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Guests: John Heilemann, Hampton Pearson, David Gregory, Howard Fineman, Susan Page, Tony Perkins, Joan Walsh, James Fallows
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Wars of religion.
Let`s play HARDBALL.
Good evening. I`m Chris Matthews in Washington. Leading off tonight:
Birth control, religion and politics. Republicans are brilliantly turning
the HHS -- or -- HHS decision on the church and birth control into a
classic wedge issue, something that unites your side and divides the
opposition. And Democrats are divided, some of them now peeling off to
oppose President Obama. Yes, this is a debate about women`s health, but
it`s also about religious freedom. And the White House needs a way to
solve this problem, and soon.
But here`s how off-the-charts crazy this debate has gotten.
Republicans once accused President Obama of being an acolyte of a radical
Christian minister, Jeremiah Wright. Later, many on the right accused him
of being a secret Muslim. Well, now Republicans charge Obama with
attempting to destroy all religion. Rick Santorum, for example, said last
night we`re headed for the French revolution and the guillotine. Well, you
might say Republicans are losing their heads on this issue.
How fringy are the Republicans? How wild has their party become? Mr.
Guillotine himself, Rick Santorum, may now be the biggest threat to Mitt
Romney. "The Wall Street Journal" today said conservatives don`t trust
Romney because he gives them so little reason to.
And the veteran journalist James Fallows has written an epic piece now
about President Obama`s first three years in office. He joins us tonight
Finally, let me finish tonight with these dual explosions, one against
Romney on the right, the other against the birth control ruling, even among
Democrats themselves. We start with that story, religion and politics.
John Heilemann is the estimable national affairs editor for "New York"
magazine. He`s also an MSNBC political analyst, and Susan Page is the
great bureau chief of "USA Today," which everybody reads, as I say, the
minute you stay at a hotel.
MATTHEWS: There it is, whether you like it or not, right out front.
Let`s talk about this thing that`s developed. Even at a photo op with
the Italian prime minister late this afternoon, President Obama couldn`t
escape questions about this contraceptive issue and religious
organizations. Let`s listen to what happened.
QUESTION: Is there anything...
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, guys.
QUESTION: ... on the contraception controversy that you can share
with us?
OBAMA: Come on, guys.
MATTHEWS: "Come on, guys."
MATTHEWS: "Come on, guys." And shortly afterward on the Senate
floor, Harry Reid, the head of the Democrats, the majority leader, tried to
defuse the issue again. Let`s listen to him, Harry Reid.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: This debate that`s going on
dealing this issue dealing with contraception is a rule that hasn`t even
being made -- hasn`t had -- hasn`t been made final yet. There`s no final
rule. There`s not a rule! Everybody should calm down. Let`s see what
MATTHEWS: Boy, that was a (INAUDIBLE) I`m sorry -- I`m sorry, Susan.
Those are the moves of people that don`t like what`s happening.
SUSAN PAGE, "USA TODAY": Well, you know, this rule is not going to go
into effect. They say they couldn`t find some compromise language, some
other way to go forward. They will because given the opposition on the
Republican side and with people like Tim Kaine and...
MATTHEWS: ... chairman of the Democratic National Committee, John
Cameron, the current chairman (SIC) of the Democratic House caucus.
PAGE: Exactly. There`s going to be -- the administration`s going to
have to backtrack. The question is about how far.
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you -- we have a couple people now out on this
issue, with Tim Kaine, the former chairman of the party, now running in a
head-to-head battle. Here there`s some -- (INAUDIBLE) whole (INAUDIBLE)
Democrats. I`ll run through the list formally now, who have some
disagreement out front with the president and say the exemption for
religious employers needs to be brought.
And they include former DNC chair, we mentioned, Tim Kaine of
Virginia, who`s running a very close race, in fact, within a point, for
Virginia. Pennsylvania senator Bob Casey, who`s been with Obama since the
beginning, U.S. congressman John Larson, who`s the chairman of the
Democratic national caucus on the floor of the House, Senator Joe Manchin
of West Virginia, who`s hanging on by his fingernails usually there, and
Congressman Daniel Lipinski. I believe he`s from Chicago. He`s out in
Kaine, by the way, said, "I think they made a bad decision in not
allowing a broad enough religious employer exemption." Senator Manchin
says he`d warned the White House as follows.
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST, VIRGINIA: Well, I was on the conference
call with the White House on December 3rd urging them not to do this. I
thought it was wrong, an infringement of the religious rights that we have
in the Constitution. They went ahead and did it anyway.
MATTHEWS: Well, in a letter to Secretary Sebelius -- she`s HHS
secretary -- which Politico obtained, U.S. Congressman John Larson -- he`s
the chair of the caucus -- said, "I believe that further flexibility needs
to be granted to religiously affiliated organizations."
John Heilemann, this isn`t about birth control -- or getting birth
control coverage in your health care plans, which is now required by "Obama
care," by the president`s health care plan. For example, Governor Kaine
made a point of his staff of calling us and making sure we know that. It`s
about whether there should be a broad religious exemption for churches,
university and hospitals that are religious and do not believe in birth
control, are against it as a matter of sin, if you will.
JOHN HEILEMANN, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes,
well, look, I watched on our network last night -- I watched David Boies,
who knows a lot more about the 1st Amendment (INAUDIBLE) Constitution than
I do, make a pretty compelling argument for why these people are, in fact,
MATTHEWS: Who`s wrong?
HEILEMANN: Why the people who think there should be a broader
religious exemption -- it doesn`t raise any 1st Amendment issues
whatsoever. This is a matter of labor law and employment law, and that as
an employer, the same kinds of laws should apply. You can`t exempt --
they`re not exempt from tax laws, they`re not exempt from discrimination
laws or from worker`s comp. All those kind of things should be applied
I think there`s some part of the president that saw this as a
constitutional scholar might and thought that on the merits, he was right.
Clearly, it`s a political problem...
MATTHEWS: But by the way, Boies makes that case -- does he include
HEILEMANN: He does. He does.
MATTHEWS: You can -- you can make...
MATTHEWS: ... convents buy birth control.
HEILEMANN: Well, he -- no, he`s saying employers. He`s saying
MATTHEWS: Well...
HEILEMANN: They`re...
MATTHEWS: Nuns get a certain...
HEILEMANN: ... but employers are -- the employers must abide by
employment law. There are federal laws that apply to all employers.
MATTHEWS: So he`s arguing that -- he`s going further than the
president on this, then...
HEILEMANN: Yes.
MATTHEWS: ... than HHS.
HEILEMANN: Yes.
MATTHEWS: He says, in other words, you can go into a little convent
or a little rectory and you can say, You must buy this kind of insurance
HEILEMANN: Well, I don`t know that he -- I`m not going to put words
in his mouth.
MATTHEWS: Well, that`s what you`re saying.
HEILEMANN: What he was saying last night was that this rule, as
applied to employers -- again...
MATTHEWS: Let`s see...
MATTHEWS: ... Supreme Court, I think he`ll lose.
HEILEMANN: But Chris, I think that`s not the question. The question
is, is this -- as a political matter, is it a problem? And I think the
White House handled it very badly. We`re now seeing the implications of it
play out.
Now, if there -- you know, if you were going to take a controversial
position and you had people like Bill Daley and Joe Biden warning you that
there`s going to be a politically sensitive matter, it`s crazy to not have
introduced this in a way with a lot more explanation than letting it just
get out there and start this controversy so that it could be defined by
conservatives in the way that it has been defined and the way the Catholic
church has reacted to it, without laying any of the groundwork for it
politically. It was a huge mistake, and they`re paying the costs for
making that mistake, I think.
MATTHEWS: Well, it`s a tricky matter. My question -- Susan, your
thoughts here, just in terms of covering this politically. People come
from different backgrounds. I come from a Catholic background. I`m a
Catholic. And I know -- after 16 years of schooling, growing up with the
convent, having two aunts in the convent, I know that world. That`s my
world, and maybe more my world than politics. And I know how people
believe in the right of the church to make these decisions. It`s called
magistar (ph), the teaching authority.
Now, we can disagree with that in terms of our personal lives. We can
-- there are Catholic -- Catholics out there, certainly, who just say,
Well, I want to use birth control. In fact, if you look in the pews,
there`s no families of 8 anymore or 12 or Bobby Kennedy families, or
whatever. They`re families of 3 and 4. And the priests look out and they
see that. It`s a question, should the priests and the bishops be forced to
do something they believe is wrong?
PAGE: And of course, this issue important to some Catholics and to
some socially conservative Catholics, which, by the way, include a lot of
Latinos, a voter group that the White House is...
MATTHEWS: Socially conservative.
PAGE: ... trying very hard to get hold of. But I actually think it`s
an issue that`s even broader than just Catholics. A lot of religiously
observant people and people who aren`t religious observant want to respect
religion, see that as an important part of the 1st Amendment.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
PAGE: Now, you want to respect the rights of employees to have
adequate health care coverage. But surely there`s some other answer than
the rule that they`ve come up with.
MATTHEWS: And I think -- well, I`m not getting -- I have tried not to
take a position on this, simply to try to make sure both sides are heard.
