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Right On! ^
More Is Less
Fred A. Bernstein
The endangered house next to the Cooper Square Hotel
New York City officials have to decide to stop the demolition of a small, brick house in the East Village. The Federal style house, which has stood at 35 Cooper Square since 1825, is scheduled to be replaced with a new building. Preservationists, under the gun, have been combing through records of the buildings past to build the case for saving it as an important artifact of nineteenth century Manhattan.
But theres a reason to save the building that has nothing to do with its past, and everything to do with the present.
The house is all that stands between two angled, glass-and-steel buildings (one of them, Thom Mayne's academic building for the Cooper Union, a masterpiece of contemporary architecture). Those buildings wouldn't be the same without their modest, gable-roofed companion.
Contemporary buildings feed on historical context. When that context is removed, even the best of the new buildings fall flat.
Picture (or, if you're in New York, visit) West 19th Street, between 11th Avenue and the Hudson River.
On the north side of the street is Jean Nouvels "vision-machine" a 19-story apartment building covered in thousands of tilted glass panels. On the south side is Frank Gehrys IAC building, the wavy, iceberg-like apparition. Thats already a lot of star-chitecture for one block. But next to the Gehry building, Shigeru Bans Metal Shutter House offers a touch of the Japanese industrial aesthetic, circa 2010. Next door is Annabelle Selldorf's shiny 520 West Chelsea, seen as a wall of unadorned strip windows.
Look southwest from the middle of the block, and you could be in Dubai or, worse, a contemporary architecture theme park in Las Vegas. The new buildings have crowded out context the layering that makes New York, New York.
Just a few blocks east, the same effect call it too much of a good thing is even more pronounced. Della Valle and Bernheimer, a young Brooklyn firm, designed an angled, black-and-white glass building at 459 West 18th. At almost the same moment, Audrey Matlock's Chelsea Modern rose next door at 447 West 18th, its facade a flat mix of blue and white windows.
In fact, either building, bracketed by older, masonry buildings, would have provided a welcome jolt of modernism. Together, they appear to be competing for dominance, a fight neither can win. Theres a similar problem in the West Village, where Asymptote's terrific building at 166 Perry Street abuts Richard Meier's 176 Perry Street, looking like an annex. (Despite Asymptote's ingenuity, there are only so many ways to utilize white glass.) It doesn't help that Meier himself added a third glass tower to the original pair of buildings. Two Meiers is company; three's a housing project.
The Jean Nouvel building reflected in Frank Gehry"s building
The shock of the new, it turns out, is only a pleasant shock when there is old to measure it against. Even Mies van der Rohe, whose Seagram Building has been seriously diminished by the imitators that flank it up and down Park Avenue, would have to agree that sometimes more is less.
Frank Gehrys Guggenheim Bilbao, considered the greatest building of the late 20th century, works because it is glimpsed at the end of a narrow city street, crowded with art nouveau facades. In a less urban, less urbane, setting, it might have been seen as an oddity. (Gehry shouldnt take offense at this; context has always been important in his work.) One of the great strengths of his latest building the residential tower at 8 Spruce Street is that it plays off against the 1919 Woolworth Building: equally daring in its own right, and now part of a accretion of styles over time.
As for the original Guggenheim Museum, by Frank Lloyd Wright: Its power comes from the placement of its arcs against New Yorks right angles (both the street grid and the window grids of the adjacent buildings). Compare the Guggenheim to another curvy engineering marvel, the Trylon and Perisphere of the 1939 New York World's Fair. The difference between a masterpiece and a passing fancy, it turns out, is largely whether one is placed in a city, or stranded in a sea of equally experimental buildings.
At the Shanghai World Expo last summer, there were probably 20 buildings as interesting, in terms of form and surface, as work by Nouvel, Gehry, and Zaha Hadid, and every one of them has been torn down. There hasn't been a peep from the architecture world because the buildings, set not on city streets but behind fairground turnstiles, were always considered "installations" not real buildings.
New buildings depend on context if they're to be become architecture, not just site-specific artworks competing for attention in an architectural petting zoo. Greg Pasquarelli, a principal of SHoP, one of the busiest firms in the city, recently described his firm's idea of contextual design: Making sure that the building looks nothing like the buildings around it. He was referring to his penchant for placing new buildings among the old, but what about ensuring that old buildings remain among the new?
When deciding what to preserve, the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission should think of some buildings like the house on Cooper Square as buffers, essential elements in making sure new buildings live up to their potential (to enliven, not entomb, the city).
Reactionary? Not at all. If the trend toward placing sleek contemporary buildings cheek to jowl continues, it is the contemporary buildings that will suffer most.
"Maybe, just maybe" …….. no kidding, I call it Preservation Pretense.
excerpt: http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes....cooper-square/
And although I'm but 22 years old, only lived in the East Village for some eight months, and am more privy to this neighborhood's prolific bar scene than its historic past, I can't help but thinking that maybe, just maybe, this sudden preservationist uproar is a bit, well, contrived.
One preservationist said to me in disgust that by the time the Bowery is fully developed, "only the wealthy and trust fund babies" would live here. Her anger seemed less directed toward 35 Cooper's demise and more at the type of people who will ultimately live here.
But why are we fighting it? This is one of the most progressive neighborhoods in one of the most progressive cities in the world. For decades, we've been a haven for artists, musicians, minorities, gays, freedom fighters, beatniks, hippies. Our rich history stems from us opening our doors, to everyone, and the ever-shifting landscape that our tolerance produces.
The East Village skyline will shift, and shift again. It always has. Who's to say this is a bad thing, or that tomorrow's residents won't include the next di Prima, Hendrix, or Madonna? As East Villagers, it's our duty to remember the past. But when we reflexively cling to our past, when we use 35 Cooper Square as a scapegoat for fear and uncertainty of an unseen future, we become something altogether different.
Oh, of course, tearing down that 185-year old house will definitely make way for new housing for artists. All young and scrambling and willing to pay $2k / square foot.
To pretend that there hasn't been action by preservationists to protect parts of the Bowery going back 10 years and more is blind sightedness.
But, hey, NYC is chock full of Federal era houses. Who needs 'em?
I'd like to sodomize these schmucks with a rusty crowbar. This is a crime.
^ Ouch. Let's hope it doesn't come to that .
New hope for 35 Cooper Square
During the weekend, workers arrived at 35 Cooper Square to begin removing the sewer and water from the property...
...the next steps in the demolition of the historic building... However, there is some positive news about the home via David Mulkins, chair of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors (BAN). City Council member Rosie Mendez's office has brokered a meeting between developer Arun Bhatia and BAN members to discuss possibly sparing the building.
Meanwhile, as we pointed out five weeks ago, workers have left the roof exposed to the elements. You may write to the developer's rep, Jane Crotty (firstname.lastname@example.com), and ask them to put the protective covering back on the rooftop.
Updated: DNAinfo reports the meeting is set for April 12.
I was sad to hear that the MTA might put is beautiful Madison Avenue hq up for sale. It will be quite sad to see those pre-WWII office towers razed over the next few years.
Preservation Advocates 'Optimistic' About Fate of Historic East Village Row House
Advocates sat down with the site's developer to talk about possibly preserving the 1825 building.
By Patrick Hedlund
EAST VILLAGE Advocates pressing the new owner of a historic Cooper Square property to preserve the centuries-old building emerged "cautiously optimistic" after a meeting with the developer Tuesday to discuss future plans for the structure.
Local activists fighting to save 35 Cooper Square the 1825 Federal-style row house near the corner of East 6th Street met with developer Arun Bhatia to outline their proposal for how he could keep the building intact while still pursuing a feasible development plan for the prized East Village site.
"We sort of presented them with both our arguments for the why building is important, to kind of raise the possibility of finding some way of building on the site in such a way that would preserve the building," said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, who attended the meeting. "They basically said they'll think about."
The three-story structure at the head of the Bowery sandwiched between the gleaming new Cooper Union academic building and the towering Cooper Square Hotel was once owned by a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant before housing such luminaries as Liza Minelli and Beat Generation poet Diane DiPrima.
The property sold to Bhatia for $8.5 million late last year. Shortly afterward, rumors began swirling that the developer planned to raze the 1825 building, starting with the closure of its ground-floor restaurant. Bhatia filed a demolition application last month.
The developer also scooped up two lots adjacent to the property, broadening the scope of any future development at the site. Bhatia did not comment on the demolition plans at the meeting, nor did he discuss recent work on the structure that exposed the building's roof to the elements.
"It's really too soon to say, but we were really thankful that they actually came out and met with the community," said Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, who also attended the meeting.
He explained that Bhatia and his team currently have no official plan for site, based on what attendees gathered at the meeting.
"We believe that there is a way they could do development on the site and retain the building," he added. "That's from our perspective, though."
A spokeswoman for Bhatia described the meeting as "pleasant," but said that preserving the property may present challenges based on the circumstances.
"My client wanted to hear what the community had to say and show respect for the process," said spokeswoman Jane Crotty.
"They asked for us to try and retain some portions of the building at 35 Cooper Square. We told them that it is a difficult site since it is so small. Arun and his team will discuss the issues and get back to them."
The city Landmarks Preservation Commission previously declined to consider designating 35 Cooper Square a landmark, citing the addition of stucco over the building's original brickwork, a commission spokeswoman said.
The Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, which has helped lead the charge to save 35 Cooper Square, has noted that the Bowery itself has been deemed eligible for inclusion in the state and National Register of Historic Place, meaning that the building could qualify to receive tax credits if the developer decides to preserve certain historic features.
Advocates hope the meeting was a good first step in building a dialogue with the owner.
"I'm an eternal optimist and doing what we do, we have to be," Berman added. "I'm hopeful that something good can come of this that will make things better than our worst fears."
Yeah, he'll think about it and get back to them, just long enough for mold and other bad things to happen to the structure so that it will be declared unsafe for human habitation and have to be demo'd anyway....nor did he discuss recent work on the structure that exposed the building's roof to the elements.
