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All spring quarter classes at UW Bothell classes will be held remotely. In compliance with state mandate, the campus is on restricted operations. Only faculty and staff identfied as critical should be on campus. Student services and the library are available online, see UW Bothell's coronavirus page for details.
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Legal Services of Greater Miami
Global Studies '09
When Liam McGivern graduated from University of Washington Bothell in 2009, he knew one thing. "I knew that I wanted to do something working on behalf of marginalized people, but I wasn't really sure what form that would take," he says. With a major in global studies and a minor in human rights, he set off for law school thinking he would eventually work on international issues.
But while studying at the University of Miami School of Law on a public interest scholarship, he quickly discovered that many people closer to home also need help. "I saw how much need there was in the local community and so my focus shifted from international to local advocacy," he says.
McGivern began volunteering at Legal Services of Greater Miami where he started out in the military law unit. The first case he worked on involved a marine who suffered a brain injury while serving in Iraq. While recovering, the soldier was Other Than Honorably discharged from the military after his behavior failed to meet military standards. The brain injury was not considered a factor in the soldier's discharge status.
McGivern soon learned that there are many soldiers who experience brain injuries or have undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder and are similarly discharged from the military. "They are permanently denied benefits in some cases," he says. "I saw a great injustice that there wasn't enough being done to change how these soldiers were perceived and that was coupled with the discovery of what a widespread problem this is."
McGivern, now 28 years old, will spend the next two years working at Legal Services of Greater Miami on these " discharge upgrade" cases. He has received a prestigious Skadden Fellowship award to do this work and just graduated magna cum laude from law school.
His former UW Bothell professor Julie Shayne recalls McGivern 's love of learning and commitment to hard work. "I believe Liam went to law school because he thinks law is the best way to advocate for social justice," she says. "In other words, he sees his legal training and degree as a form of advocacy; his degree is to be shared rather than used solely for his own personal financial success."


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Jobs at Michelin
- What are the advantages of joining Michelin?
Michelin is a recognized, innovative international group. By joining us, you opt in on numerous benefits, such as:
- a wide range of professions
- an individualized training program that helps you build your career plan
- career opportunities
- fair compensation
- quality of working life
Find out about our employer commitments by visiting the page A mutual commitment .
- What is Michelin's company culture?
Our company culture can be summed up in one word: respect. This is our founding value .
- Respect for people
- Respect for customers
- Respect for shareholders
- Respect for facts
- Respect for the environment
- What importance does Michelin place on career development?
Your professional development is of the utmost importance because it underpins our Group's performance. Throughout your career at Michelin, you receive guidance and support from one of our 400 career managers, to build a personalized career plan. You have an ongoing, individualized training program, right from the time you join the company.
Read about our team members' careers and testimonials in the section Discover our careers .
- Do you recruit students on co-operative programs?
Yes. We see co-operative programs as a gateway to employment. Every year, we take in students on co-op programs, under a professional development contract or an apprenticeship contract.
To find out more about co-operative programs at Michelin, visit the page Doing a co-operative program at Michelin and see our online co-operative program offers .

subset: commoncrawl


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Agreement includes undisclosed 'compensation' for Microsoft
Microsoft and Salesforce.com have reached an out-of-court settlement concerning alleged patent violations.
It appears that Microsoft will get paid under the agreement, which was quickly settled after both sides sued each other this year. Microsoft issued a statement Wednesday indicating that it "is being compensated by Salesforce.com" for patents on "operating systems, cloud services and customer relationship management software."
The terms of the deal aren't being released. Because the two sides each sued the other over noncoinciding intellectual property claims, it's not clear if money exchanged hands or if some sort of mutual licensing agreement was reached.
A spokesperson at Salesforce.com would not provide clarification. She stated only that "Salesforce.com is pleased to put this litigation behind us."
Salesforce.com and Microsoft both compete in the customer relationship management space, selling sales and contact management software to companies and organizations. Microsoft had sued Salesforce.com first, in May, alleging nine patent violations. In June, Salesforce.com countersued, alleging five patent violations by Microsoft.
Although the alleged patent violations were specified in the two lawsuits, Microsoft's announcement today was vague about the legal details.
"The cases have been settled through a patent agreement in which Salesforce.com will receive broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for its products and services as well as its back-end server infrastructure during the term," according to a released statement from Microsoft. "Also as part of the agreement, Microsoft receives coverage under Salesforce.com's patent portfolio for Microsoft's products and services."
About the Author
Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for the 1105 Enterprise Computing Group.
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The history of voting
|Alphabetical list of History Topics
|History Topics Index
It we have two candidates A and B and one of the two is to be elected by a vote, then there is a fairly obvious system. Voters cast a vote for either candidate A or a vote for candidate B. However if votes were to be cast for a larger number of candidates then there was a question of how it should be done.
For example one of the earliest forms of democracy in Greece was introduced by Cleisthenes in 508 BC. This was a rather negative form of an election, for each year voters were asked to cast a vote for the politician they most wished to exile for ten years. Votes were written on ostraka, which were broken pots, and from this name comes our present word to ostracise. If no politician received more than 6000 votes then all remained, but if any received more than 6000 then the one with the largest number was exiled. Requiring that someone had over 6000 votes before being ostracised was an added feature to try to ensure that only when a person was unpopular with a large number of voters was exile the result. If there was a fairly even spread of votes, nobody would get over 6000 and, although someone would get the most it would not matter in such a case.
The Venetian state was built up in the 13th century and they elected a Great Council of 40 members which was raised to 60 by the middle of the century. Various electoral systems were used, in particular the Venetians introduced approval voting around this time. In this system, if there are n candidates, then electors cast one vote for every candidate they find acceptable and none for those whom they deem unacceptable. This has a number of attractions as a system, and certainly the winner is the person who is acceptable to the largest number of voters.
Was voting system introduced by Cleisthenes fair? Was the Venetian system of approval voting fair? Of course to answer the question of whether any electoral system is fair one must define what this means. In the case where there are two candidates there is a mathematical argument to show that there is only one system which satisfies the 'obvious' three criteria of fairness:
all voters are equal;This voting system is the one in which each voter casts a single vote for the candidate they wish to elect and this was proved in 1952 by Kenneth May.
both candidates are treated equally;
if the winning candidate received more votes they would still win.
both candidates are treated equally;
if the winning candidate received more votes they would still win.
Where there are more than two candidates the situation is very complicated and several different definitions of 'fair' have been given, as well as many different electoral systems being proposed. For example one suggestion is that if one person is to be elected from a collection of n people then the election is fair if the person elected would have won in a head-to-head contest with every one of the other n-1 candidates. Although this does indeed seem "fair" there is the problem that in many cases there will not be anyone who would beat every other candidate in a head-to-head contest.
Llull, in the 13th century, proposed a voting system based on precisely the principle of "fairness" which we have described above when his advice was sought on how to elect the abbess of a convent. His suggestion was written down in a manuscript which was available to Nicholas of Cusa in the 15th century but a fuller description of Llull's proposal for a voting system was made in another of his manuscripts which was only discovered and published in 2001. Although Llull's system certainly satisfies the property that everyone would agree that the person elected was fairly elected, there is the problem that an election based on these principles may not result in a winner at all.
In 1433 Cusa, having studied Llull's idea and realising that it had deficiencies, proposed a different system which would always result in a winner. Cusa produced a document on how to elect German kings in which he proposed the following system. If there were n candidates for King, then voters should give the candidate they favoured least one point, the next candidate two points and so on until they reached their most favoured candidate for King who they would give n votes. This system is used today for certain elections but it does have the deficiency that the candidate elected may not have been anyone's first choice.
Llull's idea of a fair election was proposed again 500 years later by Condorcet in his Essai sur l'application de l'analyse à la probabilité des décisions rendues à la pluralité des voix Ⓣ published in 1785. This is a remarkable work which gives Condorcet an important place in the history of probability. The work contains the Condorcet Paradox which points out that it is possible that a majority of voters may prefer candidate A over candidate B, a majority may prefer candidate B over candidate C, and yet a majority may prefer candidate C over candidate A. Thus, "majority prefers" is not transitive and so an election based on Llull's definition of "fair" may not yield a winner. A second edition of Condorcet's work, including much new material, was published in 1805 with a different title, namely Eléments du calcul des probabilités et son application aux jeux de hasard, à la loterie et aux jugements des hommes Ⓣ.
Borda was a contemporary of Condorcet and felt that although the system described by Llull, and much later proposed by Condorcet, was fair, it was not workable. Borda proposed the system of ranking candidates by giving each points corresponding to their rank as Nicholas of Cusa had done in the 15th century. There was a vigorous argument between the two mathematicians as to which of the two voting systems was the best but of course since both systems had their strengths and weaknesses, such an argument was bound to be inconclusive.
We have indicated how the Borda and Condorcet principles were put forward in medieval times. Earlier proposals of this type are discussed in [6]:-
We report three medieval works, hitherto unknown to social choice, which discuss procedures for elections when there are more than two candidates. Two of the three propose Borda methods and the third a Condorcet method of successive pairwise comparison. All three discuss problems of manipulation. One of them displays a matrix for pairwise comparisons; this is a work written in 1299, nearly 600 years before the matrix notation was believed to have been invented by C L Dodgson.In fact it was shown in 1951 by Kenneth Arrow, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1972, that no voting system can be fair in the sense that it will produce a winner who will be preferred to every other candidate and still guarantee that a decisive result will be the outcome of the election. If this leads one to believe that Borda's ranking system must be better than Condorcet's system, then one must realise a major deficiency of this system is that electors can vote tactically rather than giving their true opinions. A voter may favour candidate A as first choice and candidate B as second choice. However placing A first with n votes and B last with 1 vote increases A's chance of winning. Such tactical voting can lead to candidates whom nobody favoured being elected.
