Monday, January 24, 2011

Randi Rhodes Gets Busted-Suspended from Air America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=960Qq3pupa4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janeane_Garofalo
Excerpt:
Janeane Garofalo (pronounced /dʒəˈniːn ɡəˈrɒfəloʊ/; born September 28, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/business/media/18air.html?pagewanted=all
After Bankruptcy Filing, Recriminations Fly at Air America
In its search for a new chief executive this past summer, Air America Radio interviewed seasoned media executives in an effort to revive the faltering network. One interview took a bizarre turn, however, when the executive got into a political argument with Randi Rhodes, one of the network’s on-air hosts.
“I laughed and said, ‘You sound like Republican talking points,’ ” Ms. Rhodes recalled.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,302316,00.html
Excerpt:

Air America, Talk Host Backpedal on Attack Claim, Admit Mugging Report Was False

Wednesday, October 17, 2007


An Air America talk-show host who accused "the right wing hate machine" of being responsible for an alleged attack on an on-air colleague did a fast backpedal Tuesday, apologizing for "jumping to conclusions" about a now-debunked mugging report.
Host Jon Elliott issued a written retraction of his remarkable on-air charge, saying: "I shouldn't have speculated based on hearsay that Randi Rhodes had been mugged and that it may have been an attack from a right wing hate machine. I apologize for jumping to conclusions based on an emotional reaction."
Air America also issued a statement, saying Rhodes "experienced an unfortunate incident hindering her from hosting the show. The reports of a presumed hate crime are unfounded."
Elliott's initial claim that Rhodes had been beaten "by the right wing" for her political views set the blogosphere abuzz Monday night.
Rhodes, whose program airs on Air

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=38390
'Mr. Soros, Air America on line 2'Posted: October 16, 2006
1:00 am EasternExcerpt:


All of Air America's reported financial woes brings up the question of why billionaire leftist uber-supporter George Soros won't crack open the checkbook to fully fund Air America. Sure, Soros, along with various groups, has pledged to underwrite some of Air America's losses, but there's a point when Atlas not only shrugs, but splits.
That being said, Soros has given away millions and millions of dollars to organizations and disorganizations bent on sending Bush packing and defeating Republicans, and as a result is the financial darling of the Democratic National Committee and anti-Bushers. Liberals bunch up in close proximity to Soros' wallet – so much so that at his next colonoscopy, the doctor is likely to find a benign polyp and five Democrat activists.
Why then won't the Democrats' pot of gold bail Air America out of this problem – a story that, oddly enough, starts with Chapter 11?
Soros most certainly could ease their pain with one swoop of his mighty checkbook pen, and it wouldn't even have to be a direct gift. He could buy a bunch of 30-second ads for MoveOn.org for, say, $50 million, to skirt any potential finance law violations.
MoveOn.org, for which Soros is the financial equivalent of a pinup gal, does a lot of advertising. I wonder how much of its ad budget is spent on Air America. As evidenced by the bankruptcy filing and one Al Franken who is owed over $360,000, we can assume the answer to that is ''not nearly enough.''
But then, this is Air America's entire problem. Advertisers, even publicly liberal, privately capitalist ones, want to spend their money where the most eyes and ears, the ones that matter to them, will see or hear the message. In that aspect, MoveOn.org is no different than General Motors, Kelloggs and Sony. In the universe of advertisers, which is any network's bread and butter, Air America is about as popular as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a Bar Mitzvah.
Unless somebody like Soros steps up with a healthy donation, which is unlikely, history will record that Air America's downfall was that it quickly became useless to even it's allies. It's painfully obvious that when Air America's house was built, construction started with the roof instead of the foundation – a common mistake.
Soros must know Democrats need to focus resources on what they're good at, which is … well, certainly not non-federally funded radio.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/31/18304917.php
Excerpt:
Mike Malloy Fired from Air America Radio (post from Sacramento For Democracy)
by Dan Bacher
Thursday Aug 31st, 2006 9:13 AM
Here's the terrrible news about the firing of Mike Malloy by Air America Radio, with an urgent action alert posted on the Sacramento For Democracy website. I urge everybody to sign the petition and demand that the management of AAR rehire him.
MIKE MALLOY FIRED BY AIR AMERICA RADIO

News
submitted by billl on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 9:26pm PST

Air America fired Mike Malloy today. I was concerned when Thom Hartmann mentioned that he might have to fill in for Mike, who was filling in for Randi Rhodes.

