. The answer was Margaret Sanger. Lisa shared some interesting facts about Mrs. Sanger, including the fact that her mother had had 18 pregnancies and 11 births in her life. Ultimately she died of cervical cancer and tuberculosis. She was an activist who risked a lot, including violating the Comstock law regarding obscenity of that time, to get information to women about avoiding pregnancy.
Lisa then shared that she at times like everyone else gets sick and tired of the health care debate. Sometimes we all want to turn our heads and cover our ears to it, but it's not going away and we are going to have to face that and deal with it. It affects every one of us. We are going to play more audio when we return and she invited listerners to call in.
Coming back from break Lisa said that she had seen Harry Reid outside the capital talking to the press and saying that President Obama was the most patient man ever, and that the Republicans simply went off of their talking points but that it didn't matter because he and the rest of the Democrats were going to get something done regardless.
Lisa explained that there is some other news going on right now including Bernie Madoff's son and wife have changed their last name for their children to avoid the stigma that is attached to Madoff. They will now be known as Morgan. From Jews to Wasps in one fell swoop! Lisa agrees that this is a good idea. The children are innocent victims.
Another story that comes from the Washington Post, is that although the Obama administration said they were going to create a consumer protection agency to oversea and regulate Wall Street, that instead of creating a whole new agency they would be fine with having a regulator inside another agency like the treasury dept.
Next Lisa talked about the Governor Paterson scandal. She gave some background about his aide David Johnson who started out as Gov. Patersons driver but then was promoted to the upper echelon of Gov. Patersons office. Mr. Johnson's girlfriend is said to have tried to file domestic battery and assault charges against Mr. Johnson, but that after phone calls from the state police and the Governor himself, no charges materialized. The atty general is going to investigate. Lisa said that she had met Governor Paterson and she found him to be a charming and engaging man, but that it's becoming obvious that he is not up to the job.
The next news story that Lisa talked about was Goldman Sachs. She said that while helping Greece, Goldman Sachs invested in Credit swap defaults. They are now being investigated.
Lisa then went back to the Health Care discussion today and asked listeners who caught any of it to call in and give their views. Lisa shared that she does not like a lot of things in the current 2000 page health reform bill, including making insurance mandatory and having the IRS police and fine and possibly jail Americans for not having it.
News, weather and Traffic Break
Coming from break Lisa said she is now hearing some Republicans talking to the press and saying that what needs to be done is a blank piece of paper needs to brought to the table and start over. Lisa agrees that really this sounds like a good idea, and isn't this what negotiating is? You start with what you can agree on and go from there. It just seems to her that Democrats have the attitude our way or no way! Then Lisa wanted to end the show playing a couple more audio cuts from Jay Rockefeller, Eric Cantor and others.
Lisa concluded the show sharing a story she has told before about how the press exaggerates so much. She has seen it first hand. She went to Yale as a member of the press to cover Hillary Clinton's speech while she was campaigning for President. A few days earlier in New Hampshire she had cried, and some credited the crying for her win there. During this speech at Yale, she was given a wonderful and beautiful introduction by an old friend and teacher at Yale about how far she had come and how proud they were of her. When she stood up she said "I'm not going to cry", and then went on with her speech. However, right next to Lisa she was able to watch another reporter on his laptop file a story entitled "Hillary cries again". It was such a biased, gross distortion. And she is reminded of this event because already there is a headline out that says "Obama and McCain Feud at summit".
Written By: Michael Schweitzer
2/26/10
Wed 2-24-10
Lisa started the show on Wednesday by telling listeners to stay tuned to News/Talk 1400 WSTC / 1350 WNLK for the latest in weather and traffic reports because of the second round of snow hitting the area this weekend.
Transitioning into hard news and human-interest stories, Lisa discussed news about Mosab Hassan Yousef, 32, who is the son of one of the founders of Hamas, Sheikh Hassan Yousef. Mosab claims that he was one of the top Israeli agents, nicknamed the "Green Prince," by Shin Bet (the Israeli CIA). According to Haaretz, Mosab supplied key intelligence on almost a daily basis from 1996 onwards, tracking down suicide bombers and handlers from Hamas, his father's organization. The information he supplied led to the arrest Marwan Barghouti, and some of the other most wanted men by the Israeli authorities.
Mosab Hassan Yousef has published a book called Son of Hamas (Salt River Press), which reveals information about his missions with Shin Bet.
Lisa mentioned another news story that she has been following about the assassination of a Hamas leader at a hotel in Dubai. The original blame was placed on Israel's Mossad, however Dubai officials now admit that they are being led to believe that the cause was from a Hamas insider. Lisa calls the story fascinating because it reminds her of anecdotes from a spy novel.
Reflecting back on Mosab Yousef, Lisa quotes him by saying that it is impossible for Hamas to make peace with Israel because it is against what their G-d tells them. They can only make a cease-fire. He then says that the Hamas militants are responsible for the deaths of Palestinians, not Israelis.
Lisa told about her own experience in Israel right before the war with Lebanon in 2006. She described her location in Northern Israel at a point between Syria and Lebanon, which is where the capture of Gilad Shalit took place. Mosab Yousef, who is a practicing Christian now living in California, says that he wishes he could be in Gaza now to fight for the liberation of Gilad Shalit. Mosab does not believe that the current procedure of prisoner exchanges is an appropriate tactic in freeing Shalit.
Also in human interest, Lisa shares a news story from Argentina. The story involves the "Dirty War" (1976-1983) where Argentinian security forces rounded up pregnant women and tortured them. The news story revolves around a man named Abel Madariaga, whose wife was kidnapped and never found. When Madariaga's wife was kidnapped, she was pregnant, and the baby was taken and adopted. Years later after a DNA test, Madariaga Quintela, 32, was matched with his biological father Abel Madariaga.
After a news break, Lisa talked about the news in Italy about the Google executives who were convicted in a case involving freedom of Internet and human rights. There was a video that was uploaded on Google that involved several children bullying a child with Down syndrome. Parents requested that Google remove the video, and Google complied. An advocacy group alerted prosecutors about the video. This is the first case of its time because Google executives are being held for the content on their site. Lisa relates this to suing publishers for the content that they control and distribute, saying that the Internet is totally different than that because of the sheer volume of content being uploaded daily. Google plans to appeal the decision because, "it attacks the principles of freedom on which the Internet was built." It is important to understand, Lisa points out, that none of these people were involved with the production of this video, nor did they upload it onto the viewing platform. The prosecutors argue that it should have been noticed because it was on the "most viewed" list. Lisa pondered that it is interesting to examine what exactly the Internet is, and if Google should be held responsible. Lisa does not believe they should be prosecuted.
On the topic of media, Lisa discussed Murdoch investing heavily with the Rotana television. Lisa is fascinated to see what will happen to the content once the deal between Murdoch and the Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Tala goes through.
Lisa introduced her guest Wednesday, Helen Benedict, by saying she should win a Pulitzer Prize in investigative journalism for the work she does. Benedict's book, "The Lonely Soldier", was commented on by the creator of "The Vagina Monologues", Eve Ensler, who said "it is hard to determine what is most disturbing about this book: the devious and immoral tactics used by leaders and recruiters to get women to join the military, the terrible poverty and violence that women were escaping that led them to be vulnerable to such manipulation, the raping and harassing of women soldiers by their superiors and comrades once they got to Iraq." Ensler calls this book important, and a crucial account of the war on women who gave their lives for their country.
Lisa asked Helen how many women were serving in the US Military at the time of her reporting, and how many are reporting now. In the Middle East, mostly Iraq, Helen places the figure near 206,000 women. Lisa asked about the history of women being segregated in the military, versus being integrated with the men. Helen said it began after Vietnam, when women were not allowed to carry weapons and were kept as nurses, in separate jobs and quarters. After the draft when the military needed more bodies, it opened a lot more jobs to women. President Kennedy believed in women having equal opportunity in military jobs. Over 90 percent of military jobs are open to women except for infantry and calvary divisions.
Lisa asked Helen to talk about one of the stories in the book, so she chose to focus on the character of Abby who comes from Wisconsin. In Abby's hometown, many kids joined the military, and it was an accepted and honored path. Abby joined the National Guard before 9/11. Despite her vision of the National Guard, she was deployed to Iraq to be a combat soldier following 9/11. She was deployed with an engineering unit that was historically all male. The men were not comfortable having women there, and had crates of pornographic magazines, made sexual harassment remarks, and they looked at women as embarrassing and incompetent.
Abby was in a mortar attack on her base, and worked to save people, dragging bodies out. She was nominated for a Bronze Star, but her commander spoke against her because he was against any woman being recognized for honor. The hostility and abuse drove Abby out of the military. The men who are accused of harassment are not prosecuted because the military cannot afford to lose their fighters.
Lisa asked Helen whether this was simply a rush to political correctness, in integrating forces. She wonders why women and men are trained separately. Helen responded by saying that in the Marines women and men are separated during training. Before taking a call, Lisa asked if Helen had conducted a comparison into the way women are treated in the Israeli Army versus the US Army. Helen found that the biggest problem in the US Army is the isolation of women. Whereas in the Israeli Army there isn't the isolation problem, Israeli women are stilled banned from ground combat, as are Americans. She stresses that sexual harassment and abuse is not unique to the US Army, but that it happens in the Israeli Army, too -- though she says the harassment in the Israeli Army is more closely related to that which would happen in the civilian world or in the office setting.
Lisa mentioned that US Navy submarines are now being integrated. The problem of abuse, Helen says, is the men's problem, not the women's.
Lisa and Helen agree that the men need to learn how to behave. A caller who had a brief moment to talk said that he believes things should be kept segregated, because "boys will be boys" as Lisa paraphrased.
Lisa admitted that because she is not from a military family, she doesn't have enough experience to comment on it.
Staying on the topic of treatment of women, Lisa switched the focus to the treatment of women who take maternity leave. The European Union is thinking of making a change to make it compulsory for employers to pay women on maternity leave for 20 weeks with full pay. The current law in the UK is that the first six weeks are 90 percent of pay, followed by 33 weeks of statutory maternity pay of 123 pounds per week. Women on maternity leave cannot be fired for one year.
The US and Australia do not have mandatory maternity leave benefits. France, Singapore, and Austria offer 4-months. Swedish mothers get paid for a year and a half at 80 percent of their salary.
Lisa has been self-employed for a long time but when she was pregnant with her son in 1986 she was working with a company who did not pay her for maternity leave. Lisa worked until her due date, commuting from Westchester to Manhattan. After her son was born, Lisa's boss called her inquiring when she would return, and she was confused because of an arrangement where she thought she had until November to return, and when her boss needed an immediate answer, Lisa ruled in favor of family.
Lisa is surprised because that happened back in 1986, and still in 2010 we do not have mandatory maternity leave pay.
Lisa returned from a news break making a comment about you can date your life by the "soundtrack of your life," and the songs that were released throughout your life.
Back to the idea of maternity leave, Lisa explained that we're on-par with Ghana, Swaziland and Zambia who also do not provide women with mandatory paid maternity leave. Sudan only gives 8 weeks. Less developed countries around the world give full and partially paid leave. Lisa calls it a matter of priorities.
On the subject of maternity, Lisa mentions a story about the Octo-Mom not ruling out having more children. Lisa says, "Sweetheart, tie your tubes." Lisa believes that the hardest job is being a parent, but it's not one that anyone is particularly qualified for.
Speaking of parents in the news, Charlie Sheen's wife Brooke Mueller has checked herself into rehab, according to TMZ.com. Charlie decided to preemptively check himself into rehab, as well. Lisa wonders then, who is taking care of their baby twins?
Before the news break, Lisa mentioned that a new Vincent Van Gogh painting has been discovered. It depicts several human figures, not brightly colored, and it was believed to be painted in 1886.
Lisa came back from another news break by talking about a story involving education and Mayor Bloomberg in his efforts to get rid of the "dead wood" in schools. In Providence, Rhode Island, 82 teachers were fired from Central Falls High School because Central Falls High School was in the bottom 5 percent in performance compared to other schools in the state. The American Federation of Teachers was very angry about this, and went out to protest. The US Secretary of Education applauded the district for doing what he believes is right for the students, and was not standing with the union. After negotiations broke down, the superintendent no longer believed the high school could be transformed, hence choosing the turn-around model.
Lisa thinks that maybe we need to start over in some of these schools. The superintendent said that up to 50 percent of those teachers will be hired back in the turn-around model.
Lisa mentioned that her appearance at the Taste of Stamford has been postponed until next Thursday because of the weather that's coming to the area.
Focusing on some more news, Lisa brought up the disaster in Haiti. According to the Wall Street Journal, approximately 30 percent of the surgeries performed in make-shift operating rooms will have to be re-done. Many wounds are already dirty and diseases like malaria are posing a problem in the tented communities.
In other news, the senate is disposing of the Volcker proposal to reinstate the rule that would prohibit banks from risky trading opportunities. Chris Dodd will unveil the plan next week. Risky trading at banks will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, but apparently will not be banned outright.
In more financial news, over 20,000 people gathered to strike in Greece because of the country's financial problems. The government announced freezing civil-service wages, public-sector entitlements, and the closing of tax loopholes in the case of certain professions. The fuel tax will be increased (Wall Street Journal).
Wrapping up the show, Lisa asked Mike, the board-op, about his favorite Olympic event so far, and he said it was figure skating because of the beauty behind it. He called it majestic. Lisa said the most exciting for her was an extreme skiing sport, but that her favorite was figure skating.
Written by: Alexandra Kirsch (kirscha2@msu.edu)
Lisa started the show on Wednesday by telling listeners to stay tuned to News/Talk 1400 WSTC / 1350 WNLK for the latest in weather and traffic reports because of the second round of snow hitting the area this weekend.
Transitioning into hard news and human-interest stories, Lisa discussed news about Mosab Hassan Yousef, 32, who is the son of one of the founders of Hamas, Sheikh Hassan Yousef. Mosab claims that he was one of the top Israeli agents, nicknamed the "Green Prince," by Shin Bet (the Israeli CIA). According to Haaretz, Mosab supplied key intelligence on almost a daily basis from 1996 onwards, tracking down suicide bombers and handlers from Hamas, his father's organization. The information he supplied led to the arrest Marwan Barghouti, and some of the other most wanted men by the Israeli authorities.
Mosab Hassan Yousef has published a book called Son of Hamas (Salt River Press), which reveals information about his missions with Shin Bet.
Lisa mentioned another news story that she has been following about the assassination of a Hamas leader at a hotel in Dubai. The original blame was placed on Israel's Mossad, however Dubai officials now admit that they are being led to believe that the cause was from a Hamas insider. Lisa calls the story fascinating because it reminds her of anecdotes from a spy novel.
Reflecting back on Mosab Yousef, Lisa quotes him by saying that it is impossible for Hamas to make peace with Israel because it is against what their G-d tells them. They can only make a cease-fire. He then says that the Hamas militants are responsible for the deaths of Palestinians, not Israelis.