The simple system in which each voter gives a single vote to their favourite candidate can also lead to tactical voting. If a voter would like to see candidate C elected but feels that B is the only candidate who stands a chance at stopping A being elected, then the voter may vote for B rather than their first choice C. Such tactical voting was evident in an election in Scotland in the 1990s. At this election there were four 'major' parties (and therefore 4 main candidates in most regions) and voters had a single vote. Not a single Conservative candidate was elected despite the party getting a reasonable proportion of votes, since in regions where the Conservative was thought likely to win, many supporters of the other three parties voted for the candidate they thought most likely to beat the Conservative.
Tactical voting leads one to think of the rigorous formulation of such problems using game theory. In 1944 von Neumann and Morgenstern published Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour which allowed concepts such as tactical voting to be put into a precise mathematical form. However, such formulations led to problems such as the prisoner's dilemma which illustrated the difficult of reconciling the best strategy for an individual with the best strategy for groups of individuals. Does this have any bearing on elections?
Attempts to overcome the deficiencies of voting systems had been proposed long before game theory was invented. One such proposal by Thomas Hare, John Stuart Mill and C C G Andrae in the middle of the 19th century is the single transferable vote system used mainly for electing several candidates. In this system suppose there are n candidates of whom m are to be elected and suppose that k people vote. The quota Q = k/(m+1)+1 is calculated. Each voter ranks the n candidates in order of preference. First preferences are counted and any candidate receiving more than Q first preferences is elected. For each candidate who receives more votes than the quota, the number of votes in excess of the quota is calculated and their second preferences are allocated to the remaining candidates. The process is continued but may not result in m candidates passing the quota Q. In this case the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated and the second preferences of voters for this candidate are redistributed. The process continues until a result is reached. If m = 1, that is a single person is to be elected, then the system can still be used.
Variants of the system are sometimes used when parties rather than people are to be elected. In the list system, voters vote for parties and candidates are elected from a list put up by each party. The number elected for each party is to be roughly in proportion to the number of votes cast. Different rules have been proposed to compute the number to be elected from each list. The highest-average rule was devised by Victor d'Hondt. Under this rule the party with the most votes gets its top candidate elected and the number of votes cast for this party is then divided by the number of its candidates who have been elected plus one. The process continues until the required number of candidates have been elected. Such list systems, using various ways of approximating the proportions, have been used throughout the 20th century. Under such proportional representation systems it is unusual for one party to gain an overall majority. This is seem but some as a disadvantage of the system, and by others as an advantage.
In fact we should mention the proportional representation work by Dodgson in the 1880s when he considered apportionment of representatives to districts. The author of [4] argues that:-
Dodgson's work present a complete and unified approach to the electoral reform issues which were being discussed at the time, but in doing so he developed and contributed ideas to game theory and apportionment which are well in advance of the 1880s.The difficulty with all voting systems is that one can show mathematically that no satisfactory system exists. This was proved by Kenneth Arrow who proved what is known as Arrow's Paradox. The paradox which Arrow proved is counterintuitive for one feels that there must be a satisfactory way of aggregating the wishes of individuals into a policy for society as a whole. This after all is what our whole idea of democracy is based on. Yet Arrow showed that there is no way that the choices of individuals can be aggregated to yield their collective choice under four assumptions which seem clearly 'obvious'. The axioms are:
1. every possible choice by individuals must lead to an aggregate choice;With these four axioms Arrow showed that there is no way to aggregate the choices of individuals into an aggregate choice for the society. Despite this result, however, democracies will continue to hold elections and ask individuals to vote to determine policies for all.
2. if all individuals make the same orderings then this must also be the aggregate ordering;
3. the aggregate ordering must not depend solely on the choice of a single individual;
4. the aggregate ordering must not depend on individuals in any way other than in respect to their ordering.
2. if all individuals make the same orderings then this must also be the aggregate ordering;
3. the aggregate ordering must not depend solely on the choice of a single individual;
4. the aggregate ordering must not depend on individuals in any way other than in respect to their ordering.
Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson


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If you did not identify this bird in under 3 seconds, you clearly need to study up for gull season. Lake Merced, San Francisco, CA.
Well it's officially gull season here at BB&B...while California birders make blood sacrifices to that Big Gull In The Sky in attempts to get an early fall Little Gull (like most prayers, they usually go unanswered), gull season hasn't started in earnest until now. California's first Lesser Black-backed Gull of the winter has been reported from Alameda County. I did search for the (well-documented) Lesser Black-backed today, but as with most of my recent chase attempts, it ended in failure...but it turned up at a great gull-watching spot (not surprisingly, next to a dump) so I will be back soon. Birders up and down the state can now start their search for Black-tailed, Slaty-backed, Iceland, Black-headed and other species in earnest, and those looking for the state's first Greater Black-backed Gull have another crack at claiming Victory.
Much has been written about gulls...mostly how unpleasant it is to identify them, how people generally aren't very good at it, and even how some birds just can't conclusively be identified. Indeed, whinging about gulls is an atavistic endeavor at best, so I won't go rehashing the same old shit...but that doesn't mean what they say isn't true.
Well...it's a hybrid. The small, almost delicate bill points to Glaucous-winged X Herring in my opinion, but Glaucous-winged X Western is a possibility, especially considering the mottled breast and belly. Note the small bill with reddish base, checkered back and light brown primaries...these birds are deceptively similar to Thayer's Gulls, but don't look as neat and usually have paler primaries.
Here's a first-cycle Thayer's Gull for comparison...note the round head, big-eyed look, meager bill, and dark (not black) primaries with pale tips. This was photographed in late winter, young birds usually don't have so much pink on the bill right now. Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA.
Of course, real gull addicts don't want to be seeing straightforward looking birds unless they are extremely rare, so here is another genetic monstrosity...I would tentatively go with Glaucous X Herring Gull hybrid, or perhaps Glaucous X Glaucous-winged. Large, heavy-billed, extremely pale, with a dull (but extensive) pink base to the bill and a lot of white in the primaries. Lake Merritt.
Probably a very pale Glaucous-winged Gull...note the difference in bill shape from the above bird. Some may be tempted to call this a Glaucous, due to whiteness and pink in the bill, but of course they would be Wrong. Lake Merritt.
Ah, a Glaucous Gull. So white. So easy to identify. So rare but regular. What a relief. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA.
Birders don't hold a grudge against Mew Gulls, since they aren't completely slutty and don't closely resemble other gulls. Lake Merced.


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Fuel prices slash again; cut by 30 paise, petrol at Rs 69.26 p/l in Delhi
Opinions expressed in the comments are not reflective of Central Chronicle. Comments are moderated automatically.
Jamia violence: Cong's tyJamia violence: Cong's typical character to speak against security forces, says BJPpical character to speak against security forces, says BJP
Health Min saying corona outbreak in control is like Titanic captain saying ship is unsinkable: Rahul
YES Bank should immediately brought under public sector, take criminal action on top officials : AIBEA to Govt
As Fitness becomes mainstream in India, Airtel to power youth-first digital platform for fitness content
'I am hurt, why Govt is scared of naming willful defaulters?', asks Rahul after LS witnesses noisy scenes
India is going to pay heavy price for government's inability to act, Rahul's attack over Coronavirus spread
Cabinet OKs inclusion of AYUSH Health & Wellness Centres under Ayushman Bharat in National AYUSH Mission
'I apologise for difficulties, but defying lockdown is playing with your own life', says PM in Mann ki Baat
5T plan to control Coronavirus in Delhi, 3 hospitals declared COVID-19 dedicated facilities: Kejriwal
Opinions expressed in the comments are not reflective of Central Chronicle. Comments are moderated automatically.


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Professional webshop software
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Our platform is the recommended choice for entrepreneurs and small businesses.
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Build and create your way. We optimize your webshop for maximum search rankings to help your idea become a success story.
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Hypnotherapy can help Increase your Confidence & Self Esteem
Are you affected by any of the following?
Being in the company of other people, small groups and large groups
feeling judged by others
feel self-conscious when other people are close by
lacking confidence when meeting new people or people of the opposite sex
Driving and driving test fears, nerves
Exam nerves
Consider for a moment
Social Phobia
job interview
Feeling 'not good enough. Einstein's definition.'
Consider for a moment, just imagine how your life would improve when you are more confident?
What would you do differently?
What would you look like?
What would you sound like?
How different would you feel each morning when you wake?
What would others notice about you?
There is a Japanese tale about a mythical bird, that spent the daylight hours enjoying the sun and having a lazy time, while the other birds got on with the job of nest building. When the sunsets and night-time arrives, the bird would spend the night freezing, determined that tomorrow he would not hang around, but would build a nest so that he does not have to suffer. However, when the sun rose, he did not act but continued his acquired pattern of behaviour and just Einstein's definition
of insanity "is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results". Many people, are well practised at stopping themselves doing what they want to do, and beating themselves up mentally, for example, talking to yourself in an unkind way, E.g. "you idiot you messed up again" "you can't get anything right."
People can become so well practised, and they become masters of being unkind to themselves and not doing what they want. It's not that there is anything wrong with them; it's just that they have developed a habitual way of thinking, feeling and behaving.
How can Hypnotherapy help you, increase your confidence and self-esteem?
Hypnotherapy & NLP are renown for being the most effective therapies, in boosting your confidence and self-esteem. Hypnotherapy, NLP and Timeline Therapy, can if necessary, address what is causing low self-confidence, and give very rewarding and dramatic results
True confidence isn't about knowing that things will go well, it about knowing you can manage uncertainty and the not knowing of the outcomes of events. One of the presuppositions in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) is there isn't failure only feedback. People who are considered to be high achievers believe failure doesn't exist, they see it as an opportunity to learn from what happened, and to discover ways to improve next time. People who are confident can relax and feel ok with not knowing how things will go; they trust that they have the resources, skills and abilities to deal with the situation.