It's all been in vain .
35 Cooper Square to be Demolished
On this beautiful spring Saturday, Vanishing NY brings the unsurprising news that 35 Cooper Square is to be demolished. Neither the preservation efforts of late nor the meeting of the minds had any effect on developer Arun Bhatias decision to raze the centuries-old Federal style building. Seemed their camp was just going through the motions to appease the community.
In any event, Jeremiah relays the official letter from the developers lawyer to Council Member Rosie Mendez:Arun Bhatia has asked me to report to you on the status of 35 Cooper Square. As you know, Mr. Bhatia and his development team, including a preservation architect, met on Monday, April 11, with member of you staff, representatives of other elected officials, and representatives of community and preservation groups to discuss 35 Cooper Square. Following the meeting, various massing alternatives for the site were studied to see whether it would be possible to preserve the building or any significant portions of it. As explained at the meeting, the site is very constrained, with 35 Cooper Square occupying a large and key section of the site. Unfortunately, it was concluded that it would not be feasible to develop the site with the building or any significant portion of it remaining, and that any potential relief from the BSA via a variance would not remedy the site conditions which make preservation infeasible.In other words, demolition. The property owner will reportedly donate a financial contribution to the Landmarks Conservancy to help document the histories of the endangered species of Federal buildings.
Some links with depressing pictures of what's left.
I can't even look.
Last edited by londonlawyer; June 4th, 2011 at 02:50 PM.
I walked past here 2 days ago and was so upset to see that house gone. Its historic quaintness was tremendous next to the daring hotel. Booo.
LL, I can barely look either anymore.
Almost 200 years old. Un freaking believable.


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I can't believe it is 2015 already, can you? This is the time of year when we reflect on what we have experienced the past year individually, nationally, and even globally. One of my favorite videos to watch at the end of the year is TED Talks recap of ideas. It's fascinating to watch the discoveries, the ideas and just the passion each individual shows with what they present. Here's a spoiler alert, but the video ends with a quote by Andrew Solomon, "Forge meaning. Build identity. And then invite the world to share your joy."
Here at GreenHomes we like that quote a lot, especially the last part. A big part of our work is inviting each of you into our joy; helping America to become more energy efficient. Doing this extends the life of our resources for the generations to come and, well, extends the life of our pocketbooks, too. Our joy is helping families all over America live comfortably and affordably. This year, as we go into 2015, we are looking forward to continue to do that and we ask that you join us. Let's all share the joy!
Thanks for stopping by!

subset: commoncrawl


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Tracheoesophageal fistula is a connection between the esophagus and the trachea. The esophagus is the tube that connects the throat to the stomach. The trachea is the tube that connects the throat to the windpipe and lungs. Normally, the esophagus and trachea are two tubes that are not connected. This issue is also called TE fistula or TEF. It can happen in one or more places.
TE fistula is a birth defect. This means it's a problem your child was born with. It happened when your baby was forming during pregnancy.
When a baby with a TE fistula swallows, liquid can pass through the connection between the esophagus and trachea. When this happens, liquid gets into your baby's lungs. This can cause pneumonia and other problems.
TE fistula often occurs with another birth defect called esophageal atresia. In this issue, your baby's esophagus doesn't form well during pregnancy. It forms in two parts instead of one. One part connects to the throat. The other part connects to the stomach. But the two parts don't connect to each other.
Since the esophagus is in two parts, liquid that your baby swallows doesn't pass as it should through the esophagus and reach the stomach. Your baby cannot digest milk or other fluids.
As a baby is growing in pregnancy, organ systems are forming. The trachea and the esophagus start forming as one tube. At 4 to 8 weeks of pregnancy, a wall forms between the esophagus and trachea. This separates them into two tubes. TE fistula and esophageal atresia happen when this wall doesn't form as it should.
Having the following factors can raise your baby's risk for these issues:
Up to one half of babies with TE fistula or esophageal atresia also have another birth defect.
Your child's healthcare provider will often spot symptoms soon after your baby is born. Symptoms can occur a bit differently in each child. They can include:
Your baby may also have other birth defects.
The symptoms of these conditions may look like symptoms of other health problems. Your child's healthcare provider must diagnose him or her with this condition.
Your child's healthcare provider will ask about your child's health history. He or she will also give your child an exam.
Your child may need an X-ray of his or her chest and abdomen. For this test, the healthcare provider will put a small tube into your child's mouth or nose. It will be guided into the esophagus. With esophageal atresia, the tube often cannot go very far into the esophagus. The tube's position can be seen with the X-ray. This can help your child's healthcare provider diagnose the condition.
Treatment will depend on your child's symptoms, age, and general health. It will also depend on how severe the condition is. If your child has one or both of these issues, he or she will need surgery.
With a TE fistula, the connection between the esophagus and trachea is closed in surgery.
Sometimes children with esophageal atresia need more than one surgery. This depends on how close the two tubes are to each other. Your baby's surgeon and healthcare team will decide when your baby should have the surgeries.
When a baby with a TE fistula swallows, liquid can pass through the connection between the esophagus and trachea. This can cause liquid to get into your baby's lungs. This can lead to pneumonia and other problems.
With esophageal atresia, the esophagus is in two parts. Liquid that your baby swallows doesn't pass normally through the esophagus and reach the stomach. Your baby cannot digest milk or other fluids.
Children who had surgery for a TE fistula may develop scar tissue. This can make swallowing tricky. Your child may need another surgery to open the scar tissue.
Some children with esophageal atresia have long-term problems. It may be hard for them to swallow foods and liquids. This may be because of the following:
Some children may need a special test to widen a narrowed esophagus. Your child's healthcare provider may do this while your child is under general anesthesia. Other children may need another surgery. Your child's surgeon will open up the esophagus so food can pass to the stomach.
About one half of children who had surgery for esophageal atresia will gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD). GERD causes acid to move up into the esophagus from the stomach. This causes a burning or painful feeling called heartburn. GERD can often be managed with medicines.
Work with your child's healthcare team to create a care plan for your child. This will help your child grow and develop well.
Before surgery, call your child's healthcare provider right away if your child has trouble breathing or breathes liquid into his or her lungs.
After surgery, call your child's healthcare provider if your child has trouble swallowing or isn't gaining weight.
Tips to help you get the most from a visit to your child's healthcare provider:
Vidant Health can connect you to health care professionals to help you understand your condition and guide you through the treatment process. Let's chat.


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EMAIL email@example.com


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Difference between revisions of "ASL FAQ"
From "AllStarLink Wiki"
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If Raspbian: apt-get install raspberrypi-kernel-headers -y
If Raspbian: apt-get install raspberrypi-kernel-headers -y
Otherwise: apt-get install linux-headers-uname -r -y
Otherwise: apt-get install linux-headers-uname -r-y
apt-get update
apt-get update
Revision as of 01:45, 26 March 2018
- Q: What is AllStarLink Asterisk (ASL)?
- A: ASL is the software used to create an AllStar node. It consists of Linux, Asterisk and app_rpt. ASL uses the Debian version of Linux. Asterisk is the OpenSource PBX. App_rpt is an Asterisk application giving it the radio node functions. ASL runs on x86 or on the Raspberry Pi (ARM version).
- Q: What does ASL stand for?
- A: AllStarLink
- Q: How do I install ASL?
- A: ASL is available as a installer for i386/AMD (PC) and as a SD card image for Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards.If you have ever installed Linux you know how to install ASL. The images are available from the Main Page Related Links.
- Q: Can ASL be installed on an existing Linux install, for example on a VM running Debian?
- A: Yes it can. More information to follow. But if you have no other option you could do this:
cd /tmp wget https://github.com/AllStarLink/Asterisk/raw/develop/allstar/repository/install-repository chmod +x /install-repository ./install-repository If Raspbian: apt-get install raspberrypi-kernel-headers -y Otherwise: apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r` -y apt-get update apt-get install allstarlink -y
- Q: Will ASL run on Windows?
- A: No, ASL is a Linux application.
- Q: How do I login to ASL once it is installed?
- A: The initial user login ID is repeater with a password of allstarlink. When you login the first time you will be forced to change the password. The user repeater has sudo rights. You can then continue the customization process. To enable console root login you will need to set a password for user root.
- Q: How is a ASL Node configured?
- A: Briefly, a single node configuration is straight forward. Once you are logged in run asl-menu. The system will walk you through a first time setup of your node by asking you a number of questions. You'll need to have created an AllStar account, created a server, requested a node number and have your node's password.
- Q: How many nodes can ASL support on a single server?
- A: It depends on the hardware. A high power Intel box may support 25 or more RTCM clients. A the other end of the spectrum, a Raspberry Pi 3 would be good for 2 USB nodes.
- Q: When using ACID I had (insert feature here) Now it's gone. When will ASL support this feature?
- A: ASL supports all the same channel drivers, features and apps that ACID supported. Under ASL, modules are not loaded by default. They must be enabled in /etc/asterisk/modules.conf.
- Q: Will ASL run as a hub / reflector?
- A: YES, ASL will run as a hub. To build a hub set rxchannel = dahdi/pseudo in rpt.conf and set noload => chan_simpleusb.so in modules.conf
- Q: Do I need a monitor and keyboard to run ASL?
- A: No, ASL can be managed via SSH on port 22. The port can be changed in /etc/ssh/sshd.conf. ASL for the Raspberry Pi does require a monitor and keyboard to install.
- Q: What is the IP address of my new node?
- A: ASL configures the machine via DHCP. Check your DHCP server for the address. The machine defaults to repeater.allstarlink.org. This can be changed with asl-menu.
- Q: Does my remote access program (insert IAXRPT, Web Transceiver, Zoiper, AndroidIAX here) work with ASL?
- A: Yes, either using the sample configuration files or your custom files.
- Q: What about SIP support?
- A: By default, SIP is not enabled. If you want to enable it, see /etc/asterisk/modules.conf
- Q: What audio file format does ASL use?