Lisa told about her own experience in Israel right before the war with Lebanon in 2006. She described her location in Northern Israel at a point between Syria and Lebanon, which is where the capture of Gilad Shalit took place. Mosab Yousef, who is a practicing Christian now living in California, says that he wishes he could be in Gaza now to fight for the liberation of Gilad Shalit. Mosab does not believe that the current procedure of prisoner exchanges is an appropriate tactic in freeing Shalit.
Also in human interest, Lisa shares a news story from Argentina. The story involves the "Dirty War" (1976-1983) where Argentinian security forces rounded up pregnant women and tortured them. The news story revolves around a man named Abel Madariaga, whose wife was kidnapped and never found. When Madariaga's wife was kidnapped, she was pregnant, and the baby was taken and adopted. Years later after a DNA test, Madariaga Quintela, 32, was matched with his biological father Abel Madariaga.
After a news break, Lisa talked about the news in Italy about the Google executives who were convicted in a case involving freedom of Internet and human rights. There was a video that was uploaded on Google that involved several children bullying a child with Down syndrome. Parents requested that Google remove the video, and Google complied. An advocacy group alerted prosecutors about the video. This is the first case of its time because Google executives are being held for the content on their site. Lisa relates this to suing publishers for the content that they control and distribute, saying that the Internet is totally different than that because of the sheer volume of content being uploaded daily. Google plans to appeal the decision because, "it attacks the principles of freedom on which the Internet was built." It is important to understand, Lisa points out, that none of these people were involved with the production of this video, nor did they upload it onto the viewing platform. The prosecutors argue that it should have been noticed because it was on the "most viewed" list. Lisa pondered that it is interesting to examine what exactly the Internet is, and if Google should be held responsible. Lisa does not believe they should be prosecuted.
On the topic of media, Lisa discussed Murdoch investing heavily with the Rotana television. Lisa is fascinated to see what will happen to the content once the deal between Murdoch and the Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Tala goes through.
Lisa introduced her guest Wednesday, Helen Benedict, by saying she should win a Pulitzer Prize in investigative journalism for the work she does. Benedict's book, "The Lonely Soldier", was commented on by the creator of "The Vagina Monologues", Eve Ensler, who said "it is hard to determine what is most disturbing about this book: the devious and immoral tactics used by leaders and recruiters to get women to join the military, the terrible poverty and violence that women were escaping that led them to be vulnerable to such manipulation, the raping and harassing of women soldiers by their superiors and comrades once they got to Iraq." Ensler calls this book important, and a crucial account of the war on women who gave their lives for their country.
Lisa asked Helen how many women were serving in the US Military at the time of her reporting, and how many are reporting now. In the Middle East, mostly Iraq, Helen places the figure near 206,000 women. Lisa asked about the history of women being segregated in the military, versus being integrated with the men. Helen said it began after Vietnam, when women were not allowed to carry weapons and were kept as nurses, in separate jobs and quarters. After the draft when the military needed more bodies, it opened a lot more jobs to women. President Kennedy believed in women having equal opportunity in military jobs. Over 90 percent of military jobs are open to women except for infantry and calvary divisions.
Lisa asked Helen to talk about one of the stories in the book, so she chose to focus on the character of Abby who comes from Wisconsin. In Abby's hometown, many kids joined the military, and it was an accepted and honored path. Abby joined the National Guard before 9/11. Despite her vision of the National Guard, she was deployed to Iraq to be a combat soldier following 9/11. She was deployed with an engineering unit that was historically all male. The men were not comfortable having women there, and had crates of pornographic magazines, made sexual harassment remarks, and they looked at women as embarrassing and incompetent.
Abby was in a mortar attack on her base, and worked to save people, dragging bodies out. She was nominated for a Bronze Star, but her commander spoke against her because he was against any woman being recognized for honor. The hostility and abuse drove Abby out of the military. The men who are accused of harassment are not prosecuted because the military cannot afford to lose their fighters.
Lisa asked Helen whether this was simply a rush to political correctness, in integrating forces. She wonders why women and men are trained separately. Helen responded by saying that in the Marines women and men are separated during training. Before taking a call, Lisa asked if Helen had conducted a comparison into the way women are treated in the Israeli Army versus the US Army. Helen found that the biggest problem in the US Army is the isolation of women. Whereas in the Israeli Army there isn't the isolation problem, Israeli women are stilled banned from ground combat, as are Americans. She stresses that sexual harassment and abuse is not unique to the US Army, but that it happens in the Israeli Army, too -- though she says the harassment in the Israeli Army is more closely related to that which would happen in the civilian world or in the office setting.
Lisa mentioned that US Navy submarines are now being integrated. The problem of abuse, Helen says, is the men's problem, not the women's.
Lisa and Helen agree that the men need to learn how to behave. A caller who had a brief moment to talk said that he believes things should be kept segregated, because "boys will be boys" as Lisa paraphrased.
Lisa admitted that because she is not from a military family, she doesn't have enough experience to comment on it.
Staying on the topic of treatment of women, Lisa switched the focus to the treatment of women who take maternity leave. The European Union is thinking of making a change to make it compulsory for employers to pay women on maternity leave for 20 weeks with full pay. The current law in the UK is that the first six weeks are 90 percent of pay, followed by 33 weeks of statutory maternity pay of 123 pounds per week. Women on maternity leave cannot be fired for one year.
The US and Australia do not have mandatory maternity leave benefits. France, Singapore, and Austria offer 4-months. Swedish mothers get paid for a year and a half at 80 percent of their salary.
Lisa has been self-employed for a long time but when she was pregnant with her son in 1986 she was working with a company who did not pay her for maternity leave. Lisa worked until her due date, commuting from Westchester to Manhattan. After her son was born, Lisa's boss called her inquiring when she would return, and she was confused because of an arrangement where she thought she had until November to return, and when her boss needed an immediate answer, Lisa ruled in favor of family.
Lisa is surprised because that happened back in 1986, and still in 2010 we do not have mandatory maternity leave pay.
Lisa returned from a news break making a comment about you can date your life by the "soundtrack of your life," and the songs that were released throughout your life.
Back to the idea of maternity leave, Lisa explained that we're on-par with Ghana, Swaziland and Zambia who also do not provide women with mandatory paid maternity leave. Sudan only gives 8 weeks. Less developed countries around the world give full and partially paid leave. Lisa calls it a matter of priorities.
On the subject of maternity, Lisa mentions a story about the Octo-Mom not ruling out having more children. Lisa says, "Sweetheart, tie your tubes." Lisa believes that the hardest job is being a parent, but it's not one that anyone is particularly qualified for.
Speaking of parents in the news, Charlie Sheen's wife Brooke Mueller has checked herself into rehab, according to TMZ.com. Charlie decided to preemptively check himself into rehab, as well. Lisa wonders then, who is taking care of their baby twins?
Before the news break, Lisa mentioned that a new Vincent Van Gogh painting has been discovered. It depicts several human figures, not brightly colored, and it was believed to be painted in 1886.
Lisa came back from another news break by talking about a story involving education and Mayor Bloomberg in his efforts to get rid of the "dead wood" in schools. In Providence, Rhode Island, 82 teachers were fired from Central Falls High School because Central Falls High School was in the bottom 5 percent in performance compared to other schools in the state. The American Federation of Teachers was very angry about this, and went out to protest. The US Secretary of Education applauded the district for doing what he believes is right for the students, and was not standing with the union. After negotiations broke down, the superintendent no longer believed the high school could be transformed, hence choosing the turn-around model.
Lisa thinks that maybe we need to start over in some of these schools. The superintendent said that up to 50 percent of those teachers will be hired back in the turn-around model.
Lisa mentioned that her appearance at the Taste of Stamford has been postponed until next Thursday because of the weather that's coming to the area.
Focusing on some more news, Lisa brought up the disaster in Haiti. According to the Wall Street Journal, approximately 30 percent of the surgeries performed in make-shift operating rooms will have to be re-done. Many wounds are already dirty and diseases like malaria are posing a problem in the tented communities.
In other news, the senate is disposing of the Volcker proposal to reinstate the rule that would prohibit banks from risky trading opportunities. Chris Dodd will unveil the plan next week. Risky trading at banks will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, but apparently will not be banned outright.
In more financial news, over 20,000 people gathered to strike in Greece because of the country's financial problems. The government announced freezing civil-service wages, public-sector entitlements, and the closing of tax loopholes in the case of certain professions. The fuel tax will be increased (Wall Street Journal).
Wrapping up the show, Lisa asked Mike, the board-op, about his favorite Olympic event so far, and he said it was figure skating because of the beauty behind it. He called it majestic. Lisa said the most exciting for her was an extreme skiing sport, but that her favorite was figure skating.
Written by: Alexandra Kirsch (kirscha2@msu.edu)
2/23/10
Lisa started her show today on a sad note, discussing the death of her brother-in-law Bobby Zarin's mother, Miriam Zarin, who was 89 years old. She said the funeral service was beautiful, which she calls a juxtaposition to the story on the front page of today's New York Times involving the Brooke Astor case. Brooke Astor lived to be 104 years old, and in her later years her son grew anxious. He had his mother sign a new will, despite her likely incompetent state at the time. Her grandson, Philip Marshall, felt his own father was taking advantage of Brooke Astor, and so he petitioned the court to have a new guardian in place. That action led to a whole host of inquiry, and criminal charges followed. The district attorney made an example of this case, because in reality, it's not so rare.
Lisa described Miriam Zarin's funeral, and said that her family expressed how devoted to family she was. The maintenance and well-being of her family was Miriam's priority -- family above everything. People joined together at the funeral, committed to the values that she had transmitted to them. Her financial rewards were irrelevant, because the thing of value for Miriam Zarin was not money, but was family and love.
Lisa returned from a news break, again expressing her condolences for the loss of Miriam Zarin, the mother of Lisa's brother-in-law.
Lisa explained that as an attorney, she finds this aspect of the Astor case rather unique. She explained that this was different from the usual jury tampering situation,which involved outside influence. In case this, one of the people on the Astor jury claimed she she was threatened by another member of the jury. The juror said she was afraid for her own life, and submitted a note to the judge. Surprisingly, though, the judge did not proceed to question the jury on this matter. The juror felt that the judge would not have protected her, so she voted to convict. Lisa believes that this new fact should not be let go, because it could have had an impact on the turn out of the case. After seeing the affidavit, Lisa thinks that it should be ruled a mistrial.
On today's show, Lisa welcomes guests Cathleen Schine, author of The Three Weissmanns of Westport, as well as Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. Lisa called Pacelle because of an article she read about California having an animal cruelty registry similar to that which exists for sex offenders. Lisa expressed that she does not agree with animal cruelty and things like declawing cats to save furniture, or debarking dogs.
Before the break, Lisa asked listeners Alan how much money he thought the top four earners in the US earned in 2007, and he quickly responded, "$20 million." Alan was off by millions, the actual number was $345 million each. This, Lisa said, is just one reason why we experience a "class warfare." Not to mention, they were only taxed an average of 16.6 percent on that money.
After resolving a bit of technical difficulty, Lisa introduced her first guest, Cathleen Schine, whose newest book, "The Three Weissmanns of Westport", is about two sisters and their mother who end up living in Westport, CT. Lisa has lived in Westport for over 20 years and was naturally drawn to this title. Cathleen said she grew up in Westport and visits frequently, so she has a real connection with the area.
Cathleen talks about the book, saying it's about three women who "fall off of a financial cliff." Lisa applauds Cathleen on how she sets up the stage of her book. Cathleen explained how she found interest in a person's choice of evaluating his own moral code, and how many people justify that because they're mostly good people, all of their actions are good, which is not always the case. She explains that she drew inspiration from Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility". Lisa and Cathleen agree that the capacity for self-delusion never wanes.
Lisa connects the concepts she and Cathleen were discussing to her sister Jill's show, "The Real Housewives of New York City". Lisa says that this show is a certifiable hit because people enjoy looking at the self-delusion of other people on-screen, and they enjoy criticizing, making fun, or relating to those experiences. Cathleen thinks that's also the reason people enjoy reality programs like "American Idol." Lisa believes that through these things, though, society has elevated narcissism. She says this is not limited to reality stars, but extends to politicians and other public figures.
Cathleen brought up the concept of self-esteem and how it almost wrongly asserts that criticism should never happen. She shared a comical anecdote of telling her children to clean up, and their joking response was, "you're destroying my self esteem!" These trends, she says, go back and forth.
Lisa calls Cathleen's book both deep and fun. Cathleen says she doesn't really think about the reader when writing, she really just wants to explore the characters she creates. After writing her books, she looks at them, hoping readers take away something about the way people behave and think, that they might not have thought of or understood well before. None of the characters were really based on Cathleen, but she says she became most fascinated with the mother, Betty, in the novel.
Cathleen says she loves the beaches in Westport, especially in the early morning and evening, avoiding the hot sun. She says she avoids the "new" Westport because it spoils the fantasy of the Westport she grew up in. She calls it a very beautiful town, with a tremendous amount of traffic, which is much different from when she was growing up in the area.
Judging from the demographic of the area, Cathleen says that Westport is a much wealthier town now than it was when she was growing up. Cathleen will be at the Westport Public Library on Wednesday at noon, and at the Westport Playhouse on March 4.
After returning from a short news break, Lisa focuses on the national sphere, with President Obama. Obama wants to revisit the healthcare by getting around the initial problem by reconciliation. It's an administrative way, a sneaky procedural way, to tinker with 1/6th of the nation's economy. Lisa thinks he is making a terrible mistake that will backfire on him. Lisa discussed the public hope that Obama would come as a constitutional scholar, and that he is not exactly filling those shoes.
Lisa sifts through the day's headlines: Obama unveils a healthcare reform plan, posted in Politico, which lacks a public option. Lisa references the Brian Lehrer show, and how it is the best 2 hours, besides her show of course, of talk radio. She jokes that he's not as sing-songy as she is. Lisa heard on Brian's show that there is now a lawsuit coming out of Virginia attacking the idea of a mandatory health insurance plan. Their basis for this comes from the 10th Amendment to the Constitution. Virginia makes the argument that the government does not have the specific right to make people buy healthcare. Although healthcare insurance is often compared to auto insurance, it is different because there is no "right" to have a driver's license. Consequently, if you opt to get a license, you must have auto insurance. If you do not have a car, you do not need the insurance. With health care, because you exist, you will be required to get health insurance.
Lisa returned from another news break to talk more about health care, focusing on melanoma, and announcing that doctors believe that they are close to finding a cure for the potentially fatal skin cancer (The New York Times). The drug, referred to as PLX4032, is used because, as Dr. Keith Flaherty says, "it is based on what makes cancer tick."
