Rendell Explodes On Lesley StahlYoure An 'Idiot!'

Outburst at Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes is pure Rendell, observers say
This Sunday, on CBS's 60 Minutes, an event will occur that will shock the heck out of everyone in America. Except those who live around here. Ed Rendell's going to blow up at a reporter. The outburst is recorded and ready to roll. The subject is casinos. Lesley Stahl, longtime CBS reporter, one of the smarter people in the business, is pressing Rendell about casinos and their effect on addictive gamblers. He takes it less than well. "People are losing money for the state to get its reven...

Gov. Rendell to 60 Minutes: Youre Simpletons!
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) - Television viewers across the nation will get to see something on Sunday night that Pennsylvania residents have experienced before: an angry eruption from Governor Ed Rendell. In a “60 Minutes” interview with correspondent Lesley Stahl (right), Governor Rendell explodes on camera as he is pressed about the negative impacts of expanded gambling. The eruption comes as the governor hopes to land a gig as a TV news commentator.  In an exit interview wit...

Rendell defends bringing slots to Pa.
HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, in an interview with the CBS show "60 Minutes," angrily defended his decision to bring legal slot machines to the state. Clips from the show to be aired Sunday show Rendell arguing that gambling addicts already have available casinos. He said that now, at least, Pennsylvania will benefit instead of Atlantic City, N.J. "You guys don't get that," Rendell snapped at interviewer Leslie Stahl, who interjected "I do get that." "You're simp...

Rendell Calls "60 Minutes" Staff "Idiots."
No Going Gently Into That Good Night Here. From our friends at The Inky : "A clip being televised this morning shows an angry Gov. Rendell saying "you're simpletons, you're idiots" during a CBS 60 Minutes interview. The segment is to air Sunday evening as part of an examination of the proliferation of casino gambling across the country. Interviewed by correspondent Lesley Stahl, Rendell reportedly was explaining that gambling addicts already had opportunities elsewhere. But by allowing casin...

The Big Gamble
Lesley Stahl reports on the proliferation of gambling to 38 states and its main attraction, the slot machine, newer versions of which some scientists believe may addict their players. Sunday, Jan. 9, 7 p.m. ET/PT. 60 Minutes Overtime is a weekly Web show that begins where the weekly television broadcast ends. The posting of advertisements, Profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited. By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement. J...

Gov. Ed Rendell Goaded into Turning into Hulk on National Television
Don't make out-going Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry. Apparently… A CBS promotional video clip shows an angry Gov. Rendell saying "you're simpletons, you're idiots" during a 60 Minutes interview. The segment is to air Sunday evening as part of an examination of the proliferation of casino gambling across the country… Rendell reportedly was explaining that gambling addicts already had opportunities elsewher...

Mitch Daniels -- Getting Whiggy
Mitch Daniels, nearing the end of two successful terms as Governor of Indiana, is now exploring a run for the presidency in 2012. If he does run, he will run on an agenda different from that of most other Republicans. How do we know? Because he has said so, outlining a vision for the 21st century that recalls the great economic successes of America in the 19th and 20th centuries. In June, Daniels told The Washington Post, “Building excellent public infrastructure is an appropriate rol...

Live in space
The BBC will conduct a rare live TV interview with Paolo Nespoli, a European Astronaut who is currently on board the International Space Station. What question would you like to ask him? Paolo Nespoli is on a six-month mission for the European Space Agency (ESA), which will finish in May 2011. BBC World News will speak to Mr Nespoli live from the International Space Station on Thursday 13 January and will be putting questions to him sent in by the BBC audience. Interview will broadcast at 141...

Gov. Rendell: Dems 'scared' to talk healthcare in 2010
Democrats received an electoral drubbing in November because they lacked the courage to defend their Healthcare Reform Legislation, according to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D). The legislation was rarely mentioned by Democrats on the Campaign Trail. Even popular provisions such as one that required members of Congress to buy the same Health Insurance available to other Americans weren't widely talked about. Speaking to Democrats in Omaha on Wednesday, Rendell said members should have been pr...

Rendell Keeping Quiet On Rumors Of Project Money For Philly
HARRISBURG (CBS) - Philadelphia may be in line for $100 million in state money for private development projects courtesy of outgoing Governor Ed Rendell, although some of those projects could be short-circuited by the incoming governor. Governor Rendell’s spokesman, Gary Tuma, is playing it close to the vest when it comes to how much Philadelphia will get from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, saying the process continues in Rendell’s final days. “...

Tom Coughlin Lets His Critics Know Where They Can Kiss Him
We all know that Tom Coughlin is a man who sometimes lets his emotions get the best of him. Thanks to the cameras that NFL broadcasters keep trained on him for 60 Minutes every Sunday, the world has seen Coughlin overreacting like a madman to everything that happens on the field of play. Arms wave, cheeks get red and the occasional punter gets reamed out by a man who rarely seems to be anything short of apoplectic. When he's standing in front of the media, however, Coughlin is a very different c...

Stephen Baker: Why IBM's Watson Is Smarter Than Google
While working on my book about IBM's Jeopardy-playing computer, the most common question I encounter is this: Doesn't Google already answer questions? The short answer is no. Google depends our brains in two ways: It gets us to think like a computer when formulating our query, picking three or four words that will make most sense to the machine. Then it directs us to the neighborhood of the answer we're looking for, but leaves it to our infinitely more nuanced brains to find exactly what we're...