For many people, however, confidence is something that they admire in others, but cannot access for themselves. Having low self-confidence can be extremely limiting, affecting our ability to live the life we deserve. Lacking confidence can be very restrictive in a person's life. Low self-confidence can be very restrictive in a person's day to day life.
What is confidence? -some few examples
Doing what you want to do, when and how you want to do it
Having the self-esteem to fail and make mistakes
Being comfortable with yourself and not worrying about what others think
Being relaxed feeling comfortable and secure
Believing in yourself
"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step" I know its a cheesy quote, but there is a real sense in it. Also, mistakes and failures are stepping stones, for us to learn and to further develop ourselves.
If you feel that you lack self-esteem or self-confidence, and it is causing problems in your life, then take advantage of a free consultation today and discover how you can become the person you would like to be.


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Ninebot KickScooter MAX G30 ; Ninebot KickScooter MAX G30D
The new Ninebot KickScooter MAX Series (Powered by Segway) offers you the best solution for comfort riding and long-distance commuting.
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The Ninebot KickScooter ES by Segway Series is a high-quality range of electric kickscooters with a lightweight aircraft grade aluminum alloy one-push folding frame. The many built-in hidden features allow their design to be unique in its cleanness. Simply push off and enjoy effortless traveling.
Segway Drift W1, Segway Robot Loomo, Ninebot Z10, Ninebot Gokart, Segway S-PLUS
Segway Drift W1 is your new stylish way to move and have fun. Two separate e-Skates offer countless possibilities on ways to use it. The product is made out of high-quality materials that provide you a reliable ride. Step on, improve your skills and challenge your friends - The Segway Drift W1 is fun to master!
The exclusive high-tech Segway S-PLUS is structurally re-engineered for maximum functionality. This one really gets you going, even when you're not riding it. Just take out the remote control from the integrated storage compartment, turn on the Follow Mode and have your vehicle follow you independently every step of the way. It's almost like having your own personal robot!
Segway Loomo is your mobile robot sidekick and personal mini transporter. It can help you to accomplish daily tasks - transporting small documents, taking photos or filming videos and more you can decide. The core capabilities of Loomo are built based on Android system, which can enable you to access creativities with endless possiblities. With Loomo, you don't have to worry about finding parking spots, it can just simply follow you to everywhere in a speed of 8 km/h, the advanced computer vision can also help Loomo to avoid obstacles in the following mode. In the riding mode, Loomo can speed up to 18km/h and give you a fun ride.
The advanced self-balancing vehicle Ninebot Z10 is equipped with extra-large strong structured single wheel, which not only enables you to have a good trip in urban traffic, but also provide you a real off-road experience. With the thick pneumatic tire, you can easily cross road gap, bumps and other small obstacles. With maximized speed and range, Ninebot Z10 is designed to fulfil your travel enthusiasm. The IP54 rated protection allows you to ride this electronic unicycle in all-weather condition.
The Ninebot Gokart is a conversion kit for Ninebot S. By removing the knee-control bar, the Ninebot S can be attached to the Gokart's frame and become its motor, accelerating it to 20 km/h (12 mph) within seconds. With adjustable frame built to drift, Gokart could provide thrills and spills for teenagers and adults alike. With our commitment to product development and manufacturing, every aspect of the Ninebot Gokart was meticulously designed and developed to ensure a high-quality product.
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The ONE S2 not just a means of transport – it's quite something else than your regular hoverboard. Think extreme sports and hit the pavement at high speed. Take on your competition.
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The Segway x2 SE is our all-terrain master. It gets you places where you need to be, safely and quickly. Or take the i2 and bring anything you need on the job. Whether it is business related or you need to get your hands dirty; with the mount accessories you can bring anything along.


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Former Buffalo Bills linebacker Kirk Morrison has bought a home in the 90210 ZIP Code for $1.1 million.
The contemporary Mediterranean, built in 2012, features an open floor plan, solar power, multiple decks and balconies, three bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and 2,400 square feet of living space.
PHOTOS: Grandest pool around? Malibu has it
Morrison, 31, started his career with the Oakland Raiders in 2005 and is an unsigned free agent. He is also a sports announcer.
Ian L. Brooks of Prudential California Realty was the listing agent. Todd Marks, also with Prudential, represented Morrison.
Linkin Park's Joe Hahn lists Brentwood home
Paul Wesley, Torrey DeVitto list home in Hollywood Hills
Cowboys' Orlando Scandrick puts Hollywood Hills home up for sale


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North Carolina hotels
Find a place to stay
See on a map
- Brunswick Islands Hotels, United States of America
- Outer Banks Hotels, United States of America
- Albemarle Sound Hotels, United States of America
- Downtown Asheville Art District Hotels, United States of America
- Coastal North Carolina Hotels, United States of America
- Eastern Piedmont Hotels, United States of America
- Western Piedmont Hotels, United States of America
- North Carolina Mountains Hotels, United States of America
- Currituck County Hotels, United States of America
- Wake County Hotels, United States of America
Intro to North Carolina hotels and accommodations
Hotels in North Carolina
North Carolina hotels offer a wide range of excellent facilities to all types of travelers. Luxury hotels in North Carolina provide fantastic service in cities like Durham and Raleigh. Such hotels often include spas, fitness and business centers, and swimming pools, as well as insights into this historic state. Out of the city, oceanfront hotels on the North Carolina coast offer stunning views and beach access to complement the service. For those traveling on a tighter budget, plenty of cheap North Carolina hotels are available. Offering basic services to guests, these comfortable hotels are perfect for families and there is a good selection serving Charlotte and its surrounding attractions.
Things to see in North Carolina
North Carolina is filled with activities for all types of travelers, above all nature lovers who will not want to miss the wonderful Eno River State Park near Durham. In addition to the breathtaking views across the park, trails for hiking abound, with options for serious hikers looking for a big day out, and for families and other visitors seeking a more casual stroll in the great outdoors. For animal lovers, Durham is still the place to be, with the Duke Lemur Center offering tours to see these gorgeous little creatures. Families will also love the North Carolina coast, where visitors flock to Outer Banks and the surrounding areas. Over in Raleigh, the North Carolina Museum of Sciences is filled with fun and informative exhibits to keep all the family amused, while history buffs will surely be keen to visit the USS North Carolina battleship in Wilmington, the first to be named after the state.
Where to stay in North Carolina
For travel in North Carolina, the top choice for visitors must be the state capital, Raleigh. This fine city has plenty to do, and is perfect for all the family with Marbles Kids Museum a particular highlight. Nearby Charlotte is another great family destination. The Carowinds amusement park there will keep the whole family very entertained for a day or two, while Discovery Place, an interactive science museum, will also fascinate kids and grown-ups. Elsewhere, Durham's university chapel is well worth a visit, and the lighthouses along the North Carolina coast merge form and function for some great photos.
How to get to North Carolina
If you're traveling from the north, you can get to North Carolina by taking Interstate 95 from Washington, D.C. before joining Interstate 85, which will take you right into the heart of the state. From the south, Interstate 95 runs all the way up from Jacksonville, Florida, and can be joined from Interstate 26 from Charleston, and from Interstate 20 from Atlanta. Coming from further afield? North Carolina has a number of airports receiving flights from across the U.S.—Charlotte/Douglas and Raleigh-Durham International Airports are the main points of entry for air passengers, but a selection of other airports exist for those heading to different areas of North Carolina.
North Carolina travel guides
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Guests: Howard Fineman, Hampton Pearson, Willie Geist, Willie Brown, Joan Walsh, Jim McDermott, Richard Trumka
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Political smackdown.
Let's play HARDBALL.
Good evening. I'm Chris Matthews down in Washington. Leading off tonight: Nasty politics. It's started, the death struggle. Seeing the agony of defeat right in front of them, the possibility of deliverance, the Democrats and the Republicans are going at it.
In California, Meg Whitman went after Jerry Brown last night for his staffer's use of a slur to describe her dealing with a public safety union. And in the Connecticut smackdown, Linda McMahon hit Dick Blumenthal on his bad character for claiming to have fought in Vietnam. He counterpunched McMahon for, quote, "marketing sex and violence to children" as head of the WWE. We'll go to the videotape on all this at the top of the show.
Plus, regrets, I've had a few. President Obama says in a "New York Times Magazine" story that he's focused too much on policy but he hasn't focused enough on politics. Well, tonight, inside the president's brain and who the White House thinks is going to be the likely Republican candidate in 2012, or at least who they want us to think they think is going to be the nominee.
Also, we're noticing some Republicans who are talking about getting rid of the minimum wage, or, quote, "taking a look at it," as they say in politics. And We know what that means.
And Palin, Paladino, Sharron Angle—let's talk about what MSNBC's Willie Geist calls the "American freak show."
"Let Me Finish" tonight, by the way, with that question Bob Schieffer of CBS put to David Axelrod this Sunday. Is talking about foreign money getting into our political campaigns important or not important?
All that's ahead, but first, a check of the latest polls. And for that, we go to the HARDBALL "Scoreboard." We'll start with Washington state. The new CNN/"Time" Opinion Research poll has Senator Patty Murray with a double-digit now lead over Republican Dino Rossi. She's us—look at that number -- 54-40.
In West Virginia, Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican John Raese are tied at 44. In Delaware, Democrat Chris Coons with a big lead over Republican Christine O'Donnell. He's up at 19 and has been hanging there. In Wisconsin, Republican Ron Johnson has an 8-point lead, again a difficult one to imagine, over Russ Feingold.