Tracking back to the health care reform debate, Lisa questions if Obama is tone deaf in trying to put together this reconciliation effort. There is some confusing language about medicare, the price tag is $900 billion, but Lisa thinks it will be far more by the time it is actually implemented.
The language has been changed by Obama's team for rhetoric's sake from "change" to "reform," which is ironic because they mean essentially the same thing.
Health care reform advocates were happy with Obama's endorsement of the reconciliation efforts. Since the house passed its bill, Nancy Pelosi is starting with a bare majority of 217 votes in the 433-member house. Lisa thinks that Obama is using this as a ploy to get Republicans to the table to do something.
Switching gears, Lisa talks about latest calamity to impact our country's youth. There is a call to place a warning label on hotdogs by the American Association of Pediatrics, not because of the nutritional value of the food, but the form. They want to place a warning label because of the choking hazard to youth and babies. Lisa is sarcastic, wondering essentially how much more coddling we are going to enforce on our nation's youth.
Lisa came back from a news break to reflect on her day, and how going to the funeral just really takes something out of you. She feels that at a funeral many people are probably wondering what would be said about them at their own funerals and how many people would attend the service for them. That's what she thinks about, to be sure.
Lisa's final guest for tonight's show was Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Human Society of the United States. Lisa asked Wayne to come on the show today to discuss the subject of animal rights. California, as Lisa discussed, is on the forefront of all kinds of trends, and in this case, it's with the animal abuse registry. Wayne said that The Humane Society put out a rating of policies by state for animal welfare, and California came out on top as number 1.
The animal abuse registry so that people in the community can understand that there is someone who has been convicted of felony animal abuse, all in an effort to protect the community. Animal cruelty, as Wayne explained, is a serious crime and is a sign of a deeper pathology.
Lisa asked Wayne about the obvious, and perhaps not so obvious forms of animal cruelty. The registry would really involve only felony-level penalties that involve the most malicious cruelties. Animal abuse is an antecedent to violence against people, he explained, and so these people are also dangers to the community if they remain unpunished.
In terms of community action, Wayne explained that the principal is the same as other registries. Basically, he said, you're making this person known for their crime, and it is a discouraging element to them being in a community. Broadly, however, it sends a message that people cannot get away with animal cruelty and being on said registry would be like wearing a scarlet letter.
People who are involved in these crimes need to receive counseling and treatment, Wayne explained, because by simply flagging them on a registry, the problem has not be solved.
Wayne will be in Connecticut on Tuesday at Yale for a debate at the Yale Political Union. The discussion will be about not sacrificing animal welfare for human convenience. When it comes to fur, Lisa admits to not feeling as guilty when she wears a 30-year-old fur, but she does feel guilty.
Wayne believes that factory farming is a big problem, because they use a small number of breeds in factories, and he believes that preserving these breeds of livestock is very important. Wayne says his mission and thought is that all animals, no matter their purpose, should be treated humanely.
The biggest category of animal cruelty that The Humane Society is involved in is illegal dog and cock fighting. This is the more seriously treated animal cruelty crime in the country.
Lisa thanked Wayne, and he suggested that they go to www.humanesociety.org for more information.
Tune into The Lisa Wexler Show tomorrow from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. for more on breaking news and intriguing interviews!
Written by: Alexandra Kirsch (kirscha2@msu.edu)
Lisa described Miriam Zarin's funeral, and said that her family expressed how devoted to family she was. The maintenance and well-being of her family was Miriam's priority -- family above everything. People joined together at the funeral, committed to the values that she had transmitted to them. Her financial rewards were irrelevant, because the thing of value for Miriam Zarin was not money, but was family and love.
Lisa returned from a news break, again expressing her condolences for the loss of Miriam Zarin, the mother of Lisa's brother-in-law.
Lisa explained that as an attorney, she finds this aspect of the Astor case rather unique. She explained that this was different from the usual jury tampering situation,which involved outside influence. In case this, one of the people on the Astor jury claimed she she was threatened by another member of the jury. The juror said she was afraid for her own life, and submitted a note to the judge. Surprisingly, though, the judge did not proceed to question the jury on this matter. The juror felt that the judge would not have protected her, so she voted to convict. Lisa believes that this new fact should not be let go, because it could have had an impact on the turn out of the case. After seeing the affidavit, Lisa thinks that it should be ruled a mistrial.
On today's show, Lisa welcomes guests Cathleen Schine, author of The Three Weissmanns of Westport, as well as Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. Lisa called Pacelle because of an article she read about California having an animal cruelty registry similar to that which exists for sex offenders. Lisa expressed that she does not agree with animal cruelty and things like declawing cats to save furniture, or debarking dogs.
Before the break, Lisa asked listeners Alan how much money he thought the top four earners in the US earned in 2007, and he quickly responded, "$20 million." Alan was off by millions, the actual number was $345 million each. This, Lisa said, is just one reason why we experience a "class warfare." Not to mention, they were only taxed an average of 16.6 percent on that money.
After resolving a bit of technical difficulty, Lisa introduced her first guest, Cathleen Schine, whose newest book, "The Three Weissmanns of Westport", is about two sisters and their mother who end up living in Westport, CT. Lisa has lived in Westport for over 20 years and was naturally drawn to this title. Cathleen said she grew up in Westport and visits frequently, so she has a real connection with the area.
Cathleen talks about the book, saying it's about three women who "fall off of a financial cliff." Lisa applauds Cathleen on how she sets up the stage of her book. Cathleen explained how she found interest in a person's choice of evaluating his own moral code, and how many people justify that because they're mostly good people, all of their actions are good, which is not always the case. She explains that she drew inspiration from Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility". Lisa and Cathleen agree that the capacity for self-delusion never wanes.
Lisa connects the concepts she and Cathleen were discussing to her sister Jill's show, "The Real Housewives of New York City". Lisa says that this show is a certifiable hit because people enjoy looking at the self-delusion of other people on-screen, and they enjoy criticizing, making fun, or relating to those experiences. Cathleen thinks that's also the reason people enjoy reality programs like "American Idol." Lisa believes that through these things, though, society has elevated narcissism. She says this is not limited to reality stars, but extends to politicians and other public figures.
Cathleen brought up the concept of self-esteem and how it almost wrongly asserts that criticism should never happen. She shared a comical anecdote of telling her children to clean up, and their joking response was, "you're destroying my self esteem!" These trends, she says, go back and forth.
Lisa calls Cathleen's book both deep and fun. Cathleen says she doesn't really think about the reader when writing, she really just wants to explore the characters she creates. After writing her books, she looks at them, hoping readers take away something about the way people behave and think, that they might not have thought of or understood well before. None of the characters were really based on Cathleen, but she says she became most fascinated with the mother, Betty, in the novel.
Cathleen says she loves the beaches in Westport, especially in the early morning and evening, avoiding the hot sun. She says she avoids the "new" Westport because it spoils the fantasy of the Westport she grew up in. She calls it a very beautiful town, with a tremendous amount of traffic, which is much different from when she was growing up in the area.
Judging from the demographic of the area, Cathleen says that Westport is a much wealthier town now than it was when she was growing up. Cathleen will be at the Westport Public Library on Wednesday at noon, and at the Westport Playhouse on March 4.
After returning from a short news break, Lisa focuses on the national sphere, with President Obama. Obama wants to revisit the healthcare by getting around the initial problem by reconciliation. It's an administrative way, a sneaky procedural way, to tinker with 1/6th of the nation's economy. Lisa thinks he is making a terrible mistake that will backfire on him. Lisa discussed the public hope that Obama would come as a constitutional scholar, and that he is not exactly filling those shoes.
Lisa sifts through the day's headlines: Obama unveils a healthcare reform plan, posted in Politico, which lacks a public option. Lisa references the Brian Lehrer show, and how it is the best 2 hours, besides her show of course, of talk radio. She jokes that he's not as sing-songy as she is. Lisa heard on Brian's show that there is now a lawsuit coming out of Virginia attacking the idea of a mandatory health insurance plan. Their basis for this comes from the 10th Amendment to the Constitution. Virginia makes the argument that the government does not have the specific right to make people buy healthcare. Although healthcare insurance is often compared to auto insurance, it is different because there is no "right" to have a driver's license. Consequently, if you opt to get a license, you must have auto insurance. If you do not have a car, you do not need the insurance. With health care, because you exist, you will be required to get health insurance.
Lisa returned from another news break to talk more about health care, focusing on melanoma, and announcing that doctors believe that they are close to finding a cure for the potentially fatal skin cancer (The New York Times). The drug, referred to as PLX4032, is used because, as Dr. Keith Flaherty says, "it is based on what makes cancer tick."
Tracking back to the health care reform debate, Lisa questions if Obama is tone deaf in trying to put together this reconciliation effort. There is some confusing language about medicare, the price tag is $900 billion, but Lisa thinks it will be far more by the time it is actually implemented.
The language has been changed by Obama's team for rhetoric's sake from "change" to "reform," which is ironic because they mean essentially the same thing.
Health care reform advocates were happy with Obama's endorsement of the reconciliation efforts. Since the house passed its bill, Nancy Pelosi is starting with a bare majority of 217 votes in the 433-member house. Lisa thinks that Obama is using this as a ploy to get Republicans to the table to do something.
Switching gears, Lisa talks about latest calamity to impact our country's youth. There is a call to place a warning label on hotdogs by the American Association of Pediatrics, not because of the nutritional value of the food, but the form. They want to place a warning label because of the choking hazard to youth and babies. Lisa is sarcastic, wondering essentially how much more coddling we are going to enforce on our nation's youth.
Lisa came back from a news break to reflect on her day, and how going to the funeral just really takes something out of you. She feels that at a funeral many people are probably wondering what would be said about them at their own funerals and how many people would attend the service for them. That's what she thinks about, to be sure.
Lisa's final guest for tonight's show was Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Human Society of the United States. Lisa asked Wayne to come on the show today to discuss the subject of animal rights. California, as Lisa discussed, is on the forefront of all kinds of trends, and in this case, it's with the animal abuse registry. Wayne said that The Humane Society put out a rating of policies by state for animal welfare, and California came out on top as number 1.
The animal abuse registry so that people in the community can understand that there is someone who has been convicted of felony animal abuse, all in an effort to protect the community. Animal cruelty, as Wayne explained, is a serious crime and is a sign of a deeper pathology.
Lisa asked Wayne about the obvious, and perhaps not so obvious forms of animal cruelty. The registry would really involve only felony-level penalties that involve the most malicious cruelties. Animal abuse is an antecedent to violence against people, he explained, and so these people are also dangers to the community if they remain unpunished.
In terms of community action, Wayne explained that the principal is the same as other registries. Basically, he said, you're making this person known for their crime, and it is a discouraging element to them being in a community. Broadly, however, it sends a message that people cannot get away with animal cruelty and being on said registry would be like wearing a scarlet letter.
People who are involved in these crimes need to receive counseling and treatment, Wayne explained, because by simply flagging them on a registry, the problem has not be solved.
Wayne will be in Connecticut on Tuesday at Yale for a debate at the Yale Political Union. The discussion will be about not sacrificing animal welfare for human convenience. When it comes to fur, Lisa admits to not feeling as guilty when she wears a 30-year-old fur, but she does feel guilty.
Wayne believes that factory farming is a big problem, because they use a small number of breeds in factories, and he believes that preserving these breeds of livestock is very important. Wayne says his mission and thought is that all animals, no matter their purpose, should be treated humanely.
The biggest category of animal cruelty that The Humane Society is involved in is illegal dog and cock fighting. This is the more seriously treated animal cruelty crime in the country.
Lisa thanked Wayne, and he suggested that they go to www.humanesociety.org for more information.
Tune into The Lisa Wexler Show tomorrow from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. for more on breaking news and intriguing interviews!
Written by: Alexandra Kirsch (kirscha2@msu.edu)
Lisa started her show on Friday with a round-up of some local stories. One involved an arrest warrant for two men who have not been arrested yet for an alleged rape in Westport. She also mentioned a story in Stamford, where the town is appropriating $250,000 in order to find the source of the well water taints. Lisa explained that the story is of particular interest to her because she had a friend who passed away fairly prematurely and her main source of water came from a well, whereas the deceased's mother lived until she was 96. The final story in Lisa's round-up, also from Stamford, was about the state's decision to approve the expansion plans for Stamford Hospital. Lisa is not so concerned with how the expansion will be paid for, however, she mentioned the several hospitals already in existence in the area, and how she wonders how this will be absorbed by the community. Also in medical news, a local doctor was instructed to discard 80 thousand doses of the H1N1 vaccine because the dosages were recalled.
Before a news break, Lisa talks about her guest Dani Shapiro, who will be joining her later in the show, and Dani's new book, "Devotion". Lisa commented on her love for reading, especially Dani's books, and on how she eats and reads at the same time, joking about how when she reads an anecdote that aggravates her, she'll eat a bit more than she should. But, as Lisa says, that's a whole other story. Dani's book is a nonfiction memoir about a woman's internal struggle to grasp at G-d, or spirituality, or a practice, that makes her feel balanced and whole in the world. Lisa calls Dani's book deep, and a definite worthwhile read.
Lisa switched gears talking about an update at Yale where school applications would now be bilingual to now include Spanish (Yale Daily News). The bilingual accommodations will extend to the admissions video, which will feature Spanish subtitles. This is part of an ongoing trend, according to the article, for colleges and universities throughout the nation to provide admissions information to Latino students and parents who are not fluent in English. Their dean of admissions, Jeff Brenzel, explained that students must be fluent enough in English to understand admissions materials without translation, and these new efforts are aimed more toward parents.
Lisa asked listeners their opinions on the subject, given Yale's highly regarded position in the local, national, and international context. Lisa says that on one hand, she understands exactly why the school is making these efforts to reach out to as many people as they can, while acknowledging the large population of Hispanic youth in the United States. On the other hand, however, Lisa explains that as a proficient Spanish speaker, she believes in the idea that people who have access to learning a second language should take advantage of it. That being said, she believes that if you are going to go to Yale, you should be fluent in the language of the university. She believes that because language is culture, we transmit our culture through a fluent English language.
After a quick news break, Lisa chatted about her weekend plans which included an "old-fashioned do nothing day" on Saturday, and having family over on Sunday. She jokes that the great procrastinator strikes again, in reference to delving into her taxes.
Looking again at the Yale story, Lisa mentions how Yale says that its actions are part of an emerging trend, and that it is likely that the other Ivy League universities will follow in Yale's path. She stresses that her issue is not with Spanish, she loves the language and its culture, however, she is a believer that English should be the official language. She admits it is a hot-buttoned issue, and references Quebec and its feelings of being a separate country because of its choice to speak French as opposed to English. She explained that other cultures have influenced the English language, which is part of why it is so rich and such a fabulous language, but it's still English. We need to examine, Lisa commented, the message being sent when so many documents are being made bilingual. By making people fluent in English, Lisa believes that we are to some extent doing them a favor, and we're doing us a favor. Lisa referenced a proposition in California where people had the opportunity to vote on whether or not they were in favor of continuing bilingual education. The Hispanic majority actually voted to discontinue it. In New York, which has the second largest bilingual track of education, there was not a similar opportunity. Lisa argues that separate is far from equal when it comes to bilingual education. She also mentioned the topic of immersion and how young children are often able to easily absorb, like a sponge, the other language via immersion.