It seems to me there ought to be a way to allow women -- women who are
concerned here mostly, and they have certainly more rights than we`ve given
anybody who`s gotten, they deserve to get them. And the question is, Can
they go to work knowing that they can prescribe -- they can have birth
control pills, if they want -- if they need them, they want them, if they
want to have birth control, whatever information, whatever (INAUDIBLE) they
should get it all.
And the question is, what does it say on the documents that the church
signs? They don`t want to sign something that says, We`re giving it to you
free. They want something like a co-pay or something that protects them so
it`s the decision of the patient, not of the church.
PAGE: That`s right.
MATTHEWS: That`s all they want, I think.
PAGE: And I...
MATTHEWS: I hope that`s all they want.
PAGE: E.J. Dionne has spent a lot more time thinking and studying
these issues than I have, and he talks about this Hawaii model that`s been
used there that seems to kind of thread that needle so that people feel
like their religion`s being respected, but the rights of women to have
MATTHEWS: Let`s talk about the politics of this thing. We keep
reading about how it was developed. Let`s talk about how it happened.
Apparently, Sebelius, Kathleen Sebelius, the former governor of Kansas, a
politician as much as anybody here, certainly, better than us -- knows
politics. She comes out of Kansas, hardly a liberal bastion. She`s not
from the West Side of New York. She promulgated this. She apparently had
the support of Valerie Jarrett around the president. And for (INAUDIBLE)
HEILEMANN: Yes?
MATTHEWS: And she had people around her. She -- apparently, this got
broadened into a big discussion involving Pelosi and Boxer, all kinds of
people, and the feminist groups around the country, the women`s rights
groups. So this got expanded.
Why did it become such a big issue, is what I understand -- I mean,
it`s only a small group of people compared to the larger population of
women who work outside the home. Why did this become a national discussion
all these months? I missed it.
HEILEMANN: Well, I don`t know that...
MATTHEWS: Why is everybody involved in this?
HEILEMANN: Well, I think there`s -- for a lot of people, there`s a
real point of principle. And there`s -- and I think for a lot...
PAGE: On both sides.
HEILEMANN: On both sides. Yes, on both -- on both sides. Absolutely
agreed. And...
MATTHEWS: (INAUDIBLE) point of principle. If we had read two weeks
ago there`s going to be a religious exemption for churches and colleges,
like where I went, which is like Holy Cross or Notre Dame are going to be
exempted from this requirement you get it paid for without a co-pay or
something, would anybody have raised hell about that?
PAGE: You know what I think`s happened? I think...
MATTHEWS: Would anybody have raised hell?
PAGE: I think the economy has gotten a little bit better, and that
PAGE: ... with things like Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure...
PAGE: ... controversy comes up...
MATTHEWS: We know that`s true about journalism, but I`m asking a
simple question...
PAGE: No, no! With -- with...
MATTHEWS: Would there have been an outrage or an uproar like we`re
getting now if the decision had gone the other way in terms of the breadth
of the exemption?
HEILEMANN: Well, I don`t know. I just think that the -- I do -- I go
back to the point I made before. I think that, you know -- it`s amazing to
me that it took them two or three days to point out that this is the law of
the land in 28 states already.
MATTHEWS: It`s not the law of the land! The law is -- those
requirements are not the same as this. I`ve gone through this. That`s
what the White House is pointing out. Get that established independently
of the White House. Just do that. If there`s co-pays involved, then it`s
PAGE: Would it have been a controversy if they`d gone the other way?
MATTHEWS: As I understand it.
PAGE: Yes, it would have been a controversy. You would have had
women -- and the White House needs...
MATTHEWS: Just...
MATTHEWS: ... organizations.
PAGE: They need women voters on their side, too, and that`s why this
is such a tricky...
MATTHEWS: All right, here`s the tricky part. The rectory gets it.
They get -- they don`t get -- they`re exempted. The convent obviously
exempted. Then you go across the street to the same janitors working at
the Catholic school where I went (INAUDIBLE) Catholic -- do they not get
exempted? You go to Father Judge High School. You go across the street
from the rectory to the school. Do they not get exempted?
These are the same people working in both places. How do you decide
this? Do you exempt grade schools and high schools, but not colleges? How
about the -- how about the diocesan high schools? This is so tricky! I
wish there`d been some thought into this.
Anyway, thank you, John Heilemann. We all got different sources. And
thank you, Susan Page.
Coming up: In the eyes of some Republicans, President Obama has gone
from being a radical Christian to a secret Muslim, and now to a secularist,
a Jacobin, if you will, of the French revolution, seeking to overthrow the
church. And that`s -- well, what`s with this phony religious attack that
keeps growing and changing? You never know which direction they`re going
to attack this president, or what religion they`re claiming he has at the
current moment, or non-religion or anti-religion.
You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Well, they`re coming to town. The annual Conservative
Political Action Conference, it`s called CPAC, is under way here in
Washington. And organizers are doing everything they can to ensure that
Ron Paul doesn`t win their straw poll. Paul won in each of the last years
by large margins, in fact, and his victories have been somewhat
embarrassing for the CPAC crowd, which is more traditionally conservative
than the libertarian Mr. Paul, or Dr. Paul. So this year, they`re moving
away from paper ballots and introducing electronic voting in hopes that
more attendees participate in the straw poll. I guess it won`t be straw.
We`ll be right back.
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL. Can Republicans get their attack
on Obama straight? When he was running back in 2008, they went after him
for his ties to the Christian pastor Jeremiah Wright. Remember that,
Jeremiah Wright? Then came the endless birther conspiracies, if you will,
and accusations that he was secretly a Muslim. Well, then many prominent
Republicans, when given the opportunity to disavow that kind of talk,
stayed pleasantly silent. Others actively stoked the flanks.
Now the right is attacking President Obama as anti-Christian and
hostile to all religion, period. All these attacks have one thing in
common. They portray the president as "the other." Well, we`re going to
get into that with Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research
Council, and Joan Walsh, an MSNBC political analyst and editor-at-large
for Salon. Thank you so much.
I want you all to watch this. We talked about the overheated
rhetoric, all right. Last night in Texas, Rick Santorum drew an analogy
between President Obama`s policies today regarding birth control and the
Catholic church, et cetera -- we know that fight, we just had it here --
and then the French revolution. Let`s watch.
RICK SANTORUM (R-PA), FMR. SEN., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They are
taking faith and crushing it! Why? Why? When you marginalize faith in
America, when you remove the pillar of God-given rights, then what`s left
is the French revolution. It`s a government that gives you rights. What`s
left are no unalienable rights. What`s left is a government that will tell
you who you are, what you`ll do and when you`ll do it. What`s left in
France became the guillotine.
Ladies and gentlemen, we`re a long way from that. But if we do and
follow the path of President Obama and his overt hostility to faith in
America, then we are headed down that road!
MATTHEWS: Well, Tony, (INAUDIBLE) your words nor are they your
pictures. I keeping thinking of the "Tale of Two Cities" by Dickens and
the guillotine and Madame Defarge and all the bad guys and the good guys
and the little people and Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay and all that.
Does that come back to you when you watch this fight over birth control in
the Catholic church? Are we that too far to this Armageddon?
TONY PERKINS, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: Boy, it`s interesting. I just
watched "Tale of Two Cities" last weekend.
Well, I think that the point there is, is the French revolution was
driven by a secular platform. And what we see, the policies from this
administration -- and going back to what you said in your opening, I don`t
make judgments about the president`s personal faith, but what I do make are
very clear analysis of his policies, and his policies have been hostile
toward religion. There is an effort to push it from the public square, and
that is very concerning.
MATTHEWS: Where? Where has he done this? Besides this debate we
just had, which I think is a tricky debate over church and state and birth
control and the Catholic church, where else has he shown what you call an
hostility to religion per se?
PERKINS: Well, we actually -- well, there`s been a very similar case
going on for over a year with the EEOC and Abbeydale (SIC) College -- Bell
(SIC) Abbey College, a Catholic university that was forced to participate
in contraception coverage for their employees.
You`ve had the national labor board that ruled that Xavier University
was not Catholic enough and therefore had to be unionized. We`ve seen
Reverend Franklin Graham disinvited to the Pentagon. Just last week, we
MATTHEWS: Well, I wouldn`t invite him, either.
PERKINS: ... (INAUDIBLE) General Jerry Boykin...
MATTHEWS: Because Franklin -- Franklin Graham is a disgrace, OK? I
don`t think he`s a typical Christian minister, do you, with his
PERKINS: I do.
MATTHEWS: ... on Islam...
PERKINS: Oh, look, he...
MATTHEWS: ... and his comments -- his partisanship?
MATTHEWS: His partisanship?
PERKINS: He was going to a National Day of Prayer event and speaking.
You look at the work that he has done in helping Muslims, non-Muslims
around the world, it`s quite amazing.
But you look at what happened before Christmas, where the military --
the Walter Reed Medical Center banned the Bible from being brought in or
read from. You know, you see these policies just coming out, trickling
out. You see this past weekend, same issue, but you had the military
chaplains were censored in what they could talk about in terms of this --
this contraceptive issue. So, yes, there is -- there is this flow --
MATTHEWS: So you believe the president of the United States told
people they couldn`t bring the Bible into Walter Reed? What do you --
because that`s what it just sounded like you just said.
MATTHEWS: Who did it?
PERKINS: It has come from his administration.
I would not say -- well, I don`t know. We actually tried to find out.