Finally, to Illinois, the Senate race. It's tied 37 apiece in a new Simon (ph) poll from Southern Illinois University. But plenty of undecideds, obviously. Look at all the undecideds. Only 37 apiece there.
We'll continue to check the HARDBALL "Scoreboard" on all the big races each night leading up to November 2nd, election Tuesday.
Now let's go to some wild debates on both coasts last night, the fight for governor in California and the fight for U.S. Senator up in Connecticut. Willie Brown is the former mayor of San Francisco and former California Assembly speaker. Joan Walsh is, of course, the editor-in-chief of Salon.com.
Mr. Mayor and Joan, let's take a look at that debate in California last night. Let's listen to the first chunk of it. Here it comes.
TOM BROKAW, NBC NEWS, MODERATOR: We've heard no outrage from you about the use of that kind of language, which to many women is the same as calling an African-American the N-word. Have you been in charge of the investigation of your campaign to find out who is responsible for using that phrase?
JERRY BROWN (D-CA), ATTORNEY GENERAL, CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR: I don't agree with that comparison, number one.
MEG WHITMAN (R-CA), CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR: Oh! Oh!
BROWN: Number two, this is a five-week-old private conversation picked up on a cell phone with a garbled transmission, very hard to detect who is it is. This is not—well, I don't want to get into the term how it's used, but I will say the campaign apologized promptly, and I affirm that apology tonight.
WHITMAN: I think every Californian, and especially women, know exactly what's going on here. And that is a deeply offensive term to women.
BROWN: Well, could I just interject—have you chastised your chairman, Pete Wilson, who called the Congress "whores" to the public sector unions?
WHITMAN: You know better than that, Jerry. That's a completely different thing.
WHITMAN: The fact that you are defending your campaign—the fact their defending your campaign—the fact that you are defending your campaign for a slur, and you know, a personal attack on me, I think it's...
BROWN: It's not even close.
WHITMAN: ... not befitting of California. It's not befitting of the office that you're running for.
BROWN: It's unfortunate. Private conversation. I'm not even sure it's legal because you have to get the consent of all the parties, and there's lots of people talking. So again, Ms. Whitman, sorry it happened. That does not represent anything other than things that happen in a campaign.
MATTHEWS: Mayor Brown, what do you make of this contretemps, this kerfuffle? It has really enraged a lot of people, the use of that term that he mentioned there with regard to the employees union. It has a political context, but it also has a very personal one with a lot of people in this country. They hear that word, they think bad. He didn't apologize enough. What do you make of this?
WILLIE BROWN (D), FORMER SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR: Well, I don't think either Meg Whitman or Jerry Brown handled that question very well. Neither one of them answered what Tom Brokaw, your colleague, asked. He said, Have you conducted an investigation? Jerry should have said, Yes, I have, and I've been unable to determine who may have uttered those horrible words. Let's move beyond it, though, Tom. I have apologized. I apologize again here tonight. And Meg, let's discuss jobs. Let's discuss the budget of the state of California. Let's not discuss what obviously is a horror slur word. And that would have been the end of it.
MATTHEWS: Joan, your view on this, the way he handled it, the way it was used—it was apparently used by some staffer with regard to unions, public safety employees, of course, union, the way it's used in politics, not defensible but certainly looks terrible here. What do you view—how do you view it?
JOAN WALSH, SALON.COM: You know, it's not defensible. It looks terrible. But I want to say, I—you know, I don't want to sit here—no one died and made me—put me in charge of speaking for women, Chris. So I do think that this word now has a gender-neutral political connotation, sadly, sadly to Mayor Brown's profession and the profession that we both love. So I didn't necessarily hear it as a gender slur. Nonetheless, it was a bad thing to say.
I thought he got off a great line by reminding her that it's her campaign chairman, Pete Wilson, who used it in the gender-neutral sense talking about Congress. So that took the sting off it. But I think that Jerry Brown could have been faster to apologize and then get to the quip about Pete Wilson. I think that would have been a lot more effective.
MATTHEWS: OK, let's move on to the other situation that involves Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate. Here's more from California and that smackdown last night in that debate at Dominican (ph) College. Here he is. Let's listen.
BROKAW: If you couldn't find someone in your home was undocumented or illegal, how do you expect businesses to be able to do that?
WHITMAN: So we went through an employment agency. We looked at three forms of identification. Our housekeeper falsified those documents and came to admit it nine years later. It broke my heart, but I had to fire her. I had to let her go. But this is why we need a very good e-verify system.
BROWN: These are real people. These are mothers and dads and kids.
And they have this fear, the fear that her housekeeper had. And by the way
I mean, I don't even want to get into that story. I think it's a kind of a sorry tale there. After working for nine years, she didn't even get her a lawyer. At least I could tell that you could be done.
MATTHEWS: Well, there you have it, Joan. I want to you start with the politics of this. Clearly, Governor Brown, who wants to be governor again, is talking to the Latino voter there, showing sympathy for the employee, not for the law not being enforced, clearly, in that case, whereas Meg Whitman talked about e-verify. She did take an upholding position, saying she does want the system fix so you can't be blamed if you hire somebody who's here illegally because you have a card that's, you know, biometrically verifiable, no more fraudulent paper being thrown around.
She seems a little better in the way she's handled it, not that I believe at all she didn't know that this person...
WALSH: Right.
MATTHEWS: ... was here illegally all those years. I do believe she knew the situation just because of common sense. And if she knew her like a member of the family, like she said she did...
WALSH: Exactly.
MATTHEWS: ... they must have had a conversation in nine years that alluded to the fact that this woman needed legal help.
WALSH: I think that, too. But regardless of what you and I think about the truth of the situation, I think one thing Jerry Brown is doing very well here and he's done it in every debate since this has come up, Chris, is that he's brought a kind of moral language back to politics. And he's doing this with Latinos, but he's doing it with workers, with poor people, as well. And you know, you kind of see that Jesuit seminarian training, reminding us—you know, the last debate, he said, We're all God's children. He'd reach out to Latinos as God's children, and I think that's effective because you can get caught up in the issues of e-verify.
The real political issue here, though, is that she does not support creating a pathway to citizenship for anybody here illegally, and he does. And that is a real political issue, and that is where she also looks very heartless.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
WALSH: It's not just in the dealings with her maid, but with all Californians who are here illegally, many of them who are working hard, trying to play by the rules, trying to do the right thing. She keeps them in the shadows. He's looking for a way...
WALSH: ... to welcome them in, and that's winning—that's a winning political proposition, I think.
MATTHEWS: I just—I like Jerry Brown, but I think he made a terrible mistake in talking like Mike Dukakis about the use of that word. I think there may be an inside jargon aspect to it, but to most people when they hear, it's very offensive, and he didn't react that way.
Let's go to the debate in Connecticut, equally harsh. Let's listen to the first chunk of that.
LINDA MCMAHON ®, SENATE CANDIDATE: Mr. Blumenthal, I just want to go back for a minute, when you talked about the people of Connecticut know you. They know now that you have a difficult time telling the truth. They know that you had a hard time...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, please, ladies and gentlemen!
MCMAHON: ... telling the truth about Vietnam...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please! Ladies and gentlemen, please!
MCMAHON: They know that you did not tell the truth on several occasions. And then after you apologized about Vietnam, then you also did not tell the truth in a couple of other occasions relative to your status on your draft number or the deferments.
will not be lectured on straight talk...
MCMAHON: I'm not lecturing you!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please.
BLUMENTHAL: ... from a woman who has failed to—anyone who has been
has failed to be straight with the people of Connecticut.
MATTHEWS: I think that's another dorky answer. I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor, I think that's a dorky answer. He said he fought in Vietnam. If he said it once, it was a thousand times too many times. He said it numerous times, that he fought in Vietnam, and he never did. And he comes back and says, I will not be lectured to. Well, he was just lectured to, whether he likes it or not, and half the voters of that state are contemptible toward him about this issue.
Why doesn't he just admit he didn't tell the truth? He never got anywhere near Vietnam, never had a bullet fired at him in anger, and he was dead wrong to take the honor of serving servicepeople, especially the guys who fought over there, to him—to his own credit? He should have never, ever, ever done it, and he still acts pompous about it.
BROWN: Well...
MATTHEWS: My thought.
BROWN: Well, that's...
MATTHEWS: That's just my thought.
BROWN: That's the problem with...
MATTHEWS: He seems pompous.
BROWN: There's no question—there is no question, Chris, it is a major, major problem for Mr. Blumenthal. He otherwise has a very distinguished record of service as the attorney general of the state of Connecticut. He's done a great job doing that, but he does have a problem explaining why he said what he said about military service, none of which was true.
He needs to look the camera dead in the face, not say that no one can lecture him. He should simply say that is a problem. And if that problem creates a disability in your voting for me, then I'll have to live with it. But give me at least credit for the 20 years of distinguished service I've done...
BROWN: ... as attorney general, all of which has been totally accurate, totally true and very professional.
WALSH: Right.
MATTHEWS: Joan, let me—Joan, just take a look at this tape and respond to this more tape. We got to move with all this tonight.
WALSH: Sure.
MATTHEWS: Another (INAUDIBLE) smackdown from Connecticut last night.
Let's listen.
BLUMENTHAL: My opponent has not only marketed sex and violence to children, but she actually paid hundreds of millions of dollars to lobby in Washington against penalties for sex and violence marketing to children.
MCMAHON: I think it's insulting to the millions of people who watch WWE every week and are entertained by it to suggest that somehow it is less than—less than quality entertainment. In terms of making sure that—
WWE does have absolutely first-class health insurance and benefits for over 500 employees that it has, and a complete health and wellness policy for the men and women who do perform as independent contractors.
