I Stand with Planned Parenthood #StandwithPP

Today is "Pink Out Day." People around the country--including Pittsburgh*--are rallying in support of Planned Parenthood as once again, congressional Republicans (and Republican presidential candidates) continue their relentless attacks on reproductive health care. They do this even to the point of threatening to shut down the government, despite the fact that government funds do not go to paying for abortions.

One in five American women have received care at a Planned Parenthood health center. And in 2013, Planned Parenthood served 2.7 million women, men, and young people. Maybe that's why USA Today found that Americans back government support for the group by more than 2-1.

If you're not already at a rally, you can still participate:

Wear pink to show your support for women's health and for Planned Parenthood, and make sure your friends know why. 

Share a #PinkOut selfie to #StandwithPP on social media.

Pink Out your Facebook and/or Twitter profile image.

Let them know that we're sick of this bullshit.


* Thank you  Lynn Cullen, and City Councilman Dan Gilman!

Announcement!

I'll be on the Lynn Cullen Show this morning at 10:30.

It's my understanding that we'll be discussing such profound topics as:

• Cato vs Rand - Given the seemingly endless conflicts between the Cato Institute and the Ayn Rand Institute, we'll be looking into the most irritating conflict of them all: Who spends more on high priced hookers (male AND female)?  Cato says Rand, Rand says Cato.  We report, you decide.
• Kirk or Picard - Given that Shatner wore a toupee when he commanded the USS Enterprise and Stewart did not, who's gazpacho would be zestier?  The RAND Corporation (NOTE: NOT the "Rand Institute" from the above) did a study in the mid-90s and discovered that in fact Stewart's would be zestier, though in a head-to-head cook-off between Nimoy and Frakes, Nimoy's chili would win.  Go figure.
• Ginger or Mary Ann - this one is obvious, don't you think?

Or maybe we'll just talk politics.  Did you know there's an election today??? GO VOTE!

Again, 10:30 this morning.

Missed the show? Watch it here!

Missed David on Lynn Cullen Live today? Watch it here:

Get On Board Lynn's Sanity Express

....

Really want to go to Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity in DC, but don't want to deal with the hassle of getting there? The Pittsburgh City Paper and Lynn Cullen have answered your prayers with Lynn's Sanity Express -- buses and metro passes to the rally leaving from multiple locations in the Pittsburgh area. You can find out all the details here (as well as order your tickets). Hmm, buses with Lynn Cullen, Chris Potter and like-minded folks headed to rally with Jon Stewart -- it's enough to make a tea-bagger weep. (And, don't forget to listen to Lynn Cullen Live at CPTV, Mon-Fri, 10:00-11:00AM.) [If this sounds like a paid advertisement -- it isn't -- I think of it more as a PSA for our readers. ;-) ]

Scott Baker (formerly of WTAE) is now working for Glenn Beck

Beck and Baker from some or other wingnut broadcast.

First, credit where credit is due: I heard this story today on Lynn Cullen's City Paper broadcast.

It looks like former WTAE Pittsburgh news anchor Scott Baker is descending further down the rat hole of wingnut "journalism."

First some background.

If you recall, back in 2005 while Baker was still an anchor of the 5:00 PM news at WTAE, he credited himself as being one of Jeff Gannon journalism teachers. Gannon (James Dale Guckert) became controversial for being a "reporter" with White House press credentials who asked President Bush such an excessively deferential and factually inaccurate question that he was dubbed by Jon Stewart as "Chip Rightwingenstein of the Bush Agenda Gazette." It later turned out that Gannon had scores of nude photos on the Internet on gay escort sites.

Next, in 2007 Baker signed up to help launch BreitbartTV. Yes, that would be with conservative hack and serial liar Andrew Breitbart of the manufactured ACORN and Shirley Sherrod controversies.

Apparently not satisfied that he had fully plumbed the depths of wingnut "journalism" Baker has now signed on to help Glenn Beck start up his "news and opinion" website called The Blaze (Here's Baker interviewing for a job with Beck interviewing Glenn Beck.)

According to The Huffington Post:

Beck said he was frustrated with the way the media covered his "Restoring Honor" rally this weekend.

"Too many times we see mainstream media outlets distorting facts to fit rigid agendas," he wrote on The Blaze. "Not that you've ever heard me complain about the media before. Okay, maybe once or twice. But there comes a time when you have to stop complaining and do something. And so we decided to hire some actual journalists to launch a new website."

So, Glenn Beck and Scott Baker are are setting themselves up as the saviors of journalism.

I can't stop laughing crying laughing.