- A: By default, ASL installs the ulaw formatted audio files installed in /var/lib/asterisk/sounds/.
- Q: What version of app_rpt is ASL built with?
- A: ASL is built from the current version of asterisk taken from the github. As of now, The version of the code from the github is 1.01 2/13/2018
- Q: ASL is built on Debian 9, why Debian, why not (insert distro here)?
- A: There are a lot of great Linux distributions available. Debian is a 20+ year old distribution with a large developer base. Many of the other distributions are based on Debian.
- Q: I run a custom script (insert script here). Does it work with ASL?
- A: Unless the script does something really strange or uses something specific to only one Linux distribution, The script should be made to work. We will be happy to work with script writers to move their script to ASL.
- Q: I updated my kernel now what?
- A: ASL uses DKMS to manage the installation of kernel modules. DKMS will update when you install a new kernel.
- Q: I need a Linux program that is not in ASL, what do I do?
- A: apt-get is the Debian utility to install, remove and upgrade programs. apt-get install foo will install the program foo if it is available.
- Q: I have a question not covered in this FAQ, how do I get an answer?
- A: There is a wealth of information on AllStar Asterisk at http://wiki.allstarlink.org/ There is also a user mail list at http://lists.allstarlink.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/app_rpt-users
- Q: How do I change my network (adapter) setup?
- A: Use asl-menu
- Q: How do I change my DNS setup?
- A: Use asl-menu
- Q: How do I restart Asterisk?
- A: Asterisk can be restarted by running the script
astres.shor stoped with
astdn.shand started with
- Q: What are the specific differences between a single node, and a hub, to which can accept many connections?
- A: Any node can be a "HUB". A node is not limited to one connection. There may be hardware limitations about the number of connections a given piece of hardware and internet connection can support. Typically, a HUB is located on a higher bandwidth Internet connection and is running a more "stout" piece of hardware. A HUB usually does not have a node radio connected to it, but there is no reason it can't. A HUB usually runs DAHDI/pseudo for it's rxchannel. This is changed in the rpt.conf file.
- Q: On some x86 and some raspberry pi2's, I have noticed dtmf falsing and would like to recompile app_rpt to set the radio relax feature off to reduce/eliminate the false dtmf tones that get decoded from voice transmissions.
- A: ASL has radio relax turned off..
- Q: I exited the firsttime script for setting up a ASL system, and would now like to run it. How is this accomplished?
- A: Do the following:
sudo touch /etc/asterisk/firsttime && sudo /usr/local/sbin/first-time


text:
I got this amazing story from my friend SITA
Man Builds Noah's Ark (exact scale given in Bible).
Working Replica of Noah's Ark Opened In SCHAGEN, Netherlands.
The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark was opened the first crowd of curious townsfolk to behold the wonder.
Of course, it's only a replica of the Biblical Ark , built by Dutch Creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible.
The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house.
Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold.
A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine. Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been.
Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and with occasional help from his son Roy. Construction began in May 2005. On the uncovered top - deck not quite ready in time for the opening - will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats, and one camel.
Visitors on the first day were stunned. "It's past comprehension", said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape.
"I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big." There is enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater where kids can watch a video that tells the story of Noah and his ark. Huibers, a Christian man, said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands, where church going has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years.
If you are visiting the Netherlands keep this on your MUST SEE list.
In India many people have built small sized Taj Mahals. If fact a man has built a life size Taj Mahal in Bangla Desh using the same kind of marble and materials India is not pleased about it. You simply must not duplicate an existing national monument which is a tourist attraction and a world heritage site.
BTW in Dehra Doon, the capital of Uttrakhand state there is a hotel called The White House, but it does not look like "the" White House. And one can safely brag and say,"Oh I was a guest at The White House. And I wasn 't gate crashing."
This got me thinking. Which Biblical site would I like to reconstruct if I had the means and expertise?
A garden would be my choice. Mount of Olives,the Garden of Gethsemane -Prayer Garden. And 6 years ago I claimed a promise from God to make my church and campus like a flourishing land pictured in Ezekiel 36.
In Central India, (outside Hyderabad) a Christian man who is a retired geologist has constructed a replica of the Old Testament Tabernacle , but not to scale, or building material .It is a concrete structure. Its used as a church . He plans on building a Noah ' s Ark too. They get many visitors throughout the year.
I think its a very good way of evangelism in a place where visual experience makes a strong impact.
There is one Biblical structure each Christian is a part of.
I am just wondering which Biblical site or building would you re-construct if you could? Any ideas?


text:
A Middle Class Existence
- $4.99
- Published By: eXtasy Books
- Author: Celine Chatillon
- Page: 165
- Word Count: 41250
- Publication Date: August 18, 2010
- Heat Level:
- Available Formats: Adobe Acrobat, Epub, Mobipocket, Mobipocket (.mobi)
- Categories: Contemporary, Erotic Romance , Suspense, Thriller
Qty + -
When Riki's "perfect world" is threatened she embarks on a plan of vengeance to take back what is hers from her husband's ex-boss, Morgan Fahr. She soon discovers that she revels in the feelings of power she has over men like Fahr, through casual sex, and seeks it out with a shady lawyer as well. But as her simple blackmail plot spirals out of control, Riki begins to realize the only way out… could lead to murder.
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text:
Guests: Dana Milbank, Ron Reagan, John Larson, William Donohue
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Hitting Mitt and raising Cain.
Let`s play HARDBALL.
Good evening. I`m Chris Matthews in Washington. Leading off tonight:
Team Obama says it`s Mitt. President Obama`s campaign team has seen the
Republican future and it`s Mitt Romney, or certainly most likely Mitt, so
they`ve decided to take him on, to define him before he can define himself,
to go after Romney early. And one reason they`re doing it is because the
other -- well, the GOP candidates haven`t done it. Obama versus Romney,
our top story tonight.
Plus, raising Cain. He tops the Republican charts in our new NBC
News/"Wall Street Journal" poll, but what happens when people realize his
9-9-9 plan is designed to shift the tax burden from the wealthy to the poor
and middle class? Excuse me, maybe they`re going to like that idea on the
Republican side.
Also, there`s no question the Occupy Wall Street protests are growing
in size and intensity. My question tonight, how do the marchers translate
their genuine anger and frustration into actual change? Once they`ve done
getting attention, how do they get laws passed? And we`re going to get to
that tonight.
And William Donohue, the head of the Catholic League, is calling on
Rick Perry to cut ties with Pastor Robert Jeffress, who -- well, he`s the
man who called Mormonism a cult, who has called Catholicism a fake
Finally, "Let Me Finish" with my belief that an American`s religion is
a poor guide to their politics and an even worse guide to their worth as a
We start with Obama versus Romney. Dana Milbank`s a columnist, and a
brilliant one, I must say, for "The Washington Post," and Ron Reagan is a
political commentator, and I don`t have to say brilliant.
By the way, Obama`s senior strategist -- just to get the story going
tonight -- on a conference call late yesterday, on the record now,
criticized Mitt Romney and made it clear the Obama camp thinks Romney`s the
one to beat November next year.
Here`s a sampling of today`s headlines, by the way, in the papers.
"Obama camp sets sights on Romney" -- that`s in Politico. "Team Obama
flips out over Romney" in "The New York Post." "Mitt Romney, GOP front-
runner in 2012 presidential race, now focus of White House, Democratic
barbs" -- that`s in "The New York Daily News." So everybody`s onto this
story right now.
Dana Milbank, start with you. It looks to me like they`ve decided
they`ve got to hit this guy now. There`s pluses and minuses. Why is Obama
hauling out the cannon now?
DANA MILBANK, "WASHINGTON POST": Well, look, the Iowa caucuses are
two months away, but the Chicago caucuses were held this week. And Axelrod
got on the phone with Plouffe and the others and said they had to do this.
They didn`t want to do it because they wanted to have this titanic battle
with all of the Republicans going after each other, doing Obama`s work for
him. Unfortunately, that didn`t work out...
MATTHEWS: I think they made him their May queen this last debate.
They were all romping around him like a rope, saying how great he is.
MILBANK: Exactly. They were -- three weeks ago, they were saying
they really don`t want to kill Rick Perry off just yet because they think
they could do some more damage to Romney. They no longer -- they feel that
they have to get into the game now. They didn`t want to sully themselves
at this point, but there`s no choice.
MATTHEWS: Well, here it is. This is Romney`s debate comments about
the payroll tax that put the Obama team in a fighting stance. Let`s
listen. They think they`ve got some opportunity here. Let`s listen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the payroll tax cut is not extended, that
would mean a tax increase for all Americans. What would be the
consequences of that?
MITT ROMNEY (R-MA), FMR. GOV., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, when you
give -- as the president`s bill does, if you give a temporary change to the
payroll tax and you say, We`re going to extend this for a year or two --
employers don`t hire people for a year or two. And what it takes to create
jobs is more than just a temporary shift in a tax stimulus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you would be OK with seeing the payroll tax
ROMNEY: Look, I don`t like temporary little Band-Aids. I want to
fundamentally restructure America`s foundation economically.
MATTHEWS: "Little Band-Aids." He was talking about the payroll tax,
talking about unemployment comp, which is the only source of livelihood for
people who`ve been unemployed for a year or two.
Here`s President Obama sending out a video to supporters yesterday
about Republicans and the payroll tax cut, and he took a swipe at Romney
along the way, although, of course, not by name yet. Getting close,
though. Let`s listen.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They`ll be forced to
decide whether we should cut taxes for middle class Americans or let them
go up next year. In fact, that`s exactly what one of the leading
Republican presidential candidates suggested we do during last night`s
debate, allow taxes to rise by up to $1,000 next year for struggling middle
class families.
MATTHEWS: It`s already hand to hand, the president against Romney.
The Democratic National Committee was quickly out with this Web video
criticizing Romney. Let`s listen to that.