Lisa took a call regarding the language debate, and the caller commented on his aggravation with the way that Americans speak English. Lisa and her caller agreed that when Americans learn foreign languages, they better learn and understand sentence structure. Lisa believes that because the first piece of paper that universities receive and review is the admission application, the elite universities should require it to be in English.
Lisa returned from another news break talking more about youth and education. This story involved a student from a school in Philadelphia whose parents allege that school officials used a web cam on a school-issued laptop to spy on their 15-year-old son at home. There was a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in a federal court, which states that the principal of the school approached the 15 year old to discuss improper behavior in his own home. This is an illegal invasion of privacy, where the school had the ability to turn on the web cams on these school-issued laptops. The computers issued by the school were Apple MacBooks with built-in web cams. Lisa explained that this was an example of a misappropriation of power.
The school district tried to defend itself by saying that it would never abuse the security feature attached with the web cams. The feature was implemented as an anti-theft precaution, however in this instance the 15-year-old boy was the rightful user of the device. All 2300 high school students in the district were given laptops by the district after receiving a grant for that purpose. Parents are reacting to the situation with shock, wondering if their children have also been victims.
Lisa said that thing that aggravates her most is that the more we take away civil liberties from our students, the less we teach them about what it means to be free. These are gross violations of civil rights, she added.
On the same thought of privacy violations, Lisa mentioned a story that surfaced in November in California about a man who walked into a Sprint store to purchase 30 BlackBerry devices. A Sprint employee felt that this was potentially a fraudulent purchase, and did not trust the address given, so the man was arrested for felony and identity fraud after searching his iPhone without probable cause. Lisa mentioned how people treat their electronic devices, and how they store such personal information as they grow more capable. Lisa argues that searching through a PDA or cell phone is more unreasonable in terms of search and seizure without a warrant, as opposed to the old law that might allow the search and seizure of a notebook, or something that required less investigation and digging to find a solution.
In other Connecticut news, Governor Rell is agreeing with Senator Duff and is withholding the release of $5 million for Waypointe economic development plan. Lisa feels that if there is a reason to delay the plans, then they should be delayed, because once the development is up, it's up.
Switching gears, Lisa mentioned that next Thursday she'll be at Stamford doing a "tasting of Stamford," where the show will be held live. The event is held at the Stamford Plaza Hotel and Lisa encouraged her audience to come visit and schmooze while tasting the food and participating in the event. Also in local events, Lisa mentioned a political event at the Ridgefield Playhouse, where she'll be a week from Saturday. There will also be a screening of the movie "Rudy".
Lisa returned from a news break, commenting on the dissappointing state of her denim jeans, which she says she buys intact and not shredded, saying that she just realized that they've begun to shred on their own.
Thinking about stories that affect the world, "you and me," she jokes after the grammar discussion she had earlier with a caller, she opened up the debate to talk about the Tiger Woods fiasco. She called this Friday, "Chatty chatt, gabby gabby Friday," where listeners can call and talk about anything that's on their mind.
Lisa transitioned to the Olympics, saying she's an ice skating devotee, and commented on the appearance of the male skaters, and how they look less and less like men. She went on to discuss a skater who has been heavily criticized by PETA for his choice to wear outfits decked with fur. Lisa believes, however, that no one deserves to have paint thrown on them or action taken against them for what they wear, instead people should strive to educate each other about their decisions. Lisa continued to reminisce about the past Olympic skaters, with a little Olympic history. She discussed the 1960s plane crash that killed a host of important Olympic skaters. She went on to explain that Peggy Fleming was one of the most graceful dancers to emerge after that era.
Lisa comically comes back from a news break by questioning her identity and location, only to continue by singing an excerpt from "A Chorus Line" by Marvin Hamlisch. "Who Am I Anyway? Am I My Resume? That is a picture.. of a person I don't know..." Lisa talks a bit about her upcoming guest, Dani Shapiro, and then talks about a news story about the 5 Muslims who allegedly attempted to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson Military Installation. She also mentioned news about the rebranding of the Iraqi war. It is no longer being called Operation Iraqi Freedom, but instead Operation New Dawn, to focus on a change in mission for US soldiers in Iraq. This sends a strong signal, according to the memo, that Operation Iraqi Freedom has ended. Lisa wonders how much this new "logo" for the war cost.
Because of its reporting on the John Edwards' affair, The National Enquirer is up for a Pulitzer Prize. Lisa explained that she has found that everything that has been reported as of late in The National Enquirer has turned out to be true. This wasn't true in the past, but lately, they have been redeeming themselves.
In comparison on the topic of believability, Lisa mentioned Jackie Collins' appearance on the show last week, and how she admitted to toning her writing down because what she writes is not nearly as outrageous as what people actually do.
Lisa returned to the topic of the male ice skaters and their lady-like costumes, Johnny Weir being the topic of discussion.
Also returning to the Tiger Woods fiasco, Lisa plays some of the speech from Tiger Woods' press conference where he spoke in front of a group of hand-picked people and a few members of the press to address his recent indiscretions. Lisa laughs because he sounds like a programmed robot, not very natural. Lisa calls his excuses old, and his sincerity absent. Lisa said if she were Elin, she would take the kids and get away, with a man who has decent values. She says that once trust is demolished, it is very hard to rebuild, especially because these were repeated affairs, not isolated incidents, which would have been bad enough.
Lisa had a caller talk about how the television and cameras change how we receive and perceive people, and how we idolize and demonize celebrities because they are brought into our lives so easily.
Lisa welcomed guest Dani Shapiro. Lisa rarely recommends bluntly that listeners go out and buy a book, but she is making an exception in the case of Dani Shapiro's, "Devotion" (published by Harper, formerly Harper Collins). Dani's original publisher was Knopf, and she moved with Devotion over to Harper. Lisa asked Dani to take over a bit and introduce herself to the audience. Dani grew up in a suburb of New Jersey, right outside of Manhattan, in an Orthodox Jewish family. Her father was from a very devout, religious New York family, but her mother was not from a religious family. They agreed, though, that they would raise their children as orthodox.
She doesn't go as far as to say that her parents had a happy marriage, so much as a contentious marriage. Her mother's decision to be Orthodox was such a tough thing, to live by the very strict rules and rituals, despite not believing in many of those things. Many of their battles, she says, were over how to raise her. She said that she spent her early education at Yeshiva (Jewish parochial school) and attending a prep school for high school. She jokes that her father got the first half of Dani's education, and her mother "won the battle" and got the second half. She talked about the difficulty of adhering to all of the orthodox restraints, one aspect being observation of Shabbat. Lisa shared a story about a friend who was unaware of her Jewish roots until she was in Israel at age 22 and a woman suggested she find out. She confirmed that she was Jewish, and tried to follow a religious lifestyle. She married a man who converted to Judaism and became a Hasid, however, she could not follow the rituals as he became more and more observant, and their relationship ended in divorce.
Lisa transitions to discuss "Devotion", which is a chronicle of Dani's own search for meaning. She asked Dani about yoga, which was a steady theme of the book and in her life. Dani said she found yoga in her late 20s, and loved the physical practice, but then fell into the spiritual aspect of the practice. Because of her religious background, Dani found herself very skeptical and hesitant about anything considered religious or spiritual.
The women discuss the interesting aspect that almost all of the American teachers who brought Buddhism to the West were Jewish. They talk about the "Jew-Bu" phenomenon that many people scoff at. Dani says that there is an affinity between Buddhists and Jews because of the search for knowledge and questioning.
Dani mentions Sylvia Boorstein, whom she spoke with when writing "Devotion". Boorstein is a Buddhist and observant Jew, who sees no contradiction between the two religions, which was so different from the "in or out" rules that Dani had in her childhood upbringing.
Lisa came back from a news break to announce an event that Dani Shapiro has organized with the JCC in Manhattan on March 1st at 7 p.m. The three teachers that helped her along the journey to write her memoir, "Devotion", she jokes that she met, "a rabbi, a Buddhist, and a yogi." She says that she had her eyes open to the people who had something to teach her. Dani and her teachers will talk about what it means to create a spiritual life, and Dani's own journey along that path.
Lisa asks Dani about how she includes religion in the way she raises her son, Jacob. Dani explained that she has infused their lives with Judaism, and that her son does attend Hebrew school and they are members of a synagogue because that is important to her to have in her life and her family's life. She explains that she is proud of her heritage, it just wasn't very relevant to her life.
Lisa explains her family's experience with not feeling like a minority and feeling comfortable in their own skin as Jewish people.
Dani explained that there was once a situation at a private school where her son was the only Jewish kid at the school, and she felt that that was not OK. She wants her son to be at home in the world, feeling comfortable in everything that he is, in every kind of environment.
For Dani's event at the JCC in Manhattan, tickets are necessary and are available on the JCC's Website.
Tune in to the Lisa Wexler Show Monday through Friday 4 p.m.-6p.m. for the latest in news and views on a variety of relevant topics!
Written by Alexandra Kirsch (kirscha2@msu.edu)
Before a news break, Lisa talks about her guest Dani Shapiro, who will be joining her later in the show, and Dani's new book, "Devotion". Lisa commented on her love for reading, especially Dani's books, and on how she eats and reads at the same time, joking about how when she reads an anecdote that aggravates her, she'll eat a bit more than she should. But, as Lisa says, that's a whole other story. Dani's book is a nonfiction memoir about a woman's internal struggle to grasp at G-d, or spirituality, or a practice, that makes her feel balanced and whole in the world. Lisa calls Dani's book deep, and a definite worthwhile read.
Lisa switched gears talking about an update at Yale where school applications would now be bilingual to now include Spanish (Yale Daily News). The bilingual accommodations will extend to the admissions video, which will feature Spanish subtitles. This is part of an ongoing trend, according to the article, for colleges and universities throughout the nation to provide admissions information to Latino students and parents who are not fluent in English. Their dean of admissions, Jeff Brenzel, explained that students must be fluent enough in English to understand admissions materials without translation, and these new efforts are aimed more toward parents.
Lisa asked listeners their opinions on the subject, given Yale's highly regarded position in the local, national, and international context. Lisa says that on one hand, she understands exactly why the school is making these efforts to reach out to as many people as they can, while acknowledging the large population of Hispanic youth in the United States. On the other hand, however, Lisa explains that as a proficient Spanish speaker, she believes in the idea that people who have access to learning a second language should take advantage of it. That being said, she believes that if you are going to go to Yale, you should be fluent in the language of the university. She believes that because language is culture, we transmit our culture through a fluent English language.
After a quick news break, Lisa chatted about her weekend plans which included an "old-fashioned do nothing day" on Saturday, and having family over on Sunday. She jokes that the great procrastinator strikes again, in reference to delving into her taxes.
Looking again at the Yale story, Lisa mentions how Yale says that its actions are part of an emerging trend, and that it is likely that the other Ivy League universities will follow in Yale's path. She stresses that her issue is not with Spanish, she loves the language and its culture, however, she is a believer that English should be the official language. She admits it is a hot-buttoned issue, and references Quebec and its feelings of being a separate country because of its choice to speak French as opposed to English. She explained that other cultures have influenced the English language, which is part of why it is so rich and such a fabulous language, but it's still English. We need to examine, Lisa commented, the message being sent when so many documents are being made bilingual. By making people fluent in English, Lisa believes that we are to some extent doing them a favor, and we're doing us a favor. Lisa referenced a proposition in California where people had the opportunity to vote on whether or not they were in favor of continuing bilingual education. The Hispanic majority actually voted to discontinue it. In New York, which has the second largest bilingual track of education, there was not a similar opportunity. Lisa argues that separate is far from equal when it comes to bilingual education. She also mentioned the topic of immersion and how young children are often able to easily absorb, like a sponge, the other language via immersion.
Lisa took a call regarding the language debate, and the caller commented on his aggravation with the way that Americans speak English. Lisa and her caller agreed that when Americans learn foreign languages, they better learn and understand sentence structure. Lisa believes that because the first piece of paper that universities receive and review is the admission application, the elite universities should require it to be in English.
Lisa returned from another news break talking more about youth and education. This story involved a student from a school in Philadelphia whose parents allege that school officials used a web cam on a school-issued laptop to spy on their 15-year-old son at home. There was a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in a federal court, which states that the principal of the school approached the 15 year old to discuss improper behavior in his own home. This is an illegal invasion of privacy, where the school had the ability to turn on the web cams on these school-issued laptops. The computers issued by the school were Apple MacBooks with built-in web cams. Lisa explained that this was an example of a misappropriation of power.
The school district tried to defend itself by saying that it would never abuse the security feature attached with the web cams. The feature was implemented as an anti-theft precaution, however in this instance the 15-year-old boy was the rightful user of the device. All 2300 high school students in the district were given laptops by the district after receiving a grant for that purpose. Parents are reacting to the situation with shock, wondering if their children have also been victims.
Lisa said that thing that aggravates her most is that the more we take away civil liberties from our students, the less we teach them about what it means to be free. These are gross violations of civil rights, she added.
On the same thought of privacy violations, Lisa mentioned a story that surfaced in November in California about a man who walked into a Sprint store to purchase 30 BlackBerry devices. A Sprint employee felt that this was potentially a fraudulent purchase, and did not trust the address given, so the man was arrested for felony and identity fraud after searching his iPhone without probable cause. Lisa mentioned how people treat their electronic devices, and how they store such personal information as they grow more capable. Lisa argues that searching through a PDA or cell phone is more unreasonable in terms of search and seizure without a warrant, as opposed to the old law that might allow the search and seizure of a notebook, or something that required less investigation and digging to find a solution.
In other Connecticut news, Governor Rell is agreeing with Senator Duff and is withholding the release of $5 million for Waypointe economic development plan. Lisa feels that if there is a reason to delay the plans, then they should be delayed, because once the development is up, it's up.
Switching gears, Lisa mentioned that next Thursday she'll be at Stamford doing a "tasting of Stamford," where the show will be held live. The event is held at the Stamford Plaza Hotel and Lisa encouraged her audience to come visit and schmooze while tasting the food and participating in the event. Also in local events, Lisa mentioned a political event at the Ridgefield Playhouse, where she'll be a week from Saturday. There will also be a screening of the movie "Rudy".
Lisa returned from a news break, commenting on the dissappointing state of her denim jeans, which she says she buys intact and not shredded, saying that she just realized that they've begun to shred on their own.