Asteroid could yield solar system clues
GRAND FORKS, N.D., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. and European astronomers say a newly discovered asteroid with an unusual and violent history could reveal clues about the early solar system. Discovered by researchers from the University of North Dakota and from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany, the asteroid, called 1999 AT10, is a miniature space rock, born when a collision blasted it out of its rocky parent Vesta, the second-largest asteroid in the solar system, SPACE.com re...

SEC Rule Likely to Trigger Facebook IPO in 2012
Like this Story? Share it: Mark Zuckerberg, the 26-yr.-old founder and CEO of mega-social media site Facebook, talks to Lesley Stahl about his life and his business, now worth an estimated $35 billion. Mark Zuckerberg, the 26-yr.-old founder and CEO of mega-social media site Facebook, talks to Lesley Stahl about his life and his business, now worth an estimated $35 billion. (AP) San Francisco - With so many investors becoming fans of the company, Facebook will be legally required to begin sharin...

Pennsylvania should be gearing up for "Public School vs Common Sense" feud
The State-run Philadelphia School District will be facing a $450 million Budget Deficit this year. They're already suggesting up to 30% in cuts with a Budget meeting scheduled for tomorrow. Public School advocates and teachers alike are already starting to complain and point their finger at Pennsylvania's new Governor, Republican Tom Corbett. The writing is therefore on the wall that we're about to have a showdown much like the one playing out on a national stage across the river in New Jersey. ...

Casey looks pretty solid
PPP's early looks ahead to the 2012 Senate races have found a lot of the Democrats first elected in the wave year of 2006 to be extremely vulnerable for Reelection- Bob Casey is not one of them. He has solid approval numbers and leads five prospective opponents tested against him by margins ranging from 7 to 23 points. 41% of voters in the state approve of the job Casey is doing to 29% who disapprove. He's on positive ground with Independents but the most striking thing within his numbers is th...

Few Writers Use 'Dear' in Emails and Text Messages
This is especially interesting, since the writer cites letters written by Abraham Lincoln. At WSJ, "Hey, Folks: Here's a Digital Requiem For a Dearly Departed Salutation": When Abraham Lincoln wrote to Ulysses S. Grant in July 1863, after a key victory during the Civil War, he began his letter, "My dear General." When Giselle Barry emailed a throng of reporters recently to tell them about an important development regarding her congressman boss, she started the message, "Hey, folks." Like many m...

Robert Weller: My, Granny, What a Big Rifle You Have
Once upon a time, not long ago at all, a really big Black Bear was settling down for a long winter's nap in a den in northwestern Colorado. Then it saw a creature wearing an orange vest and carrying a long thing. "My, what a big stick you have," the bear said. "All the better to shoot you with," said the "hunter." And he did -- killing the 703-pound bear with one shot from a .45-70 caliber lever-action rifle, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. For Richard Kendall, 55, of Craig, it...

The Real Tragedy Of The Giffords Shooting May Be Less Access To Members Of Congress
I think a lot of Americans would be shocked to learn that, in Abraham Lincoln’s day, people living in Washington DC would often see the President out walking on the streets. In fact, the White House itself was open to the public. You needed just walk up to the building and go in. There’s something positively quaint about the idea of walking to the President’s office and making an appointment to see him, or shaking his hand on the street and having a discussion, but for obvious ...

Can bankers and financiers be patriots?
If you worked in the West Wing, you would find “a distinctive whiff of the boardroom” throughout the offices and corridors today, according to Julie Mason, the Washington Examiner’s White House correspondent. That’s how she describes the difference between Obama’s new Chief of Staff, William Daley, and the “political operatives” who Daley will oversee. I like the “whiff of the boardroom” line. Julie’s article explores some of the negati...

Who'da thunk? Reading Constitution out loud called 'fetish'
In a nation founded upon the U.S. Constitution, one might think that reading the founding document out loud on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives might not be Controversial, but some on the left suggest those promoting its voicing have a "fetish." Among them is Dahlia Lithwick of Slate.com, who penned a column titled, "Read It and Weep: How the Tea Party's fetish for the Constitution as written may get it in trouble." Dictionaries define "fetish" as an object of irrational reverenc...

HEH: The problem with Internet quotations is that many are not genuine. Abraham Lincoln
HEH: “The problem with Internet quotations is that many are not genuine.” - Abraham Lincoln ...

Yitzakh, Rafik, and Salman
When I was a kid, there was this song by Dion, "Abraham, Martin, and John" -- an elegy to Abe Lincoln, MLK, and JFK, leaders assassinated before their work was done, obviously. Readers of a certain age are sure to remember it: "Has anybody here, seen my old friend Martin..." It wasn't that great of a great song, but it was evocative for the mood of that moment. It was released in late-1968, months after the Assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. I've been thinking of the song...

James Buchanan's Activist Blunder
Disunion follows the Civil War as it unfolded. Tags: Abraham Lincoln, james buchanan, South Carolina, the civil war President James Buchanan’s critics rightly condemned him during the Secession crisis of 1860-’61 — but they did so for exactly the wrong reason. The naysayers blasted the president for passiveness in the face of disunion, for failing promptly to reinforce endangered federal forts in the South. True, the president retreated from sending reinforcement...

Follow the Yellow Brick Road - Who Rules America - Part 1
The elephants in the room have almost always been in plain sight. Too many have and continue to refuse to see. There are two principles, that of power and privilege and that of truth and justice. One cannot be increased without diminution of the other. The elephants in the room are a small group of plutocrats of an extreme wealth class that control both the corporate world and the U.S. government, a class of power and privilege unequaled in history. The U.S. is not a Democracy. It was never i...