ROMNEY: I`m not worried ability rich people. They`re doing just
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you would be OK with seeing the payroll tax
ROMNEY: Look, I don`t like temporary little Band-Aids.
Corporations are people, my friend.
MATTHEWS: I think they got that music, Ron, out of some Italian
comedy. I don`t know where they got that one from!
MATTHEWS: I guess it was meant to be rinky-dink. Anyway, going after
Romney, putting him down, miniaturizing him, basically, saying, Here`s a
guy looking out for the rich, who thinks that unemployment comp is first
aid, a Band-Aid.
RON REAGAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, and the Democrats seem to
have hit on his weak spot also in terms of the flip-flopping. Are we
hearing more from Mitt here?
MATTHEWS: I`m hearing from you. Can you hear me?
REAGAN: Oh, I`m sorry. I saw Mitt up on the screen.
MATTHEWS: I`m all ears, Ron!
REAGAN: All right. Well, they seem to have hit on that weak spot,
too, of his flip-flopping, and I think that`s really going to hurt him with
everybody. Mitt Romney basically has two constituencies, right? He`s got
the conservatives, who he has to win for the primaries, but he`s got
independents, who he needs for the general election.
So I think the Obama campaign eventually will settle on a sort of two-
track strategy there. And for the conservatives, I think it will involve -
- I would think it would involve a warm embrace over "Romney care,"
reminding people that the Romney plan in Massachusetts was really what
Obama based his health care plan on. That ought to please conservative
Republicans a lot.
MATTHEWS: Yes, they`re putting out words, Dana, that -- putting out
words the last couple days that Obama benefited by the -- from the
specialists of the Romney camp. They were actually helping him define --
design his program based upon the success of "Obama care," earlier version,
meaning "Romney care."
MILBANK: It`s very generous of them. But you know, there`s a little
bit of schizophrenia going on here in how Obama`s handling Romney. On the
one hand, they want to do the flip-flopper, turn him into Al Gore, a little
bit of John Kerry. But that`s a fundamental change from where they`d been
earlier in saying he`s just as conservative as Rick Perry. You know, it`s
conservative monster versus flip-flopper. You can`t really have it both
ways because they`re going at each other. But it seems that...
MATTHEWS: What`s the stronger attack? Mark Penn was sitting there in
that seat a couple days ago, and he said the strongest attack, if you`re
Obama and his team and want to keep the White House for four more years, is
nail this guy as a conservative, a man of the right. Let him -- stick him
in the cement over there.
MILBANK: That`s how it had been until, you know, as recently as a
couple of weeks ago. They have made that pivot now. Maybe they decided
they can`t, compared to that Republican...
MATTHEWS: They better decide what they think about the guy. Here`s
another DNC Web video, Ron. Take a look. This is the one you were
anticipating, out this week. It takes on Romney`s changing position on Roe
v. Wade. I`m not sure what they`re doing, but let`s listen.
ROMNEY: I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20
years, that we should sustain and support it. And I sustain and support
that law and the right of a woman to make that choice.
And that`s why as a pro-life Republican, I`m in favor of having the
Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade.
MATTHEWS: That`s a great question, Ron, and I think Dana`s made it.
You were alluding to it earlier. What his this attack on Romney? Is his
attack that Romney is a conservative? Or is it he doesn`t know what he is
because he might be a man of the middle? My worry -- before you get
started -- is the middle may be where most of the votes are come 2012, and
it may not be so smart to say he might just be a man of the middle,
therefore your man, to the voter.
REAGAN: Well, being a man of the middle is one thing, but not being a
man of any stripe whatsoever is another. And I think what they want to do
is hang that label on him, that this is a guy who will say anything to get
through the week. And that happens to be, apparently, the truth. I mean,
both things are true.
I disagree with Dana a little bit. I do think the Obama
administration can have it both ways with Mitt Romney because both things
are true. He is now claiming a more conservative mantle, so you can go
after independent voters by reminding them of all the things he`s now said
while running for the Republican -- in the Republican primary, but for
conservatives, remind them that he flip-flops all the time, and again,
embrace him on "O-Romney care," or whatever you want to call it.
ROMNEY: Well, certainly, every time that Obama or his surrogates open
their mouth about Romney now, they`re only helping Romney because no matter
what they say, if Obama doesn`t like Romney, that`s going to put him in
better shape with the conservatives and his party. That`s why it`s so
unusual to come out this early. And I think it presages a very ugly
campaign to come, the fact that we`re seeing the Roe V. Wade ad coming out
at this early phase.
MATTHEWS: Yes, do you guys -- does any of you -- either of you guys
doubt that if the country lurches further right in the next year or two --
God help us if it does -- that Romney won`t be right there with them?
MATTHEWS: Ron, you first. You think he might catch up to the crowd?
REAGAN: Of course he will! Yes. He`ll follow the crowd wherever he
has to in order to win the primaries. I mean, that`s just what he`s going
to have to do. But...
MATTHEWS: Are you saying he`s a mood ring, a man who`s just capable
REAGAN: Yes!
MATTHEWS: ... wanting...
REAGAN: Of course he is!
MATTHEWS: ... but he doesn`t know what he wants? He just wants to be
loved enough to be president, whatever that happens to be...
REAGAN: Exactly.
MATTHEWS: He`s that bad?
MILBANK: Right. sort of the Woody Allen "Zelig" character, who he
adopts to the attitudes of the people around him. But that`s also
potentially good news for the left because maybe he`ll get into office, and
who knows? Nobody really knows...
MATTHEWS: But see that`s the -- this is the one weird thing, Ron.
You`re hitting him on the way that some of the right-wing guys will hit
him, and you`re not a man of the right.
A lot of the right-wingers say, Why should we do another Herbert
Walker Bush or another Bush W.? We`ve elected people that look like rich
people. They have old money in both -- all three cases. Every time we put
one of these WASPy, old-money people in the White House, who say they`re a
conservative, they flip into the establishment in one way or another,
either by spending so much money or taxing us or something. They say, Read
my lips, then they go write taxes. They say they`re not going to be big
spenders and G.W. is the biggest spender.
They despise that kind of flip-flopping. You say that liberals
should, as well, despise it.
REAGAN: I think everybody despises that sort of flip-flopping.
That`s what we forget. It`s not a partisan issue. When you see somebody
who doesn`t seem to stand for anything, who goes whichever way the wind
blows, you distrust him, no matter what his politics are. And that`s just
one of the problems Mitt Romney has.
MATTHEWS: But didn`t you want a Slinky when you were a kid?
MATTHEWS: I`m just kidding! That was my favorite toy, the thing that
went up and down the stairs and slinked from one -- Dana, does both sides
hate Slinkys?
MILBANK: Well, and see-saws. I mean, Americans love a see-saw, I
think. There`s real potential here.
MATTHEWS: Oh, God! This is dangerous, these metaphors. Thank you,
Dana. I think we agree we don`t like flip-floppers or Slinkys unless we`re
8 years old. Thank you, Dana Milbank, and thank you, Ron Reagan. You must
have had a Slinky!
Coming up: Herman Cain`s the new leader...
REAGAN: I had a Slinky!
MATTHEWS: ... of the Republican Party. Let`s talk about raising
Cain. It looks to me like Romney wants this guy to be his only alternative
so he can knock him out in, like, the fourth round. Just my guess. He
wants him as his -- look at him looking there kind of fondly.
You`re watching HARDBALL only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Well, here`s a number from our new NBC News/"Wall Street
Journal" poll just out last night that gives Democrats hope of taking back
the House. What a number this is! After all the bad talk, the Democrats
now lead -- lead! -- by 4 points, 45 to 41, in the generic ballot on "Who
do you want running the Congress" -- 45 to 41. That`s a fairly substantial
lead, I think just at the edge of the -- of the -- what do you call it -- I
forget what you call it -- margin of error.
Anyway, that`s a 10-point swing from last month. Well, that`s a big
switch, when Democrats -- the voters preferred Republicans to be in control
by 47 to 41. That is a real shift. I can`t quite explain it except the
Republicans have been holding out on every issue. And that`s the largest
lead Democrats have had on that question for5 two years. So something`s
perking up for the Ds or perking down for the Rs.
We`ll be right back.
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL. How does Herman Cain plot a
course to the Republican nomination? Does he have a real shot, in fact? A
lot of people were asking themselves that question after yesterday`s big
surprise result of our own NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll.
After all this talk and buzz and straw votes, here`s a real national
poll, we think the best poll there is, now showing Herman Cain -- look at
him, up from 5 percent up to 27 percent, while Mitt Romney frozen there at
23. Two months -- nothing has changed. Rick Perry`s support has gone way
down from 38 percent down to 16. Everything`s moving, except Romney`s
staying still and Cain is rising. So he`s clearly on the rise.
But is this just the latest in a long line of Republican contenders
who have taken the anti-Romney mantle for a brief period, only to lose it?
Past examples, of course, include Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, and of
course, Rick Perry most recently. In fact, if you look at the poll between
August and October, Rick Perry lost 22 percentage points, while Herman Cain
basically gained back that 22, took it away from him.
Has Cain got the staying power? What is his game plan for actually
winning the nomination?
We`ve got an expert here right now, Michael Steele, an MSNBC political
analyst, and of course, the former RNC chair, and another expert who`s
independent and a great journalist, of course, Howard Fineman, editorial
director for Huffington Post.
Now, I want you to start, Michael, from the inside...
MICHAEL STEELE, FMR. RNC CHAIR, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Sure.
MATTHEWS: ... and I want the outside view from Howard. He always has
a notebook open for this. If you look at the fact that all this is coming
pretty quickly now...
STEELE: Sure.
MATTHEWS: I mean, we`re halfway through October. November, December,
then the game`s up.
STEELE: That`s right.
MATTHEWS: So he has to have a plan to win the Iowa caucuses, probably
win or do very well, do decently well in New Hampshire, and then perhaps
have to win by South Carolina, at least compete.
Tell me how you would take these bulbous poll numbers and apply that
and get it going on the ground in Iowa to start with?