Thinking about stories that affect the world, "you and me," she jokes after the grammar discussion she had earlier with a caller, she opened up the debate to talk about the Tiger Woods fiasco. She called this Friday, "Chatty chatt, gabby gabby Friday," where listeners can call and talk about anything that's on their mind.
Lisa transitioned to the Olympics, saying she's an ice skating devotee, and commented on the appearance of the male skaters, and how they look less and less like men. She went on to discuss a skater who has been heavily criticized by PETA for his choice to wear outfits decked with fur. Lisa believes, however, that no one deserves to have paint thrown on them or action taken against them for what they wear, instead people should strive to educate each other about their decisions. Lisa continued to reminisce about the past Olympic skaters, with a little Olympic history. She discussed the 1960s plane crash that killed a host of important Olympic skaters. She went on to explain that Peggy Fleming was one of the most graceful dancers to emerge after that era.
Lisa comically comes back from a news break by questioning her identity and location, only to continue by singing an excerpt from "A Chorus Line" by Marvin Hamlisch. "Who Am I Anyway? Am I My Resume? That is a picture.. of a person I don't know..." Lisa talks a bit about her upcoming guest, Dani Shapiro, and then talks about a news story about the 5 Muslims who allegedly attempted to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson Military Installation. She also mentioned news about the rebranding of the Iraqi war. It is no longer being called Operation Iraqi Freedom, but instead Operation New Dawn, to focus on a change in mission for US soldiers in Iraq. This sends a strong signal, according to the memo, that Operation Iraqi Freedom has ended. Lisa wonders how much this new "logo" for the war cost.
Because of its reporting on the John Edwards' affair, The National Enquirer is up for a Pulitzer Prize. Lisa explained that she has found that everything that has been reported as of late in The National Enquirer has turned out to be true. This wasn't true in the past, but lately, they have been redeeming themselves.
In comparison on the topic of believability, Lisa mentioned Jackie Collins' appearance on the show last week, and how she admitted to toning her writing down because what she writes is not nearly as outrageous as what people actually do.
Lisa returned to the topic of the male ice skaters and their lady-like costumes, Johnny Weir being the topic of discussion.
Also returning to the Tiger Woods fiasco, Lisa plays some of the speech from Tiger Woods' press conference where he spoke in front of a group of hand-picked people and a few members of the press to address his recent indiscretions. Lisa laughs because he sounds like a programmed robot, not very natural. Lisa calls his excuses old, and his sincerity absent. Lisa said if she were Elin, she would take the kids and get away, with a man who has decent values. She says that once trust is demolished, it is very hard to rebuild, especially because these were repeated affairs, not isolated incidents, which would have been bad enough.
Lisa had a caller talk about how the television and cameras change how we receive and perceive people, and how we idolize and demonize celebrities because they are brought into our lives so easily.
Lisa welcomed guest Dani Shapiro. Lisa rarely recommends bluntly that listeners go out and buy a book, but she is making an exception in the case of Dani Shapiro's, "Devotion" (published by Harper, formerly Harper Collins). Dani's original publisher was Knopf, and she moved with Devotion over to Harper. Lisa asked Dani to take over a bit and introduce herself to the audience. Dani grew up in a suburb of New Jersey, right outside of Manhattan, in an Orthodox Jewish family. Her father was from a very devout, religious New York family, but her mother was not from a religious family. They agreed, though, that they would raise their children as orthodox.
She doesn't go as far as to say that her parents had a happy marriage, so much as a contentious marriage. Her mother's decision to be Orthodox was such a tough thing, to live by the very strict rules and rituals, despite not believing in many of those things. Many of their battles, she says, were over how to raise her. She said that she spent her early education at Yeshiva (Jewish parochial school) and attending a prep school for high school. She jokes that her father got the first half of Dani's education, and her mother "won the battle" and got the second half. She talked about the difficulty of adhering to all of the orthodox restraints, one aspect being observation of Shabbat. Lisa shared a story about a friend who was unaware of her Jewish roots until she was in Israel at age 22 and a woman suggested she find out. She confirmed that she was Jewish, and tried to follow a religious lifestyle. She married a man who converted to Judaism and became a Hasid, however, she could not follow the rituals as he became more and more observant, and their relationship ended in divorce.
Lisa transitions to discuss "Devotion", which is a chronicle of Dani's own search for meaning. She asked Dani about yoga, which was a steady theme of the book and in her life. Dani said she found yoga in her late 20s, and loved the physical practice, but then fell into the spiritual aspect of the practice. Because of her religious background, Dani found herself very skeptical and hesitant about anything considered religious or spiritual.
The women discuss the interesting aspect that almost all of the American teachers who brought Buddhism to the West were Jewish. They talk about the "Jew-Bu" phenomenon that many people scoff at. Dani says that there is an affinity between Buddhists and Jews because of the search for knowledge and questioning.
Dani mentions Sylvia Boorstein, whom she spoke with when writing "Devotion". Boorstein is a Buddhist and observant Jew, who sees no contradiction between the two religions, which was so different from the "in or out" rules that Dani had in her childhood upbringing.
Lisa came back from a news break to announce an event that Dani Shapiro has organized with the JCC in Manhattan on March 1st at 7 p.m. The three teachers that helped her along the journey to write her memoir, "Devotion", she jokes that she met, "a rabbi, a Buddhist, and a yogi." She says that she had her eyes open to the people who had something to teach her. Dani and her teachers will talk about what it means to create a spiritual life, and Dani's own journey along that path.
Lisa asks Dani about how she includes religion in the way she raises her son, Jacob. Dani explained that she has infused their lives with Judaism, and that her son does attend Hebrew school and they are members of a synagogue because that is important to her to have in her life and her family's life. She explains that she is proud of her heritage, it just wasn't very relevant to her life.
Lisa explains her family's experience with not feeling like a minority and feeling comfortable in their own skin as Jewish people.
Dani explained that there was once a situation at a private school where her son was the only Jewish kid at the school, and she felt that that was not OK. She wants her son to be at home in the world, feeling comfortable in everything that he is, in every kind of environment.
For Dani's event at the JCC in Manhattan, tickets are necessary and are available on the JCC's Website.
Tune in to the Lisa Wexler Show Monday through Friday 4 p.m.-6p.m. for the latest in news and views on a variety of relevant topics!
Written by Alexandra Kirsch (kirscha2@msu.edu)
2/19/10
February 18, 2010
Lisa started the show with a big announcement. Just before she went on air Lisa received word that she had won a Gracie Award! Lisa explained that the Gracie awards are given to deserving women in the broadcasting industry for excellence. The Gracie awards are named for Gracie Allen, who was George Burns wife and partner in the Burns and Allen Comedy act. Lisa said that although it will be expensive to go, she and Bill will travel to Beverly Hills to attend the celebration luncheon on May 26. She also said she believes Woody Allen was right when he said 80% of success is just showing up! To illustrate the point she explained that the clip that was submitted for consideration was an interview she had done with Gloria Steinem. It was an extremely early interview time and unbelievably Lisa was the only interviewer to show up! Lisa also said she has nothing to wear, so this may be a great motivator to lose a few pounds. Then she said she was going to stop talking about her award so as not to incite the evil eye.
After a short break Lisa said that since she had already won the award there was not going to be a time for her to give an acceptance speech, but that she had to take time now and thank Jaimee Kelsey. She said that Jaimee is a "Beshert" or a "meant to be". Lisa talked about how Jaimee and she met. Jaimee was referred to Lisa when she was buying a house and Lisa was working as a real estate attorney. When they met Lisa asked where she was buying a house and turned out it was two doors down from her. As Lisa got to know her better it turns out that her father was the head of ABC radio sales for 25 years or so. So when Lisa told her that her dream was to get out of law and produce her own radio show, it was Jaimee who held her hand and helped show her how to get started. Today they are like sisters. And when it came time to submit the audio clip for consideration by the Gracie Awards committee, it was Jaimee and her husband Brian who cut and edited the interview for submission. She thanks and loves them very much.
Next Lisa had some announcements to make regarding some upcoming events. Next Thursday the show will be live from "A taste of Stamford". Which is a presentation of a lot of different wonderful foods! Lisa said she will be in heaven and never passes up an opportunity to taste lots of food! The show will be set up at the Stamford Plaza Hotel, and she wants everybody who can make it to stop over and say hello.
Also coming up Saturday the Lisa Wexler show will be doing a sort of "Meet the Press" event at the Ridgefield Playhouse (Ridgefieldplayhouse.org) after the showing of the movie "Rudy". The event will feature Rudy Marconi the first selectman of Ridgefield who is running for Governor, so this is a great way for the public to meet him and ask questions. And its Free!
May 1st and 2nd Lisa will be at the Fairfield Women's Expo which will be held at the Stamford Plaza Hotel.
Switching gears Lisa discussed the Connecticut Governors race. It is shaping up to be an exciting race to watch! Ned Lamont announced on Monday that he is running and he is surging in the polls. Lisa thinks this is due to name recognition and money. Mr. Lamont's wife is extremely wealthy and works as a major money manager for a company based in Westport. Tom Foley is also running and has plenty of money to finance his run. Unlike Lamont and Foley Lisa says that Rudy Marconi will have to raise the money to finance his bid. Foley has already announced that he will opt out of public financing and Lisa thinks that Lamont will do the same. Then it was time for a break.
Lisa returned and talked about dreams. Dreams we have for our lives. She said we should never stop doing what it is we love. Because if you continue to do what you love all of these dreams come true for you that you never even knew that you had.
Changing focus to the economy and the just released statistics regarding unemployment, Lisa said that unemployment is actually higher than what it was expected to be by now, and she is worried. 8.4 million people have filed for unemployment benefits since the recession began. (Dec. 2007). Over 473,000 people filed for unemployment in this country just last week! There was one bit of good news from the WSJ which reported that there was an uptick in manufacturing orders and some companies in the manufacturing sector were hiring back previously laid off employees. Lisa said she would love to get into a discussion on whether listeners lives were better last year at this time or are better now. Lisa is sick of the talking heads and the spin masters she would like to hear from the community about how their lives are now versus last year. Lisa also shared a favorite saying of her father: "The rich man is the one who's income exceeds his expenses". Then it was time for a news break.
Lisa came back and had a caller on the line named Mohamed who was calling from Stanford. Mohamed shared with Lisa that he believes he is significantly better off now then he was last year. He said he is now able to put money into his savings again, as opposed to last year when he had to draw money out. He also said that his investments are up. Lisa said that she couldn't stomach the stock market anymore and that when it went down last year she "cut bait" and she isn't planning to get back in at all. She also said that she personally knows 7 people who have lost their jobs this month. These are people in jobs like middle management and marketing.
Moving on to her "And then what happened" segment, Lisa recapped the story of Martin Grossman, a Jew, who became a pious Jew in prison, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to die this Tuesday February 16th. There was a plea made for a clemency hearing for this man as he had an IQ of 77, he had committed the crime when he was 19 years old and there were questions of culpability. A group of prominent humanitarian leaders, Jewish and Non Jewish, asked Governor Crist to grant a 60 day clemency hearing to review the evidence and possibly have Mr. Grossman's punishment be changed to life in prison instead of execution. Governor Crist also happens to be a good friend of Lisa's sister and brother in law, Jill and Bobby Zarin. The rabbis approached Jill and asked that she be their "Queen Esther". Then Lisa told the story behind Purim. Sadly Mr. Grossman was executed on Tuesday. Lisa said it is unconstitutional to execute retarded people in this country and believes that is exactly what we did on Tuesday in Florida. Then it was time for a break.
Returning from break Lisa gave some news on the goings on in the Middle East. First in Malaysia comes a story of 3 Muslim women convicted of adultery who under sharia law, were caned. Another Muslim woman was sentenced to be caned because she was caught drinking a beer. Caning sentences handed out by Islamic courts directly contradict Malaysian federal law barring women from receiving this punishment. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has turned to human shields using the bodies of women and children to protect themselves. Finally in Iran, there are new laws coming about to place more restrictions on women. The new law would allow men to take more than the already permitted 4 wives and won't have to inform the other wives about it. Lisa wonders why men would want more than one wife. They are also trying to reduce alimony amounts to women.
In other Middle Eastern News, Lisa discussed the Hamas leader that was killed in the Dubai hotel. It is a huge story in Israel because the Mossad is being blamed for a botched or sloppy job. Israel believes that the Mossad should never have been able to be found out. Some people in Israel are calling for the head of Mossad to step down.
Lisa takes another phone call and the caller is Mohamed from Stamford calling back. He wants to say that he is an American practicing Muslim and wants to explain that a lot of things that are going on in the Muslim world like canings are in direct conflict with Islam. Then it was time for a break.
Lisa receives another call, this time it is from her sister and star of Bravo TV's "The Real Housewives of New York City" Jill Zarin. She is calling in to congratulate Lisa on her Gracie Award. Lisa is glad to hear from Jill because she just found out about it before she went on the air and hasn't had any time to let her family know. Jill is extremely proud of Lisa and it is a wonderful moment among two very close sisters.
Lisa then told a story about taking her daughter to Johns Hopkins to visit the school yesterday. When they got there to visit the admissions counselor it was the same person who had let Lisa in 30 years prior. It was an emotional moment being there this time holding her daughter’s hand. Break for news.
Lisa introduces guest Caulleen Worrell, founder of usmilenow.com magazine. Caulleen wants to congratulate Lisa on her Gracie Award win. Lisa asks Caulleen why she started usmilenow.com and Caulleen said she had always wanted to own her own business and also wanted that business to help women connect with other women. She stated that usmilenow.com is not a blog. It features articles about women who are making a difference. There are all kinds of articles and tips that women will find helpful including beauty, finance, travel, etc. as well as advice from the magazine’s “Ask Yvette” column. Women from all over the country are profiled. It is free and she wants to keep it free for her readers. Lisa agrees that being free is important to her as well. She wants to keep her website free to her listeners as long as she can. Hopefully forever. Then it was time for a news break.
There is a story coming out about the woman who was the center of the Duke Lacrosse rape case. The woman, Crystal Gayle Mangum, was arrested recently and charged with attempted murder and arson. There were 3 children in the house when the alleged arson and attempted murder took place. Lisa wonders what this woman is doing out walking the streets after what she did to those boys.
Also in the news, heavy fines levied against 12 french winemakers for selling to US based Gallo Wines, phony Pino Noir. This reminded Lisa of a recent study done where people taste tested wine. The testers were told that one bottle cost ten dollars and the other bottle was sixty dollars. The testers overwhelmingly picked the more expensive bottle of wine as the best tasting. It was later revealed that the wine was the same. Seems to show proof that people are fooled by branding labels. Lisa deduces that it's all in the packaging.
And finally, Alabama shooter, Professor Amy Bishop, was rumored to have written a novel. It turns out the Boston Globe has an entire unpublished novel written by Professor Bishop. The novel follows a woman named Olivia, a scientist who moves to Alabama and struggles with her career while a global pandemic leaves women unable to become pregnant. She writes of her heroine "She was a professor having finally achieved tenure". It is believed that not receiving her tenure was what set Professor Bishop off. Ironically Professor Bishop is the second cousin to famed novelist John Irving which she used to brag about.