BLUMENTHAL: I can't believe that I just heard Ms. McMahon brag about this wellness policy at WWE. That wellness policy is not working too well. There have been seven dead wrestlers since she started campaigning for this office.
MATTHEWS: What a choice, Joan!
WALSH: Yes.
MATTHEWS: Where do you go to vote elsewhere? I mean, can we bring back Chris Dodd? I mean, Chris Dodd got out of this race. Talk about quality sex and violence, she was...
MATTHEWS: Talk about a lack of shame! I don't ever—these guys are a piece of work, these two.
WALSH: Look—but you know, we've got these Democrats now who are facing female CEOs, and I think that they've been a little bit off—you know, off their stride in knowing exactly how to deal with their record. But their records are very relevant.
MATTHEWS: Sure.
WALSH: Jerry Brown should be doing more with Meg Whitman's, frankly. But in this case, you know, look, it is—there are major questions about the way she's run her firm, and I didn't really think that was out of bounds, Chris. I didn't.
BROWN: ... but I think, from a tactical standpoint, on trying to convince and persuade voters, he's on very thin ice...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
BROWN: ... telling a lie and being—and having yourself reaffirm that lie with some regularity...
WALSH: To go back...
BROWN: ... is a real problem. Yes, she is a terrible person in terms of being a person who ought to be running government. Obviously, her previous history gives her no right to assert that. But he cannot get away from the burdens he has. And so he should be selling—I'm telling you, he should be selling his career as a prosecutor.
WALSH: And he has to speak to the voters, and in that segment that Chris showed us, he did not. He spoke to her. He's got to speak past her to the voter, say the things you told him to say. And he has yet to do that, so he's still in a little bit of hot water.
MATTHEWS: I wouldn't be scolding anybody, if I were either one of these two people.
WALSH: Right.
MATTHEWS: Well, anyway, thank you, Willie Brown, Mayor Brown. Thank you very much, Joan Walsh.
Coming up: President Obama's bracing for Republican victories at election day. He's been talking—a big interview with "The New York Times." Let's hear what he thinks. Hell of an interview coming up with Peter Baker to tell us what the president said in a lot of time in the Oval Office, much more policy than politics, he says. We'll see if he's got it right.
We will be right back.
MATTHEWS: Vice President Joe Biden quashed that talk of Hillary for veep the other day. Here's what he said about President Obama on the campaign trail this week in Pittsburgh. Quote, "I tell you what, there's real trust. That's why he's asked me to run again. Look, he said, we're going to run together. Are you going to run? I said, Of course. You want me to run with you, I'm happy to run with you." That's an interesting conversation he gave us the benefit of, Biden back on the ticket for 2012. We will be right back.
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL. What's this election teaching President Obama, and what have his first two years taught him about how to handle the next two? "The New York Times" had a big piece called "The Education of a President" in the magazine that's coming out this Sunday, and we got a look at it.
Joining us right now to talk about it, The Huffington Post's Howard Fineman, who's also an MSNBC political analyst. Howard, you and I have been together a long time, so we can cut through...
HOWARD FINEMAN, HUFFINGTONPOST.COM, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
MATTHEWS: ... the stuff that isn't really true. One thing I thought was interesting is that Biden last night made it clear that he had a conversation with the president and he gave us sort of the conversation. He gave us the rundown I just told you a minute ago. I asked him—you know, He asked me, are you with me, Joe, and I'm with him—and he actually the wording of the whole thing.
FINEMAN: Yes. Yes.
MATTHEWS: What's the importance of that?
FINEMAN: Well, the importance of that is we were spending a lot of time here inside the Beltway speculating that it could be something else. This is traditional in any presidency...
MATTHEWS: Right.
FINEMAN: ... Democrat or Republican and I thought the way Biden handled it was very shrewd. He gave the whole encounter, OK? He didn't just give the bottom line. But he didn't make that big of a deal of it. And neither, frankly, did "The New York Times," which published story...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FINEMAN: ... which I think, from the Biden point of view, was good. You just want to put that little boat in the water, let it sail over there...
MATTHEWS: OK, let me give you...
FINEMAN: ... and don't make too many big waves about it.
MATTHEWS: And you know he got permission from the president to do this.
FINEMAN: Oh, of course.
MATTHEWS: Right. See, that's what people...
FINEMAN: Absolutely.
MATTHEWS: ... have to know...
FINEMAN: Yes.
MATTHEWS: ... that he wasn't just putting it out for his own interest. He and the president—the president said, Joe, I've been hearing a lot of this buzz, let's put it to bed.
FINEMAN: Yes. I totally...
MATTHEWS: So this is a duo.
FINEMAN: I totally agree.
MATTHEWS: This is a duet.
FINEMAN: Perfect place to do it. You do it out in Pittsburgh. It's in the middle of "The Times" story. It's not a big, screaming headline...
MATTHEWS: Right.
FINEMAN: ... because then that...
FINEMAN: ... would get people suspicious.
MATTHEWS: One other thing before we get to the more heady part of this discussion of the president's mood after two years, which I always wonder about the value of those interviews because they're ready for them. They know you are coming in, so they give you some big head trip about what they are doing.
He's saying or his people are putting out the word in this big piece coming up this Sunday in "The New York Times" that their biggest belief is that their—the guy who is going to run against them in 2012 is going to be Mike Huckabee, the guy who works for—who works for FOX.
FINEMAN: Right.
MATTHEWS: Mike Huckabee, the former, not the most consequential governor in the history of Arkansas.
FINEMAN: Well...
MATTHEWS: Mike Huckabee is their—what are they doing setting him up as their what?
FINEMAN: Well, what they—what they also said—now, I thought—
I think Peter Baker's piece is terrific—is terrific.
MATTHEWS: I mean, of all the people that might run against them, like Palin and Mitt Romney...
FINEMAN: No, but Peter Baker, who did a great job on the piece, interviewed tons of people inside the White House, was just reporting what they were telling him.
MATTHEWS: Well, why are they doing that?
First, they said that Palin would not run, which I don't believe to begin with. Number two, they said that Mitt Romney would fail.
MATTHEWS: Because?
FINEMAN: Because he had his own health care reform bill in Massachusetts.
MATTHEWS: In other words, he is as bad as we are?
FINEMAN: Yes.
FINEMAN: That was the implication of it, which is...
MATTHEWS: That's an incredible statement by the White House staffers:
This guy has got as big a problem as we do.
FINEMAN: He's damaged because he had health care reform...
MATTHEWS: Oh, that's so strange.
FINEMAN: ... which actually is not true, if you think of it, because...
MATTHEWS: No.
FINEMAN: ... because Romney would be in a good position to critique what the administration had done, to fight them on their turf.
And—and Huckabee, they say, is the likely nominee.
MATTHEWS: Why are they doing that?
FINEMAN: I think they are doing it to—because they don't—because Huckabee is probably one of the people they are least afraid of.
MATTHEWS: My producers believe...
FINEMAN: Yes.
MATTHEWS: ... and they are very smart—that the reason they are doing this is setting him up as the reasonable conservative, so that, when he fails, because some huckster comes along and knocks him off, somebody wilder and crazier, they will be able to say, it is too bad they never ran a reasonable man, like Mike Huckabee.
FINEMAN: Yes.
MATTHEWS: They want to run—they don't think he's going to get the nomination, or they wouldn't be building him up.
FINEMAN: Yes. I don't think they—I don't think they care at all about impressing conservatives with their reasonableness at the White House.
MATTHEWS: Right.
FINEMAN: I just think they think that Huckabee...
FINEMAN: Yes, I know, but that Huckabee is ultimately a regional candidate.
FINEMAN: And Obama only is able to travel now to the states in the North and West, where he is strong.
MATTHEWS: I know. He's going to the...
FINEMAN: Right.
MATTHEWS: By the way, here is a part of what President Obama said to Peter Baker—quote—"I was looking over some chronicles of the Clinton years." I love this, the chronicles. Remember the Clinton chronicles?
MATTHEWS: You don't want to be reading that.
MATTHEWS: "And was reminded that, back in '94, when President Obama's poll numbers were lower than mine"—hmm, there is a shot—"and, obviously, the election ended up being bad for Democrats. Unemployment was only 6.6."
Actually, the president is wrong. It was 5.6, as Baker pointed out, back in '94. "And I don't think anybody should suggest that Bill Clinton wasn't a good communicator or was somebody who couldn't connect with the American people or didn't show empathy."
In other words, he is saying: Don't blame me for not being unable to communicate. The unemployment rate is communicating, and that is what my problem is, the 9.6.
FINEMAN: Well, I think to some extent, that is true. But I think the fact that he said that he was studying Bill Clinton's time...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FINEMAN: ... was not meant to disparage Clinton.
MATTHEWS: No, no.
FINEMAN: I think that was meant to take hope from Clinton.
And having just covered Bill Clinton down at a rally in Kentucky the other day, and listening to Bill Clinton state the case for Barack Obama and the Democrats better than Barack Obama and the Democrats have...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FINEMAN: ... you can see why Obama would want to study and take some some—some lessons.
I think, rather than read the book, he should call up Bill Clinton and spend more time with him, because...
MATTHEWS: You know...
FINEMAN: ... Clinton has a fingertip feel that Obama admits in this Peter Baker piece he does not have.
MATTHEWS: Take a look at the president's travel schedule—here he is—going over this month in October, the states he's going over, all the ones. We looked at them in gold.
He's basically going to—you know how, in school, you know, if you are running for student council, I always tell people in my family or anywhere else, you got one, two, threes. You go—ones are the who predictably are going to vote for you, your best friends.
And then there's the twos that might for you and the three that aren't going to vote for you.
FINEMAN: Yes.
MATTHEWS: Don't talk to the threes. Don't get them excited. Work the ones. Get your base together first.