STEELE: Well, I think that, first off, you`ve got to -- right now,
the Cain campaign is doing sort of the, Holy crap, OK, this thing is really
beginning to gel for us. And so there`s a little bit of shell shock there.
But I think the reality for him right now is to get off the book tour
and to really get on the ground in at least one of those two states because
if he posts very well, like, in an Iowa or New Hampshire, then he locks in
-- he locks in that vote.
And that`s what the voters are saying right now. We like you enough
that we`re prepared to lock in with you and take this ride. And I think
not so much, necessarily, for the nomination, but at least the number two
spot, I think you...
MATTHEWS: OK, let`s talk about number two in two minutes.
STEELE: Yes.
MATTHEWS: In the first minute, Howard, here`s the question. Can he
pull a Huckabee in Iowa without a whole lot of ground game? Can he win
that thing?
Well, he`s as eloquent as Mike Huckabee. I saw Herman Cain in front of the
New Hampshire legislature yesterday, and he hit it out of the park. He was
quoting from the "book of Ronald," you know, chapter and verse, as in
Ronald Reagan. He talked about "Live free or die." He hit every chord of
the New Hampshire conservative heart.
But he doesn`t have an organization. He doesn`t really have one in
Iowa. He doesn`t really have one in New Hampshire. I mean, this is the
point where anybody who has not signed up has to get signed up, and talking
to people, Republicans all across the board in New Hampshire the last
previous couple days, I didn`t hear any big organization for Herman Cain
getting out there.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FINEMAN: That`s the problem. Now, Mitt Romney has got big numbers in
New Hampshire, but as somebody pointed out to me, you know, all of Romney`s
road signs are on the highways, they`re not on people`s lawns, so -- which
is -- that matters.
FINEMAN: People aren`t putting the signs on their lawns, OK? So
there`s the lawn factor. Herman Cain`s got to get some signs on some lawns
in Iowa and New Hampshire, and he`s got to do it fast. I haven`t seen it
MATTHEWS: Can I ask you an existential question?
STEELE: Sure.
MATTHEWS: I mean, you`re African-American...
MATTHEWS: ... party that doesn`t have a whole lot of African-
Americans, so I`m not going to play the umpire and say it can`t happen. I
am skeptical, though...
STEELE: Right.
MATTHEWS: ... of his success in that party, your party. Now, here`s
the question. Why wouldn`t he go for it? Sure, he`s got a book tour.
He`ll have a bigger book tour...
STEELE: Oh, sure.
MATTHEWS: ... if he gets to be the nominee.
STEELE: Right.
MATTHEWS: Why doesn`t he say, OK, I didn`t think it was going to
happen. It`s found money. It`s like guys like make who get on television.
STEELE: Right.
MATTHEWS: Hey, I`m on! I`m going to do it right!
MATTHEWS: I`m going to learn the business. Why doesn`t he learn how
to be an organizational politician?
STEELE: I think he will. I think he will.
I think right now that there are people who are going to be lining up,
certainly some of the political intelligentsia who wants to work on this
campaign, be a part of it.
MATTHEWS: Is he a good bet?
STEELE: I think he is a good bet. I would go long on Cain right now.
I wouldn`t short him like you could short some of the others.
MATTHEWS: Would the fallback be he gets the V.P.?
STEELE: Absolutely. I think the base right now have found the guy
that they have connected with the most, more than the others.
MATTHEWS: That`s for sure.
STEELE: And I think right now with his plan on his 999, he`s got to
come correct on that. He`s got to be able to defend that and really push
on that, but I think the base is kind of locked in on this guy and they
like him.
And if Romney is the go-to for the nomination, then Herman Cain is the
guy who gets him to the goalposts.
MATTHEWS: OK. I have got to ask a race question, because there`s a
couple -- not because I like -- but it`s America, after all.
Tim Scott, South Carolina. You have got Allen West. You have -- you
certainly had J.C. years ago, J.C. Watts.
STEELE: Yes.
MATTHEWS: Republicans will vote African-Americans who agree with them
on policy...
STEELE: Sure. Sure.
MATTHEWS: ... if they`re ideological, right? But will they do it for
STEELE: Oh, I think they will. I think they will.
I think that that dynamic, it`s going to be tested. Obviously, it`s
going to be tested.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
STEELE: But I think Herman Cain has put the seeds in place. Now he`s
got to germinate it by putting the organization together.
MATTHEWS: Let`s see if he can do it.
Here`s Cain -- where does Cain`s support come from? Well, according
to the NBC News/"Wall Street Journal" poll, fascinating numbers, he has
more support from people who say they`re highly interested in the campaign,
in other words, intense conservatives, people over 55, that`s interesting,
men. This is a conservative profile, People with college degrees, Tea
Party supporters, people who identify themselves as very conservative.
Let me go to Howard here.
And Romney supporters on the other end tend to be liberals. They
consider themselves to be less interested, women.
FINEMAN: Right.
MATTHEWS: Not less interested in women, but women, non-Tea Party
Republicans, and moderate or liberal Republicans.
MATTHEWS: So, Howard, this is so interesting.
FINEMAN: Yes.
MATTHEWS: This is what you might expect. He`s the Tea Party
candidate. He`s won what I call the Western conference, where Romney wins
the Eastern conference.
FINEMAN: Yes. Yes. And, by the way, that description of Cain
supporters was basically the floor of the New Hampshire legislature, which
has turned very Republican in the last year or so.
MATTHEWS: Oh, really?
FINEMAN: They`re all 55-year-old guys, you know, with weird sports
coats and flat-top hair cuts. That`s to generalize only slightly.
But the problem, I think, that Herman Cain has got is not race. It`s
the fact that 999 is very controversial because of sales taxes, and because
he keeps saying, whenever he`s asked how he`s going to solve a problem in
specific, he keeps saying, I will turn to my advisers, I will turn to my
group of advisers.
FINEMAN: Who are those advisers?
MATTHEWS: Rich Lowrie.
FINEMAN: It all seems kind of -- it seems kind of on the fly. It
seems a little too on the fly. He`s not only got to get an organization,
he`s got to get some substance.
MATTHEWS: OK. Let`s teach the people. Let`s learn some things here
myself. "The New York Times" describes Cain`s 999 plan as "little more
than a sketch that would be a radical and complex overhaul of the tax
system. In developing it, Mr. Cain relied heavily on Rich Lowrie, whom he
calls his lead economist. Mr. Lowrie is an investment adviser at a Wells
Fargo office in Pepper Pike, Ohio."
Well, they can put down all they want in "The New York Times."
FINEMAN: Right.
MATTHEWS: My question is, is the Republican Party ready to shift our
tax burden from income for personal into -- our taxes you and I pay and
corporate income taxes over to the consumer? I think they might. It`s a
more regressive tax. It hits the little people more. Are they that
cynical to say, yes, let`s lay more tax burden on little people?
STEELE: I don`t think they are. And I think that`s the rub. And I
think Howard`s right on that point there. I think ultimately that`s the
When you look at a state like New Hampshire that does not have a sales
tax, all of a sudden you`re going to impose a federally imposed 9 percent
sales tax?
MATTHEWS: Nine percent.
STEELE: That is going to be hard to swallow for a lot of folks.
MATTHEWS: They don`t have any taxes in New Hampshire.
STEELE: Right, exactly. So I`m sitting here thinking that the
excitement that`s been generated by Herman has not necessarily just broken
down into the meat of his proposals.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
STEELE: And so we will see whether or not he can...
MATTHEWS: Well, that will be -- Howard, that will be an acid test,
when people begin to take his programs seriously. They mean they`re taking
him seriously as an actual, possible president, not just a fun way of not
voting for Mitt.
FINEMAN: Right. And that`s what`s going to happen over the next two
or three weeks. The way this campaign has been run, everybody gets a
couple of weeks, they go and they sort of get chopped up in the meat
grinder and come back out the other side. If they`re still standing, fine.
None of them has so far. And Mitt Romney had 23 percent before, still
has 23 percent. He`s the only constant -- he`s the only sort of constant,
constant in the race at this point.
STEELE: And because he`s a constant, that means he`s got a...
MATTHEWS: Let me try this. If you take half the country who is
Republicans, that`s 23 percent of 50, that`s about -- he will get 11.5
percent going into the general election, right?
OK. I`m just kidding. Howard -- it could be.
STEELE: ... funny man.
MATTHEWS: That gives Obama about 87.5 percent.
Anyway, thank you, Howard Fineman.
Thank you, Michael Steele.
STEELE: Thank you.
MATTHEWS: It looks like it may happen, Cain for president.
Up next, Hillary Clinton gets an answer to the question some people
just can`t resist asking. That "Today Show" keeps pounding her on this
question. She had to answer it again today. That`s in the "Sideshow"
You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Back to HARDBALL. Now for the "Sideshow."
First up, one way or the other, GOP candidate Mitt Romney takes up
both sides of an issue, depending on where he is and who he`s talking to.
Sound familiar? Well, it`s a fat target for the late-night guys. Let`s
watch Jimmy Fallon go at it on last night`s show.
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": Hello. I`m Mitt
FALLON: No, I`m not.
FALLON: And I`m ready to fight for America.
FALLON: Nuh-uh.
FALLON: I have a job plan to help deal with our nation`s soaring
unemployment, and this plan will bring jobs back to our country.
That jobs plan won`t work.
FALLON: I`m a patriot and I love the red, white, and blue.
I also love the colors orange and purple.
FALLON: Of course, magenta`s the best.
FALLON: Send me to Washington so we can finally put regular,
hardworking people above these greedy corporations.
Corporations are people.
FALLON: I`m Mitt Romney, and I approve this message.
MATTHEWS: That was pretty good.
Now to the question, is Romney a moderate? Good question. Or is he a
conservative? Well, here`s the keeper of all things holy and conservative
to tell us.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Romney is not a conservative.
He`s not, folks. But you can argue with he all day long on that, but he
isn`t. This isn`t personal, not with what the country faces and so forth.