NOTE to City Paper's Chris Potter: Yes, I beat you at blogging on this story -- consequences be damned (but seriously, thanks for the mention on Lynn's show).
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No Bailouts for BP Rally Photos/Coverage

KDKA TV video @
http://kdka.com/video/?id=73157@kdka.dayport.com
As mentioned here, there was a rally yesterday in downtown Pittsburgh to protest BP.

The rally was hosted by the local chapters of MoveOn.org, Sierra Club and PennEnvironment.


Mellon Square, Pittsburgh, PA

Unfortunately, my camera is slowly dying and it took forever to "warm up" so no photos of City Paper talk show host Lynn Cullen or KDKA's Jon Delano. But, you can see Lynn interviewed in the link above.

As Lynn said on her show yesterday, she wanted to find some ray of light and so hoped that the BP Oil mega clusterfuck (my phrase, not hers) could be a "teachable moment." She spoke about the co-dependent relationship that we have with oil and how we've made a deal with the devil. She also mentioned an article in this week's City Paper about the dangers of drilling in the Marcellus Shale fields (of which we were all standing above).

It was raining cats and dogs leading up to the rally and for the first ten or fifteen minutes, so kudos to all those who braved the weather.

Randy Francisco, Sierra Club and Robert King, MoveOn
Joy Sabl gets creative as an oil-covered bird

Frack off!
(More photos after the jump)

Thanks, Lynn!

One of the many reasons why I listen to Lynn Cullen @ Pittsburgh City Paper:

Today she read the names -- first names only -- of the winners in the news from yesterday's election in PA.

They were all male.

Pennsylvania is like some huge black hole wherein the light from women cannot escape when it comes to running for public office.

[sigh]

When Will Steven L Anderson Be Arrested?

Who is Steven L Anderson? In order to answer that question, we have to start with Christopher Broughton.

So who's Christopher Broughton? From the Arizona Republic:

The man who drew international attention by bringing an assault rifle to President Barack Obama's rally on Monday is a Phoenix resident with ties to several anti-government or Nativist groups.

The man, who until now has been identified only as "Chris B," is actually 28-year-old Christopher Broughton, a former employee of a Tempe plastic-mold manufacturer.

Oh, that guy.

Talkingpointsmemo picks up the story:

Chris Broughton, the man who brought an assault rifle and a handgun to the Obama event in Arizona last week, attended a fiery anti-Obama sermon the day before the event, in which Pastor Steven Anderson said he was going to "pray for Barack Obama to die and go to hell", Anderson confirmed to TPMmuckraker today..

But this isn't about the well-armed, anti-Obama, fundamentalist-Christian, well-armed, right-wing militia member. It's about his pastor, Steven L Anderson and what he said that Sunday.

To get a feel for where Anderson is coming from, you should read some previous non-Obama rantings (h/t to Pam's House Blend for the partial transcript). Here's Anderson on the Death Penalty:

The same God who instituted the death penalty for murders is the same god who instituted the death penalty for rapists and for homosexuals, sodomites and queers.

Immediately preceding that sentence, he said that the greatest hypocrite in the world is one who believes in the death penalty for murderers but not for homosexuals.

So that's the heady theological atmosphere Christopher Broughton found himself breathing the Sunday before toting a weapon to an Obama rally.

So let's get back to the sermon. (which you can listen to it here.)

He begins with Psalm 58 and drawing parallels between an aborted fetus and the "melted snail" of verse 8. Then:

But let me tell you something: I don't love Barack Obama. I don't respect Barack Obama. I don't obey Barack Obama. And I'd like Barack Obama to melt like a snail tonight. Because he needs to recompense, he needs to reap what he's sown.

You see, any Christian will tell you that someone who commits murder should get the death penalty. Because that's what it says in Genesis Chapter 9, that's what it says in the Mosaic Law, that's what it teaches us throughout the Bible. 'Who so sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.' 'From the image of God created he Man.'

And when Barack Obama is gonna push his partial birth abortion, his salty saline solution abortion, hey, he deserves to be punished for what he's done. I'm not going to pray for God to bless Barack Obama. This is my prayer tonight to Barack Obama.

...Now, look, if somebody wants me, it somebody twisted my arm and tells me to pray for Barack Obama, this is what I'm going to pray, because this is the only prayer that applies to him: 'Break his teeth, O God, in his mouth. You know, as a snail which melteth, let him pass away. Like the untimely birth of a woman, that he thinks -- he calls it a woman's right to choose, you know, he thinks it's so wonderful. He ought to be aborted. It ought to be, 'Abort Obama.'

This coming from a man who already believes that abortion=murder.

Now let's look at the law (the real law, not the Biblical law). Specifically US Code Title 18>Part I>Chapter 41> > § 871:

Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, the President-elect, the Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President of the United States, or the Vice President-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. [emphasis added.]