We asked for a Freedom -- used a Freedom of Information Act request to try
to find out. Members of Congress have looked into it as well.
MATTHEWS: You mean a person can`t bring a Bible into -- are you
saying a person can`t bring a Bible into Walter Reed?
PERKINS: That was the stated policy before --
MATTHEWS: No, I think it was a rule against -- I think it was a rule
about proselytizing and going room to room with Bibles and witness
PERKINS: It wasn`t.
MATTHEWS: Oh, you mean it was saying you can`t bring in one, bring to
your husband who is suffering, you can`t bring him a Bible? You`re saying
that for real, Tony?
PERKINS: That was what the stated --
MATTHEWS: And you really take that seriously?
PERKINS: -- the memo. They had to restate the policy because of
MATTHEWS: OK. OK. You know what? That`s a distortion. To say you
can`t bring a Bible into -- you`re saying a person can`t bring a Bible into
Walter Reed? You`re honestly saying that?
PERKINS: They have since -- Chris, I have the memo, the four-page
memo that was put out --
MATTHEWS: It was about proselytizing. It wasn`t about --
PERKINS: No, it was not. It was not. It was not. I will be happy
to send it to you.
MATTHEWS: OK. I want to see where it says I can`t bring a Bible into
a military hospital.
MATTHEWS: Gentlemen, this is getting absurd. I know he`s talking
from CPAC.
Maybe it`s the environment that has got him -- but, Joan, this
absurdity that it`s the French Revolution. We`re going to the guillotine.
We`re all Madame Defarge. We`re all overthrowing religion. I think that`s
overreach, like a lot of things are today.
JOAN WALSH, EDITOR IN CHIEF, SALON.COM: Chris, this is crazy talk.
It`s absolutely crazy talk.
And I just want to touch on a couple things that Tony said. First of
all, this president has celebrated the National Day of Prayer. He`s gone
to court to defend it. That`s one thing.
Second of all, he has expanded the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives,
and he has also offended his secular base by continuing the Bush
administration policy that lets people who gets that funding, taxpayer
funding, discriminate against people who don`t practice that faith. They
can even not hire people like single moms or gay men who practice things
against the church.
Obama went along with that. He issued an executive order really
deeply offending his base. He also -- he put stimulus money into churches
through the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. Catholic Charities USA said
that he`s done more for faith-based initiatives than President Bush, who
started and expanded the program. So this notion that this president is
against Christianity or against faith is preposterous.
He is a Christian and he has supported Christianity. He`s bucked his
base on these issues at many, many turns.
MATTHEWS: Tony, there`s a big difference in a lot of space -- and we
call it America -- between a theocrat and believing that a president should
impose his religious beliefs on his country and someone who is anti-
Let`s talk about Santorum here. You got to play defense a little bit
here. You think Santorum is legitimate? Santorum during the Schiavo case
went into the Senate floor with just two other senators and he played
chaplain that night when the Senate -- look here. He is -- laying on of
the hands or whatever you call it going on here. A religious-style crusade
for the president of the United States?
He was the guy that brought the Senate into session intervening in the
Schiavo case in Florida, which I think cost him his seat, by the way, and
he played chaplain that Saturday night. Don`t you think that`s overreach?
Don`t you think that`s verging on more theocracy in this country than the
French Revolution?
PERKINS: No.
When you actually talk about theocracy, you`re talking about you see
this administration using its power to impose this ideology and extract
allegiance from the public. Now, I`m going to go back to this thing about
the Catholic -- the Catholic bishops have been providing help to sex
They rank the highest out of the career -- Department of Health and
Human Services rated their services as best. Yet, the political appointees
of this administration refused to give them a contract because they would
not refer to abortions.
This administration has a clear agenda on these issues, and they do
not hesitate to discriminate on organizations -- to organizations based on
their religious views.
MATTHEWS: And that means they are anti-religious? That means they`re
warring on religion?
PERKINS: Well, look, this is -- why you have the public so worked up
over this, you have 62 percent of Protestants, 65 percent of Catholics.
Look, contraception is not at Protestant issue, but religious freedom is.
WALSH: The majority of Catholics actually support the president on
this. This is a controversial issue, but a majority of Catholics in every
poll I have seen --
PERKINS: They use contraceptives.
WALSH: No, in the polling. It`s not the 98 percent who use
It`s the majority, between 50 and 60 percent, who actually support the
administration on this. So I don`t want to re-litigate that. You had a
great panel, Chris, about this. But those are the facts.
MATTHEWS: I hear you, Joan.
Tony, do you think this president is a Muslim?
PERKINS: No.
MATTHEWS: Why does your people, why do people like Rick Santorum
stand by --
PERKINS: My people?
MATTHEWS: Well, Santorum stands by while a person right in front of
his face accuses the president of being a Muslim. And he says nothing
about it.
PERKINS: I don`t know.
Look, the things that we have said have always been about the
president`s policies. That`s what we can clearly analyze. I don`t know
what is in a man`s heart. I don`t know if he`s accepted Christ as his
savior. If he says he has, that`s between him and God.
What`s between me and him and the American people are the policies
that he pushes.
PERKINS: And those policies are clearly antithetical to most
religious views, especially to Catholics on this issue.
MATTHEWS: Well, we will see. It`s a hot issue on that front.
Anyway, thank you, Tony Perkins.
Joan, as always there, thank you for coming on, Joan Walsh of Salon.
Up next: Actress Betty White says she can`t stop playing the birthday
message President Obama sent to her. Betty White, I go to tell you, has
been around since I think our family got a TV set. And I`m not knocking
it. It`s extraordinary. And that`s ahead in the "Sideshow."
You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Well, back to HARDBALL. And now for the "Sideshow."
First up: Cue the music. We have now got a preview of what`s to come
when the president hits the campaign trail in full swing, the official
campaign play list, the music you will be hearing at all the big Obama
events this year.
It may have been in the works for awhile, but here`s one. It`s likely
that this moment provided some additional inspiration from the play list.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (singing): I`m so in
love with you.
MATTHEWS: Well, that`s right, the Al Green classic "Let`s Stay
Together" did in fact make this list.
And the rest of the list is pretty extensive, including hits like
"Love You I Do" from Jennifer Hudson and Bruce Springsteen`s "We Take Care
of Our Own."
We have come a long way obviously from this one of a few years back.
SINGER (singing): Don`t stop thinking about tomorrow. Don`t stop.
It will soon be here.
MATTHEWS: Boy, they all look good there and very young. And there`s
hardly a person around, by the way, who didn`t know that one.
By the way, no great campaign for president lacks a great campaign
song. Remember that one.
Next up, a birthday to remember. When veteran actress Betty White
celebrated her 90th birthday last month, President Obama marked the
occasion with a presidential birthday message for her.
OBAMA: Dear Betty, you look so fantastic and full of energy, I can`t
believe you`re 90 years old. In fact, I don`t believe it.
That`s why I`m writing to ask if you will be willing to produce a copy
of your long-form birth certificate.
OBAMA: Thanks. And happy birthday, no matter how old you are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Thank you for being a friend, traveled
down the road and back again.
MATTHEWS: So what did Betty White think of that gesture? As it turns
out, she`s still reliving the experience. Let`s hear it from her.
BETTY WHITE, ACTRESS: Do you believe what he did? He broke me up. I
have never met him. I`m a tremendous fan of his. And the twinkle in his
eye, I still can`t believe it. I play it over and over again. That kind
of sense of humor and the fact he would take the time to do that, it really
blew me away and made me laugh and still makes me laugh. That`s a way to
celebrate your birthday.
MATTHEWS: Well, talk about good genes. Betty White has been on
television since our family got a TV.
Anyway, up next: Mitt Romney has GOT big problems. Republicans
aren`t enthusiastic about this guy, obviously, and conservatives still
don`t trust the guy, obviously. And that`s all ahead.
I think progressives will enjoy this segment coming up. It`s the
disastrous situation of the Republican Party. They have got a guy out
front now they don`t like.
You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
HAMPTON PEARSON, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Hampton Pearson with your
CNBC "Market Wrap."
The Dow rises 6.5 points. The S&P 500 adds two, the Nasdaq up 11
points. The number of Americans filing first-time jobless claims fell by
15,000 to 358,000, the second lowest level in about four years.
High commodity prices are hurting business at PepsiCo. So the
beverage giant is cutting costs and eliminating 8,700 jobs worldwide. And
apple shares hit a record high today on reports about a March debut for an
iPad 3.
That`s it from CNBC, first in business worldwide -- now back to
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There`s no such thing
coronation in presidential politics. It`s meant to be a long process.
It`s not easy to get the nomination. It`s not easy to get reelected
president. And this is a testing, a testing approach and so far we`re
doing pretty well.
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.
That`s what a guy who is losing looks like. A coronation, it most
certainly is not for Mitt Romney. If anything, the GOP race is now even
more in the state of flux following Rick Santorum`s trifecta of two nights
And perhaps more concerning for the former Massachusetts governor are
the Republican intelligentsia worries about his candidacy. Big example,
"The Wall Street Journal" editorial today reads in part -- quote --
"Conservatives don`t trust Mr. Romney in part because he gives them little
reason to do so. He seems to retreat at the first sound of a liberal moral
argument. This means he`d play defense against President Obama, who is
distilling his campaign to a moral defense of taxing the rich and
government redistributive justice.