FINEMAN: Right.
MATTHEWS: Now, the president is going to his ones, as we say in politics. He's going around to the people that he knows voted for him once. Why?
FINEMAN: Well, because...
MATTHEWS: I like to ask these...
MATTHEWS: ... questions...
MATTHEWS: Why do you go to your base?
FINEMAN: I was just thinking about—I was just thinking, in my high school, who the ones, and twos, and three would be.
It would be, the ones would be the Jews. The twos would be the Hungarians. And the threes would be the Italians.
MATTHEWS: OK. You're—it's so tribal.
MATTHEWS: But let's go to this question.
MATTHEWS: You're right president of the United States. Why are you going to ones? Because they're the only ones he can count on, really.
FINEMAN: Yes. Well, they—look, if it is going to be a low turnout election, and it means that the Democrats have to get their core people out.
Obama's defending his inner perimeter here.
MATTHEWS: Right.
FINEMAN: He's—he is not playing offense here. He's playing extreme defense.
MATTHEWS: By the way, in my school, it was the Irish and Italians.
MATTHEWS: OK. Same thing.
FINEMAN: So, that is what's doing, because he's...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FINEMAN: Look, he spoke to college students last night.
MATTHEWS: Right.
FINEMAN: He is still at the point where he's begging the college students to turn out.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FINEMAN: If at this point in the campaign he is going back to the people who were his original core...
MATTHEWS: See, he knows, if they do vote, they will vote Democrat, is what he's thinking.
FINEMAN: Right. He has got to get the guaranteed ones out.
MATTHEWS: So, if he can pound the ones, OK.
FINEMAN: That's exactly right.
MATTHEWS: So, with that strategy, is it also a prevent defense? In other words, he is looking at two possible outcomes, and we are all sitting around here at this table—we're in New York—looking at the numbers. It's not going to be a win for the Democrats. It's either going to be a loss or a wipeout.
FINEMAN: Right.
MATTHEWS: He is trying to prevent the wipeout, right, at this point?
FINEMAN: I think that is right. I think that's right.
And I think, in those wipeout situations, the wave gets so big that it splashes over and deep into your home territory. And that is what he is trying to prevent. And that's...
MATTHEWS: So, he doesn't want to see Boxer lose.
FINEMAN: No.
MATTHEWS: He doesn't want to see Manchin lose.
FINEMAN: Exactly.
MATTHEWS: He doesn't want to—he doesn't want to see some of the ones that should win lose.
FINEMAN: That's right. That's right. And that means he is not going to detour into any purple states or any places where he is going to try to save one particular House seat in a state.
For example, a place like Kentucky, again, where I just was, there is a Democrat there who may lose. He—Obama or Biden are not going to waste their time going...
MATTHEWS: I think Conway is going to win.
FINEMAN: Well, that's a House race I talked about. I think Conway does have a chance in Kentucky.
MATTHEWS: Yes, I think he's turned the corner up there.
FINEMAN: The Democrat does have a chance down there.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FINEMAN: I know—and it's not so much because of Conway. It's because Tea Party voters that I talked to in Kentucky just the other day...
MATTHEWS: And you—you—you used to work out there.
FINEMAN: And that's where I used to work.
They—they're—they don't—they—they haven't taken to Rand Paul. Some—some people have. He signs a lot of autographs and so on, but sort of the middle Tea Partiers—and there are such a thing—they are worried that Rand Paul is kind of evasive, as one of them said.
MATTHEWS: But he's also got a Rumpelstiltskin quality. He seems to be talking about what you and I talked about 20, 30 years ago, as if he hasn't been keeping up with the class. Here he is talking about Monica Lewinsky. What's that about?
FINEMAN: Oh, well, when you said Monica—Rumpelstiltskin, I wasn't thinking so much...
MATTHEWS: Why is he talking about the old stories?
FINEMAN: Well, when you said that, I wasn't thinking so much about Rand Paul's character being...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FINEMAN: ... out of step as being impatient, as stamping his feet, you know, the way Rumpelstiltskin stamps his feet.
MATTHEWS: Who was the guy that was asleep in the Grimm fairy tales?
FINEMAN: That was "The Legend of..."
MATTHEWS: Rip Van Winkle. I got the wrong guy. Rip Van Winkle up in Upstate New York.
FINEMAN: But, anyway, the point is that some of the Tea Partiers and conservatives don't—haven't quite taken Rand Paul to heart yet, which gives Conway the hope that they won't show up and vote, basically...
MATTHEWS: Yes, I think—I don't think he's a politician, anyway.
And I don't think that is a positive.
FINEMAN: Well, that is a positive in most places at most times.
MATTHEWS: Howard Fineman, thank you, sir.
FINEMAN: Sure.
MATTHEWS: As always, you are a genius, or close to it.
MATTHEWS: Up next: the very tenuous bond between President Obama—well, that is interesting—they have a connection. Wait until you hear what the connection is. It has to do with genes, believe it or not. Stick around for the "Sideshow."
And next week, all week, HARDBALL hits the campaign trail with the HARDBALL Senate College Tour. We're going to Kentucky. We're going to Illinois. I'm going to interview a lot of people out there, Senate candidate Jack Conway on Tuesday. I will be in New York covering the races on Tuesday. Then, Wednesday, Chicago, where I interview Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias.
On Thursday, back up to Philly at Temple University for Joe Sestak. We're going to do what we used to do really good, get around to college kids, wow them with excitement in politics and show them the candidates, and maybe get them to get some questions out of them.
You're watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Back to HARDBALL.
First up: paying dues. On "Good Morning America," former Governor and pro wrestler Jesse Ventura was asked whether he would support his old WWE boss, Linda McMahon.
Well, Ventura's answer and the reasoning behind it, such as it was, might surprise you.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC ANCHOR: Should she be a senator? If you were in Connecticut, would you vote for her?
JESSE VENTURA, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA: No, because I don't vote for Democrats or Republicans. If she ran as an independent, she could possibly get my endorsement. But I refuse.
MATTHEWS: There is a wide-ranging mind for you.
Next: Does money talk louder than words? Remember how Carl Paladino said this weekend that kids shouldn't be—quote—"brainwashed" into thinking homosexuality is acceptable?
Well, thing is, Paladino appeared to have no such reservations when he, Carl Paladino, rented out for years buildings he owns to two gay nightclubs, or when his son William ran a place called Buffalo's gay club of the moment, as "The New York Daily News" reported this morning.
And remember how Paladino reports to his openly gay nephew who works for his campaign as proof that he, Carl Paladino, is not homophobic. Well, in an actions-speak-louder-than-words move, "The New York Post" reports that the nephew in question has not come to work with on the campaign trail since Paladino made those comments.
Now for tonight's all-in-the-family "Big Number." Ancestry.com has just figured out that President Obama and Sarah Palin are 10th cousins. They both ascend from a Massachusetts senator called John Smith, not the John Smith, who fought against the persecution of Quakers in the 1600s.
A president and a would-be president, you might say, 10th cousins, tonight—maybe not kissing cousins—tonight's "Who would have thought?" "Big Number."
Up next: There's a call from some Republicans to get rid of the minimum wage. Do you believe it? We thought that was settled information. And that has given Democrats a chance to paint their opponents as out of touch in these tough economic times. That is ahead.
You are watching HARDBALL on MSNBC.
HAMPTON PEARSON, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I'm Hampton Pearson with your CNBC "Market Wrap."
Stocks finishing off their highs, but still posting solid gains, the Dow surging 75 points, the S&P adding eight, and the Nasdaq jumping 23 points.
A trio of better-than-expected earnings reports boosting investor confidence today. J.P. Morgan, Intel and CSX all beating estimates that some analysts thought were optimistic to begin with. And Apple shares topping $300 for the first time today, ahead of their earnings report next week.
That is it from CNBC, first in business worldwide—now back to
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.
A lot of things are up in the air these days, like the minimum wage that has become a hot issue in the midterm cycle among some Republican candidates, like this one from West Virginia, the Senate candidate out there, John Raese.
JOHN RAESE ®, WEST VIRGINIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: The minimum wage is not something that you want to stay on as a permanent basis. In other words, if you have a minimum wage job, you don't stay there 20 or 30 years. You don't put your children through college working on minimum wage.
One of the best things That I can think, and when you get government out of the, let's say, micromanaging the economy, you don't want government to—to set price controls. You don't want government to set wage controls. And it is an archaic system that, quite frankly, has never worked.
QUESTION: So—so, you think that we should do away with the idea of a federally mandated minimum wage?
RAESE: Absolutely.
MATTHEWS: Well, here's Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, running for Senate up in Alaska, with the same issue. Minimum wage, it is up in the air, as I said. Let's listen.
JOE MILLER ®, ALASKA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: At the minimum level, again, that should be the state's decision.
QUESTION: So, there should not be a federal minimum wage?
MILLER: There should not be. That is not within the scope of the powers that are given to the federal government.
MATTHEWS: Wow.
That was—well, let's bring in Jim McDermott, the congressman from Washington State.
You know, Congressman, have you noticed a little cultural thing here? These incredibly upper-class accents that you hear, especially from that guy Raese, and then he says, give me some "hicky" guys to play West Virginians. There's a little disconnect here in terms of connecting with the people you want to vote for you. My thought.
Your thoughts about the minimum wage, sir? Serious matter.
REP. JIM MCDERMOTT (D), WASHINGTON: Well, you know, a gallon of milk costs $3.30. And a loaf of bread costs $1.75, and a dozen eggs costs $1.50.
None of these guys have been in a grocery store and had to buy anything or they wouldn't be talking like that about the minimum wage. We settled that in 1938. And it is what has made the middle class in this country is that we have kept a floor on wages, so that you couldn't drive people down to working for $1 a day, like they do in India or in Cambodia or in some Third World country.
