The Lisa Wexler Show

2010-03-01T14:42:00.003-05:00

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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)

2010-02-27T17:47:00.003-05:00

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

2010-02-26T10:22:00.005-05:00

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)

2010-02-23T09:50:00.003-05:00

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)

2010-02-23T09:40:00.003-05:00

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)

2010-02-19T11:42:00.001-05:00

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

2010-02-18T22:49:00.003-05:00

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)

2010-02-16T09:26:00.002-05:00

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

2010-02-15T00:48:00.002-05:00

February 12, 2010

Before introducing her guest, Margaret Wagner (founder and owner of bedroommatters.com), who joined Lisa on today’s show to wrap up “Love Week,” Lisa talked about the definition of Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is no longer restricted as a celebration between romantically involved individuals, but instead, is a way to share love with everyone.

Lisa mentioned that she and her family are traveling south to visit prospective universities for her daughter. To her dismay, the recent weather that has hit the East Coast is following her down south to Tennessee and Georgia.

Lisa quickly transitioned into some juicy celebrity gossip surrounding the famous kiss-and-teller, John Mayer, and the very explicit details he recently shared with Playboy in reference to his past relationship with Jessica Simpson. Lisa commented how in the past ten years, Playboy interviews have lost their cultural importance compared to competitors like Esquire. She calls the interview with John Mayer, “low-class,” and “crude,” and continues to comment that the “kiss-and-tell phenomenon is really just gross.” Lisa even made the point that infamous playboy Mick Jagger kept mum about his numerous female partners.

In addition to Mayer’s tasteless accounts of his sex-life with Simpson, he made more inappropriate remarks that, offensive on a normal occasion, were even more so as February is Black History month and some of his comments referenced the African American community. The interviewer asked Mayer, “Do black women throw themselves at you?” Mayer’s offensive response to Playboy’s inappropriate question involved comparing his “male member” to a white supremacist. Lisa continued to point out the offensive nature with which Mayer described various famous female black celebrities whom he finds attractive, which ultimately boiled down the race into one big, unfair, racist stereotype.

In other celebrity news, Lisa discussed the Alec Baldwin story that surfaced Thursday. Lisa commented on the nature of celebrity publicity and publicists and their craft of spinning scandals, relating it to both the poorly-handled Tiger Woods fiasco, and now to Baldwin’s latest media frenzy. Lisa pointed out that despite Baldwin’s reaction to the paparazzi, the symbiotic relationship between celebrity and paparazzi is what keeps the business going, and what keeps celebrities rich and famous. Lisa was not defending the paparazzi; she used Princess Diana’s unfortunate experience with paparazzi as an example, however, noted that Baldwin could have handled the situation with a bit more composure.

Receiving the title of “Low Life of the Week” is singer/songwriter John Mayer for his classless comments in an interview with Playboy.

Lisa’s guest, Margaret Wagner, joined her as an expert on matters of sensuality, and was the perfect pre-Valentine’s Day guest. The first topic of discussion between Lisa and Margaret involved the overall importance of Valentine’s Day. Lisa was curious about the lengths people go to celebrate Valentine’s Day and include it on their holiday schedule.

Wagner has been spending a lot of time explaining to clients and website visitors that Valentine’s Day is not about expectations. She said the two words that get thrown around a lot with couples are “acknowledgement” and “appreciation,” the latter being most important on Valentine’s Day.

Lisa jumped right to the gendered part of the holiday, asking if women are expected to be as “forthcoming” with Valentine’s Day offerings as men. Margaret’s immediate response was, “No.” Lisa was happy to know that a simple Valentine’s Day card is considered sufficient and still sweet in terms of Valentine’s Day gifts for her husband. Margaret said that a card falls under the “acknowledgement” category for men, which is good because it’s not, “wrapped up in expectations.”

Lisa suggested they split up situations into two categories: married couples who already take each other for granted and unmarried couples headed toward marriage who do not take each other for granted. Using herself as the married example, Lisa takes a moment to give props to her romantic husband, Bill. She was happy to share that her husband never misses an occasion to send her flowers or a card. Lisa admits, however, that she is not terribly romantic. With that scenario in mind, Lisa questioned Margaret, asking what the men who are not naturally romantic should do for their partners on Valentine’s Day.

Margaret thinks that the traditional bouquet of flowers is still a great way to show appreciation for a loved one. She added, however, that overly gratuitous gifts, “raise the radar.” This is to say that something out of the ordinary might be all too obviously masking guilt for previous missteps in the relationship.

Margaret went back to Lisa’s gift idea of a holiday card, giving a simple way to make it personal and a bit more thoughtful than the writers over at Hallmark have already printed on the page. She suggests sending your loved one a card with the top 25 reasons that you are most grateful to have him/her in your life. She says that by starting each reason with, “I am grateful for you because…,” the message is most meaningful.

Lisa asked Margaret for her opinion on a point she made earlier show about the universal application of Valentine’s Day. Margaret agreed that Valentine’s Day is for everyone, not just lovers. They relate the experience to the childhood practice of giving paper Valentine’s Day cards to classmates in grade school.

For those without partners on Valentine’s Day, Margaret suggests making a beautiful dinner for one, buying yourself beautiful flowers, and doing whatever else makes you comfortable. She also suggests babysitting for another couple so that you’re giving another couple a night out, which she admits to doing in the past.

After a quick news break, Lisa and Margaret discuss www.bedroommatters.com, Margaret’s website which provides content about classes and workshops, as well as a blog. Her goal is for the site to blossom into a resource where people can visit it to find out how to balance the “passion and sensuality quotient” in their lives.

Lisa explains that with all of the sites and information out there on this same subject, she approves of the way in which Margaret gets her message across. She applauds Margaret for her classy communication of sexuality through the site. Lisa admits to being embarrassed by some of the language used to communicate sensuality, however Margaret stresses the importance of finding language between two people that encourages comfort and not embarrassment.

The ladies switched gears to talk about a Westport production of The Vagina Monologues. Lisa mentioned her happy surprise that all of the show’s proceeds go to charity. Margaret discussed Eve Ensler’s V-Day 2010 charitable presentation of The Vagina Monologues, based on whatever Ensler’s particular drive is at the time. Margaret and Lisa discussed their surprise at the response by some women who are comfortable with the word “vagina,” as well as reports of posters promoting the production being torn down. Local celebrities, like author Jane Green, will be part of this production that will be held at the Westport Country Playhouse (westportplayhouse.org).

Written by Alexandra Kirsch

2010-02-11T09:04:00.003-05:00

February 10, 2010

In the spirit of “Love Week” on The Lisa Wexler Show, Patti Stanger of Bravo’s Millionaire Matchmaker joined Lisa as tonight’s first guest to discuss her business as a matchmaker and to offer some helpful answers to listeners looking for love.

Patti and Lisa started the show by commenting on the popular news story surrounding John Edwards and his taboo decision to propose to mistress-turned-fiance, Rielle Hunter, on the same day that he confirmed paternity for the couple’s daughter, Francis Quinn Hunter. Patti and Lisa agree that Edwards’ actions were poorly planned.

“Once a cheater always a cheater,” Patti commented.

Lisa continued to comment on her stand on the situation later in the show, giving Edwards an award reserved for his beyond poor choices that have surfaced as of late.

“He gets the low-life award,” Lisa said. She continued to express her disappointment with the former senator for his consistent, less-than-favorable appearances in the press that showcase the soap opera-like consequences that followed his decisions to carry out a very public, marriage-ending affair.

Segueing into matters of business, Lisa and Patti discussed the very successful, global matchmaking service that Patti offers. Millionaire Matchmaker (Bravo, Tuesdays 10 p.m. EST) only profiles a small part of Patti’s business. The actual matchmaking service called the Millionaire’s Club has a variety of options available for men and women, gay or straight.

The Millionaire’s Club is has a fairly extensive application process and information can be found on the Millionaire’s Club website.

Lisa and Patti continued discussing the technicalities of the trade. Curious of how gendered matchmaking is, Lisa questioned Patti about the appearance of millionairesses on Millionaire Matchmaker.

Patti explained that women of wealth are tired of dating down, and so more millionaire women are turning to her service.

Keeping the changing trend in matchmaking in mind, Lisa and Patti shared views on the male ego.

Lisa commented, and Patti agreed, that the male ego is more invested in occupation than the female ego.

When Lisa asked Patti if she conducted background checks on the people in the Millionaire’s Club, she was surprised to find that the only people submitted to formal background checks are the individuals who appear on the Millionaire Matchmaker.

The final topic of discussion between world-renowned matchmaker Patti Stanger and Lisa involved dating principles surrounding the traditional dating debate: how soon is too soon to sleep with a date?

Patti and Lisa agree that playing hard to get is the way to go. Lisa shared her personal, and now Patti-approved philosophy, commenting that she will not set people up who do not agree to go on at least two dates. She believes this removes the tension associated with the first date.

Despite practicing Judaism, when Lisa questioned Patti on whether she has rules about mixing religions, she explained that at the end of the day it’s all about what the member is attracted to.

A woman calling from Norwalk, CT called to ask Patty the geographical limitations of her service. Patti was happy to respond that the Millionaire’s Club operates on a global scale.

Patti will be doing a book signing of Become Your Own Matchmaker: 8 Easy Steps to Attracting Your Perfect Mate on Saturday February 13 at the Mohegan Sun.

Switching gears, Lisa discussed the brutal weather and traffic that has been hitting the East Coast and commented on an earthquake that hit Chicago today.

She also mentioned a news story about Michelle Obama’s efforts to collaborate with the government in an attempt to reduce the instances of obesity. Although Lisa admits to not being an Obama maniac, she strongly supports Michelle Obama with this particular cause, calling it extremely commendable and important.

Lisa agrees with Obama in that the government, which has the ability to regulate the foods that appear in school cafeterias and vending machines, as well as the types of foods that the government subsidizes, can make a difference and potentially significantly reduce the number of obese Americans and in turn reduce the instances of heart disease and adult-onset (Type II) diabetes. She recounts on her experience in grade school where school lunches came from home and were natural, compared to the soda and artificially flavored foods that appear in school cafeterias today.

As a great introduction to her second guest, Dr. Demitri Papolos, Lisa referenced the front page of today’s New York Times, which featured an article about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) that discussed a change to the manual about how mental health disorders are labeled, which will have a very big impact on the mental health community. One change that is of particular relevance to Dr. Papolos’ research is the labeling of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The changes to the DSM would be effective in the book’s fifth edition, which is expected in 2013.

Before her interview with Dr. Papolos, Lisa commented on the latest news involving the trial of the youngest Guantanamo detainee, Omar Khadr. Khadr was 15 years old when threw a grenade that killed a U.S. Special Forces medic.

UN officials and human rights groups argue that he was indoctrinated as a child and should not be prosecuted, but instead rehabilitated, for his war crimes. US officials wish to go to trial at Guantanamo in July.