I like him very much. I have spent some social time with him. He`s a
fine guy. He`s a very nice gentleman. He is a gentleman. But he`s not a
MATTHEWS: Well, there you have it from the grand vizier of
conservatism: Romney`s not one of them.
Next up, travel snafu, that might just be the case for former
President George W. Bush as he firms up the details for a trip to the
Canadian province of British Columbia next week for an economic summit.
What`s the catch? The human rights group, the great group Amnesty
International has officially called on the Canadian government to arrest
the former president for violating international laws, saying -- quote --
"Canada is required by its international obligations to arrest and
prosecute former President Bush given his responsibility for crimes under
international law, including torture."
Well, it looks like Bush is in the clear for now, at least, since the
Canadian government had nothing but criticism for Amnesty International and
for their call for his arrest, although this is not an entirely new
situation for President Bush, as he felt compelled to scrap a trip to
Switzerland back in February when human rights groups were similarly
calling for his arrest there.
And, finally, one more time, here`s Hillary Clinton saying one more
time there`s no possibility that she will get the upgrade to veep.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC ANCHOR: If you Googled yourself today, you
would find suggestion that perhaps you would be vice president, that there
would be a switcheroo and that you might possibly be the vice president,
and Biden would come over here as secretary of state. Is there any chance
you would be vice president in the second term?
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: No, there is not.
GUTHRIE: Is it in the realm of possibility?
CLINTON: I do not think it`s even in the realm of possibility.
GUTHRIE: Has anyone ever raised it, the possibility with you?
CLINTON: No. I think it`s maybe a subject for speculation on Google
but it`s not a serious issue in the administration.
MATTHEWS: Well, there you heard it, I think, finally, although I`m
sure it will come back again.
Up next, those Occupy Wall Street protests are gaining some traction,
but -- that`s the big question here -- can the protesters turn their anger
into real action, real change in this country? Everybody wants to know
that, I think, even the bad guys. Can they make something happen, those
You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
AMANDA DRURY, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Amanda Drury with your CNBC
"Market Wrap."
Well, stocks ending mixed after a day of choppy trade. The Dow Jones
industrial falling 40 points, the S&P 500 slipping three, but the Nasdaq
adding 15. Caution was the word of the day today, as investors weighed
earnings from J.P. Morgan, balancing those against some weaker-than-
expected trade data out of China. The banking giant reported a 4 percent
drop in quarterly earnings as the European debt crisis sidelined investors.
Meanwhile, China`s trade surplus narrowed for the second month in a
row in September with exports in particular coming in much lower than
expected. Elsewhere, the tech sector got a boost from a ratings upgrade
for chipmaker Broadcom, and AOL shares bounced on reports CEO Tim Armstrong
has been meeting with shareholders to push the idea of selling the company
to Yahoo!.
Google shares are also soaring in after-hours trade on a blockbuster
quarterly earnings report that was delivered after the closing bell.
And that`s it from CNBC, first in business worldwide -- back to
MATTHEWS: Back to HARDBALL.
The Occupy Wall Street movement is still in its infancy, of course,
but the protesters have gained the support of about a third of the country
now. That`s according to our new NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll this week.
And it`s a great poll -- 37 percent say they support the movement. That`s
higher than the number that supports the Tea Party. That`s a significant
advantage, which is 26 percent.
But there are still real questions about the staying power of those
people -- there they are -- camped out in the streets of New York, and
where does it go and where will it find tangible support in Washington, if
it does, and, for that matter, will anyone step up to act as a leader for
the movement, or at least represent their concerns here in Washington?
John Larson is a congressman from Connecticut and chairman of the
Democratic Caucus. He joins us now.
Congressman Larson, you are a levelheaded leader of the party, the
Democratic Party, and I keep waiting for that crosswalk, for all this
energy and passion in the streets of New York and elsewhere across the
country to come up with, A., a clear message, a clear demand for a specific
action, and for you guys on the center and left in American politics to,
damn it, do it. When will that day occur?
REP. JOHN LARSON (D), CONNECTICUT: Well, from your lips to God`s
ears, Chris. We hope it would happen.
The frustration just mounts here. I don`t think that there`s any
third-grader in America who doesn`t the understand that two-thirds of the
nation supports the president`s jobs bill -- 14 million Americans out of
work, 25 million underemployed, and they read in the paper bill passes
Senate 51/49, president`s bill defeated.
It doesn`t add up. It doesn`t make sense. But, then again, neither
does the cloture vote, in my opinion, and I think the opinion of a lot of
Americans. And then the act that the Senate does do, in terms of China
currency, is approved by an overwhelming majority, and yet held up from
coming to the floor in the House.
There is hope in this super committee. And I think the efforts of
people who have taken this frustration to the streets are important. Now,
whether or not we`re able to tap into that -- when I say we, I mean the
country. What`s at stake here is the country seizing this opportunity to
do the right thing on behalf of 14 million Americans out of work.
MATTHEWS: OK. But you guys keep blowing it.
Look, here, why didn`t...
LARSON: Yes. Well...
MATTHEWS: ... Harry Reid jump on McConnell the other day, when
McConnell said, I`m going to give you an up-or-down vote right now on
either the president`s version of the bill or Harry Reid`s version of the
bill? And he could have said, OK, we will do it, and I`m going to give you
51 -- or 50 votes plus the vice president and we will have the damn jobs
bill passed. He could have done it that split-second.
Instead, he held back and said, oh, I can`t get Bill Nelson on this or
I can`t get Mary Landrieu.
If he had been able to deliver his troops, we would have a jobs bill,
maybe, at least through the Senate. You know that.
LARSON: Well, certainly at least in the...
MATTHEWS: Well, I`m telling you what you already know.
LARSON: Yes, at least in the Senate, yes.
MATTHEWS: But I wish -- I wish the Democratic Party would jump and
see their opportunities and say, damn it, it`s never going to be perfect,
and you know I`m right, and grab that baby.
LARSON: Yes, you are right.
And you know what, Chris? I think you were probably one of the few
people that pointed out -- and I share this view -- that Mitch McConnell
should have been "TIME" man of the year last year. I mean, when we were in
the majority, they blocked 497 bills.
To see this bill fail, when the majority of America supports it and a
majority of the Senate supports it -- you`re right. They should have
seized the day. It should have been a carpe diem moment for the Senate.
They did not.
And the prospects of the House taking up the bill are probably nil.
So, our hopes really pin on this select, this super committee that`s out
there. And as you have heard me say several times, we believe very
strongly that, look, deficit -- job creation equals deficit reduction.
The CBO has said very clearly, a third of the deficit can be reduced
by putting people back to work. And there are like-minded Republicans.
LARSON: We`re hopeful that we can reach across that divide, but I
hope the people continue to take to the streets and put the pressure on.
MATTHEWS: I just -- it seems to me, Congressman, and you have all the
leadership ability and you`re respected by your colleagues, it just seems
to me this tax structure is going to get changed eventually, I suppose.
Maybe you`ll get rid of capital gains treatments, maybe some day in 100
But the jobs situation is right now -- you`ve got an unemployment
situation that looks like it`s going to stay with us for two or three
years, around 10 percent. It may go back up by over 10. We don`t know.
Isn`t it seems it`s time to do something more than just even this
bill, and really put 2 million or 3 million people to work right now, it
would be a healthier country? And I don`t know why the president can`t
find some way to do that. I don`t know what he does. I don`t know what he
does, but put the pressure, go on the road and don`t stop pounding. I
don`t know.
LARSON: Exactly. And I don`t know how many more times he can reach
out to the other side.
But clearly, he has a bill that`s before Congress. And whether you
agree or disagree with that bill, my God, give it an up-or-down vote. It`s
-- we know that it`s got a majority of the Senate that supports it by
virtue of the vote yesterday.
MATTHEWS: I know.
LARSON: Take the bill up, for God`s sake, including Eric Cantor`s
proposals, include Mitch McConnell`s proposals. But let`s act on behalf of
the American people. That`s the frustration of the Wall Street movement is
that there`s no action down here. And it`s all caught up in inside the
Beltway jargon.
Who, for God`s sake, understands what a cloture vote is out there?
You do. Other people do. But most of the American public says, my God,
can`t they do something down there? And that is the frustration expressed
by people who have taken to the streets.
MATTHEWS: Well, maybe you should take every port proposal by every
Republican in the last 10 years, put it in one bill and say yes.
Anyway, thank you very much, Congressman Larson. That`s almost
serious about that. Thanks for coming on. Good luck in translating the
actions and voices in the street into action.
And we are joined right now by E.J. Dionne. He`s right on top of
this, as a columnist with the "Washington Post" and MSNBC contributor.
E.J., here`s -- just got a couple of minutes now. Tell the country
right now what you said on your column today.
E.J. DIONNE, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think what you got right now
is a Republican Party that is so committed to the idea that government
shouldn`t do anything, shouldn`t intervene in the economy, that their
solution is, the way you solve a big problem is for government to do
nothing about it.
And I quoted this old Barney Frank line where he took about reverse
Houdinis, who are people who tied themselves all up in knots and say, I`m
sorry, I can`t do anything because I`m all tied up in knots. And I think
the country actually wants action, Rand Paul says it, to get the economy
moving. They know the government has got to invest because private
investors aren`t investing right now.
But you can`t get anything through. You saw that on the Republican
debate and you saw that in the Senate.
MATTHEWS: OK. Let`s take look at this poll, NBC News/"Wall Street
Journal" poll, a hell of a poll. It`s our poll and it`s a good one.
Look at these numbers -- 63 percent favor the president`s jobs bill.
That`s 2/3. That`s rare in America. That`s for construction jobs and fair
Another one here, raising taxes on the wealthy -- 64 percent, E.J.
These aren`t close calls. The country wants what the president wants, they
like the president personally.