MATTHEWS: Well, why do you think, in a situation where most people are not rich who vote, most people know people who are working people—some people are better-off, obviously—but most people know somebody who is working-class, knows somebody is lucky to be a bit above minimum wage, why would anybody be playing with this?
Why do you think these guys are talking—are they playing to some new philosophy out there which says total free markets, you know, cowboy economics? What are they talking about, these guys, the guy from Alaska, the guy from West Virginia? Who are they appealing to with this talk?
MCDERMOTT: They're a saying in medicine: Listen to the patient. He is telling you what is the matter with him.
Well, listen to these candidates. They will tell you what they are planning to do when they get into office, create a system where we have the Wild West, with no government regulations, we have no control over anything, no protection for consumers, no protection for workers.
They simply want chaos in this society. It is awful. I have—I can't believe they are so dumb as to be saying this three weeks before the election.
MATTHEWS: Well, it reminds me why foreign people, foreign corporations, multinationals maybe want to kick money into the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, because they are the ones that benefit from this total globalization, the total—total belief you can buy labor anywhere in the world, go to the cheapest place to find labor, get the job done, outsource, whatever it takes, automate and then outsource, run a business with no Americans in it, the perfect new enterprise.
MCDERMOTT: Well, even worse than that, Chris, is the fact that, if you are paying somebody $3 an hour, $4 an hour, the only thing they are buying is food. They are not buying any new clothes or new Adidas or...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
MCDERMOTT: ... any sports equipment—equipment or boats or anything else.
You are going to have this economy go really in the tank if you drop the minimum wage, just like they don't want unemployment benefits. If you don't have unemployment benefits, people haven't got money to spend.
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Well, maybe some of these Republicans are trying to make politics look easy with this stuff. But I don't know how you can defend opposing the minimum wage.
By the way, it's $7.25. That's about 290 bucks a week right now.
Anyway—if you work the full week—thank you, U.S. Congressman Jim McDermott out in Seattle.
Joining me now is an old pal of this show, the AFL-CIO president, Richard Trumka.
I want to get to—because this guy worked in a mine, half mile down. You know what it was like. By the way, let's start with that, because this is very human interest.
RICHARD TRUMKA, AFL-CIO PRESIDENT: Sure.
MATTHEWS: We haven't talked about it tonight. But it is thrilling to watch those guys. You were there at the Chilean embassy.
TRUMKA: I was, when they were bringing the first miners out. And I can tell you, they were like other brothers and it was almost like I hit the lottery. There's this feeling of elation because the earth nominally doesn't give up a live body after that being trapped underground that long. This one, when the first miner came out, it was like my brother or my uncle, my dad or anybody coming out. It was such a win for us.
But it brings up two other issues I think we have to look at because
one, we are very, very elated that these miners are safe. Second of all, we have to thank the rescue workers that got them there. And third, it's the lack of health and safety in the mines of the world doesn't know boundaries.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
TRUMKA: Because you have to have good laws that are—and you have to have the people with the will to enforce them and the resources to get it done, and we don't have that in the mining industry.
MATTHEWS: OK. I got another elation out of it. I've never been a miner like you. We just talked about claustrophobia, which I think I probably would have down there. Some guys would be susceptible to it.
You are third generation of working down deep in the mines.
TRUMKA: Correct.
MATTHEWS: OK. Let's talk about what sort of the message for a lot of the people was, the message coming out of the Tea Party people, and a lot of them are good people, is every man for himself basically, no more taxes, no more government, no more anything, no more safety net, no more health care for everybody, everybody just out get out there make your buck, save it, screw the government, move on, right?
TRUMKA: Yes.
MATTHEWS: You know, these people, if they were every man for themselves down in that mine, they wouldn't have gotten out.
TRUMKA: That's exactly right.
MATTHEWS: They would have been killing each other after about two days. This is a story of how people can work together, the people who were down there for two months, the people who are above ground from all over the world, using state-of-the-art equipment, not to get rid of the need for manpower but to save manpower in this case.
TRUMKA: You know, this is just another example of how radical the Republican Party is becoming, do away with the minimum wage. You just talked about that. Bad policy, it will wreck the economy.
If you didn't have government regulation, you wouldn't have clean water, you wouldn't have cars that were safe, you wouldn't have electricity that you could afford—I mean, just a number of things where you need a good, efficient government and they just—
MATTHEWS: Why do people buy the rhetoric?
TRUMKA: I don't think they do buy it.
MATTHEWS: They say get rid of all regulation, get rid of taxes, get rid of government, and yet when they buy it. I was like—we're Catholic. On Friday, we always had tuna fish, right? And you open up the can, you want to know somebody besides the guy making buck off of it made sure it was clean, wasn't ptomaine in there.
TRUMKA: Absolutely.
MATTHEWS: When you're getting up on an airplane, I want to know there is some kind of FAA that's looking at regulation and safety. I want to know there's somebody besides the guy making the buck. Doesn't everybody have it when it comes to them, they believe in government?
TRUMKA: I think what they try to sell is, every person should do that for themselves. And no one, no worker has the wherewithal to do that. If you are rich, you might be able to taste—buy somebody or have somebody taste your food for you. But they can't afford, I couldn't afford to make sure my plane are safe, that I'm properly regulated, my drinking water is safe, that the food is a safe that we do, that the automobiles that we drive have been improved year after year to protect it health and safety.
It's a foolish, foolish—
MATTHEWS: What are you going to do? You got a guy named Raese out in West Virginia, may beat the governor down there, I don't think he will, but he may beat the governor who's a middle of the road Democrat, he's no lefty.
You got this guy Joe Miller out there in Alaska who knocked off Murkowski who I thought was pretty conservative.
What is going on with your rank and file right now? What are you guys talking about when you get together at the union headquarters? What's going on with your own people?
TRUMKA: Our guys are pretty excited right now. Early on, I think there might have been a little bit of a gap in enthusiasm. Not so now. They actually see the difference between what's at stake here.
We either are going to continue to go forward and try to build an economy that works for everybody, or we're going to go back to where these guys want to go, where there's no minimum wage, where there's no health and safety laws, when there's no unemployment compensation.
Our people, working Americans, don't buy that. But it is another example of how radical right the Republican Party is becoming.
MATTHEWS: You know, I listen to Ed Schultz on this network and I think sometimes he's got it dead right, because I hear him with the labor, you guys are right, sometimes. I think you are mostly right. In fact, wait until you hear my close tonight.
I think you're dead right on this whole issue of this whole idea of getting money from other countries and getting involved in our politics. They only interested in one thing, getting cheaper stuff from us, selling our stuff here, the whole deal.
TRUMKA: They are looking out for themselves.
MATTHEWS: Nobody is going to give money to our election unless they are getting something out of America that we are losing.
Anyway, thank you, Richard Trumka, for coming on.
TRUMKA: You bet.
MATTHEWS: A real miner.
Up next—third generation—MSNBC's Willie Geist is coming in here, "American Freak Show" is the name of his book. I'm going to let Mr. Geist speak for himself on some of this because your language is very extreme and it scares me a little bit, and I'm worry who you are going to attack.
This is HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Here she is. First Lady Michelle Obama has made her first campaign appearance of the year. And here she is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, doing her part to get out the vote, the women's vote in this case.
MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: I have the privilege of traveling around this country and I meet so many beautiful children. Let me tell you, that is the highlight of my role. When I look into the eyes of those children, I see clearly what's at stake.
MATTHEWS: Nice touch. The first lady will hit the trail Sunday in Ohio with the president. For the first time, they campaign together. First time they are out on the road since 2008. Polls consistently show, no surprise here, Michelle Obama is one of the most well-liked figures in America.
HARDBALL will be right back.
MATTHEWS: We're back.
This election season's had more than its fair share of interesting candidates to say the least—and who better to talk about it than MSNBC's Willie Geist, who has a new book called "American Freak Show." Willie you get up around, what, 3:00 in the morning?
WILLIE GEIST, AUTHOR, "AMERICAN FREAK SHOW": That's right.
MATTHEWS: And you're still up, and you're still up, drinking coffee. I just caught you gulping there.
When you say, "freak," we had a phrase back in the '60s which is freak was sort of cool. The guy's a freak.
GEIST: Yes.
MATTHEWS: But you mean it in its literal meaning, right.
GEIST: I do. For the most part in my book there's a derogatory term, there's no getting around it.
But there is a different kind of freak, like the way LeBron James is a freak, someone who exceeds our expectations, who exceeds our imagination.
I think that Barack Obama has a little freak in him. I think that Sarah Palin has a little, the positive freak in here, which is to say that kind of coming out of nowhere we didn't know who she was two years ago, we didn't really know who Barack Obama was six years ago and they have some other worldly talent, some ability to capture the imagination.
Most of the people in the book do it in a bad way, but a couple in there do it the right way.
MATTHEWS: I think that the menagerie's about to show itself. Where do you catch some of the—I mean, you must have predicted the existence of Carl Paladino, who's running for governor of New York. The guy that says, "I'm going to take you out."
Let's watch him in action. Here he is. He's sort of antigay, but pro-gay. It's hard to tell where the money fits in.
GEIST: Yes.
MATTHEWS: Let's watch.
CARL PALADINO ®, NY GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Some children should not be exposed to that in a young age. They don't understand. It's a very difficult thing, and exposing them to homosexuality, especially at a gay pride parade, and I don't know if you've ever been to one, but they wear these little Speedos and they grind against each other, and it's just a terrible thing.
MATTHEWS: You know, it's a terrible thing and he runs two gay nightclubs and his kid's a manager of a gay nightclub, but he's offended by this grinding together. I don't know what goes on at these clubs he makes money at.