Lisa explained that because Khadr is now 24, he will probably appear to the jurors as a much more capable criminal in this case. More so, having been kept at Guantanamo, she suggests that he probably has more reason to have negative feelings toward the United States. She explains that if he is not receptive to rehab, it’s the fault of the United States.

As an American Jewish woman, Lisa commented on how it is obvious how much she hates terrorism and what terrorists stand for. She continued, though, to say that as an American and as lawyer who truly believes in the constitution, this prisoner should not be tried as an adult - rather, he should be tried as a juvenile, since he was picked up at 15 years old and for many years was not offered the services of an attorney. It is a terrible situation, but one that was created by the US government, not him.

In local news, Lisa mentioned a situation involving the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA). In a unique argument in Madison, the city decided to make building permit fees very high, raising them to $4000. The allegation is that the building fees violate CUTPA as the town is gathering money that it is unauthorized to collect. The homeowners who have obtained said permits since 2003 are coming together as a class, and received class certification (recognition by the court that there is some claim of action).

Lisa welcomed her second guest, Dr. Demitri Papolos, to discuss changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as well as Dr. Papolos’ work with bipolar research in juveniles. Dr. Papolos is an associate professor of psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, where he is the co-director of the Program in Behavioral Genetics. He co-authored a book with his wife Janice on the subject called The Bipolar Child.

Lisa and Dr. Papolos discussed the debate of whether bipolar disorder exists in childhood and whether or not it is right to prescribe children medicine to manage the disorder when its existence is up for debate.

Dr. Papolos commented that the DSM’s role in this situation is important because it’s used as a tool to diagnose psychiatric conditions and by insurance companies in deciding whether they’ll pay for a particular diagnosis.

Dr. Papolos explained that the debate has been around for years despite the diagnosis having been around since Hippocrates, who described mania and melancholia in children. He continued by saying that for some reason this controversy has persisted despite much clinical research that clearly shows that the disorder does exist in childhood but presents itself differently.

In response to the New York Times article, he said it’s merely a first foray of the potential changes that will be subject to public comment and researcher criticism. Dr. Papolos explained that the choice to leave out Pediatric Bipolar Disorder was done to make room for what they’re calling a disruptive personality disorder that will parse childhood bipolar disorder in the way that is described in the New York Times article.

When Lisa asked why medicine is being chosen over other options, he explained that children with bipolar disorder need to be on antipsychotic medication because they do have psychotic symptoms; it’s part of the controversy because there is not clear criteria for childhood bipolar disorder.

There has been research that is meant to create evidence-based criteria for diagnosis. It is under review by the DSM committee and as far as Dr. Papolos knows, it’s the only criteria to be developed on rather vigorous methodology. He hopes that it will get the due consideration and inclusion in one of the diagnostic manuals. Because the DSM only gets revised every decade or so, it continues to place doctors at a disadvantage of not having real criteria for diagnosis of childhood bipolar disorder. Lisa pointed out, however, that in Dr. Papolos’ book, The Bipolar Child, there is a comprehensive self-assessment.

Before closing, Lisa mentioned an article about Google’s plans to produce a broadband Internet service as well as an article about new sanctions in place by the United States against Iran. Lisa also announced the death of Charlie Wilson, who passed away today at 76 years old.

Tune in tomorrow for of our resident psychic, Jennifer Rodgers, who will join us for another love week special.

Written by Alexandra Kirsch

2010-02-09T13:03:00.004-05:00

Monday February 8, 2010

Lisa’s guest was Congressman Jim Himes. He referred to the Middletown, CT power plant catastrophe trying to figure out what happened. Lisa said the NY Times feels there is no safety red flag, right now. Lisa then referred to some angry letters she received about Mr. Himes being the only CT representative to sign a letter asking President Obama to stop the Gaza blockade in Israel. Keith Ellison, (D-MN) the only Congressman who is a Muslim, linked to CAIR which is linked to Hamas, authored the letter. Himes is a strong supporter of Israel and encourages people to read the letter which moderates call to ease the situation in Gaza. Himes recognizes that Israel imposed the blockade out of fear, but the people of Gaza are experiencing desperate conditions. Hamas is the aggressor and he does not want to do anything to reduce Israel’s security, but not want people to live in slum conditions. Lisa: The letter on its face is not a concern, having said that the US is sometimes the only ally. Israel has tried to break the impasse with humanitarian help. Some European countries have been aggressive against Israel. Himes has been to Israel several times and said the Israelis do their very best not to hurt civilians. The letter is actually less of a big deal than the blog seems to tell. Lisa said we need constant reassurance that Israel is supported by the US. Himes believes the Senate needs to act and pass something concerning financial reform. The banks made a ton of money and are less and less regulated. Lisa said banks are going toward the Republican way of thinking. Himes feels folks have it wrong, they need to have faith and confidence in the system.

Lisa feels Russia and Iran are thumbing their nose at the world with their nuclear pact. In the meantime Iran hangs people for not believing in G-d.

The Tea Party convention in Nashville invited Sarah Palin and embraced her as a spokesperson. Lisa doesn’t really know anyone who rally’s around her. She thinks Sarah Palin says everything in a condescending way. Lisa was hoping the Tea Party would come up with some solutions and be a movement. But she sees them as a fringe right wing element of the Republican Party. There is no formal independent party in this country and the majority of people are unaffiliated with any party in CT. Lisa felt that Sarah Palin was the reason that many people did not vote for McCain in 2008.

Best Selling Author, Jackie Collins, was on and talked about her 27th book, Poor Little Bitch Girl. Jackie is the younger sister of actress Joan Collins. She explained that she feels her father is like the father on the TV show Mad Men. When she was growing up it affected the fact that there was huge double standard going on. She feels that girls can do anything.

The Super Bowl was viewed by 97.5 million people rivaling the amount of people who watched the last episode of the TV show MASH (105.9).

Lisa’s Chutzpah award went to: MTV who said the people in the cast of Jersey Shores are trying to rake in the cash and make the show trashy, by their personal appearances.

Lisa says we all have to love each other more and morals need to be kept. Inside Yale’s Sex scene Yale News polled over 5000 people, and they found it is a hookup culture. They have carnal interaction over relationships. It is a sad view of Yale. And it is sad how dating has disappeared. There are no more social situations available to young people anymore. Young people are given a message that they need to do whatever everyone else does. For women especially, they need to be kept safe. And the ease these “hookups” are made it is difficult to develop a meaning and emotional relationship. Woman need to have higher expectations, and set the bar high.

Listen to this show and others at www.lisawexler.com or www.wstcwnlk.com

2010-02-07T13:16:00.002-05:00

February 4, 2010 Thursday

Lisa told the story of a young woman, Victoria Hope (26) of Shelton, CT, who bled to death while giving birth to 3 still born babies, apparently earlier than expected. She already had 2 children and was very involved in her their lives. In this day and age it is a travesty that something like this should happen. She was not under a doctor’s (prenatal) care, however, and did not inform anyone that she was pregnant.

An article in yesterday’s front page of the NY Times had a story about debarking in dogs. Vets will cut their vocal chords when people find themselves in a quandary if neighbors complain about their dogs barking. Lisa feels it should be Illegal and considered cruelty to animals. How is a dog supposed to bark and communicate to you of danger? Lisa would sooner sound proof her house rather than do that to a dog. She thinks it is unspeakably cruel.

Lisa’s studio guest, Samantha Heller, a Registered Dietician and author of “Get Smart, Nutrition Prescription for Boosting Brain Power and Optimizing Total Body Health” Samantha hosts her own radio show on SiriusXM. Through her research she believes that certain foods stave off dementia. There are good and bad fats, our brain is made up of 2/3 of fat. Animal saturated fat and coconut oil are not good for you. Lower non-fat cheeses like part skim mozzarella is okay to eat. Cholesterol and saturated fat are dif, sat not as good as cholesterol fat. Man made fat fry at high transfats are not good for you. things that are deep fried generally not good for you. The western diet based on human studies, is increasing our risk for many diseases. She suggests that people lower the amount of fat you eat, by reducing the amount of red meat and eat lean meat and other low fat products.

Lisa spoke with Dr. Stuart Busell a physician at Danbury CT Hospital and who was written about in an article in the Wall St Journal a physician at Danbury Hospital. Colorectal risk calculator takes into account their health problems as result look at wound infection rates and blood clot rates to outline the risk of death and other risk factors, there are 15 variables in this surgery, some of which are the extent of surgery, age is an issue, smoking is a factor, high blood pressure, is this an emergency case. It is a preventable cancer and Preventative care is a colonoscopy, starting at age 50 and every few years. If family has a history you should have it starting at age 40.

Lisa talked about the Toyota confusion and trouble happening. Lisa has a Prius and is very happy with it. But some models have a problem with the gas pedal sticking. The problem may have started when they went from a mechanical to a computerized engineered electromagnetic program to accelerate the car. Some believe it may have something to do with cell phone electromagnetic interference because of the way it was designed by the engineers at Toyota and this has not been investigated. There are class action law suits against Toyota. To make the car lighter to get better gas mileage Toyota’s electronic throttle system may be at fault. Lisa believes we are so reliant on computers, no one knows how to do anything (mechanical) anymore.

Google approached the NSA (National Security Agency) with a way of teaming up that would allow them to share information; if you don’t think Big Brother isn’t here already, wake up, and smell the coffee. Sweden balked at this in principal.

The House voted to raise the national debt ceiling on Thursday. Lisa will ask Jim Himes what he thinks of this on Monday when he comes on the show.

Lisa said that John Boehner (R-Ohio) gets the Tin Ear (award).

Listen to this whole show and other shows on lisawexler.com or go to wstcwnlk.com.

2010-02-07T13:14:00.003-05:00

February 5, 2010 Friday

Lisa talked about many different topics this afternoon, including the so called trouble Michele Obama got into for talking about one of her daughters having a problem keeping her weight in check, the Tea Party convention in Nashville, Sarah Palin’s husband having been deeply involved in the (Alaska) state’s governance while she was governor, Charlie Sheen’s car was driven off a cliff and no one was found in or around it, and the “honor killing” of a 16 year old girl who was buried alive in Turkey for talking to boys.

Lisa’s guest was Jamie Dukes (45) a former lineman who played professional football and who lost 100 pounds after he decided to go through surgery using the REALIZE ® Adjustable Gastric Band to help curb his appetite. He is now a paid spokesperson for Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc and a new healthy lifestyle.

Lisa also talked about Toyota and the grandson of its founder Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota, having apologized to the public for the company’s massive global recall over sticky gas pedals (in some models); still figuring out what to do about the recently publicized defects in the Prius; and launching a probe into the Lexus.

Listen this whole show and others at the lisawexlershow.com

2010-01-28T21:44:00.002-05:00

January 28, 2010 Thursday

Lisa wasn’t impressed by President Obama’s State of the Union speech. She thinks he was basically imploring people on both sides of the aisle to get it together. But in the end it’s just words. She thinks the President was trying to do good things but it didn’t happen; he should have just worked on and committed to one or two things and not so many things at once.

