My shallowness is highly adaptable.

Andersen Cooper - son of Gloria Vanderbilt and Wyatt Cooper.
Gloria Vanderbilt was the only child of Reginald Vanderbilt and Gloria Morgan.
After her father died, Gloria's mother squandered her inheritance and Gloria's aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, became Gloria Vanderbilt's guardian and keeper of her "trust fund".


Gertrude Vanderbilt had married Harry Payne Whitney.

"Harry Payne Whitney was a major figure in thoroughbred horse racing. He owned a large stable and horse breeding farm where he developed the American polo pony by breeding American Quarter Horse stallions with his thoroughbred mares. He was thoroughbred racing's leading owner of the year in the United States on eight occasions and the breeder of almost two hundred stakes race winners. His Kentucky-bred horse Whisk Broom II raced in England then at age six came back to the U.S. where he won the New York Handicap Triple Crown, Whitney had nineteen horses who ran in the Kentucky Derby, winning it the first time in 1915 with Regret, the first filly ever to capture the race. Regret went on to earn Horse of the Year honors and was named to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame". Wikepedia

I thought it was funny they trotted out likely their most attractive member... most of their yahoos are hairy earthy hippies :D

Bought time. Yep, he's a Whitney....It is also well known among the people in town in Saratoga that Anderson is gay. Not that it matters, but it isn't talked about much elsewhere.

Holy smart right here Randall, keep this person around

I don't know about that. I'd call it 50/50. They have some talent in there.

she's too old for you...

the unfortunate part is that she is more well spoken than Bo Derek (the whipping...some horses need more than others:rolleyes: ) and more well versed in the subject than Jack Hannah (who, lets face it has never been to a bottom level track and seen THOSE horses)...
therefore, regardless of her message she makes a better impression and more of an impact than the other two...

Excellent point on Bo Derek. I was laughing when she was talking about how they needed whipping. And that it didn't hurt.....

Man, after reading this thread I wish I'd seen the program- Larry King usually makes me vomit a little bit in my mouth, but this sounds like it was a hoot.

No Risk.... You would be screaming at the TV like I was... Stupid ***** broad... she doesn't know ****.... who the **** let her on there.... put up a phone number so I can call in and smack that ***** into place! lol

Yeah it was extremely fustrating to me..

Yep, me too...

When she started to roll her eyes when Jack and Bo were talking, it was all down hill from there.

What I wonder is how lazy can these TV people be? Is it so hard to get someone from a Thoroughbred Retirement Fund or whatever if they want someone to talk about the difficulties of racing?

Of course, "Jack Hanna, Bo Derek and a crazy lady from PETA" sounds more interesting to the average viewer than "Some trainer you never heard of, some person you never heard of who finds racehorses retirement homes and a crazy lady from PETA."

Every time someone from PETA gets on one of these programs I feel like the movement for humane treatment for animals gets set back at least another five years.

Didn't see the show so I'll talk generally....as a PETA member myself, I don't think it's fair to lump folks together. Some folks are very aggressive and often times ill-informed...on both sides of this issue. I joined PETA and remain a member because they do in fact do a lot of good things...facing down corporate giants like KFC for instance...those folks need to answer for the abuses they allow. Obviously, I don't support banning racing, but I do fully support every effort to make life better for the horses...sometimes, being goofy and outrageous is the only way to get a message across..we were ridiculed in the Civil Rights movement too! PETA has more than it's share of "nut jobs", but the work they do is necessary and usually...thankless! PETA isn't the problem, human greed and lack of compassion is! If everyone treated their animals like the connections of Barbaro do, there would be no need for PETA. The vast majority of folks in racing are good, caring, compassionate folks...but we all need to be reminded that there are still far too many of the other kind!

Excellent post, John... I couldn't agree more.

I thought that Bo Derek sounded like she was your crazy old aunt that dropped too much acid in the 60's, the Zoo guy had pretty much no clue about anything and the Peta lady came across as arrogant and elistist, which is how PETA people almost always sound. Though I did think she was pretty hot.