Well, can Romney ever convince the right he`s one of them -- and that
means the `Wall Street Journal" editorial page -- saving himself from an
elongated and bloody battle all the way to Tampa, Florida, this August?
Well, David Gregory is moderator of Meet the Press. And The
Huffington Post`s Howard Fineman is an MSNBC political analyst.
Let`s look at this as an autopsy situation. He`s not dead, but
something is going on. Three out of three. Three strikes, you`re out.
But he`s still at bat, David. Where`s he stand, Romney?
DAVID GREGORY, MODERATOR, "MEET THE PRESS": He`s not closing the deal
with conservatives. He`s also not closing the deal with some big names in
the Republican Party, who don`t just knock him, as "The Wall Street
Journal" did, because he can`t be trusted on conservative issues, but
because he doesn`t have a big, broad campaign with big ideas meant to deal
with big problems.
MATTHEWS: Why do you think he is held back from being anything but
the alternative to what he thought was going to be a badly wounded
GREGORY: Well, I think what he`s doing now is cautious, tactical play
here, which is, he realizes that he thought he could stay above the fray
for a long time. Now he realizes he has got to rip the other guy`s face
off here. And that`s Gingrich, and now it`s Santorum.
MATTHEWS: I love it. I love it. He did that to Gingrich, which was
an easy mark. Gingrich had all this baggage. He just pointed to it. He
didn`t have to go over the top, point to it.
If he turns his guns now on Rick Santorum, is the public out there
going to go, wait a minute, they did this Dresden before, are we going to
let him do it to another guy who is fairly clean?
HOWARD FINEMAN, NBC CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of
all, Mitt Romney`s popularity numbers, his general approval numbers in the
country, depending on which poll you read, have plummeted in the last
month. He used to have 60, 70 percent approval rating. He`s now in the
40s or 50s, just as a general matter.
So it`s hurt him to begin with. And, as you say, Rick Santorum isn`t
a famous-enough guy with enough famous flaws to merit it. Everybody knew
about Newt Gingrich. People are going to say, wait a minute, you`re
attacking poor old Rick Santorum, who is having a laying on of hands in the
church in Texas.
MATTHEWS: Yes. Gingrich has more wives than Santorum has got --
FINEMAN: It`s a richer target.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FINEMAN: I was just at the Conservative Political Action Committee
meeting here in Washington. It started today. It`s going on for four
I was struck by the fact that, first of all, there aren`t a lot of
signs or buttons for any of the candidates.
FINEMAN: It`s a big crowd. There are a lot of people there. There
are a lot of kids there. It`s a great social thing for conservatives now.
MATTHEWS: I know.
FINEMAN: But you felt, and -- in a way, the presidential campaign in
general, and Mitt Romney in particular, are not attached to what is really
kind of the Woodstock -- Woodstock of the conservative movement.
MATTHEWS: Well, that`s the question, how the guy -- he has got to gin
them up this weekend, David. I think, tomorrow at 1:00 in the afternoon,
he hits those people.
He has got to -- does he go back to, as usual, fighting stance of
taking on Obama one more time, just blasting the president?
GREGORY Well, I think he`s got to do that and he`s going to do more.
I mean, I`ve talked to some of these activists who are speaking and, of
course, at this gathering. And they see, you know, the mistake here is
that somehow the anti-Obama rift is enough. I mean, we see it.
MATTHEWS: They thought that?
GREGORY: It`s not enough, because you look at who is showing up in
Colorado and Minnesota and these other contests. And the numbers are down.
Why? Because there`s not intensity for somebody.
MATTHEWS: Yes, right.
GREGORY: I mean, this is part of the problem which is -- of course,
you know, these conservatives don`t like Obama and he wants to run an anti-
Obama. But what is he for? I mean, there`s a little something about this
whole Clint Eastwood ad thing this week, which Americans do want to get up
and do something big. So, is he a campaign --
MATTHEWS: Why doesn`t he run that ad? Why doesn`t he run that ad?
FINEMAN: Because he doesn`t know what to say if he runs it. It
doesn`t seem. I mean --
MATTHEWS: But everybody we`ve known who`s done well in politics,
left and right, certainly, Ronald Reagan trashed Jimmy Carter.
FINEMAN: Well, of course.
MATTHEWS: But he also said, we can do so much better.
FINEMAN: Ronald Reagan was an optimist at heart, who made everybody
feel, in the conservative movement for sure, and the Republican Party for
sure, and a lot of independents --
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FINEMAN: -- feel excited about the conservative agenda for the
country, feel that it was an optimistic thing. That it was going to get
the country going again.
You don`t really sense that in anything other than a mechanical way
for Mitt Romney.
GREGORY: He`s offering the PowerPoint. He`s got 59 points about how
to make the economy better. And these are not conservative principles
necessarily. They even didn`t talk about that. They`ve got to find a way
to articulate a more conservative message.
MATTHEWS: Here comes a new Romney, to this point, David, here comes
a new biography on the guy, a new personal tale for Romney on trail this
week. It`s the time he spent as a Mormon minister. This was so unlikely.
Here he was yesterday in Atlanta.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In my church, we don`t have
a professional ministry. And so people are asked to serve as the minister
or the pastor of their congregation from time to time. I had that a
privilege for I think over 10 years. And in that capacity, I had a chance
to work with people who lost their jobs in some cases or were facing other
financial distress, losing their homes.
And I found those kind of circumstances were not just about money or
numbers. They were about lives and about emotions. And sometimes
marriages suffered. Sometimes people became depressed, clinically
Being out of work a long time is a real threat and challenge to human
happiness. And I feel this president has let us down.
MATTHEWS: So, what job is he running for? What was that an
application for?
FINEMAN: Well, in fairness to him --
MATTEWS: Well, we don`t do that. We don`t do in fairness to him.
FINEMAN: No, no, the Romney campaign is locked in their headquarters
saying, how do we humanize this guy?
FINEMAN: How do we make a narrative of his life that comports with
the experience of average Americans? It`s not Bain Capital. The
PowerPoint thing doesn`t work.
MATTHEWS: Yes, I got you.
FINEMAN: So, on the personal level, he`s been afraid of the Mormon
thing because it`s the Mormons. But the matter of fact, people who know
him well and who know about his work as a leader in the Mormon Church,
wherein fact he did have to deal with individual problems, did have to get
involved with the emotions of people, it`s actually a very starring thing.
But they should have thought of that by now.
GREGORY: I don`t know that it`s too late. I don`t think it`s too
GREGORY: I think that`s an important message. That is the core of
who he is.
MATTHEWS: OK. Is he still a favorite given everything you know?
GREGORY: Yes.
FINEMAN: Yes.
Thank you, David Gregory. Thank you, Howard Fineman. A little
slower there with Howard. There was a little more on that.
MATTHEWS: Up next, what kind of president has Barack Obama been over
his first three years in office? We got -- James Fallows is joining us
right now to talk about what is an in-depth article just out of "The
Atlantic" -- a big thing here on the president, how he`s done for three
years. It`s very important for people to catch up on the depth of this
guy`s administration.
This is HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Well, a former aid to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
will run in that special election to replace her. Ron Barber was also
wounded in that last year shooting announced his candidacy today and will
have the backing of the Democratic Party on that June 12th election. No
primary there, I guess. Barber served as district director for Giffords
who resigned from Congress just two weeks ago to focus on her recovery.
Giffords` husband Mark Kelly endorsed Barber today. So, I guess it`s all
done on the Democratic side in that district.
We`ll be right back.
MATTHEWS: We`re back.
At the start of President Obama`s reelection campaign, the journalist
James Fallows has written an epic piece on his presidency so far for "The
Atlantic" magazine. The story is entitled "Obama Explained." It addresses
the question: is Obama the master political chess player seeing 10 moves
ahead, or is he a pawn in the game, overwhelmed and out of his depth? Big
James Fallows joins us now to answer.
So, what is the answer?
JAMES FALLOWS, THE ATLANTIC: The answer is he`s becoming more of a
master. One of the premises I start with is every president comes in
flawed in various ways. You and I worked for Jimmy Carter.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FALLOWS: And we recall that.
But they all have limitations. Nobody can do all the things well the
job requires. And the question is: do they get better?
MATTHEWS: So, he says he`s getting better.
FALLOWS: He says he`s getting better. I argue that he is. I think
in the way he handles the Congress of the last six months, you can see more
sophistication about the sort of zero sum game of politics. He seems to be
more comfortable making economic arguments, which were his weak point, more
than policy, and in argumentation.
I argue, in foreign policy, he actually, where he`s operated more or
less untrammeled. He`s had a pretty wise view all the way along.
MATTHEWS: How do you explain the fact that a guy I supported and so
many other people did because he was against the Iraq war, who seemed like
sort of a `60s guy, even though he`s much younger, like we all about -- a
`60s guy who had sort of real sensitivity about us becoming too
imperialistic. Yet he`s been very aggressive to the disheartening to a lot
of people, like surging in Afghanistan.
FALLOWS: Yes.
MATTHEWS: But being also, as you pointed out, very effective in
getting the bad guy, if you will, getting Bin Laden.
FALLOWS: Yes. And also in dealing with China. I think he`s been,
since Nixon, maybe the most sophisticated person in having a China policy.