Let`s get back to Obama for a minute, without laying it all on the
Republicans. Why can`t a popular person, who has popular ideas, push them
What`s missing between Obama`s personal popularity, the popularity of
his proposals on jobs and taxes, and he can`t move it? Is it just
Republican obstructionism or is there something he doesn`t know how to
scare people with? He can`t lead by scaring? By what?
What`s missing here? Is it just obstructionism? Is that all it is?
DIONNE: If his own poll numbers are at 60 percent, a lot of these
Republicans would be more reluctant to block things, because you know the
House -- the leadership puts on the floor whatever it wants and it blocks
whatever it doesn`t and the Senate can`t do anything.
But I also think the president didn`t start making this case until
about a month ago. He`s really kind of taken a different tact and started
to be much more forceful. It may be a little late to get anything through
this Congress.
MATTHEWS: I think we spend too much time decking around the debt,
and I know he had to.
DIONNE: Yes.
MATTHEWS: And I know we had to. It was a job he had to do. But,
boy, it didn`t sell anybody.
Thank you, E.J. Dionne. I think the country lost a lot in that
terrible logjam over the debt ceiling.
Anyway, great column. Of course, E.J. Dionne with the post.
Up next, Pastor Robert Jeffress, who`s a supporter of Rick Perry
still, has called Mormonism a cult -- that`s a kind word from him, I`m
sarcastic. And now, he`s found similar things to say about the Roman
Catholic Church, calls it a fake church. I guess, he`s deciding on all
these things.
We`ll have a little conversation about him coming up in a couple of
minutes. Here he is coming up on HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Here we go. Now again more tricks. A Republican lawmaker
in Wisconsin wants to split up the state`s 10 electoral votes by
congressional district, this undercutting -- thereby undercutting President
Obama`s advantage in the Democrat-leaning state. The proposal is similar
to the one we saw in Pennsylvania, whereby President Obama would only win
electoral votes from the congressional districts he wins. And the end
result could be a Republican candidate winning a lion`s share of electoral
votes in Wisconsin, despite losing popular vote in that state.
We`ll be right back.
ROBERT JEFFRESS, PASTOR: Rick Perry`s a Christian. He`s an
evangelical Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. Mitt Romney`s a good,
moral person, but he`s not a Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity. It
has always been considered a cult by the mainstream of Christianity. So,
it`s a difference between a Christian and a non-Christian.
MATTHEWS: Well, we`re back.
That was Pastor Robert Jeffress and his attack on Mormonism, just
after he introduced Rick Perry at the Values Voters Summit here in
Washington last Friday.
And it looks like Jeffress may have to answer for this attack on
Catholicism last year. Let`s listen.
JEFFRESS: Much of what you see in the Catholic Church today doesn`t
come from God`s word. It comes from this cult-like, pagan religion. You
say, "Pastor, how can you say such a thing? That is such an indictment of
the Catholic Church. After all, the Catholic Church talks about God and
the Bible and Jesus and the blood of Christ and salvation!" Isn`t that the
genius of Satan?
MATTHEWS: Wow, the genius of Satan, the Catholic Church. Rick Perry
ended up distancing himself from Jeffress` comments on Mormonism, but will
Perry now have to cut ties with Jeffress over the Catholic comments?
Bill Donohue is head of the Catholic League and he is calling Perry
to make a break with the pastor.
Your thoughts about these two -- it seems like the word "cult" comes
to mind quickly with this guy to his lips.
WILLIAM DONOHUE, CATHOLIC LEAGUE: Well, the word "cult," obviously,
bespeaks a certain ignorance on the part of Jeffress which maybe corrected
through education. But when he basically says the Catholic Church is
infected by Satan, that`s not something you`re going to affect by
education. That`s a deep-seated visceral bigotry, and it has to be
renounced by Rick Perry.
I`m making it very clear -- I don`t hold Perry accountable for these
remarks. In fact, I was told on a good trusted source today, my friend
Tony Perkins, who`s an imminently decent evangelical, that Perry had no
knowledge of this, nor would he countenance this. So I want to make that
separation. On the other hand, what Jeffress said is despicable and Perry,
I think, for his own good, ethically speaking, he should say "I want
nothing to do with this guy again."
MATTHEWS: Well, let`s look at a couple of things and sort of
educating people as you`re trying to do now. We haven`t been able to get
polling on whether or not the evangelicals considered the Catholic faith
part of Christianity or not.
But the Pew Research Center has found the following: 76 percent of
evangelical protestant leaders view Catholicism`s religious traditions in a
favorable light. Only 24 percent view Catholics unfavorably. That`s a
pretty healthy, 76 percent.
So, in terms of the attitudes of even the most fundamentalist
preachers out there, they don`t have a negative attitude toward the
Catholic Church.
So whether the word "cult" has made its rounds or not among that
community or not, it is not a nasty attitude, like I think their attitude
is towards Mormonism. But I`m going to get to those numbers.
Your thought about that, Bill?
DONOHUE: I think that -- look, you`re a Catholic. And we`re both
Catholics. We grew up in a time when there was much more open bigotry
coming from some Protestant circles. I think tremendous progress has been
made, certainly I`ve seen over the last 20 years.
I was with Tony Perkins, and Don Wildmon and Dr. Richard Land and
other evangelicals last week in Washington, D.C. -- nothing like this came
out of their because they`re not no more bigoted than you and I are. But
there`s still progress that has to be made.
For some reason, there are still some people, I`m sure we have them
in the Catholic community, too, who exercise a kind of bigotry toward
others. It has to be condemned, no matter who says it -- but particularly
in a presidential campaign.
MATTHEWS: Here`s where you have an interesting point here.
According to LifeWay Research, which falls under the Southern Baptist
Convention, Protestant pastors do not hold favorable views of Mormonism.
The poll shows that 75 percent of Protestant pastors do not consider
Mormons to be Christians, and the number increases among evangelical
pastors to 82 percent.
So, here`s the conundrum here, Bill, that among the pastors
themselves, 82 percent, four out of five, don`t consider Mormonism to be
Christian. So, when you have Jeffress out there, of course, the words like
"cult" are obviously meant to be nasty -- but what do you make of their
ideological or theological belief that Mormons are just not Christians.
Are they right to say that?
DONOHUE: I`ll be honest with you, that doesn`t bother me. I mean,
people who are Buddhists, and Hindu and Islam, we all have different
religions. We should respect the right of other people to practice it.
What bothers me is when you get into disparaging language.
MATTHEWS: Exactly.
DONOHUE: That`s what bothers me. Not the theological differences.
God bless them.
MATTHEWS: And I think in parlance in our country, the word "cult,"
we think of Manson.
DONOHUE: Right.
MATTHEWS: So, let`s remember, we start using words like that in
public, we better be careful.
Thank you so much, Bill.
DONOHUE: Thank you so much.
MATTHEWS: On this one, we agree.
When we return, "Let Me Finish" with why I think a person`s religion
can`t predict their politics or how good a leader they`re going to be. And
this is common sense in this country.
You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: "Let Me Finish" with this: Religion. There`s a pride to
it, along with the faith that comes with being born to a faith comes a
strong stubborn desire to defend it, because what you`re doing in most
cases is defending the beliefs of your parents and grandparents, the very
roots of your own existence. So, don`t make fun of someone`s religion,
don`t do it because it is a direct affront as well as a direct assault.
Someone who speaks badly or speaks down on their religion you are brought
up in, and there`s either going to be trouble or sadness or both, because
it hurts.
We Americans take a wonderful view of religion as a country. Our
Constitution says there can be no religious test for public office, none,
nada. You can`t ask much less, demand an answer to the question. You
can`t even ask the question.
People in this country are entitled to believe what they will about
the existence and nature of the universe in which we are all born and live
our lives.
So, this is the heart of it. It`s not the value of a particular
religion. We`re unlikely to resolve that biggest of all questions. It`s a
pride of a person born into one. More than good manners says don`t make an
issue of it.
Mitt Romney should or should not be president of the United States
starting January 20th of 2013. His religion should have nothing to do with
that decision. Speculate all you wish about Mormonism.
I got my start in politics because of a Mormon. Wayne Owens of Utah
gave me my first job in Washington. I have no idea what he believed about
God. What I know is that he was a deeply committed supporter of Bobby
Kennedy, and a positive American politician, who was elected U.S.
congressman from Utah as a Democrat and died working for peace in the
Middle East.
I can say the same of Senator Frank Moss of Utah, for whom I worked
in my first job in the Senate and whose personal endorsement won me my job
working for the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, which led for me working in
the White House. What a fine, good man he was. In all the years I knew
him, I found him to be a solid liberal.
I can say the same with the great Morris Udall, who ran for
president. And Harry Reid, who is the Democratic leader in the Senate --
and any number of other good Mormons who were also good Democrats, along
with many more who are conservative Republicans.
I bring this all up to make a simple, practical point: there are good
reasons to vote for or again Mitt Romney for president. His religion is
neither, because it is, in my experience, hardly a guide to his politics.
I have enough Mormon to know that -- know enough Mormons to know that. And
more importantly, I`ve known enough people in my life of a variety of
faiths to know enough to -- of each faith to know that religion is a
useless predictor of their views, or to their worth as leaders, which this
country sorely needs.
And that`s HARDBALL for now. Thanks for being with us.
"POLITICS NATION" with Al Sharpton starts right now.
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Guests: Dana Milbank, Ron Reagan, John Larson, William Donohue


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text:
Expression of sadness over the shooting Saturday of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., came swiftly Saturday from friends and colleagues in the political world. An assailant opened fire outside a grocery store as Giffords met with constituents, killing six people, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old child, and wounding several others in a rampage that rattled the nation.
President Barack Obama:
"A senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society. It's not surprising that today Gabby was doing what she always does, listening to the hopes and concerns of her neighbors. That is the essence of what our democracy is about."