This is from Mike's website:
MIKE MALLOY FIRED BY AIR AMERICA RADIO
There will be no Mike Malloy program today - or any day - on Air America Radio as we have been terminated. We are told its a financial decision.
We are as shocked as you are, especially since as recently as last Tuesday we were told we had the go-ahead to announce our return to NY airwaves and that our contract was "on the way."
We are told its a financial decision.
More details to follow as we hear them ourselves.
If you are like me and think that Mike was one of the few radio hosts that spoke Truth to Power, please sign this petition:
Mike Malloy Air America Petition
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/item_oDZVytqKIqyFK9ZlkAm1eJ
Excerpt:

SOROS BOO$TS FRANKEN

Last Updated: 4:17 AM, November 20, 2008
Posted: 4:17 AM, November 20, 2008

Left-wing billionaire financier George Soros is using his financial muscle at a Manhattan fund-raiser tonight to help Al Franken win a recount in Minnesota's Senate election.
Soros - the hedge-fund honcho and sugar daddy of the Democratic Party - will host a soirée for Franken at his Carnegie Hill digs to help cover the candidate's costs to monitor the statewide recount.
The special guest: Al Gore, who knows a thing or two about recounts.
At last count, Franken trails GOP incumbent Norm Coleman by just 216 votes out of 2.9 million cast. Minnesota yesterday initiated a hand recount that is not expected to be completed until mid-December.
Coleman - a Brooklyn native - dismissed Soros' greenbacks for the Manhattan-born Franken.
"As we've said from Day One, this race will not be decided by New York billionaires or the US Senate. It will be decided by Minnesotans, and we are confident Sen. Coleman will prevail," said his spokesman, Mark Drake.
"I'm cautiously optimistic," Franken said. "We think all of the ballots will be counted, and we think we'll prevail."

Palin Adviser lobbyist for George Soros
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/palin-adviser-lobbyist-george-soros/
Excerpt:
The Open Society Policy Center describes itself as "a non-partisan organization that engages in policy advocacy on U.S. and international issues, including domestic civil liberties, multilateralism, economic development, civil rights, human rights, women's rights and criminal justice reform."
That's a far cry from the causes that Scheunemann is typically associated with. In 2002, he formed the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, a lobby group that pushed for the 2003 invasion. Scheunemann is also a member of the Project for a New American Century, the neo-conservative think tank formed in the 1990s whose members ended up dominating foreign policy positions in the Bush administration.
Scheunemann has been associated with Sen. John McCain since he served as McCain's defense and foreign policy adviser in the 2000 election. It was through McCain's 2008 campaign that Scheunemann met Palin. CNN reported that Scheunemann found himself in the middle of a rift between the McCain and Palin camps, and ultimately sided with Palin.
Randy Scheunemann, a senior foreign policy adviser to John McCain, was fired from the Arizona senator's campaign last week for what one aide called "trashing" the campaign staff, three senior McCain advisers tell CNN.
One of the aides tells CNN that campaign manager Rick Davis fired Scheunemann after determining that he had been in direct contact with journalists spreading "disinformation" about campaign aides, including Nicolle Wallace and other officials. (Update: Davis denies the claim.)
"He was positioning himself with Palin at the expense of John McCain's campaign message," said one of the aides.
Salon.com reports that, during the mid-term election campaign, Palin recommended Scheunemann to Christine O'Donnell's campaign, and Scheunemann spent a day coaching the Republican Senate candidate to prepare her for a debate against opponent Chris Coons.

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Scheunemann_Randy
Excerpt:

Randy Scheunemann


Orion Strategies LCC: President
IPS Right Web neither represents nor endorses any of the individuals or groups profiled on this site.

