Quick - what does the word "Taino" mean to you? Most Americans are unfamiliar with the name of the Carribean tribe that believed their island was the earliest part of the creation, and therfore the sun and the moon every day rose up out of a cave on its northernmost coast. On the other hand, most Americans know today is Columbus Day, at least in forty-seven states, although Hawaii has renamed it "Discoverer's Day" after the origianal Polynesians who populated that island thousand of years ago; South Dakota calls it "Native American Day"; and Alaska just ignores it.But what we're really celebrating today is Happy Taino Genocide Day - the day when Christopher Columbus began to wipe out an entire indigenous population in a way that would make even Pol Pot blush

Rev. D. Alexander Bullock, President for Rainbow Push Detroit, joins Thom Hartmann. We all know Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is trying to hand his state over to the corporations - one city at a time. But what does that have to do with flushing toilets in the Motor City?

Jonathan Simon, Election Defense Alliance, joins Thom Hartmann. Following his victory on Sunday night - Chavez addresses his supporters from the Presidential palace where he said: "This has been the perfect battle, a democratic battle...Venezuela will continue along the path of democratic and Bolivarian socialism of the 21st century. The key word there is democratic. Leading up the the election - many in the United States specualted that Chavez was headed for defeat - or that he would rig the election to ensure his victory. But in reality - Venezuela has one of the better democracies in the world - if not the best. Jimmy Carter applauded Venezuela's elections - saying, "of the 92 election that we've monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world." Unlike the United States - Venezuela boasts voter turnout in the 80% range. Venezuela doesn't trust corporate voting machines to determine the winner of their elections - so they have paper trails that are cross-referenced with the machine's results. And unlike in the United States - where Republicans are trying to keep people from voting - polling states were kept open late to accommodate massive turnout. So on a day like today - when we hear from our news media that they'll no longer conduct exit polling in 19 states - and when right-wing organizations are suing states to have voters kicked off the rolls - can we really be making judgments on Venezuelan democracy? Maybe we should be ...

Mark Weisbrot, Center for Economic Policy and Research joins Thom Hartmann. Viva la Revolution in Venezuela. On Sunday - voters took to the polls and elected Hugo Chavez to serve a third term as President of Venezuela - thus continuing the socialist revolution Chavez started nearly 14 years for at least another 6 years.Chavez has been a pariah among Western governments ever since he took control of his nation and nationalized oil and other major industries in the country - and redistributed wealth down to the poor and working class. So far - it's been a success story in Venezuela. Under Chavez's watch - poverty has been cut in half - and extreme poverty reduced by 70%. College enrollment has doubled - public pension have quadrupled - and a new government housing programs has built a quarter-million new homes across Venezuela. Access to health care and education have also risen considerably. In two different parts of the world - we're seeing drastically different economic approaches. In debt-ridden Europe - with the exception of France - technocrats and banksters are shoving austerity down the throats of working people - cutting back on social services - and privatizing big chunks of the commons. But in South America - an opposing economic philosophy is seeing enormous success...socialism.So why is that? What can we learn from the Socialist revolution in South America - especially during a time of austerity in the Western world

Thom discusses the re-election of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez and how the US can learn from the Venezuelan election system. Also discussed: what Columbus Day really means, the efforts in Detroit to privatize water and how gender roles are finally changing. And in tonight's "Daily Take" Thom looks to the country of Bhutan and how they're looking to become the first 100% organic country.

So here's what's happening in East Texas. A foreign corporation - actually a multinational corporation based in Canada - is confiscating private land belonging to a 78-year-old great-grandmother - in order to build aa toxic pipeline to ship oil off to other foreign nations. It's just another day in third-world America. Eleanore Fairchild and actress Daryl Hannah stood in front of tractors that are clearing a pathway for the pipeline right through Fairchild's 300-acre ranch. Those tractors belong to the Canadian company - TransCanada - which recently won approval to build a massive toxic tar-sands-oil pipeline right through the United States - and right through Mrs. Fairchilds property - down to Texas - where oil billionaires can refine it - and ship it off to the rest of the world, making big profits for themselves and TransCanada.

SE Robinson, Deputy Director-The Paul Revere Project & Austin Petersen, Director of Production-Freedomworks & Sam Sacks, Progressive Writer & Commentator all join Thom Hartmann.

SE Robinson, Deputy Director-The Paul Revere Project & Austin Petersen, Director of Production - Freedomworks & Sam Sacks, Progressive Writer & Commentator all join Thom Hartmann.

Peter Galuszka, Journalist/Author, Thunder On The Mountain: Death at Massey and the Dirty Secrets behind Big Coal. How many more Upper Big Branch tragedies is it going to take before America finally kicks it's addiction to coal? Or - better yet - before Coal companies put the worker's safety ahead of the bottom-line?

Peter Galuszka, Journalist/Author, Thunder On The Mountain: Death at Massey and the Dirty Secrets behind Big Coal. How many more Upper Big Branch tragedies is it going to take before America finally kicks it's addiction to coal? Or - better yet - before Coal companies put the worker's safety ahead of the bottom-line?

Thom talks with journalist Peter Galuszka, author of the book "Thunder on the Mountain: Death at Massey and the Dirty Secrets Behind Big Coal," in tonight's "Conversations with Great Minds." Tonight's "Big Picture Rumble" panel discusses the new job numbers, whether Romney cheated at the debate and if the RNC will be charged with election fraud. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom highlights actress Daryl Hannah and what she's doing to stop eminent domain and the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Tonight we debut our new Your Take My Take LIVE segment - where you have the opportunity to call into The Big Picture and ask Thom a question or make a comment live on-air. The call in # is (202) 904-2134.

Among the things that can be taken away from last night's debate is the fact - it looked an awful lot like Reagan debating Carter in 1980 - and we all know how that worked out for America. How can President Obama avoid becoming the next Jimmy Carter?

The Good! *Carleton College* Carleton College - a small college in Minnesota - passed a campus-wide resolution earlier this week - opposing Minnesota's proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marraige. The resolution states that the amendment would "undermine and impede the College's efforts to recruit and retain the very best students, faculty and staff members." Our nation's colleges and universities should places of respect and safety for all students - regardless of their sexual orientations. Members of the LGBT community are just as hard-working, intelligent and driven as anyone else. Kudos to Carleton for standing up to the bigotry and ignorance that is trying to take over the state of Minnesota.

Tune in and hear the sound of planet Earth "singing" in space - courtesy of NASA who's calling it the clearest recording ever made of "chorus" - which is the audio version of the radio signals that are emitted by plasma waves that are part of Earth's Van Allen radiation belts.