On things like drones and Guantanamo and all the rest, this is really
a question for us to explore over the years because there is this poll in
presidential power -- as you well know, you can do so many things in
presidential power without all this interference from the Congress, from
the press, from all the rules.
MATTHEWS: What you call the rich melon of foreign policy to bite
into it. Yes.
FALLOWS: And so, there`s an attraction for everybody --
MATTHEWS: You don`t have to deal with Senator Mitch McConnell who is
out to kill you basically every day.
Let me ask you how the president learns. We`re talking about this --
I don`t want to get into this Catholic Church issue again. We`ve done
enough of it tonight certainly.
But this question of how the president builds his circle of knowledge
-- the president of the United States you can technically call out anybody
you want. You can read anything you want. How does he know how to
approach a tough call, whether to stand up, the exemption for religious
organizations on an issue like women`s health?
FALLOWS: There are people who take in knowledge in face to face
interactions. You know, FDR, as you well know, was a master of that. Bill
Clinton in various ways, in addition to his sort of analytical taking
things in by reading.
It appears that Obama has two modes of strength. One is strictly
reading, literally, whether it`s the Internet, magazines, or whatever. And
the other is sort of executive-type meetings.
I didn`t write about in this article, you know, believe it or not,
there some are things I left out. But a friend of mine who is a successful
business executive has dealt with him and says he has good managerial
temperament. He can run a meeting well.
So, official meetings and reading things on paper. But the kind of
broad osmosis from --
MATTHEWS: No bull sessions like Bill Clinton. No sitting around
late at night, invite something -- you are laughing because he just doesn`t
do it. He would never invite a couple of senators over at night and say,
let`s talk about this late at night.
FALLOWS: That`s true and you remember how Bill Clinton late at night
would do all kinds of things. They involve human contact. Obama seems to
be more of a loner.
MATTHEWS: But Rahm Emanuel said he would be calling people at 3:00
in the morning, the time to his own advantage (ph).
You know, I know he has -- I`m hearing things from him and around him
that he likes to duel with people, like he`ll be dueling with Tom Friedman
in his head, or he`ll be dueling with David Brooks of "The Times." He
likes -- or Robert Kagan, a piece he writes in "The New Republic." That
mental kind of game thing is going on in his head alone.
FALLOWS: Sure. That makes sense for a former law professor, too, a
former editor of the "Harvard Law Review".
And there was a joke when his excellent first book "Dreams of My
Father" came out, which is, hey, if things had gone right for him, he could
have become a writer.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FALLOWS: He`s sort of like our kind of people from our world of
liking these mental games, which is part of the job of the president. But
there are other parts, too.
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you of what you think is missing.
FALLOWS: I think --
MATTHEWS: What`s missing for him to be a great Rooseveltian or to
the extent a Reagan-type success transformational president? You write how
hard it is to be transformational.
But if he really wants to move this country, get the 60 votes in the
Senate when he needs it, or break the filibuster, what does he need to do
he`s not doing?
FALLOWS: You know, I think there`s a challenge because the issue on
which he rose to prominence, which was the Iraq war, is part of his natural
register, issues of war and peace, America`s role in the world and
divisions in the country. But what ended up being the big issue of
presidency was economics, which is not his natural -- you know, FDR and LBJ
and Clinton in different ways could talk to a whole range of economic
distress -- that`s not his natural voice and find some way to sound natural
or authentic on that. I think --
MATTHEWS: I may disagree. I think he`s found a voice. I don`t
think it`s big enough voice.
But since September, he`s been talking about jobs. He talks about
this payroll tax cut as an important way to stimulate more jobs. He
stopped trying to compete with the Republicans on debt reduction. And that
seems to be a political, smart move.
FALLOWS: I agree. The end of this piece, it`s a great memo that Sam
Popkin of UCSD --
MATTHEWS: I know him.
FALLOWS: -- found from, it`s from James Rodith (ph) to Harry Truman
in similar circumstances, with a dead opposition Congress saying, here is
the tool you have. They are going to try to beat you on everything,
they`re going to stall every appointment.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FALLOWS: But you have to speak for the whole people. And that`s
what Obama has been doing.
MATTHEWS: It`s an easy mark if you think the Congress has got about
a 10 percent approval rating now. He`ll run against Congress, run against
a do-nothing Congress. And he`ll also run against unfairness and taxation
and he may well win.
FALLOWS: Yes, I agree. I think odds are in his favor now, but
that`s why we`re in the business because so much could change.
MATTHEWS: Well, phenomenal, especially politics.
Thank you, James Fallows.
FALLOWS: Thank you, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Excellent article. We should all read it and get it
somewhere. "The Atlantic" magazine, huge article.
When we return, "Let Me Finish" with how things quickly, as I just
said, so quickly in this political world.
You are watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: "Let Me Finish" tonight with this:
Politics in this country is tricky. The nanosecond you think things
are under control, pop, everything goes wild. Tuesday night, just two
nights ago, began with Mitt Romney owning the Republican presidential
nomination. By night`s end, he`d been beat badly -- beaten in all three
states where he was running. All that money of his, all that power of the
Republican "wait your turn" crowd, all those media claims that said things
were just swell for him -- and guess what? The voter had something to say.
Well, I`m so happy that voters don`t listen to the money men. Don`t
listen to the power what they are supposed to do. Don`t listen to us on
TV. By that, I mean people paid to tell you what`s going on, what`s going
to happen, the decisions that have already been made for you.
No, people don`t listen to anyone. They just go in those voting
booths and do what makes them feel good about themselves.
Ernest Hemingway once described his moral code as really quite
simple. Good is what you feel good after you`ve done. Bad is what you
don`t feel good after.
And I don`t think people feel good after voting for Newt Gingrich,
for example -- just too much stuff there. After voting for Mitt Romney,
believe it or not, it`s even worse. They don`t feel anything.
The same thing goes for this matter involving the church and birth
control. If anyone in the White House told the president this thing was
cooked, they were wrong. The job of people in politics, the pros that is,
is to warn the boss of trouble ahead.
This Democratic coalition, if it is to be a protest faction and only
that, can afford to be about 35 percent or 40 percent of the country.
That`s the liberals. If it is to be a governing coalition, a Democratic
governing coalition, it needs to be at least 55 percent -- and that`s what
it takes to govern. It takes 60 senators, remember, to get anything
through the Congress, to get anything done.
To keep that coalition together takes care, especially in an election
year that may well be decided by a few percentage points.
Remember, President Obama was elected with just 53 percent of the
country. He`s done important historic work like health care that could
cost him much of that 3 percent that took him across that finish line. He
can`t afford to give away one or two more points from iffy voters who, you
may like it or not, tend to decide these elections.
That`s HARDBALL for now. Thanks for being with us.
"POLITICS NATION" with Al Sharpton starts right now.
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text:
Jonathan Sewell's D.N.A.
The new issue of American Ancestors just arrived, and it shares interesting gossip about one of the people I'll mention in my "Ladies of Tory Row" walking tour this afternoon at 3:30.
I'll touch on this person only briefly—my focus at that stop will be his mom, and he was only eight at the time. So I'm sharing the gossip here.
Jonathan Sewell (1766-1839, shown here) grew up in Cambridge as the namesake son of Massachusetts's Attorney General. The family left the province as Loyalists and spent some unhappy years in England, where they started spelling their name Sewell instead of Sewall. As a young man Sewell emigrated to Canada, studied law, and eventually became the Chief Justice of Upper Canada (Quebec).
In 1793, Sewell acknowledged that he was the father of an infant boy, baptized John St. Alban Sewell. Sewell wasn't married at the time. Neither was the baby's mother, Elizabeth Cornfield. The situation was awkward, but you no doubt see a solution—the parents got married.
To other people. Within a few months Cornfield married Sgt. John Finch, a British army musician. Three years later Sewell married Henrietta Smith, whose family were Loyalists from New York. The Sewell household included Jonathan's little boy, who grew up to be a very handsome British army officer.
In later years some of John St. Alban Sewell's descendants whispered that the Chief Justice wasn't his real father. Rather, that man had been covering up for the actual parents, Prince Edward of Britain (1767-1820) and his mistress, Julie St. Laurent. Or maybe Prince Edward and Elizabeth Cornfield. Either way, the officer was secretly a half-sibling of Queen Victoria.
Eben W. Graves is researching the genealogy of all the Sewells in North America, as he relates on his website. His American Ancestors article describes the results of Y-chromosome testing he recently arranged for five volunteers from different patrilineal branches of the Sewell family, including one descendant of John St. Alban Sewell.
And the shocking result was: that baby boy was actually a Sewell. His patrilineal descendant has the same genetic haplotype as other descendants of the first Sewall to settle in Massachusetts. So this paternity revealed…what the written record had said all along.
What was the evidence for a royal paternity? As far as I can see on Graves's webpage about John St. Alban Sewell, it wasn't very compelling. One point is:
When Jonathan Sewell married in 1796, John St. Alban remained in the home and was brought up as an elder brother of the family. Then, as now, it was completely and totally socially unacceptable for a child from a previous relationship that didn't have the blessing of the church to even be referred to, let alone remain in the family.Some Revolutionary-era American men did bring up illegitimate children within their households: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Flucker, James Lovell. And now we have another eighteenth-century example.