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., while traveling in Colombia:
"I am horrified by the violent attack on Representative Gabrielle Giffords and many other innocent people by a wicked person who has no sense of justice or compassion. I pray for Gabby and the other victims, and for the repose of the souls of the dead and comfort for their families. I beg our loving Creator to spare the lives of those who are still alive, heal them in body and spirit, and return them to their loved ones. Whoever did this; whatever their reason, they are a disgrace to Arizona, this country and the human race, and they deserve and will receive the contempt of all decent people and the strongest punishment of the law."
Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security secretary and former Democratic governor of Arizona:
"I am deeply saddened by reports that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Chief Judge John Roll and others were attacked this afternoon in Tucson, Arizona. There is no place in our society or discourse for such senseless and unconscionable acts of violence. Gabby is a steadfast representative for southern Arizona and both she and John are dedicated public servants. The Department of Homeland Security has offered all possible assistance to the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff's Office, who are leading the investigation."
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky:
"This senseless attack today in Tucson is a national tragedy, and all America mourns those who lost their lives in the very act of public service. I join the entire Congress in condemning this horrifying act of violence, and on behalf of the entire Senate family, Elaine and I extend our deepest expressions of sympathy and heartfelt prayers to Rep. Giffords and the families of those who have been killed or injured. The U.S. Capitol Police are joining local, state and federal officials in this investigation. We appreciate their quick response and stand ready to assist in their efforts."
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Republican:
"All of Arizona is shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific tragedy that transpired this morning in Tucson. ... I am just heartbroken. Gabby is more than just a colleague, she is my friend. She has always been a noble public servant. My thoughts and prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords and her family, the congresswoman's staff and their families, as well as the other victims of this senseless and cruel violence."
Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz.:
"Gabrielle never let fear or intimidation prevent her from serving the people of Arizona. My thoughts and prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords, her husband, Mark, her staff, all those who were injured, and their families."
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio:
"An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve. Acts and threats of violence against public officials have no place in our society. Our prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords, her staff, all who were injured, and their families. This is a sad day for our country."
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele:
"Today's senseless act of violence is an attack on the American ideal and goes against our country's deeply held democratic values. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Representative Giffords and the families of all of those who were victims of this national tragedy."
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.:
"I hope for a speedy recovery for the congresswoman and all of the wounded, and that those responsible will be brought to justice quickly. This is a sad day for our country, and acts of senseless violence such as this one affect us all. Congresswoman Giffords is one of our most dynamic members of Congress. As a representative of a neighboring state, I have watched her career closely and admired her work on behalf of the state of Arizona. I know she will be in the thoughts of every American — and in particular those who dedicate their lives to public service as she and her staff have."
Sarah Palin, former Republican vice presidential candidate and ex-governor of Alaska:
"My sincere condolences are offered to the family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today's tragic shooting in Arizona. On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice."
Chief Justice John Roberts:
"The violence in Arizona today has senselessly taken five lives and inflicted tragic loss on dedicated public servants and their families. We in the judiciary have suffered the terrible loss of one of our own. Chief Judge John Roll was a wise jurist who selflessly served Arizona and the nation with great distinction, as attorney and judge, for more than 35 years. I express my deepest condolences to his wife Maureen and his children, as well as the other victims and their families. Chief Judge Roll's death is a somber reminder of the importance of the rule of law and the sacrifices of those who work to secure it."
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Mo.:
"I am shocked and devastated by the tragic events of this day. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is not only a colleague but a good friend, and the Congressional Black Caucus's thoughts and prayers are with her staff and her family during this horrific time. Even though we do not have all the answers yet, we are all too familiar with the violent and polarizing climate in which we live. There is no place in American society for such senseless and terrible acts of extreme violence. Those of us in leadership must be overly cautious of fanning the flames of extremism in hopes to prevent another horrendous tragedy such as this."
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.:
"Our nation was shocked by the tragedy in Arizona earlier today. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, members of her staff, and others became the victims of a senseless act of violence. Congresswoman Giffords serves Arizona's 8th District with distinction and thoughtful leadership, and it is horrifying that she was exposed to such violence at an event designed to reach the people she represents. ... All legislation currently scheduled to be considered by the House of Representatives next week is being postponed so that we can take whatever actions may be necessary in light of today's tragedy."
Vice President Joe Biden:
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords "is a principled leader and a consensus-builder. She has spent her time in office working her heart out to improve the lives of the people she represents. And she loves her husband and family above all else. ... Chief Judge John Roll was a dedicated jurist whose death is a terrible loss to Arizona and to the country. We do not yet know the motivation behind these shootings. But what we do know is that there is simply no justification, no rationale for such senseless and appalling violence in our society."
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
"Caryll and I send our most heartfelt condolences to the family of Judge John Roll and the others who were killed and injured today in Tucson. Judge Roll, who presided over the federal District Court in Arizona, was an exceptional judge and a good friend. We pray for the recovery of Representative Giffords and the others who remain in critical condition. Congresswoman Giffords is also a good friend, and I find it especially saddening that such a heinous crime would occur while she was fulfilling her congressional responsibilities. All of us will work to ensure that justice will be served fully and swiftly."


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IF the mob spends money at Malibongwe Restaurant
THEN 30% of the revenue will be used to make Malibongwe Restaurant a more environmentally sustainable business.
19 May 2012
Malibongwe Restaurant
2 Mthawelanga St
Cape Town 7784, South Africa
This Carrotmob was organised by Climate Smart Cape Town (CSCT), an initiative driven by the Cape Town Climate Change Coalition (CTCCC). The CTCCC consists of thirty member organisations made up of government departments, businesses, tertiary and research institutions, as well as NGO's both local and international. The goal is to help reduce carbon emissions in Cape Town, to mitigate and especially to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and protecting and enhancing the natural, cultural, social and economic environment. CSCT was also responsible for Africa's first Carrotmob held in November 2011, after which a commitment was made to organise the next Carrotmob in one of Cape Town's townships in the metro southeast. Restaurants from Langa, Khayelitsha and Gugulethu were considered, with the winning bid coming from Malibongwe Restaurant in Khayelitsha.
You are invited to participate in the Carrotmob by booking (+2721 361 6259 or email@example.com) for a meal on the 19th of May between 11:00 and 15:00 and coming to enjoy a delicious set menu featuring traditional township dishes. We can guarantee wonderful food, local music, interesting people and all-in-all a unique township experience!
Directions to the venue: from the N2, take the M44/Mew Way exit (exit 25) towards Khayelitsha. Drive approximately 4 km to where Mew Way crosses Spine Road – the restaurant is located in the Lookout Hill tourism centre on the southeast corner of the crossing, with access to the parking area situated in Spine Road. Secure parking will be available.
Specifically, Malibongwe will:
1) switch to energy-efficient light bulbs,
2) set up a system to use organic waste generated by the restaurant to an urban agriculture project in a low-income area in Cape Town,
3) provide environmental awareness training to their staff, and
4) spread the word about sustainability to their local community.
About Malibongwe Restaurant:
Malibongwe Restaurant is one of the best eating out places in the Townships of the Cape Flats, and is situated in the Lookout Hill Tourism Facility on the foot of the famous Lookout Hill sand dunes. It's not difficult to fall in love with the charming African style decoration of Malibongwe's; it is a simple yet stylish little restaurant decorated with African art and artefacts to create an atmosphere representing African culture. The excellent African menu offers a delightful combination of dishes made with a passion for ethnic cuisine by experienced chefs who take pride in offering the best service to all Malibongwe clients. Additional services provided by Malibongwe Restaurant include product launches, conferences, spit braais, catering, corporate gifts and workshops.
LOOKOUT HILL COMPLEX: Located on the corner of Spine Rd and Mew Way. From the N2, take the Mew way exit and drive south towards Khayelitsha. From Baden Powell Rd, turn into Swartklip Rd and then right into Spine Rd.
For reservations please contact:
Ntsiki Ndzishe 083 363 8635 or Noluthando Ndzishe 083 516 6080
Fax: 086 663 9901
Email:firstname.lastname@example.com or email@example.com
MON-THURS: 9am – 10pm
FRI -SAT: 9am – till morning dawn
SUN: 10am – 10pm- South African Traditional Sunday Lunch
Have ideas for Carrotmob? Experiencing problems on our site? Please use the form below. You can also reach us at: email@example.com. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Happy mobbing!
The fastest and easiest way to join Carrotmob is by connecting with your Facebook account. You will also be able see what your friends are doing on Carrotmob and quickly share some of your activities with your network. To learn more about how this works, read this. If you are curious about the permissions we're requesting of your Facebook account, read this. Clicking this button will NOT post anything to your Facebook wall.


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If you find the readings from the Philips Avent soother thermometer to be inaccurate, there might be a simple way to solve this. Just follow these tips and tricks.
My Avent soother thermometer readings aren't accurate.
Measure longer
If you take out the soother thermometer too soon the measurement will be inaccurate. Place the soother back into your baby's mouth and measure again.
If your baby has consumed hot or cold liquids before you measure the temperature, wait 30 minutes before you place the soother in the baby's mouth.
Assembled correctly?
Check that the measurement unit of the soother thermometer is firmly attached to the soother and turned completely to the closed lock position.


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We have to say, when it comes to Soviet military hardware, we've got what most would consider more than a passing familiarity, given our childhood obsession with books on WWII-present planes, boats, tanks and other various and sundry killng machines, not to mention a pubescent summer spent devouring the Tom Clancy oeuvre through Clear and Present Danger. Still, the Caspian Sea Monster took us by surprise. And while we normally let our commenters have the glory on their own, It's entirely worth expending a post to point out that the link that Sebring MGB pointed out needs sharing in a highly-official, Jalop-endorsed manner. Seriously, if you don't spend at least half the clip giggling in sheer amazement at the fabulosity of these machines, we'd recommend an MRI, stat. Meanwhile, we shall not rest until the Port of Los Angeles is crawling with these things. And no, sorry Long Beach, you can't have any. Oakland, help yourself. Sue us. We're feeling selectively parsimonious this afternoon.
Gee Willikers, Anatoly! Ekronaplan! [Internal]