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Stephen Viscusi: Happy Thanksgiving! This Year It Is No Longer Humiliating To Be Explaining Your Unemployment Around the Thanksgiving Table!

2009-11-24T13:04:09Z

Losing your job is dreadful, no matter what the reason. In this journalist's mind, it is still better than health issues, divorce, or death -- but that's it.

Sarah Palin's new book, "Going Rogue" (HarperCollins) just like my book "Bulletproof Your Job" (HarperCollins) and her interview on "Oprah" and then with Barbara Walters...Palin was asked if Levi Johnson would be invited to the Thanksgiving dinner table... reminded me of how we can get trapped with family during the holidays. Under normal circumstances, this is tough enough for some people. But can you imagine having to explain that you're unemployed to the people you see only once a year? Well not this year!

The truth is the reason you were fired really doesn't matter to anyone else. They really only think of you as "unemployed," "not working," and "still looking." That's how you're defined. Unless you are Levi Johnson, explaining around the dining room table, that you just posed for "PLAYGIRL". Or you are Jon Gosselin of "Jon & Kate Plus 8", and you claim you can't find work, because you are too famous. Now those are great excuses.

A job is how society had to judge us, in the past. Now we are defined on how long we have been unemployed and what methods, or search engines we are using to find work. We talk about how no one responds to our resumes, and about "networking".

I receive hundreds of emails from people who have been fired, and a year ago, many of them told me that the worst part of being fired is having to tell a loved one. Now its second nature, during the rest of the year, you can avoid your friends and extended family for a little while, but you may be coming home to someone that, a year ago you would have found it impossible to tell. It is no longer considered humiliating of having to explain yourself over and over, or worse, having to listen to a well-meaning friend or relative dispense unwanted advice. This year, almost no one at the table has a job, so you are all on a level playing field. The odd person out it is the only person at the table with a permanent full time job! And, they don't want to talk about it, for fear of hurting everyone else's feelings.

The holidays, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year's... all right around the corner. You may have to see friends or relatives you see only once a year. You can't avoid it, and as always, it will be your job -- second only to health, a recent divorce, or death -- that everyone wants to talk about.

Basically, a year ago you were screwed. Now the odd one out, is the only person at the table who has kept their job.

Holiday dinner talk this year is about how to figure out how to navigate monster.com or The Ladders, ...maybe pay your COBRA, and of course everyone loves talking about how they have the best way to do a resume!

Look, there's no one answer for everyone. And in all fairness, in journalism, I have to admit that I've never been unemployed myself, so I am writing from the perspective of the readers of my book, "Bulletproof Your Job"(HarperCollins) my columns and who watch me on TV. They e-mail me every day.

I know it seems like everyone is getting fired, but guess what? Most people aren't. Even with a 20 percent overall unemployment, that still means 80 percent of Americans are employed. So your time will come back. So why act unnaturally cheerful about something that is a dreadful experience? You're still going to have to go through it, but with everyone else you know sharing in the experience, you may find it easier. It can fun, to be in a small house, around a dining room table with people you've known forever having to explain that your boss was an ass :-)

Listen, you think it is bad for you? Let's face it, it has to be worse for our spouse or partner.... however, this year...be "Thankful" that you have your patient family, loving spouse or partner, girlfriend, boyfriend--and friends. I always close with some unconventional advice today...consider praying.

Copyright 2009
Stephen Viscusi
May be reproduced without permission of author, as long as author gets credit
Stephen Viscusi is the host of the upcoming TV show "The Headhunter From Hell".
Stephen Viscusi is the author of "Bulletproof Your Job" (HarperCollins) and can be reached at Stephen@viscusi.com. Visit his website @http://www.bulletproofyourjob.com, Follow me on Twitter @workplaceguru and add me on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Joan E. Dowlin: Homosexuality and Nature

2009-11-16T13:55:30Z

Last week I observed Pastor and author Joel Osteen on The View talking about Christianity. When questioned about gays by co-host Whoopi Goldberg, Osteen declared that his church welcomes them but that he felt the lifestyle was wrong and we should give to God our best. I'm not sure what he meant by that. Was he saying homosexuals were not God's best creation or that gay people should become straight to give their best to God?

Either way, as a gay Christian, I am offended. I believe that I am a child of God and that I was born a lesbian. Therefore, by being true to my self and my nature, I am giving my best to God.

I know Pastor Osteen would like to believe it is a choice to be gay. I disagree. Did he choose to be straight? Maybe for him it feels natural to be with a woman. For me it also feels natural to be with a woman. This is not a taste I acquired.

I was attracted to girls since the fourth grade. They say your true desires and instincts come out when you are young and innocent before the world tells you what you can and cannot do. I was also very interested in writing, a talent I have come back to later in my life. It was my first love even before music.

I digress. When I found myself dreaming about a third grade girl who played a mean piano I didn't suppress it or think of it as wrong. That is until I told my mom that I liked this girl and she said: "You mean you 'admire' her." That was my first clue that these types of tingling feelings for someone of my own sex were not the norm. It took many years and a lot of soul searching before I came out to myself and the world.

So what is normal? Speaking of nature, there are 1,500 species of animals that have practiced some form of homosexuality. Is all of nature sinful? Did not God create all creatures, great and small? Why doesn't Pastor Osteen go break up two female giraffes engaged in heavy petting and tell them they are sinning? While at it, he can tell them they are welcome in his church as long as they repent and change their bad behavior.

I would say no thank you, Pastor Joel. I would rather celebrate God with nature in all her glory.