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Posted March 11th, 2013 at 11:33 PM by Clacla Comments 3
Um, just want to let you know, if you get a VM saying duck, you are only a duck. If someone post goose on your profile, it's customary that you start duck duck goosing.
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I had to.
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Well, I remembered that I have a blog xD So... new things... Lets see.
Pedro donated me to Tier 5 \o/
I kinda, sorta learned how to skin \o/
erm.. school's back :(
And I overuse smilies...
So, what's up, guys?
Pedro donated me to Tier 5 \o/
I kinda, sorta learned how to skin \o/
erm.. school's back :(
And I overuse smilies...
So, what's up, guys?
Posted March 30th, 2012 at 12:00 PM by Clacla Comments 5
Lol, Lady Gaga has infested the forum, especially DCC. Be sure to stay inside, lock all of your doors and windows, and keep a weapon near by.
Posted March 29th, 2012 at 3:41 PM by Clacla Comments 1
Thanks to my friend PEDRO12, I am now a Supporter Tier 3. Well, I might as well introduce myself. I have an older account that some of you may know, clacla$$$ but that name got annoying for many reasons. I'm usually on IRC, and if I say I'm mad at you, I'm not really, unless I start ignoring you. So... Hi!
Recent Comments
nice one, i like it...
Posted February 14th, 2013 at 10:41 PM by halcyonic


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Dr. David Cappelleri Receives NSF CAREER Award for Ground-Breaking Work in Microrobotics
In recognition of the enormous potential of his pioneering research and sustained excellence in teaching, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has honored Dr. David Cappelleri, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, with the illustrious CAREER Award. As one of the most competitive programs the NSF conducts, the CAREER Award supports early career development of faculty in the sciences who are most likely to become leading researchers and teachers.
Professor Cappelleri joins the community of outstanding researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology including six active NSF CAREER awardees; Frank Fisher , Michael Zavlanos, Stefan Strauf, Yingying Chen and Pinar Akcora and one Young Investigator Awardee, Chang-Hwan Choi.
"This award is recognition by the National Science Foundation of Professor Cappelleri's past accomplishments and the promise of much more success to follow," said Dr. Michael Bruno, dean of the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science (SES). "Stevens is extremely proud of David's achievement, and we are committed to ensuring that his world-class research in robotics and controls continues to contribute strongly to our campus community and to the nation."
Cappelleri's microscale robots represent a new level of sophistication. His magnetically controlled microrobots are fitted with a probe that acts as a micro-force sensor. The probe deforms as it comes into contact with cells and tissues under a microscope, and a camera system measures its deformations to allow researchers to characterize the cells or tissues based on the probe's known properties.
The design of the micro-force sensor is inspired by traditional suspension mechanisms found in accelerometers and resonators made from silicon wafers. However, the force sensor replaces the silicon material (which would be too stiff for these purposes) with a much more compliant polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) material. This allows researchers to measure micro-Newton forces at the scale of a biological cell with a diameter of hundreds of microns.
The micro-force sensors allow researchers to compare the stiffness of small-scale objects, and they can use this functionality to distinguish healthy and cancerous cells. The technology will also serve to improve the safety and stability of next-generation bone implants. Certain surface coatings promote adhesion of new cell and tissue growth surrounding an implant, and even reduce the adhesion of other biomaterials that could cause infection. Cappelleri's microrobots help investigate the properties of these surfaces or coatings to help determine their effectiveness. Furthermore, by applying force in a certain manner with the microrobots, it is possible to effect positive cell reactions, allowing scientists to direct cell growth.
In the future, more dexterous microrobots will establish microsurgical applications like clearing arteries and blood clots or performing targeted drug delivery. Cappelleri also hopes to apply the technology beyond biological applications.
"This area of research engenders fresh opportunities for progress and expansion into diverse industries," he said.
For instance, Cappelleri is working on advanced assembly and manipulation strategies for manufacturing, in which a micro-force sensing end-effector (an end-effector is the device at the end of a robotic arm) allows micromanipulators using force-guided control schemes to position and assemble parts. This enables flexible micro-scale manufacturing with a heterogeneous team of microrobots and micromanipulators.
Cappelleri, his colleagues, and the students to whom he will offer his expertise will ensure that Stevens plays a significant role in the future of microrobotics," said Dr. Costas Chassapis, deputy dean of the SES and director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. "The CAREER award is richly deserved and speaks to the expectancy and spirit of innovation that David brings to Stevens."
Cappelleri's colleagues at Stevens were invaluable to the maturation of his ideas, the building of proof of concept models, and the testing of his work. He is also pleased to have a subject with a rich array of applications to motivate his students.
"It is greatly advantageous for students to see the product of their hard work and get the sense that their results will have an impact in real-world applications."
Cappelleri joins Stevens recent CAREER Awardees: Dr. Frank Fisher and Dr. Michael Zavlanos, of the Mechanical Engineering Department, Dr. Stefan Strauf, from Physics and Engineering Physics, Dr. Pinar Akcora, from Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, and Dr. Yingying Chen of the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering.
Learn more about the Multi-scale Robotics & Automation Lab at the Mechanical Engineering department at Stevens.


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How do you describe the music of Sigur Rós? More importantly, how do you describe it without using the oft-overused word 'haunting'? This is a quandary I came up against when listening to Inni and watching the accompanying DVD. Inni is the post rock experimental Icelandic foursome's second live film and album, taken from their 2008 London gigs at Alexandra Palace. It might seem pointless to note that the gigs were in November, but their music sounds like winter drawing near, so perhaps it does warrant a mention.
Many live albums want to big up the applause and adoration the subjects receive from their fans. Not so on Inni; the applause is turned down, the focus is on the music. Whilst Sigur Rós all look a bit like glittery feral creatures when performing onstage in the DVD (hard to tell how much of this is because of the way it is shot), they are hardly a band one would describe as showy. But the music itself is epic, and not in that wanky overblown stadium rock way - epic in the way of glockenspiels and falsettos and cello bow scraping against guitar strings and pounding drums and explosions of piano chords.
'Svefn-g-engler' begins the purely audio portion of Inni. With the rumbling and resonating of the organ combined with the grinding of bow against guitar, there comes a sense of taking off and leaving, which is perhaps what a Sigur Rós live show is about. Not like at an Oasis or Manic Street Preachers gig where the focus is all hands in the air sing-alongs and feeling connected with your fellow man, the Sigur Rós live experience is more of an introverted one. Not about connecting with anyone else, but about experiencing the band and leaving your surroundings behind.
Jónsi Birgisson's vocals have something of the choir boy about them, only infinitely darker, stronger and more intense than the Aled Joneses of this world. It is heartening to hear him smile mischievously at the camera and announce, 'we make music for the devil' during a snippet of an interview in the film.
Some songs seem to come directly from the throat, notably 'Hoppípolla' where Jónsi's vocals are deeper and you can hear a kind of raging energy in his voice, though it's always controlled. 'E-Bow' sticks to the high-pitched falsetto, retaining a demonic choir-boy feel, Orri Páll Dýrason's drumming bringing this home, sounding like the ritualistic hallowing in of some sinister ceremony.
There is a fantastical element to Inni. The glistening cinematography of the film creates an atmosphere of ethereal claustrophobia – it's not exactly like being at a Sigur Rós concert because it's in black and white and being watched on screen, but director Vincent Morris has created a different kind of closeness and intimacy which is nonetheless massively affecting. There's a point where Jónsi joins Kjartan Sveinsson to play keyboard for 'Inní mér syngur vitleysingur' when his face lights up in a joyous grin and as they pound the keys together you get the sense of an engine coming into life and of a victory march.
So back to explaining how Sigur Rós sound: like claustrophobia, like darkness, like winter, like frost, like fireworks, like explosions. They are not in the way of overblown stadium rock, but the film shows the gigs ending in an explosion of glitter and confetti and you can't imagine it any other way.
8Len Lukowski's Score


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Video: PSB CS500 Outdoor speakers
Jeff from PSB visited Crutchfield and told us all about the PSB CS500 outdoor speakers. The PSB CS500 outdoor speakers provide amazing sound quality even in the most challenging environments. These weather-proof speakers use high-quality drivers. The 1" titanium dome tweeter delivers crisp highs and the 5-1/4" woofer pumps out solid bass.
Read video transcript
Tara: We're here with Jeff from PSB and we're going to be talking about outdoor speakers.
Jeff: Yes we are. In fact, a new pair of outdoor speakers to Crutchfield is the PSB CS500 outdoor loudspeakers, which we have here. These are available in white or black. And what's nice, that I have the grille set to come off nice and easy for video purposes. These are actually designed on our Imagine, or our Image, series of loudspeakers, the B5, which are extremely popular bookshelf speakers with Crutchfield and around other PSB dealers. They're really an indoor speaker in an outdoor speaker body. That's really the way we look at it.
A lot of great pains by Paul were taken into account with these outdoor speakers, even the cabinet design with the indentations, so the rigidity of the cabinet is in play. So they're very sturdy, very non-resonant, which is what we don't want to have affect the sound quality.