So why hasn't Steven Anderson been arrested? He's preaching that President Obama needs to be punished for what he's done, to have his teeth broken and finally to be "aborted."

Need I remind anyone that in 2005 (when there was a Republican in the White House):

In Denver last year, three people were thrown out of a Bush town-hall meeting on Social Security after they arrived in a car sporting a bumper sticker that proclaimed: "No more blood for oil" and wore T-shirts under their other clothes that said "Stop the Lies."

Does Anderson get away with threatening the life of the President of the United States (or otherwise inciting violence against the President) because the current President is a Democrat or the current threatener is quoting his Bible while doing it?

Steven L Anderson needs to be arrested and charged with threatening the life of the President of the United States of America.

Note: Lynn Cullen was talking about this on her show today. (Note: The link will only be live for a week or so. After that you'll have to go through iTunes to hear the show.)

UPDATE: TPM is reporting that the Secret Service has interviewed Anderson.

Lynn Cullen Show

The OPJ reported in early July:

We get near daily hits from folks searching for info on where they can listen to Lynn Cullen.

Well, she's back -- not on the airwaves -- but live streaming audio courtesy of the Pittsburgh City Paper.

It will be a one hour, weekday show at 10:00 AM starting on August 18th. The shows will be archived and downloadable.

Yesterday's show was pretty good - she had Chris Potter on.

Today, it'll be me.

I hope she's not setting a precedent of only having bald and/or balding men on but if Tony Norman's on tomorrow, we'll know for sure.

The show starts at 10AM. Just go to City Paper and follow the link with Lynn's picture on it.

Lynn Cullen: Back Again!

We get near daily hits from folks searching for info on where they can listen to Lynn Cullen.

Well, she's back -- not on the airwaves -- but live streaming audio courtesy of the Pittsburgh City Paper.

It will be a one hour, weekday show at 10:00 AM starting on August 18th. The shows will be archived and downloadable.

From the CP press release:

In partnership with Pittsburgh City Paper, local broadcasting legend Lynn Cullen will re-launch her talk show later this summer. And this time, she won’t be restricted by signal strength, broadcast schedules, or even the FCC.

[snip]

“I’ll be interviewing newsmakers and troublemakers. I’ll be providing an antidote to the incessant whining of radio’s doomsayers and fearmongers,” Cullen says. “I’m glad to be free of the constraints of commercial radio — and this beats screaming into a megaphone on Forbes and Murray.”

City Paper’s online audience has grown by 25 percent in the past year, thanks in part to a recent redesign and additional features. “Our Web site has experience exceptional growth over the past year,” publisher Michael Frischling says. “We believe Lynn’s show will be a key element in continuing this dynamic trend.”

“We’re excited to be able to restore Lynn to her audience — and to her rightful place at the cutting edge of local media,” says Chris Potter, City Paper editor. “Now, thanks to the magic of the Internet, she’ll be able to aggravate right-wingers all over the world, at any time of day or night.”

.

It's official: Lynn Cullen is back!

Now @ WAMO
You may have heard some rumors and now it's official:

Talk host Lynn Cullen is returning to the airwaves.

Starting Monday, she'll host a two-hour talk show on WAMO-AM (860). It will air Mondays through Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m.

[snip]

Ms. Cullen said she's thrilled to be back. Being off the radio "through such historic times has been a long, silent ordeal for me," she said. Her last day on the air was the day Sen. John McCain announced that Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska would be his running mate in the 2008 presidential election. "I missed all of that and the election. If I ever wanted to be on the air, it was exactly the six months I was pulled."

I certainly missed her voice during the election -- welcome back!

WAMO-AM's welcome here.

.

Tonight

Five bucks.
10:30pm
Cabaret Theater Dahntahn

What's not to love?

Pittsburgh Pundits - Electile Dysfunction

Pittsburgh Pundits - Electile Dysfunction

WHO: The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
WHERE: Late Night – Cabaret Theater , 7th & Penn, Downtown Pittsburgh
WHEN: Thursday, October 30, 2008 10:30 PM
COST: $5.00 at the door / Free for District Patrons

More info here.
.

Farewell Party for Lynn Cullen

Friends, advertisers and listeners will gather at the WPTT studio tomorrow, 8/29/08, Friday at 11:45 AM to give Lynn Cullen a fitting farewell.

Everyone is invited to attend, but please email Sue (sue@sitnscoop.com) and let her know if you plan to show up so they can plan for numbers --- she'll pass the info along to the organizers.

The studio is at 900 Parrish Street in Greentree. It is not really a secret, but try not to bring it up if you have an email exchange with Lynn.

(Grrrr! Wish I could go!)

Lynn Cullen Update

The P-G has some more information:

Cullen's show is going off the air because the 5,000-watt station is switching in September to a financial advice format, said Alan Serena, vice president and marketing manager for the station's owner, Renda Broadcasting.

And a few points worth making. The first about the station:

Serena said he wasn't ready yet to announce the specific lineup of the new format but said it will involve changing the station's call letters to WMMY-AM and will include a mixture of local and syndicated financial advice and call-in programs.

And the second about Lynn's show itself:

She said she had been told that she had the only program on WPTT that was bringing in significant ad revenue, much of it from such bedrock sponsors as Little's Shoes and Castle Windows. "The station is on for 24 hours, but my three hours were the only revenue-producing hours," she said.

Serena acknowledged her drawing power and said that when the station dropped talk-show host Doug Hoerth in December, it was partly because it hoped to cut costs enough to allow Cullen's program to survive.

That I didn't know. They booted Uncle Dougie (partly) for Lynn's show to survive?

I do want to echo what Maria wrote:

We thank her for the opportunities that she gave us.

Thanks, Lynn.

No left on the dial

I know that David already blogged on the elimination of Lynn Cullen's radio show, but I felt compelled to blog on this too because: 1) I'm a fan! I've been listening to her on and off (job permitting) since I moved back to Pittsburgh ten years ago and I've been live streaming her show for the past couple of months at my new job. I get to work at 8:00, and let me tell you, I really looked forward to 9:00 rolling around. I agree wholeheartedly with John McIntire when he wrote "I always enjoyed Lynn most when she got pissed. Her outraged spontaneous ranting is inspired." The recent program she did after reading Vincent Bugliosi's new book The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder was one such show. God, I loved it when she was firing on all cylinders! (Too bad the often quirky stream wasn't working the day she interviewed him.)

Lynn Cullen

2) Lynn and her producer Matt were real friends of this blog. David was invited to substitute host for Lynn numerous times and I even hosted once last fall (absolutely terrifying being responsible for filling up three hours).

We thank her for the opportunities that she gave us.

3) Damn it! We're losing "The Lone Liberal" local voice in the midst of a presidential election! No McIntire, no Cullen -- this sucks! And, didn't McIntire lose his TV show right before election season four years ago? Forgive a girl for feeling like there's a conspiracy (yeah, yeah, I know that radio stations change formats all the time).

4) I also must note that we're losing a unique female voice in an industry dominated by men.

[sigh]

"They say you better listen to the voice of reason.But they don't give you any choice'cause they think that it's treason . . .And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of foolstryin' to anaesthetize the way that you feel."
.

Lynn Cullen

An astute reader sent me this link a few minutes ago.

From the P-G:

As of Aug. 30, longtime radio talk show host Lynn Cullen will no longer be on the radio.

WPTT-AM (1360) is switching to a new format and will be eliminating Ms. Cullen's show, which airs from 9 a.m. to noon.

Ms. Cullen confirmed today that her last day would be Aug. 29.

While she will be taking a previously scheduled vacation this week, Ms. Cullen said she plans to be on the air for her final four days, Aug.26-29.

"You don't just create an audience in this business, you create a kind of community," said Ms. Cullen, known as one of Pittsburgh's few liberal broadcast personalities, "and I need to be able to talk to this community about this and to try to assuage what I suspect will be frustration and anger at losing a voice that they felt spoke for them."

I wonder what the "new format" is going to be.

UPDATE: Johnny Mac's got some more info:

Now comes word that a classic, classy liberal talk show host, and a good friend of MacYapper's, will soon be off the air, apparently for good.

WPTT will soon flip its format to all Business Talk. Hosts will be local in the afternoon and syndicated the rest of the time. This project is being put together by local successful businessman Ron Morris who hosts the WPTT weekend show American Entrepreneur.

He will have local afternoon business hosts including the likes of former County Executive Jim Roddey, former GOP mayoral candidate Mark DeSantis, and Morris himself.

There's more, but you'll have to go to the maycapper blog to get it.

One of the 2PJs ON THE AIR

I'm sitting in for Lynn Cullen this Tuesday (June 17). For the three or four people in the area who don't know it already, Lynn's show is on AMNewstalk1360.

You can follow the "Listen Live" icon to listen in on-line.

Call in to David on the radio now

Just a reminder that you can call in and talk to David on the radio now at:

412-333-1360, WPTT AM NewsTalk 1360

A Political Junkie ON THE AIR

Sorry for the late notice, but I'll be sitting in for Lynn Cullen tomorrow on WPTT AM Newstalk 1360.

Trying to line up some guests for the show.

How much you wanna bet we'll be talking Clinton/Obama for the entire three hours??

Dayvoe