I would sum the whole show up by saying that if you have any intellegence at all you will learn to take the newsmedia with a grain of salt most of the time. Because it was painfully clear that these 4 people including Larry have very little understanding or expertise with the issues. So next time you are watching Larry King or some other talking head cover a subject you dont have any knowledge about remember that the 'facts' and opinions that are being given may be just as ill-informed and biased as those given last night.

Mrs. Jackson also looked like she was nearly asleep during the interview. I couldn't tell if her eyes were open even when she was talking.

Cannon, what did you think about the title "Barbaro put to death"

I emailed the show to ask the Peta bitch about the dead dogs in the dumpsters they found, dumped by Peta! Hypocritical fanatics!:mad:

Sensationalism, pure and simple. Believe me if they had footage of the injection putting him to sleep they would have shown it.

Again....don't fall into the trap of judging folks by using incidents like that! The current head of PETA does in fact walk a narrow line due to her past but again...the sad fact is that at times, the need overwhelms our ability to help...too many dogs to care for leads to tough choices, do you sacrifice some or reduce care for many? Not as black and white as the media makes it...just like how they present the racing industry...beware of that trap! If you call everyone a hypocrite who belongs to PETA because the organization isn't perfect, then you have to call anyone who is a Democrat a racist cause some of the leaders were/are, all Republicans must be rich and non-caring, all Christians must drink the Kool-Ade. Zealots exist on both sides of this (and every) issue...I recall all the character assasination attempts on DR King...never use the only-human weaknesses of the messenger to discredit the message...!

My apologies, Somer! But why can't Larry King put members like you on-air?

Probably cause I'd defend positions using common sense which would put his audience to sleep...who wants to hear fair and balanced when they can enjoy name-calling and demonizing? PETA has of course learned this...a naked Hollywood starlet draws more attention than a middle-aged man just as all forms of extremism always draw attention!

Excellent point, but I think it's also easy to turn people off to something because of extremism-- I had a friend who was a fanatical vegetarian for years- the sort who would "moo" at her friends' burgers. I was very tempted to try vegetarianism, but she kept me away from it for an additional two years because I didn't want to behave like her! I finally tried it when I was away at college so she wouldn't find out- isn't THAT funny. I think the abuses in animal industries, racing, food, whatever, are manifold, but when the knee-jerk reaction is "ban it" rather than "reform it" I think people tune out the message. If PETA would put its clout behind demanding racetracks fund retirement homes for retired racehorses, for example, I bet they could generate lots of public support and pressure to allot a tiny portion of purses or wagers to retirement care.

Not to mention run some great ads with naked celebrities and horses... wait, maybe that wouldn't be so great...

How about a QUARTER from every SLOT MACHINE WAGER instead?

rescues wouldn't know what to do with that much $$$$ :p

They could start to reimburse me for all I do for them!!:D

that would make no sense...it would be like rewarding a good deed :D
how's Peekskill doing?

Somer,
I think me and you have debated this at ESPN, but I'll bring it up again. PETA has some great causes (horse racing not being one of them). I've seen undercover vids they've shot or gotten ahold of at various slaughter houses and animal testing facilities. The wrongs they expose at those places is excellent work and I hope they keep it up. BUT THE SOLUTIONS IS WHERE THEY LOSE PEOPLE AND WHERE IT MAKES ME AND MOST OTHER NORMAL PEOPLE WANNA TEAR OUR ****ING HAIR OUT OF OUR HEADS:

When PETA exposes a problem- their solutions are way too radical and extreme for most normal people to follow, and they lose all the momentum they gain by exposing said problem. Case in point- When watching an undercover vid on the abuses at a pig slaughter house. It was awesome in exposing the abuses that went on there. PETA's solution (and I'm not joking when I say this people): "don't eat meat".