The other great thing about these, and different from others that I've seen around is the mounting bracket. You know, all outdoor speakers have a mounting bracket, so you can put it up high or put it in corners or wherever you're gonna need it. This has an interesting piece here, which doesn't slide when you have it mounted, by the way, but it does right now. This would come off and you would attach this to any surface and then attach the bracket to it, so it allows it a lot more capability in the application of where you need it to go, whether it's tight under an awning or in a corner or off angle or whatever else, where other outdoor loudspeakers are a little more limited because you have to bolt the bracket directly to somewhere. Here I can then move it around, so pretty ingenious. Again, it is available in white and black, and it gives PSB indoor sound to an outdoor area.
Tara: If you have any questions about audio components just give us a call.
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Duke Law celebrates the careers of Donald and Judy Horowitz
Lauding the careers and contributions of Professor Donald Horowitz and Associate Dean for International Studies Judy Horowitz on Nov. 11, Dean David F. Levi noted, "There is Don. And there is Judy. And then there is 'Don and Judy.'"
Levi was the first of several speakers from the law and political science faculties to pay tribute to the couple's individual and joint achievements at a celebratory dinner at Durham's Parizade Restaurant. Donald, the James B. Duke Professor of Law and Political Science and a renowned scholar of comparative constitutional design and ethnic conflict in divided societies, is retiring only from teaching and will devote full time to research and writing. Judy, who has headed Duke Law's international programs for 30 years, will retire from Duke University at the end of the year, but remain closely connected to the Law School. Together they have built Duke's summer institutes in transnational law, maintaining on-site oversight of Duke's Asia-America Institute in Transnational Law in Hong Kong for almost 20 years.
Donald Horowitz: An influential interdisciplinary scholar
Donald Horowitz, currently a Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, will serve as a Fellow of the American Academy in Berlin during the spring semester before serving, next fall, as the "Academic Icon" at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur.
"Don, after eight books and such a stellar academic career, you have earned that title," said Levi. Horowitz's works, highly influential in both law and political science, include The Courts and Social Policy (1977), which won the Louis Brownlow Award of the National Academy of Public Administration; Ethnic Groups in Conflict (1985, 2000); The Deadly Ethnic Riot (2001); and Constitutional Change and Democracy in Indonesia, forthcoming from Cambridge University Press.
Horowitz, who joined the Duke faculty in 1980, has received multiple awards for his work; he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1993 and in 2011 was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the Free University of Brussels.
Ralf Michaels, the Arthur Larson Professor of Law and a scholar of international and comparative law, called Horowitz's work in that area "stunningly insightful" and responsible for the dissemination of American ideas abroad. He also praised Horowitz's commitment to building a strong international and comparative law faculty at Duke Law.
Professor Michael Munger, the former chair of Duke's Political Science Department, noted the particular influence, among political scientists, of Horowitz's work on divided societies, offering his book, Ethnic Groups in Conflict, by way of example; that book alone has generated more than 5,000 scholarly references, Munger pointed out. "When I look at the contributions that Professor Horowitz has made to our discipline, I'm awed and a bit humbled, and I hope that we can make up his loss in our department," he said.
Representing the international students, SLD candidate Dian Abdul Hamed Shah LLM '09 praised Horowitz as an academic supervisor and mentor. "You have taught me so much ─ even about my own country ─ and not just about academic matters, but also about life."
Jennifer Maher '83, associate dean for International Studies, called Horowitz a "wonderful raconteur," a consummate guide to other countries and cultures. She singled out his "embrace" of the intellectually curious students who attend Duke's summer institute in Hong Kong.
"He will show them Hong Kong and he will show them Asia. And if they're not American, he will tell them how to be more like Americans ─ for better or worse," she joked. "His care for students and his mentorship of young academics is really remarkable."
Judy Horowitz: Architect of Duke Law's international programs
Judy Horowitz joined the Duke Law staff in 1981, recruited by then Dean Paul Carrington to assist the few foreign students that he was beginning to admit to the Law School.
"At that time, the LLM and SJD programs had a small handful of students; no exchange student relationships, no summer institutes; and no international alumni associations," said Levi. "Today the Law School has 90-plus LLM students from 37 countries; 12 SJD students in residence; exchange agreements with 21 overseas universities; summer institutes in Geneva and Hong Kong and Durham; and more than 1,000 international alumni.
"All of these programs, under Judy's direction, have contributed immeasurably to Duke Law's stature in the world and leadership in international law and legal education," he said. Her commitment to the internationally-trained lawyers in Duke's LLM program is particularly notable, he added.
"She takes her foreign students under her wing and makes sure that their time at Duke is rewarding academically and socially. Frequently I am told by our foreign alumni that their year at Duke was the 'best year of their life.'" Their affection and gratitude was evident when he traveled with Horowitz and Maher to visit alumni in Japan last spring, he said. "Quite simply, they revere Judy. They admire her, they are grateful to her, and they love her." International alumni have contributed enthusiastically to the Judy Horowitz Scholarship Fund in her honor, raising $500,000 of a $1 million goal to date; once fully endowed, the fund will provide a full scholarship each year to a deserving international scholar.
SJD candidate Shah praised the kindness Horowitz displays towards the international students. "Judy used to hold me for 'detention' in her office every day for a few minutes just to make sure I was doing well and progressing well in my program," said Shah, a native of Malaysia who studied law in England before coming to Duke. "The level of care and attention she gives her students is unrivaled, and I think that really defines the kind of student-faculty-school relationship we have here at Duke Law. And I'm very grateful for that."
Maher called her colleague and close friend of 25 years a superb judge of character. "She has an open mind about this ─ she's non-judgmental," said Maher. "She is fascinated with who they are and what they are and not what one feels they should be. And as a result, as the dean said, there are thousands of students who have had the best year of their life at Duke Law School and have done such things as name their children 'Duke' and 'Judy.'"
Don and Judy: "An irresistible force"
Of both honorees, Maher said, "Their friendship is something to treasure. People go to their home for fun or when they are having trouble and need some advice. It's a wonderful thing."
Referring to the couple as "an irresistible force," Levi thanked them for their service to the Law School. "They have brought talented young lawyers here from all over the world and maintained connections with so many of them," he said. "They created the [international] institutes and together ran the Hong Kong institute for most of its life, establishing deep ties to the University of Hong Kong and scholars from all over the world." With Judy Horowitz at the administrative helm, the two helped launch the overseas programs with "Duke in Denmark" at the University of Copenhagen in 1986, and later were instrumental in establishing the Duke-Geneva Institute in Transnational Law and the Asia-America Institute for Transnational Law.
"We miss having them with us here in Durham. But 'icons' are like that. They belong to everyone."
In his remarks, Donald Horowitz thanked all the deans he worked with ─ Carrington, Pamela Gann '73, Katharine T. Bartlett, and Levi ─ for their support and making their success at Duke possible. Acknowledging his colleagues in both law and political science, he called Duke a truly congenial place to do interdisciplinary work. He also expressed pride in the Law School's internationalization and its high profile around the world. "Duke is the best known U.S. law school all over China," he said, crediting the accomplishments of its numerous Chinese graduates.
Judy Horowitz recalled her shared commitment, with Maher, to make LLM students' year of studies at Duke Law "the best year of their life."
"Thank you all for making my 31 years at Duke the best years of my life," she said.


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In the raging browser wars, features, security and stability are paramount to competing. Opera might want to get a serious handle on things with the next release they push.
There is a memory corruption bug that has been present in Opera 10, 11 and the pre-release of 12 on Windows XP SP3. The vulnerability exists within SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) layout handling. By nesting SVG functions within XML calls, an attacker is able to crash Opera. While crashing a browser might not seem like a huge deal to some, couple it with code injection and you have an exploit that can lead to complete remote code execution, and then it's game over.
The exploit, which was discovered over a year ago, was reported to Opera but never fixed. Jose Vasquez, the original author, has published full details on the vulnerability as well as written and released a complete Metasploit module. Metasploit is a security framework for penetration testing, allowing a large number of security professional to collaborate on software and service vulnerabilities.
What might seem like a benign crash of your browser, might turn out to be an attacker positioning themselves to take control of your computer and network. Although it's been previously broken, Jose also indicates it may be possible to bypass DEP, which is an active security feature provided by Microsoft, specifically made to prevent unwanted code execution.
In an interview, Opera's co-founder, Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner indicated their number of users grew from 50 million in 2009 to over 150 million in just one year. There are a lot of users who are potentially vulnerable to exploitation of this bug. When Opera 11.51 was released, major security and minor stability issues were the reason for the update. If we consider that this bug has been present since 10.50, disclosed to Opera over a year ago, and still left unfixed — many users may want to look at switching to the very popular Chrome or Firefox 7 until Opera fixes this issue.


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25 March 2012
March Ancestors (2)
3 comments:
- Cathy said...
Busy month! So your mother got married the day before her 24th birthday ... that seems so young.
- Tuesday, 27 March, 2012
- Antra said...
The end of March is the time for Latvian birthdays - mine is at the end of March, my parents' birthdays are also at the end of March (on the same day as each other, no less), at least half a dozen other Latvians I know have birthdays at the end of March, and I have a number of ancestors with end of March birthdays as well (though in the earlier generations, September and November birthdays are more common). I attribute the glut of end-of-March birthdays to the fact that Midsummer is precisely nine months earlier, which is a big Latvian celebration :)
- Tuesday, 27 March, 2012
- BDM said...
Cathy, yes ... quite a Latvian month ...
Antra reminds me of the kind of detail that makes family history more interesting! I have more to learn about the traditional Midsummer festival :)
- Thursday, 29 March, 2012


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Safety and Efficacy of Two Once Daily Anti Retroviral Treatment Regimens Along With Anti-tuberculosis Treatment
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00332306
Recruitment Status : Unknown
Verified January 2009 by Tuberculosis Research Centre, India.
Recruitment status was: Active, not recruiting
First Posted : June 1, 2006
Last Update Posted : October 8, 2009
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Protocol Summary
Title: Evaluation of safety and efficacy of two different once daily anti-retroviral treatment regimens along with anti-tuberculosis treatment in patients with HIV-1 and tuberculosis - Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial
Phase: Phase III trial
Population: 180 HIV-1 positive patients with tuberculosis
Number of Sites: Four.
- Tuberculosis Research Centre, Chennai
- Government Medical College, Vellore
- Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine, Tambaram
- Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai
Study Duration: 26 months including 24 months of ART.
Study Objectives:
Primary Objective To compare the efficacy and safety of two different once-daily anti-retroviral treatment regimens (along with standard anti-tuberculosis treatment) in patients with HIV-1 and tuberculosis, by using virologic end points.
Secondary Objective To compare the efficacy of antiretroviral treatment given under partial supervision with unsupervised treatment (once a month supply).
|Condition or disease
|Tuberculosis Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infections
|Drug: Didanosine, Lamivudine, Efavirenz Drug: Didanosine, Lamivudine, Nevirapine
|Phase 3
Description of Agent or Intervention:
The study intervention is to start patients with HIV and tuberculosis on anti-retroviral treatment along with the continuation phase of anti-tuberculosis treatment (ATT)ie after completion of first two months of treatment. The anti-TB regimen used in this trial will be 2EHRZ3/4RH3. Two different once-daily regimens are being compared for their efficacy and adverse event profile, namely ddI + 3TC + NVP versus ddI + 3TC + EFZ. The primary aim is to study the outcome of patients treated with both ART and ATT at 6 months (24 weeks of ART). A secondary objective is to compare the utility of partially supervised directly observed treatment with unsupervised administration of anti-retroviral drugs.
Patients with HIV-1 infection and active tuberculosis (pulmonary and extrapulmonary) will be started on a four-drug intermittent short-course anti-TB regimen on recruitment to the trial. They will be randomized at the end of intensive phase of ATT to receive either of the ART regimens and the outcome measured at the end of 6 months. During this phase, both ATT and ART will be given under supervision three times a week. Patients with viral load < 400 copies/ml(favourable outcome) at this time point will be randomized to receive ART either by partial observation of treatment (three times a week)or monthly supply (unsupervised administration) and final outcome will be measured at the end of 24 months of ART. The study will provide information on the comparative efficacy of the two regimens when given with anti-TB treatment as well as any added advantage that direct observation of treatment may provide.
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Estimated Enrollment :
|180 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Parallel Assignment
|None (Open Label)
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|Evaluation of Safety and Efficacy of Two Different Once Daily Anti Retroviral Treatment Regimens Along With Anti-tuberculosis Treatment in Patients With HIV-1 and Tuberculosis
|Study Start Date :
|June 2006
|Estimated Primary Completion Date :
|June 2009
|Estimated Study Completion Date :
|December 2011
Experimental: 2
Didanosine + Lamivudine + Nevirapine
Drug: Didanosine, Lamivudine, Nevirapine
Didanosine 250 mg once daily for patients < 60kg, 400 mg OD patients > 60kg Lamivudine 300 mg once daily Nevirapine 400 mg once daily All drugs will be given for 24 months
Active Comparator: 1
Didanosine + Lamivudine + Efavirenz
Drug: Didanosine, Lamivudine, Efavirenz
Didanosine 250mg patients <60kg, 400mg patients > 60kg once daily Lamivudine 300 mg once daily Efavirenz 600 mg once daily All drugs will be given for 24 months
- Suppression of Viral load to < 400 copies/ml or a two log reduction in viral load from the baseline value at the end of 6 months and a viral load <400 copies/ml at 24 months of antiretroviral therapy [ Time Frame: Dec 2008 ]
- To compare the response to treatment between partially supervised drug administration and unsupervised drug administration. [ Time Frame: Dec 2009 ]
- To compare the tolerability and toxicity attributable to study drugs. [ Time Frame: Dec 2009 ]
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years to 61 Years (Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Age > 18 years
a) Newly diagnosed sputum smear positive tuberculosis (at least 1 out of 6 sputum specimen should be positive by smear) b)Miliary tuberculosis, mediastinal/hilar lymphadenopathy, diagnosed by chest radiography or CT scan (irrespective of sputum smear status).
c)TB lymphadenitis with histopathological/bacteriological evidence of TB d)Pleural effusion with biochemical/cytological/bacteriological evidence of TB
- HIV-1 positivity (on 2 different rapid tests on the same blood sample)
- CD4 cell counts less than 250 cells/mm3
- Likely to remain in the same area for at least two years after start of treatment.
- Willingness to stay in the hospital for 2 weeks during initiation of ART, and attend the clinic thrice weekly for the entire period of the study (up to 2 years).
- Willingness for home visits, and to attend for investigations, supervised treatment and follow-up as required.
- Within the area of intake (25 kms from any of the TRC subcentres).
- Willingness to use contraception during trial period.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Resides outside area of intake.
- Pregnancy and lactation.
- Patients with major psychiatric illnesses and severe depression
- Major complications of HIV disease like encephalopathy, renal (Serum creatinine level > 1.2 mgs/dl) or hepatic disease (Serum bilirubin > 2.0 times upper limit of normal, Serum transaminases > 2.5 times upper limit of normal), serum amylase > 2 times upper limit of normal with serum lipase > 1.5 times upper limit of normal.
- Serious cardiac disease (CCF, IHD), uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, cancer, moribund state
- Previous antituberculosis treatment for more than 1 month.
- Previous antiretroviral treatment for more than 1 month
- Patients with CD4 cell count >250 cells/mm3.
- HIV-2 infection alone or in combination with HIV-1.
- Patients currently using alcohol, IV drugs & other substance abuse.
- Unwilling to use contraception & avoid pregnancy.
- Unwilling to HIV/TB screening and participation in trial.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00332306
|Tuberculosis Research Centre
|Chennai, Tamilnadu, India, 600031
|Principal Investigator:
|Soumya Swaminathan, MD
|Tuberculosis Research Centre, India
|Study Director:
|PR Narayanan, PhD
|Tuberculosis Research Centre, India
Additional Information:
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
|Responsible Party:
|Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Tuberculosis Research Centre
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|First Posted:
|June 1, 2006 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|October 8, 2009
|Last Verified:
|January 2009
Once daily antiretroviral treatment
Concomitant antituberculosis treatment
HIV Infections
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
HIV Infections
Virus Diseases
Mycobacterium Infections
Actinomycetales Infections
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections
Bacterial Infections
Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes
Immune System Diseases
Lentivirus Infections
Retroviridae Infections
RNA Virus Infections
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Slow Virus Diseases
Anti-Retroviral Agents
Antitubercular Agents
Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors
Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitors
Enzyme Inhibitors
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action
Antiviral Agents
Anti-Infective Agents
Anti-HIV Agents
Cytochrome P-450 CYP2C9 Inhibitors


text:
* Climate sceptic publishes draft of report on global warming
* Panel says anyone can review its work
OSLO, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The U.N. panel of climate scientists has rejected criticism that it is too secretive after a blogger sceptical about global warming published a leaked draft on Tuesday of one of its massive reports.
The panel, whose work is a guide for governments deciding whether to make billion-dollar shifts away from fossil fuels, said it welcomed comments from all to fine-tune the report whose final version is due to be published in 2014.
"All scientific comments submitted through the review process will be considered and addressed by authors, and all comments are made public after publication," it said in a statement on Tuesday night.
Anyone signing up as a reviewer, however, has to promise not to quote from the report or hand it on.
Donna Laframboise, a Canadian writer sceptical that climate change will be damaging, published thousands of pages of the draft by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and accused it of withholding information from the public.
"This is foolishly short-sighted," she wrote of the panel, which comprising thousands of climate scientists. "The IPCC needs to be upfront, open, and honest about every single step by which it arrives at its conclusions."
She said that environmental activists, rather than scientists, had been submitting many comments to lobby authors.
Last month, another sceptic published a separate draft IPCC report that said it was at least 95 percent certain that most recent global warming was man-made, up from a probability of at least 90 percent in the previous IPCC report in 2007.
The reports also say that rising temperatures are set to bring more heatwaves, floods and rising sea levels.
The IPCC said that "the early drafts of IPCC reports are just that - early drafts". They become official once adopted by governments after a long periods of reviews and re-writes.
Tuesday's leaked report looks at the impacts of climate change around the world. It says, for instance, that impacts "will likely affect productivity and economic growth, but the magnitude of this effect is not well understood".
"Climate change variability could be one of the causes why some countries are trapped in poverty, and climate change may make it harder to escape poverty traps," it said.
The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. vice president and climate campaigner Al Gore. It also came in for criticism in 2010 after its 2007 report exaggerated the pace of melt of Himalayan glaciers. (Reporting by Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent; Editing by Alison Williams)
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