Randy Scheunemann, founder and president of the public relations firm Orion Strategies, is a well-connected lobbyist and political insider who has advised a number of conservative political figures, supported the work of various neoconservative-led advocacy groups, and lobbied on behalf of defense industry clients and foreign governments.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Randy_Scheunemann
Excerpt:
Randy Scheunemann was the President of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, which was created by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), of which he is a board member. He was Trent Lott's National Security Aide and was an advisor to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Iraq. He is 2008 U.S. presidential candidate John McCain's foreign-policy aide.[1]
Scheunemann has been criticized for his close association with Ahmad Chalabi during the George W. Bush administration's campaign to generate public support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[2]
In mid-July 2008, the Sunday Times of London linked Scheunemann to Stephen Payne, a lobbyist covertly filmed as he offered to arrange meetings with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and others, in exchange for donations to the George W. Bush Presidential Library. Payne said Scheunemann had been "working with me on my payroll for five of the last eight years". [3]

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201101120039
Excerpt:

A Message To Sarah Palin from Media Matters CEO David Brock

January 12, 2011 6:07 pm ET by Media Matters staff
TRANSCRIPT:
BROCK: This morning you released a video condemning your critics for highlighting the danger posed by the Right's stoking of anti-government anger and violence. You attacked those who, like me, are concerned that irresponsible rhetoric could motivate troubled people to do the unthinkable. In your video you accused your critics of engaging in "blood libel" and inciting violence simply by speaking out against it.
I agree with you that the "monstrous act of criminality" committed this past weekend in Arizona stands on its own and that we as Americans are better than mindless finger-pointing in the tragedy's wake. I also endorse your purported desire to "peacefully engage in the great debates of our time."

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18866.cfm
Excerpt:

Michael Taylor: Monsanto's Man in the Obama Administration

  • By Isabella Kenfield
    Counterpunch, August 14, 2009
    Straight to the Source
    OCA Editor's Note: Write President Obama to oppose the appointment of former Monsanto lobbyist Michael Taylor as a senior adviser to the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner on food safety.
    Michael R. Taylor's appointment by the Obama administration to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 7th sparked immediate debate and even outrage among many food and agriculture researchers, NGOs and activists. The Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto Corp. from 1998 until 2001, Taylor exemplifies the revolving door between the food industry and the government agencies that regulate it. He is reviled for shaping and implementing the government's favorable agricultural biotechnology policies during the Clinton administration.
Say NO to Bill S. 510 FDA Food Safety Modernization Act UPDATE  (youtube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdtIaPQdOGA&feature=related

WTF Wikileaks GMO Monsanto mess OMG FDA S510 was racketeering job (youtube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQoRXy7AU7I

http://bungalowbillscw.blogspot.com/2010/11/george-soros-increased-hedge-fund.html
Excerpt:

Tuesday, November 30, 2010


George Soros Increased Hedge Fund Investment of Monsanto Last Year Before Food Safety Act

There are some interesting things to note about the Food Safety Act, which many label the Monsanto Act. The bill will be voted on in the Senate today, and it has already passed in the House of Representatives.

Once again, we see George Soros' fingerprints are all over this bill through investments. In 2009, the Soros hedge fund group increased investments in Monsanto by 244%. As well, Soros is also 2nd largest holder in Monsanto Corporation, who's former CEO was positioned nicely in a powerful position in the FDA.

Soros stands to profit from the continued altercation of human food through GMO science, and the SB510, the Food Safety Act will also drive up to costs of food by removing more competition and giving the corporate agri bussiness the ultimate upper hand over small family farmers.

The passage of this bill will extend control over all food in the US, violating a fundamental human right to food. It will create higher compliance costs for smaller producers, putting them at a competitive disadvantage against corporate farmers and producers who can more easily absorb costs, fees, and possible fines, furthermore products not grown according to designated standards will be considered adulterated and your business records will be subject to warrant less searches by inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), all this without any evidence that you have violated any law.

http://arcticcompass.blogspot.com/2010/12/george-soros.html
Excerpt:
Reunited and it feels so good! Looks like Bill and Hill have reconciled with their old pal, George Soros. Bill Clinton is set to be the special guest star at a fund raiser for gubernatorial candidate, Mark Dayton of Minnesota who is in a recount battle with Republican Tom Emmer. So near and dear is Dayton to Soros that he’s hosting the bash at his New York home.
Soros and the Clintons were once, literally, thick as thieves. Soros reveled in having access to the Clinton White House and fancied himself part of the “Clinton team.” The Clinton administration allowed It’s- Not- Easy- Being God Soros to run wild in the dying Soviet Union. The results were entirely predictable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_R._Taylor
Excerpt:

Michael R. Taylor 01.jpg
Michael R. Taylor is the Deputy Commissioner for Foods, at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
He received his law degree from the University of Virginia and his B.A. degree in political science from Davidson College, in 1976, after passing the bar examination, Taylor became a staff attorney for the FDA, where he was executive assistant to the Commissioner.[1]
In 1981 he went into private practice at King & Spalding, a law firm representing the biotechnology company Monsanto,[2] where he established and led the firm's "food and drug law" practice.[3] On July 17, 1991, Michael Taylor left King & Spalding, returning to the FDA to fill the newly created post of Deputy Commissioner for Policy. Between 1994 and 1996 he moved to the USDA, where he was Administrator of the Food Safety & Inspection Service.
After briefly returning to King & Spalding, he then returned to Monsanto to become Vice President for Public Policy.[4]
Taylor has been a professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine[5] and in 2007 he became a Research Professor of Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.[6]
On July 7, 2009, Taylor once again returned to government as "senior advisor" to the FDA Commissioner.[7] Taylor’s re-appointment to the FDA came just after Obama and the other G-8 leaders pledged $20 billion to fight hunger in Africa over the next three years. According to Paula Crossfield "President Obama is embedded in a bubble" featuring some of the fervent promoters of the biotech industry and a Green Revolution in Africa.[8] Before joining Obama’s transition team, Taylor was a Senior Fellow at the think tank Resources for the Future, where he published two documents on U.S. aid for African agriculture, both of which were funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. And on January 13, 2010, he was appointed to another newly created post at the FDA, this time as Deputy Commissioner for Foods.[9]
Taylor is featured in the documentaries “The Future of Food” and “The World According to Monsanto”[10] as a pertinent example of revolving door since he is a lawyer who has spent the last few decades moving between Monsanto and the FDA and USDA.

http://newsbusters.org/node/4196

Is the Air America Radio Bailout a Violation of Campaign Finance Laws?

Tom Blumer's picture
At the very end of this post on January 27, I asked this question about Air America Radio (AAR), which at the time was surviving by the good graces of one rich guy's wallet:
Are Al Franken’s ridiculously outsized earnings (including a LOT of money up-front) from a network that is funded by one guy a “clever” way of circumventing campaign-finance law and underwriting a possible Franken run for the US Senate in Minnesota?
My question only concerned Franken. But now that The Democracy Alliance (no working web site; an April 2005 article about the organization's plans is here), a far-left liberal group that includes billionaire George Soros, Peter "the Progressive" (Insurance) Lewis, and Rob "Meathead" Reiner as prominent members, has, according to Radio Equalizer Brian Maloney, promised to underwrite up to $8 million of Air America Radio's future losses, the scope of the question has expanded, and others are asking it, including Bill O'Reilly at Fox News. In an interview on O'Reilly's TV show (transcript here), Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who specializes in campaign finance law, called AAR's financial maneuvers "money laundering."

http://www.gurufocus.com/news.php?id=81593

Senior Vice President & CFO of Raytheon Company (RTN) David C Wajsgras sells 2,556 shares of RTN on 01/11/2010 at an average price of $53 a share.

Raytheon Company has a market cap of $20.59 billion; its shares were traded at around $53.74 with a P/E ratio of 11.4 and P/S ratio of 0.9. The dividend yield of Raytheon Company stocks is 2.3%. Raytheon Company had an annual average earning growth of 14.7% over the past 5 years.

RTN is in the portfolios of NWQ Managers of NWQ Investment Management Co, Lee Ainslie of Maverick Capital, Diamond Hill Capital of Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc, Bruce Kovner of Caxton Associates, Mark Hillman of Hillman Capital Management, John Buckingham of Al Frank Asset Management, Inc., Jean-Marie Eveillard of Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder Advisers, LLC,
George Soros of Soros Fund Management LLC, Murray Stahl of Horizon Asset Management, Jeremy Grantham of GMO LLC.

http://www.warisbusiness.com/top-150-warcorps/
Excerpt:
These companies are ranked in descending order of the value of their US military contracts in fiscal year 2010.
Companies listed in bold have a dossier on the site. The other companies require more research—click on one of their names to pitch in!

LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION$31,348,453,590.56
THE BOEING COMPANY$20,604,690,106.84
NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION$18,293,375,394.47
GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION$15,662,063,160.18
RAYTHEON COMPANY$15,332,423,921.76
UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION$7,047,569,734.83
L-3 COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS INC$6,841,410,117.06
BAE SYSTEMS PLC$6,704,063,086.99
OSHKOSH TRUCK CORPORATION$6,379,043,578.38
KBR INC$4,635,422,288.62
SAIC INC$4,338,700,254.84
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY$3,442,880,553.04

This list is long long long but I think worth a peek.  ...cal
http://www.gurufocus.com/news.php?id=84769
Excerpt:
These are the top 5 holdings of George Soros

Spider Gold Shares (GLD) - 6,178,342 shares, 9.54% of the total portfolio

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.Petrobras (PBR) - 7,732,197 shares, 5.3% of the total portfolio
Hess Corp. (HES) - 5,763,463 shares, 5.02% of the total portfolio
Monsanto Company (MON) - 3,879,900 shares, 4.56% of the total portfolio
Citigroup Inc. (C) - 94,697,095 shares, 4.51% of the total portfolio

Added: Spider Gold Shares (GLD)
George Soros added to his holdings in Spider Gold Shares by 152.14%. His purchase prices were between $98.37 and $119.18, with an estimated average price of $108.33. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 5.76%. His holdings were 6,178,342 shares as of 12/31/2009.
Added: Monsanto Company (MON)
George Soros added to his holdings in Monsanto Company by 244.39%. His purchase prices were between $67.18 and $83.53, with an estimated average price of $77.36. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 3.24%. His holdings were 3,879,900 shares as of 12/31/2009.

Added: Select Sector Spdrfinancial (XLF)
George Soros added to his holdings in Select Sector Spdrfinancial by 63729.8%. His purchase prices were between $14.01 and $15.32, with an estimated average price of $14.59. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 2.49%. His holdings were 12,000,000 shares as of 12/31/2009.
Added: Pfizer Inc (PFE)
George Soros added to his holdings in Pfizer Inc by 365.06%. His purchase prices were between $16.15 and $18.85, with an estimated average price of $17.82. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 2.38%. His holdings were 11,574,340 shares as of 12/31/2009.
Added: Suncor Energy Inc. (SU)
George Soros added to his holdings in Suncor Energy Inc. by 170.99%. His purchase prices were between $32.66 and $39.09, with an estimated average price of $35.28. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 2.3%. His holdings were 7,162,478 shares as of 12/31/2009.
Added: Terra Industries Inc. (TRA)
George Soros added to his holdings in Terra Industries Inc. by 2095.07%. His purchase prices were between $31.06 and $43.12, with an estimated average price of $36.1. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 1.45%. His holdings were 3,292,600 shares as of 12/31/2009.
Added: Ace, Ltd. (new) (ACE)
George Soros added to his holdings in Ace, Ltd. (new) by 30433.7%. His purchase prices were between $48.18 and $55.14, with an estimated average price of $51.24. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 1.08%. His holdings were 1,496,150 shares as of 12/31/2009.
Added: Kohl's Corp. (KSS)
George Soros added to his holdings in Kohl's Corp. by 467.54%. His purchase prices were between $52.97 and $60.45, with an estimated average price of $55.87. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 1.07%. His holdings were 1,680,500 shares as of 12/31/2009.

Janeane Garofalo in August 2008
BornSeptember 28, 1964 (1964-09-28) (age 46)
Newton, New Jersey, U.S.
MediumStand-up, television, film, radio
NationalityAmerican
Years active1988–present
GenresAlternative comedy
Subject(s)American politics, pop culture, feminism, body image,



Janeane Garofalo in August 2008
BornSeptember 28, 1964 (1964-09-28) (age 46)
Newton, New Jersey, U.S.
MediumStand-up, television, film, radio
NationalityAmerican
Years active1988–present
GenresAlternative comedy
Subject(s)American politics, pop culture, feminism, body image,

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