Lisa talked about our Constitutional right of free speech; and that money has always been part of corruption in our society. The Supreme Court ruling is giving corporations the right to give people who are running for office campaign money. If the speech is opinion speech we know money corrupts, we saw Mayor Bloomberg buy his way to his office. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor does not like this new decision because it overrules the Austin decision, which she wrote, in which she permitted Congress to restrict certain kinds of corporate political speech. In the 90’s the Austin case reversed much of the Buckley case. Lisa said the solution is more information, not less.

Lisa interviewed Kurt Schneider, a senior at Yale, who has become famous for doing musical productions. His friend Sam Tsui sang some songs that Kurt arranged. He was commissioned by the Dean of Admissions to produce a video for incoming students. His You-tube channel has over 18 million views, and he really hit it big with his version of “Journey” which was played on the TV show “Glee”. This is a star of tomorrow to watch. Lisa advised him to contact the Jon Stewart show which is completely run and written by ex-Yalies.

Lisa said Hillary Clinton is in England trying to buy off the Taliban with $500 million dollars. What are they going to do with the money? Buy more tanks and wage more war? Is that our solution, to use our hard earned tax money in Afghanistan; it reminds Lisa of how Chamberlain dealt with Hitler in 1938 by giving Hitler parts of Czechoslovakia. Mussolini, Hitler and Chamberlain signed the Munich Pact giving away half of Czechoslovakia and that country wasn’t even there at the signing. Chamberlain was happy that he appeased Hitler by giving him half of Czechoslovakia. What are we giving them money for? To make Peace? To educate their women? Fat chance- no one talks about that. Until we educate their women, their society will never progress. The war against the Islamic revolution is a different kind of war. It’s too late for bullets and tanks in Afghanistan. That should have been done on 9/12/2001. This war is about guerilla tactics, special ops and spies who speak Arabic.

Tomorrow Lisa will be on The Fox Strategy Room on Kimberly Guilfoyle’s show bet 11and 12 noon. strategyroom@foxnews.com

The author of Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger died today as did Howard Zinn who wrote an alternative version of history, called The People’s History, that is used in schools. Lisa started chatting about her own favorite books, which included everything ever written by Agatha Christie. “The Good Earth”, by Pearl S Buck, about China, and “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith are two of Lisa’s other great favorites. Also Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “A Secret Garden” and “A Little Princess”.

Lisa will continue to get first person accounts of what’s going on in Haiti. People were using their phones today and at least one person was found and saved. Lisa imagined if Haiti had been able to turn its power on sooner, so many other people could have been saved. In other news, Miramax production company is closing after 30 years.

Listen to Lisa for this or other shows on www.lisawexler.com or wstcwnlk.com

2010-01-27T15:41:00.001-05:00

January 26, 2010 Tuesday

Lisa played part of President Obama’s interview with Diane Sawyer, of ABC News today. She told us that Obama said that he would rather be remembered as a really good one term President, than a mediocre two term President. Lisa thinks he should be careful what he says out loud, it could come true.

Lisa said we are 1.35 trillion dollars in debt, and feels Washington is so irresponsible about our future, about the amount our children will be paying in taxes. The Senate rejected the Obama proposal for a deficit task force, to change/increase tax code. What do you do with a balance sheet? Either you up revenue (which Republicans won’t permit ) or cut expenses (which Democrats won’t allow). Lisa is in between and said there is so much government waste and they never want to cut that. She believes they will raise some taxes and cut others. The rich will get richer, and as Gloria says, the poor will have children.

We expect deficits that within the next 10 yrs will reach 67% of our revenues. That means the average person will be spending 67 cents of every dollar earned to pay down our debt to China. China, by the way has 27 million students in advanced education of science and math. They have over 2 million people in medical school alone. And they don’t graduate with debt like the students in this country. They have organized commercial science that they put to application in society for their citizens.

Katharine Weber, who wrote the book True Confections, was Lisa’s guest today.

Katharine has won many awards for her writing, she also wrote Triangle about the Triangle shirt factory fire. This new book, True Confections is the fictional story of Zip’s Candy, based on authentic candy company history. Most of the candy companies in this country were bought out by other candy companies and many were disbanded. Kraft is now buying Cadbury. Katharine will be at the Westport Library, Monday, February 1 for a book signing. For Katharine’s fictional company Zip’s Candy, she made up a jingle and you can go to the website to enter a contest. People believe the fictional characters are real. Katharine is trying to get people’s attention with this book. She is interested in family business. The first generation starts the business, the second generation builds it up, then between the third and fourth generation is when the business can go down hill.

Lisa said the first Tea party convention is going to be held in Nashville. Lisa wants to know what they stand for. She thought it was libertarian and rejected the government spending. She now thinks it is turning out to be a conservative party like the Republicans instead of a third party. Lisa wanted to know about one government program that has really worked well. Lisa believes we need to be careful of government control.

Haiti still expects more earth tremors.

2010-01-25T21:39:00.002-05:00

January 25, 2010 Monday

Lisa was wild and witty today. She talked about the Gallup poll, what it indicated last year at this time, and what Barack Obama was left with when he became President. Today he has an approval rating with a 65% gap between Democrats and Republicans. This is the largest gap in the history of our Presidents. Only 23% of Republicans gave job approval for Obama. Obama made 46 trips overseas this first year of his Presidency to try to repair international relations that the Bush messed up. If China changes its currency it will increase the price of everything we buy. The poll showed that the elder Bush was the least disliked President in terms of the difference between what Republicans and Democrats thought of him since Johnson. Lisa believes there is a glimmer of an edge for a third party to run in the future.

Obama's solution to the economic crisis is too little and has the wrong philosophy. He wants to double child care tax credits available for the middle class. Big deal. Lisa thinks he should make ALL higher education tax-deductible, as long as there is no hateful education being espoused in the institution. She thinks the middle class needs jobs, and relief from education debt. Lisa also questions why we (still) are in Afghanistan when Gen. McChrystal is already talking about negotiating with the Taliban. It's like they are already negotiating our exit- what are we doing there? Not our country, Osama bin Laden is most likely already dead, and the terrorists know how to move on to other countries like Yemen where they can regroup. The Afghanistan strategy is a loser and Obama knows it.

Lisa also talked about single parenthood, whether by divorce or some other situation that took place, like death of a parent. She talked about Angelina and Brad breaking up. Of course their six children will be affected. Lisa believes that children need both parents and said a woman’s self confidence and self esteem will come from the way her father treats her while growing up. A father has a lot of influence on how a young girl will present herself as an adult.

Haiti is not forgotten, and there are some CT attorneys who are offering free information clinics on immigration amnesty for Haitians on February 6th.

The National Book Critics Circle finalist were announced today and for fiction, Lisa didn't recognize a single name. So much for being a reader- she had a good joke at her own expense.

Lisa also admitted to her own prejudices and asked us to do the same.

Listen to this show and other shows at Lisawexler.com.

2010-01-18T12:19:00.000-05:00

Monday January 11, 2010

Lisa talked about Sarah Palin becoming a contributing commentator on the Fox News Channel; she is to have a multi-year deal with Fox and host a series which will run from time to time. Lisa feels she is unqualified to comment on anything. Sarah apparently didn’t (even) grasp why there was a North Korea and South Korea. She had tutors who went over world history with her. The book “Game Change” came out by two editors of Time magazine which talked about what various things were going on in the presidential campaign.

Ellen Whitehurst, a frequent contributor to the show, was the phone guest. Ellen spoke about a word she invented: Feng Shuistrology. She wrote the book “Make This Your Lucky Day”. Lisa said she believes in spiritual signs and signals; she doesn’t believe in coincidence, and you can find and establish connections if you just look for them.

Mayor Bloomberg of NY wants less salt used in our diets, in NY restaurants.

News stories that Lisa talked about were China being the number one in auto sales, and three elements that are happening in China concerning why military escalation, population escalation and industrial domination were on her mind.

China surpassed US auto sales in the world. Thirteen point six million cars were sold this year in China. Yet China is a bad place to be if you want a second child, as they force women to have a second child aborted, even into the ninth month.

Listen to the whole show on www.lisawexlershow.com

2009-12-03T12:04:00.000-05:00

The Lisa Wexler Show Recap: Tuesday December 1, 2009

Lisa was listening to President Barak Obama along with you on her radio show for approximately the first 15 minutes or so tonight. Then she spoke of her thoughts about his speech. Lisa feels that the President made the (arbitrary) date of leaving Afghanistan in July of 2011 just in time for him to run a reelection campaign. Lisa wants to know, when’s the last time anybody entered a war and knew when the end date was? If we are in a war that we are already saying we will be leaving in two years, explain to me, what are we doing there? How do we know we will eradicate all of them (the cancer of this Islamic fundamentalism) in your two year time table? In the last 100 years no one has been able to effectively transfer power to Afghanistan so they could self rule. The President didn’t even address the fact that Afghanistan if a highly de-centralized country, it is a country that does not rule on democratic principles, it rules on basic tribal principles; did not address the way they rule based on tribal relationships, dictatorial rules, favors, bribery, we would call it corruption, they would call it an every day way of doing business.

After the break, Lisa talked more about the problems interrelated with this war, and the why and wherefore about this Afghanistan conflict. Lisa feels that when we pull out the world wide enemy will take over the Afghan government anyway. This enemy is a world wide movement. It’s a spiritual, religious, zealotry, fanatic movement. It doesn’t know boundaries; it doesn’t respect women, it hates Jews, it hates western thought, it hates America, it hates Britain, and its insinuated itself in every corner of Western Europe.

It was notably omitted; at least in the time Lisa listened to his speech, the President didn’t make one reference to the Ft Hood massacre of just a couple weeks ago, by an Islamic, fundamentalist, home grown terrorist. If we don’t begin to address what that was all about, what are we doing in Afghanistan? Lisa doesn’t know if this is the best way to fight an enemy, by giving an end date to this war. Something needs to change; something else needs to be done about these warmongering people.

Listen to the full program on www.lisawexler.com

2009-11-20T10:34:00.002-05:00

Recap of November 11, 2009

Today is Armistice Day, created after World War I, to commemorate “the war to end all wars”, and now more commonly called Veterans Day.

The Congressional candidate State Senator Dan DiBecella joined Lisa in the studio.

Dan is taking on the Republican candidacy against Jim Himes, our freshman Congressman here in the fourth district.

Phil Maymin of the Fairfield County Weekly, a free publication, interviewed Lisa about her opinions on jail time for certain criminal activity, and wrote about it this week. Essentially, Lisa does not agree that all non-violent crimes deserve a jail sentence. On her show, Lisa gave examples of people who have a non-violent criminal “record” that has prevented them from finding work. You can read the full Fairfield County Weekly article online.