Just before ending her show Lisa wanted her listeners to go out and buy the book "Devotion" by Dani Shapiro. She said it is the best book she has read in 12 months, and Ms. Shapiro will be on the show tomorrow to discuss it.
By: Mike Schweitzer
Lisa started the show with a big announcement. Just before she went on air Lisa received word that she had won a Gracie Award! Lisa explained that the Gracie awards are given to deserving women in the broadcasting industry for excellence. The Gracie awards are named for Gracie Allen, who was George Burns wife and partner in the Burns and Allen Comedy act. Lisa said that although it will be expensive to go, she and Bill will travel to Beverly Hills to attend the celebration luncheon on May 26. She also said she believes Woody Allen was right when he said 80% of success is just showing up! To illustrate the point she explained that the clip that was submitted for consideration was an interview she had done with Gloria Steinem. It was an extremely early interview time and unbelievably Lisa was the only interviewer to show up! Lisa also said she has nothing to wear, so this may be a great motivator to lose a few pounds. Then she said she was going to stop talking about her award so as not to incite the evil eye.
After a short break Lisa said that since she had already won the award there was not going to be a time for her to give an acceptance speech, but that she had to take time now and thank Jaimee Kelsey. She said that Jaimee is a "Beshert" or a "meant to be". Lisa talked about how Jaimee and she met. Jaimee was referred to Lisa when she was buying a house and Lisa was working as a real estate attorney. When they met Lisa asked where she was buying a house and turned out it was two doors down from her. As Lisa got to know her better it turns out that her father was the head of ABC radio sales for 25 years or so. So when Lisa told her that her dream was to get out of law and produce her own radio show, it was Jaimee who held her hand and helped show her how to get started. Today they are like sisters. And when it came time to submit the audio clip for consideration by the Gracie Awards committee, it was Jaimee and her husband Brian who cut and edited the interview for submission. She thanks and loves them very much.
Next Lisa had some announcements to make regarding some upcoming events. Next Thursday the show will be live from "A taste of Stamford". Which is a presentation of a lot of different wonderful foods! Lisa said she will be in heaven and never passes up an opportunity to taste lots of food! The show will be set up at the Stamford Plaza Hotel, and she wants everybody who can make it to stop over and say hello.
Also coming up Saturday the Lisa Wexler show will be doing a sort of "Meet the Press" event at the Ridgefield Playhouse (Ridgefieldplayhouse.org) after the showing of the movie "Rudy". The event will feature Rudy Marconi the first selectman of Ridgefield who is running for Governor, so this is a great way for the public to meet him and ask questions. And its Free!
May 1st and 2nd Lisa will be at the Fairfield Women's Expo which will be held at the Stamford Plaza Hotel.
Switching gears Lisa discussed the Connecticut Governors race. It is shaping up to be an exciting race to watch! Ned Lamont announced on Monday that he is running and he is surging in the polls. Lisa thinks this is due to name recognition and money. Mr. Lamont's wife is extremely wealthy and works as a major money manager for a company based in Westport. Tom Foley is also running and has plenty of money to finance his run. Unlike Lamont and Foley Lisa says that Rudy Marconi will have to raise the money to finance his bid. Foley has already announced that he will opt out of public financing and Lisa thinks that Lamont will do the same. Then it was time for a break.
Lisa returned and talked about dreams. Dreams we have for our lives. She said we should never stop doing what it is we love. Because if you continue to do what you love all of these dreams come true for you that you never even knew that you had.
Changing focus to the economy and the just released statistics regarding unemployment, Lisa said that unemployment is actually higher than what it was expected to be by now, and she is worried. 8.4 million people have filed for unemployment benefits since the recession began. (Dec. 2007). Over 473,000 people filed for unemployment in this country just last week! There was one bit of good news from the WSJ which reported that there was an uptick in manufacturing orders and some companies in the manufacturing sector were hiring back previously laid off employees. Lisa said she would love to get into a discussion on whether listeners lives were better last year at this time or are better now. Lisa is sick of the talking heads and the spin masters she would like to hear from the community about how their lives are now versus last year. Lisa also shared a favorite saying of her father: "The rich man is the one who's income exceeds his expenses". Then it was time for a news break.
Lisa came back and had a caller on the line named Mohamed who was calling from Stanford. Mohamed shared with Lisa that he believes he is significantly better off now then he was last year. He said he is now able to put money into his savings again, as opposed to last year when he had to draw money out. He also said that his investments are up. Lisa said that she couldn't stomach the stock market anymore and that when it went down last year she "cut bait" and she isn't planning to get back in at all. She also said that she personally knows 7 people who have lost their jobs this month. These are people in jobs like middle management and marketing.
Moving on to her "And then what happened" segment, Lisa recapped the story of Martin Grossman, a Jew, who became a pious Jew in prison, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to die this Tuesday February 16th. There was a plea made for a clemency hearing for this man as he had an IQ of 77, he had committed the crime when he was 19 years old and there were questions of culpability. A group of prominent humanitarian leaders, Jewish and Non Jewish, asked Governor Crist to grant a 60 day clemency hearing to review the evidence and possibly have Mr. Grossman's punishment be changed to life in prison instead of execution. Governor Crist also happens to be a good friend of Lisa's sister and brother in law, Jill and Bobby Zarin. The rabbis approached Jill and asked that she be their "Queen Esther". Then Lisa told the story behind Purim. Sadly Mr. Grossman was executed on Tuesday. Lisa said it is unconstitutional to execute retarded people in this country and believes that is exactly what we did on Tuesday in Florida. Then it was time for a break.
Returning from break Lisa gave some news on the goings on in the Middle East. First in Malaysia comes a story of 3 Muslim women convicted of adultery who under sharia law, were caned. Another Muslim woman was sentenced to be caned because she was caught drinking a beer. Caning sentences handed out by Islamic courts directly contradict Malaysian federal law barring women from receiving this punishment. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has turned to human shields using the bodies of women and children to protect themselves. Finally in Iran, there are new laws coming about to place more restrictions on women. The new law would allow men to take more than the already permitted 4 wives and won't have to inform the other wives about it. Lisa wonders why men would want more than one wife. They are also trying to reduce alimony amounts to women.
In other Middle Eastern News, Lisa discussed the Hamas leader that was killed in the Dubai hotel. It is a huge story in Israel because the Mossad is being blamed for a botched or sloppy job. Israel believes that the Mossad should never have been able to be found out. Some people in Israel are calling for the head of Mossad to step down.
Lisa takes another phone call and the caller is Mohamed from Stamford calling back. He wants to say that he is an American practicing Muslim and wants to explain that a lot of things that are going on in the Muslim world like canings are in direct conflict with Islam. Then it was time for a break.
Lisa receives another call, this time it is from her sister and star of Bravo TV's "The Real Housewives of New York City" Jill Zarin. She is calling in to congratulate Lisa on her Gracie Award. Lisa is glad to hear from Jill because she just found out about it before she went on the air and hasn't had any time to let her family know. Jill is extremely proud of Lisa and it is a wonderful moment among two very close sisters.
Lisa then told a story about taking her daughter to Johns Hopkins to visit the school yesterday. When they got there to visit the admissions counselor it was the same person who had let Lisa in 30 years prior. It was an emotional moment being there this time holding her daughter’s hand. Break for news.
Lisa introduces guest Caulleen Worrell, founder of usmilenow.com magazine. Caulleen wants to congratulate Lisa on her Gracie Award win. Lisa asks Caulleen why she started usmilenow.com and Caulleen said she had always wanted to own her own business and also wanted that business to help women connect with other women. She stated that usmilenow.com is not a blog. It features articles about women who are making a difference. There are all kinds of articles and tips that women will find helpful including beauty, finance, travel, etc. as well as advice from the magazine’s “Ask Yvette” column. Women from all over the country are profiled. It is free and she wants to keep it free for her readers. Lisa agrees that being free is important to her as well. She wants to keep her website free to her listeners as long as she can. Hopefully forever. Then it was time for a news break.
There is a story coming out about the woman who was the center of the Duke Lacrosse rape case. The woman, Crystal Gayle Mangum, was arrested recently and charged with attempted murder and arson. There were 3 children in the house when the alleged arson and attempted murder took place. Lisa wonders what this woman is doing out walking the streets after what she did to those boys.
Also in the news, heavy fines levied against 12 french winemakers for selling to US based Gallo Wines, phony Pino Noir. This reminded Lisa of a recent study done where people taste tested wine. The testers were told that one bottle cost ten dollars and the other bottle was sixty dollars. The testers overwhelmingly picked the more expensive bottle of wine as the best tasting. It was later revealed that the wine was the same. Seems to show proof that people are fooled by branding labels. Lisa deduces that it's all in the packaging.
And finally, Alabama shooter, Professor Amy Bishop, was rumored to have written a novel. It turns out the Boston Globe has an entire unpublished novel written by Professor Bishop. The novel follows a woman named Olivia, a scientist who moves to Alabama and struggles with her career while a global pandemic leaves women unable to become pregnant. She writes of her heroine "She was a professor having finally achieved tenure". It is believed that not receiving her tenure was what set Professor Bishop off. Ironically Professor Bishop is the second cousin to famed novelist John Irving which she used to brag about.
Just before ending her show Lisa wanted her listeners to go out and buy the book "Devotion" by Dani Shapiro. She said it is the best book she has read in 12 months, and Ms. Shapiro will be on the show tomorrow to discuss it.
By: Mike Schweitzer
2/18/10
Lisa and her family traveled on another college tour Wednesday to her alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, MD. As a treat to listeners, Lisa and her staff compiled a "best of" show, full of notable interviews and monologues from past episodes.
Lisa's recent (February 9, 2010) interview with Ellen Whitehurst, Feng Shui and astrology expert, was the first flashback in Wednesday's compilation of past shows. Lisa mentioned that despite never meeting Ellen face-to-face, she received a red bag full of quartz crystals from her, and asked if there was any significance to the gift. Ellen explained that the crystals have a live energy to them. She explained the slower vibrations that exist within crystals and rocks that "raise the energy" in that area. She also explained her work with people's energy in their work and living spaces. Lisa admitted to thinking of rocks as dead and not having energy. Ellen explained a form of photography called Kirian Photography that actually photographs the energy of an object, which allows you to see the activity with an object that one might expect to be "dead." Ellen and Lisa went on discuss the category of quartz, and Ellen explained that it's a stone, not necessarily a jewel, but said it could be called a gem stone.
Lisa switched gears to talk more specifically about Ellen's business, as she is a Feng Shui and astrology expert, but also a columnist and writer. Ellen has a book called, Make This Your Lucky Day, as well as an e-book called, 27 Ways in 27 Days to the Love of Your Life. Ellen explained that for the past 20 years, she has been studying different cultures and religions and how they bring in luck and fortune. She said that in most of these traditions, that under the umbrella of luck falls the idea of love. She says love and money are the two most common topics she's asked about by clients. Ellen has gone back to her research to pull 27 helpful ways to change the mindset with which people receive love so that a relationship lasts and is fulfilling. Ellen explained that research supports the idea that in order to get into a habit or routine, it be repeated for 21 days. She said that her book only calls for a few minutes per day to commit to the process.
Ellen also went on to state that when a person becomes proactive about something, there is always going to be a positive outcome. She also suggests having at least one positive affirmation at the end of the day so that you wake up with a positive thought to start the day.
Lisa questioned Ellen about the two things people say that they want most in life: love and money. She points out the irony that money is one of the great stress factors in a relationship. Ellen agreed, but clarifies that she doesn't think that that's necessarily what people want most in life, but instead both topics are the focus of many of her questions and e-mails from clients. Ellen commented that the new self-help paradigm seems to revolve more about peace of mind than anything else. Lisa asked Ellen about her predictions for 2010, based on astrological evaluations. Ellen mentioned the Chinese New Year which happened on Valentine's Day this year, and explained that this is the year of the metal tiger, metal being interpreted as money.
A caller named Lucy wanted to ask Ellen about her astrological sign, Virgo. Ellen said that in 2009, Lucy's year was about relationships in every respect of the concept. Her advice to Lucy in 2010 was to push through conflict and get to a positive place. She said that this is the year to take old challenges and to face them and push through them to feel more positive and successful.
After a short news break, Lisa introduced her next clip from an interview with Dr. Stuart Bussell (February 4, 2010), a colon and rectal surgeon at Danbury Hospital and director of the Colon and Rectal Cancer Program. Lisa said that she found out about Dr. Bussell while reading an article in The Wall Street Journal and commented on his special practice of doing a personalized risk assessment of every patient before he operates.
She welcomed Dr. Bussell by first mentioning the article about him in The Wall Street Journal. They talked about his risk assessment in terms of the surgical waiver that patients do not necessarily read thoroughly. To curb the potential surgical complications, because all surgeries have risks, Dr. Bussell assesses each patient by entering their risk variables in a program that assess their personal risk for complication during surgery.
Lisa asked Dr. Bussell a specific question regarding how he makes the assessment. She gave him a scenario involving an individual who requires colo-rectal surgery but is 25 pounds overweight. Dr. Bussell said that issues like that are hard to judge because in the case of cancer, waiting is not an option. In other cases though, like with patients who have diverticulitis, he might ask them to make lifestyle changes if they smoke or have a small amount of weight to lose because it can greatly impact the recovery and outcomes. Lisa complimented the article by saying she loved that it touched on the idea of personalized health care, an idea that most everyone is interested in. She commented on how treatment like that provided by Dr. Bussell is one step in the direction of the medical future where people will be able to have a genetic blueprint of their potential health risks.
In terms of the risk factors, length of the surgery and age are key players. Lisa commented on her father's experience with lung cancer surgery. Despite approaching 80 at the time, his physiological condition was closer to that of a man 15 years younger. Lisa and Dr. Bussell agree that age involves more than the years a person has been alive, but the condition that their body is in as a result of good diet and exercise. These factors can significantly impact the outcome of a surgery. Speaking of other risk factors, smoking was also a significant risk factor. Other things like cancer, stroke history, high blood pressure, or emergency cases are all risk factors. He mentioned that people suffering from severe emphysema usually are at risk for complication because of their reaction to anesthesia.
Lisa and Dr. Bussell announced that March is national Colo-Rectal Awareness Month. In terms of preventative care, Dr. Bussell encourages that people with no risk factors for colo-rectal cancer have a colonoscopy at age 50. For patients with an increased risk factor, it is recommended that they are screened at 40.
On the subject of health and awareness, Lisa's third clip for today's show comes from an interview with Samantha Heller, registered dietician and author of Get Smart. Samantha's book was published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, Lisa's alma mater. Lisa jumped right into the interview by talking about Samantha's book and Samantha's mother's struggle with dementia. Samantha explains that like cancer, dementia is an umbrella term and there are several different types of the disease.
In her book, Samantha explained that through nutrition, there are ways to possibly "stave off" dementia. Nutritionally speaking, she explained that the kind of fat consumed by people impacts brain function. Saturated fat, a very bad fat, can really impair how the brain functions. Lisa and Samantha started talking about cheese, and Lisa comically explained her distaste for cottage cheese in all varieties. Samantha explained that she urges people to stay away from high-fat cheese, and instead opt for fat-free varieties. In terms of mozzarella, she suggested opting for part-skim. It is important to note that while cheese is high in sodium, it also often very high in bad, saturated fats that increase chances of heart disease and diabetes.
Lisa directed the conversation over to the concept of animal fat, joking that the Food Network makes it seem as though the concept of vegetarianism is fake because of its meat-centric programming. Cholesterol and saturated fat are both fats, and both are found in animal products. High saturated fat content is worse for you than cholesterol, but cholesterol-laden foods should still be monitored and consumed in moderation. Man-made trans fats should also be avoided. Despite the ban on trans fats in restaurants in New York, they are still found in packaged and frozen foods.
Lisa asked Samantha about Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Samantha explained that they are both fats, but the term Omega-3 references the chemical structure of the molecule. Omega-3s are anti-inflammatory and help your brain function and grow. They also can help reduce the risk of depression and schizophrenia. Samantha stressed that because this is emerging research, do not over consume these fats. She said that a doctor or dietician should be consulted before you start taking any supplements. Lisa asked Samantha about where olive oils falls in the spectrum, and she was surprised to find that olive oil is a monounsaturated oil, so it's neither a 3 or 6. She explained that olive oil is good in moderation, but that in terms of plant and corn oils, we're getting too much of them from processed foods.
Samantha suggested basing diets on more whole foods like fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts and seeds. Essential fatty acids can be found in avocados and peanuts. Even good fats, though, should be consumed in moderation.
Speaking of fish, Lisa posed the question of which fish is good fish, because of the recent research on mercury levels in fish. Additionally, she comments on how she enjoys farm salmon over wild salmon because it's fattier, but that studies show that people should really consume more wild salmon. Samantha explained that the larger the fish, the more mercury they are going to have. Health benefits of eating fish outweigh the risks. The Environmental Defense Fund has a website about low-mercury fish in specific states. For tuna eaters, go for chunk light as opposed to white tuna to reduce the mercury and pollutants.
For a caller who asked about how to find foods with fatty acids while having to avoid her fish allergy, Samantha suggested canola oil, flax seeds, supplements, and soy.
The one thing that Samantha suggests for people who follow the current Western diet, that increases risks for a whole host of diseases, is to lower the amount of animal fats consumed, eat more whole foods, and to go low-fat or fat-free whenever possible.
The final, but equally as interesting, clip that Lisa aired in her flashback episode on Wednesday was an interview with former NFL player turned commentator, Jamie Dukes (February 5, 2010). Jamie talked about his struggle with weight after leaving the NFL and his eventual decision to undergo gastric bypass surgery. Lisa explained how her husband Bill struggled with his weight and made the same decision and is now healthier and happier as a result. She commented on how Bill now exercises everyday and watches what he eats. Jamie shared that he is now down over 100 pounds and has significantly modified his diet from his 40-ounce serving sizes back in his NFL days. Lisa and Jamie discussed statistics of over consumption and how the second most indulgent festivity in America next to Thanksgiving is the Super Bowl.
In addition to replaying some interesting health and lifestyle related interviews, Lisa also brought up some news that viewers may have missed.
Lisa mentioned lobbyists in DC changing the profiting of student loans. Obama mentioned that he thought it would be easy, and it appears he was wrong. Lisa mentioned the issues of finance that impact college students in addition to student loans. For example, banks unfairly promote credit cards, eventually luring students into thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt. President Obama wants to have the federal system take over for student loans as opposed to the current heavily privatized system.
Lisa mentioned her opposition to the health care bill, while mentioning its stalled state. She brought up an article that said that 50 percent of the medical spending that already occurs is governmentally subsidized. She thinks we need to do more in terms of preventing diseases, not just treating them when they arise.
Lisa also mentioned a news story revealing e-mails that have recently surfaced which state that Todd Palin was deeply involved in the Alaska's governance while his wife, Sarah, was governor. She goes on to explain how Sarah Palin sneakily masked the cost of installation for a tanning bed in her mansion, and the state of Alaska, which ultimately boils down to Alaskan citizens, paid the price.
Also in the news was troubled actor Charlie Sheen, whose car was reportedly driven off a cliff. He received a call from his car's OnStar system notifying him of the wreck around the same time he called to report the car as missing.
In more tragic news, Lisa mentioned a woman, Victoria Hope, who bled to death while delivering three still-born babies. Lisa tried to understand why the woman, already the mother of two, did not seek out prenatal care, or why she didn't turn to the other health care options women have.
For more on news and thought-provoking interviews, tune into The Lisa Wexler Show, Monday through Friday, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Written by Alexandra Kirsch (kirscha2@msu.edu)
Lisa's recent (February 9, 2010) interview with Ellen Whitehurst, Feng Shui and astrology expert, was the first flashback in Wednesday's compilation of past shows. Lisa mentioned that despite never meeting Ellen face-to-face, she received a red bag full of quartz crystals from her, and asked if there was any significance to the gift. Ellen explained that the crystals have a live energy to them. She explained the slower vibrations that exist within crystals and rocks that "raise the energy" in that area. She also explained her work with people's energy in their work and living spaces. Lisa admitted to thinking of rocks as dead and not having energy. Ellen explained a form of photography called Kirian Photography that actually photographs the energy of an object, which allows you to see the activity with an object that one might expect to be "dead." Ellen and Lisa went on discuss the category of quartz, and Ellen explained that it's a stone, not necessarily a jewel, but said it could be called a gem stone.
Lisa switched gears to talk more specifically about Ellen's business, as she is a Feng Shui and astrology expert, but also a columnist and writer. Ellen has a book called, Make This Your Lucky Day, as well as an e-book called, 27 Ways in 27 Days to the Love of Your Life. Ellen explained that for the past 20 years, she has been studying different cultures and religions and how they bring in luck and fortune. She said that in most of these traditions, that under the umbrella of luck falls the idea of love. She says love and money are the two most common topics she's asked about by clients. Ellen has gone back to her research to pull 27 helpful ways to change the mindset with which people receive love so that a relationship lasts and is fulfilling. Ellen explained that research supports the idea that in order to get into a habit or routine, it be repeated for 21 days. She said that her book only calls for a few minutes per day to commit to the process.
Ellen also went on to state that when a person becomes proactive about something, there is always going to be a positive outcome. She also suggests having at least one positive affirmation at the end of the day so that you wake up with a positive thought to start the day.
Lisa questioned Ellen about the two things people say that they want most in life: love and money. She points out the irony that money is one of the great stress factors in a relationship. Ellen agreed, but clarifies that she doesn't think that that's necessarily what people want most in life, but instead both topics are the focus of many of her questions and e-mails from clients. Ellen commented that the new self-help paradigm seems to revolve more about peace of mind than anything else. Lisa asked Ellen about her predictions for 2010, based on astrological evaluations. Ellen mentioned the Chinese New Year which happened on Valentine's Day this year, and explained that this is the year of the metal tiger, metal being interpreted as money.
A caller named Lucy wanted to ask Ellen about her astrological sign, Virgo. Ellen said that in 2009, Lucy's year was about relationships in every respect of the concept. Her advice to Lucy in 2010 was to push through conflict and get to a positive place. She said that this is the year to take old challenges and to face them and push through them to feel more positive and successful.
After a short news break, Lisa introduced her next clip from an interview with Dr. Stuart Bussell (February 4, 2010), a colon and rectal surgeon at Danbury Hospital and director of the Colon and Rectal Cancer Program. Lisa said that she found out about Dr. Bussell while reading an article in The Wall Street Journal and commented on his special practice of doing a personalized risk assessment of every patient before he operates.
She welcomed Dr. Bussell by first mentioning the article about him in The Wall Street Journal. They talked about his risk assessment in terms of the surgical waiver that patients do not necessarily read thoroughly. To curb the potential surgical complications, because all surgeries have risks, Dr. Bussell assesses each patient by entering their risk variables in a program that assess their personal risk for complication during surgery.
Lisa asked Dr. Bussell a specific question regarding how he makes the assessment. She gave him a scenario involving an individual who requires colo-rectal surgery but is 25 pounds overweight. Dr. Bussell said that issues like that are hard to judge because in the case of cancer, waiting is not an option. In other cases though, like with patients who have diverticulitis, he might ask them to make lifestyle changes if they smoke or have a small amount of weight to lose because it can greatly impact the recovery and outcomes. Lisa complimented the article by saying she loved that it touched on the idea of personalized health care, an idea that most everyone is interested in. She commented on how treatment like that provided by Dr. Bussell is one step in the direction of the medical future where people will be able to have a genetic blueprint of their potential health risks.
In terms of the risk factors, length of the surgery and age are key players. Lisa commented on her father's experience with lung cancer surgery. Despite approaching 80 at the time, his physiological condition was closer to that of a man 15 years younger. Lisa and Dr. Bussell agree that age involves more than the years a person has been alive, but the condition that their body is in as a result of good diet and exercise. These factors can significantly impact the outcome of a surgery. Speaking of other risk factors, smoking was also a significant risk factor. Other things like cancer, stroke history, high blood pressure, or emergency cases are all risk factors. He mentioned that people suffering from severe emphysema usually are at risk for complication because of their reaction to anesthesia.
Lisa and Dr. Bussell announced that March is national Colo-Rectal Awareness Month. In terms of preventative care, Dr. Bussell encourages that people with no risk factors for colo-rectal cancer have a colonoscopy at age 50. For patients with an increased risk factor, it is recommended that they are screened at 40.
On the subject of health and awareness, Lisa's third clip for today's show comes from an interview with Samantha Heller, registered dietician and author of Get Smart. Samantha's book was published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, Lisa's alma mater. Lisa jumped right into the interview by talking about Samantha's book and Samantha's mother's struggle with dementia. Samantha explains that like cancer, dementia is an umbrella term and there are several different types of the disease.
In her book, Samantha explained that through nutrition, there are ways to possibly "stave off" dementia. Nutritionally speaking, she explained that the kind of fat consumed by people impacts brain function. Saturated fat, a very bad fat, can really impair how the brain functions. Lisa and Samantha started talking about cheese, and Lisa comically explained her distaste for cottage cheese in all varieties. Samantha explained that she urges people to stay away from high-fat cheese, and instead opt for fat-free varieties. In terms of mozzarella, she suggested opting for part-skim. It is important to note that while cheese is high in sodium, it also often very high in bad, saturated fats that increase chances of heart disease and diabetes.
Lisa directed the conversation over to the concept of animal fat, joking that the Food Network makes it seem as though the concept of vegetarianism is fake because of its meat-centric programming. Cholesterol and saturated fat are both fats, and both are found in animal products. High saturated fat content is worse for you than cholesterol, but cholesterol-laden foods should still be monitored and consumed in moderation. Man-made trans fats should also be avoided. Despite the ban on trans fats in restaurants in New York, they are still found in packaged and frozen foods.
Lisa asked Samantha about Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Samantha explained that they are both fats, but the term Omega-3 references the chemical structure of the molecule. Omega-3s are anti-inflammatory and help your brain function and grow. They also can help reduce the risk of depression and schizophrenia. Samantha stressed that because this is emerging research, do not over consume these fats. She said that a doctor or dietician should be consulted before you start taking any supplements. Lisa asked Samantha about where olive oils falls in the spectrum, and she was surprised to find that olive oil is a monounsaturated oil, so it's neither a 3 or 6. She explained that olive oil is good in moderation, but that in terms of plant and corn oils, we're getting too much of them from processed foods.
Samantha suggested basing diets on more whole foods like fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts and seeds. Essential fatty acids can be found in avocados and peanuts. Even good fats, though, should be consumed in moderation.
Speaking of fish, Lisa posed the question of which fish is good fish, because of the recent research on mercury levels in fish. Additionally, she comments on how she enjoys farm salmon over wild salmon because it's fattier, but that studies show that people should really consume more wild salmon. Samantha explained that the larger the fish, the more mercury they are going to have. Health benefits of eating fish outweigh the risks. The Environmental Defense Fund has a website about low-mercury fish in specific states. For tuna eaters, go for chunk light as opposed to white tuna to reduce the mercury and pollutants.
For a caller who asked about how to find foods with fatty acids while having to avoid her fish allergy, Samantha suggested canola oil, flax seeds, supplements, and soy.
The one thing that Samantha suggests for people who follow the current Western diet, that increases risks for a whole host of diseases, is to lower the amount of animal fats consumed, eat more whole foods, and to go low-fat or fat-free whenever possible.
The final, but equally as interesting, clip that Lisa aired in her flashback episode on Wednesday was an interview with former NFL player turned commentator, Jamie Dukes (February 5, 2010). Jamie talked about his struggle with weight after leaving the NFL and his eventual decision to undergo gastric bypass surgery. Lisa explained how her husband Bill struggled with his weight and made the same decision and is now healthier and happier as a result. She commented on how Bill now exercises everyday and watches what he eats. Jamie shared that he is now down over 100 pounds and has significantly modified his diet from his 40-ounce serving sizes back in his NFL days. Lisa and Jamie discussed statistics of over consumption and how the second most indulgent festivity in America next to Thanksgiving is the Super Bowl.
In addition to replaying some interesting health and lifestyle related interviews, Lisa also brought up some news that viewers may have missed.
Lisa mentioned lobbyists in DC changing the profiting of student loans. Obama mentioned that he thought it would be easy, and it appears he was wrong. Lisa mentioned the issues of finance that impact college students in addition to student loans. For example, banks unfairly promote credit cards, eventually luring students into thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt. President Obama wants to have the federal system take over for student loans as opposed to the current heavily privatized system.
Lisa mentioned her opposition to the health care bill, while mentioning its stalled state. She brought up an article that said that 50 percent of the medical spending that already occurs is governmentally subsidized. She thinks we need to do more in terms of preventing diseases, not just treating them when they arise.
Lisa also mentioned a news story revealing e-mails that have recently surfaced which state that Todd Palin was deeply involved in the Alaska's governance while his wife, Sarah, was governor. She goes on to explain how Sarah Palin sneakily masked the cost of installation for a tanning bed in her mansion, and the state of Alaska, which ultimately boils down to Alaskan citizens, paid the price.
Also in the news was troubled actor Charlie Sheen, whose car was reportedly driven off a cliff. He received a call from his car's OnStar system notifying him of the wreck around the same time he called to report the car as missing.
In more tragic news, Lisa mentioned a woman, Victoria Hope, who bled to death while delivering three still-born babies. Lisa tried to understand why the woman, already the mother of two, did not seek out prenatal care, or why she didn't turn to the other health care options women have.
For more on news and thought-provoking interviews, tune into The Lisa Wexler Show, Monday through Friday, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Written by Alexandra Kirsch (kirscha2@msu.edu)
2/16/10
Lisa started her show by giving a brief recap of her weekend family trip to the south, where she, her husband, and daughter spent time visiting universities, namely Emory and Vanderbilt.
She explained that the story that followed them all over their trip to Nashville, TN was the story about the "crazy college professor." Lisa commented that because of the weather reports for Georgia and Tennessee, she had to be truly convinced to go. Luckily, she said the states ended up not receiving very much snow, except on Sunday afternoon on the family's drive from Tennessee to Georgia.
On today's show, Lisa welcomed guest Delia Ephron (Michael, You've Got Mail, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) to discuss her new book, The Girl with the Mermaid Hair. Lisa talked about her general enjoyment of the young adult genre of books, especially those written by Ephron. She calls her a, "delightful observer of so many nuances of our cultural scene."
On the topic of "kids and teens," Lisa was please to find out that Vanderbilt University student dormitories have same-sex floors, and do not do co-ed by room or floor. She admits that she has a bias to this living style as her dorm at John's Hopkins University was all female. She was also impressed with the security measures implemented at the universities she visited with her family. Her son, who currently attends Northeastern University, cannot even enter his building without using a keycard and passing through security. At Vanderbilt, Lisa learned that men cannot use their keycards between midnight and noon to enter a female floor. Interestingly, Wesleyan in Connecticut was the first university to explore the notion of co-ed dorm rooms.
On the same subject, Lisa mentioned that Yale University operates on an opposite spectrum. They have received a lot of flack from the Orthodox Jewish community because they do not accommodate same-sex rooms for religious people who are uncomfortable, and religiously prohibited from sharing such close quarters with members of the opposite sex. Lisa believes that living accommodations need to be made for people to be comfortable, and so at least one same-sex dorm option should be made available.
Talking a bit more about her trip, Lisa explained how she was inconveniently bumped from her hotel, and how she was able to be placed at the other Hilton branch, which ended up giving Lisa and her family a much better view of the city.
Slightly switching focus from Vanderbilt to Emory, Lisa talked about how amazingly immaculate the university was, though she hopes that's customary with the $55,000/year tuition. She went on to explain the impressiveness of higher education institutions, especially private universities, and how they are a microcosm of the best in the United States of America.
In terms of hard news today on The Lisa Wexler show, Lisa discussed a bill that President Obama is winding through Congress, that seems likely to pass, that says that if you are 21 and under, a parent will be required to co-sign a credit card. This is coming from the recognition that young people have been allowed to gain access to credit, many racking up serious debt. Lisa referenced a Wall Street Journal article about a medical school student being nearly $500,000 in debt. She continued to explain the irony of the discussion of free health care while medical students are still paying for medical school at such high prices. Lisa also discussed the expansion of medical schools around the country, including one nearby at Hofstra University.
Lisa mentioned another educational trend happening in Utah where they are considering eliminating the twelfth grade all together. Former president of Bard College, Leon Botstein, was well recognized for agreeing with the idea that twelfth grade was a waste. Lisa agrees that students should be able to work harder for credits to graduate high school earlier to have time to do some valuable between high school and college because it is an, "artificial extension of childhood." Apparently Utah is not following these theories, and instead is interested in the elimination of the twelfth grade for money-saving reasons.
After the news break, Lisa brought up a sad news story involving another college campus shooting. This time, however, it involved a woman at the University of Alabama who killed three of her well-respected and credentialed colleagues. The shooter, Amy Bishop, "accidentally" killed her brother in 1986, was denied tenure and won her appeal, but the provost decided not to give her tenure. She is a neuroscientist with a PhD from Harvard. "All of the education doesn't secure mental stability," Lisa commented.
It was President’s Day on the Lisa Wexler Show and Lisa celebrated the government holiday by asking trivia questions throughout her show, callers had the opportunity to win tickets to The Vagina Monologues and Love, Loss and What I Wore, if they answered correctly.
Her first question was, "Who was the first president to have served in both World War I and World War II?"
She shared a host of presidential facts about the way the vice presidents were chosen, as well as the fun fact that James Buchanan was the only unmarried president.
Her next question was, "Who was the first US president to be born in a hospital?"
After announcing the question, Lisa had a caller with a comment about the tragic shooting at the University of Alabama comparing it to terrorists who are highly educated before committing their serious acts of terrorism.
She mentioned a speech given by George Washington persuading people that the Commander in Chief should not be someone actually in the military.
An enthusiastic caller correctly answered the second trivia question, which was Jimmy Carter. He was the first president born in a US hospital.
Also in the news, Lisa comments on how President Obama is doing things that in his platform during his campaign, he said he would not do. Obama is using his executive power to use a loophole that says when the Senate is not in session, the president can still conduct business. He pressured Mitch McConnell, to help confirm appointee nominations. He has also decided to create a Bipartisan Budget Commission, something Congress refused to do so.
She then mentioned a story with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving forward with possible regulations on heat-trapping gases that are responsible for climate change.
Her last presidential trivia question was, "Which university graduated the most number of presidents?"
A caller, Joe, phoned in and answered the first presidential trivia question with the answer, "Dwight Eisenhower." Another caller, James, called in and answered the last question correctly; Harvard graduated the most number of presidents.
In the "Who Died Today" segment, Lisa announced the death of Dick Francis, he was 89 years old. Francis was a jockey-turned-fiction writer, born in South Wales, UK.
Lisa quickly mentioned the news surrounding Goldman Sachs and the Greek deficits that will have an impact on the world economy when resolved. "Follow the money, follow Goldman Sachs," Lisa commented.
In entertainment news, Barbara Walters is ending the run of her Oscar specials. Also in celebrity news, a porno star claims she was a mistress to Tiger Woods and said that she was pregnant twice by him, although she claims to have had an abortion when his wife, Elin, was pregnant.
At 5:30, Lisa welcomed guest, writer, Delia Ephron. Delia recently wrote the book, The Girl with The Mermaid Hair, talked with Lisa about the insecurities that mothers and daughters share, and that unfortunately mothers pass on to their daughters. Lisa comments on something that Delia wrote in The Huffington Post on people never appreciating how beautiful they looked at any age.
Delia commented on Heidi Montag and how her obsession with plastic surgery is about attention and money, and she is ultimately destroying her younger self. Delia also comments on how a mother is the most important figure in a girl's life, and how no one wants to see their mother destroyed. Delia and Lisa agree that teenagers are more intuitive than people think, and can tell when their parents are acting out.
Lisa read a passage from Delia's book about the main character's struggle with her mother's plastic surgery, and how she was afraid she and her mother would lose their bond. While Lisa shares her fears about her own mother's facelift, Delia explains her shock on the one day her mother wore makeup. "You want your mother to look the same, you just do," Delia explained. "You're such a mess when you're a teenager. It's too big for a mother to suddenly change on you."
Lisa and Delia reconvened after the news break to discuss her production, Love, Loss and What I Wore and her book, The Girl with the Mermaid Hair. Lisa asked Delia how she is able to write so clearly in this younger voice. She explained that it all came out of her memories from childhood, in addition to research and interviewing people. She explained her experience "watching" as her parents suffered through their issues with alcohol and how that same technique helped her write with the detail and style that she does.
After their discussion, a woman called in to discuss how after raising her children, she attributes wrinkles and gray hair as badges of honor.
Click here for more information on Delia Ephron, The Girl with the Mermaid Hair, or Love, Loss, and What I Wore.
By Alexandra Kirsch
She explained that the story that followed them all over their trip to Nashville, TN was the story about the "crazy college professor." Lisa commented that because of the weather reports for Georgia and Tennessee, she had to be truly convinced to go. Luckily, she said the states ended up not receiving very much snow, except on Sunday afternoon on the family's drive from Tennessee to Georgia.
On today's show, Lisa welcomed guest Delia Ephron (Michael, You've Got Mail, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) to discuss her new book, The Girl with the Mermaid Hair. Lisa talked about her general enjoyment of the young adult genre of books, especially those written by Ephron. She calls her a, "delightful observer of so many nuances of our cultural scene."
On the topic of "kids and teens," Lisa was please to find out that Vanderbilt University student dormitories have same-sex floors, and do not do co-ed by room or floor. She admits that she has a bias to this living style as her dorm at John's Hopkins University was all female. She was also impressed with the security measures implemented at the universities she visited with her family. Her son, who currently attends Northeastern University, cannot even enter his building without using a keycard and passing through security. At Vanderbilt, Lisa learned that men cannot use their keycards between midnight and noon to enter a female floor. Interestingly, Wesleyan in Connecticut was the first university to explore the notion of co-ed dorm rooms.
On the same subject, Lisa mentioned that Yale University operates on an opposite spectrum. They have received a lot of flack from the Orthodox Jewish community because they do not accommodate same-sex rooms for religious people who are uncomfortable, and religiously prohibited from sharing such close quarters with members of the opposite sex. Lisa believes that living accommodations need to be made for people to be comfortable, and so at least one same-sex dorm option should be made available.
Talking a bit more about her trip, Lisa explained how she was inconveniently bumped from her hotel, and how she was able to be placed at the other Hilton branch, which ended up giving Lisa and her family a much better view of the city.
Slightly switching focus from Vanderbilt to Emory, Lisa talked about how amazingly immaculate the university was, though she hopes that's customary with the $55,000/year tuition. She went on to explain the impressiveness of higher education institutions, especially private universities, and how they are a microcosm of the best in the United States of America.
In terms of hard news today on The Lisa Wexler show, Lisa discussed a bill that President Obama is winding through Congress, that seems likely to pass, that says that if you are 21 and under, a parent will be required to co-sign a credit card. This is coming from the recognition that young people have been allowed to gain access to credit, many racking up serious debt. Lisa referenced a Wall Street Journal article about a medical school student being nearly $500,000 in debt. She continued to explain the irony of the discussion of free health care while medical students are still paying for medical school at such high prices. Lisa also discussed the expansion of medical schools around the country, including one nearby at Hofstra University.
Lisa mentioned another educational trend happening in Utah where they are considering eliminating the twelfth grade all together. Former president of Bard College, Leon Botstein, was well recognized for agreeing with the idea that twelfth grade was a waste. Lisa agrees that students should be able to work harder for credits to graduate high school earlier to have time to do some valuable between high school and college because it is an, "artificial extension of childhood." Apparently Utah is not following these theories, and instead is interested in the elimination of the twelfth grade for money-saving reasons.
After the news break, Lisa brought up a sad news story involving another college campus shooting. This time, however, it involved a woman at the University of Alabama who killed three of her well-respected and credentialed colleagues. The shooter, Amy Bishop, "accidentally" killed her brother in 1986, was denied tenure and won her appeal, but the provost decided not to give her tenure. She is a neuroscientist with a PhD from Harvard. "All of the education doesn't secure mental stability," Lisa commented.
It was President’s Day on the Lisa Wexler Show and Lisa celebrated the government holiday by asking trivia questions throughout her show, callers had the opportunity to win tickets to The Vagina Monologues and Love, Loss and What I Wore, if they answered correctly.
Her first question was, "Who was the first president to have served in both World War I and World War II?"
She shared a host of presidential facts about the way the vice presidents were chosen, as well as the fun fact that James Buchanan was the only unmarried president.
Her next question was, "Who was the first US president to be born in a hospital?"
After announcing the question, Lisa had a caller with a comment about the tragic shooting at the University of Alabama comparing it to terrorists who are highly educated before committing their serious acts of terrorism.
She mentioned a speech given by George Washington persuading people that the Commander in Chief should not be someone actually in the military.
An enthusiastic caller correctly answered the second trivia question, which was Jimmy Carter. He was the first president born in a US hospital.
Also in the news, Lisa comments on how President Obama is doing things that in his platform during his campaign, he said he would not do. Obama is using his executive power to use a loophole that says when the Senate is not in session, the president can still conduct business. He pressured Mitch McConnell, to help confirm appointee nominations. He has also decided to create a Bipartisan Budget Commission, something Congress refused to do so.
She then mentioned a story with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving forward with possible regulations on heat-trapping gases that are responsible for climate change.
Her last presidential trivia question was, "Which university graduated the most number of presidents?"
A caller, Joe, phoned in and answered the first presidential trivia question with the answer, "Dwight Eisenhower." Another caller, James, called in and answered the last question correctly; Harvard graduated the most number of presidents.
In the "Who Died Today" segment, Lisa announced the death of Dick Francis, he was 89 years old. Francis was a jockey-turned-fiction writer, born in South Wales, UK.
Lisa quickly mentioned the news surrounding Goldman Sachs and the Greek deficits that will have an impact on the world economy when resolved. "Follow the money, follow Goldman Sachs," Lisa commented.
In entertainment news, Barbara Walters is ending the run of her Oscar specials. Also in celebrity news, a porno star claims she was a mistress to Tiger Woods and said that she was pregnant twice by him, although she claims to have had an abortion when his wife, Elin, was pregnant.
At 5:30, Lisa welcomed guest, writer, Delia Ephron. Delia recently wrote the book, The Girl with The Mermaid Hair, talked with Lisa about the insecurities that mothers and daughters share, and that unfortunately mothers pass on to their daughters. Lisa comments on something that Delia wrote in The Huffington Post on people never appreciating how beautiful they looked at any age.
Delia commented on Heidi Montag and how her obsession with plastic surgery is about attention and money, and she is ultimately destroying her younger self. Delia also comments on how a mother is the most important figure in a girl's life, and how no one wants to see their mother destroyed. Delia and Lisa agree that teenagers are more intuitive than people think, and can tell when their parents are acting out.
Lisa read a passage from Delia's book about the main character's struggle with her mother's plastic surgery, and how she was afraid she and her mother would lose their bond. While Lisa shares her fears about her own mother's facelift, Delia explains her shock on the one day her mother wore makeup. "You want your mother to look the same, you just do," Delia explained. "You're such a mess when you're a teenager. It's too big for a mother to suddenly change on you."
Lisa and Delia reconvened after the news break to discuss her production, Love, Loss and What I Wore and her book, The Girl with the Mermaid Hair. Lisa asked Delia how she is able to write so clearly in this younger voice. She explained that it all came out of her memories from childhood, in addition to research and interviewing people. She explained her experience "watching" as her parents suffered through their issues with alcohol and how that same technique helped her write with the detail and style that she does.
After their discussion, a woman called in to discuss how after raising her children, she attributes wrinkles and gray hair as badges of honor.
Click here for more information on Delia Ephron, The Girl with the Mermaid Hair, or Love, Loss, and What I Wore.
By Alexandra Kirsch
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