GEIST: Sure you do, Chris.
MATTHEWS: But what's this guy's number?
GEIST: I don't know. Isn't this always the case, the guy who's so vehemently against homosexuality—I'm not saying Mr. Paladino is going to turn with the skeleton in his closet, but its always the Reverend Ted Haggard, right, with the gay hooker and the crystal meth in his hotel room.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
GEIST: So, I think he protests too much. But you know, there's some grinding in Speedos that goes on in the gay pride parade, but I'm pretty sure it's not going to lead to the end of western civilization and the corruption of our children.
MATTHEWS: How about the debate in Connecticut? Connecticut is one of the most well-off states in the Union, and you might say elite. I'd love to live there. It's a beautiful state.
But they've got two candidates. One guy who fought Vietnam except he never did night Vietnam.
GEIST: Yes.
MATTHEWS: And one who runs—made her money out of professional wresting which she calls quality sex environments—quality. So, let's take a listen to these two going at it. What a duo.
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT SENATE CANDIDATE: My opponent has not only marketed sex and violence to children, but she actually paid hundreds of millions of dollars to lobby in Washington against penalties for sex and violence marketing to children.
LINDA MCMAHON ®, CONNECTICUT SENATE CANDIDATE: And I think it's insulting to millions of people who watched WWE every weekend, or are entertained by it to suggest that somehow it is less than—less than quality entertainment.
MATTHEWS: You know the reason people used to go to wrestling matches, my memory was, to watch the people in the first row.
GEIST: Right.
MATTHEWS: The fans were the show. And now, she's defending these people, they're like quality sex and violence. And you're offending them by saying they're not what they ought to be.
What is she up to here?
GEIST: Chris, I went and I'm going to admit this here on your show, I was at WrestleMania I, 1994, Madison Square Garden.
MATTHEWS: You're part of the problem, sir.
GEIST: And I was sitting next to a man who—I'm not making this up—pulled up his pants up and said I have a knife in my boot in case anybody messes with the Hulkster. So, that's just goes to your point right there. But, yes, it is a little odd. Those were glory days back in the '80s—
MATTHEWS: So you're here to say I heard that wrestling is fixed.
You wouldn't have said that next to this guy?
GEIST: No, no, no. Not the kind that you bring it up. But it is funny.
MATTHEWS: Willie Geist.
GEIST: On "MORNING JOE" yesterday, we had horrors, wrestling and gay guys in Speedos from Carl Paladino. It is a freak show.
MATTHEWS: I think it's right out of book called "American Freak Show" by Willie Geist.
By the way, I predict you will be one of the biggest talents in some business in few years, but I'm not sure which it is yet.
GEIST: Vague but appreciated. Thank you, Chris.
MATTHEWS: When we return: we've got—we've heard Democrats speaking out against cash coming from multinational corporations, and, by the way, let's talk about it, because I'm going to finish with that. I think it matters. We'll see.
You're watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Let me finish tonight by addressing the challenge Bob Schieffer of CBS News issued to the White House this Sunday. Is that the best that you can do?
Bob was challenging David Axelrod on the White House charge that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was using money it raises from overseas to finance Republican political campaigns.
So, why is it so darn important to the average voter out there, that multinational corporations, some of them based outside of the United States, have their fingers in this election?
How about this—it's the central economic issue of our times.
Look at how the giant corporations get their profit margins up these days. Are they out there selling hot, new products every consumer wants to get their hands on? Or are they doing the job by cost-cutting, cutting down the number of employees for whom they have to pay those tiresome health packages, those costly pensions and 401 plans? Are they doing it through those highly celebrated productivity gains by substituting robotics for people, by outsourcing the cheaper vendors overseas, over where the price of labor is dirt cheap?
No wonder the multinationals want to gift candidates who love to deregulate, love so-called free markets, love tax structures that lead them as free as possible to continue doing what they're doing—the kind of free-willing, cost-cutting that meets the quarterly bottom line.
No wonder the U.S. Chamber's such a popular lobbying body for the multinational operation, in whatever country, it happens to currently find the best haven.
So, the right answer, is this is best that we can do is, is: is this the best America can do? It's about jobs, and if all of the American people can talk about this election season as this, I say, keep on talking. You've finally got your finger on the pulse of this country. It's about the economy.
That's HARDBALL for now. Thanks for being with us.
Right now, it's time for "THE ED SHOW" with Ed Schultz.
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Vidic suffered cruciate ligament damage in his right knee in United's Champions League group game against Basle in December 2011 which sidelined him for the remainder of that season. Then, after playing in the Red Devils' opening five matches of the current campaign, the Serbian centre-back underwent surgery on the same knee in September.
He returned to action in December and has featured in 10 of United's last 16 fixtures in all competitions, starting nine of those. Regarding his fitness, the 31-year-old said: "I had problems with my knee and I was so long without football. It is difficult now we are playing Wednesday-Saturday-Wednesday."
He continued: "I have had to think whether it is good for me to play or not. Sometimes I will get a reaction and sometimes I won't. This is normal. Since I came back I have had to see if I can get through the two or three months. Then I will be fine.
"It is not a long-term thing. It is the normal procedure after the kind of op I had. After I'd had surgery I knew we'd then have to manage the knee and then after that it would be normal again.
"It is all dependent on the individual. But it should be soon. After every game I am feeling better and that is a good sign. It was just swelling sometimes after matches. There was no pain, it was just a reaction as the knee got used to the work again. It is a normal thing. I have played twice in five days now and it has been good."
United's 2-0 win at QPR on Saturday ensured they remain firmly on course for the league title, with the gap between them and second-placed Manchester City currently standing at 12 points with 11 top-flight games left to play each.
Someone who has been a part of all the Red Devils' previous 12 triumphant Premier League campaigns is Ryan Giggs, who netted the team's second goal at Loftus Road. Even at 39, the midfielder remains a key player for United and Vidic has paid tribute to Giggs.
"Ryan is very professional and is such an example for the young players," Vidic said.
"They see how you have to treat yourself and educate yourself in football to be a great player. Of course he has the quality and ability as well. He is a great example of how to be professional and to play at the top for so long. We have quite a few players like that. Rio (Ferdinand) is the same. He is a committed professional the same as Paul Scholes."
Source: PA
Source: PA


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CIU Professor Honored by Hebrew Union College
Dr. Bryan Beyer, professor of Old Testament at Columbia International University received the Founder's Medallion from his alma mater, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), in recognition of his 25 years of scholarship in teaching and publishing.
Beyer was awarded the honor by Rabbi David Ellenson, president of HUC-JIR at graduation ceremonies in Cincinnati in June. Founded in 1875, HUC-JIR is the nation's oldest institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism.
Beyer has served at Columbia International University since 1985. From 1985 to 1993, he was part of the Undergraduate Faculty. From 1993 to 1994, he was the assistant dean of the Undergraduate School, and in 1994, he became the dean of the Undergraduate School.
"The seven years I served as academic dean were challenging but rewarding," Beyer said. "The undergraduate enrollment grew and many faculty hired during that time are still at CIU making a significant contribution today."
Beyer remained dean of the Undergraduate School until 2001 when he became the dean of students. He held that position for three years, until he became professor of Old Testament at CIU Seminary & School of Missions, his current position.
Beyer has authored or edited a number of publications. "Encountering the Old Testament," the Bible survey he co-authored with Dr. Bill Arnold of Asbury Theological Seminary is now in its second edition and is a leading text book on Christian college campuses. He joined Arnold in co-editing "Readings from the Ancient Near East: Primary Sources for Old Testament Study." Beyer has also authored, "Encountering the Book of Isaiah: An Historical and Theological Survey," and contributed to the translation and study notes of the Holman Christian Standard Bible.
Beyer received his B.A. in Humanities from Colorado State University in 1976, the Master of Divinity with a Biblical Studies emphasis from Denver Seminary in 1980, and the Doctor of Philosophy from HUC-JIR in 1985.
Beyer says his doctoral studies at HUC-JIR were vital to ministry preparation.
"During those five years in Cincinnati, many fine Jewish scholar-teachers guided me, pushed me, and believed in me as I studied at Hebrew Union College," Beyer said. "It also means a lot to me for my alma mater to affirm me in my own tradition as Christian teacher-scholar."


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Application Software
Palletising software for MOTOMAN robots.
PalletSolver is a revolutionary robot palletising software package for Motoman® robots. The software offers a host of features and was designed to deliver uniform palletising performance.
Main features:
- Virtually unlimited product variety
- Supports all conventional gripper types
- Dynamic gripper zone configuration, can be modified for each individual cycle
- Export/import of cell and gripper databases that can be accessed from all projects
Control and operation of camera applications.
The MotoSight2D interface is a software extension for the DX100 and FS100 controllers for operating and controlling Cognex Insight EasyBuilder-based camera applications.
Main features:
- Display of camera image on robot teach pendant
- Simple assignment of vision system results to robot variables
- Macros for triggering and transferring results
- Display and editing of threshold values
- Good/poor display
- Display of graphical results
Order picking software for controlling picking processes.
MotoPick coordinates and simplifies complex packaging processes and is distinguished by its simple handling. The combination of product recognition by a camera and conveyor tracking and correct setdown of the product at the desired position in the correct tray is controlled using MotoPick.
Main features:
- Start-up management
- Mixed order picking capability
- Optimized load distribution among the robots
- Multi-gripper operation capability


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Rick Rosson, MathWorks
In this webinar we show how you can build up a control model to include a model of a CAN bus to look at the effect of communication networks on distributed control systems. The webinar elaborates on a feedback control system and an anti-lock braking system, to show how to model communication networks and look at how the network can affect system performance.
Highlights include using MathWorks Tools to: