1-11-11 -Teenagers, Fox News and an Interview with Suzanne Somers

In case you missed it...

JEANNIE'S YOUNGEST TURNS 6 AND ROSIE'S LATEST TEENAGE SAGA
Jeannie was proud (and a little sad) to announce that her youngest turns 6 years old today.  He's growing up and she's both happy and sad about it.  She said he did something very "manly" this morning when he asked for privacy when he had to go tinkle!  Jeannie said it's a tradition in her family for the person whose birthday it is to pick what they would like to do for dinner on their birthday.  Her son has chosen to go to IHop for birthday pancakes, unless there's a big snowstorm. If so, she'll make them for him at home. 

Rosie said she had another teen trauma with her son Parker last night.  She got a letter from his teacher because he had not done the reading assignment over the break.  She had checked in with Parker over the break regarding his schoolwork and he had assured her everything was under control.  Rosie confronted Parker about the letter and he ended up blaming Rosie for it and saying she didn't get the book for him after he asked her to to get it for him months ago.  And she's the reason why he didn't do his assignment!   This made Rosie crazy because anything he needs for school she's the first one to have it overnighted to the house.  She told him to take back what he said and apologize, but he would not so she sent him to his room.  Later Rosie went up to Parker's room to provide a metaphor for him.  She compared his excuse to the time when he was six years old and he cut off all his own eyelashes.  When he walked out of the bathroom she and Kelli were horrified that he had done such a thing and he completely denied it!  But the facts were clear, he walked into the bathroom with eyelashes and out of the bathroom without them.  When he was 6 she told him, "When you mess up, you fess up" and that is the same for this situation. She told him that metaphorically speaking he's blaming her for cutting off his eyelashes!  Parker still wouldn't accept responsibility so he wasn't allowed to come eat dinner with the family and she canceled his massage she had scheduled for him to help him with the headaches he's been having lately.

Later in the evening she knew Parker was sitting on the stairs, but he didn't know she knew he was there, so she went on and on to Tanya (Rosie's friend/housekeeper/nanny/Scrabble guru) about how much she loved Parker and how he's such a good kid and how much she cares for him and how she wishes he would take responsibility for his own screw-up and then everything would be okay.  And it worked.  Because not too much later, when Rosie was getting a massage, he came into her massage session and apologized for blaming her for the reason he didn't do his assignment.  She said it was kind of a lame-ass apology, the way he said it, but she took it!  Rosie said it caused her pain to know he would sacrifice his mother for something he had done!  He was perfectly willing to throw her under the bus!  Rosie asked Jeannie if this was normal teenage behavior and Jeannie said absolutely YES!  Deirdre said when Rosie compared to having teenagers to a relationship break-up it was the perfect analogy.  Rosie said it is like a break-up of the greatest love affair you'll ever know, this separation from your children.   Jeannie assured Rosie that she'll get to a place where she'll learn to not take her teenager's behavior personally so she won't be devastated every time she gets rejected by them.

Rosie took a call from a listener who lives near Park City, Utah where the Sundance film festival goes on every year.   Rosie told the caller that she'll be coming to Sundance in two weeks!  The caller owns 20 acres that overlooks all the ski resorts in town and owns a guest house which she offered to Rosie for when she's going to be there!  Rosie told the caller she may take her up on the offer and asked her to stay on the line after they were done discussing teenagers.  (See more about Rosie's reasons for attending Sundance below!)  The caller told Rosie that she's currently on her third teenage son and found a lot of help after having an expert in teenagers move in with them for a week.  This expert, named Oscar, taught her that she needed to change the way she was reacting.  She said in a week's time they saw major improvement.  The best advice she got from the expert was to be more positive and not make everything a punishment because that creates anger and resentment.  The constant punishment was making everyone angry all the time.  Rosie took another call from a listener who said Chelsea, not Parker, will be the true challenge.  She said girls are so much harder because they're so cranky all the time!  Rosie took another call from a listener who told her that the reason teens are so mean to their parents is because they're the safe-haven and the ones they can beat up.  She had adult children now and promised Rosie that at the end of these teenage years was pure wonderment.  Rosie took a call from another listener who had just exited from a meeting with her kid's teacher over his defiance in school and was so relieved that someone else was going through the same thing!  Rosie laughed and was happy that she was talking about something that so many are going through.  She said Parker thinks he knows everything and even challenges her on things she knows a lot about like filmmaking!  Rosie took a final call on this topic from a listener who, when he was a teenager, was one of the ones who always pushed his mom's buttons.  He assured Rosie that it's a short-lived phase and that Parker too will grow out of it.   Jeannie agreed with the last caller and said her daughter, who is now just through her teen years, is now starting to own up to her own decisions and the ramifications of them.  Janette said that children have their own destiny and we need to remember we don't own them.  Jeannie agreed and said we have no real control over our teenagers, we can only guide them in the right direction.  

JON STEWART'S WISDOM, OUR SLANTED MEDIA, AND FOX NEWS AND THEIR LIES

Rosie encouraged her listeners to check out the episode of The Daily Show from last night.  She played the audio of what Jon Stewart had to say regarding the Arizona shootings for the listening audience.  You can watch that episode in its entirety HERE (ff to 2:30).  Rosie encouraged her listeners to watch The Daily Show because she thinks Jon is really brilliant.  Rosie said she was very interested to see how he approached the shootings in Arizona and she thought what he had to say was so on point and so well stated.   Janette liked how he said we all wish we could draw a straight line of cause and effect because we all want it to be a simple answer.  But the truth is there's no straight line.  Rosie agreed.  She said the shooter was obviously mentally ill and had had a fixation on that Congresswoman since 2007.  Rosie pointed out that the extended magazine the shooter had in his possession, that allowed him to fire as many shots as he did, was originally banned.  That ban was overturned during the Bush administration.  Rosie said had it still been banned the results that day might have been different.  Janette said there's no way to make sense of it and the responsibility is on everyone.  She said we live in a violent society, with violence in our video games, on television, in our Westerns, in our history, in our culture.  She said it's not one person's fault but the society we have created.  Deirdre thinks it makes people feel more secure to try to find an answer or a cause when something so horrific happens.   

Rosie took several callers on the topic.   One of the callers watches a prison documentary series and said it opens your eyes to the types of people who are in there.  She said there's a lot of mental illness in our prisons and a lot of angry people.  She also sees a lot of people who have been abandoned by their families. Rosie took another call from a listener who is a conservative and doesn't think it's right to blame Palin for the cross-hairs map and Bush for lifting the ban on the extended magazine.  She said the Democrats have done the same thing (put cross-hairs on maps targeting Republicans and used gun metaphors in political speeches).  Rosie asked her to show her the evidence of when Democrats have done this.  They then got into a conversation about Fox News and the caller started to defend Fox News.  She said they do not spread lies.  She told Rosie that people are so driven to see their own points they refuse to see the news that Fox provides and if they would they would see that they don't lie.  Rosie said there's evidence of the blatant lies that Fox News has reported as truth and that Fox News is more entertainment than it is journalism.  Rosie said it's a fact that Fox News makes up stuff and creates news stories.  She promised to post examples of the lies on her website. 

Rosie said there was a time when the media was a vital part of how democracy functioned as part of the checks and balances and it doesn't exist anymore.  She said the entertainment industry has infiltrated the news industry and now the two are interchangeable.  She said what passes for facts is no longer the same and that's the truth.  She said to say that Fox News doesn't try to mold the news into something that benefits themselves is an inaccurate statement.

Rosie took another call from a listener worried about the perception this shooting does for people suffering from mental illness.  Rosie didn't really agree and thinks that mental illness is a spectrum and that most people realize that.  Rosie discussed her own depression and how just because someone is mentally ill, doesn't mean they would be violent in this way and she thinks most people inherently know that. 

Rosie took another call from a listener who wanted to talk about the news.  She said she has stopped watching the news except for Jon Stewart  She said he's the only one that calls everyone out - Democrats and Republicans!  She said he's also really good at catching the lies on Fox News.  Rosie agreed and said Jon is like a "bull-shit meter" and he holds people accountable to what they're saying and to what they're putting out in the world.  The caller continued and said the woman who called into the show yesterday and blamed the parents of the shooter was an idiot.  She said when a child is 22 years-old they're going to make their own choices and there's a point where there's nothing you as a parent can do about it.  Rosie agreed.

Rosie took a call from a listener whose partner was a Producer for Fox News for almost 20 years!  She said it was very hard for her partner because she felt pressured to present stories with a bent opinion.  Rosie said Fox News shouldn't be called news, it should be called news entertainment.  She said it's not real journalism.  The caller recommended listeners watch CSPAN in order to get real news.  She said it's pure facts and it also gives viewers a look at what's going on in the rest of the world. 

PETE CAN MARRY YOU, ASKRO AND ROSIE'S DOCUMENTARY SERIES ON OWN
Pete announced to everyone that he's a registered minister in the state of New York and can perform weddings!  He took an Internet course and registered himself as a licensed officiant.  He's done one wedding so far and has another lined up for the end of January.  He loves doing it because he loves weddings.  Janette (and I think Deirdre) hate weddings.  Rosie then sang two Broadway songs about weddings - one from Sweet Charity and one from Annie Get Your Gun that Patti Lupone once sang on The Rosie O'Donnell Show.  And, of course, I found it on YouTube.  Dontcha just love YouTube?!



Rosie said at least four people wrote in to her through her AskRo portion of her blog and asked her not to sing during the singing games because they cannot hear the songs.  Janette said that's what God invented iTunes for!  Deirdre asked Rosie why she had her questions back on because she had said she was going to turn them off.  Rosie said she plans on turning on the questions on her blog once a month and answering 20 or so questions. 

Rosie said she wouldn't want to perform a wedding because it would be so much pressure and she wouldn't want to steal the attention and focus from the bride and groom.  She said she has that problem when she goes to weddings and to funerals because it becomes all about her.  She went to a funeral of a friend's husband who died on 9/11 and it became all about her.  Jeannie was sure there were people at her wedding who only came because Rosie was going to be a guest.  Rosie said being a celebrity is also hard for her teenage daughter Chelsea.  She said the kids at school reference that her mom is famous and Chelsea tells them she doesn't want to talk about it and they think she's being rude to them.  Really, she just doesn't want that to be the only reason they want to talk to her. 

Rosie then revealed she will be hosting a documentary series for OWN and will be traveling to the Sundance film festival for the premiere of the first documentary they're presenting entitled Becoming Chaz. Becoming Chaz is a documentary about Chaz Bono's deeply personal journey of gender reassignment as he transitions from female to male. The OWN documentary series will premiere in the Spring of 2011."  Here's a link to some images from the film Becoming Chaz.   And here's a link to the films that will be premiering at Sundance.  To learn more about Becoming Chaz, join their Facebook page.  I will keep you posted on the documentary series Rosie is hosting on OWN and post it here if I find anything!  Rosie said she is taking her daughter Chelsea with her to Sundance so she can hear the discussion that Chaz will have as she discusses what it's like being raised by famous parents.  Rosie said in the film Chaz discusses how when you have famous parents the focus of the outside world is never about the kids, it's always about the parents.  Rosie hopes the conversation will be helpful for Chelsea. 

Rosie briefly mentioned how she and Parker watched The Expendables this weekend and how she thought it was "cute."  She said she liked it but had a hard time getting past all the plastic surgery that the main actors in the movie have had done.  She said it was distracting. 

SUZANNE SOMERS
Rosie then introduced her friend Suzanne Somers who was on the phone promoting her new book Sexy Forever: How to Fight Fat After Forty.  Janette loves the book and calls it her new bible because it answers a lot of questions about why certain things happen to us after a certain age.   And Suzanne said she's feeling fabulous at 64 years of age!  She said there are many things women don't know about why they gain weight after 40 and that there are lots of things happening in women's bodies that are making it almost impossible to lose it.  Suzanne said women don't get a lot of the information about chemicals, hormones, preservatives and pesticides on regular television because it offends the advertisers of the television programs.  Suzanne said first and foremost, we need to be eating real food.

She and Rosie had a long discussion about grass fed beef vs. corn fed beef.  She said eating corn fed beef (the kind you buy in your local supermarket) can cause gas, weight gain and bloating.  Suzanne said farmers are feeding cows corn because it fattens them up but it is actually making them sick and gives them e-coli.  Then these cows are sent to slaughter houses and standing knee-deep in their own feces, which contains e-coli.  That cow is ground into hamburger and that's what we end up eating.  The antibiotics and the hormones that the cows are fed gets into our gut and eats up all the good bacteria.  This bad bacteria builds up and makes us fatigued and fat and causes autoimmune diseases.  They discussed how bloating, farting and constipation can be symptoms that there is something wrong in our guts and doesn't have to be a fact of life after a certain age. 

Suzanne said she takes 3 tablets of hydrochloric acid with meals to help digest her food because she's had radiation and radiation kills hydrochloric acid production (necessary for digestion) for life.  Suzanne said many women are getting heartburn and nausea because of not having enough hydrochloric acid that can be fixed by taking these simple supplements. 

Rosie has been on bio-identical hormones since Suzanne suggested she get tested for a hormone imbalance.  She thanked Suzanne for recommending them to her.  They also discussed the work Suzanne does to fight the federal government from regulating natural supplements. 

Rosie asked Suzanne if she was ever fat.  Suzanne said she was not fat but she was "thick."  She said when her hormones got "off" she got thick and her clothes got tighter.  But for the last 10 years she's been carrying around 7-10 pounds in her upper abdomen.  She was writing about food allergies for this book and feeling very bloated so she decided to cut out eggs in an effort to find out if she had a reaction to them.  She got tested for food allergies and discovered she was allergic to eggs and didn't even know it!  Suzanne and Rosie recommended listeners go to SexyForever.com where they can answer some questions and find out what might affecting their weight loss.  Suzanne told listeners to go to the website and take their Sexy IQ to help them pinpoint their problem. She recommended making small changes at first so that it doesn't seem so overwhelming.

Suzanne and Rosie discussed how more and more women are entering menopause at an earlier age and how some are beginning it as young as 40.   

Rosie asked Suzanne if she's been getting the same backlash from the mainstream media that she got when she released her previous book titles.  She said this book doesn't seem to be as controversial though it deals with many of the same subject matters.  Suzanne said her program on the website isn't free but it's full-service.  She said the counselors will lead you and help you determine what if you have a food intolerance or if you have a hormone imbalance that might prevent you from losing weight. 

Suzanne's assistant is now on bio-identical hormones and feeling much better and so is Kathy Griffin!  Suzanne said it takes almost a full year to get your homones back in balance but she said you have to go to a doctor who knows about bio-identical hormones.   Suzanne said you can go to SuzanneSomers.com to find a doctor that specializes in bio-identicals nearest you.  Both Rosie and Suzanne said they feel like they're in control of their body now for the first time ever.  Rosie thanked Suzanne for the interview and they told one another one how much they loved and appreciated each other. 

END OF THE SHOW CHIT CHAT
Shoshana brought some foul smelling food - boiled broccoli and cauliflower with garlic -into the studio which made everyone cringe and comment.  Pete said it smelled like old man feet in the studio now.  Janette talked about the Emu egg she brought in this morning for breakfast.  She said it didn't taste very good and she probably wouldn't be ever purchasing another one in the future. 

Rosie said she thinks Suzanne is onto something big.  She talked about when she was on The View and how "off" she was feeling and how much the bio-identicals helped her.  Janette told listeners that the book Sexy Forever is not just for women, it's for anyone who is interested in cleaning up their diet.  Janette said she's going to have her boyfriend Barry read it too.  Janette also hasn't eaten any starch and worked out every day for just one week and said she feels physically so different already!  Rosie told her she was doing a great job and closed the show.  Rosie said they'll be live tomorrow (1/12) unless there's a huge snowstorm that hits NYC tonight. 

And, Rosie's questions are back on!

and that's what you missed - kw