Give me a ****in break! Don't eat meat? So one slaughter house gets exposed for their various abuses of animals, and it's "don't eat meat"? BE ****ING REALISTIC! How about "don't buy meat from the company that uses that slaughter house"? Or "Petition local inspectors and law makers to crack down on the slaughter house" or "Petition the meat company that uses that slaughter house to not use them anymore"? What's wrong with those practical but also strong-handed, effective solutions? Yet PETA says "Don't eat meat". GHGGGRAGH!

When PETA can come up with solutions to problems that are as practical and important as their causes, people will start to take the group more seriously. Until then, all the momentum that they gain in exposing abuses and problems, they shott themselves in the foot with their retarded solutions.

I agree with most all you say....that's why more people should join PETA so that common sense can take the place of extremism in their policies!

Based upon that thinking we should all join Hezzbollah

Oh I understand where your coming from Somer and I truly commend your passion. I too am a very active animal rights advocate, I even used to be a member of Peta as well, than I started receiving their brochures etc.. and while I too would love nothing more than to end needless, senseless abuse, their end didn't justify their means. I mean, seriously, they are against the owning of animals period, they claim we don't have the rights to ''own'' animals. Let's be real, at least in my case, my dogs, cats, and horses would hit them over the head with a shovel if they were made to live on their own!
I think my pets are quite happy with their lots in life. I just think there are FAR, FAR better organizations to donate and support.

Or the Republican Party :D

Nah, honestly I used to be a member of PETA, but then the more newsletters I would get and the more I would understand what their endgame is, I just couldn't be a part of it anymore.

Then I started eating meat again. Gotta fix that one again. The answers aren't just as simple as don't eat meat or give PETA your money. It's a much larger problem that will take much larger steps and actions to fix.

The problem is that the problem does not really have a workable answer. Giving money to radical organizations like PETA which use your money to promote more radical ideas regardless of what level headed members want makes the problem worse.
The biggest problem I have with animal rights people is how do they know what animals want?
I'm sure chickens don't want to be fried and eaten but what about the wolf that eats them in the wild? Is he denying the chicken his rights when he eats him? I mean couldn't the wolf forage and eat plants instead of chickens ? Should we protest the woods because of the animal killings that go on there? Animal on animal crime! It has to stop !!!

cute...but that argument misses the point...I'm not responsible for the wolf's behavior, or your's for that matter...I am responsible for mine and you for your's. Just cause a wolf painfully kills a rabbit, chicken etc, that doesn't excuse me if I do the same. I won't argue that PETA takes extreme measures, some of which I oppose...but they are also doing a lot of good! I'm not saying that anyone has to agree with PETA...just don't use that as a justification for ignoring the abuse that occurs. If more folks took active roles in animal rescue, political movements that demand protective legislation etc, PETA wouldn't be necessary. I eat meat, it a natural thing imo for humans...but that meat can be obtained humanely just as pets can receive humane treatment etc. All I'm saying is that the problem is abusive behavior, not PETA's behavior in response. People have every right to speak out about PETA's more aggressive practices, but please keep the real problem in mind.

To me, the problem isn't the fact that we slaughter animals for human consumption... it's HOW we slaughter them. An animal shouldn't have to go through fear and suffering before it's killed.

I totally agree! A guy drives down the road and sees a dead deer... he makes a couple of calls and the deer ends up as dinner... so why do they have to stun, hang and slit? why not do it humanely?

I understand what you are saying but PETA has become the problem far too often. They have become an issue which takes away from the true issues.

tree huggers....lol

And the biggest evil we perpetrate on them isn't even the slaughter- it's the conditions we keep them while we're raising them to get big enough to eat. The misery they spend their short lives in is awful- jammed into cages so small they can't turn around- tails and beaks cut off, never seeing sunlight. For their entire lives. So, I wish PETA and other animal groups would focus on getting factory farms outlawed. Several European nations have done it, and people there still seem to manage to eat meat, so I imagine we could do it, too.

Plus factory farms are really, really bad for the environment. And for the small farmer.

The problem with that (in the majority of Americans' eyes) is that in order to support the small farms, it costs more money. It sucks. I personally don't mind spending an extra few bucks if it means that I've helped an animal.