Whoopi Goldberg Calls Carrie Prejean 'Bitchy,' Joy Spars With Elisabeth On "The View" (VIDEO)

2009-11-12T12:48:19Z

"The View" heated up Thursday morning over Carrie Prejean and her interview Wednesday night with Larry King.

Prejean called King "inappropriate" and threatened to walk off his show after he pried about why she settled her lawsuit with the Miss California pageant.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shephered attempted to defend Prejean, arguing that King shouldn't have pushed her on the subject because he should have known it was off-limits. Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg, however, thought Prejean handled herself poorly.

"All I'm asking is, be fair to her," Elisabeth said.

"You know what, she's also got to be fair," Whoopi responded. "We had her on the show, we asked legitimate questions. And maybe they were not the most comfortable, but she was a little bitchy, I have to say....so I'm a little cranky at her."

"I think what she is experiencing is a little of a backlash that maybe is unwarranted in some ways, and she is fighting for her life at this point," Elisabeth said.

"She's the one who put herself out there, she didn't have to write the book!" Joy shot back. "She can go into hiding, nobody would care. They'd say, 'Oh that pretty girl, what happened to her?'"

"Why do you hate her so much?" Elisabeth asked Joy.

"I don't hate her, I hate hypocrisy," Joy responded. "I don't hate her, Elisabeth. Don't say that. It has nothing to do with hate."

WATCH:

Amy Dickinson: I'm In Sales

2009-10-23T08:05:03Z

My book tour started six months ago with me being slapped around by Barbara Walters on The View.

It ended last weekend with me shivering in the cold, hand selling my memoir (The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, a Daughter, and the Town that Raised Them) from a card table set up in a field as a small crowd of hardy souls watched and waited for two prize Jersey cows to lay down a steaming pile of cow plop during a strange, surreal game called "cow bingo."

Book tours always start somewhere. There's an event, usually set up by the publisher in a heady swell of can-do optimism. Everyone is falling in love on that first day -- it's the blind date that is going surprisingly well where you find yourself thinking that there might actually be some sex is in your future. You are the author, your book is the prize Jersey cow, and you are going to play bingo until someone plops.

The Barbara Walters thing was both better and worse than expected. I was seated on the couch and wearing an awesome vintage dress that Whoopi asked me about, but which I had to admit I had bought at an outdoor flea market. Questions started flying. Challenges were thrown down and batted around. There was some laughter and gesticulating. Whoopi said, "Yeah, girl -- you know it!" Sherri held up my book. "Cute!" she said.

But then Barbara Walters did it. "You know, I was a dear friend of Ann Landers," she said. As the author of the "Ask Amy" advice column chosen by the Chicago Tribune's syndicate to replace Ann Landers' column after her death in 2002, I like to think I'm sensitive to Ann Landers' legacy, which is untouchable and guarded by loyalists.

Barbara Walters didn't need to supply the second part of her statement, which is, "...and you are no Ann Landers," because her body language said it all. She leaned forward, looked at me, shrugged her shoulders, rolled her eyes and sighed.

I knew none of this. I missed Barbara's body language because I was looking to my left, trying mightily to be a good girlfriend to Joy Behar, who I had identified in advance as my best chance at achieving couch camaraderie. But it's all there on the tape, which unfortunately my mother chose to watch more times than is probably healthy. My mother performed some motherly forensics on the encounter and then rendered her verdict: "Wow, she really didn't like you," she said, stoically.

All the same, I sold some books. Then I flew to Dayton, Ohio, where among other appearances I was scheduled to be on a public access book show filmed at a local high school. I arrived at the school and found myself face to face with five 15-year-old boys with bad skin who I knew instantly were the AV club. "Ummmm," one of them offered, blankly. "You're cancelled."

I was shown the door.

I stood outside in the parking lot in the snow and called my mother. "I'm not sure, but I think I just got dumped by the high school AV club," I said.

"Again?" she replied. My mother knows I have been dumped by the AV club before - first in high school, and then (figuratively if not actually) off and on ever since.

All the same, I sold some more books, and I was still standing in that chilly high school parking lot in Dayton, Ohio, when my agent called to tell me that my little memoir had landed on the New York Times bestseller list for the following week.

It's great to be a bestselling author. I can truthfully call myself that for the rest of my life. But the thing about hitting a bestseller list is that then you have to stay on it. As someone who has always deliberately kept the stakes low, I realized immediately that I had wandered into another territory altogether.

It was somewhere on the road between Cincinnati and Fort Worth, Texas, when I realized that I'm in sales. Like most writers, I'm most comfortable in my jammies, noodling on my lofty thoughts in between episodes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, but what I learned during my book tour is that I was dying to have people actually read my book, and if they were going to read it, I was first going to have to sell it to them.

All through the winter and spring, as the economy tanked, publishers went out of business, and booksellers shuttered their doors, I pounded the pavement with the support of a publisher that, like me, believed in the book and simply would not give up -- putting books in hands, posing for photos, listening to stories, laughing with people, and promising to schedule an appearance at their church social, YWCA fundraiser or PTO meeting. I did this for two months without stopping, reading at book stores with hundreds of people and book stores where I read for the staff alone and signed copies of stock, while the janitor mopped up.

At Dulles airport, waiting for a delayed flight back to my hometown, I went to the terminal book store and was happy to see a short stack of my books in the "Books We Love" section. A woman had parked her wheelie bag and was perusing the section. She idly picked up a Suze Orman book and was scanning the cover.

I sidled up to her. "Suze Orman? Really? Don't you think she's a little played out?" I asked. "Tell you what. You look like a woman who might really like to read the true and heartwarming story of a group of women much like yourself who have led ordinary lives of great consequence," I said, quoting my own jacket copy.

"Um, I don't know," she said.

I picked up my book. "This -- this is the book for you. I know because I wrote it. And I'll tell you what -- I'll inscribe it for you right here and give you my phone number and if you don't love it, you can call me and I'll send you a refund."

"Done," she said.

I walked her to the cash register. I saw her hand reach out to touch "Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World" which, like my book, is a charming story with small town appeal. "Don't you dare touch that cat book," I said. By now I think I was starting to scare her.

"So you really wrote this?" she asked, deftly trying to divert me as she handed over her credit card.

After she had signed the receipt, I took the pen and inscribed the book.

"Well, I used to be a writer, but now I'm in sales," I told her, and returned to my gate. Our flight was further delayed, so I sold four more copies to the waiting passengers, and I flew home, satisfied in the knowledge that in at least one venue, I was completely sold out.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck Talks Nip Slip, New Baby In Return To "The View" (VIDEO)

2009-10-19T14:45:14Z

Elisabeth Hasselbeck returned to "The View" Monday two months after the birth of her third child, Isaiah.

Hasselbeck showed off a picture of Isaiah and told a story about sending out a photo of the baby that included her nipple.

"You know when your baby smiles for the first time?" she said. "I reach for the iPhone � I had just been feeding him � and I took the photo. And he had this huge, huge smile and it was the cutest picture, so immediately I forward it to everyone on my family distribution list," she said, rattling off a list of family members. "I get home and I open up the photo...No wonder why he is smiling, because my nipple is in the photo!

"It's worse than drunk dialing to forward pictures post-partum," she said.

"It's not sexual when you have a boob in the mouth!" Sherri Shepherd responded.

Hasselbeck also added that she doesn't plan to have any more children after Isaiah.

Watch:

Tom Gipson Is The View 's Ultimate Volunteer

2009-10-19T13:43:01Z

Over the last few months, The View asked its viewers to nominate Americans for their Ultimate Volunteer award. The winner, named last week, is Tom Gipson, noted for his selfless efforts building over 1,000 homes nationwide for the homeless.

Gipson appeared on The View today as part of iParticipate's week of volunteerism. He appeared with Michael Troy, director of marketing for Starwoods Hotels and Resorts, who awarded him with one million "Starpoints," which he can use toward any number of fancy Hawaiian vacations. That would explain why they're wearing those leis.

WATCH:

Tom Gipson Is The View 's Ultimate Volunteer

2009-10-19T13:43:01Z

Beverly Wettenstein: No Women Featured in NY Comedy Festival! No Joke!

2009-10-11T13:38:57Z

We're With The Banned: Cracking The Crass Ceiling

The New York Comedy Festival ad features ten men and no women.

Broadly speaking, comedy is, obviously, still a male-dominated bastion within the entertainment business. The Primetime Emmy Awards showed that women writers on a comedy or variety series are a rare and endangered species. Only seven of the 81 writers were women. There are no women writers on Leno (of 19), Letterman (of 14), and O'Brien (of 16). Colbert has two women of 14 writers. The Daily Show has one of 16. Samantha Bee is a busy worker bee and a "correspondent." "Saturday Night Live" has five women of 22 writers.

LOL: Larry Summers School for the Advancement of Women

Historically, some men have difficulty accepting women comedians. The Larry Summers School for the Advancement of Women should hire Tom Shales, Christopher Hitchens and Jerry Lewis, to teach "Why Women Aren't Funny." The three wise men opined as much in the Washington Post, Vanity Fair and at the Aspen Comedy Festival, respectively.

Shales, Washington Post TV critic, wrote that ex-SNL "Michaela Watkins may have been just too classically pretty to be hilarious." Lewis told the Aspen audience in 2000, "I don't like any female comedians" and couldn't think of one who was good. He only viewed women as baby-making machines.

SNL announced two new women for the 35th season to much press attention: Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad. Just hours later it was reported that Casey Wilson and Michaela Watkins were gone. Does SNL have a female quota? Is their comedy calculus: addition = attrition? The two new women are "featured performers," rather than full repertory players.

Kristin Wiig was SNL's MVP Iron Man last season, earning the most screen time of any cast member, with 124 sketch appearances. She is currently the only official woman cast member.
Plus, she has seven feature films in development. And she is beautiful. Please explain, Mr. Shales.

Having joined as a staff writer in 1997, Tina Fey's term as SNL's first woman head writer (1999-2006), coincided with the most women cast members in regular performing roles in its history: Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Rachel Dratch. Much to her credit, Fey teamed with Poehler, to create the groundbreaking "Weekend Update" all-women anchor team in 2004. The dynamic duo proved they were not "Mean Girls" and sparked no cat-fight messages in the media. When Fey started on "Update," there hadn't been a woman anchor since Jane Curtin in the late 1970s and she was not afraid to promote her BFF Poehler. In fact, the two newest women are troupers from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, co-founded by Poehler.

Kudos to Fey and Poehler for empowering women, following decades of male-dominated sketch comedy. Fey and Poehler know that women succeed when they are responsible for their own material. They play comedic roles, perform standup and write and direct films and TV shows. Fey's "30 Rock" was nominated for a record 22 Emmy awards. She was named the AP Entertainer of the Year in 2008 for the greatest impact on culture and entertainment. Poehler is the lead star on "Parks & Recreation."

Timing is everything in comedy and in life. SNL mirrors the advances of women in society. In 2002 Ana Gasteyer was their first on-air pregnancy. The TV management "suits" have matured since the 1950's when the word "pregnant" was forbidden and Lucille Ball was asked to hide behind furniture, which she refused to do. The fact that nine-months pregnant Poehler posed as Hillary Clinton was a non-issue. Her absence and baby's birth were announced on "Update."

Now that SNL has accepted the pregnant pause, perhaps they may consider hiring a Black woman to play Michelle Obama and other women newsmakers and celebrities? Do they think it adds to the levity to dress men in drag or is there a women shortage? I don't communicate with Eleanor Roosevelt very often. But I do think of her and her personal equal opportunity employment act when I see a man playing a woman on SNL. Upon learning that women reporters were not admitted to the National Press Club where newsmakers spoke, Roosevelt held regular news conferences exclusively for women reporters and photographers, thus creating jobs for women. You go, girl!

Actually, in the first season in 1975, the original SNL cast was equal with three women (Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner) and three men (John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Garrett Morris) and Chevy Chase was promoted to "Update" anchor from writer. By 1993, the ratio was three women to eight men. Janeane Garafalo quit halfway through the '94-'95 season because of the male writers who "didn't write for women."

Chicago's Second City improv-sketch troupe, an SNL talent feeder incubator, only allowed two women on a six-person improv team into the '90s. Fey and Poehler are alumnae.

This is Wanda Sykes' banner year. Her HBO special just aired and "The Wanda Sykes Show" will debut in November, at 11 PM, against SNL. Sykes was the featured entertainer this year at the White House Correspondents Association dinner. This annual event honoring the president is a prestigious gig with the nation's dignitaries.

Traditionally, even though women were fully-accredited White House reporters and members of the association, they were barred from attending the dinner. Prompted by Helen Thomas, for the first time in 50 years, women were finally admitted in 1962 when President John F. Kennedy agreed not to attend unless the women did. Thomas was inducted as the first woman WHCA president in 1975.

The old boys club network is alive and, well, begrudgingly coming into the 21st century at The Friars, the premiere club for professional comedians and entertainers. Founded in 1904, Liza Minnelli was admitted as the first official woman member in 1988. This followed the Supreme Court upholding a New York City statute that barred discrimination at large private clubs. Previously, women couldn't join or enter the Townhouse before 4 PM to attend the notorious stag roasts.

Sally Jessy Raphael was the first officer (Prior) in 1999. Previously, women were honored but could not join. Sophie Tucker was the first woman roasted, in 1953; followed by Martha Raye, 1954 and Lucille Ball, 1961.

Joy Behar was the first woman Roastmaster, at a tribute for Danny Aiello in 1997. Rita Rudner was the first woman performer at a Roast for Chevy Chase in 1980. Phyllis Diller, dressed as a man in a suit, wig and mustache, attended the 1983 Sid Caesar Roast, because women were not allowed. She was outed at the end of the event and honored at her own roast in 1985. Diller was the first woman inducted into the California Friars Wall of Fame in 2001. Last year, at the behest of Behar, the Friars named one of its chambers for a woman, Lucille Ball. Currently, women comprise 20 percent of the Friars membership.

Women need to showcase their talent to survive and succeed in the comedy business. Barbara Walters first saw Joy Behar at a benefit for Milton Berle's 89th birthday at the Waldorf Astoria. Walters then invited her to audition for The View. Behar just debuted her nightly talk show on HLN. Her co-hosts on The View include comediennes Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd, who stars in her own show on Lifetime. Goldberg was the first woman and fourth honoree to win the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2001; Lily Tomlin won in 2003.

More Than Chick Shtick: "Seinfeld" Without Elaine? Get Out!

Imagine Seinfeld without Elaine. Get out! Actually, Elaine was not in the first show but executives insisted they add a woman to the cast by the second episode. Would an all-male cast have become the same audience success story without her? Not!

Liz Lemon told Oprah on 30 Rock that she hates her feet. Nora Ephron told the world that she hates her neck. It took Elle Woods' life experience in Legally Blonde to solve the murder case. Her Harvard Law colleagues didn't have a clue about women's hair treatments. Chris Rock parlayed that message into a feature film. Maybe the sexes can learn to live together and better understand each other through humor and women comedians?

One of the challenges for women comics is that society expects good girls to be well-behaved and to act lady-like. Comedians have to be aggressive and take control of the audience. The boys who were the class clowns and spent more time in the principal's office than the library are now making big bucks for their antics. Not to pooh pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, but the first new authorized female character believes that everyone should follow the correct etiquette. Lottie the Otter will be more like Martha Stewart than Martha Raye.

It's easier for women to get to the moon than to get a network late-night talk show. Conan O'Brien and Craig Ferguson had no experience as late-night talk show hosts when they were given their shows. Ferguson had not performed stand-up for ten years and had a strong Scottish brogue. O'Brien was an unknown SNL comedy writer with little performing experience. Joan Rivers was the first and only permanent host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. When Rivers learned that she wasn't on the list to replace Carson, she accepted the offer to host her own late night talk show to launch the Fox Network in 1986. She was fired six months later.

The talk show format is a cheap alternative to scripted TV and yields self-contained YouTube-friendly takeout promos. As viewers migrate away from appointment network TV, cable should create new opportunities for women. But the old boy network ways persist. The Daily Show was co-created by Lizz Winstead and Madeline Smithberg in 1995. Winstead was also the head writer. Then host Craig Kilborn made an offensive remark about her in Esquire in 1998. He was suspended for a week. She left the show soon after. Chelsea Handler has her own late night talk show on E!

Only two women comedians were listed on the Forbes "100 Celebrity" list: Ellen DeGeneres, Power Rank #40, $35 Million Pay and Tina Fey, #86, $7 Million Pay.

She Who Laughs, Lasts: "50/50 in 2020"

Last month more than 200 women met to hear a panel address and outline a "50/50 in 2020" initiative to advance women in the theater business. Three sponsors are taking the lead: the League of Professional Theatre Women, the New Perspectives Theatre Company and the Women's Project.

In 2007 Oxygen presented the "50 Funniest Women Alive." There are women who are ready, willing and able to perform at comedy festivals. They can turn the world on with their smile... and spunk.

Stand Up For Women In Comedy! Parody and Parity Proposals

1. Action! Organize a meeting during the New York Comedy Festival, November 4-8, to focus on "The State of Women in Comedy Today," to become part of the media coverage and raise public support. Since there is no professional organization for women comedians, create one or develop a Comedy subcommittee of the "50/50 by 2020" project or another industry-related association.

2. Produce a counter "Funny Femme Festival" during the New York Comedy Festival to showcase talented women comedians, become part of the media coverage and raise public support.

3. Distribute this treatise and contact the New York Comedy Festival.

4. Submit your comments and suggestions here.

5. Stay tuned. Watch this space for announcements and progress reports. Thank you.

See Beverly Wettenstein's PBS interview on youtube.com.

See Beverly Wettenstein's Letter in the NY Daily News, Sept. 4, 09
nydailynews.com/opinions/

See Beverly Wettenstein's Letter in the NY Times Science Times, July 21, 09

_________________________________________________________________________

"Celebrate Women Every Day!"

October 13

B. 1901 Edith S. Sampson First Black woman elected judge, in Illinois, 1962.
First Black woman named UN delegate.

1905 English suffragists Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney arrested.
Women over 30 got the vote 12 years later; all women in 1928.

B. 1925 Margaret Thatcher First woman Prime Minister in England and Europe, 1979-1991.

B. 1969 Nancy Kerrigan Olympic silver medalist, 1964; Oksana Baiul, 16, won gold medal.

1986 Rita Levi-Montalcini earned Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Source: Beverly Wettenstein's "Women in History and Making History Today
- 365-Days-A-Year Database"

SNL Mocks Whoopi Goldberg For Uninformed Roman Polanski Defense (VIDEO)

2009-10-02T00:07:46Z

Despite overwhelming evidence that Roman Polanski drugged, raped, and sodomized a 13-year-old girl, most of Hollywood has felt the need to rush to his defense. This criminal has been in the wind, defying punishment for decades, yet unlike most felons that flee, Polanski enjoys the status of "creative genius" which affords him powerful protectors. His most notable defender this week has been "View" veteran Whoopi Goldberg who said Polanski didn't "rape-rape" his victim.

"SNL" seized upon this instance to mock Goldberg, portraying her as uninformed and distracted:

"Look, Seth Meyers, unlike you we have an early morning show. Basically I just roll out of bed and start talking. Sometimes I don't even wake up until 45 minutes into the show, unsure of what I said to whom or what or where or even who got me to where I am or how."

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Sherri Shepherd: Evolution Is Not An Absolute (VIDEO)

2009-10-01T11:56:27Z

Kirk Cameron's plan to widely distribute an edited version of Darwin's 'Origin of Species'--with an introduction outlining the Hitlerian nature evolutionary theory--prompted a lively conversation on The View Thursday morning. There were some differences of opinion!

Joy Behar pointed out that Cameron wouldn't like it very much if Christopher Hitchens wrote an intro to the Bible. Guest host Heidi Pratt predictably defended the teaching of creationism and Whoopi Goldberg explained to her that when you go to college, no one forces you to take any classes you don't want to take. Sherri Shepherd tried and failed to appear diplomatic.

"Evolution is not an absolute," she said.

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Elisabeth Hasselbeck To Return To "The View" October 19

2009-09-30T12:56:05Z

NEW YORK — ABC says Elisabeth Hasselbeck will be back on "The View" on Oct. 19.

Hasselbeck has been off the daytime talk show since Aug. 7 – two days before she gave birth to her third child, Isaiah Timothy. She's married to former NFL player Tim Hasselbeck.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck Back On "The View" October 19

2009-09-30T11:50:00Z

Huff TV: Arianna Discusses Her Book "Pigs At The Trough" On "The View"

2009-09-28T12:35:41Z

Arianna visited the women of "The View" on Monday to talk about the re-release of her book, "Pigs at the Trough," as well as why the financial system remains in dire need of reform. Sherri Shepherd and Arianna discussed how failing CEOs are being propped up by taxpayer bailouts even as millions of ordinary Americans are losing their jobs and their savings, and Joy Behar called out the "corporate welfare" being spready by the federal government.

Arianna mentioned that the Huffington Post has been working to "put flesh and blood on the numbers" of the economic crisis -- to read more, check out the work of HuffPost's Economic Impact reporter Arthur Delaney.

Watch the full segment:

Michael Moore: 'Capitalism' as Comedy and Tragedy Now Playing in NY and L.A.

2009-09-25T20:23:31Z

Friends,

The time has arrived for, as Time magazine called it, my "magnum opus." I only had a year of Latin when I was in high school, so I'm not quite sure what that means, but I think it's good.

I've spent nearly two years on this new movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story," and have poured my heart and soul into this project. Many early critics and viewers have called it my "best film yet." That's a hard call for me to make as I'm proud of all of my films -- but I will tell you this: What you are about to see in "Capitalism" is going to stun you. It's going to make some of you angry and I believe it's going to give most of you a new sense of hope that we are going to turn the sick and twisted mess made by the last president around. Oh, and you're going to have a good laugh at the expense of all the banking and corporate criminals who've made out like bandits in the past year.

I'm gonna show you the stuff the nightly news will rarely show you. Ever meet a pilot for American Airlines on food stamps because his pay's been cut so low? Ever meet a judge who gets kickbacks for sending innocent kids to a private prison? Ever meet someone from the Wall Street Journal who bluntly states on camera that he doesn't much care for democracy and that capitalism should be our only ruling concern?

You'll meet all these guys in "Capitalism." You'll also meet a whistleblower who, with documents in hand, tells us about the million-dollar-plus sweetheart loans he approved for the head of Senate Banking Committee -- the very committee that was supposed to be regulating his lending institution! You'll hear from a bank regulator why Timothy Geithner has no business being our Treasury Secretary. And you'll learn, from the woman who heads up the congressional commission charged with keeping an eye on the bailout money, how Alan Greenspan & Co. schemed and connived the public into putting up their inflated valued homes as collateral -- thus causing the biggest foreclosure epidemic in our history.

There is now a foreclosure filed in the U.S. once every seven-and-half SECONDS.

None of this is an accident, and I name the names others seem to be afraid to name, the men who have ransacked the pensions of working people and plundered the future of our kids and grandkids. Somehow they thought they were going to get away with this, that we'd believe their Big Lie that this crash was caused by a bunch of low-income people who took out loans they couldn't afford. Much of the mainstream media bought this storyline. No wonder Wall Street thought they could pull this off.

Jeez, I guess they forgot about me and my crew. You'd think we would've made a better impression on these wealthy thieves by now. Guess not.

So here we come! It's all there, up on the silver screen, two hours of a tragicomedy crime story starring a bunch of vampires who just weren't satisfied with simply destroying Flint, Michigan -- they had to try and see if they could take down the whole damn country. So come see this cops and robbers movie! The robbers this time wear suits and ties, and the cops -- well, if you're willing to accept a guy in a ballcap with a high school education as a stand-in until the real deal shows up to haul 'em away, then I humbly request your presence at your local cinema this weekend in New York and Los Angeles (and next Friday, October 2nd, all across America).

In the meantime, you can catch us on some of the TV shows that have been brave enough to let me on in the past week or so:

- Nightline (as we take a stroll down Wall Street to Goldman Sachs)

- Good Morning America (where they let me talk about Disney employees who don't get medical benefits)

- The View (where the Republican co-host told everyone to go see it! Whoa!)

- The Colbert Report (this guy is a genius, seriously)

- Larry King (where a spokesperson for the Senator who got the sweetheart loans responds for the first time)

- Keith Olberman (where we both wonder just how long these media corps are going to let us get away with what we do)

- Wolf Blitzer (yes, he's back for more abuse - and lovin' it)

... And the amazing Jay Leno. This man called me after seeing the movie and asked me to be his only in-studio guest on the second night of his new prime-time show. I said, "Jay, shouldn't you be thinking of your ratings in the first week of the show? Are you sure you didn't misdial Tom Hanks' number (the area code where I live is 231; 213 is LA)?" He told me he was profoundly moved by this film. So I was the guest on his second show, and he told all of America it was my "best film" and to please go see "Capitalism: A Love Story." That was Jay Leno saying that, not Noam Chomsky or Jane Fonda (both of whom I love dearly). The audience responded enthusiastically and, after 20 years of filmmaking, it was a moment where I crossed over deep into the mainstream of middle America. Jay's bosses at General Electric musta been... well, let's just say I hope they didn't place a reprimand in his permanent record. He's one helluva guy (and following the example he set with his free concerts for the unemployed in Michigan and Ohio last spring, I've gotten permission from the studio to do the same with my film in ten of the hardest-hit cities in the U.S. next week).

Oh, and he made me sing! Prepare yourself!

Thanks everyone -- and see you at the movies!

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com

MichaelMoore.com

Twitter.com/MMFlint

Facebook.com/MMFlint

MySpace.com/MMFlint

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Joy Behar Kisses Whoopi In "The View" Swine Flu Demonstration (VIDEO)

2009-09-24T11:50:31Z

Joy Behar gave Whoopi Goldberg a surprise kiss on the lips Thursday morning on "The View" while demonstrating the best way to greet people to avoid swine flu.

After Barbara Walters had expressed reservations about kissing — or even shaking hands with — the guests who come on the program, Joy showed off the germ-free way to greet someone: the elbow bump.

She then demonstrated the range of other options, from fist bump to handshake to cheek kiss, before surprising Whoopi with a kiss on the lips.

"I'm foaming at the mouth that was so good," Whoopi said.

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Kate Gosselin On Jon & The Babysitter: I Sobbed, I Don't Know If They Had Sex (VIDEO)

2009-09-18T17:12:12Z

Kate Gosselin continued her co-hosting stint on 'The View' Friday and talked about her opposition to Jon's 23-year-old babysitter and possible lover, Stephanie Santoro, that led to a police-mediated fight at the Gosselin house last month.

"I actually showed up and just cried and didn't say a word," she said. "I sat at the gate and just sobbed." Jon, however, refused to unlock the gate and a screaming match ensued. Someone called 911 and Kate spent the night at a Day's Inn.

As for the alleged nine mediocre sexual encounters between Jon and Santoro following an initial naked soak in the family hot tub, Kate said she doesn't know whether the babysitter's claims are true.

"I'm not saying it's true or false," she said. "All I'm talking about is what my intuition is saying. And bottom line of this background story is I had never met this babysitter and it made me uncomfortable."

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Lisa Ling To Return To "The View" As Guest-Host

2009-09-18T09:03:04Z

NEW YORK — Lisa Ling, a former co-host of "The View," will be back as a guest co-host for two days next month.

ABC said Thursday that Ling will sit alongside Barbara Walters, Joy Behar (BAY'-hahr), Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd for the Oct. 5 and 6 broadcasts of the weekday talk show.

Lisa Napoli: Abundance of Tubes

2009-09-17T16:18:17Z

I had lunch with a lovely new friend today, a woman who is new to LA. Her husband is a TV critic. As much as she and I had in common as female humans who worked in and around media all our lives, what we didn't have in common were the cultural references. I told her that the Fashion Institute was up the street from where we were having lunch, and she said, eagerly, Oh yes, Project Runway. (I had no idea the two places were linked.) We talked about the inevitable comparisons between LA and the east coast, and how new everything seemed here, and she referenced a scene from Mad Men. Etc. etc. I had to keep saying, Ugh, umm, I don't know those things, or rather, I know those things but I have never seen them. And now I have no excuse. But first I have to figure out when these things are actually on. I know that's not hard to do but I just haven't got the inclination yet.

T. came over for dinner tonight. It was the first time he'd been here since I got the TV. Helicopters were swirling about my downtown apartment. Not just one but several, for what seemed like hours. Menacing noise above. At one point there was a march of police cars screeching through the streets. What to do? Retreat to the television to find out what was going on, naturally. There wasn't a word, of course. The local news headlines had to do with that poor girl in Connecticut who was murdered.

T. felt compelled to take out the computer to search a bit more, with no luck, no answers. Then he wanted to show me the Kanye apology I had slept through on Leno the night before. We'd both seen clips during the day but he wanted to "watch it together." And while we were at it, Taylor Swift on The View. Here I am watching YouTube with the original Tube behind me. An abundance of tubes. For that matter, we could have watched these videos on our iPhones. The Leno commercial said all episodes would be online for free. Surely there is no reason to be paying for this cable.

By the time Leno came on, T. was falling asleep. He was alert enough to keep me from taking the laptop out to check whether Michael Moore really had lost weight, as he claimed to have. He looked larger than ever to me. Soon it was 11 p.m. and Leno was tossing to the local news, and there was still no information on the helicopters overhead.

The best part of the night was when we talked about the Peer Pressure Happiness article in the NY Times Magazine this past week, how who you keep company with influences what you do, how you behave, how you feel. Of course it just seems logical, doesn't it? Which is why I think it's been a bit of a public service all this time for me not to have television, a bit of a good influence, perhaps, on the people around me.

Charlize Theron: I Won't Get Married Until My Gay Friends Can (VIDEO)

2009-09-17T12:12:03Z

Another Hollywood star who refuses to marry until it's something everyone can do: Charlize Theron, who has no plans to tie the knot with Stuart Townsend, her boyfriend of eight years. She talked about marriage equality, something she has previously supported, Thursday on 'The View.'

"I don't want to get married because right now the institution of marriage feels very one-sided, and I want to live in a country where we all have equal rights," Theron said.

"I think it would be exactly the same if we were married, but for me to go through that kind of ceremony, because I have so many friends who are gays and lesbians who would so badly want to get married, that I wouldn't be able to sleep with myself."

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Amy Poehler: I Was Trying Not To Barf On Hillary Clinton (VIDEO)

2009-09-16T09:14:06Z

SNL alum turned "Parks and Recreation" star Amy Poehler visited "The View" Wednesday, her 38th birthday. She talked about her baby boy, the new season of her show and trying not to vomit on Hillary Clinton.

"It's always strange to be dressed as someone and stand next to them," she said. "My inner thoughts at that moment were, one, that she was so gracious and lovely to work with, and also I was pregnant at the time so my inner thought was, 'Please don't let me barf.'"

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Whoopi Goldberg Cries Over Patrick Swayze On "The View"

2009-09-15T16:26:07Z

AP Text, Video from "The View" via UsMagazine.com

LOS ANGELES — Whoopi Goldberg and her co-hosts on "The View" paid tribute to Patrick Swayze on Tuesday, with his "Ghost" co-star choking back tears as she remembered him fondly as a brave fighter and a gracious colleague.

Swayze died Monday evening, surrounded by family at his Los Angeles ranch, after a 20-month fight with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

"This was a well-fought battle. Patrick fought like the dickens to survive it, or to get through it. He never thought of himself as someone who was dying," Goldberg said Tuesday on the ABC morning talk show. "He said, `You know, we're all dying.' And so his attitude was, `Until it kills me, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. ...

"He worked, he did his show, he just was a cat that never gave up," she added. "I would like to be able to be that. I would like to have that bravery."

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Goldberg also showed a clip of herself with Swayze in "Ghost," the 1990 film that earned her a supporting-actress Oscar. She played daffy psychic Oda Mae Brown, who helps Swayze's character communicate with his fiancee (Demi Moore) from the great beyond.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: Because of Patrick Swayze, I got that movie, `Ghost,'" she said. "Because of Patrick Swayze, I have an Oscar."

But she also revealed his playful side: "He would do stuff. He would be off to the side – you know, 'cause they'd have a camera on me – he'd moon me, it was the greatest."

Co-host Barbara Walters shared her own anecdotes of her time with Swayze, whom she interviewed alongside his wife, Lisa, at their ranch in January.

"I had the, I guess the honor – and it makes me very sad – of doing what was, what has become, the last interview with Patrick Swayze," Walters said.

She recalled that he was working on his memoir with his wife, titled "The Time of My Life," in honor of the popular song from his film "Dirty Dancing." Swayze also continued shooting the A&E drama series "The Beast" toward the end of his life.

In a clip she showed from the interview, Walters asked Swayze about whether he talked to his late father, to whom he was very close, which immediately choked up the actor.

"You devil dog," he said, smiling and looking away. "Yeah, I talk to my dad. I like to believe that I've got a lot of guardian warriors sittin' on my shoulder including my dad. ... I'm trying to shut up and let my angels speak to me and tell me what I'm supposed to do."

Among the other tributes that are piling up for Swayze:

_ Fans were leaving flowers, candles and cards on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is on Hollywood Boulevard outside the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

_ Larry King planned to do a tribute to Swayze on his CNN program, airing at 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday.

_ ABC planned to re-air Walters' interview with Swayze, along with new material, at 10 p.m. EDT Tuesday.

_ Spike TV was scheduled to show the Swayze action flick "Road House" at 10 p.m. EDT Saturday.

Dr. Susan Albers: Should Junk Food Be Banned? Dr. Oz Weighs In

2009-09-15T15:33:00Z

Dr. Oz, a frequent quest on Oprah, has essentially banned junk food in the office of his new television show which began on September 14, 2009. Dr. Oz shared this revolutionary decision with the women on The View on the day that his first medical talk show was set to air. Frankly, they looked a little stunned and very skeptical. The co-hosts tried their best to challenge him on this rule.

The discussion began with a behind-the-scenes tour of the employees' desks at The View. Like many offices in America, every nook and cranny of the desks were filled to the brim with little candy bars, snack packs and other food items. Dr. Oz was probably cringing internally!

Dr. Oz isn't alone. His colleague, Dr. Roizen, a wellness guru, has made a similar move at his office to eradicate fast food restaurants, sugary soft drinks and junk food in vending machines. It's a trend catching on across the country -- making America's office places healthier and therefore better places to spend the majority of your day. In the long run, this also saves money on health care costs. It's a win-win for everyone.

Despite the protests from the co-hosts on The View, who could really argue with Dr. Oz's logic? It makes a lot of sense. Why not make it easier for people to make healthy choices by making them more available? Imagine this scenario. It is 3:00, you are running up against an important deadline and you are getting hungry. You find yourself having to make a decision that could lead to stress eating if you aren't careful. You make a beeline to the vending machine. All you find are some healthy snacks to give you a little energy boost. You get your snack minus the guilt you would have wrestled with if you had went for chocolate or a sugar item. This scenario helped you avoid the entire emotional struggle.

Is taking away candy bars violating your civil rights? Would we bat an eye if this question had been put into the context of smoking? How long ago was it that a "smoke break" was perfectly acceptable? Has this helped Americans to be healthier?

Or, is it too much of a slippery slope to make certain foods taboo? Could this lead to the government or employers making certain snacks illegal to eat, subjecting you to some kind of penalty or firing you? No one wants to be told what to do. Is it really so bad to eat a cupcake now and then? How about chocolate?

Yet, at the same time, many delicious snacks have been taken off the market because they were filled with harmful, toxic trans fats. It's a complicated debate.

Kudos to Dr. Oz. If nothing else, who doesn't love a doctor who practices what he preaches.

What would you vote for--more restrictions on unhealthy foods or the free will to eat whatever you please. Tell us your thoughts.

Okay, so maybe you aren't ready to clean out all the vending machines or hand out apples. Here is a way to start helping yourself and your coworkers eat more mindfully. https://www.psychologytoday.com/
www.eatingmindfully.com

By the author of Eating Mindfully and 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food

Kate Gosselin's New 'Do On 'The View': Love It Or Lose It? (PHOTOS, POLL)

2009-09-15T14:50:04Z

It's been a rough year for Kate Gosselin's hair. First her signature asymmetrical bob became a Halloween wig. Then Kathy Griffin wore it to mock the mother of eight in a sketch called "Kate Is Enough."

On Tuesday, Gosselin appeared as a guest host on 'The View'--and debuted a new 'do while she was there. True, it was the same old haircut with a few waves thrown in, but where do you stand on the new style?

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Taylor Swift On 'The View': Kanye West Hasn't Called Me (VIDEO)

2009-09-15T12:12:09Z

UPDATE: Kanye called Swift after "The View," the AP reports:

Representatives from "The View" say West called Swift after her appearance on Tuesday's show. During the broadcast, the 19-year-old singing sensation said West had yet to contact her to apologize for hijacking her MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech on Sunday.

The incident caused an uproar and led West to give an emotional apology on Monday's premiere of "The Jay Leno Show."

"The View" says Swift has accepted the apology.

PREVIOUSLY: Taylor Swift was on 'The View' Tuesday morning to discuss her onstage clash with Kanye West at the VMAs that has everyone from Kelly Clarkson to President Obama talking.

"I think my overall thought process was something like, 'Wow I can't believe I won. This is awesome. Don't trip and fall. I'm going to get to thank the fans, this is so cool--oh, Kanye West is here," she said. "Kanye West is here, cool haircut, what are you doing there? And then ouch, and then I guess I'm not going to get to thank the fans."

Then Kanye got into an altercation with Taylor's mom, who "tore into him" backstage.

Kanye told Jay Leno last night that he wanted to apologize to Taylor in person and she said would meet with him, but "he has not personally reached out or anything."

Though Kanye's outburst left her "rattled," Swift said the outpouring of support from fans has helped. "I never imagined that there were that many people looking out for me," she said. "It was really wonderful to see there were people out there defending me so I didn't have to."

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Meghan McCain: Why "The View" Is So Special

2009-09-08T07:39:31Z

The View was one of the few shows where stay-at-home moms could listen to other women's points of view about the 2008 election cycle.

What makes The View so special, I think, is each host's role (and relatablity) to the viewer.