Listen to Live with Lisa for more of this evenings show-www.lisawexler.com

2009-10-20T10:17:00.001-04:00

October 19th Show Recap:

Anita Dunn, the White House Communications Director is getting under Lisa's skin, again! Lisa discusses Dunn's use and manipulation of the press. Lisa also discusses the death of the UCONN football player.

2009-10-05T14:11:00.005-04:00

October 1, 2009 Show Recap:

(Picture: Lisa with Govenor Crist)

Lisa had an eclectic evening in talking about the news today. The summer Olympics Committee meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark will be lobbied by worldly notables, including the Obamas and Oprah. Chicago and Rio de Janeiro are in the running. Polls show that Chicagoans are split with 50% wanting their city to win and the other 50% opposing it because there would be (inevitable) cost overruns in construction for the preparation.

Iran boasted that new sanctions on its nation would not hurt as they defended their right to enrich uranium. In Geneva today they met with several of the major industrialized countries, including the US, France, and Germany. Iran claims that they are using the uranium for atomic energy only. Lisa wants to know why, if everything is so peaceful purposes anyway, they didn't disclose the existence of this facil ity to the International Atomic Energy Association in the first place, until it was found by others to be concealed.

Lisa was annoyed about Michael Vick signing a contract with Nike shoes and getting paid any money to endorse any products.

Lisa revealed that former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would wear certain pins on her clothes to indicate what mood she was in that particular day.

Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota has started a Pac to raise money. Usually this indicates someone wants to (eventually) run for the Presidency. Lisa interviewed him about a year ago, wh en, at the time he was being named as a possible vice-presidential nominee candidate to be chosen by John McCain. Lisa didn’t see any charisma in Pawlenty that day. In all fairness, it was a long day and he was tired, but she wasn’t impressed. Ironically, the other guy who is gunning for the Republican nominee is Charlie Crist, who is the governor of Florida. Charlie is married to Lisa's sister Jill's good friend, Carol.

A sciencedaily.com report out of Britain says that children who eat sweets and chocolate every day are more likely to be violent as adults. A study of almost 17,500 participants in the 1970’s found that children who ate confectionary daily were significantly more likely to have been convicted for violence at age 34. It was the first (study) to examine the long term effects of childhood diet on adult violence.

Lisa doesn’t agree, otherwise she'd be pretty violent herself, as a regular chocolate- eater. On the other hand, she thinks soda is not good to drink by kids, because it does not have any nutritional value.

Lisa is also outraged about the Hollywood support for Roman Polanski. Even though Polanski is a classic success story with a tragic life, he ran away from a guilty plea here in the US and fled to France. Lisa believes all the famous people who support him don’t get it; he had already admitted to the crime and should serve his time.

Listen to Live with Lisa for the full broadcast.

2009-10-01T10:53:00.002-04:00

Tuesday September 29, 2009 Recap:

Lisa’s top ics were health and the newly proposed national health care bill.. Just 41% of voters nationwide favor the health care reform proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. Senior citizens surveyed are less supportive of the plan with 33% in favor and 59% opposed with those over 65 strongly opposed at 46%.

The Senate Finance Committee voted to kill a public insurance plan that would compete with private insurers, with a vote of 15 to 8.

A law says that doctors, hospitals and other health care providers must create an Electronic Health Record (EHR) for every American by 2014 or else face deductions in their Medicare payments. The EHR’s are supposed to be integrated into a national health care IT system where health-care providers nationwide as well as the government would have the ability to access them when authorized!

There is a section of the Health Care reform bill that requires the Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to “develop standards for the measurement of gender” as opposed t o simply relying on “male and female” for use in a new federal database that will collect information about all beneficiaries of government-run or supported health care programs. Sebelius has “no idea” about it.

Lisa’s guest was Dr. Pamela Peeke, who lives in Maryland, is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, and is adjunct senior scientist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Her research has focused on the relationship between chronic stress and overeating. A national bestseller, Fight Fat After Forty, was published in 2001, and she continues to bring this topic to the forefront nationally in magazine articles, television and radio appearances. Dr. Peeke’s most recent book is Fit to Live which challenges readers to have a wellness in their life using mental, nutritional, physical, financial and environmental aspects.

Listen to Live With Lisa to hear the full broadcast. www.lisawexler.com

2009-08-17T10:26:00.001-04:00

August 11th Show Recap:

Lisa pays tribute to Eunice Kennedy Shriver - who died August 11th at age 88:

Lisa said Eunice Kennedy Shriver is really a hero and made a difference in this world. She had the pleasure of interviewing one of her children, Timothy Shriver, when she was broadcasting her show from Yale University. He is one of the directors of the Special Olympics, an organization Eunice Shriver founded.

Lisa said the Kennedys get mocked for their public service pretentions and pitied for a lot of transgressions of the younger generation, but Eunice stands in a box all by herself. Even If she hadn’t been a Kennedy, she is one of the more extraordinary women of her generation. Eunice was one of the nine children of Joe and Rose Kennedy. She was extremely affected by her sister Rosemary, who was born ‘slow’ – we really don’t know what was wrong with her . She was given a lobotomy. Lisa said the family was advised by doctors that this would be the best thing and the Kennedys thought this would improve her mental condition. The operation was a disaster, Rosemary was never herself again. There must have been a lot of collective guilt in the family and Eunice took on the mantle of the guilt – which, Lisa said she guesses – Jews, Catholics and many ‘thinking’ people do.

Eunice felt sorry for people called ‘mentally retarded” a term used at that time to describe people who were born with lower than average IQ, inclusive of Down syndrome – which is different. She opened up her home to those people, at a time when people like that were not seen in public, but kept hidden away. Eunice's home became a summer camp. From these events the Special Olympics were formed.

Lisa said Eunice was fond of the saying “to whom much is given, much is expected”. She received the ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom’ in 1984 by Ronald Reagan for her work with the mentally-retarded and she received many other awards. She was the first person who was not a first lady or U.S. President in the National Portrait Gallery. Lisa said this is extraordinary. Eunice Kennedy Shriver didn’t go with the crowd, she didn’t believe in being a sheep- she founded a group of Democrats who were pro-life after abortion became legal.

Rhode Island Threatened to Close 1,000 Businesses For Non-Payment of Sales Taxes:

Businesses got a letter from the State threatening to close them down. Lisa said this is=2
0like the story she reported on with the credit report checks preventing people who have lost their jobs from getting work again. Self-defeating- how can you pay your debt if you don't have a job? Same thing here-If you close down a business for non-payment of sales taxes how will the State ever get paid? One particular business called “Dr. Doolittle’s Pets and More” – a store with parakeets, puppies, and a ferret, the owner received a letter saying he did not have the right to do business and must cease immediately. Lisa stated that his animals are not widgets, they have to be fed and cared for, so the owner goes to the store and feeds them daily. Maybe it's karma because we know most of these pet stores should be closed anyway because of where the pets come from.

Law Suit Filed Against Leona Hemsley’s Trustees:

Lisa said Leona Hemsley was sent to jail because nobody liked her, they called her “the queen of mean”.

She, in Lisa’s view, would not have been prosecuted, like Martha Stewart - if she had any friends on the way up, so when she was on the way down, nobody cared.

Leona married Harry Hemsley; they made a lot of money, but big deal. When she died she had one son she barely spoke to and virtually no friends. In the end, if you come out of this world and you don’t have a lot of friends that care about you - you haven’t done much. The one being she loved and loved her back, says Lisa, was her dog and she left the dog millions. People laughed about that. The trustees reduced the amount of money, but the Animal Welfare Society is saying they did not do what Leona wanted; they should change the allocation of the trust fund and help more animals.

Lisa’s - “I Told You So” Moment!

Lisa’s prediction was correct about the Westchester County low income housing story making front page in the New York Times. Lisa said it looks like this issue was impressed upon them by the Obama administration. There will be 750 low income housing units built or acquired and sold to minorities. Lisa said she will continue to follow this story.

Lisa welcomes Dr. Barry Sears, Inventor of the ground-breaking diet “The Zone”:

Dr. Sears is one of the nation’s leading nutritionists, worked at MIT and Boston University, has published over fourteen books, holds thirteen patents in the area of intravenous drug delivery systems and is known best for inventing “The Zone”. He was one of earliest people to promote the importance of the Omega-3s. Lisa and Dr. Sears’ discuss his latest book called “Toxic Fat”. Lisa asked Dr. Sears what makes fat good or bad. The doctor discusses the problem of “inflamed” fat – which, he said, in high enough doses, can kill us. He said, we often assume, if a person doesn’t look good in a bathing suit that they have one foot in the grave and one foot on a banana peel and that isn’t correct.

Dr. Sears said he has a patient who is classified as the heaviest man in the world. When he met the patient, he weighed 1,230 pounds and had not gotten out of bed for six years! Dr. Sears started working with the patient to reduce the inflammation and after the first eighteen months he lost about 400 pounds and now only weights 800 pounds. He may now be the healthiest man in Mexico because his blood cholesterol is perfect, his blood sugar is perfect, his blood pressure is that of a teenager and although he hasn’t left his bed, yet – he has the heart rate of a trained athlete. He’s upbeat, healthy, and happy and has just gotten married. He is still on Dr. Sears’ diet and it will take him about another five years to get down to 220 pounds, but the patient said he has a system now that he continues to follow and keeps losing weight.

Lisa and Dr. Sears discussed the Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats, sugar, refined carbohydrates, free radicals, antioxidants and more. The doctor says it is the foods that have the most free radical fighters are the foo
ds with color, like fruits and vegetables. They have profound antioxidant and more importantly anti inflammatory capabilities. Dr. Sears’s book teaches us how to use the food we eat to reduce inflammation and oxidation and if we do, we live a longer and better life.

2009-08-17T10:25:00.001-04:00

Westchester County Law Suit:

Lisa opens the show with the big story about the Westchester County law suit. A civil rights group brought a case about Westchester County alleging that Westchester County in its housing funds was discriminatory against minorities like black and hispanics. Andrew Spano took the extraordinary step in settling the law suit that forced Westchester County to construct affordable housing in overwhelmingly white communities and aggressively market the housing to non-whites in New York City and Westchester. Lisa said this is like affirmative action for housing - because they are trying to make up for past discriminatory impact in housing and our local and county governments are being charged of righting the wrongs of the past. She said this makes the New Haven fire fighter case look like peanuts! $50 million of tax payer dollars will go toward constructing or acquiring no less than 750 units and it has to be in neighborhoods in which blacks constitute less than 3% of the population and Hispanics makes up less than 7% of the population. Lisa wanted to know how they come u

p with these figures and if her listeners though it was a good thing or a bad thing? A caller from Stamford stated he is concerned that the government is involved, especially the federal government, where we are a network of such diverse communities, it is impossible to legislate these things from a central government.

Mentally Ill Offenders Stretch the Limits of Juvenile Justice:

Bob Francis, Executive Director of the CT Alliance for Juvenile Justice and Solomon Moore, a Criminal Justice reporter for the New York Times, joined Lisa to discuss this story reported in today's New York Times. Lisa cited statistics saying there are about two-thirds of the nation’s juvenile inmates - who numbered 92,854 in 2006 - that have at least one mental illness and more are in need of therapy than punishment. Bob Frances said he is in general agreement with the article and said the state of Connecticut is doing a little bit better because the issue came up a few years ago and more attention is being paid to it. He said Connecticut has more capacity and has developed other services in the community where we are able to divert these young people from the juvenile justice system.

Solomon Moore, a Criminal Justice reporter for the New York Times, said there has been a movement forming around reforming juvenile justice systems in the country. The overall juven

ile population has declined over time, but there is a lot more mental illness in the juvenile prisons. A 2006 study estimates that for every 100,000 youths, there are fewer than nine child psychologists. Lisa said that means nobody is getting any help; they are just getting pills and not all of the time because the medications are inconsistent and the wrong doses. Mr. Solomon said the people he spoke with didn’t have a big problem with medication per se; it was the fact that diagnoses were sketchy sometimes; documentation didn’t follow children from their schools into treatment centers in the juvenile justice centers. Kids who were on one drug, were supposed to be tapered of that drug but it never happened because they move from one place to another and you ended up with kids on a lot of different medications and a lot of diagnoses, but not a lot of coherence in terms of treatment. Mr. Frances said he agrees with Mr. Solomon and adds that there are not enough psychiatrists, social workers and direct service workers in the system.

2009-08-17T10:22:00.001-04:00

August 8th Show Recap:

Westport - Staples High Football Lights and the Planning & Zoning Commission, The Westport YMCA

Lisa said she has lived in Westport for many years and even served on the Planning and Zoning Commission. She asked - Why do people select a town to live in because of it's beauty, then want to change it and not preserve the things that attracted them there in the first place? During her time on the Planning and Zoning Committee, there were regular requests from the football team to put lights on at Staples High School. Who is more important, the neighbors who feel that having 70 ft tall lights will annoy them, impede their right to non-disturbance of their suburban home or the rights of a high school and it's community who want lights on and to have a game on a Friday night? Lisa says sometimes she doesn't recognize Westport anymore. It is now 6 to 1, Planning and Zoning Commission is voting to go ahead with lights!

The same people who see nothing wrong with putting a $25 million dollar YMCA on the outskirts of town are the same people who thinks it’s okay to take a two acre residential zone where Staples High is and put 70 foot tall lights there! There is no sympathy anymore for the people that already live here, bought their homes based on an expectation of what their neighborhood would be like.
The local zoning board is responsible to th
e neighborhood and the protection of the people who live in the town. Lisa invited listeners to chime in or disagree.
The Westport YMCA: Lisa said she thinks it is disastrous to take the YMCA out of the downtown, one of our lone reasons to go downtown, go there and exercise, then take care of business there. It is poor planning because Mahackeno is the last outside daycare camp we have in our area. We'll be cutting down an estimated 3,000 trees to build the new YMCA! Will there be a need to be in downtown Westport after 6:00 p.m. anymore? Fairfield has done a much better job with their downtown and so has South Norwalk.

Danger Dog Case:
Two years ago a dog was in a fight with another dog. Wally Meyer intervened to protect his smaller dog, he was scratched, his dog was bitten, but nobody had to go to the hospital or harmed. Mr. Meyer made a complaint, the police investigated and determined the dog was not dangerous. They reached a compromise of keeping the dog fenced in his yard. There has not been another incident with the dog after two years. Mr. Meyer said that wasn't good enough - the dog has been declared a 'dangerous dog'. The fence isn't good enough; the dog has to be muzzled when outside and constantly supervised.
Lisa said this is plain nonsense!

Man versus Mutt - who gets the better treatment in Britain, dog or human?:
Lisa reports on a Wall St
reet Journal cover story "Man versus Mutt", an essay saying that being a dog in Britain is better than being a human. It's a cautionary tale for Americans, to not go the way of national health insurance of the UK. If it's a poor dog, a mutt that nobody loves, with or without an owner that can't pay, what do you do? The vets have an association of health insurance for dogs. It's not the prettiest facility or private care, but the dogs get treated.

Pre and Post Nuptial Agreements - With special guest Attorney Ellen Strauss:
Attorney Ellen Strauss joins Lisa in the studio to discuss pre and post nuptial agreements and the recent Connecticut law in respect to pre and post nuptial agreements. Lisa says before one gets married you can make a contract with your intended - that under certain circumstances will be upheld by the judges. But, after you get married, there are a lot more suspicious of these kinds of contracts. Lisa and Attorney Strauss also discuss the high-visibility cases of Donald Trump and Marla Maples and the Marie Douglas David, 37 years old and her husband 67 years old -- multi-million dollar settlement. Lisa said it was very expensive make-up sex!

News you may have missed:

DNA has cleared Kenneth Ireland of Wallingford of charges of rape.
Ireland was cleared after 21 years in a Connecticut prison, convicted of murder. Tax payers will be paying reparations.

AIG bonuses costing 249 million dollars. AIG loss so much money they were hemorrhaging! Frank Glassner, Veridas, CEO says the public will perceive this very poorly. Lisa's guest, Attorney Strauss said as egregious as it sounds, bonuses were contractual agreements that they cannot get out of.

Madoff Update:
Ex Madoff Finance Chief Frank Dpascali is turning states evidence (in return for a reduced sentence). He's going to to disclose who else knew about the scheme, since Madoff is not speaking. The victims of Madoff's scheme are objecting to the amount of money Mr. Picard, the trustee is being paid. So far he has gotten $14.7 million in fees for the four months of work he's done. Ruth Madoff cannot spend more than $100 on herself without telling the trustee what the money is for. Lisa said the Madoff trustee has gotten approval to sell the private jet for $753,000, which strikes Lisa as cheaper than the $500 million that our house of representatives has appropriated itself for buying 8 eight jets.
She asked - why don't they take Bernie's castoff, it's a lot cheaper!!!
Lisa will be following the settlement of the Fairfield Greenwich Group, currently in talks.

Healthcare Town Hall Debates:
Lisa feels we are being manipulated by all the messages. Dick Durbin, Democrat from Illinois said Obama will own the pulpit during the health care discussions during the August congressional recess, to sell20it and it's a once in a political life time to revamp the system. David Axelrod was quoted as saying regarding the people, "if they fight, you've got to fight twice as hard". Lisa is concerned that they are saying it will be mandatory.

2009-08-10T10:56:00.007-04:00

August 7th Show Recap:

Boss, the Plane! the Plane! (with a tip of our hat to Herve Villechaize)

Congress Gets An Upgrade to $500 million to buy eight jets - The plot thickens:
Lisa said this is an important story because it is indicative of the hypocrisy of Washington D.C.! Lisa asked - is this what we're paying our taxes for? It was reported that the shopping list goes beyond what the Air force requested. They sought to buy just one Gulfstream-5 and one business class equivalent to replace planes they already had that were aging and the Defense department wanted to buy two other planes that were being leased. But, the lawmakers in the House added to that appropriation.

Lisa quotes Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary who said "The Department of Defense didn't request the additional planes and doesn't need them. We ask for what we need and only what we need. We've always frowned upon earmarks and additives that are above and beyond what we ask for." Lisa said she thinks they lose their minds when they get to Washington D.C. and she knows they lose their perspective! They are bleeding us dry, they want more and more of our tax money and more of telling us what to do. They don't get it, a bunch of hypocrites - all of them!

The Healthcare Debate:
"Who is manipulating whom?" - asks Lisa. She cites a recent poll that shows 68% of people consider their health coverage good or excellent, leaving 32% - not in the mix. A fact to consider, said Lisa, is that the majority and then some, are happy with the status quo. She said that is a fact that must be considered when we advocate for change. There are town hall meetings being held and - reading between the lines - there is some organized activity upset and feel it’s being rammed down our throats. A lot of disorganized activity with regular people concerned or alarmed enough that they want to hear, in person, from their representatives about what is happening and voice their reservations.

Lisa states that nobody seems to be able to get hold of the substance and she keeps reading everything she can get her hands on, but it's a moving target. Who has time to read a thousand pages and figure it all out! She would like to see us incrementally fix what is wrong, rather than overhaul the whole process.

Immigrant Detention Centers:

Lisa said Obama hasn't been specific yet, but he wants to fix the problems with detention centers. The people being held in these centers are treated as if they have no civil rights and are far worse than those who are imprisoned in this country. Lisa said they don't have access to a lawyer, they can't see their families and over sixty have died in custody.
Regarding the reporting of this story, for one newspaper organization it's an important story, for another it is not - but Lisa said she is pleased Obama is looking into fixing the problem. The NY Times puts it on Page One, the Wall Street Journal buries it in a left bottom corner on Page 4. Moral: You have to read everything.

Another Hurdle for the Jobless: Credit Inquiries:

Citing a New York Times article written by Jonathan Glater, Lisa said it is now becoming a standard regular process when you want to get a job, for employers to do a credit check on you. Lisa asked about the relevancy of someone's credit history with the job they are applying for. It is not always a relevant straight line. Lisa said you can't necessarily equate someone with a poor credit history as someone who will make a poor employee.
If the employee has old debts, the IRS and a judge will garnish their wages, so it's really not the employer's business. In today's economy when people have fallen behind on their mortgages and credit cards, how are you going to help them climb back up the ladder by not giving them a job, because "you've" decided that their credit rating isn't good enough? How will they improve their lives, she asked. Lisa said these people are not criminals who deserve "a second chance" and forgiveness from their debt to society. It's hard enough for those people and that's a different subject entirely. You don't know people with a poor credit history chose to file for bankruptcy because they are sick and couldn't cover their cancer costs. You don't have any relationship with them, yet you are already barring the door.

Lisa states, that this is another trend in our American society of 2009 of making ridiculous rules, applying them to everyone and making people feel like failures, as a result! It was like the rule of having white people and black people drink from different water fountains, until somebody decided it wasn't a good rule. That’s how civil disobedience works: you decide first if the rule is a good one, and then you obey. You don’t automatically obey just because something is a rule- that’s what sheep do.

The Economy & Trends
Lisa said the stock market is about trends and it had a very good day today. She understands the market is important to a lot of people, but not for her anymore.

Lisa gave us some hard numbers about the economy.
There is a 1.3 Trillion dollar deficit doing on right now in our government! Incomprehensible!
There are 33 million people on food stamps.
There were 500 thousand people who filed for unemployment (first time claims) this week.
The real estate market is still at historic lows.

Lisa says she knows that right about now a lot of people's unemployment has run out and they cannot find new work. She said she hopes the economy is turning around, but is not yet convinced that it will. Lisa said she is not sure if we are being manipulated again by these numbers. Bottom line: In our real life, are we collecting a pay check? Are we able to pay our bills? Are we saving more now then we used to? Do we feel rich? Lisa quoted her father who says "the rich man is the man whose income exceeds his expenses"!

The SEC is settling a lot of old cases:

The SEC settled with Hank Greenburg, the head of AIG - for $15 million, which was like a drop in the bucket for him and he has avoided a fraud charge. Lisa said the SEC also tried to settle with the Bank of America yesterday, but the judge said 'not so fast'. They are forcing the SEC to defend itself, there will be a hearing this Monday.

Nurse of the year -- was no nurse!:
Lisa read about Norwalk's "nurse of the year", a story from the Drudgereport.
Betty Lichtenstein, 56, is accused of posing as a nurse at a hospital in Norwalk. She invented an organization and spent $2,000 to give herself a 'nurse of the year' award.

You Reap What You Sow- and then some
'Guy meets girl' on a web site for those looking to have extra-marital affairs:
Lisa said a guy met a girl on a web site for those seeking extra-marital affairs. He is a high-level financial person who has access to inside information on mergers and acquisitions. He decided, through e-mail and 7,000 phone calls over a two year period to the woman, that wanted to play internet games with her and gave her company patterns and made her guess what company he was talking about.
The woman is in debt, she took the information and started buying and selling stock. She ended up on the SEC watch list and got caught. Although the man didn't make a penny, Lisa says, he confided in someone he had no idea would make money off of the information he was providing. She testified against him, he was charged with insider training and went to jail. Lisa asked if this man is someone we should pay 30,000 to incarcerate. Is he a threat on the street? She said he should be financially fined and allowed to move on with his life.

2009-08-10T10:54:00.002-04:00

August 6, 2009 Show Recap: Lisa and Guest Sam Caligiuri, US Sen Rep Candidate

Segment 1: Current Events

John Hughes Dies
The Director of ‘The Breakfast Club’ and ‘Sixteen Candles,’ Dies at 59. Lisa quotes her late grandmother who used to say "those are the blessed people - who go with a heart attack on a golf course, that's the best way - because it's 'fast'.
Diane Schuller, who killed herself and eight others in a tragic car accident:
The latest news is that Schuller's husband denies the toxicology reports which states his wife had ingested an enormous amount of pot 15 minutes to an hour before the accident, plus 8 or 10 shots of 80 proof vodka. Lisa thinks her husband is going in the wrong direction and she asked -- did someone slip her something, like a 'date rape' kind of a drug somehow, that threw her body systems off completely?
NY Times reports - US to overhaul detention policy for immigrants :
Lisa said immigration custody system right now is a mess -a patchwork of complete inequity and unfairness. If you are here illegally you have no rights at all; even our defendants have more. Lisa will continue to follow this story.
Bill Clinton's mission:
Lisa says she doesn't understand why people are 'throwing stones' when Clinton completed what seemed to be a successful mission to get the two women home from North Korea.
Sonia Sotomayor Confirmed:
Lisa said she is glad that Sotomayor has been confirmed and we now have two women. When Lisa graduated from law school there were 41% women in her graduating class. The fact that she is hispanic or not, doesn't matter to Lisa and she disagreed on Sotomayor's decision about the New Haven fire fighter case. But, being wrong on one decision does not make you unfit to be a Supreme Court justice.

Segments 2-4

Sam Caliguiri joins Lisa in the studio:
Lisa is pleased to introduce Sam Caliguiri who is a State Senator taking on the challenge to win the Republican nomination against Chris Dodd. The polls are showing that Dodd is vulnerable. Tune in to hear how Sam answered Lisa's tough questions about "Waterbury being referred to as a cesspool" and how he will separate himself from the stench! Plus, Lisa asks about healthcare, the economy and jobs leaving the state.

2009-08-10T10:50:00.004-04:00

August 5, 2009 Show Recep: Just Lisa

A murder mystery? -- Questions loom about Mom in NY crash that killed eight: Lisa stated that this story just doesn't pass the smell test; it sounds like a murder mystery. The horrific car crash claimed the life of driver Diane Schuler, 36, her 2-year-old daughter and three young nieces. Three men in the car she hit died also. Schuller had a blood-alcohol content of .19 percent -- more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent, authorities said. She also had 6 grams of undigested booze in her stomach and so much THC that the cops said she had to have gotten high from 15 minutes to an hour before the crash. Lisa said Schuller's family stated that she had no history of drug and alcohol abuse. Her husband said she was fine the morning of the crash. Lisa asked if there was something that possibly happened when she stopped at a McDonalds's restaurant because shortly after that stop, she called her brother to say she wasn't feeling well. A caller from Danbury said he was surprised that Schuller had driven almost 2 miles in the wrong directions without encountering a state police! Lisa thinks there is more to this story- sounds like someone gave her a date-rape drug or a roofie! Bloomberg's program offering students cash for passing Advanced Placement exams has good results: The program is one of several local and national experiments using financial incentives to raise student achievement. Lisa asked -- Do you pay your kids to get good grades? Is that a good idea or a bad idea? A caller from Stamford told Lisa she thought it was a bad idea. Lisa agreed with the caller who said her parents expected good grades. There was plenty of praise for good grades, but no cash rewards! On the other hand, in the real world people are paid for doing good work.

Chutzpah Award Tonight: Three Contenders
1. Jobless US graduate sues college for 70,000 dollars: Lisa said a student, Trina Thompson, from New York's Monroe college had filed a complaint with the school accusing it of being responsible for her inability to find work. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink!". Lisa said - the school gives you the tools, but it's more than that when seeking employment, it's about your history, your personality, your attitude and a lot of other things. The college has done their part, now the student has to do hers. A caller said the student has to be a real go getter, especially in this economy. 2. House orders Up Three Elite Jets: Last year, law makers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers for traveling to Washington D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing about a possible bailout of their companies. But, apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air travel, said Lisa. At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million Gulfstream G550 luxury jets for ferrying top government officials and Members of Congress! Lisa asked - why should they be entitled in this economy or any other economy? Are they better than us who fly commercial? Don't they have a fleet of Air force planes they should be using? 3. President Obama's "Dollar-A-Day" e-mail messages: Although Lisa did not donate to Obama's campaign, she is on his distribution list. She signed-up to keep on top of what was going on with political campaign. Lisa says Obama ran the most innovative and extraordinary campaign in this country; part of the magic was the message of the internet. She forwarded today's e-mail about his Healthcare reform to about 10 people who are on different parts on the political spectrum, libertarians, liberals, conservatives, and middle-of-the-road. Then she read it on the air- Listen to their feedback - and comments from a caller from Greenwich.

And tune in to hear Lisa's picks for the Chutzpah Award!

2009-07-31T11:58:00.012-04:00

Thursday, July 30th Recap:

Segment 1:

Lisa wanted to talk about some issues in the news that have to do with stuff our government thinks is bad for us and therefore wants to ban.

Texting while driving

Taking too much Tylenol or any Percoset of Vicodin

Tanning-doctors have tried warning today's youth about the dangers of tanning beds. This week cancer experts announced that they now consider tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation among the top cancer risks-about as lethal as arsenic, mustard gas or cigarettes.

Segment 2:

Healthcare

Energy Consumption

Segment 3:

Headline: Greenwich Minority Officers Win Discrimination Case

"A group of minority police officers has notched a victory in federal court after a jury determined they were racially discriminated against by the Greenwich Police Department."

Segment 4:

Energy and White Roofs

Cutting Energy Consumption by 20 percent-by doing so this could produce $1.2 trillion in savings on energy bills through the year 2020.

To listen to the whole show please log onto www.livewithlisaradio.com click on the July 30th show. Thanks for listening.

2009-07-30T13:30:00.006-04:00

Wednesday, July 29th Show Recap:

Segment 1:

Lisa has been extremely busy. First her computer crashed and the Geek Squad said that she needed to bring it in to them since it was looking like a hardware problem.

It's been very hot and Lisa has not been getting enough sleep but she's been busy writing her new book which will be out in stores next year!

Segment 2:

Our President is begging for money and here is the latest today: I feel totally manipulated.

"The house blew it, blew it big time-even their own Congressional Budge Office doesn't like their plans."

Segment 3:

Headline: Connecticut libraries say $5.4M cut would do real damage.

Segment 4:

Local Roundup: CT Mastery Tests, No more DMV? Who will we blame? This is the latest n the Hartford Merry-go-around, reported by the CT Law Tribune.

To listen to the show in full please log on to www.livewithlisaradio.com

2009-07-29T19:39:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, July 28th Recap:

Lisa started out by talking about a bill concerning executive pay; there will probably be no health care vote on the floor before the August recess starts this Friday. The question is
is there an incentive or disincentive for an employer to hire people when the government will charge a (sliding scale) health care tax of a company according to its payroll?

Guest, Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society was on the phone and had a lot of interesting information about the spay/neuter programs and attitudes people have about their treatment of animals.

Then switching gears, Lisa said that you probably want to know what the government can do about your paycheck. She read that the NY Times reported late this afternoon a House Panel approved new rules on Executive pay. Our freshman Congressman, Jim Himes, is on that panel. To get a bill passed it has to come out of Committee before it goes to the House (of Representatives) and Senate; they both have to approve and sign it before it goes to the President for his signature and made law.
Lisa also noted that it is harder to get things out of Committee than it used to be. This bill was along party lines, the headline marked an important victory for the White House, as the Congressional Committee approved this afternoon, a legislation closely resembling the Obama administration’s proposal that it intends to impose new restraints on Executive pay. So philosophically, the question is: what business is it of the government to decide how much money a company gets to pay its executives. The government is entitled to set the pay for people who work for the government, but should the government be permitted, and under what circumstances ought the government decide how much money an entrepreneur pays a sales person or its CEO? And does it matter whether or not a company is public or private? What kind of an interest does our government think that it has in getting into the micro management of another company? Approval of the bill by the House Financial Services Committee was won on a 40 to 28 vote. Lisa said that this reaffirms her view that the party you vote for is more important than the person you vote for. The reality is that most of time members of a party tend to vote with their party leadership. So it’s important to know the party platform and decide which you tend to agree with more. Mr. and Mrs. Public who own shares in companies may be voting about items and not really be fully informed about their decisions.

Listen to the full broadcast on Live with Lisa on www.WSTCWNLK.com or www.livewithlisaradio.com.

2009-07-28T17:54:00.002-04:00

Friday, July 17th Show Recap:

Health Care reform: Barrack Obama wants to “get it done.” What’s it going to look like? It looks like his 1000 page long bill will get pushed through. Each special interest clause makes it by its nature unwieldy and difficult. Articles don’t seem to have substance about what the health care package is going to do. Lisa is not hearing any of the proposed solutions are coming through. You can argue that once it’s done it can be amended. Or it’s better not to do anything than “getting it done.” Peggy Noonan on MSNBC this morning said “I don’t think the public understands what we’re trying to do…” Right now the very poor get Medicaid; you have to only have about $1600.00 in assets. People over 65 get Medicare. The very rich don’t have to worry, because they can pay for it, by definition. So it’s the vast in between pay out of pocket for insurance. If you work full time it comes out of your pay. Insurance is not an automatic benefit, so we pay for it if we are in the vast middle class; unless we don’t have an employer who offers health insurance; or we are part time employed and can not make enough to cover what it would cost. For the vast uninsured, that’s really the problem.

Lisa would rather correct what is wrong, rather than overhaul the existing system. So here’s a few things that we could do: First of all preventative measures: WASH Your Hands. Another thing is the public puts the blame on the insurance companies. They decide whether or not certain procedures are ordered by doctors, whether a person meets certain criteria and age. The idea that an insurance company would have that power over my life as opposed to my physician is really what makes people angry. Lisa thinks the government shouldn’t allow insurance companies to make these decisions anymore. These procedures should be between the doctor and the patient; insurance companies should not deny coverage if a licensed physician makes a requisition for it. Another correction is a universal form for all insurance companies. They have to make it easier for everyone in the system. Also, they have to cut down on pre-existing condition. Everyone has some kind of pre-existing condition. Insurance companies should spread the risk among everyone. It’s a crock when they turn people down for pre-existing conditions. The government could require this also. Similar to life insurance companies people should get a preferred premium if you are a decent size. Keeping a decent weight to your height reduces the chance of people getting certain illnesses, simply be being thinner. Lisa also thinks that all their salaries should be disclosed, because when you have transparency you have, theoretically, less greed. However, that may not always be true, e.g. Goldman Sachs.

Lisa’s guests were Helen Block, Planning and Zoning Commission in Westport and Jonathan Steinberg, Representative at Town Meetings. They spoke about the upcoming septic system survey and why that is important to the water systems.

Tune into Live with Lisa on WSTC/WNLK.com and listen to the whole broadcast.

2009-07-28T14:15:00.001-04:00

On Monday, July 27th Lisa Weler went aboard a B-17 Bomber (The Liberty Belle). It was also thrilling for her to go up with one of the original bombadiers, Ray Noble.

Question of the night: If you were the NFL Commisioner would you let Michael Vick back into the league?
Lisa broke it down into Pros and Cons.

Pros:
He has paid his debt to society and everyone so theoretically he deserves a second chance.
He's a great football player and that's what business he's in-it's not all about his field behavior.

Cons:
Dog Fighting and Animal Cruelty-would you really want him to be sen as a role model to your children?
Sending a message that Animal Cruelty is ok is not ok.

2009-07-28T13:10:00.002-04:00

On Lisa's Saturday Morning Show, she spoke about meeting Steven Schwartz and Alan Menken, at the Ridgefield Playhouse on Thursday evening for the screening of “Enchanted”. Steven Schwartz and Alan Menken collaborated together on several movies and stage plays; setting great stories to great music.

Lisa also spoke live in the studio with two of the “Staples Players” from Westport: Eva Hendricks and Nick Boak, who are performing in “Grease” at Staples High School July 30, 31, and August 1, 2009. They even sang a short part of one of the songs from “Grease.”

A call from Alice E. Cohen who wrote “What I Thought I Knew” about her experience with the birth of her daughter, was very enlightening.

By phone and on-air Lisa spoke with Arnie Burton and Jeff Kuhn of “39 Steps” playing on Broadway, to get some pointers for Eva and Nick in their future career in movies and stage. Jeff Kuhn suggested that if you know more than dramatic acting, such as how to sing and dance it will broaden your chances of getting work.

Listen to Live with Lisa on WSTC/WNLK.com for the whole show.

2009-07-21T11:40:00.002-04:00

Lisa gave a moment of silence in memory of the unnamed baby, whose body was found in a NJ river, but, who was supposed to have been buried in Stamford in 2007. Lisa also commented about the poisoning of three Fox kits (babies) in the Riverside Cemetery in Norwalk. And the utility companies who kill monk parakeets. There lives are constantly in danger due to the wires and telephone poles that are very hazardous to them.It angers Lisa that it is left up to innocent animals to stay clear of the dangers we as humans created. We have infiltrated their areas with the growth of cities and they have no place else to go. Lisa speaks out against some members of Fairfield County who want to allow deer hunting in our public parks. There is a big chance that a child or dog could get hurt or killed. A few years back in Weston when they still allowed hunting in that area, someone had shot at something and it went into someone’s house and grazed the top of a crib. Do we really want to take such a chance? Lisa also argues against the argument that if we thin out the deer population it will thin out the amount of Lyme Disease there is. Yet, this is simply not true. Lyme disease is caused by tics which are on mice, grass, dogs, yes they also travel on deer, but we are not going eliminate Lyme Disease by eliminating or thinning the deer herds. She has gotten in touch with Dara Reid of Wildlifeincrisis.org. She said deer are one of the few animals they have had poor luck rehabilitating for they fight against the help they try to give them.A G8 industrialized nations summit is going on in Italy. They agreed that temperatures should not be going up more than 2 degrees Celsius or 4 degrees Fahrenheit. However, although they share a common goal, they do not agree on its execution. For instance, if the average temperature is 70 it shouldn’t go up to more than 74 degrees. The people that are going to cause the pollution in the next 20 or 30 years, China, India and Brazil are not part of the G8 countries but part of the G17 nations and they don’t meet until Thursday, tomorrow, to discuss what they are willing or not willing to do. The number of emergency room injuries caused by computer accidents has escalated and especially with children under five. Computers have sharp edges, wires can be electrical or tripping hazards, and computer chairs are too big providing opportunities for falls. Lisa feels that computers have also harmed children, who are extremely impressionable and are now spending way to much time in front of the computer, causing them to become too alienated and not as social with other people. For the first time more people strongly disapprove (37%) of President Obama than approve (32%). However, over all the President still has a 58% approval rating according to Gallop; and Rasmussen reports only 53% approval rating overall which doesn’t quite match what he had in the popular vote last November. Read the story in this month’s Vanity Fair about Sarah Palin. The government exists basically as a pragmatic establishment to avoid chaos and concentrate on common goals like defense. Yet our government has lately overstepped its boundries. How did we grant our government permission to regulate our food, medicines, and other aspects of our lives from birth until death. President Obama has shown as a leader an inclination to want to invest a lot of power into a centralized government. Does the public realize what such centralized power could lead to? Although our 6th Amendment to the Constitution (Bill of Rights) guarantees a right to trial by jury; most people don’t get jury trials, something like point 2 of a point 2% get one. In two states a jury may not (have to) be unanimous. Lisa thinks our idea of a jury system is when everybody agrees and if there is reasonable doubt it’s a hung jury and maybe grounds for a re-trial.

2009-07-21T11:40:00.001-04:00

Lisa reflected on Michael Jackson’s Memorial today and related his popular song, “The Man in the Mirror”, to us all. His lyrics serve as a calling to us as a society. The outpouring of affection, respect, and admiration, and some vilification and grumbling from the side lines over his death says a lot about us in the year 2009 and what our culture has come to. His death along with so many others who died from drug overdose like Heath Ledger, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, and many others, says a lot about our culture and begs the obvious question of what in our society pushes so many celebrities to turn to drugs. Could it be because we have elevated celebrity culture above us all that celebrities don’t know what to turn to after reaching such superstardom? In other news, Obama received a luke-warm welcome and did not receive a Red Carpet when visitng Russia the other day, who does not want to reduce their nuclear arsenal. Lisa also spoke of the Jeffrey Model Foundation for Primary Immuno Deficient Disease and the new born screening that will save a child and its family years of heartache and monetary cost. One person, who lives in Westport, Walter Levine, claimed he cured his incurable cancer with a concoction using Sea Cucumbers found off the Barrier Reef of Australia. There is currently a study going on at St. Vincent’s Hospital testing this concoction. It is truly amazing how many unconventional practices there are that boost your immune system that regular doctor’s don’t talk about; Lisa said she herself was saved by an acupuncturist. Lisa revealed that she started her talk show to not only vent about her opinions, but in order to establish a community of people who learn from each other and help each other in their own lives. Her website, http://www.livewithlisaradio.com/, has information on all of her guests and links of their websites that can help those looking for help. For example, Wildlifeincrisis.org is an organization in Weston that will take in abandoned wildlife and there link is posted on her website. Ellen Whitehurst (a columnist and best selling author) was a phone-in guest on the show tonight. They spoke about what they think about Michael Jackson, a man they view as a troubled soul. Part of the problem is a disassociation with authenticity, his family, and truth. They spoke a lot about how being distant from one’s family removes a lot of the safety and security one feels when he/she are close to their parents and or siblings. They also discussed there concern for today’s children who strive towards fame and celebrity, a seemingly empty life. A letter to the editor in the Times said that our fascination with troubled celebrity says as much about us as it does about them; it masks an inability to tell right from wrong. Michael Jackson was a mass of contradiction. Because of his celebrity he got away with a lot. He suffered from loneliness and heartache. Go to ellenwhitehurst.com for more on this topic.

2009-07-21T11:22:00.000-04:00

Lisa reflected on the resent passing of actors Karl Malden, Farrah Fawcett, and musicians Michael Jackson, and Ed McMann. Last night Peter Schiff, a nationally recognized figure who is often referred to as Dr. Doom, was on to discuss his new book predicting the economic crash. His book left Lisa with a much broader panoramic sense on today’s issues. We judge our economic state based off of what some economist in Washington, some forecaster, or some fortuneteller on Wall Street says the expectations for the unemployment figures should be. And if that figure stays status quote, everyone is content, regardless of how many people are left unemployed. However, if the expected or given figure suddenly decreases, everyone begins to panic over the crashing economy. Yet no one stops to analyze these random notions and ridiculous figures that are being fed to us daily. The fact of the matter is that the unemployment figures still are growing and whether or not the expected figure has been met, surpassed, or lowered, over 400,000 people in this country now find themselves unemployed and that has affected and will continue to affect our workers and our economy. Did you see the news today about California wanting to issue IOU’s because they can’t afford to repay their debt? Is this a sign for real concern as California is very often a harbinger of other trends. Peter Schiff, making a lot of sense, argued against the assumption that a consumer driven economy is a better economy than an economy driven by people who actually produce and sell the things they make, like we used to be from lets say 1935 to 1970. Why do we assume that an economy based on borrowing is better than an economy based on saving? Is moving from a manufacturing to a service economy somehow better? Is it really better to keep borrowing on every last dollar of equity in our homes, rather than save the money? There are so many things wrong in our country today, particularly with our current government which is constantly interfering with economic decisions, personal choices, and every segment of our lives, that consequently Lisa feels things will only get worse. The weather man/woman suffer consequences when the weather predicted doesn’t turn out they way it was forecasted. But are economists punished for their mis-forecasts, as well. Peter Schiff pointed out that when Ben Bernaki (head of the Federal Reserve) predicted that the housing prices would never go down and there would be no housing bubble, he suffered zero consequences when found wrong. Lisa, along with many viewers, does not listen to the forecasted weather because they are proven wrong more than half of the time. But what about the economists that are also all to often proven wrong? What are the consequences for their inaccurate predictions? Well, obviously none. Helen Thomas, perhaps the longest White House Press Reporter in the White House Press Corp, has always spoken her mind. Accused of being a liberal for her hatred of President Bush and the way he manipulated our Democracy, she left the Press Corp for awhile. She now is back and with a new book to boot. Also, Lisa played a condescending conversation from Obama’s Press Secretary between the Press Corp. Chip Reed (White House Correspondent for CBS News) questioned why the Press had to send questions to the White House before hand to what was suppose to be an open forum for the public to freely ask questions of Press Secretary (Robert) Gibb. In response, Gibb stated that all the questions selected were from people who sent in emails through facebook and twitter. Should the White House be allowed to censor which questions are asked in an open forum? Helen Thomas was amazed that the same people who so call ask for openness and transparency are in fact the same people who attempt to control the Press. In addition, Chip Reed argued against an upcoming Town Hall meeting at which he said the White House was planting the people who were going to be asking the so called Town Hall questions. Helen Thomas pointed out that this is part of a new pattern, and that this is the first time in history that people in the Press have been so co-opted by the government that they’ve been called by the White House the night before and told they would be called on the next day to have their questions answered. In other words the White House is totally controlling the White House Press Corp, a Press Corp that happens to be in the White House. This is one of Lisa’s main problems with government in general, and specifically this particular White House for co-opting the media. A politically feed media does not serve our country well. What serves our country well is for the media to fight back, to criticize, to question, to be cynical, skeptical, and to not believe what’s thrown at them. How many times have we learned that the government is lying? It’s what they do, we have to accept that. And the job of the press is to fight back; it is not to be co-opted. We applaud those like Helen Thomas who is fighting back. Lisa suggests that listeners to her show should look for propublica, a not for profit press model on the web; it’s a new way of looking at news for investigative reports. Lisa believes it was started by a former Stanford University professor.

June 18th Show Recap

2009-06-22T11:32:00.001-04:00

Lisa’s guests were Drs. David Zaret (by phone) and Warren Steinberg (in studio). But first, she reminds listeners about the radio marathon starting Friday June 19, and going through the weekend. The goal is to raise $25,000. for children with neurological problems to be able to attend the Muscular Dystrophy Camp in Spring Valley NY. Listen this Saturday June 20th as her show is devoted to it.

Did you hear about North Korea threatening to shoot a rocket toward Hawaii, President Obama’s home state on July 4th? This is really preposterous- think they are sending us a message?

And the ABC network (exclusively) plans to broadcast President Obama from the White House Blue Room. The media should be on the outside looking in, not inside the White House looking out (at the world situation). When a Republican got elected even FOX did not go in to broadcast. And the audience is hand picked by the (ABC) media.

Lisa then changes the subject to discuss the American Medical Association's response to Obama's health care proposals. The AMA neither endorsed nor opposed what Obama is proposing (in his speech to them on Monday the 15th), concerning the medical insurance situation in this country. Many families lack sufficient health insurance. Especially for the people in their 40’s and 50’s, if someone gets a catastrophic disease like cancer, and they have a break in employment with no health insurance, they could go into bankruptcy. It is not an uncommon occurrence.

Dr. David Zaret an orthopedic physician commented on Obama’s remark that being a doctor is a calling; he believes people go into medicine to be of service to others but also they need to make a living. Right now there is a tremendous waste in overhead to the private practitioner, and there is redundancy in certification with the many different insurance companies.

Dr. Warren Steinberg said insurance companies started to tell you how to be a doctor with the rise of HMO’s. The insurance company decided what tests can be done, what they will pay for, or what will be done and paid for.

Dr. Zaret complained that sometimes you have to get extra approvals and are on the phone with insurance companies for hours.

Dr. S: You can have $60,000. just in administrative costs related to extra staffing dealing with insurance. In the mid 90’s HMO insurance started imposing their (will) on what a patient will receive. When HMO’s first started in this state they were pretty good for people, but now they are different.

Lisa brings in a caller who stated that insurance companies are trying to avoid doing what they are supposed to do. The caller makes a little too much money to qualify for Medicaid and suffers from a neurological problem for which he can’t get any help. On the other hand, he can no longer afford insurance coverage.

Dr. Z mentioned that even doctors are unable to live on what they make as residents when they first get out of medical school. They have loans during training and this puts them in the hole. To start a practice the upfront costs like employees, are tremendous. Obama thinks Medicare reimbursement is too high. Our system is going to crash if he doesn’t address the upfront costs of doctors.

Dr. S: He did address medical (school) costs and they would be subsidized.

Dr. Z: The insurance costs and the fact that one can’t even deduct costs on tax forms…

Dr. S: Feels doctor’s have an obligation to society, and it costs society also. Dr. S feels that it is a waste to educate doctors who do not practice medicine.

Dr. Z: Some people go into medicine and don’t go into practice. It is a waste of time to go for all that training and be saddled with loans, working perhaps only part time, it will only pay back their loans (they won’t be making any money to live on).

Lisa believes that the need is to get the best and brightest into medical school. Lisa says that if the government caps a doctor';s income, the least it can do is pay for their education. Medical school should be free (for the best and brightest).

Dr. Z: If a physician drops out of the insurance plans it will be better for doctors but worse for patients.

Dr. S: Supports universal health insurance, and feels that Medicare gets the job done with more efficiency. It farms out administrative duties to non-profit providers and it’s half the cost of HMO’s. HMO’s are profit centers with stock holders. Medicare is not saddled with those costs. Medicare could be more cost effective.

Dr. Z: Complained that he did not get paid last month because of a computer glitch in Medicare which help onto close to 2 million dollars that were owed his firm.

Dr. S: Some systems are cooperative, like Kaiser. Some doctors order an enormous amount of procedures to be performed. Kaiser performs fewer tests and yet does a better job of preventive care.

Dr. Z: Defensive medicine is required now because of all the litigation, and could be better for the patient.

Dr. S: Thinks a factor that doctors are doing tests with expensive equipment is easier to (rule out) find out the problem, but doesn’t use a team approach. Lisa believes newer doctors rely on equipment and not on a team approach.

Overall, the show was marvelous. Lisa loved the different points coming from Dr. Zaret and Dr. Steinberg, their opinions, and informative ideas.

June 6th Show Recap

2009-06-16T11:35:00.001-04:00

Lisa starts her show off by remembering an important day in history. This was the 65th Anniversary of D Day during World War II. People like Clark Cable, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, the actors in some of the great movies about WWII are gone. In history this is a violent day and many mistakes were made but valor from the Air Force and Army ultimately won in this invasion. She discusses the cemetery that was established for those who died on the beaches of France. There are 9,387 US graves in Normandy and the American government maintains the 172 acres of land donated by France.

Lisa Wexler continues her show by talking about the President in Cairo and his speech. He talked in an honest way in some parts of the speech, but it was also clear he had to pander a bit to his audience. It will mean a lot more when these words are spoken by an Arab leader to their own people. He also went to Saudi Arabia which is not a democracy, and where women are not allowed to vote. And you can’t even get into this country if your passport is stamped from Israel. Did you listen to the speech?

Lisa continues talking about Obama and his trip to Germany. He met with Angela Merkel the elected Prime Minister. She is a brave woman apologizing and standing at Buchenwald with Elie Wiesel, who wrote the book “Night”, and who incidentally lost all his money to Madoff. Keep the image in your brain of them, Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and Elie Wiesel standing in Buchenwald. An extraordinary moment. Hitler truly lost.

Lisa eventually turns to the topic about the GE share holders meeting in Florida. GE owns NBC. Some of the shareholders at the meeting asked about NBC being too kind to Obama, that they should treat Obama with the same tough questions as they ask the Republicans. The Hollywood Reporter, owned by Nielson, said ads were pulled for 6 weeks when GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt ordered Jeffrey Zucker to do so. The Hollywood Reporter gets its information access to report from MSNBC. GE called for a ban on one media to another!Lisa suggests that we are supposed to encourage free speech, and is very interested to see where this issue goes.

In a related story, Barney Frank of the Ways and Means committee said General Motors, now called Government Motors, said he didn’t want a specific GM plant to close in his (voting) district.

Lisa tuned in with Jennifer Rogers, psychic who offered listeners some insight as they called in for her on-air readings. She may also have a TV show in the future.
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Lisa's in-studio guest was Charisse Lombardo of CLM Interiors in Ridgefield. She gave some tips that a professional eye can save aggravation and money when decorating. For example, don’t be afraid to paint swatches on your walls and see how they look for a few days before you decide; and don’t forget to measure (your room) when thinking about buying furniture. She works with her clients and wants them to feel comfortable with their choices. As she says, she doesn’t have live in your home when the project is done, so make sure it feels like you.

June 5th Show Recap

2009-06-10T16:24:00.000-04:00

Tune in to LIVE! With Lisa Radio Mon-Fri 8-9PM Sat 10:30AM-Noon (EST) on 1350 WSTC/ 1400 WNLK

Lisa Wexler started the show by discussing President Obama's trip to Germany.
The President's trip to Germany evokes a surreal image. Survivors tell stories of how they were protected and taken in by brave families. It makes you think: what would you or I do if faced with a similar situation? Would you risk your life for a friend or even a stranger? We might think we would take the high road, but would we, or would we bury our heads in the sand?
U.S. President appoints a new czar-special master of compensation, Kenneth Feinberg. He will ensure that companies who are receiving federal bailout funds are abiding by executive pay guidelines. An example of absolute power is micro managing.
Do you think Tasers are being unnecessarily used by law enforcement?
In Niagra N.Y.- police used a taser to subdue a suspect and then took DNA samples without his authorization. The suspect had already provided 2 samples which were lost by the police department. The Judge upheld police action. In Austin Texas a 72-year -old woman was tasered by a deputy becuase she dared him to! She refused to sign a speeding ticket so the deputy said he'd taser her if she didn't and she said I dare you and he did. Is this ethical? What do you think?
On the show we had guest, author, Jim Sheeler of Final Salute talked of content in his book. He was able to overcome skepticism and gain the confidence of those families who have lost a loved one to war. They wanted their fallen family members stories to be told. He spoke of the reason he wrote the book. He spoke of the new policy that allows surviving family members to make decision to talk about the loss in their lives.His main goal was to make a connection between those that are serving and those of us who are safe, out of harms way. Book has many questions that might never be answered. Mothers ask was this war worth their loved ones life?
Jim Sheeler also wrote a book about obituaries. Lisa stated that she reads them because they are like mini biographies. He spoke of the families who never forget and what they do to remember those that have passed. He also spoke of how initially whole towns would be involved in the burial process, but now it is simply friends and family.